Their event-horizons are very large because of this mass, which makes them seem not as dense as we would assume.
Wait, but doesn't a black hole by definition have infinite density? Or are you using the term "density" in a different context?
This stuff wigs me out. Any time we start talking about infinity, my brain can't help but try and wrap itself around the idea, but it always ends up in knots. The human condition is so fascinating: We know enough to ask the largest questions but not enough to answer them...
I picked up the new DVD recently, and I was blown away. The animation is truly fucking incredible. And the story actually made sense -- and it was a pretty decent story!
This is worth commenting on: The Akira DVD is a significant release because the entire film was re-translated and re-recorded. The translation is much better. I can't stress this enough. There were elements of Akira that I always figured were just cultural differences, impossible for an American to grasp. Lo and behold, the new translation actually makes sense! It's almost like a new film. Well worth it.
We always knew it was a piece of insecure crap. so no surprise. Qmail or even mailx is MUCH more secure.
(Except this wasn't due to any vulnerability within the software itself -- it looks like it was a lapse in the security of the sendmail project's server.)
But Gnome, too. I was very frustrated that the new version of Sawfish has the "new feature" of removed functionality. You cannot use viewports, and edge-flipping is therefore impossible by default.
I thought Gnome was using Metacity by default these days...?
I also just happened to purchase Ikaruga for my Dreamcast. These are all shooters - and there is no language barrier for pure twitch action like that.
Totally off-topic, but how do you like Ikaruga? I never got around to modding my Dreamcast, but I might do it just for this game. Is it worth it?
Re:Only 7 ammendments left in the Bill of Rights
on
That Link Is Illegal
·
· Score: 2
why don't you ask [senate.gov] him?
I will. Thanks!
Re:Only 7 ammendments left in the Bill of Rights
on
That Link Is Illegal
·
· Score: 3
(only Russ Feingold having the intestinal fortitude to stand against it in the senate)
This is a little off-topic, but I listen to C-Span streamed every day over the web, and DAMN Russ Feingold has his shit together. He consistently impresses me with his eloquence and grasp of the issues. Why can't we get the really good people running for President? Who are we going to have next time, Bush v. Gore again?
Why can't we get a win-win choice for once?!? Feingold v. John McCain, or Feingold v. Colin Powell? I'd be proud to have any of those men leading the U.S.
I pre-ordered the Mandrake 9 DVD release about a month ago. It looks like it'll ship by the end of October.
Having run (GNU/)Linux for just about 4 months, I'm still very new to it, and I'm proud to support Mandrake financially for providing a distro that's making my transition easier. If you download Mandrake 9, and end up using it, consider buying the next boxed version. Good developers deserve our support.
(I'm not affiliated with Mandrake in any way other than as a user.)
2. I've been wondering for a while how an open-source license for artworks/art assets would go. Something like,
I'm releasing this work in an editable format. You're free to modify and distribute it as long as:
I'm always credited in documentation as the original creator of the work. If there are multiple generations of creators, all should be clearly credited.
If you distribute the work, modified or unmodified, you must also distribute an editable version of the work including your modifications. ...is that it? My understanding of the GPL is limited, and I'm probably missing something...
(Okay, not so much an essay as just a list, in no particular order. Also, I make no guarantee that this is my complete list of gripes. If you refute all of these, I will either just ignore you and pretend I never came back to this thread, or I'll respond with, "Yeah, but what about x and y? Bet you think Mozilla sucks now, don't you!?")
Well... I was going to refute each of your points, but I don't suppose that would be very constructive use of my time;)
Mozilla would have been great if it had been called Netscape 5.0 and released in early 1998. Since this is 2002 and the world has moved on, Mozilla sucks pretty hard.
Since you sound like an otherwise reasonable person, I can't help but think that you simply haven't given Mozilla a chance. Having used all of the major browsers available, I prefer Mozilla. Not because it's open-source, not because it's an underdog, but because I like it. If you'd said, "Mozilla doesn't offer enough for me to switch," that would've made sense; however, I can't see how anyone who'd used Mozilla (1.0+) could think it "sucks pretty hard."
