IL-2 uses so-called "dirty java" which means that the game logic and most of the engine is java, but parts of it uses C++. Most of the C++ code is for DirectSound and DirectInput (which along with the commercial viability of the other platforms, I assume, is why it hasn't been ported), but the graphics engine probably has C++ code in it too. I don't have all the info, but you can check the forums on their official website. It might have more details. It's really an excellent game. The best WWII flight sim to date.
Yes, that's right.
For instance, the incredible flight sim IL-2 Sturmovik (which is 90% written in Java) only PRETENDS to run at 60+ fps on my Coppermine system. Go back and hide under your bridge, troll.
Good point. But I'm absolutely positive games help your vocabulary -- at least if you're a non-native English speaker, like me. I credit the Lucasarts adventure games and those lengthy old Microprose manuals for my near-perfect English grammar. When you're young and impressionable, it really helps to have an INCENTIVE to read... like being able to finish a game, finding out about the Immelmann maneuver from the manual, or whatnot.
Yes, Hollywood probably had a hand in improving my English, too (we subtitle everything in Sweden) but for reading comprehension and grammar, there's no beating a good old-fashioned point-n'-click.
Looking at the Halo 2 demo it looked like an enjoyable romp. However, the textures, geometry and general feeling looked almost identical to Halo 1, but with a lot more scripting. I was very impressed with the work that had gone into the scene, but it hardly looked revolutionary to me. More like the logical next step.
The HL2 videos on the other hand, absolutely blew me away. Sure, it was also heavily scripted. But the facial expressions of the characters, the positively stunning art direction (that sequence by the bridge? oh man!) the creepiness and the sheer creativity of it all gave me goose bumps.
So; I'm not holding my breath for Halo2. It just looks like more of the same: shoot aliens, watch cutscene, shoot aliens from warthog, watch cutscene. Etc. But HL2 looks absolutely incredible.
(these are all personal opinions, of course. but my main point is that halo2 seemed to lack innovation, and tried to make up for it in scripting.)
No, you're not alone in hating The Sims. It was an okay game, I suppose, for wasting a few hours... but it got boring pretty quickly. And talk about milking a franchise! What's it now, seven "expansions"? Ooo, now you can have a pet! Oooo, now you can have a picnic! Oo, now you can have homosexual sims! Etc etc, ad nauseam. But what really gets to me is that PEOPLE ARE BUYING IT! Why?!?
$random_sims_expansion has been on the bestselling list for what, two years now? EA are swimming in sims cash, so now they've decided to expand that concept to other games as well (bf1942 for instance... *sob*). I blame those icky Sims players for making everyone have to pay through the nose for expansions. The cost of those "expansions" are like having a monthly fee. I absolutely loathe it:(
This is the second so-called "Expansion pack" to hit BF1942, and the game hasn't even been out for a year. Really, the new stuff in Road to Rome was *NOT* worth paying for - they could just as well have released it as a patch. I smell EA behind this (The Sims and its thousand expansions, anyone?) and I think it'll only get worse from here on, unless people see this for what it is... highway robbery. I mean, they can't seriously expect me to cough up $30 every four months for a couple new maps+weapons, can they? BF1942 is an incredibly cool game as it is, so just keep supporting it with patches and fixes. Leave the new maps, weapons and features for the modders, or BF1943.
Blah. I call Troll on your post. Sure, some programmers can be smelly and obnoxious, I'm not arguing that. But hey, you know what? So can other people! Most geeks are talkative and intelligent, and DO know how to hold a conversation - if only you'd have the courage to step down from your little mountain of stereotypes and talk to them. Nobody deserves to be beaten up and cast out just because someone believes "oh, they're nerds, they do this and that, let's kick their ass". I've never seen any geek that fits your description, and I can't for the life of me realize why you got modded up! Open your eyes and see for yourself what the world is like - don't take anyone else's word for it.
That's a whole lotta bitterness crammed into one article! Sure, Swedish high school could be miserable at times, but it was nothing like this. I suspect he's exaggerating (is he?) but still, the cafeteria at our school was just... a cafeteria. No D tables. I think he's absolutely dead-on in his analysis of the culture, though - if kids aren't given a place in our culture, they will create one of their own. And it won't be a pretty one.
