Designers seem to think if you're not constantly clicking you're not playing.
You, sir, might well have hit the proverbial nail square upon the head here. At this point I ask: 'when/why did this presumption creep into the design of this genre?' To me at least, the term 'strategy' has connotations centered more around mental processes than mouse clicks.
You have to research stuff, but it doesn't give you research trees which it will auto-follow.
Koei's Warship Gunner 2 has something of a compromise in this area: when you select an item for development all prerequisite items are automatically queued up (you just have to have the funds to cover everything).
Speaking of this hybrid genre, it's a shame people seem to have forgotten about Activision's remake of Battlezone. Take somewhat campy Cold-War-goes-hot-off-Terra storyline, add simple, intuitive interface (especially if your joystick has a high-hat), toss in vehicle customization options (insofar as weapon loadout goes - scouts, for instance, have slots for two cannons and one missile weapon), and cherry with multiplayer (including option for straight-up arena play).
If I recall, this came out back in '98 or so, and is probably the first example of this type of game.
Kindly elaborate as to the nature of that response; if it is what I think it is, showing that girl the proverbial airlock might not be that bad an idea...
If you automate everything, you set everything up and then sit back and watch to see what happens, and that gets boring...
Not 'everything', just much of the back-end work, which is what TA does so well. You still have to lay your structures out appropriately, but it's convenient to know that once the foundations are set you can leave the constructor(s) to it and focus on your combat forces. The tenets of success in WC3 - in your words, tactics, strategy, and APM; to which I will add flexibility - don't change.
In TA, you never actually run out of resources to mine, so playing defensively is actually a losing strategy.
And let's not forget that 'resources' happens to include wrecked units and buildings, which can be broken down for metal (Battlezone does this as well). Even more fun: among the additional units which can be found on the official TA site is a high-end Core KBot codenamed 'Necro'; this stealthed beauty can resurrect structures and units from hulks, but such post-mortem capture is impossible if the subject is thoroughly gibbed.
Further, defensive play is complicated by the presence of theater artillery (Big Bertha/Intimidator, IIRC) and the fact of the interceptor missiles (the counter for the nukes) having a per-round cost above and beyond that of the structure. This latter fact applies to the nukes as well, as is the case in Starcraft.
Total Annihilation allowed you to automate most of the less exciting parts of an RTS...
This makes me wonder: why was this degree of possible automation never adopted as the standard in the genre?
Of course, some titles - such as the Ground Control series, the upcoming Company of Heroes, and even AvP: Extinction - address this by eliminating base-building entirely.
What outside projects, interests, and relationships have you developed that you can talk up when you're at parties or interviewing for a job?
No, no; a thousand times no.
'Because I can talk it up at a party or job interview' should never be a factor in deciding whether or not to pick up X interest, project, or relationship. Ever.
Seconded.
Actually, I tracked down Syndicate Wars (read: Bullfrog's last great hurrah) on eBay; it's great fun to play, although squad management could use a little work (how many times have you wanted to give one or two operatives specific orders to 'defend X'?). Bonus points if you tried to convert enemy operatives instead of killing them - possible and quite rewarding, but difficult.
One can reasonably ask: 'why would EA (or any other developer) care whether the DS or PSP 'wins' the portable market?' The only answer I can think of is that they've sunk the majority of their development in this vein into the PSP, and as such have an interest in seeing it gain marketshare.
That said, I have a pretty short list of titles which are tempting me to consider buying a PSP:
Ace Combat X;
Pursuit Force;
Killzone: Liberation;
Metal Gear Ac!d (and MGA2)
If the PSP comes down to $150 or thereabouts, I might go for it.
The clueful among us long ago invested in a $10 TSA-approved combination lock. These locks have both a combination and a keyhole; the keys are held by the TSA agents, and anyone who has managed to get a copy of one. However, it's a lot better than no lock.
I'll concede that point; the last time I had to check luggage was... a while ago.
Detritus:
The problem with electronics devices is that they can easily be modified to detonate a high explosive...
Very good; let's carry this a little further: what, exactly, aside from concerns about timer reliability, prevents our notional tango from secreting such a bomb in his/her checked luggage, set to detonate at X time (add alarm clock to the mix) when the plane is pretty certain to be airborne?
