Those extra graphical effects in Wing Commander were totally worth the headaches of memory configuration.
Even more fun was creating custom boot disks for games that would load modules in a careful order to allow the games to run. I'm looking at you Ultima VII.
The mako controls were awesome. I could make that thing turn on a dime and run circles around those giant serpents. I've never felt more connected to a game vehicle except for the warthogs from Halo. I explored so much of each planet it's just not even funny. I spent literally hours navigating mountain ridges just for the hell of it. It's like they took lunar lander and made it 3d and awesome.
Thank goodness they didn't borrow control schemes from Half-Life 2 eh?
Where do you put Babylon 5 and Avatar the Last Airbender? Two series with definite, planned story arcs and seasons? Avatar was always going to have three seasons, and the story reflects that. Babylon 5 was always going to have 3, 4, or 5 seasons (JMS wrote hooks into the story that would have allowed for abortive wrapups, unfortunately he pulled the line too quick and ended the show with season 4 and it was unexpectedly renewed for a fifth)
My family on both sides has no history of heart disease or cancer (and that's including more than a few from the 'smoked heavily since they were kids in the 40s and 50s' demographic). Average lifespan too, so it's not that they were dying off before diseases could manifest.
I, for one, am throughly sick of the notion that all content on the Internet must be free as a matter of principle.
Things cost money, get over it. I'd rather give Pandora a few seconds of my listening time for ads than pay them a subscription. Although I'd seriously lean towards subscribing if they ever provide the option again.
It's the RSI, my wrists were killing me until I switched. After 2.5 games I got the transition down and now I can't stand playing games with the mouse. It's kind of like the transition from keyboard to keyboard + mouse.
Switching to console (e.g. XBox 360) games will solve the lack of participation problem. The problem then is that there are perhaps too many people. Until you build up a list of cool people to play with you'll be gaming with the dregs.
Pro tip: Carcassone is a great way to meet cool folks.
What about using the nice length 5cm instead of the tricky 1.96850394 inches?
Since when are we typically dividing our measurements by factors of 12? Seriously, what's your use case here?
As for stuff being made to antique measurements: "No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back."
I think we'll somehow survive. I'd say that we're in more danger as work teams globalize more and more. Do you really want your Boeing engineers in Germany, India, China making conversions back and forth to the team in the US?
Oh thank you! I thought I was just a crazy person for loving the combat in Mirror's Edge.
The controls feel intuitive and smooth, melee attacks are really fun to chain together and the disarms are sweet icing. I find it genuinely satisfying to play a character who is badass enough to take down a dozen SWAT officers and be on the edge of death the entire time.
A couple shots and you're down, but a quick martial arts move and they're down. It becomes a game of strategy and planning: run here, turn there to peel the group apart, then dive in and pick them off one by one as the other enemies are trying to figure out what's happening.
It's even optional because in almost all cases (there are some special fights) you can avoid the combat entirely by running. I guess the problem is that for some (most?) gamers the puzzle element of the game (combat avoidance) is overshadowed by the obvious solution (direct combat), even though the game continually directs you to run from combat whenever possible.
My biggest problem with that game is that it has ruined lots of other games for me. Now controlling AltaÃr in Assassin's Creed feels sluggish and clunky. In Left 4 Dead I'm always seeing the lines that could easily propel me past the horde. Even Ryu in Ninja Gaiden, while still a fluid death machine, can't come close to matching Faith's free running movement.
That's strange, the zoom on our set seems tailor made for zooming in widescreen shows presented in 4:3. The only parts cut are station logos and such that extend into the black borders.
Yes, Halo. Yes, a strong plot. Just because a game is on a console doesn't mean that it lacks depth. Remember that this game is coming from the developers of Marathon, one of the richest FPS universes ever created.
The Halo games provide a fantastic lens for focusing on one aspect of the plot. The books provide another. The audio drama provides yet another. Honestly, there is actually quite a bit there. Moving, inspiring, and with tremendous gravitas; Halo presents the story of the supreme soldier and his transformation from that defining occupation to thoughtful hero.
Slashdot Mirror
Remember Jon Katz
Post about hot grits
Make a beowulf cluster joke
Those extra graphical effects in Wing Commander were totally worth the headaches of memory configuration.
Even more fun was creating custom boot disks for games that would load modules in a careful order to allow the games to run. I'm looking at you Ultima VII.
The mako controls were awesome. I could make that thing turn on a dime and run circles around those giant serpents. I've never felt more connected to a game vehicle except for the warthogs from Halo. I explored so much of each planet it's just not even funny. I spent literally hours navigating mountain ridges just for the hell of it. It's like they took lunar lander and made it 3d and awesome.
Thank goodness they didn't borrow control schemes from Half-Life 2 eh?
It is funny, because that was the joke. That script is from when Family Guy went back on the air.
Agreed. The gravitas of the Halo story (and music!) really put it a cut above.
You couldn't understand the story in Halo? Seriously?
