Finally a little break from the never-ending mind-pain caused by exams. Today I could do what I want without any lurking side-thought in my mind that always kept saying: 'go and learn or you will fail'.
I woke up late and started to play Silent Hill 2. I spent a couple of hours with it and I can tell you it is really an awesome game. It might get on my 'favourite games ever' list even.
On the first scenes the graphics is not that astounding at least for the first sight. However the fog that appears later is the best ever made in a computer game. It is perfect: dense, creepy white fog so that you can see only two meters ahead. And then if you find the flashlight in the completely dark apartment building starts the real show. The light effects are incomparable to any former games: the shadows on the walls are dynamic and very life-like. Everything has a perfectly fitting shadow and all this moves with the flickering flashlight. Plus all the characters are high in polygons and very elaborate in design. People's movements are also really sophisticatedly-made, it is worthy just swishing some with the stick in the hands of the main character to see the way he does it. (You might not have time for that in the adrenaline-pumped action parts when your life is on the risk against monsters.)
Yap, monsters. They are beautifully ugly and perfectly disgusting. Their AI is not the best but considering that they are dumb zombies with a negative IQ and with the only one goal to feed themselves with you, it is ok.
I haven't played enough for the story to unfold completely but still I can say it is exciting. You cannot wait for the next in-game movie to see what happens next. The game raises tons of questions in the first part which are kept unanswered for a long time. You know why you are in Silent Hill: to search for your dead wife who just recently wrote you a letter. Well, obviously something is wrong with this as dead people write letters very seldomly. But you won't know much else later on either. At least not to the point I am at now.
All the things detailed above results in an atmosphere found in horror novels only. Try SH2 in the dead of the night alone with quadraphonic speakers... the living shit will be scared out of you. For a long time you can't see any monsters just sounds. Footsteps behind you which disappear when you turn back or blood on the pavement. You will go mad until you meet your first enemy face to face.
Silent Hill 2 is not a new game as it has been released to PS2 a while ago. Only the PC version is new. I have a certain dislike of console games adapted to PC as the process mostly results in awful controls and crappy graphics compared to original PC games. This time the controls - though could be much easier - are acceptable and the graphics is awesome. I think this is the best adaptation since the Nomad Soul.
As for the system requirements the game runs smoothly on my humble 525 (overclocked 466) Celeron with GeForce2 MX and 208MB of RAM. The only problem is with the movies where the graphics often lags behind the sound which is annoying but acceptable for a PC like this.
Please note that the game features extremely brutal scenes and violence. The colour of blood can be adjusted but that doesn't prevent you from the fear caused by death-screams and the explicit movie contents. If you had a heart attack before and you sleep with the lights on at night I really don't recommend to visit Silent Hill.
Being very sad and tired what could I write? I should go for a job in the future-telling business as I foretold my analysis result again. Well, it was of course not that difficult to do. It is 12 points, an F (or here a 1). I am wondering what comes next.
Currently I am bored to hell sitting at the Salthouse and doing absolutely nothing. I am waiting for my mark in history of civilisations and I have still an hour to wait. So with this flushed mind don't expect any useful good-to-read posts. Still I am keeping my promise to post more regularly. Here you go. ;)
Say I am pessimistic, but I have a stong basis. This third - and last - analysis exam was even more complex than the former ones. So I am quite positive I failed. Again. And forever.
What does the prince do when the dragon melts his arse three times so that he can't win the hand of the princess ever? Chronics don't talk ever about that. People who fail are not remembered.
What else can I do then. Nothing else than taking this subject up again next semester. Which is not only annoying but also ruins the whole progress of mine. Because there is a rule that one can only take up other maths subjects if he passes analysis. Conclusion: I have set a huge obstacle in front of myself. Which disappoints me. And I am scared of what's coming.
As for the good news - which are good indeed but still totally shaded by the cloud of analysis today - I passed law with a surprisingly good mark. Plus I managed to reimburse the lost journal posts which I have deleted on my home computer accidentally.
Lately - well mainly yesterday - I was too tired and busy to post. Yesterday I put my latest translation, {Rules are Rules}, online and updating took all my writing power. It may sound fast and easy but cross-checking links and FTPing files can be very tiring, just like BS missions.
Ah, AO. I have had a very pleasant experience Friday evening (well, Saturday the crack of dawn to be precise). I took part in a Tarasque raid, and after we have killed the pet lizard I was just browsing my inventory outside Camelot castle. I entered the rolls just because I always do. However the next second everyone came and congratulated me. I have won one of the best - and most expensive - items in the game, the chest piece of the dragon scale armor set. I was shocked. And happy of course. Finally I won something really precious. :) And I also contributed to the statistics as well: my friend pointed out that Hungary must be placed top on the dragon armor per player queue.
