Posts for Bisqwit

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Posted: 6/23/2009 11:33 AM
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Bisqwit
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Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
Neclea wrote:
For about two minutes, when I tried to enter http://tasvideos.org, it redirected me to http://www.tasvideos.org and showed me this homepage: http://i41.tinypic.com/21jvyv4.jpg Okay, maybe it doesn't fit completely in this topic but I didn't think I should create another topic...
Try without the comma at the end of the URL.
Posted: 6/23/2009 8:05 AM
Post subject: Memcache errors fixed I hope
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Bisqwit
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Location: Arzareth
I switched to XCache's content caching now. Memcache errors should disappear completely. I also tweaked the Media API so that loading latencies become a bit lower now, too…
Posted: 6/22/2009 10:28 PM
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Bisqwit
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p0rtal_0f_rain wrote:
where <..> before <...> who
http://tasvideos.org/SiteHistory.html
Posted: 6/22/2009 7:24 PM
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Bisqwit
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OmegaWatcher wrote:
I have at least one reason: http://tasvideos.org/64M.html Check its .avi
Yup, and Ice Climber, and a few more. But Bubble Bobble was played on Famtasia and recorded at bad FPS, so its re-encoding is especially justifiable. For the old bisqwit.iki.fi-based URL, I'll try to keep it operational whenever bisqwit.iki.fi is operational, which I have no intention of shutting down any time soon.
Posted: 6/22/2009 4:39 PM
(Edited: 7/15/2009 7:21 PM)
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Bisqwit
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Joined: 3/8/2004
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Location: Arzareth
For the record, I'm very amused at the irony of a certain comment posted here.* (Not specifying it by quoting it for privacy reasons -- maybe later.)
Fabian wrote:
You're a strange dude, and apparently you've gotten even more strange lately. Good luck with everything, hope it works out. I hope you don't hurt anyone in your God-fueled quest, seriously.
Thank you. Unless you count occurrences such as this as such, I have no intention at hurting anyone :) God-fueled, that is an interesting expression I'll try to remember. EDIT: *) Antd's post suggesting me to seek professional help from a psychiatrist. I happened to have a relationship with a psychiatrist, who goes to the same prayer meetings as I and our views about everything biblical, including Israel, agree greatly. At the time of this posting, we had for some time considered the possibility that God had meant us together. So the irony, as I saw it, was staggering, and it helped me relax greatly when reading these posts. The answer turned out to be negative, but we're still friends.
Posted: 6/20/2009 1:59 AM
(Edited: 6/20/2009 2:11 AM)
Post subject: Re: To: Bisqwit
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Bisqwit
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Active player (296)
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Location: Arzareth
pirate_sephiroth wrote:
Wikipedia wrote:
Self-pity
I'm sorry for that my subtle laconic sarcasm was lost on you. In retrospect, should have guessed it happening. The most effective lie is the one that contains a bit of truth mixed with a bit of lie, they say. There was no bitterness in my message at all, even though such might have been read. I was genuinely expressing relief that people aren't making it difficult to leave by being too nice. But I veiled that relief in the pretense of accusing people acting like idiots. Dual purpose, neither accomplished too well, it seems. >FerretWarlord I apologize for my lack of knowledge of your favourite animal species.
Baxter wrote:
soon
is relative. I plan to be gone when I'm no longer needed, and to be not needed as soon as possible. But I'm still reachable, anyone can still contact me through e-mail and IRC but it better be personal then, for I'm not partaking interest in TASVideos anymore. I have written. Go back to your nonsense now.
Posted: 6/19/2009 11:25 PM
Post subject: I wrote.
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Bisqwit
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eternaljwh wrote:
Bisqwit, on page 49 wrote:
Two pages without replies from me... meh.
Oh dear.
And now 8 pages without me. TASVideos, I thank you for the fitting good-byes. It relieves me of any anxiety regarding my parting, knowing that people won't miss me.
Derakon wrote:
Bisqwit: if you do decide to leave, we'll miss you.
Shh, you're spoiling my post. ;)
eternaljwh wrote:
uestions to Bisqwit since Bisqwit last posted:
Thank you for helping, mister.
jimsfriend wrote:
Dear Bisqwit, why do you let this nonsense clutter your (or any) topic? Please feel free to not respond.
Because I don't care anymore. Also, I am letting people bring forth their messages as a testament of their quality of mind. It makes it easier for me to leave, too.
Ferret Warlord wrote:
What do you think about ferrets?
They're rodents. They chew on stuff. That much I think I know. I have generic sympathy towards some rodents such as squirrels and mice, but not a very strong one towards any particular kind of them.
eternaljwh wrote:
Bisqwit: In your alt-avatars (the human, rather than the helmet) is it coffee or tea you(I assume) are holding?
It is intentionally left ambiguous. Such detail does not matter. If you forced me to choose, it would be green tea.
Posted: 6/17/2009 11:17 AM
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Bisqwit
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RT-55J wrote:
As a random note, I found the maze part to be very reminiscent of the original Metroid. By that I mean I very meticulously made a map of the whole area only to have it run off the paper. :P At least everything appears to match up in a nice and Euclidean fashion.
