I Had a Random Thought (About Video Games)

[N1njaSquirrel]

Did they ever distribute the ship codes in the end? I remember the thumbs getting a load of them from the devs, but then they did nothing with them. Or at least, didn't mention it. A ship night would be awesome.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I am absolutely up for this, especially since an attempt to play Tf2 with people fell unfortunately to the wayside with life and organisation.

[Trip Hazard]

Yeah, let's do it! I've got a few thumbs on my friends list, but they are all BASTARDS because they don't play the same multiplayer games as I do. I'd be up for TF2. Guild Wars 2, Counter Strike. L4D2, whatevs.

[melmer]

What would be good would be like a google calendar (something which automatically changes time zones) (ive never used google calendar)

 

So if for example i know i'm going to be playing Diablo 3 this Sunday afternoon between 2pm-6pm, i can add an event to the calendar with my gametag and platform, people can then join the event by adding their gamertags.

 

This way you can quickly see whats going on and when, and easily jump into a game by send a friend request etc

 

i don't know if that would get messy quickly? You could make a calendar for each platform

 

 

Or maybe some real time drop in/out system. People can check in with "Playing Destiny | PS4 | Mington" and all the active booty calls will just be listed on a webpage somewhere

 

 

Just need to make it as hassle free, and commitment free as possible

[JonCole]

That should be possible with Google Calendar. That'd also be super nice as compared to the haphazard way we seem to be doing it now.

[SecretAsianMan]

I'm weary of a megathread because things easily get lost in those and we have a lot of threads for games already.  That said, I'd be into playing stuff I have when I have time.

 

Also a group calendar seems like a good idea.

[Griddlelol]

So where's this google calendar?!

[Justin Leego]

I'm weary of a megathread because things easily get lost in those and we have a lot of threads for games already.  That said, I'd be into playing stuff I have when I have time.

 

Also a group calendar seems like a good idea.

 

You're right, SAM, I could have been more specific - "megathread" does carry negative connotations in terms of readability and that's not what we want!

I should have said "thread with an opening post to collate current regular events and link to relevant threads, with space for any other discussion or recommendations underneath."

 

 

I like the idea of a central calendar that can be maintained by a number of people (shared by common users, less maintenance falling upon one person), especially if it can be embedded in a forum post, though hesitant to jump on a Google app by default just because. There's also the factor of the maintenance required to whitelist editors and revert changes / repair abuse.

 

Isn't there some sort of calendar function built into the IP Board forum software?

 

Ah, here it is - https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/calendar/1-community-calendar

It marks member birthdays by default, but there's a nice big "Add Event" button. Shame it's not very visible within the forum structure. I don't know if there's any way to embed the current week within a post or not but that could work well too.

[JonCole]

It's going to be hard to find software that will 1) let everyone access it without any credentials 2) let everyone add events 3) have some sort of embedding function that's actually compatible with these forums.

 

I like the idea of Google Calendar because it's the only software I'm aware of and if I'm not mistaken that you can actually add events if you don't have a Google account. Plus, I'd guess that it's the only calendar-type thing that a majority of people already use or almost use through use of Gmail already.

[tegan]

It marks member birthdays by default

 

Happy birthday, cedricfever1980!

[Justin Leego]

Yes, that's fair enough Jon. I mention IP.Calendar as it's already part of the site software, so there are various advantages there with the way it can link up to profiles, forum threads and whatnot, and it does the timezone stuff we'd want it to. But there'd need to be a change in user rights somewhere along the line as currently each event submitted to the Community Calendar has to be approved before it appears.

 

Happy birthday, cedricfever1980!

Cedricfever1980 is the best.

[Bjorn]

Could you try it with a shooter or something that natively supports analog stick input to see how it responds? I'm interested in trying it myself if it feels okay.

 

I messed around in a couple of shooters with native controller support tonight to try out the Nav with them, with both excellent and average results depending on the game. 

 

Serious Sam 3: BFE worked flawlessly.  Detected the Nav as a controller, had no problems with combined controller and mouse inputs.  Analog stick functioned perfectly, and exactly as you'd expect.  It allows for custom controller mapping, so I was able to set the Nav up exactly how I wanted it.  For the number of buttons that SS3 needs, the Nav feels perfect.  Sprint on trigger, jump on bump, common weapon swaps on d-pad and reload on a face button. 

