Of the three talks Cope gave, exactly NONE of them had ANYTHING to do with this - he spoke on the topics of symmetry in design, and organisational patterns.
The linked article is actually about an _interview_ he gave whilst he was here.
Wow, you guys do that at "UofMich"? That's a university, right? Now I understand what's going on in the US education system. We do shit like that at primary school in the UK.
I don't know about HP but IBM are doing fine. IBM are making hardware. Making hardware for MS. And not just MS, but MS, Sony, and Apple, so I really don't think they have much to worry about. IBM and MS are big enough and smart enough to not try to fight too much. IBM has hardware wraped up, and MS had consumer software wrapped up. Sure, they have a bit of fight going on on serverside software, but no so much as to risk the buisness plan over.
IMHO high quality QA is hugely undervalued in the games industry as a whole. To many publishers just take on any old kids on their summer/winter vacation from collage, just for the final project phase, and do not see the hiring of quality staff in the QA department as a long term investment. Less than games half the companies I've encountered (ie worked for or interviewed at) take QA a seriously as I think they should.
Anecdotal evidence doesn't count for much, but it can be entertaining, so here is a the "description" from a genuine bug report from a major US publisher, for a game I was working on a while back (not published):
"-Music selection should very , as well as sound efects crashing,sliding out , aswell as a annoncer threw the game making itmore real , funnny , and with the race atall times, when a accident acures, ect."
This was submitted as a "class A", "In-Game GUI" bug.
It's a cut and paste. No typos introduced in the retelling.
Actually, the soak test / aging test is usually 72 hours, not during active game play. Usually this means going in and out of "attract mode". Often that means playing a movie over and over again, and never running the game itself.
I suspect the real reson for the aging test is that MS avoid embarrassing public crashes on the in-store displays.
In the UK BSKYB have licensed the TiVo technology to make their Sky+ boxes. So TiVo are alive an well as long as BSKYB is alive and well, and seeing as BSKYB is the dominant satellite television network in the UK, I'd say that in the medium to long term, TiVo is pretty save as a company, if not a consumer unit.
Heh, rather than repeat myself, here is a link to an article I wrote for K5 on 1k chess for the ZX81 a while back: The greatest program ever written. Enjoy.
You have been found guilty, but do you feel guilty?
Who do you think is more responsable for the demise of coutless small development companies - the publishers, the warez community, or the development companys themselves? And why?
This is a topic that interests me a great deal. When I got my first computer, a ZX81, pretty much the first programs I wrote as a I learned to code where programmes that put pretty graphics on the screen.
My first "art" release (knocked up after I finished my work on X-COM Apocalypse) was THROB, which was a purely visual experience, and did not include the source as part of the "experience".
As for the stuff on display here, I find it uninspired artistically, and unimpressive technically. There is very little "art" to the source code, and very little original about the output. I suspect that they got to be shown in a reputable gallery purely on the basis that they are "in". Trendy art students, part of the art scene.
Thanks for such a detailed constructive critism. Rather than continue discussion here, if your interested in discussing the details, or would just like to know when I do an update, feel free to email me.
Hmmm, I'm not sure I agree that your example is actually an inconsistency. Isn't it just a conflict of view points? Something that would be handled by the way the DM played the NPCs?
I am in no way advocating total computer generation, and the elimination of designers, and I doubt you seriously think that a DM is actually better off meticulously designing every detail of every village in advance.
Ad-lib is an important skill for a DM, but surly you can't think having lots of internally consistent* material at hand is a bad thing?
*Note that "internal consistency" (that the game world does not contradict itself) is what important, not "realism" - something that perhaps I failed to make clear.
While I am new to PHP, I am a very experianced programmer, and the script has been peer reviewed by a PHP pro. Somethings are just computationally expensive, I'm afraid...
There are really two issues at hand in what you say. The first, the quality of results, is one that can be tackled computationally.
You say that "is something amazingly skewiff about computer-generated randomness", but I would argue that it is because of the low quality and inherent simplicity of most character generators. There is more to it than just random number generation. You have to make things a bit more sophisticated than that, which is what I am trying to do with the scripts.
The other issue you mention, is the plot, if you read my other comments you will see that that is not something I would want to handle with tools. The tool is supposed to take the pressure to do all the inconsequential details out of the hands of the designer in order to free him up to do the real work.
You are right that a NPC generator tool is not a good idea for you main plot line characters, but for the inconsequential shop keeper, baker, or blacksmith, and for the "random" villages you find along your way, it keeps things varied, interesting, consistent and believable.
