If someone had told me when I picked up BG1 that I would end up working for said company, I would never have believed it. But it's certainly an action I don't regret, and it was a hoot meeting you and the others from the NWN community.
But I should have totally slapped Georg with the trout when I was up there, it would have been a once in a lifetime experience - especially since he probably would have fired me afterwards!;)
> You did not cost the game's author money. The game's author did not pay to produce the copy you downloaded.
I don't know what world you're from, but the game's developer(s) did pay to create the game. By way of several years of their life, late nights, their health, endangering marriages, risky game design, obnoxious publishers, loud and vocal audience - quite a lot when you think about it.
Point is though, it's done under the premise that the x hours of entertainment they provide for their game, you give money in exchange. It doesn't matter that if copying was impossible, you would not have otherwise gotten the game because you can't afford it. By pirating, you've denied them the monetary compensation, but still got to experience the game.
Because you'd have to a) double the animation data which adds up the memory usage, b) add a LeftHanded field to the character file, c) add a "Left Handed" checkbox option on character creation (and modifying the GUI is difficult), and d) probably have to modify the inventory GUI as well because someone will complain about being confused by the hand slots or at least have it notice which one is the PC's favoured hand.
As any sort of benefit gained is handled by say, a simple +1 attack bonus feat or something, they're right in saying that all that work for what amounts to essentially a cosmetic look that has no bearing on the game itself is "too much work for not much in return."
It's still very much alive, and a lot of digital distribution stuff is being planned by Bioware to continue to support it. The reason you don't hear as much is because, well, we're all too busy playing the game or making stuff.
You could say that about all MMORPGs. Which is why I'm sticking with NWN because it's not just about being a munchkin, there's more than just leveling up and getting loot.
Then again, I've been spending more time creating for NWN than I have playing it.
It's not a lie, Bioware was most likely pressured by their publisher to release the game early, at the expensive of the Linux and Mac clients and toolset. Don't believe me? Consider the toolset and custom content - I've been doing some NWN modeling and the system is horrid for introducing new objects, hardly a proper setup you'd expect for a game based around letting the community add to it. Talked to some people who talk to Bioware and even they stated themselves that it was released before it was ready.
I use mplayer, there's some info on the community forums about compiling it and switching to interlaced mode and such.
As for slowness, I converted the anime videos I downloaded to 320x240 mpegs and that seems to work best since AFAIK it's still handled all through software (no hardware acceleration through the vector units yet). A bit grainy, but tolerable on the TV.
And slouching on the couch looking at a 32" tv sure beats sitting on a computer chair looking at a 19" monitor! =)
Read the NWN forums, it's the nwn.ini file with it's aliased directories for where the data files are, which are of course, pointing to DOS/Windows paths and screws up under Linux.
The only ini file you need in the directory is possibly the nwnplayer.ini for server settings (rules, local/server vault, autosave duration, etc.), but you can remove the other sections (Game options, key bindings) which are obviously only used in the client.
[disclaimer] I'm a Maya user, and don't follow in Softimage's tracks very well (as in at all), so my info might be incorrect...
Softimage is a 3D modelling/animation package like Alias|Wavefront's Maya or Discreet's 3D Studio Max. It's used in quite a number of movies for special effects and the like. A couple functions out of a 3rd party software is a miniscule amount of functionality compared to all the other features - I mean, it's not Notepad here, we're talking of software that handles modelling, textures, animation, and rendering. And given the name of the 3rd party package, it would probably only assisted in the animation portion.
Oh yeah, and Softimage runs on Unix (SGI Irix) and NT.
You can probably see where this is going: Hollywood movie production + Softimage + NT = free advertising for Microsoft, in addition to extending their monopoly. Similar to what they're doing with games and the X-Box, buy the company and get them to produce for target platform.
The news of MS selling Softimage is news to me (like I said, I don't follow it that well), but I guess the decision was poorly thought out in the first place, since chances are MS really wanted Softimage to be NT only, but the cost of maintaining Softimage didn't balance well to benefiting Microsoft. Not to mention Maya and 3D Studio Max has been chipping away at what was Softimage's domination in the 3D area.
Hey, as Spider-Man 2099 said, the genetic change could have been more accurate like a real spider and he could have been shooting webbing out of his butt instead. =)
I once dreamt I got lag... jumping around in some dream world, then all of a sudden everything freezes - and in the corner of my vision I see this red line on the net graph.
I wonder, even though it's supposed to be a random survey, should there be allowances given for said parked/cybersquatted domains to not factor as much into the percentages? Or another page listing the compared results.
