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Just download this twice!!

Keep your shotgun handy though, as they are more than likely going to open up a portal into another dimension and all sorts of nasties are going to come pouring out.

dear lord, haven't we learned our lesson from Doom, Stargate and Half-Life ?!

science, it's done nothing but cause trouble.

Mike

Excellent point. That's pretty much happened with most generes

Might be that plot structure is already happening...Half-Life, Max Payne, the older and unfortunately not-widely-played Marathon all have actual, immersive plots.

Games do not need a GeForce 3 of any race in my experience. I have a GeForce 2 MX (the cheapo one) and an Athlon 850 and have had no slow-downs at all.

First, almost all on-line 3D gaming is Half-Life mods such as Team Fortress Classic and Counter-Strike (and the under-rated GlobalWarFare) as most of you probably know. I get a solid 60 frames per second, no matter how many explosions or close-up models. (I use OpenGL. There seems to be a quirk with close-up models and DirectX.)

I cannot speak for on-line RPG gamers, but I assume they are sitting pretty as well.

The most detail rich, awe-inspring, gorgeous game I have played in over a year was Serious Sam (which only costs $20 and don't let the cheap price fool you. It is great!) This game has pool reflections on the walls around the pool and in the pool, glowing monsters, lens flares, dusty light rays and a portal showing another world with waving flags all at once! I have had in excess of 50 monsters on screen chasing me down. (Yahooooo!) My set-up plays it flawlessly. (Also, I tried it on a P3 600 Mhz with a GeForce (1) and it stuttered.)

If I haven't made my counter-point, it's that these new cards are fine, but not the next level that may be needed once a new generation of games come out (if ever). Having worked in 3D graphics, my feeling is that most of the tricks from research have finally been used up and it will take a new generation of crack programmers to get much farther, like the good ol' days. So, until then, have fun with a GeForce 2 (or equivalent) and an Athlon 850 (or equivalent)!

I don't find Quake fun. I find it cramps my hands and arms, and gives me vertigo. Same with all first-person shooters. Plus I find it boring after about 15 minutes.

A 3D world would require some way of getting past this barrier. One of the main problems with all 3D interfaces I have seen (including games) is the sheer amount of fine motor control required for very long periods of time.

Instead, new input methods will be required before 3D interfaces can become a truly integral part of the net. I don't know what these methods will be, but I bet the initial ones will be based off eye movement (there are already knowledgebase systems in use in some places based on eye movement - for example, for mechanics who have the data on a HUD and use eye movement for moving pages, leaving both hands free).

Now, Arcanum - that's fun! Over 120 hours so far, and I've just started it for a third time (I haven't even finished once yet - I keep going "Wow! I wonder what it would be like to play that part of the game as a <insert gender><insert race ><insert character stereotype>).

I had already purchased (and used) all of my office furniture before I moved to my current place.

I have two desks with built-in adjustable-height keyboard shelves. The desks are considerably wider at one end than the other, designed specifically for a fairly large monitor, and I have them in opposing orientations - so you have two positions almost back-to-back, but facing into the corners of the room. There are matching rolling filing cabinets which are able to fit under the desks (although they actually aren't under the desks) and matching bookshelves.

When we moved to the new place we happened to have an alcove off the lounge room which was a perfect fit - literally, 5cm either end of a desk. The filing cabinets are placed between the desks at the end where we sit, and have the two printers (laser and inkjet) on top of them - again, there is about 10cm total clearance from one wall to the other with this setup, and it provides plenty of space so that we don't run into each other.

The monitors sit on stands with a couple of small drawers in them (for holding things such as monitor wipes, pens, rechargable batteries, etc). There is plenty of space for the cats to sit between myself and the monitor ... one of the few disadvantages ;)

The 3rd and 4th computers are at the other ends of the desks - using them is slightly uncomfortable, but since they are used a lot less this is a non-issue.

The shelves form a very good separator between the lounge room and the office. I have one of my lounges backing onto the two sets of shelves, and have ended up with an almost-separate room from which you can happily watch the TV while something is going on.

Computers are placed under the desks at the ends away from where we sit - the monitor cables are just long enough for this to work perfectly. I have my scanner just off to to the side where I sit (easy to get at, doesn't interfere with anything) and my switch and hub on the other desk in the same position.

However, I would advise that if you can, use a separate room for the office (we didn't have the option, and the alcove was a perfect fit - if we hadn't used it for an office I don't know what we would have done, because the space was way too large for a lounge room).

Perhaps a better comparison would have been ...

There are times for Fallout and Arcanum, and there are times for Diablo.

If you want an in-depth CRPG, go grab a copy of Arcanum now.

http://sierrastudios.com/games/arcanum/

The Baldur's Gate series just don't cut it ... I enjoyed them, but there's no way I would play through more that the twice I have on each. OTOH, I am 70 hours into my first run through Arcanum - female half-orc diplomat-tech (smith/gunsmith/firearms master). I'm probably about 75% of the way through, if I'm lucky I've received about 30% of the available side quests, and I'm already planning my next 4 characters ... (think I'll go with a male elven mage - then maybe a half-ogre thief ;)

Warcraft is not a CRPG. However, World of Warcraft may well be a good online CRPG. Personally, MMORPGs don't appeal to me though ...

