The biggest problem most of us face while recording gameplay clips with Fraps is its disk space usage. Fraps records everything uncompressed, continuously (free version is limited to 30 sec.) and sequential. Meaning from start till stop the “whole” clip is split into single 4GB files (I believe due FAT32 filesize restrictions).

The length of a single 4 GB clip depends on the resolution and the in-game scene you record it in. For example, for me a 4 GB clip has about 90 sec. worth of gameplay in 1920×1200 resolution.

Because of this uncompressed real-time recording your frame-rates drops significantly while playing. There is NO way to keep up 40+fps with Fraps running unless you have one hell of a monster system.

Imagine what happens when you want to capture a 30+ min gameplay clip. Either you buy yourself a Terabyte HDD or you use a very simple trick: recording in half-size, upscaling and sharpening. Read the whole How-To guide!

Recording in Half-screen/size

Before we start with VirtualDub transcoding, upscaling and sharpening, we first have to record our gameplay. We do not record our gameplay in full-screen/size mode, as usual, but in half-screen/size:

This means if you have a game running at 1920×1200 resolution, Fraps will record it at 960×600, or if you run it at 1280×1024, Fraps will record 640×512, etc. Which in turn translates into much more gameplay time in each 4 GB file.

Another example: While recording in 1920×1200, I only got about 90 sec. (1:30 min) per 4 GB file, recording in half the resolution (i.e. 960×600) resulted in about 360 sec. (6 min) per 4 GB file. Whole 270 sec. more!

Upscaling and Sharpening

We want HD Quality, so we’re going to upscale and sharpen our recorded clip. Start up VirtualDub, open the uncompressed file, change in “Video” -> “Full Processing Mode” and “Audio” -> “Full Processing Mode”, then set your VirtualDub according to this screenshot:

Save your settings via “File” -> “Save processing settings” or Ctrl+S, so you can simply load them in the future. Saves a lot of time!

Addendum: Regarding “Threads”; QuadCores = 6, DualCores = 3.

You’ll need VirtualDub and a codec-pack which has the H.264 codec, like the “K-Lite Mega Codec Pack“. The settings in the screenshot are the same ones like in “VirtualDub 720p HD settings for YouTube! [Good quality, small file size]“, what differs, however, is that we are also going to use the “sharpen” filter.

We call the method to resize a lower resolution (960×600) to a higher resolution (1280×720, in this case), UPSCALING (sometimes also refereed to as up-converting). For your information, 1280×720 is the Standard HD (720p) resolution. The other is Ultra-HD or Full-HD (1080p, 1920×1080).

However due the upscaling method we lose quality, which is where the filter “sharpen” comes in. Upscaling from lower to higher resolutions causes the image to “blur”. Sharpen removes the blur and, well, sharpens the image.

You’ll have to experiment with the slider in preview mode around a bit, until you find the result best to your liking. I found myself settling down between 23-30, depending on each clip.

When everything is set, start transcoding via “File” -> “Save as AVI”.

Two important VirtualDub settings you should not forget:

“Options” -> “Preferences” -> “Threading”: Set the “Video Compression Threads” to 1. This is important if you have a multi-core CPU to make use of the multiple cores and in turn speed up the transcoding process.

Since VirtualDub Version 1.9.4 there’s an option to use your GPU as part of the transcoding process. Make use of it to additionally speed up your transcoding process. “Options” -> “Preferences” -> “3D accel”, hack in the box.

Addendum 16.05.2010:
I’ve been getting mixed messages. Apparently using “3d accel” causes it to render slower than usual on some systems. I can confirm that. With 3d accel turned on, a 10min video takes about 1 hour 10-20 minutes, while turned off it takes about 1 hour max. You’ll have to experiment on your system!

Addendum 23.10.2009:
There’s currently a problem causing VirtualDub 1.9.4/5/6/7, crashing under Windows 7. The culprit is 3D accel! Turn it off under “Preferences” -> “3D accel” and enjoy VirtualDub once again!

