Charles of Tours

A good subject. I'll say some "common sense" stuff. I think the "get rich quick" method of acquiring money is becoming more popular. Too popular. And this has spread to software and games, a market that requires time and patience to develop a decent product. Without getting into the political-moral side of economics too much, I'll say that (unfortunately) quality is not being put over quantity. Just look at the Steam Early Access part of the store, full of abandoned products with unfriendly price tags. Of course it is the consumer's choice to buy what games (s)he wants to, and I've been fooled a couple of times myself with some decent-looking Early Access games (granted, all the ones I tried worked) but were still incomplete. Not enough content. The other end of things is true too. Games that are *not* under Early Access sometimes do not work, and are not labeled as requiring a really old computer in order to work. Always look at reviews and Youtube videos/tutorials before you buy a piece of software or a game, from Steam or elsewhere. You might blame the developer, the middle man, or the market itself, but no matter who's fault it is, you'll be kicking yourself for throwing money out the window. Even if you were lied to. Ports have no excuse to be buggy, unless it is a Windows-Mac issue. Games and software for all platforms are made on computers, and ought to be tested on computers first to see hardware specs required before being put on console. But there was another big controversy with this where the "Next Gen" consoles did not really look too much better than the Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 era games. That said, there's something more than hardware, and that's effort. People use effort to make money to spend it, and people really feel cheated when their effort pays the bills of a guy who made a shoddy computer game and sold it for $30 with no effort put in at all. Conclusion: Read the Reviews!!! :)

Perhaps this weekend (most times Saturday, or Friday afternoon my time) I could help test by watching on Twitch. I have an important exam tomorrow (Friday) so I won't be here for half of the day. But perhaps tomorrow night or afternoon if you two are available? :) Also, I think if you had to choose between broadcasting on Twitch or Steam, I think Twitch would be the better option, especially if it is compatible with Game Ranger. Even if you don't have a fancy Steam page to show your stream on, you can send the Twitch link to friends and ask them to watch, or you could put a link on this website (in your signature would be a good place) so whenever you had an event you'd like to broadcast, you can simply put up a post saying what time.

Suddenly the man in the straw hat stands up and heads towards the door.

Looks really nice. :D If other people on this website are interested in strategy games based on that setting, I can recommend Fate of the Dragon and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games. A bit different, but still worth checking out.

Weekdays are usually bad for me when it comes to gaming with other timezones. At that time tomorrow, I will still be in a class. :( Otherwise I would attend. Good luck to you both (and whoever else joins), and I hope to read what happens! :)

By the way, I assume we are using Game Ranger? I'll be sitting on there for a few minutes. Oh - and would you mind if I invited some people from Stronghold Knights if we don't have any others joining by 13:00 (Boston time)?

The question is: can it do parallel parking for me? :lol:

The barkeep snatches up the coin and slides it into a pocket, patting it for good luck. "Roight then, I'll be gettin' yer somethin' ta wet yer whiskers an' nibble on." "Tha's 'wet yer whistles' Georgie!" says a voice from another table. Looking over, the adventurers see a man dressed in common clothing with a straw hat resting on his head and a corncob pipe resting in his mouth, with a steady stream of smoke floating out. "I know that!" The barkeep, Georgie, turns back and walks behind the counter and pours several mugs for his guests. He puts two loaves of bread on the table before bringing over the mugs, and then goes back to the counter. There, the adventurers see that he is cleaning several used mugs with his spit and the dirty rag, but nobody seems to be paying any mind to it.

I don't "betray" people per se, I only make sure that there is one winner. :P

@EaglePrince's Sega reminded me of the old advertisement: "Sega can do what Nintendon't" xD I still love my SNES (Super Nintendo, for the Sega people out there :P). I still live in a part of the US that many would consider backwards. No fibre optic cables available here on the island, and the low-tech plans are expensive. I recently read an article detailing how other countries are improving their internet speeds, while the two main service providers in the US stated that they believed that internet speed in this nation is fast enough as-is. Another article stated a rumor that the cables being used are 20+ years old, which wouldn't surprise me. :( Who remember video cassette tapes, and video stores for that matter?

