rorschach's journal

aha

garkwal — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:40:37 +0000

aha!

that’s it… now scoot!

what? you’re still here? man.. i thought i was the only vellah around. ab since you’re here hi, let me try and impress you. i’ve finally figured out why our batch ki basketball team sucks bad (nahin, no sexual annotations here). it’s coz we are all ‘stylo-philes’ (yeah yeah, i know… i made the bloody word up). half the time on court we spend trying to impress potential date-candidates , the other half trying to maro (and jhado) style on those ppl from our batch who are stup…err, nice enough to come and watch our match.

ab now that we know what our problem is… i guess, we’ll be phoding all our matches. magar, sala apna coach (top-coder… aka innocent-boy aka show-me-the-money) hi tharki hain!

“if at first you don’t succeed, call it version 1.0″… ha ha! now shoo!

it’s a lie…

garkwal — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:26:31 +0000

you lie. you’ve spent all your life lying. most will probably never see your true self. each time you get out you put on a mask, showing to people what you want them to see in you. you be what you want them to see you as. you act like you want them to see you act. you behave like you want them to see you behave. … and why? you say because you want to fit in. because you want to be accepted. that’s the only reason you can think of.

but once in a while, somewhere down the line, you meet someone to whom you just can’t lie. to whom you don’t need to lie. you don’t worry about fitting in. you don’t have to worry. you can be yourself without fear of rejection. you can be true for the first time in your life. true to yourself. that person, that special person, ignores all your faults. ignores all the bad you have in you. sees only the good and likes you for whatever little of it you have.

… but what if that person is lying… to you?

Empire’s New Post

garkwal — Thu, 31 May 2007 17:38:30 +0000

Karan’s tagged me and according to the rules I’ve got to think of five wishes to ask a genie and write am here. I begin:

: The combined super powers of J’on J’onzz (Manhunter), Prof. X, Jean Gray and Cable.

: An unlimited harddisk space full of all albums released till date.

: A date with the girl I like (no names).

: that I may never run out of ideas for blog posts.

: better net speed in IIIT(-H), and no more belan (I hope this doesn’t count as two).

Brand New Post

garkwal — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 06:17:41 +0000

Here I am, once again, with the same old sob tale aur wohi rona-dhona… well, maybe not this time. I’m tired of filling this blog with the same old posts over and over again. Those who’ve been reading my blog would have, by now, come to the conclusion that my posts are just about as interesting as Ekta Kapoor’s sob episodes their mums watch day-in day-out.

Na! Nahin! Ab bas! No more of the same rona-dhona… no more wailing, no more ranting. That’s it… so what if I’m still bored as hell, so what if the book-reading assignment (that I’ve been so looking forward to) is still pending, so What if I can’t play any games…. I’m not gonna crib any more. Finito!

But if I’m not going to crib, if I’m not going to rant, if I’m not going to wail… what am I going to do? I can’t stop posting (I’ve already given up once… but that was a different blog, with really crappy posts) AND I can’t keep posting on games, ‘coz they sure don’t have any market value! Ah, coming to that… a few days (or maybe weeks… don’t really remember) there was a lot of hue and cry about one of my fellow bloggers’ crossing the 1lakh hit mark (that’s exciting how, i fail to grasp). Anyhow, that got me thinking, though I didn’t post it aloud at that time, why are we blogging (we, as in, all my fellow blogger batchmates) ?

I started blogging, ‘coz I had pretty much nothing to do. I decided (like I decide every other thing), all of a sudden, that I too wanted to be a part of the growing blog community… but why? (hey, don’t ask me… I decide, like I said, everything without any thought what-so-ever) Why are we blogging (chee! I’ve written this question 3 times now)… is it to garner world-wide respect (blogs are read by the world) OR is it to impress our fellow blog-dosts (yeehee… mere blogs tere se jyada). Why? (4)

Frankly speaking, I blog not because I want others to read. I blog only because, I don’t have my diary at hand and since I really want to write something… this is the only means. You (yes, you) read it or not… it doesn’t really matter. As as aside, perhaps that’s one reason why I’ve changed the blog name to “rorschach’s journal”… I do treat the blog as a journal.

But you also have a different breed of bloggers. Some like Jug Suraiya, whom I love to read every Sunday, blog about social issues and going-ons with more than just a hint of humour. Some, like present day Neos, tend to write on technical stuff… publishing codes (ala Sir Somani) or tech-bites (kulbir or billu). Others, like maroo (and billu, again), are more concerned with… well, blogging multidimensionally… his blogs are full of a bit of everything… cricket team, hangout joints, (his) lack of girlfriends, and whatnot.