Update 22.03.2010:
Updated Setting Screenshots

Related posts:

1. VirtualDub 720p HD settings for YouTube! [Good quality, small file size]
2. Real-Time Screen capturing/recording easily done with VirtualDub and VHScrCap
3. Fallout 3 goes into the Pit – “The Pitt” HD game play clips!

There are all kind of HD (HQ, HiRes or High-Res, same meaning different spelling) (re-)texture packs and different (re-)models of pretty much anything on Fallout 3 Nexus. If you still don’t know it, Fallout 3 Nexus is the main source for Fallout 3 mods, models and textures.

Running with higher resolution texture packs as always results in higher demand on your computer. Be sure your PC can handle it, don’t install all  texture packs at once. Install one pack at a time, test it out then continue with the next.

Long story short:  I’m quite fond of 4Aces DLC high-res textures [direct link]. Enjoy!

Addendum 17.05.2010:
Like a lot of people who have large amount of mods, especially texture mods, I’ve experienced frequent crashes to desktop. This is due the fact that Fallout 3 is a 32Bit game which in turn results in the usage of a maximum of 2GB of RAM. If you have, say 4GB RAM or more, Fallout 3 makes no use of it.

Fear not, there has been a solution since last year which I completely missed up until a few months ago. Large Address Aware Enabler for FO3 or FO3 RAM Boost. Either one works and reduces the crashes to almost a nonexistence.

Some Fallout related videos:

Related posts:

1. Must-Have High-Res Texture Packs for Fallout 3
2. Fallout 3 goes into the Pit – “The Pitt” HD game play clips!
3. The Hillbillies invade Fallout 3 – “Point Lookout” HD gameplay clips!

Perhaps it is because this game so much reminds me of my childhood where I used to play The Lost Vikings, I’m a sucker for nostalgia all right. It should be mentioned the new Monkey Island Remake “The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition” is just as awesome!

Or perhaps because this game simply is so awesome. Trine is almost just like The Lost Vikings. You get to play a mage, who conjures boxes, bridges and platforms, who moves objects with his hands, a thief who uses exploding arrows and swings with her rope, and a warrior who uses brute force to smash through the enemy hordes.

The only difference between The Lost Vikings and Trine is that Trine uses “real” physics in order for you to solve the puzzles and that you have instant access to all 3 heroes from anywhere whenever you want. That means you don’t have to move the mage first, then the warrior, then the thief. You move as “one”. Press “1″ the mages comes out, Press “2″ the thief goes, Press “3″ the warrior appears.

The story behind Trine is somewhat fuzzy. The 3 characters are captured inside a crystal, which is why you have access to all 3 of them anywhere, anytime. Evil spreads throughout the world, you have to beat the evil in order to be freed from the crystal. Quite cliche I know.

Throughout the levels you earn experience and you can loot items from chests. Earned experience results in level gain for each character. Earned points from level ups in turn can be spent to expand each characters abilities. Looted items can be distributed freely between characters in order to make them more powerful.

I can’t stress physics enough, it’s not the focus of Trine but it is a huge part of the game. You WILL have to make use of it’s physics to solve the puzzles.

The only downsize is, Trine is way, way too short. Only 20 levels and the game is done. How fast you do each level depends on the difficulty your set and your ability to solve puzzles. Still I feel 20 levels are too few.

Anyway if you seek a great, amazing platform puzzle-solving game then Trine is just that. I made a few 720p HD game play clips while I was playing it. Enjoy!

Game Play #1: Part 1/2, Part 2/2
Game Play #2: Part 1/3, Part 2/3, Part 3/3
Game Play #3: Part 1/3, Part 2/3, Part 3/3

Related posts:

1. Braid – A lovely jump ‘n’ run puzzle adventure!
2. Fallout 3 goes into the Pit – “The Pitt” HD game play clips!
3. Resident Evil 5, Red Faction: Guerrilla & Batman: Arkham Asylum – Videos and Screenshots!

