Catserver now has its very own comic series! Kyle, from Monocled.com, currently has three of the series "Once Upon a Couch" Available, you can check them out here or by selecting images, then comics on the navy bar. The comic navigation feature is not quite complete yet, but it should do for basic comic viewing at this point. Also, I'm planning some major changes to the site's homepage and, although I haven't quite worked out the details, my aim is to make the site appear more user friendly and inviting to new viewers, not just a large block of text and images as it is currently. I have no estimated time frame for this to be completed, but count on it being within the next few months.
I've completed Sins of a Solar Empire, it's now available in Documents > Reviews. Take a look, leave a comment. Also, if you have any ideas for anything to add to Catserver, leave a comment or send me an e-mail; I want to hear what you all have to say. :)
P.S. I forgot to add, new wallpaper now available for download! Also, Catserver will soon be running it's own comic series, made by one of the artists at www.monocled.com. The series, entitled Once Upon a Couch, will be live shortly. As soon as he designs the page header for me.
I'm proud to announce the completion of my "Sins of a Solar Empire" Catserver 7 Armor style, created in the wake of a near solid 40 hour game play streak of that game last weekend. Check it out, you might just like it. Also, I'm planning to write a review for Sins within the next week, if time allows. With my birthday on the 13th and Valentine's day on the 14, the next few days are shaping up to be quite busy.
It's your dream come true... maybe. Now you can customize Catserver any way you want! Simply go to the Settings page, scroll down and click the link to the Create your own style page. There you will find all the templates you need to create your own theme, plus a simple set of instructions and guidelines. I recommend you have some type of newer graphics program, such as Photoshop, and basic skills with html/css. I will post new styles as soon as possible after I receive them, and I've already uploaded one user submitted style Beta. Check it out!
Wow, I didn't forget! This is just a small update...I still haven't completed the second game review I promised you, but the Mass Effect one is up if you'd like to take a look (and comment). I've added several NO-CD fixes to the Gaming -> Patches and Mods section, most of which are for games previously not on the list. I also added links to the latest game patches for several games, including older ones. Have a look! Oh, and I alphabetized the page :)
Again, it's been a long time since the last update. My only excuse this time is laziness, unfortunately. I've made up for my absence by adding two new color themes to the default Catserver 7 style; blue and green. Check them out by clicking settings on the nav, scrolling down and choosing a theme. Aside from that, there is nothing else new at the moment. I'm planning on writing a couple game reviews for the two games I've completed recently, Mass Effect and Time Shift. Chances are good one will be done by tonight, the other in a few days at the most.
Why the long update gap? Two words: Mass Effect. Pretty much one of the most outstanding games ever. Also one of the longest games I've played to date, having taken up an incredible 40 hours of my life. I would still be playing now, actually, if it wasn't for the unfortunate occurrence of the "Red ring of death", which I should have begun to expect out of a first generation well used 360. Anyway, enough of my current crisis, and back to Catserver. As you have certainly noticed, I've uploaded a Christmas theme. It's not the best, but it certainly serves it's purpose of adding a slightly festive look for the season. I've been contemplating for some time about the addition of a "Funniez" images sub category. Chances are good that it will appear at some point or another, once I find the easiest and most efficient way to display the images, even though I'll probably end up using the same script used in the wallpapers sub category.
Again, I wasn't satisfied with the site layout. I decided to move to a little bit more of a "web 2.0" style by centering the content with fixed width margins (drop shadows and all) and adding a background image behind the text, although it's a bit hard to notice on certain monitors. I also fixed a few glitches with the comment popups, so they no longer require special sizing to work at 1024x768. Plus, the Monocled comic widget has been updated to use php instead of a "get latest comic by date" style javascript. The current code ensures that the comic will, in fact, always be the latest. The comic mouseover text loads in, too. As for content updates, Catserver Member Rakosman has added a how to regarding Microsoft's QoS bandwidth reservation system in professional versions of Windows Vista and Windows XP. A Highly recommended read for those concerned about getting the greatest amount of bandwidth from their network connection.
