When you are trying to design a real time strategy game system, you want to make the factions diverse and yet balanced; they seem contradicting with each other though.

Some designers chose to have very distinctive approach (e.g. zealot of Protoss & zergling of Zerg of StarCraft series). However, the infamous Zerg Rush was a very good example that distinctive unit development resulting compromised faction balance. That requires a lot of beta testing to balance the system and, yet, it still can happen. Some game designers, therefore, decided to make initial units identical (e.g. riflemen of GDI & NOD of C&C series) to avoid the rush strategy. It is a challenging task to design multiple entertaining, balanced and diversified faction tech trees in a game universe.

Here, I want to discuss the root of all evil: initial unit balancing. Let’s suppose all factions were all given initial resource needed for creating initial assault units, so the difference of resource gathering methods, if any, are not considered here. Also, the difference of structures required to create the initial units is not in the scope of this article either.

Now, let’s say we have two factions and we are trying to design two distinctive initial unit types, X and Y, for each faction.

X: Cost = 100, HP = 100, Damage (per shot) = 100, Build Time = 10
Y: Cost = 50, HP = 50, Damage (per shot) = 50, Build Time = 5

Please note that the build time of Y should be shorter than the time needed for Y to travel to X’s location; otherwise, rush becomes a possibility (the first two Ys arrive at X’s location while the first X is still in production). Of course you can choose to make structures and resource gathering system stronger to minimize the rushing damage. The moving speed, armor and accuracy of X and Y are all equal here to make the problem simpler.

If two Xs encounter with each other, it is very likely that two Xs will mutually destroy each other unless one did not fire a shot in time before being destroyed. It is obvious that Y is half of X, so two Ys equal one X, which sounds pretty balanced right? In a perfectly balanced scenario, they should have about equal chances of defeating the other when encountered; that is the two Ys should win 50% of the times and so should X.

However, based on the above setup, the two Ys will prevail most of the times. When two Ys and one X encounter, X will fire a shot with damage of 100 while the two Ys will shoot two shots, one each, with 50 damage. What will happen is that the 100 shot will completely destroy one of the Ys and the X will be completely destroyed by the two 50 shots. The result is that one Y, which is completely health, will survive.

So what options do we have here? We can:

* make X slightly tougher (i.e. HP = 103). This way, X will always survive two shots from Y with little HP left, and have a chance to fire a second shot at the remaining Y (also subject to Y's second shot).

* tweak the shot damage to make it variable (i.e. DMG 47~50 vs. DMG 95~100). This way, X will survive two shots from Y most of the times with little HP left, and have a chance to fire a second shot at the remaining Y (also subject to Y's second shot).


Which solution do you think is more workable that we can actually try to make it a 50-50 chance scenario? However, this is just an over-simplified scenario as the system balancing becomes more complicated when more unit types are being added to the system.

As the election is approaching, I start noticing the increasing number of campaign commercials shown on TV. However, there is one type of commercial that forces me to switch channel every time I see it: that is the “Vote YES on Prop 8” commercial. To me, it is ridiculously offensive. I am a heterosexual and I also believe that the natural way of procreation is done between a man and woman, but I do believe that homosexual people deserve the same right as everyone else. It is discrimination to deny the fundamental rights of specific group of people, and public promoting discrimination against a specific group of people on TV? I cannot believe that the society today, especially in California, can still allow this to happen.

It is just wrong. It is just like I am witnessing the civil rights movement taught in the history class. People today found it hard to believe that blacks were denied the fundamental rights to live equally; yet, some people, almost half of this society, believe that it is right to discriminate homosexual people. It is just like people believed it is right to denounce interracial marriage, especially between white and non-white, back in 60 years ago. What would people think if someone proposes that we shall call interracial marriage “domestic partnership”? Can he argue that is it not discriminating because they do have the same civil rights and everything? I feel sad that many people still teach their children it is OK to discriminate people in the name in religion and so-called traditional value; I hope them die and burn in hell, though I do not believe in all those things.

I will not even say: please vote No on prop 8, because I believe the proposition itself is a joke.

To choose between Obama's war policy or McCain's, I would choose Obama's. I think the war is hurting America, and we should stop spending that much money in Iraq. That issue is too important that I think I will give Obama my vote. Despite the fact that I do not like McCain's stance on wars and choice of Sarah Palin, I like McCain's personality a lot, not to mention his experience on foreign policy.

I do not think the media is treating John McCain fairly, and it has a lot to do with the current President Bush and Sarah Palin. I do not agree with John McCain on many subjects, but I definitely admire and respect him as a great model. John McCain really grows on me recently, especially when he knows his campaign is losing. I think you can read a lot from a person when he is losing. John McCain continues to fight, with class, which I think is the hardest part. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, loses her coolness sometimes (if she ever had it) when in desperate mode. Yes, they are stumping toward the finish line, but John McCain shows the courage that a true warrior has.

