Nicely put. The leveled loot from thieving always particularly bothered me. If Fallout 3 has anything like the same system (well, except maybe in some very rare cases), it will be a complete disaster.
There are mods out there (like Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul) that fix the problem somewhat, but nothing but a total revamp of the game dyamics would make it a good RPG.
OOO is a decent start, but as you say, it still needs a massive amount of work to turn Oblivion into something genuinely good. In particular, it suffers from the problem of your character becoming god-like by level 20 or so.
Though I didn't have to get past the B's to find a number or very respectable bands on that list.
Examples? I admit to being mostly out of touch with anything that isn't thrown at me by a friend. I mean, you can always find great stuff being done on the fringes, regardless of the time period. But I'm mostly interested in the quality of bands who have achieved a fair bit of success (ie, the state of popular music).
Oh, but BTW...I'd say the 2000s are shaping up to be even worse than the 80s. Seven years in and the only decent new group I can think of is Tegan and Sara. Even after perusing the WP list...there's the White Stripes, I guess. And some occasionally decent "indie rock", but not a single standout that I can see.
GP's point stands. Except for punk, 80s music was a disaster. The 90s still had a fair few gems at the surface like Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Nirvana (but not their copycats), Garbage, Oasis, and No Doubt. But for the most part, guitar-based rock died in the 70s. The kind of crap that's being included in this version of Guitar Hero is godawful, except perhaps for The Police.
Isn't the basic premise that if sending messages back to the past is possible, we'd have received some by now?
Possibly.
Seems like that's the same type of premise w/SETI as well. If there was intelligent life somewhere in the galaxy, we'd have already picked up the messages, unless of course, we're already the most advanced life forms.
That doesn't follow. SETI does operate under the condition that any success will most likely come from other intelligent life that developed radio technology tens of thousands of years ago, I suppose. But you're talking about transmitting electromagnetic radiation across the galaxy. It ends up being highly directional, and IIRC, SETI still has a lot of sky to cover.
The Agency sounds like WoW or Anarchy Online with a coating of James Bond paint. For godsakes, it's been TEN YEARS since Ultima Online was released, and the best they can think of is Yet Another Dungeon Crawler...with social features...and a new theme!
UO2 could have been something, until it quickly got canceled, because they were so sure everybody would want to play the original UO forever. Horizons was shaping up to be the greatest game of all time, until the designer got kicked out, and they decided instead to make it an unambitious pile of crap that nobody ever played. Is there anything interesting in the works, that's likely to be finished and released? I find it hard to believe that there are so many developers out there trying to make the next WoW...by copying WoW.
I remember such things being discussed back in the days of UO and EQ, and the general consensus always seemed to be that it was a cool idea, but would inevitably lead to a tangled web of copyright infringement issues. And as you imply...it's not going to be much fun to hear Latest Generic Top 40 Pop Song being played all around in a fantasy RPG.
Amen. Unfortunately, that includes such prominent packages as the Windows binary installers for Pidgin and OpenOffice. OOo is particularly bad in that it forces you to read and accept the LGPL before installing. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'll read the license when I want to do something that's not already implicitly legal, thanks. Stamp it with an open-source logo or something if you want to advertise the fact that this is OSS and not just freeware. Don't propagate the notion that I need your permission to run your software.
There are a couple of glaring problems with Eclipse, I think. The first is that it's next to impossible to redistribute project files in any meaningful manner, last time I checked. All you get is a mess in your.workspace directory. The second, and most obvious, is that the GUI is based on sluggish Java garbage. Like Azureus, it's just excruciating to use. Which is a shame, because for editing Java code, it's unparalleled.
Oh, and the One True Editor is Vim, you heathen scum.
You know, I despise the Libertarians around here who screech incessantly about a "nanny state", but think about what you're saying. The reason for laws mandating that bartenders cut people off is because excessive alcohol causes violence, DUI, etc. Age requirements on tobacco are a way of deterring cigarette companies from advertising to kids who haven't developed critical thinking skills, and getting them physically addicted to a drug. They're to prevent people (and businesses) from hurting other people.
