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GeForce FX And More From AGDC 2002

Mr.Tweak writes "We have posted some coverage from the Australian Game Developers Conference which was held over this past weekend at the Melbourne Convention Center. There you will find information on Sony's PS2 online gaming plans, Sony's PS2 Linux Development Kits, and videos and pictures of nVidia's GeForce FX in action as well as shots of the graphics card and other juicy details."

191 comments

  1. Drool... by Hi_2k · · Score: 4, Funny

    So much gaming, so little time before the slashdot effect kicks in!

    --
    When life gives you crap, Make Crapade.
    Sluggy Freelance.
    1. Re:Drool... by hvatum · · Score: 0

      Wow, Nvidia is still in bussiness? I thought they were going to commit suicide like 3Dfx. I've actually been suspecting that since they released the Geforce2, but they keep comming out with better graphics cards. Its beginning to become weird. Oh well, I'm sure the Geforce4 was their last good card. Now they have been reduced to making bigger cards to get better, instead of making more efficient cards. Similiar to what 3Dfx did after they made the Voodoo. They always released the same chipset, just with higher clockspeeds and more chips in general.

      --
      Netbooks, they come with Linux or a $3 copy of Windows. Either way, Microsoft loses.
  2. Goatse 'It' Guy Breaks Silence, Wind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Wired News 10:00 PM Dec 02, 2002 PT
    http://www.wired.com/news/goatse/ 0,3883,1309,420,00.html

    Goatse 'It' Guy Breaks Silence, Wind

    First he turned down Jon Katz. Then he said no to Harry Knowles.

    For years, Goatse Man, the mysterious Net celebrity who is featured at a popular website frequently featured on Slashdot, refused all interview requests, including those from the two titans of internet media.

    But Goatse Man, whose fame continues to grow even as he eschews the media spotlight, has finally granted his first sitdown with a reporter, albeit from an unlikely publication.

    The interview with the New York Times (free reg), the old gray lady of printed media, will be published Friday.

    In that article, Goatse Man reveals he was, as many of his "fans" had guessed, under the influence of drugs during the famous set of photographs lifted from Stile, but exactly what he took, editors at the New York Times aren't saying; all is revealed in the interview. The best guess is amyl nitrate, according to online scuttlebutt.

    "It sure as hell wasn't aspirin," said Gerald Boyd, the managing editor who conducted the interview.

    Goatse Man became an Internet celebrity after being featured in a set of forty ass-stretching pics taken by his wife for USENET. After the pictures debuted in 1998, Goatse Man quickly shot to Net celebrity, largely because the url is passed around to unsuspecting surfers.

    Very little is known about Goatse Man, Phil to his friends, except he's married, lives a stable life and has an MCSE; Goatse.cx isn't revealing any details. The New York Times claims the interview is his first.

    The interview contains a number of interesting tidbits, including details on how Hollywood came calling as Goatse Man's online celebrity grew.

    Besides inquiries from Letterman and Leno, MTV talked about doing a pilot show. The Farrelly brothers, directors of hit comedies There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal, were thinking of offering him a role, but got cold feet when they found out the pictures weren't photoshopped.

    According to Boyd, Phil turned down Letterman and Leno because he's cognizant that his fame relies on an air of mystique. He is different things to different people. Too much exposure would cause his star to quickly fade.

    "He's pretty level-headed about all this," said Boyd. "He's very funny and is a good sport about it all."

    But, of course, in true Hollywood style, he now has an agent, Boyd added.

    Goatse Man is amused that people have t- shirts and coffee mugs decorated with his ass, but avoids Slashdot and Kuro5hin "because he's heard from friends there's some very weird stuff there," Boyd said.

    Phil also reveals how the pictures were taken in the first place. He's a friend of Robert Malda, the editor in chief of Slashdot. The pair went to watch some hardcore gay porn being taped one day, and a couple of spots happened to be open. Both he and Malda were photographed but only Goatse Man's wife caught the magic of the moment. Malda's pictures ended up at a small but increasingly popular website called lemonparty.org.

    The Goatse interview is being heavily promoted by the New York Times, which has plastered New York City with Goatse posters.

    "We've been hyping this pretty big," Boyd said. "There's certainly been some buzz. I'm excited about it. I think people will get a kick out of it."

    The paper scored the interview because someone on staff was an old classmate of Phil's. Goatse.cx has cautioned him not to speak to the press, but Goatse Man figured a newspaper that requires free registration would turn off every privacy nut that reloads slashdot every five minutes at their despairing and menial help desk jobs.

    "Goatse.cx is not incredibly psyched about the amyl nitrate rumors," Boyd said.

    Boyd said Phil is not a resident of San Francisco's Tenderloin district nor would he reveal any more about this rising star except that Goatse Man didn't need any help fitting a fire hydrant inside himself.

    The revelation that he wasn't taking amyl nitrate doesn't trouble his straight fans, who simply don't believe him.

    "I don't care what they say," said Rev. Samuel, who sells a line of Goatse- themed 'Stretch Different' T- shirts. "Duuude. Look at him. Just look at him. Oh sweet Jesus, my eyes."

  3. I prefer Nvidia by packeteer · · Score: 3, Redundant

    The drivers for linux are along with Matrox the best you can get. Everything is wonderful with my Geforce 4 under Mandrake 9 and i love it.

    --
    unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
    1. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent up up up!

      The guy likes linux

      So thats +5 interesting or insightful!

      Anywhere else, it'd be -20 Who-gives-a-shit

      But this is slashdot! Mod up up up!

    2. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Just though you might like to know you have an extra "n" in your sig - its umount, not unmount.

    3. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      put some fucking commas in your sentences.

      "The drivers for linux are along with Matrox "

      Oh yea, so your saying Matrox left? It went somewhere and our precious drivers for linux are along with it?

      maybe you meant: The drivers for linux are the best you can get. (including Matrox's)

      But I guess you would have to infer from the Subject line that you meant Nvidia's drivers are the best you can get.

      When did drivers become like meat or a car? Get the best you can get.

      Once you have the video card, you can't opt for some other companies drivers.

      Your sentence sounds just as gay, when stated this way: "Nvidia drivers are the best you can download!" but are those along with the matrox?

      How about I just help you out here.

      Next time you want to get all enthusiastic about Nvidia, how about try this:

      "It's my opinion (which is like an asshole, we all have them)that Matrox and Nvidia engineer the best drivers for their respective video cards"

      either that or just add some freaken commas to your ackward sentence:

      "The Nvidia drivers for linux, along with Matrox's, are the best you can get"

      (still sounds stupid to me)

      maybe it's the whole topic that is uninspiring, therefore the lack of imaginative and efficient verbage.

    4. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      packeteer is a known homosexual, but you spelled freakin and awkward wrong. oh and "how about try this" is bad grammar. etc. etc.

    5. Re:I prefer Nvidia by packeteer · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      I know im going to be modded down but i got plenty of karma... How is this funny? I have got at least 50 offtopic replies to my posts since i started using this sig. I know it says "unmount"... why cant you assume im not using bash? There are shells and systems out there that use "unmount". I would change it but i think sometimes its funny when people flame me for not knowing whats going on becuase of my sig.

      --
      unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
    6. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who the fuck cares about karma? "I have lots of Karma."

      Nice! I have a big dick! Does anyone care? No. Does my big dick or your loads of karma matter in the scheme of things? No.

      I think anyone who has to insert "I have lots of karma" in their sentence should be modded down. Say things because you mean it, not because you want to achieve some imaginary "wisdom" among geeks.

    7. Re:I prefer Nvidia by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 1, Offtopic
      why cant you assume im not using bash?

      Well, it's also umount is sh, ash, csh, tcsh, and pretty much every other shell. Why would you think the shell makes a difference? Almost all shells get the name from the name of the command itself.

    8. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it doesn't change the fact that you sig isn't in the least bit funny or clever

    9. Re:I prefer Nvidia by packeteer · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      What is funny about it is the reaction i get...

      --
      unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
    10. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      be careful with those glasshouse situations, dude...

      Oh yea, so your saying Matrox left?
      let me answer this. no. this poor guy didn't even own a saying (or otherwise talking) matrox. and it didn't leave.

      Your sentence sounds just as gay, when stated this way
      you are a poet! :)
      but, please tell me: what does a happy sentence sound like? what does a homosexual sentence sound like? must be a baaad, baaad thing to be gay at times. *nod*

      How about I just help you out here.
      how about i go to town and buy you some style. :->

      either that or just add some freaken commas to your ackward sentence
      freaken?? that's more than one freak, right? ;)
      sounds more and more ackward to me, dude.

      maybe it's the whole topic that is uninspiring, therefore the lack of imaginative and efficient verbage.
      but, thank god, there's always someone to top it all.

      regards.
    11. Re:I prefer Nvidia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe its funny cos anyone with a sig like yours is likely a dweeby virgin in both linux and life. talk to the hand dude...

  4. impressive by cribb · · Score: 0, Redundant

    oooh, the geforcemx sure looks nice, i would like to see a demo with more than one ogre/dawn though, i wonder if the card will be able to render more than one character in such detail :)

    --
    Hostes alienigieni me abduxerunt. Qui annus est?
    1. Re:impressive by stratjakt · · Score: 1

      no

      it's marginally faster than the r300, or marginally slower, depending on which set of cooked benchmarks you run it through.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  5. Look before you mod by Hi_2k · · Score: 3, Funny

    the link is to some church site in another language (i think italian) Dont drink and mod!

    --
    When life gives you crap, Make Crapade.
    Sluggy Freelance.
  6. They make games in Australia? by Rayonic · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This isn't meant to be a troll, but I've never heard of any game development going on in Australia. Maybe I'm forgetting something here, but I try to keep reasonably up-to-date with these things.

