Duke 3D was waaay more sophisticated than Wolfenstein. While it did employ similar dated rendering techniques and the need for sprites, it did offer full range of motion along all three dimensions, actual floors and ceilings, interactive environments, the ability to look around using a mouse, and the ability to have passages that could overlap one another. Doom couldn't even do that.
The Quakes were technologically superior, by far. Three dimensional rendering in the truest sense, greater lighting effects, antialiasing (I think that came about with Quake 2, but correct me if I'm wrong). Network play out the wazoo. Even the audio capabilities were incredible. (I used to love putting different CD's in the drive to change up the soundtrack. Megadeth's "Rust in Peace" goes very well with Quake.)
But despite all that, I always had more fun with Duke 3D than I did with Quake. It just had a more colorful personality and it had more creative levels. Quake was always so... brown and gray.
Certainly, and don't get me wrong. I don't hate Halo, and I'll still bring out the third game from time to time for a round of co-op with a friend because it's easy to pick up and play. And that's a major part of its niche, right there.
What I find particularly telling is that to make Halo look bad you have to compare it to so many different games.
To be fair, that's what you asked for:
Oh please, do tell us what is dumbed down about the Halo series as compared to every other shooter ever?
UT and Q3 didn't have an 'adventure mode' single-player campaign so much as just jaunts through maps against bots, but even those had more interesting levels (traps, hidden passages, sniper's nests, secret items, etc). Let's not forget about their respective predecessors which offered (read: in my opinion) more engaging gameplay from start to finish. That is to say, they never felt like a chore, although the brown-and-gray of Quake 2 gets old pretty fast. I could throw Half Life or Duke Nukem 3D into the mix, but I'd be harping.
Not many games can be great as both single-player and multi-player experiences, as their developers typically emphasize one or the other. But in either case, I've sloughed through a fair share of FPS titles and the Halo games have never stood out to me beyond their mainstream status.
Halo had its good points, like the beautiful outdoor settings and its use of vehicles. The multiplayer modes were passable but paled in comparison to the likes of Unreal Tournament and Quake 3. The storyline is decent if unmemorable and the ring worlds are a neat idea.
The single player campaign, though... it was like a cheap toy. The outdoor levels were fun at first but after an entire game of playing the same limited, uninspired handful of enemies using the same limited, uninspired weapons, it was a chore. The repetitive and palette-swapped levels were a cop-out and the lack of boss fights made it feel incomplete. I didn't have much fun with the latter half of the game and I forced myself to complete it because I was determined to find out what made it so popular.
Halo is certainly polished and well-presented, but aside from its status as the kegger's go-to party game, it's overrated.
Perhaps it is Catholicism's historic fear of, aversion to, and impedance of scientific progress? While I don't believe it, some people are suggesting that a new pope might more willingly embrace scientific truths rather than outright deny or denounce them. Not that these challenges are even a problem in modern day...
a change in pope can affect how those people -- and especially their kids -- view certain issues, including scientific issues
Can, but won't. All of the Cardinals involved were either appointed by the current or previous pope, and/or they appointed the current pope. How they view certain issues and how the next pope they select also views them will not change. It'll take Vatican III to bring about any real progress, and with the current conservative trend I don't think Vatican III would come anytime soon.
Yeah, I have a collection of ThinkPad laptops that date back to the early 90's and their overall look has not changed very much, but they're damn solid machines. Even the oldest one can still run its OS. If it ain't broke, don't break it.
Yes, solar panels and rechargeable batteries. They can go into a low-power dormancy mode when dust storms threaten to block the sun for extended periods of time, and when dust starts to cake on the solar panels it can be a problem. High speed winds (aka "cleaning events") can sometimes clear this dust, which is part if how Opportunity has remained functional for as long as it has.
Slashdot Mirror
And the pipe bombs. Oh man, I loved those.
Duke 3D was waaay more sophisticated than Wolfenstein. While it did employ similar dated rendering techniques and the need for sprites, it did offer full range of motion along all three dimensions, actual floors and ceilings, interactive environments, the ability to look around using a mouse, and the ability to have passages that could overlap one another. Doom couldn't even do that.
The Quakes were technologically superior, by far. Three dimensional rendering in the truest sense, greater lighting effects, antialiasing (I think that came about with Quake 2, but correct me if I'm wrong). Network play out the wazoo. Even the audio capabilities were incredible. (I used to love putting different CD's in the drive to change up the soundtrack. Megadeth's "Rust in Peace" goes very well with Quake.)
