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Moody Non-Photo-Realistic Driving

An anonymous reader points out a project called Drivey, which he describes as "a dark and fascinating example of 2.xD [not quite 3d] graphical rendering. This tiny, free [as in beer] demo gives you an amazingly compelling driving experience. To quote the author, 'It was conceived as a driving simulator for old farts like myself, who are kind of nostalgic for the "old days" [ca. 1985] but are not so thick as to believe that the games from the 80s were actually in any way superior to the games we play today.' Even works fine under WINE!"

479 comments

  1. I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Willeh · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That looks really amazing...All it needs now is for the Queens of the Stone Age song "Go with the Flow" to repeat in the background. Like alot of (OSS included) projects of this type though, it stands the risk of just being abandoned for one reason or the other (probably because it's just a hobby project in this case), which would be a shame, since this is a nice case study for simplicity and would be nice to make a game of some sort with. Burnout in the dark maybe?

    --
    Will wank off Linus Torvalds for fame.
    1. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Eric+Giguere · · Score: 2, Insightful

      One of the best projects I did at school was a networked tank game in my computer graphics class, on (now quite ancient) IRIX workstations. Battlezone kind of game, very simple, but lots of fun to play -- especially when the professor was manning one of the tanks :-)

      Simplicity is a virtue, and not just in coding. Now take this project and combine it with Google Maps and it could be very interesting...

      Eric
      See what your browser's sending with the HTTP header viewer
    2. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by CdBee · · Score: 1

      I am amazed by it. By the way my recommendations for background music are as follows:

      Highway Star - Deep Purple
      Born to Run - Suzi Quatro
      Highway to Hell - AC/DC
      Stop the Rock - Apollo Four Forty
      Roll All Day - Ice Cube

      I want this as a screensaver

      --
      I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    3. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Eric+Giguere · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Also, this reminds me of that show they used to have on CITY-TV where they'd take cameras through the streets (and the underground walkways) of Toronto late at night, all set to jazz music. It was simple yet mesmerizing... people would literally watch it for hours.

    4. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by CdBee · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now that's got me thinking.



      I might get the roof-bars fitted to my Mondeo tonight and strap a webcam to them.. all I'd need is my laptop set to record straight to mpeg...

      --
      I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    5. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Ma�djeurtam · · Score: 1

      Can't believe you forgot:

      Autobahn - Kraftwerk

      --
      Instant Karma's gonna get you, Gonna knock you right on the head (John Lennon, 1970)
    6. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bzflag perhaps?

    7. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Pope · · Score: 1

      Or you could use Top Gear's "Top Driving Song" list:

      Queen: Don't Stop Me Now
      Golden Earring: Radar Love
      Steppenwolf: Born To Be Wild
      Deep Purple: Highway Star
      Meatloaf: Bat Out Of Hell

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/driving_song/

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    8. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by kyojin+the+clown · · Score: 1
      boards of canada - Kid for Today

      its so relaxing. very very pleasing game. please continue to make it better.

    9. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very close, I was going to suggest Amo Bishop Roden.

    10. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by superstick58 · · Score: 1
      All it needs now is for the Queens of the Stone Age song "Go with the Flow" to repeat in the background.

      Excellent choice. I love that song, and the graphics are a pretty good match. However, the demo doesn't have the same sexual overtones that the video has. Hot coffee mod anyone?

    11. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by ryanov · · Score: 1

      What was the project?

      % /usr/demos/bin/bzfs &
      % /usr/demos/bin/bzflag ...unless you wrote bzflag... in which case, I enjoyed doing the same with your particular piece of software when I was in HS.

    12. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Mercuria · · Score: 5, Funny

      Now take this project and combine it with Google Maps and it could be very interesting...

      Congratulations, you've just invented the new "imagine a beowulf cluster of ..."

    13. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by mikael · · Score: 1

      Have you tried Google Earth - it takes the satellite data from Google maps and combines it with terrain data so you can fly around entire cities.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    14. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by DanielNS84 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I say combine it with mapquest and drive those directions out before ever leaving the house...I'd pay for a service like that since I have the worst directional skills ever.

    15. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by FreezerJam · · Score: 2, Informative

      I am quite certain that the show in question was on Global TV, not CITY-TV. There was also a 'night drives' show, where the camera was on a car that would drive through the streets of Toronto late at night.

      And - because the entire production, crew, station, not to mention the music and the performers, were all Canadian, Global racked up serious CanCon points for that show!

      This is not off topic - this really does look like that show!!

    16. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "ALOT" is NOT A WORD. Why is this so hard to understand? You didn't write "ahobby" or "ashame" or "anice", so why did you write ALOT? Please also note "noone" is not a word either, for future reference.

    17. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by re-Verse · · Score: 1

      yeah on gobal - and there were two shows ... night drive, and night walk. Confused the hell out of me, those shows.. night walk was mainly wandering the streets - and through weird hotel walkways - seeing slightly confused people in suits coming out of conference halls etc.

    18. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagine a Beowolf cluster of Google Maps enabled Furbys!

    19. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by zaxus · · Score: 1

      Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty

      --
      /. zen: Imagine a Beowulf cluster of Beowulf clusters...
    20. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      If you're using windows, just change the extension from exe to scr. Works fine on my CAD station.

      Jaysyn

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    21. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      War - Lowrider

      best. driving music. evar.

    22. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Both this and the grandparent bear a striking resemlance to the list from Rock 'N' Roll Racing (developed by Blizzard for Interplay, released on the SNES).

      1 - Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood(sp?) and the Destroyers
      2 - Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
      3 - Highway Star - Deep Purple
      4 - Paranoid - Black Sabbath
      5 - Theme from "Peter Gunn" by Henry Mancini

      Peter Gunn is an odd rock/MIDI(actually ARDI) version... then again, they all were. SNES had some limitations...

    23. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Sheriff+of+Rockridge · · Score: 1

      Incorrect. Google Earth arose from Keyhole, which was purchased by Google over a year before Google maps came to be. Keyhole inspired Google maps, not the other way around.

    24. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      Heh, I forgot the important step, drop it in your C:\windows directory.

      Jaysyn

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    25. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by acebone · · Score: 0

      pooh - bad little coward - you should feel ashamed of your self you should!

      --
      Check out my PHP Url Validator
    26. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      pooh -> Needs a capital letter.


      And you need a comma in there somewhere, you do!


      Oh, and I'll need your full name, social security number and address, otherwise your points don't stand!

    27. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by acebone · · Score: 0

      Crap - exposed AGIAN !!

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      Check out my PHP Url Validator
    28. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      I don't think so; "Eric Giguere" isn't on the list of developers.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    29. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by mikael · · Score: 1

      I meant "it takes" in the sense that it appears to download the map data from the server and renders them onto terrain.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    30. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Eric+Giguere · · Score: 1

      Nope, not me. My project was never released out in the wild, it was just an end-of-term "bonus" assignment for the comp graphics class. ("Bonus" because it wasn't worth anything marks-wise.)

    31. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When they stop treating Linux as merely a convenient server technology, yeah I might try it.

    32. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Magic5Ball · · Score: 1

      I want this as a screensaver

      If you have a modern Windows box...

      Rename drivey.exe to drivey.scr
      copy to \windows\system32
      right-click desktop | properties
      choose Drivey013 as your screen saver

      Note that this hack won't honour anything that resembles "terminate on mouse move or keypress" functionality, and may expose some security issues.

      This won't magically add arbitrary music to the program, but it would be easy enough to hack something up in VB...

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
    33. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Zawash · · Score: 1

      Some times some posts deserve more than a +5 bonus..

      *wipes coffee off the monitor and keyboard*

      Cheers!

      --
      File not found. Fake it(Y/N)? _
    34. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by rogueuk · · Score: 1

      or you could try google earth which has this feature..but it's a windows only program

  2. Trojan? by p0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    .exe? Is this an attempt to takeover the entire slashdot community? or... none of them for that matter? :S

    --
    This is my sig. There are thousands more, but this one is mine.
  3. Anyone tried it yet? by ThaDerro · · Score: 0

    I'm at work, so can't exactly launch a game.. is it any good?

    1. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Smidge204 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's not really a game. Minimally interactive demo really...

      Arrow/WASD keys control steering and accel/brake, but the car drives itself to stay on the road so you really can't steer. 1-4 selects a road/scene, C adds 8 cars, K toggles palette rotation.

      With palette rotation this would almost make a good screensaver...
      =Smidge=

    2. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by spectrokid · · Score: 4, Funny

      hey, I'm at work and that never stopped me so far!

      --

      10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then

    3. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hit F5 to toggle manual control.

    4. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Splab · · Score: 1

      Rename to .scr and install...

    5. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you press F5 you will have full control over the car so it doesn't try to magically stay on the road.

    6. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      F5 turns off the autodrive.

    7. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Press F1 and read the damn help, with F4 you turn off automatic driving.

    8. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Smidge204 · · Score: 1

      The best part is, not only did you repeat what five other people just said... but you still got it wrong. F5 toggles manual driving, not F4.

      You lose! Good day sir!
      =Smidge=

    9. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah... but you were the one with the original bitch-post.

      Dick.

    10. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by supernova87a · · Score: 2, Funny

      here's a cool trick, add the other cars using the "c" key, and then drive into their oncoming lane with arrow keys. You actually can crash the cars!

    11. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by EternityInterface · · Score: 0

      I was thinking of winamp avs myself. Was reminded of fÜk - afterburner remix.avs, it has all the terrain generated by music.

      --
      the sun is god
    12. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can steer - steering overrides the manual control as long as a steering key is pressed. F5 to go completely manual.

    13. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by crazyvas · · Score: 1

      here's a cool trick, add the other cars using the "c" key, and then drive into their oncoming lane with arrow keys. You actually can crash the cars! Yep, that's pretty neat. Here's another cool trick: add the cars, and then wait for one thats going in the same direction as you are, to pass you. Then accelerate, and get /into/ the car in front of you, and see the world through its eyes! I don't know that this 'feature' was intentional, but I do know that I'm wasting way too much time....

  4. Well, gee whiz by katana · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hold on while I just go ahead and download an executable called Drivey through a link that was submitted by an anonymous author. What could possibly go wrong?

    1. Re:Well, gee whiz by Cederic · · Score: 1


      heh, having read the website I really want to try the demo.

      At home I may well. Heck, I can rebuild my home PC.

      At work, where I am now? Not a hope. I'd have to sack myself, let alone wait for the InfoSec team to come around..

      The technology choice and the write-up don't go together. The screenshots are all very nice, but you can get the non-photo-realistic look easily enough using the latest hardware and 3D APIs, so why constrain yourself?

      So while it's great that he's enjoying making it all happen, it could be interesting to implement the same look using 3d acceleration though, just to prove that it's possible and that it's faster.

      That wont break away from the idea of non-photo-realitic graphics working in a game with modern gameplay. Microprose Golf continues to be a better game than the modern golf games, and part of that is that it doesn't have photo-realistic graphics - what it does have is software 3D and it works fantastically to support the gameplay.

      ~Cederic

    2. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well, the link could get slashdotted...

    3. Re:Well, gee whiz by hattig · · Score: 1

      In fact on the page there are screenshots using a 3D engine. However he doesn't want to use one for reasons he also explained on the page. He wants to explore something different, and who's to stop him?

      Some of the screenshots are very arty actually, especially the spotlit CAR on minimalist road.

      Now could he utilise the GPU to perform and render the 2D operations? I'm sure the bezier mathematics for the 2D renderer could be programmed somehow, but that would mean a lot of effort.

      Me? I want to write 2D platform games a lá rick dangerous using a 3D engine. Classic 2D gameplay, with scaling of graphics (textures, of course) and some real depth effects and lighting effects too. Also a good way to play with pixel shaders, normal maps, bump maps, etc, which should make graphics creation a lot more simple. I hope to spend an hour or two a day on this soon, probably starting off with something simple (remake of Amstrad CPC Roland on the Ropes).

    4. Re:Well, gee whiz by Zone-MR · · Score: 1

      That wouldn't be a problem, if not that the fact that it refuses to run under XP's reduced privellage mode.

    5. Re:Well, gee whiz by 88NoSoup4U88 · · Score: 1
      What could possibly go wrong?

      You forget to wear your tinfoil hat ?

    6. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing for me at least, since I run it in Wine under a non-privileged user

    7. Re:Well, gee whiz by wintered · · Score: 2, Funny

      Run Linux you noob

    8. Re:Well, gee whiz by OpCode42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly the same risks as downloading a tarball of sourcecode and compiling it. Oh, you read every line of source you download? Including the configure script, which may well contain a trojan? Ignore me then!

    9. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What could possibly go wrong?"

      Forbidden
      You don't have permission to access /drivey/Drivey013.exe on this server.

      server burnout perhaps? ;)

    10. Re:Well, gee whiz by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      //golf clap

      though, I will say that yes - I generally only install from "trusted" providers (mozilla, gnu, whatever), and that if I deviate from that, I do indeed read the sources.

      But I'm not normal. I don't even play computer games or watch tv. So what the hell do I know...

    11. Re:Well, gee whiz by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Exactly the same risks as downloading a tarball of sourcecode and compiling it. Oh, you read every line of source you download? Including the configure script, which may well contain a trojan? Ignore me then!

      Well, except that almost every program on windows expects to be run with elevated priveleges, to the point that it's about impossible to install any program otherwise. So if a user is duped, your machine is rooted. Not true of unix, unless you're installing it as root, which you probably shouldn't do for anything shady.

      These days, as far as local exploits go, that's the big difference between unix and windows - unix has an inherent sense of privileges, which Windows really still lacks in large part.

      You do make a good point though - using a !33+ OS doesn't make one secure.

    12. Re:Well, gee whiz by OpCode42 · · Score: 1

      Then you, sir, can ignore me and my deranged ramblings.

      Personally I don't read every line of code, but I do have a 'test' user to install untrusted stuff just in case there's a nasty 'rm -rf ~' in there somewhere...

    13. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I suppose not running as root prevents them from wiping out your user directory?

    14. Re:Well, gee whiz by Poromenos1 · · Score: 1

      No, I look at the site of the code before I download the code. Which is also why I would download the .exe from the drivey site but not from the direct article link.

      --
      Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
    15. Re:Well, gee whiz by adolf · · Score: 1

      I use Gentoo, you insatiable prick.

      Oh; wait.

      No, I use FreeBSD. That keeps me safe.

      Er...

      What I mean is that I use Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition on a Pentium-M with no-execute support. I'm sure that's safe.

      No?

      Oh, well.

    16. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Wiping out your user directory is pretty low on the list of sinister things a trojan can do. Think about all of the things Windows trojans do. They can make the system a spam or DDOS zombie or they can just install a backdoor giving the trojan's author access to the system.

      Just back up your personal files regularly.

    17. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't be obtuse. Mr. Underbridge's point is not that damage cannot happen, but that damage is contained such that you're not giving the process the keys to the kingdom. Having a special user account for the purposes of installing software will keep your precious home directory safe as well. (It's not difficult or burdensome to install software as user "evaluator" or "gamer".)

    18. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Since you seem to be new to slashdot, let me assure you that you are perfectly normal.

