Author Archives: Donncha

Happy Birthday Commodore 64!

issue 50 of Zzap 64!
Issue 50 of Zzap! 64

The Commodore 64 is 30 years old this year and it went on sale in August 1982 so I think it’s about time I wished it a happy birthday. Back then I was messing on a Commodore Vic 20 (or more likely it was 1984 or so), then I had a Speccy and I didn’t get my hands on a C64 until 1989. It was already declining somewhat but it still had a few years of life left in it. Issue 50 of Zzap! 64 was the first issue of that famous magazine I owned. My brother and I bought it in Paul’s Street Shopping Centre! The newsagent is long gone but I have that issue around here somewhere ..

Matt Allen visited a primary school and a secondary school and asked kids there what they thought of the Commodore 64. I don’t think they were impressed by loading errors and long loading times. He probably should have brought a 1541 disk drive and an Action Replay cartridge!

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How to fill the seats at the 2012 London Olympics

Empty seats at the Olympics
Empty seats at the Olympics

Tickets for the 2012 Olympics have been much sought after by the general public so it was shocking to see so many empty seats at events, even high profile ones. More tickets have been put on sale but there are other ways to fill those seats. Thanks Dr_Sandvich for the link!

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If crawling was an Olympic sport…

The pond by Zelenogorsk
The pond by Zelenogorsk

The players of DayZ would have a fair chance of winning first place in the Olympics if crawling on all fours was included in the games.

I’ve managed to survive for 2 days now but running through the forests and crawling through open spaces is tiresome. The zombies can still see and hear you while crawling but it’s harder and it feels like cheating when I crawl for too long. I was still spotted twice and killed my first zombie with a hatchet this evening! Nice, silent weapon too. Another zombie down the road didn’t hear a thing.

Pity about the lunatic survivors around here though. Twice I spotted them being chased and the second time they brought zombies into the supermarket where I was hiding up. Luckily the zombies didn’t see me and went out back in the general direction of my fast running ‘friend’.

I’m of two minds about DayZ. The game is slow to reveal everything which is incentive to continue playing but crawling around on my belly isn’t the most entertaining way to spend an evening. Because so little happens and it requires you to be careful, slow and methodical it’s quite easy to while away a few hours!

Dodging Zombies in DayZ

Panic struck as a zombie hops by in DayZ

Like many others I bought ARMA II yesterday while it was on sale on Steam. The Six Updater makes it super easy to install the DayZ mod and after a couple of attempts I had joined a server.

I landed on the shore of course and while I was trying to be quiet I only had a few minutes to spare so it wasn’t long before I led 2 zombies in a merry dance along the shoreline before I managed to lose them behind a nearby building. Unfortunately the blood loss I suffered in the attack turned out to be fatal.

My second go was more successful, in that I lasted longer but again I attracted the attention of the local zombies. I outran them and then crawled around a petrol station where all I found was some wire fencing and a couple of empty tin cans. I scampered out of there as fast as my prone body could take me passing within a metre or two of one of those crouched zombies. I got away but I have the shakes from blood loss, no food, no weapons. I don’t expect to last much longer ..

The last few minutes of my third life in DayZ. I was unsuccessful in sneaking around and attracted 3-4 zombies who ran after me to the next town. I figured if I could cut line of sight I’d get away so I dodged around a house and hid behind a shed. It worked! Unfortunately blood loss was too great and I expired a minute later.

No sound as DXTory was recording from the wrong audio device. My character was breathing hard and freaking out. Great atmosphere. Next time I’m just going to run for the woods.

I broke S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC. Ooops

I watched 5 minutes of a speed run through S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl. The player got to an area it took me a few hours to get to. Then I decided that I didn’t want to ruin the game and switched it off.

Not quick enough. Around 4:04 into the video the player jumps over a fence that shouldn’t really be scaled. It was soon after that I stopped watched but out of curiosity I tried it too and ended up on a flat plain until I got to the edge of the world ..

Panoramic Mod? It might be part of the Complete mod I’m using in the game. I had to double back and watched as buildings popped in and out of existence. Obviously I was on the wrong side of them! I somehow walked through a wall and got back to where I was supposed to go. Phew.

One for Irish Football Fans

Two podcasts that Irish football fans will enjoy:

  • We wuz robbed!

    The fable of the Irish 1965 World Cup campaign games against Spain. A story of brilliance, luck and dodgy decisions as told by Dermot Corrigan.
    Ireland played three games against Spain in the run-up to the 1966 World Cup.

  • We’ve got a game to win

    In 1988 the Republic of Ireland football squad qualified for their first major international championship.

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