    As a major first-world country, I'm sure they must have produced something noteworthy in the gaming arena. Could someone spare a link or two?

    1. Re:They make games in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Yes they do make games over here. Here's some of the big name game companies. A few of them are subsidiaries of large overseas behemoths.

      www.kromestudios.com
      www.auran.com
      www.irratio nalgames.com
      www.evolutiongames.com
      www.infogram es.com.au
      www.ratbag.com.au
      www.torus.com.au

    2. Re:They make games in Australia? by gr0ngb0t · · Score: 3, Informative
    3. Re:They make games in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Team Fortress Classic was written by Aussies, Auran created the Dark Reign series. Shogun:Total War (or something like that) I think is also created by Australian software houses.

      Melbourne House has produced software for the NES, SNES and current consoles since the early days of the industry.

      There are heaps of current titles that would surprise you that are written in Australia..I guess with the separation between publishers and the actual software firm that the actual coders don't get a mention.

    4. Re:They make games in Australia? by Smoulderer · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ratbag Games, makers of Powerslide, Dirt Track Racing and Leadfoot, and winners of a large PS2 contract for 'WOOSC2002' and 'Ikon' (working name only), were founded and are based in Adelaide, Australia and have studios in Adelaide and Sydney.

      This is the one that immediately comes to mind since I live in Adelaide and have met one of the founders, but there are sure to be others.

      --
      /usr/bin/fortune favours the brave
    5. Re:They make games in Australia? by houseofmore · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A lot of big software houses have offices and a work force (if not several) in Aussie, including Sony. You've probably played more Australian, Canadian, Norwegian, Pommie, New Zealand, Indian games than you think.

    6. Re:They make games in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      these are the australian developers from the gdaa.com.au website. If I remember correctly there is something like 40 developers in Australia

      # Auran
      # Blue Tongue Software
      # Bullant Studios
      # Evolution Games
      # Eyecon Pty Ltd
      # Infogrames Melbourne House
      # Krome Studios
      # Micro Forte
      # Ratbag Games
      # Torus Games Pty Ltd
      # Tantalus Interactive

    7. Re:They make games in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the list was all the game developers that are members of the gdaa btw

    8. Re:They make games in Australia? by AdamTheBastard · · Score: 5, Informative
    9. Re:They make games in Australia? by yobbo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Pardon me for asking, but what is exactly funny about this? Gaming is a huge component of the entertainment industry, just like film. Is it funny that you can study film making?

    10. Re:They make games in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Sumea.com.au is one of the few sites around that covers the Australian game developer scene.

    11. Re:They make games in Australia? by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      is that the same melbourne House that wrote Way of the Exploding Fist for the C=64? Man, that game was fucking great.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    12. Re:They make games in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didnt intend it to be a funny link - it was meant to be an informative link - I know your commenting on the modding of the post, but im drunk and want to clarify why i posted it. glad to see it was finally modded as it should be. I studied @ CSU, and while the lecturers are for the most part twats, this course did look pretty interesting... im not into designing games, but yeah - if i was, it would be interesting.

      and to the AC with the read the link reply - wtf is that about?

      GB

    13. Re:They make games in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Titanium Studios

      They ported two games for the Dreamcast... three if you include Quake I.

    14. Re:They make games in Australia? by Rayonic · · Score: 2

      Well I'll be, it turns out I own several Aussie games already! Hey, I'm kinda feeling more Australian-like -- I think I'll go throw a few "shrimp on the barbie doll", and try to develop a taste for beer.

      But seriously, thanks for the info. ;-)

    15. Re:They make games in Australia? by Nutter9182 · · Score: 1

      Well as a former Australian game programmer (I moved to Canada), I can tell you we sure do! :) There's several decent sized game developers in Australia, one of the most known would be Ratbag Games who target mainly the US racing-game market. PowerSlide was their first title, others include Dirt Track Racing 1 & 2, Dirt Track Racing Sprint Cars, Leadfoot, and World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars (PS2).

    16. Re:They make games in Australia? by Alphtoo · · Score: 1

      Yup... go to Google, and look up "boomerang".

  7. nVidia by EggplantMan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Personally I don't understand why nVidia is not going to be releasing Linux drivers with their GeForce FX. Granted, nobody who runs Linux buys games that could make use of their card, but it still seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot with this.

    --

    ?-|||-----x<*))))><
  8. Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by salvius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I think that the new GeForce card is constantly showing just how good it is, there is not reason to completely over-exaggerate its capabilities. I hate videos showing one model in a very simplistic scene and being hailed as 'most realistic 3D ever.' For these demos to be realistic, they need to have REAL scenes, with real moving objects. I wish marketing was more honest.

    1. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually GeForce is getting to be a really old name, I wish they would change the name from GeForce to something else. Its really boreing and I think that it affects how well the chip markets after awhile.

    2. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by Dan+Guisinger · · Score: 5, Funny

      While you are at it, I'm tired of hearing Windows and Linux, lets change their names as well.

    3. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by paradesign · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      i dont think that it is hurting sales though. when it does youll see a change.

      --
      I want 2D games back.
    4. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      This is a troll? Holy hot shit! And here I was thinking he was being sarcastic. Yet another brilliant victory for Slashdot moderation.

      Thank dog I have the moderators protecting me from insidious trolls such as mr Dan Guisinger!

    5. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by abdulla · · Score: 1

      Since there trying to appeal to cinematic effects, its a valid demonstration, I presume that they work on individual characters like this to great detail.

    6. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by Tyreth · · Score: 4, Informative

      I was there and saw the demo, and the fairy model was very impressive for computer graphics. The Ogre also.

      However, as for REAL scenes, they also ran the game Stalker with the geforce FX. It looked VERY nice, ran slightly jerky at some parts - something gamers would shudder at - but on the whole very impressive speed for the detail available. Of course, not as realistic as the fairy model, but still very nice.

      So look at the screenshots for that game and imagine it running at perhaps 40-60 fps at a guess, and thats what we saw there. The nVidia guy there said he tried it with a Geforce 4 MX 200 and it ran at around 2-3 fps. Still, that's an MX so not much surprise there.

    7. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by quitcherbitchen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I hate videos showing one model in a very simplistic scene and being hailed as 'most realistic 3D ever.'

      Most of those videos are technology demos and are designed to show off specific aspects of the GPU. Placing the effects in the context of a realistic scene is the duty of those who develop the 3D apps. I'd rather see that a card can do some thing new and see how well it can do it rather than watch a video chock full of polygons and nothing else.

    8. Re:Anyone else tired of GeForce's marketing? by Performer+Guy · · Score: 2

      It's a completely honest demo. Just because you write something about their honesty doesn't make it fact. That single character model was very impressive and extremely realistic, the shader model had several parameters being computed in a very complex per pixel skin shader. It is what it is, there was no deception about what you were looking at, a picture speaks a thousand words. Unless you object to what you see what's the point of your complaint? Why is the parent +5 insightful? It's not even fair never mind insightful.

  9. Re:Yet another reason why commercial games are bet by The+Analog+Kid · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who says that Linux Gamers won't pay for games, nothing says that you can't have comercial software on Linux, Linux people are gamers too and Open Source games are never going to be as close as the $50.00 game you payed for in the store unless its a buggy, rushed out the publisher's door game, but thats another story. Yes, there are some talented OSS programers, but never as good as the ones that get paid to do it. I don't see why there is such a sterotype twoard Linux on the basis that just because you can download Linux, means that you have to be able to download every program that is made for it.

  10. Re:Real Link. by h0tblack · · Score: 2

    That link would be great of you wanted to know about the Seventh Day Adventist Church in New York..... but, as we're talking about game dev, maybe this link would be better. Of course, just like the US and European GDC's, the official conference website is not the place to get news and pics from.

  11. Re:Real Link. by deathcloset · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Man! that jesus MMORG look sweet!!

  12. Re:Yet another reason why commercial games are bet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No shit. Maya, one of the leading 3D animation packages out there right now, is available for Linux and it costs like $6000. Certainly not free software.

  13. PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by stevarooski · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The real ps2 dev kits already run a linux kernel. Are these like 'lite' versions of the real thing? Are they really aimed at young people? If so, then they better come with some good debugging software, since the machine is only half the battle! The program I've used is made by a company called ProDG, and is prohibitively expensive. However, its an indispensable tool.

    Incidently, PS2 dev kits are *very* cool to work with--much better than the NGC dev kits, and they lock up less than the XBOX dev kits (by this, I mean its harder to freeze them so that they can't be rebooted remotely). All in all a good experience to work with. However, they are also very expensive. By trying to make them more accessible, Sony will definitely lengthen the lifespan of the PS2.

    --

    - - - - - - - -
    Don't worry, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep in a giant blender.
    1. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously are spewing nothing but garbage. If you really developed with "ProDG", you would NOTICE that it is made by SN Systems, not "a company called ProDG". So either you are QUITE full of it, or you just decided to help yourself to a pirated copy. Either way, its not something you should be proud of.

    2. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      These Linux kits are the hobbyist kits that turn any PS2 into a Linux workstation. Their primary purpose is amateur game development, but you can do other things with them. The hardware consists of an ethernet only version of the Network adapter, 40GB HD, monitor cable (for SOG monitor, though you don't have to have one. you can use the kit with a TV), PS2 branded USB keyboard and mouse. It's a Red Hat based distro, 2.2.1 kernel (with some backported USB support), though you can download a 2.2.21 kernel for the kit. It really is a typical (older) distro, you've got your console, X, KDE, Gnome, Windowmaker, GIMP, plus some PS2 specific stuff for game development. You can also attempt to compile standard Linux apps, which may or may not work. Mozilla doesn't work, but Abiword, Gaim, and Xchat do. For more info, visit http://playstation2-linux.com

    3. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by AdamTheBastard · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure if the Linux for PlayStation 2 that they were advertising at the AGDC is the dev kit.