It may be that it's aging and getting pretty akward, HOWEVER it's FAR faster than D3D, has fewer rendering errors (Missing polygons, blatantly obvious skyboxes, mis-aligned/mis-sized textures, Hall Of Mirrors, etc)
Try playing Half-Life (Or a derivative thereof) in OpenGL and D3D, or MOHAA, Or Q3A.
There's nothing inherently faster or slower about either OpenGL or D3D. They're just APIs. Different hardware implementations may be faster, and different games may differ in quality, but that's not because of the API.
Do we really need to be so stingy with our definition of "sport"? It seems like we should allow our broad categories ("sports", "art") to be as inclusive as possible, and then get more specific after that ("dull, lifeless sport")...
I agree regarding Mandrake Club. I've resolved that it's enough for me to buy the boxed versions of Mandrake's major releases (so far that's the "Gaming Edition", 8.2, and the upcoming 9.0 DVD.) At about $60 a pop, that seems like a reasonable arrangement. I get a good OS for a (relative) beginner, and they get an extra $60 a year and my brand loyalty.
Does anyone know what percentage of those two groups (US/Canada and Europe) is on broadband? That would be just as noteworthy a figure, if not more so.
PS2 and Xbox are both launching their online gaming services, but I think they (and everyone else) expected broadband to spread much faster than it actually has. Likewise, any business basing their distribution on streaming media has had to deal with the grim realities of sluggish broadband adoption.
Valerie hates the DC weather (she's comparing it to Northern California)
The weather in D.C. is even worse than that. Hot, humid summers and cold (for a "Southern city") winters. Nice place to visit, but I'll never live there again.
Heh... I agree, Pitfall 2 was really good, but it holds another record in my memory: It's the first video game that pissed me off because it was too short:)
Please don't let your cynicism cloud your judgement on this one. Yes, there is an underlying thread of political commentary in many of these flash games. It's not overanalysis.
The point, as someone already mentioned, is that a medium, any medium, is just a means of achieving a goal.
It reminds me of people arguing whether games or comics can be "art". It's a silly question; any medium can be "art" if you make art with it. Likewise, there's nothing outlandish about flash games that entertain while offering political commentary.
2. If work on a game project is done on the side, it becomes very difficult to keep up with the state of the art. I've had to throw away huge sections of my codebase (especially 3d) and begin again to keep it competitive! It gets depressing when you know the code your working on at work is now n>1 years behind the engine you're building on the side. Low tech starting points do not inspire people to join...
Okay. I'm glad you brought this point up. Here's the thing: As we know, games aren't like movies -- game technology is constantly evolving, and this makes developers' jobs harder than it needs to be. So... I'm almost tempted to say that we need to resign ourselves, at least partially, to last-generation technology. Something's got to give, and that seems like the best candidate.
This takes a lot of pressure off developers and enables us to focus on gameplay. You recruit volunteers not by displaying cutting-edge technology, but by clearly specifying the project's vision. You attract volunteers who have similar goals. This forces a different question, though -- as an engineer, what are your motivations when you approach an open-source game project?
As a designer, I'm excited by the possibility of making the sort of game that the free market couldn't support -- either because it doesn't have a cute character, or because its themes are too "mature" (not blood-and-tits mature, but grown-up mature), or whatever. Thus, my suggestion above to resign a project to behind-the-curve technology suits my needs, design needs.
However... it occurs to me that an engineer might be attracted to an open-source project (on the side) because it gives him/her a chance to do sexy research & tasks that their "day game" doesn't permit. Thus, resigning a project to old tech may render it undesirable for an engineer to volunteer for.
So where does this leave us? Reduce the scope of the project. Keep It Simple. Don't try to compete with commercial games; just do a small set of things well. Try to build the design in such a way that unsexy art, design, and programming tasks are kept to a minimum.
I think for that, for open-source/free game development to work, it may be necessary to think about it differently than we think about commercial game development.
Obviously, I could easily be wrong -- it's possible that if you remove most of the unsexy tasks from a game's schedule, you end up with half a game:) ("How can we have a game with no UI?!?")
