And the best part is, since its open AND uses very popular standards, you can test your games on your DESKTOP during development. You could easily produce GP2X games without even owning the console. Map your keyboard to produce the same button events as the console buttons, put your monitor into the proper resolution, and boom, youre gaming.
There is a devkit, and a massive amount of documentation both official and user-created. There is no "SDK" per se, as there is nothing proprietary to be explained. The entire concept of an SDK is moot on an open source platform. Every bit of the system is already completely documented, and has been since before this console was designed. You don't need a graphics or audio SDK, it uses SDL just like a few thousand other linux AND windows games.
A group of people DID make an open-source-friendly, Linux-based handheld game console called the GP2X, a successor to the GP32. It rocks. Two 200MHz CPUs (one acts as a 2D GPU), emulates pretty much everything up to SNES (and PSX very very slowly). 3.5" screen, 8 buttons and an 8-way dpad.
The monthly price for Planetside IS too high. But if a similar game was published for, say, 1/3 the price, I would definitely pay for it. I love the game, and the concept, but I play FPS in too rare of a pattern to pay the same monthly fee as for a MMORPG where i spend 20 hours a week.
What if they use just one LCD touchscreen and provide an extra button to toggle which page it displays? It could be as small or smaller than the GBA SP
LCDs that size will not be very high resolution. And the higher the costlier. Just think, if anyone could squeeze 800x600 onto a 35mm LCD then they could produce 12000x9000 desktop LCDs. 160x120 LCDs in that size range arent too hard to find, and you might get your hands on something that can do 320x240, but thats about it.
The vehicle described here, and built as a prototype, has 4 square wheels each with different orientations (evenly spaced). When the front left wheel sits flat the rear left wheel is 1/16th of a turn from being flat. Shifting the center of gravity of the car towards that rear left wheel causes it to 'fall' forward to sit flat, which rotates all 4 wheels 1/16th of a turn. The front left wheel is now 1/16th past flat (and 3/16ths from the lying flat on its next side) and the rear right wheel is 1/16th from being flat. Shift the weight to the rear right and it rolls forward another 1/16th of a turn. This produces moderately wobbly and slightly jerky motion, but could prove to be a simpler method of locomotion at very small scales, especially if magnetism instead of gravity is used to pull the wheels down/forward.
How many iPods do you think a cashier at a store like WalMart sells? The average might only ring up 3 iPods the entire time they work there, and in that same time they see a hundred 'lesser' mp3 players that ring up for as little as 1/10th the price. $4.99 IS a little extreme, but I have seen plenty of 32MB players for $20. *IF* they are paying enough attention to notice what kind of product they are selling theres still nothing unusual about it considering that the majority already cost that little.
(ignore immediately previous post, extraneous < ruined it.)
For maximum efficient endurance I am not sure if I would go with gas or glow engines or electric motors. Definitely not turbines. The advances in lithium polymer batteries recently have made ultra high endurance electric sailplanes a reality. Hour+ flight times at 30+mph on a plane with a 4-6' wingspan that costs under $200.
As to cameras, youll find that with a proper mount there is no need to shut down the engine except for the most high res of shots. Details on hobbyist aerial photography here.
For maximum efficient endurance I am not sure if I would go with gas or glow engines or electric motors. The advances in lithium polymer batteries recently have made ultra high endurance electric sailplanes a reality. Hour+ flight times at 30+mph on a here.
10k? I can build you a plane capable of carrying a 5 pound laptop and 4 cameras a hundred miles for under USD1000, as can any of a thousand other rc enthusiasts. Autonomous UAVs have been WELL within the realm of hobbyist flight for a decade, its just the AI that is missing.
That has nothing to do with the web site and everything to do with your web browser and OS. Points are a PHYSICAL measurement. 1/72 of an inch. 36 point type is 1/2 inch tall. If your text gets smaller when you raise your monitor resolution then either your font sizes are specified in pixels, not points, or your software is broken.
