T.R. Legend trailer

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"Gary Mitchell" <wb6yru@ix.nospam.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:427B358A.6013A8BA@ix.nospam.netcom.com
> McGrandpa wrote:
>>
>> "Gary Mitchell" <wb6yru@ix.nospam.netcom.com> wrote in message
>> news:427AD7A7.5E3386E5@ix.nospam.netcom.com
>>> McGrandpa wrote:
>>>>
>>>> "King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
> [snip]
>
>>>>> O/T: <nostalgic sigh> ah, yes, PacMan ... and those 320x200 video
>>>>> screens on the Vic 20 that could load an entire TWO (2) Kilobyte
>>>>> game in 15 minutes from cassette tape <sigh> then came the
>>>>> Trash-80's ... endless Paddleboard games ... Tetris ... Duke Nukem
>>>>> v1 ...
>>>>
>>>> Timex 1000, Atari 800XL, Commie Plus4, Tandy 1000a, Atari 1040ST
>>>> and then FINALLY.... a "clone" type PC. 286-12mHz (that was the
>>>> processor, not keyboard speed!) 2 megs of chip ram, 20 meg Seagate
>>>> MFM HD, ATI VGA Wonder 1.0 512K. Used that rig for a good 5 years.
>>>
>>> Hey, I've got one of those... but without that "fancy" graphics
>>> card.
>>
>> You have an ISA slot? 16 bit?
>
> <hesitantly> Yeaaaaah...
>
> I can do even better than that... Got any S-100 cards? 😛
>
>> I have an ATI VGA Wonder 1.0 512K and an
>> ATI VGA Wonder XL24 1meg. Both 16 bit cards. Compared to any PCI
>> card, they're slower than molasses in January.
>
> Well, yes, but it depends on what you're doing with it. For most
> of the stuff I did on it, that'd be overkill.
>
> This machine I'm using here has an old Diamond Stealth 3 Xtreme,
> AGP 4X. That was a serious card not so long ago, but these days?
> ... talk about molasses. Heh.
>
>> But, they were both very
>> reliable cards. I should cobble an old rig together just to see if
>> either still work I think I have a 486 something I could use.
>>
>>>
>>> <looks around> WHAT? 😉 It's a good machine... put it
>>> together myself... got a lot of use out of it... <sigh> Wasn't
>>> *that* many years ago too, (about 15).
>>
>> Ah, that's back to where Lara was at in Forerunner with the
>> treehouse in the world of computers Gary.
>
> <counts on fingers> Let's see... in computer years, that'd be, what,
> 134 years? 😉
>
> No, actually, Lara in her tree house would be more like the first
> machine I worked on. An IBM 360. It was a programming class
> waaaaaaaaaay back when. And get *this*: we used punch cards!
> Granted, it was a bit dated even back then, but the school had to
> settle for what they could get. Computers were much harder to
> come by then.
>
>> It must be pretty low humidity where
>> you're at 😉 Copper traces on the pc cards usually turn really green
>> and stop working long before that down here.
>
> Shouldn't if they're coated properly.
>
>> That's what happened to my
>> 286 mobo. All kinds of stuff turned green and clumpy, unsalvageable.
>> It ran, actually, for ten years. When I stopped using it is when it
>> went to the garden
>>
>>>
>>> At this pace, I shudder to think what we'll have in the next 15
>>> or 20 years... probably something that'll argue with us. 😉
>>> Or maybe full, actual, real 3D... sans the funny glasses.
>>
>> Ha! The darn machines already argue with us!
>
> No, I mean *really* argue--a discussion--like we're doing now.
> I'm thinking machines with personalities, that behave perhaps
> a little like a butler: "Um, Geeves.... see if you can find
> anything on the internet about xyz." "yes sir, right away."
>
>> I just wonder when
>> they're gonna come up with a "3D Tank", where everything seen inside
>> is fully 3D. Or the 3D table top Might have to have a trio of
>> vid cards for that or something.
>
> No, just one, but they'd have to invent a completely different kind
> of monitor. I imagine each pixel might have some kind of lens and
> several internal pixels. So, you'd see a different pixel depending
> on the viewing angle. That way each eye could see a different image,
> and there's your 3D. Of course, easier said than done. 😉
>
> -- G

In the ritzy area of town here, at a huge multiplex cinema called The
River Oaks, they had a "holo game", and it was a true hologram. Some
kinda comedic type Medieval "Eric the Brave" or somesuch. The guy
battles a dragon to save the Princess, who clubs him in the head after
he wins Though cartooney, it looked incredibly real and vivid. And
about 3" tall. I put my hand in the space and nuthin, of course.
Nobody wanted to put two dollar bills in so they'd wait around it for
its demo attract mode Me, I put $2 in to see it once, and had my
nephew play it while I watched. Pretty cool!
McG.

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

On Thu, 05 May 2005 11:24:53 GMT: "McGrandpa"
<McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:

>"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
>news:a73j719e37n06j9f4vl86m6s7oapko7tkf@4ax.com
>> On Wed, 04 May 2005 21:41:39 GMT: "McGrandpa"
>> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>>
>>> "snark^" <snarkamedes@tulgeywook.org> wrote in message
>>> news:7tdh71dqtfor03gg9hlpv7f5nqu7drmdoi@4ax.com
>>>> =>> The runes were cast, the portents thundered and then
>>>> "Dragoncarer" warbled on about "Legend trailer - Oni-style
>>>> crossfire?" in a.g.t <<=
>>>>
>>>>> Meanwhile, did y'all notice the crossfire?!?!? Looks like they'e
>>>>> taken the ONI-esque suggestions from waaaaay back for camera or
>>>>> lock-on crossfire aiming. Very exciting.
>>>>
>>>> Do you mean crosshair? I noticed and haven't stopped grinning.
>>>> Diff. xhairs for each weapon too from the look of it. Must mean
>>>> we're finally going to get mouseaim on the PC version.
>>>>
>>>> /me loads up WoW, logs on orc warlock -- and proceeds to /dance in
>>>> happiness.
>>>
>>> If that gameplay footage video is for real, looks like we might be in
>>> for a treat!
>>> McG.
>>>
>> <parks Lara after reaching TR2 Temple Ruins Level, yep, shure nuff,
>> those monkeys turn hostile here> I sure like to think so, McG; so
>> much bad press about TRAOD in here - and I haven't even played it yet
>> - still in the box. Might save myself unnecessary prolonged agony and
>> just use Stella's Walkthroughs for it just to more quickly play out
>> some of my money's worth. <thinks of going offline to rip Lara
>> through that quad bike course again, back at her mansion ...
>> wheeeeee-oooff crashed it again>
>>
>> Wishing Well,
>>
>> Fred
>
>There IS some fun stuff in it, and there is some very pretty scenery.
>there is Lara too. DO play it, use the walkthrus (I'm going to, to
>finish it). It's worth a play for what IS good in it.
>McG.
>

You're on - thanks for the tips. According to the box, it'll need the
Clearance-Sale Compaq laptop to play it - 1.8GHz 512MB shared with
64MB Radeon, should be OK; if the display doesn't take too kindly to
3D gameplay, a port and patch cord will plug the laptop into my
Aptiva's monitor. I'm into scenery and Lara - favorite in TR2 was the
cultured Chinese Garden bits and pieces in Floating Islands.
I'll do it.

But if I suddenly vanish never to be heard from again for a few weeks
.... TRAOD got me.

BTW, I am =Definitely= going to be archiving this thread; What an
Eighteen-Wheeler Transport Truckload of nostalgia and hardware
knowledge/expertise in here; left me in your collective dust.

Hey, I remember IBM 360's and punched cards - started out on one when
I went back to school in '79. 'S how I got hooked on computers.
Anyone still own a Radio Shack PS-2 Pocket Computer? Dot-Matrix
Display 7 dots high by 26 characters long, 1 MHz 8-bit CMOS processor,
expanded to a whopping 10.2KB RAM, good solid BASIC language, 20
minutes to load from cassette tapes, ... fantastic college calculator
(could sneak formulas into exams) ... Poke &A3 &FF &7C ...
Hmmm, I think that's what the monkeys are trying to do to Lara in TR3
India Levels 2 and up.

OK, offline to do another run thru the Cobras in Temple Ruins. One
loud pop from the Desert Eagle ... no-o-o contest. This will be Tour
III with All Weapons.

I sort of dread getting to the River Ganges Level. Where the two
alternate routes split up - one upward via a River Path and the other
by jumping the stream on the quad bike and going through more temple
ruins - the two routes of course rejoin at a piranha-infested river
between open ground on one side and a cavern on the other ...

Although I can jump Lara across the river to travel in reverse thru
the Ruins Route: when she backtracks to jump back across, I =CANNOT=
get Lara to make the Veering Leap from the corner of the sidewalk (at
the bend in the river) to land on the level stone floor of the cavern
overlooking the river, as per Stella's Walkthrough and GIF
illustration. Must have tried it hundreds of times, too.

Came so-o-o close, sometimes ...

Even tried to jump the quad bike back across from various points and
angles, trashing Lara way too many times in the process. Tried from
the tree root to the corner of the cave floor, too. Always always
came at best just a few inches short of contacting flat level floor,
and instead caught the edge of the sloped stone ramp leading into the
river, and down she slid into the piranha hordes; my PC's F6-Restore
HotKey should have had the F6 worn off from all those Game Restores.
Had to abandon Stella's strategy. The Veering Technique of steering
her in mid-air to the floor just didn't give her enough veer to
contact level floor; again always at best a few inches shy.

Cheeeeeze, do I have a different version of the game than Stella had??
How'd she DO that?

Oh well. I simply GameSaved the first route, restored from the
beginning of that route, then took the alternate River Path route,
gamesaving both just to show that I had found and taken both routes.
Best I could do. The hinged platform on the cliff where the two
routes rejoin is up when touring via the River Path, but down to
prevent access from the Ruins Route back up to the River Path ... or
is that the other way around. I forget - was that little hinged ledge
even mentioned in Stella's Walkthrough? I think it overlooked that
ledge entirely, but I could be mistaken ... nope, just checked: I had
to insert notes into my copy of Stella's Walkthrough myself - it was
never mentioned.

"Insert:
"Just before Lara goes and slides off that Rocky Slope, she can
instead walk over to her right and safety drop off the hinged metal
ledge there, then hop down the ledges to the ground; using that same
route in reverse, she can also climb back up to the top of the rocky
slope again - and even get back on the quad bike and ease it gently
(brakes on) down the rocky slope to bounce down off the ledges to
ground level ... then quickly hop off the bike to take out the two
vultures that immediately begin harassing her.

"If Lara takes the River Path, that hinged metal ledge will be raised
up level so that she can use it to climb up and down from clifftop to
ground and back; however, if Lara takes the Path through the Ruins and
winds up jumping the quad bike over the river, that same hinged metal
ledge will have dropped down when she gets to it, so that she cannot
access the upper River Trail at all. One more reason to take the
River Trail first."

Hmmm. Guess that makes two items that Stella might like to have for
her TR3 W/T. The other item is near where Lara drops thru the trap
door in Lud's Gate to the croc-infested water cavern, traversed with
the help of the first mini-sub in the game; the tunnel at the opposite
end carries a strong water current that sweeps Lara up to surface near
two blacktop platforms with harpoons on them - it then leads into the
Dock Area with the Crates, Frogman and brown-uniformed Guard. Now
backtrack a bit: just at the entrance to that tunnel with the strong
water current, there's a Small Medi-Pack down behind a square boulder
on the right side of that entrance.

The W/T missed that one too. :-/

But Stella is quite welcome to help herself to these two extras,
should she wish to.

BTW, did Stella ever find out how to get that Six-armed Stompin'
Statue to vanish from the Great Hall near the end of the Temple Ruins
Level? She mentioned in her W/T that she could never get that to
work.

