Dwarves vs. Zombies

Well, I made it. 30 consistent uploads, one every day, for the entire month of November (Even Thanksgiving) and I've reached the final day. I'm considering continuing this, but I probably won't do so every day. But I'm not just going to write about how happy I am that it's all over. Let's talk DvZ.
Dwarves vs Zombies (DvZ) is a minecraft minigame that has been modified so far from vanilla minecraft that it's almost unrecognizable (Aside from the graphics, of course). There are two teams in DvZ. The Dwarves (AKA Jimmies), whose goal is to protect the shrine for as long as possible, and the Zombies, whose goal is to take the shrine as fast as possible. At the beginning of the game, everyone playing is dropped into the map as a dwarf. Their job is to get blocks to create a defence, mainly walls, archer towers, proc halls (A hall where you proc), ect. They also must find lots of gold in order to survive. You see, dwarves have little health and can only die once in comparison with their... relentless friends. As a result, dwarves need a quick way to heal. So, they have their juice. By drinking their juice, they instantly heal to max health and, depending on the juice, can even get boosts. But their juice only stays as long as they have mana. Once they lose their mana, they lose their juice. Mana constantly regenerates as long as their armor stays healthy, and their armor stays healthy as long as there's gold. Hence why gold is important. No gold creates a ripple effect that inevitably causes death. So mine that gold, jimmies.
After a 2 (Minecraft) day build period, someone is killed. When someone dies they becomes a zombie, and their new job is to to kill his friends. There are many different types of zombies, each with their own specialty. Some are good at destroying walls and defence, some are good at killing, and some are good at damaging armor (Called armor damage. This is the most important form of damage. Dwarves won't die because of their juice, so armor damage is the best way to kill them as it depletes their gold and in turn, their juice.) There are boss zombies that come come in and wreak havoc upon the jimmies, and some are great at killing heros.
Heros are on the dwarven team, and they're the power house of the dwarven side. They keep the dwarves alive. There are three of them: Nisovin Illusion- A gnome who specializes in casting spells, Romain the Paladin- His flamethrower kills zombies incredibly quickly, and the most important dwarf of them all, without whom the jimmies would die immediately, BruceWillakers- The almighty proc master. Bruce has a horn that gives a proc to all the jimmies, and is masterful at getting procs himself. What's a proc? A proc is when a dwarf gets green sparkles around him, giving him lots of power. This only lasts a few seconds. When a jimmy is on a proc, he will insta kill most zombies in one hit, and if you have the default kit, you proc will stack, meaning that every time you kill a zombie, you proc will last longer. BruceWillakers can proc off any zombie, unlike your ordinary jimmy.
There are multiple kits, but non of them are worth mentioning here. There's your basic archer, bruiser, and others, but there is the ability to create custom kits which is incredibly useful. At the end of the day, the dwarves won't win. The game won't end until all the jimmies are dead and the zombies take the last shrine. So no, the jimmies will never win. In that sense, what is the point of playing? Well, it's fun. Try it for yourself and see, but before you do check out the Wiki. It will explain how to actually play. Games typically take from 30mins to an hour, so only play if you have time. Here's the IP:
dvz.buffalowizards.com
Enjoy! Thank you for reading, if anyone actually did. I'll try to continue to update this everyday. Until then...

Don't forget to drink your juice!
-GIR

To build a computer

I've been looking into computer parts so that I could build, well, a computer. I don't intend to play that many graphics intensive games, but I do intend to video edit and play a few games like Rivals and DvZ. I've been writing for 28 days now, and I'm running out of stuff to write. So, I thought to myself, why not write about computers? Here's a breakdown of all the components of a computer.
The CPU (The processor) I'm using AMD X4 860k
This is the powerhouse of the computer. It gives the processing power to actually get stuff done. It is important to have a good processor for anything that needs a lot of processing power to perform, such as video and audio editing. For any gamers though, the CPU won't matter all the much. What will matter for gamers is...
The GPU (Graphics card) I'm using ZoTac GeForce GTX 750TI
This is what creates the images you see on your screen. It translates the code into images. It is important to have a really good GPU if you intend to play games, and even if you're not going to play games the GPU will likely be the 2nd most if not THE most expensive component of the computer.
The Motherboard (MoBo) Undecided
The MoBo holds everything together. It is where the CPU is located, and almost all code and information goes through here at some point. This will also limit the OS as well, and it's important to chose one that will get the version of the OS you want.
RAM (Memory) I'm using 8GB Crucial Balistic Sport
This is what allows you computer to handle multiple tasks at once. You probably know that even when a computer is idle, it is still doing things internally. RAM lets it do multiple tasks as well, along with doing some things that require lots of space (EX. Video editing). More ram means smoother multitasking.
Power supply I'm using 430 Watt supply
The GPU and CPU both require power to operate. While desktops are always plugged in, a power supply is still necessary. And if you have spec'd out CPU and GPU's, they will actually need their own power supply.
Storage(HDD and SSD) I'm using a 500GB HDD with a 160GB SSD
This is just your mode of storage. HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive. It is your conventional form of storage, being a spinning disk writing form of storage. SSD stands for Solid State Drive, and almost anyway you slice it, they're better than HDD's. SSD's are chips that store information instead of spinning disks. SSD's are faster at loading content saved on them, and they allow your computer to boot faster and open programs faster. They're also safer, as if you shake an HDD, you can risk losing documents and files. The only downside to this is price. 1TB HDD- 60$. 1TB SSD? Upwards of 300$.
The Case(The thing you'll actually see) I'm using the Stantey GS-6008 V2
The case holds the computer in one piece. It's what you see when you look at the tower. It doesn't matter what case you get as long as your case supports the MoBo you're using.
Aside from the wires that connect everything, that's actually it for the tower. After that, there's the display, mouse keyboard, and speakers, but I won't be covering that, mostly because I have no idea what I'm going to use.

