GRG's Miscellany

...can it be that this is impossible without Windoze in a VM? Specifically for WYSIWYG dialog editor: Visual Studio Community runs like a dog in a VM.* Visual Studio Code doesn't appear to have one. Monodevelop only has a GTK# one** Jetbrains Rider is a 'cross platform' IDE but the WYSIWYG tool only works on Windoze . >_< SharpDevelop is built in .NET but for some reason uses Windoze-specific code . Is the only serious option to dual-boot with Win7/10?  SERIOUSLY? Who ever said that .NET is cross platform? Gromgromgrom. So I'm left going with a Win10 VM running on a ramdisk and a second virtual drive on HDD to hold the code.  Seeing as I want to commit and push the code straight back to source control, it shouldn't be a problem that the local copy of the code is trapped in a virtual disk. *it isn't _all_ that bad in qemu/kvm if you're running Win10 from a ramdisk, but make sure you get your syncing to HDD right or you could lose a lo...

I had forgotten how much I hate PC games for this type of crap. So I pre-ordered Battlefield 3. It finally arrived (3 days late - thanks Amazon/Royal Mail), and I started the inevitable and interminable installation. I have to install 'Origin' first (EA's equivalent of Steam). Sucky number 1. Then, I have to install an update that's required for Battlefield 3. I PRE-ORDERED THIS GAME!!! How come it needs an update already?! Sucky number 2. At that point I'd created an Origin ID, logged in to it and all it can say is 'No Games Detected'. Sucky number 3. So having followed the install instructions to the letter, I now have Origin installed which I did NOT want, but no Battlefield which I DID want. ULTIMATE SUCKAGE. And then, guess who didn't think to check that it supports Windows XP? >_< So a few days later, I install Windows 7. Problem solved? No. I had to try the install 4 times before Origin would recognise that I actu...

Recently, my Ubuntu install felt the need to corrupt its own package install database and refuse to start up. Having good backups and little patience, I decided to go for a clean install. I thought I'd try Debian for a change. Ubuntu is Debian-based so I figured they'd be similar, and I use Debian for my server so I thought I'd be able to handle any differences easily. The first warning signs were when I wanted to install the video drivers. Ubuntu makes that so very easy. Debian makes you take a few steps through. Not ideal, but not arduous either. Installing compiz-fusion was more of a pain, but still manageable. Again, this is a piece of cake on Ubuntu. More similar niggles followed, but I figured I was just being soft. Then I tried installing wine and Sketchup and I quickly became enraged. I had managed this task on Ubuntu with only a little hacking, and no undue fuss. Here's the breakdown of the process under Debian: 1: Install wine ...

I've decided to open my blog with a response to an article which I took exception to. I urge you to read it before continuing, but at the risk of misrepresenting it, I shall summarise here. The article extols the virtues of shared experiences in MMOs, where players use their experience of playing the game to enhance their enjoyment of the social aspects of it. Indeed, I think it shows convincingly that experiences common to sizeable groups of players are quite essential to MMOs. However, it also contrasts shared experiences with algorithmic content as if it's some kind of opposite. Now, the author may be talking about a specific type of algorithmic content, but that's not made clear. It's not shown how algorithmic content supposedly undermines shared experience - it's just asserted that it does. Game flaws which are the result of bad design are attributed to algorithmic content itself, rather than the designers of that content. I think this displays a lac...