Well, there's a little trick to it which has to do with Order of
Operations. If Stella first gets Ganesha Keys 4 and 5 before fetching
Key 3 on the central dais with the hollowed-out Randy/Rory suspended
over it (very gruesome) - as suggested by "fellow Finn" Vesa H., then
unlocks two of the locks as Vesa suggested, and finally gets Key 3
which activates the statue: just run out to the edge of the steps
leading to the room with two high windows, and as the statue
approaches (Lara can turn and face it to watch this happen), just hop
onto the steps and see the statue vanish.

Cool!

But then I restored the game at that point and ran around to get
distance and then roll to aim and pop off the statue - in Tour II with
a few rockets. More of a challenge. Or dash for the third lock,
unlock it, and scamper up the steps to stand in the doorway of the
Level Exit - and safely shoot the statue from there (had to dangle
Lara from the entrance a few times to prompt the statue to drop its
scimitar-shield so Lara could shoot it again).



OK, that's enough for another day; someone else's turn.


Wishing Well,

Fred

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

> No, actually, Lara in her tree house would be more like the first
> machine I worked on. An IBM 360. It was a programming class
> waaaaaaaaaay back when. And get *this*: we used punch cards!
> Granted, it was a bit dated even back then, but the school had to
> settle for what they could get. Computers were much harder to
> come by then.

I started back in 1968. Our high school was part of a program (APEX)
to take 7 public high schools, merge resources and have each high
school specialize in something. The first computer was a Monrobot,
a drum memory machine that used paper tape. That computer went to
Beverly Hills High School, and we got an IBM 1130 (16 bit computer
with 32k of core memory). This one used punched cards. We had a
selectric type console, punch card reader and puncher, and a 80
lpm printer (40 if you didn't remove a card that IBM added to
slow it down and charge less). We also had saturday classes
at the IBM data center near download Los Angeles, on an IBM
360-25 or 360-30. Most impressive was a 1200 lpm 1443 printer.
They also had a relativily fast 360-67 there at the time.

I also got some time on a CDC 3150 (24 bit machine) and 6600
a 60 bit machine that predated the 1st 360 by a year. It had
5 multipliers and 4 dividers to speed up math operations, a
precursor to vector oriented machines. DMA was handled by
special micro computers that could also be used to do memory
moves in addition to normal input / output functions.

My first job was on an HP 2100 (later called 1000 series), back
in 1973. Then a few company brewed 16 bit machines. Eventually
companies starting using standard chips like the Intel 8080 (we
used the 8085, and later 8088), and Motorola 68000 (corresponding
to the end of 2901 bit slice company brewed 16 bit minis). After
that, most of my work has been using Intel chips, ARM (32 bit
risc cpu that you embed into a custom chip), and of course a lot
of PC stuff.

For home stuff, we had a pong game, that my wife threw out. A
Bally astrocade (z80 based) game system that wasn't popular and
had maybe 2 or 3 good games on it. Then Atari 400/800/130XE (in
that order). The Atari's ran their 6502's at 2mhz instead of the
1mhz that Apple and Commodore did, and the peripheral interface
could run up to 56k (instead of the 19k of the Commodore), but
the peformance advantage didn't help sales all that much, but Atari
did sell a lot of 2600 game systems. I eventually got a Z80
based CPM system, with a whopping 64k of memory and 1.4mb 8 inch
floppies (relativly high density as single sided, single density
was just 128k). The big app of the time was Wordstar, and the
first time computers started getting used by people other than
engineers and gamers. TRS-80's (trash-80s) from Radio Shack, and
S100 bus based CPM systems were popular at the time.

PC's came out in 1981, and the early ones weren't much more than
a step up from CPM systems, same apps that were ported over. PC's
had a hard drive options, but the XT soon replaced these and these
were the systems to get. The Mac came out in 1984, and generated
a cult following. The graphics interface was nice, but because memory
prices were high, the OS and applications were setup to minmize
memory usage, and a klugy scheme (handles) was used to allow the
system to cache memory (resources). For the user it wasn't a big
deal, but for a programmer, it was a pain, and an annoyance, here
you have a 32-bit machine restricted to using pc relative
instructions, that forced you to break up programs into 32k segments.
By this time 286's were common, but they were simply extended 16 bit
machines. 386's were next, but with windows 3.1, it was mostly extended
16 bit programming, except there was a 32 bit programming memory
model for applications, but only Symantec sold tools to fully utilize
mem32 model. Otherwise you needed the win32s add-on. Windows 95
fixed this by incorporating win32s, but still used a 16 bit kernel.

In the mean time, Macintosh had the gall to raise prices at the end
of 1989 on all machines, while introducing their first color machines.
Unlike the PC, there was no DMA on the Macintosh for hard drives, and
despite continued promises, no pre-emptive multi-tasking OS. A lot
of the cult members, got "deprogrammed" and went to PC's with Windows
3.1

Atari and Commdore also made 68000 based systems. (Atari ST in 1987).
Atari did the smart thing, basically porting MS-DOS and a Windows
like interface to a 68000, but with a flat 32-bit architecture, so
unlike the Mac, segmenting programs wasn't needed. However, these
machines had a short market life span.

IBM came out with PS/2, and Microsoft with a 16 bit OS/2 and later
a 32-bit OS/2, but abandoned the software and IBM took over OS/2.
Microsoft came out with NT, a 32 only OS. IBM wouldn't make a
386 AT, but other companies created the EISA standard, and 386
AT's became the machines to buy.

Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95 became
Windows ME. Windows NT became Windows 2000 and now Windows XP. Macintosh
finally made a pre-emptive OS with version 10. Earlier, there was a Unix
for the MAC, called AUX with a windows interface called AIX (AIX and panes?),
but this wasn't very popular. SCO had a Xenix and later Unix for the PC, but
eventually Linux, a "free" version became the most popular.

Intel kept improving processors, 386-33mhz, 486-33mhz to 486dx4-100mhz, then since
they couldn't keep other companies from using numeric names, the 586 was named
Pentium. There was a P, P2, P3, and then they stopped changing the name at P4,
and just started adding speed and other suffixes, like P4 extreme edition.
Because of heat dissipation issues 4ghz is about the limit with current and
near future technology, so the new Pentiums got numbers that don't refer to
clock speeds, like the 500 and 600 series.

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
news:jcgo7154pck8oi5p98v5lqeq0i60b36j9j@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 05 May 2005 11:24:53 GMT: "McGrandpa"
> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>
>>"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
>>news:a73j719e37n06j9f4vl86m6s7oapko7tkf@4ax.com
>>> On Wed, 04 May 2005 21:41:39 GMT: "McGrandpa"
>>> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>>>
>>>> "snark^" <snarkamedes@tulgeywook.org> wrote in message
>>>> news:7tdh71dqtfor03gg9hlpv7f5nqu7drmdoi@4ax.com
>>>>> =>> The runes were cast, the portents thundered and then
>>>>> "Dragoncarer" warbled on about "Legend trailer - Oni-style
>>>>> crossfire?" in a.g.t <<=
>>>>>
>>>>>> Meanwhile, did y'all notice the crossfire?!?!? Looks like they'e
>>>>>> taken the ONI-esque suggestions from waaaaay back for camera or
>>>>>> lock-on crossfire aiming. Very exciting.
>>>>>
>>>>> Do you mean crosshair? I noticed and haven't stopped grinning.
>>>>> Diff. xhairs for each weapon too from the look of it. Must mean
>>>>> we're finally going to get mouseaim on the PC version.
>>>>>
>>>>> /me loads up WoW, logs on orc warlock -- and proceeds to /dance in
>>>>> happiness.
>>>>
>>>> If that gameplay footage video is for real, looks like we might be in
>>>> for a treat!
>>>> McG.
>>>>
>>> <parks Lara after reaching TR2 Temple Ruins Level, yep, shure nuff,
>>> those monkeys turn hostile here> I sure like to think so, McG; so
>>> much bad press about TRAOD in here - and I haven't even played it yet
>>> - still in the box. Might save myself unnecessary prolonged agony and
>>> just use Stella's Walkthroughs for it just to more quickly play out
>>> some of my money's worth. <thinks of going offline to rip Lara
>>> through that quad bike course again, back at her mansion ...
>>> wheeeeee-oooff crashed it again>
>>>
>>> Wishing Well,
>>>
>>> Fred
>>
>>There IS some fun stuff in it, and there is some very pretty scenery.
>>there is Lara too. DO play it, use the walkthrus (I'm going to, to
>>finish it). It's worth a play for what IS good in it.
>>McG.
>>
>
> You're on - thanks for the tips. According to the box, it'll need the
> Clearance-Sale Compaq laptop to play it - 1.8GHz 512MB shared with
> 64MB Radeon, should be OK; if the display doesn't take too kindly to
> 3D gameplay, a port and patch cord will plug the laptop into my
> Aptiva's monitor. I'm into scenery and Lara - favorite in TR2 was the
> cultured Chinese Garden bits and pieces in Floating Islands.
> I'll do it.
>
> But if I suddenly vanish never to be heard from again for a few weeks
> ... TRAOD got me.
>
> BTW, I am =Definitely= going to be archiving this thread; What an
> Eighteen-Wheeler Transport Truckload of nostalgia and hardware
> knowledge/expertise in here; left me in your collective dust.
>
> Hey, I remember IBM 360's and punched cards - started out on one when
> I went back to school in '79. 'S how I got hooked on computers.
> Anyone still own a Radio Shack PS-2 Pocket Computer? Dot-Matrix
> Display 7 dots high by 26 characters long, 1 MHz 8-bit CMOS processor,
> expanded to a whopping 10.2KB RAM, good solid BASIC language, 20
> minutes to load from cassette tapes, ... fantastic college calculator
> (could sneak formulas into exams) ... Poke &A3 &FF &7C ...
> Hmmm, I think that's what the monkeys are trying to do to Lara in TR3
> India Levels 2 and up.
>
> OK, offline to do another run thru the Cobras in Temple Ruins. One
> loud pop from the Desert Eagle ... no-o-o contest. This will be Tour
> III with All Weapons.
>
> I sort of dread getting to the River Ganges Level. Where the two
> alternate routes split up - one upward via a River Path and the other
> by jumping the stream on the quad bike and going through more temple
> ruins - the two routes of course rejoin at a piranha-infested river
> between open ground on one side and a cavern on the other ...
>
> Although I can jump Lara across the river to travel in reverse thru
> the Ruins Route: when she backtracks to jump back across, I =CANNOT=
> get Lara to make the Veering Leap from the corner of the sidewalk (at
> the bend in the river) to land on the level stone floor of the cavern
> overlooking the river, as per Stella's Walkthrough and GIF
> illustration. Must have tried it hundreds of times, too.
>
> Came so-o-o close, sometimes ...
>
> Even tried to jump the quad bike back across from various points and
> angles, trashing Lara way too many times in the process. Tried from
> the tree root to the corner of the cave floor, too. Always always
> came at best just a few inches short of contacting flat level floor,
> and instead caught the edge of the sloped stone ramp leading into the
> river, and down she slid into the piranha hordes; my PC's F6-Restore
> HotKey should have had the F6 worn off from all those Game Restores.
> Had to abandon Stella's strategy. The Veering Technique of steering
> her in mid-air to the floor just didn't give her enough veer to
> contact level floor; again always at best a few inches shy.
>
> Cheeeeeze, do I have a different version of the game than Stella had??
> How'd she DO that?
>
> Oh well. I simply GameSaved the first route, restored from the
> beginning of that route, then took the alternate River Path route,
> gamesaving both just to show that I had found and taken both routes.
> Best I could do. The hinged platform on the cliff where the two
> routes rejoin is up when touring via the River Path, but down to
> prevent access from the Ruins Route back up to the River Path ... or
> is that the other way around. I forget - was that little hinged ledge
> even mentioned in Stella's Walkthrough? I think it overlooked that
> ledge entirely, but I could be mistaken ... nope, just checked: I had
> to insert notes into my copy of Stella's Walkthrough myself - it was
> never mentioned.
>
> "Insert:
> "Just before Lara goes and slides off that Rocky Slope, she can
> instead walk over to her right and safety drop off the hinged metal
> ledge there, then hop down the ledges to the ground; using that same
> route in reverse, she can also climb back up to the top of the rocky
> slope again - and even get back on the quad bike and ease it gently
> (brakes on) down the rocky slope to bounce down off the ledges to
> ground level ... then quickly hop off the bike to take out the two
> vultures that immediately begin harassing her.
>
> "If Lara takes the River Path, that hinged metal ledge will be raised
> up level so that she can use it to climb up and down from clifftop to
> ground and back; however, if Lara takes the Path through the Ruins and
> winds up jumping the quad bike over the river, that same hinged metal
> ledge will have dropped down when she gets to it, so that she cannot
> access the upper River Trail at all. One more reason to take the
> River Trail first."
>
> Hmmm. Guess that makes two items that Stella might like to have for
> her TR3 W/T. The other item is near where Lara drops thru the trap
> door in Lud's Gate to the croc-infested water cavern, traversed with
> the help of the first mini-sub in the game; the tunnel at the opposite
> end carries a strong water current that sweeps Lara up to surface near
> two blacktop platforms with harpoons on them - it then leads into the
> Dock Area with the Crates, Frogman and brown-uniformed Guard. Now
> backtrack a bit: just at the entrance to that tunnel with the strong
> water current, there's a Small Medi-Pack down behind a square boulder
> on the right side of that entrance.
>
> The W/T missed that one too. :-/
>
> But Stella is quite welcome to help herself to these two extras,
> should she wish to.
>
> BTW, did Stella ever find out how to get that Six-armed Stompin'
> Statue to vanish from the Great Hall near the end of the Temple Ruins
> Level? She mentioned in her W/T that she could never get that to
> work.
>
> Well, there's a little trick to it which has to do with Order of
> Operations. If Stella first gets Ganesha Keys 4 and 5 before fetching
> Key 3 on the central dais with the hollowed-out Randy/Rory suspended
> over it (very gruesome) - as suggested by "fellow Finn" Vesa H., then
> unlocks two of the locks as Vesa suggested, and finally gets Key 3
> which activates the statue: just run out to the edge of the steps
> leading to the room with two high windows, and as the statue
> approaches (Lara can turn and face it to watch this happen), just hop
> onto the steps and see the statue vanish.
>
> Cool!
>
> But then I restored the game at that point and ran around to get
> distance and then roll to aim and pop off the statue - in Tour II with
> a few rockets. More of a challenge. Or dash for the third lock,
> unlock it, and scamper up the steps to stand in the doorway of the
> Level Exit - and safely shoot the statue from there (had to dangle
> Lara from the entrance a few times to prompt the statue to drop its
> scimitar-shield so Lara could shoot it again).
>
>
>
> OK, that's enough for another day; someone else's turn.
>
>
> Wishing Well,
>
> Fred
mayhap her comp is slower than your's?
I've noticed in one game that (re-volt) on my P2 drives differently than on
my P4(prevailing thought is that the aproximates info between frames, thus
is less accurate as to the car is doing on the slower machines(less
responsive too)). dunno never was able to do that jump either 🙂
rex

