No Valve employee will ever ask you for your Steam username and password. For fairly obvious reasons.
Hans
Re:My PSP story (since others are sharing)
on
The PSP's Comeback Trail
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I think that folks like you are such a tiny minority that you don't figure into Sony's calculations at all.
What I believe Sony is legitimately afraid of is homebrew capabilities being used to pirate games. Easy homebrew equals easy piracy (unless you design for a sandboxed homebrew from the outset, like Microsoft's XNA Studio). That in turn equals a precipitate drop in game sales, which is where Sony gets a lot of its profit.
Second of all, how you gonna play without any of the content? The engine is noncommercial freeware (not quite open-source), but all the content (sound, textures, missions, etc) is still nonfree. You can't legitimately obtain it off the Web, and the friends/acquaintances clause in the EULA was rescinded later. Abandonware, such as that at the Underdogs site, doesn't count as free, it counts as we-can-get-away-with-it-until-we-get-a-C&D-letter.
I think one can reasonably disagree about that "best games" assertion.
Best for whom? Best for what purpose?
What's best depends on what's wanted. I think most folks just want a non-intellectual diversion to have fun with after a hard day at work. I'd wager your list of best overlooked games all have some intellectual component to appreciating them.
Hell, I'm a hardcore gamer and even I feel that way sometimes. I own Xenosaga and Okami, but neither is my first choice of what to play after work. More like Ace Combat or Burnout.
1. Hunter escort must be killed first. Hunters destroy Magnusson devices before attachment otherwise. 2. Best weapons against hunters are the car (one hit kill by ramming at speed), pulse rifle secondary fire (the energy ball, also a one hit kill, best used at point blank range), and RPG. 3. Stand directly below the strider to get the best chance of attaching Mag ball. 4. Use the car. Running around is too slow. 5. Learn the map. Fail a few times, drive around and get the lay of the land. Then when Magnusson tells you where the striders are coming from you can drive straight there.
There's a difference between "I didn't like XYZ" and "XYZ sucks". The post I replied to stated opinions about BioShock (the former) in the tone of facts about BioShock (the latter). I'm happy to admit that some people may not like BioShock or may have overbought the pre-release hype. That doesn't make it bad, any more than my liking it makes it good.
Whether taking one's negative opinions as facts counts as hating? I'll agree that it can be argued about.
I have SS2 working on Windows XP. Run it in Windows 2000 compatibility mode. Also, it's been a while since I tweaked it, but IIRC it also involved setting the processor affinity on the executable.
I won't have an opportunity this weekend, but come Monday evening I'll be happy to check it out and post my findings here, if they're wanted.
I've played through BioShock four and a half times now. It'd be five, but first I've got to finish Halo 3 on Legendary. Which will happen right after I finish The Orange Box twice, the second time with developer commentary on. Oh what wonderful problems to be having!
Meanwhile, you go right on hating. Whatever keeps you warm at night.
Dying in BioShock results not in a reload but a re-spawn. You get half your HP back and a minimum amount of MP, and you get to keep your inventory/weapons. And you get respawned at the nearest revival booth, which could be some distance from the fight you were in.
This solves both the two-tough-guys-out-of-ten problem and quick-save hell. And it's way more immersive.
It's not a completely free ride though. There are disadvantages, they're just different from the normal checkpoint/quicksave/save-anywhere methods. For instance, while you get to keep your weapons, you don't get any more ammo for them; if you were low on ammo when killed, you still are. Also, damaged enemies can use the time it takes you to get back to the battle area to find a med station and heal themselves.
Patently untrue. Updates have not stopped, they have continued on a quarterly schedule. They have gotten smaller (something that naturally happens as you run out of low-hanging fruit), but not to zero. There were a handful of new titles added in the summer update, including (IIRC) Panzer Dragoon Orta.
Your crticism would apply equally well to any amateur/unpaid filmmaking project. You could say that the only thing sadder than watching a video of someone pretending to be a hero/villain/victim is the group of people doing the pretending.
Do you really want to call sad the makers of Hardware Wars, Recorded Live, Porklips Now, Troops, Duality, The Killer Bean 2: The Party, and 405: The Movie?
While it's nice to know what's kosher and what isn't, the Microsoft license forbids two common practices - one that is common for writers just getting their feet wet, and another that keeps the costs low enough for hobbyists and amateurs to dabble.
