Game Input: Urban Terror

Type: FPS
Platforms: Windows, Mac & Linux
Open Source: Yes
Game Engine: GPL
Content: Proprietary
Played on: Linux
Site: UrbanTerror


This being my first FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) game overlook I'll keep it to a minimum.

From first glance I was impressed. For me it has just about every standard feature thrown in with a few unique ones. Lets start with the weapons. If you were to just pick up this game and run with it, you would have no limitations. All of the weapons are not "locked" in any way and readily available for your use. The weapons range from SMGs, Shotguns, Grenade Launcher, and Rifles. Plus there are accessories and extra items you can equip for battle. Some of those items would be a laser pointer, body armor, extra ammo, suppressor, and the list goes on. Don't get too excited, there isn't too many extras. I was a little turned off considering there is no use of the sights on the usual weapons, you are basically always firing from the hip. Although sniper rifles are the only acception. The maps are well consturcted and look great. You will find good particle effects, anlong with good music in some levels and the sounds effects arn't bad. Not to mention that there are plenty of user created maps as well. So expect to download a few here or there when connecting to a server. Some of the features I like is the fact that when you get shot and bleed, it can be fatal if left untreated. You are supplied bandages when you spawn. Which can be applied to yourself or other teammates. Also the wall jump and power slide is nifty. Comes in handy with some situations. I didn't experience a whole lot of lag, at least none I could really see. I would recommend UrbanTerro, it's fun, easy to set up, no registration required and Open Source. You can't beat that.

So go have fun and rack up some frags maggot!

Overall: Good title worth trying.

Error Problems with Windows and Linux

This is something I have noticed over the years. Windows and Linux are quite different when it comes to errors or problems with the Operating System.

First lets start with Linux. When it comes to problems with Linux, if something is wrong, a driver has an issue, or just an overall problem occurs, you tend to have to stop and fix the issue before continuing. I have noticed this trend from time to time with my experience with Linux

Now Windows on the other hand, is a little strange. People can have BSoDs (Blue Screen of Death) and little error messages that just pop up from time to time and people just find ways to work around the errors and not fix the issue. Then you notice the PC get slower, less responsive and finally at some point just grinds to a halt.

The way I see it is that if Linux has a problem, you have to take the time to stop and correct the issue. Where as for Windows, errors can be ignored and the Windows OS just slowly implodes on itself until you reach a point where it just doesn't function anymore. Like say Windows gets stuck in a vicious reboot loop. The PC reboots, loads windows and in the process of loading at the boot splash stage, it reboots again and again. I have seen it happen to a family member PC before in the past.

I thought it was funny but the family member didn't seem to agree.

Mint 9 (Moving from Gnome to Fluxbox)

Here recently I was unaware that Mint has released a different X11 interface versions of their distro. I wanted to move to Fluxbox for less resource consumption and was not sure how to do it beside just going with the standard Fluxbox package. So I asked on the "official" forums and got a good response. I would also like to point out Fluxbox has been around for some time. I was first introduced to it when using DSL. (Damn Small Linux)

Switching interfaces was (for me) with "Isadora", quite simple. As simple as pulling down the correct packages and installing them one at a time. I would like to thank the user "shane" on the forums for the help.


To get the packages from the Fluxbox edition to install, I was pointed to the following link. Fluxbox Packages

Forum conversation: Link

So if you would like to apply fluxbox you can either use the package manager to get the baseline version of Fluxbox or install the packages from the link above.

Keep in mind those packages worked for me and again I'm running Mint 9 Isadora 32-bit. So you may not get the same results. It's possible for something to, well, go wrong or maybe break something in the Gnome instillation as "shane" pointed out.

Enjoy.

Linux CLI (Command Line Interface) Part 1

Hello everyone. For now I am just going to talk about the basics. This will be some basic commands you will find yourself using regularly. The CLI (Command Line Interface) is VERY powerful and should be leveraged. If you don't use it, well then it's time to make a change. =)

Ok the commands I will be covering are:
ls, cd, cp, mv, rm, rmdir, unzip, zip, clear, and the use of the &.

