How to duplicate a phpBB3 theme

If you ever want to duplicate an existing phpBB3 theme, you might be sorely frustrated when you can’t seem to get any of your changes to take hold. It is sometimes necessary to go to the ACP, and hit purge the cache, however there is a further trick.

First, duplicate the theme folder you want to start with, and rename to your theme name.

Second, you need to go to the theme folder, and open style.cfg, /imageset/imageset.cfg, /template/template.cfg, /theme/theme.cfg, in a text editor. All of these files contain name = value. Rename all of these to your theme name.

Upload all of these changes, then head to the ACP and go to the “styles” tab. Click install on your theme.  On the left hand menu, go to each of the style components, and select install for each one. Then head back to the main styles page and click “details” for your theme. Select the imageset, template and theme from the dropdown menu.

Now you should be done!

Funny Pic of the Day

Came across this funny site full of funny comic strips. Apparently I am the only person who has never heard of this, but in case i’m not, be sure to check it out.

Disclaimer: if your not into science or programming you probably won’t find it funny!

Relaunch of Honda CBR250RR site

After an attempted wikipedia styled motorbike info site for the Honda CBR250RR resulted in steady traffic but hardly any contributions, i’ve decided to redesign my Babyblade site into an article directory and forums. I’m already seeing an instant improvement in contributions as people seem to be alot more comfortable with another PHPBB forum site.

A big thanks to everyone who has signed up and contributed so far, it’s great seeing new posts and members every day already after less than a week, and looking forward to creating a monster resource and community for MC22 owners.

See the Honda CBR250RR forums here. 

htaccess on Yahoo Hosting

I have found a picture which I think really sums up my maiden experience with Yahoo Hosting.

For the vision impaired and slow learners, I am comparing Yahoo’s service to a steaming pile of shit. Though, when I think about it, the steaming part is probably inaccurate, as that would suggest their is some freshness about it - perhaps a pic of a dried out near-powder shit would be more accurate.

#1. No .htaccess support, means register globals and magic quotes always ON

#2. No cron job support, we are now expected to wait until 3.05am every night to manually run that script

#3. very, very slow

#4. majorly out-of-date software

#4. Crap control panel that tries to be clever

Yahoo (at your prices), you can do better.

No DVD Sound in Windows Media Player?

Had a nice little surprise today after getting a brand new computer, I had no audio available in Windows Media Player. This is basically a result of the machine not having the correct codecs - you’d think Microsoft would be smart enough to include this stuff by default, but alas no. Even after upgrading to WMP11 I still had no luck.

After a bit of research, I discovered if you have this problem, you likely need the AC3 codec. Its dead easy to install - just go here, get the installer and install and restart Windows Media Player.

Funny Pic

Funny Pic for the Day

Sorry had to provide linked thumbnail, full size messes with my layout!

Call of Duty 4 PS3 Review

Call of Duty 4 is an all-round winner on the PS3.

It’s another game to take on this trend of a “movie” experience as you play through the single player campaign. It’s short and sweet. It’s all action. I probably haven’t been this excited about a single player experience since the Normandy Beach landing in Medal of Honour way back on the PS2.

Time has been kind to this brand of war simulation.

Call of Duty 4 takes us into the modern era rather than the WWII scenes of previous games. While the plot is not exactly unique or exciting, the execution of this game is simply awesome. You get to do many cool things, like shoot a mini-gun, fly over cities in helicopters, be a gunner on a attack aircraft, see a nuke go off (in game) and lay low in long grass in camouflage while waiting for enemy patrols to pass within inches of your position.

The graphics and audio are simply breathtaking. In comparison to prior releases like Call of Duty or Rainbow Six, you can really compare and see how game developers are starting to get to grips with how to utilise the PS3. Framerate is smooth as, audio attention to detail is excellent. All those small things you take for granted are there, and plenty of innovation to provide a refreshing and pleasurable experience.

Something I find particularly pleasing is the way the game loads. You never feel like your far away from the action and it makes it very difficult to walk away from the game until its done. You’ll be waiting for literally a few seconds before your being entertained by a clip scene as the game elements load in the background. The load times are also very reasonable and it does put other games to shame how much detail they load up in such a small amount of time.