3. If development work on an open source engine is done in the open, it becomes trivial for other developers to "steal your thunder" by encorporating your best ideas into their titles, which due to funding, ship before you!
I don't know how kosher this is in GPL terms, but are you "allowed" to release the source only after a project has reached a certain level of completion? Say, beta?
The other problem is related to tools. Games generally require significant content. Good content generally requires good tools, which generally means expensive.
I don't really have an answer to this. There are free tools out there, but as you know, they don't generally compare to pro tools.
All of your points are correct, but I want to take it one step further: What's different about application development? Why is it possible to produce high-quality GPL applications under the same circumstances? In other words, is there anything we can learn from open-source app development and then apply to potential open-source game development?
Here's where I'm coming from: I'm a professional game designer. I use Linux at home for (most) of my computing tasks, and that means I'm benefiting from the work of hundreds (thousands?) of open-source developers. I want to give something back, and I'm intrigued by the possibility of doing a GPL'ed, FREE game that isn't subject to the whims of the marketplace. That's where this thread's parent post starts to kick in -- once you get good, passionate people working on a game without having to worry about sales, suits, and the like, you're likely to get a riskier, more innovative result.
Now... you don't need to tell me how long or how many people it takes to make good games; I know. But I can't help but think that there's a solution somewhere that we're ignoring. Again, what can open-source game developers learn from open-source application developers? Do applications really come together that much faster than games? Is it that there aren't enough artists willing to contribute their time and skills?
(Afterthought: My post assumes that open-source games are being developed in volunteers' spare time; I'm under the impression that most open-source application development works this way. If this isn't the case, that changes the arguments.)
Slashdot Mirror
Their event-horizons are very large because of this mass, which makes them seem not as dense as we would assume.
Wait, but doesn't a black hole by definition have infinite density? Or are you using the term "density" in a different context?
This stuff wigs me out. Any time we start talking about infinity, my brain can't help but try and wrap itself around the idea, but it always ends up in knots. The human condition is so fascinating: We know enough to ask the largest questions but not enough to answer them...
I picked up the new DVD recently, and I was blown away. The animation is truly fucking incredible. And the story actually made sense -- and it was a pretty decent story!
This is worth commenting on: The Akira DVD is a significant release because the entire film was re-translated and re-recorded. The translation is much better. I can't stress this enough. There were elements of Akira that I always figured were just cultural differences, impossible for an American to grasp. Lo and behold, the new translation actually makes sense! It's almost like a new film. Well worth it.
Self-responsibility is not a liberal vs. conservative issue; it is better characterized as an authoritarian vs. libertarian issue.
Excellent point. More on both (left v. right and authoritarian v. libertarian) here:
Two-axis political compass test and info...
We always knew it was a piece of insecure crap. so no surprise. Qmail or even mailx is MUCH more secure.
(Except this wasn't due to any vulnerability within the software itself -- it looks like it was a lapse in the security of the sendmail project's server.)
But Gnome, too. I was very frustrated that the new version of Sawfish has the "new feature" of removed functionality. You cannot use viewports, and edge-flipping is therefore impossible by default.
I thought Gnome was using Metacity by default these days...?
I also just happened to purchase Ikaruga for my Dreamcast. These are all shooters - and there is no language barrier for pure twitch action like that.
Totally off-topic, but how do you like Ikaruga? I never got around to modding my Dreamcast, but I might do it just for this game. Is it worth it?
why don't you ask [senate.gov] him?
I will. Thanks!
(only Russ Feingold having the intestinal fortitude to stand against it in the senate)
:)
This is a little off-topic, but I listen to C-Span streamed every day over the web, and DAMN Russ Feingold has his shit together. He consistently impresses me with his eloquence and grasp of the issues. Why can't we get the really good people running for President? Who are we going to have next time, Bush v. Gore again?
Why can't we get a win-win choice for once?!? Feingold v. John McCain, or Feingold v. Colin Powell? I'd be proud to have any of those men leading the U.S.
Okay, okay... I'm done now.
I pre-ordered the Mandrake 9 DVD release about a month ago. It looks like it'll ship by the end of October.