NOTE: Keep in mine "everything" in the command like "IS" case sensitive. So if a file or folder is capital, you must do the same when using commands.

ls: List directory

"ls" is like dir in windows it shows you the contents of a directory. Can you use dir ? Yes you can but it won't give you as much detail. "ls" has extra parameters that give you more detailed results (almost all programs do) but we wont get into that right now.

cd: Change Directory "cd [directory path]"

"cd" allows you to change from one directoy to another. Keep in mind that in Windows you change directories with a \ "backslash". Linux is not the same, we use a / "forwardslash" here, so be sure to keep that in mind. If you are changing to a directory that is already in your current location you don't need a / in front of the directory name. You only need to include it if you are coming from the root directory. (aka the beginning of the file system, not the root directory as in /root) Kind of like starting at C: in windows. You start there and then move to Documents and Settings or Windows directories.

mv: Move "mv [file or folder] [destination location]"

"mv" allows you to move files and directories to other locations. In order to use it you have to include the source file/folder and then the destination location. So say you wanted to move your family.jpg picture file from your "Home" directory to your "Picture" directory. To use the mv command it would look like this, "mv family.jpg Pictures/". So "family.jpg" being the file name and "Pictures/" being the destination. Notice there is no / before the "Picture" Directory and no path before the file name. That is because you are already in the location of both the file and directory.

rm: Remove "rm [filepath]"

"rm" grants you the ability to remove a file. Just files, there is a different command to remove folders, which we will get to in a bit. in order to remove a file you must use the rm command followed by the path to the unwanted file. An example would be "rm /home/user01/file.txt" or if you are in the current director where the file is located it would look like "rm file.txt" Simple no ?

rmdir: Remove Directory "rmdir [target directory]"

"rmdir" works similar to the rm command. One thing you need to be aware of is that if you are removing a directory say "rmdir /home/user01/Folder", Folder being the directory you wish to remove, it MUST be empty in order for the removal to be successful. Just an FYI.

zip: Zip archive program "zip -[0-9] [archive name] [file(s) to add]"

"zip" is a good way to combine files into an archive to either save space or just make things less cluttered. If you wanted to create and archive for a file called "myvideo.avi" it would look like this "zip -9 myzipfile.zip myvideo.avi". The "myzipfile.zip" is what you want to call your archive, and the file following that field are the file(s) you with to compress or store into a zip archive. Now notice the -9, what that means is to use the best compression possible. Using a -1 through -9 determines the compression strength. 1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest. If you choose to not compress at all you would use the -0 parameter to simple store the file(s).

unzip: Unzip a .zip archive "unzip [archive name] [specific file (optional)]"

"unzip" is quite easy to use. If you have a zip file you wish to uncompress/unpack there are a few ways to do it. A simple "unzip myzipfile.zip" will uncompress/extract its contents to your current directory. If the file contains say more then one file and you only want to extract a few files or just one it would look like the following, "unzip myzipfile.zip textfile01.txt". So say instead of extracting the files textfile01.txt through textfile08.txt it will only extract textfile01.txt

clear: Clear Screen

"clear" as for this command there is not much to it. Simply type "clear" in the command line and press Return and it will clear the screen give you a fresh terminal.

Other tips: The ampersand "&" function

You can launch your programs from a terminal window. Say you would like to launch the VLC Media Player. If you simply type "vlc" into a terminal and press return, it will launch the program. However, that terminal can not be use because it's focus is running the "vlc" program. An if you close the terminal it will close "vlc". So what can you do ? If you add an ampersand "&" after a program it will cause the program to run in the background and you get your terminal back. So the command should look like this "vlc &". It's that simple.

Well that about wraps up "Part 1" on using the Linux CLI. I will go into more depth about other programs and parameters in the next installment. So take care everyone, I hope this had helped you.

And always embrace the power of the CLI!

New Linux Mint Release "Julia" 10 RC is Here!

Welcome Mint 10! I have had "such!" a wonderful experience with 9. It has been a wonderful experience. So I am happy to say that 10 (Julia) is here.

Some of its new features are:

"The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 10 RC. Linux Mint 10 comes with updated software and brings refinements and new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use: the Welcome screen will now give you the opportunity to install the missing multimedia codecs and to upgrade to the DVD edition; the menu highlights your newly installed applications and makes them easier to find; available applications are easy to find too - the menu is aware of what's available in your repositories so you can search for software and install packages without opening the software manager; the Software Manager gives you a nicer browsing experience" -From: Distrowatch.com Link


If some of you have yet to give Mint a try I would highly recommend it. Oh and for Fluxbox lovers out there be sure to take a look at the "Special" Fluxbox edition of 9. I am not sure if a Flux edition of 10 is out currently considering 10 is still in the RC stage.

