Now that I officially own BiasFX, I hope my shit starts to sound better! Here’s test track 11 (yeah, you missed a bunch since the last posting. Tweaks required but I fear I won’t have time. Today’s sample follows!
| Bone Fire: 1611 (Test) |
Archive for February, 2016
New Bone Fire MP3: BiasFX Test 11
Posted in Blog, Downloads, MP3s, Music on February 27, 2016 by slatemanVikings: Season 4
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Vikings on February 21, 2016 by slateman
YESSSS…..
The best show on television returns. The best trio on TV returns, even if I’m kinda pissed at Rollo, maybe it’s all a ploy. Lagertha….Well, need I say more?
Vikings is my favorite, it’s back, and it’s time for some Ragnar revenge, methinks! ROAR!!!
Street Fighter V FAQs
Posted in Blog, Games, Guides, Street Fighter on February 20, 2016 by slateman
With the game out a few days and my general dreadful skill level, I’ve resorted to writing guides. Hey, you go with your strengths, right? Anyways, I’ve tossed two up quickly, one on a full move list and the other on unlockables, just like I did back on SFIV and SSFIV. I fully intend on keeping up on these, especially considering the incomplete state the game shipped in. Despite the online grumblings, I quite like the game. So…here we are!
Street Fighter V Unlockables Guide
Hope someone enjoys these and finds them useful!
New Albums: Barren 2016 Edition
Posted in Blog, Lists, Music on February 19, 2016 by slateman
While 2015 was overall a disappointment, I have high expectations for 2016. Well, let’s clarify…There’s a new Moonsorrow disc coming out! That’s it. That’s all you need to know. OK, fair enough, that’s a lot of pressure on the Finnish band. Usually these lists are just as much for me to catalog the upcoming calendar. Let’s take a peek at the very little 2016 has to offer. God, I really hope Moonsorrow is good.
Oh, and a few already arrived. None wowed me, TBH.
Already Out
Abbath – Abbath (Good album)
Megadeth – Dystopia (*snore*)
Borknagar – Winter Thrice (Disappointing)
Jesu/Sun Kill Moon – Eponymous (Unlistenable)
Anthrax – For All Kings (Urgh)
March
25 – Amon Amarth – Jomsviking
April
01 – Moonsorrow – Jumalten Aika
01 – Babymetal – Metal Resistance
04 – Ihsahn – Arktis (zero expectations)
22 – October Tide – Winged Waltz (excited!)
Wow…that really is a barren list. Maybe a new Testament disc, but…I haven’t loved them since like 2001. Metallica? Haha. 2018! Is that all…? Hrmph.
Hori RAP4 / Street Fighter V
Posted in Blog, Games, Street Fighter on February 14, 2016 by slateman
My X-Arcade stick needs a new PCB and it won’t work with the PS4. I might be able to use my old method of daisy-chaining the adapter to a PS2 controller port and then use a PS2->USB and have that work. But it might not. So, thanks to a lovely birthday gift from my grandmother, enter the Hori Real Arcade Pro 4. I really wanted something more but the RAP4 fit in my budget.
I plan on modding its buttons. Sanwa OBSC buttons aren’t too pricey and maybe I’ll change the colors to make it a bit more colorful.
Now…SFV coming out is a big deal. Again, I played the first in arcades as a kid, the second was a huge release. 3 was too hardcore for a lot of people and 4 was an exciting return to form. A fifth game coming out 29 years after the first is thrilling! While I’ll never be great at this game, I never tire of its depth and diversity. Like the fourth, I plan on writing a guide or two. And as any new artwork comes out, I’ll toss that on SFGalleries. I’ve purchased the season pass as I likely won’t have enough time to dedicate to unlocking everything. It’s a huge release and I’m insanely excited. Hoping my RAP4 is up for the task! Bring it on!!!
A Case For Red Dead Redemption Remastered
Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games with tags Red Dead Redemption on February 9, 2016 by slateman
2010’s Red Dead Redemption is a legendary title which, among so many remasters nowadays, deserves one more than most others. I’m wondering if it’ll actually happen and I think we have two things on our hands: It could be so good and it should be made.
