Topics

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Off Topic / My Monitor for my Recently-Built Computer is not Getting Signal

« on: January 20, 2016, 02:58:20 PM »

I don't really think this is the best place to ask but I figured a lot of you have some experience with computer building and could probably help me out. This story might end up being a little long so hold on. I did a lot of stupid things, I realize, because I'm not exactly the brightest person in both hardware-related stuff and in general. This was supposed to be a learning experience for me in the first place, as I figured that if I go into computer science I should at least know how to put together a computer, right? I should probably stick to software from now on though. But I digress. :K

A few weeks ago, I got all of the parts to my computer (we got a different monitor but it was still an acer, which i realize is a stuffty brand apparently) and put it together. I didn't have too much of a hard time putting it together, but when I was done, it didn't start up. I was absolutely baffled as to why this happened as I carefully followed the manual and watched several tutorial videos, so after a few days of trying everything I could think of, I took it to a (really sketchy, I'll get to that) computer repair shop.

Apparently, I shorted the fan that came with the case by connecting it to both the motherboard and power supply, but no other damage was done thankfully. He also insisted on installing the OS and doing the BIOS files for me, which I figured I'd let him because it was free. The total ended up being $170 ($20 for the fan replacement, $150 for the diagnosis), and I'm pretty sure I was overcharged. I also learned that the guy is a child enthusiast and he gave me really weird vibes the whole time, so I really don't want to go back there.

After coming home, I first tested the computer without the monitor, and the LEDs worked unlike last time, and I could hear it whirr when I turned it on. Then, after turning it off, I plugged in the VGA cable to the motherboard, and I first plugged in the DVI-D cable into the graphics card. Of course, my monitor was not getting signal as the title suggests. I tried plugging in the DVI-D cable in different places (the motherboard had a socket, and the graphics card had two sockets which I think is the norm), but none of them worked.

After searching online, most sites seemed to suggest trying another monitor, which is out of the question for me because I can't just buy another monitor and all of my other computers are Macs. I'm considering clearing my CMOS battery, but I'm not sure if that's the right approach. That would uninstall my OS, right? Which would also mean that I'd have to buy another copy of the OS? The idea is to spend the least amount of money possible because my mom is pretty mad at me for having to take it to a repair place, so finding another is the absolute last resort.

Off the top of my head, it seems that the problem involves either:

A: A stuffty monitor
B: A faulty DVI-D cable (possible, I had a hard time screwing the cable into the most of the DVI ports, but I think this is unlikely. One socket on the graphics card is for DVI-I, and the other is for DVI-D. I should be able to use both though with a DVI-D cable, right?)
C: The guy at the computer repair shop set up the computer's BIOS in a way that I'm not actually using it (Not sure if that makes sense or is possible, but I would presume this is the situation I'd need to restart the CMOS battery)

Either way I think I forgeted up pretty badly and now have to pay for it. If you need any pictures or more information, just ask. I'm not really sure what I'm going to get out of this but I just really need to resolve this for once.

2

General Discussion / Feeling Totally Stumped as to How I'm Going to Make a Drawbridge

« on: August 29, 2015, 09:56:26 PM »

I'm not sure if I should be posting in GD or the gallery, but since I'm not showcasing the build per se, I guess this is the better board? Sorry if I am mistaken.

Anyway, I haven't played Blockland in ages, and I decided to build on single player for a little. Over the past few days, I made a cute little fortress(? it looks more like a manor or something but still) that I decided to use in a CTF or a TDM with capture points (what do you call that?).



Mind you, I'm not asking for a critique on the build itself. I know there are some flaws with it, but that's not the point yet.

I'd almost be done with this part of the build, but the only thing that's been stopping me from finishing is that little brown board in the water. I've been trying to work it into a drawbridge, but I'm just stumped. I've tried looking at reference pictures and looking at other people's builds, but I've just had no luck!

How would you guys go about this?

3

Off Topic / Let's Give My Friend, Taxidermy, a Warm Welcome to the BLF!

« on: February 08, 2015, 08:27:33 PM »

I got my friend, Taxidermy, Blockland for their birthday, and naturally they wanted to join the forums. They're pretty cool, and I hope they'll enjoy their (hopefully) permanent stay at the forums!

I'm not really sure how I can introduce the community best, so I guess the best thing to do is just to ask you guys for newcomer advice. What are somethings I can do to introduce them to our forum, its culture, and the actual game?

