Excellent point. Here's a quick reference from the Wiki article:
Full-scale models have been built and fired, including a very successful 90 mm bore, 9 MJ (6.6 million foot-pounds) kinetic energy gun developed by DARPA, but they all suffer from extreme rail damage and need to be serviced after every shot. Rail and insulator ablation issues still need to be addressed before railguns can start to replace conventional weapons.
I've actually been doing just that, working on a module for Neverwinter Nights 2. It's tremendous fun, frustration, and can easily suck up huge volumes of time. On the plus side, you can add quirky humor, characters that interact the way you want, and plot twists that would be avoided in a mass-market game.
There's other game creation resources out there, in addition to modding the big name games (e.g. Unreal Tournament, HalfLife, etc.). Give it a try!
Great. Now we not only have to deal with global warming, but also the release of the shoggoths from their icy tombs. Cthulu runs the oil companies, I say!
If computer systems were diverse, that means every time I used a computer, it would work and act differently. Software that ran on one system wouldn't work on another, or would work subtly differently.
It would be like dealing with people. The training manual for one doesn't work with another. Drugs made for one don't work the same for everyone. Diversity is a killer, I tell you. Clones all around!
I was reading a recent article about how someone theorized that humans currently have an overactive immune system. Long ago, a particularly nasty disease swept through the human population and only those with the most aggressive immune system survived. Of course, the legacy of this was that we have auto-immune diseases, asthma, and diabetes. Inflammation is great when fighting off invaders, but for ordinary living it's not so great.
There are certainly elements in the above review that are valid. A high-end system is required to get good framerates with all the graphics turned on at high resolutions. It's a very modern graphics engine that's designed to last for years to come.
I found that after patch 3 (which just came out last week), many of the technical issues have been taken care of. In terms of the story, the first act is a bit slow, but things pick up considerably in the second act. Obsidian's support post-release has been quite good and there is dedicated staff to support the game after launch, much like Bioware's Live team.
Also don't forget that when you talk about Neverwinter Nights, you're talking about the official campaign. There were literally thousands of modules created for the first campaign and I suspect the second will enjoy a similar popularity. Already I'm finishing up work on the first module of the Dark Waters campaign, a piratey high-seas adventure. I know of many people planning persistent worlds, mini-games, and more. Give us builders a couple more months to get organized with the new tools and expect some fun stuff to appear.
The US military is the best in the world, but put them in a country where AK-47s, RPGs, and plastique are easy to obtain and that country can effectively harrass them until they leave. Not that I'm advocating widespread RPG ownership in our country, but it would certainly make those Canadians think twice before invading us.
I worked for several years on mods for Neverwinter Nights, getting my games on some magazine DVDs, winning awards, and so on. The graphics were not the best aspect, even when released, but it was fun to play and it made for an interesting hobby.
For the last couple years, I've been planning a campaign for the sequel. Neverwinter Nights 2 has far better graphics and tremendous flexibility when it comes to designing areas. Such advances have a cost, however. File sizes are much larger, area creation can take ten times as long, and creating custom models is much more complicated.
Don't get me wrong - I love the new features and style. Improved graphics can make for a better gaming experience and a greater emotional impact for players. As with all things, though, there are trade-offs. I suspect we'll see more divisions between the "fun, simple, and cheap" games like Bejeweled versus the big budget games like Gears of War. There will be audiences for both.
It doesn't yet, but LucasArts has expressed an interest in doing something along these lines. It's odd because several people I've described the Wii to have specifically mentioned lightsabers.
There's starting to be a number of replacements for traditional controls. There's eye tracking products, software solutions, and a variety of hardware replacements like a Wacom tablet.
In science, the best you can do are experiments whose results seem to support or not support a theory. Even when the results seem to point one way or another, you can pick apart the methodology, the bias of the experimenters, and more. That's the best you can do with science. It's a human endevor, and has the same human flaws.
That's why we have peer reviewed journals, public debate, and more. No, consensus is not proof. Look at the long standing belief that ulcers were caused by "stress". It turns out it's a bacterial infection and it took a crazy guy drinking a batch of the bacteria to prove his point. But in so many other cases, the evidence changes the consensus. It takes awhile and can be hotly debated, but the process generally works.
Global climate change is in that category. Smaller experiments support it. The historical record supports it. Various measurements support it. Sure, it's not proof, but that's as good as it gets with science.
