Space games are pretty easy to write. It you have an idea for one that is a bit different, maybe you could whip it up yourself and see if it is fun. That is what I did.
I did, for a table-top RPG. Never got to playtest it, though. The trick was to get a balance where several different strategies could work. Observe that there are sub sims about for computers.
Anyone else tired of the "battleship model" of space combat, with heavily armed and armoured ships duking it out, taking multiple hits before finally succumbing to accumulated damage?
I figure space combat will be more similar to submarine combat. Space is huge, the ships will be fragile, weapons will pack a massive punch. These factors will force ships to rely on sensors, hiding and avoidance to achieve their aims.
I imagine that we will have ships hiding in asteriod belts, on moons and near planets, patiently waiting for their prey, unleashing a barrage of missiles and then try to disappear again while the target is busy applying countermeasures to the incoming missile swarm.
Building on the heritage started with the Model T, Ford's Model U concept begins Ford Motor Company's second century of innovation.
Equipped with an array of upgradable technologies and a multi-function tailgate, Model U can stick with you and adapt to your needs if your life changes.
20th century innovation: Mass-produced cars! 21st century innovation: Multi-function tailgate!
Using Object-Oriented constructs is no guarantee that a program is maintainable or even readable. I have seen some horrifying OOP code in my life, written by people so enamoured of syntax that they drown theircode in it.
Of course, but then again functional code also becomes horrible if the programmer doesn't know what (s)he's doing.
Use OO when it makes sense -- but use the right tool for the task at hand.
I tend to think that all projects over 1000 LOC and that has to be worked on by more than one person is a good candidate for at least consider using OOD/OOP. But I expect that any person or team who knows one paradigm well is going to produce superiour code using that paradigm. Re-training also takes time. What I'm saying is that OO will pay off in the end.
Object-oriented programming adds very little to the core functionality of a number-crunching application -- and performance is adversely affected by the overhead entailed in objects, exception handling, and other object-oriented facilities.
Using object orientation in C++ adds a very small overhead (in the vicinity of 10% if you're using virtual functions). Now I understand that the article was mostly concerned with benchmarking the languages, and I applaud the writer for specifiying that benchmarking is no "silver bullet". But I really want to stress:
Somebody has to develop and maintain the freaking program too!
Object orientation helps anything but the most trivial of applications to acvhieve better modularity and reuseability. Anyway your program is going to spend most of its time in development, not running, so anything that can help that process along is going to be a big help to your project. Please check out the benefits of the SW industries "best practices" and apply them to your project.
You will save days and months of development time, during which you can run your finished program to your heart's content.
I imagine a couple of white-coated lab workers dressing up some volunteer with probes, then standing back while Igor gets to work inducing anxiety in the subject...
Maybe an additional way to help support your favorite artists is to steal their music, then donate to them anonymously...
Then you should also pay the songwriter, the sound engineer, mixer, gaffer and the guy that made the coffee at the studio. Things then become a little more complicated.
But I absolutely see you point. Unfortunately the middle man is the one who has got the power in that industry, and he is really hanging on to it.:(
I get annoyed with Harry Turtledove's writing at times (it gets repetitive), but at least the plot keeps things going.
No, it doesn't. His WorldWar series just consists of endless episodes where the aliens repeat "But they can't have progressed this fast!". At times I just wanted to scream "Get over it and do your jobs, lizard-breath!" to the books... The whole "800 pages times three" triology could have been destilled down to one 400-page book. Then it would have been enjoyable.
Harald
He's somewhat out of touch with reality
on
Time Travel
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· Score: 1
Proof:
And what about the ethics of changing history?
There would be government laws to control time travel, he believes.
So, by ripping a CD in the US I risk $500.000 in tickets or five years in jail, according to another interview at Salon: "Mickey Mouse vs. The People".
Could anybody inform me what would happen if I burgled a music store and made off with a single CD? Would I get my hand chopped off?
Re:Not as bad as all that
on
Google Juice
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· Score: 1
Somewhere else, on this site, Scientology has been accused of using their large network of sites and members to do the same thing, driving searches for "Scientology" and related words to their own sites rather than those of debunkers. Again, this takes a large and concerted effort, which is a virtue of Google rather than a vice.