I mean, most of them would have some sort of template along the lines of "This domain at www.suchandsuch.com is currently Under Construction! / Available for Sale!". Wouldn't be hard to figure out some sort of % similar to another page rating (i.e. diff them and see how many lines are different).
Granted, it does mean you have to download the page (frames and popups would be annoying though) and waste some CPU cycles comparing the differences, but it would be interesting seeing how many websites of said survey are, say, 95% or higher similar to each other.
That's the thing, people would notice the zone of the goo, but if they are still stupid enough to attempt to cross it even knowing what the goo does, it's their own damn fault if they get hurt. At least on the riot control's side, they're not hitting people with the batons or pepper sprays, etc., which could lead to lawsuits of excessive/unnecessary force.
Not just RPG's but most games I find... linear, short, not a lot of replay value, a lot of repetition (read: spending hours leveling up just to pass such and such a monster/boss). Your standard run here, push button, exit to the next level.
I wouldn't mind some non-linear games, like how in StarControl 2 (still my fav game of all time) you can accomplish certain tasks out of order (ever get the Chmmr Avatar near the beginning of the game? Makes battles REALLY easy =). Not to mention the dialog! Shame SC3 turned out to be such a let-down, you did find out more about the universe, but it lacked that entertainment spark.
Slight correction, C&C came before WarCraft 1 - in fact, if I recall, Blizzard licensed the engine from Westwood.
But I agree, TA was very strategy oriented, since you had to worry more about resource management since it's very hard to starve an opponent. After all, real mines would last for years.
And lo and behold, base defenses actually worked! With a couple Guardians and Missile Turrets, I could hold off a choke point for ages. Having persistant "corpses" and having them affect terrain helps since the more kbots the enemy sent meant the more obstacles were in his way as they died to my defenses, plus I could always reclaim the metal and use it to launch a counterattack.
Are you nuts? I'd take the AK over the Colt in CS any day - the AK has an incredibly accurate first shot snap shotting effect, and rips through players like melted butter. The Colt has a faster RoF and silencer, but it's not as powerful, especially at long range. Plus the high recoil of the AK can be good, you can let the recoil aim up for you and get a headshot.
Plus there's the cost factor. Colt is like $3100, while the AK is $2500. The AK is like the poor man's sniper rifle.
But personally I'm an Aug person for CS, more power per shot than the Colt, snap shots like the AK, and zoom. =)
...won't work. At least for FPS games. I keep seeing people post about that and all the game-states being held on the server... but you can't have that in a first-person shooter, because it's already like that in a way!
As long as there's a client that sends input to the server, you're going to have aimbots. Due to how 3D FPS games are designed and that most people use the keyboard+mouse setup, you're going to have different sensitivity settings for turning rates, depending on everyone's playing style. Which means if the server gets some packets from the client that he was pointing at 0 degrees, then 180, fires a shot, then back to 0, there's no way the server can tell if it's an aimbot or just a player with a high sensitivity setting. And it would be bad to limit the turning rate, because everyone plays differently. Hell, my HalfLife config has a button that toggles between a low and high setting depending on the situation needed (i.e. low for sniping).
Well, actually if the server receives a packet of 0, 180, 0, it probably IS an aimbot since most of the time you'd have some packets between the two directions. But aimbots nowadays restrict their cone of fire to like a 30 degree cone in front, or vary the angle so it's never exactly on the other player, or can insert a couple "tweened" packets so there's no instant lock-on. Or act like an autoshooter (0 degree cone) so all you have to do is pass your crosshair over the other player and it'll fire for you.
There's not much you can do against aimbots, other than introduce an element of randomness in the weapon path so the aimbot can't compensate for that (like Counterstrike, the more you move or fire, the more inaccurate the weapon becomes from recoil and all that). Encrypting the data will only work til the encryption scheme is broken.
It's a bit easier for wallhacking, in that with the current setup, you send other player locations before the player sees them, to let the prediction can handle it (i.e. if player A continues to move on this vector, then he'll show up on the player's screen in X seconds). Just have better server code to handle where the players are and what they can and cannot see (so even wallhacking, you might get advanced notice of the other guy 1 second ahead, but not 5). Or hell, just go back to software rendering! =)
Hacked models and skins, modifying them so they're easier to spot (i.e. skins where the head is white for seeing in shadows, or spikes sticking out) is somewhat easy, just lock the models so they can't be modified.
