Have you actually tried using a controller like it? My first hand experience using a rotation sensitive controller in FPS games has shown that it rocks hard, and is very natural.
That's a very good point. Gyration makes motion sensitive mice that you can use in the air (which rock for FPS playing), and they feature a trigger button that serves the same purpose that lifting up a mouse does. It works great. Nintendo has a trigger button, so I suspect they may use it for that (or let developers do it in software?).
It's really cool that it can work like a mouse in the air. Having played plenty of FPSs using exactly that setup, I can affirm that it works great. The only thing my air-mouse and keyboard lacked was an analog stick for my left hand to control movement, and they've provided exactly that.
I, on the other hand, prefer Gnome to a Windows desktop. Having to select "All Programs" to reach most of the applications in the Start Menu really bugs me. It's better now in XP since I can pin things to the Start Menu, but I still don't like it much. I much prefer the way Gnome does it, with a trio of menus (in 2.10) that put most of what I want to do right there, available in a top-level menu, and drawn with large text. I also like having removable storage appear on my desktop when I insert it. Text rendering is just beautiful. I can roll up a window to see behind it and unroll it to use it, all without moving my mouse. I can copy and paste with just my mouse.
Windows just feels clunky and difficult to me in comparison, and ugly too. For some of us, Linux fits on the desktop better than Windows ever has.
The idea behind CC licenses is to create an easy way for a rights holder to give permission to others to use their work. As Dvorak so astutely observed, CC licenses only serve to weaken the copyrights you have coming to you. He also observes that we've always been able to ask a righs holder for permission to use a work. All a CC license does is issue that permission before it's asked. Rather than forcing others who want to use your work to solicit a blessing from you, you can tell everyone yourself. That's a boon because, first, seeing that permission right there might put it into another person's mind to build on your work, and second, creative people who might just forget about building on your work because they can't be bothered to ask you will be able to go ahead and use it. It's a suggestion to make use of your work, and it's a time saver for everyone involved because your wishes are posted right there next to your work.
So, if all a CC license does is issue the same permission you could give anyway, then why exactly are they a useful thing? Why use a CC license in particular, instead of just writing your own? Because it's easy to apply the CC license. If you want to use a slightly different license for another of your works, then you can, without having to actually rewrite the thing yourself.
A CC license isn't meant to give you more rights, since those are defined by copyright law and not under your control; it's meant to be an easy way for you to issue permission for others to use your work.
I agree completely. The best way to learn to make games is just to do it. I recommend starting out with a scrolling shooter type of game, since they're pretty simple to write. You don't have to make your characters stand on the ground and not walk through walls and such. Make simple games first, until you get the hang of mapping controls to screen movements in an effective way, making enemies seek the player just right, and all the other fundamental tasks involved in constructing a game. The most important thing is to get some stuff moving around on the screen as soon as you possibly can. Writing games often seems much harder than it really is.
I haven't worked with SDL, but I've had a good experience with Allegro (http://www.allegro.cc/).
I'm not really impressed with it. It may not be a drop in quality that I'm noticing; it may just be a stylistic shift. Still, I don't like it. Now that I think about it, Gish has a great soundtrack, and Starscape (by Moonpod) isn't too bad.
I mostly agree with you, but I do find newer games to be lacking in one area, almost across the board. I feel that the quality of in-game music has dropped a great deal. The newest game I know of with an impressive soundtrack is Descent III, which isn't exactly new anymore. I've noticed a shift from engaging songs to more ambient songs which are just meant to fill silence.
If anyone can give me some examples of recent games with good music, I'd appreciate it. I haven't played any that measure up to my old favorites, like Commander Keen, Jazz Jackrabbit, Tyrian, One Must Fall, and others.
I know there were plenty of old games with lame music, but I don't know of any recent games with great music.
Some (I would guess most) TTS software will allow you to define pronunciations for words that need special ones. It could also pronounce letters that don't seem to be words as acronyms, at least making them recognizable. You're likely to get output that makes at least a little sense, with the option to tweak it to taste.
I'd like to hear from any actual blind (legally or totally) folks here. What do you want in an OS?
I'm hoping for a Star Trek spin-off, only with virtual immortality and holodecks with locks on the doors so you can't be interrupted (self-cleaning would be nice too.)
I agree; I've always thought that virtual immorality was the best use for a holodeck.
Yes, using raw input. You can register an application to recieve raw input from a device (all kinds of stuff -- mice, keyboards, game controllers, telephony devices; what have you). Using it, you can access mice seperately.
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Because he's unable to rotate his eyeballs, you insensitive clod!
Have you actually tried using a controller like it? My first hand experience using a rotation sensitive controller in FPS games has shown that it rocks hard, and is very natural.
That's a very good point. Gyration makes motion sensitive mice that you can use in the air (which rock for FPS playing), and they feature a trigger button that serves the same purpose that lifting up a mouse does. It works great. Nintendo has a trigger button, so I suspect they may use it for that (or let developers do it in software?).
