Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 hi guys.. i have 3 questions about my xbox (btw i'm loving it. :) ) 1) i rented Midtown Madness 3 on the weekend. Great game! However, the jaggies in it are quite bad, especially on the car select screen. I thought the Xbox had AA to eliminate this problem? is it something I need to enable or something? 2) my xbox had come with an updated dashboard that had Xbox Live as an option already. For ****s and giggles, I connected it to my cable connection just to see what would happen. It displayed a screen saying "updating your xbox. don't turn off the power" or something to that effect, but it didnt say exactly what it was doing.. anyone know? 3) also, i noticed on xbox.com they offer a monthly fee for xbox live. that'd be good for me to try it out for a month to see if i like it, however i dont know how to go about ordering it. I looked on the xbox.com/connect site but I didn't see any purchase option. Tried to do it thru the xbox itself, but it said i needed to input a serial number.. argh.. i dont want to pay for the Live package ($80 CAD before tax) when I don't want the voice thing and I don't want a year subscription. How do I order a month of Live service? 10 bux is more in my price range atm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 hmmmm dont know neva had one but just ditch and upgrade the crap outta your pc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dick Montage Subscriber² Posted July 7, 2003 Subscriber² Share Posted July 7, 2003 Ripgut: What a really useful post! Sheesh. I played MM3 in EB and it also had the jaggies. Weird cos I thought these were supposed to not occur. Hmmm Seeing as you were told not to power down, could it have been a firmware upgrade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Author Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 ripgut, i've done that too, but thanks for trying :hmmm: njlouch - i'm not sure? it took a minute or two, and i was watching my modem lights and they were going at first, but eventually stopped and the progress bar was still going so it definately was installing something. maybe a firmware or updated dashboard version? i'm new to the xbox so I have no idea lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eli Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 It was probablyu updating your dashboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~clean Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 1 ) its software dependate, some games have it switched on, some have it switched off ... depends what game it is 2 ) Theres small fixes and improvements, there updating them all the time, some games like unreal champ have updates for them aswell that improves them as well as the downloadable content ! 3 ) Ive not herd of this monthly option, i got my kit all together with me year subscription, i know some other games need a monthy subscription to play like PSO and prob SW online game ! Hope this helps ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 my bad yall just thought a good upgrade cures all woes :wub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 1) i rented Midtown Madness 3 on the weekend. Great game! However, the jaggies in it are quite bad, especially on the car select screen. I thought the Xbox had AA to eliminate this problem? is it something I need to enable or something? It's game specific, and the developers in Midtown Madness decided not to enable it to have a smooth 60 fps (unsure - I don't have it) It is one of the notoriously "jaggy" titles on the xbox, although most games have AA of some sort. I believe that midtown madness 3 has the largest levels in a game (or some of the largest anyway) so it was a worthwhile tradeoff. 2) my xbox had come with an updated dashboard that had Xbox Live as an option already. For ****s and giggles, I connected it to my cable connection just to see what would happen. It displayed a screen saying "updating your xbox. don't turn off the power" or something to that effect, but it didnt say exactly what it was doing.. anyone know? There was an update to the dashboard that added other languages to the live setup screens for the euro release of live. It also enabled 480p on the dashboard, as it turned out that some older HDTVs wouldn't display a 480i image through component cables. 3) also, i noticed on xbox.com they offer a monthly fee for xbox live. that'd be good for me to try it out for a month to see if i like it, however i dont know how to go about ordering it. I looked on the xbox.com/connect site but I didn't see any purchase option. Tried to do it thru the xbox itself, but it said i needed to input a serial number.. argh.. i dont want to pay for the Live package ($80 CAD before tax) when I don't want the voice thing and I don't want a year subscription. How do I order a month of Live service? 10 bux is more in my price range atm. You need to buy the starter kit for xbox live initially, which will provide you with the headset and a serial number. After the included year is up, you then have the option of paying monthly or yearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Author Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 thanks andrewfee! (and everyone else :)) i'm kinda bummed about having to eat a year subscription to even try out Live. hopefully MS will offer cheaper discs eventually for $10 or something that gets you an initial month subscription and you can get more later if desired. snookering me into having to pay for a year isn't going to get me to pay at all :( and thats a bummer for both of us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H. Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 i want live so bad but just don't have the money right now... i'm sooo broke!! hehe... anyone wanna buy a laptop still? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Well, live isn't much fun without a headset anyway - that's why the starter kit is required - so that all xbox gamers have the headset. It is a requirement for online games as well, so every title will include voice support. I believe the new starter kit includes two demos, and a full online version of tetris worlds as well. The motogp demo is one of the best live games around (if you have the full version, everything you have unlocked in that is available in the demo) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 yea what andrewfree said :D damn im smart(sarcasm) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Author Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 Well, live isn't much fun without a headset anyway - that's why the starter kit is required - so that all xbox gamers have the headset.It is a requirement for online games as well, so every title will include voice support. I believe the new starter kit includes two demos, and a full online version of tetris worlds as well now. The motogp demo is one of the best live games around (if you have the full version, everything you have unlocked in that is available in the demo) hmm i guess if i get some games with it the price isn't all that bad. just not sure if this is the updated kit you're talking about.. have a look.. http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...d=&newdeptid=15 it says "and game content" but.. damn..could they be any more vague :s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroChaos Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 the live kit is supposed to go UP in price soon, i'd buy now if you want it. also, xbconnect is a great program to use if you don't wanna pay for live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 It probably is, but you're best to either find a site that says it's the updated disc, or go to a shop to try and get it. The old disc had Moto GP, and Whacked, whereas the new one is MotoGP, Tetris worlds online (full) and Mechassault. They did raise the price $10 for the new disc though, as it was a special offer with the old one, but I would rather have the new disc for tetris. ($20 title) Edit: xbconnect is great, but not many people use it anymore, and you have no means of communication (unless you have brute force, which supports the headset, but then again - to have the headset you need live.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Author Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 same. i'll drop by the local eb i guess to see whats up. thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 same. i'll drop by the local eb i guess to see whats up. thx No problem, I'm sure you'll be pleased with whatever you end up with anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Author Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 btw..its too bad about MM3.. i'd trade a few fps to have the cars look better in a heartbeat. i'm honestly surprised they didnt give some AA because its the only drawback I could find... and its enough jaggies to bother me too /edit .. hell, even if they only applied AA to the car select screen, that'd be much better already! the cars look like crap cuz of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 It is a shame, but after playing apex I would rather have the aliasing. (though I've not played MM3) It ran at 30 fps, and used 4xAA, but 30 fps gives me a headache when it's a racing game, as cornering is not as smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Author Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 I hear what you're saying. even if they used 2xAA, a mild improvement would be better and wouldn't hurt the fps that much would it? i've seen photos of project gotham racing 2 and that looks superb.. how do they maintain AA and fps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 They don't have cities as large as the ones in Midtown madness 3, or the volume of trafic etc. Although I'm sure that midtown madness could have used aliasing online, as it is only the player cars in the game then (or so I have heard) It's a shame, but there's nothing that can be done about it. It also depends on how good the developer is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malechai Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Author Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 yea..theres no cars when playing multiplayer.. i was racing against my gf on split screen and noticed the lack of traffic. the option is gone for traffic too prior to playing. ah well, its fun, just a shame like you say :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroChaos Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 xbconnect isn't popular? what happened to it? i always thought it was popular...i've never actually had the chance to use it though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 xbconnect isn't popular?? what happened to it?? i always thought it was popular...i've never actually had the chance to use it though... Almost every game that supports system link now supports xbox live, and as most xbox owners now have live they use that. It's also a lot of hassle for many gamers to set up. (pc noobs reall:p:p) It was also quite laggy with most games, as they were designed for a 100mb network environment, and were then reduced to a 512 down, 128/256 up connection. My gamertag iandrewfeeb> if anyone wants to add me. I manly play PSO just now though. I've just not got round to making a sig with it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timan Veteran Posted July 7, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2003 spyder if you get live post your gamertag, i've already owned dazzla in motogp a few times ;) so your next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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