In Doom 3's case the new lighting methods along with the shear level of level geometry expected of a mapper/modder has certainly slowed the rate of release for new levels and mods. It also takes quite a beast of a machine to run Doom3ed stabily and that eliminates a lot of the community from contributing.
From what we've seen HL 2 isn't quite so extreme. The basic geometry of cbble (its source is included with Hammer, so it serves as a good example) is a lot simpler than Doom 3's multiplayer maps (which were simpler than many of Doom 3's single player maps). The lighting is also more traditional in HL 2 (it's not all real time) so mappers don't have anything new to get used to there.
The prop system is much more powerful than the old pre-fab way of doing things, and not having to make any kind of serious detail with Hammer will speed things up, IMO. Instead of carefully modeling your APC out of brushes, you just import an APC model that (hopefully) someone else has already made. There's a lot of prop's included already, too, and when HL 2 is actually released it's assumed that all the models used in game will be released to the community. That's a lot of content (not just models, textures too) to sort through, though, and can definately impeed someone trying to find what they need.
The texture browser included with Hammer is pretty decent, though. It allows users to search for textures by keyword and Valve did a good job of appropriately naming each one.
Ultimately, noone can deny that creating more geometry takes more time, but the workflow of the mod tools themselves is increasing, as is the experience level of the user base. It takes more time to create a modern, good looking map, but not THAT much more...
I kind of rambled there, hopfully it all makes sense.
You need to have pre-order HL 2 on Steam to have access to the SDK, right now.
Also, it isn't the "full" SDK. You cannot compile new binaries (IE, new mods) but you can start creating maps (Hammer is included, along with a model viewer) and I'm fairly certain you can compile models (made with XSI, a light version of which can be downloaded for free here).
If you've worked with Hammer or Worldcraft before (or any brush based editor before) you should be in familiar territory. The Snark Pit and The VERC boards can provide some resources for newbies (as well as other sites, I'm sure). The included documentation is actually quite good, though.
Some content of note: There are some models in a directory labeled "C17" (which I assume is City 17) that can be viewed in the model viewer/placed into maps with hammer. Interesting content, though I haven't seen any huge spoilers yet (just things like stoves and cupboards in the directory).
There really is no way around large demos, aside from scaling back content a ton. High res textures, complex level geometry, high quality sound, all of this adds to the demo's size.
Heck, most demo's (not all, but many) are pretty short already, making them any smaller would defeat the purpose of even having a demo.
My advice, if you don't have broadband subscribe to the CD-Rom (or DVD or whatever it is now) version of PC Gamer and get your demos and trailers that way. Yeah, it sucks to essentially pay for demos, but such is life..
Yeup, registered it a few years ago when I was a bigger fan than I am now..
Still enjoy them, but I'm not the fan I once was (and yes, this is OT, but I'm willing to bet all the mods have vacated this thread, so what are you gonna do about it?:) )
If this MMORPG fails to capture the brutality of the WH universe then it'll be a definite pass for me. I'm hoping for an MMORPG with actual evidence of combat, unlike much of what's on the market today.
I know it seems shallow, but this is really a defining characteristic of the WH universe, and to not include it merely to maintain a T rating or whatever would be a travesty, IMHO...
My Karma has locked up on me only a single time, and that was while I was running in the rain with it, which probably isn't the smartest thing to do with any HD based DAP.
I don't know how you guys manage to lock yours up so often, I treat mine like total crap and it never has problems. I snowboard with it, bike with it, walk everywhere with it, mow the lawn with it, drive with it (gravel roads, speed bumps, no problems) and generally abuse the poor thing (my screen is scratched to hell because of my abuses).
Are you using the latest firmware? I guess that's been brought up before, but I can't believe you guys are using the same player as me..
Does it work properly/completely with Opera yet?
on
Gmail Adds Features
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Opera is my browser of choice (I've found it to be more stable than Firefox, if not as full featured) and so far it hasn't been compatible with G-Mail. Does this upgrade improve support for my favorite browser?
Sun Microsystems seeks to avoid oblivion by pursuing a simple but powerful strategy.
Was I the only one that assumed the author was going to tell me that Sun had rolled a warrior and put all its stat points into strength after reading that headline? Or perhaps had found a powerful ring that had increased its skill and given it an advantage over its opponents?
Me thinks the author has been watching too much made for TV fantasy..
Painting it blue makes sense, but shouldn't it be full of (security) holes as well? I'm envisioning unlocked lab after unlocked lab, no doors, open windows.
In practice with MS's security mold they would keep the blue prints under lock and key, as to keep anyone from being able to exploit these flaws, of course.
Mod me down if you want, but I'll be the one laughing when this actually happens.
