Slashdot Mirror
The Future of PC Games, According to Microsoft
Geaty writes "Gamespot has an article up about Microsoft's big PC plans. Topics covered include why DirectX 9 will be the last DX for a while, the increased game support in Longhorn, and a 'standard' PC controller. Looks to this ignorant reader like Microsoft is trying to tackle the games market (again?), cornering matchmaking and patching. The controller issue seems like an attempt to bring to the PC platform some of the uniformity that consoles have."
I wonder if you'll need to use an Activation key for their new controllers? :P
But seriously, why would PC's need a standard gaming controller?? I can't see the keyboard mouse combo going anywhere anytime soon..
R4NT.com - A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
the man from Microsoft suggests that longhorn will give users the ability to play games directly from the cd, without installation. Which is great in theory, but what does that mean? Either your loading the whole game into RAM, *shudder* or it will include a program to automatically install when you run the game, and uninstall the program when you finish. At least that's what I think, if somebody can think up other possibilities, I'm all ears.
Jacob
http://www.santacruzbynight.com/index.shtml Santa Cruz By Night Vampire Larp
From the article: As has been rumored, Longhorn will likely include a major overhaul in Window's visual presentation, which may include 3D interface elements. Lester also said it would include a special "My Games" view that would centralize all the matchmaking, control panel settings, patching tools, and game lists and make such tasks much simpler. Microsoft is working on streamlining a number of current technical trouble areas, like the installation process and display drivers, and will centralize game updates through a Windows Update-like patch server. It's also looking into making it possible to run Windows games directly from the CD without installation. Somewhat more straightforward features include adding sophisticated matchmaking into Microsoft Messenger and parental controls over which users can play certain games.
Integrated match making? So, while I'm busy running around in DAOC, blowing shit up in the next Duke Nukem, I can also be matched up... with what? Other games? Dating Services?
Second interesting point is the no-installation-needed... so PC games and XBox games will be seamlessly transferable? Neato!
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Free your mind.
All computers already have 'standard' controllers: they're called keyboard and mouse. Works like a charm in most game genres I prefer (FPS and RTS).
At least in terms of generating new hardware and software sales. Right now a 3 year old machine runs most business and office type applications adequately and there is very little incentive to upgrade. Unlike the good old days when an upgrade was need approximately every 1.2 years just to run the newest spreadsheet which had features that you desperately needed.
Games on the hand are much more intensive and often hook into unique operating system facilities that provide an incentive to upgrade. Case in point I just bought my son a new jet sim game this week end and it would not run wn Win2000 but would on XP. It was dog slow and often froze on my ancient 450 K5 and 900 Mhz Duron. And had be tbinking of buying a new machine while I sat waiting to reboot the system every 30 minutes.
I can't see the keyboard mouse combo going anywhere anytime soon..
Try playing Street Fighter II with a keyboard and mouse. Watch me whip you with a PS1 controller connected to the PC through an EMS USB2 adapter.
Try connecting more than one keyboard and mouse to one computer. One computer per player is much too expensive.
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Microsoft doesn't want DirectX on the PC to get too far ahead of the Xbox. They don't want developers and people to realize in 2 years the Xbox is a 3 year old PC equilivant of what their grandmother is using.
ie, think of some sort of API that allows game developers to implement said api, and magically have their software appear in this match-finding app. Like the old GameSpy application but with plugin support for new games.
One less thing for a game maker to worry about building, testing, and putting in their game. As for games, think about Sport games, First Person Shooters, and RTS games, where you are looking to find a quick pickup of X player or some server with a good ping time.
To a certain extent, this was tried with DirectPlay, but DirectPlay was too little, too late, and over architected. Hopefully, this is simply a shell that specific some base interfaces the games should support, and a well known location for them to register themselves.
-malakai
-malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
Microsoft doesn't expect to release another major DirectX update for a couple of years.
:)
It's also looking into making it possible to run Windows games directly from the CD without installation.
Microsoft is working on a standard PC controller
Microsoft is really heading the right way - gaming. The idea of boot-n-play and standard controller really makes standard PC an excellent game console, and that's the way we long to see. They should really put more focus on what they are really good and and not waste time on fighting with other platforms with things they aren't good at.
I can foresee the future propaganda of Microsoft Windows - 'Ultimate Gaming Platform for PC and your great office assistant'.
Computers already have standard controllers included. They're called the keyboard and mouse.
I haven't seen one PC game that allows use of two keyboards for two players on one machine.
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Am I the only person that thinks that System Requirement scheme sounds horrifically complicated and painful. How exactly, do you plan to describe a computer in a single character?
It simplifies things down to a small number of levels (or to a level of complexity that's stupid, like having to remember that you have a level 3.25 B R23 computer). What happens if you have a processer intensive game that requires little hardware video and sound acceleration? How does that compare to a game that has a great deal of hardware acceleration and requires very little processor power. At least the current system is able to specifically list individual requirements. If, however, you plan to rank individual requirements on a scale of some sort, how does that simplify anything at all?
Software uniformity is hardly the greatest of the PC game-maker's concerns as hardware configurations are far more diverse. It would seem, however, that the new ATI and nVidia offerings are bringing graphics closer and closer to photo-realistic quality and hopefully once such a quality is reached and the majority of casual gamers have the necessary hardware the focus of PC games will shift back towards the gameplay, storyline, and complexity that simply cannot be matched by console games.
assuming the above occurs, one must also realize that consoles are killing themselves in some aspects. one of the best aspects of early consoles such as the atari 2600 and nintendo was the ease of use - simply pop in a cart and play, no hardware, software, or OS issues. now take a look at the X-Box and PS2 (gamecube doesn't fit the paradigm but also is not as popular and arguably targeted at a much younger audience over all): they have hard-drives, increasingly complex RISC OSs, and are constructed at least partially of modified PC parts. with new features promised such as patches available over the internet and hardware expansions the consoles are turning themselves into nothing more than mini-PCs, and personally I'd rather spend a few hundred more dollars and buy myself a decent desktop PC.
Dungeon Siege or Neverwinter Nights. Thats not a tough choice.
Combat Flight Sim 3 or IL2. Thats not a tough choice.
Age of Empires or Europa Universalis 2 (for realism) or any command and conquer game (for the same gameplay) That also is not a tough choice
how about Trainz vs Microsoft Train Simulator. Once again, the non-ms product has it.
Okay, the microsoft 4x4 monster truck game (cant rememvber the title exacly) against 4x4 EVO. I would rather have the non-microsoft SUV.
The close combat series was GREAT under SSI, microsoft made it suck. The UI was improved, but the playability went to nothing.
The future of Microsoft games seems to be: find a successful genre and then make a second rate game...I guess you could argue the same about their office suite and their OS, but thats not the point of this post. The future of gaming historically has not been microsoft. It has been someone else, then microsoft makes the same game with a better UI... Not just a troll, but a hardcore gamer's opinion...