      I have the brochure here...
      The Kit Includes...
      * 40GB internal Hard Disk Drive
      * 10/100 Base-T Network Adaptor (Ethernet) - allows connection of Playstation 2 to the internet or home network
      * Computer moniter cable with audio connectors
      * USB keyboard and mouse
      * Linux (for Playstation 2) version 1.0 software on 2 DVD rom discs - The Linux operating system Kernel version 2.2.1 and run time environment, technical documentation, compilers, and software installation manual.

      Basicly it turns a PS2 into a linux box. Which would be nice to run those game servers off at LANs

      www.playstation2-linux.com for more info

    4. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by strags · · Score: 3, Informative

      No - the PS2 Linux kit is basically a keyboard, hard-drive and ethernet adapatr, plus a version of Linux on DVD. It runs on a standard PS2.

      The official devkits (TOOLs) consist of a PC and a PS2 in the same box. The PC runs Linux, and handles code download/debugging between the PS2 and the developer's PC. The PS2 doesn't run Linux.

      The Linux kit is cool to start developing on, provided you're not a novice - Sony provides 90% of the official PS2 docs, as well as a bunch of sample code. If you want to learn how to throw DMA chains at the vector units, it's a good start. Unfortunately, gdb is about as sophisticated a debugger as you're going to get. Also, there's no mechanism provided for debugging the vector units. Bear in mind we're talking about relatively low-level code here.

      Another big problem is that since Linux is a virtual memory environment, your DMA chains have to be pre-processed by the kernel in order to translate all the virtual memory addresses to physical ones, which basically means your code will never be as fast as it would be on a TOOL, or a PS2 without Linux.

      Oh yes - one other thing - the TOOLs have 128MB of RAM, the real PS2's only have 32MB.

    5. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by XMunkki · · Score: 1

      Another big problem is that since Linux is a virtual memory environment, your DMA chains have to be pre-processed by the kernel in order to translate all the virtual memory addresses to physical ones, which basically means your code will never be as fast as it would be on a TOOL, or a PS2 without Linux.

      As a side note, I managed to get some 5-10% speedup from just converting a fairly DMA active graphics application from PS2 Linux to the real thing. My application had quite large DMA lists and when "benchmarking" I prebuilt them, just to see how much effect the kernel really has. Looking from the sources, it's kinda sad; the libs first breaks down the packets to a custom kernel format, then the kernel builds them up again.

      But I hear there's coming a patch to the PS2 that will update the DMA speed near to the real thing (as I understand it, it overrides the kernel).

    6. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by Khalek · · Score: 1
      If you wish to find out a bit more and couldn't make AGDC for whatever reason you can still catch them in Melbourne if you're quick. Read on for details taken from the Linux Users of Victoria webpage

      On Tuesday 10th of December at 7pm, LUV will be holding a
      meeting on programming for linux on Playstation 2 hardware.
      It will be presented by Sarah Ewen, from Sony.

      This talk should be similar to the one given on Sunday at
      11 am at the Australian Game Developers Conference
      http://www.agdc.com.au/sched.php.

      The address is the same as where the programmers SIG normally
      hold their meetings.

      myinternet
      Level 8, Blackwood House
      14-20 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
      Melway reference: 2B 9A

      All welcome.
    7. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At work we have a large number of PS2 "Tools" (the expensive dev kit that is a Linux PC attached to a modified PS2 with extra memory), PS2 Test Kits (basically a mod-chipped PS2), XBox dev and debug kits, and a few GameCube dev kits.

      I've worked for the past year or so on both the Xbox and the PS2 (I haven't had the chance to check out the GC boxes yet) and I'd have to say that the XBox kicks the PS2 in terms of ease of development.

      The PS2 doesn't really come with any useful development tools - everything has to be bought separately from their middleware suppliers (CodeWarrior, SNSystems, etc). We're using SNSystems' ProDG and have found it to be pretty archaic. It's difficult to use, pretty unstable, and not worth the money we've payed for it. Unfortunately, given the money we have paid for it - we're stuck with it.

      The XBox is exactly the opposite - Microsoft bundles a heap of excellent tools with the XDK, the debugger seamlessly integrates with devstudio (and is a pleasure to use), and the compiler is amazingly fast. The PS2 has a huge market lead on the XBox (which won't change any time soon), but from a developers point of view, I'd like to see the XBox win the race - or at the very least, see Sony put some more money into tool development (maybe a nice, free debugger, profiler, and a few graphics tools like the XBox).

      As for the PS2 Linux kit - it looks like a great way to get into console programming. There are always games companies looking for PS2 gurus and you could definitely learn a heap using this kit. Just don't expect it to be easy ;-)

    8. Re:PS2 Linux Dev Kits? by Badassmofo · · Score: 1

      This kernel patch (or is it a module? I'm not sure, haven't played with it yet) is already out, released within the past week. I've been doing most of my development on the RTE via redboot so as to avoid the restrictions placed by the Linux kernel (DMA chain packet rebuilding, primarily), but this I may have to look into.

      What I'd really like to see is a slimmed-down version of the real PS2 kernel, including a network stack, file I/O, and basic threading, but without things like virtual memory and filesystem caching to get in the way.

  14. Argh!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm just getting over my gaming addiction, you insensitive clod!

  15. Linking to forums by Mage+Powers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I thought we had realised that linking to forums is a bad idea... ahh well.

  16. Whoa! by ekrout · · Score: 4, Interesting

    People, this is a big card. I mean, wow. Seriously.

    I heard from NVIDIA folks that the requirements for powering this monster were originally reported to be within AGP power budget but that's simply not true anymore. It was just confirmed that GeForce FX requires an auxiliary power supply such as ATI's 9700 Pro.

    As if that's not enough, the GeForce FX also requires an extra slot.

    But trust me, my friends/fans/foes -- I've played the latest games on this thing at a few private screenings with friends I have in the industry, and I assure you that this FX card simply will not dissappoint!

    --

    If you celebrate Xmas, befriend me (538
    1. Re:Whoa! by cribb · · Score: 1, Funny

      next thing nVidia will think of is connecting your freezer and your vacuum cleaner to the intake/exhaust vents respectively. but hey, its not that bad, its only that when you power Quake up, the lights in the whole street go dim...

      --
      Hostes alienigieni me abduxerunt. Qui annus est?
    2. Re:Whoa! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      But trust me, my friends/fans/foes -- I've played the latest games on this thing at a few private screenings with friends I have in the industry, and I assure you that this FX card simply will not dissappoint!

      Haha right. Until 6 months after it is released they announce the newest GeForce card that "absolutely blows the FX card away!!!!". Suddenly that $300 FX card you bought gets discounted to $120 and the newest card comes out at $300. Typical Nvidia tactics. I'm quite happy with my GeForce 2 with 32MB of video ram thankyouverymutch. Plays GTA3 just fine except for occassional spontaneous reboots in win2k. :-)

    3. Re:Whoa! by AnonymousCowheard · · Score: 0
      that GeForce FX requires an auxiliary power supply such as ATI's 9700 Pro

      I always new ATI's 9700 Pro was a productivity tool; errm I mean they have always been a steady supply of power(TM). Just now, when will they make dual AGP motherboards so the GeForceFX may be complemented by this power(TM) supply?

      --

      But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
  17. Another video by MagPulse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here's a video where an NVidia engineer has a GF FX running two demos. It crashes twice, once taking the whole system down for a reboot.

    1. Re:Another video by Maso · · Score: 1

      Stupid mozilla, downloaded this as a web page. Wonder if i should cut 'n' paste or just start again?

      Bugger it, i'll just start again...

    2. Re:Another video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stupid webserver lies to Mozilla and says it's text. Poor Mozilla knows what a standard is and uses the mime-type for its decisions.

  18. MMORGASM by xigxag · · Score: 5, Funny

    The day that these cards can realistically render the naked human body in real-time motion is fast approaching. At which point, judging by the history of cable TV, the VCR and the DVD, these $500 videocard monstrosities will go flying off the shelves.

    --
    There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
  19. Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by coloth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I recently replaced my GeForce2 MX with a GeForce4 Ti 4200. I have a P3-1000.

    Of course, the first thing I did was to download some of the NVidia demos, so I could witness the awesome power of my new card. I was especially interested in the wolfman demo.

    Well, it was spectacular. You could drive him around, make his hair longer or shorter, change the lighting, etc... And the characterization was lightyears beyond anything in Dungeon Siege, Warcraft III, or any other current game.

    Then, I hit escape, and I was back to reality.

    That was three or four months ago. Realistically, I imagine I'll have to wait until Doom III, maybe 5 or 6 months more, before I can actually play a game which will take advantage of a non-trivial part of my new GPU's power.

    How long will it be before an FX board will be taxed by a new game?

    If people will pay $399 for a state of the art card, I suggest that some game publisher consider developing a game at the $199 or $249 price point which will really take advantage of these cards.

    Otherwise, the best we can hope for is a few more frames of the same ugly polygons.

    --

    Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. -A. Turing

    1. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, you can probably continue drooling with 3D Mark 2001's Nature scene (I think the vid card supports it), but I think that's about it :).

    2. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by coloth · · Score: 1

      Heh--- funny you should mention that. That nature scene is the most stunning realtime rendering I've seen. I thought of mentioning it in my original post, but I didn't want to go on and on.