Now I’m not a fervent blog-reader and my lack of world blogging scenario is easily reflected in the number of classes and examples I’ve given above. My point, actually, being… we have bloggers, many many bloggers, but why? Why are we blogging… why are we excited when someone crosses a (1lakh hit point) milestone… why do we get hyper, when someone who’s not been posting all of a sudden gets on a blogging spree… bhy (sic) the excitement?

I don’t really want answers to the above (rhetorical) questions… I’ve been writing this crap only to pass time. Don’t think I’ll come up such questions without doing a research of my own. The reason why we post is to present our ideas to the rest of the world. The reason why we read blogs is exactly the reason why we read anything at all… to get a piece of the world that is yet untasted, to know the ideas of a person unknown and to basically kill time for lack of anything better to do. Ladies and Gentleman, I humbly apologize for wasting you time… hope you’ll not stop reading my posts (i’m stuck on bloody 857)… now, thanks to you, I’m not bored at last.

arrivederci

New Post

garkwal — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:11:43 +0000

Am sitting at home right now. Pretty much nothing to do… just finished my papers (a week ago, if that’s any concern) and here i am idling away my time. I took care of everything, remembered every damn piece of wire Except my PS2 to USB convertor — end result, can’t connect my mouse to my laptop… i.e. I can’t play any frigging game I’ve been hoarding since god knows when… and that is why I’m here, sitting in front of this crummy desktop typing away while knowing that if I didn’t do even this I’d pretty much end up doing nothing at all.

In case you’ve been following me till this point… I’m bored and frustoo-ed to the max… I’m not going to be writing any sensible stuff… on the contrary I’m going to be filling this page with as much of my frustration as I can… so if there’s a time to make a silent exit, this, surely, is.

Where do I begin… let’s begin at the beginning of my I-am-frustooed stage… this sem. If you’ve been diligently reading up blogs by my fellow (but regular) posters, you would have figured out that this sem has really been a disaster to us 2nd years (for the outsiders… we are IIITians). I’ve wasted this sem… BAD! not that it’s been purely my fault, no it’s been but the contrary… anyone who knows me well (they, I’m afraid, are a very limited gentry) will vouch that I’ve worked the hardest this sem. I’ve trudged, daily, to that dreaded place — The Library — and have worked my arse off, but what result did my daily drudgery bestow — absolutely Nothing! This sem promises the worst sem in my so far illustrious record in IIIT (of course I’m being narcissistic). I hate life!

Coming to our vacations, ah the glorious vacations, spoiled by the despots reigning in our campus. Bloody book-reading assignment… as if, if they hadn’t asked I wouldn’t have read books… buggers, I’ve vowed to read all books BUT those listed in the book-list (Sod off, is my message to you). As for book-reading, that isn’t helping me any either… I’ve read 5 books in 4 days (not those puny cheap jhakdoos either). Bloody hell I gobbled up Prey (by Michael Crichton) in a 6hr long marathon session today… end result, am left with no more books and I have to stay at home for 4 more days. Shit!

The last point, but I guess I’ve already ranted about that one… I can’t play any games… (aarrgghh!! I feel like screaming… and since there’s no one at home I think I will). What’s the time… 1940 already… Shit! Can’t believe I’ve wasted (!) such a lot of time doing nothing… but hey, I would have done nothing otherwise as well.

Shit, I have no other options but to either watch the idiot box or read a Miss Marple story… hate life! what you’re still here… sheesshh! you’re vellah too huh? Shoo off now… hush.. hurrrr… phooot!!

An Arbit Post

garkwal — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:54:54 +0000

This post’s a reply to a comment I got on the previous one (see, I’m totally vellah!). First of all I’d like to mention that I really hate being stereotyped — in fact not just that, I really hate doing the same thing(s) over and over again so much that I consciously try to change my daily pattern just to have a bit of randomness (or arbitrariness, to appease everyone…) in my life.

I’m not a geek… all I do on my comp. is play games or listen to music (or surf the net, but that’s not on top of my priority). I’m not a nerd… all I do in the library is read short stories!! I’m not a dork… the reason I look like I do is because I can’t help it!!! I’m not a cool-dude… but that should be obvious! I’m not an average guy… because you thought I was one of the above!!

I hope that clears a lot of doubts about me… in case it doesn’t…… bah!

