There are many other titles I would suggest that have already been covered by others - so I won't rehash them. Instead, I'll make one offering:
Morrowind.
If you have an ATI-based 3d accelerator that supports TruForm, and you download the Morrowind FPS optimizer - http://morrowind.nm.ru/Morrowind%20FPS%20Optimizer / - it looks absolutely gorgeous. Add in any of the other mods out there, and you've got a smooth, beautiful, gargantuan RPG.
I'm enjoying excellent view distances on my 9800 pro/Athlon 2500+/512mb RAM. Works like a dream.
This is completely offtopic, but did you actually find a way to run it @ 1280x1024? AFAIK, SMAC only ran at up to 1024x768... If you found a way to run it at a higher resolution, I would *LOVE* to hear about it.
IIRC, the only way to do this was to create a "Mission"-type fort, by dropping off lots of men at a native village. I don't remember for certain, but I think you can do it with a lot fewer men by converting the natives - something that in and of itself I never was able to do with any regularity.
I worked at Microsoft during the Win2k development cycle, testing the (then NT5) user interface. There was a LOT of screaming from the Office 2k people, who wanted to roll their stuff into the core OS, so that they could hook into it with the suite.
The NT5 team told them to get stuffed, at least as far as I know. I was also a peon at the time (and I no longer work there) so I can't say for certain that was the case.
I know I'm offtopic, but it's myth-busting time. There were good and valid reasons why that lawsuit won.
1. McDonalds was serving the coffee MUCH hotter than anybody else's coffee.
2. McDonalds KNEW this was a risk to people, but chose to sell it that way anyways.
3. The woman involved in this infamous case suffered very serious injuries - third degree burns on her groin, thighs and buttocks that required skin grafts and a seven-day hospital stay.
(Facts partially quoted and paraphrased from this website: http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm )
I work at a relatively small company (~120 users) and we're pretty much standardized on Dell equipment. Other than the laptops (which IME are a crapshoot servicewise no matter what company you go with - too many "vertical distance adjustment difficulties") we have had one service call to Dell in the entire time I've worked here, for a failed CPU fan.
Some of the machines are over three years old.
I'm impressed. I may not like Dell as a company, but as far as making a reliable product goes, they've done pretty well by me.
I think Troika did a pretty good job, all limitations given. Atari was stingy with the money, and WotC overrid some of the content that they wanted to put in, forcing them to strip a lot of stuff out at the last minute.
Yeah, they bit off a bit more than they could chew, but I don't think it was really Troika's fault other than being overconfident.
Yep, I'm wasting roughly 5 seconds per trip through.
I grab the sheet while waiting in the line, check the "don't track my information pretty please, even though you reserve the right to do so anyways" checkbox, hand it over to the cashier, she hands me a card.
And that's only when I'm forced to go to one of those supermarket chains. Which isn't often.
Every single store I live near uses the "loyalty card" as a way to jack prices up, not give discounts to "loyal" customers.
To use an example I used to use, when QFC (owned by Kroeger/Fred Meyer) went to their loyalty card program, they were pushing straweberries as their "big sale item". With the card, they were $4.99 a poud, without they were $10.99 a pound.
My local produce stand had strawberries at $3.99 a pound, and they were much better quality too. Since then, I haven't seen any trend to reverse that either.
I refuse to participate. For the most part, I buy food from our local small business, but if I absolutely have to go to one of the megachains that practically require their "loyalty cards" to avoid being ripped off, I take the following precautions:
1. I pay in cash only. 2. I fill out a form for a new card (even if I don't need it) and then throw the card away as I'm leaving. I don't fill out any of the information. 3. If a clerk gives me a hassle, I just look at them, smile, and say: "This is a conversation between me and your employer. I am trying to leave you out of it. If you would like to involve yourself in the conversation, that's fine, but I think you would rather not."
Step three usually gets the occasional nag to shut up very quickly and let me do my thing.
