I'm sorry to point this out, but reality seems to contradict you.
I have an Android Phone. I can develop whatever the hell I want to develop for it, and install what I want without jailbreaking it or something.
And it does what it is supposed to do, and it does it well. If I don't want to thinker with the device, but just use it, then I can, with no hassle.
Now, any feature you can imagine that could make my device easier to use, doesn't imply closing the device and make it so full of DRM that it no longer interests me.
The fact that older Linux distros or other open source software were both the epitome of openness and also very hard to use is just an stupid cultural thing, not a hard rule.
If some software is hard to use, it only depends on the quality of the developer, not on the censoring policy of the platform. Good developers can make usable and powerful software for any platform.
If you think that a platform should be very closed to be easy of use, then you have been brainwashed.
While it is true for games like the second Deus Ex, with hopelessly dumbed down controls and less features, in fact, any FPS, some games do not share that fate:
Batman Arkham Asylum is an excellent game that is very good on PC. Also, games like NFS Shift feel a lot better with a good Logitech steering wheel on PC that they can feel with a gamepad, any gamepad.
My post was not a circular argument, but rather a crude reductio ad absurdum to disproof GP post.
Technically, the framerate is not just high, because it is not a quantifiable quantity, unless we can manufacture a sensor that can detect a particle moving a Planck length over a Planck time. The framerate of reality is more likely describable as unmeasurable or close to infinity.
What about the bosses who waste time having 'new' ideas about features instead of answering emails (I know of someone who reads his emails at least a week later), or taking decisions when they are the only ones with the authority to do so (they want to have all the power to micromanage but are too lazy to really do so) and all the other stuff that bosses should do?
Salesman have it easier. They play golf while working!
Even customer support guys go an visit clients for one hour and take leisure for another one.
If you think that only IT people enjoy free time, you are a very wrong.
The only difference is that we waste time in the computer and leave a trail that sysadmins can follow.
No. you sound like a f****ng basterd who read too many Taylorist ideas.
I don't miss headlines and my code is (somewhat) nice, with a couple of novel ideas I am really proud of. I worked too hard in the last three months and it really affected me. Too much stress, etc. I feel like I am burned out.
For the next deadline I negotiated my deadlines aggressively and now I'm working in a much nicer way. But I still feel I need some time to recover from the burnout.
The point that should be taken into account about the article is not what the developers seem to do or not to do. Its the missing deadlines. The bad code. Results and results only. Everything else is misleading.
But it is not a Linux distro in the traditional sense, there's no common GNU/UNIX stack there, everything on top of the kernel is custom software made by Google.
Please read Heinlein and MOPI and then come back to try to define what Science Fiction is. It can even be argued that Avatar is Hard Science Fiction.
Now, about the movie, to me the problem was that it was so full of clichés, so predictable, that only the beautiful images and the 3D-ness of them were appealing.
I think the point of the people who wants realism is this:
In the past, games were harder, were in fact 'Nintendo Hard'. If you beat one of those games, you have all the rights to brag about it online, in real life, everywhere. You still have these bragging rights for old school Nintendo games.
Nowadays, games are far easier, with elastic AI (think NFS Underground) and if they are hard enough then people complain and never play again (as it happened with Sniper Elite).
However, people still brag about beating these easy games. So, I conjecture that what the 'realistic' party wants is a game where you have to earn your bragging rights.
So far there are very good examples of this. iRacing is a racing game/service where if you are number one you totally deserve at least to test drive the real thing. And you need a lot of hours dedicated to the game to be able to achieve this. Bragging rights totally deserved.
I think this Sniper Elite game also counts for that, in a far lesser scale. You have to aim higher at long range because the bullet travels downward, and it takes some time for it to reach the target. It's more difficult than snipers in other games, so if you get a really long distance kill you can post a video of it in youtube and receive kudos for it. Also: getting shot really hurts. You do everything you can to avoid getting shot, in fact you do everything you can to avoid been seen, there is no running towards the armed enemies trying to be a faster gun. This last point is what the article is about. Some dude beating the Batman game using Batman fists and getting shot in the face all the time.