I was indeed somewhat hoping that people would solve it in that manner :) For the record, the source code of the program that generates the maze, excluding the interchanges with the gardener man is just 233 lines of PHP code.
RT-55J wrote:
Also, I have few minor questions: 1. Does the number on the apparatus the man gives you represent the distance from the exit? (I ask this mostly because I thought it was a bomb with a timer at first, but found that was not the case after doing some experimentation after finishing the game.) 2. Do the light switches actually do anything? 3. Do you mind if I link to this on other forums?
1. Yes, it represents the distance from the exit. The idea of time bomb did not even occur to me. Perhaps the next book ;) 2. No, they don't do absolutely anything. They're just a plot advancement device for the character to stumble upon the crate. At that point of writing, I had yet no idea what I was going to write, and it shows. 3. Not at all.
Posted: 6/16/2009 11:38 AM
Post subject: Towers of Hanoi and the book creation tools
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Bisqwit
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If you want to devise your own books, here are the tools I created/had for it. Included is the source code for an example of a towers of hanoi puzzle book and a Makefile for creating it. http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jsgames/choosestory/tools/tools.zip The towers of hanoi puzzle book can be seen at: http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jsgames/choosestory/hanoi/page1.html (contains three endings, two of which are sub-endings) EDIT: Decreased the number of discs from 6 to 4 for an easier game :)
Posted: 6/16/2009 7:35 AM
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Bisqwit
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Two pages without replies from me... meh.
Baxter wrote:
After you quit all administrative tasks for the site, will you still visit the forums and irc regularly / once in a while / sporadically?
I don't know. I'll probably try to avoid alltogether, but how well my discipline holds, that remains to be seen :) In any case, I'll probably be reachable in IRC even if I'm not on the #nesvideos channel.
Posted: 6/16/2009 7:17 AM
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Bisqwit
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Apo123 wrote:
I did find a minor bug, though (spoilered so it doesn't give anything away):
Thanks. I have fixed it. BadPotato: There is only one "good" ending in this book. Congratulations for being the third person to find it! ---- This was more of a proof-of-concept, or exercise, of the state-machine as a story-book concept. It involves a DFA where each input state is the entire union of inventory and plot counters and the selected choice, and which is ultimately optimized using OpenFST to produce the least number of unique states (pages) possible. The page content are constructed with IF statements depending on the current variables. Still, it involves lots of repetition. For example, the inventory page (look at pockets) has to be duplicated for every possible combination of inventory items times the number of plot situations it can be invoked in, excluding those combinations that are impossible to reach. But with these tools, it would be easy'ish to write another book. The routes of the maze near the end of the game were synthesized with a program.
Posted: 6/15/2009 8:57 PM
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Bisqwit
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Warp wrote:
I was quite a fan of such games in the 80's, and missed them since then. Nobody makes such games anymore. Text-only games yes, but they tend to be a bit boring.
You mean this kind of games? http://tasvideos.org/Movies-C9050Y.html
Posted: 6/15/2009 8:50 PM
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Bisqwit
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sixofour wrote:
You actually pays for a license?
That's not the point. The point is that there are no free software RAR compressors. It's an industrial secret. Your data is held ransom by a company. That's what proprietary means.
Posted: 6/15/2009 8:45 PM
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Bisqwit
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Derakon wrote:
have you played Lost Pig?
Nope. Seems to require a particular program to play it, too, so I'll skip.
Posted: 6/15/2009 6:33 PM
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Bisqwit
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There was a bug in the book -- namely, at a given point in the story the book would forget that the protagonist has no pants (if the player chose to sacrifice them). The bug has been fixed in the HTML version, but the DOC/PDF versions are not updated yet. I took them offline.
Posted: 6/15/2009 5:50 PM
(Edited: 6/15/2009 9:24 PM)
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Bisqwit
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Randil wrote:
Very interesting! I think I'll give this a try once the hyperlinks are working (too much of a hassle for me to switch pages manually each time). Good job completing such a big project, it must have taken a long time. How much time did you invest in this project?
Thanks. Try the HTML version now. A few full days, I think. It does not contain nearly 3322 pages of unique stuff; many of it is duplicated, because it e.g. tracks your inventory and all. It's a story built into a deterministic finite-state machine.
Posted: 6/15/2009 5:48 PM
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Bisqwit
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SXL wrote:
I was a fan of those in the 80s. Couldn't you turn it into a simple html site ? Easy to read & bookmark, harder to cheat.
Sure. http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jsgames/choosestory/the_mop_is_the_key/page1.html This is as simple as it gets.
Posted: 6/15/2009 4:23 PM
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Bisqwit
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Why do you guys try so hard to destroy a kid's self-esteem?? Even if the submitter is not a kid they claim to be, it's better to err on the side of politeness, is it not?