I figure eventually this has to end up costing them something - if everybody did that, instead of doing the sheeple thing and sticking with one card, I think that the stores would eventually give up on those damn cards.
More specifically, SJ objected to the intro sequence where some guy (in a scene eerily reminiscent of a famous photo from Viet Nam) shoots a prisoner in the head, then waves a "hi, mom!" wave to the camera watching him.
Considering the global level of violence in the game, I think he overreacted. That's just my opinion, though, and he (and anybody else that wants to) is welcome to disagree.
D&D 3rd edition has 6 second rounds. No segments at all.
As far as GURPS goes, the combat system CAN get screwy if you use the "advanced" combat system - but the basic combat system works just fine, and gets the job done quite well. The main point (for me) that GURPS breaks down in is in high point-cost characters - the system just doesn't balance well at that point. I find GURPS works better as a "gritty" low-point campaign than in a high-value "supers" campaign. Champions/HERO works better in that environment.
Unless I'm wrong, Ultima Underworld actually predated Wolfenstein 3D by a month or two - and it was realtime, AND was more "3d" than Wolfenstein 3D - supported angled floors, 8 axis walls, bridges, etc.
Also, there are much older "3D" games that predated that - anybody else recall Eidolon on the C64?
Slashdot Mirror
Offer the codes for free. This way you get out of the extortion issue.
However, in order to get the code, the person in question must prove their own identity... Opening themselves to criminal and civil charges.
I like that.
This is /., we don't read the stinking articles.
It would've been great @ 1280x1024...
There are many other titles I would suggest that have already been covered by others - so I won't rehash them. Instead, I'll make one offering:
r / - it looks absolutely gorgeous. Add in any of the other mods out there, and you've got a smooth, beautiful, gargantuan RPG.
Morrowind.
If you have an ATI-based 3d accelerator that supports TruForm, and you download the Morrowind FPS optimizer - http://morrowind.nm.ru/Morrowind%20FPS%20Optimize
I'm enjoying excellent view distances on my 9800 pro/Athlon 2500+/512mb RAM. Works like a dream.
This is completely offtopic, but did you actually find a way to run it @ 1280x1024? AFAIK, SMAC only ran at up to 1024x768... If you found a way to run it at a higher resolution, I would *LOVE* to hear about it.
IIRC, China has seen the source code to Microsoft Windows, whereas the U.S. government hasn't.
I think that's a pretty large security threat right there...
Um, at least he'll use lube while screwing us?
(And yes, I'm holding my nose and voting for Kerry in November.)
IIRC, the only way to do this was to create a "Mission"-type fort, by dropping off lots of men at a native village. I don't remember for certain, but I think you can do it with a lot fewer men by converting the natives - something that in and of itself I never was able to do with any regularity.
Don't forget NVidia sniping away all their engineers for the XBox/NForce project.
I worked at Microsoft during the Win2k development cycle, testing the (then NT5) user interface. There was a LOT of screaming from the Office 2k people, who wanted to roll their stuff into the core OS, so that they could hook into it with the suite.
The NT5 team told them to get stuffed, at least as far as I know. I was also a peon at the time (and I no longer work there) so I can't say for certain that was the case.
I know I'm offtopic, but it's myth-busting time. There were good and valid reasons why that lawsuit won.
1. McDonalds was serving the coffee MUCH hotter than anybody else's coffee.
2. McDonalds KNEW this was a risk to people, but chose to sell it that way anyways.
3. The woman involved in this infamous case suffered very serious injuries - third degree burns on her groin, thighs and buttocks that required skin grafts and a seven-day hospital stay.
(Facts partially quoted and paraphrased from this website: http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm )
I work at a relatively small company (~120 users) and we're pretty much standardized on Dell equipment. Other than the laptops (which IME are a crapshoot servicewise no matter what company you go with - too many "vertical distance adjustment difficulties") we have had one service call to Dell in the entire time I've worked here, for a failed CPU fan.