I just finished one of the most ridiculous projects ever - a comment system. How was this ridiculous, you might ask? Well, it may have to do with the at least 20 hours of solid work I spent solving one strange problem after another. Every time I figured something out, something new surfaced. My current system, based on Page Comments 5.2 by Andy Bowers, allows for a theoretically infinite number of separate comment boxes (or pop ups in my case) per page, which is perfect for implementation into pages such as this one where one is needed for each update. I'm planning on extending this into the rest of the content pages eventually, allowing for item specific comments on file downloads. Communicate with fellow Catserver viewers, leave a comment! :)
I just completed my first review for Catserver a few hours ago. Hopefully this review, that of the much talked about Crysis, will be the first of many by not only myself but also other Catserver members. Also, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Beta 1 was released a few days ago, an I've installed it and done some testing. Although the new features aren't immediately noticeable, it becomes apparent after a limited amount of web browsing that not only is it a little faster than the current Firefox release, but it also displays certain pages slightly different. A good example of this would be the alternate Catserver 7 theme, in which the sidebar is shifted right very much like it is in Internet Explorer 7. Also, it is worth noting that I've fixed a few on site links, which were previously directed to the beta directory, leading to the inability to download certain programs, such as Ultimate Defrag.
This is the month of new games, and all avid gamers such as myself have been anticipating these coming weeks for nearly a year now. Among the new releases are Crysis, Call of Duty 4, and Gears of War for Windows, all three of which is have recently obtained and, to be entirely honest they are absolutely incredible. There is but one that disappoints me. Crysis, even for a person with modern dual-core hardware such as myself, is nearly impossible to run at respectable frame rates for me any many others. Even at low settings the frame rates are disappointingly sub-par, not to mention the noticeably crippled graphics. Odd, since my computer seems to have no trouble running beautifully detailed games such as Gears of War at maximum settings, holding a steady 30fps or more. My current hope is that a patch, containing optimizations, will be released shortly. Until then, I recommend anyone with anything short of an 8800 GTS stand clear and avoid hours of fruitless tweaking and overclocking. If you're desperate for a new game, then I with out hesitation recommend Gears of War, as the formerly Xbox 360 turned PC title is among the top 10 best games I've ever played, just behind the Half-life series.
Anyways, enough gaming rant for one day. Those who frequent Catserver my have noticed a few changes as of the past few days: Several files of assorted categories added, links to old versions fixed, and for the first time ever I've added a few things to the documents sub-pages. If you're bored and looking for a slightly educational read, it wouldn't hurt to take a look.
I've still been quite busy with post-release fixes and optimizations, and I've gotten a lot done in the past few days. As of now the default home page is compatible with all current version browsers, the sole exception being Safari which seems to have trouble with repeating table backgrounds, and all resolutions higher than 1024x768, although the site can be squeezed quite uncomfortably into 800x600. I've also added at least 10 new applications and files to various sub sections of the site, with more to come in the next few days. Also, I am working on adding adding some reviews and how to's, but that's still a ways off. Remember, the CSO forum is open for all who would like to comment and give suggestions.
Well, I kept to my word. This is Catserver 7, the not-so-much but kinda-sorta anticipated update to Catserver which, with many other improvements, finally brings a truly compatible site engine. There is still much to be done in terms of adding new content, but for now enjoy the two new wallpapers I've added, and explore the much changed site layout. For those of you using a highly standards compliant browser such as Firefox, Opera, or Safari, you have been automatically directed to the default Catserver 7 layout. For those of you using Internet Explorer 7, you have been directed to the Catserver 6.5 layout, mainly because it's currently the only advanced layout I've managed to get IE to display properly. And last but not least, those of you using IE6 or older, or any mobile browser you have most likely been directed to the Catserver 7 low layout. Feature wise, CSO7 and 6.5 are identical. For the sake of those on mobile devices, many features were removed with the Low layout. If you want to try other layouts, simply click on the settings button (the gear in 7, the arrows in 6.5) and click one of the thumbnails. Currently 6.5 is the only style supporting changeable backgrounds, but this will soon be added to 7 as well. Enjoy the layout, feedback on the forum would be nice :). Good night all, it's 11:57pm.