Systems like Punkbuster are good in that it'll get rid of at least the majority of players who simply download the cheat from some website, but to a determined cheater, he's going to use something which PB does not check for, and continue to cheat. Having a pay for an account system could work, unlike, say, HalfLife's WONid system, until you pay, the account and ID does not exist, which limits the cheaters who rely on anonymity or cdkey generators. But that also filters out the legit people who can't afford $ for the ID. But passwords can be hacked, unless you also have an option for those with static IPs (or known IP ranges) for some extra security. And of course, if caught cheating, id is banned, and you'll have to pay for a new one.
sigh... if only we can get rid of all the lamers who have to resort to cheating or ruining other players' fun to get their entertainment. I think the PB people have the right idea in that, cheaters have to be held accountable for their actions.
Not to mention I have yet to see a Flash page with a static image - they're always animating with a rotating logo or some other action. Boom there goes all your bandwidth for that remote X connection.
Then you factor in the fact Flash renders the animations in realtime, add in that constant animation with transitions/fades and there goes all your CPU power.
There doesn't appear to be any concept of idle time - it's development is similar to Director which I've worked on for 3 years, and in order to pull off a "Press here to continue" with an animation, you have to loop it. Ick.
But then again what do you expect from a product from a company originally developing on the Mac?
I have a tendancy to consider the x86 line to be similar to a bike as an analogy.
What would you have: a bike with training wheels to a bike without, to one with 6 gears, 12, 18, a motor, a motorcycle, a bike with afterburners, and finally now a bike with warp engines. It does get faster, yes, but it's *still* a bike.
Or you can get a car. =)
Personally I'd rather have the VF-17 "Nightmare", a stealth Valkyrie from Macross 7. =)
But "cheese" is a understatement for Gundams, they are major "munchkin" mecha (if you don't know the term "munchkin" look up rolerplayer types). It's always the same, the one Gundam can take out a whole armada with one shot from your Standard Big Ass Gun. That's why I usually avoid Gundam stuff, the outcome is always too obvious - where's the excitement when you always know the Gundam is going to win? Compare that with the 2 major fight scenes in Macross Plus between Isamu and Guld.
Slashdot Mirror
If someone had told me when I picked up BG1 that I would end up working for said company, I would never have believed it. But it's certainly an action I don't regret, and it was a hoot meeting you and the others from the NWN community.
But I should have totally slapped Georg with the trout when I was up there, it would have been a once in a lifetime experience - especially since he probably would have fired me afterwards! ;)
> You did not cost the game's author money. The game's author did not pay to produce the copy you downloaded.
I don't know what world you're from, but the game's developer(s) did pay to create the game. By way of several years of their life, late nights, their health, endangering marriages, risky game design, obnoxious publishers, loud and vocal audience - quite a lot when you think about it.
Point is though, it's done under the premise that the x hours of entertainment they provide for their game, you give money in exchange. It doesn't matter that if copying was impossible, you would not have otherwise gotten the game because you can't afford it. By pirating, you've denied them the monetary compensation, but still got to experience the game.
You know you should be exempt from this! ;)
Meanwhile Sony cancels Bomberman Kart for North American release (Even includes a Super Bomberman port).
Because you'd have to a) double the animation data which adds up the memory usage, b) add a LeftHanded field to the character file, c) add a "Left Handed" checkbox option on character creation (and modifying the GUI is difficult), and d) probably have to modify the inventory GUI as well because someone will complain about being confused by the hand slots or at least have it notice which one is the PC's favoured hand.
As any sort of benefit gained is handled by say, a simple +1 attack bonus feat or something, they're right in saying that all that work for what amounts to essentially a cosmetic look that has no bearing on the game itself is "too much work for not much in return."
It's still very much alive, and a lot of digital distribution stuff is being planned by Bioware to continue to support it. The reason you don't hear as much is because, well, we're all too busy playing the game or making stuff.
Then again, I've been spending more time creating for NWN than I have playing it.
It's not a lie, Bioware was most likely pressured by their publisher to release the game early, at the expensive of the Linux and Mac clients and toolset. Don't believe me? Consider the toolset and custom content - I've been doing some NWN modeling and the system is horrid for introducing new objects, hardly a proper setup you'd expect for a game based around letting the community add to it. Talked to some people who talk to Bioware and even they stated themselves that it was released before it was ready.
I use mplayer, there's some info on the community forums about compiling it and switching to interlaced mode and such.
As for slowness, I converted the anime videos I downloaded to 320x240 mpegs and that seems to work best since AFAIK it's still handled all through software (no hardware acceleration through the vector units yet). A bit grainy, but tolerable on the TV.