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

McGrandpa wrote:
>
> "Gary Mitchell" <wb6yru@ix.nospam.netcom.com> wrote in message
> news:427B358A.6013A8BA@ix.nospam.netcom.com
> > McGrandpa wrote:
> >>
[snip]

> >> I just wonder when
> >> they're gonna come up with a "3D Tank", where everything seen inside
> >> is fully 3D. Or the 3D table top Might have to have a trio of
> >> vid cards for that or something.
> >
> > No, just one, but they'd have to invent a completely different kind
> > of monitor. I imagine each pixel might have some kind of lens and
> > several internal pixels. So, you'd see a different pixel depending
> > on the viewing angle. That way each eye could see a different image,
> > and there's your 3D. Of course, easier said than done. 😉
> >
> > -- G
>
> In the ritzy area of town here, at a huge multiplex cinema called The
> River Oaks, they had a "holo game", and it was a true hologram. Some
> kinda comedic type Medieval "Eric the Brave" or somesuch. The guy
> battles a dragon to save the Princess, who clubs him in the head after
> he wins Though cartooney, it looked incredibly real and vivid. And
> about 3" tall. I put my hand in the space and nuthin, of course.
> Nobody wanted to put two dollar bills in so they'd wait around it for
> its demo attract mode Me, I put $2 in to see it once, and had my
> nephew play it while I watched. Pretty cool!
> McG.

Huh, interesting. Do you know how it was done?

-- G

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"Gary Mitchell" <wb6yru@ix.nospam.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:427C78C5.FB687CF0@ix.nospam.netcom.com
> McGrandpa wrote:
>>
>> "Gary Mitchell" <wb6yru@ix.nospam.netcom.com> wrote in message
>> news:427B358A.6013A8BA@ix.nospam.netcom.com
>>> McGrandpa wrote:
>>>>
> [snip]
>
>>>> I just wonder when
>>>> they're gonna come up with a "3D Tank", where everything seen
>>>> inside is fully 3D. Or the 3D table top Might have to have a
>>>> trio of vid cards for that or something.
>>>
>>> No, just one, but they'd have to invent a completely different kind
>>> of monitor. I imagine each pixel might have some kind of lens and
>>> several internal pixels. So, you'd see a different pixel depending
>>> on the viewing angle. That way each eye could see a different
>>> image, and there's your 3D. Of course, easier said than done.
>>> 😉
>>>
>>> -- G
>>
>> In the ritzy area of town here, at a huge multiplex cinema called The
>> River Oaks, they had a "holo game", and it was a true hologram. Some
>> kinda comedic type Medieval "Eric the Brave" or somesuch. The guy
>> battles a dragon to save the Princess, who clubs him in the head
>> after he wins Though cartooney, it looked incredibly real and
>> vivid. And about 3" tall. I put my hand in the space and nuthin,
>> of course. Nobody wanted to put two dollar bills in so they'd wait
>> around it for its demo attract mode Me, I put $2 in to see it
>> once, and had my nephew play it while I watched. Pretty cool!
>> McG.
>
> Huh, interesting. Do you know how it was done?
>
> -- G

Nope! Believe me, I was there studying that display at least as long
as I spent there watching the movie! Funny, I recall that little game
kiosk and the display so well and cannot even remember what movie we
went to watch. I might call that theater and try to find out more about
that machine later this week. I would like to see more of it.
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"Jeff Reid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:zL%ee.6454$D91.4947@fed1read01
>> No, actually, Lara in her tree house would be more like the first
>> machine I worked on. An IBM 360. It was a programming class
>> waaaaaaaaaay back when. And get *this*: we used punch cards!
>> Granted, it was a bit dated even back then, but the school had to
>> settle for what they could get. Computers were much harder to
>> come by then.
>
> I started back in 1968. Our high school was part of a program (APEX)
> to take 7 public high schools, merge resources and have each high
> school specialize in something. The first computer was a Monrobot,
> a drum memory machine that used paper tape. That computer went to
> Beverly Hills High School, and we got an IBM 1130 (16 bit computer
> with 32k of core memory). This one used punched cards. We had a
> selectric type console, punch card reader and puncher, and a 80
> lpm printer (40 if you didn't remove a card that IBM added to
> slow it down and charge less). We also had saturday classes
> at the IBM data center near download Los Angeles, on an IBM
> 360-25 or 360-30. Most impressive was a 1200 lpm 1443 printer.
> They also had a relativily fast 360-67 there at the time.
>
> I also got some time on a CDC 3150 (24 bit machine) and 6600
> a 60 bit machine that predated the 1st 360 by a year. It had
> 5 multipliers and 4 dividers to speed up math operations, a
> precursor to vector oriented machines. DMA was handled by
> special micro computers that could also be used to do memory
> moves in addition to normal input / output functions.
>
> My first job was on an HP 2100 (later called 1000 series), back
> in 1973. Then a few company brewed 16 bit machines. Eventually
> companies starting using standard chips like the Intel 8080 (we
> used the 8085, and later 8088), and Motorola 68000 (corresponding
> to the end of 2901 bit slice company brewed 16 bit minis). After
> that, most of my work has been using Intel chips, ARM (32 bit
> risc cpu that you embed into a custom chip), and of course a lot
> of PC stuff.
>
> For home stuff, we had a pong game, that my wife threw out. A
> Bally astrocade (z80 based) game system that wasn't popular and
> had maybe 2 or 3 good games on it. Then Atari 400/800/130XE (in
> that order). The Atari's ran their 6502's at 2mhz instead of the
> 1mhz that Apple and Commodore did, and the peripheral interface
> could run up to 56k (instead of the 19k of the Commodore), but
> the peformance advantage didn't help sales all that much, but Atari
> did sell a lot of 2600 game systems. I eventually got a Z80
> based CPM system, with a whopping 64k of memory and 1.4mb 8 inch
> floppies (relativly high density as single sided, single density
> was just 128k). The big app of the time was Wordstar, and the
> first time computers started getting used by people other than
> engineers and gamers. TRS-80's (trash-80s) from Radio Shack, and
> S100 bus based CPM systems were popular at the time.
>
> PC's came out in 1981, and the early ones weren't much more than
> a step up from CPM systems, same apps that were ported over. PC's
> had a hard drive options, but the XT soon replaced these and these
> were the systems to get. The Mac came out in 1984, and generated
> a cult following. The graphics interface was nice, but because memory
> prices were high, the OS and applications were setup to minmize
> memory usage, and a klugy scheme (handles) was used to allow the
> system to cache memory (resources). For the user it wasn't a big
> deal, but for a programmer, it was a pain, and an annoyance, here
> you have a 32-bit machine restricted to using pc relative
> instructions, that forced you to break up programs into 32k segments.
> By this time 286's were common, but they were simply extended 16 bit
> machines. 386's were next, but with windows 3.1, it was mostly
> extended 16 bit programming, except there was a 32 bit programming
> memory model for applications, but only Symantec sold tools to fully
> utilize
> mem32 model. Otherwise you needed the win32s add-on. Windows 95
> fixed this by incorporating win32s, but still used a 16 bit kernel.
>
> In the mean time, Macintosh had the gall to raise prices at the end
> of 1989 on all machines, while introducing their first color machines.
> Unlike the PC, there was no DMA on the Macintosh for hard drives, and
> despite continued promises, no pre-emptive multi-tasking OS. A lot
> of the cult members, got "deprogrammed" and went to PC's with Windows
> 3.1
>
> Atari and Commdore also made 68000 based systems. (Atari ST in 1987).
> Atari did the smart thing, basically porting MS-DOS and a Windows
> like interface to a 68000, but with a flat 32-bit architecture, so
> unlike the Mac, segmenting programs wasn't needed. However, these
> machines had a short market life span.
>
> IBM came out with PS/2, and Microsoft with a 16 bit OS/2 and later
> a 32-bit OS/2, but abandoned the software and IBM took over OS/2.
> Microsoft came out with NT, a 32 only OS. IBM wouldn't make a
> 386 AT, but other companies created the EISA standard, and 386
> AT's became the machines to buy.
>
> Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95 became
> Windows ME. Windows NT became Windows 2000 and now Windows XP.
> Macintosh finally made a pre-emptive OS with version 10. Earlier,
> there was a
> Unix for the MAC, called AUX with a windows interface called AIX (AIX
> and
> panes?), but this wasn't very popular. SCO had a Xenix and later Unix
> for the
> PC, but eventually Linux, a "free" version became the most popular.
>
> Intel kept improving processors, 386-33mhz, 486-33mhz to
> 486dx4-100mhz, then since they couldn't keep other companies from
> using numeric names, the 586 was named Pentium. There was a P, P2,
> P3, and then they stopped changing the name at P4, and just started
> adding speed and other suffixes, like P4 extreme edition. Because of
> heat dissipation issues 4ghz is about the limit with current and near
> future technology, so the new Pentiums got numbers that don't
> refer to clock speeds, like the 500 and 600 series.