Posted: 6/15/2009 1:52 PM
(Edited: 12/19/2009 10:21 AM)
Post subject: Choose your story book: The Mop Is the Key
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Bisqwit
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Speaking of pointers, I just finished writing my first book. It's a humble 3322 3277 3000-or-so pages long choose-your-story adventure. You can download it in PDF format here: http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jsgames/choosestory/the_mop_is_the_key/the_mop_is_the_key_joel_yliluoma_2009.pdf (7 MB) Or MsWord, : http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jsgames/choosestory/the_mop_is_the_key/the_mop_is_the_key_joel_yliluoma_2009.doc (6 MB) Or HTML: http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jsgames/choosestory/the_mop_is_the_key/page1.html I'm sorry about the hyperlinks within the book not working (maybe someone can come up with a solution that makes them work?), so for now, you have to switch pages manually. Please refrain from jumping to arbitrary pages. The different storylines are shuffled very thoroughly on the book. The large number of pages is due to the fact that the game keeps track of carried inventory. Same rooms with different inventory and plot choices need different pages. The game itself is not that long.
Posted: 6/15/2009 11:52 AM
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Bisqwit
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Swedishmartin wrote:
I should start working on pointers instead
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
typedef struct node { struct node *left, *right; int key; char payload; } node;
static void AddNode(node** tree, node* newnode)
{
    if(*tree == NULL)                    { *tree = newnode; }
    else if(newnode->key > (*tree)->key) { AddNode( &(*tree)->right, newnode); }
    else                                 { AddNode( &(*tree)->left, newnode); }
}
static void Populate(node** tree)
{
    static const char msg[] = "lol, Herd!low\n";
    static const char order[sizeof(msg)-1] = {3,4,2,5,6,0,1,9,11,12,10,8,7,13};
    const char* p;
    for(p=msg; *p != '\0'; ++p)
    {
        node* n = (node*) malloc(sizeof(*n));
        n->payload = *p;
        n->left = n->right = NULL;
        n->key  = order[p-msg];
        AddNode(tree, n);
    }
}
static void Walk(node* tree, void(*visitor)(node*), void(*disposer)(node*))
{
    if(tree == NULL) return;
    Walk(tree->left, visitor, disposer);
    if(visitor != NULL) visitor(tree); /* In the between of "left" and "right" for in-order walk-through */
    Walk(tree->right, visitor, disposer);
    if(disposer != NULL) disposer(tree); /* After "left" and "right" for when-disposable-order walk-through */
}
static void dumper(node* node)   { putchar(node->payload); }
static void disposer(node* node) { free(node); }
int main()
{
    node* tree = NULL;
    Populate(&tree);
    Walk(tree, dumper, NULL);  /* These two calls could be merged */
    Walk(tree,   NULL, disposer);
    return 0;
}
Thoughtfodder. This example code is designed to maximize the density of pointer use in a small (one page) example program while still being meaningful and not just complex for the sake of being complex. (That is, I could have also made the payload a pointer, but decided not to.)
Posted: 6/15/2009 8:24 AM
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Bisqwit
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Nach wrote:
Bisqwit wrote:
Nach wrote:
Bisqwit, on Debian, install p7zip-full, and then use the "7za" program.
Thing is, I also use Gentoo and Fedora.
For your servers???
For computers. I access the tasvideos site on computers, you know.
Posted: 6/15/2009 8:21 AM
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Bisqwit
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Nach wrote:
Bisqwit, on Debian, install p7zip-full, and then use the "7za" program.
Thing is, I also use Gentoo and Fedora.
Posted: 6/15/2009 8:16 AM
Post subject: Re: Why do we still use zip instead of 7z to submit movie files?
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Bisqwit
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arflech wrote:
7zip provides superior compression, allowing longer runs to be submitted, and free and open-source 7zip compressors and decompressors are available for all platforms. Is it just too much work to reconfigure NESVideoAgent to unpack .7z files in order to calculate the movie length and possibly produce screenshots from local versions of the ROMs, like it does now with submitted .zip files?
There's are no standardized tools for handling 7z files on the Linux platform. In contrast, info-zip's "unzip" is widely available and considered standard. This problem leads to the fact that adding a particular 7z program dependency makes the nesvideos_site harder to port, and to the fact that for Linux users like me, it's always a hassle handling 7z files because I need to figure out what program to handle it with. Plain LZMA compression on the other hand, is fine. Maybe we should do .tar.lzma? ;)
Posted: 6/14/2009 8:14 PM
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Bisqwit
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arflech wrote:
It's too sad that most hosts won't let you install eAccelerator, because it sounds like an excellent way to make a PHP site fast.
Luckily there are a couple of alternatives, such as APC and XCache. Cue a stock phrase involving the word "mileage".
Posted: 6/14/2009 8:00 PM
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Bisqwit
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nfq wrote:
If you want to know what animal that is similar to you, just ask yourself what your horoscope is. Most horoscopes are animals.
Do you believe in horoscopes? I thought only crackpot characters do. Well, if it's any insight to you, my horoscope (or zodiac symbol) is also a feline.
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