We already have something similar to this in Sweden, called Lunarstorm. It's got picture uploads, friendfinders, guestbooks, discussion forums, interaction via SMS and mobile phones, voting, voice messages - you name it. It's a very feature-complete site and it's got an incredibly high market penetration among the youth of Sweden and I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I say that at least 70% of Swedish teens have a Lunarstorm account. It's a "community" on the outside, but Lunarstorm is used almost solely for meeting chicks (or guys, depending on gender/preference:)). Recently they've recently adopted a pay model where you can pay a small sum each month to get access to the 'plus' features. They're doing pretty well.
So what am I getting at? Well, Sweden's a pretty small country, but the sheer momentum of teenagers registered on Lunarstorm creates a singularity that draws everyone in. I wouldn't be surprised if their market penetration among teens reaches 90% in a year or two, if they're not already there. If all your friends have Lunar accounts, you're going to get one, too. If Microsoft can gather the critical mass of teenagers, and deploy something like this in the ol' US of A, it could be massive. They'd get an instant reputation boost among younger people, a chance to market stuff to the teens (Lunarstorm has many insidious ways of doing this), a way of sneaking new software on people (Microsoft DRM mp3's are even in the article!) and, if they've got the balls, a new source of income provided they adopt some sort of pay model. Could be a smart move! Or, it could flop, of course. I'm no genie:)
I'll dare state this, however: it's all about the critical mass. If Microsoft are clever, they'll subtly make it about the boy-girl interaction. Powerful stuff, that!
Some parts of it were coherent and insightful, but he also said stuff like: Unfortunately, network protocols have turned out to be a far better fit for this middleman role, and Microsoft, intent on propping up the PC franchise, has had to resist fully embracing the network integration model. This corporate case of denial has left a vacuum, of course, into which hardware companies, enterprises, and disgruntled Microsoft wannabes have poured huge quantities of often inferior, but nonetheless requirements-driven, open source software.
Huh? Open sourcers are "disgruntled Microsoft wannabes"? Most open source software was created because either a) There WAS no such program, and someone needed it b) There was a program, but it lacked certain features/was too expensive/the author just wanted to write a new one, etc
He clearly understands how big a force the Open Source community is becoming, and how it will affect Microsoft - but he doesn't seem to grasp the reasons. And his remedy was very vague to me. So, Microsoft should stop looking over their shoulder, and go with network apps instead of their OS... what network apps would those be? Yeah, if Microsoft doesn't change and roll with the punches, they surely will be going down. But I'm not sure their future lies in some fluffy concept of platform-independent "networked applications". I don't think we'll see a networked linux version of Office anytime soon, but it's good to know the ol' 800 pound gorilla is starting to get anxious.
Well, that's something they face with every rollout. Production problems weren't the reason 3dfx went under at the time, it was a few rather unlucky business decisions. 3dfx had almost monopolized the 3d accelerator business some years ago, but their buyout of STB and decision to start producing chips in-house were what killed them off (Tim Zegers wrote a little postmortem about it).
Yeah, nVidia is in a very strong position right now, but such things can change overnight (after all, they shot 3dfx out of the water during one single product cycle themselves). I don't think they're seriously threatened yet, given the hype surrounding the FX chip - but failure to deliver on their promises can put them in dire straits pretty quickly!
Actually, I've never seen an official cellphone connector for the GBA. Perhaps it's available in Japan, as you say, but I think I'd have heard of it - sort of like the E-card reader which is finally making its way here. Yay for 4k NES games on little paper cards:) Anyway, while I haven't seen any OFFICIAL connectors, a hungarian kid calling himself ph0x has hacked together one of his own. It looks really awesome, he has posted some photos and video of it in action in action. I'm sure developers would jump at the chance to play with GBA+phone. At least the homebrew scene is pretty excited:)
If my name was William H Gates III, I wouldn't even SUPPORT the new format unless they twisted my arm (and then I'd implement the buggiest, shoddiest parser you'd ever seen for it). If MS Office doesn't support a format, it doesn't exist. Simple as that.