MmmmmmmMmm That's some goooood juice.
-GIR

Rivals of AEther (Again...)

I only got Rivals an hour ago, so I haven't got to play it much yet, but I have a few things I want to talk about now that I've at least used it more than I had previously, which was none. Since than I've gotten some info on the new character, Absa, and I have a few gripes about the controls. It is important to note that the game is still very much in development. It's only early access, and it's only been released to the public for about a month, so all of these things will likely change.
The game hasn't officially been released, yet there are already some obvious top tier characters. These two characters are Kragg and the newly introduced Absa. Kragg has an incredible amount of tools, and Absa is the same. Kragg has his pillar which is not only great for recovery, but it also has great combo potential. There's an easy kill combo involving down smash. Absa has amazing set up opportunities involving her specials. Any character can become very dangerous once mastered. But I have a problem.
As I've spoken earlier, I know that Rivals and Smash are different. But these games are far more different than I imagined, in ways I wouldn't imagine. For example, I knew that there wasn't any grabbing or shields, but that changes the game far more than I thought. I found myself holding the "Dodge" button trying to shield, and I found myself trying to grab. With this, it is annoying that settings can't be saved. So if you change your color or strong attack setting, you'll need to re-input them every time you play. But the hardest part to get used to (Which I still haven't gotten used to) is the fact that tilts and aerials have been separated from the smash attacks. I'm really hoping that they will create an option to do this in later updates (And if there already is, please tell me how to do it.) Update: This feature has been implemented. It's been there since I made this post, and I actually saw it but I just now found out that it works. It can be found by entering a battle and pressing the settings icon by your player icon. There you will see a "Strong attack" option. Turn this on, and you're set.
I've been playing a lot of Orcane, and I'm really enjoying him. But I hope to pick up some other characters too, but before I can do any of that, I have to learn how to play in the first place. Tips in the comments are appreciated.

I believe Avirella is the dwarven word for... Oh crud, I'm falling off the keep from this lightning bolt.
-GIR

This is even more beyond ridicoulus

As you know, I've been in the mountains for a while. I just got back now, this writing is the first thing I'm doing. And I want to sleep. But I need to write this. I don't want anyone else to have to do this, so here are some ways to avoid actually writing.
First, you could just not write. If you're in my situation, lets evaluate our options. 1: You could just write, or 2: You could just not. Think about this. You have 30 writing samples. As long as you miss less than 2, you'll still get an A. Along with that, it's one assignment. It can't be worth that much.
Next, you could just write a lot of garbage to make it look like you wrote a lot. Think about this, there are probably around 30 people in you're class each with 30 pieces of writing. Do you really think he's going to read all of them? Heck, odds are he won't even see this. Come to think of it, I don't think anyones going to see this. SO....
Or you could just make a list of all the ways you could avoid doing what you're doing and use it as proof that you did what needed to happen.

Wait a minute...
-GIR

This is just riduculous

I hate everything.
For the uninitiated, the reason I'm writing to this blog in the first place is because I have to create a small writing sample everyday for the month of November. All has been fine, and I enjoy writing to this blog. But today is Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.) And on Thanksgiving, I want to sleep in and enjoy time with my family and friends. But I've been forced to write this paper. This paper doesn't take much time to write, but this is a national holiday for giving thanks. The logical thing to do would be to write a paper about what I'm thankful for, turning this blogpost into an exemplification of this holiday. But I'm going to do the thing any logical American would do. Complain. And then I'm going to do the thing I've done in the past. Explain why this is pointless.
Yes, as I said, I could use this blogpost to exemplify the holiday. But what would that matter? It would have no meaning. I suppose this is my fault, because I wouldn't be willing to write about what I'm truly thankful for to the internet. But if I want to actually talk about what I'm thankful for and have it have meaning, I'm going to talk about it with the people I know and love, not with the internet. And writing this is only taking away time from me in which I could be doing this therefore VIOLATING THE PURPOSE OF THIS HOLIDAY! But with this it could be argued that on Thanksgiving many people do what they enjoy. And as I stated earlier, I do enjoy writing to this blog but, not today. Today I wish to relax and enjoy time with my family as previously stated.
This assignment was created to get me in the habit of writing. It's done a good job, and I hope to continuing this after the month of November. But, I doubt I'll be able to keep this up daily. I simply won't be motivated. In that sense, it's failed. But along with this, it is proven that if you do something consistently for as little as 5 days, you can get into the habit of doing it, making it something you do everyday. And sure, while stopping in the middle isn't a good thing, the amount of days I've spent making this habit should override the one day I don't write. As stated, I likely won't continue this daily after the month of November, meaning that this assignment has already failed, making it pointless to care whether I miss a day. I could easily just say "To heck with it, I'm just gonna not." and then go back to my life. But if I were to do that my grade will drop. Now, if my grade meant that much to me you'd think I wouldn't be complaining. But that's not what I'm upset about. What I'm upset about is the injustice being served here. I'M BEING PUNISHED IF I DON'T WORK ON A NATIONAL HOLIDAY! This is beyond ridiculous!
I'm to lazy to write a proper conclusion. I've made my point. And no, I can't think of any more DvZ quotes for the day.

