PC Gaming Update, and The Heat

Heat and humidity returned Tuesday with a vengeance.  At 4:30 pm we peaked at 98 F, but the humidity level made it feel like 111 F.  I followed it all from morning till night.  Here are some screen shots from today, though I missed out on the 4:30 one as I was practicing piano.  To add insult to injury, our skies are smoky again this summer from large fires in Northern Ontario and elsewhere.  More of the same is on tap for Wednesday and on.  Yay.

At 10:35 it was already warm and very humid.  The air is sluggish with little to no breeze.

 

 

 

By noon it was getting ridiculous.

 

 

 

3:30 pm was my final reading, as I went to practice at this point.  But it hit 98 F/111F.  Yowsa. 

 

 

I was out this morning for a haircut and it was getting uncomfortable.  We went out at 7:30 pm for groceries and it was downright hard to breathe.  I was going to show Albuquerque to illustrate how humidity affects how temperatures feel, but London UK this afternoon worked just.  It was warm in London at 4:40 pm London time, but the humidity wasn't bad at all.

 

London UK has had some bad heat so far this year, as has Europe.  But as long as the humidity gets burned off during the day it makes it a little better.  Nice breeze there, too.

 

This is perfect weather for indoor gaming, with the AC handling things as best as it can, assisted by fans.  We have spent many thousands of dollars insulating our home, since one can't simply just stick AC in a house and turn it on.  We did it mainly for winter temps, but it helps a lot in summer, too.  All new windows, doors and all kinds of insulation.  Well over $50,000 Can. spent altogether. 

 

So, the gaming update.  The big news is that I now have not only a powerful gaming PC, but a brand new gaming monitor!  It is curved, large and gives incredible colour and image quality.  I will be posting screenshots of recent games that look so fantastic on my monitor, so I hope they look halfway decent on yours.  I continue to hammer away at a game called TR 49.  This one does not need a big computer or a good monitor.  It is a type of research game with essentially one screen, a very old computer with letters and numbers to input.  There are also paper lists to read of names and authors.  The goal is to find 50 books and 50 authors.  The machine is somewhat messed up and keeps spewing garbled messages.  Once the correct book and author are matched then the words become unscrambled.  I really don't have a clue as to what I am doing, but I enjoy searching through dozens of program inputs trying to find the correct ones.  I don't know what the end game is, or what might happen.  I just do my research and carry on.

We've been playing Agon together now for awhile, and it will get a full review here upon completion.  We are currently in the 4th of 4 chapters.  There were supposed to be 13 chapters altogether, and while the first 3v chapters were pretty good, chapter 4 is dragging us down with way too much dialogue and story.  Had they kept this one a bit more streamlined it likely would have been a success.  But the professor is getting sidelined by other problems, and it's taking its toll on the game.  Chapter 4 takes place in sunny Toledo, Spain, with the professor in search of a famous old sword.  It was recently stolen and a young blacksmith is being blamed.  the professor promises the boy's sweetheart and his mother that he will help.  And so the story bogs down.  Decent graphics, like in the first three chapters, but intricate puzzles far too complicated to solve.

 

Inside a parish church in Toledo, Spain.  The local priest is aiding the professor in his investigations.  From Agon Chapter 4. 

   

Of course I continue to drive trains using Train Sim World 6, and the new monitor seems to have solved some stuttering and rendering problems that the old one had.  One of the best things about this game (there are many great things) is how many angles you can observe your train from while still driving it.  Besides the obvious one of sitting in the cab, views from above, the sides, and even the rear of the train are possible.  Players can also watch their train pass by, as if standing on sidelines.  It's a rush to see your train pass at 100 mph as you watch from a crossing, a station, or anywhere along the route.  New routes come out every month (I have about 50 different routes now, each route with its own catalogue of engines, each of those with its own timetable.  Endless fun!

 

I recently drove my first train across the Alps from Switzerland to Italy.  Real time, real route.  Stunning! 

 

I have also resumed my affair with Tomb Raider.  In the original series I made it about halfway through TR 4 before finally giving up.  Now, however, TR 1-6 have recently been totally overhauled.  Same game, better graphics.  I completed my first major chapter, divided into 4 parts, deep within the Inca mountains.  Next I think I will be off to high adventure in Greece.  My skills are slowly coming back to me.

 

2 screenshots from TR 1, with much improved graphics over the original.

 

I've only had the monitor for less than a week now, so I had to decide.  Which Myst game should I load?  I chose realMyst!  I am currently busy trying to open up all of the worlds.  I am not even stopping to pick up red and blue sheets yet.  I'm just looking around and waiting for the day/night cycle, watching what happens.  However, if I wish to eventually get to the arctic world, I will have to run around and get all of the sheets.  The monitor gives Myst a rich and detailed view I have never quite experienced before.  I will have to replay more of the games, especially the latest versions of Myst (with a much better Arctic world) and Riven.  For now, I am in awe.

 

Two night views from realMyst.  These scenes looks so amazing on my new gaming monitor. 

 

Next time I will give a piano repertoire update.  I've been gifted with two (very warm) nights of astronomical observing lately, and am still trying to catch up on my sleep.

