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For those who don't know, Day of the Tentacle: Special Edition has just been announced by Double Fine. This means that they are now remaking two of my all-time favorite games. Very exciting!

Well, it's been 8 years in the making, but Black Mesa is finally being released. For those of you who don't know, Black Mesa is a total conversion of the original Half-Life with far superior graphics and physics to work on the source engine. This has got to be one of the most anticipated mods of all time, and it's finally seeing a release date of September 14. For more information, check out their website.

[embed=850,691]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G32_q_3es8E&list=PLC9AAC96BF8865E60&index=0&feature=plcp[/embed]

Okay, so this is my very first attempt at creating pixel art, and so far, I'm actually rather impressed with how well I've done considering I have no background whatsoever with art . I've been following this tutorial, but I'm totally stuck in the shading section. I want my light source to be coming from the right of the viewer's perspective (if that makes sense?). Can anyone please tell me exactly how to go about this? I gave a bit of an attempt, but I'd rather not muck things up more than I have to. Thanks!

So I've decided that I want to start working on a game. The trouble is, I've got no idea how to draw, and I've only got extremely basic Photoshop skills. However, I decided to import in actual images, and I messed around with the filters a bit. Personally, I actually really like the look. I think it's really like a dark comic style. What does everyone think? (These aren't necessarily any backgrounds that will appear in the game. This was just an attempt to see how it would work out).

Last night, my brother pointed something out to me that I find really peculiar. He mentioned that Sam from Sam & Max always reminded him of Dan Aykroyd. I didn't really understand what he meant until he showed me some clips on YouTube, but now, I totally understand what he means. They both speak in a really similar manner, which is really fast, but sounding intellectual. I've searched Google, but there's no mention of any relation. What does everyone think about this? If you want to see what I mean, just check out some YouTube videos of Dan Aykroyd. I'd post some here, but my sound isn't working at the moment.

[Warning:]

Please, for the love of God, can someone record this for me? I really want to hear it, but am not an XM subscriber. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I would be so indebted to anyone who can help! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=168907016505468. Warning: I am not responsible for the potential awesomeness of this concert.

Here's my situation. I have absolutely no background in drawing and don't know even the simplest techniques. I would like to learn to do pixel art so that I can become a background/sprite artist. At the moment, I am equipped with the original Photoshop CS and Deluxe Paint II and IV.

Can anyone recommend any sources for learning? Also, do I need to learn with a pencil and paper, or can I jump right into using a computer?

Although I'm no computer expert, my father has asked me to set up a RAID system for one of his computers at his office. He's had it with the (seemingly crappy and expensive) company that manages his systems, and likes me to manage systems when possible. Recently, his server's HD failed, and the three backup HDs that were supposed to be keeping backups were setup incorrectly by the IT guys.

He told me that he already has a copy of Ghost, though he could never figure out how to set it up. Is Ghost really the best program to use? I've read that Acronis True Image is better and faster, and is relatively cheap. Can anyone tell me why it's better? Also, how does Clonezilla compare to these products? I'm hesitant to use it because it's free (although I'm admittedly a big fan of free software.) Does Clonezilla constantly backup the HD, or does the user need to tell it to make a backup? Also, how hard is this process? Do I just change the HD jumpers (assuming he wants to use an internal drive) and run the program from the BIOS? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have a WinXP Pro SP1 format disk that I've been using for the last few years. Every time I use it, I have to manually update to SP3 and add all of the security updates from Microsoft's website. Would it be possible for me to create a new format disk that includes all of these updates? This would really save me a few hours each reformat. Any advice is appreciated.

Edit: Solved. I discovered nLite. It does exactly what I want.

I was helping someone on some other forums sync audio on a DVD they created with DVD Flick. I decided that I may as well share my guide with everyone here (in case anyone is interested.) Note that if you used a program other than DVD Flick, this will still work. If you use VirtualDub (mentioned below,) you can only open AVI Files. For other filetypes, you will need to find another demuxer. Everything else should work the same, though.

There are a lot of steps, but it is a relatively fast and easy process. Also, all the software is free and legal. Lastly, I'm rather proud of myself for figuring this all out myself.

1. Download IfoEdit http://www.ifoedit.com/, VirtualDub http://www.virtualdub.org/, Audacity (Beta) http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/, and PgcDemux http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PgcDemux.
2. Open VirtualDub and load the AVI. Under the Audio menu, tick Direct Stream Copy. Next, under the File menu, select Save WAV.
3. Once the WAV file is saved, open it in Audacity. Under the File menu, select Export. Save the file as AC3.
4. Now, open PgcDemux. Browse to the DVD files that DVD Flick created. Select Check A/V Delay. Now, make sure you only demux the video stream. Hit Process!
5. Open IfoEdit, and under the DVD Author menu, Select Author new DVD. Under the Video field, select the file you created with PgcDemux. Under the Audio field, select the AC3 file you created with Audacity. Now, set the output directory and hit OK. You're (probably) done.
6. (Specific Case) If you want to include multiple titles on one disk, you will need DVD Shrink http://www.afterdawn.com/software/cd_dvd/copy_dvd/dvd_shrink.cfm. Here is an excellent guide for using it. It should only take a few minutes to learn and master http://www.afterdawn.com/software/cd_dvd/copy_dvd/dvd_shrink.cfm. Use DVD Shrink to add multiple titles to one DVD.