Depending on the length of the flight, this might include certain medications, contact lens solution, toothpaste and mouthwash. Having made the trip from JFK to Narita International (13 hours), I can testify that those things are necessary, thank you very much.
On a related note, some persons have opined that carry-on luggage and personal electronics shuold be eliminated entirely from the cabin. This, I believe, is not a realistic solution, not only due to above-implied personal care issues, but the extreme non-likelihood of travelers accepting long flights without access to their own diversions. And then we have the items we carry because their value renders keeping them on/close to our persons wise, such as laptops. While I do not have on hand statistics for luggage theft for the past several years, I doubt many people would entrust such devices to checked luggage, even before locking said luggage was discouraged - seriously, did the people who tought that up think the thieves and smugglers retired? To exemplify the latter: picture a setup where person A on the inside inserts contraband into a bag after it's been checked, then alerts person B at destination that they might remove said contraband before bag hits customs. If done correctly, the bag's owner will be totally unaware that something has hitched a ride.
Also, for many trips, carry-on luggage might well be quite enough to hold the necessities, eliminating the need for the traveler to worry about baggage claim.
Note: binary agents are nothing new; many chemical weapons are delivered in such a form, as exemplified in Batman...
And it will remain true that while technical solutions are nice, the cornerstone of the counterterror effort will always be people. You know, the folks doing the police work, following the leads, and so on.
STOP HIDING EXTENSIONS!!! Christ, it's incredibly STUPID that I can write a virus named NakedLady.JPG.exe and it will show up in most peoples' computers as NakedLady.JPG.
In the first, hiding extension is an option; in the second, I for one still find it hard to believe that the trick you describe works - tooltip information, never mind bringing up the properties dialog box, would give the game away right quick.
If it's a choice between UP researchers developing this and educating relevant entities to the potential threat (and, of course, said entities taking prompt and appropriate action), and blackhats fielding it unbenownst to the world at large...
Now what was your question again?
I couldn't agree more. I feel a NEED to have a physical copy of my media. I still buy CDs as opposed to downloading my music. If I'm going to pay for it I want it in physical form, I enjoy looking at the cover art, flipping through the book and seeing my collection on a shelf.
You raise a good point; indeed, in doing so you invoke memories of a time when videogames actually came with fun and/or useful physical extras as a matter of course - case in point, the cloth map accompanying... Ultima III, I think.
As for the problem of bootlegging - I refuse to call it 'piracy', given that the act as originally defined is alive and well, thank you very much! - it sounds like their big problem is material leaking from in-house; it would logically be in their interest to tie up those loose ends. Conversely, much fun could be had with allowing plausible-but-wrong material to 'leak' - reference is suggested to a particular British intelligence op in WW2 that entailed kitting out a dead man as a intelligence officer and allowing him to wash ashore in Spain...
Heh, and they're worried about what effect videogames may or may not have on kids? The irony of this situation strives to boggle the mind.
With respect to the grandparent post: I for one would like to know why Congresspersons allow themselves to be herded into voting on things they have not read and comprehended fully. One would think they would realize how poorly it reflects on them (and isn't politics on this side of the Pac as much about image as anything?).
I was vaguely aware of the comic, and got the demo out of sheer curiousity. And then picked up the PC version.
Overall, I'd recommend the game: quite aside from a unique look in the genre (it, like Deus Ex and System Shock 2, seemed more deserving of the label FPA - first-person adventure), it was actually fun to play (the RPG's alt-fire mode is especially amusing). In the interest of full disclosure, however, I am obliged to raise several niggling points:
the choice of characters for the multiplayer mode is rather limited (there's a sort-of-unofficial patch that remedies this for the PC version, though);
the crossbows and throwing blades didn't make it into multiplayer - why, I don't know;
pistol-whipping/butt-stroking should've been bound to a dedicated button/key - it's weird that you can butt-stroke someone with the pump shotgun, but not (for instance) the M16;
grenades should've been bound to their own key (whatever else one might say about Halo, it was nice to be able to toss a grenade without weapon-swapping)
The gist is, in Star Thugs, most person-to-person combat is on a starship, which is very cramped quarters and full of equipment that, like most things, doesn't respond well to being shot at. Since people generally board to capture a ship and the defenders typically own the ship, both have a vested interest in not blowing away everything down to the hull plating.