/begin; early morning contemplative rambling:

Atari ST was the first home computer that came with a meg of ram for
under $1000.00. Unfortunately, HD's were seperate with the 'console'
type ST-FM. ST1 and ST2 had an internal drive. That Macs were so
expensive is why the Atari ST did do as well as it did. There were a
couple of Mac emulators out that allowed you to run Mac OS and software.
One of them pretty much made an ST INTO a Mac, even a Mac II Color.
This emulator is the reason Apple restricted sale of its ROM chips. You
could only get a ROM if you turned in a ROM. The price of an Apple was
just stupidly high. Cost of ownership was three times that of a PC and
equivalent OS and software. Over time, software good enough to use with
a PC effectively moved Macs out of the critical scene. Adobe was the
most important single software developer for the Mac, and developing
graphics and DTP software for the PC cut Apples juglar. Adobe is the
premier name of graphics and DTP stuff in the Industry. But that is
changing. All things do, in time

One of the driving forces in the PC CPU development was and is, of
courst, AMD. Intel would never have improved as much or as fast, nor
would have been so affordable if it were not for AMD. But Phoenix BIOS
was the force that moved the PC from business only to Everymans home.
Clones. Intel/AMD now set the standards, IBM follows behind

Free Enterprise, you could say, drove all of this. Competition gave us
lower prices and the Everyman who bought into this for his own personal
use eased the costs of the competitors with demand. Demand paved the
way for startup little companies that ended up making it big with good
products and some timely decisions. Some have finally become competiton
for even the venerable Adobe, and I *really like* that! We could use
some of that in the 3D world!

But, I wonder; did "real" software for the PC push their sales, or did
games?
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
news:jcgo7154pck8oi5p98v5lqeq0i60b36j9j@4ax.com
> On Thu, 05 May 2005 11:24:53 GMT: "McGrandpa"
> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>
>> "King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
>> news:a73j719e37n06j9f4vl86m6s7oapko7tkf@4ax.com
>>> On Wed, 04 May 2005 21:41:39 GMT: "McGrandpa"
>>> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>>>
>>>> "snark^" <snarkamedes@tulgeywook.org> wrote in message
>>>> news:7tdh71dqtfor03gg9hlpv7f5nqu7drmdoi@4ax.com
>>>>> =>> The runes were cast, the portents thundered and then
>>>>> "Dragoncarer" warbled on about "Legend trailer - Oni-style
>>>>> crossfire?" in a.g.t <<=
>>>>>
>>>>>> Meanwhile, did y'all notice the crossfire?!?!? Looks like they'e
>>>>>> taken the ONI-esque suggestions from waaaaay back for camera or
>>>>>> lock-on crossfire aiming. Very exciting.
>>>>>
>>>>> Do you mean crosshair? I noticed and haven't stopped grinning.
>>>>> Diff. xhairs for each weapon too from the look of it. Must mean
>>>>> we're finally going to get mouseaim on the PC version.
>>>>>
>>>>> /me loads up WoW, logs on orc warlock -- and proceeds to /dance in
>>>>> happiness.
>>>>
>>>> If that gameplay footage video is for real, looks like we might be
>>>> in for a treat!
>>>> McG.
>>>>
>>> <parks Lara after reaching TR2 Temple Ruins Level, yep, shure nuff,
>>> those monkeys turn hostile here> I sure like to think so, McG; so
>>> much bad press about TRAOD in here - and I haven't even played it
>>> yet - still in the box. Might save myself unnecessary prolonged
>>> agony and just use Stella's Walkthroughs for it just to more
>>> quickly play out some of my money's worth. <thinks of going
>>> offline to rip Lara through that quad bike course again, back at
>>> her mansion ... wheeeeee-oooff crashed it again>
>>>
>>> Wishing Well,
>>>
>>> Fred
>>
>> There IS some fun stuff in it, and there is some very pretty scenery.
>> there is Lara too. DO play it, use the walkthrus (I'm going to, to
>> finish it). It's worth a play for what IS good in it.
>> McG.
>>
>
> You're on - thanks for the tips. According to the box, it'll need the
> Clearance-Sale Compaq laptop to play it - 1.8GHz 512MB shared with
> 64MB Radeon, should be OK; if the display doesn't take too kindly to
> 3D gameplay, a port and patch cord will plug the laptop into my
> Aptiva's monitor. I'm into scenery and Lara - favorite in TR2 was the
> cultured Chinese Garden bits and pieces in Floating Islands.
> I'll do it.
>
> But if I suddenly vanish never to be heard from again for a few weeks
> ... TRAOD got me.
>
> BTW, I am =Definitely= going to be archiving this thread; What an
> Eighteen-Wheeler Transport Truckload of nostalgia and hardware
> knowledge/expertise in here; left me in your collective dust.
>
> Hey, I remember IBM 360's and punched cards - started out on one when
> I went back to school in '79. 'S how I got hooked on computers.
> Anyone still own a Radio Shack PS-2 Pocket Computer? Dot-Matrix
> Display 7 dots high by 26 characters long, 1 MHz 8-bit CMOS processor,
> expanded to a whopping 10.2KB RAM, good solid BASIC language, 20
> minutes to load from cassette tapes, ... fantastic college calculator
> (could sneak formulas into exams) ... Poke &A3 &FF &7C ...
> Hmmm, I think that's what the monkeys are trying to do to Lara in TR3
> India Levels 2 and up.
>
> OK, offline to do another run thru the Cobras in Temple Ruins. One
> loud pop from the Desert Eagle ... no-o-o contest. This will be Tour
> III with All Weapons.
>
> I sort of dread getting to the River Ganges Level. Where the two
> alternate routes split up - one upward via a River Path and the other
> by jumping the stream on the quad bike and going through more temple
> ruins - the two routes of course rejoin at a piranha-infested river
> between open ground on one side and a cavern on the other ...
>
> Although I can jump Lara across the river to travel in reverse thru
> the Ruins Route: when she backtracks to jump back across, I =CANNOT=
> get Lara to make the Veering Leap from the corner of the sidewalk (at
> the bend in the river) to land on the level stone floor of the cavern
> overlooking the river, as per Stella's Walkthrough and GIF
> illustration. Must have tried it hundreds of times, too.
>
> Came so-o-o close, sometimes ...
>
> Even tried to jump the quad bike back across from various points and
> angles, trashing Lara way too many times in the process. Tried from
> the tree root to the corner of the cave floor, too. Always always
> came at best just a few inches short of contacting flat level floor,
> and instead caught the edge of the sloped stone ramp leading into the
> river, and down she slid into the piranha hordes; my PC's F6-Restore
> HotKey should have had the F6 worn off from all those Game Restores.
> Had to abandon Stella's strategy. The Veering Technique of steering
> her in mid-air to the floor just didn't give her enough veer to
> contact level floor; again always at best a few inches shy.
>
> Cheeeeeze, do I have a different version of the game than Stella had??
> How'd she DO that?
>
> Oh well. I simply GameSaved the first route, restored from the
> beginning of that route, then took the alternate River Path route,
> gamesaving both just to show that I had found and taken both routes.
> Best I could do. The hinged platform on the cliff where the two
> routes rejoin is up when touring via the River Path, but down to
> prevent access from the Ruins Route back up to the River Path ... or
> is that the other way around. I forget - was that little hinged ledge
> even mentioned in Stella's Walkthrough? I think it overlooked that
> ledge entirely, but I could be mistaken ... nope, just checked: I had
> to insert notes into my copy of Stella's Walkthrough myself - it was
> never mentioned.
>
> "Insert:
> "Just before Lara goes and slides off that Rocky Slope, she can
> instead walk over to her right and safety drop off the hinged metal
> ledge there, then hop down the ledges to the ground; using that same
> route in reverse, she can also climb back up to the top of the rocky
> slope again - and even get back on the quad bike and ease it gently
> (brakes on) down the rocky slope to bounce down off the ledges to
> ground level ... then quickly hop off the bike to take out the two
> vultures that immediately begin harassing her.
>
> "If Lara takes the River Path, that hinged metal ledge will be raised
> up level so that she can use it to climb up and down from clifftop to
> ground and back; however, if Lara takes the Path through the Ruins and
> winds up jumping the quad bike over the river, that same hinged metal
> ledge will have dropped down when she gets to it, so that she cannot
> access the upper River Trail at all. One more reason to take the
> River Trail first."
>
> Hmmm. Guess that makes two items that Stella might like to have for
> her TR3 W/T. The other item is near where Lara drops thru the trap
> door in Lud's Gate to the croc-infested water cavern, traversed with
> the help of the first mini-sub in the game; the tunnel at the opposite
> end carries a strong water current that sweeps Lara up to surface near
> two blacktop platforms with harpoons on them - it then leads into the
> Dock Area with the Crates, Frogman and brown-uniformed Guard. Now
> backtrack a bit: just at the entrance to that tunnel with the strong
> water current, there's a Small Medi-Pack down behind a square boulder
> on the right side of that entrance.
>
> The W/T missed that one too. :-/
>
> But Stella is quite welcome to help herself to these two extras,
> should she wish to.
>
> BTW, did Stella ever find out how to get that Six-armed Stompin'
> Statue to vanish from the Great Hall near the end of the Temple Ruins
> Level? She mentioned in her W/T that she could never get that to
> work.
>
> Well, there's a little trick to it which has to do with Order of
> Operations. If Stella first gets Ganesha Keys 4 and 5 before fetching
> Key 3 on the central dais with the hollowed-out Randy/Rory suspended
> over it (very gruesome) - as suggested by "fellow Finn" Vesa H., then
> unlocks two of the locks as Vesa suggested, and finally gets Key 3
> which activates the statue: just run out to the edge of the steps
> leading to the room with two high windows, and as the statue
> approaches (Lara can turn and face it to watch this happen), just hop
> onto the steps and see the statue vanish.
>
> Cool!
>
> But then I restored the game at that point and ran around to get
> distance and then roll to aim and pop off the statue - in Tour II with
> a few rockets. More of a challenge. Or dash for the third lock,
> unlock it, and scamper up the steps to stand in the doorway of the
> Level Exit - and safely shoot the statue from there (had to dangle
> Lara from the entrance a few times to prompt the statue to drop its
> scimitar-shield so Lara could shoot it again).
>
>
>
> OK, that's enough for another day; someone else's turn.
>
>
> Wishing Well,
>
> Fred

Now that's cool stuff Fred! Thanks for sharing that

I will go thru TR2 Venice satisfactoraly and get the "James Bond" treat
with the boats I missed, and also successfully complete the Floating
Islands level, not skip it. Goal is to get all the Dragons in the game.
Never did that yet. Yep, I plan to use a W/T for it.

