Did you know World of warcraft only runs on its most basic settings even if you run the sliders all the way up to "Ultra" level? Did you know that most modern computers capable of running the "Ultra" level graphics are generally NOT showing the game at its full potential?
Did you know the already stunning look of cataclysm can be improved with a simple macro?
Thanks to the new modified UI you have plenty of control over WoW using the default video settings, which can be accessed from the main menu, but the limits of these sliders are lower than what the game is actually capable of . For instance, the Ground Clutter Density slider has an in-game maximum setting of 160, but the corresponding console command lets you push this all the way up to 256. The difference is pretty breathtaking too - with not only more vegetation, but higher and more lush plants at that. It also makes more stones, but that doesn't excite us quite so much.
We've actually set up two macros to enable us to stand anywhere and see how the rendering engine handles the highest and lowest details. In order to create a macro, simply hit the Macro button from the main menu (hit [Esc] a few times until it pops up). Give your macro a name and a suitable icon and then type in the commands below. Repeat the process for the second macro, then drag both to a free spot on your action bar. Stand in Terokkar Forest or Nagrand and hit one and then the other and grin like a loon.
Once you use these settings, there are times when you'll be particularly aware of the draw distance of the local objects. Unfortunately groundEffectDist is limited to 140, so there's nothing you can do to improve this value.
Get hidden settings
Create a macro inputted with the following to see WoW in a new light:
So there you go, a free graphic update for wow to push your computer to its limits, just dont forget to turn it off when going into towns as you will lag out.
For those of you keeping track i've been AFK for almost 4 weeks, the reason is we have just had a new addition to the family and this have been sleep deprived and exhausted. But im back and thats what matters. BTW yes i am aware that my autpo poster took a dump again and am making efforts to fix it as we speak.
None the less i'm back in time for Azeroth to go to hell and due to the world ending (as we know it) i had a bit of a nostalgia well up over the old world and thought i should share it.
but as i said, i've been away...
...so i guess i had better come up with something amazing...
...how about your own World of warcraft server to play with?
...how about a sandbox server based on the ORIGINAL Alpha build?
Ok tis that time of year again folks and as you all know im cheap so for me its time to "make the thought count" and give away some freebies to my more ...unusual... friends.
Now im not saying this is a gift for just hippies and native Americans but i am saying that when i say ots the thought that counts in this case it will be more "the effort" that counts.
This is NOT an easy make but it is fairly quick and when decorated with a few feathers and beads (bought from any local craft shop)and a little creativity you can do something really personal for your friends remarkably quickly.
Now i should say, the video itself is of relievedly low quality but if you listen to the instructions it is quite clear what she is talking about and doing. With a little practice you can probibly knock out one of these in about 40 mins but for your first one i suggest you take an hour and take your time. Apart from that you can (with a little imagination) make something wonderful for yourself or others with minimal effort and financial outlay.
NOW if your feeling especially cheap this year combine a very small version of this project with a few feathers and pop it inside an origami box (see last weeks make) and a little ribbon and you have an all but free but quite expensive looking craft gift to give away, and remember that athough teh smaller dreamcatchers are a little more fiddly to make they are a lot quicker and can be made with very cheap craft thread and due to there small size mistakes in there manufacture can easily be overlooked.
Note: *if it looks terrible or if you screw up call it rustic design *use local (and most importantly free) materials to make it more authentic *clean all feathers in boiling water and place in an airing cupboard for 24 hours before use *light application of a rawhide strip thong to a small catcher can make it an amazing necklace *chicks dig handy craft, if you want to impress her add this as an extra to your REAL gift
Well its time for my Christmas how to run down and this week its all about packaging.
I always have a hard time when it comes to packaging small gifts such as USB sticks, jewelry, small toys or gadgets etc. then i came across this wonderful little piece of paper craft. Now i should say that this little project is a tad on the tough side but if you slow down the video a little and follow the stages carefully it can make an amazing gift box for friends and family. For a somewhat larger box you can use stiff card at A3 size (or larger) and it should be able to contain pretty much any item you wish to put in it but as the size scales you will have to use heaver gauge card in order for it to be stable.
once the Box is complete simply screw up some tissue paper and wrap the ball of paper in a second skin of tissue in order to make a perfect pillow for your gift to sit upon. Don't forget that you can also experiment with different coloured paper and patterns to really set your gift off then add a small ribon to hold the lid on and just like that you have a truly spectacular home made and very personal gift to put under the tree.
remember the gift counts but when your loved ones see the effort and care you have put into the packaging dont be surprised if they decide to keep the box too.
next week i will be doing a very very special How Too! as well as my annual Christmas gift to my readers, tune in then for more fun and games!