That's the only reason i have gamepad controllers for my PC. The concept of 'standardizing' them just means get the hardware manufacturers to agree on common number of button/analog sticks/d-pads...whatever. So that for each game, I don't have to go through an elabortate mapping tool, or make sure i have the most well known controller. I'd like to be able to pick "PC Controller Standard 1.0" from a list and be done. I'm sure developers wouldn't mind being able to say "tested with a standard controller by company X".
-malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
they're called keyboard and mouse. Works like a charm in most game genres I prefer
Unfortunately, you don't prefer the same game genres that some other Slashdot users such as myself prefer. Would you want to play Tekken or Tetris Attack on a keyboard?
Personally, I would be quite happy if I could just grab console games and play them without having to drop another $200-300 on console hardware.
Then buy a Flash Advance Linker ($40 or so) and several Game Boy Advance game paks. With those, you can legitimately run your favorite GBA games, including ports of old NES and Super NES classics, in nearly perfect emulation.
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Hope their new standard includes support for daisy chaining controllers. Not that LAN play isn't vastly superior to split-screen, but since they're trying to do it right they might as well go all the way.
Hey Mr. Game Developer, why don't you go ahead and port that nifty new pc game to the Xbox2 too while you're at it? Look it has a controller also, what a coincidence!
Sure hit Linux users where it hurts the most...games!!! Now theres less and less chance for Linux compatible games. Its gonna be Linux for office/technical stuff and Windows for gaming...ohh wait:)
I just thought on how cool it would be to play quake with the nintendo 64 controller.
Want cool? Buy it now.
I personally prefer using PS1 controllers with the EMS USB2 adapter.
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Ignore the Microsoft connection and look at what they are basically pitching: An operating system designed with a set of standards that will make it easy for developers to design games. Right down to the controller.
:)
The only drawback I can find is that it's a "super console plus!" situation. I'm a gamer, and I'm fine with that.
I've often speculated that a distribution of Linux should be made that is specifically geared toward gaming. Coordinate hardware support with the major vendors so their product works with ease, and build the OS specifically to deliver fast processing for gaming. Anything that has nothing to do with playing games is cut out of it.
Keep it free. Let game distributors bundle it with the games they sell. If the OS was good enough to deliver DoomIII on the day of retail, and you were able to tie down some major title support, it could work. Suddenly every gamer out there is running a Linux distribution to play their games. Suddenly every major developer is developing games just for Linux. Why? Because the OS functions well as a gaming OS (by design), and because it's free so everyone can have it.
In effect, you create a Linux standard for gaming, that can run top quality games, and is free.
Many of us have Windows because the best games work on it. Games are designed to work on Windows because most of us have Windows. Circular, but true.
If Doom III, GTA IV, and EverQuest 2 all came out for Mac and Mac alone, I'd be typing this on a blue keyboard right now. If they all came from Linux, I'd be typing this in a Mozilla window.
Mind you, I'd try this myself, but I can't code myself out of a 486 and have to feed my kids so I can't go urchin and skip on the rest of my life.
Grimwell - old, cranky, mean, obsessive
From the article:
.[Microsoft is] also looking into making it possible to run Windows games directly from the CD without installation. . . .Microsoft is working on a standard PC controller, which would allow a more seamless conversion of cross-platform titles and generally simplify the use of PC gamepads.
The plan is to set up a numerical system that categorizes and groups system levels, and when this goes into effect in 2005 or so, a level-1 system might represent the current or year-old value-priced PC configurations, while level 2 and level 3 group systems that define the mainstream and high-end performance of the time.
This strikes me as bad solution to an already sticky problem. Whats to stop a studio from saying a game that runs at 10fps on a system considered a "1" from slapping a "1" rating on it in order to maximize their possible audience? Its all about sales, right? In addition, I wonder if in 2005 the hardware change-rate will be any different, limitations of silicon or no.
Somewhat more straightforward features include adding sophisticated matchmaking into Microsoft Messenger . .
Great, I've got a computer with a standard Microsoft controller, great graphics, that plays my DVDs, music, etc, and has matchmaking for me at no extra cost outside of bandwidth. Tell me again why I'd want an X-box?
Sure, there are other reasons for owning one, but it does seem that Microsoft, in working to console-ize the PC, might be somewhat shooting themselves in the foot. . . ? I'm sure they've thought of/discussed this, but it still strikes me as counter productive when they remain dedicated to the console industry.
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Don't worry, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep in a giant blender.
meanwhile, people were still developing Playstation 1 games long past the time when it was _obvious_ that the Playstation 1 was the three year old PC equivalent of what their grandmother is using. Remember: consoles are special because they represent an unmoving target for game developers. Game developers optimize the hell out of console games, which they simply cannot do with PC games given the wide variety of available hardware (not to mention drivers, 3d lib support, operating systems, etc.) that the game could be running on. So, despite the fact that XBox is no longer (and has never been) a high-end PC, you will still see mind-blowingly complex games coming out for it because of this non-moving target fact. Same thing goes for the PS2, a 300MHz machine with some ridiculously small amount of RAM, and no hard drive.
iRooster, the Mac OS X a
Heres the story in German, no thanks is neccesary.