Its been a long time since the last update, but I haven't been slacking. A large portion of the remaining work has been completed on CSO7, along with some huge engine improvements. Also, Catserver's forum is, finally, live. Post, read, enjoy. Also, don't forget to checkout the other sites in the Catserver community: www.defflash.com and www.monocled.com.
PhoenixNet live webcam feed! Limited time opportunity :D
Nearly a month since the last update, and not much has happened. I've added a few Windows Live Messenger related downloads to the web apps page, and some game demos the the Game downloads and Shareware page. Other than that, very few things have been changed. I'm still working on some huge site improvements, but lack of skill to implement them is proving to be an issue.
Catserver.uni.cc is now www.catserveronline.net! Yes, finally, a real domain name. And, better yet, a real host! Now that Catserver is hosted at IX Web Hosting, there will be some dramatic changes (and improvements) to the site overall, made possible mainly by the heightened bandwidth, storage space, and availability to server-side technologies. The next version of Catserver, currently under development, will take full advantage of all these new resources, and will be the most user friendly and compact version yet. In terms of site content, I am currently in the process of uploading everything, currently the files directories. This will take some time due to my limited upload speeds, but it should be done in a few days at the most. Until then enjoy the faster loading speeds, and take a look at some of the new wallpapers I've uploaded.
Okay, so my server basically ...died. Until I get a new one later this month, I've set myself up with this nice free host. As far as HTML goes, Catserver is entirely here. However, content wise, there's basically nothing. Most of the links to remote sites should still work, but all internal links are dead. Seeing as how most of my content would either not fit here or does not meet the TOS, I'll refrain from uploading any files. Except maybe wallpapers. Any ways, this will give me ample time to work on my new beta site, which is coming along nicely and shouldn't take nearly as long as CSO6 to complete. My hopes are that it will be complete by the time that Catserver finds a new, permanent home.
Viewers may have noticed that, over the last few days, Catserver has been inaccessable. This was due to the *total* failure of my web forwarding service www.uni.cc. Anyways, it's back up now and I've done a few updates. For the first time in a year I've updated the members section. Theres not really and new content yet, but I plan on adding several things in the next few days. I also added new Adobe Design Premium and Command and Conquer 3 cracks, and I plan to add a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. patch and crack in the next few days.
Catserver now has a dedicated Counter-Strike: Source RPG Server! Join up and play Hyphen and me, or just slay high-level bots to get your rank up. Lag is generally minimal, and pings are almost always sub 100, so it's a very playable server. I hope to eventually post its stats on Catserver via SQL, but that will take some time to get worked out. Don't forget to sign up for the Phoenixnet/Catserver forums!
Counter-Stike: Source Server: 67.160.163.116:27015
The PhoenixNet/Catserver forums are online! Check them out at http://www.dnbcenter.com/pxnbb/ or by clicking the Forum button above. Make sure to post! Also, I added CSS RPG to the Mods page, I recommend you try it; its not a bad mod.
Starcraft II! Yes, it's official; a sequel to one of the greatest RTS games of all time. So far it looks excellent, adding new units and high quality graphics while still maintaining the classic Starcraft look. (For more info, go to www.starcraft2.com) This is yet another game added to my "can't wait for it to be released" list. The excitement of SCII is quite a contrast to Halo 2 for Windows Vista, however, which was released a few days ago. So far what I've heard isn't too impressive. Apparently the game still suffers the poorly optimized engine issues that Halo 1 PC had. This means, in basic terms, lag. Not only that, but there is no widescreen support, and very limited graphics options. Microsoft falls short again. As for Catserver developments, I added some new wallpapers and I've reinitiated work on CSO6.5. There is but one problem remaining with it: The dang sidebar. Hopefully this can be remedied without a total base code overhaul, but that waits to be seen. I'll keep you posted on any developments.
First update in Windows Vista! So far so good, the only problem is lack of support for my graphics card. This is rather annoying, since it is a new graphics card and one would think nVidia would supply drivers for it. Anyway, enough about that. As for updates, I added an updated crack to Command and Conquer 3, F.E.A.R., and Halo PC to the game patches and mods page. I haven't found anything new in terms of apps, and yes I am fully aware of the fact that the Performance Software page link is inactive. Chances are I'll remove this page, possibly replacing it with a reviews or tips section.