      Honestly, it's the first time I've seen into a virtual world that I really wanted to visit.

      --

      Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. -A. Turing

    3. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's actually one of the idea behing nVidia's whole CG thing. Allow developers to easily develop a game that can take advantage of teh latest features, but still runs just fine on older hardware. Now how well it will work and catch on is another matter, but it gives hope for quicker support of new technology.

    4. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by coloth · · Score: 1

      That's actually one of the idea behing nVidia's whole CG thing.

      Yeah, that is a very cool technology. As I understand it, it maps to an equivalent pixel shader language in DirectX 9 (but I think it goes further than DirectX).

      Well, what I've heard is that it will make it much easier for developers to take advantage of the GPU's features, and I guess those elements just wouldn't run on an older card.

      It's good in the long run, but after spending $200 on my new card, I guess I won't get the benefits until sometime down the road.

      --

      Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. -A. Turing

    5. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by Tyreth · · Score: 2

      I think this is part of the idea behind nVidia's new Cg. It allows developers to easily scale their games to take advantage of the power of new cards not yet developed.

      I could easily be mistaken though, my understanding of Cg is very, very rudimentry.

    6. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by Martigan80 · · Score: 2

      That was three or four months ago. Realistically, I imagine I'll have to wait until Doom III, maybe 5 or 6 months more, before I can actually play a game which will take advantage of a non-trivial part of my new GPU's power.

      Well how does it work with UT2003 and all the settings up in an intense CTF?

      Really though software follows the same fate it has for a long time. The programmers, cannot program fast enough to keep up with the ever changing hardware. That is just a plain fact, as some one said some posts ago that "It took thousands of years to perfect bridge building and we have only been programming for 50 or so years." We have just touched to beginning of programming and computer use.

      --
      This SIG pulled due to lack of funding. (This damn war is costing too much!)
    7. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by coloth · · Score: 1

      Well how does it work with UT2003 and all the settings up in an intense CTF?

      I don't play shooters, so I don't have a good idea of how it would do.

      What I was more getting at, though, that, aside from sheer polygons per second, cards are gaining exponentially in the ability to approach true realism by other means (pixel shaders, bump mapping, texture mapping, etc...) which require special code.

      I agree with what you're saying about the complexity of software. New generations of GPUs come out every 6 or 8 months, while a major game can take two years.

      Oh well--I can wait!

      --

      Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. -A. Turing

    8. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by Pulzar · · Score: 2

      How long will it be before an FX board will be taxed by a new game?

      This is one of the reasons why you need a faster card. 4200 is already overtaxed by UT2003 at 1024x768 with AA enabled.

      The fact that AA can be disabled, and resolutions lowered, doesn't mean that a game can't make use of a faster card!

      --
      Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.
    9. Re:Lag Lag Lag Lag LAG! by L0rdJedi · · Score: 1

      Wow, it would be nice if GeForce 4's could play Doom III when it is finally released. From everything I read about the alpha version, it's barely playable with any current video card (except ATIs 9700 (I think)) unless you reduce all the pretty features. Of course, by the time Doom III comes out, a GFFX shouldn't cost much more than $250.

  20. Thats what you get by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    for wasting your money on something so useless

  21. Re:Yet another ... are worse than Nethack by lbrt · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Yes, there are some talented OSS programers, but never as good as the ones that get paid to do it."

    What about OSS programmers who get paid for their job? Have you thought about that most of those talented OSS programmers get salary for their OSS work or some other projects. Let's start from Linus himself, I think he gets paid pretty well. Or does Alan Cox need to bake pizzas in some pizzeria for his living?

    Ok Mr. gnu/Stallman might be a little different case. I don't know how he lives. On donations?;)

    *lbrt

  22. If the link goes down: by koko775 · · Score: 5, Informative

    damn slashdot effect already taking place, so w/o further ado --
    ---

    Introduction - More Hardware Next Year Please

    To be deadly honest with you, the Australian Game Developers Conference which was held over this past weekend at the Melbourne Convention Center was not all that exciting for a strictly hardware junkie like myself.

    However... for an Australian conference, it was very good to see large companies such as Intel, AMD, nVidia, Microsoft, Sony and Creative in your backyard all putting some dollars back into the industry for the benefit of future game development in our good country down under.

    While we did not see it necessary to post any formal coverage, throughout the weekend we did learn a few things of interest for us hardware folks, obviously though much of it was focused toward the gaming industry with no ground-breaking new juicy hardware news to feed you folk with.

    So without further ado, here is some of the interesting bit and pieces I found @ ADGC 2002.

    Please note throughout this thread you can click on each image for a larger version.

    Sony on PS2 - Still Pushing Hard

    - PS2 Online Gaming Service

    First off, at their Delegate Cocktail Party, Sony let a noisy, mostly student dominated crowd of 300 or more know that they will launch their very own online gaming service for the PS2 in Australia sometime during our winter season next year - no in-depth details were given by the speaker battling to sound himself above the crowd.

    This service will compete with Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service which should go live in Australia around the same time, we think.

    - PS2 Linux Dev Kit

    Sony were also showing off their PS2 Linux Development kit with the aim of getting more up and coming game developers to learn the art behind programming PS2 games under the Linux OS.

    These kits sell for around $1000 Australian (roughly $500 US).

    nVidia bring beautiful Dawn to our shores!
    (Image: http://www.tweaktown.com/popImg.php?img=agdc02_01l .jpg)
    One of the company stands I thought I would stop by was nVidia where the friendly Steve Burke, Art Director and co from the Santa Clare office in the US of A were showing off their GeForce FX graphics card (to my delight) and CG Graphics engine and development software.

    - The Videos
    (Image: http://www.tweaktown.com/popImg.php?img=agdc02_02l .jpg)
    Now most of us have seen the stunning NV30 videos floating around the Internet over the past month or so. I remember when I first saw these videos and how amazed I was. Seeing the NV30 in action personally impressed me a whole lot more with what the technology is truly capable of - somewhat refreshing my excitement over the new product.
    (Image: http://www.tweaktown.com/popImg.php?img=agdc02_03l .jpg)
    We shot 3 or 4 minutes of our own new video footage of both the Dawn and Ogre demos for your viewing pleasure. To view these AVI files, you will need to download the latest DivX codec from the DivX website.

    You can download both videos here from our servers:
    - Video #1 (Dawn) (10.1mb) (Link: http://www.tweaktown.com/files/nv30dawn.avi)

    - Video #2 (Ogre) (6.7mb) (Link: http://www.tweaktown.com/files/nv30ogre.avi)

    - The Card

    After we shot the videos, I asked if we could get a closer look at the NV30 graphics card. While nVidia refused to power down their systems (fair enough - we cannot take Dawn away from fellow jaw dropped perverts) they did offer to take the sides off one of their three ASUS nForce2 Athlon XP 2700+ powered systems they were demonstrating...

    (Image: http://www.tweaktown.com/popImg.php?img=agdc02_04l .jpg)
    (Image: http://www.tweaktown.com/popImg.php?img=agdc02_05l .jpg)
    (Image: http://www.tweaktown.com/popImg.php?img=agdc02_06l .jpg)

    These shots give us a good idea of just how much space these monsters are going to take up inside our cases. As you can see, the heat pipe cooling technology is going to cover two of your first PCI slots - whether you like it or not, start to get used to the fact guys.

    - Cooling

    While we couldn't see it, the fan cooling the heat pipes was very loud - we are talking almost Delta-like volume levels. Possibly, as we get closer to seeing these cards in retail, nVidia may tweak the cooling systems to a more noise tolerable level - at least I hope so.

    When quizzed by a gamer at the sound levels coming from the back of the card, an nVidia rep was quick to suggest that it wouldn't matter much because gamers would be using headphones during their gaming. Unless the cooling technology has thermal throttling (which it very well may, mind you) I would have to disagree with this notion.

    Say you are listening to music or fragging away with your desktop speakers, the hum of the cooling fan will still be audible since we do not all use headphones.

    - Retail Release Dates

    I ended my discussions with Steve Burke asking when we could except to see the GeForce FX on store shelves.

    He made it clear he was not 100% certain but said we may possibly see a limited supply in stores in the United States toward the very end of this year with supply coming in quantity late January / early February next year.

    Please remember these dates were given to us as ESTIMATES and should be treated as such.

    Conclusion

    Like I said in the introduction, I didn't have a great detail of information to report here. I hope you enjoy the brief coverage I provided in this forum thread.

    Feel free to post your thoughts and comments on anything discussed here.

    Cheers!

    1. Re:If the link goes down: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Xbox guys were professional ... but did anybody else get the impression that they were PR-oriented Yanks flown in from Seattle to impress before attending the next conference (same names as other GDCs) ..

  23. Overall Grade : F- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Spelling errors:

    comercial should be commerical
    sterotype should be stereotype
    twoard should be toward

    Grammatical errors:

    payed should be paid
    its should be it's
    thats should be that's

    Conceptual errors:

    'Open Source' and commercial are not mutually exclusive concepts. Also, don't capitalise open source unless you mean it in the specific sense, which you didn't (and probably aren't capable of).

    OSS programmers can and often are paid.

    Strength of argument: poor
    Grammar, spelling : poor
    I hereby bestow upon you an F-.

    Closing remarks :

    • your comment smacks of brain damage, were you having a stroke while you wrote it?
    • YHBT, HAND
  24. Here's why OSS will fail, in whole. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I mean fail, I mean fail to overtake the entirety of commercial software.