"Be careful. Many things in there do not react well to bullets." -Marko Alexandrovich Ramius
Okay, now that we've gotten the gratuitous if fitting The Hunt for Red October quote out of the way... You, sir, bring up a very good point; indeed, I recall the exact same point mentioned in those CP2020 supplements dealing with the Big Black.
That said, I should also mention that these issues exist today, and are taken seriously by most police and military entities. For instance, I believe air marshals use Glaser or equivalent loads in their firearms, in addition to being proficient in melee combat.
And it's not like there aren't ways to degrade the effectiveness of DEWs in a sci-fi setting, either.
Final point: something I've not seen to my knowledge in any sci-fi RPG campaign is a combat scenario where an environmental factor renders DEWs (yes, including lightsabers) dangerous to use... maybe the area has been infused with flammable vapors or somesuch.
One was a surveilance helicopter (dunno which one...probably the one with the camera/sensor ball above the rotor)...
Yes, your most likely canidate is the Delta variant of the OH-58 Kiowa. The 'ball', as you put it, is a sensor array comprising visual and thermal-imaging systems, as well as a laser designator. Interestingly, the Apache's Delta variant has a mast-mounted sensor of its own, but this is just a millimeter-wave radar unit.
It was video from one of the big cargo-plane gunships in either Iraq or Aghanistan...
I consider 'Godwin's Law' irrelevant and have naught but contempt for it.
That said, here are some suggestions in way of music suitable as background for laying the smack down:
'Invincible Fleet' (Ace Combat 4)
'Megalith - Agnus Dei' (Ace Combat 4)
'The Unsung War' (Ace Combat 5)
'Zero' (Ace Combat Zero)
'Treadstone Assassins' (The Bourne Identity)
'The Thing that Should Not Be' - S&M version (Metallica/San Francisco Symphony Orchestra)
'Shotgun Blues' (Guns 'N Roses)
'Neko Mimi Mode' (Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase; included only for the sheer wrongness value)
'Victory is Inevitable' (Emperor: Battle for Dune)
Hello again.
Yes it did, according to this article. What is interesting to note is the fact of neither GameSpy nor IGN having any mention of a release date. Further, scouring XS Games' official site turns up no mention whatsoever of this game.
This, sir (ma'am?) is a very good idea; I think a basic implementation of it exists in SW: Battlefront 2 where each of the classes has an upgraded weapon unlocked after X number of kills. Deus Ex' multiplayer has an option which brought some of the character-building elements from the campaign, making it easy to tailor the character to your style of play. And yes, you earned XP from kills, so over the course of a given series of games, your character grew more capable. Some other games grant medals or other tokens for certain achievements (Ace Combat 5 and Zero, for instance, have among other things a trio of medals for air-to-air gun kills).
All of this, and the occasional invocation of Star Wars, brings me to something I'd like to see LucasArts get off their duffs and do:
X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter done right. And one of the first things they can do is get permission to use the Freespace 2 engine.
You'd have your massive dogfights. You'd have your exciting cooperative missions. Players would start with their choice of a Z-95 or basic TIE; all the other craft (X-wings, TIE interceptors, A-wings, assault gunboats, etc.) have to be unlocked for purchase through play (the Ace Combat games do this). Some might even have other craft as prerequisites - i.e. unlocking the missile boat requires possession of the gunboat; the TIE Advanced x1 (Vader's TIE) is earned by beating a certain challenge mission which pits you against the Dark Lord and his elite squadron. There'd be plenty of upgrades to earn (advanced concussion missiles, improved targeting systems, ECM, passive stealth). Aside from your hangar of fighters (and yes, you'd be able to import your own custom logo; thank you Descent 3) there'd be medals to earn, and those show up in your profile, so when folks are in the lobby setting up matches, you can see who's walked the walk.
Yeah, it's an MMO; no, it's not an MMORPG. But I figured this'd do for showcasing such a game interesting.
This Bakker fellow is certainly going for the No-Prize. In the 24 July issue of The Epoch Times he is quoted as saying "Gaming is the greatest danger to young people that has ever come along." Oh really? Greater than, say, gang- and drug-related violence? Greater than their school system's suspect capability of preparing them for the world?