Joe Consumer won't ever know it existed, and my megacorp can continue plodding its way to world hegemony, or Wherever It Wants To Go Today(tm).
Not only did the lawyer make legally unjustified claims/threats, he also spelled "Millennium" wrong. That word seems capable of defeating even the most robotlike lawyer.
Perhaps the word "Millennium" is our secret weapon against the DMCA!
My favorite part is how FBI agents will now "discretely" arrive at victims' offices.
- Yes. I've been looking for you, Neo. I don't know if you're ready to see what I want to show you, but unfortunately you and I have run out of time. They're coming for you, Neo, and I don't know what they're going to do.
- Who's coming for me?
- Stand up and see for yourself.
- What, right now?
- Yes, now. Do it slowly. The elevator.
Listen to the guy in the article: "Basically, three years of work to get to the top of the teams and eight million WU later, it looks as though the top team is going to be beaten by cheating," said Nealon.
Sure, the stats are fun. But once you make a competition of it, people are going to start cheating - doesn't matter if the only reward is seeing your name at the top of your group in some brute force number-crunching exercise. Even the legal users care mostly about where they are in the stats, not about the point of the project itself. I mean, look at the popularity of ProgressQuest.
If I were SETI@Home, I'd remove the stats. Sure, you'd lose humungous amounts of CPU power when the $r1p7 kiddies abandon the project, but if you're getting millions of WUs of flawed data sent back to you, you need to do something drastic. Besides, they've got a pretty strong brand by now, and I'm sure a lot of users would stick with them just for the good of the cause, not just for the dubious honor of being at the top of the stats.
Slashdot Mirror
IL-2 uses so-called "dirty java" which means that the game logic and most of the engine is java, but parts of it uses C++. Most of the C++ code is for DirectSound and DirectInput (which along with the commercial viability of the other platforms, I assume, is why it hasn't been ported), but the graphics engine probably has C++ code in it too. I don't have all the info, but you can check the forums on their official website. It might have more details.
It's really an excellent game. The best WWII flight sim to date.
Yes, that's right.
For instance, the incredible flight sim IL-2 Sturmovik (which is 90% written in Java) only PRETENDS to run at 60+ fps on my Coppermine system. Go back and hide under your bridge, troll.
Good point. But I'm absolutely positive games help your vocabulary -- at least if you're a non-native English speaker, like me. I credit the Lucasarts adventure games and those lengthy old Microprose manuals for my near-perfect English grammar. When you're young and impressionable, it really helps to have an INCENTIVE to read... like being able to finish a game, finding out about the Immelmann maneuver from the manual, or whatnot.
Yes, Hollywood probably had a hand in improving my English, too (we subtitle everything in Sweden) but for reading comprehension and grammar, there's no beating a good old-fashioned point-n'-click.
Just teach 'em x86 assembly. That stuff builds character!
Nah. Only Microsoft do that, because they have huge overflowing chests of gold in their basement and can afford it.
The Gord has a thing or two to say about this.
Looking at the Halo 2 demo it looked like an enjoyable romp. However, the textures, geometry and general feeling looked almost identical to Halo 1, but with a lot more scripting. I was very impressed with the work that had gone into the scene, but it hardly looked revolutionary to me. More like the logical next step. The HL2 videos on the other hand, absolutely blew me away. Sure, it was also heavily scripted. But the facial expressions of the characters, the positively stunning art direction (that sequence by the bridge? oh man!) the creepiness and the sheer creativity of it all gave me goose bumps. So; I'm not holding my breath for Halo2. It just looks like more of the same: shoot aliens, watch cutscene, shoot aliens from warthog, watch cutscene. Etc. But HL2 looks absolutely incredible. (these are all personal opinions, of course. but my main point is that halo2 seemed to lack innovation, and tried to make up for it in scripting.)
No, you're not alone in hating The Sims. It was an okay game, I suppose, for wasting a few hours... but it got boring pretty quickly. And talk about milking a franchise! What's it now, seven "expansions"? Ooo, now you can have a pet! Oooo, now you can have a picnic! Oo, now you can have homosexual sims! Etc etc, ad nauseam. But what really gets to me is that PEOPLE ARE BUYING IT! Why?!?