But despite all that, I always had more fun with Duke 3D than I did with Quake. It just had a more colorful personality and it had more creative levels. Quake was always so... brown and gray.
Certainly, and don't get me wrong. I don't hate Halo, and I'll still bring out the third game from time to time for a round of co-op with a friend because it's easy to pick up and play. And that's a major part of its niche, right there.
What I find particularly telling is that to make Halo look bad you have to compare it to so many different games.
To be fair, that's what you asked for:
Oh please, do tell us what is dumbed down about the Halo series as compared to every other shooter ever?
UT and Q3 didn't have an 'adventure mode' single-player campaign so much as just jaunts through maps against bots, but even those had more interesting levels (traps, hidden passages, sniper's nests, secret items, etc). Let's not forget about their respective predecessors which offered (read: in my opinion) more engaging gameplay from start to finish. That is to say, they never felt like a chore, although the brown-and-gray of Quake 2 gets old pretty fast. I could throw Half Life or Duke Nukem 3D into the mix, but I'd be harping.
Not many games can be great as both single-player and multi-player experiences, as their developers typically emphasize one or the other. But in either case, I've sloughed through a fair share of FPS titles and the Halo games have never stood out to me beyond their mainstream status.
Halo had its good points, like the beautiful outdoor settings and its use of vehicles. The multiplayer modes were passable but paled in comparison to the likes of Unreal Tournament and Quake 3. The storyline is decent if unmemorable and the ring worlds are a neat idea.
The single player campaign, though... it was like a cheap toy. The outdoor levels were fun at first but after an entire game of playing the same limited, uninspired handful of enemies using the same limited, uninspired weapons, it was a chore. The repetitive and palette-swapped levels were a cop-out and the lack of boss fights made it feel incomplete. I didn't have much fun with the latter half of the game and I forced myself to complete it because I was determined to find out what made it so popular.
Halo is certainly polished and well-presented, but aside from its status as the kegger's go-to party game, it's overrated.
We're talking about interesting new ideas, though.
...and the image of a gigantic, inflated Han Solo floating down the Macy's Parade has just crossed my mind.
Blah.
And it's sad that a race was the most entertaining part of a freakin' Star Wars film.
Well, they say that 89% of statistics are pulled out of somebody's ass.
In either case, I will continue to use *crapshot*
No, no, you idiot, he was talking about Sega.
Perhaps it is Catholicism's historic fear of, aversion to, and impedance of scientific progress? While I don't believe it, some people are suggesting that a new pope might more willingly embrace scientific truths rather than outright deny or denounce them. Not that these challenges are even a problem in modern day...
a change in pope can affect how those people -- and especially their kids -- view certain issues, including scientific issues
Can, but won't. All of the Cardinals involved were either appointed by the current or previous pope, and/or they appointed the current pope. How they view certain issues and how the next pope they select also views them will not change. It'll take Vatican III to bring about any real progress, and with the current conservative trend I don't think Vatican III would come anytime soon.
But, that's just how I view it.
20 gigs? Where did you pull that number from?
To be fair, this is the full desktop edition of Windows and not just a scaled-back mobile OS. I agree that 40 GB is still a lot, though.
Where did that Facebook icon come from? That's new.
(-1 Offtopic, bring it on mods.)
Yo dawg, we heard you like emulation, so we're putting an emulator in your emulator so you can emulate while you emulate!
So if they remove the trackpoint buttons, then you'll switch to a laptop that also does not have trackpoint buttons?
Yeah, I have a collection of ThinkPad laptops that date back to the early 90's and their overall look has not changed very much, but they're damn solid machines. Even the oldest one can still run its OS. If it ain't broke, don't break it.
Yes, solar panels and rechargeable batteries. They can go into a low-power dormancy mode when dust storms threaten to block the sun for extended periods of time, and when dust starts to cake on the solar panels it can be a problem. High speed winds (aka "cleaning events") can sometimes clear this dust, which is part if how Opportunity has remained functional for as long as it has.
Slashdot is exactly the place for news like this to be posted.
Worst-case, if they don't offer it in their repos then compiling vanilla is pretty easy in Debian.
It's Long-Term Support, but not that long...
RMS, is that you?
Yeah, that was intentional. Apparently the mods didn't get it either. =)