Author Topic: The Computer Game Thread  (Read 19005 times)

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #50 on: 26 September, 2020, 05:38:37 am »
That’s why I gave up with Kerbal! It’s great, but it requires serious commitment to get anywhere. I settle for Scott Manley videos to keep me up to date.

Back in the original Elite days, the concept of inertia was very much part of combat, and later versions at least gave a nod to it it some circumstances. ED’s flight engine is a cross between a flight sim and proper space dynamics. It works well enough without becoming too frustrating. There were lots of arguments about it during the Beta phase, but I think the end result is an acceptable compromise.

ED’s big problem is the lack of storyline and a reason for you to be there. Yamiks and Drew Wagar put out a good vid about it the other day (https://youtu.be/h-JoN2rmpjA). The community has driven a number of stories, and they’ve been great, but FD don’t really care - they’ve even asked for payment for third-party story injection. I have information that suggests they’re becoming a bit more flexible about that now, so I’m hopeful that they’ll allow the community to get far more involved in the way that they do in Eve.

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #51 on: 26 September, 2020, 07:47:20 am »
I've been tempted by Kerbal Space Program, but I could see that, as you say, it would take time and commitment. Interested in experiences with it though.

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #52 on: 26 September, 2020, 09:51:01 am »
The 3080 is failing sometimes. Possibly due to inadequate power supplies.

Igors Lab is arguing it the design of the bypass circuit (those capacitors under the GPU chip).  Nvidia specifies certain designs. The 3rd Party companies are not allowed to design their own. Some cheaper than others. Of course the AIBs choose one of the cheaper options. Combine this with the partner cards having a slight overclock instability results.

There is a buildzoid ()https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrwObTfqv8u1KO7Fgk-FXHQ you tube video commenting about this.

Avoid the cards for now. Expect redesigns in the next few months.

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #53 on: 26 September, 2020, 10:21:27 am »
Played ED for a long while but lost interest as it was going no where and it all gets a bit samey, even the combat.  Lack of new content has been outlined above. For the purists even the on going background narrative/story line was pulled. The overall concept is wonderful but the devs seems to have lost interest.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #54 on: 26 September, 2020, 10:58:59 am »
The story is back, though not greatly ambitious as yet. A new ‘2-year story arc’ has been embarked upon, which will include the new Odyssey DLC when it arrives early next year (‘space legs’!). I’m not sure how deep it is, but it’s a huge relief after the tumbleweed of the last six months. I don’t think FD have lost interest, but they did lose direction. The bean-counters were definitely in charge in 2018-20, and they did not understand games as created, curated entertainment.

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #55 on: 26 September, 2020, 03:03:26 pm »
I think, on the basis that I'm still in my pajamas, that I'm having a rest (lazy) day today.

And I've got the house to myself for a few hours.

Kerbal Space Program it is then, hundreds of hours I've played and it still grabs me every once in a while.

Currently trying to rescue three Kerbonauts that went to The Mun to do SCIENCE and only after I landed did I realise that I didn't have enough fuel to reach Mun orbit let alone get back to the home planet. So the obvious solution was to use the fuel remaining to get as close to orbital velocity as possible and then one by one they jumped out of the airlock and used their wee jetpacks to get into a low orbit.

And now the rescue craft has settled into a slightly higher orbit I've got each kerbal boosted into an orbit that will intersect that of the rescue craft and even got them all arrived with a decent time difference so I'm not juggling all the rendezvous' at the same time. I've probably only got enough jetpack fuel for one attempt each.

The soonest pickup is in twenty minutes and the last in several hours. I'm just glad I don't have the life support mod installed on this playthough because that would mean even tighter margins.
Miles cycled 2014 = 3551.5 (Target 7300 :()
Miles cycled 2013 = 6141.4
Miles cycled 2012 = 4038.1

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #56 on: 27 September, 2020, 02:43:18 pm »
I see that the 3080 is running into problems due to the manufacturers skimping on power components over the reference card. Nvidia must be furious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6bUUEEe-X8

Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #57 on: 27 September, 2020, 11:02:51 pm »
And charging more for the card. I hope Nvidia removes the licences from those third-party manufacturers that are scamming the public!

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #58 on: 28 September, 2020, 07:29:14 pm »
And charging more for the card. I hope Nvidia removes the licences from those third-party manufacturers that are scamming the public!