 

Metro: Last Light detected it as a controller and had no problems with me running it with a mouse.  Analog movement was exactly as you'd expect, full range, move faster the farther the stick is pushed, etc.  The problem was that LL doesn't allow for custom mapping on controllers, you can just pick from 3 presets.  This ultimately makes it a bit more frustrating than necessary, as there are a couple of things I'd like to change (neither the bump nor the trigger were assigned anything useful).  But I just changed the mapping on my mouse for a couple of buttons and it was still usable.  LL is one of those games with a surprising amount of keys used though, so it's not really common for a shooter. 

 

I also played a few more matches of ME3:MP tonight, and continue to be super happy with the Nav+Mouse in it.  I've dumped a bunch of hours into both the 360 and PC version and have a lot of experience with that game with both controller and M+K.  M+Nav is unquestionably the superior input for me in it. 

 

I still haven't got this thing hooked up to Bluetooth though, I can't get it to pair.  But I haven't sunk a ton of time in trying to figure out what's wrong though.  I may simply be overlooking something simple.  I know it's possible, as I can find examples of people doing it. 

 

I've tried a bunch of alternate type controllers over the years, and I don't think I've ever been as instantly satisfied as I have been with the Nav+Mouse.  And for the low cost these things go for on eBay, it's doubly worth it since I've dropped significantly more on controllers or accessories that I ultimately found very poor. 

[Stuart]

lol

 

[Apelsin]

I've tried a bunch of alternate type controllers over the years, and I don't think I've ever been as instantly satisfied as I have been with the Nav+Mouse.  And for the low cost these things go for on eBay, it's doubly worth it since I've dropped significantly more on controllers or accessories that I ultimately found very poor. 

 

You're making me quite interested in checking this out myself. 

It'll have to wait a bit though, already went on a shopping spree last month.

[JonCole]

... should I just make that Google Calendar thing? I feel like it's not going to happen if this thread hits a new page.

[SecretAsianMan]

... should I just make that Google Calendar thing? I feel like it's not going to happen if this thread hits a new page.

 

Probably.  I forgot about it until just now so if it doesn't get done soon it'll probably never get done.

[Twig]

New page, time to forget all about it.

[Justin Leego]

Yeah do it. Fight the system!

[Jutranjo]

Do it, I can find some custom WC3 maps or good maps for huge FFA if enough people got that. Or Starcraft 2. Huge FFAs are really great for ganging up on people.

[JonCole]

I'll make the calendar when I get home (if I don't forget, ahhhhhhhhh).

 

On another on-topic random thought topic, my PS Nav controller arrives today in the mail. I am excite!

[Bjorn]

So some guys who are local to me started up gamephobias.com to create a database of things that might be troublesome for some players (ranging from sexual assault to alcoholism to fear of spiders).   Which is actually kind of a neat idea.  The Ghost entry was delightful. 

 

But, my local newspaper reported (scroll about halfway down the page, first half is about golf) about this as a "technological startup" with a lead about how there is serious talk of Lawrence becoming a destination for such tech startups.  I didn't realize how low the bar had become to be a startup. 

 

 

On another on-topic random thought topic, my PS Nav controller arrives today in the mail. I am excite!

 

Woot!  I'm curious to see what other people think. 

[shammack]

So some guys who are local to me started up gamephobias.com to create a database of things that might be troublesome for some players (ranging from sexual assault to alcoholism to fear of spiders).   Which is actually kind of a neat idea.  The Ghost entry was delightful.

 

They should have called it video gamebabies.com

[Ucantalas]

I think Charles Martinet has finally lost his mind.

http://instagram.com/p/sAyxGBHpT1/
https://vine.co/v/ML2nP5611zF

https://vine.co/v/MLO3tBVeqMU

https://vine.co/v/MLZjer5vLHw

[zerofiftyone]

I think Charles Martinet has finally lost his mind.

http://instagram.com/p/sAyxGBHpT1/

https://vine.co/v/ML2nP5611zF

https://vine.co/v/MLO3tBVeqMU

https://vine.co/v/MLZjer5vLHw

 

Haha, that's actually adorable.

I want to believe that this is just what he does all the time while out in public. 

[undermind9]

I'll make the calendar when I get home (if I don't forget, ahhhhhhhhh).

 

**Edit - didn't work as planned

 

Everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?