Bioware also removed the copy-protection from the Windows version of Neverwinter Nights, around 1.29, I think. It caused more trouble than good, I guess.
The authow mentions Shadowrun, too. That's about the only one I'd be interested in. Star Trek could potentially be as messed up as SWG. I dunno about a spygame - doesn't Bond work alone most of the time?
Some people actually don't want twitch-games. MMORPGs do sometimes require people-skills, too, if you want to team up with other players. You just don't need the same reflexes as Quake.
The FPS and MMORPG genres are different. If you don't like one, don't play it. There have been attempts at crossover games, but they were never that popular.
(There's an FPS-MMORPG which has twitch-gaming with added hacking skills or somesuch - and most people think it's crap)
EVE Online has that. Skill training happens in linear time. It doesn't matter whether you're online or offline; your character spends ALL its time reading through technical manuals and such, and you flying around trading/killing doesn't affect this in any way (unless you get blown to bits and die - send in the clones!).
Been there, done that, and yes, I have the T-shirt. Get hired for something technical, be told you need a year or two before they consider letting you go from contractor to full-time, then watch them do everything to remove the tech jobs you're likely to actually apply for:/
(I wear the T-shirt as a reminder that big = bad;)
I want more Asian characters, too (hot chicks, preferably;), but I also find the lack of Indian etc. characters disturbing. I wanted one in City of Heroes, but all the faces look decidedly Caucacian:(
(Skintones are varied. Blue, green, brown, black, red, pink, whatever - but only five or so faces!)
Besides, why would you want to turn *off* a computer you're likely to log into remotely? The worst wear and tear on electrical equipment is when you turn it on, like lightbulbs, isn't it?
It might also be a sane limit before people lose track of what they were reading. I know I sometimes have to re-scan lines of footnotes with tiny fonts in O'Reilly books and such.
I rarely keep program windows as wide as the screen, since I want to see parts of the other windows I'm using at all times. Don't ask me to use taskbars and such - I just don't like them:)
My code typically ends up somewhere around 80 characters wide, at most, because of this. And it's no big deal putting that in PRE tags or similar on the web if it's already formatted.
It broke Java and locales for me yesterday. Hoping it's fixed today, or that Doom 3 binaries are released for me to fiddle with while the Debian maintainers put some missing packages back in:)
When playing an MMORPG, you're renting an account on someone's server. I don't see how you can *own* anything in virtual space then. If the server closes down, everything's gone. The company running the servers don't owe you anything for 'lost property'. You were using other people's resources to maintain that virtual castle.
I think MMOs should have ways to trade property in-game, though. Passing along a deed, DAoC-styles, works nicely for medieval games, and some sort of vendor would work for a more modern world. But when people start trading in-game housing for real-world money, it's up to the server maintainers how they want to treat it. No real-world laws should be necessary for virtual property. Or perhaps MMOs should allow a 'lawyer' profession, in addition to the usual warrior/ rogue/mage/priest choices:)
..or maybe not. I tried Hare on a Win2k installation, which died not long after. It had a ram-optimiser, which *seemed* to at least free memory from programs that didn't free everything (leaky MMOs).
I did find some registry settings that gave somewhat more of a result, though. Some of them are from Slashdot posts, others from various tip sites. Here are the filesystem settings I use for XP:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoLowD iskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001 ---- END -----
This switches off many filesystem options the average user doesn't care about, and increases disk activity a little when handling a lot of files at a time.
The NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate key means no files are tagged with a last access timestamp when you read them, and the last option is a convenience to kill off that pesky low diskspace warning that tends to pop the game I'm playing to the back while nagging..
There are also some virtual memory settings you can try, if you feel brave: ----- BEGIN ----- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSe t\Contr ol\Session Manager\Memory Management] "ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000 001 "IoPageLockLimit"=dword:00020000 "LargeSyste mCache"=dword:00000000 "NonPagedPoolQuota"=dword: 00000000 "NonPagedPoolSize"=dword:00000000 "Page dPoolQuota"=dword:00000000 "PagedPoolSize"=dword: 00000000 "SecondLevelDataCache"=dword:00000100 " PhysicalAddressExtension"=dword:00000000 "WriteWa tch"=dword:00000001 "DisablePagingExecutive"=dwor d:00000001 ----- END -----
Just stick everything into a.reg file and double-click. If you want to know what everything does, Google for it - it's best that you investigate before trusting me blindly;)
If you don't like the shortcuts, change them! At least in X11, you can point your mouse at the option you want changed, then press the key combination you prefer. For example, open the menu at "Save as..", press Ctrl+A, and now Ctrl+A is your shortcut for "Save as..". It's what makes Gtk+ good:)
Slashdot Mirror
Bioware also removed the copy-protection from the Windows version of
Neverwinter Nights, around 1.29, I think. It caused more trouble than good,
I guess.
(Can't be arsed to dig through the patchnotes)
The authow mentions Shadowrun, too. That's about the only one
I'd be interested in. Star Trek could potentially be as messed up as SWG.
I dunno about a spygame - doesn't Bond work alone most of the time?
As for VoIP, try to look for non-US services. I'm using VoIPTalk.org, but they're :(
in the increasingly US-friendly, privacy-hostile UK
(Yes, foreign companies means calls cost more, but if most people end up
using VoIP, the calls are free)
Some people actually don't want twitch-games. MMORPGs do sometimes
require people-skills, too, if you want to team up with other players.
You just don't need the same reflexes as Quake.
The FPS and MMORPG genres are different. If you don't like one, don't
play it. There have been attempts at crossover games, but they were
never that popular.
