Wow! This is a neat blog! Some of it’s funny and some of it makes sense! And it’s all about me and the silly things I like!
Yes, it’s been a very long while since I’ve updated this blog. Not to put too fine a point on things, but that’s because I have virtually no time to myself any more. I’m sure you’ve read all about it before. The horrible long commutes. The days filled with idiots. The unrealistic expectations that I get paid to somehow meet.
But let me tell you, I have some more blogging to do! I’m not done babbling on about my favourite music, video games and fembot fantasies. Somewhere close below this post is a post about the legendary imaginary band Croydon. I do believe I promised I would get some more great info out to the world about their remarkable story.
Well, that will have to wait. Because I’ve just had me an awesome two days of complete rest and vegetation. I’ve done NO work. That’s because I have the next 5 days off from work too, and I don’t have to be back at my shitty job until January 3rd.
Huzzah!
So here’s an update on the good stuff that’s been going on in Robotman’s life… which can basically be compressed down to the last two days anyway. It’s fucking sad, isn’t it? Wake, shower, commute, work, commute, shower, sleep.
Okay, I’m getting all upset again about it.
I’ve been playing video games again. This time, I’ve been delving into my console emulators and roms, which combine with a USB gamepad to make everything better.
Actually, this has a bit of a back story. I set up a computer that Uncle Furry had graciously donated to a feller we worked with. While I did that, I put a bunch of emulators and games on there for him. He got fired on Christmas Eve, so he may never get that computer. Oh well. Nice fucking company I work for… firing someone on Christmas Fucking Eve.
In any case, I donated an old Logitech USB game controller that I had bought a while ago. Seeing as how these things are getting rather scarce, I bought another one to replace it and decided to actually install the Logitech software that came along with it.
Normally, the idea of installing software by Logitech on one of my computers is right up there with self-trepanation by chisel. But I decided to try it out this time simply because the software offered the promise of setting up custom keystrokes to controller buttons.
Why would I do something so outlandish, you ask?
Well, I’ve got this emulator called “MESS“, which stands for Multi-Emulator Super System. And it’s the only program I have that can emulate some obscure and oddball old systems like the Fairchild Channel F, Arcadia 2001, Vectrex, Atari 5200 and Atari 7800. None of my favourite games are on any of those systems, but I have fun just by booting up any game on those to see how the graphics and sound perform.
I’m a geek, that’s why.
The problem I’ve had with MESS in the past is that although I can get these emulator “modes” to work and load and play games, I could never get the fucking joystick part of the equation to work. So I tried a different approach.
I just set the “input” mode to keyboard only, and then mapped certain keys to certain buttons on the Logitech controller. MESS uses arrow keys for motion, so I mapped those to the left analog stick. The Z, X, C and V keys get used as buttons, so I mapped those to the four Logitech pad buttons. I mapped lots more buttons to other keys too, and in the process learned which keys/buttons effect which games.
And as a result, I actually PLAYED some of these games for the first time ever – particularly the ones for the Channel F and the Arcadia 2001. Rather crappy games, but in the case of the Channel F, come on. Atari wasn’t even out yet!
So that was my Saturday. Sunday saw me setting up more emulators and even setting up Logitech pad keystrokes for more functionality too. The Commodore 64 emulator is much easier to run now that I can access the program menu and rom directory with the gamepad. And with that new gamepad I’ve had a blast visiting old games from consoles like the Sega Master System, the TurboGrafx-16, the Nintendo 64 and the Neo Geo.
Lol, Japan.
And not a damn stitch of mine or anyone else’s laundry was done, nor vacuuming (except by Roomba), nor bathroom cleaning, nor other housework. That just means I have to do all that shit tomorrow. But I’m fully rested and feeling better than I have in literally weeks.
So, by bloody rights, I’ll post more to this blog tomorrow! And the next day! And the day after that! Or maybe I won’t. It depends on how far into a vegetative state I get.