Rockstar has made some legendary games. GTA4 and GTA5 each scored perfect 10s on IGN if I’m not mistaken. But everyone knows that. GTAV has sold 60 million copies. Holy shit. However, RDR scored a 9.7 and, unlike every GTA game I’ve played (which is 3, VC, SA, 4 and 5), I actually beat it. For some reason I never quite got around to completing any GTA game. In addition, I don’t particularly like westerns. The setting, the early 20th-century west, shouldn’t appeal to me, but damn that game drew me in. It was a perfect open-world game which contained utterly spectacular voice acting, perfectly-timed music and one of the best endings in gaming.
2013’s Game Of The Year Tomb Raider was one I rented on GameFly and later purchased for $7.50 digitally on the PS3. But I never finished it a second time. However, the Definitive Edition on the PS4 called to me and I 100%ed that guy in less than a week. I feel a remaster of RDR would do the same much as a simple replay of the game might not be as compelling. The visuals of a remaster could do just as TR did. I positively love the share button on my PS4, and I must’ve snapped three dozen screenshots of Tomb Raider just due to the game’s sheer beauty. There’s no question the game could be great. Not a doubt in my mind.
In addition, a third Red Dead game on current-gen systems could be oh-so-amazing. Much like other remasters set the scene for a new title, a RDR remaster at the end of 2016 could lead into Red Dead 3 in 2017.
While the game certainly didn’t find the commercial success the GTA games, it did ship over 14 million copies, a truly remarkable stat for an open-world western that no one really asked for. That’s a lot of copies and a sequel of the same caliber could be an enormous success. A remastered visit to the life and turmoils of John Marston just might convince me to get back on board. Just writing this makes me want to revisit that world, head into Mexico, and take snapshots of the beauty found within. Crossing my fingers Rockstar agrees with my opinion!
Skewb & Skewb Diamond Algorithms
Posted in Algorithms, Blog, Cubing on February 3, 2016 by slateman
I remember buying my Skewb when I was just getting into cubing and realized…it’s not that cool. There’s really no true challenge and therefore it sat on my shelf, rarely touched. In the years since, I’ve purchased other octahedral puzzles: the skewb diamond, the rainbow cube, a face-turning octahedron, the flower rex cube. And it turns out…nah, they’re not that cool either.
Among my collection, those are collectively my least-favorite bunch of cubes.
However, I should at least know how to solve them, and I only recently realized I never actually solved my Skewb Diamond. So, I went out to figure it out and I was beyond frustrated. Tutorials weren’t clear enough (I plan on making my own) and it just annoyed me. But now, I think I have it down, and so as usual I’m tossing up some algorithms for future reference as I will inevitably put these away and forget about them…again!
Let’s get to it!
Skewb: (R’ / L / R / L’)(Alg will turn front center piece)
- Solve White Face
- Match Centers
- Top-Layer Corners
The second step will swap the Front and Top centers as well as Left and Right centers.
The last maneuver requires the algorithm to be performed twice.
4 Incorrect
- Place yellow headlights on left (facing left)
- Place yellow on front right facing front
- Place yellow on back right facing back
Bar – Algorithm 2x
- Yellow in Front Right – Facing Right
- Yellow in Back Left – Facing Back
Skewb Diamond
Step One
The first step is to solve one side, not including the single-sticker center.
Then find one other correctly-placed corner to make a second complete side.
Step Two
Now, with a four-color piece facing you, place that new, correctly-placed piece in the back left and rotate the puzzle forward. The correct piece is now in the front-left position and the original face is on the left in your left palm. Perform this algorithm:
Solve All Corners
R / U’ / R’ / U / F
Step Three
You will face one of two situations. You’ll have to swap a three-cycle of faces or you’ll have four.
Four-Cycle
To swap four, place a four-sticker piece facing you. This algorithm swaps top & below 4-sticker piece as well as swapping top right back & top left back. The algorithm is:
Four-Cycle
R / U / R’ / U’ (x3)
Three Cycle
Find the base side (around which the three cycle goes) and put that in left palm.
Colors of the three-cycle around this face will be on bottom, back-left and top-left.
Using the opposite side of base side (same color) as your front face, the single-sticker triangle looking right at you with a flat top. Remember, one ill-placed center will be on the bottom.
Three-Cycle
Clockwise: U / R / U / R’ (x2)
Counter-CW: R / U’ / R’ / U’ (x2)