I have received several postcards from friends on vacation, addressed something like this: "Small white house across from the railway station, with Land Rover in the driveway".:-)
There might be a need for regulation, but why should it be a domain? Wouldn't a "Approved by the WHO" graphic or text and a serial number be good enough?
Slashdot Mirror
Need I say more?
Maybe not. There's a whole lot of "submarine movies" about. Some good and some bad. But the genre has potential.
I did, for a table-top RPG. Never got to playtest it, though. The trick was to get a balance where several different strategies could work. Observe that there are sub sims about for computers.
Anyone else tired of the "battleship model" of space combat, with heavily armed and armoured ships duking it out, taking multiple hits before finally succumbing to accumulated damage?
I figure space combat will be more similar to submarine combat. Space is huge, the ships will be fragile, weapons will pack a massive punch. These factors will force ships to rely on sensors, hiding and avoidance to achieve their aims.
I imagine that we will have ships hiding in asteriod belts, on moons and near planets, patiently waiting for their prey, unleashing a barrage of missiles and then try to disappear again while the target is busy applying countermeasures to the incoming missile swarm.
20th century innovation: Mass-produced cars!
21st century innovation: Multi-function tailgate!
Yeah!
Of course, but then again functional code also becomes horrible if the programmer doesn't know what (s)he's doing.
I tend to think that all projects over 1000 LOC and that has to be worked on by more than one person is a good candidate for at least consider using OOD/OOP. But I expect that any person or team who knows one paradigm well is going to produce superiour code using that paradigm. Re-training also takes time. What I'm saying is that OO will pay off in the end.
...can it sense your mood when you're loosing?
Using object orientation in C++ adds a very small overhead (in the vicinity of 10% if you're using virtual functions). Now I understand that the article was mostly concerned with benchmarking the languages, and I applaud the writer for specifiying that benchmarking is no "silver bullet". But I really want to stress:
Somebody has to develop and maintain the freaking program too!
Object orientation helps anything but the most trivial of applications to acvhieve better modularity and reuseability. Anyway your program is going to spend most of its time in development, not running, so anything that can help that process along is going to be a big help to your project. Please check out the benefits of the SW industries "best practices" and apply them to your project.
You will save days and months of development time, during which you can run your finished program to your heart's content.
And then your
Isn't this just what the author does?
Otherwise, I quite agree with your post.
PS: Please use a divider between your message and the signature. Less confusion that way.
I imagine a couple of white-coated lab workers dressing up some volunteer with probes, then standing back while Igor gets to work inducing anxiety in the subject...
Then you should also pay the songwriter, the sound engineer, mixer, gaffer and the guy that made the coffee at the studio. Things then become a little more complicated.
But I absolutely see you point. Unfortunately the middle man is the one who has got the power in that industry, and he is really hanging on to it. :(
I would argue that there is no such things as a silver bullet, in any field!
(BTW, there's no apostrophe in the possessive form of "its.")
Yeah, I know. I was being, uh, ironic. Yeah, that's it. Ironic.
... which is renowned for it's spelling prowess? ;)
For all those collectors of illegal pr0n...
A boxing game with one of these in each hand?
You have to remember that all of him is hobbit-sized in the movie...
The Interface Hall of Shame looks at the worst cases. Good for a few laughs, at least. :)
No, it doesn't. His WorldWar series just consists of endless episodes where the aliens repeat "But they can't have progressed this fast!". At times I just wanted to scream "Get over it and do your jobs, lizard-breath!" to the books... The whole "800 pages times three" triology could have been destilled down to one 400-page book. Then it would have been enjoyable.
Harald
Proof:
And what about the ethics of changing history?
There would be government laws to control time travel, he believes.
And that should reassure us?
Harald
Could anybody inform me what would happen if I burgled a music store and made off with a single CD? Would I get my hand chopped off?
It doesn't seem to be working very well. A Google search for "scientology fraud" returns everything else but the official Scientology homepage (at least on the first page). Still working...
That being said, I would hate for Google to become useless.
I have received several postcards from friends on vacation, addressed something like this: "Small white house across from the railway station, with Land Rover in the driveway". :-)
... as it has no 'Start' button. :P
Harald
Sure, but the keyword in my post was "serial number", so that it's possible to check back with the WHO and verify the rating.