Well, my point is that we don't have a very good understanding of asteroids. Personally I'd rather see a plan that involved a lot of robotic exploration first, with a tentative "later we'll decide if a manned mission makes sense". Doing manned missions for PR purposes seems pretty silly.
If the plan is to "land" on an asteroid and plant a flag (or whatever), it's probably a good idea to actually know ahead of time that there's solid ground there. If I recall correctly, the most recent asteroid fly-bys suggested that it was mostly loose gravel held together by microgravity. Imagine "landing" and finding yourself sinking into a bunch of rocks that start flying about.
I'm getting to the point where the fanboys arguing over which system is better has gotten quite dull. When Wikipedia has to lock down their entries, things are getting silly.
Sometime in January, we'll see sales results and then someone can declare a "winner". Even that seems silly, since the two systems seem to cater to different audiences.
Here in Oregon, I voted at my dining room table last week. It was fun and relaxing, plus I got to show my kids how the whole voting process works. Plus it's cheaper, as you don't have to transport polling equipment around and hire so many people to manage it.
Fortunately it sounds like the idea might be catching on other places. There's a Vote By Mail Project that discusses the idea, plus some politicians are talking about it to other folks too. Interesting times.
Can the editors please mention that a site might possibly not be safe for work?
As eager as I am to rally behind censorship, I'm not too keen on gay shirtless men popping up on my monitor as I eat my lunch. My Christian coworker might think odd things of me.
Even better, judges were dismissed in the case if they seemed to be too nice to him:
The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial was replaced Tuesday amid complaints from Shiite and Kurdish officials that he was too soft on the former Iraqi leader, a move that could raise accusations of government interference in the highly sensitive case.
Now, it's pretty obvious that Saddam wasn't a nice guy. It's just that this trial seems to be so politically well-timed with an outcome that was predetermined from the beginning.
Gah! Please mod my above post as off-topic. I meant to post this on the Aliens loader thread. Personally, I blame IE7 and the new tabbed browsing. Yeah, that's it . . .
Slashdot Mirror
Excellent point. Here's a quick reference from the Wiki article:
Full-scale models have been built and fired, including a very successful 90 mm bore, 9 MJ (6.6 million foot-pounds) kinetic energy gun developed by DARPA, but they all suffer from extreme rail damage and need to be serviced after every shot. Rail and insulator ablation issues still need to be addressed before railguns can start to replace conventional weapons.
I've actually been doing just that, working on a module for Neverwinter Nights 2. It's tremendous fun, frustration, and can easily suck up huge volumes of time. On the plus side, you can add quirky humor, characters that interact the way you want, and plot twists that would be avoided in a mass-market game.
There's other game creation resources out there, in addition to modding the big name games (e.g. Unreal Tournament, HalfLife, etc.). Give it a try!
Great. Now we not only have to deal with global warming, but also the release of the shoggoths from their icy tombs. Cthulu runs the oil companies, I say!
If computer systems were diverse, that means every time I used a computer, it would work and act differently. Software that ran on one system wouldn't work on another, or would work subtly differently.
It would be like dealing with people. The training manual for one doesn't work with another. Drugs made for one don't work the same for everyone. Diversity is a killer, I tell you. Clones all around!
Please, how far can you beat a dead shark?
I was reading a recent article about how someone theorized that humans currently have an overactive immune system. Long ago, a particularly nasty disease swept through the human population and only those with the most aggressive immune system survived. Of course, the legacy of this was that we have auto-immune diseases, asthma, and diabetes. Inflammation is great when fighting off invaders, but for ordinary living it's not so great.
There are certainly elements in the above review that are valid. A high-end system is required to get good framerates with all the graphics turned on at high resolutions. It's a very modern graphics engine that's designed to last for years to come.
I found that after patch 3 (which just came out last week), many of the technical issues have been taken care of. In terms of the story, the first act is a bit slow, but things pick up considerably in the second act. Obsidian's support post-release has been quite good and there is dedicated staff to support the game after launch, much like Bioware's Live team.
Also don't forget that when you talk about Neverwinter Nights, you're talking about the official campaign. There were literally thousands of modules created for the first campaign and I suspect the second will enjoy a similar popularity. Already I'm finishing up work on the first module of the Dark Waters campaign, a piratey high-seas adventure. I know of many people planning persistent worlds, mini-games, and more. Give us builders a couple more months to get organized with the new tools and expect some fun stuff to appear.