 

Mapman Mike

 

Here is a bonus screen capture from realMyst, a most iconic view for players.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living in Amherstburg

We have lived just north of the central part of Amherstburg since about 1990.  It is a riverside community that has good parks and a National Historic Park/Fort (Malden) that was built and manned during the war of 1812.  The town also used to give ferry access to Boblo Island, a giant amusement park now an exclusive residential community instead.  Lately downtown has become a tourist magnet, offering pedestrian-only streets downtown during the summer with some type of festival at least every other week.  The downtown area is a fun place to spend a half day, with views of the river from well cared for parks, several decent restaurants and more cafes per square mile than Vienna.  There is a good bookstore, and my old fashioned barber shop is right downtown, staffed by two excellent female barbers.  The ice cream store draws people like moths to a flame.  There are three major grocery stores and a smaller one.  Our family doctor is there.  It is a safe town, currently policed by a branch of Windsor Police.  We could live in a worse community, to be sure.

 

However, the main reason we live in this area, being the most southwesterly community in Ontario, is the easy access to a big American city (Detroit) and all that it offers.  Amherstburg is not Detroit.  And though Detroit isn't London (UK) it seems to get closer to it every month.  Covid took a bite out of our Detroit visits, and then the 2024 elected President took an even bigger bite out of it.  Since Trump was elected we have not crossed the order.  We used to cross almost every single week.  Art museums, symphony concerts, restaurants, breweries, cafes, strolling downtown and admiring the fabulous architecture were all favourite pastimes.  All gone.  Even visits to our beloved New Mexico have come to a halt.  We are far from alone.  Enough Canadians disliked America even before Trump.  But now there is a strong movement not to visit.  This is so sad for me and Deb, since we don't have a lot of running around years left in us.  We can see Michigan every day from our house.  By the time Trump is out the door (could someone nearly as bad step into his shoes?) we will be getting on in years.

 

The good side to all this is that we are rediscovering overseas destinations.  Our recent visit to London, with a possible upcoming visit to either Vienna or Berlin, has come about largely because of the policies of the sitting president.  The only downside is how much I hate flying, even when the flight goes smoothly and is on time.  Why not visit Canada you might ask?  We explore our local area quite thoroughly, to be sure.  We even make it to Toronto once in a blue moon.  But Ottawa is untouched, and Montreal has been off the radar for decades now.  These days, more Canadians are touring Canada instead of you know where, so roads are busier, cities more crowded and attractions more expensive.  We would rather remain at home working on our various projects than put up with heavy tourist crowds.  Day tripping is more our style these days, with one coming up soon, if the heat goes away.  Here is a recent temperature forecast for our area next week.

 

Not pretty.  We will be staying home a lot next week.  Anything above 75 F is too hot for us. 

 

Extreme heatwaves with high humidity are familiar to us here.  Back in our teaching days our school only had air conditioning in the central area, but none in the classrooms.  When June and September were brutally hot everyone suffered and little to no education took place.  We usually hibernate in the depth of winter these days, but also in the height of summer.  We are happy and very busy folk here at the Homestead.  But we would really like to get back to Detroit.

 

We've been gaming a lot lately, mostly PC games but every Sunday we play board games.  Today was the Traders and Builders expansion of Carcassonne, one of many fun add-ons to the main game.  With 24 extra tiles it makes the game significantly larger and longer.  Next Sunday we will try for a MECCG session (Middle Earth Collectible Card Game).  In PC gaming news we are finishing up the original 3-chapter game called Agon: The Mysterious Codex.  I continue to run Train Sim World, a different route each day.  

 

And I have restarted the original Tomb Raider games, with new and remastered versions of the first six games now out and quite inexpensive.  I have completed the training program for TR 1 though my skills are still weak.  I am currently in Level 1, exploring my way through the Andes in search of Inca secrets and treasures.  I finished part 1 with no difficulty and so far am mostly surviving part 2.  These are huge games with lots of shooting and killing, but in a weird way it's also fun to just explore after the dangers have been eliminated.  My weakness is swimming and also sudden attacks.  I tend to panic in both situations.  I am going to share a few images comparing the old original version of TR 1 with the new remake.  While the photos here are too small to really show up the differences, while playing it is like night and day.

 

Screenshot from the original 1996 version.  Note the pixels; they are everywhere.

 

The 2024 remake.  Lara moves much more smoothly, the lighting is superior and the game looks gorgeous.

  

1996. 

 

2024.

  

1996.

 

2024. 

 

In film news there is one to report.  Trade Winds is from 1938, a comedy murder mystery directed by Tay Garnett.  Frederic March is a womanizing detective sent to track murderess Joan Bennett as she flees San Francisco for various Asian ports.  Ralph Bellamy plays a rare comedy angle as a bumbling cop sent to keep an eye on March.  Bennett looks cute as a button and there is enough witty dialogue and exotic (backdrop) locations to keep viewer amused for the short running time.  So many old films worth watching that we have never heard of, this being one.

 

Leaving Criterion June 30th. 

 

I may report during the heatwave, or I may just sit in one spot in front of a fan until it is over.  Until then, I will publish my monthly book reviews very soon.

 

Mapman Mike