TR3, did complete it, did get all secrets, but never did collect ALL
items in the game. Some say you CAN get all items, but I'm not so sure.
Seems there were a couple things where you can get one or the other but
not both. Same happens in TR4. ah heck all that, twas a nasty thing the
developers did to us with THAT bit!
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

Jeff Reid wrote:
>
> > No, actually, Lara in her tree house would be more like the first
> > machine I worked on. An IBM 360. It was a programming class
> > waaaaaaaaaay back when. And get *this*: we used punch cards!
> > Granted, it was a bit dated even back then, but the school had to
> > settle for what they could get. Computers were much harder to
> > come by then.
>
> I started back in 1968. Our high school was part of a program (APEX)
> to take 7 public high schools, merge resources and have each high
> school specialize in something. The first computer was a Monrobot,
> a drum memory machine that used paper tape. That computer went to
> Beverly Hills High School, and we got an IBM 1130 (16 bit computer
> with 32k of core memory). This one used punched cards. We had a
> selectric type console, punch card reader and puncher, and a 80
> lpm printer (40 if you didn't remove a card that IBM added to
> slow it down and charge less). We also had saturday classes
> at the IBM data center near download Los Angeles, on an IBM
> 360-25 or 360-30. Most impressive was a 1200 lpm 1443 printer.
> They also had a relativily fast 360-67 there at the time.
>
> I also got some time on a CDC 3150 (24 bit machine) and 6600
> a 60 bit machine that predated the 1st 360 by a year. It had
> 5 multipliers and 4 dividers to speed up math operations, a
> precursor to vector oriented machines. DMA was handled by
> special micro computers that could also be used to do memory
> moves in addition to normal input / output functions.
>
> My first job was on an HP 2100 (later called 1000 series), back
> in 1973. Then a few company brewed 16 bit machines. Eventually
> companies starting using standard chips like the Intel 8080 (we
> used the 8085, and later 8088), and Motorola 68000 (corresponding
> to the end of 2901 bit slice company brewed 16 bit minis). After
> that, most of my work has been using Intel chips, ARM (32 bit
> risc cpu that you embed into a custom chip), and of course a lot
> of PC stuff.
>
> For home stuff, we had a pong game, that my wife threw out. A
> Bally astrocade (z80 based) game system that wasn't popular and
> had maybe 2 or 3 good games on it. Then Atari 400/800/130XE (in
> that order). The Atari's ran their 6502's at 2mhz instead of the
> 1mhz that Apple and Commodore did, and the peripheral interface
> could run up to 56k (instead of the 19k of the Commodore), but
> the peformance advantage didn't help sales all that much, but Atari
> did sell a lot of 2600 game systems. I eventually got a Z80
> based CPM system, with a whopping 64k of memory and 1.4mb 8 inch
> floppies (relativly high density as single sided, single density
> was just 128k).

This is about where I came in. My first computer was a 4 MHz Z80
micro using the S-100 bus... put together myself. Mine had
*dual* 8 inch floppies. And the full 64 K memory. Compared
to what we have now, it's surprising what we were able to do with
machines like that. Part of it was that the software was made to
be as efficient as possible. They don't worry about that these
days. If they did, a 100 MHz Pentium II would be plenty fast
enough to run the latest software... and it'd take a *lot* longer
to make.

> The big app of the time was Wordstar, and the

Oh yeah, I remember Wordstar, with the leading dot formatting
commands.

> first time computers started getting used by people other than
> engineers and gamers. TRS-80's (trash-80s) from Radio Shack, and
> S100 bus based CPM systems were popular at the time.
>
> PC's came out in 1981, and the early ones weren't much more than
> a step up from CPM systems, same apps that were ported over. PC's
> had a hard drive options, but the XT soon replaced these and these
> were the systems to get.

I remember my Z80 had at least as much horse power as the original
PC. I was rather pleased about that. But around that time
(early 80's) software for CPM machines was getting hard to find.

> The Mac came out in 1984, and generated
> a cult following. The graphics interface was nice, but because memory
> prices were high, the OS and applications were setup to minmize
> memory usage, and a klugy scheme (handles) was used to allow the
> system to cache memory (resources). For the user it wasn't a big
> deal, but for a programmer, it was a pain, and an annoyance, here
> you have a 32-bit machine restricted to using pc relative
> instructions, that forced you to break up programs into 32k segments.
> By this time 286's were common, but they were simply extended 16 bit
> machines. 386's were next, but with windows 3.1, it was mostly extended
> 16 bit programming, except there was a 32 bit programming memory
> model for applications, but only Symantec sold tools to fully utilize
> mem32 model. Otherwise you needed the win32s add-on. Windows 95
> fixed this by incorporating win32s, but still used a 16 bit kernel.
>
> In the mean time, Macintosh had the gall to raise prices at the end
> of 1989 on all machines, while introducing their first color machines.
> Unlike the PC, there was no DMA on the Macintosh for hard drives, and
> despite continued promises, no pre-emptive multi-tasking OS. A lot
> of the cult members, got "deprogrammed" and went to PC's with Windows
> 3.1
>
> Atari and Commdore also made 68000 based systems. (Atari ST in 1987).
> Atari did the smart thing, basically porting MS-DOS and a Windows
> like interface to a 68000, but with a flat 32-bit architecture, so
> unlike the Mac, segmenting programs wasn't needed. However, these
> machines had a short market life span.
>
> IBM came out with PS/2, and Microsoft with a 16 bit OS/2 and later
> a 32-bit OS/2, but abandoned the software and IBM took over OS/2.
> Microsoft came out with NT, a 32 only OS. IBM wouldn't make a
> 386 AT, but other companies created the EISA standard, and 386
> AT's became the machines to buy.
>
> Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95 became
> Windows ME.

Windows 98, I think. I've never used ME, but always thought that
was a scaled down version of 98. I'm still using 98.

-- G

> Windows NT became Windows 2000 and now Windows XP. Macintosh
> finally made a pre-emptive OS with version 10. Earlier, there was a Unix
> for the MAC, called AUX with a windows interface called AIX (AIX and panes?),
> but this wasn't very popular. SCO had a Xenix and later Unix for the PC, but
> eventually Linux, a "free" version became the most popular.
>
> Intel kept improving processors, 386-33mhz, 486-33mhz to 486dx4-100mhz, then since
> they couldn't keep other companies from using numeric names, the 586 was named
> Pentium. There was a P, P2, P3, and then they stopped changing the name at P4,
> and just started adding speed and other suffixes, like P4 extreme edition.
> Because of heat dissipation issues 4ghz is about the limit with current and
> near future technology, so the new Pentiums got numbers that don't refer to
> clock speeds, like the 500 and 600 series.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

> > Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95 became
> > Windows ME.

> Windows 98, I think. I've never used ME, but always thought that
> was a scaled down version of 98. I'm still using 98.

Windows ME is Windows 98 but includes later hardware support and
also restore points. The reboot in MSDOS mode is gone though. However,
you can install MSDOS, then NT/2000/XP, then 98/98SE/ME, and have
a triple boot system.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

McGrandpa wrote:
>
> "Jeff Reid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:zL%ee.6454$D91.4947@fed1read01
> >> No, actually, Lara in her tree house would be more like the first
> >> machine I worked on. An IBM 360. It was a programming class
> >> waaaaaaaaaay back when. And get *this*: we used punch cards!
> >> Granted, it was a bit dated even back then, but the school had to
> >> settle for what they could get. Computers were much harder to
> >> come by then.
> >
> > I started back in 1968. Our high school was part of a program (APEX)
> > to take 7 public high schools, merge resources and have each high
> > school specialize in something. The first computer was a Monrobot,
> > a drum memory machine that used paper tape. That computer went to
> > Beverly Hills High School, and we got an IBM 1130 (16 bit computer
> > with 32k of core memory). This one used punched cards. We had a
> > selectric type console, punch card reader and puncher, and a 80
> > lpm printer (40 if you didn't remove a card that IBM added to
> > slow it down and charge less). We also had saturday classes
> > at the IBM data center near download Los Angeles, on an IBM
> > 360-25 or 360-30. Most impressive was a 1200 lpm 1443 printer.
> > They also had a relativily fast 360-67 there at the time.
> >
> > I also got some time on a CDC 3150 (24 bit machine) and 6600
> > a 60 bit machine that predated the 1st 360 by a year. It had
> > 5 multipliers and 4 dividers to speed up math operations, a
> > precursor to vector oriented machines. DMA was handled by
> > special micro computers that could also be used to do memory
> > moves in addition to normal input / output functions.
> >
> > My first job was on an HP 2100 (later called 1000 series), back
> > in 1973. Then a few company brewed 16 bit machines. Eventually
> > companies starting using standard chips like the Intel 8080 (we
> > used the 8085, and later 8088), and Motorola 68000 (corresponding
> > to the end of 2901 bit slice company brewed 16 bit minis). After
> > that, most of my work has been using Intel chips, ARM (32 bit
> > risc cpu that you embed into a custom chip), and of course a lot
> > of PC stuff.
> >
> > For home stuff, we had a pong game, that my wife threw out. A
> > Bally astrocade (z80 based) game system that wasn't popular and
> > had maybe 2 or 3 good games on it. Then Atari 400/800/130XE (in
> > that order). The Atari's ran their 6502's at 2mhz instead of the
> > 1mhz that Apple and Commodore did, and the peripheral interface
> > could run up to 56k (instead of the 19k of the Commodore), but
> > the peformance advantage didn't help sales all that much, but Atari
> > did sell a lot of 2600 game systems. I eventually got a Z80
> > based CPM system, with a whopping 64k of memory and 1.4mb 8 inch
> > floppies (relativly high density as single sided, single density
> > was just 128k). The big app of the time was Wordstar, and the
> > first time computers started getting used by people other than
> > engineers and gamers. TRS-80's (trash-80s) from Radio Shack, and
> > S100 bus based CPM systems were popular at the time.
> >
> > PC's came out in 1981, and the early ones weren't much more than
> > a step up from CPM systems, same apps that were ported over. PC's
> > had a hard drive options, but the XT soon replaced these and these
> > were the systems to get. The Mac came out in 1984, and generated
> > a cult following. The graphics interface was nice, but because memory
> > prices were high, the OS and applications were setup to minmize
> > memory usage, and a klugy scheme (handles) was used to allow the
> > system to cache memory (resources). For the user it wasn't a big
> > deal, but for a programmer, it was a pain, and an annoyance, here
> > you have a 32-bit machine restricted to using pc relative
> > instructions, that forced you to break up programs into 32k segments.
> > By this time 286's were common, but they were simply extended 16 bit
> > machines. 386's were next, but with windows 3.1, it was mostly
> > extended 16 bit programming, except there was a 32 bit programming
> > memory model for applications, but only Symantec sold tools to fully
> > utilize
> > mem32 model. Otherwise you needed the win32s add-on. Windows 95
> > fixed this by incorporating win32s, but still used a 16 bit kernel.
> >
> > In the mean time, Macintosh had the gall to raise prices at the end
> > of 1989 on all machines, while introducing their first color machines.
> > Unlike the PC, there was no DMA on the Macintosh for hard drives, and
> > despite continued promises, no pre-emptive multi-tasking OS. A lot
> > of the cult members, got "deprogrammed" and went to PC's with Windows
> > 3.1
> >
> > Atari and Commdore also made 68000 based systems. (Atari ST in 1987).
> > Atari did the smart thing, basically porting MS-DOS and a Windows
> > like interface to a 68000, but with a flat 32-bit architecture, so
> > unlike the Mac, segmenting programs wasn't needed. However, these
> > machines had a short market life span.
> >
> > IBM came out with PS/2, and Microsoft with a 16 bit OS/2 and later
> > a 32-bit OS/2, but abandoned the software and IBM took over OS/2.
> > Microsoft came out with NT, a 32 only OS. IBM wouldn't make a
> > 386 AT, but other companies created the EISA standard, and 386
> > AT's became the machines to buy.
> >
> > Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95 became
> > Windows ME. Windows NT became Windows 2000 and now Windows XP.
> > Macintosh finally made a pre-emptive OS with version 10. Earlier,
> > there was a
> > Unix for the MAC, called AUX with a windows interface called AIX (AIX
> > and
> > panes?), but this wasn't very popular. SCO had a Xenix and later Unix
> > for the
> > PC, but eventually Linux, a "free" version became the most popular.
> >
> > Intel kept improving processors, 386-33mhz, 486-33mhz to
> > 486dx4-100mhz, then since they couldn't keep other companies from
> > using numeric names, the 586 was named Pentium. There was a P, P2,
> > P3, and then they stopped changing the name at P4, and just started
> > adding speed and other suffixes, like P4 extreme edition. Because of
> > heat dissipation issues 4ghz is about the limit with current and near
> > future technology, so the new Pentiums got numbers that don't
> > refer to clock speeds, like the 500 and 600 series.
>
> /begin; early morning contemplative rambling:
>
> Atari ST was the first home computer that came with a meg of ram for
> under $1000.00. Unfortunately, HD's were seperate with the 'console'
> type ST-FM. ST1 and ST2 had an internal drive. That Macs were so
> expensive is why the Atari ST did do as well as it did. There were a
> couple of Mac emulators out that allowed you to run Mac OS and software.
> One of them pretty much made an ST INTO a Mac, even a Mac II Color.
> This emulator is the reason Apple restricted sale of its ROM chips. You
> could only get a ROM if you turned in a ROM. The price of an Apple was
> just stupidly high. Cost of ownership was three times that of a PC and
> equivalent OS and software. Over time, software good enough to use with
> a PC effectively moved Macs out of the critical scene. Adobe was the
> most important single software developer for the Mac, and developing
> graphics and DTP software for the PC cut Apples juglar. Adobe is the
> premier name of graphics and DTP stuff in the Industry. But that is
> changing. All things do, in time
>
> One of the driving forces in the PC CPU development was and is, of
> courst, AMD. Intel would never have improved as much or as fast, nor
> would have been so affordable if it were not for AMD. But Phoenix BIOS
> was the force that moved the PC from business only to Everymans home.
> Clones. Intel/AMD now set the standards, IBM follows behind
>
> Free Enterprise, you could say, drove all of this. Competition gave us
> lower prices and the Everyman who bought into this for his own personal
> use eased the costs of the competitors with demand. Demand paved the
> way for startup little companies that ended up making it big with good
> products and some timely decisions. Some have finally become competiton
> for even the venerable Adobe, and I *really like* that! We could use
> some of that in the 3D world!
>
> But, I wonder; did "real" software for the PC push their sales, or did
> games?
> McG.