The closest parallel you have here is gambling addiction. That's not pretty, and god knows most casinos are pretty scummy, but such addictions are entirely mental problems. It's absolutely not the responsibility of an otherwise honest game developer to cater to the mental health needs of a tiny minority who are predisposed to such obsessions.
the real reason I don't use python is I have never seen any real major advantage in using it over Perl/PHP/Java
I assume you're only talking about web programming here, because Python occupies a vastly different niche than any of the above. As an object-oriented Swiss army knife that can gracefully handle anything from simple one-off scripts, to embedded scripting in a C++ app, to huge complex GUI applications all by itself, its only real competitor is Ruby. And for web stuff, Django is already betterthan Rails.
How much software is "optimized" for a specific architecture, beyond what the compiler does? How much "unnecessary work" is there, beyond what has already been done in the creation of universal binaries? It's extra work for Apple, but essentially none for the vast majority of application developers.
Personally, I kinda like cartoony. For example, I recently tried Qarl's enormous texture pack mod for Oblivion, which ups the resolution on nearly every texture in the game. It looks "better", but it changes the feel of the game entirely. Much too "gritty". I discovered I liked the slightly cartoonish feel of the vanilla Oblivion textures.
Then again, I'm also someone who liked UT's graphics over Quake 3 when they first came out. Q3 may have been objectively superior or more realistic, but UT was just more visually appealing and interesting.
Name a major API that's cross-platform between Windows and Mac but not Linux. I can think of plenty that are Windows-only, but it seems to me that once you commit to Mac support you pretty much get Linux support for free. That's why there's no excuse for not supporting Linux!
I suspect there are some commercial libraries that fit the bill, but maybe not. Some people still do things the stupid way, and will reinvent the wheel over and over again, writing the Windows version in DirectX, and the Mac version with Core * or OpenGL, and using the native APIs for the little details like file management.
Of course, 90% of the time you'd be much better served writing a game with something like OGRE and OpenAL, which tend to be much more usable than the low-level stuff, and are more than sufficient unless you insist on the bleeding edge of egregious technological masturbation.
One only need consider how much computer usage is done in cubicle farms, and then picture everyone chattering "Scratch that!" at their workstation
Other than the fact that it requires virtual silence (aside from your voice) to operate
So get a decent headset, or even a lavalier mic. A directional microphone near your mouth isn't going to pick up much besides your own voice. Trying to use a $5 "computer microphone" for pretty much anything is foolish.
And "organic" means a family of carbon-containing compounds. Hint: many words have multiple definitions, which can usually be clearly distinguished depending on usage and context. Imagine that!
By the time downloading a couple gigabytes in a matter of seconds becomes commonplace, so will multiple gigabytes of RAM per computer. So I don't think that's really an issue.
Itanic has been undermined by Intel's own Xeon processors. The market has spoken, and it wants x86. Not even Intel has been able to change that (yet).
This probably has more to do with the fact that IA64 was garbage than any inherent attachment to x86. Microsoft even went to great lengths to support it, which is much more than you can say for SPARC or POWER. There's plenty of room, especially in the *nix server market, for processors unrelated to x86. With Linux or the BSDs, all you really need to do is send the specs and some reference hardware to a few key developers, contribute some code to GCC, and you'll be fully compatible in a matter of months. The Itanic went down solely because of its many flaws.
Authorities should rather investigate these companies.
Maybe. Do you have any evidence that the company itself sent out the spam? "Joe jobs" happen, and in the case of a publicly traded company, it could just as easily be someone who has a stake and is trying to influence the price.
False dichotomy. There's a place for standard game controllers, mouse + keyboard, motion controllers, and joysticks. They all do different things and are appropriate in different situations. Nintendo has staked out its own niche of motion controller games for the Wii. It doesn't mean that the usual game controllers with a couple analog sticks are obsolete.[
Slashdot Mirror
I have. As I remember, it's one of the least painful parts of working tech support.
Oh, but BTW...I'd say the 2000s are shaping up to be even worse than the 80s. Seven years in and the only decent new group I can think of is Tegan and Sara. Even after perusing the WP list...there's the White Stripes, I guess. And some occasionally decent "indie rock", but not a single standout that I can see.
