Kind of looks like adventure games should really be called pixel hunts.
Adventure games are not about pixel hunts. Sometimes a poorly made game has these in it, but the main distinguishing feature of adventure games has always been that thinking through problems will solve the game. Some games can get very tough in places, I've written several UHS hint files to get people over the sticking spot without ruining the whole game for them. If you'd like to try a nice adventure game by an individual author, check out Dark Fall.
You can deposit any amount into a bank account, though you may have to file a small amoutn of paperwork declaring where it came from if it's over $10,000
Or, to rephrase what you said, you cannot deposit more than $10,000 without filing the proper forms. In fact, any "irregular" transaction will be reported to the authorities.
You are free to keep $10,000 in a cookie jar all you want.
This is legal, unless your house is searched and the money discovered. Then it may be seized based on new interpretations of old laws, and new anti-terrorist laws like the USA Patriot Act.
You can carry any amount of negotiable item into most countries, though you have to decolare it if it's over a certain amount. In the US, it's $10,000
The US treasury disagrees with you. Fail to file acceptable reasons, and the penalties can be quite severe.
Hmm, how about that sniper a while ago somewhere in USA? He had his bullets under control.
Thousands of US citizens have such guns. There was only one psychopath with such a gun. There was only one string of murders. Now tell me, are the guns causing the killings, or is the psychopath responsible?
On my sony audiophile setup, even 128kbit ogg's sound rather weak, 128kbit mp3's sound terrible, and 128k wma audio sounds good but there is still a noticable degration of sound.
What was your testing method? Was it double blind? Did it include volume randomizing? When we do double-blind testing in my house, many strongly held opinoins (you can easily tell X from Y blah blah blah) get shot down in a hurry.
The many cancelled commercial adventure games are a prime example: no market for it.
Hey, come to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure and say that!
One more point to make, when you say "But, all things considerd, it is still only a job." I think you got it wrong. Any adventure game being created by people who feel it is "only a job" is doomed to failure. People who play adventure games look under every rock, twice. If you don't have fun stuff going on everywhere, you will get panned. The only practical way to do this is to have the people making the game involved in playing the game, and loving what they are doing.
b) Budgetary reasons and the decline of the adventure game market.
These guys should take a look at what one guy can do, without millions of dollars. Jonathan Boakes basically wrote "Dark Fall" by himself, with some help from some friends. It's really good, scary and FUN TO PLAY.
While million dollar graphics can be nice, you can easily get a really bad adventure game like "Star Trek: Hidden Evil", which was not at all well received. Game companies have to put people who really like adventure games in charge, then they can make a great game without breaking the bank. The fact that they don't is why adventure games are in decline. The players are still out there!
I think the best way to go at these projects is to code organically. If you are building an adventure, start with a working game that has only one object in one room. Then, add rooms and add objects until you get as far as you want to go without losing interest. Then you're done!
Tablet pc + wifi + barcode scanner + rugged outer shell == new possibilities for information access.
And some areas that you've never even though of... Palm Pilot +
wifi + barcode scanner == new possibilities for information access that fit in your shirt pocket.
now have a more "natural" way of interfacing with it - the pen.
Great, now you can tap the "start" button with a "pen". How is that more natural? Holding the Tablet-PC upside down and shaking it to clear the screen would be more natural.
scare off the technical hackers who are willing to go this far to tear apart their speakers to break DRM.
You only need an E-Z hook to tap the signal from a speaker. (Am I a felon yet?) You don't need an uber hacker. Are they going to build DRM into earbuds?
Create a Federal Law: all porn sites must belong to a.xxx domain name.
Great. Who gets to decide what is pornograghy? Is this self administered, that is to say you should sign up under.xxx domain if you feel you have a pornographic site? Most responsible pornography sites already have tags for NetNanny etc so that if you just set the censorware to filter tagged sites only, you'd get the same effect without have to add another law to the huge list we have already.
No, the customer should be given the option of reducing his bill by giving up his right to privacy, not have to pay more for keeping
something he already has.
That's just my point. He already has the situation that his info is being sold. Assume the courts grant that it is Verizon's right to do so. As a smart, profit motivated company, there is some dollar figure where they will make more money by letting the customer buy back his privacy, as compared to selling his info on the open market. If the customer wants to pay the extra money for the extra "service", then (step 3) PROFIT!
It would be exactly the same if they raised everybody's service fees by that same amount, and then let those that were willing to sacrifice their privacy get a reduced bill. The two prices would still be there, cheaper for no privacy, more expensive for privacy.
The problem occurs when there is one phone provider in your area, and releasing your confidential info is part of the terms of service. Maybe a law requiring a company to at least offer an extra cost privacy package would be an option.
That's why dissenters right now seem marginalizd - because they are.
Every majority opinion started out as a minority opinion. Dissenters lead the way in many directions at once. Most leads are (rightly) ignored, but some leads are followed. If enough people follow, a new majority opinion is formed.
I was going to list a bunch of examples, but you probably know as many as I do.
On the internet: http://www.xbox.com/LIVE/connect/legal-coc.htm
Thanks for the link. Unforutnately, that is only the current terms of service, not the terms of service that might have been in effect when a person bought the X-box, or the future terms of service that willbe in effect when an online game is played. They say in section 2:
"Microsoft reserves the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of the terms, conditions, and notices under which Xbox Live is offered, including but not limited to changes to subscription fees and other charges, billing terms, service operation, user rights and responsibilities, Code of Conduct and the
Privacy Statement. [snip ways you can check] You
are responsible for regularly reviewing these terms and conditions and additional terms associated with particular games, events, or other offerings."