    19. Re:Well, gee whiz by mauriatm · · Score: 1

      "No, I look at the site of the code before I download the code." ... Although I do the same, that doesn't necessarily gaurantee security or authenticity. Open source project sites have been hacked in the past. Sometimes there are so many mirrors - no gaurantees. ... But in all seriousness, you have to give up somewhere. I'm not sure how many people verify MD5 of SHA (outside of massive downloads) or doublecheck their mirror. As for verifying source code? I don't know if that's practical. I recall a past kernel release which had a filesystem corruption bug. Big oops there. Even if the code/binary is not malicious, doesn't mean you're free from risk. Again, no gaurantees.

    20. Re:Well, gee whiz by pclminion · · Score: 1
      Exactly the same risks as downloading a tarball of sourcecode and compiling it. Oh, you read every line of source you download? Including the configure script, which may well contain a trojan? Ignore me then!

      You make a valid point, but consider reality for a second. How many tarballs are you aware of that contained malicious code? Compare to the number of Windows .EXE files which aren't what they appear to be. Statistically, running an unknown EXE is far more dangerous.

      I can count on zero hands the number of times I've been burned by a source tarball. But I've encountered Windows trojans easily hundreds of times. Does this make me complacent? Probably. But I'm just going with the statistics.

    21. Re:Well, gee whiz by akaina · · Score: 1

      If an anonymous executable was posted on Digg I might be worried.

      CmdrTaco is my hero.

      --
      Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
    22. Re:Well, gee whiz by Hast · · Score: 1

      Sounds like fun. I think someone made a mod for one of the Quake games which turned it into a "2D" side scroller. But IIRC it didn't have any neat lighting effects or anything like that.

    23. Re:Well, gee whiz by image77 · · Score: 1

      Did you try to run this one under Windows using a non-admin account? It works just fine....

      Linux may be superior to Windows for lots of reasons, but "because you can run it with reduced privileges" isn't one of them.

    24. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the hell? It can still probably access your e-mail account passwords etc, delete all of your PERSONAL FILES which are (at least to me) infinitely more valuable than anything else on my hard drive..

      ps. windows does have an inherent sense of privileges, since, oh, i dont know, NT 3.51.

    25. Re:Well, gee whiz by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Not to mention he just kind of assumes I'm using an OS that knows what a .exe file is... my Mac just kind of sat there and stared at it. Alas.

      Hey submitter: You're an idiot. There, I said it.

    26. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      pretty low? my personal files are not that important! who cares!

      ps. how do reduced privileges manage to stop, say, a spamming trojan/ddos zombie? you mean, you dont let anyone else except root to access the network on you puter? and it CAN also give the author access to your computer, with or without reduced privileges. he just cant get root, unless you have some old software installed... which, of course, no linux box ever has....

    27. Re:Well, gee whiz by jiushao · · Score: 1
      On the other hand a trojan could very well do the same on Linux. It just needs to get itself started by something in your user configuration, and who keeps track of all those dot-files in ones home-directory? Throwing in the trojan in there somewhere would work just fine to make the machine a spam/DDOS-zombie. The process would not be able to hide itself as rootkits on Linux/UNIX typically does, but who really keeps track of all processes running on the machine? If it picks an inconspicuous name for itself (or simply fork's and execs itself to rename itself to match one of the currently running processes on your system).

      If one keeps a special account with continuously wiped home directory one can fairly safely try programs on it, but that is another big hassle. Finally privilige escalation holes are very common, so once malicious code is running on your machine you are already in a lot of trouble.

      Personally I stopped caring, being completely safe if more trouble than it is worth, my desktop machine is hardly critical at any rate.

    28. Re:Well, gee whiz by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Uh, in what way does Windows not have "an inherent sense of privileges?" It has since version NT 3.5 or so... but go ahead and spread your FUD.

    29. Re:Well, gee whiz by Crag · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That's true, but since so many legitimate applications DEMAND full access for installation (you know it's true), most people log in with admin perms. If an app (Cisco VPN client anyone?) insistes on installing a part of itself as a driver, the Unix user will throw a tantrum and the Windows user will just click YES ACCEPT OK FINISH DO IT NOW and complain that the software doesn't just do everything automatically.

      So, for the purposes of this discussion ("Dear Slashdot, Please run my anonymous goofy driving sim software on your computer."), Windows - the windows world, magazines, experience, culture, mindset, expectations, etc - does not have an inherent sense of privileges. The architechture of the NT kernel is no less privilege-oriented than a modern Unix kernel, but the people who use the tools are completely different.

    30. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, let's see. There was the hack agaisnt the GNU ftp site. Not sure if any sources were changed. Then there were trojans put into,
          openssl
          linux (the kernel)
      both were detected, but still.

      Don't trust OSS, just like you should not trust binaryies. ALWAYS run `gpg --verify` or at least md5sum and compare against what is on the site. If there is nothing, well, beware.

    31. Re:Well, gee whiz by pclminion · · Score: 1
      Don't trust OSS, just like you should not trust binaryies. ALWAYS run `gpg --verify` or at least md5sum and compare against what is on the site. If there is nothing, well, beware.

      The fact that something is signed doesn't prove anything except that somebody signed it. Nothing prevents me from writing some C code that corrupts files in your home directory, signing it, and throwing it up on SourceForge. I'll be caught out soon enough, but in the meantime, people get screwed.

      Additionally, GPG signatures are only worth something if there is a verifiable chain of trust leading back to a TA. And even then, it only proves that you are who you say you are. It does nothing to prove that the code doesn't contain something malicious.

      At any rate, checking every tarball is a wasted effort. It's far easier to just ensure that your important data is backed up, so that if something does happen, you can just reinstall and move on with life. (Somebody administering a server might not have this option, but as an end user I certainly do.)

    32. Re:Well, gee whiz by blechx · · Score: 1

      Not really.
      The difference is that you DO have the ability to check through the code, and some people will probably do so.
      I'm not saying that it is always safe, but it is indeed much safer than running random executables wich could contain anything without anyone being able to detect it.

      There's a reason why most spyware isn't free software you know.

    33. Re:Well, gee whiz by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      So because a lot of third party Windows developers do a shitty job, suddenly Windows doesn't have permissions? Your argument makes no sense whatsoever.

    34. Re:Well, gee whiz by tkinnun0 · · Score: 0

      Nothing, because you're reading Slashdot, where editorial control weeds out duplicate stories, inaccurate summaries and harmful links.

    35. Re:Well, gee whiz by Dimensio · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Age of Empires (a Microsoft-produced title) requires full Admin rights to run. It's not just third-party developers doing a lousy job of coding within acceptable security standards.

    36. Re:Well, gee whiz by jensen404 · · Score: 1

      Speaking of non-photo-realitic and golf, you may want to check this one out to: http://www.golfquestionmark.com/

    37. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I generally only install from "trusted" providers (mozilla, gnu, whatever), and that if I deviate from that, I do indeed read the sources.

      Your source code examination is extremely unlikely to uncover malicious functionality of any sophistication, unless you spend years and years, purusing every line in excrutiating detail. Guess what, you don't.

      I also hope that you obtain file digests from a trusted source using a secure connection before trusting the files you get from "trusted" providers. I'm amazed to find "trusted" providers who make the file digests available through non-secure connections, as if that is worth a damn.

    38. Re:Well, gee whiz by legallyillegal · · Score: 0

      people use the xp limited accounts?

      --
      ?giS
    39. Re:Well, gee whiz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      www.facewound.com
      pretty much what you described. Lots of fancy DX9 effects, explosions, everything you could ever want.

    40. Re:Well, gee whiz by batkiwi · · Score: 1

      cd /usr/src/anyProgramEverJustAbout
      cat INSTALL.TXT
      Installing XYZ is easy, just follow these steps:
      1. ./configure --prefix=/usr/local
      2. make
      3. sudo make install
      Note: If you do not have sudo installed, simply run "su" (type in your root password here) and then run "make install".

    41. Re:Well, gee whiz by CommieOverlord · · Score: 1

      My god, no one is saying Windows doesn't have security permissions. What he's say is that for many/most users those permissions are effectively useless. Most people run as root, which bypasses security.

      The Windows XP Home will, by default, create new accounts with administrator privileges.

  5. Missing link by ceeam · · Score: 1

    Any screenshots?

    1. Re:Missing link by MTO_B. · · Score: 1

      Why cant people just go to the page before asking?
      The page is full of beautiful screenshots.
      http://drivey.com/

    2. Re:Missing link by Knacklappen · · Score: 0, Redundant
      --


      Excellence: Moderate (mostly affected by comments on your karma)
    3. Re:Missing link by nospmiS+remoH · · Score: 2, Funny

      Looks like a pretty crappy game. Who wants to play a game who's only screenshot is a white background with:

      "Forbidden
      You don't have permission to access /drivey/ on this server."

      written on it. Sheesh.

      --
      !hoD
    4. Re:Missing link by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      A temporary low-bandwidth version of the page is now up with one screenshot. The screenshot's parent directory is indexed.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  6. it has potential by bigalsenior · · Score: 1, Interesting

    it looks pretty good and it evn works on my laptop (latitude c610) with music in the background, a pat on the back for the author i say

    1. Re:it has potential by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Personally, I prefer Racer, the Free Car Simulation developed by Ruud van Gaal.

      Currently stable at v0.5 with some very realistic behaviour and scope for enhancements.

  7. MTV by N8F8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Some clever hack needs to add a sountrack to this thing.

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
    1. Re:MTV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got one! Start>Programs>Windows Media Player/Itunes>song of choice>play>start up the game

      idiot

    2. Re:MTV by craash420 · · Score: 1

      I would prefer music, but you're welcome to use crappy reality shows as a soundtrack.

      Remember the "good old days" when MTV played music?

      --
      Extra medication for all!
  8. Style by CleverNickedName · · Score: 5, Insightful

    here is a quick pic.

    Simple cell-shading done with style. This is what's missing from most games. Real style.

    If I wanted photo-realism, I'd get up from my PC and head out the front door. Games such as WoW, Rez, Killer 7 and Ico have shown that a little creativity in the design can go a long way. It can also be easy on the gpu.

    --


    Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
    1. Re:Style by CleverNickedName · · Score: 1

      Oops... Another glance at the pic shows that this isn't even cell shaded. It's pure, old-fashioned flat shading.

      All the sweeter, in my book.

      --


      Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
    2. Re:Style by imsabbel · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Its a _RACING_ game. The whole genre of racing games usually lives from the aspect that you just _cant_ do it outside in the real world, because you neither can afford the cars nor does the police like people running 250 km/h downtown.
      Its one of the very few genres were maximum realism really is wanted, because everybody known how it look to drive and have expectations how it should look like when driving, well, faster...

      And to the "style" of this "demo". Well, i cant call it style, and i cant call it a demo. Its more like a short looping flash movie, and the "style" is using only one colour and making everything so dark you cant see there isnt anything too see.

      --
      HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
    3. Re:Style by badasscat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Its a _RACING_ game.

      Its one of the very few genres were maximum realism really is wanted, because everybody known how it look to drive and have expectations how it should look like when driving, well, faster...


      You've obviously never played games like Burnout, Outrun, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer, Wipeout, F-Zero, or any of the other myriad of racing games where realism is most definitely not the goal...

      And to the "style" of this "demo". Well, i cant call it style, and i cant call it a demo. Its more like a short looping flash movie, and the "style" is using only one colour and making everything so dark you cant see there isnt anything too see.

      And from this, I can tell you've obviously never played any of the prior art listed on this page, such as Night Driver or Speed Freak.

      Racing games are not a genre that requires any more realism than any other genre. The point of a racing game is to have fun. There is no need for them to be realistic - there is only a need to make you feel like you are driving something.

      This guy does call this a "driving simulation", which implies realism, but even that's a misnomer. There's nothing about the word "simulation" that implies realistic visuals - the dictionary definition that applies in this case is "Representation of the operation or features of one process or system through the use of another: computer simulation of an in-flight emergency."

      And to further that example, modern commercial flight sims (you know, the ones that cost $2 million each) have less realistic graphics than commercially-available flight simulators available at your local GameStop. Because simulating the inner workings of something is not really about texture-mapping every single crack on the asphalt.

    4. Re:Style by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Killer 7 does look pretty cool but GODDAMN what a shitty game it is.

      Sorry.

    5. Re:Style by Dwonis · · Score: 1

      "Drivey Test"... That looks familiar...

    6. Re:Style by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      If I wanted photo-realism, I'd get up from my PC and head out the front door.

      And if you wanted photo-realism while battling invading aliens, or stealing cars, or killing goblins, or any of a hugelist of things that are either illegal, dangerous or impossible?

      I'm not saying that photo-realism is a requirement of a good game, just that the presence of photo-realism (or as near as is possible) doesn't automatically make a game bad.

    7. Re:Style by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some may not remember Rez, so here's a link.

      When it first came out for Dreamcast back in the day, it became one of the staples of our lounge parties in the dorm during my 1st year of college.

    8. Re:Style by Loadmaster · · Score: 1

      Or maybe Hard Drivin'

    9. Re:Style by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good for you. Not let the rest of us enjoy this.

    10. Re:Style by Kinetix303 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's a 500k demo. Stop complaining.

      Please.

      It's just a fun little project. You're going to give yourself a heart attack trying to find fault.

    11. Re:Style by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You haven't played any of the genre defining classics and you expect someone to actually care what you think about racing games?

      If you could honestly say you were an avid racing game player you would have played those titles and a few obscure ones as well. Then your two cents would be worth something.

    12. Re:Style by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it sure doesn't look familiar. The two look nothing alike. Are you sure you have eyes?

    13. Re:Style by chewties · · Score: 1

      It's a pretty screen saver if nothing else.

    14. Re:Style by modecx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Racing games don't need to look shiny to be good racing games, you know why? Because you're almost always focusing almost all your attention right at the center of the screen... Just about like you do when you're racing in real life, or just driving down the highway, for that matter.

      Aside from looking in your mirrors your peripheral vision takes care of the rest, and if you're not focusing mostly in a 20 degree cone when you're doing better than 200 km/h, well, you're toast.

      Even if all of that stuff was displayed perfectly, you're just not going to see it. It's total information overload--unless you're some superhuman with brain bandwidth that can handle it, in which case you'd probably make a fantastic race car driver, and you wouldn't need or want for simulations.

      The grandparent is absolutely right, as long as a sim gives you the impression that you're doing something and you're having fun, then so what about the eyecandy? One of the most realistic flight sims I've ever played was the Harrier sim on Apples in the early 90's and it's not because it was pretty--I've played sims that were more detailed graphically even at the time--but because it REALLY made you feel like you were flying a Harrier. That's what it's all about afterall. If someone can acheive that in a 500kb executable, all the more power to them.

      --
      Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
    15. Re:Style by simcop2387 · · Score: 1

      i'vegot to say it looks more like speed freak http://www.mame.net/screenshots/speedfrk.png

      (a really old vector game)

    16. Re:Style by bolx · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'll take your 500k demo, and raise you a 63 line game http://ioccc.org/2004/vik1.c.

  9. Drivey Crashes by The+Dread+Pirate+Rob · · Score: 3, Interesting

    After reading the web page and seeing there's not much in the way of collision detection built in just yet, I was expecting crashes.

    Problem is I get crashes before it even starts.

    It appears Drivey does not like my Dual Screens.

    It flashes some kind of grahics test across both monitors and then exits.

    Durn.

    --
    wut?
    1. Re:Drivey Crashes by NipsMG · · Score: 1

      Same issue here.

      Dual Monitors, flashes text and exits.

    2. Re:Drivey Crashes by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 1

      seeing there's not much in the way of collision detection built in just yet, I was expecting crashes.