I think I can attend that game, but I'll need to practice. Don't wait for me, because there is a slight possibility I will be going out, but I am always early to events if I attend. :)

[OOC]: I was thinking about a West Country accent, albeit a very exaggerated sort, at the time of writing. Guess I didn't fail completely with Chris guessing Wales. Kinda close. Sorta. :P

"Shure thin'. A'course ya be wantin' beds. Dem merchants an' dere tents outside 'ave taken up all the good spots, eh?" He laughs loudly at his own remark, his belly (and the table) shaking. He leans a hairy elbow on the table to whisper: "I thinks them merchants be sellin' some ... not-quite legitimate wares. The good people o' Riverbourne 'ave bought some items claimin' ta be magical an' such. Thing is, dey don't work. Them merchants be arguin' for their honor, but I reckon they brought them guards b'cause dey've 'ad trouble of worser sorts before. What with tha duke gone an' all, 'spos'in' he comes back with reinforcements of some sort (dat's a word I did learn with me time in the yeomanry fightin' in France) methinks there's gonna be some trouble comin' down in the valley-o." He claps his hands and the smile reappears. "So whot'll it be fellas? A point o' mead, or a spot o' ale?" [OOC: reread the post, this time say it out loud, and try to guess what part of England he comes from :P]

Well done, and well deserved! :D

The innkeeper shambles over while wiping his hands with a dirty cloth. "Say, yer newcomers aren't ya? Any news from the outside world? Anywho, what'll ya have?" He smiles and you see several of his teeth are missing, as if he has dealt with rowdy customers in the past. He scratches his oily black hair and turns to yell at a group of men sitting around a table who are singing the words to a vulgar sailing tune.

You have a nice monitor. It took me a few minutes to load all the pixels in that image, even with Chrome. :P You've probably tried it already, but have you: 1) Fiddled with the in-game resolution setting? 2) Run the game as administrator? 3) Changed the graphics settings? It's very annoying but most indie game devs nowadays make games intended for their own computer's parts, not other peoples' ... some "professionals" do this too and it's really annoying. Unfortunately there's not much you can do about complaining to the devs or Valve until (if) the "Early Access" tag is taken off. I do hope someone else here can help if my suggestions didn't work. I think since it's a medieval game some others here may own it. I don't, but was considering getting it, despite my bad luck with "Early Access" games. Also, does the grey bar actually block part of the game graphics / User Interface? Or is it simply empty and unused?

My favorite is still from SH1 and SHC, when you order the spearman to dig the moat. "My boots leak!" The way he says it is priceless. ;)

Good call, @Lord_Chris, it's a lot easier to keep track of the character records when there is no prolonged discussion in that thread. This is the place to talk about my amazing powers to accept or deny, and how I abuse use them. :P

Sir Dewi Lloyd - character approved. , you may join the Adventure since it is just getting started. You can "pop in" like [user]Isaiah] did, but since the adventurers have already made their plan they may be a bit suspicious of you. ;)

If you're patient and/or broke, I suggest waiting for the Steam summer sales. I'm not sure if the spring sales have come and gone (in New England this year there is no spring season :( ) but the summer sales are generally better. Not sure when those are coming up, however, but Steam seems to always be having some sort of sale. How else can you get $0.14 games? ;)