Ok look im not a bad guy and i really REALLY dont want to be raked over the coals but considering you have to still have to pay for your CD key in order to play the whole game i cant see what the difference between downloading the full WoTLK (US) version and downloading the free trial version other than file size...
...seriously though this is for all my comrades over on a "certain" podcast and US guild that for blatantly obvious reasons i wont name here for fear that i would sully there good name and guild reputation.
NOTE: #1.To use the link provided you WILL have to sign up to the forum #2. This the FULL World of Warcraft package, you need no additional software. #3. For the best possible experience with this download and unzip the file and BURN TO A DVD then delete form your system.
ok last bit...
create an account here: https://us.battle.net/account/creation/wow/signup/
Use details generated here: http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/gen-male-us-us.php
Upgrade your account after 10 days here: http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000265
or simply upgrade your account in the account management section. ok thats it folks of the EU see you in the US realms
Meet Maladin a Lv80 "TAUREN" paladin yep this is a live wow server not a hacked one and YES this is an unedited image shot just moments ago...
...so how can a race incapable of being a paladin (at least until the next expansion) roll this class to Lv80?
well....to be honest they cant and er nor can I and this is just a really cool graphical glitch available on the latest release of the WoW client. Heres how you do it
The WoW.com staff has confirmed it works, though the timing required is very precise. You need to be quick, but being too fast hitting one or the other is just as bad as being too slow. A few of us found that we had to slow down our fingers to do it properly, because "fast" to a hardcore FPS gamer is very different than "fast" to a casual MMO gamer. Click first, hit enter second. Not the other way around.
And there you have it...now be off with you, make yourself a Tauradin or a undead hunter or even a troll druid waaaaay before blizz let you in game.
Narr ye t'aint be reading this here Blogg wrong me hearties it be the day where all Ninja best be running away and hiding, tis the world one and only annual "talk like a pirate day"
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
Why be this here day relevant to this here sea dog? Because it seems that the motley crew of Cap'in DeMeza have made there way to the land of Azeroth in order to plunder Booty Bay and as always where DeMeza go's Ol'ChumBucket 'n' Cap'n Slappy t'aint far behind.
A very quick how too this week as i'm a tad busy but as you can see this can make an excellent storage solution for all your memory related goodness as well as speeding up vista and giving yourself a compact and adaptable internal or external flash drive.
Im currently attempting to do this with four Sandisc cruzer micro 8GB flash drives (about £8 each in ASDA/Wallmart) and an old hub i had at home. This should give me a 32GB flash drive which i intend to use to speed up windows using ready boost.
now before i go just take into account that for about £30-£40 you can buy 32GB flash drives...
...128GB flash drive anybody? pointless i know considering for that kind of money you could buy a 500GB external Hard Drive but still the possibility is there.
A very late how too this week but i had to confirm with Gamespot UK that these coolers were still available. The good news id they are and that they have a huge glut of these things. The bad news is there still gonna cost you about £10 ($20 US) to buy something your basicly going to have to tear apart.
If however you have one of these things already or see one in the bargain bucket second hand feel free to grab it and slap it into your old VGA monitor for a dedicated HD screen to game on.
No im not bing rude this is about making yourself a MASSIVE poster fro your wall using only A4 standard size printer paper and a little bit of your time. As always this is a close to free as i can possibly make it so hit the provided link below and find yourself something off Google image search (or if your especially brave something from 4chan) and blow it up as big as you want.
Ok be warned this is NOT for the weak of heart or the ham of handed but if you have the time and are willing to put in the effort to make a couple of these and wire them up you can have a sound system like no other.
I am currently making two of these amazing orbs for my projection system at home (see previous How to's for details on that project) to complement the visual punch with a banging audio system.