Yes, I agree that it's the "quality and depth of the ideas, not the complexity of the numbers" that matters, but you have to admit blatant inconsistencies in the game world distract from the experience by breaking the suspension of disbelief. Using automated tools for the generation of the inconsequential details not only improves consistency, but takes a huge load of the designers hands, allowing him or her to focus on the bigger picture.
Well, shit, isn't the timing magnificent. I've been playing an AD&D game run by some friends of mine, and there have been some problems with consistency, which got me thinking about automatic generation of realistic worlds for use as settings for rollplaying games.
I think there is a lot that can be done. Fractal terrain generation is a well understood area. Developing on that you can use social evolution heuristics to determine the locations of settlements, and teh development of towns, and cities. You can use historical demographic data to determine what might be found at each settlement. From there its only a short step to generating a population for those settlements.
Which is about where I started thinking about writing some code. Last weekend I actually put some of my ideas into action. Its far from complete, but this serverside script demonstrates the beginnings of what can be done. There are problems with execution time - PHP isn't my usual language, and the 30 second limit is preventing it from working with populations larger than 750, but you can see where I'm going with it - generation of random populations, assignment of possitions within the community based on ability, and the code is in place for the generation of familiys with inherited genetic traits. Of course, the source code is available (via a link at the bottom of the page), so you can run with the idea if you can't wait for me to develop it further.
Once all these details are handled computationally, the designer can focus on the most important aspect of the game world - the plot!
cybrpnk2's "review" is an insult to book reviews, and timothy posting it is an insult to weblog readers. A much more honest article, and a much more articulate discussion of Wolfram's book can be found here.
Indeed. But isn't the P2P feature you discuss more of a reward for active participation, than a punishment? Of course, it is arguable that the absence of a reward is in effect a punishment. I suppose it depends on the ratio people receiving rewards to those that do not...
"People say, 'I like to punish'," says Ernst Fehr of the University of Zurich.
So, when applying this to open source development, or P2P software, how does one define the "freeloader" and, what "punishment" does one apply? This obvious risk is that, because people "like to punish", they contributors will be punished as much as, or more than the freeloaders.
This happens on the online forums,/. included.
The people who make an effort to make valid contributions, and are "punished", either by being flamed, or by spiteful moderation.
Very little is gained by knowing that punishment works as form of behaviour modification, the real gain would be knowing how to keep the vigilantes in check.
Slashdot Mirror
Of the three talks Cope gave, exactly NONE of them had ANYTHING to do with this - he spoke on the topics of symmetry in design, and organisational patterns.
;P
The linked article is actually about an _interview_ he gave whilst he was here.
Also, Linux is broken.
Wow, you guys do that at "UofMich"? That's a university, right? Now I understand what's going on in the US education system. We do shit like that at primary school in the UK.
Yes. That's right. Primary school.
Under 12 years old.
I don't know about HP but IBM are doing fine. IBM are making hardware. Making hardware for MS. And not just MS, but MS, Sony, and Apple, so I really don't think they have much to worry about. IBM and MS are big enough and smart enough to not try to fight too much. IBM has hardware wraped up, and MS had consumer software wrapped up. Sure, they have a bit of fight going on on serverside software, but no so much as to risk the buisness plan over.
Anecdotal evidence doesn't count for much, but it can be entertaining, so here is a the "description" from a genuine bug report from a major US publisher, for a game I was working on a while back (not published):
This was submitted as a "class A", "In-Game GUI" bug.
It's a cut and paste. No typos introduced in the retelling.
Actually, the soak test / aging test is usually 72 hours, not during active game play. Usually this means going in and out of "attract mode". Often that means playing a movie over and over again, and never running the game itself.
I suspect the real reson for the aging test is that MS avoid embarrassing public crashes on the in-store displays.
No it doesn't. It supports 480p HDTV with FSAA.
Some lawyers still work on a pro-bono basis, don't they? Isn't there someone who would take on this case on a no-win no-fee basis?
The cartoon doesn't directly accuse A.G. corporation of being Nazis, but that specific (fictional/cartoon) woman.
No Text!
In the UK BSKYB have licensed the TiVo technology to make their Sky+ boxes. So TiVo are alive an well as long as BSKYB is alive and well, and seeing as BSKYB is the dominant satellite television network in the UK, I'd say that in the medium to long term, TiVo is pretty save as a company, if not a consumer unit.
Heh, rather than repeat myself, here is a link to an article I wrote for K5 on 1k chess for the ZX81 a while back: The greatest program ever written. Enjoy.
You have been found guilty, but do you feel guilty?