As you can probably imagine I’m currently playing the 3rd new DLC, “Point Lookout”. It’s Bethesda’s 4th one and many more may come (I guess I was wrong, 5 is enough!).

Point Lookout takes you to an isolated island, it is Fallout 3′s equivalent of Point Lookout State Park. An amusement park, with a huge carousel surrounded by a damp swamp and an old lighthouse overlooking it. It gives off an eerie feeling.

And the bonus: remember the Pint-Sized Slasher? Perhaps Point Lookout, Maryland is where the Slasher originated.

The whole DLC is somewhat horror / thriller themed. The nuclear bombs did not fall on Point Lookout, but the island was simply forgotten and left to its own resources.

New monsters are present, the Swampfolk, inbreed hillbillies with hostile attitude toward the player, such as Trackers, Creepers/Scrappers and Brawlers/Bruisers. Even a swamp variant of ghouls and mirelurks. Oh, and a new set of humans too, the Tribals.

Of course new quest-able perks are added, although nothing huge, still funny to have and weapons such as double barrel shotguns, axes and shovels.

Because so many Confederates died during the American Civil War on Point Lookout, you’ll find Confederate Hats by the thousands.

All in all, I can only recommend this DLC! The 5th DLC “Mothership Zeta” is coming in July August, and will supposedly involve the crashed alien ship and not so friendly extraterrestrials.

Screenshots and Gameplay clips after the break.

Screenshots:
http://www.the-screenshots.com/Fallout3/Fallout3_PointLookout

Gameplay clips:
The Local Flavor (Calvert’s Mansion): Part 1/2, Part 2/2
Exploding Calvert Mansion

Related posts:

1. Fallout 3 goes into the Pit – “The Pitt” HD game play clips!
2. ‘Dismembering for Dummies’ by X-Men Origins: Wolverine [HD gameplay clips]
3. Demigod – Can you smell what “The Rook” is cookin’? [HD gameplay clips]

I say this, because I play this game, and boy, is the violence excessive. Only game that beats X-Men Origins: Wolverine ‘uncaged edition’ in terms of violence, blood, guts and gore is Ninja Gaiden.

Game’s an action-adventure. You get to play Wolverine and relieve his past, especially his Origins in Weapon X. According to Wikipedia roughly 90% of the same-titled movie storyline is in the game as well.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine ‘uncaged edition’ is about fast paced action with a sheer amount of chainable combos where guts drop, heads roll and limbs fly with jaw dropping fatalities as an icing on the cake!

Oh, and you get to watch Wolverine losing flesh ‘n bones and regenerate them slowly back.

At some point, if you are careless enough you can see Wolverine almost striped naked to his adamantium skeleton. An awesome sight.

But it ain’t everything gold everything that shines. The whole game is too easy. No matter what difficulty level you choose you’ll blaze through the game in your sleep. And those minibosses, man I tells ya, they be teh suck! Repetetive…almost always the same ones and the first tactic that worked before still works on the 12385th one.

Music…bah, where be da coolz music? Very boring music, I had hoped for a more noticable music during the game play, but nada, zip! And most importantly, there’s no friggin’ multiplayer mode.

I mean are you friggin’ kidding me? I can no has smash me friends? I’s sad panda! Co-op would indeed be very nice to have, but that would make no sense in a game about Wolverine.

Perhaps some deathmatches in some sort of Arena? Now that would be cool. The sheer amount of combos and fatalities would indeed give a great replay value, if only there was a multiplayer mode…

Clearly the ‘uncaged edition’ was meant for the mature Wolverine fans while the “light” versions for Wii and PSP are acessible to our young’uns. All in all a must have for the Marvel fans; a should-have for the fast-paced melee-combat loving fans!