Also I'm speaking for them because they're struggling with getting an avatar at the moment. :/

4

Help / Can Steam Users Get Forum Accounts Yet?

« on: February 08, 2015, 06:09:15 PM »

I just got my friend Blockland for their birthday and I was wondering if they were able to get an account or not. I remember that in the past, steam users could not get forum accounts, but I haven't checked back in a while. Has this changed? If so, how can they do it?

5

Creativity / The Blockland Review — Calling All Writers and Opinionated Folks!

« on: February 07, 2015, 08:50:37 PM »

What is The Blockland Review ?

The Blockland Review, or TBLR, is a newsletter intended for Blocklanders. In it, writers will speak about their opinions concerning the game and its community, while also giving advice in skills such as building or add-on development. In the future, nonfiction pieces about current events in the community will allow new players to understand drama and keep up-to-speed with veteran players. TBLR's main goal, however, is to allow any Blocklander with a passion for writing nonfiction or reviews to hone their craft.


How can I become a writer for The Blockland Review?

Currently, there are no prerequisites for obvious reasons. Just send me a PM, or even ask here! The only thing I need to know is if you have PMs disabled and if you have a Steam. You should also be able to write at a fifth-grade reading level at the very least.

How frequently will issues be posted?

The goal currently is monthly in order to make sure there's enough time for everyone's busy schedules for this whole thing to work out. This means issue #1 should be out by March. If worst comes to worst, it might become bi-monthly in the future.


Has any work been done on the first issue yet?

Besides the logo, the only work done thus far is a sample issue. The pictures in future will often be relevant to the story, or perhaps a standalone cartoon. Depending on how many people write, the layout may change to become a 2-page spread rather than a single page. Other than that, no.


PMs to the Editor?

Even if you don't think you have much writing skill, you can still let your opinion out. It's similar to the letters to the editor in a legitimate paper. Just send me a PM (or email the account I specifically made for this) that's about 100 or less words long. It can be about anything related to Blockland, so vent your heart out!


Happy writing, everyone! If you got any more questions, lay 'em out.

6

Games / I need some quick roleplay advice for Pathfinder!

« on: August 08, 2014, 11:57:51 PM »

ok so i'm kind of in a tough spot in my pathfinder session and i don't know what to do. Don't worry if you know nothing about Pathfinder, a very cursory understanding is needed.

The gist of the story is that waaaay before we started our game, I decided that my character was going to be a True Neutral wizard who was secretly a necromancer. I had a cool (at least in my opinion) backstory about how he wanted to disprove the existence of good and evil and prove that necromancy (and other things that require negative energies to use) can be used for good purposes. Essentially that the ends justify the means. A few weeks before we started, however, the gamemaster decided to add one of their internet friends to help them co-gm, which was fine until I learned about their character...

Long story short, I'm a necromancer who has to be friends with a paladin that has a traumatic past involving undead. Killing them is out of character and immoral, especially because the rest of the party would die without him. What would you guys suggest doing? If you need more information, i'll supply it the best i can.

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Forum Games / Slay the Giant Spider! [Update 18!] - Pfffahaha.

« on: June 17, 2014, 08:02:00 PM »

due to "copyright" issues i had to change the name
sorry cybertails i didn't know YMDTW was your original idea i thought it was just part of some forum tradition


 Slay the Giant Spider

    No one likes crustaceans. Crabs, scorpions, and lobsters are all the scum of this Earth, but everyone will probably agree that spiders are the worst pieces of stuff ever. They aren't even crustaceans, but we're hurling them into that category for foreshadowing purposes. I wonder what I mean??? Regardless, that invasive arachnid is why it's your job to defend the forums from a giant spider's incoming attacks!

 What the Hell is This?

   Slay the Spider is a typical "roll the dice for an action," game, except with an RPG flair. One must enter a command of some sort, explaining how they will attempt to kill the spider. The rules are as following:

   1. First, when a player submits their first action, they must also create a character. By doing so, they must allocate 700 points to 7 different stats (Willpower, the 8th stat, requires no allocation). While assigning numbers, realize that 100 is the "average," and think of it as 100% of the normal stat. After stating their stats, I will calculate your character, and you can begin playing! The specific stats are (note: any terms not from the traditional game will be explained later!):

   

• Guts (affects health)
• Willpower (Affects the number of times you can use special moves, determined by WP.)
• Strength (Exclusively a damaging stat)
• Tech (Exclusively a damaging stat)
• Agility (Exclusively a damaging stat)
• Intellect (Affects the number of times you can use special moves.)
• Luck (Mathematically, it’s exclusively a damaging stat, but if you have above average luck, I may consider re-rolling a crappy roll)
• Kindness (Affects the power of buffs and healing moves)

   2. Each action must have a corresponding damaging stat. For example, if you are punching the spider, you must put (Strength) or anything else that clarifies you are using strength. Any of the 8 stats can be used as a damaging stat. Illogical damaging stats will most likely be changed or ignored, however.