      That's funny, I thought the opposite! ;)

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    3. Re:Drivey Crashes by Quarters · · Score: 1

      Works fine on my dual monitor setup. Launches on the left screen and runs smoothly.

    4. Re:Drivey Crashes by Ptur · · Score: 1

      Not on my Matrox G550 dual screen setup. Would be helpfull if you would have added (at least) what graphics card you're using? Peter

    5. Re:Drivey Crashes by Fortyseven · · Score: 1

      Same here. (Geforce 6600GT, latest drivers)

    6. Re:Drivey Crashes by mbourgon · · Score: 1

      Works on my Matrox G450 Dual-head running drivers from Jan/Feb.

      --
      "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
    7. Re:Drivey Crashes by vhogemann · · Score: 1

      Are you using Windows?

      Because here its running just fine, on my dual head Ubuntu box with Xinerama and Wine ;-)

      --
      ---- You know how some doctors have the Messiah complex - they need to save the world? You've got the "Rubik's" complex
    8. Re:Drivey Crashes by Madd+Scientist · · Score: 1

      i have dual screens and it worked fine for me. it played in full screen mode on just my main screen and left the other one alone.

    9. Re:Drivey Crashes by Andrewkov · · Score: 1

      Me too, launces on the primary display and runs fine. I'm using a docked Dell Latitude D600, with the laptop's LCD display as my primary monitor and an external CRT as the 2nd screen.

    10. Re:Drivey Crashes by wolf- · · Score: 1

      Dual screens with a nVidia 4400 worked ok.
      Failed on the other dual head system with an ATI in it. Just an fYI.

      --
      ----- LoboSoft specializes in Digital Language Lab
    11. Re:Drivey Crashes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right-click the .exe, go to the "Compatibility" tab, then check the box titled "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution." That works for me and is good enough so that I could run the game and see what all the hype is about.

    12. Re:Drivey Crashes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Worked fine on my quad-monitor setup. It only displayed in one monitor, and I kept slashdotting in another ;P

    13. Re:Drivey Crashes by digidave · · Score: 1

      I had to turn Xinerama off to get it to run with Ubuntu and Wine.

      Actually, I change between Xinerama on and off quite frequently because I can never figure out which I like better: big desktop (on) or dual desktop (off).

      --
      The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
    14. Re:Drivey Crashes by ad0gg · · Score: 1

      I got duals screens and it runs fine.

      --

      Have you ever been to a turkish prison?

    15. Re:Drivey Crashes by CommieOverlord · · Score: 1

      not much in the way of collision detection built in just yet, I was expecting crashes.

      What does collision detection have to do with crashes?

      Well, apart from objects crashing into one another, but I gather that isn't the type of crash you're refering to.

  10. Pretty good by jurt1235 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The "action" goes smooth under wine, just had problems to find a way out of the demo again (used a root shell to kill wine, read manual before running the demo might help). Just to add a bit of light effects from the lightposts will make it really great.

    Nice project, now lets back to Gran Turismo and see what still needs to be done (-:

    --

    My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
    1. Re:Pretty good by rsidd · · Score: 1
      The "action" goes smooth under wine, just had problems to find a way out of the demo again

      The esc key.

      (used a root shell to kill wine

      Root shell? Regular user shell will work, unless you're running it as root (why would you do that?)

    2. Re:Pretty good by jjshoe · · Score: 1

      if you bothered to read anything he wrote you would notice he is not tring to achieve anything like gran turismo.

      --
      -- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount} /dev/girl -t {wet;fsck;fsck;yes;yes;yes;umount} {/de
    3. Re:Pretty good by l_bratch · · Score: 1

      The Esc key worked rather well here, as "ESC to quit, F1 for help" in large letters made clear.

    4. Re:Pretty good by jurt1235 · · Score: 1

      Here (SuSE 8.2) wine does not want to react on ESC or F1.

      Run as root: Because I can!

      Anyway: I think the correct term for the root shell should be console. to access the running shells in KDE also did not work.

      --

      My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
    5. Re:Pretty good by jurt1235 · · Score: 1

      Read it, but still lighting is on his list, see reflecting car lights on the road effect, so if you do that, add the rest of the lighting too to make the demo complete.

      --

      My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
    6. Re:Pretty good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Neither key worked under Wine (SuSE Linux 9.1), and it makes no difference however large or bright the characters....

    7. Re:Pretty good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      back to Gran Turismo and see what still needs to be done (-:

      Shitty physics and undamageable cars are next on the list! :P

  11. Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by N8F8 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Rename the ".exe" to ".scr", right click on the file and select "Intall". You now have a Drivey screensaver;)

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
    1. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does that work on any .exe?

    2. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by ashot · · Score: 1

      whoa, sweet!

      --
      -ashot
    3. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by sammy+baby · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thank you for reiterating reason number #432 that sysadmins go crazy trying to secure windows.

    4. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by otherniceman · · Score: 2, Funny

      As far as I remember yes, including cmd.exe! Must check to see if that is still the case :)

    5. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by De+Lemming · · Score: 4, Informative

      Rename the ".exe" to ".scr", right click on the file and select "Intall". You now have a Drivey screensaver;)

      You now have a screensaver which doesn't exit on mouse movements or key presses :-) (You can exit Drivey by pressing ESC).

      Also, a standard .src executable should normally accept the command line arguments /c (configuration mode), /p (preview mode) and /s (full screen mode).

      Renaming .exe to .src works for any Windows executable, but this doesn't magically give you standard screensaver behaviour.

    6. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by doconnor · · Score: 4, Funny

      You now have a screensaver which doesn't exit on mouse movements or key presses :-) (You can exit Drivey by pressing ESC).

      Not only is it a cool screen saver, it's secure too.

    7. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by David+Horn · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, this won't work under XP SP2 (or at least not on my computer.)

      First of all, Microsoft Antispyware throws a real hissy fit if I try to do as described in the parent, and if I disable it, it still won't install as a screensaver.

      --
      PocketGamer.org - For the gamer on the go!
    8. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by otherniceman · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Microsoft Antispyware gives you a general warning about allowing the script to run. Click OK and you have your very own dos prompt screen saver, with the rights of the logged on user :)

      You can also use it to get round restrictions on running cmd.exe, regedit32.exe etc.

    9. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by dfay · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That reminds me of the old way of getting access to WinNT 4.0 admin account if you had forgotten the password. You just back up logon.scr, and then
      copy cmd.exe to logon.scr, reboot, and wait 15 minutes. A DOS prompt with admin rights would pop up and you were on your way. ;)

    10. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by mnmn · · Score: 1

      Those arent sysadmins. Sysadmins dont go crazy. They just secure systems.

      But I didnt know you could install a screensaver like that. It'll get installed on this sysadmins system.

      --
      "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
    11. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by John+Harrison · · Score: 1

      schweet! I'll have to modify my 3d asteroids to run as a screensaver...

    12. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by sammy+baby · · Score: 1

      Au contraire. Sysadmins go crazy approximately all the friggin' time.

      Except the ones that start out crazy. But who can tell which is which?

    13. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by SiliconTrip · · Score: 1

      sysadmins go crazy trying to secure windows.

      Secure windows? I thought such a thing was impossible.

      No wonder the sysadmins go crazy, trying to generate an infinite amount of improbability.

  12. tried it by Keruo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just tried the game and it looks pretty amazing considering the lo-fi approach.

    Most games overdo stuff with graphics when they could focus on content.

    Now all we need is some cows, logs, perhaps some water, dual player, 2x tac2 and rear view of a mockup car with lotus logo.

    --
    There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
    1. Re:tried it by dukerobillard · · Score: 2, Funny
      Most games overdo stuff with graphics when they could focus on content.

      Yah--it's like TV. The problem with my TV can't be solved with a Wide Screen, HD Plasma Monitor, it can only by solved by the producers hiring some writers.

    2. Re:tried it by elgatozorbas · · Score: 1
      Now all we need is some cows, logs, perhaps some water, dual player, 2x tac2 and rear view of a mockup car with lotus logo.

      ... which would take away everything that makes it special, resulting in your average racing game.

  13. 2.5D graphics rendering by HoneyBunchesOfGoats · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Towards the bottom of the page, the author says this about a screenshot:

    Interesting thing here is the big black blob in the top left, which is the bottom end of a light pole. Why is it floating in the air? Because extruded objects can't currently be drawn correctly unless one end is visible to the observer. The reason for this is remarkably interesting, specific to the weird 2-and-a-half-D rendering system, and pretty much impossible to explain to anyone without a strong background in both 2D and 3D graphics. *sigh* oh well, I find it interesting anyway.

    It sounds interesting to me... but I don't have a background in both 2D and 3D graphics. Would someone care to explain it?

    1. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you have driven halfway through a lightpole so that you can't see the top or the bottom, where would you draw it? Where you last saw it? When would you stop drawing it?

      The problem is that it's trying to show 3 dimensions with only 2 dimensional objects. Here's another problem with a similar issue. Imagine a very flat wall. Take a large light source like the sun and bring it to a position above and behind the wall, now the wall face is dark and a long shadow is cast. Now move the light source to the front of the wall. The wall is lit up and no shadow is cast by the wall. Now slowly move the light source up directly over the edge of the wall. Get to the point just before a shadow would appear. Should the wall be lit? Should it be dark? Should half of it be lit?

    2. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by domipheus · · Score: 1

      If you dont have a background in 2D and 3D graphics, then, as he said - it is pretty hard to explain :)

      I am not 100% sure on this but I believe it is because extruded objects are defined by a 2D line and have a 3D component, but if you are working in a 2.5D environment, where do you get the 3D component? I guess the workaround for this is to have the ends defined in a semi 3D way, so if you cannot see any ends, the 3D component is borked, and so it renders wierd.

    3. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Without a description of what exactly his rendering code does, one can't tell what goes wrong. In general, it's a little harder to render objects which don't have any vertices on screen compared to rendering objects which are entirely within the bounds of the screen, but it's certainly possible and not really that complicated. On the other hand, he's probably not doing his own 2D-clipping, so that may not be it. I guess he just likes to be the mysterious hacker fighting unexplainable algorithmic problems.

    4. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      "Take a large light source like the sun and bring it to a position above and behind the wall."

      No-one mess with this guy!

    5. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Imagine a very flat wall.

      Ensuring that it's at least 25% flatter than your everyday, ordinary flat wall...

    6. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real question must be: Why are you driving through light poles. That is not a rendering problem, sir.

    7. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not sure because I haven't seen the code, but I think I know what it is. The way it's described, it sounds like extruded objects just take a single shape, and paint that a lot of time on screen, on top of eachother, to form the shape together. A bit like using a lot of circles to make the shape of a line. At some point you've got to paint your last shape/circle somewhere. This will generally be at one of the ends of the pole. This end will not magically be directed away from the viewer. So you see it like the end is directed towards you.

      Then again, as he does lots of things with perspective, I don't really get why it would be so hard to get around this. As he seems pretty smart, it may be something else entirely.

    8. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by gr8_phk · · Score: 1
      "In general, it's a little harder to render objects which don't have any vertices on screen compared to rendering objects which are entirely within the bounds of the screen"

      Yeah, I remember dealing with those issues in a software polygon rasterizer. I moved to ray tracing 12 years ago, and those issues just evaporate along with a bunch of others. Of course one issue keeps cropping up... CPU speed....

    9. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by N1ghtFalcon · · Score: 0

      The wall problem doesn't seem too difficult... First of all it depends if the light source is a single point, or if it has dimensions itself. In the second case, there is no way to be "directly above" the wall, since some part will always be behind or in front of it, meaning that the wall will be lit partially and there would also be a partial shadow.

      If the light source is a single point and is directly above the wall, then the best that photons can do is either go away from the light source (never hitting the wall), or exactly parallel to the wall, in which case there would be no shadow, but the wall would be completely dark since no photons are able to bounce of it.

    10. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by SlayerDave · · Score: 1
      Should the wall be lit? Should it be dark? Should half of it be lit?

      Well, if the directional light source is directly above the wall, then the dot product of the light direction and the wall's surface normal will be zero (the angle between the two vectors is exactly 90 degrees). Hence under most commonly used lighting models there will be no diffuse lighting on any part of the wall due to the light source. There might be some specular highlights, depending on where the view point is located.

      This is really not a complicated graphics problem at all.

    11. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're thinking of a 3d lighting system, which is probaly not the case here.

    12. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The surface would be completely black, with no shadow produced. What's the problem with that? The shadow is just directly below the object. It's not non-existent. Now, it would only be completely black assuming there is not any radiosity shading in your simple 3d engine. However, it depends on if the wall emits light and the color and opacity of the wall as well.

    13. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by SlayerDave · · Score: 1
      You're thinking of a 3d lighting system, which is probaly not the case here.

      True. But the problems described by the parent post (lighting a wall and how to draw an object clipped by the top and bottom of the view frustum) are 3D graphics problems. Anyway, I'm not sure what a non-3D lighting system would be. If you are lighting per-pixel, would could avoid 3D geometry processing, but still apply 3D lighting. This would be like deferred shading but using a different method for filling the G-buffer.

    14. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by khallow · · Score: 1
      The problem is that it's trying to show 3 dimensions with only 2 dimensional objects. Here's another problem with a similar issue. Imagine a very flat wall. Take a large light source like the sun and bring it to a position above and behind the wall, now the wall face is dark and a long shadow is cast. Now move the light source to the front of the wall. The wall is lit up and no shadow is cast by the wall. Now slowly move the light source up directly over the edge of the wall. Get to the point just before a shadow would appear. Should the wall be lit? Should it be dark? Should half of it be lit?

      The whole thing should be going through shades of gray. Remember the sun isn't a point source. If you happen to have a point light source, then the configuration in question is a measure zero set and can be arbitrarily made all black or all white, but not half black/half white. Next.

  14. it's only a demo but... by netean · · Score: 3, Interesting

    it has real style and is smooth. I'm píssed off with photo realism and píssed off at games that have great graphics but suck to play. I end up playing simpler games with crapper graphics to enjoy their better gameplay (Sensible soccer, pacman) spring to mind. Even though it's only a demo, ideas like this show what's missing in modern games too often... style.

    1. Re:it's only a demo but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you like sensisoccer, try yodasoccer at http://yodasoccer.sourceforge.net/

    2. Re:it's only a demo but... by pclminion · · Score: 1

      This is Slashdot. You don't have to self-censor the word "pissed."

    3. Re:it's only a demo but... by netean · · Score: 1

      force of habit... well done for noticing though, most people don't

  15. Downloads by Johan+Veenstra · · Score: 1

    Thursday, February 10, 2005

    1300 downloads, averaging around 30 per day right now.

    ---

    Wednesday, August 10, 2005?

  16. I found a rather obvious bug... by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dude's driving on the wrong side of the road.

    1. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Karaman · · Score: 1

      No, he is just driving British style :)

      --
      sex is better than war!
    2. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by ettlz · · Score: 1

      No, he's not. Look where the steering wheel is.

    3. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Karaman · · Score: 1

      Well, you are wrong. The steering wheel should be on the right side of the car if you are driving on the left (British style), so that you can see the cars that come at you better! :P :).

      --
      sex is better than war!
    4. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Gallvs · · Score: 1

      Well, maybe he's not a dude but a bloke.

    5. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 1

      Yet another bug!

    6. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looking at the dashboard shape the steering wheel appears to be in the centre but the driver is sitting to the left of it.