(There's an FPS-MMORPG which has twitch-gaming with added hacking skills
or somesuch - and most people think it's crap)
EVE Online has that. Skill training happens in linear time. It doesn't matter
whether you're online or offline; your character spends ALL its time reading
through technical manuals and such, and you flying around trading/killing doesn't
affect this in any way (unless you get blown to bits and die - send in the clones!).
Been there, done that, and yes, I have the T-shirt. :/
;)
Get hired for something technical, be told you need a year or two
before they consider letting you go from contractor to full-time,
then watch them do everything to remove the tech jobs you're
likely to actually apply for
(I wear the T-shirt as a reminder that big = bad
I want more Asian characters, too (hot chicks, preferably ;), but I also find :(
the lack of Indian etc. characters disturbing. I wanted one in City of Heroes,
but all the faces look decidedly Caucacian
(Skintones are varied. Blue, green, brown, black, red, pink, whatever - but only
five or so faces!)
Besides, why would you want to turn *off* a computer you're likely
to log into remotely? The worst wear and tear on electrical
equipment is when you turn it on, like lightbulbs, isn't it?
wxWidgets has all those things Qt has, too.
(wxwidgets.org)
Windows XP's installer isn't graphical, either. It installs everything
in a curses-like interface, then reboots into graphical to *configure*.
Strangely, other countries would consider e-mail "just another db
entry" straight away, and it MUST be deleted after six months.
I'm already boycotting them, but if you are a current
reader AND have the energy to write them, tell them WHY
you are boycotting them.
Try this experiment:
Print some text in landscape mode, with a font that allows 132
characters wide. How readable do you find it?
It might also be a sane limit before people lose track of what
they were reading. I know I sometimes have to re-scan lines of
footnotes with tiny fonts in O'Reilly books and such.
What sort of coding practice makes 132 columns necessary, really? ;)
t he _misspelled_name()" :)
Is this all Gtk+ code?
"gtk_window_routine_that_replaces_the_one_with_
I rarely keep program windows as wide as the screen, since I want :)
to see parts of the other windows I'm using at all times. Don't ask
me to use taskbars and such - I just don't like them
My code typically ends up somewhere around 80 characters wide,
at most, because of this. And it's no big deal putting that in PRE
tags or similar on the web if it's already formatted.
We can. If people will post Neighbours episodes, they'll most ;)
certainly give us sweaty athletes..nothing is below them
Well, the USPTO wouldn't be the first place she goes to if she's British.
It broke Java and locales for me yesterday. Hoping it's fixed :)
today, or that Doom 3 binaries are released for me to fiddle with
while the Debian maintainers put some missing packages back in
I know the danger - fortunately, I play games or write more modern ;)
software - no legacy software that I need to use personally
I'd suspect InstallShield to use some 16-bit stuff..my installer of
choice is InnoSetup, which is fairly modern (and very good!).
When playing an MMORPG, you're renting an account on someone's
:)
server. I don't see how you can *own* anything in virtual space
then. If the server closes down, everything's gone. The company
running the servers don't owe you anything for 'lost property'.
You were using other people's resources to maintain that virtual
castle.
I think MMOs should have ways to trade property in-game, though.
Passing along a deed, DAoC-styles, works nicely for medieval games,
and some sort of vendor would work for a more modern world. But
when people start trading in-game housing for real-world money, it's
up to the server maintainers how they want to treat it. No real-world
laws should be necessary for virtual property. Or perhaps MMOs
should allow a 'lawyer' profession, in addition to the usual warrior/
rogue/mage/priest choices
..or maybe not. I tried Hare on a Win2k installation, which died not
e t\Contr ol\FileSystem]o rd:00000001i n95TruncatedExtensions"=dword:00000001b leLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001
D iskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001
e t\Contr ol\Session Manager\Memory Management]0 001e mCache"=dword:00000000: 00000000e dPoolQuota"=dword:00000000: 00000000
" PhysicalAddressExtension"=dword:00000000a tch"=dword:00000001r d:00000001
.reg file and double-click. ;)
long after. It had a ram-optimiser, which *seemed* to at least free
memory from programs that didn't free everything (leaky MMOs).
I did find some registry settings that gave somewhat more of a
result, though. Some of them are from Slashdot posts, others from
various tip sites. Here are the filesystem settings I use for XP:
----- BEGIN -----
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlS
"NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"=dw
"Win31FileSystem"=dword:00000000
"W
"NtfsDisa
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoLow
---- END -----
This switches off many filesystem options the average user doesn't
care about, and increases disk activity a little when handling a
lot of files at a time.
The NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate key means no files are tagged with
a last access timestamp when you read them, and the last option
is a convenience to kill off that pesky low diskspace warning that
tends to pop the game I'm playing to the back while nagging..
There are also some virtual memory settings you can try, if you
feel brave:
----- BEGIN -----
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlS
"ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:0000
"IoPageLockLimit"=dword:00020000
"LargeSyst
"NonPagedPoolQuota"=dword
"NonPagedPoolSize"=dword:00000000
"Pag
"PagedPoolSize"=dword
"SecondLevelDataCache"=dword:00000100
"WriteW
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dwo
----- END -----
Just stick everything into a
If you want to know what everything does, Google for it - it's best
that you investigate before trusting me blindly
If you don't like the shortcuts, change them! :)
At least in X11, you can point your mouse at the option you
want changed, then press the key combination you prefer.
For example, open the menu at "Save as..", press Ctrl+A,
and now Ctrl+A is your shortcut for "Save as..".
It's what makes Gtk+ good
"Remind anyone of that scene in the movie 'Wild Wild West' where they extract the last thing the dead guy saw?"
No, reminds me more of Earth:Final Conflict, or
Blade Runner.
To the third point, I want to add:
Fuck scenery so badly designed it effectively
turns a straight-forward cave level into a maze!