Mint 9 X11 Problem

As mentioned in my "A Blogs Beginning" post I stated that I was going to talk about the 3D acceleration issue I had. So time to explain.

When I first started with Linux Mint 9 Isadora as a live CD, it was great. I used it for a few days and was quite impressed. About 4-5 days later I thought it was time to partition my Hard-Drive and give it a full go. In my mind it should be simple, or so I thought. When the instillation was complete, I went on to boot from the Hard-Disk and get started. For some reason I was given an error that X11-xorg was having trouble and could not start correctly. So I tried a few things.

When I went to go check on the xorg.conf file in "/etc/X11/" it came as a surprise that there was no conf file. When I did some looking online it turns out what some people had said that by default Mint 9 doesn't generate an xorg file. Although people went on to point out that the GUI works just fine without it.

So I tried generating an xorg.conf file the usual way with the "Xorg -configure" command as root "#". An for some reason that still didn't fix my issue. So I thought about it for a while. I preceded to load up the Live CD of Mint 9 again. Once it was loaded I opened up a command terminal. I changed to root and generated an Xorg.conf file. It is stored in the home folder. (If my memory serves me right) I then copied the newly created file to "my" hard-drive under the "/etc/X11/" directory and gave booting into my installation another go.

An would you know it, I was finally able to successfully launch X11 and access the Gnome interface. Considering that the Live CD supports Nvidia and ATI already. However I didn't take a look at the differences between the two config files. I already replace the old xorg and didn't compare the two. Once that was fixed, I went about getting the Full 3D acceleration driver installed. I don't know what the issue was but so far that is the "ONLY" issue I have had and experienced with Mint 9 Isadora at this point.

Go all Linux or go home!

Let me start out by saying that the "title" of this post is not my viewpoint on what Operating System to use. Rather it's focusing on others who say such a thing. So I thought I would give my 2 cents on this topic. Keep in mind I'm not pointing fingers but just my opinion on the matter.

When it comes to choosing between an Open Source OS or a proprietary OS such as "Windows", at this point in time you can't have just one. People will find that there are a number of tasks you can do on Linux extremely well and same goes with Windows. As far as I see it you should live in the best of both worlds.

Trying to preform things you are most accustomed to on Windows in Linux, won't always be an easy alternative. A prime example is the latest releases for hardcore gamers. Games that use DirectX 10 and soon to be 11, will have a difficult time running in Linux. Now that is if there is no "native" version available for that game, or solid support for Windows API applications such as Wine or Cedega for instance. This will always be a problem. Although some companies are wanting to climb aboard the Linux bandwagon. Such as "BioWare", "EPIC Games" and "id Software" provide native Linux clients for some of their games.

For me I will always see myself using both the Linux and Windows environments for the time being. That could change in the near future. But again supporting Linux is not on a lot of developers minds considering the Windows still makes up over 90% of the current platform market.

So you want to try Linux ?

So you want to try Linux? The following video (only 8 minutes long) describes how to obtain a Linux distribution of your choice and try it without any Hard-Drive formatting or partitioning required. (aka, you won't have to remove windows or have to change anything on your Hard-Drive)

Note: Stay tuned for the next video that will show you how to use the GUI (Graphical User Interface) and also some basic and common CLI (Command Line Interface) commands. An if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I will gladly answer any questions to the best of my ability.

Video: Trying Linux Part 1
Hosted on: YouTube.com
Length: Just over 8 minutes

COSLinux is now on YouTube

Just an update. I will be adding videos to help in conjunction with my Blog. Any video updates and posts will be announced here on the blog.

These videos will contain tips, tricks, HowTo's, and other helpful information.

It can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/COSLinux

History of Linux Distributions Used

Damn Small Linux:
Versions: 4.4.10, 3.3, 3.0
Link: Here

Linux Mint:
Version: 9 Isadora
Link: Here

Fedora:
Versions: 12 Constantine, 10 Cambridge
Link: Here

Ubuntu:
Versions: 6.10 Edgy, 8.10 Intrepid, 9.10 Karmic
Link: Here

Knoppix
Versions: 6.0.1, 4.0.2, 3.7
Link: Here

openSUSE:

Version: 10.0

Link: Here

Mepis Linux:

Version: 3.3.1

Link: Here

The Life of a Machine

Hey everyone. I thought I would share the life of my E6850 PC. Like all the hardware changes, Operating Systems, and just overall fun I have had with this PC.