It is not the third parties fault.  They are using designs sanctioned by Nvidia. They were also given very little time to prepare their implementations so not enough time to fully test their offerings. Nvidia demands that the 3rd party makers follow Nvidia's designs for the reference card. They are not allowed to change the components that Nvidia says is ok. Later when special cards are made the 3rd can use their own designs, even then it needs Nvidia's approval. Only then can you accuse the 3rd party makers of using designs and component choices that do not work.

Many of the me too channels on youtube used the term POSCAP to describe the believed faulty component. POSCAPS are probably the easiest capacitors to identify. None of the cards that anyone has shown are using POSCAPS. (The P is POSCAP stands for Panasonic, a high quality Japanese suppliers of electronic components.

The better streams I have seen on youtube on this subject are Actually Hardcore Overclocking and Pauls Hardware.  Buildzoid who talks like someone who understand electronics and Paul did testing and showed the fault on Nvidias own Founders Edition card (Not a reference design)  by overclocking. Some of the other testing site have seen faults but do not have enough data to comment.

Zotac claim only reviwers have their marginal cards and are now making the card with the same capacitor array used on Nvidia Founders edition card.


The real lesson here is that Nvidia, afraid of the AMD competition, have pushed their design right to the limits and even small changes in the supporting structure can lead to bad outcomes.

Lets see what AMD do. There are all sorts of ignorant claims swirling around from useless to on par with the 3090.  AMD do have the advantage of splitting their compute cards (CDNA) from their gaming graphics cards (RDNA). Nvidia cards are loaded up with TENSOR cores and other stuff for AI and other compute applications. I suspect they push DLSS to justify this non core silicon.  The better TVs with low power ARM chips manage upscaling without the need for high power AI.
     

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #59 on: 29 September, 2020, 01:50:11 am »
Point taken about the componentry.

I have the current AMD 5700 XT in my gaming computer. It’s roughly on a par with the RTX 2070 (and the 1080Ti I have in my ‘spare’ box), yet is the best AMD make for the consumer market just now. It’s ok, but it has serious issues with some games, which is why I’m looking to return to Nvidia when the 20Gb 3080 is released.

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #60 on: 29 September, 2020, 12:04:15 pm »
derBauer has done a interesting youtube post on this.  He took a Gigabyte Gaming X Trio with the six sp-caps. He triggered the fault with a small overclock.  He then unsoldered the middle two sp-caps and replaced them with sixteen mlcc caps. He was then able to overclock a little higher before the fault occurred.

 

simonp

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #61 on: 29 September, 2020, 12:34:59 pm »
derBauer has done a interesting youtube post on this.  He took a Gigabyte Gaming X Trio with the six sp-caps. He triggered the fault with a small overclock.  He then unsoldered the middle two sp-caps and replaced them with twelve  mlcc caps. He was then able to overclock a little higher before the fault occurred.

 

How small is small? It doesn't seem like there is a lot of headroom above base clock speeds. Not that I overclock my 1080Ti today.

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #62 on: 29 September, 2020, 05:02:46 pm »

I have the current AMD 5700 XT in my gaming computer. It’s roughly on a par with the RTX 2070 (and the 1080Ti I have in my ‘spare’ box), yet is the best AMD make for the consumer market just now. It’s ok, but it has serious issues with some games, which is why I’m looking to return to Nvidia when the 20Gb 3080 is released.


Was the 1080Ti in the system beforehand?  It is difficult to remove all traces of graphics drivers from your system.  Nvidias uninstall leaves some of its drivers behind. These are not vanilla and cause problems with other company's graphics drivers who expect to use Microsoft's version. It is possible that you are blaming AMD for Nvidias problem which they see no reason to fix. There are 3rd party utilities that completely remove graphic card drivers.

My MSI Mech 5700 OC has had no problems. Apart from MSI's less than ideal cooler solution. Any GPU specifies a contact pressure range from the cooler contact plate to the gpu heat spreader. MSI discovered late on in their initial design that the pressure was too weak because the thermal pads on the memory chips pushed too much against the cooler. They solved this by using half size thermal pads on the memory. They have good contact of the GPU but the memory is not cooled as much as it should be.  ASUS TUF version got the contact pressure too light. The first version of this performed far worse than it should have. Both cards are revised.




 

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #63 on: 29 September, 2020, 11:40:12 pm »
Some good news about the 3080/90.