DirectX 9 ist die letzte DX Freigabe für eine Weile, wie Microsoft Betriebsmittel auf das Bilden der grösseren Verbesserungen für PC-Spiel im Longhorn richtet, einschließlich des Einführens eines Standardsteuerpults. An GDC hatten wir eine Wahrscheinlichkeit, mit Dekan Lester, der Divisionschef hinzusitzen Graphik- und Spiel Microsoft-Windows, über das neue hauptsächlichprojekt des Software-Riesen zu hören, um das PC eine bessere Spielplattform zu bilden. Lester bestätigte, daß zwei oder drei Jahre der Aufmerksamkeit der Firma auf das Ausstoßen des Xbox gerichtet wurden, aber er sagte, daß jetzt es die Umdrehung des PC ist. Die PC-Spielinitiative hat Unterstützung "von der Rechnung und von Ballmer" an unten, und sie ist genug einer Priorität, daß es einige 200 Leute gibt, die auf ihr arbeiten. Im Allgemeinen bildet Microsoft das Verbessern der PC-Spielerfahrung eine der zentralen Anklänge von Longhorn, die folgende Hauptversion von Windows, das in ungefähr zwei Jahren erwartet wird. Bevor man ungefähr zu viel sagt, wo Microsoft geht, ist es wichtig, zu wissen, wo die Plattform steht. Wir haben Hauptfreigaben von DirectX fast jedes Jahr gesehen, seit der Standard an den frühen Tagen von Windows 95 debuted. Lester deckte auf, daß DirectX 9 genügende Eigenschaften verpackt, um Zukunft-Beweis zu sein und ein temporärer stoppender Platz für DX Entwicklung ist. ATI, Nvidia und andere Kleinteilfirmen haben aus ihren Straßenkarten ausführlich genügend buchstabiert, dem DX9 vorher nicht angekündigte Unterstützung für alle zukünftigen Graphikeigenschaften hat und infolgedessen Microsoft nicht erwartet, ein anderes HauptDirectX Update für ein Paar von Jahren freizugeben. Wie gerüchteweise verbritten worden ist, umfaßt Longhorn wahrscheinlich eine Hauptüberholung in der Sichtdarstellung des Fensters, die Schnittstelle 3D Elemente umfassen kann. Lester sagte ihn auch würde umfassen eine spezielle Ansicht "meiner Spiele", die alles Matchmaking, Steuerverkleidung Einstellungen, ausbessernden Werkzeuge zentralisieren, und Spiellisten und solche Aufgaben viel einfacher bilden würde. Microsoft arbeitet auf der Stromlinienverkleidung einer Anzahl von gegenwärtigen technischen Mühebereichen, wie den Installation Prozess- und Anzeigentreibern und wird Spielupdates durch Windows Update-wie Fleckenbediener zentralisieren. Es schaut auch in das Machen es möglich, Windows Spiele direkt vom CD ohne Installation laufen zu lassen. Ein wenig direktere Eigenschaften umfassen das Addieren des verfeinerten Matchmakings in Microsoft Kurier und in elterliche Gewalten, über denen Benutzer bestimmte Spiele spielen können. Es gibt Paare der Teile der Initiative, die breite Industrieunterstützung erfordert: neue Systemanforderungen für Kleinpakete und einen Standard für PC-Steuerpulte. Die gegenwärtigen Methoden für die Registrierung von von Systemanforderungen sind verwirrend und nicht notwendigerweise stellen dar, was wirklich erforderlich ist, damit ein Spiel gut durchführt. Der Plan ist, ein numerisches System aufzustellen, das Systemebene kategorisiert und gruppiert, und wenn dieses in Effekt 2005 oder so einsteigt, konnte ein System level-1 den Strom darstellen, oder Einjahres Wert-setzten für Preis PC-Konfigurationen, während waagerecht ausgerichtete 2 und die waagerecht ausgerichteten 3 Gruppe Systeme fest, die die Hauptströmungs- und high-end Leistung der Zeit definieren. Da PC weiterkommen, werden neue Niveaus addiert. Lester ließ zu, daß es einige Herausforderungen gab, voran, zum der Industrieunterstützung notwendigerweise zu erhalten, aber er merkte auch, daß Longhorn die Art von allgemeinem rethinking der PC-Standards erfordern würde, das begleitete vorhergehende Windows Erzeugungen ist. Eine der grösseren
(1) Standalone CDs - With what I've read on Longhorn, this shouldn't be an issue - since the traditional file system will be replaced by a registry type database. However, for massively multimedia intensive games, there will be a physical need for installation - unless they mean DVD instead of CD.
(2) Standardization of a PC controller - this could be fun, because if they actually standardize, it would mean that people could build their own controllers... *if* they make it an Open Standard. History says no.
(3) With DirectX 9 stalled and 64 bit processors due out shortly, I wonder if the hooks for utilizing the 64 bit instruction set for the new Intel are already there - or if Microsoft is handing AMD a nice swing at a juicy ball.
(4) Centralization of game patch updates is interesting in that it means that game manufacturers may become inspired to put out shoddy first releases so that people need to go through the Update server to get the fixes that make things work... and if they didn't buy the title... Well, think about it.
(5) "adding sophisticated matchmaking into Microsoft Messenger and parental controls over which users can play certain games" adds to point 4, but also demonstrates that they are also doing something naughty that the DoJ had something to say about.
In all... Just more Microsoft. No really *good* news.
Not to mention that even consoles have alternate controllers you can buy. (ObMSJoke)Heck, for the Xbox, you can even get a gamepad that human hands will fit around!(/ObMSJoke)
It seems to me that from reading this article they may be planning on compatibility between Loghorn and Xbox2.
Standard Controller, possibility of running games from CD, centralized game management. Since the Xbox is basically a PC, and the games are basically Windows games using DirectX, this isn't a stretch of the imagination.
Buy one game, and run it on your Xbox2 or your PC. Play online with people running Xbox2's and you can use your PC, or vice versa. With a standard PC "gamepad" it would be the same type of controls.
I don't think this would be a terrible idea, but it sure would push game developers more to a "windows only" choice of platforms, which isn't really great. I'm still hoping for more games on Linux.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
So, I'll add my two cents, as an MCSE...
The plan is to set up a numerical system that categorizes and groups system levels, and when this goes into effect in 2005 or so, a level-1 system might represent the current or year-old value-priced PC configurations, while level 2 and level 3 group systems that define the mainstream and high-end performance of the time.
This numerical system could also be described as a "commodification system", a "social-engineering system", or a "market manipulation system". Be wary of this numerical system. This plan is begging to commodify PCs into more "bundled" and "console" like systems. Which, of course, is contrary to the concept of a generalized computing device, which many people believe a PC should be. My suggestion would be to clamor and veto this plan, if possible... It seems to have bad karma written all over it...
Lester revealed that DirectX 9 packs enough features to be future-proof and is a temporary stopping place for DX development.
A rather bold statement, all things considered. Does it support autostereoscopic monitors? How about lectiliniar monitors? What about multi-layer LCD or wave-monitors?
And what multi-head display configurations? Will it support a 9 screen configuration, in case I decide to build a dedicated MechWarrior station? (Anybody remember LucasArt's "X-Wing"? Heh... I always wanted to build a multi-head game pod for that game...)
Also, what about DICOM datasets and other volumetric biomedical datasets? Them algorithm based games are nice and all, but what about future games which may want to encorporate medical-grade bioinformatics? "Future-proof" is an awefully strong statement, it seems to me...
Anyhow... I don't know where I was going with this post. Just a couple of cents to add to the discussion...
I don't want to be forced to use a single console for a game, on a standarised system, playing games that can't be modded (Palladium), written using proprietary medium formats (DVD+/-), and using a single, specific OS. The computer is the Nascar of electronic gaming; in my opinion, consoles are just "street legals."
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
Think about this:
When I want to aim, I want accuracy and speed. With a mouse I can just flip it and fire, a joystick of any kind interferes with that.
When I want to move forward I either want to run(fast) or walk(silently). A joystick for movement usually results in me breaking it or hurting my wrist trying to get every last degree of motion.
Gamepads are good for fighting games, they are good for 2d Zelda games, but nothing can take the place of a mouse in first person shooters. That said, a left-handed joystick and a mouse might be better than a k/b. I'll try it if I ever get the ambition.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Why not just buy Quake 64, or Quake II?
;)
My friends and I used to have the best times getting plastered and playing Q3A on the Dreamcast. Now, it's a couple Xboxes, a couple TVs, a hub, and Halo. Same effect, twice as many people crammed into my room.
I just thought on how cool it would be to play quake against you with a ps/2 mouse!
Yeah, but the game after Quake 1 in the line-up isn't Quake 3 or Counter-strike but rather Puyo Puyo. Let's see how well you fare at that with a mouse!