It took me three bloody painful netless days to download Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and the bloody thing doesn’t run properly on my comp… choppy frame-rates to the max (I hope Badri doesn’t read it… I’ve told him it’s an awesome game and runs perfectly well!!!). Now I’m stuck to the same problem of having no game to rave about… bah!

The papers are approaching and the same feeling (the one which tells me that I don’t really know anything) has returned… abe yaar, I don’t want to study any more !!!!

arrivederci

Something

garkwal — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:21:36 +0000

Tis been days and days since anything has broken the monotonic routine my life seems to have taken. Day-in-day-out I follow the same routine, do the same things and finally at the end of the day find myself uttering the same curses at my life. The classes have started become boring (they weren’t previously… or were they?), the profs having finished their courses have started droning on things which are either to dull to be interesting (what the hell!!) or which are too “high-fundaa” to be worth listening to.

Even right now as I’m typing I feel like hell. I don’t really have much work to do (hence the blog)… just need to take the AI assignment from someone, but that’s not much of a bother. Bloody Gargoyle (I don’t really like divulging names), because of him I’ve caught the downloading-bug, something which I’ve been trying to avoid since 1^st year… downloaded 9 albums yesterday (finally found the Switchfoot discography… tis one of my fav bands… yippee!!) and right now, even as I type, another game installation (which we downloaded together… a whooping 7.6 gb… from the internet!!) is going on to add to my already spiraling game collection… Nonetheless I’m still bored!

Hmm… what else… I’m into heavy-duty orkutting these days, thanks to two people who, even after sending me 20+ scraps, find me interesting enough to talk to (that’s a first… generally I don’t last for more than 10 scraps)… plus I’ve become pseudo-regular in the library… nothing better than sitting in the air-cooled luxury that our library provides!!

And yes… I’ve discovered I have a terrible (in the positive sense of course) crush on the very lovely and very beautiful… Neha Dhupia! She is just absolutely superb!!! Man, I love her!!!!

I’ll get back to my… “I’m bored as hell” phase…

arrivederci

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

garkwal — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:26:39 +0000

Early in the morning (read 0900) I wake up to the sound of someone drumming my door. Ah! It’s Gargoyl3 (erstwhile Gargoyle… kids!). “eh, ho gaya re”. Finally, the chap’s been up all night in the lab with both our laptops (while I’ve been pleasantly snoozing), and now we’ve finally got our hands on the much-awaited S.T.A.L.K.E.R – Shadow of Chernobyl.

The ISO (an MDF rather) is a mere 3.x gb betraying the actual disk requirement. The Setup first scans the hardware (and does that very efficiently too) and checks if the system meets the requirement (better than some games which do that AFTER the installation). Gargoyl3’s PC easily meets the requirements… now comes the first glitch… the game’s asking for 9gb (shock and awe revisited) of disk-space, but wait that’s not the reason why I said glitch, while the (full) installation seems to take only 5gb (eh?)… the developer’s seemed to have grossly over-estimated the disk-req!

Anyhow, we proceed to the game and believe me the menu (as well as the loading) screen really help build up the excitement. The starting cut-scene isn’t disappointing either (I actually expected some monsters… but alas!). The real disappointment comes later… the game much touted as a revolutionary fps, turns out to be an quest-based-rpg (yucks!). The same rigmarole of talking to people, maintaining an inventory and using a pda (I’m kinda tired of the pda routine now) gives this game a signature rpg feel. We’ve only played for some 10-15 mins so I can’t really comment on the action but whatever I saw was, quite frankly, blasé. The AI doesn’t seem overtly intelligent and the physics isn’t brilliant either. At one point we were standing in between two NPCs (and shooting at them) while they were merely content at taking pot-shots at our team-mates… mind you, they didn’t take even one shot at us, while we were busy “kicking their arse” (mind the quotes… the action, like I said, is quite tasteless.

The only good I could draw (from my brief look of the game) was the environmental details! It’s quite sad that developers, these days, are concentrating more on improving the aesthetic value of a game (and thus making them unplayable on systems like mine!) rather than on the in-game intelligence and actual playability. Only a few exceptions like Farcry, Half Life2 and FEAR are games which actually combine both intelligent gameplay with stupendous graphics. I don’t know about others but I’d rather play a bad looking Half Life than a good looking Spiderman.

The net result, S.T.A.L.K.E.R’s a good enough game for those who like both traditional fps’s and rpg’s, but don’t expect it to behave like another Half Life or FEAR… lets keep our fingers crossed that CrySis doesn’t disappoint (it’s a Ubisoft game… I don’t think it can).