Links to various YouTube gameplay clips, cinematics, cut-scenes and In-Game screenshots after the break!

Screenshots:
http://www.the-screenshots.com/v/xmenoriginswolverine

Cinematics:
Game Intro
Adamantium Process
Wolverine Quits

Cut-scenes:
Wolverine vs. Creed in Tavern

Gameplay:
First Level, African Jungle: Part 1/3, Part 2/3, Part 3/3
Costume Challenges: Legendary brown-tan, Classic blue-yellow, X-Force black
Easter Eggs: World of Warcraft’s Frostmourne , Surprise Cake
Wolverine vs. Sabretooth
Wolverine vs. Sentinel: Part 1/2, Part 2/2
Wolverine vs. The Blob

Walkthroughs:
Chapter 2, Mission “Team X”, 3 Platform Puzzle

Related posts:

1. The Hillbillies invade Fallout 3 – “Point Lookout” HD gameplay clips!
2. Demigod – Can you smell what “The Rook” is cookin’? [HD gameplay clips]
3. Fallout 3 goes into the Pit – “The Pitt” HD game play clips!

I usually use High Resolution Textures Mods ranging from 1024×1024 quality upwards to 4096×4096. But bear in mind, higher resolution textures means more graphic card RAM and generally a powerful PC is necessary. If you aren’t sure if your PC can handle it don’t install every texture pack at once. Install one, test one, install the next one, test the next one, etc.

So far I’ve come across this packs I really think will up your quality a lot.

1. Hi-Res Weapons or 4Aces HiRes Weapons, the name says it all. A lot of weapons textures will now be in higher resolution.
2. Terrain pack and the addon Terrain pack Rocks. Terrain, the most important part of Fallout 3. You’ll spend a lot of your time outside.
3. Rivet City Texture pack, the City Rivet will now look much more detailed!
4. Megaton Texture pack or Megaton Re-Done Texture pack, enjoy Megaton in a much higher detail.
5. 4Aces HiRes Armor, all armor is higher detail.
6. High Definition Texture Pack or 4Aces HiRes Pack (Textures and Meshes), then there’s the random HD pack. Some other textures you’ll want to have. If you are asked to overwrite, decline. Only copy the new textures or overwrite smaller files with bigger files. It usually means the bigger file is the better quality.

To use custom made textures and mods, you need to Invalidate. Which is why you’ll need ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated .

With those six Packs you’ll up the quality of your Fallout 3 by a lot! Now there are a lot of other small hi-res textures for all sort of stuff. For example for Vault Doors, Historical Documents, Skill Books and much, much more.

Just look for “hi-res Fallout 3″ on google.com or Fallout 3 Nexus and you’ll be baffled.

My system specs are: CPU: E6600 @ 3GHZ, 9×333 | MoBo: P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP | RAM: 4GB A-Data Vitesta Ext. Edt. 800Mhz@833 | GPU: PowerColor HD4870 1GB

Enjoy your Fallout 3 in much more detail, Don Salva.

PS: Check out this screenshots galleries Fallout 3 & Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage.

PPS: Get the HiRes Texture Packs for all the DLC’s too

Addendum 17.05.2010:
Like a lot of people who have large amount of mods, especially texture mods, I’ve experienced frequent crashes to desktop. This is due the fact that Fallout 3 is a 32Bit game which in turn results in the usage of a maximum of 2GB of RAM. If you have, say 4GB RAM or more, Fallout 3 makes no use of it.

Fear not, there has been a solution since last year which I completely missed up until a few months ago. Large Address Aware Enabler for FO3 or FO3 RAM Boost. Either one works and reduces the crashes to almost a nonexistence.

Related posts:

1. Must-Have High-Res Fallout 3 Texture Packs for official DLCs!
2. Fallout 3 goes into the Pit – “The Pitt” HD game play clips!
3. The Hillbillies invade Fallout 3 – “Point Lookout” HD gameplay clips!