Sunday, May 4, 2014
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Live Streaming...Improved
After Dyyno Universal Broadcaster crapped out on me and the company seemed to have bailed. I discovered Universal Broadcaster Software. Screw all the other programs, this one works wonders. High quality, good FPS, and all around great streaming program. Plus it doesn't cost $200, nor $50, but rather a whopping $0.00 USD. That's right, it's free!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Live Streaming
First off, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate my first post in 2011 on this scarcely updated blog, so huzzah!
Anyways, as of late I've been very interested in live streaming and the possibilities it brings with it. For over a year I've searched on the internet for a good game streaming program that could broadcast smoothly, (and preferably in good quality.) As of approximately a week ago I've found a solution to both of those needs. The program is called Dyyno Universal Broadcaster, it normally costs $200, but when I discovered it it was on sale for a mere $50. (The sale lasts until January 31st, so get going and buy it now while it's cheap!) So because of this amazing program and a few other smaller ones, I have managed to effectively find a Fraps for live streaming! So expect many live streams to come in future, and keep in mind that I have made a separate YouTube account dedicated to live streams: wwww.youtube.com/ubergamerlive
Anyways, as of late I've been very interested in live streaming and the possibilities it brings with it. For over a year I've searched on the internet for a good game streaming program that could broadcast smoothly, (and preferably in good quality.) As of approximately a week ago I've found a solution to both of those needs. The program is called Dyyno Universal Broadcaster, it normally costs $200, but when I discovered it it was on sale for a mere $50. (The sale lasts until January 31st, so get going and buy it now while it's cheap!) So because of this amazing program and a few other smaller ones, I have managed to effectively find a Fraps for live streaming! So expect many live streams to come in future, and keep in mind that I have made a separate YouTube account dedicated to live streams: wwww.youtube.com/ubergamerlive
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
My Thoughts on Recording Software
This post is essentially my thoughts on different recording software and programs, just to give people advice if they ever want to record their screen for whatever reason.
First up is Fraps, the recording program I use, Fraps is the overall best non-professional recording program I've been able to find. There's really nothing better than Fraps save the hundred-dollar recording programs that companies use to make high definition in-game footage. That's the good stuff out of the way, now to the bad...
Even though Fraps is the all around best, it's still not perfect, it costs money, ($37 to be exact,) so if you don't want to spend the money, Fraps is out of the running. Also, you need to have a decent computer to play a game while using Fraps or else the game will lag, (Fraps is mainly made for recording games,) so if your computer can hardly handle the game itself, Fraps will only make it worse. Other than that Fraps is pretty good overall, easy to use, records in good quality, and, most importantly in my opinion, records smoothly.
MY OVERALL RATING: 9/10
Next is ZD Soft Screen Recorder, I only tried the demo version of this software, personally I don't like it, it's not as good as Fraps in my opinion because it causes games to lag when I use it, and I've got a pretty good computer. The recording ends up just a laggy as the game when I played it, and ZD screen recorder doesn't even have all the features Fraps does. But the thing that turned me off the most about ZD recorder is that it's not as good as Fraps, and yet it costs $39 for the full version compared to Fraps' $37 price, sure it's only a $2 difference, but who wants to pay more for a recording program that isn't as good? (Of course that's just my opinion, if you happen to like ZD Screen Recorder I'm not saying you shouldn't get it. If you want to give both ZD Recorder and Fraps a shot, both have free trial versions.)
MY OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10
Third is a program called Hypercam, Hypercam 3 costs 29.95 euro to register, but it does have a trial version that is essentially unlimited. It just puts a small watermark in the upper right corner of the recording saying that it's unregistered. Hypercam 3 is decent, but far from the best, as it's laggy on larger screens and doesn't have great video quality, also, the audio and video often de-sync when I use Hypercam. Not the best, but, if you don't mind the watermark, at least it's free!
MY OVERALL RATING: 7/10
Fourth up is CamStudio, CamStudio is completely free, but is flawed. It doesn't have the best framerate and, like Hypercam, doesn't work well with small screens. It is open source though, just in case you want to optimize it.