Happy Thanksgiving, Jimmies!
-GIR

"If" statements

In C++ the most basic for of camands are If statements. Unlike loops, which obviously loop, if statements sipmly complete a command once a condition or multiple conditions are met. It's the most simple way to get soething done, and without it C++ would be very difficult to do anything. If statements (Using the example from yesterday) look like this:
if(int MP==4)
{
bool parity=true;
}
Here it is broken down. The if(int MP==4) is first stating that this is an if statement, and everything inside the parentheses are conditions that must be met for the if statement to take effect. int is creating an integer and MP is giving the integer its name. The ==4 is setting the condition. In this case, that condition is when MP equals 4. YOU CANNOT WRITE MP=4, AS THAT WOULD MEAN SOMETHING COMPLETLEY DIFFERENT! Everything inside the curly brakcets is what will happen once the if statement activates. So, this if statement is saying "If the integer MP equals 4, than the bool parity is true."
So that's if statements, but their exsistance is dangerous. Unexperienced programmers often abuse the if staments. Instead of writing a while or for loop which is simpler and more effiecent they will code many MANY if statements instead. This is commonly refered to as "hard coding" and it's not a good thing to do. It takes up much more time and despite looks, it also gives you less control over your code. That's not to say you shouldn't use them. If statements are important and ther are many things that can only be done with if statements. So if statements aren't bad. You just need to use them properly.

No! I was just a little boy of a Nisovin *cough cough cough* I think...
-GIR

Squan parity

Parities can occur in may types of cubes, yet parity doesn't actually have a definition in cubing. In this post, we will define parity as a situation in which the cube is unsolvable using the method you had been using for the solve. For example, without the parity alg for squan, the cube would be unsolvable. In this case, the parity alg is a different method which is introduced in order to solve the cube. But while most cubing parities occur due to swapped or rotated pieces, squans have defined orientations and permutations for all of its pieces, so this isn't possible. So why does it occur?
Squans are capable of shapeshifting/jumbling* which allows you to switch corners with edges. The first part of the solving process involves making the squan into a cube. However, when you make it a cube you can accidentally put edges in a position that would be unsolvable. It goes in a pattern. That's confusing, so here's an example: If two opposite edges are swapped on a 3x3, it is unsolvable. But if 4 opposite edges are swapped, well, we call that H-Perm. This translates to squan as when you are making it into a cube again, you have to place the edges. But it isn't possible to tell if your placing them in a solvable position. You might misplace two edges, which would result in a parity. But if you misplace four edges, it would be like you didn't misplace any edges at all. If the amount of misplaced edges is divisible by four, there won't be parity. If not, than there will be parity. There's two easy "If" statements. Maybe I'll cover those tomorrow...
Now, with this discovered, you might ask yourself "So, we can't tell how to prevent parity?" No, of course we can. This is America. With this much time on our hands we can do anything. When doing corner permutation (CP) you have to shapeshift the cube. By the time you reach CP, you can tell if you have parity. You can than recognize if you have it, and then modify your CP alg to accomadate this very easily, quickly eliminating parity. It is also technically possible to tell if you have parity as soon as you get cubeshape, but because whether or not you have parity can change as you solve (Like all parities), it's simply not worth it.
So in the end, Squan parity is an avoidable thing if you know how to deal with it. While this isn't as important to get fazt as other things, like cubeshape and EP, it is incredibly helpful as parity algs are long and take lots of time. So if you want to get fazt, better get started. Because weather you learn how to avoid parity or not, you have many algs ahead of you.

Of course I eat baby dwarves. How do you think I get this strong?
-GIR



*Again, neither of those have exact definitions and jumbling is only specified as shapeshifting that causes bandaging which is often voluntary. By voluntary I mean that it is possible to scramble the cube without jumbling. Jumbling also often switches pieces with other pieces that shouldn't go there. Example: An edge switching with a corner. This is exemplified in the curvy copter and helicopter cubes. But I digress. The point is, as squans meet all definitions for jumbling yet people call it shapeshifting, I don't actually know which one it is. In this post, I will simply call it shapeshifting.