Personally I prefer Mafia to any of the GTA games. Yes, it is more linear, and no it is not pointlessly brutal (although it can still be pretty violent), but I really enjoy the level of character depth and the high quality of the writing.
The game is obviously influenced by the various mobster movies/TV shows that have become popular (Godfather, especially) and I really enjoyed playing the scenarios. GTA just got old, I'd play through the missions quickly enough and then not want to do all the stuff on the side. I guess I just got burnt out on it too quickly. To each their own, I guess, they're definately very different games (but the fact that they both take place in open cities will inevitably draw comparisons.)/AC because this is OT
The "ultra" setting is not officially supported by video cards with less than 512 mb's of video memory. In other words, there are no available GPU's that could run the game at "full settings" (aside from a few workstation GPU's).
The Athlon (although on the low end) should still play Doom 3.
As for the Geforce fx 5900 (note the "fx," there is no 5900xt), that's outdated now. Or at least, it's no longer the latest and the greatest (and therefore no longer costs $500). I wouldn't recommend it, anyway, however as it's ATI companion (the 9800 xt or even the 9800 pro 256mb) outperforms it and costs about the same (the xt slgihtly more, the pro slightly less).
You're totally correct (except about the C++ bit). I remember playing the Q3:A multiplayer tests on my p166 (MMX enabled) PC with 64 mb's of ram and an 8mb voodoo 2.
Those graphics were on the bleeding edge of technology, and even though my PC wasn't (even at the time) it could still run the game with VERY playable frame rates.
Although this is not true of Scob/Download.ject, most malicious code is found on sites of ill repute (p0rn and w4r3z). Obviously most people don't admit to visiting these sites and thus the problems go unmentioned.
I, personally, feel that is a more problematic situation in terms of ultimately haulting the spread of malicious code, not necessarily the unwillingness of reputable sites to go public about their (relatively few) malware/trojan/virus problems.
PS 3.0 has little if nay noticable visual impact, it merely increases the rendering speed. If the card is already as fast as the competition (or maybe faster) then there is no need for PS 3.0.
You make some strong points, but I feel that if Apple hadn't made this aggressive move to lock in it's market share it could dominate the DAP market even more than it already does. Considering that most of the iPod's weak points (File support, no gapless, battery life, and cost) are easily correctable don't you think it's possible that had Apple concentrated on correcting them their market share could be even larger.
Consider: If the iPod supported gapless, vorbis, FLAC, and had a reasonable battery life noone would have purchased the Rio Karma.
If the iPod had an inline mic, a nicer inline remote (included), and of course a reasonable battery life noone would have purchased the iRiver h120.
The only players the iPod cannot compete with had they done this are a few "bargain" players and bargain DAP's would have a difficult time competing with a feature rich iPod..
I guess this is why I'm not a billionaire software/hardware tycoon (I just don't get it).
That's very impressive, but I personally won't consider this form of media publishing a success until someone other than the RIAA makes some money off of it..
Seriously, if a record store sells 200,000 albums a week (approximately 2,700,000 songs) but makes zero dollars off of them is it still a success?
There's no question that iTMS generates iPod sales, but if there are no real market forces in play (the only factors in the cost of the songs are storage/bandwidth and the RIAA levy) how long can this be a successful way of doing business?
This "new" (c'mon, how likely is it that Apple developed their own lossless codec when there are so many alternatives) format of Apple's is alledgedly DRM free. If this is the only reason they aren't using FLAC then perhaps it's a sign they're planning on selling lossless files in the future?
I think the only organization we can blame for the lack of market forces is the RIAA. God knows the various problems with their current methods of distribution (albums while marketing only singles) have been discussed to death on/. so I won't cover them all again, but the bottom line is that their unprecedented ability to issue subpoenas at will is the only market force allowing the major labels to contine selling their wares.
The inability to resell music has had a much smaller impact economically than the threat of legal action levied by the RIAA. Even the inability to convert your purchased music endlessly (due to it's lossy nature) is a more serious issue than the inablity to resell it.
And let's not forget that the entire price of the file ($1) goes almost directly to the RIAA (Apple apparently keeps enough to recoup bandwidth costs) so the traditional market force of "profit" is no longer a selling point for the retailer (thus there will be little competition and even less difference in price).
Seeing as the other reply mentioned some things to add to your test..
Add the bitrates and codecs used. Are you using LAME? Are the MP3's VBR? What kind of music are you compressing? What format was the original music in when you began your test?
Slashdot Mirror
Tough question..
In Doom 3's case the new lighting methods along with the shear level of level geometry expected of a mapper/modder has certainly slowed the rate of release for new levels and mods. It also takes quite a beast of a machine to run Doom3ed stabily and that eliminates a lot of the community from contributing.