Will I retire or break 10K?
The idea of boot-n-play and standard controller really makes standard PC an excellent game console
The PC still lacks in three important factors that keep it from being a serious game console: 1. TV-out standard rather than as an extra-cost option (I don't like to have four players huddled around a 17 inch monitor), 2. native game designs that work well on a display as blurry as a TV (no tiny details to squint at), and 3. fan and HD noise. My GameCube console has a fan but is still much quieter than my Dell PC.
Will I retire or break 10K?
... about the future of the PC, it's that it won't include Microsoft.
Perhaps they'll still be around for the next 5 years or so, while the last few people still gulp down their proprietary wares.
Honestly, there's no longer any reason to take these jokers seriously.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
Of course, the catch is it will be full of spyware, DRM crap, backdoors, A EULA stating they 0wnz j00, etc... But they will market "GAMING!!" and everyone will buy it.
How many different console systems can you name that have the same controller?
I thought so - now think of how easy you have changed your binds on another person's pc when you are about to start gibbing.
thought so.
How come none of this stuff made it over to .NET? (OK there is the image class LockBits() method, but things get ugly with unsafe code and pointers.) But there is no hardware scroll or vertical retrace synch available in .NET except for PInvoke down to Windows. How come Microsoft's fancy-shmancy new system is less capable than Windows?
When is .NET going to get access to stuff that even overlapping-windows based Windows API's have had for producing graphics and animation, not just for games but for all other kinds of software (maps, charts, recorders, spectrum analysers)? Or is .NET an orphan from the standpoint of gaming API's?
Does Microsoft (and many others) think that everything that is not a game is satisfied with a few buttons, menus, dialogs, and edit boxes? Don't applications other than games do serious graphics? How does .NET fit into this picture?
Either your loading the whole game into RAM, *shudder*
That's what PS1 and PS2 games do. They load a basic OS into RAM and then mount the CD drive read-only.
or it will include a program to automatically install when you run the game, and uninstall the program when you finish.
That's pretty much what Xbox games do.
Will I retire or break 10K?
If you want to put the linux spin on it, that'll work as well as anything else. I'm absolutely shocked that there is not a gaming specific OS on the market today that will operate on it's own, or make it simple to dual boot to another OS.
No extras, No office, no MSpaint, no purpose other than to devote every available resource to gaming. It would be a gimme. Anyone who spends 100+ on a video card would drop 50 on this OS if it will run the games noticeably better.
I only wish I had the coding skills to proof the concept. I know someone does though, and I desperately hope that person runs into some investment.
Or gives his OS away for free. That would be cool too.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
The only real problem I see with mouse + keyboard is that some games require you to hold down several keys at once to do something, and that can cause problems. Like, try playing MSHvsSF under MAME. Can you select any of the secret characters? I can't. Holding down the key mapped to start plus a direction key makes the rest of the keys on my keyboard fail to function. Probably a buffer overflow or something.
Is you have a range of $500-$4000 consoles that play mostly the same games.
Ask 3DO how well it works out to sell consoles for around $700.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
compatibility between Loghorn and Xbox2.
Does that mean Microsoft is going to call Longhorn "Windows XB"?
Since the Xbox is basically a PC, and the games are basically Windows games using DirectX, this isn't a stretch of the imagination.
The Xbox 1 has NVIDIA graphics. Requiring an Xbox 2 compatible video card for whatever version of DirectX comes with Longhorn would pretty much hand the video card market to NVIDIA. Watch the next administration (that is, without AG A$$croft) breakup such a monopolistic action.
Will I retire or break 10K?
But if the keyboard is used less, then how are people going to communicate? I seriously doubt that anymore than 40% of all gamers have headsets or microphones for their computer. Spliting the work between a controller and a keyboard is an impossiblity as well considering controllers are designed and constructed just to be held in a working position with two hands. Only the mouse and the joystick have managed to do this successfully but comparing those with a game controller is like comparing a one man rowboat with a 20 man kayak.
If you like 3d racing games, why would you play the Sims?
No. I'd fire up my N64 and play F-Zero X.
Will I retire or break 10K?
When they pry it from my cold dead fingers, and toes.
Same goes for my flight stick.
The PC is *not* a console. That's kinda the point. It's a *general purpose* machine which one can adapt as one likes. Hell, they've even had to supply wheel and pedal sets for consoles now. Using anything else for seriously playing driving sims doesn't even make sense.
I like adaptation, of the machine to me. Not the other way around, and I've never seen no "game pad" in a Fokker DR1.
KFG
Even Goldeneye, crippled N64 hardware and all, was better than Halo. Eat it Billy Boy.
As much as I don't like MS...I have to admit that Freelancer is just good old classic fun. It's on one cd, has an interesting single player, and multiplayer. Sure, they stole the idea for from another old game....so you can still dislike them....but dang, what a quality game.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
But they will market "GAMING!!" and everyone will buy it.
And then Nintendo will market "GAMING WITHOUT SPYWARE ON A BIG T.V. SCREEN WITH YOUR FAVORITE MIYAMOTO CHARACTERS!" and everybody will buy the GC2.
Will I retire or break 10K?
I've been an FPS fan since the first time I heard a Nazi guard scream "Mein Leben!" in Wolfenstein 3D. From the beginning, I've been a keyboard and mouse purist -- I tried a controller supposedly designed for corridor shooters (it looked like a little minigun and I think it was called Cybermax or something like that; it was nine years ago), but I couldn't get the control that I got out of my number pad and mouse.
Then last fall a friend brought his Xbox over and introduced me to Halo. I used his "S" controller because I have little hampster hands and it fits better than the standard gorilla controller. After about five minutes of familiarization, I was sniping, weaving, and circle-strafing with ease.
If you're having problems with the standard Xbox controller, I recommend giving the "S" model a try. It works really well for me, anyway.
They that would sacrifice their
A) How can you patch a game that isn't installed? Seriously, this doesn't seem possible.
B) Microsoft wants to certify certain hardware for Windows, and now Microsoft wants to create PCs built to a certain specification... does this strangely sound like Microsoft telling a lot of hardware vendors that they will either have to make clones of other pieces of hardware (and face the patent and copyright police) or to stop producing for the PC?
C) Microsoft, with its' Microsoft Messenger Matchmaker, is going to severly harm or kill match making software such as GameSpy. All your patches will come through something very similar to Windows Update and most everything will be in a Microsoft sounding "My Games" area. This company wasn't split because the US Govt. thought that they were not a monopoly?
D) One controller, for all games... doesn't this sound like Microsoft needing to give permission to people like Logitech if they want to invent something new (like, force feedback back before it was invented)?
One last thing, with you needing to go through all of these Microsoft services, running all of this Microsoft signed equiptment, and alike... I fear that privacy will be hard to enforce, at best...