One of the many reasons why your computer could be running slow, is a RAM related issue. You should first do some inspecting on the software side if the lag you are experiencing is not too horrendous. While there are several software approaches to fixing RAM, I'll only talk about a diagnosis to the problem, and a possible (very, very, very cheap) solution. These next software steps are intended for Windows 7. Click on the Start menu icon, right click on Computer, click on Properties. Look under "Installed Memory (RAM):" and see what it says. The number to the left should tell you how much RAM is installed on your computer. The number in parentheses is how much your computer is able to use. If you have a 64-bit system (which you can see under "System Type:" then you should have at least 2 GB RAM. If you have 4 GB RAM installed, you will want at least 3 GB usable. However, not all computers have the "usable" bit shown. If you do not see how much usable RAM you have, try this: http://wizards.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1271/~/creating-a-dxdiag-file. This file has some very useful information. Under "Memory" is how much you have installed. Under "Available OS RAM" is how much your computer is using. Now, close all running applications. Press CTRL+ALT+DLT. Open task manager. On the applications tab, make sure all of your applications are closed. Look at the bottom of the window. There are two statistics that are constantly changing, "CPU Usage" and "Physical Memory." CPU Usage should be relatively low if you don't have applications running, but this guide will focus on Physical Memory. This is related to RAM, how many processes you have open, etc. If you have 4 GB RAM installed it should be around the 30s range in percent. If it is shown as being much higher (say, in the 70s to 90s) then you probably have a problem! While there are several software solutions, none of them worked for me, so I will share with you all the way I fixed my computer's RAM. Materials Needed: 1. Phillips (cross-shaped) screwdriver, may vary depending on where your computer was made. 2. A roll of paper towels. 3. A box of cotton sticks, Q-tips, or whatever they are called in your country. 4. A bottle of rubbing alcohol (not the drinking kind). Procedure: 1. Shut off your computer. 2. Disconnect your computer from all sources of electricity. 3. Unscrew your computer and open it up. May vary as per model, but many open from the side. Will be the bottom if a laptop. 4. If your computer opened on its left side (while looking at the front), once you have opened it you will notce to the right (while looking at the open side) that there are 4 colored slots. Mine were blue and black. If you have two sticks of RAM they should be in the same color slot. 5. ONLY TOUCH THE TOP AND BOTTOM SIDES OF THE RAM STICK. I am not at fault if you mishandle it. 6. Eject the RAM sticks, carefully, onto a paper towel. There will be two white tabs holding the sticks into place. Gently but firmly press on them (push down on the bottom one, up on the top one) to release the stick. 7. Lay the sticks facing up, and remember what way they were facing while inside the machine and what slots they were in. 8. Pour rubbing alcohol onto the cotton end of a cotton stick. Gently rub along the gold edge of the RAM stick. Then, gently dry it with a paper towel. Do this for both / all. You may also wish the clean the slots which the RAM came from, but dry it with a cotton stick to not disrupt nearby wires, etc. 9. Return your RAM sticks to their proper places. Screw the lid back on your computer. Reconnect power and start up. If you did it correctly, Windows will start up. 10. Before you reconnect your computer to the power you may wish the clean out any dust. Do this with a DRY wash cloth. You can use cotton sticks dipped in alcohol to clean out the fan. Well, that is one solution. It was a heck of a lot easier than I thought it would be. Just set aside a good chunk of time to do it so you don't feel rushed, that way you won't mess up. I've heard of "grounding" bands and the like, but as long as you only touch the top and bottom bits of the RAM sticks, you will be fine. I went from 1.39 GB usable (below minimum for 64-bit) to 3.39 GB usable after doing this. I had 4 GB installed. I hope this will help others. It is very cheap if you have the materials already, but it beats buying a $20 to $50 stick replacement. I found this method of cleaning conductor metals worked with old NES and ATARI games sometimes too, which gave me inspiration. Gold does not rust, but it can sometimes get little black spots on it, which is not a good sign if that gold is inside your beloved creation computer. :)

The Duke distributes a map of his castle to his new followers ... {OOC: The adventure is open once again! :D Download Aleks's winning map here: http://forums.stronghold-nation.com/post/3853/#p3853 }

I see no reason why not, we could attach it to one of our posts to download - but @Charles of Tours should confirm this too. I think this is a grand idea to see how the current castle "officially" look. :)

Ok, folks, the results are in, and we have a winner! I shall list the scores from lowest to highest to keep the suspense ... Nigel Creativity: 2.5 and 3 Landscape: 2 and 2 Accuracy: 3 and 3 Average: 2.5 and 2.6 = 2.55 Vetka Creativity: 3.5 and 4 Landscape: 5 and 4.5 Accuracy: 2.5 and 3 Average: 3.7 and 3.8 = 3.75 Aleks Creativity: 4 and 3.5 Landscape: 4 and 3.5 Accuracy: 4.5 and 4 Average: 4.2 and 3.6 = 3.9 Congratulations to our winner, Aleks! This competition was a close call, but we have decided a winner after numerous mathematical equations. Nigel and Vetka both submitted worthy maps, and their defeat was not a landslide. Expect the Adventure to reopen soon, and I'll keep this open for a couple days for an aftermath (pun intended) discussion.

Today, Chris and I will be judging the three entries to the competition. I'll edit this post with the style by which we'll be grading the maps after I've had my morning cup of tea. :) EDIT: The scoring process has now been decided upon. The following categories for each map will be scored 1 through 5: Creativity Landscape Accuracy to Description The scores will be averaged and the map with the highest average score will win.