You can't influence the outcome of the world, except for the most basic "you were bad"/"you were good" sort of way. In 1&2, you'd travel from location to location, and influence the outcome of a storyline for each locale.
Huh? In 3, you can literally blow up the biggest city in the game!
Bethesda would be wise to hire the guys formerly of Troika to write for them.
There's no way one could possibly disagree with this statement. A Bethesda game with Troika writers would be killer.
I hope Bethesda doesn't continue to mire the world in mediocrity with New Vegas.
Bethesda isn't making New Vegas. It's being made by Obsidian Entertainment, which is apparently the reincarnation of Black Isle Studios. Chris Avellone is Lead Designer. So, uh, you should probably be excited.;)
Agreed that liberals insisting that they "support the troops" is irritating. Why is that a requirement when "our troops" are on the wrong side of a war? How is that morally justifiable?
Me personally, I "support" those human beings coming home alive and well, immediately. I don't want any person to die on any side. But if we're talking about supporting an army, them being from the same country as me is not enough.
I can honestly say the most original game I've played YTD is Tropico 3 and that's only because it's the first game I've played with a Latin jazz soundtrack.
I take it you've never played Tropico 1. It's the exact same game, Latin Jazz and everything. If one was asked "what are the *least* original games ever made?", one would be logically mandated to include Tropico 3. (BTW, I'm not complaining. An updated Tropico 1 is something I'd been longing for for years.)
The story was alright. But if it was as good as the first one's, I might not have felt like playing through that whole game was completely the disenchanting (Warren, I loved you!!) waste of time that it was.
If you show the user only a quarter of those on the first run, because essentially for some he's not the right class, for some he took the wrong choice... essentially what that user sees on the first run is a quarter of the fun.
You're making a mistake if you think the only reason to make a game like that is replayability. For a game's world to feel "alive", it has to respond to your actions -- meaning the player must experience a different game based on their character and her/his actions. If a big, expansive, open-ended world is your main feature, then the hypothetical "1/4 of the game per playthrough" makes the game better even if the player only plays through it once.
I've played Fallout 1 and Fallout 3 (and a bit of Fallout 2). The only way Fallout 1 is more "open-ended" than 3 is because there's simply a lot less story. People say a few lines, hinting at a quest, and then you decide what to do. In 3, the quests play out over multiple stages in such a way that they are effectively, as you say, scripted (and you get a very convenient quest tracker, explaining what the quest expects of you). But the option to act like an asshole and just shoot people who ask for help and take their shit is just as available as it ever was. I'm really at a loss thinking of what it is you supposedly can't do in 3 that you could in the others.
You didn't "fix" anything, but you're right. Both Wright and Miyamoto would be better candidates. Miyamoto could have made a quarter of his contribution to video games and would still have been one of the greatest designers ever.
Sid Meier is possibly the most influential game designer ever
What? How could anybody say that with a straight face? Granted, I love his games, but that statement is just silly. For one thing, Civilization was designed as a macro-level version of SimCity. Will Wright would be a better candidate: SimCity, The Sims, Sim.*, Spore...
Things in Mexico have gotten bad lately especially along the boarder. This is killing their tourism industry which is a key component of their economy. Americas especially are fearful to visit, and the days of a weekend in Tijuana are all but over.
This is exactly the kind of response I expected, based on how the poster feels it affects them as an American. Where are your ideals now, Slashdot?
Now, if Theora or some other patent free format gets to the point where it can offer...
That brings up a question I've had in my mind for a while. I don't know how codecs/formats work, but can someone tell me if the theora format can be improved to the point that it rivals H.264, while still being the theora format? Or at some point is it necessary to call it new format? And if so, what effect would a new, better theora-derived format have if the world, hypothetically, had standardized on theora?
Also, how much of a difference does the quality of the codec used to create theora videos make? I recall when LAME first came along and was so good that it could double the quality of a low- or mid-bitrate MP3 file compared to the old options.
The Japanese will eat absolutely anything that comes out of the sea so long as they have at least a good chance of not being poisoned to death by it if prepared properly. It's a kind of charming part of their culture, really.
Why anyone decided squid was a good thing to fry up on a stick and eat is beyond me
I dunno, this looks kinda tasty, doesn't it? I'd give it a try.
Actually, I gave squid sushi a try not that long ago. It was ika-geso (squid legs) that looked not entirely unlike this except it was nigiri (some rice beneath it). It was kind of tasty and there was nothing gross about it. In retrospect, it seems silly now to be squeamish about it.
