John Coffey #32

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13954741/?ref_=ttfc_fcr_cr

My vision "problem"

For the past 4 to 5 days, my vision has been temporarily going dark at least five times a day, particularly in my good eye—the one that was operated on.

These episodes are usually triggered by minor exertion or even by coughing, and they last between 2 to 7 seconds. It was especially frightening when it happened while I was driving—once on US 50 and another time on I-65.

The symptoms resemble postural hypotension, which occurs when blood momentarily drains from the head due to standing up quickly or other exertion. I've experienced this occasionally since I was a teenager.

Today, I saw my optometrist to rule out retinal detachment, a potentially serious complication of cataract surgery. Fortunately, he said my eye looks healthy.

I also visited my primary care doctor because I felt some difficulty breathing. He listened to my lungs and ordered blood tests. He gave me samples of an expensive asthma inhaler, which may help, because I was first diagnosed with asthma two decades ago while living in Salt Lake City.

I believe I can improve my health by losing weight, and I'm actively working on that.

Playing DOOM on the PC

I had not played DOOM for at least 15 years.  Playing it again makes me happy.  This is partly because of nostalgia, but I think that the game play is the best.

Playing on the Ultra Violent difficulty level feels a bit stressful.  This used to be no problem, but I struggle to get through the levels.  The game has "jump scares" where monsters will suddenly ambush you.

The resolution of DOOM is only 320x200.  This wasn't much of an issue back in 1993, where standard CRT monitors were typically 640x480.  But playing on a modern screen makes the game look chunky.  This is similar to my vision before my recent cataract surgery.  BTW, the SNES and Gameboy Advance versions ran at half this resolution, making the game look even more blurry.

There are alternate downloadable DOOM engines that support higher resolution and maybe more detailed graphics.

OG Doom Tested On High-End 1993 PC - How Well Did It Actually Run?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cpITc1Rrlw

@john2001plus
My first Intel computer was a 486 33 MHz in 1995.  It cost $1200, and I played Doom on it.  At the time, I didn't notice any problem with performance.  I would upgrade the processor a step at a time to 66 MHz and later 100 MHz.  I needed 66 MHz to play Descent, which was more demanding.

The recent Doom news has caused me to click on Doom videos.  (Randy Linden is coming out with a new version of SNES Doom, and I briefly worked with him on the original SNES Doom released in 1995.)  The more I click on Doom videos, the more Doom videos YouTube recommends to me.

This has prompted me to play Doom again.  My current computer is an i7-10700K.  I was a Doom fanatic back in 1995, and I am surprised at how fun it is to play the game again.

My role on the SNES port of Doom

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qxWJFBVwlnc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5PknJvplKg&t=1823s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSlmVbAM_kA&t=4473s

@john2001plus
1 year ago 
1:14:31 I am grateful that Randy keeps bringing up my name in these interviews. My role was minor since I worked on many projects. I don't specifically remember editing levels, but it was so long ago that I don't recall. I know that we were trying to reduce the size of the game to fit on a cartridge. I believe that I was involved in massaging the data, which is something I did on multiple games, especially Dirt Trax FX.

My Vision Two Days After Cataract Surgery

Two days ago I had cataract surgery on my good eye. 

I went for a short drive. They said I could drive as soon as I was comfortable driving. I tested my vision by trying to read a store sign. My vision is not perfect, but maybe I'm seeing 20:30 or 20:40. That's about what I'm used to.  Maybe this will get better, or maybe it won't.  Maybe glasses can improve my vision further.

Due to the antibiotics they injected, in 29 hours I went from almost blind in that eye to seeing clearly.  The first day I could barely see anything.

Now that I'm no longer as nearsighted, my up-close vision is terrible.  They are making me wait three weeks to get a prescription for reading glasses.

I am going to get some cheap store reading glasses to get by.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Vision

  My vision has been improving throughout the day.

I just walked outside and was impressed by how clearly I could see distant objects. My main issue now is that I can't see up close very well. Before the surgery, I had the opposite problem—I was about 7 diopters nearsighted. Now, I may have shifted to being slightly farsighted.

I need reading glasses, but my optometrist wants to wait three weeks before prescribing them.