the players have real agency. What's the point of being online with lots of people if everybody's quests are identical and no player's actions really impact the world at all? Maybe Warhammer will be the one to do that. Time will tell.
Many Codemasters racing sims pivot the cars on a central axis, especially their off-road driving ones. It's atrociously bad in this day and age. From 3rd person it looks ridiculous, and in first person the lack of proper weight transfer and 4 corner independent suspension makes feeling the motion of the car impossible. Its less noticeable (maybe even absent) in their track racing games, but still inexcusable. I'll pass.
All of these suggestions seem to be about things that government agencies might be against. What about the stuff they are supposed to be for, like basic science?
Off the top of my head, I'll suggest Fermilab, given their increasingly dire financial situation.
And of course there are plenty of things they very well should shut down, just because they cost us so much and gain so little, like the war on drugs and the Iraq war. Maybe these should go in the "least likely" category though.
I don't buy singles, I buy albums. A great song is nice, but it's not worth much if the album is crap.
Music works best when it fits into a cohesive structure. My favorites are really series of albums that span a long carreer. For example, Boards of Canada, Mouse on Mars, and Squarepusher.
This year I've been listening to Freescha a lot, but more than singles, or highlight tracks, or even individual albums, I love listening to their entire catalog continuously in chronological order (perhaps including their Split EP with Casino vs Japan as a prelude or chaser).
They're widely misusing the term "broadband" already (just like "modem" and many others), so why not simply define the class of service they want to standardize and give it a NEW NAME instead of abusing existing ones? My vote is for "Standardized Fast Ubernet." You can guess what else the acronym might stand for.
Every game on the Wii seems to work a different group of muscles because of the unique control movements involved. When I play something new for a couple of days, I find new sore spots. Oddly enough it's Excite Truck that keeps my heart rate up (and shoulders tense) the most while playing. It may turn out to be my favorite of the launch titles given its addictive, high adrenaline, and high replay value game style.
> Yeah. Allegedly. In truth, what has lucas ever done that wasn't hokie and childish?
THX 1138. This is a classic work of science fiction, not fantasy adventure, and is fairly serious throughout. Even the directors-cut expanded CG-updated version is relatively unspoiled and watchable.
So you have to buy HL2: Episode 2 to get Portal and Team Fortress 2. Maybe bundling makes sense for retail box copies where it's cheaper than multiple product launches, but why require it for downloads? Couldn't they sell plenty of downloads at $5 or $10 each and let the bundled versions be a discount? You'd think that an alternative distribution channel like Steam would want to provide advantages over retail, rather than stick you with the same thing either way.
Multiplayer is a consistently overlooked use for extra displays. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to drive multiple displays, audio streams (preferably on headphones), and input devices to run a single game with multiple players on one box. Think of it as a mini LAN party in a box.
PCI-e makes multiple displays easier, mutliple channel sound is already common, and USB should be able to support extra keyboards and mice (I think).
All that's lacking is a standard set of multiple I/O protocols and then developer support.
A well engineered game shouldn't even need rewritten netcode to make it work.
The Tetrisphere soundtrack by Neil Voss is awesome stuff. IIRC he did the audio engine for it (the standard N64 libs weren't up to the task), as well as the composition. I'd buy an album of it in a heartbeat.
1) take game for existing Xbox (intel + nvidia) 2) re-target compiler for Xbox2 (powerpc + ati) 3) make new binary available on Xbox2 Live 4) insert original Xbox game disc in Xbox2 and run with new Xbox2-ported binary 5) profit!
This is so much easier than emulation that it's virtually a no brainer.
Sony's PS2 comes in last place for buyers of multi-platform games who have multiple systems. The Gamecube and Xbox "ports" tend to have nicer graphics, quicker loading, and so on.
Sony obviously benefits when a would-be portable title is released only on their system instead of two or all 3. There's also less lost development energy on a single-platform title in general (no porting and cross-platform worries), and it can make a big difference in the quality of PS2 titles (take Gran Turismo 4 or God of War for example).
Even if they aren't permenantly exclusive, just having the initial release on the PS2 is a pretty good bet that the PS2 version will sell the best.
The AAA-title end of the game industry is rapidly approaching a cost/benefit barrier that current development practices will not be able to surmount.
Two facts are primarily responsible:
1 - Reinventing game engine technology from scratch for every title is cost prohibitive and slow.