    First of all, people working for stuff for free have to do this on their own time, AFTER they come home from their real jobs that pay. Do you seriously think there's cadres of OSS coders chomping at the bit to code stuff for free, and not have to find a way to support themselves? Wake up.

    Second of all, you have to find enough people with the knowledge to supplant this. OSS can barely get one OS going, and one measly office suite that is absolutely inferior to anything out there. OSS does not have to apply to Linux/BSD, one could write like this for Windows. Name me one OSS app for Windows written from scratch (not with code donated, or bought from ransom from a commercial entity) that surpasses the commercial ones available. None.

    Yes, there are plenty of nice free apps available for Windows, but none of these are the moneymaker type. Companies will always have more incentive to create apps for sale (no matter the OS) than geeks doing this on their free time. That's why it will always win out, in the long run.

  25. Re:Brilliant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe this is a modified version of the article on that apple girl that looks stoned..?

  26. This is not exclusive to nVidia. by Blaede · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Every company that deals in graphics has done it. I've seen this on screens for SNES games, Sega consoles, 3Dfx cards, Intel CPUs, ad nauseum. nVidia didn't create this practice, they merely became the latest in a long series of companies to engage in marketing puffery.

  27. From the trenches by smallstepforman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I attended the conference as a 3 day delegate, so here are some behind the scenes impressions:

    - sessions based on Sony's PS2 were about getting the most out of the hardware - Performace Analysers, better occulsion and culling techniques, utilising the vector processors in parallel etc. Sony were honest enough to admit that the effeciency of their compilers weren't that good when it came to parallelisation, and offered suggestions for workarounds - thats what you get from a company supporting a 3 year old product.

    - Microsoft on the other hand, had an excellent promotional team advocating the Xbox. Lets face it, they have newer and better hardware, so they kept on advocating its superiority compared to other consoles. Better development tools, a simpler architecture for developers, better graphics, familiar API's, documentation written in English first, hard drive, 5.1 sound, Unified memory etc. The speakers were very convincing, and made Microsoft seem like your best friend.
    - international speakers included Lars Gustavsson (sp), producer of Battlefield 1942 (he had excellent videos of the lifestyle of DICE developers), Doug Church (ex Ion Storm), Ray Muzyka (BioWare and NeverWinter Nights) and others.
    - exhibitors included nVidia and their new GeForce FX (Hi Brian!! - apparently, saying that you're from nVidia isn't as great a pick up line as geeks might expect), Metrowerks, Intel, Alias, Auran, Sony etc.

    Ofcourse, everyone attends these conferences for the social events afterwards - cocktail, dinner and nerf gun parties. Conferences are a great place to share a beer or two with fellow collegues. Sony handed out condoms shaped like PS2 buttons, Microforte organised an excellent outdoor party on a historic sail ship (though it was very cold and windy for a Melbourne summer night). Everyone had fun, and noone fell over drunk from the ship into the cold water.

    The most striking fact from the conference was examining the behaviour of different programming houses. Infogrammes (Melbourne House) were so big, that they didn't care about anyone else, so they always clustered together. It took a bit of effort to isolate a few of their developers to have a serious 1-1 talk. Ratbag developers seemed like the most compotent of the lot - they know their stuff, and are hungry for success. Watch out for these guys. MicroForte were the loudest at the party, they know how to have a good time. I felt sorry for one of the houses (who I will not name), they were like 'we will code games for food, give us a project, any project'.

    All in all, a very exciting 3 days. Hope to see you all next year in Melbourne.

    --
    Revolution = Evolution
    1. Re:From the trenches by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      australian developers are dissappointing though. microforte have made an expensive engine but no game, and still rely on publicity from their c64 games. auran had one hit, then made an engine that they just advertise on google, and no more successfull games. brilliant digital spent tens of millions on a bad idea, and their only success is bailing out the kazaa guys. ratbag are cool. there are others who are cool too. but the biggest spenders are relying on government grants and nothing else. shape up australia!

    2. Re:From the trenches by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "thats what you get from a company supporting a 3 year old product."

      I'm just wondering what the point of adding this was?

      It's their current product, no wonder they are supporting it.

    3. Re:From the trenches by Antos700 · · Score: 1

      Obviously you missed the comedy that was the "Introducing the X-Box live" session. Which was basicaly a session telling developers that you could trust MS' pre-built libraries for all your X-Box online security needs.
      One valuable tid bid I did get from it though, was that modded X-Boxes won't get blacklisted if they try connecting, just denied until the chip is removed/deactivated. I guess that shoots down that MS conspiricy theory over at The Register.

    4. Re:From the trenches by smallstepforman · · Score: 2

      Supporting a 3 year product means that there is no longer any need to evangelise the product, since there are over 40 million units sold. There keynotes are more specific and deal with the nitty gritty, hence the support remark.

      All this opposed to Microsoft who are still in the launch stage of the XBox. Their keynotes were more marketing than support.

      --
      Revolution = Evolution
    5. Re:From the trenches by Troed · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Did they mention that most Xbox games do NOT have 5.1 sound?


      Yes I'm serious. Take Halo as an example - the sound effects etc are in 4.1 .. some voice stuff is in the center, that's why it sounds muffled.


      Now try Sega GT .. Splinter Cell .. Morrowind ..


      The center channel is silent.


      It seems that pre-made AC3 streams are sent out ok, but when the Xbox is supposed to create 5.1 from discrete channels produced by the game, it fails.


      (Do NOT answer and say I'm wrong until you've TRIED this .. 5.1 on your receiver, disconnect the fronts if you like .. play some games.)

    6. Re:From the trenches by shplorb · · Score: 1

      Sony handed out condoms shaped like PS2 buttons

      When I saw them I grabbed a handfull (thinking of the laughs I'd get back home), although the picture on the front has them looking like the button shapes, they're all just regular rubbers. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw, still a really cool idea though =]

      Microforte organised an excellent outdoor party on a historic sail ship (though it was very cold and windy for a Melbourne summer night). Everyone had fun, and noone fell over drunk from the ship into the cold water.

      It was excellent? Well, props to Micro Forte for putting on the do, but I wouldn't really call it excellent... I mean, 4 hours long... only 5 tins of cat piss plus a vodka slurpee that was more water than ice - no wonder no-one fell overboard whilst drunk! How can you get pissed off just that teensy amount of booze?

      Well, overall I was glad that I went. I learnt some new stuff, met some new people, was brainwashed into wanting a PS2 Linux kit, loved those choc-chip macadamia nut biscuits and free Maya t-shirts. =]

      It's a cool event and I'm looking forward to going again next year. I think I'll fly though, I got a $200 speeding ticket on the way home today for doing 120 in a 100 zone. Damn Victoria to hell for having 100 instead of 110 on loooong, straight, smooth roads like here in SA!

    7. Re:From the trenches by Chris+Carollo · · Score: 2, Informative

      some voice stuff is in the center, that's why it sounds muffled

      That's pure speculation on your part -- I've never noticed it sounding muffled.

      but when the Xbox is supposed to create 5.1 from discrete channels produced by the game, it fails

      This is a known limitation of the HRTF algorithm they're using. I'm pretty sure devs can change so that it'll mix the L/R channels into the front speaker too, but you have to be careful with volume balance issues.

    8. Re:From the trenches by Troed · · Score: 1
      It's not specualtion - it's a common complaint from Halo-players that the voices sound muffled and that it's hard to hear the words sometimes.


      Many thanks for the explanation for the mixing though - are you a developer?

    9. Re:From the trenches by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except PS2 has been out two years (at least here in Australia, and Europe), whereas Xbox is over a year in the US, and 9 months here ... (although that didn't stop them marketing Xbox at AGDC2000)

      See http://www.teamxbox.com/news.php?id=170

  28. only YOU would buy $6000 worth of software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    P2P 4 eva, my NIGGZ

  29. The Lanfest was just scary by TooTrueTroubs · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I was exhibiting at the AGDC over the weekend. The nVidia stuff was incredible - the most spectacular part of their 3D demo was the trees. First time I've seen real-time rendered trees that looked real and had substance (and lack of substance where necessary!), rather than being a some strange 2D/3D hybrid.

    the Lanfest was just scary. 1000 guys in sleeping bags locked in a room for 48 hours. Day 2 they were bouncing off the walls, mugging old ladies for Jolt cola and trying to make off with my 23" Cinema Display.

    Either that or they were trying to make out with it. Sometimes I wasn't sure.

    1. Re:The Lanfest was just scary by Tyreth · · Score: 3, Informative

      I was one of those lanfest guys :)

      Just a few facts to kill the humor in your post (please forgive me!).
      We weren't locked in. There were only 400 or so of us. The walls weren't very bouncy (we tended to smack into them). And we also wanted to make off with the GeForce FX :) Posters turned out to be the most successful targets to make off with.

    2. Re:The Lanfest was just scary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      heh, i was one of the guys who tried to take it, i was in teh group of 3 big guys, and one of us game you the tag thingy which you put on your coke can, heh

  30. KKND was made in Australia also by StArSkY · · Score: 1

    Remember Krush Kill N' Destroy. That was made here. I knew a few of the guys that made it.

    --
    lounge around on the blue couch
    1. Re:KKND was made in Australia also by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the old Beam software.............. AFAIK Beam software was the first Australian developer.

  31. What? by Locky · · Score: 3, Funny

    What? No coverage on Romero's talk about project management?

    1. Re:What? by sprayNwipe · · Score: 2

      From what I hear, that would be because Romero decided not to turn up at the last minute.

      I guess there's only so much shampoo over here, and we didn't have enough for his hair or something

      Regardless, I believe Doug Church took over his spot, and I'd imagine any speech he gave would have been much better than Romero could have given.