I think games are the driving force for most of the high-end PC hardware.
Maybe not everything, but games lead the charge. I can't think of much
that needs the horsepower that games do... maybe certain graphics software,
but there isn't a huge market for that, at least not among the general
computer user population.

-- G

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"Gary Mitchell" <wb6yru@ix.nospam.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:427DB62E.ACA4F7FA@ix.nospam.netcom.com
> McGrandpa wrote:
snip
>>
>> But, I wonder; did "real" software for the PC push their sales, or
>> did games?
>> McG.
>
> I think games are the driving force for most of the high-end PC
> hardware. Maybe not everything, but games lead the charge. I can't
> think of much that needs the horsepower that games do... maybe
> certain graphics software, but there isn't a huge market for that, at
> least not among the general computer user population.
>
> -- G

True enough. Then too, you see some of the major 3D software companies
doing some big things for the game software developers. I think games
lead the market in some ways. While Max and XSI and Maya cost a lot
for the average folks, devs sure use it a lot. Game devs that is. Not
just engineers and such. So right, there's not a huge market for it.
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

Gary Mitchell wrote:
....
> I think games are the driving force for most of the high-end PC hardware.
> Maybe not everything, but games lead the charge. I can't think of much
> that needs the horsepower that games do... maybe certain graphics software,
> but there isn't a huge market for that, at least not among the general
> computer user population.

lot of companies use PCs as servers (server farms) which also pushes
performance up but in different areas, basically the mainframe criterias
(i.e. more throughput than responsiveness).

erik

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

On Sat, 07 May 2005 11:39:30 GMT: "McGrandpa"
<McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>
<snipped everything already in prior posts - about TR3 tips & tricks>
>
>Now that's cool stuff Fred! Thanks for sharing that
>
>I will go thru TR2 Venice satisfactoraly and get the "James Bond" treat
>with the boats I missed, and also successfully complete the Floating
>Islands level, not skip it. Goal is to get all the Dragons in the game.
>Never did that yet. Yep, I plan to use a W/T for it.
>
>TR3, did complete it, did get all secrets, but never did collect ALL
>items in the game. Some say you CAN get all items, but I'm not so sure.
>Seems there were a couple things where you can get one or the other but
>not both. Same happens in TR4. ah heck all that, twas a nasty thing the
>developers did to us with THAT bit!
>McG.
>

Get ALL items in TR3??

TR3's [Lud's Gate Level] Sphinx Room, for example, would be a case in
point; GameSaved two such scenarios where:
(a) after making her way up the Courtyard Ledges into the Sarcophagus
Chamber that has the vial of embalming fluid as a pickup for Lud,
there's a way to drop down to get an extra rocket, but no way back
up - she then has to drop down the lo-o-ong vertical chute (which
actually shoots her down thru the far-left corner of the Dock Area
with all the Crates, where the Frogman and Brown-uniformed Guard
are patrolling ... betcha wonder how I found that out ... and
start fighting crocs with a yellow minisub in an underwater
cavern. So after GameSaving -Just- as she began to stoop to pick
up that one rocket (the way I commonly use to GameSave pressing a
switch or climbing up on a significant ledge or the like - try
doing that every now and then whilst you also press the Shift key
[on a PC], and she'll do a handstand 4 U 2), just to "show" she
knew about it,
(b) Lara then Restored her game to where she picked up the vial and
carries on thru the tunnels on the way to the Sphinx Room. Either
that or miss the Sphinx Room and its Secret entirely by dropping
down the chute, which Lara just didn't want to do.
Once she worked her way into the Sphinx Room and was standing atop
the Sphinx's head,
(c) Lara dropped off the Sphinx's forehead to get the rocket, but
sacrificed the Secret on the overhead walkway to the right of the
Sphinx (when facing the way the Sphinx is) in the process, after
which
(d) Lara restored the game atop the Sphinx's head, slid down the back
of the head to grab a hidden ridge, then shimmied along to her
right over to the ledge hidden on the back of the head, run-jumped
to the pillar (saved first in case she missed - there's no way
back up), bounced off the angled ledge to the walkway, tripped
the Secret Chimes, fetched the two rockets there, and walked into
the PS2 Save Crystal (going by memory here, but I think I got it
all).
A -sneaky- way to get to the same hidden ledge on the right-rear
of the Sphinx's head is to Precisely! Position and Angle Lara
Just! So! and then jump off the back of the head onto the hidden
ledge ... I forget whether that takes a standing or a running
jump - standing, I suspect. I do remember lining Lara up with the
corners of certain pillars or something, so that she could Restore
Game and repeat the jump if need be.

There, that should keep you twiddling the controls for a while.

.... plus one idea that struck me just a few minutes ago, so I'll share
on it: =Maybe= How to Get All the Pickups in this Level ...

You know about that GameGlitch that converts Lara's Yellow Submarine
into a Flying Nun ... er, a Flying Sub, which flies thru both water
and air with equal ease? Have you perchance GameSaved that Glitch so
that you could use it later on at will? If not: I have; so I could
leave you a copy of it over in a.b.lara.croft, if you like.

[What's more, if you just might be interested in a Nifty SuperCheat,
I could also leave you my GameSave for the start of a New Game with:
<drum roll> All Weapons and Unlimited Ammo. Saved multiple backup
copies of -that- one, fer shur. Arming Lara with (a) Uzis then (b)
Desert Eagle then (c) Rocket Launcher aka Bazooka is the showiest
quickie way to dispatch opponents and leave no environmental litter;
doing (a) and (b) in that order leaves one Uzi holstered - for Show &
Tell, but of course. Lara says she likes that. Besides, F3 and F7, I
think it is, toggles between the D/E and Bazooka without changing the
weapons already holstered ... convenience.]

At any rate, back to that Flying Sub: one thing I seem to recall being
able to do was to carefully position the Sub quite low over a walkway
so that Lara could both climb off and climb back on again (GameSave
before each dismount to be sure it works, so you can Restore if it
doesn't) - quite important for the following to work:

Fly up to the rocket below the two Sarcophagi (-gusses?) and pick it
up; fly your way to the Sphinx Room and pick the rocket up off the
cheekbone ledge on the Sphinx's Face; fly over to the Secret walkway
to trigger the Secret and get the two rockets there. (BTW, this is
how I found out that the lo-o-ong chute below the Sarcophagus Chamber
shoots past the Dock Area; I flew the Sub thru the opening there.)

If this even works, then I also now wonder if there isn't a similar
GameGlitch on the River Ganges Level so that the Quad Bike can also
fly anywhere and let Lara get all the pickups along both routes - and
maybe, memory fails me here, an extra Secret or two for that Level as
a bonus. Either fly, or discover an invisible lane to scoot along.

Hmmmm. Think such a "glitch" just might be deliberate - as the TR3
version of Easter Eggs?? ... which are also activated by secret
keystrokes.


I think I'd better leave TR3 along today or I might never get to bed
till I discover what the hidden tricks are - if any.


Wishing Well,

Fred

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
news:kqjs71h4f2sq4n9uiodgksg2ehqrhgpr7k@4ax.com
> On Sat, 07 May 2005 11:39:30 GMT: "McGrandpa"
> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>>
> <snipped everything already in prior posts - about TR3 tips & tricks>
>>
>> Now that's cool stuff Fred! Thanks for sharing that
>>
>> I will go thru TR2 Venice satisfactoraly and get the "James Bond"
>> treat with the boats I missed, and also successfully complete the
>> Floating Islands level, not skip it. Goal is to get all the Dragons
>> in the game. Never did that yet. Yep, I plan to use a W/T for it.
>>
>> TR3, did complete it, did get all secrets, but never did collect ALL
>> items in the game. Some say you CAN get all items, but I'm not so
>> sure. Seems there were a couple things where you can get one or the
>> other but not both. Same happens in TR4. ah heck all that, twas a
>> nasty thing the developers did to us with THAT bit!
>> McG.
>>
>
> Get ALL items in TR3??
>
> TR3's [Lud's Gate Level] Sphinx Room, for example, would be a case in
> point; GameSaved two such scenarios where:
> (a) after making her way up the Courtyard Ledges into the Sarcophagus
> Chamber that has the vial of embalming fluid as a pickup for Lud,
> there's a way to drop down to get an extra rocket, but no way back
> up - she then has to drop down the lo-o-ong vertical chute (which
> actually shoots her down thru the far-left corner of the Dock Area
> with all the Crates, where the Frogman and Brown-uniformed Guard
> are patrolling ... betcha wonder how I found that out ... and
> start fighting crocs with a yellow minisub in an underwater
> cavern. So after GameSaving -Just- as she began to stoop to pick
> up that one rocket (the way I commonly use to GameSave pressing a
> switch or climbing up on a significant ledge or the like - try
> doing that every now and then whilst you also press the Shift key
> [on a PC], and she'll do a handstand 4 U 2), just to "show" she
> knew about it,
> (b) Lara then Restored her game to where she picked up the vial and
> carries on thru the tunnels on the way to the Sphinx Room. Either
> that or miss the Sphinx Room and its Secret entirely by dropping
> down the chute, which Lara just didn't want to do.
> Once she worked her way into the Sphinx Room and was standing atop
> the Sphinx's head,
> (c) Lara dropped off the Sphinx's forehead to get the rocket, but
> sacrificed the Secret on the overhead walkway to the right of the
> Sphinx (when facing the way the Sphinx is) in the process, after
> which
> (d) Lara restored the game atop the Sphinx's head, slid down the back
> of the head to grab a hidden ridge, then shimmied along to her
> right over to the ledge hidden on the back of the head, run-jumped
> to the pillar (saved first in case she missed - there's no way
> back up), bounced off the angled ledge to the walkway, tripped
> the Secret Chimes, fetched the two rockets there, and walked into
> the PS2 Save Crystal (going by memory here, but I think I got it
> all).
> A -sneaky- way to get to the same hidden ledge on the right-rear
> of the Sphinx's head is to Precisely! Position and Angle Lara
> Just! So! and then jump off the back of the head onto the hidden
> ledge ... I forget whether that takes a standing or a running
> jump - standing, I suspect. I do remember lining Lara up with the
> corners of certain pillars or something, so that she could Restore
> Game and repeat the jump if need be.
>
> There, that should keep you twiddling the controls for a while.
>
> ... plus one idea that struck me just a few minutes ago, so I'll share
> on it: =Maybe= How to Get All the Pickups in this Level ...
>
> You know about that GameGlitch that converts Lara's Yellow Submarine
> into a Flying Nun ... er, a Flying Sub, which flies thru both water
> and air with equal ease? Have you perchance GameSaved that Glitch so
> that you could use it later on at will? If not: I have; so I could
> leave you a copy of it over in a.b.lara.croft, if you like.
>
> [What's more, if you just might be interested in a Nifty SuperCheat,
> I could also leave you my GameSave for the start of a New Game with:
> <drum roll> All Weapons and Unlimited Ammo. Saved multiple backup
> copies of -that- one, fer shur. Arming Lara with (a) Uzis then (b)
> Desert Eagle then (c) Rocket Launcher aka Bazooka is the showiest
> quickie way to dispatch opponents and leave no environmental litter;
> doing (a) and (b) in that order leaves one Uzi holstered - for Show &
> Tell, but of course. Lara says she likes that. Besides, F3 and F7, I
> think it is, toggles between the D/E and Bazooka without changing the
> weapons already holstered ... convenience.]
>
> At any rate, back to that Flying Sub: one thing I seem to recall being
> able to do was to carefully position the Sub quite low over a walkway
> so that Lara could both climb off and climb back on again (GameSave
> before each dismount to be sure it works, so you can Restore if it
> doesn't) - quite important for the following to work:
>
> Fly up to the rocket below the two Sarcophagi (-gusses?) and pick it
> up; fly your way to the Sphinx Room and pick the rocket up off the
> cheekbone ledge on the Sphinx's Face; fly over to the Secret walkway
> to trigger the Secret and get the two rockets there. (BTW, this is
> how I found out that the lo-o-ong chute below the Sarcophagus Chamber
> shoots past the Dock Area; I flew the Sub thru the opening there.)
>
> If this even works, then I also now wonder if there isn't a similar
> GameGlitch on the River Ganges Level so that the Quad Bike can also
> fly anywhere and let Lara get all the pickups along both routes - and
> maybe, memory fails me here, an extra Secret or two for that Level as
> a bonus. Either fly, or discover an invisible lane to scoot along.
>
> Hmmmm. Think such a "glitch" just might be deliberate - as the TR3
> version of Easter Eggs?? ... which are also activated by secret
> keystrokes.
>
>
> I think I'd better leave TR3 along today or I might never get to bed
> till I discover what the hidden tricks are - if any.
>
>
> Wishing Well,
>
> Fred