The reason these capacitors exist is to handle the sudden demand for power from the gpu when it boosts. Buildzoid said if gpus did not have such extreme boosts the capacitors would be unnecessary.   Nvidia have issued a new driver that boosts less aggressively.  EVGA have reported that the cards with six sp-caps now work as expected without problem.
 

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #64 on: 30 September, 2020, 02:00:25 am »

I have the current AMD 5700 XT in my gaming computer. It’s roughly on a par with the RTX 2070 (and the 1080Ti I have in my ‘spare’ box), yet is the best AMD make for the consumer market just now. It’s ok, but it has serious issues with some games, which is why I’m looking to return to Nvidia when the 20Gb 3080 is released.


Was the 1080Ti in the system beforehand?  It is difficult to remove all traces of graphics drivers from your system.  Nvidias uninstall leaves some of its drivers behind. These are not vanilla and cause problems with other company's graphics drivers who expect to use Microsoft's version. It is possible that you are blaming AMD for Nvidias problem which they see no reason to fix. There are 3rd party utilities that completely remove graphic card drivers.

My MSI Mech 5700 OC has had no problems. Apart from MSI's less than ideal cooler solution. Any GPU specifies a contact pressure range from the cooler contact plate to the gpu heat spreader. MSI discovered late on in their initial design that the pressure was too weak because the thermal pads on the memory chips pushed too much against the cooler. They solved this by using half size thermal chips on the memory. They have good contact of the GPU but the memory is not cooled as much as it should be.  ASUS TUF version got the contact pressure too light. The first version of this performed far worse than it should have. Both cards are revised.


No. This was a new-build (by me) computer in November last year, with an all-AMD config. It has never had any other GPU. The 1080Ti is in a completely different computer (‘box’ in my terminology!).

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #65 on: 08 October, 2020, 08:27:35 pm »
The new AMD processors look good. I will not be buying them. My current set up is not old enough for me to replace it. Apart from the Video card.  Which one I will decide next April.

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #66 on: 09 October, 2020, 08:02:51 am »
Quote
The Red Valkyrie has the Reflective Shot!

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #67 on: 13 October, 2020, 05:20:11 pm »
I am playing Borderlands 3

Stuck at the moment unable to kill Mouthpiece.

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #68 on: 15 October, 2020, 07:12:54 pm »
I played more thoughtfully, levelled up. got a better gun and shield so when I faced Mouthpiece (a boss battle) it was quite easy to deal with.

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #69 on: 07 November, 2020, 02:34:57 pm »
It would appear that the higher end AMD Ryzen 5000 series is faster than Intels current best effort for gaming.  The value for money has slipped a little.

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #70 on: 07 November, 2020, 03:11:45 pm »
Enjoying Insurgency Sandstorm Gun Game mod atm. Great fun. I will be keeping an eye out for a new mid range graphics card once the 6000 series has floated and possibly a 1440p monitor. My current AMD cpu is also not that old.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #71 on: 07 November, 2020, 06:22:01 pm »
American Truck Simulator v1.39 came out the other day, and now half the mods wot I wrote are b0rked.  Hopefully I can make 'em work by the time the Colorado DLC breaks cover in a week's time.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
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CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #72 on: 24 November, 2020, 11:23:58 am »
I should admit that I had my first AMD 5700 graphics card crash. A game stopper.  At the entrance of Borderlands 3 Devil's Razor you walk or drive to the stone arch which you cannot avoid the screen freezes then back to the desktop with a dialogue box saying the graphics card driver crashed and has been restarted. Only partially restarted, I need to restart the machine if I want sound.

Meanwhile I did the DLC and farmed legendary hunt and villains. Moze and Iron Bear the character I chose to play were at level 65 (game maximum limit). Moze had a gun Bang! one shot on target and most enemies were dead. The DLC was done I wanted to finish the first pass through the game.

Luckily I read an article from someone who beat this game stopper by walking backwards.  I tried it.  First go I walked backwards along the road until the Catch-a-ride, caught a ride and the crash as soon as I turned forward.  Tried again, walked further until the road junction turned and I could continue normally.  I played through the remainder of the story which was not at all challenging with my mighty level. Did not use Iron bear at all it was not hard enough with my level.
   

 

simonp

Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #73 on: 24 November, 2020, 11:42:22 am »
I now own a 3080 card. Not tried any games yet because working.

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: The Computer Game Thread
« Reply #74 on: 24 November, 2020, 06:55:25 pm »
Well done you solved the availability puzzle.  There are a lot of very unlikely claims about the wickedness of graphics card makers at the moment.