I'm pretty sure that your claim that vegans "ignore" those facts is based entirely on nothing, given that none of them address the core issue for vegetarians/vegans: whether it can ever moral to take a life when it's not necessary to do so.
There's nothing strange about unagi. Really, even the summary's characterization of it as a "delicacy" is inaccurate. In fact, any American sushi fan has eaten it many, manytimes.
This guy said "I realized that one of my favorite old games can be vastly improved with a few tweaks". Why would you want to discourage someone doing that and maybe even let you and everyone else play it?
You're in very good company. Warren Spector, especially when discussing video games as art, calls Tetris to be the greatest game ever. Something to do with it exemplifying how games, like all other art forms, can do things the others can't, which he believes is what game developers should make it their mission to do.
The issue isn't whether what I (or EzInKy) want to do with the iPhone is what many other people want to do with it, or even if most people are able to do most things they'd like to. The issue, and it's not insignificant, is that you can't do what *you* want with *your* iPhone, no matter what it happens to be.
Jobs said iPhone 4.0 will be available for the iPhone 3G S and third-generation iPod touches by summer and for the iPad by fall. The iPhone 3G and older iPod touches will get some of the new features but will be left out of the multitasking fun.
You know, you have to sincerely wonder... Jobs has to be fully aware that he's purposely giving fewer of the new features to users of a slightly older model entirely to encourage a few of them to purchase a new phone they wouldn't have otherwise. Wasn't he once young and sincerely idealistic when he started a funky little computer company? Does he ever feel brief pangs of guilt for being such a greedy asshole now?
Is it bad that it made me happy to read this? Sure, it's bad news in the real world for iPhone users, and I shouldn't not care just because I'm not one of them...
But given that I've become quite anti-Apple, due to principals, I'm kinda relieved that one of the easiest-to-understand bits of evidence that Apple gadgets are crippled hasn't gone away. Am I a bad person?
Slashdot Mirror
You can't influence the outcome of the world, except for the most basic "you were bad"/"you were good" sort of way. In 1&2, you'd travel from location to location, and influence the outcome of a storyline for each locale.
Huh? In 3, you can literally blow up the biggest city in the game!
Bethesda would be wise to hire the guys formerly of Troika to write for them.
There's no way one could possibly disagree with this statement. A Bethesda game with Troika writers would be killer.
I hope Bethesda doesn't continue to mire the world in mediocrity with New Vegas.
Bethesda isn't making New Vegas. It's being made by Obsidian Entertainment, which is apparently the reincarnation of Black Isle Studios. Chris Avellone is Lead Designer. So, uh, you should probably be excited. ;)
Agreed that liberals insisting that they "support the troops" is irritating. Why is that a requirement when "our troops" are on the wrong side of a war? How is that morally justifiable?
Me personally, I "support" those human beings coming home alive and well, immediately. I don't want any person to die on any side. But if we're talking about supporting an army, them being from the same country as me is not enough.
I can honestly say the most original game I've played YTD is Tropico 3 and that's only because it's the first game I've played with a Latin jazz soundtrack.
I take it you've never played Tropico 1. It's the exact same game, Latin Jazz and everything. If one was asked "what are the *least* original games ever made?", one would be logically mandated to include Tropico 3. (BTW, I'm not complaining. An updated Tropico 1 is something I'd been longing for for years.)
The story was alright. But if it was as good as the first one's, I might not have felt like playing through that whole game was completely the disenchanting (Warren, I loved you!!) waste of time that it was.
If you show the user only a quarter of those on the first run, because essentially for some he's not the right class, for some he took the wrong choice ... essentially what that user sees on the first run is a quarter of the fun.
You're making a mistake if you think the only reason to make a game like that is replayability. For a game's world to feel "alive", it has to respond to your actions -- meaning the player must experience a different game based on their character and her/his actions. If a big, expansive, open-ended world is your main feature, then the hypothetical "1/4 of the game per playthrough" makes the game better even if the player only plays through it once.
I've played Fallout 1 and Fallout 3 (and a bit of Fallout 2). The only way Fallout 1 is more "open-ended" than 3 is because there's simply a lot less story. People say a few lines, hinting at a quest, and then you decide what to do. In 3, the quests play out over multiple stages in such a way that they are effectively, as you say, scripted (and you get a very convenient quest tracker, explaining what the quest expects of you). But the option to act like an asshole and just shoot people who ask for help and take their shit is just as available as it ever was. I'm really at a loss thinking of what it is you supposedly can't do in 3 that you could in the others.