GP's point stands. Except for punk, 80s music was a disaster. The 90s still had a fair few gems at the surface like Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Nirvana (but not their copycats), Garbage, Oasis, and No Doubt. But for the most part, guitar-based rock died in the 70s. The kind of crap that's being included in this version of Guitar Hero is godawful, except perhaps for The Police.
The Agency sounds like WoW or Anarchy Online with a coating of James Bond paint. For godsakes, it's been TEN YEARS since Ultima Online was released, and the best they can think of is Yet Another Dungeon Crawler...with social features...and a new theme!
UO2 could have been something, until it quickly got canceled, because they were so sure everybody would want to play the original UO forever. Horizons was shaping up to be the greatest game of all time, until the designer got kicked out, and they decided instead to make it an unambitious pile of crap that nobody ever played. Is there anything interesting in the works, that's likely to be finished and released? I find it hard to believe that there are so many developers out there trying to make the next WoW...by copying WoW.
This is why you use the Firefox extension. It keeps trying different accounts until it gets one that works.
I remember such things being discussed back in the days of UO and EQ, and the general consensus always seemed to be that it was a cool idea, but would inevitably lead to a tangled web of copyright infringement issues. And as you imply...it's not going to be much fun to hear Latest Generic Top 40 Pop Song being played all around in a fantasy RPG.
Amen. Unfortunately, that includes such prominent packages as the Windows binary installers for Pidgin and OpenOffice. OOo is particularly bad in that it forces you to read and accept the LGPL before installing. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'll read the license when I want to do something that's not already implicitly legal, thanks. Stamp it with an open-source logo or something if you want to advertise the fact that this is OSS and not just freeware. Don't propagate the notion that I need your permission to run your software.
There are a couple of glaring problems with Eclipse, I think. The first is that it's next to impossible to redistribute project files in any meaningful manner, last time I checked. All you get is a mess in your .workspace directory. The second, and most obvious, is that the GUI is based on sluggish Java garbage. Like Azureus, it's just excruciating to use. Which is a shame, because for editing Java code, it's unparalleled.
Oh, and the One True Editor is Vim, you heathen scum.
You know, I despise the Libertarians around here who screech incessantly about a "nanny state", but think about what you're saying. The reason for laws mandating that bartenders cut people off is because excessive alcohol causes violence, DUI, etc. Age requirements on tobacco are a way of deterring cigarette companies from advertising to kids who haven't developed critical thinking skills, and getting them physically addicted to a drug. They're to prevent people (and businesses) from hurting other people.
The closest parallel you have here is gambling addiction. That's not pretty, and god knows most casinos are pretty scummy, but such addictions are entirely mental problems. It's absolutely not the responsibility of an otherwise honest game developer to cater to the mental health needs of a tiny minority who are predisposed to such obsessions.
How much software is "optimized" for a specific architecture, beyond what the compiler does? How much "unnecessary work" is there, beyond what has already been done in the creation of universal binaries? It's extra work for Apple, but essentially none for the vast majority of application developers.
Personally, I kinda like cartoony. For example, I recently tried Qarl's enormous texture pack mod for Oblivion, which ups the resolution on nearly every texture in the game. It looks "better", but it changes the feel of the game entirely. Much too "gritty". I discovered I liked the slightly cartoonish feel of the vanilla Oblivion textures.
Then again, I'm also someone who liked UT's graphics over Quake 3 when they first came out. Q3 may have been objectively superior or more realistic, but UT was just more visually appealing and interesting.
Of course, 90% of the time you'd be much better served writing a game with something like OGRE and OpenAL, which tend to be much more usable than the low-level stuff, and are more than sufficient unless you insist on the bleeding edge of egregious technological masturbation.
And "organic" means a family of carbon-containing compounds. Hint: many words have multiple definitions, which can usually be clearly distinguished depending on usage and context. Imagine that!
By the time downloading a couple gigabytes in a matter of seconds becomes commonplace, so will multiple gigabytes of RAM per computer. So I don't think that's really an issue.
Learn your history, n00b.
False dichotomy. There's a place for standard game controllers, mouse + keyboard, motion controllers, and joysticks. They all do different things and are appropriate in different situations. Nintendo has staked out its own niche of motion controller games for the Wii. It doesn't mean that the usual game controllers with a couple analog sticks are obsolete.[