So you never, ever know with certainty what it is you have agreed to be bound by.
Slashdot Mirror
Adventure games are not about pixel hunts. Sometimes a poorly made game has these in it, but the main distinguishing feature of adventure games has always been that thinking through problems will solve the game. Some games can get very tough in places, I've written several UHS hint files to get people over the sticking spot without ruining the whole game for them. If you'd like to try a nice adventure game by an individual author, check out Dark Fall.
The Atmos clock is powered by both pressure and temperature changes. Check out the history of the Atmos clock.
...with dark fiber?
Or, to rephrase what you said, you cannot deposit more than $10,000 without filing the proper forms. In fact, any "irregular" transaction will be reported to the authorities.
This is legal, unless your house is searched and the money discovered. Then it may be seized based on new interpretations of old laws, and new anti-terrorist laws like the USA Patriot Act.
The US treasury disagrees with you. Fail to file acceptable reasons, and the penalties can be quite severe.
Thousands of US citizens have such guns. There was only one psychopath with such a gun. There was only one string of murders. Now tell me, are the guns causing the killings, or is the psychopath responsible?
No, seriously, too much oxygen is just as fatal as too little. Ask a diver.
What was your testing method? Was it double blind? Did it include volume randomizing? When we do double-blind testing in my house, many strongly held opinoins (you can easily tell X from Y blah blah blah) get shot down in a hurry.
Here's the CD Burner test results.
Hey, come to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure and say that!
One more point to make, when you say "But, all things considerd, it is still only a job." I think you got it wrong. Any adventure game being created by people who feel it is "only a job" is doomed to failure. People who play adventure games look under every rock, twice. If you don't have fun stuff going on everywhere, you will get panned. The only practical way to do this is to have the people making the game involved in playing the game, and loving what they are doing.
These guys should take a look at what one guy can do, without millions of dollars. Jonathan Boakes basically wrote "Dark Fall" by himself, with some help from some friends. It's really good, scary and FUN TO PLAY.
While million dollar graphics can be nice, you can easily get a really bad adventure game like "Star Trek: Hidden Evil", which was not at all well received. Game companies have to put people who really like adventure games in charge, then they can make a great game without breaking the bank. The fact that they don't is why adventure games are in decline. The players are still out there!
I think the best way to go at these projects is to code organically. If you are building an adventure, start with a working game that has only one object in one room. Then, add rooms and add objects until you get as far as you want to go without losing interest. Then you're done!
Do you think I can get "BOB" to run on the TabletPC? Were they showing that in Atlanta?
And some areas that you've never even though of...
Palm Pilot + wifi + barcode scanner == new possibilities for information access that fit in your shirt pocket.
Great, now you can tap the "start" button with a "pen". How is that more natural? Holding the Tablet-PC upside down and shaking it to clear the screen would be more natural.
You only need an E-Z hook to tap the signal from a speaker. (Am I a felon yet?) You don't need an uber hacker. Are they going to build DRM into earbuds?
I don't understand you. How do we still win? What is winning? Why won't the site show up in a search engine?
Great. Who gets to decide what is pornograghy? Is this self administered, that is to say you should sign up under .xxx domain if you feel you have a pornographic site? Most responsible pornography sites already have tags for NetNanny etc so that if you just set the censorware to filter tagged sites only, you'd get the same effect without have to add another law to the huge list we have already.
That's just my point. He already has the situation that his info is being sold. Assume the courts grant that it is Verizon's right to do so. As a smart, profit motivated company, there is some dollar figure where they will make more money by letting the customer buy back his privacy, as compared to selling his info on the open market. If the customer wants to pay the extra money for the extra "service", then (step 3) PROFIT!
It would be exactly the same if they raised everybody's service fees by that same amount, and then let those that were willing to sacrifice their privacy get a reduced bill. The two prices would still be there, cheaper for no privacy, more expensive for privacy.
The problem occurs when there is one phone provider in your area, and releasing your confidential info is part of the terms of service. Maybe a law requiring a company to at least offer an extra cost privacy package would be an option.
Even if you have foreign citizenship, an individual who earns an income in the USA has to pay US taxes.
Psst, you need to buy one of those little bamboo mats!
Every majority opinion started out as a minority opinion. Dissenters lead the way in many directions at once. Most leads are (rightly) ignored, but some leads are followed. If enough people follow, a new majority opinion is formed.
I was going to list a bunch of examples, but you probably know as many as I do.
That's what I thought. Isn't that what we were talking about?
Thanks for the link. Unforutnately, that is only the current terms of service, not the terms of service that might have been in effect when a person bought the X-box, or the future terms of service that willbe in effect when an online game is played. They say in section 2:
"Microsoft reserves the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of the terms, conditions, and notices under which Xbox Live is offered, including but not limited to changes to subscription fees and other charges, billing terms, service operation, user rights and responsibilities, Code of Conduct and the Privacy Statement. [snip ways you can check] You are responsible for regularly reviewing these terms and conditions and additional terms associated with particular games, events, or other offerings."
So you never, ever know with certainty what it is you have agreed to be bound by.
Where can I read the terms of service?