Having run (GNU/)Linux for just about 4 months, I'm still very new to it, and I'm proud to support Mandrake financially for providing a distro that's making my transition easier. If you download Mandrake 9, and end up using it, consider buying the next boxed version. Good developers deserve our support.
(I'm not affiliated with Mandrake in any way other than as a user.)
The last time Blizzard tried to make something with another group of developers, it turned out to be such crap that they canned it...
Don't worry. Nihilistic are a class act.
...but nowadays the only such project they have left is ReiserFS and that is so unstable that even Gentoo (!) recommends against its use.
Is it generally accepted that there are problems with ReiserFS? I don't *think* I've had any problems with it...
2. I've been wondering for a while how an open-source license for artworks/art assets would go. Something like,
I'm releasing this work in an editable format. You're free to modify and distribute it as long as:
I'm always credited in documentation as the original creator of the work. If there are multiple generations of creators, all should be clearly credited.
If you distribute the work, modified or unmodified, you must also distribute an editable version of the work including your modifications.
...is that it? My understanding of the GPL is limited, and I'm probably missing something...
(Okay, not so much an essay as just a list, in no particular order. Also, I make no guarantee that this is my complete list of gripes. If you refute all of these, I will either just ignore you and pretend I never came back to this thread, or I'll respond with, "Yeah, but what about x and y? Bet you think Mozilla sucks now, don't you!?")
;)
Well... I was going to refute each of your points, but I don't suppose that would be very constructive use of my time
Mozilla would have been great if it had been called Netscape 5.0 and released in early 1998. Since this is 2002 and the world has moved on, Mozilla sucks pretty hard.
Since you sound like an otherwise reasonable person, I can't help but think that you simply haven't given Mozilla a chance. Having used all of the major browsers available, I prefer Mozilla. Not because it's open-source, not because it's an underdog, but because I like it. If you'd said, "Mozilla doesn't offer enough for me to switch," that would've made sense; however, I can't see how anyone who'd used Mozilla (1.0+) could think it "sucks pretty hard."
It may be that it's aging and getting pretty akward, HOWEVER it's FAR faster than D3D, has fewer rendering errors (Missing polygons, blatantly obvious skyboxes, mis-aligned/mis-sized textures, Hall Of Mirrors, etc)
Try playing Half-Life (Or a derivative thereof) in OpenGL and D3D, or MOHAA, Or Q3A.
There's nothing inherently faster or slower about either OpenGL or D3D. They're just APIs. Different hardware implementations may be faster, and different games may differ in quality, but that's not because of the API.
sorry for the troll, but how is this a sport?
Do we really need to be so stingy with our definition of "sport"? It seems like we should allow our broad categories ("sports", "art") to be as inclusive as possible, and then get more specific after that ("dull, lifeless sport")...
I agree regarding Mandrake Club. I've resolved that it's enough for me to buy the boxed versions of Mandrake's major releases (so far that's the "Gaming Edition", 8.2, and the upcoming 9.0 DVD.) At about $60 a pop, that seems like a reasonable arrangement. I get a good OS for a (relative) beginner, and they get an extra $60 a year and my brand loyalty.
Does anyone know what percentage of those two groups (US/Canada and Europe) is on broadband? That would be just as noteworthy a figure, if not more so.
PS2 and Xbox are both launching their online gaming services, but I think they (and everyone else) expected broadband to spread much faster than it actually has. Likewise, any business basing their distribution on streaming media has had to deal with the grim realities of sluggish broadband adoption.
Southern city my ass.... I'm from the Deep South where you're a yank if you're north of I-10.
:)
Well, that's the funny thing. Everyone North of D.C. considers it to be in the South, and everyone South of D.C. considers it to be North.
Valerie hates the DC weather (she's comparing it to Northern California)
The weather in D.C. is even worse than that. Hot, humid summers and cold (for a "Southern city") winters. Nice place to visit, but I'll never live there again.
Heh... I agree, Pitfall 2 was really good, but it holds another record in my memory: It's the first video game that pissed me off because it was too short :)
Please don't let your cynicism cloud your judgement on this one. Yes, there is an underlying thread of political commentary in many of these flash games. It's not overanalysis.