It's really cool that it can work like a mouse in the air. Having played plenty of FPSs using exactly that setup, I can affirm that it works great. The only thing my air-mouse and keyboard lacked was an analog stick for my left hand to control movement, and they've provided exactly that.
As a matter of fact, Nintendo has a video of a guy using it in exactly that way.
I don't use mouse gestures, but I do find myself middle clicking on links to try to open them in new tabs every time I have to use IE.
Not offensive? Did we read the same post?
It is also a lot nicer looking,
That's really a subjective judgement. Some of us prefer the look of the city, and find suburbs bleak because everything is so far apart.
If I were new I would have been surprised that I needed to post that.
The problem is, someone who doesn't know what the Onion is will beleive this.
Yes, I'm sure many unsuspecting netizens will be fooled. It's not exactly a subtle joke, you know.
For everyone who's too dumb to read the article: It's a joke, and does not cover Google's actual intentions.
I don't know.... Remember when Bill Gates bought out Homer Simpson?
I, on the other hand, prefer Gnome to a Windows desktop. Having to select "All Programs" to reach most of the applications in the Start Menu really bugs me. It's better now in XP since I can pin things to the Start Menu, but I still don't like it much. I much prefer the way Gnome does it, with a trio of menus (in 2.10) that put most of what I want to do right there, available in a top-level menu, and drawn with large text. I also like having removable storage appear on my desktop when I insert it. Text rendering is just beautiful. I can roll up a window to see behind it and unroll it to use it, all without moving my mouse. I can copy and paste with just my mouse.
Windows just feels clunky and difficult to me in comparison, and ugly too. For some of us, Linux fits on the desktop better than Windows ever has.
Same experience here, which, as a n00b, I really appreciate. I get to concentrate on learning to work the system instead of learning how to fix it.
We could use a little less of that....
Heh, that was my first thought as well.
The idea behind CC licenses is to create an easy way for a rights holder to give permission to others to use their work. As Dvorak so astutely observed, CC licenses only serve to weaken the copyrights you have coming to you. He also observes that we've always been able to ask a righs holder for permission to use a work. All a CC license does is issue that permission before it's asked. Rather than forcing others who want to use your work to solicit a blessing from you, you can tell everyone yourself. That's a boon because, first, seeing that permission right there might put it into another person's mind to build on your work, and second, creative people who might just forget about building on your work because they can't be bothered to ask you will be able to go ahead and use it. It's a suggestion to make use of your work, and it's a time saver for everyone involved because your wishes are posted right there next to your work.
So, if all a CC license does is issue the same permission you could give anyway, then why exactly are they a useful thing? Why use a CC license in particular, instead of just writing your own? Because it's easy to apply the CC license. If you want to use a slightly different license for another of your works, then you can, without having to actually rewrite the thing yourself.
A CC license isn't meant to give you more rights, since those are defined by copyright law and not under your control; it's meant to be an easy way for you to issue permission for others to use your work.
And you need a better cordless drill.
I agree completely. The best way to learn to make games is just to do it. I recommend starting out with a scrolling shooter type of game, since they're pretty simple to write. You don't have to make your characters stand on the ground and not walk through walls and such. Make simple games first, until you get the hang of mapping controls to screen movements in an effective way, making enemies seek the player just right, and all the other fundamental tasks involved in constructing a game. The most important thing is to get some stuff moving around on the screen as soon as you possibly can. Writing games often seems much harder than it really is. I haven't worked with SDL, but I've had a good experience with Allegro (http://www.allegro.cc/).
I'm not really impressed with it. It may not be a drop in quality that I'm noticing; it may just be a stylistic shift. Still, I don't like it. Now that I think about it, Gish has a great soundtrack, and Starscape (by Moonpod) isn't too bad.
I mostly agree with you, but I do find newer games to be lacking in one area, almost across the board. I feel that the quality of in-game music has dropped a great deal. The newest game I know of with an impressive soundtrack is Descent III, which isn't exactly new anymore. I've noticed a shift from engaging songs to more ambient songs which are just meant to fill silence.
If anyone can give me some examples of recent games with good music, I'd appreciate it. I haven't played any that measure up to my old favorites, like Commander Keen, Jazz Jackrabbit, Tyrian, One Must Fall, and others.
I know there were plenty of old games with lame music, but I don't know of any recent games with great music.
Applied Minds has created a topographical map that works like that. Not pressure sensitive, I think.
Some (I would guess most) TTS software will allow you to define pronunciations for words that need special ones. It could also pronounce letters that don't seem to be words as acronyms, at least making them recognizable. You're likely to get output that makes at least a little sense, with the option to tweak it to taste. I'd like to hear from any actual blind (legally or totally) folks here. What do you want in an OS?
I'm hoping for a Star Trek spin-off, only with virtual immortality and holodecks with locks on the doors so you can't be interrupted (self-cleaning would be nice too.)
I agree; I've always thought that virtual immorality was the best use for a holodeck.
Yes, using raw input. You can register an application to recieve raw input from a device (all kinds of stuff -- mice, keyboards, game controllers, telephony devices; what have you). Using it, you can access mice seperately.