In the end, I think this is why all games should have difficulty settings. In fact most of them do!
You play on easy if you want to escape reality for a while and relax.
You play on hard if you want 'realistic' bragging-rights-deserving gameplay.
Slashdot Mirror
I want an Air laptop with a screen that can be turned to become a Tablet Mac.
With OSX. Apple totally missed the point of that tablet thing.
I'm sorry to point this out, but reality seems to contradict you.
I have an Android Phone. I can develop whatever the hell I want to develop for it, and install what I want without jailbreaking it or something.
And it does what it is supposed to do, and it does it well. If I don't want to thinker with the device, but just use it, then I can, with no hassle.
Now, any feature you can imagine that could make my device easier to use, doesn't imply closing the device and make it so full of DRM that it no longer interests me.
The fact that older Linux distros or other open source software were both the epitome of openness and also very hard to use is just an stupid cultural thing, not a hard rule.
If some software is hard to use, it only depends on the quality of the developer, not on the censoring policy of the platform. Good developers can make usable and powerful software for any platform.
If you think that a platform should be very closed to be easy of use, then you have been brainwashed.
I think that TikiTDO specifically asked for game makers and nomessages was referring to game makers and not to any particular game when he posted.
The game Shattered Horizon was released on 4 November 2009, that is almost three months, not a year ago.
As Shattered Horizon is a game, then Futuremark is a game maker.
Specifically a game maker that makes at least one game with extremely high hardware requirements, with very few people being able to play it.
Now, we can argue if Futuremark is a 'sane' game maker...
While it is true for games like the second Deus Ex, with hopelessly dumbed down controls and less features, in fact, any FPS, some games do not share that fate:
Batman Arkham Asylum is an excellent game that is very good on PC. Also, games like NFS Shift feel a lot better with a good Logitech steering wheel on PC that they can feel with a gamepad, any gamepad.
This looks like a game to me, no matter how strictly you define "game":
http://store.steampowered.com/app/18110/
Databases.
IT doesn't matter if a C program can use fancy algorithms.
It all depends on the format used to store the data in a DB. Blame the old DBAs from these systems, not the programmers.
My comment is just a reductio ad absurdum attempt to disproof of the GP premise. It doesn't have anything to do with my eyes.
As I have been downmodded and flamed for my comment, I assume my attempt is flawed.
The reductio ad absurdum works like this:
1. You assume the premise is true.
2. You then logically reach a contradiction.
3. Premise is disproved.
Finally, I don't need to upgrade anything in my eyes, at least for one year, as I have new eyeglasses.
Now that is amazing.
My post was not a circular argument, but rather a crude reductio ad absurdum to disproof GP post.
Technically, the framerate is not just high, because it is not a quantifiable quantity, unless we can manufacture a sensor that can detect a particle moving a Planck length over a Planck time. The framerate of reality is more likely describable as unmeasurable or close to infinity.
I have just bought about 40 games in Steam for just $100, in the Christmas shopping season.
That would mean about two games for a console.
However, I'm a bargain guy. My 21" CRT was about $25.
(All prices in USD)
OK reality is blurry. I see a fly in the air and it has blurry wings.
However, if reality is blurry, why can a high speed camera capture the wings moving without any blur at all?
It seems that experimental evidence totally contradicts your statement.
What about the bosses who waste time having 'new' ideas about features instead of answering emails (I know of someone who reads his emails at least a week later), or taking decisions when they are the only ones with the authority to do so (they want to have all the power to micromanage but are too lazy to really do so) and all the other stuff that bosses should do?
Salesman have it easier. They play golf while working!
Even customer support guys go an visit clients for one hour and take leisure for another one.
If you think that only IT people enjoy free time, you are a very wrong.
The only difference is that we waste time in the computer and leave a trail that sysadmins can follow.