And if that wasn't enough, later in the article he is said to call gaming addiction "the terrorist inside". Now that's just going for the buzzword-du-jour.
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Koei's Warship Gunner 2 has something of a compromise in this area: when you select an item for development all prerequisite items are automatically queued up (you just have to have the funds to cover everything).
Speaking of this hybrid genre, it's a shame people seem to have forgotten about Activision's remake of Battlezone. Take somewhat campy Cold-War-goes-hot-off-Terra storyline, add simple, intuitive interface (especially if your joystick has a high-hat), toss in vehicle customization options (insofar as weapon loadout goes - scouts, for instance, have slots for two cannons and one missile weapon), and cherry with multiplayer (including option for straight-up arena play).
If I recall, this came out back in '98 or so, and is probably the first example of this type of game.
Kindly elaborate as to the nature of that response; if it is what I think it is, showing that girl the proverbial airlock might not be that bad an idea...
Further, defensive play is complicated by the presence of theater artillery (Big Bertha/Intimidator, IIRC) and the fact of the interceptor missiles (the counter for the nukes) having a per-round cost above and beyond that of the structure. This latter fact applies to the nukes as well, as is the case in Starcraft.
Of course, some titles - such as the Ground Control series, the upcoming Company of Heroes, and even AvP: Extinction - address this by eliminating base-building entirely.
I am obliged to point out at this juncture that for many people, dating (or trying to) is itself a stressful activity for any of several reasons.
Reference to the Wikipedia entry and resources it links to is recommended in the interest of clearing the air in this subthread.
'Because I can talk it up at a party or job interview' should never be a factor in deciding whether or not to pick up X interest, project, or relationship. Ever.
Seconded.
Actually, I tracked down Syndicate Wars (read: Bullfrog's last great hurrah) on eBay; it's great fun to play, although squad management could use a little work (how many times have you wanted to give one or two operatives specific orders to 'defend X'?). Bonus points if you tried to convert enemy operatives instead of killing them - possible and quite rewarding, but difficult.
That said, I have a pretty short list of titles which are tempting me to consider buying a PSP:
- Ace Combat X;
- Pursuit Force;
- Killzone: Liberation;
- Metal Gear Ac!d (and MGA2)
If the PSP comes down to $150 or thereabouts, I might go for it.Detritus: Very good; let's carry this a little further: what, exactly, aside from concerns about timer reliability, prevents our notional tango from secreting such a bomb in his/her checked luggage, set to detonate at X time (add alarm clock to the mix) when the plane is pretty certain to be airborne?
Depending on the length of the flight, this might include certain medications, contact lens solution, toothpaste and mouthwash. Having made the trip from JFK to Narita International (13 hours), I can testify that those things are necessary, thank you very much.
On a related note, some persons have opined that carry-on luggage and personal electronics shuold be eliminated entirely from the cabin. This, I believe, is not a realistic solution, not only due to above-implied personal care issues, but the extreme non-likelihood of travelers accepting long flights without access to their own diversions. And then we have the items we carry because their value renders keeping them on/close to our persons wise, such as laptops. While I do not have on hand statistics for luggage theft for the past several years, I doubt many people would entrust such devices to checked luggage, even before locking said luggage was discouraged - seriously, did the people who tought that up think the thieves and smugglers retired? To exemplify the latter: picture a setup where person A on the inside inserts contraband into a bag after it's been checked, then alerts person B at destination that they might remove said contraband before bag hits customs. If done correctly, the bag's owner will be totally unaware that something has hitched a ride.
Also, for many trips, carry-on luggage might well be quite enough to hold the necessities, eliminating the need for the traveler to worry about baggage claim.
Note: binary agents are nothing new; many chemical weapons are delivered in such a form, as exemplified in Batman...
And it will remain true that while technical solutions are nice, the cornerstone of the counterterror effort will always be people. You know, the folks doing the police work, following the leads, and so on.
If it's a choice between UP researchers developing this and educating relevant entities to the potential threat (and, of course, said entities taking prompt and appropriate action), and blackhats fielding it unbenownst to the world at large...
Now what was your question again?