Needless to say that I am also preparing for my third - and last - analysis exam on Monday.
Does the name Leon say anything to you? It must! I didn't know how much I have been missing because I haven't seen Leon, the professional 'till this week. That movie can be described by only speaking in superlatives. Luc Besson created a very strange mirror of our world. To start with even the base setting is surreal. A contract killer teaming up with a twelve-year-old girl? Unusual to be honest. And things are twisted later indeed. The girl (Mathilda) smokes. The hit man (Leon) drinks milk all the time and starts to play with a toy pig puppet to make Mathilda smile. Or the unbelievable scene when Leon is watching a love story in the cinema with an opened mouth - like a child. Plus two of my favourite parts. 1) Mathilda is in their apartment and Leon is departing to do his job. Mathilda wants to accompany him but he says she needs to grow up a little. Mathilda's reply: 'I finished growing up, I am only aging'... 2) Mathilda is sitting on the stairs of their house when a group of kids from the street come and start to bully her. She - just like an adult - pays them a LOT. And then asks: 'Does paying mean I have to put up with you, too, guys?' Exactly what an adult would say. Well, she finished growing up indeed.
As I am only watching movies and don't know the deep details of making I don't dare to say anything about how masterfully was this movie done. However there are things I can notice as well. Firstly the shooting: there are awesome pictures. Like when Leon opens the door for Mathilda and the sun lights up the whole scene or when Leon dies: everything is silent and the camera follows the collapsing body while everything turns white.
And lastly but not leastly the acting. I have heard Jean Reno (Leon) is a very good actor but now I am absolutely positive about it. And I do think Natalie Portman is awesome too. She was dangerously cute at that age even and she played Mathilda masterfully.
'What exactly do you do for a living?' 'I am a cleaner'
Gah! I guess I have the wrong name. If I had a family name starting with a letter from the start of the ABC I might not have such surprises waiting for me that today happened.
I have a history of civilisations exam scheduled for today at twelve o'clock. However when I entered the exam room I saw a message on the board that people with names from A to K start at 12:00 and all others at 13:00. Grrr... What I hate in this university most is that they don't inform students at all or only at the one before last minute. Annoying.
I haven't passed my second analysis exam either. Now I have one last chance and then I need to take up this subject again next semester. Which wouldn't make me happy at all. But I am getting upset about this whole fuss as well. However tomorrow I have another exam - for a change. So I'd better not write here but learn some. Cya.
I am Hungry and tired. And I am waiting for my exam result in the Salthouse. At least there are some computers around me. ;)
I am seeing my posts becoming single-minded lately. Only school stuff. Well I need to pass my exams and all my thoughts are about this at the moment, so sorry for not being creative enough, I hope it will and soon. (with my exam-period of course :)
However having exams is only one of the challenges I am currently facing. Travelling is adventurous these days as well. Since 30-40 centimetres of snow fell and the temperature is constantly below fifteen degrees Celsius our railway company ceased to work normally. It is outrageous what we have at stations. Trains have more than two hours of delays. A day before yesterday the railway itself broke between Szolnok and Budapest. Not to mention the trains running without any heating. So currently if you want to travel by train here you are advised to pack many warm clothes and food for the extremely long travel time. And be not too sure that you arrive at all.
I haven't mentioned this here earlier but I have seen The Two Towers on January 9. This is one of the few movies that make me tingle in anticipation. And finally after a long year I could immerse in the miraculous world of Middle Earth again. I don't think I can go in any details of the film. Firstly because it is too dense in feelings that I have only scenes flashing in my mind. Like the departure of elves from Rivendell in the dead of the night, or the horses galloping on the endless plains of Rohan. Every second of the movie is a wonder. And secondly because I don't want to ruin your best three hours in this year. :)
It is a pity that my humble knowledge of this language prevents me from putting the experience this film offers in words.
I am tired to think, that is the truth. I have thoughts circling around my mind but I am too tired to catch them and put them in words. Sometimes this happens, most likely after learning maths. ;) Apart from learning I didn't do much only played some AO where my little she-fixer and my brother's crat reached the level of 29. Yay.
Remember, that I promised a translation? It is ready since quite a time but I will need to format it and create a downloadable PDF version as well. So expect it after my exam-period.