    2. Re:What? by XMunkki · · Score: 1

      I guess there's only so much shampoo over here, and we didn't have enough for his hair or something

      Well, looking at the pictures and dates on his server (rome.ro), on Jan 2002 he went from this to this. And I guess one year does not make you grow hair that much :).

  32. Re:"85 times brighter"? by brc007 · · Score: 2, Informative
    Here's the text of the article 'cause the server seems to be on the vearge of being slashdotted.

    --Informative not off topic! :)


    Introduction - More Hardware Next Year Please

    To be deadly honest with you, the Australian Game Developers Conference which was held over this past weekend at the Melbourne Convention Center was not all that exciting for a strictly hardware junkie like myself.

    However... for an Australian conference, it was very good to see large companies such as Intel, AMD, nVidia, Microsoft, Sony and Creative in your backyard all putting some dollars back into the industry for the benefit of future game development in our good country down under.

    While we did not see it necessary to post any formal coverage, throughout the weekend we did learn a few things of interest for us hardware folks, obviously though much of it was focused toward the gaming industry with no ground-breaking new juicy hardware news to feed you folk with.

    So without further ado, here is some of the interesting bit and pieces I found @ ADGC 2002.

    Sony on PS2 - Still Pushing Hard

    - PS2 Online Gaming Service

    First off, at their Delegate Cocktail Party, Sony let a noisy, mostly student dominated crowd of 300 or more know that they will launch their very own online gaming service for the PS2 in Australia sometime during our winter season next year - no in-depth details were given by the speaker battling to sound himself above the crowd.

    This service will compete with Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service which should go live in Australia around the same time, we think.

    - PS2 Linux Dev Kit

    Sony were also showing off their PS2 Linux Development kit with the aim of getting more up and coming game developers to learn the art behind programming PS2 games under the Linux OS.

    These kits sell for around $1000 Australian (roughly $500 US).

    nVidia bring beautiful Dawn to our shores!

    One of the company stands I thought I would stop by was nVidia where the friendly Steve Burke, Art Director and co from the Santa Clare office in the US of A were showing off their GeForce FX graphics card (to my delight) and CG Graphics engine and development software.

    - The Videos

    Now most of us have seen the stunning NV30 videos floating around the Internet over the past month or so. I remember when I first saw these videos and how amazed I was. Seeing the NV30 in action personally impressed me a whole lot more with what the technology is truly capable of - somewhat refreshing my excitement over the new product.

    We shot 3 or 4 minutes of our own new video footage of both the Dawn and Ogre demos for your viewing pleasure. To view these AVI files, you will need to download the latest DivX codec from the DivX website.

    You can download both videos here from our servers:

    - Video #1 (Dawn) (10.1mb)

    - Video #2 (Ogre) (6.7mb)

    UPDATE - New Download Mirrors

    Overclockers Australia were kind enough to mirror both of these videos...

    - Video #1 (Dawn) from OCAU (10.1mb)

    - Video #2 (Ogre) from OCAU (6.7mb)

    - The Card

    After we shot the videos, I asked if we could get a closer look at the NV30 graphics card. While nVidia refused to power down their systems (fair enough - we cannot take Dawn away from fellow jaw dropped perverts) they did offer to take the sides off one of their three ASUS nForce2 Athlon XP 2700+ powered systems they were demonstrating...

    [pictures here]

    These shots give us a good idea of just how much space these monsters are going to take up inside our cases. As you can see, the heat pipe cooling technology is going to cover two of your first PCI slots - whether you like it or not, start to get used to the fact guys.

    - Cooling

    While we couldn't see it, the fan cooling the heat pipes was very loud - we are talking almost Delta-like volume levels. Possibly, as we get closer to seeing these cards in retail, nVidia may tweak the cooling systems to a more noise tolerable level - at least I hope so.

    When quizzed by a gamer at the sound levels coming from the back of the card, an nVidia rep was quick to suggest that it wouldn't matter much because gamers would be using headphones during their gaming. Unless the cooling technology has thermal throttling (which it very well may, mind you) I would have to disagree with this notion.

    Say you are listening to music or fragging away with your desktop speakers, the hum of the cooling fan will still be audible since we do not all use headphones.

    - Retail Release Dates

    I ended my discussions with Steve Burke asking when we could except to see the GeForce FX on store shelves.

    He made it clear he was not 100% certain but said we may possibly see a limited supply in stores in the United States toward the very end of this year with supply coming in quantity late January / early February next year.

    Please remember these dates were given to us as ESTIMATES and should be treated as such.

    Conclusion

    Like I said in the introduction, I didn't have a great detail of information to report here. I hope you enjoy the brief coverage I provided in this forum thread.

    Feel free to post your thoughts and comments on anything discussed here.

  33. That's it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Take another hit of the 3$ crack. Yeehaw!

  34. nope... by nebenfun · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everyone was at 3D Realms project management seminar.

    nbfn

  35. Re:"85 times brighter"? by brc007 · · Score: 0

    dang it somebody beat me to it. And I messed up the subject. :(

  36. Re:Sweet! by Siriaan · · Score: 0, Flamebait


    Parent should really be modded to flamebait. As a New Zealander, I know that a single mention of good ole' Paul Hogan and his onscreen croccy antics elicits not just screaming and bad language from your average Ozzer but also extreme violence - often in the form of your classic Steve Irwin croc-heapgrip.

  37. Re:Sweet! by houseofmore · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Hehe. I know. I'm in Auckland! =)

  38. Re:Whip the whipper. Chew the chewer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pee on the peer.

    I'd like to do that... That stupid peer keeps on disconnecting me.

  39. ~~~MOD UP! +5 Informative!~~~ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    laura@dataresourceconsulting.com

    Let the deluge commence!

  40. Mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I am trying to mirror the images and videos here:

    http://magnus.infidyne.com/nvidia/

    If you do not find everything there now, it will be there ASAP.. ;)

  41. Re:I'm tired of MrTweak by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But, what good is it if NO ONE can get to their damn site?

  42. Noise and Slots by chunkwhite86 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm not sure I like the noise level the fan on this card makes. I like a Quiet PC. Or at least one that doesnt sound like a vacuum cleaner.

    And I definitely don't like the fact that it occupies two PCI slots. I knew this was coming sooner or later as most SGI video adapters are about as thick as two PCI slots. I'm talking about the video adapters in the MIPS workstations (Octane and such). I simply don't have room in my case for this card if it takes two PCI slots.

    Hopefully someone will come up with an aftermarket watercooling solution for this card that would get rid of the noise and hopefully fit in one PCI slot.

    Just my two cents.

    --
    I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
    1. Re:Noise and Slots by rebel_cdn · · Score: 0

      If you manage to jam a GeforceFX into a PCI slot, good luck getting it working. :)

      It takes up the AGP slot that it goes in, and uses the space of one of your PCI slots. So you lose one PCI slot, which sucks, but for most users it isn't an issue.

    2. Re:Noise and Slots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      High-end GeforceFX will take one AGP slot and the cooling system will take adjacement PCI-slot.

      If this bothers you, then I guess you don't usually buy $300-$400 video cards. Mainstream models of GeforceFX will use only one slot and won't need external power connector.

    3. Re:Noise and Slots by Max+von+H. · · Score: 4, Informative

      Whilst I admit to this thing being a monster, both in performances and in sheer cubic space, I don't think the size of the beast will matter much.

      I believe most of these cards will go in new (or very recent) systems which already have lan/sound/USB/1394 on the motherboard, reducing or even eliminating the need for extra PCI cards. Heck, even if the GeForce FX car eats up one PCI slot, you still got at least 4 of them left free, more than enough to host a better soundcard, a scsi controller, a video capture card...

      Recent cards like the GF4Ti600 already have huge heatsinks with fans that make it a risky decision to plug a card in the PCI slot next to them, unless you want to cut the air from flowing to your GPU. I haven't heard any complaints about it so far, eh. I guess the gamers who invest in such cards don't fill-up their cases by populating all of their PCI slots...

      Anyway, I'm pretty sure we'll see a smaller/cooler version of the card within 6 months or so that will make this whole conversation obsolete...

      Cheers,
      max

      --
      -- It's always darker before it goes pitch black.
  43. A different suggestion: wait by mbourgon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Realistically, I imagine I'll have to wait until Doom III, maybe 5 or 6 months more, before I can actually play a game which will take advantage of a non-trivial part of my new GPU's power.

    So? Now the question is, how long before most gamers realize this? Right now, he's correct, and it's probably Doom III (or some unknown game) will make this thing a requirement. But, it'll still need to play on older hardware. And either way, by the time that the game comes out, your Geforce will have dropped $100. I'll wait, personally.

    I suggest that some game publisher consider developing a game at the $199 or $249 price point which will really take advantage of these cards.

    Please. Just. Don't. Go. There.

    However, here's a cool idea - pay one of the current "hot" developers to make a small game, something not too terribly difficult, not too terribly deep, but terribly pretty, and bundle it with the card. Make a version available online so people can play and see what their current system shows, along with pics from the Geforce X version. Big potential here, as well as a big potential for cheating - let's make every other non-NV card render it slow. But it could be cool, especially if it's a cool game.

    --
    "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
    1. Re:A different suggestion: wait by coloth · · Score: 1

      Please. Just. Don't. Go. There.

      Bill? Bill Shatner??

      OK, all kidding aside, compared to $50 + $10/mo like most mmorpgs, the numbers aren't that different.

      Just charging $50+$20/mo for a dazzling mmorpg could be one solution: Build a pretty but smallish world at first, then expand it quarterly on the revenue stream. Something like that could limit risk.

