Diablo 2 and Windows 7

I mentioned in a previous post that I am recently hooked on Diablo 2 again. I just realized that I had my own trials trying to make the game work on my computer, and maybe I should post what I did to make it work for fellow Diablo 2 fans out there who are experiencing the same problems.

First, I should mention that my operating system is Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. I should note that, in my research on this issue, I've found the problem being encountered on other versions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista. It is NOT being encountered on Windows XP and other older systems.

Second, the version I am playing is Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, v1.12. Which means it's the expansion pack, and it's the latest version (as of today) - the one that allows you to play without the CD in your drive.

(I don't think it matters for this problem, but if you're curious, my video card is Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS.)

The Problem

1.) When you try to launch the game, nothing happens. WTF?

The Solution

You might notice in the upper left corner of your screen, there is a small, black, square patch with a random series of characters flashing one-by-one.

If there is, wait for around 3-5minutes. It shouldn't take more than 5minutes before the game finally loads. Your screen resolution might change, as this decade-old game is optimized for a 640x480 or 800x600 screen. But the game will eventually load. I don't know what the system is doing or why it takes so long, but I got this advice off the internet, and it worked.

Now, try exiting from the game and then starting it again. If it loads immediately now, and you have no further display issues, you may skip the rest of this post. If not, read on.

The Problem

2) I tried your advice but...

a) ... it still takes an ass-long time to load, and/or

b) ... the graphics are HORRIBLE! Aauuggghhh, my eyes!

The Solution

First, go to Start > All Programs > Diablo II (or wherever you usually launch the game).

Right-click on the Diablo II icon, then select Properties.

Select the Compatibility tab.

Make sure to tick the ff. boxes:

x Run this program in compatibility mode for:

- choose "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)" from the dropdown

x Run in 256 colors

x Run in 640x480 screen resolution

x Disable visual themes

x Disable desktop composition

x Disable display scaling on high DPI settings

x Run this program as an administrator

Click OK. The Diablo 2 Properties window will close.

Doing the above steps will eliminate the 3-minute loading time.

Now to fix the graphics, this is the only way I've found to make it work for the duration of the game. If I didn't do this, sometimes the graphics is okay, but usually, it distorts in the middle of the game, making it a nuisance. Note that you must do this everytime you want to play (unfortunately).

a. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, then select Start Task Manager.

b. In the Task Manager, click on the Processes tab. Then, click on the "Image Name" column to sort the processes in ascending order.

c. Start your Diablo 2 game. You may be prompted by User Account Control to allow the application to make changes to your computer. Select "Yes". As soon as the game starts loading, press Alt+Tab. This will take you out of the game and back to your desktop.

d. Go back to the Task Manager. In the Image Name column, find the process named explorer.exe.

e. Click on explorer.exe and then click the End Process button. (It may be necessary to do the same for all explorer.exe you see listed.)

f. The taskbar, Start menu, and your desktop icons will disappear. (Which is why it's important to start the game first, unless you know how to launch that from Task Manager ^_^) To go back to Diablo, press Alt+Tab again and select Diablo II.

Voila! The horrible graphics issue has disappeared and will no longer reappear for the duration of your game.

If you're done playing and want to see your taskbar, Start menu, and desktop again:

a) In Task Manager, select File > New Task (Run...)

b) In the Create New Task window, type "explorer" in the textbox. Then press Enter or click OK.

Your taskbar, Start menu, and desktop are now back. ^_^

I know, I know, it's kind of a hassle doing this everytime. But if you're a die-hard fan who simply *must* play, this is the only sure-fire way I know to remove those pesky graphics issues, until Blizzard releases a new patch or whatever to fix this.

Oh, and credit goes to all those forums out there who posted bits and pieces of advice to this problem, until I found the combo that worked. *grin*

Hope this helps!

The Facebook Madness

Well, this is another note just to let people know I'm alive and kicking (and with the brand new boots to kick with, tehee!). As with all my notes intending to just let people know I'm still alive, I usually start out planning just a short hello to the world. Instead, I come up with a topic - and you know me, it's never just a short note once I get my central topic. Too many years on writing classes... Anyway.