Where do you put Babylon 5 and Avatar the Last Airbender? Two series with definite, planned story arcs and seasons? Avatar was always going to have three seasons, and the story reflects that. Babylon 5 was always going to have 3, 4, or 5 seasons (JMS wrote hooks into the story that would have allowed for abortive wrapups, unfortunately he pulled the line too quick and ended the show with season 4 and it was unexpectedly renewed for a fifth)
When was the last time you saw a TV show end without some form of cliff-hanger?
Avatar: The Last Airbender. But then, they actually planned their arc. Before that, Cowboy Bebop. Before that, Firefly. Before that, Babylon 5.
when was the last time you saw a game end without a plug for a sequel?
Fallout 3. Mirror's Edge. Dead Space.
re: Wing Commander
Totally spot on. I remember going from 1 meg to 8 megs of memory *just to get the extra animation effects*. In 1991 that was no small upgrade.
What if it's true?
Why? Is explicit content something dirty or shameful to be hidden away from the eyes of our poor defenseless children?
Jogging in place? You shouldn't need any footwear at all, our feet are kind of designed for that.
My family on both sides has no history of heart disease or cancer (and that's including more than a few from the 'smoked heavily since they were kids in the 40s and 50s' demographic). Average lifespan too, so it's not that they were dying off before diseases could manifest.
Hear hear!
I, for one, am throughly sick of the notion that all content on the Internet must be free as a matter of principle.
Things cost money, get over it. I'd rather give Pandora a few seconds of my listening time for ads than pay them a subscription. Although I'd seriously lean towards subscribing if they ever provide the option again.
It's the RSI, my wrists were killing me until I switched. After 2.5 games I got the transition down and now I can't stand playing games with the mouse. It's kind of like the transition from keyboard to keyboard + mouse.
(But backwards, ha ha ha.)
Switching to console (e.g. XBox 360) games will solve the lack of participation problem. The problem then is that there are perhaps too many people. Until you build up a list of cool people to play with you'll be gaming with the dregs.
Pro tip: Carcassone is a great way to meet cool folks.
What about using the nice length 5cm instead of the tricky 1.96850394 inches?
Since when are we typically dividing our measurements by factors of 12? Seriously, what's your use case here?
As for stuff being made to antique measurements: "No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back."
I think we'll somehow survive. I'd say that we're in more danger as work teams globalize more and more. Do you really want your Boeing engineers in Germany, India, China making conversions back and forth to the team in the US?
Oh thank you! I thought I was just a crazy person for loving the combat in Mirror's Edge.
The controls feel intuitive and smooth, melee attacks are really fun to chain together and the disarms are sweet icing. I find it genuinely satisfying to play a character who is badass enough to take down a dozen SWAT officers and be on the edge of death the entire time.
A couple shots and you're down, but a quick martial arts move and they're down. It becomes a game of strategy and planning: run here, turn there to peel the group apart, then dive in and pick them off one by one as the other enemies are trying to figure out what's happening.
It's even optional because in almost all cases (there are some special fights) you can avoid the combat entirely by running. I guess the problem is that for some (most?) gamers the puzzle element of the game (combat avoidance) is overshadowed by the obvious solution (direct combat), even though the game continually directs you to run from combat whenever possible.
My biggest problem with that game is that it has ruined lots of other games for me. Now controlling AltaÃr in Assassin's Creed feels sluggish and clunky. In Left 4 Dead I'm always seeing the lines that could easily propel me past the horde. Even Ryu in Ninja Gaiden, while still a fluid death machine, can't come close to matching Faith's free running movement.
And four letters are missing in the encryption. Perhaps something is hidden there as well.
A f
B i
C d
D e
E l
F t
G y
H b
I r
J a
K v
L n
M g
N c
O h
P None
Q k
R None
S o
T p
U None
V s
W u
X None
Y w
Z m
Padding line length for comment filter.
Why not just pipe to tr and add on characters in lowercase as you find them?
$ echo "BLAH" | tr '[BLH]' '[trp]'
trAp
$ echo "BLAH" | tr '[BLAH]' '[trip]'
trip
> xyzzy
A hollow voice says "Fool."
That's strange, the zoom on our set seems tailor made for zooming in widescreen shows presented in 4:3. The only parts cut are station logos and such that extend into the black borders.
You would take away homestarrunner.com?
Yes, Halo. Yes, a strong plot. Just because a game is on a console doesn't mean that it lacks depth. Remember that this game is coming from the developers of Marathon, one of the richest FPS universes ever created.
The Halo games provide a fantastic lens for focusing on one aspect of the plot. The books provide another. The audio drama provides yet another. Honestly, there is actually quite a bit there. Moving, inspiring, and with tremendous gravitas; Halo presents the story of the supreme soldier and his transformation from that defining occupation to thoughtful hero.
Not to mention the completely fantastic music.
Worse are the widescreen shows broadcast as 4:3 SD -- then you've got a little widescreen box right in the middle of your bigger widescreen TV.
That's exactly why your HDTV has a "zoom" option.