But 8 hours of a single player campaign doesn’t cut it in this day and age.

Fortunately Call of Duty provides some serious replay value, with what looks like substantial “hidden” content that is unlocked as certain achievements have been met. For example after completing single player, I discovered a handful of arcade missions were now available, as well as the ability to replay any mission from single player. The arcade missions take a sortof Time Crisis appeal, where you are challenging yourself to be accurate and fast to get a big score.

There is a co-op mode I have not even tried, they are usually a barrel of fun.

The online multiplayer action is quite interesting from the limited time I spent with it (had to return the game to the video store!). Sure it basically encompasses the standard Death Match and Team Death Match, however they have an interesting take on things, where, if you start getting a kill streak going you steadily unlock better and better things.

In my couple of games I managed to get a radar a couple of times, but clearly more kills equals being able to call in attack choppers, air strikes and who knows what else. What an excellent idea that was! I suspect it could add some serious replay value to the game.

Congratulations to the team behind Call of Duty 4 on PS3!

Add this game to your Christmas Wishlist! Or just buy it now!

Colin McRae DiRT Demo

What a game…. what an absolutely mind boggling game.

After rumours of Colin McRae DiRT releasing a demo in the Playstation Store last week, I was disappointed to discover that it wasn’t yet available on the Australian network. Today that demo finally popped up, and after a relatively small download of a bit over 500mb, I was whisked into the world of DiRT.

I was pleasantly surprised with both the opening clip scene which showcased some tantalizing in game graphics, as well as the general feel of the menu system, which was all very fresh and straightforward for me. After a brief investigation of the default control layout, which I decided to use, I was straight into 1 of 3 demo tracks.

There are three cars to choose from, each car locked to a certain track. I couldn’t resist to go for the Suburu WRX, and after a rather interesting loading process which shows off interesting stats such as longest jump, top speed, races won etc, I found myself sitting at the start line of a tight circuit taking on an AI car around two laps.

Graphics

Absolutely, mind numbingly good. Really showcases the power of the PS3 with near visual perfection. All those little things we now take for granted like sun glare, dust, mud, grass, trees, rocks, sky, distant scenery and especially car models are spectacularly rendered in DiRT in a (dare I say it) better fashion than any other game… ever.

Audio

Equally good. It’s easy to forget about the grunting of V8 engines and whining of 4 cylinder turbos when you have spent many-a-day playing car games on the console or PC. But it won’t take long to notice the attention to detail in DiRT, such as a squawking tire rubbing against a loose front quarter panel or a bone crunching smash against something in the scenery or another car.

The soundtrack seems equally promising, the demo features a few highly appropriate driving songs.

Gameplay

Refined bliss.

Controls

Excellent - the PS3 controller comes into its own with the new L2/R2 extra squeezy triggers, particularly when used as accelerator and brake. After a few laps you get a feel for the controls and it is truly enjoyable to throw the cars into corners and practice power slides. I struggled a bit with manual transmission when setup as x and square in combination with L2/R2 brake/accelerate, but I think changing gear changes to L1/R1 would be the solution.

I’m also pretty keen to try the game with the motion sensors to steer, hopefully it is a bit more controllable than Motostorm and emulates a steering wheel. Speaking of steering wheels, I can’t wait to setup my Logitech Force Pro one day, that is once I can find something to attach it to! I can see alot of fun rainy days of DiRT + steering wheel.

Attention to Detail

Attention to detail is the sealer for me - I couldn’t flaw even the demo experience in any regard, and that is really saying something. 3 cars and 3 tracks is very generous for any demo, even when plugged out of the massive pool that will be in the final version.

What I like from Codemasters is the way they make playing Colin McRae enjoyable by giving the player options. For example, I love in-car camera mode, and yet alot of games seem to overlook this option - and for what? There are at least 6 classic camera modes to choose from while racing, including front bumper, overlooking bonnet, in-car close to dash, in-car back from dash, rear bumper, rear bumper high - and amazingly, they are all practical for use, and it just comes down to personal preference.