    7. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by lisaparratt · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, he's just driving on the right side of the Atlantic :P

    8. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by ettlz · · Score: 1

      Well if the wheel is on the left of that car, the driver must be riding the door. To my eyes, the steering wheel is on the right and the dash is curving in on the left.

    9. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Zugok · · Score: 1

      I presumed this programmer was American and though "why is he driving on the left?". Then I noticed all (baar one) of his turns were left and figured he was driving on an oval.

      --
      "I just can't sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it's nonsense" J Watson, Sci Am 288:(4)51
    10. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by crownrai · · Score: 1

      Yup. And add more cars with "C" and they drive on the right hand side.

    11. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by kwoff · · Score: 1

      I can't touch your play on words, but I note for trivia purposes that most of the world drives on the right.

    12. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but on the wrong side of the English Channel....

    13. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by neo · · Score: 1

      Or New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

    14. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which, of course, is the wrong side.

    15. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Goth+Biker+Babe · · Score: 1

      May be by area, but since places like India drive on the left that's rather a lot of population. Anyway shouldn't they all be pink!

    16. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by jusdisgi · · Score: 1

      May be by area, but since places like India drive on the left that's rather a lot of population.

      You did see that the Chinese are left-drivers, right? Also, what percentage of these populations are actually drivers anyway? Something tells me there are more cars in the US than in either of those places.

      (Note, that's just a guess. I could easily be wrong, but it is worth noting that there are far more cars in the US than people.)

      --
      Given a choice between free speech and free beer, most people will take the beer.
    17. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by SnprBoB86 · · Score: 1

      Interesting fact (or an interesting idea that was conveyed to me as a fact):

      The decision to travel (originally by horse) on the right-hand side of the road was made as a gesture of peace. The right hand is the sword hand; traveling on the right-hand side of the road ensures that opposing traffic has their weapons furthest from each other.

      --
      http://brandonbloom.name
    18. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by adavidw · · Score: 1

      You did see that the Chinese are left-drivers, right?

      You misspelled "right-drivers" (although I'm not even sure that's a real term).

    19. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by cabazorro · · Score: 1

      Maybe it compiled in little-endian arch?

      --
      - these are not the droids you are looking for -
    20. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by strider44 · · Score: 1

      At least, he's definitely not driving on the right side of the road...

    21. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by Bingo+Foo · · Score: 1

      That bus full of chickens with 40 people on the roof still only counts as one driver, though.

      --
      taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
    22. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by kwoff · · Score: 1

      It's funny, because I've heard the opposite explanation. That they drive on the left-hand side in the UK because they wanted to have their sword ready in case the other man attacked. :)

  17. Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by mikeophile · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is supposed to be the last software professionally written by Bill Gates.

    Even though probably no one much ever played this primitive bit of DOS/BASIC demo software [purportedly the last piece of professional software ever written by Bill Gates!]

    Good to see he ended on such a high note.

    1. Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 1

      Ended? Seems to me that is simply stating that they felt everything he wrote afterwards wasn't worthy of the title 'professional.'

    2. Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by fixer007 · · Score: 1

      That Gorilla game was the only thing that kept me sane at my job back in the day.

      It was the only game on the machine (I have no idea why it was even on there).

    3. Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 1

      standard part of DOS

    4. Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by arock99 · · Score: 1

      Interesting i didn't realise this was Bill's last written software. This is actually the first source code I ever looked at and modified and it is the reason why I started to love programming and eventually went to College and ended up in the industry. Who would have thought I would owe Gates so much :)

    5. Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by digidave · · Score: 1

      "Seems to me that is simply stating that they felt everything he wrote afterwards wasn't worthy of the title 'professional.'"

      More like he didn't write anything afterwards. As the CEO of Microsoft, his job wasn't to program anything.

      --
      The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
    6. Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by Watts+Martin · · Score: 1

      Warning: pedantic geekery ahead. :)

      As far as I know, the last software Bill Gates actually worked on was the included software, notably the text editor, for the TRS-80 Model 100/200 portable computers from Radio Shack.

      http://www.tcp.com/~lgreenf/bill.htm

      It's more amusing to assume his last work was a crappy BASIC game, I suppose. But for what they were, the Model 100/200 machines were really pretty damn cool little gadgets. For all of the obvious limitations (a 16-line, 40-character screen, 32K of RAM expandable to 96K at most, IIRC), my Model 200 had the best keyboard of any laptop I've ever used -- and ran for about 15 hours on AA batteries. (And the file system was similar in some ways to the Palm's a few years later: a flat system you didn't ever save anything to, because files were persistent.)

    7. Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 1

      thanks Captain Obvious. I wasn't making a lame joke or anything, I was being entirely serious! heh.

  18. Obligatory reply to posting a .exe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I use Linux only you insensitive clod!

    1. Re:Obligatory reply to posting a .exe by VE3MTM · · Score: 1

      Use Wine, you illiterate clod.

      --
      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 Whoops, silly middle mouse button...
    2. Re:Obligatory reply to posting a .exe by marcantonio · · Score: 1

      Actually, I tried it in WINE twice (cause I never learn my lesson the first time) and it locked up X both times. Good ole C-M-Backspace to the rescue...

    3. Re:Obligatory reply to posting a .exe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use OS X, you insensitive clod!

      (And you better not tell me to pay Microsoft and buy VPC)

  19. On Linux with CrossOver Office by p0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Confirmed, it does not work with crossover office :(

    --
    This is my sig. There are thousands more, but this one is mine.
    1. Re:On Linux with CrossOver Office by shreevatsa · · Score: 1

      Confirmed, it does work splendidly on Linux with Wine :)

    2. Re:On Linux with CrossOver Office by Slashcrap · · Score: 1

      Confirmed, it does not work with crossover office :(

      I'm also having trouble getting MS Office to run under Cedega for some reason.

  20. Way cool! by uncl_bob · · Score: 0

    I am stunned. So smooth and nice feeling. I would be interested in an a deeper explanation of the engine!

  21. "Compelling" by cornface · · Score: 0

    I am about sick of hearing random aspects of games described as compelling. It's meaningless in this context.

    Stop it!

  22. Fatal error: by Ceriel+Nosforit · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fatal Error: Driving on the wrong side of the damn road.

    Frivolties aside, if realism isn't the goal, why stick to our boring terran transportation? I think the game would be really cool if some ideas were stolen^W^W^W inspiration was taken from Wipeout, letting some big air jumps enter the game. Why not take a little from Tribes aswell and add the jet boost-thing?
    Mix well and the result is a toe curling orgasm^W^W^W hit for sure.

    --
    All rites reversed 2010
    1. Re:Fatal error: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a difference between realism and photorealism. He is doing a non-photorealistic driving simulation. I think this is a pretty clever representation of a driving by-night/by-twilight session. The only thing it's missing are the headlights on the road, like in "Lost Highway".

    2. Re:Fatal error: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A true error is that if you go to fast you can "break" through the outer wall. As someone who has done a little OpenGl, I would say the hit-test needs to be fixed. Never have an object's speed higher than your hit limits. I was stuck outside the wall and the driver just kept slamming into it, trying to get back on the track. I mercifully ended it.

    3. Re:Fatal error: by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Press [Home]. That'll teleport you back to the track. :P

  23. it makes sense really by CdBee · · Score: 1

    (Disclaimer - I'm British)

    By setting the control equipment up on the right side of our cars and driving on the left, we ensure that drivers approach down each other's right-hand side, which makes a lot of sense considering how much of the population is right-handed.

    It doesn't make any sense at all to waste the dextrous right hand on the gearshift - which is probably why Americans tend to prefer automatic gearboxes (90-95% of British cars have a manual shift) - we prefer right hand for the wheel and a manual box for better control, you're never really in command of an automatic car.

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    1. Re:it makes sense really by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 1

      exactly how many gears does your car have that you'd be scared you'd crash while shifting if you had to use your weaker left hand to steer? ;)

    2. Re:it makes sense really by kongjie · · Score: 1
      No arguments except with your theory why most Americans drive automatic trannies.

      It's because we're lazy.

      Also, it restricts what else you can do in the car...it's amazing what I see as I drive past them in my manual shift-equipped VW.

      Drinking and eating at the same time, phoning and consulting a map, etc. etc. Women and their makeup is pretty scary, but of course men shave, too.

    3. Re:it makes sense really by Phillip2 · · Score: 1

      Left hand drive, right hand drive. Doesn't make any difference to be honest. The theory about automatics is bogus. Australians also prefer automatics.

      I think it has more to do with the shape of the roads. In the UK, you go through lots of towns, the roads curve more, they are narrower and harder to overtake. In the US, they are straight for miles at a time. You can overtake without changing gear, which is generally not possible in the UK.

      The real reason the the US drives on the right is probably much the same as the reason they spell different. A deliberate attempt to differentiate themselves from an old colonial power. Perfectly reasonable in some ways,

    4. Re:it makes sense really by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      The whole driving into oncoming traffic thing is what gets me. It seems with such a large number of fatal crashes being offset frontal wrecks (oops, someone swerved across the line a few feet into oncoming traffic, and the drivers are both crushed like pancakes) that sitting on the right and driving on the right (sorry, I'm American ;) is what makes sense. Especially with the number of Americans who drive alone, it should greatly reduce the number of fatalities, since to hit the driver's side, you'd have to swerve all the way across the lane, otherwise you're crushing a (usually, unlike the driver's side) empty passenger seat. This even works for red-light runners, since when crossing an intersection, for the first lanes, traffic approaches from the left and again hits the passenger side, rather than the driver (by the time you got to the other side of the road, the people too stupid to stop should have cleared out).

      Swap everything right with left and it'd still work wherever such driving habits are preferred.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    5. Re:it makes sense really by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 4, Interesting

      drivers approach down each other's right-hand side, which makes a lot of sense considering how much of the population is right-handed.

      This page gives an interesting description on driving traditions.

      Basically, driving on the left comes from the need to protect yourself with your sword arm from oncoming attackers, and driving on the right comes from needing to whip a train of horses with your right hand while riding on the left-rear horse (this was before seats, and if you're on the left hand horse, it's easier to pass people on the right). So both systems are rooted in the notion that most people are right handed, it's just that the use of the right hand for either reigns or swords determined the protocol chosen.

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    6. Re:it makes sense really by digidave · · Score: 1

      You fail to understand that most of us choose to steer with our left hand about half the time even when we're driving automatics. We've been doing it our whole lives, so our left hand is not weaker at steering.

      The reason I chose an automatic is because when I bought my car I was commuting into a large city from 45Km away. The 35 minute trip would take at least 1.5 hours each way during rush hour. Manual transmissions aren't nice in stop and go (mostly stop) traffic for that long.

      --
      The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
    7. Re:it makes sense really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Years and years ago in the time of swords and horsies :p it was best practice to pass someone on a road in best position to defend yourself, since the majority of people are right handed it was best to keep to the left.
      "This practice was formalised in a Papal Edict by Pope Benedict around 1300AD who told all his pilgrims to keep to the left."

      An increase in horse traffic in 1773 forced the UK Government to introcude the General Highways Act 1773, which had a keep left recommendation. In 1835 this became law.

      US only drive on the otherside due to being crybabies, just like American English was meant as a cheap shot.

    8. Re:it makes sense really by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Well I much rather use my right hand for all the fine detail movement. Such as Changing gears, Adjusting the radio, Changing Zoom on the GPS, all these things that require more detailed movement while the left hand is just keeping the car straight. Even when I am driving Standard I never really find the need to change gears when I am turning, If I do I just keep it in that gear until I am done or I change gear when my wheel is at the correct spot for the turn.

      The real trick is going to a toll booth in the middle of winter with a standard tranmision and the crank windows. Having to acellerate, change gears and close your window put the ticket in a safe spot and steer all at the same time.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    9. Re:it makes sense really by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

      Having done something similar for months at a time in the Caribbean, I can tell you that sitting and driving on the same side (left) is a bit strange. You get a great view of the ditch, let me tell you, and judging where the other side of your car is wrt other cars and obstacles takes some getting used to.

      I'm getting ready to drive in Scotland, which I assume will be a right pilot's seat car, driven on the left. Downtown Edinburgh will be interesting my first day out!

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    10. Re:it makes sense really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I asked myself, after 70 years of technological advancement, I need to do this? Sorry, all you stand loving people but I'd rather not have to fuck around with a gear box to drive. It's not that complicated and why an automatic works just as good. Stop pretending you're in the Indy 500.

    11. Re:it makes sense really by FullCircle · · Score: 1

      I'm an American and I always have a manual trans.

      I don't agree with the control layout you suggest though. I prefer to shift with my left foot while keeping both hands firmly on the handlebars.

      Oh, you were talking about cars... Yuck.

      --
      If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. - James Madison
    12. Re:it makes sense really by kylegordon · · Score: 1

      Sometimes I get a bit worried when I'm changing gear (right hand drive, British). It's a bit tricky to swap overdrive and main gearshift (two levers) with one hand in one movement. I guess that's the risk you take with 16 forward gears...

    13. Re:it makes sense really by acb · · Score: 1

      Actually, a lot of American spellings and usages date back to older versions of English, with the British usages (such as "colour", or deprecating "fall" in favour of "autumn") being more recent. So it possibly has not so much with the Americans repudiating colonial ties as it does with the British demonstrating, in a somewhat circular fashion, that they speak more "properly" than the yahoos across the pond.

      As for why the US drives on the right, I don't know. Perhaps it's the Napoleonic European influence?

    14. Re:it makes sense really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "US only drive on the otherside due to being crybabies"

      Not exactly. As much as I also like to stick it to Americans, it was Napoleon's influence that pretty much sealed the deal. He was left-handed, declared traffic should keep to the right, and the French assistance to the Americans during the War of Independence influenced their decision to choose the same, in a nutshell.

    15. Re:it makes sense really by kylegordon · · Score: 1

      Good luck matey. Edinburgh local council is renowned for its hatred of motorists. The insane one way streets, an army of parking wardens, no parking lines everywhere, and so on. Just watch what you do. Chances are if you do anything wrong, you'll get a fine for it.
      I've stopped taking my car into Edinburgh at all now (I'm from Glasgow, which is rapidly going the same way), unless I'm guaranteed a parking space at a friends flat.

    16. Re:it makes sense really by kylegordon · · Score: 1

      Strange. When I drove an automatic at home here in Britain, I steered with my right hand. Mainly because I rested my elbow on the window/armrest. When I was driving in the states, I steered with my left arm when it was resting on the window, and my right when the armrest was down.
      I don't think it's got anything to do with strength or dexterity - just which one is the comfiest.

    17. Re:it makes sense really by capoccia · · Score: 1
      from
      http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20o n%20the%20left.htm#wheel
      All early automobiles in the USA (driving on the right-hand side of the road) were right-hand-drive, following the practice established by horse-drawn buggies. They changed to left-hand-drive in the early 1900s as it was decided that it was more practical to have the driver seated near the centreline of the road, both to judge the space available when passing oncoming cars, and to allow front-seat passengers to get out of the car onto the pavement instead of into the middle of the street.
    18. Re:it makes sense really by brokenarmsgordon · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I think the real problem is that the majority of drivers treat driving as a purely casual task, lend no importance or self-criticism to how they drive, and believe that traffic laws are designed for those with even baser intellects than which are in their own stunning posession. Perhaps accentuating this in America is that many of us now (purposelessly) are driving SUVs. Couple these wider cars with a poor sense of space and you have way too many people cutting turns and drifting across the double-yellow. Crashes would be inevitable.