The first practice I'm referring to is fan fiction; a writer makes "baby steps" by writing sequels or prequels or side-stories or alternate endings, etc. that use the existing fictional world as a base.
The second is the use of sound and music from the original work. The machinima author, to comply with this license, has to produce new sound effects for everything in the film, new ambient noise, and new music. And has to synchronize those sounds with the action while also adjusting sound placement in the environment, something that games do for you automatically, just as they do the animation of characters and 3D rendering and physics.
I'm not saying that Microsoft is wrong to put these restrictions in the default machinima license for its properties; for the sound case in particular there are license considerations that make it understandable. But it will have a chilling effect.
Consider all the machinima out there that would never have happened had this license been in place six years ago. There would have been no Red vs. Blue (violates both rules), no Fire Team Charlie (violates sound rule), and so on.
I like to make machinima "arrangements" of games with good stories; I am in the process of making one of Shadow of the Colossus. After that's finished, I'd wanted to make one of either BioShock or Halo. This license certainly kills that idea (violates sound rule). Or if I do make it, I'll be the only one that can watch it.
Not only that, this means all walkthrough and speedrun videos will have to lack game sound, and it also leads to the slightly ludicrous situation that Halo 3 players can record gameplay and share it, but cannot save it in video form for posterity.
Most Libertarians would dispute any characterization of their party as far-right, after first disputing that political views can be seen as along only a single dimension.
Instead they would characterize themselves as in favor of both extreme economic freedom (a view usually associated with the far right) and extreme social/personal freedom (a view usually associated with the far left).
Re:One month from release and still not done
on
Halo 3 Almost Done
·
· Score: 1
My theory may indeed be crap, but if so I'm not the only one holding it, all warm, steaming and fragrant. This article at TeamXbox supports it and goes further.
What I think is difficult to deny is that moving the release date earlier can only be a business decision, not a technical one. Can you imagine any development team saying, "Oh yeah, we'll be done six weeks earlier than we said, you should move up the release date accordingly. Our product will be so much better if we have less time to polish it."
This is not to say Halo 3 won't be a good, nay an excellent game; I'll certainly be playing it, if only to experience the story's denouement. But it won't be quite as good as it could be.
>I know it did to the majority of Bungie's fanbase.
What, both of them?
I keed, I keed.
Seriously though: I like Bungie's stuff and Marathon is a favorite, but Halo delivers the same kind of complex and nuanced storyline in a shinier and better-playing package. Yeah, it's not the Mac-only Halo RTS or MMO that some anticipated, but it's an enjoyable game.
You're quite welcome to your stomach-souring Microsoft-hating bile. I for one am having too much fun with games for various platforms to spend my time a-hatin' their manufacturers.
---- Hans
One month from release and still not done
on
Halo 3 Almost Done
·
· Score: 1
This only reinforces my theory that the release date for Halo 3 was moved up from November to September for marketing reasons (to avoid being too near the (original) GTA4 release date), and that decision does violence to the final product quality.
They've still got gameplay issues, for chrissakes!
I suppose the real question here is whether publishers that currently offer free demos will, on seeing the nonfree ones, suffer an attack of shortsighted greed outweighing their business judgement. Should that happen, the number of free demos available through Xbox Live will rapidly dwindle to nothing.
Ah...a hardcore sim player. I suppose anything that lacks complicated spacecraft management (shields/engine/weapons/beam balancing anyone?) or that has less-than-nigh-impossible missions would be "little more than a rail shooter."
Your dis would have to apply also to Terminal Velocity, Fury3, Hellbender, Colony Wars, Rogue Squadron, and Wing Commander. I'd imagine that in the flight sim arena, you'd consider the Ace Combat series an abomination. Or am I wrong?
I once thought as I suspect you do... then I played a couple of the simplified games, discovered how much fun they were, and how much the hardcore sims were like work, and removed the stick from up my butt.
Slashdot Mirror
No Valve employee will ever ask you for your Steam username and password. For fairly obvious reasons.
Hans
I think that folks like you are such a tiny minority that you don't figure into Sony's calculations at all.
What I believe Sony is legitimately afraid of is homebrew capabilities being used to pirate games. Easy homebrew equals easy piracy (unless you design for a sandboxed homebrew from the outset, like Microsoft's XNA Studio). That in turn equals a precipitate drop in game sales, which is where Sony gets a lot of its profit.