Yep, I'd be interested in those gamesaves I've never seen the flying
sub myself.
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

On Sun, 08 May 2005 21:50:02 GMT: "McGrandpa"
<McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:

>"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
>news:kqjs71h4f2sq4n9uiodgksg2ehqrhgpr7k@4ax.com
>> On Sat, 07 May 2005 11:39:30 GMT: "McGrandpa"
>> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>>>

<snipped everything already in prior posts - about TR3 tips & tricks>

>> You know about that GameGlitch that converts Lara's Yellow Submarine
>> into a Flying Nun ... er, a Flying Sub, which flies thru both water
>> and air with equal ease? Have you perchance GameSaved that Glitch so
>> that you could use it later on at will? If not: I have; so I could
>> leave you a copy of it over in a.b.lara.croft, if you like.
>>
<more snippety-snips>
>>
>> [What's more, if you just might be interested in a Nifty SuperCheat,
>> I could also leave you my GameSave for the start of a New Game with:
>> <drum roll> All Weapons and Unlimited Ammo. Saved multiple backup
>> copies of -that- one, fer shur. Arming Lara with (a) Uzis then (b)
>> Desert Eagle then (c) Rocket Launcher aka Bazooka is the showiest
>> quickie way to dispatch opponents and leave no environmental litter;
>> doing (a) and (b) in that order leaves one Uzi holstered - for Show &
>> Tell, but of course. Lara says she likes that. Besides, F3 and F7, I
>> think it is, toggles between the D/E and Bazooka without changing the
>> weapons already holstered ... convenience.]
>>
>>
>> Wishing Well,
>>
>> Fred
>
>Yep, I'd be interested in those gamesaves I've never seen the flying
>sub myself.
>McG.
>
They're posting over in alt.binaries.lara.croft along with this post
here. After that, it's also about time to fire off another
JPG-PowerPost of Lara Croft WP - ten sets to go.


Wishing Well,

Fred

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
news:447t719fh8rgohcdaqrvlvk0e5gv0qtq44@4ax.com
> On Sun, 08 May 2005 21:50:02 GMT: "McGrandpa"
> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>
>> "King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
>> news:kqjs71h4f2sq4n9uiodgksg2ehqrhgpr7k@4ax.com
>>> On Sat, 07 May 2005 11:39:30 GMT: "McGrandpa"
>>> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>>>>
>
> <snipped everything already in prior posts - about TR3 tips & tricks>
>
>>> You know about that GameGlitch that converts Lara's Yellow Submarine
>>> into a Flying Nun ... er, a Flying Sub, which flies thru both water
>>> and air with equal ease? Have you perchance GameSaved that Glitch
>>> so that you could use it later on at will? If not: I have; so I
>>> could leave you a copy of it over in a.b.lara.croft, if you like.
>>>
> <more snippety-snips>
>>>
>>> [What's more, if you just might be interested in a Nifty SuperCheat,
>>> I could also leave you my GameSave for the start of a New Game with:
>>> <drum roll> All Weapons and Unlimited Ammo. Saved multiple backup
>>> copies of -that- one, fer shur. Arming Lara with (a) Uzis then (b)
>>> Desert Eagle then (c) Rocket Launcher aka Bazooka is the showiest
>>> quickie way to dispatch opponents and leave no environmental litter;
>>> doing (a) and (b) in that order leaves one Uzi holstered - for Show
>>> & Tell, but of course. Lara says she likes that. Besides, F3 and
>>> F7, I think it is, toggles between the D/E and Bazooka without
>>> changing the weapons already holstered ... convenience.]
>>>
>>>
>>> Wishing Well,
>>>
>>> Fred
>>
>> Yep, I'd be interested in those gamesaves I've never seen the
>> flying sub myself.
>> McG.
>>
> They're posting over in alt.binaries.lara.croft along with this post
> here. After that, it's also about time to fire off another
> JPG-PowerPost of Lara Croft WP - ten sets to go.
>
>
> Wishing Well,
>
> Fred

Oh cool be right over there. Some of the others that have dialup
will appreciate the bite sized bits they get this way.
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

Erik Steffl wrote:
>
> Gary Mitchell wrote:
> ...
> > I think games are the driving force for most of the high-end PC hardware.
> > Maybe not everything, but games lead the charge. I can't think of much
> > that needs the horsepower that games do... maybe certain graphics software,
> > but there isn't a huge market for that, at least not among the general
> > computer user population.
>
> lot of companies use PCs as servers (server farms) which also pushes
> performance up but in different areas, basically the mainframe criterias
> (i.e. more throughput than responsiveness).
>
> erik

Yes but I think that's mixing apples and oranges. PC's can be servers,
but not very well. PC's are cheap, that's why they're using them. But
it's a different computing problem. Most PC users aren't trying to push
a lot of data in a lot of different directions, so PC's aren't designed
to do that. And the opposite is true: you wouldn't want a server to play
games on, even if it technically has more horsepower than a high-end PC.
They're designed to solve a different kind of problem. So, games may
really help PC development, but not do anything in the server world.
Likewise, having to come up with a more efficient server doesn't really
do much to advance PC design.

Now, if the time comes when everyone wants to host web sites from their
home computers, then that might change. Maybe they'll come up with
server cards like they now have graphics cards.

-- G

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

Gary Mitchell wrote:
> Erik Steffl wrote:
>
>>Gary Mitchell wrote:
>>...
>>
>>>I think games are the driving force for most of the high-end PC hardware.
>>>Maybe not everything, but games lead the charge. I can't think of much
>>>that needs the horsepower that games do... maybe certain graphics software,
>>>but there isn't a huge market for that, at least not among the general
>>>computer user population.
>>
>> lot of companies use PCs as servers (server farms) which also pushes
>>performance up but in different areas, basically the mainframe criterias
>>(i.e. more throughput than responsiveness).
>>
>> erik
>
> Yes but I think that's mixing apples and oranges. PC's can be servers,
> but not very well. PC's are cheap, that's why they're using them. But
> it's a different computing problem. Most PC users aren't trying to push
> a lot of data in a lot of different directions, so PC's aren't designed
> to do that. And the opposite is true: you wouldn't want a server to play
> games on, even if it technically has more horsepower than a high-end PC.
> They're designed to solve a different kind of problem. So, games may
> really help PC development, but not do anything in the server world.
> Likewise, having to come up with a more efficient server doesn't really
> do much to advance PC design.

That's what I was saying. Games are driving high end PC hardware,
enterprise is driving high end PC hardware, each in different direction.
Not sure why did you repeat that, I guess there's disconnect somewhere.

erik

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"Jeff Reid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:xXjfe.3625$eU.819@fed1read07
>>> Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95
>>> became Windows ME.
>
>> Windows 98, I think. I've never used ME, but always thought that
>> was a scaled down version of 98. I'm still using 98.
>
> Windows ME is Windows 98 but includes later hardware support and
> also restore points. The reboot in MSDOS mode is gone though. However,
> you can install MSDOS, then NT/2000/XP, then 98/98SE/ME, and have
> a triple boot system.

I've never owned/used ME or 2000 myself. I have 98SE Full Retail and XP
Pro full retail. I can't see buying ME, but I can see where 2000 would
be good for a second computer. How tough is it running games on 2K?
While I'm off the next two weeks I'll pick up a copy of W2K and get it
installed on a P3 system.
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

In the dead of night, a faint whisper from McGrandpa was heard, at
about 05/11/2005 05:20 AM, and I could have sworn it said ...
> "Jeff Reid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:xXjfe.3625$eU.819@fed1read07
>
>>>>Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95
>>>>became Windows ME.
>>
>>>Windows 98, I think. I've never used ME, but always thought that
>>>was a scaled down version of 98. I'm still using 98.
>>
>>Windows ME is Windows 98 but includes later hardware support and
>>also restore points. The reboot in MSDOS mode is gone though. However,
>>you can install MSDOS, then NT/2000/XP, then 98/98SE/ME, and have
>>a triple boot system.
>
>
> I've never owned/used ME or 2000 myself. I have 98SE Full Retail and XP
> Pro full retail. I can't see buying ME, but I can see where 2000 would
> be good for a second computer. How tough is it running games on 2K?
> While I'm off the next two weeks I'll pick up a copy of W2K and get it
> installed on a P3 system.
> McG.
>
>

Yes, WinME *is* Win98 but, in addition to adding some hardware support,
they removed support for some OS calls. This was an attempt to "get you
ready" to upgrade to XP. They were trying to force you to upgrade
software before XP was released. Needless to say, all this did was give
WinME a *very* bad reputation for failure and incompatibility.

However, they backed off of this position when the initial release of XP
did not respond well to most game software (not to mention several other
packages). This is when they added a lot of the "compatibility mode"
changes.

They also backtracked and "upgraded" WinME when you downloaded IE hmmm
.... IE 5 I think it was. This was an attempt to realign WinME and XP so
that the software would run the same way under both OSs and increase the
backward compatibility of both.

I estimate they replaced 50% of the DLLs on my machine when I downloaded
IE. Even on Road Runner it took over 20 minutes to download and even
longer to install ... so I *knew* I should worry! :/

To be honest, I think they had to put off SP2 because of this decision.
I believe they had made themselves so backward compatible that they
made it very hard to move *forward*!

Leave it to M$ to shoot themselves in the foot! They'll do anything to
get your money.