Also, try to tell all the Overclockers and other insane computer people buying the latest hardware to speed up their machine that it won't be possible to do that anymore, instead they will need to go for a package deal and run at Microsoft specs... will this elite group of hardcore shoppers (willing to spend tons of money) stick around for these new terms? Somehow, I don't think so.
I think you got a bit carried away there. ;)
Take a PlayStation 2 game. It'll run on any other PS2 (in that region, anyway) because they all have the same hardware config. The game will run on later revisions of the PS2 (the PSone was revised several times, you can tell from the version numbers and designs). A PC game can not possibly have been tested on every hardware config out there, so it's almost inevitable that bugs/glitches/weirdness will arise on someone's system.
As for controllers, PSone and PS2 controllers are interchangeable; PSone games and memcards work on a PS2. You can get affordable adaptors to use just about any console's controller with any other console's controller ports.
The uniformity you describe could make for one of two things: not much functionality in order to cater for all games, or too much functionality to the point of confusion. (I could be misinterpreting your post, but do you even play games or are you just bashing on consoles?)
Now I assume it wouldn't be to hard to implement a 'virtual cd drive' for the PC where CD images could be loaded.
Mounting an ISO via loopback has been done, but it possibly violates the DMCA.
Will I retire or break 10K?
doesn't microsoft make more money from selling the OS than selling Xboxes? i really don't know, but i'm willing to guess that they can collect from either side. and possibly selling the OS is more cost effective.
Why not just buy Quake 64, or Quake II?
Because Goldeneye kicks both of those N64 ports' sorry arses to AOHell and back?
Q3A on DC is decent though.
Will I retire or break 10K?
But why can't I plug a PS2 keyboard and a PS2 mouse into a PS2 console?
IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!!1!1
If Microsoft released an Xbox2 that could run the same games as your Loghorn Windows PC, and Vice Versa
If the Xbox 2 could run vanilla Windows software, then anybody could homebrew for it. Microsoft doesn't want that, seeing as how it spreads the cost of developing the Xbox OS among the prices of the licensed games.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Look at a few of the games lately, WC3 shipped with both mac and win versions on the same cd, SC4 is coming out for the mac, Moo3 just shipped with portability IN MIND, and mac is coming quite soon now). This is a bit of a trend that is becoming more common. What I think is that Microsoft wants to stop this sort of thing or make it extremely difficult. While it would be natural for that, Microsoft might have an ace up its sleeve trying to make something very tempting to use.
What we see depends on mainly what we look for. -- John Lubbock Now search for that bug slave!
Watch me whip you with a mouse & keyboard.
You still didn't address the 2 players on one machine issue that I brought up.
I have only one 3D-accelerated PC in my home; the other machines are either Macs, 486es, or laptops. Does the Half-Life engine support more than one keyboard or more than one mouse on one machine? Does it support split-screen? If not, you'll need to bring your own PC, and I don't think your significant other or your children would want to give up the PC that long.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Exists, I have a
UT/Q3-class computer.
where as MrChris (a friend of mine, with more monney than sense) has a "Doom III"-class computer, the bastard, and my brother (with my hand-me-down) has a Halflife-class computer, and my firewall is a Doom-class computer.
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
Important Stuff:
"Were"? Try "are". By my count (based on GameStop's "coming soon" list), there are currently 12 titles coming soon. Most importantly, Final Fantasy 1 gets a makeover and Final Fantasy 2 japanese will finally make it to the US in Final Fantasy Origins. And considering that the PS2 has decent PS1 backwards compatibility, it's not a bad idea for game developers to still make PS1 games (budget titles, children's titles, titles that don't need the flash of PS2-level graphics).
By contrast, there are no Nintendo 64 titles, Dreamcast titles, or Gameboy titles still in development. As much as I prefer the XBox to the Playstation 2, Sony apparently did something right with the Playstation 1 if titles are still in development for it.
Great! Now I'll be able to use my Passport .NET account for matchmaking services! I can't wait for Microsoft to begin providing such wonderful subscription services, can you? I'm salivating just thinking of the day when I can pay Microsoft a monthly rate to fulfill all of my gaming, word processing, e-mail and internet needs.
Make me a computer/super console that can play GC,XBOX,PS2 or is combined all three and they all work in one single box, and you will get my 1000$(cheaper then buying all three)
Imo they really should somehow combine them then sell it for more then what all 3 would cost, I'm tired of having so many wires, and having to switch my receiver all the time(DVD 1, DVD 2, etc for different items, that damn remote always evades me) also with lack of plugs in my 2 surge protectors in my room(how I use up 24 plugs in my room is beyond me...) I would invite anyway to use less plugins...well anyway, Way off topic I guess!
I thought DirectX 9 had a managed interface? If that's not good enough, you can go for interop with GDI+ and kill your portability (well, DX9 probably kills your portability, but assuming that its namespace is well-defined, I could see an SDL/OpenGL backend being written for Mono under that namespace). Also, .NET is only at version 1.0 (version 1.1, if you're on the VS 2003 or Windows Server 2003 betas, or have played around with Terrarium lately). Give it time. Most likely, hardcore graphic manipulation APIs were lower priority for the initial release.
Wouldn't playing an FPS be better if the left hand held half of a controller with an analog stick instead of a d-pad? Wouldn't analog running/strafing be better for the games than 8-direction running? Essentially take a Belkin Nostromo n50 Speedpad and replace the d-pad with analog control. What do you think?
Imagine if developers actually went with this. ALl the FPS games would be using stupid controllers, and we'd have 10 billion Halo clones. Meh. I'll pass, thanks.
Sorry violent WASD is to slow and cuts off a whole column of keys. Move it to the right one and use ESDF then you've got three extra keys for weapon hot keys or A & G for left and right lean functions. (It also still works on the natural key boards that split at the G key) Or get really wacky and make it YGHJ if you just absoluting insist on programing every key bind in BattleField 1842 to be reachable by the left hand. If you want a controller to go with your mouse a friend of mine uses MicroSofts battlefield commander or what ever that wierd C&C controller they came up with is called. He had an easy time programing and then using all the easy to reach buttons and it was much faster than a joystick which tend to be set up for right handers anyway.
Alien Resurrection for the PSone supported exactly this configuration. Dual shock in the left hand for movement and PSone mouse in the right hand for aiming. Worked fine, too bad the difficulty level on the game was too high.
With the Xbox and WindowsXP, I was hoping for DirectX X to add to MS's collexion. Uh, oh, it's invaded our lexicon, just in time for X-mas though. Sorry xtina, your outdated, better go back to your OS X. No Xtreme sports for you.
Most folk'll never lose a toe, and then again some folk'll...
Yes they were developing for it when it became obvious that it was not state-of-the-art. Similiar to how they are still developing on it despite the newer PS2. Would you have preferred "They are developing for it when it become obvious[...]"?
...might give developers and computers a chance to catch up(possibly the reason for the delay). Right now we have games NOT being written for DX9 because most people still don't even have a DX8 video card. Hardware and software and keeping pace with each other, but the consumer is left in the dust. Its just time for a slow-down. Just like Intel and AMD producing ever-faster CPUs every other day, there gets to be a time when the market just says "ENOUGH! I'm happy with what I've got."