      While driving on the side of the road opposite to your position in the car is smart for visibility and other such matters, accidents due to negligence and human absurdity are unavoidable regardless of which "side" we're on.

    19. Re:it makes sense really by smithmc · · Score: 1

        The real reason the the US drives on the right is probably much the same as the reason they spell different. A deliberate attempt to differentiate themselves from an old colonial power. Perfectly reasonable in some ways,

      You realize, of course, that most of the world drives on the right side, not "just" the US? All of Europe, Russia, South America... The question really oughta be - why did the UK decide to be different from the rest of us?

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
    20. Re:it makes sense really by CdBee · · Score: 1

      re your sig.. what must you not miss. "Keep left signs" would be a good place to start or it'll be a short visit

      --
      I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    21. Re:it makes sense really by dickens · · Score: 1

      I think it has more to do with the shape of the roads. In the UK, you go through lots of towns, the roads curve more, they are narrower and harder to overtake. In the US, they are straight for miles at a time. You can overtake without changing gear, which is generally not possible in the UK.


      Maybe that's why they call where I live "New England". The only straight roads here are the big highways.

    22. Re:it makes sense really by CdBee · · Score: 1

      A manual gearbox will give better control of the car, better ability to recover from skidding, 10% better fuel economy across the board... and better understanding of the mechanics of driving.

      --
      I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    23. Re:it makes sense really by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      By setting the control equipment up on the right side of our cars and driving on the left, we ensure that drivers approach down each other's right-hand side, which makes a lot of sense considering how much of the population is right-handed.

      Handed-ness is largely irrelevant as far as ease of passage on one side or the other. Handedness is pretty much solely about fine motor coordination.

      It doesn't make any sense at all to waste the dextrous right hand on the gearshift

      It actually requires more manual dexterity to maneuver the stick through the shift gates than it does to manage a steering wheel. This is, however, also largely irrelevant because the amount of manual dexterity required for either task is quite minimal. As other posters have noted, the reason for left vs right predates automobiles and is based on mounted combat fighting (pass left) and teamstering (pass right).

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    24. Re:it makes sense really by jallen02 · · Score: 1

      You were doing good until the mechanics of driving. At that point people just don't care. Explain to them how cool or how neat a standard gear box is.. BZZT. no go. ;-)

      (I drive a 5 spd.)

      Jeremy

    25. Re:it makes sense really by kscguru · · Score: 1
      Guess you don't have any kids that normally ride in the passenger's seat...

      The passenger's seat is where your (1) significant other and (2) younger relations ride. So what if commuters usually don't have a passenger and it's safer for them... you'll never get any politician to claim a commuter is more important than a kid. :-)

      --

      A witty [sig] proves nothing. --Voltaire

    26. Re:it makes sense really by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      A manual gearbox will give ... 10% better fuel economy across the board...

      The others I grant you, but this one's not so much the casee anymore. Back in the days when torque converters were non-locking and auto trannies were simple hydraulic controlled dual Simpson planetary gear sets with 3 forward and 1 reverse, yeah, you could count on a significant loss of efficiency. Modern computer controlled transmissions with locking torque converters and five (or even six) gears, the loss is negligible.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    27. Re:it makes sense really by ikegami · · Score: 1

      I like driving on the right side of the road because it places my stick-shift is in my right hand.

    28. Re:it makes sense really by CProgrammer98 · · Score: 1

      Makes overtaking a bit tricky though...

      --
      And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5
    29. Re:it makes sense really by Eagle5596 · · Score: 1

      You do realize of course that the first cars we developed in Germany, which drives on the right and correct side of the rode.

      The British were the ones to do it differently "just because".

    30. Re:it makes sense really by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1


      Youch! Thanks for the heads-up. We're staying the first couple of nights at the Old Waverly at 43 Princes St. I think they've got parking - if not there's a train station across the street.

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    31. Re:it makes sense really by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1


      That's for sure! My favorite is the "Look Left!" text on the road at crosswalks. Too many stupid Americans have been mown down in Europe by not looking at oncoming traffic. Looking right and seeing tailights should be the first clue...

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    32. Re:it makes sense really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aha! So the difference is all because the Brits are bloodthirsty warmongers and Americans are domestic-oriented peacelovers.

    33. Re:it makes sense really by starling · · Score: 1

      I prefer to shift with my left foot

      I preferred to shift with my *right* foot, but then all those rice-burners came along with the shift lever on the wrong side ...

      I miss that old Bantam.

    34. Re:it makes sense really by Christianfreak · · Score: 1

      Even when I am driving Standard I never really find the need to change gears when I am turning ...

      Brake, downshift, then turn while accelerating, especially in a front wheel drive car, the power pulls the car through the turn. If you brake or go powerless through it you have less control and must make a wider turn or slow down more than nessicary.

    35. Re:it makes sense really by Richard+Steiner · · Score: 1

      This page also has a lot of interesting info about the history of right-sided and left-sided driving.

      --
      Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
      The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
    36. Re:it makes sense really by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      Few people realize that ethernet signals also travel on the left. I've been silently protesting this outrage for years by connecting crossover adapters to both ends of my Cat-5. I urge freedom-loving citizens everywhere to do the same.

    37. Re:it makes sense really by tengwar · · Score: 1
      Ermm, up to a point, Lord Copper

      Germany's claim to the first "car" is based on the 1885 Einspur, a primitive motorcycle with fixed outrigger wheels, notable only for being the first self-propelled motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine. Since it only travelled 12km, it was hardly practical. In contrast, in 1832 a steam omnibus made the trip from London to Brighton, about 50 miles. That was followed by a moderately practical steam omnibus carrying about 20 passengers at about 25mph. Unfortunately, Britain can't claim primacy: the first documented self-propelled road vehicle was Nicholas Cugnot's steam tractor of 1769 in France. Shortly followed by the first driving ban when he collided with a pub.

  24. Busted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah right.. My luck I would get nailed for downloading exe's on a company machine and for playing games at the office.. I'll just read about it.

  25. Re:it makes sense really (You are right) by Karaman · · Score: 1

    Well, car with auto transmission is easy to drive, but hard to control, especially on a road with lots of curves, but in USA they have long, wide and straight roads, so I would like a car with auto transmission too if I lived there :)

    --
    sex is better than war!
  26. Smooooooth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Runs great and makes me feel peaceful... This screenshot is fantasic! The guy has a pretty interesting blog too. It seems to deal very honestly with the life of the lone programmer.

  27. Waiting... by vurg · · Score: 4, Funny

    So when will the hot coffee mod come out?

    1. Re:Waiting... by filenabber · · Score: 1

      Just DIY - pour some hot coffee on yourself while playing and you have the latest hot coffee mod! brian

      --
      Are you a Candy Addict?
    2. Re:Waiting... by Infinityis · · Score: 1

      When he renders a McDonalds drive-through next to the road.

    3. Re:Waiting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      around the same time you decide to stop making stupid posts

      unfortunately that means never

  28. Uhhh, excuse me? by QuantumG · · Score: 1

    Please don't tell me you just linked to an exe on the front page of Slashdot! Jesus H. Christ. Don't give the hackers, virus and worm writers, or spyware makers a challenge will ya?

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:Uhhh, excuse me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck are you talking about?

  29. Stunts.... by SammysIsland · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It reminds me of that old driving game Stunts. I can remember playing that during many HS study halls. Any other fans?

    1. Re:Stunts.... by uncl_bob · · Score: 0

      Stunts rocked!

    2. Re:Stunts.... by Ceriel+Nosforit · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Stunts rocked. But today if I'd encounter a game where even touching the railing meant insta-gib I'd throw a hissy-fit. Still, Stunts rocked. I built a track in the editor so long and full of things that no one ever made a full lap on it.

      --
      All rites reversed 2010
    3. Re:Stunts.... by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 1

      yep, that was a favourite for a long time. Wonder if there are any recent worthy successors...

    4. Re:Stunts.... by Nutshell_TA · · Score: 2, Informative

      there is a remake of stunts in the making: http://www.ultimatestunts.nl/index.php?page=0&lang =en Enjoy!

    5. Re:Stunts.... by Erik+K.+Veland · · Score: 1

      One fan over here. No driving game since has given me quite the excitement of building my own track. Usually a straight one with a ginormous jump at the end with the explicit goal of trying to jump the fence.

      The loops, the jumps. Man, I'm pretty sure this one game inspired the Gorillaz 19 - 2000 video. (And game which you can play on their site).

      --
      "I tend to think of OS X as Linux with QA and Taste", James Gosling, creator of Java
    6. Re:Stunts.... by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 1

      cool, thanks for the link

    7. Re:Stunts.... by spamdog · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Stunts was awesome!

      You should check out Trackmania, it's just like it.

      http://www.trackmaniasunrise.com/

    8. Re:Stunts.... by HaraldBlatand · · Score: 1

      Definitely one here! Played it a lot on a 486 at my friends place. But it actually worked on my own 386 with Hercules mono graphics, using some crazy CGA emulator application... :)

    9. Re:Stunts.... by Kopretinka · · Score: 1
      oh yes....

      That was sooo cool, especially building your own tracks and then racing on them; building the longest possible jumps and then designing a way to approach them with the highest possible speed to be able to jump them; or just racing with a formula against the small and slow jeep - doing circles around it. 8-)

      What was the best about stunts was that you were not constrained by the track, instead you were constrained only to stay within the boundaries of the world. And it had nice physics. 8-)

      --
      Yesterday was the time to do it right. Are we having a REVOLUTION yet?
    10. Re:Stunts.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Err, they've been looking at some funny F1 cars. They seem to think the rear tyres should somehow resemble a steam roller.

      Apart from that, it brings back fond memories of 4D Sports Drive on the Amiga.

    11. Re:Stunts.... by hal2814 · · Score: 1

      I still play Stunts from time to time. It's my favorite driving game. I'm just glad to see that nobody is out there singing the praises of 4D Sports Driving. Now that was a crappy game.

    12. Re:Stunts.... by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 1

      Anyone ever trigger the super speed bug in Stunts? Basically if you hit top speed with an F1 car, hit a jump, and slightly turned as you left the top of the ramp, you'd be in super speed bug. You could drive through the grass in top speed, and if you hit some jumps as you were turning, you'd lift off into the air and start flying. Thats where the real fun of stunts lay.

    13. Re:Stunts.... by saskboy · · Score: 1

      Yep, I played Stunts in highschool too, but never at school only at home. I can still remember listening to my first CDs while playing it too, making the jumps, and not crashing. A very fun game, when it ran :|

      --
      Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
    14. Re:Stunts.... by mrseigen · · Score: 1

      Trackmania Sunrise might be a good modern option for you. Unfortunately it's Windows-only.

    15. Re:Stunts.... by gorus · · Score: 1

      Ah, nostalgia! We used to play it in high school all the time, building masochistic tracks and challenging each other to finish. Speaking, look what I found in my video game closet :)

  30. 'Night Driver', anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ah yes, nostalgia...

    1. Re:'Night Driver', anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reminds me also a bit of Enduro for the 2600

      http://www.atariage.com/screenshot_page.html?Softw areLabelID=163

  31. And dont forget to.. by skochak · · Score: 4, Informative
    Watch the screencast...

    http://intepid.com/2005-05-08/13.49/

    It is really good!

    --
    This sentence contradicts itself - no actually it doesn't.
    1. Re:And dont forget to.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forbidden
        You don't have permission to access /stuff/intepid.2005-05-08.drivey.256.wmv on this server.

      looks like someone doesn't like a slashdot effect...

  32. Burnout ruled by Professor+S.+Brown · · Score: 0, Informative

    But this looks rubbish. There are far better free driving games on the net, like Racer for instance. Win/Lin/Mac.

    --
    Shitram Brown, PhD
    Professor of Mathematics
    1. Re:Burnout ruled by Jaruzel · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then you, my friend, are missing the point.

      Not all games/demos have to be at the burning edge of graphics.

      15 years on, and loads of people still play lemmings. The emulator scene for old 16 bit machines, and even old arcade machines is bigger than ever. All these people can't be wrong.

      All modern games have, is their graphics. Most of them don't even have enjoyable game-play. Graphics are not everything, calling a game with low-spec graphics, rubbish, is like saying Impressionists couldn't paint.

      -Jar.

      --
      Together, We Can Make Slashdot Better. I Do NOT Mod ACs. - Check Me Out
    2. Re:Burnout ruled by biglig2 · · Score: 1

      I disagree, I think it looks rather beautiful.

      --
      ~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
    3. Re:Burnout ruled by tolan-b · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm not missing the point. The game has nothing going for it, compared to other racers, except stylised graphics, and you said yourself graphics don't make the game.

      You are missing the point, it's not even a racer yet, it's a demo of a bezier graphics engine at the moment.

      It barely even has rudimentary collision detection yet...

    4. Re:Burnout ruled by keli · · Score: 0, Troll
      calling a game with low-spec graphics, rubbish, is like saying Impressionists couldn't paint.
      ... not they just gave people the impression that they couldn't paint. :P

      "... but what is it supposed to be? I can never understand this art-thing."
    5. Re:Burnout ruled by courtarro · · Score: 1

      Flash has managed to create a whole new world of arcade games, making it easy for people with creative gameplay ideas into a working game. Check out the collection on eBaum's world if you're ready to destroy your productivity at work: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/games.shtml

    6. Re:Burnout ruled by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Show me a racer on a 8/16-bit machine that comes within a million miles of being as much fun as something like Burnout3 or FlatOut.

      Ever played "STUNTS"? The graphics were old and busted, sure, but being able to build your own 3D racetrack with loops, etc and then crash your car throughout the track?

      FUN.

      But most all the newer racing games won't let you build your own track, and the few that do definitely don't let your car do corkscrews...

    7. Re:Burnout ruled by vinohradska · · Score: 1

      Yes, flash and java. Zillions of them...
      http://www.addictinggames.com/
      http://games.yahoo.com/

    8. Re:Burnout ruled by EternityInterface · · Score: 0

      I can't paint anything realistic, but I can make pretty colours. That aestetics part, although a large portion will only talk about art as in
      * "omg it looks like a photo!"
      * if you can write a thousand words about it
      * being able to brag about the techniques for 1 hour
      * if there's tits in it, you'll use aestetics "knowledge" to explain its artiness, while it's obviously just about the tits

      --
      the sun is god
    9. Re:Burnout ruled by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To call it a "game" is to totally miss the point. It's a demo of a graphics engine. It isn't supposed to look realistic. It's supposed to look old-school.

    10. Re:Burnout ruled by sfontain · · Score: 2, Funny

      15 years on, and loads of people still play lemmings. The emulator scene for old 16 bit machines, and even old arcade machines is bigger than ever. All these people can't be wrong.

      It's weird how "All these people can't be wrong" is an excuse for lousy graphics.

      Yet if I said, "87 million PC users run Windows; All these people can't be wrong," there would be a bitchfest the likes of which humankind has never seen. Funny how this works...

    11. Re:Burnout ruled by snuf23 · · Score: 1

      Trackmania Sunrise and the original Trackmania are pretty fun. You can create your own tracks and distribute them. The tracks are pretty wild too.

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
    12. Re:Burnout ruled by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      I'm not missing the point. The game has nothing going for it, compared to other racers, except stylised graphics, and you said yourself graphics don't make the game.

