Tag: computers

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered GeForce Now Review

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Daedric Armor
My Nord Character named “Joan of Arc” in the GeForce Now Version of Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Edition is now out, and many players are diving into the realm of Cyrodiil once again. The game has come out on multiple platforms, and I am currently playing it on GeForce Now after playing it on Steam. I generally play games on Steam to see whether my Gaming computer can handle new games. I am constrained by my budget. I need to see how long I can stretch out using my gaming computers. Here is how my experience with Oblivion Remastered on Steam as a comparison to GeForce Now.

Experience on running the game on Steam

However, many players have been having issues with it, which isn’t surprising. Considering that the game is running on Unreal Engine 5, this game is very demanding. People’s computers are going to be blowing like crazy. Mine was and it was clear that I was going to have to take other measures to get the game to work on my computer.

While the game would default my settings to medium, it was clear that my computer was going to continue having issues. While the gameplay was largely smooth, there lag spikes in the game.

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered Imperial City
The Imperial City in the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Edition.

Another issue that came up is that my computer would start crashing after about some time playing the game. My game would slow to slideshow crawl while the fans would start blowing like crazy. Then the computer would restart.

I have an additional fan under my computer which runs as this issue was popping up even in games that were ancient in comparison to this remastered game.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered White Horse
The Horses in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered have incredible details and have incredible realism that the original was unable to get in the Gamebyro engine.

A strong aspect of Oblivion Remastered is the graphics. The horses in particular have much more detail in comparison to the previous game. There is also a greater sense of the color contrast in the game. While some of the painterly style of the original game is not there now, the greater realism is actually allowing the colors to stand out more.

Oblivion Remastered on GeForce Now

The Geforce Now version of Oblivion Remastered is more stable than running it on my SSD. However, there is some stuttering in it and lag.

The Imperial City Bridge from a vantage point near the Lake Rumare.

Considering that I run this game on a Wi-fi Connection, it is not surprising that there will be some hiccups here and there. In comparison with the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the experience is smoother. I think it is the quicker pace of gameplay that makes Oblivion more suitable to being streamed in comparison with Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

I think that subscribing to GeForce Now is worth it, especially if your computer is not meeting the requirements.

Even the most mundane aspects of the Oblivion Remastered edition have incredible details that show the contrasts in colors.

Obviously, I would want run the game natively on my SSD. Having to use an internet to stream a game is still not good enough. There are too many lag spikes and the experience is rather uneven. These lag spikes seem to be quite noticeable at times. Sometimes my character will turn its head and there is clear sign of lag. It is a compromise, but it cannot replace the act of actually having the game on the computer. I would recommend attaching your computer directly to the internet using an ethernet connection. Wi-Fi is too unstable even when you have an internet connection which is higher 100 Mbps.

You should also play for the Ulimate Version of the GeForce Now service.

On performance which costs 9.99 dollars, it struggles with streaming Oblivion Remastered. The computer and graphics card which the ulimate edition is emulating is much more capable of handling Oblivion Remastered. So this is a recommendation that you will need to choose the service which costs 19.99 a month in order to stream this game. This is of course on top of purchasing Oblivion Remastered for 49.99 on Steam. This is a reasonable price for a game that has much better quality gameplay than most modern games that play more like movies than video games.

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered Emperor Uriel Septim VII
Emperor Uriel Septim VII in all his glory in the remastered edition of Oblivion. Notice the shine on his robes that wasn’t there in the original game.

With AI or LLMs becoming more powerful and useful to many people, it is clear that having data centers just for gaming is not that teneable. Of course, they could find a way in order to make the process more efficient but with the size of the data centers that they are building now, it is clear that the gaming in this way is not as efficient as they thought.

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered Forest Graphics
Oblivion Remastered is absolutely gorgeous. It looks so nice that it can be seen as a cozy game.

Having GeForce Now works for budget gamers. I enjoy it but it has its flaws. I want an experience that does not have these lag spikes. The recommendation that I can give is that you should have an ethernet connected to it.

I give my experience with GeForce Now a 3 out 5 stars. It is good enough but there needs to be some changes so that the experience does not as much lag here. The service allows for alot of feedback, so you should try to explain after each game session how it was.

With the Oblivion Remastered Edition being on sale already, it’s a opportune time to enjoy this classic game.

M3GAN- A Machine with Sass and Style

M3GAN in the 1980s with girl in colorful striped T-shirt.
M3GAN in the 1980s Era

There is something about M3GAN which makes her different from other robots. She has style. The image above is an image that I made on ChatGPT and I set my prompt to create an image of a M3GAN in the 1980s. It is clear the M3GAN and her two outfits are incredible pieces of costume design which make her into chilling contrast of charm and violence hidden beneath the skin.

She is a machine with sass and style. In comparison to robots in movies in the 1950s, she is clearly attempting to be a companion to humans. Unlike the 1950s robots who were generally speaking in the realm of the machine, M3GAN hides it under her youthful skin. Her machinery is analogous to the Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that revolutionized the usage of computers. M3GAN and Bruce are clear representations of such a change in the movie.

Bruce is clunky and part of Gemma’s spark of brilliance. However, it is untested and not a machine that is affordable. It represents the early days of Assembly programming, where one literally had to be a computer wizard to understand code. M3GAN with her style and sass is where computers became more ”human” in a sense.

Bruce is the past of computers.

M3GAN is the asethetic of Apple put into a robot. This is one of the reasons why I call it Cyberprep. It is Cyberpunk without the edges.

The Oracle Hack and its refusal to take responsbility.

It is yet another day in the Oracle Hacking crisis. The company is not interested in taking any responsibility for its actions. The inability to stop the hack or even responsibility is a big issue that the government should be investigating here. While one can say that Oracle is not an omnipotent company, they still need to be aware that security matters. The company is wasting its time by not responding to the complaints.

Oracle has to understand that it’s reputation is at stake here and action must be taken to restore confidence.

I am not a cyber security expert but everyday there seems to be more hacks and break ins by hackers.

Oracle needs to take this seriously and give the right response to their customers.

With the Lazarus Group from Kim Jong Un’s North Korea stealing crypto and this hack, something has to change.

What can change?

I think that educating people on cyber security should be in schools. Too often, it seen as an easy class in high school and in college. When I went to George Mason University, IT class was seen as a burden by students. It is time that perception changes. Even after all these years of computer education, many students are not serious about applying it. Computer programming is back in the realm of the nerds, and it is not seen as interesting by students.

Such classes should have classes on how to be aware of phishing attacks or malware. Too many times we are seeing the older folks on the internet being manipulated by social engineering emails.

Replace Passwords with Passcodes

Replacing passwords with passcodes is another way that cybersecurity can be improved on the internet. I have recently been using my browser to save passwords as there are too many to remember. Such passwords, even when strong, are not enough to deter hackers. We need to have stronger protections from hackers. Passcodes could be the solution. There are too many stories of people having passwords which are basically just 123, which is not conducive for secure sites.

Taking action takes time and some people are just unable to pay attention to the cyber realm with any seriousness.

Another thing that needs to happen is that we need to upgrade our servers and computers. America is going through a building boom in data centers. Maintaining such centers and upgrading them when appropriate will be vital in making sure our cyber infrastructure is sparkling new and ready for any challenges.

Oracle can take the step towards revitalization of America’s cyberspace. They can start by being honest and upgrading their systems so they are secure.