From what we've seen HL 2 isn't quite so extreme. The basic geometry of cbble (its source is included with Hammer, so it serves as a good example) is a lot simpler than Doom 3's multiplayer maps (which were simpler than many of Doom 3's single player maps). The lighting is also more traditional in HL 2 (it's not all real time) so mappers don't have anything new to get used to there.
The prop system is much more powerful than the old pre-fab way of doing things, and not having to make any kind of serious detail with Hammer will speed things up, IMO. Instead of carefully modeling your APC out of brushes, you just import an APC model that (hopefully) someone else has already made. There's a lot of prop's included already, too, and when HL 2 is actually released it's assumed that all the models used in game will be released to the community. That's a lot of content (not just models, textures too) to sort through, though, and can definately impeed someone trying to find what they need.
The texture browser included with Hammer is pretty decent, though. It allows users to search for textures by keyword and Valve did a good job of appropriately naming each one.
Ultimately, noone can deny that creating more geometry takes more time, but the workflow of the mod tools themselves is increasing, as is the experience level of the user base. It takes more time to create a modern, good looking map, but not THAT much more...
I kind of rambled there, hopfully it all makes sense.
You need to have pre-order HL 2 on Steam to have access to the SDK, right now.
Also, it isn't the "full" SDK. You cannot compile new binaries (IE, new mods) but you can start creating maps (Hammer is included, along with a model viewer) and I'm fairly certain you can compile models (made with XSI, a light version of which can be downloaded for free here).
If you've worked with Hammer or Worldcraft before (or any brush based editor before) you should be in familiar territory. The Snark Pit and The VERC boards can provide some resources for newbies (as well as other sites, I'm sure). The included documentation is actually quite good, though.
Some content of note: There are some models in a directory labeled "C17" (which I assume is City 17) that can be viewed in the model viewer/placed into maps with hammer. Interesting content, though I haven't seen any huge spoilers yet (just things like stoves and cupboards in the directory).
There really is no way around large demos, aside from scaling back content a ton. High res textures, complex level geometry, high quality sound, all of this adds to the demo's size.
Heck, most demo's (not all, but many) are pretty short already, making them any smaller would defeat the purpose of even having a demo.
My advice, if you don't have broadband subscribe to the CD-Rom (or DVD or whatever it is now) version of PC Gamer and get your demos and trailers that way. Yeah, it sucks to essentially pay for demos, but such is life..
Yeup, registered it a few years ago when I was a bigger fan than I am now..
:) )
Still enjoy them, but I'm not the fan I once was (and yes, this is OT, but I'm willing to bet all the mods have vacated this thread, so what are you gonna do about it?
Am I the only one hoping for Milo of Kroton options in upcoming polls? /doesn't speak anything other than english and pig-latin..
If this MMORPG fails to capture the brutality of the WH universe then it'll be a definite pass for me. I'm hoping for an MMORPG with actual evidence of combat, unlike much of what's on the market today.
I know it seems shallow, but this is really a defining characteristic of the WH universe, and to not include it merely to maintain a T rating or whatever would be a travesty, IMHO...
My Karma has locked up on me only a single time, and that was while I was running in the rain with it, which probably isn't the smartest thing to do with any HD based DAP.
I don't know how you guys manage to lock yours up so often, I treat mine like total crap and it never has problems. I snowboard with it, bike with it, walk everywhere with it, mow the lawn with it, drive with it (gravel roads, speed bumps, no problems) and generally abuse the poor thing (my screen is scratched to hell because of my abuses).
Are you using the latest firmware? I guess that's been brought up before, but I can't believe you guys are using the same player as me..
Opera is my browser of choice (I've found it to be more stable than Firefox, if not as full featured) and so far it hasn't been compatible with G-Mail. Does this upgrade improve support for my favorite browser?
From the News.com.com article:
Sun Microsystems seeks to avoid oblivion by pursuing a simple but powerful strategy.
Was I the only one that assumed the author was going to tell me that Sun had rolled a warrior and put all its stat points into strength after reading that headline? Or perhaps had found a powerful ring that had increased its skill and given it an advantage over its opponents?
Me thinks the author has been watching too much made for TV fantasy..
As seen on Blues News a new demo for UT2k4 has also been released, basically the same as the old one with some engine updates and a few extra maps.
FYI 3d Gamers always has a torrent up of the files it mirrors.
Painting it blue makes sense, but shouldn't it be full of (security) holes as well? I'm envisioning unlocked lab after unlocked lab, no doors, open windows.
In practice with MS's security mold they would keep the blue prints under lock and key, as to keep anyone from being able to exploit these flaws, of course.
Mod me down if you want, but I'll be the one laughing when this actually happens.
Personally I prefer Mafia to any of the GTA games. Yes, it is more linear, and no it is not pointlessly brutal (although it can still be pretty violent), but I really enjoy the level of character depth and the high quality of the writing.