      You ARE missing the point. Surely you're not so daft that you didn't notice the lower left, where it said "Drivey (graphic test) 0.13". That's the version number. Of course is has nothing going for it yet. It's a fucking GRAPHICS TEST!

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    13. Re:Burnout ruled by Taimoor · · Score: 1

      There's actually an OpenGL version of Stunts now. It's on sourceforge, but I can't be bothered to look it up right now.

      ~Tai

    14. Re:Burnout ruled by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Championship Sprint and (to a lesser extent) IronMan's Super Offroad. Both of those blow Burnout and Flatout away as far as I'm concerned.

    15. Re:Burnout ruled by iamlucky13 · · Score: 1

      Fine then, try this example: I still play Commander Keen, Civilization, Wolfenstein, Mario Bros (emulated), and Stunt Drivers (an older driving game). Their graphics suck by modern standards (though Stunt Drivers was pretty sweet in its day), but I love these games, and I can't be wrong. Therefore, we can deduce that lousy graphics don't ruin a game.

    16. Re:Burnout ruled by wheany · · Score: 1

      All modern games have, is their graphics. Most of them don't even have enjoyable game-play.

      Bullshit.

    17. Re:Burnout ruled by bcmm · · Score: 1

      Amen.

      Show me a game with more replayability than Tetris.

      --
      # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
      Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
  33. pretty! by cyclomedia · · Score: 1

    i love the shading and the use of simple lighting and silhouettes to draw the required scene a perfect example of where less is more!

    --
    If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
  34. Speaking of content... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    does anybody know the secret code to activate the pr0n in this thing?

  35. realism by GMO · · Score: 1

    well, I don't think any game can really be replicated in the real world (legally). Especially not FPS...

    But, actually, shiny backdrops in racing games seem a bit pointless, since you are speeding past them at 200 mph, concentrating on the track.

    1. Re:realism by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      well, I don't think any game can really be replicated in the real world (legally). Especially not FPS...

      Sure you can. They're doing it now in Iraq. And almost anyone can join in.

      Metaphysically however, I don't think you can replicate the respawning.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    2. Re:realism by jacen_sunstrider · · Score: 1

      Yeah, i hear there's no respawn points in RL.

  36. Depends. by JamesTRexx · · Score: 1

    I think it depends on your style of driving. To me left hand makes more sense because the right hand is often switching between wheel and gearshift. I notice it whenever I drive a right hand car. Having to use my left hand more than my right feels unnnatural. Add to that controlling the cd player in the dash.

    --
    home
  37. Correction and Note by BioCS.Nerd · · Score: 3, Informative

    For anyone else reading this and that is not clicking through, the parent is not referring to the demo in question, but rather a game written by Bill Gates and Neil Konzen to show off the capabilities of Basic and the IBM PC. Wikipedia entry (pops).

    1. Re:Correction and Note by LihTox · · Score: 1

      According to the Wikipedia article, Microsoft wrote Donkey.NET, to demonstrate .NET and as an homage to the original. However, in the new version the goal is not to avoid donkeys, but to hit them. Does this say something about their corporate culture, or our society as a whole?

    2. Re:Correction and Note by BioCS.Nerd · · Score: 1
      Neither. From MSDN's page on Donkey .NET:
      Donkey .NET is a sample Microsoft Visual Basic .NET application that gives Visual Basic developers a first look at new features in the Visual Basic .NET language. The sample, a driving simulation, enables users to drive through a three-dimensional terrain while trying to avoid the donkey obstacles. Behind this lighthearted demo is some very serious technology.
    3. Re:Correction and Note by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Funny, because I remember SCORING POINTS for hitting donkeys when I played it...

  38. hmm... by X_Bones · · Score: 1

    loaded it into cedega 4.4, and I can do everything but steer the car apparently. I keep veering off to the left no matter what. anybody?

    1. Re:hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know what's wrong but I get that same problem with my Windows machine. I can't steer. I can only accelerate/break.

    2. Re:hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Use F5 to gain manual control.

    3. Re:hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That won't help. I'm running it on my Windows box and steering does not work. I have set it manual. Dunno why it doesn't work.

    4. Re:hmm... by godders · · Score: 1

      Yeah that happens here too.. on WinXP. Absolutely no idea what's causing it tho.

  39. Bug by Ligur · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I have this annoying nack for discovering game-breaking bugs in a very short time. It took me about 15 seconds to break this one by holding the acceleration key down until the car started passing through solid objects like the bridge columns, a few seconds after that I passed right through the surrounding fences and soon after that I was out of the urban area entirely.
    Other examples include Deus Ex 2, during the mission where you have to choose between killing the professor or letting him live and open the case for the wall-penetrating weapon. I jammed the door that's supposed to close after you exit the room with the professor (to keep you from killing him after you get the weapon) open with a crate, and return with the weapon to kill him, only he magically gained 9999 hitpoints as soon as he pushed the button, so I stabbed him in the head for about half-an-hour until he diead, at wich point I completed two opposing missions and broke the game.
    I also completed the objectives of the last mission in X: beyond the frontier before I reached them through the story-line and ended up not being able to complete the game once I got there in the intended way.
    I'm currently unemployed btw, so if you're looking for a bug-tester in sweden, drop me a line. ;)

    --
    Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
    1. Re:Bug by @madeus · · Score: 1

      I have this annoying nack for discovering game-breaking bugs in a very short time. It took me about 15 seconds to break this one by holding the acceleration key down until the car started passing through solid objects like the bridge columns, a few seconds after that I passed right through the surrounding fences and soon after that I was out of the urban area entirely.

      There are only 3 questions in the FAQ, all on the very front page of the site, and this specific issue is mentioned.

      Software testers are expected to check for known bugs before reporting them, to avoid dupes. ;)

    2. Re:Bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Way to advertise your ability to look at websites for bugs. And don't you know that if you go fast enough, you can ram through anything? :-p Gamma radiation baby!

    3. Re:Bug by thehorse · · Score: 1

      application size: 326kb virtual memory used: 450,000kb physical memory used: 475,000kb i think there might be a small memory leak.

    4. Re:Bug by Ligur · · Score: 1

      The fact that I'm an asshole not to RTFA before posting a reply does not nullify the fact that I broke the game in such a short time, wich was my main point - bringing a bug to the creators attention was not. Though I can see how the misinterpretation could be made.

      --
      Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
    5. Re:Bug by @madeus · · Score: 1

      The fact that I'm an asshole not to RTFA before posting a reply does not nullify the fact that I broke the game in such a short time

      I didn't imply that though, my point was that it does nullify your attractiveness as a software tester if your pointing out known bugs (and then report them incorrectly - in the context that the website says clearly at the top of the page "NOTE: It's not yet a game -- just a graphical demo!").

      Of course it's free prelease software (at version 0.13) so anyone who tries it out for any length of time is likely to find a bug or two I would expect.

      If you really are looking for a job as a 'bug tester' and just want to test known bugs, that's great advertisement for your services - however companies in the market tend to prefer 'software testers' who test software to check for as-yet unknown problems. ;-)

  40. Old Farts by cmay · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    "it was conceived as a driving simulator for old farts like myself" No kidding! This guy is driving on the wrong side of the road! Get that old geezer of the road before he plows through the local farmers market! :)

    1. Re:Old Farts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or the correct side of the road, depending on the country you live in...

  41. At first glance by VernonNemitz · · Score: 1

    It reminds me of an old arcade game called "Night Driver"

    1. Re:At first glance by ukdba · · Score: 1

      From TFWS:

      prior art

      At this point you may be thinking, "hey yeah, these images remind me of cool simple driving games from 20 years ago. They were great!"... Well, those games you're thinking of were Night Driver and Speed Freak, and here's what they looked like...

    2. Re:At first glance by dknj · · Score: 1

      thats a really old game, it reminds me more of Hard Drivin', the first polygon based racing game by atari. there was no real feedback to let you know when your tires were getting ready to slip. if you were going even a hair too fast, you'd slide off the road and lose precious time. gosh, thinking about it is renewing my hatred in the game, but making me want to play it right now

    3. Re:At first glance by einTier · · Score: 1
      Evidently, you didn't play it at the arcade. Hard Drivin' (and its sequel Race Drivin') were some of the most accurate driving simulations of their time. Even today, I don't know many arcade games that allow you to use a clutch pedal, and Gran Turismo 4 with the 900 degree steering wheel is now approaching the realism this console had in the late 80's. I even remember a discussion of using the engine to build simulators for driver's education classes -- it would have worked a lot better than what we used, I'll tell you that.

      Now, if you only played this game as an emulator, or the awful compact version, then I can understand your hatred. Without the full force feedback wheel and improved sound of the full sized version, it is difficult to tell what your car is doing. It's also pretty difficult if you're used to arcade racing and not simulation racing.

      I actually learned quite a bit about car control just from playing this game.

      --
      -------------------------------------------------- $665.95 -- retail price of the beast.
    4. Re:At first glance by dknj · · Score: 1

      unfortunately all of my run-ins with hard drivin was the stand up cabinet that didn't have any kind of feedback on the wheel. and honestly, the time they gave you was enough to hit one checkpoint which further added to my fustration. maybe the sitdown arcade game may have been better...

      i've found ferrari's f355's simulator to be the best so far (the sticky wall problem is enough to make you a better driver). that requires using a clutch and has three screens (although its useless since there is no handbrake and no simple way to kick out the tailend.. why else would you want the additional screens :)

    5. Re:At first glance by einTier · · Score: 1
      It's a little late for this comment, but I wanted to reply.

      Going around a corner with the tail out (using the handbrake or using power on oversteer) looks really slick and really fast, but it's the slowest way to go around a corner. Yes, I know rally drivers use oversteer to get around corners quicker, but you're talking about a traction-limited environment that doesn't exist on a road course.

      I have played the Ferrari simulator, and that's why I said "I don't know many" instead of "I don't know any" arcade games with a clutch. The three windows are very helpful, because when I'm actually racing (yes, I race in real life, not just the arcades) I'm very seldom looking directly out the front glass. No, I'm not swinging the tail out, but what you learn in racing is "look where you want to go". Often, to see your apex, which is what you're trying to hit, you'll find yourself looking out the side of the car. In this case, the extra monitors on the Ferrari simulator are very welcome, as you can almost always look where you want to go, not where you're heading.

      Unfortunately, I don't have the time to play arcade games much anymore, so it's one I've had limited exposure to, but it does seem to be an incredible simulation.

      --
      -------------------------------------------------- $665.95 -- retail price of the beast.
  42. why ? it works on Wine... by Gopal.V · · Score: 3, Informative

    Try running a virus on Wine ..

    You'll realize that all the "standard" offsets most viruses use for exploiting buffer overflows are almost always not valid in Wine.

    Also this has been featured on tucows.com .. this is indeed an excellent demo - I wonder if I can run it using libaa :)

    1. Re:why ? it works on Wine... by stry_cat · · Score: 1
      You'll realize that all the "standard" offsets most viruses use for exploiting buffer overflows are almost always not valid in Wine.

      Almost Always?!?

      Ya know the submitter mentioned that it even runs under WINE.

    2. Re:why ? it works on Wine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, those buffer overflows are real pesky. If you let someone run arbitrary code on your machine, someone might exploit them to run, well, arbitrary code on your machine...

      Dude, you realize that you have it kinda backwards, right?

    3. Re:why ? it works on Wine... by JWSmythe · · Score: 1


          I managed to install spyware in Wine. What was worse is that I couldn't kill the freakin' processes. They lingered until I rebooted. there were no real ill effects from it, other than 3 or 4 processes that wouldn't go away. It tried to take over MSIE, which oddly enough didn't exist. :) After I rebooted, I simply cleaned up the files that didn't belong in my .wine directory. it was an interesting look at the anatomy of a single piece of spyware. It installed itself in about a dozen places, which were really obvious (cd ~/.wine ; find . -ctime 0)

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  43. Way, way too unrealistic... by TintinX · · Score: 3, Funny

    I mean, come on. Pedestrian crossings on such a major road? I think not!

    1. Re:Way, way too unrealistic... by famazza · · Score: 1

      This you because you live in US.

      Why don't you try to come to Latin America?

      You insensitive clod.

      --

      -=-=-=-=
      I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
    2. Re:Way, way too unrealistic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      have you been to LA?

  44. Shit! That feels like real! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shit! That feels like real! How is it done if it doesn't even require 3D display adapter? Graphics look very smooth. Curves don't have any edges like other car racing sims have. Impressive stuff! I hope this will evolve to a full car simulator! This has potential becoming the best car simulator ever made.

  45. Clipping might need work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I managed to reverse through a fence, but couldn't get back through when driving forwards =)

  46. MTV? No thanks. I don't need to listen to Ashanti. by The-Bus · · Score: 1

    While I don't want to be an ass and say "Just listen to whatever you want" it would be nice if you could point it to a directory and if you turn on the "Radio" it would pick a random MP3 file from that directory. If you "change" the station, you hear some static fiddling, then it plays a different file (or folder?). (This was done, to some extent, in the Sims).

    Otherwise, to keep the executable small, we'd be stuck with a few MIDIs and I think I am one of 7 people in the whole world who would be OK with that. As an earlier poster noted, playing the Queens of the Stone Age song "Go with the Flow" would be nice, but it'd be nicer to play whatever you want.

    (BTW, keep hitting the C key to keep adding cars).

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  47. Where are the SMGs and Pistols by spicydragonz · · Score: 0, Troll

    How do you have a game called Drivey without Drive-bys?

    1. Re:Where are the SMGs and Pistols by spicydragonz · · Score: 1

      I seriously think that a Mod needs a humor chip inplanted in his skull. Seriously, Data is more fun than Lor.

    2. Re:Where are the SMGs and Pistols by CommanderData · · Score: 1

      Data is more fun than Lor.

      Thank you :)

      --
      Urge to post... fading... fading... RISING!... fading... fading... gone.
  48. Manual steering by 50m31sl4sh. · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you read help (F1), F5 toggles auto drive.
    For added bonus, hold CTRL to make things really fast and SHIFT to slow to a crawl.

    --
    Rediculous is ridiculous!
  49. And I quote by Kamiza+Ikioi · · Score: 1

    "Wednesday, August 10, 2005

    Holy crap! Switching to low bandwidth page..."

    --
    I8-D
    1. Re:And I quote by Johan+Veenstra · · Score: 1

      I thought you were joking. Until I reloaded drivey.com ....

  50. Re:who cares? by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
    Other than that, so what? Is this really "stuff that matters"? Or even "news for nerds"?

    You'll notice that it's in "games.slashdot.org". It's surely on-topic here. If you're not intersted in games at all, you can turn them off in your preferences.

  51. Slashdotted? by Transmogrify_UK · · Score: 0

    "You don't have permission to access /drivey/ on this server."

  52. Games with style by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    For your perusal, here's a list of recent games with style:

    • American's McGee Alice - admitedly it's not more than a 3D Mario in terms of game play, but oh does it have style.
    • Rez - abstract shooter with great soundtrack and original graphics.
    • Tranquility - Abstract 3D flying game. Unlike anything else I've seen, has the simplicity of Tetris.
    • Gish - 2D platformer with very original gameplay due to the lead character's physical properties
  53. DOWNLOAD HERE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coralized linky, my friends.

  54. Bunch of different keyboard commands, too by loggia · · Score: 2, Informative

    Try hitting different keys and numbers... lots of different variations built into his demo...

    1. Re:Bunch of different keyboard commands, too by period3 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Try hitting F1 so you don't have to do it at random...