OVERALL RATING: 6/10
Fifth is a program called WebCam Max. Webcam Max is not meant to be a recording program as much as a virtual webcam device, but it has full recording capabilities. The problem with WebCam Max is the same problem that plagued HyperCam and CamStudio, bad framerate. On smaller screens, WebCam Max works decently, but on fullscreen it's terrible. However, the nice thing about WebCam Max is it's effects, WebCam Max is loaded with different interesting effects that you can add to your video to spice it up, (maybe even enough to get viewers to look past the crappy quality.) Now I understand that this program wasn't made for recording as much as video chats and streaming, but it seems to suck just as much when chatting or streaming too.
MY OVERALL RATING: 5.5/10
Finally, the sixth is the good old camera/webcam. The advantages of using one of these is that you don't have to pay anything assuming you already have one to use for other purposes, and that you don't need to deal with making sure that the program is recording, or that you have enough space left on your hard drive. Camera recording is very simple, the only problem is that the video quality can never measure up to that of a recording program. It's a good alternative to recording programs if you prefer that.
MY OVERALL RATING: 8/10
First up is Fraps, the recording program I use, Fraps is the overall best non-professional recording program I've been able to find. There's really nothing better than Fraps save the hundred-dollar recording programs that companies use to make high definition in-game footage. That's the good stuff out of the way, now to the bad...
Even though Fraps is the all around best, it's still not perfect, it costs money, ($37 to be exact,) so if you don't want to spend the money, Fraps is out of the running. Also, you need to have a decent computer to play a game while using Fraps or else the game will lag, (Fraps is mainly made for recording games,) so if your computer can hardly handle the game itself, Fraps will only make it worse. Other than that Fraps is pretty good overall, easy to use, records in good quality, and, most importantly in my opinion, records smoothly.
MY OVERALL RATING: 9/10
Next is ZD Soft Screen Recorder, I only tried the demo version of this software, personally I don't like it, it's not as good as Fraps in my opinion because it causes games to lag when I use it, and I've got a pretty good computer. The recording ends up just a laggy as the game when I played it, and ZD screen recorder doesn't even have all the features Fraps does. But the thing that turned me off the most about ZD recorder is that it's not as good as Fraps, and yet it costs $39 for the full version compared to Fraps' $37 price, sure it's only a $2 difference, but who wants to pay more for a recording program that isn't as good? (Of course that's just my opinion, if you happen to like ZD Screen Recorder I'm not saying you shouldn't get it. If you want to give both ZD Recorder and Fraps a shot, both have free trial versions.)
MY OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10
Third is a program called Hypercam, Hypercam 3 costs 29.95 euro to register, but it does have a trial version that is essentially unlimited. It just puts a small watermark in the upper right corner of the recording saying that it's unregistered. Hypercam 3 is decent, but far from the best, as it's laggy on larger screens and doesn't have great video quality, also, the audio and video often de-sync when I use Hypercam. Not the best, but, if you don't mind the watermark, at least it's free!
MY OVERALL RATING: 7/10
Fourth up is CamStudio, CamStudio is completely free, but is flawed. It doesn't have the best framerate and, like Hypercam, doesn't work well with small screens. It is open source though, just in case you want to optimize it.
OVERALL RATING: 6/10
Fifth is a program called WebCam Max. Webcam Max is not meant to be a recording program as much as a virtual webcam device, but it has full recording capabilities. The problem with WebCam Max is the same problem that plagued HyperCam and CamStudio, bad framerate. On smaller screens, WebCam Max works decently, but on fullscreen it's terrible. However, the nice thing about WebCam Max is it's effects, WebCam Max is loaded with different interesting effects that you can add to your video to spice it up, (maybe even enough to get viewers to look past the crappy quality.) Now I understand that this program wasn't made for recording as much as video chats and streaming, but it seems to suck just as much when chatting or streaming too.
MY OVERALL RATING: 5.5/10
Finally, the sixth is the good old camera/webcam. The advantages of using one of these is that you don't have to pay anything assuming you already have one to use for other purposes, and that you don't need to deal with making sure that the program is recording, or that you have enough space left on your hard drive. Camera recording is very simple, the only problem is that the video quality can never measure up to that of a recording program. It's a good alternative to recording programs if you prefer that.