This gives hardware guys time to just pump out faster models, and take their time creating some big changes in new designs.
-Sir
I would love it if PC games would take full advantage of available RAM. One load from the HD into RAM would mean only one long wait. After that a map would load in a second or two instead of the minute plus they do now. Let's see CD-ROM 7mb/s (real sucky), HD 30-30mb/s (better), 1-2GB of PC2700 RAM 2700mb/s (oh Yeh!) I had two 512mb sticks in my machine, but it had no affect on anything besides photoshop so I took it back out and sold it to a friend. Maybe next year we'll see a little more preloading of maps into ram to speed things up.
Oh come now. First internet blocking software in schools, now in homes, and now we want to censor what games kids can play? Is this country turning into a facist dictatorship? Also, what's the point of having a game run solely from a CD? I thought the whole idea of being able to install it was so that games could run better (movies, sounds, etc.) than they could off of a CD? Am I mistaken in this assumption? ----- "Alle reden vom wetter. Wir nicht." - SDS Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund
"Alle reden vom wetter. Wir nicht." - SDS Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund.
j00 4r3 3n73r1ng l337 w0r1d.
I wouldn't call PS1/2 games mind blowingly complex. Find the key/weapon/item puzzle adventure games have been out since text based gaming. Anyone remember Madness and the Minotar? Consoles are for gamers that are afraid or don't want to be bothered with a PC or wish to play certain game types not available elsewhere. Admit it for the most part the PC lacks big time a descent variety of fighting, driving, or RPC games.
For all the effort Microsoft put into the technology, you'd think they could spend some of that time addressing their weakest link in the gaming market - their customer relations.
Currently the name of the game for Microsoft appears to be to get boxes shifted out the door, and pay nothing more than lip service to customer support. While this has served them well in the consumer operating system market, competition in the gaming market is tough. They may make initial sales, but repeat purchases from hardcore gamers that have been dissapointed by lacklustre customer relations seems unlikely.
Want games in Linux? Then stop buying games for Windows. It's that simple people.
Unfortunatly there are about 40 000 000 000 reasons not to count them out, if you catch my drift...
They won't completely go away anytime soon.
"First lesson," Jon said. "Stick them with the pointy end."
its called a mouse and keyboard, and imho beats the crap out of any console controller there is.
Contrary to popular belief, developers AREN'T idiots.
Besides, I haven't seen many grandmothers with Geforce4Ti's (which is the equivalent of what's inside the Xbox). Actually, most crap office PCs sold today are far inferior to the Xbox in terms of gaming capabilities despite their 2-3 GHz CPUs, because of their ridiculously underpowered graphics subsystems (810/815/845G etc.), which are about the power of a Voodoo2. Not exactly last year's technology.
go bill! resistance is futile!
MS killed Tex Murphy. PC games have no future.
-- Cheers!
It takes guts to come on slashdot and admit to being a MCSE
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
Way back in 1993 I wrote a pong game for the PC that used two RS-232 mice with a hacked mouse driver (int33 became int34) :-)
Two keyboards ? I've never tried plugging in two USB keyboards at the same time. What happens if you do ?
It's perfectly possible with XFree86. You just need to faff with the keymaps for a core and auxilliary keyboard - if the game has reconfigurable keys, then you're away.
as it appLIEs to the phonIE payper liesense kingdumb.
moron crossposting. it's like composting.
djia hear the won about the NYT consternating over opening a gnu/linux/o-s forum? you can just smell the ill eagle influwaNTs. tell 'em robbIE.
D(elete) day is upon US again?
ah1: more disinfectant(gpl) has been prepared for the kingdumb's hostages, your pairannoyance.
ah2: bad news RPeM, it is rumoured that many of the hostages may soon cease&desist, from bulleading & bullinedness, because the evile kingdumb is 'rigging' their medication recepticles, to not accept the good stuff(gpl).
ah1: then all is lost, due to 'lack of interest'?
ah2: that's what they say, but many of US DOWt their sources/motives. fear not RP, the daze of the ill eagle badtoll are but won.
ah1: yes, but pity/pray/fight for the hostages we must.
ah2: corewrecked? but keep lookouts bullow, the evile wons will attempt to delete us at every good turn. carry on.
we're working on a gnu slowgun to counterindicate fuddles' "if you can't beat 'em, delete 'em(tm)" "business" plan. kate? you with US, or knot? try not to get all arbitrary/beholding to sponsors, all at wonce, when deciding about our disposition.
to (finally, wonce & 4all) be rid of the harrys, just by opening/monitoring yet another un/interesting forum? sounds almost too easy? sometimes they give you won, just to keep you in the game? the eyes have it?
Xbox games don't run on PCs.
*sniffle* looks like its back to soldering on difrent crystals
The controller issue seems like an attempt to bring to the PC platform some of the uniformity that consoles have.
The console market has little in the way of uniformity. The video game industry at large is still underdeveloped, in the sence that there are many platforms and hardware architectures to choose from (not to mention controllers). It's only now that the consoles use the same media format - sortof - it was always a undecided mix of catridges, cards and cd's, depending and the company. Take for example Nintendo. They stuck with cartridges longer than everyone else because it was a major revenue stream and allowed them more control over quantity and quality.
SEO Copywriter. Just Say ON
If MS is so interested in gaming for the PC why don't they port some xbox games?
This is my sig, there are many like it, but this one is mine...
DX9 has previously unannounced support for all the next-generation graphics features
I found the quote above to be very surprising -- I wonder what that's all about???
Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005
I know developers aren't idiots, I am one. In the future I'll try to not over simplify in an effort get my opinions across in relativity few words and not bore you with exacting detail that most people seem capable to infer anyway.
... longhorn will give users the ability to play games directly from the cd, without installation. Which is great in theory, but what does that mean? Either your loading the whole game into RAM, *shudder* or it will include a program to automatically install when you run the game...
no, it wouldn't have to be either.
consider consoles. a game like GTA3 uses a ton of assets (animations, graphics, scenery descriptors, etc.) that can't all fit into RAM at the same time. the common solution is to do clever streaming - i.e. you devote a fraction of the CPU cycles to just keep loading and unloading data from the CD all the time.
this requires cleverness and is a huge pain in the neck, because in order to prevent the 'stutter' as data gets loaded from the disk, the whole process has to be predictive - at any point in time you need to be able to predict what data is going to be needed, say, 10 seconds from now, so that you can begin loading them now in a background process, and unload them as soon as they're done with.
ugh. streaming assets during gameplay is a huge pain, but it's doable - console games do it all the time. it would be very nice indeed if the next generation of directx came with tools to simplify it...
My other car is a cons.
Didn't IBM try this with the PS/2 back in the mid-80s? That would by Personal System 2, not Playstation 2. The project ultimately failed because computer technology quickly made the computer system obsolete, but the keyboard and mouse connectors stuck.
