Retarded Programming
Ok so to some people programming seems hard, however its really quite simple if you can think logically. So why is it that soooo many people who claim to be developers couldn't develop their way out of a paper bag...
Here is a PERFECT example of code that i've seen in a commercial environment that is shoddy to say the least, lets see if you can spot the problems... (please note that im not giving out commercial code, just reconstructing a similar piece to show the problems)
Shoddy Coding 1
DBObject myDBObject = new DBObject(strSomeConnectionString);
myDBObject.Connect();
return myDBObject.Query("SELECT * FROM myTable");
myDBObject.Disconnect();
Ok so alot of you will im sure be going WTF, that means nothing... well yeah thats true but it shows 2 flaws, 1 is neligable as it is not really severe just bad error checking. However there is 1 fundamental flaw with that statement, and that flaw can and will quite possibly leak memory all over the joint.
For those of you who care the answer is:
- They are not putting an if() round the connection to see if it DID acctually connect properly.
- They are still trying to get code executing past the end of execution (return statement).
If thats wet your appetite for some shoddy code here is another great example of coding catastrophes.
Shoddy Coding 2
public void myFTPUploadFunction(Byte[] buffer)
{
int i=0;
while(i<buffer.length)
{
try
{
uploadByte(buffer[i]);
i++;
}
catch(exception e)
{ sleep(10); }
}
}
I cant really remember the exact code that i saw but it was basically a shoddy FTP class, that was about as useful as a cat on ham. Anyway can you spot the problems there?
- If there is a problem there, they will just keep looping forever... everyone loves a program that locks up when you dont have a net connection or are uploading a duff file, could also miss bytes making the upload useless
Gonna have to shoot out but will get some more choice code snippets to laugh at soon enough!
PSP… Again
SO... i downgraded my PSP, WOOOOOO i hear you all shouting.
Unfortunatly its still a steaming pile of dung, i thought i would be able to put all my PS1 games onto the PSP and play them on the move. As i own quite a few rare PSX games i was quite looking forward to completing the games that i never bothered with before as i could do it on the move....
1st Mistake
Im using 3.71M33-4 custom firmware, not sure if its due to that fact, but the playstation emulator is as stable as UK finances, its locked up on 2-5 games im played, and the PSP community doesnt seem to care or acknowledge this.... The games its locked up on for me so far are Chrono Cross and Castlevania - SoTN, oh and i think it locked up on Alundra for a bit.
If only this was more stable then it would be a worthwhile thing to do, as its great being able to play those classics on the PSP again, just a shame that its pointless playing any games as it could crash at any time, nullifying any work you have put in.
2nd Mistake
I also saw FFT-War of the Lions on offer for about £10 on play, so i thought SCORE! Once i got the game i was quite looking forward to it, as the GBA title was great fun. Unfortunatly i was dissapointed like oh so many games these days. The game has pointless characters who are paper thin and you dont really remember. The battles are a struggle as you no longer get the option to pretend to move and see what you can do, once you move you are stuck where you went, and SOOOOO many times ive done this and BAM im out of range or some other tripe. Another GREAT addition is the line of sight method, so when you are using archers or the like, if you want to shoot someone 3 squares ahead but you have an ally 2 squares ahead. It seems impossible for you to aim OVER your ally and get JUST the bad guy, you have to hit the first thing in your Line of Sight. What a steaming pile of crap that is.
Also the skills system has been butchered, no longer do you equip a weapon that gives you a skill. You have to do battles which are harder than trying to climb a mountain with 2 gorillas strapped to your back. WHY OH WHY ARE THEY SO HARD??? because EVERYONE counters. you do 10 damage, they do 30.
Only good thing i can say about it is that they have introduced coop play, however when the game is that annoying in and out of battle who the hell wants to coop on it...
Apart from that Christmas is now over, so no more panic buying, hope you all had a good one and have a fun new years planned!
And it burns, burns, burns…
When i first heard about the red ring of death, i didn't think much of it. The PS2 had chronic laser troubles when it was released, the original Xbox had laser problems and also some people had hard drives that just seemed to die. So you come to expect consoles to just have some problems every now and again...
Saying that ive recently come to learn how crappy the Xbox 360 hardware is when almost all the Xbox 360 owners i know have had major problems or are currently experiencing ballaches with it.
Jode's Xbox 360 tends to give us the ring of death once or twice a week, but to be fair it still seems to play after a few resets, but other people (druidking, isszul, rambo) all have had red rings/critical failures in the hardware over the last week or two. I'm not saying that Microsoft could really have done anything more than they have done for Xbox owners, but this is one MAJOR hardware fault that will hopefully teach them what NOT to do in their future consoles.
For those of you who are unlucky enough to have a broken Xbox 360 but dont have the red ring (Please Insert Disc errors), try to get in touch with microsoft to see if your machine is still in warranty. If it isn[APO]t then maybe you should just keep messing with it until you get the Red Rings and then get them to fix it (as they are doing extended warranties for red ring troubles i believe). Also their whole repair system on their webpage is automated now so you may as well just tell them you have intermittent red rings and just get them to look at it.
To be fair at least they are giving out extended warranties and trying to make repairing your Xbox as hassle free as possible, Sony didn't give a crap about their failing lasers and the original Xbox didn't get that much support.