I have not saying that Obama does not have the same quality. If I praise McCain, it doesn't mean I deny Obama; the world is not a true/false question. I do not know because Obama is not losing at this point, so I do not know if he could keep his cool or not. All I want to say is: it doesn't matter what the outcome of this election will be, John McCain, will always be a true respectful political figure in my mind.

You can disagree with his policy, but you cannot deny that he is, indeed, a very genuine and likable man.

Recently, Circuit City has HP Compaq Presario CQ50-142US on sale for US$499.99 after US$30 rebate. I think it a pretty good deal especially it comes with a big 15.4” monitor, Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile T3200, 3GB RAM and a 250GB hard drive. I decided to grab one.

Of course it comes with the stupid Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (or whatever), I turned the machine on (with Vista) and, as expected, it is slow as hell. I know I will either get Windows XP installed or have it refunded. After battling with it for two days, I finally got Windows XP running on the new CQ50-142US with some problems that I still cannot solve: the built-in microphone does not work as the notorious Conexant High Definition SmartAudio 221 refuses to work under Windows XP; a perfectly working driver is nowhere to be found. The sound card, however, is working and it correctly mutes the speakers when I plug in the earphone. Another minor problem is the wireless button. It does not turn blue under Windows XP, but I can simply live with that. Currently, I installed two operation systems on the notebook: XP and Vista just because of the microphone issue.

The HP Compaq Presario CQ50-142US uses Intel ICH9 I/O Controller, which is so new that you will get a nice blue screen of death (0x0000007b error) if you just pop in the Windows XP installation CD and try to install it. Moreover, CQ50-142US does not offer SATA compatibility option in BIOS (nice try, HP!). You will either need to have a USB floppy drive ready and press F6 to install the driver (which can be obtained from Intel’s web site) or have a specially prepared installation CD by integrating the Intel ICH9m Chipset driver into the Windows XP installation CD image using nLite. After that, it’s just the Windows XP installation routine.

After you enter the Windows XP, that’s where the pain starts; you will have to battle with the drivers.

First, you need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) Driver. You will need to reboot before you can install the audio driver.

After the reboot, you will most likely see two Audio Devices in Device Manager.

Then, you need to get Intel 4 Series Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Windows XP which includes the driver for CQ50-142US’s 4500MHD video card.

After installing the graphic driver, you will see that Intel HDMI audio device has been regconized and installed.

You will still see a Unkkown Audio Device and that is the notorious Conexant 221. You will have to manually update the driver by right clicking on it and install whatever Conexant High Definition SmartAudio 221 driver you can find. The only working version I found so far is 3.47.0.0 (2008/01/21). The funny thing is that you can also install the Vista audio driver provided by HP. It will install, but the device will not function. Anyway, the built-in mic will not function correctly. There is no solution so far, so you can just move on.

You will also need to install Intel INF Update Utility for Intel 4, 3, 900 Series Chipsets. That will solve those SM Bus and some other non-working devices.

Driver for HDAUDIO Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP can easily be found on HP’s website (sp33839).

Drivers for Atheros AR5007 Wireless Ethernet Adaptor and Realtek RTL8102E Ethernet adaptor (sp38329) are not hard to find either. There are plenty of links on HP’s support forum.

You will also need to install the driver for Realtek USB 2.0 Card Reader if you have not yet done so.

Lucky, the web cam works fine with Windows XP built-in web cam Driver.

Another HP official Vista driver that will work on Windows XP is the Synaptics PS/2 Port Touchpad Driver (sp39534). You will need it if you want to customize the touch pad functionalities.

Finally, don't forget to install HP Quick Launch(sp39425) driver or your keyboard shortcuts will not work.

As I mentioned earlier, there are two issues under Windows XP so far.

First, the built-in microphone does not work at all. I tested the microphone under Vista and it works flawlessly, so unless there is a new Conexant HD SmartAudio 221 Driver for Windows XP, it will not function correctly under XP.

The second is the wireless switch button. Normally, the button has a blue light when the wireless is on and has an orange light when the wireless is off. However, it always stays orange when under Windows XP. Although it is a minor issue, I actually wonder if there is a solution to this.

*** Note: I also found another problem; that is the laptop's screen fails to turn on after recovering from stand-by mode (tho the system is running).

This laptop is lighting fast under Windows XP since it got 3GB of RAM (Vista uses most of them for stupid visual effects). I ran EA’s Command and Conquer 3 using 1280 x800 resolution (low-detail setting though) and the game play is smooth. I think Intel 4500MHD is actually good enough for casual gaming.