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THE PERFECT OS
FOR THE PERFECT PC
You drew up the blue-
prints. You bought
the best components.
You painstakingly put
each piece together.
But that’s only half the
job. Next month, we’ll
explain the dos and
don’ts of perpetually
maintaining your PC
in perfect working
condition!
TAKE THE LINUX
PLUNGE
Open source meets
reality TV when Tech
Editor Will Smith dumps
Windows and adopts
Linux for six months.
THE 2005 SOFTY
AWARDS
Maximum PC tips its
tinfoil hat to the finest,
the fastest, and the most
innovative apps.
CUT, COPY, PASTE
We goofed twice in our Great
Geek Gift Guide (December 2004).
On page 46, the photographs for
the Garmin Etrex GPS device and
Casio’s EXZ55 digicam were inad
-
vertently juxtaposed. And on page
49, the web address we listed for
the iPod car connector is incorrect.
The correct URL is www.densio-
nusa.com
. We blame Pickles the Elf
and his “magical” 9.4% Elf Brew.
say the least. I think someone at
the Maximum PC office has been
taking their Rage Against The
Machine CDs a bit too seriously.
—JEFF CARO
EDITOR IN CHIEF GEORGE JONES
RESPONDS: Thanks for siccing
Homeland Security on us, Jeff. Not
that we’re defending communism,
but many scholars would argue that
“communism,” as practiced by dicta-
tors like Stalin and Mao Tse Tung, isn’t
authentic because it was artificially
induced, whereas Marx argued that
communism would be a natural evolu-
tion. Regardless, the editor responsi-
ble for this plus/minus fiasco has been
reassigned to our sister magazine,
Maximum PC: Siberia.
DOOM 3 IS A TURD...
Doom 3 is a turd. That’s right. I
said it. Everybody thinks it, but
nobody wants to say it. It’s as
though we are all thinking about
it in the back of our minds, but
nobody wants to be the first to
say it out loud.
I am still trying to figure
out why it takes an uber-PC to
play a game that’s mostly set
in the dark. I’m no PC graphics
wiz. Could you explain how
rendering black in 1600x1200
at 4x AA is such a huge resource
hog?
—RAY DZEK
TECHNICAL EDITOR WILL SMITH
RESPONDS: Regardless of how you
feel about Doom 3, which received
an 8 verdict in our October 2004
issue, the engine remains the most
advanced real-time graphical ren-
derer we’ve ever seen.
The best and worst thing about
Doom 3 is its fully dynamic lighting
model. Virtually every other game
we’ve ever played—including
Half-Life 2 and Far Cry—uses a
hybrid lighting model, where the
vast majority of lights are static
and pre-computed by the developer
when the map is created. In con-
trast, Doom 3 performs all lighting
calculations in real time as you play
the game. To put this in perspective,
the static lights in Half-Life 2 were
made using a bunch of computers
working together, and it still took 20
to 30 minutes to calculate the light-
ing for each level!
The problem is that when multiple
dynamic lights interact with each
other, the horsepower required to
draw them increases exponentially.
Today’s computers just don’t have
the juice to draw more than a couple
of dynamic lights at the same time.
This is why many of the rooms in the
game have only one or two lights in
them. The Doom 3 engine is a perfect
example of why software companies
usually ride behind the hardware
curve instead of ahead of it.
...AND SO IS HALF-LIFE 2?
Am I the only one in the world
who thinks Half-Life 2 isn’t
infallible? I’m running it on my
Dell 8600 Inspiron. Now, granted,
that system is underpowered for
running that level of game, but
should it really take me more
than two and a half hours to
install? Another thing is the copy-
protection. I don’t have a problem
with having to create an account
with Steam online, but with my
crappy dial-up connection, it’s a
hassle to play the game.
—LUKE MOERER
TECHNICAL EDITOR WILL SMITH
RESPONDS: In addition to the online
mode, Steam has an offline mode for
the Internet impaired. After you log
onto Steam the first time, if you tell
it to save your password, you should
be able to play Half-Life 2 in offline
mode whenever you want. There are
full details at www.steampowered.
com. As for your slow unlock, we’d
guess that the problem is your
computer’s slow CPU, not your slow
dial-up connection. The Half-Life 2
files are encrypted using a technique
that takes a ton of CPU power to
decrypt, and that takes a while on a
slow machine.
We’re not going to deduct points
from Half-Life 2’s more-than-perfect
score because of flaws with the
online distribution for two reasons.
One, there are always problems and
hassles with new technologies like
this. Two, we rate games, not pub-
lishing methods. Once the kinks are
worked out, we think systems like
Steam, which allow online distribu-
tion and fight piracy will do nothing
but help gaming on the PC platform. ■
10 MAXIMUMPC JANUARY 2005
DOWN, FANBOY, DOWN!
After I got my December magazine and
started reading “The Great Geek Gift
Guide,” I was pumped when I saw the
replica light sabers! I quickly rushed to
the web site listed (
www.sharperimage.
com), and after all my searching, I was
never able to locate the product. Has
Sharper Image decided to not carry this
replica? Or is it just slow on posting the
new addition to the web site?
—ANTONIO ARAIZA
PADEWAN BURNER LOGAN DECKER RESPONDS: After the issue went
to press, The Sharper Image dumped the awesome Force FX Light
Saber from its catalog, no doubt replacing it with some cordless nose-
hair trimming, ionic air purifying, MP3 playing gizmo. The good news
is that you can still buy the Force FX in Vader red, Skywalker blue, and
Mace Windu mauve (aka purple) for $120 at www.masterreplicas.com.
While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the dainty Princess Leia
Blaster, the stylishly retro Tricorder from the original Star Trek, and the
shockingly suggestive model of the Hybrid Chestburster from Aliens
vs. Predator.