Personally i'm using a pair of ASDA (wallmart) mixing bowls that i have preped and sprayed matt black and some quite cool looking stainless steel retaing bolts as well as a hand made matt black steel 'L' bracket's to hold them in place when I finally finish.
i wish you all the very best of luck with this project but rember if your wireing up more than one of these your going to have to split the wires ar source to connect them up.
This is a how too for all you musicians with a fetish for the more unusual forms of twisting sound to your insane desires.
This is a $6 special so even if your just using it to mess around or to make an intro for your podcast etc. its well worth the time and effort to throw one together.
The video says it all folks so enjoy and be careful.
There is nothing worse than your ipod running out of charge when your away from home or when you loose your charger so in the spirit of peace and music for all i give to you the HouseHold Hacker guide to a portable battery powered USB charger.
You will need: 1 5.1v zener diode 1 330-ohm resistor 1 9v battery connector 1 9v battery solder and soldering iron (you can get all of this at radio shack for about $5.00 US)
Instructions: 1. Solder the Zener diode to the left and right USB connector prongs. 2. Solder the black wire of the 9v connector to the left prong and the right wire to the resistor. 3. solder the other end of the resistor to the right prong. 4. Hook up battery and go to town.
as always special thanks gos to the Household Hacker team over at http://www.householdhacker.com who come up with this amazingly useful make.
dont forget to subscribe to there latest insane creations and please be careful as failure to follow this simple circuit diagram will not only potentially damage your ipod but make you look like a ham fisted moron, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Ok folks this is the first How Too of the year and i thought why the hell not go really really old school on your asses with a classic WW2 foxhole radio. You should be aware that this kind of radio is basically a toy in comparison to any conventional modern radio pick up but as a project for a wasted weekend its a corker.
Ok so why am i going so simple with you all of a sudden? well simply i want to see what you lot can actually do before we move on to some considerably more difficult and interesting projects in future How Too's this year.
so give it a shoot and tell me how yours turned out.
NOTE: Blued and superheated razorblades can be purchased at most drugstores or if your feeling cheap and normal razor blade can be heated to functional temperature over almost any decent heat source such as a gas lighter or open flame or hob top of any conventional oven.
Before you begin be warned that this is although very cool it is totally useless unless you waterproof the fingertips and the PCB and make a simple pad for the tactile interface (the switch) near the wrist or directly under the fingers as seen in the video. It is also wise to extend the Bluetooth active LED and place it within an eyelet housing on an inconspicuous part of the glove as well as making a Velcro opening at a seam so you can recharge the unit.
it cheap its cool and when combined with the spy cam hat (see previous how too's) can be enough to get you thrown our of pretty much any and every public area in town.
enjoy!
WARNING! use of this device can and will make you look like a total idiot even after you explain what you are doing and demonstrate it functioning but luckily no more than a regular bluetooth headset.
Ok im back and i have a real doddle of a make for you this week that i was introduced to when i was waiting for the WoW expansion, all credit go's to Gerrard and his one man personal entertainment system who powered and used these amazing speakers to entertain us all in the freezing cold while the nice people at GAME mocked us from there centrally heated splendor.
I should note that a base metal washer and some good quality TIN foil (not aluminum) as you require a conductive surface for maximum effect. Additionally try to put some insulating tape anywhere you attempt top move the speaker as the effect can be quite shocking.
One last thing is that the addition of an external power source (that will be next weeks how too) can improve speaker output significantly.
yea i think its about time you all used some "SOAP"
"SOAP" is a 'non static location' universal user application control interface designed to replace clumsy mouse action inputs during presentations and allow freedom of movement for wider screen game apps as well as more precise movements and targeting in first person shooters as well as an alternate to mouse control on MMORPG's such as World of Warcraft & Final Fantasy 11.
Now i was lucky to have an old spare wireless mouse in the house when i discovered this project and have to say im somewhat impressed by the ease of use this mod offers in day to day gaming and work. However be well warned your hands WILL get tired with the constant movement and although it can offer very fast reactions in small scale movements such as targeting head shots in FPS games i found that wider scaled movements and strafing can become a tedious chore as the interface light that allows more dynamic targeting can end up being thrown off by the module covers stitching or even worse due to the turning nature of the unit facing the wrong direction!