Lets hope hardware manufacturers decide to give ALOT more testing to their hardware before they release in the future, although you know they wont [BGR]
Recent Xbox releases…
As alot of people who have ever talked to me about gaming and consoles will know, im not a major fan of Xbox/Xbox 360s. It's not that i dislike the actual console... it has some really shoddy hardware, but so do most consoles (yes im looking at you Ps2 lasers).
Main thing that puts me off is the game selection, you are primarily limited to over bumpmapped FPS games or sports games that have about 5 games in each series and look identical and have 1 new model/level in each version. So given that i dont often find a game that is not in the common Xbox genre that is acctually worth playing these last couple of months have showed me that there is hope for others like me!
Now that ive got the reasons for my lack of love for the Xbox let me talk about the greatness of the last month...
Assassins Creed
To start with i was torn in 2 with this game, I was quite hyped about its release, which is odd considering that i didn't really follow its development too much. Anyway Jode gets it, we load it up... and i find out that.... well... i wont spoil it for those of you who haven't played it yet, but WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING?!?!?
After i got over the initial shock of the turd storyline, i realised that it didn't matter. The main storyline could be ignored without any consequence, the actual gameplay more than made up for it.
The way you can just climb up pretty much anything that you could grab onto is one of the best aspects of the game, its like you become spiderman. Once you get the grabbing ability when you are falling you spend more time hanging off things with armies of guards swinging for you than you do mingling with the annoying townsfolk.
If this game didnt have this great method of free running round the town it would be nowhere near as fun to play and explore. It FEELS like you are part of an epic chase when running away from guards, or a 1st ranking assassin when you are stalking the lone archer on the roof.
The setting of the main game also make you feel like its an epic journey rather than some dull area you are forced to explore, which tends to be the case with many of todays games. The towns look great, and paired with the great townsfolk wandering round to get in your way, makes for an excellent setting.
Alot of reviewers have slated the game due to its dull missions. Now dont get me wrong sitting on a bench and listening to someone isnt the best use of time i could think of, however it is fairly quick to do each side mission and they are usually able to give you more information about your main mission, making it a nice little break between the slaughtering. Saving the townsfolk from guards on the offensive is one of the best parts of the game for me, no matter how many times i piss off an army of guards it never gets old.
You run in, assasinate one of the lookout guards, then you have 4+ angry people on you, what do you do??
Well Mez tends to try to throw them to the ground then stab them, Jode varies his techniques but ultimatly goes on the offensive with the short blade. I prefer to play the defensive card and just counter everyone, it turns a simple street brawl into a cinematic feature where you swing from guard to guard mincing them up while making sure you have some more guards nearby to keep the fight going.
I personally see this as a great game, and a perfect example of how assassination games like Tenchu should be these days. Less of the dull lifeless combat and cheap stealth implementations, more of the building climbing and free flowing combat.
Mass Effect
Bioware have earned much love from me as a player and a developer. They consistantly make stable games that are very fun to play and they often tend to grasp you and not let you go until you have spent many hours exploring their intricate lands and involving storylines.
Mass Effect keeps to this rule... It looks amazing, it plays amazing and finally the main story is brilliant.
One MAJOR thing that gets thumbs up from me is the combat system! Usually you make use of your intelligence to kill the enemies in RPG games, playing the combat a bit like chess, planning your move and then executing it. This is where Mass Effect walks a different path, with its exceptional 3rd person combat system.
You dont have time to think about every little thing then make a move, or stop time while you decide what to do. You have to think on your feet and act on whats going on there and then, so when people run at you either pop out from cover and shoot them down or look for nearby environmental objects, like explosive containers that could hurt your enemy.
This keeps the games pace constantly up, so you are not weighed down by slow paced battles and chunks and chunks of text. You get FULL voice acting which is awesome as well as the fast paced combat keeping you going without any down patches.
The way you interact with people is great too, its not a case of dull conversations where you read pages of text, its involving chats where you can be a right ass or a nice guy... or a bit of both if you want. You can put your own personality into your character and he will talk too, none of that silent hero crap. If you think someones an ass your guy will tell them they are (did i mention.. FULL VOICE ACTING). The conversations can get a little dull on the odd occasion that its someone who is just passing by and has nothing to do with what you are currently doing, however they still will have a chat with you and talk about random stuff.
The next section im going to tiptoe over is the space exploration and side quests. The space exploration is great coupled with the ability to drive your own space tank with hover jets, it makes exploring fast and extremely fun when you try to do 360s off massive mountains. However it all tends to be fairly pointless most of the time, except for a few areas where you really need that vehicle.
You tend to find lots of little side quests, but they dont tend to tie into the game too well, they dont influence the main storyline at all and often take you to places you will only visit once and never go to again. Not to say this is entirely bad as its always nice to give people some reason to explore barren areas on random planets, however there doesnt seem to be much reward for doing this. There could be some rewards that i didn't get however i/we did LOADS of side quests before we completed the game.
This is about the only point that i can critisize in the game, and it's not that bad anyway, if you dont fancy side quests dont bother with them...
As a whole this game was one of the best games ive played this year and i was almost tempted to get an Xbox 360 for all of 10 seconds, until i realised Jode would be home with his in a few days time.
Its good to see some other games pushing the Xbox and giving something new or different to the existing dull titles we see on offer at the moment.
Incase you are wondering i also liked Dead Rising, Oblivion (pre crap portal closing) on the Xbox 360 which also pushed the console a bit in the early days. Dead Rising is still a fun game to play when boredom strikes!
The Man, The Myth, The Legend...