MY OVERALL RATING: 8/10
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Trespasser Review
Well, I've been considering doing reviews of the games I LP after I complete them for some time now, and I think that this blog would be the perfect place to do just that. So, here's my first review of the one game so far that I've completed, Trespasser.
Trespasser was one of the most revolutionary games ever made, the idea was to give the player complete control and ability to wander around and interact with a completely populated and detailed world. That said, they achieved this goal in part, you can in fact explore a detailed environment at your own free will, but the population falls somewhat short; the actual amount of dinosaurs per area is very low compared to what the movies, and nature, suggest, however this is mainly due to the instability of Trespasser's engine, having too many entities in the same place at the same time causes serious lag, and can cause the game to crash.
I personally frown upon the development team for being the cause of most of Trespasser's downfalls, they set a deadline for the game to be released and released the game on the deadline they initially set instead of postponing the release date in order to work out the bugs and glitches. This decision and the fact that Trespasser was way ahead of it's time ended up dooming the game in my opinion. If it were up to me I'd delay the release of the game as long as necessary so as to make the game the most enjoyable, who cares if you have some angry fans? Look at some of today's most anticipated games, BioShock 2 was delayed from September of 2009 to February of 2010, Half-Life 2: Episode 3 was delayed almost a year.
On a different note, Another thing for Trespasser to be praised for is it's physics, Trespasser was the first game to ever introduce ragdoll physics, even though the dinosaurs don't exactly turn into ragdolls when killed, but seeing as it was the first ever attempt, it was a pretty damn good physics integration, especially considering how well the physics objects interact with the environment. In fact, Half-Life 2's physics engine, (Havok,) was inspired from Trespasser's own physics engine.
Also, the glitches in Trespasser's physics can, admittedly be very frustrating, but they can also be damn funny, seeing a raptor turned inside-out on the ground with his legs going in circles around his body was the source of probably the best laugh I've had in years. Overall, Trespasser is an amazing game, yet very under appreciated due to all of it's glitches and unstable engine. But to play it was a unique experience that no other game I've played since could bring. It's sad that this game didn't get the attention and the chance it deserved. FINAL REVIEW:
Gameplay: 9/10 Trespasser's unique interface and interesting level design (and even the physics glitches) made the Trespasser gameplay experience like no other, definitely a rarity, and definitely fun. While some people may think that the glitches undermine the gameplay experience, but I personally think that they make the gameplay even more unique due to the odd experiences you will have because of them.
Graphics (Video): 8/10 Trespasser's graphics aren't exactly extraordinary by today's standards, but for it's time, they were amazing. The large, open environments were breathtaking back in 1998, and they still are today.
Audio: 9.5/10 Although Anne and John Hammond are the only human voices you hear in the game, (aside from Jill and the brief conversation with the Naval officers,) when you do hear them you can tell that what they say is filled with emotion and sounds incredibly real. In addition, the dinosaur roars and growls are extremely realistic and can truly startle you when not expecting them. The object collision sounds and basically every sound in the game sounds like much effort was put in to it to make it sound as real as possible. On a final note, the game's music is some of the most astounding music I've ever heard, certainly movie quality, kudos to Bill Brown.
Originality: 10/10 Trespasser is probably the most original game I've ever played. The interface, the dinosaur AI...the glitches all make the game so unique and original that it's truly unprecedented.
FINAL SCORE: 9/10 [Outstanding]
KEY:
1-2/10 [Poor]
3-5/10 [Mediocre]
6-7/10 [Good]
8-9/10 [Outstanding]
10/10 [Supreme]
Trespasser was one of the most revolutionary games ever made, the idea was to give the player complete control and ability to wander around and interact with a completely populated and detailed world. That said, they achieved this goal in part, you can in fact explore a detailed environment at your own free will, but the population falls somewhat short; the actual amount of dinosaurs per area is very low compared to what the movies, and nature, suggest, however this is mainly due to the instability of Trespasser's engine, having too many entities in the same place at the same time causes serious lag, and can cause the game to crash.