   3. In addition to making sense, you cannot repeat a damaging stat until you have used 4 different ones. To clarify, you cannot use a tech-based action until you used any of the other 7 stats in an action 3 times. I realize this may be confusing, so I’ll tell you if you are offending this rule early on.

   4. In addition to standard actions, you may choose to consume willpower to benefit other players or use stronger attacks, starting at level 2. Using willpower (WP) will allow you to ignore the third rule. During rage mode, you will not consume any WP. If a skill you want to use is unlisted, please suggest it to me and I will attempt to make fair rules for it. These are the WP costs for skills:
   

• To increase everyone’s dice rolls for the turn, you must consume 5 WP. Specific players and stats will require 3 WP.
• Increasing damage for everyone requires the consumption of 3 WP. Specific players and stats will require 2 WP. Your kindness stat will be directly applied to each player. Note that this also includes self-inflicted damage.
• Restoring health for a single person requires 3 WP, and healing your own or everyone's health requires 4 WP. The maximum amount you can heal is half of your calculated kindness.
• Creating a shield on a player (insta-revive) requires 5 WP. The probability of it failing is low, but it is still based on your luck.
• Using a strong skill requires 5 WP.
• Using a debuff on the spider requires 2 WP.
• You can sacrifice a small amount of guts to restore WP.

   Don't feel the need to be frugal! Spider retaliations can restore WP, and I may make skills that enable you to heal someone else's WP.

   5. The numbers that appear at the end of an action (example: (5)) indicate the level of success of your action.
      
      A 1 is a complete failure and will cause you to damage yourself.

      A 2 will null your action completely.

      A 3 is a less-than-success-but-still-a-success. You do the job poorly, in essence.

      A 4 is a normal success.

      A 5 does more than anticipated.

      A 6 enables you to gain a self-buff based on an additional roll.

         Rolling a 1 at this point will cause you to injure yourself.

         Rolling a 6 at this point will cause you to overshoot, doing more than a normal 5, but also injure yourself.

         Rolling anything else at this point will cause you to gain a buff in which you do more damage, all buffs  that target you are reflected back to the user, and you do not need to spend willpower for buffs and skills. The buff lasts for 2 rounds.

   6. After dealing a certain amount of damage, a player will level up. A level up will increase all stats.

   7. Inactive players and newbies will gain automatic level-ups as the spider gets tougher, to keep the game fair.

   8. For every 5 players that move per turn, the spider will retaliate somehow. This could be a debuff, a loss of health, or maybe a (beneficial) surprise!


I don’t think there’s anything else I need to explain, but any questions will be answered! Also, updating until Friday may be a little wonky since I still have school so bear with me a bit early on.


The Spider currently has 500,000 HP. The web resistance is 2.


wow cool a spreadsheet with everyone's stats


It's up-to-date now, as of update #16.

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Suggestions & Requests / 80˚ and 72˚ Inverted Ramp Corners

« on: May 01, 2014, 05:04:01 PM »

I'm trying to make a rampscape river and I think I'm going to need these bricks for turns. Does anyone have links, or will someone else have to make this?

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General Discussion / Anyone Know What's Going on with CBMHost?

« on: April 22, 2014, 03:46:40 PM »

In case some of you haven't noticed, servers hosted by CBMHost, which include Boost's The Hidden, theportalmaster's Winter Bite RP, and my Fantasy DM, seem to have really high pings, and I can't connect to them. Other people seem to be having issues, too. I'm really impatient because I want to play on my server later and work on the forum post for it, and I haven't gotten a response from CBMHost about this yet (I sent my message a little less than an hour ago, so I guess I should wait but). Does anyone happen to be knowledgeable about what's going on, and would they care to enlighten everyone else?

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Off Topic / Maces vs. Morning Stars!

« on: April 22, 2014, 02:55:03 PM »

Charles and I are having a very heated debate at the moment, so I'm taking it to the forums to settle it.