The point, as someone already mentioned, is that a medium, any medium, is just a means of achieving a goal.
It reminds me of people arguing whether games or comics can be "art". It's a silly question; any medium can be "art" if you make art with it. Likewise, there's nothing outlandish about flash games that entertain while offering political commentary.
Hey kbonin.
:) ("How can we have a game with no UI?!?")
2. If work on a game project is done on the side, it becomes very difficult to keep up with the state of the art. I've had to throw away huge sections of my codebase (especially 3d) and begin again to keep it competitive! It gets depressing when you know the code your working on at work is now n>1 years behind the engine you're building on the side. Low tech starting points do not inspire people to join...
Okay. I'm glad you brought this point up. Here's the thing: As we know, games aren't like movies -- game technology is constantly evolving, and this makes developers' jobs harder than it needs to be. So... I'm almost tempted to say that we need to resign ourselves, at least partially, to last-generation technology. Something's got to give, and that seems like the best candidate.
This takes a lot of pressure off developers and enables us to focus on gameplay. You recruit volunteers not by displaying cutting-edge technology, but by clearly specifying the project's vision. You attract volunteers who have similar goals. This forces a different question, though -- as an engineer, what are your motivations when you approach an open-source game project?
As a designer, I'm excited by the possibility of making the sort of game that the free market couldn't support -- either because it doesn't have a cute character, or because its themes are too "mature" (not blood-and-tits mature, but grown-up mature), or whatever. Thus, my suggestion above to resign a project to behind-the-curve technology suits my needs, design needs.
However... it occurs to me that an engineer might be attracted to an open-source project (on the side) because it gives him/her a chance to do sexy research & tasks that their "day game" doesn't permit. Thus, resigning a project to old tech may render it undesirable for an engineer to volunteer for.
So where does this leave us? Reduce the scope of the project. Keep It Simple. Don't try to compete with commercial games; just do a small set of things well. Try to build the design in such a way that unsexy art, design, and programming tasks are kept to a minimum.
I think for that, for open-source/free game development to work, it may be necessary to think about it differently than we think about commercial game development.
Obviously, I could easily be wrong -- it's possible that if you remove most of the unsexy tasks from a game's schedule, you end up with half a game
3. If development work on an open source engine is done in the open, it becomes trivial for other developers to "steal your thunder" by encorporating your best ideas into their titles, which due to funding, ship before you!
I don't know how kosher this is in GPL terms, but are you "allowed" to release the source only after a project has reached a certain level of completion? Say, beta?
The other problem is related to tools. Games generally require significant content. Good content generally requires good tools, which generally means expensive.
I don't really have an answer to this. There are free tools out there, but as you know, they don't generally compare to pro tools.
Translation: I'm one of the people responsible for the glut of FPS games on the PC.
That's a curious assumption. No, I'm not working on a FPS, and I'm not developing for the PC.
That's simply due to money!
All of your points are correct, but I want to take it one step further: What's different about application development? Why is it possible to produce high-quality GPL applications under the same circumstances? In other words, is there anything we can learn from open-source app development and then apply to potential open-source game development?
Here's where I'm coming from: I'm a professional game designer. I use Linux at home for (most) of my computing tasks, and that means I'm benefiting from the work of hundreds (thousands?) of open-source developers. I want to give something back, and I'm intrigued by the possibility of doing a GPL'ed, FREE game that isn't subject to the whims of the marketplace. That's where this thread's parent post starts to kick in -- once you get good, passionate people working on a game without having to worry about sales, suits, and the like, you're likely to get a riskier, more innovative result.
Now... you don't need to tell me how long or how many people it takes to make good games; I know. But I can't help but think that there's a solution somewhere that we're ignoring. Again, what can open-source game developers learn from open-source application developers? Do applications really come together that much faster than games? Is it that there aren't enough artists willing to contribute their time and skills?
(Afterthought: My post assumes that open-source games are being developed in volunteers' spare time; I'm under the impression that most open-source application development works this way. If this isn't the case, that changes the arguments.)