"In the limit, all graphics rendering technologies tend to approximate ray-tracing [+ radiosity, etc]" -Unknown
2 - Recreating game content (art and code assets) to take advantage of improving technology becomes exponentionally more expensive as we approach the asymptotic limits of "perfect" technical fidelity, and simultaneously offers diminishing payoffs.
"They're selling us the same games year after year, with small incremental content updates" -any sports game fan
Therefore, in the future, game technology needs to scale up/down freely with hardware capability and adapt "finalized" content to an appropriate level through pre/dynamic simplification or procedural/simulated detail increase.
This is taking place to some extent already, with limited reuse and extension of game technology platforms and content in similar games and sequels (Unreal, Doom, Half-Life, etc), but the industry remains short-sighted and fails to address to-the-limit scalability.
Current content and platforms are also overwhemlingly monolithic, and there's no hard limiting technical reason why there cannot be increasing modularity.
Imaging playing a game using Doom's graphics technology, Enemy Territory's gameplay, Unreal's networking & mods, Half-Life's physics system, TeamSpeak's voice technology, and Xfire's buddy-list, or any such combination as you like, on any platform.
Sigh. I hope I'm not too old and disabled to play games when computing technology finally grows up.
Slashdot Mirror
Where are my points today? Mod parent up!
Windows will not be a sane security environment until EVERYTHING is sandboxed by default.
Please mod parent up. You can't just tap an existing active fiber optic line any more than you can just take a sip from an open fire hose.
Lambda The Ultimate (programming languages): http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/rss.xml
Greg Costikyan (culture): http://feeds.feedburner.com/costik/gXjD
Darius Kazemi (gamedev networking): http://tinysubversions.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Warren Spector (design): http://junctionpoint.wordpress.com/feed/
Tom Forsyth (graphics): http://www.eelpi.gotdns.org/blog.wiki.xml
Christer Ericson (collision detection): http://realtimecollisiondetection.net/blog/?feed=rss2
Erin Catto (physics): http://www.gphysics.com/feed
Duncan Fyfe? (writing): http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/feeds/posts/default
Soren Johnson (design): http://feeds.feedburner.com/Designer-notes
Fun Motion (physics games): http://www.fun-motion.com/feed/
Play This Thing (short reviews & commentary): http://playthisthing.com/allposts/feed
GoGamer (game deals): http://feeds.feedburner.com/Gogamercom48hourMadnessSpecial
CheapAssGamer (game deals): http://feeds.feedburner.com/cheapassgamer
Kotaku (news & commentary): http://kotaku.com/index.xml
Rock, Paper, Shotgun (PC gaming): http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?feed=rss2
the players have real agency. What's the point of being online with lots of people if everybody's quests are identical and no player's actions really impact the world at all? Maybe Warhammer will be the one to do that. Time will tell.
Many Codemasters racing sims pivot the cars on a central axis, especially their off-road driving ones. It's atrociously bad in this day and age. From 3rd person it looks ridiculous, and in first person the lack of proper weight transfer and 4 corner independent suspension makes feeling the motion of the car impossible. Its less noticeable (maybe even absent) in their track racing games, but still inexcusable. I'll pass.
All of these suggestions seem to be about things that government agencies might be against. What about the stuff they are supposed to be for, like basic science?
Off the top of my head, I'll suggest Fermilab, given their increasingly dire financial situation.
And of course there are plenty of things they very well should shut down, just because they cost us so much and gain so little, like the war on drugs and the Iraq war. Maybe these should go in the "least likely" category though.
Startopia is still one of my favorite games. Thanks again Tom.
I don't buy singles, I buy albums. A great song is nice, but it's not worth much if the album is crap.
Music works best when it fits into a cohesive structure. My favorites are really series of albums that span a long carreer. For example, Boards of Canada, Mouse on Mars, and Squarepusher.
This year I've been listening to Freescha a lot, but more than singles, or highlight tracks, or even individual albums, I love listening to their entire catalog continuously in chronological order (perhaps including their Split EP with Casino vs Japan as a prelude or chaser).
They're widely misusing the term "broadband" already (just like "modem" and many others), so why not simply define the class of service they want to standardize and give it a NEW NAME instead of abusing existing ones? My vote is for "Standardized Fast Ubernet." You can guess what else the acronym might stand for.