This is a mace. It is a club with a metal head.



This is a morning star. It is a club with a spiked metal head.

So, which do you pick? Morning stars or maces?

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Suggestions & Requests / Is There a Script That Prevents Players From Throwing Items?

« on: April 13, 2014, 11:37:07 AM »

Hey everyone. For a gamemode I'm working on, I need a script that prevents players from forcing items out of their inventories. I tried searching, but the concept is so vague that I didn't find anything useful. Thanks in advance.

12

Games / Video Games: What Makes It Art?

« on: April 01, 2014, 03:10:05 PM »

For my Effective Speech class, I am supposed to give a persuasive speech that attempts to explain to the audience why video games should be considered a high art. In addition to my speech, another student is supposed to support me and elaborate on my points if she wishes, another student is supposed to ask questions for clarification mid-speech,  but the main issue lies within the third, who is supposed to attempt to counter my speech (this was to form sort of a "mini-rally"). The person opposing me sincerely believes that video games cannot be considered art, quite shockingly enough for a student attending a school that specializes in art and communications. Regardless, her argument hinges entirely on the fact that violence in video games prevents it from becoming art. While I respected my friend and still do, this argument is absolutely absurd. All art forms have violence in them in some form at some points, but that didn't seem to persuade her.

I decided that the way I can prepare for her argument best is to find a game that has a high amount of violence in it, yet still has some meaning to it and can be described as art. The first game that came to my mind was Bioshock Infinite. The only issue, however, is that I have only heard good word of this title. I've never played it myself, and since I've always wanted to play it, I've never watched a playthrough of any of the games. I can't pick another game because I don't really play the typical "violent video game" and therefore cannot sufficiently refute her argument solely with my experiences.

Now, to cut to the chase.... The questions I pose are:

1. By watching a playthrough, can I still get enough of the game's experience to determine whether or not I believe it has meaning?

2. Would you say this game has meaning? How does it fit your definition of art?

3. Did the game's narrative affect you in any way? This is especially important because the thesis of my argument primarily focuses on the narrative aspect of video games.

Thank you for your time.


Changing the topic a little bit. Do you agree with the notion that video games can be considered a high-art form (When I say this, I mean that it is capable of delivering a message that is both timeless and meaningful)? If so, what do you think makes video games a high-artistic medium?

13

Modification Help / Can a Playertype Force a Specific Appearance on to the Player?

« on: March 19, 2014, 06:18:02 PM »

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but my knowledge of torquescript is no further than understanding what global and local variables are, how to modify them, and copying and pasting code together (after all, that's as far as most tutorials go). I'm currently working on a RPG-themed deathmatch server in which players must select a class before spawning. I want each class to have a distinct costume, yet I can't use the editAppearance from the old bot events for obvious reasons. If there is an editAppearance for new bots anyway, it won't work because whenever someone sprints with the sprinting playertype (code from it is used in my playertypes), their datablock would change, which I believe overwrites any modifications made to the player's avatar.

How can I implement this sort of feature that forces specific nodes onto a player using a certain playertype? Thank you for your time.

14

Gallery / Is This Interior Build Salvageable? (Clue Mansion)

« on: February 15, 2014, 12:40:05 PM »

A while back, Charles and I decided to make a Clue gamemode to follow the whole Murder Mystery and Mafia Madness trend with a more slower-paced game; however, due to our lack of any coding abilities and my overconsuming life, I had to stop working on it. Now that I have some free time, I took some pretty shots of the completed rooms in hopes of getting some advice. I'm still working on the lighting, but I was trying to go for dimness. The billiard room has no lights, so I had to edit the lighting from the sun a bit, but I don't think that matters for now.

The Dining Room


The Lounge


The Billiard Room


If the lights are too dark to really see anything, I'll probably take some non-cinematic shots for your sake. Feel free to give an x/10 (or any other number) rating.

Charles made the furniture, and I made most of the paintings (other painters are not credited unless requested, as I don't remember who made what) and arranged and designed the rooms.

15

General Discussion / What is the Secret to Making Beautiful Trees?

« on: February 15, 2014, 11:54:24 AM »

Treebuilding seems to be some complex skill that only a select few people seem to understand. Are any of you guys here good at doing it? If so, could you perhaps show me how to make an acacia tree with a low brickcount? I've tried several times, but I never made anything decent. Also, it would be really nice if you could share some of your techniques. Thanks!