It's been a little over a year since I last posted, and really, I blame it all on Facebook. Damn, that thing is Addictive! (Notice the underline AND the capital A.) I find it telling that, even newly hooked on Diablo 2 (again), I still find time to sneak peeks at my news feed to see if someone posted something new or to check if that little red square at the bottom right corner has popped up with a number, hopefully something greater than one - which means somebody *must* have replied to one of my posts/comments or tagged me or liked one of my posts or... some application is nagging me again to answer a quiz and compare results with so-and-so friends. And when my only notifications are from applications, I impatiently check the time on the computer clock - what, five whole minutes and no one's reacted/commented to my status update yet??? Where is everybody??? What are they doing, why aren't they checking their feed or posting something new - just look at me, I'm right. here. WAITING.

Okay, five minutes is an exaggeration (okay, so sometimes it isn't, nyahahaha). Sometimes, my Facebook routine goes like this: log-in, check News Feed - oooooh, somebody posted pictures! Lemme see! - so I right-click the link to his/her album and open it in another window; while waiting for the picture to load, I go back to my News Feed. Further down somebody would've posted a funny picture which most of our mutual friends have commented on, so I open that in another window, read through all of the comments, smiling or laughing out loud, and then at the end, of course, I have to put in my two cents. After that, I go back to my news feed again, and continue catching up on everyone's various updates. So, imagine the time it takes me to go back to my News Feed, and note that every time I go back, I also keep my eye out for the Notifications at the bottom to see if something new has come up. Gawd.

I created an FB account less than a year ago - around May 2009. That was a few months after most of my officemates already had one - I held off creating one for longer than most, but eventually succumbed due to... guess what? Restaurant City. What is that, you ask? GET OUT! Just kidding. It's a cute game where you build your restaurant, hire your friends as your cooks and waiters, with the goal of attracting many customers so that you earn more "money" which in turn, you'll use to upgrade or decorate your restaurant. The beauty of it is that you don't need to watch over it every minute of everyday - as long as you remember to "feed" your waiters/cooks every now and then, they'll keep your resto running. Well, I won't delve into the ins and outs of the game - that's for you to discover and get hooked on. *evil laugh* But for those who know me, it's not a surprise that the thing that hooked me first is the games. I joined FB not for the social networking (although the games there have some aspect of that) but to play games. Hahaha.

So the first few weeks and months, I was so hooked on FB games I did not try very hard to build my social network. Most of my friends initially were composed of work friends and colleagues. Since my main purpose in FB was to play games, I did not think it important nor did I make it my priority to widen my network beyond what I "needed" to play. Sure, I enjoyed writing on their walls, commenting on pictures, posting and reposting videos/pictures/articles I found on the internet. But for me, I did not want another Friendster. So I did not actively look for old friends, relatives, classmates.

I think I tried most types of FB games there is; text-based - Vampire Wars, Mafia Wars, Pirates, Castle Age, Gear Quest, Bloodlines, Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures and a few others I am too lazy to look up again; flash games - Restaurant City, Farm Town, Farm Ville, Roller Coaster Kingdom, Typing Maniac, Happy Farm, Barn Buddy, etc. Ask me, and I could tell you what I discovered about the different kinds of farm games in FB. (Actually, there are really only two major types - the collaborative kind and the stealing kind. Give me 15 minutes and I'll make you a, well not a master, but a non-beginner.) I checked the games' forums for tips on making the most out of the games. I did not cheat, mind you (I mean, come on. Where's the satisfaction in that?), but I got ideas on how to improve my game, tips from other players who wanted to share what they learned. I have to admit, most of those games were addictive. I'm not saying all of them are, but I'm pretty sure if you like playing computer games, you'll find at least three that you'll get hooked on.

As you can imagine, with all the games I mentioned above, there was hardly any time left for any virtual socializing. Now, looking back on those times - it was crazy. Yes, I can admit that. It was a crazy pace I set for myself - all I can say in my defense is, I guess I just needed an outlet. And I guess I needed to learn where my limit is. After the first few months of signing up for seemingly every virtual game FB ever had, I slowly weaned myself. I started cutting back - first, I removed everything that did not appeal to me (too slow loading, too many bugs), then I removed those that I deemed "redundant" (i.e. I already played another game of the same "kind"). Then I stopped playing for a few days, and then the next time I went into the game it seemed like I missed a lot and it was hard to catch up, or worse, it got tedious, so I lost interest. Days turned into weeks - I keep telling myself I should go back into some of those games again if only to "clean up" any gifts I might have received, etc., but I've lost motivation. On most of it anyway. Now, I only keep Restaurant City or FarmVille active, and usually, not even both at the same time. Progress, huh?

