Slashdot Mirror
Domain: skytopia.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to skytopia.com.
Stories · 4
-
The Insidious Creep of Latency Hell
Twinbee writes "Gamers often find 'input lag' annoying, but over the years, delay has crept into many other gadgets with equally painful results. Something as simple as mobile communication or changing TV channels can suffer. Software too is far from innocent (Java or Visual Studio 2010 anyone?), and even the desktop itself is riddled with 'invisible' latencies which can frustrate users (take the new Launcher bar in Ubuntu 11 for example). More worryingly, Bufferbloat is a problem that plagues the internet, but has only recently hit the news. Half of the problem is that it's often difficult to pin down unless you look out for it. As Mick West pointed out: 'Players, and sometimes even designers, cannot always put into words what they feel is wrong with a particular game's controls ... Or they might not be able to tell you anything, and simply say the game sucked, without really understanding why it sucked.'" -
The Insidious Creep of Latency Hell
Twinbee writes "Gamers often find 'input lag' annoying, but over the years, delay has crept into many other gadgets with equally painful results. Something as simple as mobile communication or changing TV channels can suffer. Software too is far from innocent (Java or Visual Studio 2010 anyone?), and even the desktop itself is riddled with 'invisible' latencies which can frustrate users (take the new Launcher bar in Ubuntu 11 for example). More worryingly, Bufferbloat is a problem that plagues the internet, but has only recently hit the news. Half of the problem is that it's often difficult to pin down unless you look out for it. As Mick West pointed out: 'Players, and sometimes even designers, cannot always put into words what they feel is wrong with a particular game's controls ... Or they might not be able to tell you anything, and simply say the game sucked, without really understanding why it sucked.'" -
"Mandelbulb," a 3D Mandlebrot Construct, Discovered
symbolset writes "Many know the beauty and complexity of the Mandelbrot set. For some years now a few enterprising mathematicians / rendering fiends have been seeking a true 3D Mandelbrot set. A month ago a solution was found, and it is awesome to behold." -
Best 2+ Player Video Games?
Twinbee asks: "I was wondering what you lot would consider the best 2+ player games of all time. Apart from games for mixed skill players, this has never been asked on Slashdot before, so it would be interesting to see. From my own experience and research, it looks as though a top 50 would include games such as Streetfighter 2, World of Warcraft, Speedball 2, Super Mario Kart, SWIV, Ikaruga, Stunt Car Racer, Super Monkey Ball, Puzzle Fighter, and Mario Party. Whether they are competitive or cooperative, Slippery slope or Perpetual comeback, 2-player or multiplayer, retro or cutting edge, I want to hear them! I would prefer MMOG games not to be included, unless there is a good deal of interaction between the people in the 'same house' (e.g. perhaps they can team up and play against the world)."