:(
$random_sims_expansion has been on the bestselling list for what, two years now? EA are swimming in sims cash, so now they've decided to expand that concept to other games as well (bf1942 for instance... *sob*). I blame those icky Sims players for making everyone have to pay through the nose for expansions. The cost of those "expansions" are like having a monthly fee. I absolutely loathe it
But what is Penny Arcade supposed to joke about, now that the Xbox controller is smaller and more stylish?
Oh, the humanity!
Well, the Infogrames armadillo was cool and all, but that "Fuji" logo is simply one of the most beautiful pieces of graphic design ever.
EVER.
This is the second so-called "Expansion pack" to hit BF1942, and the game hasn't even been out for a year. Really, the new stuff in Road to Rome was *NOT* worth paying for - they could just as well have released it as a patch. I smell EA behind this (The Sims and its thousand expansions, anyone?) and I think it'll only get worse from here on, unless people see this for what it is... highway robbery.
I mean, they can't seriously expect me to cough up $30 every four months for a couple new maps+weapons, can they? BF1942 is an incredibly cool game as it is, so just keep supporting it with patches and fixes. Leave the new maps, weapons and features for the modders, or BF1943.
Blah. I call Troll on your post. Sure, some programmers can be smelly and obnoxious, I'm not arguing that. But hey, you know what? So can other people! Most geeks are talkative and intelligent, and DO know how to hold a conversation - if only you'd have the courage to step down from your little mountain of stereotypes and talk to them. Nobody deserves to be beaten up and cast out just because someone believes "oh, they're nerds, they do this and that, let's kick their ass". I've never seen any geek that fits your description, and I can't for the life of me realize why you got modded up! Open your eyes and see for yourself what the world is like - don't take anyone else's word for it.
That's a whole lotta bitterness crammed into one article! Sure, Swedish high school could be miserable at times, but it was nothing like this. I suspect he's exaggerating (is he?) but still, the cafeteria at our school was just... a cafeteria. No D tables. I think he's absolutely dead-on in his analysis of the culture, though - if kids aren't given a place in our culture, they will create one of their own. And it won't be a pretty one.
We already have something similar to this in Sweden, called Lunarstorm. It's got picture uploads, friendfinders, guestbooks, discussion forums, interaction via SMS and mobile phones, voting, voice messages - you name it. It's a very feature-complete site and it's got an incredibly high market penetration among the youth of Sweden and I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I say that at least 70% of Swedish teens have a Lunarstorm account. It's a "community" on the outside, but Lunarstorm is used almost solely for meeting chicks (or guys, depending on gender/preference :)). Recently they've recently adopted a pay model where you can pay a small sum each month to get access to the 'plus' features. They're doing pretty well.
:)
So what am I getting at? Well, Sweden's a pretty small country, but the sheer momentum of teenagers registered on Lunarstorm creates a singularity that draws everyone in. I wouldn't be surprised if their market penetration among teens reaches 90% in a year or two, if they're not already there. If all your friends have Lunar accounts, you're going to get one, too. If Microsoft can gather the critical mass of teenagers, and deploy something like this in the ol' US of A, it could be massive. They'd get an instant reputation boost among younger people, a chance to market stuff to the teens (Lunarstorm has many insidious ways of doing this), a way of sneaking new software on people (Microsoft DRM mp3's are even in the article!) and, if they've got the balls, a new source of income provided they adopt some sort of pay model. Could be a smart move! Or, it could flop, of course. I'm no genie
I'll dare state this, however: it's all about the critical mass. If Microsoft are clever, they'll subtly make it about the boy-girl interaction. Powerful stuff, that!
Some parts of it were coherent and insightful, but he also said stuff like:
Unfortunately, network protocols have turned out to be a far better fit for this middleman role, and Microsoft, intent on propping up the PC franchise, has had to resist fully embracing the network integration model. This corporate case of denial has left a vacuum, of course, into which hardware companies, enterprises, and disgruntled Microsoft wannabes have poured huge quantities of often inferior, but nonetheless requirements-driven, open source software.