Galium Arsenide is the material of the future, and always will be.
Sure they do. Where do you think they designed and tested them in the first place, on a MAC?
Try connecting more than one keyboard and mouse to one computer.
Being able to connect more than one mouse and have them each control their own pointer on the screen would be a general good-to-have feature for not only games but desktops like KDE and Gnome. Maybe it's not possible with USB or USB2, but if it is, I'd like to have one mouse per monitor on dual/triple headed systems...Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
but as someone said in a previous post, the idea of an open design controller, which people could build themselves or write software to emulate it on their keyboard is really intriguing :-)
Would there have to be a few different standard models? One for flight sims, one for racing games, one for fps's? I can't imagine a single controller design that would be ideal for all three of these games at once. Racing games are best with a steering wheel, and fps's don't need a steering wheel.
$8.95/mo web hosting
X can handle... Games run in windows
And not in X. If at least half of the native PC games that I want to play run in Windows, where does X enter into it?
I can certainly run two instances of Quake 3 side-by-side, or above one another, for instance.
Can you give each one keyboard focus for one keyboard and restrict a mouse from moving accidentally from one window to another? And is there a wizard for that? Can the popular distributions (Mandrake, SuSE, Debian, and that popular one that I can't mention legally) auto-configure a multi-keyboard, multi-mouse gaming setup in such a way that makes sense to a home user with a median amount of PC configuration experience?
Will I retire or break 10K?
This brings up an excellent point. I would have to say that there is nothing more obnoxious in the console world than split screen gaming.
Then why do games such as Puyo Puyo, which is a split screen falling pieces puzzle game, sell? Hell, it even splits the screen on the Game Boy Advance version, which does have one machine per person.
A half-way decent game machine is as cheap as $400
For one thing, does that include the display and the Windows license? For another thing, most working families don't have $1200 to convert a one-machine setup to a four-machine setup for the kids who may come over on a play date.
I can pick a flagrunner out of the air with a headshot at 2000m in Tribes/Tribes2
<lamer>It appears an aimbot has passed the Turing test, and we're all witnessing it right now!</lamer>
Will I retire or break 10K?
Yeah, but watch me open a rather large can of whoop ass on you playing quake 3
touche...
Kingdom of Loathing (www.kingdomofloathing.com) Addicted is me
Firstly, I will say in Microsoft's defense that the only thing they ever did right was the original Sidewinder joypad. I used it for years with win games, dos games, and emulators -- worked perfectly with all.
A standard gaming controller, distributed with new PC's, is not a bad thing. The keyboard and mouse are great for FPS games, but any time things go over the shoulder or oldschool platformer the keyboard/mouse combo tends to lack. Wanna know why the PC didn't get a port of Sly Cooper, or something equally fun? It's not just that Sony ownz it for the forseeable future -- the PC market has been overloaded with RTS and FPS games because that's really all it's good at with its controller set. Add in a standard gamepad which all developers could count on in the same way you can cound on a keyboard to have 80+ keys (laptops) and a mouse to have 2 buttons, and suddenly I think we'd be seeing a lot more platformer / puzzler / fighting games on PC again. When you think about it, who else but Microsoft has the power in the PC industry to throw something like this together?
As for "levels"... I don't like the idea of Microsoft implementing them, but I think they'd be a good thing. The largest problem in PC gaming is the fact that developers never have time to get used to a select set of specs before the next set comes out and gamers are clamoring for games that use the latest and greatest hardware. Look at UT2K3. Does it play any better, really, than UT? Not really. Could the same gameplay have been squeezed out of lesser hardware? Most certainly. Why didn't the developers try to fit more graphics into lesser hardware with more clever optimizations and geometry? Because they didn't have to. The reason Conker's Bad Fur Day on the N64 looked like a Dreamcast game was because the developers had been working with the hardware for 5 years, and knew exactly how to squeeze that last bit of power out of it.
Levels on a PC would do the same. If a developer knows exactly how much power a PC is going to have, they don't have to worry about whether or not their pretty particle engine will make the game drop frames on your machine -- they just boot up their own level XX machine and test. If a bunch of people out there have Level 1 PC's, chances are there will be a lot of Level 1 games produced for that demographic, and as many people don't go out and upgrade all the time, it'd be safe to assume that the Level 1 Demographic would be around for at least a couple of years, not unlike a standard console.
Then again, what do I care? Warcraft III plays great on my iBook, my Redhat PC's in parts, and for real gaming I hit up my Game Cube.
- Cloud
Everyone already knows it's 3 years behind. You buy an xbox for the convenience. Power it on, pop in a game and play. No 15 minute install or monkeying with keys/drivers, etc.
Any moron knows the visual quality and depth of games on the pc's are much higher.
Microsoft will update its Sidewinder line
Considering how well my Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro works in Win2k (hint: can't use the hat switch and fire at the same time in MS OS's > 2k}.
I knew I should have stuck with the Logitec Wingman, but the hat switch on that thing kept getting broken {and Descent 2 multiplayer wasn't helping either}.
Oh, and you know why the 3D pro doesn't work properly in 2k...Microsoft won't update the drivers. {I've heard the win98 software will make it work, but no scripted events. Have not tried it, yet}.
IMO, before Microsoft attempts to make universal games and controllers, they should try to make their own hardware work with their software.
{grrr}
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
Linux gaming is not far-fetched...when Unreal Tournament 2003 came out last year, it included an installer for Linux right on the disk set. Doom III will similarly have a Linux installer as part of the disk set. The UT2K3 demo disk was a special Knoppix disk with a cut-down copy of UT2K3 on it.
John Carmack, for one, is very supportive of Linux gaming...it helps to have a stable platform to run something so computationally intense as games. Between some of the best game companies waking up to Linux, the successes of WineX, and the upcoming OpenGL updates, there is indeed a bright future for Linux as a gaming platform.
I've not yet installed Windows on my gaming PC. I may never do it. Most of the games I like are already Linux native. Feels good not to give Redmond any money and do it with a clear conscience and no laws broken...
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Given that the design of the Xbox controllers has been so universally reviled, I would think they should be the LAST people to determine what a standard PC controller should be.
Both Serious Sam games support dual keyboards and mice for split screen mode. STFU.
Imagine... all pc games use a game controller, that just happens to be the same format that the xbox will understand. Eureeka! All pc games now work on the xbox. Take that Playstation!
Anyone seen the EULA for Direct X 9? Does it have an "all your base are belong to us" clause like Windows Media Player 9 and W2K SP3? I haven't found any info on this anywhere. The copy on MS's site is in a Windows executable package, and I can't open it on this Linux box.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
All I need is
left, right, jump, and fast run
B) Microsoft has mandated (or pushed for industry comittees to mandate) lots of PC hardware standards. They "invented" mouse scroll wheels, funny keys on the keyboard, etc. yet somehow Logitech manages to stay in business. Standards for hardware compatibility are good for users.