---
PW

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

"Pistol Whipped" <pwhipped@NOtampabaySPAM.rr.com> wrote in message
news:RdAge.11984$w15.4447@tornado.tampabay.rr.com
> In the dead of night, a faint whisper from McGrandpa was heard, at
> about 05/11/2005 05:20 AM, and I could have sworn it said ...
>> "Jeff Reid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:xXjfe.3625$eU.819@fed1read07
>>
>>>>> Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95
>>>>> became Windows ME.
>>>
>>>> Windows 98, I think. I've never used ME, but always thought that
>>>> was a scaled down version of 98. I'm still using 98.
>>>
>>> Windows ME is Windows 98 but includes later hardware support and
>>> also restore points. The reboot in MSDOS mode is gone though.
>>> However, you can install MSDOS, then NT/2000/XP, then 98/98SE/ME,
>>> and have a triple boot system.
>>
>>
>> I've never owned/used ME or 2000 myself. I have 98SE Full Retail
>> and XP Pro full retail. I can't see buying ME, but I can see where
>> 2000 would be good for a second computer. How tough is it running
>> games on 2K? While I'm off the next two weeks I'll pick up a copy of
>> W2K and get it installed on a P3 system.
>> McG.
>>
>>
>
> Yes, WinME *is* Win98 but, in addition to adding some hardware
> support, they removed support for some OS calls. This was an attempt
> to "get you ready" to upgrade to XP. They were trying to force you
> to upgrade software before XP was released. Needless to say, all
> this did was give WinME a *very* bad reputation for failure and
> incompatibility.
> However, they backed off of this position when the initial release of
> XP did not respond well to most game software (not to mention several
> other packages). This is when they added a lot of the "compatibility
> mode" changes.
>
> They also backtracked and "upgraded" WinME when you downloaded IE hmmm
> ... IE 5 I think it was. This was an attempt to realign WinME and XP
> so that the software would run the same way under both OSs and
> increase the backward compatibility of both.
>
> I estimate they replaced 50% of the DLLs on my machine when I
> downloaded IE. Even on Road Runner it took over 20 minutes to
> download and even longer to install ... so I *knew* I should worry! :/
>
> To be honest, I think they had to put off SP2 because of this
> decision. I believe they had made themselves so backward compatible
> that they made it very hard to move *forward*!
>
> Leave it to M$ to shoot themselves in the foot! They'll do anything
> to get your money.
>
> ---
> PW

Yes, M$ has done that a few times over the years. I find it funny that
most folks can NOT get the Windows Update site at all unless they're
running IE Granted, I couldn't get any files from Update, but I
could get the site Their workaround for that is to open up the
Download site to just about any browser. Even Konqurer

There are a LOT more 'security updates' and hotfixes for 98SE than I
remember. I just got the ones I wanted and locked out the rest.
Interestingly, I've been running my little P3 w/98SE now for 3 days
without restarting Windows until I installed Zone Alarm Free on it.
There was *nothing* 'stable' about it until I remembered to install the
Intel Chipset INF update for the 440BX mobo. After that, I turned off
the serial ports in BIOS and a few other things, but left it ACPI
enabled. Worked a charm. This is THE first time I've had ACPI enabled
and started 98SE without a BSOD *EVER!* on this series of Slot1 mobos.
How interesting Intel fixed their poo poo but way after what they
fixed was obsolete. This file was last updated on their site in
December 04
The two systems I'm running right now are the two most stable computers
I've ever owned. I'm pleasantly shocked I can say that about a 98SE
rig!

Since Chronicles won't even install on this XP box, I'll take it in the
LR and try it on the P3. I have the GF4 Ti4600 in that one, with DX9c
and nVidia 53.04 drivers. No sound though. I'm still ticked off at
Creative about the software thing with the Live! cards. THAT WILL make
the rig very unstable, guranteed. So I'll pick up a $4 Chinese card
that will do fine and use it instead
McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

McGrandpa wrote:
>
> "Pistol Whipped" <pwhipped@NOtampabaySPAM.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:RdAge.11984$w15.4447@tornado.tampabay.rr.com
> > In the dead of night, a faint whisper from McGrandpa was heard, at
> > about 05/11/2005 05:20 AM, and I could have sworn it said ...
> >> "Jeff Reid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >> news:xXjfe.3625$eU.819@fed1read07
> >>
> >>>>> Since then, not much has changed OS wise for the PC, Windows 95
> >>>>> became Windows ME.
> >>>
> >>>> Windows 98, I think. I've never used ME, but always thought that
> >>>> was a scaled down version of 98. I'm still using 98.
> >>>
> >>> Windows ME is Windows 98 but includes later hardware support and
> >>> also restore points. The reboot in MSDOS mode is gone though.
> >>> However, you can install MSDOS, then NT/2000/XP, then 98/98SE/ME,
> >>> and have a triple boot system.
> >>
> >>
> >> I've never owned/used ME or 2000 myself. I have 98SE Full Retail
> >> and XP Pro full retail. I can't see buying ME, but I can see where
> >> 2000 would be good for a second computer. How tough is it running
> >> games on 2K? While I'm off the next two weeks I'll pick up a copy of
> >> W2K and get it installed on a P3 system.
> >> McG.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Yes, WinME *is* Win98 but, in addition to adding some hardware
> > support, they removed support for some OS calls. This was an attempt
> > to "get you ready" to upgrade to XP. They were trying to force you
> > to upgrade software before XP was released. Needless to say, all
> > this did was give WinME a *very* bad reputation for failure and
> > incompatibility.
> > However, they backed off of this position when the initial release of
> > XP did not respond well to most game software (not to mention several
> > other packages). This is when they added a lot of the "compatibility
> > mode" changes.
> >
> > They also backtracked and "upgraded" WinME when you downloaded IE hmmm
> > ... IE 5 I think it was. This was an attempt to realign WinME and XP
> > so that the software would run the same way under both OSs and
> > increase the backward compatibility of both.
> >
> > I estimate they replaced 50% of the DLLs on my machine when I
> > downloaded IE. Even on Road Runner it took over 20 minutes to
> > download and even longer to install ... so I *knew* I should worry! :/
> >
> > To be honest, I think they had to put off SP2 because of this
> > decision. I believe they had made themselves so backward compatible
> > that they made it very hard to move *forward*!
> >
> > Leave it to M$ to shoot themselves in the foot! They'll do anything
> > to get your money.
> >
> > ---
> > PW
>
> Yes, M$ has done that a few times over the years. I find it funny that
> most folks can NOT get the Windows Update site at all unless they're
> running IE

Not only that, there's a growing list of software from other vendors
that won't even finish installing unless you have IE. This includes
RealNetwork's RealPlayer above version 8, Fidelity Investment's
software for trading stock on their system, topographic map software,
etc. It pisses me off so much, I'm willing to simply do without any
program that does this. Apparently it's some new attempt at monopoly
by Microshaft.

-- G

> Granted, I couldn't get any files from Update, but I
> could get the site Their workaround for that is to open up the
> Download site to just about any browser. Even Konqurer
>
> There are a LOT more 'security updates' and hotfixes for 98SE than I
> remember. I just got the ones I wanted and locked out the rest.
> Interestingly, I've been running my little P3 w/98SE now for 3 days
> without restarting Windows until I installed Zone Alarm Free on it.
> There was *nothing* 'stable' about it until I remembered to install the
> Intel Chipset INF update for the 440BX mobo. After that, I turned off
> the serial ports in BIOS and a few other things, but left it ACPI
> enabled. Worked a charm. This is THE first time I've had ACPI enabled
> and started 98SE without a BSOD *EVER!* on this series of Slot1 mobos.
> How interesting Intel fixed their poo poo but way after what they
> fixed was obsolete. This file was last updated on their site in
> December 04
> The two systems I'm running right now are the two most stable computers
> I've ever owned. I'm pleasantly shocked I can say that about a 98SE
> rig!
>
> Since Chronicles won't even install on this XP box, I'll take it in the
> LR and try it on the P3. I have the GF4 Ti4600 in that one, with DX9c
> and nVidia 53.04 drivers. No sound though. I'm still ticked off at
> Creative about the software thing with the Live! cards. THAT WILL make
> the rig very unstable, guranteed. So I'll pick up a $4 Chinese card
> that will do fine and use it instead
> McG.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

On Mon, 09 May 2005 00:33:08 GMT: "McGrandpa"
<McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:

>"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
>news:447t719fh8rgohcdaqrvlvk0e5gv0qtq44@4ax.com

<snipped>

>> They're posting over in alt.binaries.lara.croft along with this post
>> here. After that, it's also about time to fire off another
>> JPG-PowerPost of Lara Croft WP - ten sets to go.
>>
>>
>> Wishing Well,
>>
>> Fred
>
>Oh cool be right over there. Some of the others that have dialup
>will appreciate the bite sized bits they get this way.
>McG.
>

Following a brutally busy week that kept me offline till tonight ...

There's also a fresh PowerPost of a dozen or so more WP over in
a.b.lara.croft now - all Lara Croft Game Avatar WP, i.e., just the
Lara you see in the TR2 and TR3 ads and game boxes. Plan to post the
5th set of 12 later in the weekend, as I had to skip a mid-week post.

Hope you've been having fun sailing around the Lud's Gate Level on
that mini-sub, let alone bazooka'ing everything in sight with the
bonus savegame.

I'm overdue this weekend for another round or two of it, too.

And now to toddle off to read the other bits of news in here. I keep
reading about Unfinished Business and maybe another TR game or two;
all I have is TR1, TR1 Gold, TR2, TR2 Gold (4 levels), TR3, TRLR and
TRAOD. Must needs Google about for the others, someday, or maybe
Stella's site and its links can home me in on them. I have a thread
archived somewhere in my reader from about a year ago where someone
listed the acronyms for all the TR games published up to TRAOD, if
only I can find that thread again.


Wishing Well,

Fred

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.tombraider (More info?)

King Key Dee wrote:
>
> On Mon, 09 May 2005 00:33:08 GMT: "McGrandpa"
> <McGrandpaNOT@NOThotmail.com> posted:
>
> >"King Key Dee" <tee-hee.4.free@king-key.dee> wrote in message
> >news:447t719fh8rgohcdaqrvlvk0e5gv0qtq44@4ax.com
>
> <snipped>
>
> >> They're posting over in alt.binaries.lara.croft along with this post
> >> here. After that, it's also about time to fire off another
> >> JPG-PowerPost of Lara Croft WP - ten sets to go.
> >>
> >>
> >> Wishing Well,
> >>
> >> Fred
> >
> >Oh cool be right over there. Some of the others that have dialup
> >will appreciate the bite sized bits they get this way.
> >McG.
> >
>
> Following a brutally busy week that kept me offline till tonight ...
>
> There's also a fresh PowerPost of a dozen or so more WP over in
> a.b.lara.croft now - all Lara Croft Game Avatar WP, i.e., just the
> Lara you see in the TR2 and TR3 ads and game boxes. Plan to post the
> 5th set of 12 later in the weekend, as I had to skip a mid-week post.
>
> Hope you've been having fun sailing around the Lud's Gate Level on
> that mini-sub, let alone bazooka'ing everything in sight with the
> bonus savegame.
>
> I'm overdue this weekend for another round or two of it, too.
>
> And now to toddle off to read the other bits of news in here. I keep
> reading about Unfinished Business and maybe another TR game or two;
> all I have is TR1, TR1 Gold, TR2, TR2 Gold (4 levels), TR3, TRLR and
> TRAOD.

TR1 Gold *is* Unfinished Business. That deadly sands area we've
been talking about it is outside (when you first leave the building),
the area beyond the fence. It's possible to get out there with the
fence bug. If you have Lara run right at the point where the fence
meets the stone block, Lara will magically pass through. It's also
possible to jump to a sand dune just to the left of the exit point,
but it isn't easy.

-- G