No. you sound like a f****ng basterd who read too many Taylorist ideas.
I don't miss headlines and my code is (somewhat) nice, with a couple of novel ideas I am really proud of. I worked too hard in the last three months and it really affected me. Too much stress, etc. I feel like I am burned out.
For the next deadline I negotiated my deadlines aggressively and now I'm working in a much nicer way. But I still feel I need some time to recover from the burnout.
The point that should be taken into account about the article is not what the developers seem to do or not to do. Its the missing deadlines. The bad code. Results and results only. Everything else is misleading.
Avatar is amazingly better than Phantom Menace.
It's predictable, but it is not annoying and nobody talks like a rapper.
They are huge and because I already use regular eyeglasses, I couldn't feel the 3D glasses at all.
Stick to the 2D version if you want. It's your loss.
Picasso ?
It uses the Linux kernel.
But it is not a Linux distro in the traditional sense, there's no common GNU/UNIX stack there, everything on top of the kernel is custom software made by Google.
It doesn't matter what the marketroids think the product is mean to compete with.
I only want to carry one device of that size. So far this seems to be the right approach: http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/
In fact the less devices and longer battery life, the better.
Don't forget that Alfred Hitchcock was a North American citizen (since 1956), and made Hollywood movies.
Also: I dare you to predict the end of Primer.
You could have said: modern blockbuster Hollywood movies are predictable, compared with everything else past or present.
Please read Heinlein and MOPI and then come back to try to define what Science Fiction is. It can even be argued that Avatar is Hard Science Fiction.
Now, about the movie, to me the problem was that it was so full of clichés, so predictable, that only the beautiful images and the 3D-ness of them were appealing.
I do plan to buy another desktop soon. And a tablet PC too.
One doesn't negate the other. Unless you only read email and facebook, that's it.
I have tiny hands compared to you, and I still hate laptop keyboards, so don't think you are alone in that respect.
I think that you are going to the other extreme, like in a gut response.
He (the article writer) says: Excessive superfluous comments are bad (point 3).
You say: No comments are bad.
Both are right, but no one is answering the other arguments.
In fact, you both agree about point 2: not all comments make the code more readable, he makes a general statement, you complain about 'hack' comments.
It seems that it would do you good to read about quantifiers in logic proofs.
I think the point of the people who wants realism is this:
In the past, games were harder, were in fact 'Nintendo Hard'. If you beat one of those games, you have all the rights to brag about it online, in real life, everywhere. You still have these bragging rights for old school Nintendo games.
Nowadays, games are far easier, with elastic AI (think NFS Underground) and if they are hard enough then people complain and never play again (as it happened with Sniper Elite).
However, people still brag about beating these easy games. So, I conjecture that what the 'realistic' party wants is a game where you have to earn your bragging rights.
So far there are very good examples of this. iRacing is a racing game/service where if you are number one you totally deserve at least to test drive the real thing. And you need a lot of hours dedicated to the game to be able to achieve this. Bragging rights totally deserved.
I think this Sniper Elite game also counts for that, in a far lesser scale. You have to aim higher at long range because the bullet travels downward, and it takes some time for it to reach the target. It's more difficult than snipers in other games, so if you get a really long distance kill you can post a video of it in youtube and receive kudos for it. Also: getting shot really hurts. You do everything you can to avoid getting shot, in fact you do everything you can to avoid been seen, there is no running towards the armed enemies trying to be a faster gun. This last point is what the article is about. Some dude beating the Batman game using Batman fists and getting shot in the face all the time.
In the end, I think this is why all games should have difficulty settings. In fact most of them do!
You play on easy if you want to escape reality for a while and relax.
You play on hard if you want 'realistic' bragging-rights-deserving gameplay.
Hey, this whole article is a non-issue.
FYI: these kind of battles still happen in Colombia: the army v.s. the FARC.
I just need to talk to anyone who was drafted in the army to hear such stories.