Around the time I started cutting back on the games, I slowly discovered another addicting feature of Facebook. It just makes it so damned easy to post updates about your life, your interests, your joys, your pains, your hobbies, things that tickled your fancy, even ask for help, that you don't get tired (or at least I don't) of checking-in. It's different from Friendster, and admittedly it was confusing to navigate at first, but once I got used to it, especially the sections that update "automagically" (to borrow Tato's term), I really liked it. I especially like that it doesn't take ages to load; even on a dial-up connection, I can still browse through most of FB without feeling too much of a lag, even browse through pictures and albums. (Nowadays, that's one of my benchmarks of a well-designed site - that you load even on the slowest connections with a minimum of fuss and delay.) It's so easy to post updates and receive immediate feedback - it's just like you're in the same room; what's more, FB makes it easy for you to track what you've missed, and to get updates on your friends. Slowly, I started reconnecting with old friends, schoolmates, relatives, childhood friends - FB even made it easy for me to reconnect to long-lost relatives living all over the world. With my mom looking over my shoulder to toss me names and confirm their identities when the search results come up with their pictures, adding them up was as easy as 1-2-3 clicks of the mouse. It was satisfying hearing from them especially if we've lost contact over the years. Even if I don't really remember their faces or are familiar with long-lost relatives, there's still that feeling of welcome and homecoming that makes me feel happy I was able to bring back to them even just a small piece of our hometown.

So, Facebook isn't all bad. I fell prey to some of its more undesirable aspects (addicting games - anyone? LOL... though I can't blame them for trying to generate money), but I've also seen proof of its power as a social networking tool, even a social support system. Ever been so sad or down or angry and vented it out on FB, and then minutes or even seconds later, someone's there to cheer you up or make you laugh and turn things around? That's happened to me a couple of times, which made me glad to realize I have friends, be they physically or virtually near. Just a note of caution though: as with all social sites, most stuff you post are public - which means, unless you're quite computer-savvy and know how to tinker with privacy settings, most stuff you post are open to everyone. As in, everyone. So, rule #1, don't post or share anything you might regret later, no matter how tempting it is. Or, don't post or share anything you can't live with later. You know that famous Oprah quote? That's a good motto to live by in your online lives: "Always keep your words soft and sweet - in case you have to eat them."

With that said, go on and enjoy the Facebook experience. If you find yourself going through the same crazy ride, well then, enjoy it while it lasts. Trust me, you'll know when to stop. Afterwards, you just might like it and find it as useful as I do.

Now, excuse me while I go check on my news feed.

Dream House

One day, I hope to own a house. A place I can call home - my own space, my own decor, my own clutter, a place for all my things and for all the things I hope to have.

I want a big house. By big, I mean that it must be big enough to accommodate the number of rooms I'm dreaming of, plus I want each room to be airy, with high ceilings. I can live with having less rooms but it's a must for me to have high, airy ceilings.

Another must for me is that there must be enough space between my house and the neighbors. I don't want to live in a house where I can hear my neighbors taking a bath or where I can eavesdrop on their dinner conversations or where I can smell what they're preparing for lunch. I'm not much of a gardener, so the yard around the house would really be for space, although it would be nice if it was filled with green, leafy things - trees would be best, some shrubs, and so on. There would also be some woods nearby. I want to live in a place surrounded by green-ness. Call me a "province"-girl at heart; nothing feels like home so much as seeing green trees, forests, and hills. It's so fresh, and the air feels so clean.

I'd have a front porch for welcoming guests, and a back porch (optional) for a rocking chair or swing. If not a back porch, I want a swing or a lounge chair under a shady tree.

Inside, I'm thinking of a minimum of 4 bedrooms - 1 master suite and 3, err, normal rooms. I'd like a walk-in closet, so I can finally have space for my clothes, shoes, and bags. Tehee. There will be windows overlooking the yard. There will be at least 2 1/2 bathrooms - a toilet downstairs, 1 in the master, and 1 shared in the upper floor.

Also, I want a separate room for a study/mini-library. The study/library would be a place for books and work. I'd have my own table for my computer, or one big table where I could supervise my kids studying while I surf (for porn) the internet. Then I could have shelves and shelves of books. I guess this would have to be a closed "room" to minimize outside distractions (music, TV, etc).