/AC because this is OT
The game is obviously influenced by the various mobster movies/TV shows that have become popular (Godfather, especially) and I really enjoyed playing the scenarios. GTA just got old, I'd play through the missions quickly enough and then not want to do all the stuff on the side. I guess I just got burnt out on it too quickly. To each their own, I guess, they're definately very different games (but the fact that they both take place in open cities will inevitably draw comparisons.)
The "ultra" setting is not officially supported by video cards with less than 512 mb's of video memory. In other words, there are no available GPU's that could run the game at "full settings" (aside from a few workstation GPU's).
The Athlon (although on the low end) should still play Doom 3.
As for the Geforce fx 5900 (note the "fx," there is no 5900xt), that's outdated now. Or at least, it's no longer the latest and the greatest (and therefore no longer costs $500). I wouldn't recommend it, anyway, however as it's ATI companion (the 9800 xt or even the 9800 pro 256mb) outperforms it and costs about the same (the xt slgihtly more, the pro slightly less).
Hope that's helpful.
You're totally correct (except about the C++ bit). I remember playing the Q3:A multiplayer tests on my p166 (MMX enabled) PC with 64 mb's of ram and an 8mb voodoo 2.
Those graphics were on the bleeding edge of technology, and even though my PC wasn't (even at the time) it could still run the game with VERY playable frame rates.
Although this is not true of Scob/Download.ject, most malicious code is found on sites of ill repute (p0rn and w4r3z). Obviously most people don't admit to visiting these sites and thus the problems go unmentioned.
I, personally, feel that is a more problematic situation in terms of ultimately haulting the spread of malicious code, not necessarily the unwillingness of reputable sites to go public about their (relatively few) malware/trojan/virus problems.
Just as a clarification, console games have nearly always dwarfed PC games in terms of net sales (aside from a few exceptions)...
Score 3, Insightful for pointing out that "googol" and "google" aren't spelled the same?
:)
Bravo
PS 3.0 has little if nay noticable visual impact, it merely increases the rendering speed. If the card is already as fast as the competition (or maybe faster) then there is no need for PS 3.0.
Back in the 80's everything was much more laid back and relaxed.
By laid back and relaxed you mean coked out of their minds, right?
Seriously, two white guy 'fro's with mustache in one andvertisement! Don't even try and argue coke wasn't involved..
You make some strong points, but I feel that if Apple hadn't made this aggressive move to lock in it's market share it could dominate the DAP market even more than it already does. Considering that most of the iPod's weak points (File support, no gapless, battery life, and cost) are easily correctable don't you think it's possible that had Apple concentrated on correcting them their market share could be even larger.
Consider: If the iPod supported gapless, vorbis, FLAC, and had a reasonable battery life noone would have purchased the Rio Karma.
If the iPod had an inline mic, a nicer inline remote (included), and of course a reasonable battery life noone would have purchased the iRiver h120.
The only players the iPod cannot compete with had they done this are a few "bargain" players and bargain DAP's would have a difficult time competing with a feature rich iPod..
I guess this is why I'm not a billionaire software/hardware tycoon (I just don't get it).
That's very impressive, but I personally won't consider this form of media publishing a success until someone other than the RIAA makes some money off of it..
Seriously, if a record store sells 200,000 albums a week (approximately 2,700,000 songs) but makes zero dollars off of them is it still a success?
There's no question that iTMS generates iPod sales, but if there are no real market forces in play (the only factors in the cost of the songs are storage/bandwidth and the RIAA levy) how long can this be a successful way of doing business?
... like copy protection and lossy compression.
This "new" (c'mon, how likely is it that Apple developed their own lossless codec when there are so many alternatives) format of Apple's is alledgedly DRM free. If this is the only reason they aren't using FLAC then perhaps it's a sign they're planning on selling lossless files in the future?
I think the only organization we can blame for the lack of market forces is the RIAA. God knows the various problems with their current methods of distribution (albums while marketing only singles) have been discussed to death on /. so I won't cover them all again, but the bottom line is that their unprecedented ability to issue subpoenas at will is the only market force allowing the major labels to contine selling their wares.
The inability to resell music has had a much smaller impact economically than the threat of legal action levied by the RIAA. Even the inability to convert your purchased music endlessly (due to it's lossy nature) is a more serious issue than the inablity to resell it.
And let's not forget that the entire price of the file ($1) goes almost directly to the RIAA (Apple apparently keeps enough to recoup bandwidth costs) so the traditional market force of "profit" is no longer a selling point for the retailer (thus there will be little competition and even less difference in price).
I rant.
Seeing as the other reply mentioned some things to add to your test..
Add the bitrates and codecs used. Are you using LAME? Are the MP3's VBR? What kind of music are you compressing? What format was the original music in when you began your test?