  55. Uh, what? by Corngood · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They don't need to exploit a buffer overflow to execute their code if you execute it for them.

    1. Re:Uh, what? by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 1
      They don't need to exploit a buffer overflow to execute their code if you execute it for them.

      Hell, even Mitnick showed that the front door is usually easier to get through than the back door. Never understimate the power of some good, old fashioned social engineering. Also really gullible people.

    2. Re:Uh, what? by justforaday · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hell, even Mitnick showed that the front door is usually easier to get through than the back door.

      Seeing as how he's spent time in federal prison, I'm just gonna hafta take his word for it... : p

      --
      I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
    3. Re:Uh, what? by oskard · · Score: 1

      Are you implying federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison?

      --
      Sigs are for Terrorists.
    4. Re:Uh, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where else do you think he learned the difficulty of "back-door" entry?

    5. Re:Uh, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Seeing as how he's spent time in federal prison, I'm just gonna hafta take his word for it... : p

      It wasn't Mitnick's methods that got him caught -- it was his attitude and cockiness.

    6. Re:Uh, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually he got caught cause one of his friends (that he had been friends w/ for a long time) turned him into the FBI. His friend helped him with a lot of the things they did (at least earlier).

    7. Re:Uh, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You've obviously never had a girlfriend. If you had, you'd know it's always easier to get in her front door than the back....

    8. Re:Uh, what? by spdt · · Score: 1

      They don't need to exploit a buffer overflow to execute their code if you execute it for them.

      They would, if they needed to gain elevated privileges.

    9. Re:Uh, what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the exact opposite of what your dad told me about your mom.

  56. Video if creator playing Drivey by bat2k · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here's a link to the creator's blog where he performs a screencast of him playing Drivey.

    --
    My other sig is a Porsche.
  57. Mirror, anyone? by Sarastrobert · · Score: 1

    Forbidden

    You don't have permission to access /drivey/Drivey013.exe on this server.


    Anyone have a mirror?

    1. Re:Mirror, anyone? by Zaiff+Urgulbunger · · Score: 1
    2. Re:Mirror, anyone? by shadowmas · · Score: 2, Informative

      theres a
      mirror in mirrordot

      i'm trying to download the link the exe and extract the binary data from the mirror dot link (mirrordot as archived it as html and added banners to the top).

    3. Re:Mirror, anyone? by Poromenos1 · · Score: 1

      Just use the coral link, it works.

      --
      Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
    4. Re:Mirror, anyone? by shadowmas · · Score: 1

      i have put the Drivey013.exe into Rapidshare (it was extracted from the mirrordot copy after extracting the html junk which mirror dot put in it.)

  58. Mirror by Poromenos1 · · Score: 2, Informative
    --
    Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
    1. Re:Mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I download from the mirror, then will it drive on the "right" side of the road?

  59. Don't worry! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I scanned it with Norton Anti-Virus.

    1. Re:Don't worry! by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      Yeah, don't worry guys. My friend Bob sent it to me as an email attachment. He's my friend so I know he wouldn't send me a virus.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  60. drivy itunes plug in? by ikilledmidnight · · Score: 1

    this would be really nice as a visualisation plug in for iTunes/WMP...someone make it happen

  61. Nice! by SammysIsland · · Score: 1

    nice link!

  62. Warning: semi-hangs Crossover Office and FC3 by Halo- · · Score: 1

    I tried this (after a long pause thinking about running a random .exe) on my Fedora Core 3 machine under Crossover Office. No luck. In fact, it completely hung the keyboard on the display I invoked it on. I use a multiheaded setup under Xinerama, so that may have contributed to the problem. Fortunately I was able to kill it using a shell in another window. :(

  63. Need a mirror-image button by jakedata · · Score: 1

    That way I can drive on the 'right' side.

    In the mirror it is perfectly natural looking for my left-hand-drive trained reflexes.

    Kinda messes up the controls though. Cute demo.

    -j

  64. About bloody time... by fireman+sam · · Score: 1

    Finally, a driving game where the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.

    PS I am from Australia if you don't get the joke.

    --
    it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
    1. Re:About bloody time... by megrims · · Score: 1

      No joke.
      Everyone who's Anyone is from Australia.
      Except for Candadians, but they're practically frozen Australians.(sic)

      I hope this is finally a solution to the horrible problem of portraying driving from the wrong side of the mirror.

  65. Re:First comment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't see why this comment was moderated Offtopic... The link to the demo is a direct link to a Windows .EXE executable. What's to indicate to me that this is not in fact a new trojan app?

    People put too much trust in their Anti-Virus software, which cannot detect a NEW trojen just released. What better place than Slashdot to do this...

  66. Holy bandwith Batman! by Ours · · Score: 1

    He he, I like the wednesday entry in the new section:
    "Holy crap! Switching to low bandwidth page... (NOT DEAD YET!)"
    Sounds like the slashdot effect. His contingency seems to work for now.

    --
    "You superiour intellect is no match for our puny weapons" - The Simpsons
  67. Very realistic Indeed by MasterB(G)ates · · Score: 1

    After a few beers, I played it and got pulled over for a 502!

    http://www.totse.com/en/media/radio_free_amerika/c opcodes.html

    --
    In the Slashdot moderating system, humourless based offenses are considered especially heinous.
  68. Torcs! by chiphart · · Score: 1

    Ironically, my yum update reports that torcs just released a batch of new updates (cars, tracks, etc.). See what a little competition can do? [har har]

    --

    ...if I wanted to read garbage like that, I'd go to \.
  69. This looks familiar... by tut21 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just what I've always wanted, a New Jersey simulator.

  70. Relativistic Speed by Mugros · · Score: 1

    lower the zoom factor to the lowest setting to get a relativistic experience

  71. Best part of the page... by Lord+Haha · · Score: 1

    news & history
    Wednesday, August 10, 2005

    Holy crap! Switching to low bandwidth page... (NOT DEAD YET!)

  72. Trojans in build systems by Craig+Ringer · · Score: 1

    It's for exactly this reason that I never, ever "make install" as root. Everything is --prefix'ed to $HOME/apps/$APPNAME and installed as a normal user.

    It doesn't help that I hack on build systems, so I have a decent idea just how nasty one could be if desired.

  73. Fractional dimensionality??? by DaveCar · · Score: 1

    2.xD [not quite 3d]

    If it has fractional dimensionality doesn't that technically make it fractal?

    1. Re:Fractional dimensionality??? by randyest · · Score: 1

      No. Maybe you were trying to be funny; if not, please look up "fractal." BTW, I don't really understand why this is a front-page story. It's fairly bland. What am I missing?

      --
      everything in moderation
    2. Re:Fractional dimensionality??? by ArtStone · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you didn't press the F1 key?

      --
      Final 2006 "Proof of Global Warming" US Hurricane Count -> 0
    3. Re:Fractional dimensionality??? by randyest · · Score: 1

      No, I did press the F1 key. Change colors, add cars, yawn.

      --
      everything in moderation
  74. Bill supports open source! :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you kidding? Donkey was one of the best games ever written! It was free and open source*, and most importantly, addictive. No hardware requirements. If you had the program, it would run. You could even play it on a orange or green mono screen.

    Fancy graphics/sounds are for people without imagination.

    *Ok, ok, it's not really free or open source. That was just to get your attention. :) It's just that nobody cared, which was good enough for us.

  75. Night Driver by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 1

    This looks like it could be adapted nicely to be a more modern "Night Driver" or "Speed Freak" game.
    All we need now are line vector cows and a some logs over the road.

    A number of things I noticed:
    * You can totally slow down the game by adding WAY too many cars.
    * You can drive right off the road, fly through objects and lose the road entirely
    * You seem to be driving in circles

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
    1. Re:Night Driver by randyest · · Score: 1

      I could only add a max of 8 cars. That's nowhere near "way too many" IMHO. And there doesn't appear to be any way to remove them once you've bogged down the game speed with "8 whole cars!"

      I read this entire thread at my default threshold of 3 looking for why this is worthy news, but I found only arguments about which side of the road people drive on, and why "photorealism pisses off" some guy. Then I re-read at threshold 1 again. Still nothing.

      Pretty disappointing waste of time.

      --
      everything in moderation
  76. But, why is this news by JWSmythe · · Score: 1



        I have to wonder why this is news? Someone makes a half-way interesting bit of a driving simulator, but it's still missing lots of key components (like other drivers, or even a goal), and it gets posted? I know usually the comments on here are nonsensical, but usually the stories are better. :)

        By the way, yes it does run fine in Wine.

        It kinda looks like a flash animation/game. I wonder if that was intentional or not.

    --
    Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  77. Hey thats strange... by evil-osm · · Score: 1

    why did the end of the demo finish at Country Kitchen Buffet?

    --


    E.

    Never rub another man's rhubarb - The Joker
  78. Color me underwhelmed. by autopr0n · · Score: 1

    It looks cool, I suppose, but not very 'nostalgic'. And its good for about 30 seconds of fun. Hardly worth the risk of downloading an .exe file, IMO.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  79. Press F1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It will come up with a help menu. There is an undocumented feature though, V and B set contrast level.

  80. Non texture mapped gfx is where it's at by Twinbee · · Score: 1

    It's true, The graphics don't need to be photorealistic to look good. I often find that texture mapped graphics actually /spoil/ the look of the graphics. The night time demo shown reminds of the kind of surreal graphics you might expect from a game like Outrun; nice & clear colours, lines and vectors.

    Take a look at the "TwistTube" animation at my site for another example of simple but really effective gfx.

    --
    Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
  81. Night Driver by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone remember Night Driver on the Atari 2600? This game seems to be using the same approach but with smoother graphics.

    Of course I can't be sure 'cause I don't have access to an MS-Windows machine and am not running WINE...

  82. Body roll physics by itomato · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I drove Drivey after an hour long commute in my BMW.

    Know what?

    I prefer the BMW! #1 reason: Predictable body roll physics. I turn the wheel left, and the car follows. Not so in Drivey, where I turn the car right, and the horizon tips over to the opposite side. Does Drivey think it's a boat?

    Drivey has fine acceleration however, and I dig the everlasting twilight/dawn.

    It reminds me a lot of the Ford Simulator that existed in the oldenne days (1987). Not as much instrumentation, but who really needs a tach or speedo anyway?

    1. Re:Body roll physics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      err... I think you need to take another look at the demo.
      The roll effect on turning is correct.
      When the car turns left, the right hand suspension compresses, so that the right hand side of the car sinks lower, which is represented from the driver's POV by the right side of the horizon tilting upwards and the left dropping lower.

    2. Re:Body roll physics by itomato · · Score: 1

      You might be right, and I'm just experiencing a physically impossible amount of suspension travel.

      That's what makes it feel like a boat.

  83. Very cool demo by deltwalrus · · Score: 1

    But it looks a bit like NASCAR in England: nothing but left turns, and driving on the left side of the road.

    --
    --- "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all..."
  84. Even more undocumented features by 50m31sl4sh. · · Score: 2, Informative

    It seems there a few undocumented keys in Drivey:

    T - toggle title
    Space - manual brake (no oversteer though!)
    V,B - adjust brightness

    I haven't seen such a neat demo for a long time. Can't wait for the next release.

    --
    Rediculous is ridiculous!
    1. Re:Even more undocumented features by Johan+Veenstra · · Score: 1

      Hmm, undocumented?

      The game says: "ESC to quit, F1 for help"

  85. Reminds me of a game by Alcoyotl · · Score: 1

    Does anyone remember a game called 1976 ? (or something like that). It was a car driving game based in the seventies with some groovy soundtrack. The thing that was sweet was the graphics which were very smooth and low on unnecessary details....

    So it seems this has already (somewhat) been done, and it turned into a pretty decent game IMHO.

    1. Re:Reminds me of a game by _Upsilon_ · · Score: 1
    2. Re:Reminds me of a game by big+ben+bullet · · Score: 1

      It was called Interstate '76 ;-)

      Awesome game... too bad I can't get it working on my latest system anymore :(

  86. Trippy Screensaver by biologicalunit · · Score: 0

    6 Undeground by the Sneaker Pimps goes real well with this.

  87. Easter Eggs! by zipzap54 · · Score: 3, Informative
    So it's pretty inherintly obvious to find, but there are many different key commands to change the look and feel of the "game". Listed Below
    • Left, Right, Up, Down: Steer & Accelerate/Brake
    • A, D, W, S: Same as above, respectively
    • T: Toggle Info
    • G: Grey Scale
    • H: display random palette
    • K: palette cycle (Pretty cool)
    • C: adds Other Cars (8 at a time)
      Note: you can seriously slow down the game by hitting C a whole bunch of times.
    • N/M: Zoom in/out
    • F1: Shows all key functions on Screen
    • F2: Toggle WireFrame
    • F3: Toggle Dashboard
    • F4: Show Rear View
    • F5: Toggle Manual Control
    • F6: Toggle Sound
    • F7: Change Sky Gradient
    • F11: Toggle Full Screen
    Play around with it!
    --
    "All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."
    1. Re:Easter Eggs! by zipzap54 · · Score: 3, Informative
      Almost Forgot.

      Num Keys 1-4 Change the Scenery.

      • 1: Sparce Road
      • 2: Tunnel
      • 3: City
      • 4: Industrial
      numbers 5-9 just change it back to "very sparce road". The game defaults to 4: Industrial
      --
      "All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."
    2. Re:Easter Eggs! by zipzap54 · · Score: 2, Informative
      Found a new one

      Okay if you get stuck at all by the fence or otherwise, simply hit the HOME key to be returned to the track.

      Also if you're going really fast on manual drive. Simply crank the wheel into the fence at any spot that isn't dark orange, and you'll drive right through it. Have fun.
      --
      "All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."
    3. Re:Easter Eggs! by Jacius · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Try this one: hold down B to brighten the palette. The blacks stay black, but the road lines, sky, and steering wheel highlights get brighter (and easier to see).

      If you hold it down for a while, it'll get to a stark black and white—very artsy :)

  88. Oval driving by ad0gg · · Score: 1

    Author must be a Nascar Fan

    --

    Have you ever been to a turkish prison?

  89. For that real taste of nostalgia... by bugnuts · · Score: 1

    Does it have a "boss button" which pops up a Visicalc screen?

  90. Virust Alert! by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1
    This .exe completely trashes your screen, turning it into a representation of a cruddy looking inner-city highway in late evening. I hate cruddy, inner-city highways. Luckily, there's no other traffic evident.

    Anyway, I managed to hit Esc and kill the thing, but it sounds like this program is spreading to Slashdot user's computers like wildfire, burning up many thousands of minutes and causing many tens of lost dollars in worker downtime.

    Beware!


    -FL

  91. Excuse my blind trust by Programmer_In_Traini · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually...you know, yes, i just did that :)

    I assumed that the link & post was verified by the /. team prior to its approval for display on the /. website.

    Of course, the anonymous author could just as well have changed the .exe after the article was published but ... nah ... I prefer blaming /. for linking a virus if it happens :p

    --
    If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel. - Will Kommen
    1. Re:Excuse my blind trust by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I assumed that the link & post was verified by the /. team prior to its approval for display on the /. website.

      +5 Funny

  92. Wow! by dep01 · · Score: 1

    Neato! A game has been developed that looks like a driving sim from 1998! Cool!