Who do you think is more responsable for the demise of coutless small development companies - the publishers, the warez community, or the development companys themselves? And why?
Thad
Games Developer.
My first "art" release (knocked up after I finished my work on X-COM Apocalypse) was THROB, which was a purely visual experience, and did not include the source as part of the "experience".
My second "art" release, described on an Italian Linux site as "deliciously incompressible"
was created for the International Obfuscated C Code Contest 2000 in collaboration with a friend, and did get some recognition. It is "THADGAVIN, and it won the "Most Portable Output" award. It was also featured on a the French alternative art scene website Téléférique, and discussed on K5 in that context.
As for the stuff on display here, I find it uninspired artistically, and unimpressive technically. There is very little "art" to the source code, and very little original about the output. I suspect that they got to be shown in a reputable gallery purely on the basis that they are "in". Trendy art students, part of the art scene.
The source URL is http://thad.notagoth.org/php/source.php?file=/rpg/ medieval_settlement.php. Email me. I don't actually read /. a lot these days.
Thanks for such a detailed constructive critism. Rather than continue discussion here, if your interested in discussing the details, or would just like to know when I do an update, feel free to email me.
Hmmm, I'm not sure I agree that your example is actually an inconsistency. Isn't it just a conflict of view points? Something that would be handled by the way the DM played the NPCs?
I am in no way advocating total computer generation, and the elimination of designers, and I doubt you seriously think that a DM is actually better off meticulously designing every detail of every village in advance.
Ad-lib is an important skill for a DM, but surly you can't think having lots of internally consistent* material at hand is a bad thing?
*Note that "internal consistency" (that the game world does not contradict itself) is what important, not "realism" - something that perhaps I failed to make clear.
While I am new to PHP, I am a very experianced programmer, and the script has been peer reviewed by a PHP pro. Somethings are just computationally expensive, I'm afraid...
There are really two issues at hand in what you say. The first, the quality of results, is one that can be tackled computationally.
You say that "is something amazingly skewiff about computer-generated randomness", but I would argue that it is because of the low quality and inherent simplicity of most character generators. There is more to it than just random number generation. You have to make things a bit more sophisticated than that, which is what I am trying to do with the scripts.
The other issue you mention, is the plot, if you read my other comments you will see that that is not something I would want to handle with tools. The tool is supposed to take the pressure to do all the inconsequential details out of the hands of the designer in order to free him up to do the real work.
You are right that a NPC generator tool is not a good idea for you main plot line characters, but for the inconsequential shop keeper, baker, or blacksmith, and for the "random" villages you find along your way, it keeps things varied, interesting, consistent and believable.
Yes, I agree that it's the "quality and depth of the ideas, not the complexity of the numbers" that matters, but you have to admit blatant inconsistencies in the game world distract from the experience by breaking the suspension of disbelief. Using automated tools for the generation of the inconsequential details not only improves consistency, but takes a huge load of the designers hands, allowing him or her to focus on the bigger picture.
I think there is a lot that can be done. Fractal terrain generation is a well understood area. Developing on that you can use social evolution heuristics to determine the locations of settlements, and teh development of towns, and cities. You can use historical demographic data to determine what might be found at each settlement. From there its only a short step to generating a population for those settlements.
Which is about where I started thinking about writing some code. Last weekend I actually put some of my ideas into action. Its far from complete, but this serverside script demonstrates the beginnings of what can be done. There are problems with execution time - PHP isn't my usual language, and the 30 second limit is preventing it from working with populations larger than 750, but you can see where I'm going with it - generation of random populations, assignment of possitions within the community based on ability, and the code is in place for the generation of familiys with inherited genetic traits. Of course, the source code is available (via a link at the bottom of the page), so you can run with the idea if you can't wait for me to develop it further.
Once all these details are handled computationally, the designer can focus on the most important aspect of the game world - the plot!
cybrpnk2's "review" is an insult to book reviews, and timothy posting it is an insult to weblog readers. A much more honest article, and a much more articulate discussion of Wolfram's book can be found here.
"America's Radioactive Dustbin"
Indeed. But isn't the P2P feature you discuss more of a reward for active participation, than a punishment? Of course, it is arguable that the absence of a reward is in effect a punishment. I suppose it depends on the ratio people receiving rewards to those that do not...
This happens on the online forums, /. included.
The people who make an effort to make valid contributions, and are "punished", either by being flamed, or by spiteful moderation.
Very little is gained by knowing that punishment works as form of behaviour modification, the real gain would be knowing how to keep the vigilantes in check.
You don't actually expect an answer from them do you?
;)
Your livin' in the past man.
Quit livin' in the past!