You really believe delta-compression was invented with Q3, don't you? :-\

Sorry, but this is getting boring. Technically the engines are great, but... Wolfenstein, Doom, Doom 2, Quake, Quake 2, Quake 3/Quake 3:TA, "Return to Castle Wolfenstein", Doom 3, Quake 4... it's getting a little bit repetitive.

The Looking Glass people did it right with Thief. Red Storm built Rainbow Six around good gameplay, but a crap engine and the worst netcode I've experienced (well, that's a lie -- I'm not counting Operation Flashpoint since I consider it Beta). Couldn't ID take their tech to the tactical level?

I've been waiting for ID to whip up a real good CRPG using a state-of-the-art 3d-engine for some time now... I hope those people over at ID can enjoy games from some other genre than just straight action-FPS, or they'll fade away... I'm not seeing myself buying any of their FPS anyhow. <shrug>.

Ah well, guess we have Bioware and Gas Powered Games to refine and put out some great gameplay for us.

Chris Taylor and John Carmack teaming up, now that could be interesting. Or maybe Jane Jensen doing another Gabriel Knight using Carmack-o-tech. Anything BUT ANOTHER FPS!

Just as long as id doesn't forget about those of us who dig good, fun, singleplayer gameplay, as opposed to ho hum multiplayer. Don't tease me with release date shenanigans or release yesterday's product without doing something interesting to it.

Oh, and I ain't suckin' nothing down, neither.

DD

There's a .jpeg of the box cover for Softporn at this website.

Al Lowe confirms that Roberta Williams is one of the women in the hot tub, in Chapter 2 of the The Official Book of Leisure Suit Larry.

Oh, and since we are at it; now that we all have expensive 3D hardware, where are the big open spaces in 3D games? Why do we still feel we are trapped in some small room instead of a biiiig, open, (maybe outdoor) location? Why dont you feel you are entering a large hall, instead of a small room with two or maybe three floors? What happened to the real hangars, or depot buildings? The massive space ships, endless pits and towers, filled with 50n levels or something? All in the same space? If you want an open 3D first-person environment in a game, consider Starsiege Tribes 2

I guess that despite all the nice graphics that have occured since then, the most important element in making a game is the gameplay. Some games that look gorgeous seem to have let the gameplay fall to a secondary position, while other games that are fairly old still get thousands of players a day.

It will be nice when gameplay and graphics get combined.

Check the team size. Guess the salaries, do the maths.

Have you guys ever heard of Troika games? Anyone who has played Fallout I or II and has kept up with the creators of that absolutely fantastic and engrossing series should have. After leaving Black Isle and forming their own development team, Troika Games, they have moved on to an even grander CRPG project: "Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura". This game is set in a completely different world, a world where magick and technology are at war with each other, and is turn based in the Fallout style (although the designers have made concessions to the real time crowd with a realtime option AND multiplayer AND custom level/story design). Just like Fallout you have ultimate control of what you do, how you do it, and the game reacts accordingly, even more so than the the Fallout Series did. If you want to check it out, go to:

www.sierrastudios.com/games/arcanum

It sounds awesome, and it'll be out in a couple months. They just made feature lock, which means theyre ironing out the bugs and story stuff. I cant wait.

From a business strategy point of view, I'm not sure if it has an edge over other games, but Homeworld has a lot going for it as an intro to RTS for a user who hasn't played this genre before:

- fantastic suspension of disbelief
- no cut scenes used for cinematic sequences (helps above point)
- deeply designed visuals and audio (consistent aesthetic also helps above point)
- good tutorials to hold your hand thru initial single-player missions before you venture out onto the net

Strategically, it's fantastic (but so are other RTS games, to be honest). Many games shoot for those goals above, but I believe Homeworld was conceived and implemented by a team that gave a shit, without a spin-off-a-sequel-or-copy-an-existing-formula mindset. Support it!

You can find a lot of Homeworld sites out there, but here's an official site and a user forum on strategy to browse.

Disclosure: Yes, I was a Homeworld coder. No, I won't make any money if you buy it now.

Oh yeah, tell that to the makers of Counter Strike, or Gunman Chronicles. Both are amateur efforts created by teams on the Internet who with 1/1000th of John Romero's $40 million and 1/4th the amount of time he had, have made games that are more playabe, better looking, and more professional.

In fact, general reaction to Daikatana seemed to be that it merely represented a poor mod, and with the quality of mods out there, such as Counter-Strike now being played more online than Q3A and UT - that isn't saying very much at all.