It's been a long time since the last update again. I've been so incredibly caught up in Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars that I haven't had much time to do anything else, especially with Catserver. Nor with Phoenix Server actually, as it's still not online even though it has been complete for months. So any ways, I'll run though the site and add a few things here and there, check links, etcetera. The last PXN vid hasn't been released yet unfortunately, but it probably won't be much longer. Hopefully by next LAN I'll have my new laptop ....watch for it in the next vid.
Already April! The year seems to be flying by....Anyways, after I upgraded my internet about a month ago a failed to notice the numerous dead links created by my IP address switch. I have repaired all these, and I also added files for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Command and Conquer 3 to the gaming patches and mods page, and Ultimate Defrag to the Useful apps page.
PhoenixNet Update: The March 29th - April 1st Major Lan session was a great success. We got in much more gaming then and previous event, and this was the first party to include new PhoenixNet member OnlyWolf. Expect to see footage and images soon.
Beta Update: Phoenix Server 2007 is complete in term of design, but the site still isn't live. Hopefully we will get this handled in the next few weeks.
Good news all! PhoenixNet has risen from the dead. Better yet, we have new vids! Check them out in the Mediacenter. I'm adding some new wallpapers, also. I'm trying out some REAL 3D rendering, so far just in AutoCAD, and its turning out well. Let me know what you think.
Beta Update: I haven't worked on CSO 6.5 much since the last update to be honest. However I did fix the the switching problem. Now its the Sidebar that wont stay. Also, I have begun and nearly finished designing Phoenix Server 2007, and It should be up by spring break. And no, it doesn't look Identical to CSO.
Just a small update today, but I think you all are going to like this one. A friend of mine recently told me of a Windows XP theme he found, called Royal Noir, that was taken out of Windows XP Media Center before it was released. It turns out this theme, available on the Customization page, is just about the best looking windows theme you can get without 3rd party software. Plus as a bonus, it comes with the regular, and also very nice, Royale (Energy Blue) theme.
Beta Update: Okay, so I've hit a wall in CSO 6.5 Beta design. I got the Sidebar in, but getting it to work properly is another issue all together. The current method, used on this site, isn't compatible with my theme switch and causes the theme to revert to default when the SideBar is closed. Annoying. Anyway's, I'll keep you updated.
I'm going to add some new stuff today, I promise! But before I get into that, I'll give you a little update on Catserver 6.5. So far so good. Everything on the site as far as the core is concerned is nearly complete. I think the style is fine too, although some people disagree with a bottom-attached background image. There are really only 2 major issues with it at the moment: I have no idea how to implement the side bar, and I cannot figure out php ftp login. Php is all new to me, but so far it's working out well otherwise. On the subject of updates, I realized I completely forgot to add the Mac stuff when I moved to this site version. Expect to see it return shortly, along with new stuff also. Maybe even some Beta pictures.
Okay, so now that everyone has gotten a hang of Catserver 6.0, I decided I'm going to change it. As you may have noticed, I still use frames instead of taking the necessary effort to learn php. Well, I basically just got finished configuring php on my server (finally). So you know what that means: Time to learn php and re-release Catserver 6.0! This won't happen immediately, but I suspect in a few months I will either be close to finishing it or have atleast uploaded screen shots to the Betas page. Anyway's, those who are running Internet Explorer will be happy to hear this, mainly because this will fix many of the display issues that makes Catserver incompatible with that horrible yet widely used browser. This is a step I should have taken prior to the release of Catserver 5, so it's long overdue for me. Night all, expect to see some more changes soon.
Welcome to Catserver 6.0! Okay, some basic things about the new site. To your right is the Sidebar. This contains common tasks and options, along with a new version of Catserver's ticker. It can be closed by clicking the <<Sidebar>> button on the bottom of it, and opened by clicking the << button on the link toolbar above. Closing the Sidebar allows for more page viewing space, especially if you don't have the window maximized. On the Sidebar, you will notice several options, most of which are self explanatory. The Display Settings option allows you to configure the site's layout if the default one is not optimal. This is good if you have a low speed connection, or if your screen resolution is not one handled by Catserver's Auto Detect system. Enjoy the new site, send me an email at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments.
