It’s alive, and has a fresh coat of paint!

Holy c0w! Has it really been 6 years since I posted something to my blog? Sorry about that, I’ve been really busy! If you are a regular here, well first off I’d be really surprised, but more importantly, the blog has a new design that is mobile friendly and responsive. It took me ages to get a design that I was happy with, so I hope you are happy with the end result! I also took the time to standardize my brand/identity across the interwebs, so if you see that handsome pixelated c0w in my logo anywhere else, that’s me! Or maybe an imposter who wants to be me… Anyway, if you have any issues with the new design, let me know and I’ll try to fix them as soon as possible!

If you are curious as to what I’ve been up to in the last six years, I put my son through Cub Scouts and on to Boy Scouts, my daughter is now a Junior in Girl Scouts, and I’ve done a whole bunch of other stuff along the way! I became obsessed with Minecraft in 2013, and I am now an administrator on what is most likely the largest family-friendly Minecraft server out there, The Sandlot! It brings me so much honor and joy to help run a community of awesome parents and kids from all around the world. If you are a parent that plays Minecraft with your kids, you should really check it out!

c0wg0d in Minecraft screenshot

I’ve also been obsessed with Overwatch ever since it came out. Tracer is my favorite hero, and she is super fun to play! My name is cowgod in Overwatch, so if you see me, say hi!

I have linked all my most used social media platforms in the sidebar now, and I would love for you to stop by and check them out if you are at all interested in what I do. I will try to be better about updating this blog from time to time as well! Thanks for reading and have a super awesome day!

Enable god mode in Far Cry

Far Cry screenshot

Far Cry is far and away the most difficult game I have ever played. I tried my best to get through it, but after repeating the same level literally hundreds of times, I decided enough was enough. The story was compelling enough that I wanted to see it through, but I couldn’t stand dying one more time–it was time to turn on god mode.

You would think that accomplishing this would be as simple as typing in a cheat code, but alas that is not the case. You actually have to jump through a few hoops to be able to enable it.

First of all, I am convinced that the Far Cry developers are sadistic–they actually removed the function that lets you turn on god mode in the 1.4 patch, so before you do anything else you have to edit a file in your Far Cry directory to add back in this functionality. Open up Windows Explorer and navigate to the directory where you installed Far Cry and open the file DevMode.lua in a text editor like Notepad. Scroll all the way to the bottom of this file and you should see a line that says end. enter a couple of line breaks after that and then paste this in to the file:

function ToggleGod()
	if (not god) then
		god=1;
	else
		god=1-god;
	end
	if (god==1) then
		System:LogToConsole("God-Mode ON");
	else
		System:LogToConsole("God-Mode OFF");
	end
end
Input:BindCommandToKey("#ToggleGod()","backspace",1);

Save the file and close it.

The next step requires turning on Developer’s mode for the game. Right click your Far Cry shortcut and select properties. In the target line, add -devmode to the end:

Far Cry shortcut properties

Now you can launch the game and enable god mode by pressing backspace. If you did everything correctly, you should now see the word god with a number next to it in the upper left corner of your screen:

Far Cry god mode display

Once that is enabled, you are no longer susceptible to dying. Your health will still decrease, and when it reaches zero, the number next to the god mode display will increment by one, indicating that you have “died” while the mode was enabled.

In case you were wondering, I died about 70 times on the last level.

Register and activate a retail, boxed game with Steam

I am a huge fan of Valve’s software distribution platform, Steam. Hunting for game patches on Fileplanet was never my idea of a good time. Struggling with instant messaging while in game to converse with my friends was no picnic either. Both of these issues are resolved with Steam. The overlay system, which allows you to browse the web and message your friends while in a game, is simply genius.

All that being said, I’m still a huge fan of going to a brick and mortar store, perusing the game aisle, holding a game box in my hands, looking at the box art, bringing it home, unboxing it, putting the disc in the optical drive and installing it. It’s just a magical feeling and I soak it in every time.

Fortunately for me, there are a few games that Valve will let you register with Steam so that you get all its benefits while also getting to own the boxed game.

Start up Steam and select Activate a product on Steam… from the Games menu or the button on the main interface.

Steam - My games - List

The Product activation wizard will launch.

Steam Product activation wizard Step 1

You must agree with the terms of the Steam Subscriber Agreement to continue; select I Agree if you do.

Steam Product activation wizard Step 2

Enter your Product Code, which is typically found on the game manual or CD/DVD case, into the text field and press Next.

Steam Product activation wizard Step 3

If it worked correctly, you’ll see an Activation Successful! message.

Steam Product activation wizard Step 4

The game should show up on your Games list in Steam now under the Not Installed section. Right click the game and select Install game… to start the installation wizard.

Steam Game Installation Wizard Step 1

You can create game shortcuts in the Start menu and on the Desktop if desired.

Steam Game Installation Wizard Step 2

The last step lets you know that it is downloading the game and that you can safely close and restart Steam and the download will automatically resume.

Steam Game Installation Wizard Step 3

When you return to your My games list, you’ll see that the game is downloading.

Steam - My games - Installing

If you have Windows 7, you’ll also see the download progress shown in the taskbar.

Steam Windows 7 progress bar

Now the game is permanently associated to your Steam account and you can reap all of its benefits; auto-patching, in game messaging, installation on multiple computers, and achievements (if the game supports them). High five, Valve!