Then I guess I'd need a music room where I'd put the piano, my guitar, and other musical instruments... like a videoke machine. LOL. Just kidding. Anyway, not really a must - I could always arrange it so that the piano/guitar/etc would be away from the TV/entertainment system - just as long as there is enough space for such an arrangement. Like maybe the piano would be in the living room, while the TV in the family room, with the dining room in between - something like that. So ideally, someone could play the piano and someone else could still watch TV if they want.

So I guess my ideal house would be 2-level. The upper floor would house the bedrooms. The main floor would have a living room, dining room, family room, the study (if not upstairs), kitchen, laundry. There would be a 2-car garage, and a handyman area. Maybe an attic? (Though maybe that'd be overkill, mwehe).

Mmmmm... that would be soooo nice.

Anyway, what brought this on? Well, currently I'm renting an apartment with 3 other people. I'm sharing a room with my college friend, and the space is just right enough for two people. Ideally, anyway. But starting today, we'll be taking on an additional roommate - one of my guy housemates' sister. With a little bit of creative maneuvering, we've managed to squeeze in an additional single closet, plus a double-decker bed to replace my roommate's single bed. Admittedly, it is now a bit of a squeeze in here, but nothing I can't live with (hopefully). I mean, it's not like I wasn't able to share a room with 5 people one summer term in college (yes, five - so that's a total of 6 people in the room including me. Greediness will really do wonders on one's creativity and the ability to ignore the laws of teenage psychology - I think if they could've gotten away with it, the dorm administrators would have thrown 5 double-decks inside that room to get its maximum mileage of 10 people in a single room, nevermind study tables or closet space. So I wonder why I have a dislike of sharing space with too many people? Really. But I digress). On the bright side, having an additional housemate would mean more heads to share in the rent. A big plus, in all.

Well, I just hope everything turns out well. I wrote this blog entry really just to psych myself up. What better way than to visualize what I could do if I had my own house? At least it'll help put to paper, so to speak, that vague idea at the back of my head. Who knows? Someone once said to me, keep visualizing and believing in your dream, and someday, the universe will give it to you. A very comforting thought, eh? So this is my attempt to visualize; as I describe these things, I imagine how it'd look like, how I'd arrange the furniture, how to make it look pretty to me - fine-tuning the details to solidify my once vague dream of owning a house. I know it will not happen soon, and let's not even start talking costs. Yet. But what the hell? If you gotta dream, why not dream big, right? LOL.

Though I really do believe I'll have my own house someday. It's like the line in that song: "I know you're out there, somewhere out there". I'll have it someday. :)

Mamma Mia!

So my friend Ilyn and I went to watch Mamma Mia! last Sunday, and I have to say.......... It was freakin' AWESOME!!!

Okay, for those who have been living under a rock for the past month, Mamma Mia! is a film version of the hit musical of the same name featuring songs from the famous 70s pop group ABBA. If hearing songs like I Have A Dream or Chiquitita makes your skin crawl, I suggest you steer clear of this movie. However, if you're the type to jump up and dance whenever you hear the opening lyrics "You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life / See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen!!!", then DON'T miss this movie!

And if you couldn't care less about ABBA, then Merryl Streep should be enough to convince you to watch this movie. OMG, Merryl was soooooo fantastic; if I wasn't a fan before, I am now! The reviews were right - she brings a touch of class to this movie and yet she perfectly plays the part of a mom who doesn't take herself too seriously. My favorite scenes? When she sang Mamma Mia (fun) and The Winner Takes It All (drama). Give her an Oscar already.

The other stars in the movie delivered good performances as well. Not all of them have superior singing abilities or techniques, mind you, but at the very least, they were in tune. Plus, their acting more than made up for any lack of an outstanding voice. Take for example: Pierce Brosnan. He had us cringing when he belted out the first stanza of SOS - if only because it felt weird to see James Bond singing "whatever happened to our love, I wish I understood". He can sing, but, he doesn't really have a great voice. But I appreciated his acting abilities.

This movie was so funny and joyous; it really had me laughing out loud almost the whole time. I guess if you're looking for a serious musical, then this isn't what you're looking for (hello, pop music?). But if you're just looking to have a good time or a good laugh, come see this. I guarantee you'll find yourself singing ABBA songs on the way home. Okay, that did not sound right. But it's actually not as bad as it sounds, trust me.