BTW, we downloaded TMNT as well… kinda fun. It’s basically a Prince of Persia for kids (when I say kids, I do mean kids). Don’t expect it to behave intelligently (either). The graphics are neat and action cool. Play it with least expectations and you might actually like it. Cowabunga!

Arrivederci.

Zombie

garkwal — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:12:34 +0000

What with my recent lack of performance in mids and subsequent lack of interest in all things academic, I’ve renewed my long lost interested in what used to be my greatest passions… computer gaming. This post is all about the same. The following are the (upcoming or otherwise) coolest games ever seen (by moi).

(For the sake of convenience the games are grouped into gameplay genres)

Sandboxes/Quest based RPGs:

I have nothing to do with these games… I don’t like ‘em and I don’t play ‘em. This genre’s included ONLY for the sake of completeness.

Grand Theft Auto:

aha! gamer’s delight! I don’t really know why, but this game is one of the most famous games ever made. It offers the players a whole city to do whatever they want. The whole city’s their plaything.. (hence the name sandbox).

Elder Scrolls IV:

Yet another enigma… I liked this game for a while but again the concept of ‘quest’ing eludes me. Going from people to people; looking for Something (Anything) to do… really bogs me down. A great game nonetheless… with an immersive story line and interesting character modeling options.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic:

Soon to be released… this game by my fav computer game producers (Ubisoft… trivia, btw, for all Rorschach fans), is basically similar to ES IV… but will offer greater control, a more deeply involved story and better ‘powers’, of course, at the price of lesser character classes. (Man! Do watch the trailer… the telekinesis power seems awesome to say the least) … btw @Apocalypse seems to suggest otherwise… according to him only the games’ trailer is worth a dekko!

RACING:

Yet another genre I have nothing to do with; not that I haven’t tried… but sadly I haven’t been able to master a car-racing game ever since I played NFS 3 for the first time (I was 12 then, I guess).

NFS:

No need for me to say anything… NFS series is known to any and every racing game enthusiast for its super collection of cars, soundtracks (and recently, storyline!) and tracks… all of which, mind you, can be upgraded at the nfs site… a must have (I don’t, by the by!).

Test Drive Unlimited:

Awesome! That about sums it all. No racing game was Ever this complete. A look at the game’s size (7 gb) will tell you what the game’s all about. It looks sleek (Hawaii looks absolutely awesome)… the car’s are gorgeous to look at and the character model’s are superbly done. The game offers the player a chance to buy not only cars (as in nfs) but also bikes (yup… this game also has bike racing) and houses! This game combines 3 genres (racing, sandboxes and mmorpgs) to redefine racing (the publishers call this game an mmor… massively multi-player online racing). A superb game… BUT (unfortunately there is a but) tis a system hog. You’ll need a beast of a system to run this beauty.

( I won’t be able to mention all genres.. I already wasted a lot of space on the above two… I’ll skip directly to the games/genres which I like and play)

Quintessential FPS:

Every gamer knows that when it comes to gaming nothing beats an FPS. Some of my all time fav’s are…

Unreal Tournament:

Play it to believe it. Nothing… nothing can come close to what this game can offer (nope, not even quake III). A superb collection of weapons, fundoo looking character classes (raunchy taunts) and unlimited frags… man I love this game.

Half Life:

Ask any avid gamer what’s the best game ever made and they’ll point out this beauty. Not only did this game redefine this genre the first time it released… its sequel did the same thing again. The game combines intelligent gameplay with an immersive storyline to create a masterpiece… a must have!

Quake:

There you go, had to mention it, didn’t I? btw unlike what the other gamers will have you believe, I personally liked the non-arena versions of the series with quake II being a gem and quake IV… well, good enough. If you have Doom III, you really don’t need quake IV… but try it if you must… tis a good modern FPS.

Farcry:

A beauty, an absolute beauty! Can’t believe anyone could have made such a gem (and believe it or not… they’ve come up with a sequel, of sorts, a game called Crysis… man! Can’t wait for that one). The game has superb graphics (just look at the game just for its aesthetic value) and combines a hyper-intelligent AI with a superb storyline to give the give gamers something they’ve never seen before… a game which thinks!

A must have!

Call of Duty:

A very good game! I liked it a lot Until I got bored with its repetitiveness! Like all war-based FPS_sthis one too becomes a tad to repetitive when mission after mission you’re forced to do the same thing over-n-over again in similar looking environments against similar looking foes. Play it only if you’re a fan of the genre, ‘coz this is the best world war game (I’ve) ever seen.