Huh? Open sourcers are "disgruntled Microsoft wannabes"? Most open source software was created because either
a) There WAS no such program, and someone needed it
b) There was a program, but it lacked certain features/was too expensive/the author just wanted to write a new one, etc
He clearly understands how big a force the Open Source community is becoming, and how it will affect Microsoft - but he doesn't seem to grasp the reasons. And his remedy was very vague to me. So, Microsoft should stop looking over their shoulder, and go with network apps instead of their OS... what network apps would those be? Yeah, if Microsoft doesn't change and roll with the punches, they surely will be going down. But I'm not sure their future lies in some fluffy concept of platform-independent "networked applications". I don't think we'll see a networked linux version of Office anytime soon, but it's good to know the ol' 800 pound gorilla is starting to get anxious.
Well, that's something they face with every rollout. Production problems weren't the reason 3dfx went under at the time, it was a few rather unlucky business decisions. 3dfx had almost monopolized the 3d accelerator business some years ago, but their buyout of STB and decision to start producing chips in-house were what killed them off (Tim Zegers wrote a little postmortem about it).
Yeah, nVidia is in a very strong position right now, but such things can change overnight (after all, they shot 3dfx out of the water during one single product cycle themselves). I don't think they're seriously threatened yet, given the hype surrounding the FX chip - but failure to deliver on their promises can put them in dire straits pretty quickly!
Actually, I've never seen an official cellphone connector for the GBA. Perhaps it's available in Japan, as you say, but I think I'd have heard of it - sort of like the E-card reader which is finally making its way here. Yay for 4k NES games on little paper cards :) :)
Anyway, while I haven't seen any OFFICIAL connectors, a hungarian kid calling himself ph0x has hacked together one of his own. It looks really awesome, he has posted some photos and video of it in action in action. I'm sure developers would jump at the chance to play with GBA+phone. At least the homebrew scene is pretty excited
Surely Cutter Slade will step in! He has already saved Adelpha once, and our daring hero can do it again!
If my name was William H Gates III, I wouldn't even SUPPORT the new format unless they twisted my arm (and then I'd implement the buggiest, shoddiest parser you'd ever seen for it). If MS Office doesn't support a format, it doesn't exist. Simple as that.
Joe Consumer won't ever know it existed, and my megacorp can continue plodding its way to world hegemony, or Wherever It Wants To Go Today(tm).
Not only did the lawyer make legally unjustified claims/threats, he also spelled "Millennium" wrong. That word seems capable of defeating even the most robotlike lawyer.
Perhaps the word "Millennium" is our secret weapon against the DMCA!
The second site actually has the alpha up for download. Someone's in for a HEFTY bill, methinks.
To paraphrase mr. LaGrande himself:
Wherever you go
on sea or land
you can't ever hide
from Largo LaGrande!
My favorite part is how FBI agents will now "discretely" arrive at victims' offices.
- Yes. I've been looking for you, Neo. I don't know if you're ready to see what I want to show you, but unfortunately you and I have run out of time. They're coming for you, Neo, and I don't know what they're going to do.
- Who's coming for me?
- Stand up and see for yourself.
- What, right now?
- Yes, now. Do it slowly. The elevator.
Preview is my friend
The winner was definitely more impressive. Somehow, it reminds me of Marty Feldman...
Listen to the guy in the article:
"Basically, three years of work to get to the top of the teams and eight million WU later, it looks as though the top team is going to be beaten by cheating," said Nealon.
Sure, the stats are fun. But once you make a competition of it, people are going to start cheating - doesn't matter if the only reward is seeing your name at the top of your group in some brute force number-crunching exercise. Even the legal users care mostly about where they are in the stats, not about the point of the project itself. I mean, look at the popularity of ProgressQuest.
If I were SETI@Home, I'd remove the stats. Sure, you'd lose humungous amounts of CPU power when the $r1p7 kiddies abandon the project, but if you're getting millions of WUs of flawed data sent back to you, you need to do something drastic. Besides, they've got a pretty strong brand by now, and I'm sure a lot of users would stick with them just for the good of the cause, not just for the dubious honor of being at the top of the stats.