Pro Tip of the Day - misc

Pro tip: Filler week part 5

Will — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:32:31 +0000

It's been a rather interesting week around here, and I appreciate you sticking it out with me. I've got lots more stuff to share, but that'll have to wait until we need more filler.

But for today, we have this:

And I'm just sad that I don't fit into it any more.

Regularly scheduled updates to resume next week.

Pro tip: Filler week: Part 4

Will — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:52:26 +0000

One of the great things about moving is that you stumble across lots of things that got filed away and forgotten about, like these magnets that I haven't seen in years.

And they still work! Bonus!

Pro tip: Filler week part 3

Will — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:55:52 +0000

Nothing quite like a three day weekend followed by a four-day workweek to just annihilate any sense of progress.

But I did hit a box and find a 1UP

Which helps quite a bit.

Pro tip: Filler week part 2

Will — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:37:16 +0000

Still sitting on the beach and sipping m... er, I mean slogging along trying to figure out what box has my shoes in it.

But, I did find some of my old reference materials

So there is that.

Pro tip: Filler week part 1

Will — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:49:13 +0000

Even in the best of circumstances, moving to a new house is an ordeal. And since I've done that this weekend, my games and devices are all packed away until I can dig them out again.

But have no fear!

I will be posting some 'behind the scenes' images this week, and should be back in full swing next Monday.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Pro tip: Checking out (some) cutscenes any time you want

Will — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:09:10 +0000

Ever been digging around on your computer's hard drive, in the directories where the games or other programs are installed to see what you can find?

No?

Well you should! (Just be mindful to not actually delete or modify anything) You might find all kinds of goodies.

For instance, check out this partial listing of the Videos folder in my Neverwinter Nights install.

Doesn't look like much, I know. And it's kind of hard to tell from this shot, but they all have a .bik extension. What does that mean?

Glad you asked!

It means that these movies were created with the RAD video tools. And that means that if you have the right player, you can watch them.

Even better, the company responsible for the format has also released a standalone player that you can download here that can play those videos and a whole lot more video conversioney stuff. It's a pretty good deal for a free tool.

Pro tip: Killing a Friday

Will — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:59:58 +0000

For most of you that work a traditional 5-day work week, your motivation can roughly be summed up by this graph.

So at about 4:00 on Friday (or whatever your equivalent of a Friday is), unless your building has caught fire, you're probably not going to get a whole lot done.

Now, your may remember that on April 1st of this year, Google replaced their logo with an interactive version of Pac-Man.

What does this have to do with 4:00 on Fridays?

Well, it happens that the logo-thing was so popular that Google made it accessible all year round. And that means that you can play a quick round of Pac-Man, legally, in your browser here.

Just don't tell the boss!

Pro tip: An invisible secret nothing in Super Mario World

Will — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:32:54 +0000

You remember the Top Secret Area in Super Mario World, right? Well, it's got one more secret up its sleeve.

Take a look at this screenshot.

Looks pretty normal, right? But I'd like to draw your attention to this area about in the middle of the screen, toward the bottom.

If you take Yoshi and hold Up while pressing Y, his tongue will shoot out, but he'll be standing up.

If you're positioned correctly, you'll hear a 'thup-thup' sound, like his tongue is bouncing off of something that he can't eat, like a keyhole. But there's nothing there.

Weird, huh?