The US military is the best in the world, but put them in a country where AK-47s, RPGs, and plastique are easy to obtain and that country can effectively harrass them until they leave. Not that I'm advocating widespread RPG ownership in our country, but it would certainly make those Canadians think twice before invading us.
I worked for several years on mods for Neverwinter Nights, getting my games on some magazine DVDs, winning awards, and so on. The graphics were not the best aspect, even when released, but it was fun to play and it made for an interesting hobby.
For the last couple years, I've been planning a campaign for the sequel. Neverwinter Nights 2 has far better graphics and tremendous flexibility when it comes to designing areas. Such advances have a cost, however. File sizes are much larger, area creation can take ten times as long, and creating custom models is much more complicated.
Don't get me wrong - I love the new features and style. Improved graphics can make for a better gaming experience and a greater emotional impact for players. As with all things, though, there are trade-offs. I suspect we'll see more divisions between the "fun, simple, and cheap" games like Bejeweled versus the big budget games like Gears of War. There will be audiences for both.
It doesn't yet, but LucasArts has expressed an interest in doing something along these lines. It's odd because several people I've described the Wii to have specifically mentioned lightsabers.
They have magnetic levitation for fish and frogs.
Careful, now. You'll make the terrorists win!
There's starting to be a number of replacements for traditional controls. There's eye tracking products, software solutions, and a variety of hardware replacements like a Wacom tablet.
About 10 years ago my SNES broke a week before Christian.
Hmm. I didn't realize there was an anti-technology aura that eminates from all Christians.
In science, the best you can do are experiments whose results seem to support or not support a theory. Even when the results seem to point one way or another, you can pick apart the methodology, the bias of the experimenters, and more. That's the best you can do with science. It's a human endevor, and has the same human flaws.
That's why we have peer reviewed journals, public debate, and more. No, consensus is not proof. Look at the long standing belief that ulcers were caused by "stress". It turns out it's a bacterial infection and it took a crazy guy drinking a batch of the bacteria to prove his point. But in so many other cases, the evidence changes the consensus. It takes awhile and can be hotly debated, but the process generally works.
Global climate change is in that category. Smaller experiments support it. The historical record supports it. Various measurements support it. Sure, it's not proof, but that's as good as it gets with science.
Well, my point is that we don't have a very good understanding of asteroids. Personally I'd rather see a plan that involved a lot of robotic exploration first, with a tentative "later we'll decide if a manned mission makes sense". Doing manned missions for PR purposes seems pretty silly.
A little shove would bring it nicely down upon an enemy state of your choice, without the messy fallout that nukes have.
Perhaps one of the Lagrange points would make people feel more comfortable.
If the plan is to "land" on an asteroid and plant a flag (or whatever), it's probably a good idea to actually know ahead of time that there's solid ground there. If I recall correctly, the most recent asteroid fly-bys suggested that it was mostly loose gravel held together by microgravity. Imagine "landing" and finding yourself sinking into a bunch of rocks that start flying about.
I'm getting to the point where the fanboys arguing over which system is better has gotten quite dull. When Wikipedia has to lock down their entries, things are getting silly.
Sometime in January, we'll see sales results and then someone can declare a "winner". Even that seems silly, since the two systems seem to cater to different audiences.
Here in Oregon, I voted at my dining room table last week. It was fun and relaxing, plus I got to show my kids how the whole voting process works. Plus it's cheaper, as you don't have to transport polling equipment around and hire so many people to manage it.
Fortunately it sounds like the idea might be catching on other places. There's a Vote By Mail Project that discusses the idea, plus some politicians are talking about it to other folks too. Interesting times.
Can the editors please mention that a site might possibly not be safe for work?
As eager as I am to rally behind censorship, I'm not too keen on gay shirtless men popping up on my monitor as I eat my lunch. My Christian coworker might think odd things of me.
Even better, judges were dismissed in the case if they seemed to be too nice to him:
The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial was replaced Tuesday amid complaints from Shiite and Kurdish officials that he was too soft on the former Iraqi leader, a move that could raise accusations of government interference in the highly sensitive case.
Now, it's pretty obvious that Saddam wasn't a nice guy. It's just that this trial seems to be so politically well-timed with an outcome that was predetermined from the beginning.
Gah! Please mod my above post as off-topic. I meant to post this on the Aliens loader thread. Personally, I blame IE7 and the new tabbed browsing. Yeah, that's it . . .
She got tired of him always saying "Get away from her, you bitch!"
Actually, they did, but in classic NASA fashion, they couldn't remember if they did it in metric or not.