      What you're suggesting is interesting, but just basically a toy, I think? Maybe just include some unbelievable screensavers or something, since gamers might blow back at you hard for an "extended demo," unless you were really clear about it.

      --

      Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. -A. Turing

    2. Re:A different suggestion: wait by Kris_J · · Score: 2
      "Please. Just. Don't. Go. There." Bill? Bill Shatner??
      Nah, that would be:

      Please. Justdon't. Go. Tha-air. Spock.

  44. AGDC Game Development Award Winners by Zaphus · · Score: 1

    Here's a list of links to the award winners from AGDC (for games from Australian Game Developers only)

    I'm pretty sure this list is correct, there's no official list at the AGDC Awards site yet:

    Award for Outstanding Innovation:
    Micro Forte Big World Technology

    Best New Start-Up:
    Evolution Games

    Best Game of 2002
    + Best Game for Next Generation Consoles
    + Award for Outstanding Visual Arts
    + Best Game Audio
    + Award for Programming Excellence
    Grand Prix Challenge

    Best Game for PC
    + Best Game Design
    Freedom Force

    Best Game for Game Boy Advance:
    Duke Nukem Advance

    Best Character Design:
    Ty the Tasmanian Tiger

    Best Level Design:
    Hotwheels Bash Arena (don't know a link for this)

    Best Unsigned Game:
    Wicked Witch Software I don't know the game name, but it wasn't their Mary-Kate & Ashley game :-)

  45. from the AGDC website by EverDense · · Score: 2

    Pon Chaleune
    Conference Manager
    Pon is a Bachelor of Arts in Tourism graduate from the University of Canberra and brings
    to this role over six years experience in the meetings industry.


    The "meetings industry"?
    That is SO Monty Python-esque its funny.

    "We're having a meeting"
    "No we're not"
    "Yes we are"
    "No we're not"

    --
    http://jesus.everdense.com/
    1. Re:from the AGDC website by smallstepforman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Pon is actually a decent looking chick. Thumbs up, fan-groovy-tastic, bone worthy etc.

      --
      Revolution = Evolution
    2. Re:from the AGDC website by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hehe, we nicknamed her pr0n, but for some other reasons ...

  46. Why post if you can't handle the Slashdot effect? by jrimmer · · Score: 1

    Why post news of your own content if your site can't handle the Slashdotting?

    There should be a formal Slashdot guideline that if the server has not handled the slashdot effect in the past posting of your own content should not be permitted. Of course that wouldn't keep out the punters but it's certainly no fun to see "valuable" Slashdot comments on content that you can't visit.

    This is the second time in the last few weeks that Tweaktown has done this. First with the system tweaking post and now with this. Neither could be visited for 24 hours after the Slashdot news story was posted. Sad, just sad.

  47. Re:READ THE LINK! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Read the page that is linked to.

  48. Gee, sounds like fun. by Idarubicin · · Score: 2
    ...videos and pictures of nVidia's GeForce FX in action...

    Wow. Pictures and video. It's a printed circuit board. I suppose that the video will show all kinds of hot fan action.

    --
    ~Idarubicin
  49. I was involved with the AGDC LANfest event by zardie · · Score: 4, Informative

    Alongside the AGDC, there was an event called the AGDC LANfest.

    It was interesting to see the reaction of the developers as they walked through the LANning area, the main response being "What on earth is this?". Maybe that's why some games have rather lame LAN netcode. As for sleeping arrangements, there wasn't any sleeping permitted in the venue. Some of the LAN admins got no sleep at all (I just woke up from a 13 hour sleep).

    The cocktail party was cool - all over 18 attendees of the LAN event could attend, too, and enjoy the merits of free beer and mingle with the developers.

    I did have a look at the nVidia stand, in fact, I saw the tweaktown guys pass through while I was there, taking their snaps. Yes, the GeforceFX takes up two slots and the fan isn't exactly quiet either.

    The LANfest is our last event before the Big Day In.

  50. mirrored dawn video!! by fletchfletchowns.net · · Score: 1

    http://www.datacomm.ch/hardyearbook/tweaktown_nv30 dawn.avi mirrored for your enjoyment

  51. nvidia drivers by chunkwhite86 · · Score: 2

    Whoever said the nvidia linux drivers are "about the best you can get" is smoking crack.

    I'm using the latest drivers from their web site, and X server crashes are a daily occurance for me.

    I've tried their redhat RPM's, I've tried building the source RPM's, I've tried using older versions of the driver.... Nada.

    My system is rock solid stable and will run for months w/o a reboot with a load average of 6. However, graphic apps like movie players and 3d games will crash my Xserver. My case ambient temps are just a few degrees above room temp with all the fans I have installed. I've even tried returning my Ti4200 and trying a different card just in case something was wrong with it.

    Never used to happen EVER with my MAtrox G400. Don't get me wrong - I love the performance of my Ti4200 - I just hate the crap drivers.

    Nvidia, if your listening: Thanks for supporting Linux, my favorite OS, but please improve the stability of your drivers!!!

    --
    I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
    1. Re:nvidia drivers by Tim+C · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'm sorry to hear of the problems you've had, but my experience is almost exactly the opposite. I run NVidia's drivers on Mandrake 9 on my Linux box at work, and it's rock steady.

      I don't do a great deal of graphics-intensive stuff, but do generally play a few rounds of either Unreal Tournament or RtCW each working day (after hours, of course). I've not once had a crash, although occasionally KDE's screen locking button stops working after playing...

  52. WTF by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 5, Funny
    Sony handed out condoms shaped like PS2 buttons

    Okay, I've heard some weird things about Australians, but I had no idea they had dicks shaped like triangles, squares and Xs.

    --
    If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
    1. Re:WTF by Kris_J · · Score: 2
      Okay, I've heard some weird things about Australians, but I had no idea they had dicks shaped like triangles, squares and Xs.
      Hey, once you've gone down-under you'll never go back.
  53. Weird Science galore by CrystalFalcon · · Score: 2

    Yeah, and life will be all like Weird Science, when you can alter the porno flick on the fly for breast or other sizes just by pressing a button.

    When you can have all the porn you want, what's the challenge gonna be? Actually go out the front door? :-)

    1. Re:Weird Science galore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In your case, you'll switch out the girl for the goatsxe guy.

  54. Re:Real Link. by deathcloset · · Score: 1

    Aww!? A Zero! I can understand though. Should have posted anonymous. But when someone puts up something purposefully erroneous thinking it's funny to annoy people, I like to find something actually funny about said anoyment so, hopefully, they feel like they failed...Yes, I hate them that much.
    In case this post's frame of reference is gone, the original anonymous post sent me to www.agdc.com (A non-english church site) and not to www.agdc.com.au (the real deal)
    So look at this pic and tell me it doesn't look like the big-J is like a 40th level diety and is ruling over his server...or cooking the earth - maybe he's giving everyone on the planet zeros for redundancy.

  55. Better design idea? by AnonymousCowheard · · Score: 0

    I thought it would be a good idea for nVidia to flip the entire design so the GPU, cooling system, and the general circuitry was facing upwards. And better yet, nVidia should design an air duct to attach to the top of the GPU's fan and suck the hot air upwards and expel it through the rear of the case far away from where they initialy designed it to take the extra PCI slot. This would also allow better cooling systems to be applied as well as big heatsinks placed ontop the RAM on the graphics board. Only issue this would bring back is dust will collect more on the top and was why AGP and PCI always faced their circuitry down unlike ISA expansion cards.

    You are apparently the only slashdotter not smoking crack today. :D

    --

    But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
    1. Re:Better design idea? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I thought it would be a good idea for nVidia to flip the entire design so the GPU, cooling system, and the general circuitry was facing upwards."

      So GPU can suck hot air from 3GHz P4?

  56. Transistor counts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It really is going to be quite a while before we get true cinematic quality graphics (despite the NVidia marketing hype). I believe we'll start to see truly comparable quality when the transistor counts reach about 1 billion. Yes, that pretty much means we're going to need roughly .4 micron parts by that time.

    Judging by how much more difficult it was to transition from .13 to .09 than it was from .15 to .13 or .18 to .15, I really don't see this as being possible.

    Thus, I think we'll begin to see NVidia bringing out more of the 3dfx-esque parallelism before long. They do, after all, own 3dfx IP.

  57. New GeforceFX COOLING !!!! by titirezad · · Score: 1

    heyhey...i've check your photos of the GeforceFX and can see 2 PCI slots occupied by the pipe cooling under the card/agp slot !!! Anyway to have more infos about the cooling system ??? Are all videocards going to get such solution facing the ever increasing power ?!! Can't wait to have one of these in my hands...whoua !

  58. How do you play the videos? by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 2
    The don't play on Linux with Xine, with whatever codecs come with it.

    On my XP system, WMP 8 gets an error trying to download the necessary codecs. I downloaded the latest codec package from MS and installed them all, and they still won't play.

    The media player on Win98 also doesn't come with the right codec.

    When making a video to show off your stuff, wouldn't it be a good idea to actually use a widely available format?

    1. Re:How do you play the videos? by damiam · · Score: 1

      mplayer is the answer to all video-related problems.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  59. Could be fun... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I suppose that the video will show all kinds of hot fan action.

    If it's anything like the hot celeb action I've seen lately, bring it on!

  60. Could be something else possibly... by SageLikeFool · · Score: 1
    Stab in the dark here, but it could be a power thing. Ever since the Geforce1 Nvidia cards have had a tendency to suck down copious amounts of electricity. If your power supply is less than 300 watts (especially if you are also running an Athlon cpu), it could be the culprit.

    That isn't meant as a flame. I am very happy with the Geforce3 Ti200 in my system and my next cpu will be AMD.