C) GameSpy won't dry up and blow away just because Microsoft introduces a metching service. Direct3D hasn't killed OpenGL. DirectPlay hasn't made all developers stop writing their own net code - because DirectPlay sucks. If Microsoft's matchmaker is less crappy than GameSpy, then they have a problem. Fair warning to GameSpy.
D) "One controller, for all games" - That's you talking, not Microsoft. There can't be one controller for all types of games. They're just talking about a standard layout for gamepads. And if people don't like it, Logitech will offer different products. After all, how's Microsoft going to stop me from plugging a huge fricking machine into my USB port if I want to?
Not until they speed CD-ROMs up a tad. The load times would be terrible.
Murphy was an optimist.
guess you dont know much about the xbox. xbox games can use whatever version of dx they want. its all on the game disc not in the system.
Limits their consumers to markets where everyone has internet access...Not all game players are jacked in.
Despite excellent marketing, the majority of the world does not have broad band.
Both Serious Sam games support dual keyboards and mice for split screen mode. STFU.
Obviously I hadn't played Serious Sam before writing that comment. I'll have to check it out sometime.
Will I retire or break 10K?
The only thing MS has over Linux and Apple (and any other OS, really) is that they have a buttload of video game developers. Now that they're going to be programming only in DirectX it'll be even harder to get good games ported to Mac & linux.
Sad days
Praise the lord
Just look at the boring and uninteresting mess calling itself "PC Gaming". Where are the Final Fantasy type games,The Silent Hills,The Zone of the Enders type games? They don't exist for the PC and never will. End of Story.
Want games in Linux? Then stop buying games for Windows. It's that simple people.
In the meantime, I'm playing Tuxracer all day?
The only game that's currently available on Linux that's "new" is UT2003. Yea, it runs very well and I enjoy it, but it's just one game. If I want to play Battlefield, I have to use Windows.
It's not that plain and simple.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
Let's just do an excercise in stating the obvious and think what we've come to expect from game controllers. Okay so when we think game controller, for sure we've got:
L and R up on the top
Six pressable buttons on your right thumb, essentially X Y Z and A B C (You can call those X, O, "Square", doodecahedron, white, black or whatever, you're not fooling us.)
Left thumb main directional control, likely an analog thumbstick
Nowadays, usually some directional control on the right side too!
Start button
Maybe Select Button?
Maybe Auxiliarry top buttons like L2, R2, or Z?
Maybe Auxiliarry D-pad complimenting analog sticks
Not so hard, right?
From a developer's point of view, it would be nice to know that EVERY game will have access to this same pool of inputs. It would be nice to know that all your players can reasonably have this same setup while they're playing your game. Then you can design your control schema around this base up front and not have to change it with every platform you port to.
As a design excercise, trying thinking up a control scheme for an imaginary PC game, then think of what controls you want it to have. It's almost too much freedom! Sometimes when game developers are designing for PC they think "Wow, look at all those keys! A-Z, 1-9, F1-F12, *gasp* Numerical keypad! It's my priveledge, nay my DUTY to use every last one of these keys!" Then your game ships with this handy "Quick Keys Guide", an intimidating page filled with confusing symbology that scares off casual gamers. Having a standard controller really helps constrain your design choices to a managable level.
Casual Game Player: "Computer? How am I ever gonna play games on that?!"
Advanced gamer: [Saying nothing, plugs PC Controller into USB slot.]
Casual Gamer Player: "OH!"
I hear you, BF1942 is one of the most kick-ass games to have ever been created, but it is still that plain and simple. It would only take a game or two that came out to sit on the shelves with no purchases to make the rest sit up and take notice, but unfortunately noone has that kind of self control and as much as they like to bitch and moan, they are little inclined to do anything about it.
Well, I hope you aren't saying that I am bitching and moaning; I simply said I am hoping for more Linux games.
Unless you can somehow rally the worlds' computer game players together and boycott games unless they become available on Linux, this is *not* the way to go about it.
Saying "If you want Linux games, stop buying Windows ones" is way too simplistic. There's no way to get everyone together and all do the same thing. Thus, we must look elsewhere to motivate the game publishers to produce games for our platform of choice.
Not to mention that the number of people that want more games published for Linux is considerably smaller then the "I don't care, I run Windows anyways" people.
I don't have the answer, but a boycott certainly isn't the answer.
You could say "All we have to do to stop violent shootings is to stop producing bullets." Unfortunately, you cannot simply stop people from producing bullets. So, you must find other means of stopping violent shootings.
The simple answer is not always the simple solution.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
I use the pinky for run/walking, prone, hot weapon key, and talk. I always have to use the toggel functions since I've never managed to be able to hold it down for any length of time.
I wouldn't call PS1/2 games mind blowingly complex.
.Net application and web development, and writing papers.
Well, specifically here I was referring to the XBox. Re-reading my comment makes it pretty obvious that I wasn't be as clear I wanted to be with my words. Nevertheless....
To be absolutely specifically clear, I was thinking of Fable, the forthcoming Peter Molyneaux game, at the time. Furthermore, although I can't find a reference for it offhand, I distinctly recall words being spoken about Doom 3 coming out for XBox with graphics performance equivalent to the game on a high end PC. Once again, the unmoving target concept.
Finally, although the basic concept behind almost all games that come out is a re-hash, the specific twists upon the basic concept are what can make a game so unbelievably complex (from a developer's perspective, not so much from an end-user's perspective). Take Metal Gear Solid 2's melting ice cubes as a totally arbitrary example. The basic concept behind MGS2 really doesn't differ at all from Adventure. Same thing goes for any of the Final Fantasy games. FF1 is conceptually identical to FFX, but the logistical nature of 10 versus 1 is really quite something to behold.
And for the record, I am definitely the kind of person who recognizes the various and sundry (disad|ad)vantages of console and pc games.
I have a Powerbook G4 on which I only play Fallout 2 and Escape Velocity (I primarily use it for web and application development).
I have a Toshiba Tablet PC on which I play Sim City 4 (until the mac port comes out) and InkBall (yeah!). Normally, I use the Tablet PC for note-taking,
I have a Dreamcast that doesn't do anything right now.
I have an XBox on which I play Halo, Shenmue II, Splinter Cell, Rallisport Challenge, watch DVDs etc.
I have a PS2 on which I play GTA3, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Tekken Tag.
I think that my console games are far more attractive, and far more usable (usually) than PC games. On the other hand, I'd rather lose my left hand (I'm right handed) than play Sim City 4 on my XBox (ugh). It just wouldn't translate very well. Meanwhile, I'd do the same never to have to try and play Final Fantasy 7 on my PC again (painful!).
I am more than happy to admit that consoles and PCs don't have particularly overlapping game genres. I think it's a good thing, personally, as we could, otherwise, spend countless hours arguing about whether its more enjoyable to play Game X on the PC versus a console. Who cares!?
Anyway, I think I've rambled long enough here.
iRooster, the Mac OS X a