[Please, read these at your own risk]

Today, March 16, marks what would have been James Bulger's 21st birthday if he were alive today. I would sincerely like to request to everyone that you keep his memory and his family in your minds today. I am reviving this thread after one month, and am hoping for more people to post. I was very disappointed last month when I only received a few replies. For those of you who don't know who James Bulger was, I strongly suggest you click the links below. His was the most heartbreaking story I have ever heard.

[original post]

February 12th marked the 18th anniversary of James Bulger's murder.  I'd like everyone to keep his memory in your mind. I would be interested in engaging in any conversation about the case, so feel free to speak your minds.

For those of you who don't know who James Bulger was, here are great resources. I strongly encourage you to read these articals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/bulger/1.html (really in depth)

Please, read these at your own risk (especially the second). They can be very difficult to read for people with weak stomaches.

I think it would be appropriate for everyone to view this heartbreaking video of Baby James being led off in his tiny casket to his funeral.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTywACNO2X4&playnext=1&list=PLAED404B560D116F6

Thanks for your time.

Hey all. About half a year ago, I saw the movie Stand by Me and loved it. Can anyone suggest similar movies to it? I was told that The Sandlot was very similar, so I watched it, but hated it. I have also been told to watch The Goonies and The Lost Boys, but am not interested in them.

Mostly, I'd like to see sentimental movies with child actors, but aimed towards an adult audience. I listed some movies and actors I like below to give you a basic idea of what I'm looking for. Thanks in advance!

Other movies I liked:

Pay it Forward (one of my favorites)
Jack the Bear (decent)
The Road (decent)
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (very good)
Radio Flyer (one of my favorites)
Stephen King's IT (good)
King of the Hill (decent)
Son of Rambow (decent)
Slumdog Millionaire (one of my favorites)
Where Eskimos Live (very good)
Breakfast Club (decent)
Sleepers (good)
Kramer vs. Kramer (very good)
Empire of the Sun (great)

Actors (in order of my favorites):

Haley Joel Osment
River Phoenix
Wil Wheaton
Elijah Wood
Joseph Mazzello

Edit:

I've had enough Elijah Wood suggestions. He's a fine actor, but not amazing. I still plan to watch The War. My favorite child actor on the list is Haley Joel Osment. However, I've seen everything of his worth watching. The same goes for River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton (Wheaton really had NOTHING after Stand by Me).

I'd prefer if everyone can suggest movies without any of the actors I mentioned. I'm looking to discover movies with other actors. Thanks!

I have AVI files that I would like to join together. I ran them both separately through VirtualDub and told it to do full processing mode for the audio as I was getting an error message otherwise. I was then able to merge the two files together, but am now faced with an audio/video sync error. If I view each video separately, the audio and video are in sync. However, when merged, the audio of the second video loses sync.

Can anyone come up with a solution to this problem? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

So I just installed Firefox 3.6.9 from the Mozilla web page. For some reason, none of the add-ons are working. I've tried installing several (including a few that work on my other computer), but they just won't work. They show up in my add-ons tab, but they can't be used. For example, Net Videohunter is supposed to display a small blue icon in the bottom right corner. I've also noticed that neither the AVG toolbar or link scanner are working.

Can anyone help me out with this? Thanks.

I was just wondering. Would it be possible to port the AGS game engine to the Dreamcast so that one could play these games? How hard would it be?

I've been posting about this question on CD Freaks to no avail. After some thought, I realized that this would actually be the smartest place to post this question. So without any further ado, here goes.

I have an old computer that I'm trying to reformat with Win98SE. I know it's really outdated, but it would serve a huge purpose for me. Anyway, I through in the bootdisk, formated drive C:, and then ran the setup the from Win98SE CD. The OS seems to install, but when it gets to the point where it wants to restart, Windows doesn't boot up. I've tried several formats and WinME, but the same thing happens every time. I noticed though that if I go to the C:/ drive and type in "dir," I see a list of folders and a few files. Obviously, things are being written to the drive. However, I can't seem to open any of these files. So, can someone tell me how to get around this? I would be very grateful if someone can help me get this computer back up.

PS. I own both of these operating systems LEGALLY. I know for a fact that the discs work.

I feel it's best to post here because everyone here on this site has dealt with these OS's.