One other point of interest is that occasionally you can end up with the module shifting in its "bag" or becoming unresponsive, liberal application and use of Velcro along the lower seem make changing battery's and restarting an unresponsive "SOAP" a breeze.
One last thing, rember you can remove the SOAP bag at any time and utilize the SOAP module as a normal mouse at any time.
Enjoy folks!
NOTE: I made the smaller universal "SOAP" from a Tiny Brand micro mouse and a LYNX brand roll on deodorant bottle which i cut with a small hand saw and smoothed with some cheap sand paper while using green scouring pad material (with a little of the yellow sponge material left on) to bulk out the module and give a insulated and smooth seal to the inside of the old bottle then covered the whole thing with a white child's sock bought from a thrift store and some Velcro to seal the unit. Despite some easly rectified mirrored controlls (fixed in mouse settings) the device works perfectly.
Well after all whats Halloween without lashings of fake O+ dripping off everything? Seriously i always make buckets of the stuff nice and thick and have it ready to douse anyone foolish enough to attempt to egg or TP my place.
Alternatively red food dye and a super soaker primed and ready by the front door makes quite the statement piece.
None the less happy holidays folks and have a spooktactualr Halloween!
I just noticed we rolled over the 30K mark on the hit counter and i would like to say thank you to everybody who hits my little corner of the internet regularly and a very special thanks to Dovealexa who somehow manages to make a comment of some shape or form on my various ramblings on a regular basis. Now as for the rest of you stop being so shy and comment me up, after all its not like i don't know you've been here is it?
Now folks this is not a toy and so as per usual im posting a warning at the bottom of the post. however i should say that these things are kick ass and make an amazing statement piece to any witch or wizard costume (and if you can juggle then so much the better) but rember to be careful.
please folks i cannot stress enough that playing with fire is bloody dangerous so please do not throw these things at anything or anyone EVER.
They are incredibly cool though especially on a dark night but i sh*t you not these are not a to be toyed with under any circumstances and you must use 100% cotton in there creation as any nylon or polly mix will melt and burn the hell out of you. Apart from the stupidly obvious (don't touch the yellow flame) and rember your basic safety rules you should be fine.
er...have fun *cough*
hey i promised you fun not safe....
()----------------Please Read---------------()
WARNING: Use or misuse of these Items for any reason outside of your personal property under adult supervision CAN & WILL result in prosecution and potentially incarceration. Nether Aries Antics the site host or any sites linked to or from her condone or accept responsibility for the use or misuse of these items in any way shape or form. You have been warned so don't blame me if you do something stupid, but since almost none of you are going to read this and insist on doing stupid things anyway i wish you the very best in rehab while you learn to read brail with the feeble stups you have where your hands used to be.
mm ok about me well i suppose im just another guy with a computer really. My name is Alan im 30 and live in Northern ireland Im a bit of a warcraft nut but the same could be said for about 80% of most people online between the ages of 18-45 so that realy dosent say much athough i have been dabbling in Final Fantasy XI of late, er...i write a bit too...ok that's a flat out lie...i write a LOT especially for WWW.PSPcrazy.com & WWW.GamingCrazy.net where i have been dubbed simply 'the article god', sure its egotistical but hey its not like i named myself that is it? I have a couple of E-books out ATM but i'll get to those later (about the same time i fix these spelling mistakes) and will eventually post links so that they can be downloaded, i will also be submitting extracts from my latest book when i get round to it sometime when i get a chance... well that it for now, keep your eyes open for some of my trademark rants and leave feedback as and when you can...see ya
Any and all information and data(excluding advertising and unmodifed imagery) presented in this Blogg is by definition the intelectual and actual propery of Mr Alan Gamble (hereafter refered to as 'the artist') and is purly the opinion of said artist. Use by any other person or persons is strictly limited by the artist and subject to removal or delition without further notice at any time regardless of any and all circumstances. All information and opinion voiced no matter the type is in no way associated with Bloggspot or its parent company(s)
Data presented in this publication may have been used with permition of the artist on PSPCrazy.com & GamingCrazy.net respectivly.
Did you know World of warcraft only runs on its most basic settings even if you run the sliders all the way up to "Ultra" level? Did you know that most modern computers capable of running the "Ultra" level graphics are generally NOT showing the game at its full potential?