Lets start off with the hardware. Before it was equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 CPU, it stared with a little Pentium D 805. Let me tell you the 805 was no ordinary CPU. On the lovely site known as Tomshardware, I came across a little article stating that a specific lot of Pentium D 805's have a high overclock capability. An I thought with the Proc only costing around 80$ at the time, I thought why not.


To break it down, the bottom line was that you could overclock the 805 CPU from its stock speed of 2.66GHz to over 4GHz with not a lot of effort. An sure enough it was true. With some simple tuning and BIOS modifications, it was easily reached. I managed to get as high as 4.1GHz "stable". In conjunction with the 805 it had 4Gb of ram and 2 Nvidia 7600GT's in SLi. So back then it was a pretty kick ass rig for around $800-$1000. I sould also add that with the 805, air cooling at those speeds was not an option. So I turned to the Corsair Nautilus 500 Water Cooling system. Which did a wonderful job if I might add.

Since then I went from the Pentium D 805 to the Core 2 Duo E6850, then the 2 7600GT's to one 8800GTS and finally to a eVGA Nvidia 8800GT (Kick ass card, G92). Coming up last was the switch to the P5B-Deluxe MoBo. After about a 2 years I upgraded from the 8800GT to the GTS 250.

In the beginning I used Windows XP to start with. When Vista arrived I used it for about 8 months then went back to XP. You may be thinking I went back to XP because I didn't like Vista, not true. The whole purpose of using Vista for a period of time was because I knew friends, family and other students would be coming to me with their computer "Vista" related questions. So I thought why not get a chance to learn the new OS while I have a chance. I Dual booted different Linux OS's off an on but couldn't find one that set right. Until I tried Linux Mint 9 Isador just recently. Needless to say I was pretty impressed. Currently I am using Windows 7 Pro 64-bit and Mint 9.

On a side note I would like to point out how revolutionary the 8800GT was for its time. Going from the G80 chip to the G92 made such a huge difference. I remember going to Fry's Electronics like I usually do and seeing that gold eVGA box for the 8800GT on the shelf. Thinking to myself like what kind of card is this ? Why does this thing stick out an say, "I'm so special I have a gold box!". Little did I know what it was capable of. After I went home and did some research on it I couldn't believe the numbers it was posting, I was just blow away.

The next day I went back to the store, and sadly they were all gone! I looked online to order one, and every resource was sold out. Most places had a waiting list just to get a hold of an 8800GT. The edition I bought at the time was an eVGA Superclocked edition. An to this day it still kicks ass. It was an amazing card and will always have a place in my heart.

A Blogs Beginning

At this point in time I currently have two main PC's and one laptop that I use. The laptop is a Compaq/HP nc4000. An absolute wonderful laptop for school use and portability. The performance it offers is perfect for basic daily use. Web surfing, documentation, and video playback. It's currently running Fedora 12. I'm too lazy to find its exact specs online but you have the model number now so be my guest if you are curious.

As for my two PC's, they are quite different. My first PC I consider my "main" is hand built with an Intel E6850 OC'd to 3.4GHz, 4Gb Patriot memory, BFG Nvidia GTS 250, all on a P5B-Deluxe motherboard. In the Operating System department, it currently has Windows 7 Pro 64-bit and Linux Mint 9 Isadora 32-bit. (Gnome)

I have had an extreme amount of success with Mint 9 Isadora. For drivers it was ridiculously simple. The 3D acceleration for the Nvidia card took some time and unique thinking to get it working correctly but that's another post.

The second PC is quite older. It is a Compaq PD1000 desktop. Feel free to look it up. The CPU is a Pentium II with only 512Mb of memory. It did run Windows XP at one point in time but has been on Knoppix 3.7 for some time now. I use it for smaller tasks that it is perfectly capable of handling. As I said I consider the E6850 the "main" PC.

That about wraps up the current hardware I am using at this point in time so I guess on to more business then.