Likewise, the replay mode is a blast. I’ve never really bothered with replays until this game, simply because its so fun. It’s pretty standard, flick through camera modes, rewind, fast forward, and watch in super slow-mo, which happens to be great way to watch the biggest stacks from the race. I don’t know whether its the pristine graphics and sounds or whether its just the addictiveness of this game, but even watching replays is fun.

Tracks

Judging by the three tracks in the demo, there is going to be plenty of fun to be had. They all looked great and had unique characteristics. The Italy stage was tight and relatively challenging, as was the SS stage… you think you have it easy when getting onto a big wide sandpit in a dune buggy, but even these tracks are surprisingly challenging.

There is plenty of scenery blasting by, a few seconds in the super slow-mo replay can really highlight just how much detail is in every single frame. I particularly like the way scenery acts generally as expected. For example, crashing into a free standing concrete block means you come to a complete stop, and yet the concrete still reacts and moves rather than being an unrealistically static object. Crashing through signs on the side of the road has an obvious consequence to cornering speed, and can often result in loss of control, so corner cutting is somewhat limited.

What this means for PS3

I reckon this is the game PS3 has been waiting for. After the initial blast of Resistance: Fall of Man, its fair to say that there hasn’t been a great deal in the way of quality releases. Rainbow Six Las Vegas was ok and introduced some unique new control methods. On the driving front, Motostorm was an undebatable hit but that has been just about it. The Need For Speed release was a disastrous port of the PS2 game with possibly even worse graphics than the last gen console. And Ridge Racer is not for everyone. As such, the Playstation 3 has been starved of quality racing games.

If you put in perspective though, the PS3 has been in international release for less than 6 months. Seeing games like DiRT and other upcoming titles having true finesse and tapping into the PS3’s hardware as they should, makes the wait worthwhile and the $120 price tag more justifiable.

For all those who have cried foul at the lack of titles on PS3, eat DiRT.

5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Riding Motorbikes

I got my first motorbike, a Honda CBR250RR about two months ago. I thought I’d compile this list of 5 things that non-bike riders probably don’t know about motorbikes.

1. When riding a motorbike, you get covered in bugs
   This obviously varies from place to place, in some areas you might face onslaughts of mosquitoes, flies or butterflies, whereas other parts of the world are relatively insect free. After riding 2,000 kilometers over 2 months, I have bugs spattered here and there on my riding gear, particurlarly on my helmet visor… imagine what is like for riders wearing open face helmets!
2. Motorbikes are not just noisy for the sake of it
   You might think that motorbikes are built intentionally just to annoy you in the early hours of the morning while your trying to sleep, but you would be ill-informed. Unlike the often aesthetic “phat” exhausts that have recently entered widespread car culture, the reason why motorbikes are generally loud, is two fold -
   a) because they are built for performance - smaller exhausts reduce performance
   b) so people in cars with blaring stereos can hear them!
3. Car Drivers are known as “Cagers” in motorbike circles
   The meaning is literally driving in a cage. That is, car drivers have a feeling of being in a secure haven while driving there “cage” around town, and as such sometimes neglect to consider other road users, particularly *cough* motorbikes *cough*. I suspect the second meaning is that being on a motorbike means being free with the elements, without the luxuries of windows, air conditioning and doors.
4. There is virtually a science to riding in traffic
   Driving a car is easy in comparison - you sit in your lane, you obey the road rules, and with a bit of luck you’ll never run into serious trouble. In comparison, there is virtually a science to riding a motorbike safely in traffic. Concepts such as lane positioning, watching other vehicles and avoiding oil and other hazards are integral to operating a motorbike on the road.
5. Riding a motorbike gives one a unique sense of freedom
   The best thing about motorbikes is when riding around, particularly through the bends, it gives one a great sense of freedom. The onus is on the rider to finely deliver throttle, braking and steering, with a much smaller margin for error than in a car. It’s just you, nature, and machine.

So there you have it. For motorbike enthusiasts, you might want to take a look at my pet project, Honda CBR250RR wiki, and stay upright. For car drivers, don’t forget about your fellow 2 wheeled road users!