Hans
No.
First of all, it ain't Flash.
Second of all, how you gonna play without any of the content? The engine is noncommercial freeware (not quite open-source), but all the content (sound, textures, missions, etc) is still nonfree. You can't legitimately obtain it off the Web, and the friends/acquaintances clause in the EULA was rescinded later. Abandonware, such as that at the Underdogs site, doesn't count as free, it counts as we-can-get-away-with-it-until-we-get-a-C&D-letter.
Here's a forum discussion on the Hardlight Productions website that lays it all out.
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,49459.0.html
Hans
Good enough to be made into a commercial game on many platforms, but the original Flash game can still be had at NewGrounds.com.
Hans
I think one can reasonably disagree about that "best games" assertion.
Best for whom? Best for what purpose?
What's best depends on what's wanted. I think most folks just want a non-intellectual diversion to have fun with after a hard day at work. I'd wager your list of best overlooked games all have some intellectual component to appreciating them.
Hell, I'm a hardcore gamer and even I feel that way sometimes. I own Xenosaga and Okami, but neither is my first choice of what to play after work. More like Ace Combat or Burnout.
Hans
SPOILERS:
1. Hunter escort must be killed first. Hunters destroy Magnusson devices before attachment otherwise.
2. Best weapons against hunters are the car (one hit kill by ramming at speed), pulse rifle secondary fire (the energy ball, also a one hit kill, best used at point blank range), and RPG.
3. Stand directly below the strider to get the best chance of attaching Mag ball.
4. Use the car. Running around is too slow.
5. Learn the map. Fail a few times, drive around and get the lay of the land. Then when Magnusson tells you where the striders are coming from you can drive straight there.
END SPOILERS.
Hans
I'm sorry to hear that. I've had pretty good fortune getting old games to run on XP. Wish it could be so for everyone.
Hans
P.S. If you hate the word "hating" so much, try substituting "spewing bile" for it in my post:
Meanwhile, you go right on spewing bile. Whatever keeps you warm at night.
Better?
Hans
There's a difference between "I didn't like XYZ" and "XYZ sucks". The post I replied to stated opinions about BioShock (the former) in the tone of facts about BioShock (the latter). I'm happy to admit that some people may not like BioShock or may have overbought the pre-release hype. That doesn't make it bad, any more than my liking it makes it good.
Whether taking one's negative opinions as facts counts as hating? I'll agree that it can be argued about.
Hans
I have SS2 working on Windows XP. Run it in Windows 2000 compatibility mode. Also, it's been a while since I tweaked it, but IIRC it also involved setting the processor affinity on the executable.
I won't have an opportunity this weekend, but come Monday evening I'll be happy to check it out and post my findings here, if they're wanted.
Hans
Awesomeness is in the eye of the beholder.
I've played through BioShock four and a half times now. It'd be five, but first I've got to finish Halo 3 on Legendary. Which will happen right after I finish The Orange Box twice, the second time with developer commentary on. Oh what wonderful problems to be having!
Meanwhile, you go right on hating. Whatever keeps you warm at night.
Hans
BioShock FTW!
Dying in BioShock results not in a reload but a re-spawn. You get half your HP back and a minimum amount of MP, and you get to keep your inventory/weapons. And you get respawned at the nearest revival booth, which could be some distance from the fight you were in.
This solves both the two-tough-guys-out-of-ten problem and quick-save hell. And it's way more immersive.
It's not a completely free ride though. There are disadvantages, they're just different from the normal checkpoint/quicksave/save-anywhere methods. For instance, while you get to keep your weapons, you don't get any more ammo for them; if you were low on ammo when killed, you still are. Also, damaged enemies can use the time it takes you to get back to the battle area to find a med station and heal themselves.
Hans
Correction: Silent Hill in a film wasn't scary at all.
Hans
Patently untrue. Updates have not stopped, they have continued on a quarterly schedule. They have gotten smaller (something that naturally happens as you run out of low-hanging fruit), but not to zero. There were a handful of new titles added in the summer update, including (IIRC) Panzer Dragoon Orta.
Hans
Whoosh!
That's the sound of the gp's point riding a Banshee over your head.
Your crticism would apply equally well to any amateur/unpaid filmmaking project. You could say that the only thing sadder than watching a video of someone pretending to be a hero/villain/victim is the group of people doing the pretending.