As for the problem of bootlegging - I refuse to call it 'piracy', given that the act as originally defined is alive and well, thank you very much! - it sounds like their big problem is material leaking from in-house; it would logically be in their interest to tie up those loose ends. Conversely, much fun could be had with allowing plausible-but-wrong material to 'leak' - reference is suggested to a particular British intelligence op in WW2 that entailed kitting out a dead man as a intelligence officer and allowing him to wash ashore in Spain...
Heh, and they're worried about what effect videogames may or may not have on kids? The irony of this situation strives to boggle the mind.
With respect to the grandparent post: I for one would like to know why Congresspersons allow themselves to be herded into voting on things they have not read and comprehended fully. One would think they would realize how poorly it reflects on them (and isn't politics on this side of the Pac as much about image as anything?).
You don't even have to venture into Sci-Fi; just take a look at Tomorrow Never Dies ...
Overall, I'd recommend the game: quite aside from a unique look in the genre (it, like Deus Ex and System Shock 2, seemed more deserving of the label FPA - first-person adventure), it was actually fun to play (the RPG's alt-fire mode is especially amusing). In the interest of full disclosure, however, I am obliged to raise several niggling points:
Okay, now that we've gotten the gratuitous if fitting The Hunt for Red October quote out of the way... You, sir, bring up a very good point; indeed, I recall the exact same point mentioned in those CP2020 supplements dealing with the Big Black.
That said, I should also mention that these issues exist today, and are taken seriously by most police and military entities. For instance, I believe air marshals use Glaser or equivalent loads in their firearms, in addition to being proficient in melee combat.
And it's not like there aren't ways to degrade the effectiveness of DEWs in a sci-fi setting, either.
Final point: something I've not seen to my knowledge in any sci-fi RPG campaign is a combat scenario where an environmental factor renders DEWs (yes, including lightsabers) dangerous to use... maybe the area has been infused with flammable vapors or somesuch.
That said, here are some suggestions in way of music suitable as background for laying the smack down:
Hello again.
Yes it did, according to this article. What is interesting to note is the fact of neither GameSpy nor IGN having any mention of a release date. Further, scouring XS Games' official site turns up no mention whatsoever of this game.
This, sir (ma'am?) is a very good idea; I think a basic implementation of it exists in SW: Battlefront 2 where each of the classes has an upgraded weapon unlocked after X number of kills. Deus Ex' multiplayer has an option which brought some of the character-building elements from the campaign, making it easy to tailor the character to your style of play. And yes, you earned XP from kills, so over the course of a given series of games, your character grew more capable. Some other games grant medals or other tokens for certain achievements (Ace Combat 5 and Zero, for instance, have among other things a trio of medals for air-to-air gun kills).
All of this, and the occasional invocation of Star Wars, brings me to something I'd like to see LucasArts get off their duffs and do:
X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter done right. And one of the first things they can do is get permission to use the Freespace 2 engine.
You'd have your massive dogfights. You'd have your exciting cooperative missions. Players would start with their choice of a Z-95 or basic TIE; all the other craft (X-wings, TIE interceptors, A-wings, assault gunboats, etc.) have to be unlocked for purchase through play (the Ace Combat games do this). Some might even have other craft as prerequisites - i.e. unlocking the missile boat requires possession of the gunboat; the TIE Advanced x1 (Vader's TIE) is earned by beating a certain challenge mission which pits you against the Dark Lord and his elite squadron. There'd be plenty of upgrades to earn (advanced concussion missiles, improved targeting systems, ECM, passive stealth). Aside from your hangar of fighters (and yes, you'd be able to import your own custom logo; thank you Descent 3) there'd be medals to earn, and those show up in your profile, so when folks are in the lobby setting up matches, you can see who's walked the walk.
Yeah, it's an MMO; no, it's not an MMORPG. But I figured this'd do for showcasing such a game interesting.
This Bakker fellow is certainly going for the No-Prize. In the 24 July issue of The Epoch Times he is quoted as saying "Gaming is the greatest danger to young people that has ever come along." Oh really? Greater than, say, gang- and drug-related violence? Greater than their school system's suspect capability of preparing them for the world?
And if that wasn't enough, later in the article he is said to call gaming addiction "the terrorist inside". Now that's just going for the buzzword-du-jour.