    --
    "hey, could you pass me a paper towel? er.. I mean... DEPLOY ABSORBTION PANEL!"
  93. Downloaded anon link! by jimmyjim · · Score: 1

    I thought like the other guy did for a second and said why download a link from a anon poster but then remembered that the article poster from slashdot probably checked it out so it should be a good link. After trying the sim out a couple times its a cool game for an old timer like myself. As a lifetime Nerd though I reccomend to all other young nerds get a real car and do the dang thing in that!! Life behind a puter is cool but nothing beats real life experiences! Sincerly the old nerd.

  94. The broken yellow lines are on the wrong side! by myth_of_sisyphus · · Score: 1

    I'm not gonna pass on a blind curve! This game is malicious and will give the wrong idea of driving to children. Ban it immediately!

    1. Re:The broken yellow lines are on the wrong side! by legallyillegal · · Score: 0

      ever heard of a place called ENGLAND

      --
      ?giS
    2. Re:The broken yellow lines are on the wrong side! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or WALES
      or SCOTLAND
      or NORTHERN IRELAND

      Jesus Christ, people, it's called the United Kingdom.

      You don't hear us over here saying "ever heard of a place called MARYLAND"...

  95. Whoosh.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That was the sound of the joke going over your head.

  96. Looks like NXSYS by Animats · · Score: 1
    If you like driving through a dark world, try NXSYS, the New York City subway simulator.

    NXSYS is interesting for historical reasons - the user interface it emulates is the very first "intelligent user interface". From 1937.

    1. Re:Looks like NXSYS by RailRide · · Score: 1
      NXSYS is more like a dispatching/signal simulator, apparently with a recent add-on that lets you move through the junctions at a driver's eye view.

      You could also dispense with the formalities of fiddling with interlockings and simply run a train from end-to-end by D/L-ing a copy of BVE and some add-ons simulating London Underground and New York City subway lines. Plenty of dark to go around.

      (not all of them are in the dark, tho...some of 'em actually have some rather nice scenery--as long as you stick with the UK/Euro routes, as the NYC ones are rather blah by comparison)

      ---PCJ

  97. 80's games by Angst+Badger · · Score: 1

    [...] but are not so thick as to believe that the games from the 80s were actually in any way superior to the games we play today.

    Well, let's see...

    1. There were many different kinds of games in the 80's, but now there are only three or four kinds so similar that they're effectively skinnable.

    2. Many of the games of the 80's were accessible to casual players who neither wanted to read a hefty manual nor spend hours just learning how to play.

    3. 80's games seldom crashed, and never spent an hour or more downloading the latest patches upon install.

    4. 80's games were not able to substitute elaborate graphics for enjoyable gameplay.

    Which isn't to say that there aren't some good games today or that there weren't plenty of awful games in the 80's. But let's not conflate improvements in graphics and audio with improvements in fun, which is, after all, the whole point of games. It doesn't much matter how stunning the graphics are if the game isn't any fun to play.

    --
    Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
    1. Re:80's games by EternityInterface · · Score: 0
      80s is a little extreme, I would say before games were 3d / above 320x200. Now companies have figured out they only need 1 word for success - realism.

      But let's not conflate improvements in graphics and audio [...]


      I've never heard someone talk about a good song in technological qualities, so I'll equate the same to games, and then the only tech improvement in 10+ years would be the surround thing, but I don't think many people have it. *Add a million words about Quake here, such as the "atmosphere" word, because everything fit together, and that sound in later games were the opposite of improvements*

      Q1 is still my absolute favorite game. You just can't beat the dark midevil gothic look. Not to mention the realistic sound effects. The sound effects in q2 were a real disappointment, everything sounded tinny and hollow. Fire a rocket and *ker chink*. What kind of sound is that? People knew when you were firing a rocket in q1. [ anon]


      [...] with improvements in fun, which is, after all, the whole point of games
      This algorithm has also been figured out - the majority forget about fun when they have

      1) Adrenaline pumping. Improvements in AI? No, just use human opponents instead. Improvements in challenges? No, most people don't play it then - let's stop at "shooting stuff". (A slashdot discussion that google won't find - talking about Descent as the ultimate game - 6 dimensions - 3 strafe and 3 rotate)

      2) The collector instinct pumping. Or somesuch, materialism materialism. Ultima Online was to be the ultimate reality-simulator, but people complained that "griefers" destroyed their single player experience, so after awhile it just turned into a single-player resource collection game, with the added quality of not having to brag outside the game, just go to the bank instead.
      --
      the sun is god
  98. Kind of beautiful by rbanzai · · Score: 1

    It is indeed moody. I hit buttons 1-4 to try the other enviros. They had one like the original arcade game, and a tunnel and city one as well. I love the feel of it and it runs very, very smoothly.

    It's just a software demo, not a game, but i still found it entertaining.

  99. non-photo realistic = YAY! by Skip666Kent · · Score: 1

    I'm so sick of cheezy 3d graphics I could (and have) puke(d).

    This demo is 1000x more charming!

    3d is hard because you have to go to great detail and specify EVERYTHING, whereas in 2.xd, you can be a little fuzzier and let the user's brain pan cpu fill in all the gaps.

    --
    **>>BELCH
    1. Re:non-photo realistic = YAY! by EternityInterface · · Score: 0

      I remember a carmack plan file, where he said in each new generation of games, you have to spend more and more time on development, while it will still only be played for the same time. ...Which must of been before Q3 got the A.

      Not everything has to be specified though, the neXtbox has been touted as doing a lot of procedural stuff. Which is basically that all textures are just mathematical formula. This also makes textures 3d, so you could for example chop off some polys of something, and it would still look right.

      --
      the sun is god
  100. Non-racing driving games by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
    I really wish they made more games that had a "free" mode where you didn't have to race.

    A lot of people enjoy simply driving on an open road or a winding mountain side. And yes, you could do that in real life, but it is not always possible/convenient. Nor would it be possible to do with visuals that looked like this.

    They do this with flight sims, why not driving sims? And please don't respond with "that idea sucks' or some equivelant flame. I realize this type of gaming is not attractive to everybody, but not everybody plays games to get an adrenaline rush, some of us play just to enjoy ourselves and unwind.

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    1. Re:Non-racing driving games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      check out "tokyo xtreme racer 2" for sega dreamcast. it is my favorite racer ever. you cruise around on the freeway and when you see another racer, you have the option of flashing your highbeams at him and racing. so you never are forced to race. there is sparse traffic, because it is at night. the only downside is that you are only on urban highways, so no pretty mountains for you...

    2. Re:Non-racing driving games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am moved out of lurking on slashdot to agree. I can't believe that a flight sim style driving game has never been done. Back when I could afford to run a car I often used to go for long drives listening to music just to relax, but the price of petrol in the UK meant this was ludicrously expensive (I just mean "wow my bank balance dropped", this isn't a political comment).

      People buy flight sims as flying is too expensive, why not a driving sim for people for whom driving is too expensive? I can't understand how this has never seriously been done.

    3. Re:Non-racing driving games by Control-Z · · Score: 1

      Exactly. In games like Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2, I like the point-to-point races better than the lap ones.

          I've always wanted to create an "Interstate Driving Simulator (tm)" where you can drive hundreds of miles flat-out on an Interstate highway, dodging cars and maybe cops. Or drive the speed limit and just listen to some tunes.

    4. Re:Non-racing driving games by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

      Grand Theft Auto (San Andreas is really where they've started to expand the map to cross-country type driving down freeways, flying and boating) and also Operation Flashpoint, more driving, flying and boating but with military gear and smaller roads, the controls aren't as good but the islands are massive and with proper dense forests - you can go for miles even run out of fuel.

      --
      This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
    5. Re:Non-racing driving games by riker1384 · · Score: 0

      Try some rallying games, or time trials in a Gran Turismo game.

  101. I've always found... by cmdrwhitewolf · · Score: 1

    Driving games to be just flat out boring. Simply because if I wanted to drive for umpteen hours, I'd just get in the bloody car for pete's sake.

    Now, give me a game where I can do something I can't do in real life, then I'll be a little more interested. Give it a cute gimmick, like being able to drive through the offices of SCO after a panic'd Darl or even Bill Gates, and maybe you'll have something...

    --
    [Now, I'm off to lift my le... Um, visit... at another place.]
  102. his lawyers by fbartho · · Score: 1

    They've known this for awhile, and have been waiting to find your address.

    Success!

    --
    Gravity Sucks
  103. vector? by Danzigism · · Score: 0

    pretty fun watching that demo.. all the graphics almost look like simple vectored shapes, lines, colors, etc... i'm personally tired of 3D rendered graphics and video games using textures.. its like they steal textures from real life, and import it into the video graphic.. i like seeing real art incorporated with the graphics of a video game.. same with an original Sound track.. seems like a lot of games nowadays have some top-40 songs on there or some shit.. where's the originality and creativity gone! these kinds of things, even though they aren't using the most up to date technology, can be equally as enteraining..

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    *plays the Apogee theme song music*
  104. Am I seeing this right? by JourneyExpertApe · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one who sees this demo with no lighting whatsoever? Objects are solid black and the parts of them that are below the horizon are invisible unless they are in my line of sight with the road. Is this really the way the demo is supposed to look. I'm not complaining that this demo doesn't push the envelope in realtime graphics, but if this were a game, it would be almost unplayable.

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    If you can read this sig, you're too close.
  105. Dizzy by pyrote · · Score: 1

    odd, all mine wants to do is drive in tight circles to the left. makes me want to barf. can't even control the steering with the appointed keys.

    hmm... oh well

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    THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!!!! eventually.
  106. Game-breaking? by Dimensio · · Score: 1

    I jammed the door that's supposed to close after you exit the room with the professor (to keep you from killing him after you get the weapon) open with a crate, and return with the weapon to kill him, only he magically gained 9999 hitpoints as soon as he pushed the button, so I stabbed him in the head for about half-an-hour until he diead, at wich point I completed two opposing missions and broke the game.

    How does this break the game? The only thing that I know it to do is trigger a dialogue from the Order leader that should otherwise never occur (making me wonder why the line was recorded in the first place). How did it prevent you from progressing further?

    1. Re:Game-breaking? by Ligur · · Score: 1

      You're right, I guess it's wrong to call that a game-breaker, it screwed the continuity up pretty good though.

      --
      Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
  107. fairly smart. by DarkSarin · · Score: 1

    turn off autodrive (f5) and steer really far off the road. THen turn it on and watch. It's a fairly smart autodrive.

    --
    "We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully,..." Wherry, R.J. Personnel Psychology (1995)
  108. Interstate '76? by Dimensio · · Score: 1

    I recall a "Car Wars" inspired game in the mid-late 1990s set in an "alternate universe" 1970s with very simple non-textured, low-poly models.

    I thought that the low-frills graphics were a consequence of the technology of the time; hard to have a good driving game (with vehicular combat) framerate if you throw in too many graphical bells and whistles.

    (How could you have graphical bells and whistles anyway?)

    IIRC the game was also tied, storywise, to the Vigilante 8 games (which I first thought just had a coincidentally similar theme).

  109. Mod Parent +Insightful by handy_vandal · · Score: 1

    A lot of people enjoy simply driving on an open road or a winding mountain side.... They do this with flight sims, why not driving sims?

    Right on.

    -kgj

    --
    -kgj
    1. Re:Mod Parent +Insightful by RailRide · · Score: 1
      Midtown Madness and it's sequel contain a "cruise" mode where you do essentially that--just drive around the city, interacting with normal traffic with no specific goal in mind (except that if you act the fool, the cops will come after you). If I'm not mistaken, this mode is also available in the multiplayer mode as well.

      ---PCJ

  110. And then you'd drive it like you were racing.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like bashing into shit the whole way just because that's the way you got there in the game LOL

  111. Make it your Desktop O_o sort of by vivin · · Score: 1

    If you alt-tab out of it, it becomes your desktop with other windows on top of it. Except you can't see your desktop icons...

    --
    Vivin Suresh Paliath
    http://vivin.net

    I like
  112. Looks Just LIke LA by KnarfO · · Score: 1

    All the orange haze in the sky... except for the cars driving on the wrong side of the road.

    Oh wait...

    --


    "Creativity is allowing ones self to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams
  113. Re: elevated priveleges by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, except that almost every program on windows expects to be run with elevated priveleges,

    What a load of horsecrap. It's pretty much like saying 'almost every program on Unix does not have GUI'.

  114. The car... by nmg196 · · Score: 1

    ...must be an American manufactured car. Have you seen how much it rolls when you go round corners? No other country's cars do that... dead giveaway.

  115. Re:it makes sense really (You are right) by gardyloo · · Score: 1


    [...] in USA they have long, wide and straight roads[...]

      In some places, yes. And many of our mountain pass roads are significantly better than in a lot of countries. But try driving in western Colorado with an automatic, or in any other region with significant hills and windy roads. Much better with manual transmission. It's too bad that most rental places don't even have stick-shifts to rent.

  116. Yes they can. by Agarax · · Score: 1

    All these people can't be wrong.

    Yes they can. Remember all those people who went to see the Star Wars Prequels, each time saying it couldnt be worse than the last?

    --
    Remember folks, slashdot doesn't have a -1 "disagree" moderation!
  117. head for Asia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Check out some of the cheapo econoboxes they have in parts of Asia, including India.

  118. While we're at it... by scott_karana · · Score: 1

    Seeing as we've already started decimating the poor fellow's bandwidth, why not contribute something in return? Start testing this on all those old systems you have, and give him more precise data for estimating system requirements!

  119. Works well on old systems by NousCS · · Score: 1

    The recommended system speed is 1GHz; however, Drivey works quite nicely on my 366MHz system. The demo is very mellow and would make a good screensaver except for the whole thing of using 100% of my system resources.
          Window XP users should consider creating a test account in the "Guests" Group to run the program and others like it from in case it's a virus. You don't have to logout of your current account, simply right click on Drivey.exe, click on "Run As..." then choose your test account.

  120. Doesn't work... by popo · · Score: 1


    Says... I'm missing a file dsound.dll:11

    Probably DirectSound... since I'm on a work pc with no speakers I guess that sucks for me...

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
  121. Why can't I hit those power poles! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is so un-fun...

  122. Works in a window, too! by Announcer · · Score: 1

    You can change it to a window, and adjust the size. It works even down to a tiny window in the corner. (Just press ALT-Enter) I have it running right now, while I'm typing this note. Not bad for a little "demo"... well done!

    You can also make the car stay on the right side of the road by tapping the left arrow until it's on the right side. The auto-drive will now keep you on the RIGHT side of the road. If you added any cars, it just drives right through them, unless there are two close together. THEN it crashes into them.

    If you hold-down F2 (wireframe) you can switch through the 4 scenarios and see how they are "constructed". In the "City", even the "clouds" are wireframed. Reminds me of the Jetsons! ;)

    --
    Willie...
  123. Talking about racing realism... by aybiss · · Score: 0

    Has anyone played trackmania sunrise?

    If you like racing for the sake of racing (ie being faster than everyone else at something), PLEASE buy this game. make your own tracks and then get your arse kicked online by some french guy. the racing style varies with environment, none of them are realistic - they just encourage certain styles of driving.

    I'm not affiliated with the game in any way, i just think we should encourage innovation like this. That said it's a sequel game with (basically) improved graphics....

    excuse graamar/punctuation/spelling/lack of coherent point - can't be arsed.

    Frequency UnKnown

    --
    It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
  124. What is this? by walstib · · Score: 1

    NASCAR?! How about some right turns?

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    The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps. - Benjamin Disraeli