Another boring blog no one will read...

Hello ladies and gentlemen. So this unexciting blog continues my never ending waffling about computers that no-one really gives a flying fuck about.

So as I mentioned last issue. I bought a new Dell Inspiron 3525 laptop before Christmas. I ran Linux on it for two weeks and then I returned it to windows 11 which its where it is currently.

A friend asked me was I annoyed at Windows yet and to be honest I really don’t have any major issues. Do I miss Linux well lets just admit I can’t say I miss at all.

So what nonsense have I been messing with. Well as the Macintosh 128k was 40 I was going to do something Mac based. So I could have downloaded Basilisk II/Sheepshaver but nope. Mini Vmac would be appropriate given the Mac in question, once again no.

I was playing with VirtualBox trying to get it to run Mac OS 12.0 (Monterey) I was following various guides and after 5 hours of playing about I still couldn’t get it beyond the EFI boot kept failing.

I had tried many different fixes and it really wasn’t working. I then moved to VMWare Player. Originally I went to version 15 but upon changing the vmx file to apply the fix it crashed the player and refused to let it go on.

I found WMware Player could be updated to version 17 which I did and the fix allowed the installer to work. It then took forever to install. Then I let it upgrade to 12.7.3 which took another 2 hours.

This was a project I intended to be an hour ended up being over 9 hours playing with various virtual machines.

Now I have managed to install WriteRoom 3.21 on it also now considering this is a Ryzen 7 5700U system. It runs Monterey about the speed of a Pentium. You can literally type and watch the delay as the buffer updates.

So 9 hours for the slowest VM in history. That’s with it set at 8GB Ram and using 4 processor cores. Ridiculous.

Also while I was playing with emulators. I have been playing with PCSX2 (Playstation 2) emulator and have been playing most of the Burnout franchise.

It works fine but when I tried using EPSXE (PlayStation 1) what a nightmare as half of the plug-ins just refused to work.

I did try Xemu(Xbox emulator) I did try running Project Gotham 3 Racing but it wouldn’t even get above 15 frames per second making the game unplayable.

Given this is a Ryzen 7 I was thinking what the hell does it need to get it working better. My suspicion is the Vega 8 graphics card is just not up to snuff. Once again potato graphics cards used in laptops.

I was going to try Xenia (XBOX 360 emu) but given how bad the Xbox emu was I thought against it.

So one day I will get a decent desktop and run a decent video card but I am sure that’s going to be a cold day in hell before that.

Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Boring Blog. I have spent many years playing with Linux but having got tired of fighting with graphics card settings and games I have this new Dell Inspiron 3525.

For the first two weeks of it’s life it ran EndeavourOS Gallileo (Arch based Linux) however after getting tired of fighting with Proton and getting certain games not working. I actually have restored the Dell back to its Windows 11 Home setup.

I admit I really didn’t want to go back to Windows but I tired of not being able to use the full potential of the Vega 8 graphics card. While it is never going to set the world on fire. I was having issues to get it to just play games it is more than capable of playing.

Do you honestly care which game broke the camels back. I got a little bored and wanted to play Blur (Activision driving game). I tried with 5 different versions of Proton, messed with Lutris and after having to re-download the game each time was frustrating as hell.

So I eventually decided it was time to dump Linux and go back to familiar Windows world.

Now I know there is going to be many people informing me of the inherent evil corporation that Microsoft is and all its constant spying upon you. Yes I know but one thing Windows does have is most of the software/hardware in the world is supported and works out of the box first time normally.

To be honest I no longer give a toss who has my information. i am a very boring nearly 50 years old man. I am not exactly challenging Rockefeller for his billions and nothing I do is remotely exciting.

I am probably the one man who if he was identity frauded would probably end up getting it back as it would be chronically sad how little you could with it

Please don’t do that…

So far I have managed to install and play everything I have thrown at Windows 11.