Do you really want to call sad the makers of Hardware Wars, Recorded Live, Porklips Now, Troops, Duality, The Killer Bean 2: The Party, and 405: The Movie?
Hans
While it's nice to know what's kosher and what isn't, the Microsoft license forbids two common practices - one that is common for writers just getting their feet wet, and another that keeps the costs low enough for hobbyists and amateurs to dabble.
The first practice I'm referring to is fan fiction; a writer makes "baby steps" by writing sequels or prequels or side-stories or alternate endings, etc. that use the existing fictional world as a base.
The second is the use of sound and music from the original work. The machinima author, to comply with this license, has to produce new sound effects for everything in the film, new ambient noise, and new music. And has to synchronize those sounds with the action while also adjusting sound placement in the environment, something that games do for you automatically, just as they do the animation of characters and 3D rendering and physics.
I'm not saying that Microsoft is wrong to put these restrictions in the default machinima license for its properties; for the sound case in particular there are license considerations that make it understandable. But it will have a chilling effect.
Consider all the machinima out there that would never have happened had this license been in place six years ago. There would have been no Red vs. Blue (violates both rules), no Fire Team Charlie (violates sound rule), and so on.
I like to make machinima "arrangements" of games with good stories; I am in the process of making one of Shadow of the Colossus. After that's finished, I'd wanted to make one of either BioShock or Halo. This license certainly kills that idea (violates sound rule). Or if I do make it, I'll be the only one that can watch it.
Not only that, this means all walkthrough and speedrun videos will have to lack game sound, and it also leads to the slightly ludicrous situation that Halo 3 players can record gameplay and share it, but cannot save it in video form for posterity.
Hans
Most Libertarians would dispute any characterization of their party as far-right, after first disputing that political views can be seen as along only a single dimension.
Instead they would characterize themselves as in favor of both extreme economic freedom (a view usually associated with the far right) and extreme social/personal freedom (a view usually associated with the far left).
Hans
Ms Fnd in a Lbry by Hal Draper.
Notched quanta, it was.
Hans
My theory may indeed be crap, but if so I'm not the only one holding it, all warm, steaming and fragrant. This article at TeamXbox supports it and goes further.
What I think is difficult to deny is that moving the release date earlier can only be a business decision, not a technical one. Can you imagine any development team saying, "Oh yeah, we'll be done six weeks earlier than we said, you should move up the release date accordingly. Our product will be so much better if we have less time to polish it."
This is not to say Halo 3 won't be a good, nay an excellent game; I'll certainly be playing it, if only to experience the story's denouement. But it won't be quite as good as it could be.
Hans>I know it did to the majority of Bungie's fanbase.
What, both of them?
I keed, I keed.
Seriously though: I like Bungie's stuff and Marathon is a favorite, but Halo delivers the same kind of complex and nuanced storyline in a shinier and better-playing package. Yeah, it's not the Mac-only Halo RTS or MMO that some anticipated, but it's an enjoyable game.
You're quite welcome to your stomach-souring Microsoft-hating bile. I for one am having too much fun with games for various platforms to spend my time a-hatin' their manufacturers.
----
Hans
This only reinforces my theory that the release date for Halo 3 was moved up from November to September for marketing reasons (to avoid being too near the (original) GTA4 release date), and that decision does violence to the final product quality.
They've still got gameplay issues, for chrissakes!
Hans
I suppose the real question here is whether publishers that currently offer free demos will, on seeing the nonfree ones, suffer an attack of shortsighted greed outweighing their business judgement. Should that happen, the number of free demos available through Xbox Live will rapidly dwindle to nothing.
And I'll be buying fewer games.
Ah...a hardcore sim player. I suppose anything that lacks complicated spacecraft management (shields/engine/weapons/beam balancing anyone?) or that has less-than-nigh-impossible missions would be "little more than a rail shooter."
Your dis would have to apply also to Terminal Velocity, Fury3, Hellbender, Colony Wars, Rogue Squadron, and Wing Commander. I'd imagine that in the flight sim arena, you'd consider the Ace Combat series an abomination. Or am I wrong?
I once thought as I suspect you do... then I played a couple of the simplified games, discovered how much fun they were, and how much the hardcore sims were like work, and removed the stick from up my butt.
Because it isn't a space shooter. It's really a space fighter sim like Star Wars: Starfighter or Colony Wars or Star Wars: X-Wing.