Windows takes a naive approach with a global DPI setting, but if you make sure that that setting is correct then compliant software will render fonts the right size. Most Linux GUIs actually poll the monitor for the proper measurements so they get it right automagically, but some environments and individual programs (like GIMP and Inkscape) let you do exact calibration via a 'Measure this line. How many inches long is it?' dialog. When I open a 4x6 photo in GIMP it displays exactly 4"x6". When I draw 36pt text it is exactly 1/2" tall. If you suffer from shrinking fonts, get better software.
Lucky for you these recordings are in the public domain, which means anyone can distribute them under any license they want. I hereby license them to Wikipedia under the license.
EQ had about 2x as many players, at once and total subscribed, as UO. That isnt really a massive increase, they are well within the same league (the 100k-500k league, give or take).
And this only measures popularity. For games with individual shards/servers more players dont make the game any different. No matter how many players WoW or EQ gets there will still be 1000-3000 per server, which means the gameplay on any given server will still be the same (although this does not follow for shrinking games, as EQ is now combining servers on the down-slope of their growth curve).
I use my PDA as an extension of my desktop as I roam my house and the neighborhood, and it goes in my car with a GPS unit as a navigation/mp3 system. I have been looking for a larger replacement (something with a 5-6" VGA screen would be great), and this was almost perfect. Unfortunately it fails in two ways. First, the CPU is slow. 200MHz doesn't cut it when most other portables are running 400+. Second, the controls. I use my portables for gaming. Lots of console emulation, some native linux (and wince, ick) games. That means I require at least 4 buttons, preferably 6 or more, in a two-hand-friendly configuration, which this system does not have.
Slashdot Mirror
Shut up? You're in for a year of 'We told you so' from the nintendo fanboys once it comes out.
But there are two in LOOSE. As in "I am going to loose this arrow."
That is a horribly bad comparison. If you are going to praise Ubuntu, compare it to Kubuntu, the KDE Ubuntu distro.
And the best part is, since its open AND uses very popular standards, you can test your games on your DESKTOP during development. You could easily produce GP2X games without even owning the console. Map your keyboard to produce the same button events as the console buttons, put your monitor into the proper resolution, and boom, youre gaming.
There is a devkit, and a massive amount of documentation both official and user-created. There is no "SDK" per se, as there is nothing proprietary to be explained. The entire concept of an SDK is moot on an open source platform. Every bit of the system is already completely documented, and has been since before this console was designed. You don't need a graphics or audio SDK, it uses SDL just like a few thousand other linux AND windows games.
A group of people DID make an open-source-friendly, Linux-based handheld game console called the GP2X, a successor to the GP32. It rocks. Two 200MHz CPUs (one acts as a 2D GPU), emulates pretty much everything up to SNES (and PSX very very slowly). 3.5" screen, 8 buttons and an 8-way dpad.
The monthly price for Planetside IS too high. But if a similar game was published for, say, 1/3 the price, I would definitely pay for it. I love the game, and the concept, but I play FPS in too rare of a pattern to pay the same monthly fee as for a MMORPG where i spend 20 hours a week.
which part of "a PC DVD-ROM can't read those[original discs]" was hard for you to comprehend?
What if they use just one LCD touchscreen and provide an extra button to toggle which page it displays? It could be as small or smaller than the GBA SP
i never even knew freshmeat had access keys. thanks!
LCDs that size will not be very high resolution. And the higher the costlier. Just think, if anyone could squeeze 800x600 onto a 35mm LCD then they could produce 12000x9000 desktop LCDs. 160x120 LCDs in that size range arent too hard to find, and you might get your hands on something that can do 320x240, but thats about it.