My favorite song out of the whole movie would be Mamma Mia. I just loooooove this song - it never fails to make me want to get up and sing and dance! Especially when I hear the drums beat near the chorus... Just one look and I can hear a bell ring / One more look and I forget everything... oh yeah! And the chorus:

Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist ya
Mamma mia, now I really know
My my, just how much I missed ya
Yea, I've been broken-hearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why why, did I ever let you go
Mamma mia, now I really know
My my, I could never let ya go

The Kid

When I went home tonight, I met this kid. He was either an albino or at least someone with foreign blood coz he was really pale. He also had this big eye-glasses that magnified his eyes. He literally chatted me up as I got off the taxi. Our conversation went like this:

Me, shuts door of taxi, turns around

Kid: Ate, ano po pangalan nyo?
Me (taken aback): Uhhhh... Bakit?
Kid: Kayo po ba ung nakausap ko kagabi?
Me (relieved): Ay, hindi... Hindi ako yun. (He stares at me for a moment longer.) Bakit andito ka pa sa labas, gabi na ah.
Kid: Ganitong oras po talaga ako gising (wow, ain't that a weird statement coming from a kid. Even I, at his age, haven't awakened my nocturnal side yet.)
Kid: Ate, san po kayo nakatira?
Me (alarm bells started ringing in my head): Um, jan lang (points vaguely in the direction of our apartment). Ikaw, san ka nakatira?
Kid: Jan po sa F8. (looks down) Alam naman po ng mama at papa ko, pinayagan naman ako.
Me: Ahh.

I move towards our apartment. Unfortunately, he followed, shooting rapid-fire questions as we went along. I dodged as best as I could and tried to walk slowly.

Kid: Ate, may celfone po kayo?
Me (suspicious): Um, meron
Kid: Pwede po patingin?
Me (really suspicious): Ha? Bakit?
Kid: Tingnan ko lang po. (I chuckle but make no move to show him my celfone. Two seconds later...) Ate, patingin po ng celfone nyo.
Me: Hehe, bakit?
Kid: Tingnan ko lang po.
Me: Hehe. (changes topic, a bit desperately) Late na ah, di ba dapat tulog ka na nito?
Kid: (doesn't answer)
Me: Umuwi ka na, nakakatakot dito sa labas, mag-isa ka lang.
Kid: Okay lang po, dito lang naman ako...

I reach our apartment without shaking him off (damn). I take a long time rooting through my bag looking for my keys, stopping at intervals and hinting he should go home already. He doesn't take the hint.

Kid (watching me root thru my bag): Ate, ako rin o, may susi. (shows me his keys. I laugh.) Meron din ako nyan.
Me (laughs): Syempre, magkaiba naman yan. (opens door partly) Cge... uwi ka na.
Kid: Ate, di nyo po sinasara.. nil-lock ung ito ? (points to our deadbolt, which was left unlocked by my housemates since I wasn't home yet)
Me: Sinasara din.

He wasn't satisfied. He went to the open door and looked at the lock, jiggling it. I watch him, surreptitiously blocking the entrance. He glances at the inside of our apartment, then spots the TV.

Kid: Ate, ano po brand ng TV nyo?
Me: Umm...
Kid (enters our apartment): Tingin lang po ako. (looks at our TV). Ah, JVC. (spots the printer) Printer po to?
Me: Oo.
Kid: Eh nasan yung computer? Ginagamit nyo po to?
Me: Oo, pag kelangan.
Kid (sees my housemate's DSL modem, picks it up and examines it): Di ba ito yung kinakabitan ng mga linya ng telepono, pag marami?
Me: Oo.
Kid: Asan yung telepono? (looks around) Ah eto.

He goes on to randomly picks things and examines them, keeping up a running commentary. I watch him furtively, keeping a close eye on what he touched. At one point, he asked me about the occupants of our apartment, and as usual, I kept my answers short.

Finally, I was able to shoo him out (LOL), citing tiredness (which was true enough, by the way, it was freakin 12.30AM), and again telling him he should be in bed like a good little boy. As he went off, I could see him looking around, probably looking for something to entertain himself. Poor kid.

If it wasn't so creepy and a bit surreal, I would probably have enjoyed the experience.

As it was, I was tired and it was midnight - a kid hanging around asking personal questions and following me home was NOT your usual occurrence. Maybe I'm just not good with kids, or maybe I'm just too paranoid. Maybe other people would have taken it at face value and even made friends with the kid - maybe he WAS just weird in the sense that he was wide awake at such a time and his parents allowed him to roam around. Maybe I'm the only one seeing it as weird or creepy.

Whatever. I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow to find out it was all part of some elaborate scheme and we've been tricked or something (*knock on wood*).