(Geez… this post’s getting to big… I’ll close this post now and continue in the next one)

Zombie (contd.)

garkwal — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:12:03 +0000

Horror FPS/RPG:

Now comes my favorite part. This is my (current) fav genre. These games combine eerie environments and cool sound effects to create a (spa-like) rejuvenating experience for the gamers (if you’re an avid gamer you’ll know what I’m taking about… nothing beats stress than having an adrenaline rush… for hours straight!)

Doom III:

Imagine taking an all-time classic… tearing it apart, giving it a new engine, adding some new weapons and enemies, leaving players with no ingame lights whatsoever… what do you get… an ingenious way of raking moolah! Not only was this game popular, they even churned out a movie (albeit, a sadly disappointing one) on this one. An fps never looked so good… a must have!

F.E.A.R:

First Encounter Assault Recon… this game is simply breathtaking! Never has any first-person felt this good, never has AI been this sharp, never did this game scare the shit out of me! Yup, despite the game’s promising scope… it isn’t really a “Very Scary Game”. It’s a very good game, mind you; it has a superb AI, great graphics, an interesting storyline but scary? Nah! The game doesn’t surprise you (unlike doom)… you’ll always know when to expect paranormal activities. In fact I played a mini-game with myself… I had to guess when the ‘ghosts’ would turn up, and guess what… I had a perfect score. Try it if you must.

Condemned – Criminal Origins:

I’ve really got to thank Gargoyle for this one. I’ve been thinking about what can make a game really scary… when this gem pops up. Now the basic flaw with all horror titles is that even though they end up surprising you with sudden enemy attacks, having a hyper-charged weapon at hand becomes a real help… Scared, press the frigging trigger! This is one game which dared to be different… and succeeded. Imagine playing Doom (or maybe F.E.A.R) with the restriction that you can choose only one weapon at a time! Now, to further the pain, restrict that weapon to be a melee weapon… interested? Then do play this game. A more salient feature this game offers (something no other game does) is realistic melee fighting. You can actually feel pain everytime some baddie hits you. Oh yes! Lest I forget, the baddies are awesomely created. One can actually feel their desire to hurt you. They come at you with a vengeance… every part of their being, visibly, wanting you to hurt… and hurt bad! From the time this game starts you’ll know you’re in for a hell of a ride. A must have!

Call of Cthulu:

Haven’t really played this one, but have heard a lot about the title. It’s similar to condemned in terms of gameplay (and lack of weapons). An interesting add-on is the fact that you’ll continuously have to keep a watch on the sanity of the character you control. Grisly images, and dead bodies tend to affect his sanity… an effect which adds tremendous value to the gameplay.

The Suffering:

This game’s my all-time fav horror title. It, in fact, is the first horror title I played and this game is responsible for my current infatuation with the genre. At the core, it’s a basic hack-n-slash action RPG with lackluster graphics, lots of gore and stupid looking enemies, But what makes this game so good is its simplicity. There’s nothing which beats the satisfaction got from slashing up a weird baddie… a must have!

Rorschach’s Pick:

Now comes the interesting part… I’ve left the best for the last and for a reason… the following games may not be real great when it comes to graphics, sound effects OR enemy AI, but have a real great storyline and That is what I, personally, like (nay, love) in games…

Max Payne Series:

Can’t imagine anyone could have made a game like this… the game not only has a very interesting storyline, it is also the first game credited with the now highly abused gameplay feature called bullet-time. Bullet-time allows the player to slow down time and avoid sticky situations… the logic behind the ability being Max Payne’s heightened reflexes (yeah, right!). The game has a great soundtrack, superb voice-overs, interesting characters, a good array of weapons and (like I’ve already said) an immersive storyline. A must have!

Prince of Persia Series:

My all-time favourite game… I remember the first time I played the console version (I was 6 years old then) I instantly fell in love with it. The console version’s new avatar wowed gamers with a great (guess what?) storyline, interesting gameplay combining basic hack-n-slash with environment puzzles, and, once again, a revolutionary new gameplay technique… the ability to control time (the ability this time attributed not to heightened reflexes, but to a magical dagger and amulet). The prince’s athletic and acrobatic prowess, his swordsmanship and his passion makes him one of the most interesting gaming characters ever designed. What adds to the wow effect of the game is how the prince can actually combine his athleticism and his swordsmanship; to produce moves never seen before… in Any game.

A must have!

There… that about completes the list… I’m still waiting for the release of TMNT, Bioshock and Spiderman 3: the movie.

Hope they’ll live up to the expectation.

Till then…

Arrivederci.