Only minor annoyance is for some reason the right click menu has been shortened and you have to pick the extra options just to get things like copy and paste. Sure I could use the keyboard shortcuts but surely the fact I was given a mouse means I don’t have to do this.

I guess this is the same as those who look at Linux and its reliance upon the terminal. We have designed a system which is more graphical and millions are spent on things like UX and UI and people still resorting to a text based prompt makes it all feel kind of redundant.

Then again this is from a guy who has a Ryzen 7 laptop and is using it to play spectrum games most of the time, so I guess I am nothing if not ironic. I doubt I am really stressing the processor by doing such.

Some people sit and play the latest Call of Duty at 4K with every graphical enhancement they can get to see the slightest flicker of a muzzle flash in the dark. I am playing Diablo from 1997 and hoping it will still play on a modern machine without fifteen patches.

I jest but I really did install OpenRCT2 0.47 which is the latest version in order to play Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 so I could design rollercoasters rather than play the actual parks.

Trust me I have tried modern games I last about eight and a half seconds before someone destroys me. It’s not fun. You know when you sit and play Untitled Goose Game because you think its fun then something is seriously wrong with your life.

I admit I was never a great games player… However I do laugh when the guy who annihilated you at WRX Rally driving gets annoyed because you can get to Level 2 of Double Dragon without losing a life and they can’t.

I may not be able to 100% Cyberpunk 2077 as I doubt my machine would even get beyond 30 FPS but I can consistently get beyond Eugene’s Lair on Manic Miner.

People sit and brag about all the games they have completed. I have completed a small handful of games. Bruce Lee on the Spectrum, Both versions of Knight Tyme 48 and 128 versions. I have completed Diablo and Diablo II on PC beyond that I also completed Untitled Goose Game.

I am never going to be classed a world class gamer.

To be honest once you have completed a game what is the point of going back?

You pay money for these games then decide oh well lets put it on the shelf never to be used again. Maybe I’m missing something, like a brain.

I don’t buy a game to complete it. I buy it to enjoy the experience and have fun. Maybe I am wrong but if you’re only goal is to say yep I’ve beaten it. I think there is something fundamentally wrong.

Or is it just me that actually enjoys the game and if it challenges you and you have to try several times and eventually admit hey I just can’t get this. I’m the one who is fundamentally flawed. No because I can always aspire to come back and try harder.

However if you are at a position where no game is challenging unless you require it to be brutally punishing then surely there is a problem.

I tire of this “Git Gud” culture. I don’t want to play a fighting game where each move requires sixteen sequenced button presses to impress people.

That’s not a game it’s a memory test. Sorry I play games to escape and enjoy myself not to be an endurance test of my stamina and ability to be a human being.

I admit I have been playing TLL on the Spectrum for over twenty years and I have never managed to beat the fourth round of targets. I have got four but the last one eludes me I just don’t have the control.

I have watched RZX playback of someone else doing it and even tried replicating it. I just don’t have the skill. However I still play the game.

Now people are trying to beat games in as quick a time as possible. Completing games using shortcuts and exploits meaning they complete the game in under 5 minutes.

Using techniques to take tenths of seconds of the run. Seriously if I ever take that up then be the first to come and beat me senseless.

What a waste of life. Not only have I beat the game I do so quickly it ain’t worth watching. I honestly just don’t understand the mentality. Sure it shows they have skills to do such but now you have just completed another game and it goes on the shelf to be ignored faster than it was yesterday.

Mind you watching modern games that is the game. Wait for game to load, play for four minutes, get shot, wait thirty seconds for it reload, rinse, repeat.

This is why I don’t own a modern console. I really do not want one I really don’t need one and if I had to choose one I would probably go for a Switch.

It may be the slowest of the bunch but at least the games seem to last longer than three minutes a go.

Also its not 4K and you can see the balls of your horse retract in the cold. I just don’t need that level of detail.

Right I am going to crawl back under my rock and play games that I can’t complete because I am incompetent but I don’t care as I can keep playing not getting any better and I still have a game to play