Every game on the Wii seems to work a different group of muscles because of the unique control movements involved. When I play something new for a couple of days, I find new sore spots. Oddly enough it's Excite Truck that keeps my heart rate up (and shoulders tense) the most while playing. It may turn out to be my favorite of the launch titles given its addictive, high adrenaline, and high replay value game style.
> Yeah. Allegedly. In truth, what has lucas ever done that wasn't hokie and childish?
THX 1138. This is a classic work of science fiction, not fantasy adventure, and is fairly serious throughout. Even the directors-cut expanded CG-updated version is relatively unspoiled and watchable.
Science is a tool of impartial curiosity, not optimism.
Wow, I love that eggcorn site. Thanks!
"I'm delicious!" -Dib
classified intelligence mistake #1
"Basically, our customers are idiots. We're already screwing them over, so this won't make any difference to them. Suckers!"
[insert jaded cynicism here]
SUPPLIES!
I thought the buzz WAS the product.
So you have to buy HL2: Episode 2 to get Portal and Team Fortress 2. Maybe bundling makes sense for retail box copies where it's cheaper than multiple product launches, but why require it for downloads? Couldn't they sell plenty of downloads at $5 or $10 each and let the bundled versions be a discount? You'd think that an alternative distribution channel like Steam would want to provide advantages over retail, rather than stick you with the same thing either way.
Multiplayer is a consistently overlooked use for extra displays. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to drive multiple displays, audio streams (preferably on headphones), and input devices to run a single game with multiple players on one box. Think of it as a mini LAN party in a box.
PCI-e makes multiple displays easier, mutliple channel sound is already common, and USB should be able to support extra keyboards and mice (I think).
All that's lacking is a standard set of multiple I/O protocols and then developer support.
A well engineered game shouldn't even need rewritten netcode to make it work.
The Tetrisphere soundtrack by Neil Voss is awesome stuff. IIRC he did the audio engine for it (the standard N64 libs weren't up to the task), as well as the composition. I'd buy an album of it in a heartbeat.
Here's my best guess:
1) take game for existing Xbox (intel + nvidia)
2) re-target compiler for Xbox2 (powerpc + ati)
3) make new binary available on Xbox2 Live
4) insert original Xbox game disc in Xbox2 and run with new Xbox2-ported binary
5) profit!
This is so much easier than emulation that it's virtually a no brainer.
Sony's PS2 comes in last place for buyers of multi-platform games who have multiple systems. The Gamecube and Xbox "ports" tend to have nicer graphics, quicker loading, and so on.
Sony obviously benefits when a would-be portable title is released only on their system instead of two or all 3. There's also less lost development energy on a single-platform title in general (no porting and cross-platform worries), and it can make a big difference in the quality of PS2 titles (take Gran Turismo 4 or God of War for example).
Even if they aren't permenantly exclusive, just having the initial release on the PS2 is a pretty good bet that the PS2 version will sell the best.
The AAA-title end of the game industry is rapidly approaching a cost/benefit barrier that current development practices will not be able to surmount.
Two facts are primarily responsible:
1 - Reinventing game engine technology from scratch for every title is cost prohibitive and slow.
"In the limit, all graphics rendering technologies tend to approximate ray-tracing [+ radiosity, etc]" -Unknown
2 - Recreating game content (art and code assets) to take advantage of improving technology becomes exponentionally more expensive as we approach the asymptotic limits of "perfect" technical fidelity, and simultaneously offers diminishing payoffs.
"They're selling us the same games year after year, with small incremental content updates" -any sports game fan
Therefore, in the future, game technology needs to scale up/down freely with hardware capability and adapt "finalized" content to an appropriate level through pre/dynamic simplification or procedural/simulated detail increase.
This is taking place to some extent already, with limited reuse and extension of game technology platforms and content in similar games and sequels (Unreal, Doom, Half-Life, etc), but the industry remains short-sighted and fails to address to-the-limit scalability.
Current content and platforms are also overwhemlingly monolithic, and there's no hard limiting technical reason why there cannot be increasing modularity.
Imaging playing a game using Doom's graphics technology, Enemy Territory's gameplay, Unreal's networking & mods, Half-Life's physics system, TeamSpeak's voice technology, and Xfire's buddy-list, or any such combination as you like, on any platform.
Sigh. I hope I'm not too old and disabled to play games when computing technology finally grows up.
so obviously now that it's Open, someone should port it to gcc/SDL/OpenGL.