Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Category: 2020s

I Picked Up Something Good to Play

Posted on by Viljami

So I started playing Resident Evil Village. I was a bit frustrated because NHL 97. It clearly was a disappointment for me. Resident Evil Village was released some time ago. It isn’t the newest game that would have been available. It just happens that I like very much the whole huge series of Resident Evil games. I have always simple loved these horror survival games. This has been the case since I first picked up Resident Evil 2 on PlayStation back in 1998.

What I really like to do before getting into a game is to take a look at how long will it take for me to finish the game. I like many types of games. It’s just that if I start a new game that takes 60 hours to finish I have to make a sort of commitment in playing it. That’s why I like to play shorter type of games that take about 10 to 20 hours to beat. That’s one reason I don’t play so many role-playing-games today. I mainly like racing, sports and shooting games but if there is a good game that I’ve heard good things about I might just go and play that.

It was maybe two weeks ago that I got myself these two Max Payne games. I got the first one and the second one released in this series. They weren’t in sale in Xbox store. I did find the latest Resident Evil game for about 20 euros. So I went and bought that also. I have been curious about this game for a while. Although I didn’t immediately start playing it the matter stuck to my mind. I had to play it when I would have some time.

It is one thing to try to find time for playing video games. It is also a thing to find something reasonable and that has a good quality. Today I had the joy to have time and also interest in this game. The graphics are amazing. After playing a graphically poor ice hockey game on SNES this definitely was a blast for me. The graphics come as sharp as my 4K television can display them. The game looks really neat.

What it comes to story the game doesn’t deal with huge multinational company this time. I am talking about the Umbrella Corporation. Instead the story starts developing from the end of the last Resident Evil game. This is definitely a horror game. You get a gun, a knife and also a shotgun. There are some bullets left for you but you must use them wisely. There are typewriters but there is also an automatic saving feature.

I haven’t found anything to complain here. At least not yet. I have played only for about two hours. It is said on “How Long to Beat” website that it will take about 9 and a half hours to finish this game. So there is a good feel to the game. The game has as I mentioned good graphics, interesting characters and a nice story that keeps developing forward. This game is definitely worth my twenty euros. It is also nice to see in what direction Capcom keeps moving with this series of survival horror games.

Setting Up C++ Programming Environment in Windows 10 Is a Pain

Posted on by Viljami

Yesterday I was excited and ready to start getting to programming with C++. I thought that it would be nice to learn and to refresh my memory. I have some years ago completed a programming basics course in C++. The idea of having an executable that could be run on a wide range of devices was the idea that was so fascinating to me. I use Windows 10 a lot. So I decided that it would be easiest to just install some IDE and also a compiler.

I was so wrong with my decision. I tried to install Cygwin. During the installation you would have to select all the components that you definitely need for C++ development. There are hundreds of them. If you would like to install all of them that would take days to download and install. So that basically wasn’t an option.

I have been around Java from 2010. I am very familiar with setting up programming environment for it. It is just way easier than with C++. I wanted to code in C++. I just think there are so many options if you learn and use this programming language. What was my solution?

While I was going through the material I found online I figured that it might be easier if I would start with Linux instead of keep hitting my forehead to Windows 10. I know that Microsoft has been trying to make it a bit easier to use Linux’s software on Windows. That however wasn’t the solution for me. So I swithched to my laptop that has a dualboot install of Windows 10 and Ubuntu.

I had already Visual Studio Code installed. All I had to do was to install the extension inside VS Code. That was almost it. I had to look up how to run build inside the IDE but that wasn’t a hard thing to do. So I got to programming quickly.

It was my goal to just write something that would work and refresh my memory on the programming language. As I got my programming environment to work I got to the actual programming. I had to look up some tips on how to present text and read it in online. I am serious as I say that any programming experience in any language makes it way easier to switch to a language that you aren’t already familiar.

C++ is used widely and still in 2022 for programming games and other software. Aside it being a tough to install in Windows it really is a dynamic programming language. There basically aren’t many limitations in what it can be used for. Even websites and desktop applications with a GUI can be build.

What I build yesterday was just a tiny application. Actually it is a personality test with a lot of humourous edges on it. You answer in five questions which give you points for a type of a person you are. There are three types. The personality type that you are is the one that gets most points based on your answers. Yes. And the types are (translated since the application is in Finnish) “a talented model citizen”, “an alcoholic” and “loser”. So you are one of these. I know, there aren’t much of a choice.

Anyways, I had fun all of the about three hours I spend developing this funny or stupid app.  I had fun. It was nice. The program managed to fit into about 150 lines of code. So you can imagine that it wasn’t so complex. It had some basic text that was read in and also printed out. It used different variable types, some loops and decision making with if-else structures and that was basically it.

If you would like to program with C++ yourself I highly recommend using a computer that has Linux installed. I also like Visual Studio Code which is a free text editor or even an IDE (which stands for Integrated Development Environment).

Silent Hill 2 Remake

Posted on by Viljami

So there is a new remake of Silent Hill 2 in the makings. I was thinking that in this post I wouldn’t go so deeply into what is coming for us gamers but I thought I should write something I feel about this series of survival horror magnifiency that Silent Hill has delivered and what is my relationship with it.

My first memories are about the first game of this series. I think I never owned the game. I did play a short demo of it. I liked it. Later I have played it but I never completely finished it. The latest connections between me and Silent Hill are made by playing PS3. I own the HD collection and also Silent Hill Homecoming. I had Downpour but I decided some years back to sell it. I also have Silent Hill 3 for PS2.

There is always a comparison between Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Both of them are survival horror games. They do differ a lot. While Resident Evil offers a constant feel of anxiety, Silent Hill does take you deeper into characters and how they feel and how the story keeps forming. I wouldn’t like to say that Silent Hill is in some way better or worse. Instead I would like to think that they are just different games. And they are good series of games all in all.

My history with Resident Evil is a lot closer. I started with Resident Evil 2 on PS1. I have completed also RE 1, RE 3 and RE 5. I almost completed RE Revelations and I am talking about the first in the series of two games. So I have some experience but I am not the master that has completed every game and every game in the whole world. There are lots of games in these series’s.

Silent Hill 2 is definitely a legendary game. Currently we know that it will be released for PS5 and PC. There will be no Xbox or Switch versions. There has been also some conversation about the game’s system requirements. They are going to be high. What is there to be for us? I think the time will show us. I am waiting to see something more out of this game.