The vehicle described here, and built as a prototype, has 4 square wheels each with different orientations (evenly spaced). When the front left wheel sits flat the rear left wheel is 1/16th of a turn from being flat. Shifting the center of gravity of the car towards that rear left wheel causes it to 'fall' forward to sit flat, which rotates all 4 wheels 1/16th of a turn. The front left wheel is now 1/16th past flat (and 3/16ths from the lying flat on its next side) and the rear right wheel is 1/16th from being flat. Shift the weight to the rear right and it rolls forward another 1/16th of a turn. This produces moderately wobbly and slightly jerky motion, but could prove to be a simpler method of locomotion at very small scales, especially if magnetism instead of gravity is used to pull the wheels down/forward.
How many iPods do you think a cashier at a store like WalMart sells? The average might only ring up 3 iPods the entire time they work there, and in that same time they see a hundred 'lesser' mp3 players that ring up for as little as 1/10th the price. $4.99 IS a little extreme, but I have seen plenty of 32MB players for $20. *IF* they are paying enough attention to notice what kind of product they are selling theres still nothing unusual about it considering that the majority already cost that little.
(ignore immediately previous post, extraneous < ruined it.)
For maximum efficient endurance I am not sure if I would go with gas or glow engines or electric motors. Definitely not turbines. The advances in lithium polymer batteries recently have made ultra high endurance electric sailplanes a reality. Hour+ flight times at 30+mph on a plane with a 4-6' wingspan that costs under $200.
As to cameras, youll find that with a proper mount there is no need to shut down the engine except for the most high res of shots. Details on hobbyist aerial photography here.
For maximum efficient endurance I am not sure if I would go with gas or glow engines or electric motors. The advances in lithium polymer batteries recently have made ultra high endurance electric sailplanes a reality. Hour+ flight times at 30+mph on a here.
10k? I can build you a plane capable of carrying a 5 pound laptop and 4 cameras a hundred miles for under USD1000, as can any of a thousand other rc enthusiasts. Autonomous UAVs have been WELL within the realm of hobbyist flight for a decade, its just the AI that is missing.
That has nothing to do with the web site and everything to do with your web browser and OS. Points are a PHYSICAL measurement. 1/72 of an inch. 36 point type is 1/2 inch tall. If your text gets smaller when you raise your monitor resolution then either your font sizes are specified in pixels, not points, or your software is broken.
Windows takes a naive approach with a global DPI setting, but if you make sure that that setting is correct then compliant software will render fonts the right size. Most Linux GUIs actually poll the monitor for the proper measurements so they get it right automagically, but some environments and individual programs (like GIMP and Inkscape) let you do exact calibration via a 'Measure this line. How many inches long is it?' dialog. When I open a 4x6 photo in GIMP it displays exactly 4"x6". When I draw 36pt text it is exactly 1/2" tall. If you suffer from shrinking fonts, get better software.
And this is why so many people will not buy software distributed via Steam.
What he said.
Lucky for you these recordings are in the public domain, which means anyone can distribute them under any license they want. I hereby license them to Wikipedia under the license.
As another grandchild of the parent pointed out, Batman existed before the movies. WAY before.
err, almost every other console FPS since the invention of dual analog sticks has has the same control system.
Dont post here, Contact Introversion!
EQ had about 2x as many players, at once and total subscribed, as UO. That isnt really a massive increase, they are well within the same league (the 100k-500k league, give or take).
And this only measures popularity. For games with individual shards/servers more players dont make the game any different. No matter how many players WoW or EQ gets there will still be 1000-3000 per server, which means the gameplay on any given server will still be the same (although this does not follow for shrinking games, as EQ is now combining servers on the down-slope of their growth curve).
I use my PDA as an extension of my desktop as I roam my house and the neighborhood, and it goes in my car with a GPS unit as a navigation/mp3 system. I have been looking for a larger replacement (something with a 5-6" VGA screen would be great), and this was almost perfect. Unfortunately it fails in two ways. First, the CPU is slow. 200MHz doesn't cut it when most other portables are running 400+. Second, the controls. I use my portables for gaming. Lots of console emulation, some native linux (and wince, ick) games. That means I require at least 4 buttons, preferably 6 or more, in a two-hand-friendly configuration, which this system does not have.