And slouching on the couch looking at a 32" tv sure beats sitting on a computer chair looking at a 19" monitor! =)
Read the NWN forums, it's the nwn.ini file with it's aliased directories for where the data files are, which are of course, pointing to DOS/Windows paths and screws up under Linux.
The only ini file you need in the directory is possibly the nwnplayer.ini for server settings (rules, local/server vault, autosave duration, etc.), but you can remove the other sections (Game options, key bindings) which are obviously only used in the client.
[disclaimer] I'm a Maya user, and don't follow in Softimage's tracks very well (as in at all), so my info might be incorrect...
Softimage is a 3D modelling/animation package like Alias|Wavefront's Maya or Discreet's 3D Studio Max. It's used in quite a number of movies for special effects and the like. A couple functions out of a 3rd party software is a miniscule amount of functionality compared to all the other features - I mean, it's not Notepad here, we're talking of software that handles modelling, textures, animation, and rendering. And given the name of the 3rd party package, it would probably only assisted in the animation portion.
Oh yeah, and Softimage runs on Unix (SGI Irix) and NT.
You can probably see where this is going: Hollywood movie production + Softimage + NT = free advertising for Microsoft, in addition to extending their monopoly. Similar to what they're doing with games and the X-Box, buy the company and get them to produce for target platform.
The news of MS selling Softimage is news to me (like I said, I don't follow it that well), but I guess the decision was poorly thought out in the first place, since chances are MS really wanted Softimage to be NT only, but the cost of maintaining Softimage didn't balance well to benefiting Microsoft. Not to mention Maya and 3D Studio Max has been chipping away at what was Softimage's domination in the 3D area.
Me, I'll stick with Maya. =)
Hey, as Spider-Man 2099 said, the genetic change could have been more accurate like a real spider and he could have been shooting webbing out of his butt instead. =)
I once dreamt I got lag ... jumping around in some dream world, then all of a sudden everything freezes - and in the corner of my vision I see this red line on the net graph.
Too much CounterStrike! =)
I wonder, even though it's supposed to be a random survey, should there be allowances given for said parked/cybersquatted domains to not factor as much into the percentages? Or another page listing the compared results.
I mean, most of them would have some sort of template along the lines of "This domain at www.suchandsuch.com is currently Under Construction! / Available for Sale!". Wouldn't be hard to figure out some sort of % similar to another page rating (i.e. diff them and see how many lines are different).
Granted, it does mean you have to download the page (frames and popups would be annoying though) and waste some CPU cycles comparing the differences, but it would be interesting seeing how many websites of said survey are, say, 95% or higher similar to each other.
That's the thing, people would notice the zone of the goo, but if they are still stupid enough to attempt to cross it even knowing what the goo does, it's their own damn fault if they get hurt. At least on the riot control's side, they're not hitting people with the batons or pepper sprays, etc., which could lead to lawsuits of excessive/unnecessary force.
I dunno, I have a feeling a monkey would have more skill using the computer compared to SOME humans around here. =)
Not just RPG's but most games I find... linear, short, not a lot of replay value, a lot of repetition (read: spending hours leveling up just to pass such and such a monster/boss). Your standard run here, push button, exit to the next level.
I wouldn't mind some non-linear games, like how in StarControl 2 (still my fav game of all time) you can accomplish certain tasks out of order (ever get the Chmmr Avatar near the beginning of the game? Makes battles REALLY easy =). Not to mention the dialog! Shame SC3 turned out to be such a let-down, you did find out more about the universe, but it lacked that entertainment spark.
Not really, the INPUT QUEUE jams you from further interacting with the machine, but all background tasks still continue to run.
Slight correction, C&C came before WarCraft 1 - in fact, if I recall, Blizzard licensed the engine from Westwood.
But I agree, TA was very strategy oriented, since you had to worry more about resource management since it's very hard to starve an opponent. After all, real mines would last for years.
And lo and behold, base defenses actually worked! With a couple Guardians and Missile Turrets, I could hold off a choke point for ages. Having persistant "corpses" and having them affect terrain helps since the more kbots the enemy sent meant the more obstacles were in his way as they died to my defenses, plus I could always reclaim the metal and use it to launch a counterattack.
Are you nuts? I'd take the AK over the Colt in CS any day - the AK has an incredibly accurate first shot snap shotting effect, and rips through players like melted butter. The Colt has a faster RoF and silencer, but it's not as powerful, especially at long range. Plus the high recoil of the AK can be good, you can let the recoil aim up for you and get a headshot.