Some of the machines are over three years old.
I'm impressed. I may not like Dell as a company, but as far as making a reliable product goes, they've done pretty well by me.
It's tough to squeeze a mechanic or a plumber through a data pipe, no matter how fat the pipe.
That's what telerobotics is all about. Having the guy in $COUNTRY fix your car by remote control.
I think Troika did a pretty good job, all limitations given. Atari was stingy with the money, and WotC overrid some of the content that they wanted to put in, forcing them to strip a lot of stuff out at the last minute.
Yeah, they bit off a bit more than they could chew, but I don't think it was really Troika's fault other than being overconfident.
Um, you mean the same Swiss that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II?
i go ld/intro.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/naz
Or how about that whole bit denying insurance payouts to survivors of the holocaust?
Yeah, I think the Swiss would work really well there.
Yep, I'm wasting roughly 5 seconds per trip through.
I grab the sheet while waiting in the line, check the "don't track my information pretty please, even though you reserve the right to do so anyways" checkbox, hand it over to the cashier, she hands me a card.
And that's only when I'm forced to go to one of those supermarket chains. Which isn't often.
Every single store I live near uses the "loyalty card" as a way to jack prices up, not give discounts to "loyal" customers.
To use an example I used to use, when QFC (owned by Kroeger/Fred Meyer) went to their loyalty card program, they were pushing straweberries as their "big sale item". With the card, they were $4.99 a poud, without they were $10.99 a pound.
My local produce stand had strawberries at $3.99 a pound, and they were much better quality too. Since then, I haven't seen any trend to reverse that either.
I refuse to participate. For the most part, I buy food from our local small business, but if I absolutely have to go to one of the megachains that practically require their "loyalty cards" to avoid being ripped off, I take the following precautions:
1. I pay in cash only.
2. I fill out a form for a new card (even if I don't need it) and then throw the card away as I'm leaving. I don't fill out any of the information.
3. If a clerk gives me a hassle, I just look at them, smile, and say: "This is a conversation between me and your employer. I am trying to leave you out of it. If you would like to involve yourself in the conversation, that's fine, but I think you would rather not."
Step three usually gets the occasional nag to shut up very quickly and let me do my thing.
I figure eventually this has to end up costing them something - if everybody did that, instead of doing the sheeple thing and sticking with one card, I think that the stores would eventually give up on those damn cards.
More specifically, SJ objected to the intro sequence where some guy (in a scene eerily reminiscent of a famous photo from Viet Nam) shoots a prisoner in the head, then waves a "hi, mom!" wave to the camera watching him.
Considering the global level of violence in the game, I think he overreacted. That's just my opinion, though, and he (and anybody else that wants to) is welcome to disagree.
D&D 3rd edition has 6 second rounds. No segments at all.
As far as GURPS goes, the combat system CAN get screwy if you use the "advanced" combat system - but the basic combat system works just fine, and gets the job done quite well. The main point (for me) that GURPS breaks down in is in high point-cost characters - the system just doesn't balance well at that point. I find GURPS works better as a "gritty" low-point campaign than in a high-value "supers" campaign. Champions/HERO works better in that environment.
Be interested in seeing the changes...
And of course, after I write that, I realize I'm thinking of System Shock versus Doom - I just don't remember the publication dates of UU and Wolf 3D.
Unless I'm wrong, Ultima Underworld actually predated Wolfenstein 3D by a month or two - and it was realtime, AND was more "3d" than Wolfenstein 3D - supported angled floors, 8 axis walls, bridges, etc.
Also, there are much older "3D" games that predated that - anybody else recall Eidolon on the C64?
No, that's been around since the invention of language, but thanks for playing! ;)
Although Nixon was a particularly henious individual, crediting him with the invention of language abuse is just taking it too far.
I can confirm that the Atari 800 had 4 joystick ports in the front. Perfect for an afternoon of 4-way M.U.L.E. :)