  61. DivX ;-) by SageLikeFool · · Score: 1
    www.divx.com

    That should be the place to get the correct codec.

  62. The Hobbit by pommiekiwifruit · · Score: 2
    Horace goes skiing, Way of the Exploding Fist...

    Melbourne in particular has been well known in producing games for the last 20 years.

  63. I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was there for the whole conference, and I must say that I absolutely despise those little gamer shitfucks. I know that's probably a stupid thing to say, since they're the people that keep me in my dream job as a developer, but do you think that in the future we could keep the PLAYERS separated from the DEVELOPERS, seeing as it is a conference for DEVELOPERS?

    I mean, for christ's sake, would it kill these people to have a fucking shower? My god they stank! Every time I went to talk to someone at a stand some little stinky fat fuck gamer would waddle up behind me and breathe all over me whilst going 'ooh, ahh!' at shit that they don't understand.

    And what's the deal with those fuckers sneaking into the refreshments area and drinking all our coffee and eating all our snacks? Even worse, they came into the Sony cocktail party and ate all the food, swiped the frangers, drank the beer and even collected the major door prize!

    What the fuck is up with that!? I'm not the only one who was pissed off by it, many more guys I talked to were too.

    In the future, keep the players separated from the developers. We/our companies paid hundreds to attend the conference - why should those smelly kids enjoy for free what we paid for?

    1. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dont be like that ...

      You are developing the game for this ppl to buy.
      Know wonder ppl dont like to buy games and just leech them for free cause of lame attuide from the developer like you.

      Love
      Smelly Gammer.

    2. Re: i was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it was me
      i was the one..
      it was I!
      i stole your food
      and i was the fat sweaty one.
      ME!

    3. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      G'day, i went to the LANfest part of the lan

      in reply to the jerkass who made the post...

      ---I was there for the whole conference, and I must say that I absolutely despise those little gamer shitfucks---

      Dude, seriously, we are all not like that, we have been lanning for 2 days, some people do stink...
      we never came into the refreshments area.

      ---'ooh, ahh!' at shit that they don't understand>---
      does this mean that we only game and no nothing bout game development?

      ---Even worse, they came into the Sony cocktail party and ate all the food, swiped the frangers, drank the beer and even collected the major door prize!---

      I wont deny we went there to the cokctail party, we were invited to have drinks, and listen to the presentation, i wont deny we drank some beer, but therwe was a fair bit of it there, its not like you would have run out!
      When i got there there was barely any food, just dried cracker biscuits & dip, our and one of the lanenrs won the door prize, boohoo
      (also, sif u need frangers, your hand won't get diseaes)

      and lastly, we did not get the conference for free, it was part of our costs for attending the lan. having the lan at the AGDC makes it a much better conference.

      Oh, and i must say, a fair lot of lanners who went to the developers conference, found it worthwhile, coming back gaining some knowledge from there.

      OH AND LASTLY
      those Geforce FX fuckn rocked!

    4. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, for a start we DID pay to be there... and we WERE invited to the cocktail party u idiot

      fuckin get ur facts straight before you start whinging..

    5. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The LANning element seems to be felt like a forgotton part of the game development process. While organising the LANfest, we had numerous developers from various companies come into the room and ask "Whats all this??", as if they really hadn't seen a LAN before. This was even said by an X-BOX representitive!

      AGDC is an opportunity for all developers to share ideas and identify directions for their industry (amongst other things). A major part of this is to communicate, and gain feedback from the consumers of their product, the 'gamers'. LANners are some of the most harshest critics around, and for developers to have the opportunity to obtain direct feedback is a very useful feature of the conference. Hence why AGDC was happy to have AusGamers run a LANfest for the conference as we had done the previous year.

      Yes, we "invaded" the cocktail party. Yes we drank the beer. Yes one of the gamers won the prize, but. This doesnt mean we had any less right to be there than you, the developer.

      The purpose of the conference is for the game developers... if you believe it or not, gamers have a part in the development process. This is evident in the numerous beta tests that are released to the gaming public, and the feedback provided that helps shape the game design process, and, i still would like to believe that _some_ developers are gamers too (or vice versa).

      As for the smell, i agree with you there... A lot of gamers are still teens/kids, and personal hyegeine isnt exactly a common concept with them ;P

    6. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you do realise you are bagging out your customers

      tell me the name of the company you work for, so i know not to buy any of your stuff. and so i can pass on my feelings about you and who you represent on to others.

      die.

    7. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ok know nothing get real

      if you really thimnk that then feel free to come and have a chat with me on a chat program.
      I am interested in getting into the game developing field so I had a right to go to AGDC. I dont have a job because I am a full time student so I couldent afford the delegate pass so I went to the lan and enjoyed the rest of the conferance.

      As I suspect knowing quite a few people in the game dev industry your company payed for you and you dident pay a cent. Dirty bastage.

      also did you ever realise that mayby some of the people in the expo or developers at AGDC wnated to get an opinion from a gamer who doesent work in the game dev business.

      With the cocktail party if you dident like us going then go bitch to Sony. They payed for it so they can do whatever they want and im sure that they dont really care what some whinning arogant prick thinks they should do because he dident have a good time at AGDC.

      Some of what I have said may seem a bit harsh but I had a really good time at AGDC and was very greatful for being able to go. But nevertheless there is allways one bad egg.

    8. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grow the fuck up.

    9. Re:I was there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only more people took your advice. By the looks of it, both self-righteous developers AND 'stinky fat fuck' gamers need a little social coaching

    10. Re:I was there by VRBones · · Score: 1

      -- I am interested in getting into the game developing field so I had a right to go to AGDC. I dont have a job because I am a full time student so I couldent afford the delegate pass so I went to the lan and enjoyed the rest of the conferance. --

      The LANfest price was $35, exactly the same as the student price for the conference. LAN goers had exactly the same access to the conference as the students, which was limited to the keynote speeches and the educational strand of the talks. Student pass holders were also invited to the sony cocktail party, as were the over 18 LANners. See the similarity anywhere ?

      --
      VR: The way OF the future VR: The way TO the future
    11. Re:I was there by high_up_developer · · Score: 1

      I didn't go to AGDC because it is fucked. The Lanfest is the only thing that makes it half impressive as a show of Australian Development.

  64. Re:READ THE LINK! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    how about you read the link you fucking retard.

  65. Re:Yet another reason why commercial games are bet by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 1
    Who says that Linux Gamers won't pay for games, nothing says that you can't have comercial software on Linux, Linux people are gamers too and Open Source games are never going to be as close as the $50.00 game you payed for in the store unless its a buggy, rushed out the publisher's door game, but thats another story.

    No commercial game (or software for that matter) has ever been successfully sold because it "runs on Linux". The very rare number of commercial games that are available for Linux are there either because someone took an extreme risk to port them (Loki ported ancient games to Linux and we see where they are now.. out of business) or they ported already wildly successful or anticipated Windows games (Quake being the main one I can recall). Linux didn't even show up as a blip on the sales sheet for these games though. 98% of gamers are going to be running Windows so why bother supporting anything else? There's no benefit to it! Hell, Mac gamers can barely get decent game support and there's far more of them than there are Linux users.

  66. Why does this Tweak guy get special treatment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I for one, and getting tired of seeing Mr_Tweak posting news that points to his own web site.

    I have no doubt that there are quite a few other sites whose articles are just as worthy as Tweak's, but the webmasters of those sites are not allowed to repeatedly pimp their own sites.

    If Tweak is so much better than other sites like it, why doesn't Slashdot just add them to the headlines box in the lower right side and be done with it?

    Smells like a tuna boat that's been on the beach for a week.

  67. caliphate of death terrorist killer murderer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    caliphate of death terrorist killer murderer fuck you towelhead fuck.

    dirty camel dick sucking pig eating pig pussy licking pig shit fucker.

  68. Doom3 is old news. by AnonymousCowheard · · Score: 0
    Doom3 will simply be a more "optimized" game for the average computer; John Carmack is quite clever in letting people play on their desktops for at least 3 years (not). The technology of Doom3 is dynamic lighting, of which Radeon 8000 and above, Matrox Parhelia, and nVdia GeForce3 and above are capable of accomplishing. How will you know your computer system as a whole will be able to play Doom3 initialy (without knowing your hardware specs)? Well, people have always been working on implementing dynamic lighting in their applications for quite a while and well-before Doom3 was ever announced.

    The games that are exibiting dynamic lighting are modified releases of the Quake 1 source from ID software! There are about 5 different quake 1 projects that are in active development, but I am only able to post two: ex-Loki employee Ryan Gordon is hosting Dark Places on his www.icculus.org website. Also of note, Ryan Gordon is currently porting games as Battlefield:1942 to Linux and has since finished porting Serious Same:First Encounter to Linux. I recommend visiting the beginning of www.icculus.org for a good list of fun and hardware-strenuous 3d ganes that as well run on linux. But back to dynamic lighting, the only other project I can remember from my immediate L1 memmory is Tenebrae. Tenebrae builds on linux just fine, says someone I can't remember on the tenebrae sourceforge.net help forums. I recommend Dark Places because it is more stable than tenebrae, in my 64bit Alpha platform gaming experience. Still, check Dark Places' screenshots page tenebrae's screenshot page and drool as I did over the pictures. Currently requires graphics hardware with Vertex and Pixel shader technology. Meaning, if you don't have an AGP interface on your motherboard, your only option(albeit a verry good one) is to buy a Radeon 9000 PCI on eBay which is made only by PowerColor

    --

    But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
  69. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 1

    Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly
    big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the
    drug store, but that's just peanuts to space.
    -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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