Plus there's the cost factor. Colt is like $3100, while the AK is $2500. The AK is like the poor man's sniper rifle.
But personally I'm an Aug person for CS, more power per shot than the Colt, snap shots like the AK, and zoom. =)
As long as there's a client that sends input to the server, you're going to have aimbots. Due to how 3D FPS games are designed and that most people use the keyboard+mouse setup, you're going to have different sensitivity settings for turning rates, depending on everyone's playing style. Which means if the server gets some packets from the client that he was pointing at 0 degrees, then 180, fires a shot, then back to 0, there's no way the server can tell if it's an aimbot or just a player with a high sensitivity setting. And it would be bad to limit the turning rate, because everyone plays differently. Hell, my HalfLife config has a button that toggles between a low and high setting depending on the situation needed (i.e. low for sniping).
Well, actually if the server receives a packet of 0, 180, 0, it probably IS an aimbot since most of the time you'd have some packets between the two directions. But aimbots nowadays restrict their cone of fire to like a 30 degree cone in front, or vary the angle so it's never exactly on the other player, or can insert a couple "tweened" packets so there's no instant lock-on. Or act like an autoshooter (0 degree cone) so all you have to do is pass your crosshair over the other player and it'll fire for you.
There's not much you can do against aimbots, other than introduce an element of randomness in the weapon path so the aimbot can't compensate for that (like Counterstrike, the more you move or fire, the more inaccurate the weapon becomes from recoil and all that). Encrypting the data will only work til the encryption scheme is broken.
It's a bit easier for wallhacking, in that with the current setup, you send other player locations before the player sees them, to let the prediction can handle it (i.e. if player A continues to move on this vector, then he'll show up on the player's screen in X seconds). Just have better server code to handle where the players are and what they can and cannot see (so even wallhacking, you might get advanced notice of the other guy 1 second ahead, but not 5). Or hell, just go back to software rendering! =)
Hacked models and skins, modifying them so they're easier to spot (i.e. skins where the head is white for seeing in shadows, or spikes sticking out) is somewhat easy, just lock the models so they can't be modified.
Systems like Punkbuster are good in that it'll get rid of at least the majority of players who simply download the cheat from some website, but to a determined cheater, he's going to use something which PB does not check for, and continue to cheat. Having a pay for an account system could work, unlike, say, HalfLife's WONid system, until you pay, the account and ID does not exist, which limits the cheaters who rely on anonymity or cdkey generators. But that also filters out the legit people who can't afford $ for the ID. But passwords can be hacked, unless you also have an option for those with static IPs (or known IP ranges) for some extra security. And of course, if caught cheating, id is banned, and you'll have to pay for a new one.
sigh... if only we can get rid of all the lamers who have to resort to cheating or ruining other players' fun to get their entertainment. I think the PB people have the right idea in that, cheaters have to be held accountable for their actions.
...Entrepreneur from Stardock.
For business strategy students, you might want to try out a game more like what course they're in, instead of a general RTS like StarCraft.
StarDock also has a demo of their sequel for Entrepreneur called The Corporate Machine.
Not to mention I have yet to see a Flash page with a static image - they're always animating with a rotating logo or some other action. Boom there goes all your bandwidth for that remote X connection.
Then you factor in the fact Flash renders the animations in realtime, add in that constant animation with transitions/fades and there goes all your CPU power.
There doesn't appear to be any concept of idle time - it's development is similar to Director which I've worked on for 3 years, and in order to pull off a "Press here to continue" with an animation, you have to loop it. Ick.
But then again what do you expect from a product from a company originally developing on the Mac?
I have a tendancy to consider the x86 line to be similar to a bike as an analogy. What would you have: a bike with training wheels to a bike without, to one with 6 gears, 12, 18, a motor, a motorcycle, a bike with afterburners, and finally now a bike with warp engines. It does get faster, yes, but it's *still* a bike. Or you can get a car. =)
Personally I'd rather have the VF-17 "Nightmare", a stealth Valkyrie from Macross 7. =) But "cheese" is a understatement for Gundams, they are major "munchkin" mecha (if you don't know the term "munchkin" look up rolerplayer types). It's always the same, the one Gundam can take out a whole armada with one shot from your Standard Big Ass Gun. That's why I usually avoid Gundam stuff, the outcome is always too obvious - where's the excitement when you always know the Gundam is going to win? Compare that with the 2 major fight scenes in Macross Plus between Isamu and Guld.