Damn you.. That actually made sense.
If the English language made any sense, "it's" would be correct.
What's so fundamentally different about finishing a game or finishing a book?
NEVER deny that new thing isn't art. Eventually, you're going to look like a fool.
You didn't "fix" anything, but you're right. Both Wright and Miyamoto would be better candidates. Miyamoto could have made a quarter of his contribution to video games and would still have been one of the greatest designers ever.
Sid Meier is possibly the most influential game designer ever
What? How could anybody say that with a straight face? Granted, I love his games, but that statement is just silly. For one thing, Civilization was designed as a macro-level version of SimCity. Will Wright would be a better candidate: SimCity, The Sims, Sim.*, Spore...
I'm a psychology student and programming, when I do any, is merely a hobby for me.
I use it as a democratic fan club.
You're thinking of Digg. They also like Ron Paul.
Things in Mexico have gotten bad lately especially along the boarder. This is killing their tourism industry which is a key component of their economy. Americas especially are fearful to visit, and the days of a weekend in Tijuana are all but over.
This is exactly the kind of response I expected, based on how the poster feels it affects them as an American. Where are your ideals now, Slashdot?
Now, if Theora or some other patent free format gets to the point where it can offer ...
That brings up a question I've had in my mind for a while. I don't know how codecs/formats work, but can someone tell me if the theora format can be improved to the point that it rivals H.264, while still being the theora format? Or at some point is it necessary to call it new format? And if so, what effect would a new, better theora-derived format have if the world, hypothetically, had standardized on theora?
Also, how much of a difference does the quality of the codec used to create theora videos make? I recall when LAME first came along and was so good that it could double the quality of a low- or mid-bitrate MP3 file compared to the old options.
True, they eat some seafood that we don't.
The Japanese will eat absolutely anything that comes out of the sea so long as they have at least a good chance of not being poisoned to death by it if prepared properly. It's a kind of charming part of their culture, really.
Why anyone decided squid was a good thing to fry up on a stick and eat is beyond me
I dunno, this looks kinda tasty, doesn't it? I'd give it a try.
Actually, I gave squid sushi a try not that long ago. It was ika-geso (squid legs) that looked not entirely unlike this except it was nigiri (some rice beneath it). It was kind of tasty and there was nothing gross about it. In retrospect, it seems silly now to be squeamish about it.
I'm pretty sure that your claim that vegans "ignore" those facts is based entirely on nothing, given that none of them address the core issue for vegetarians/vegans: whether it can ever moral to take a life when it's not necessary to do so.
There's nothing strange about unagi. Really, even the summary's characterization of it as a "delicacy" is inaccurate. In fact, any American sushi fan has eaten it many, many times.
This guy said "I realized that one of my favorite old games can be vastly improved with a few tweaks". Why would you want to discourage someone doing that and maybe even let you and everyone else play it?
Tetris, to me, is the ultimate video game.
You're in very good company. Warren Spector, especially when discussing video games as art, calls Tetris to be the greatest game ever. Something to do with it exemplifying how games, like all other art forms, can do things the others can't, which he believes is what game developers should make it their mission to do.
You can't be serious. You're not at all outraged that making the phone you bought work the way you want it to is AGAINST THE LAW?
The issue isn't whether what I (or EzInKy) want to do with the iPhone is what many other people want to do with it, or even if most people are able to do most things they'd like to. The issue, and it's not insignificant, is that you can't do what *you* want with *your* iPhone, no matter what it happens to be.
Jobs said iPhone 4.0 will be available for the iPhone 3G S and third-generation iPod touches by summer and for the iPad by fall. The iPhone 3G and older iPod touches will get some of the new features but will be left out of the multitasking fun.
You know, you have to sincerely wonder... Jobs has to be fully aware that he's purposely giving fewer of the new features to users of a slightly older model entirely to encourage a few of them to purchase a new phone they wouldn't have otherwise. Wasn't he once young and sincerely idealistic when he started a funky little computer company? Does he ever feel brief pangs of guilt for being such a greedy asshole now?
Is it bad that it made me happy to read this? Sure, it's bad news in the real world for iPhone users, and I shouldn't not care just because I'm not one of them...
But given that I've become quite anti-Apple, due to principals, I'm kinda relieved that one of the easiest-to-understand bits of evidence that Apple gadgets are crippled hasn't gone away. Am I a bad person?