Author: Cyclone

XBCX Material Market searching

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I’ve been playing an unhealthy amount of the Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition release on the Switch lately. I really hated the Wii U release back in the day, but I don’t even remember why I had problems with it. I just struggled to get into the game. 

With this new release, I am absolutely hooked. I’m trying to max out everything and 100% the game as much as I can. A lot of upgrades require finding materials to craft stuff, however the game does have a material market built in which means you can just buy stuff instead. Kind of handy, except for the layout is absolutely garbage. 

There are almost 500 items you can buy for crafting. This doesn’t sound bad except for the menu only displays so many at one time, and there is zero options for sorting. Which gave me the idea, I was going to type out everything on that list and what page it appears on, into Excel, so I can just search for items I need. That lead me down another path, and I just created a website for anyone to use instead. 

I am pretty happy with how it turned out. For full disclosure, I did use a lot of ChatGPT to generate the page for me, based on the data I was feeding it. It took a ton of trial and error to get it to work properly, but the end result functions perfectly. 

If for whatever reason you find yourself here and want to check it out, click this link!

Every single meeting ever

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Good morning everyone, how is everybody doing today? I can’t hear you, I said. HOW IS EVERYBODY DOING TODAY?! 

Everyone in the room looks defeated. Slightly horrified to be forced into excitement that they were not expecting. 

. "I can't hear you, I said how are yall doing today?!" with fake excitement. His face melting into a bit of goo. Everyone around him is also melting into goo.

Unfortunately I can’t draw very well. But I can graft together BS to feed into ChatGPT and get results. Because I am a go-getter.

Guess I’m ready for the PS5 Pro?

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The real question here is if Sony is the fool for releasing an updated console for $599, or if I am the fool for buying it? Little bit of both perhaps? It’s definitely some kind of weird obsession to chase after the latest shiny technology thing, but I went for it anyways. 

The biggest slap in the face with the price however is the fact that it’s digital only, and then doesn’t even include a friggin’ stand. So I’m $110 into a device that hasn’t shipped yet. Factor in the $699 price of the console, it’s easy to see why the PC Master Race crowd laughs at game consoles. 

Chrome update blocking your favorite extensions?

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So it finally happened, Chrome is starting to wage war on extensions that Google isn’t a fan of. These are mostly ad blockers such as uBlock Origin, but also some other extensions such as FrankerFaceZ for Twitch, among others. 

Luckily there is a pretty simple fix that works with the latest version of Chrome. It does require using regedit, so that is something to consider if you’re not sure what you’re doing. 

Open RegEdit and navigate to – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome

Create DWORD and name it ‘ExtensionManifestV2Availability’ then set the value to 2.

That’s it. There is another easier solution however, which is stop using Chrome. 

The Ultimate Dreamcast Upgrades (Part 1)

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In this video I am working on some of the best Dreamcast mods you can make to the system. These enhance the usability and looks of the system which really gives it new life. Part 1 we’re replacing the gdrom with the gdemu, the power supply, the case, and the dead clock battery.

Parts list:
RetroScaler GDEMU 5.20.5 Optical Drive Simulation Board SD Extension for Dreamcast DC VA1 Game Console

BlueRetro Core Adapter Cable Wireless Game Controller Converter For Retro Console For PS1 PS2 NGC N64 NES SNES DC SS GEN 

Bitfunx Replacement Plastic Shell Translucent Case for SEGA Dreamcast DC Retro Video Game Console Transparent Boxes

For SEGA Dreamcast DC GDEMU Remote SD Card Mount Kit Extension Adapter for SEGA Dreamcast GDEMU5.5 5.15b Game Accessories

Surebuy Power Supply Replacement Kit Decreasing The Heat Inside Your Product 12V Power Supply Replacement Kit, for Sega Dreamcast Game Machine

5PCS SEGA Dreamcast Coin Battery Holder Controller Ports PCB Refurb kit Battery Holder

AIYUE ML2032 Rechargeable Battery Replacement for Logitech K750 Keyboard

Quake 3 Online – Dreamcast Live Game Night

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I was finally around for a game night and got to jump in on a few matches of Quake 3 online. This is probably the first time I’ve actually played it against actual humans and not bots. Definitely was a lot of fun, but need to tweak my mouse sensitivity a bit. And also practice more. This should give you a pretty good idea of what kind of performance to expect playing online. 

USB4MAPLE – Now it looks a little more official

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I was trying to figure out what kind of case I could use to hide away this little device so that it is safe from getting destroyed or having the cable ripped out. I remembered I had this little plastic box that came with my Logitech mouse that the weights and little buttons could be stored in. I only remembered it, because I threw it away the night before, so I had to fish it out of the trash can. It worked about as well as I expected.

Now it almost looks like an official Logitech product 🙂 

USB4MAPLE – Use USB devices on your Dreamcast!

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This is a project I learned about from the fantastic Dreamcastic YouTube channel. It’s a Pi Pico device that loaded with custom firmware, acts as an interface between the Dreamcast and various USB devices. We’re talking PS3 controllers, PS4, Xbox 360, certain joysticks, certain racing wheels, and your own mouse and keyboard’s.

I’m working on making a video of my process of building it but for now I just wanted to drop a brief introduction, and my thoughts of it so far. 

For starters, it’s not entirely beginner friendly. If you’re familiar with a soldering iron, you should be fine. But, as I learned the hard way, soldering something this tiny is difficult. I will definitely be working on a do-over soon, which is why my first hour long video of me fumbling about with it will never see the light of day. 

The device itself is fairly simple, and is readily available on Amazon for around $10. The other things you’ll need is a USB-C to A adapter, a USB-C cable to program the device with the custom firmware, and either a broken controller to donate a cable from, or one of those cable extenders you’re willing to part with. 

I opted for using the cable from a Dreamcast controller, which really hurt me. It was easier however, since my multimeter would fit in the male connector to trace the pin outs, and I couldn’t find a reliable wiring diagram for the extension cable. 

I followed the instructions from the wiki, but will be putting my own notes and experience in as well. You’ll want to visit this page regularly however, it has the instructions for the flash process, and will have the latest firmware available. 

Above is the image from the Wiki. It had me a bit confused at first, but everything started to make more sense once I found pics of someone else’s completed build. Which I want to clear up here a little bit to help others in need. This is at your own risk of course. 

  1. Orange – Pin 14
  2. Green –  Pin 5V
  3. White – Ground
  4. Blue – Not used? I didn’t.
  5. Red – Pin 15

I may have 3 and 4 reversed. But wire the white cable to Ground on the board. For my build, I did not use the blue wire and just cut it off. If this is a mistake or not, I’ve yet to determine, but so far it has worked fine without it. 

So far, the only device I’ve tested with it has been a Microsoft Optical Mouse. This has mostly been the only thing I’ve been interested in trying however, my main reason for doing this project was to skip using the awful old school Dreamcast ball mouse. 

I went nuts with hot glue on mine to ensure that the cables don’t move around too much and hopefully won’t come loose. Version 2 that I’ll work on soon should be put together far better than this.