When it comes right down to it, Daikatana's ultimate failure is the amount of money thrown at someone for their track record. That money will not teach someone to be a true, innovative designer, nor will it teach them the skills necessary to run a large team in modern game development. Hopefully this ridiculousness in the industry is over, and the next time someone gets $40 mil for a game it's Warren Spector.

Good work wine team. You guys are amazing!

Now, please fix wine so it will run Tribes like the old Wine versions used to. :) :)

________

Um...Half-life is not made by id software...It was written by Valve Software and published by Sierra. But ironically all Half-life would need to do is hand the source over to Loki, since it does support OpenGL already, and it could be ported readily.
Links to prove it:
http://www.valvesoftware.com/projects.htm
http://www.sierrastudios.com/games/half- life

I really have very little respect for Tim Sweeney any longer. He has shown he can code C++ extremely well, and write games that are very nice...but he has no business attempting to dictate technology. He has made claims about OpenGL which are simply not true (for example his claim regarding texture swapping and memory usage being better on Direct3D.) I have also not seen ONE feature that he or any other engine maker has published in a game that BOTH API's couldn't handle equally or near enough. Maybe he has a vested interest in Microsoft (stock?) or something...

I'd really like to play TeamFortress 2 with my Linux box.
We really need modern TeamFortress, not only for Linux but for whole 1st-person-3D-action scene, since TeamFortress Classics for Half-Life was such a desaster, the feel of TeamFortress was completely ruined.
Luckily there are at least two projects under developement whose goal is to create a TF-like Quake III Arena mod, namely Team Assault and Q3Fortress. I hope they manage to release something playable soon.
TeamFortress rocks.

Also I think Linux needs some cool racing games, like Need For Speed.
There're some difficulities with this one, though.
AFAIK, not a single racing game uses OpenGL, they all are Direct3D or Glide (be sure to enlighten me if there're OpenGL based racing games).
Pain to port since no-one (except 3Dfx) wants to use Glide since its limited usability :(.

I really hope Loki takes this hint (though I don't think they decide which games are ported and which not, but anyway). Or anyone else who's capable of porting some cool racing games to Linux, preferably all you Slashdot-reading Electronic Arts engineers :) .

That's the one I've been waiting for. (For years now)

http://www.sierrastudios.com/games/gk3/

For all the moaning about windows 9x, I bet there's a lot of people with more than one boot option in LILO :)

IMHO the games to watch this and next year:

Homeworld

and

Halo

Since Loki worked with Bungie already by porting Myth 2 (my favorite game) to Linux, I can only hope they do the same with Halo (another bungie title).

My only concern is will Xfree continue to support nVidia's newest cards (haven't seen the newest release of xfree, so I don't know whether or not it has drivers for GeForce yet...), but the glaring lack of support for 3dfx cards in the version of xfree that shipped with my Red Hat 6.0 is a bit disconcerting....

Then, there's the fact that Linux remains rather rudimentary. At least compared to a highly polished GUI like Mac OS 9.0. Then there's the shortage of aps...

I have used UNIX for close to 2 decades so I know what a real OS is, but there is something to be said for ease of use over a command line driven OS...

Even the graphical assistants in Gnome are confusing, I clicked on /dev the other day and nothing even remotely resembling a drive appeared (dev1a?) anyhow. Linux has a LONG LONG LONG LONG way to go before it can compete with Mac OS. *Especially* with OS X shipping with BSD UNIX next year. Hard to beat that combo.

I, however, want to be a beliver, so I'll have to dress up my Linux Box with a pretty LCD, and state of the art hardware, much the same way one would drap silk and pearls over a homely wife -- if only she'd lose just_a_bit_more_weight.

-R

Sierra's recent game Homeworld is a 3D real time strategy game controlled by mouse and in my opinion a fairly good example of how a mouse can be used to control a 3D interface. Windoze users should download the demo and try it.

It's very simple. There's a pointer on the screen, and you can click to select (with various modifier keys to perform certain actions). At any given time your interface is focused on some object (e.g. a ship). Hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse to rotate around the point of focus. Hold down both buttons and move the mouse (or roll a scroll wheel if you have one) to zoom in and out.

If you want an overview you just press the space bar and you jump to a very long tactical view. However, the controls are the same - you still have a point of focus, and you still zoom and rotate as normal.

I think this would work for any 3D interface. Say I'm editing a bunch of source files in emacs - if I want a different one I just hit space, focus on the file I want and hit space again. Couple this with the ability to move files around and group them arbitrarily and make the filename visible from a distance and you have a useful system for navigating code.

Of course, this is just one application - why not drag files in and out of source control?

Most of you probably have NO idea just how often Windows 98 becomes unstable, crashes or spontaneously reboots when you are running a games application in development. Glide, OpenGL, Direct3D, Directsound and the Windows system itself are ALL crash- and corruption-prone in this platform.

How would you like trying your modifications in runtime and know that you will probably have to restart the computer if your change was a bad idea?

I'm just glad I still have most of my hair!

/ per

Sierra's Orcs Revenge of the Ancient has a similar theme - training small groups of fighters to use against your opponents.