I personally frown upon the development team for being the cause of most of Trespasser's downfalls, they set a deadline for the game to be released and released the game on the deadline they initially set instead of postponing the release date in order to work out the bugs and glitches. This decision and the fact that Trespasser was way ahead of it's time ended up dooming the game in my opinion. If it were up to me I'd delay the release of the game as long as necessary so as to make the game the most enjoyable, who cares if you have some angry fans? Look at some of today's most anticipated games, BioShock 2 was delayed from September of 2009 to February of 2010, Half-Life 2: Episode 3 was delayed almost a year.
On a different note, Another thing for Trespasser to be praised for is it's physics, Trespasser was the first game to ever introduce ragdoll physics, even though the dinosaurs don't exactly turn into ragdolls when killed, but seeing as it was the first ever attempt, it was a pretty damn good physics integration, especially considering how well the physics objects interact with the environment. In fact, Half-Life 2's physics engine, (Havok,) was inspired from Trespasser's own physics engine.
Also, the glitches in Trespasser's physics can, admittedly be very frustrating, but they can also be damn funny, seeing a raptor turned inside-out on the ground with his legs going in circles around his body was the source of probably the best laugh I've had in years. Overall, Trespasser is an amazing game, yet very under appreciated due to all of it's glitches and unstable engine. But to play it was a unique experience that no other game I've played since could bring. It's sad that this game didn't get the attention and the chance it deserved. FINAL REVIEW:
Gameplay: 9/10 Trespasser's unique interface and interesting level design (and even the physics glitches) made the Trespasser gameplay experience like no other, definitely a rarity, and definitely fun. While some people may think that the glitches undermine the gameplay experience, but I personally think that they make the gameplay even more unique due to the odd experiences you will have because of them.
Graphics (Video): 8/10 Trespasser's graphics aren't exactly extraordinary by today's standards, but for it's time, they were amazing. The large, open environments were breathtaking back in 1998, and they still are today.
Audio: 9.5/10 Although Anne and John Hammond are the only human voices you hear in the game, (aside from Jill and the brief conversation with the Naval officers,) when you do hear them you can tell that what they say is filled with emotion and sounds incredibly real. In addition, the dinosaur roars and growls are extremely realistic and can truly startle you when not expecting them. The object collision sounds and basically every sound in the game sounds like much effort was put in to it to make it sound as real as possible. On a final note, the game's music is some of the most astounding music I've ever heard, certainly movie quality, kudos to Bill Brown.
Originality: 10/10 Trespasser is probably the most original game I've ever played. The interface, the dinosaur AI...the glitches all make the game so unique and original that it's truly unprecedented.
FINAL SCORE: 9/10 [Outstanding]
KEY:
1-2/10 [Poor]
3-5/10 [Mediocre]
6-7/10 [Good]
8-9/10 [Outstanding]
10/10 [Supreme]
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Reason for Recent Lack of Videos
The reason I haven't posted any videos on YouTube lately is because of two things:
1. I've been very busy with school lately.
2. I've been playing a lot of BioShock in my free time, because BioShock 2 is coming out of February 9! I have a lot of anticipation for that game so I probably won't be very active for a little while, but not to worry, once my hype cools down over BioShock 2 I'll start uploading videos again. :)
Also, expect blog stuff soon :P
1. I've been very busy with school lately.
2. I've been playing a lot of BioShock in my free time, because BioShock 2 is coming out of February 9! I have a lot of anticipation for that game so I probably won't be very active for a little while, but not to worry, once my hype cools down over BioShock 2 I'll start uploading videos again. :)
Also, expect blog stuff soon :P
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Welcome to my Blog
Hello, this is UberGamer1309 from YouTube, this blog is dedicated to gaming, fps gaming to be more specific, and it will most likely revolve around the latest happenings on my YouTube channel. This is where I recommend you go for the news on what's going on with me, as none of the info posted here will be posted on YouTube. I hope you enjoy your time here. Gaming ftw.
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