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User: cjp

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  1. Stardock isn't the studio behind Sins on Development To Begin Soon On New Star Control Game · · Score: 1

    They're the publisher. Ironclad games is the publisher.

    Still, exciting!

  2. What, again? on Takedown Letters For WP7 Tetris Clones · · Score: 1

    Didn't we have this story a few months ago?

    Regardless of anyone's feelings on this, it doesn't become more newsworthy the more clones you report on.

  3. Re:Sweet! 43 Billion! on Australia's National Broadband Network To Go Ahead · · Score: 1

    Were we're not green is in housing energy ratings, sustainable energy and pollution. Even the USA leads us on sustainable energy, which is pathetic considering how many great options we have for it.

    Recycling is all well and good but is only part of the picture.

  4. Re:Finally time to get a Mac? on Steam Prompts OS X Graphics Update · · Score: 1

    They finally released a new Dark Castle recently! So much nostalgia . . .

    New one seems pretty good, from the demo. As punishing as the original.

  5. Re:Creative Cheating on Girls Bugged Teachers' Staff Room · · Score: 1

    Interesting, I just left Norway after working their 19 months (a normal job, and teaching at a hogeskole for a semester), and would have thought that Norway, being socialist and emphasising education and so forth would have decent pay for teachers. That's depressing.

    What's the variation in pay from primary school teaching through to university??

  6. Re:Not really relevant, but what's with the clones on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 1

    I believe we should discourage that, with an iron fist. ;)

  7. Re:Not really relevant, but what's with the clones on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 1

    Fair enough, it just seems to me that the effort would be much better spent working on a new, original game than defending the old clone.

    And technically you can do both, but in my experience the people to take the complaining route do not do both at the same time.

  8. Re:Not really relevant, but what's with the clones on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 1

    A painting in your own style of a bowl of fruit != making a Tetris clone but swapping the art out.

    Why do so many Slashdot commenters come up with a variation on an analogy for the same issue? It's been done to death! And yes, yours is no more original than the others :P

  9. Re:Not really relevant, but what's with the clones on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 1

    It's not about big picture creativity, it's about ANY creativity! Making something that's a clone of someone else's product and enjoying the crafting is one thing, selling it and then complaining when it gets pulled is something else entirely, regardless of your legal right to do so.

    And the same applies if you're doing it to learn, you turn and use what you've learned in something else, you don't stop and complain. Or, do you? Yes, that's a question for you . . .

  10. Re:Not really relevant, but what's with the clones on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 1

    Of course, you make the simple game first, that's just common sense.

    Having done that however, would you move onto the complex game idea you want to do, or stop to defend your derivative, "practice run" game?

    If you want an easy way to make your own games, I highly recommend Game Maker. If your goal is to make the games, rather than getting your game tech skills up, it's far and away the easiest. Even beyond that, it's a super fast way to prototype game ideas.

  11. Re:Not really relevant, but what's with the clones on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 1

    Sure, and then when your derivative "getting a sense of how things work" gets pulled, you take the knowledge you've gained and keep working, you don't stop working and try to defend your derivative work.

  12. Re:Not really relevant, but what's with the clones on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 2, Informative

    Assuming I'm understanding your question correctly, I enjoy shiny things more when they're bought with money I got doing something creative rather than derivative.

  13. Anyone remember the gold rush days? on Blizzard Boss Says Restrictive DRM Is a Waste of Time · · Score: 1

    When the best RTS games all let you spawn multiple multiplayer installs off one game disc? Even Blizzard was in on that action, how times have changed . . . I'm not complaining really, games these days are a hell of a lot more convenient, but still, it makes me nostalgic.

  14. Not really relevant, but what's with the clones? on Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market · · Score: 1

    Since the issue here seems to be the legality of it (IMO the DMCA has no power over game mechanics, FWIW). Anyway, how can people find satisfaction in making clones of games? Isn't the joy of game development in making a game that you truly believe in, that puts your unique ideas out there? If the game you truly believe in already exists, just play that rather than making a copy . . . or at the least put your own spin on the idea rather than just copying someone else's idea verbatim, changing the art and calling it good.

  15. Re:Gaming Demographics on Game Developer Asks To Hear From Pirates · · Score: 1

    There isn't much between minesweeper and Unreal for non-dedicated PC gamers.

    There's an enormous number of games that you're missing out on! Check out any random flash portal for an easy example of exactly what I mean (e.g. kongregate, newgrounds, armor games), but there are also plenty of downloadable games (plant tycoon, diner dash and anything Popcap come to mind) in the same broad niche. Also check out the huge number of $10 games on Steam. It's a thriving sector of the industry.

  16. Read the industry sites, befriend a programmer on How To Sell a Video Game Idea? · · Score: 1

    1. Do your research. Your question is a good one, but is asked and answered constantly in the games industry. Check the industry sites for relevant info.
    http://www.gamasutra.com/
    http://www.gamecareerguide.com/
    etc etc

    Yeah, the games industry doesn't buy ideas. I'd recommend befriending a programmer in the industry and just making the game together, then enter it in a couple of competitions (e.g. the Indie Games Festival one), and start selling it. If it's genuinely a great game it'll rise to the top and publishers will take notice.

    Easier to find a programmer who's keen to work on an indie game if you're already in the industry, but there are also "matchmaking" sites for this sort of thing, everyone needs artists too!

  17. Re:*SPOILERS* The Very End on Cloverfield Discussion · · Score: 1

    Wasn't there some newscast talking about a piece falling off a Russian satellite or something too? So, Russian zero gravity experiment gone wrong?

  18. Great film! on Cloverfield Discussion · · Score: 1

    I realise it's trendy to criticise the fuck out of every movie that comes out, but I thought it was great fun. Positives: 1. A sense of realism about the whole thing (stemming from the flawed bits and pieces the camera-wielding doofus was able to capture) 2. Clear Lovecraft mythos homage 3. Good creature design Negatives: 1. Handheld camera makes lots of people nauseous (didn't bother me, but hey) 2. Patchy acting 3. Implausible stunts 4. Annoying name Now I want a prequel in which investigators try to prevent cultists from summoning the monster (guided by the Necronomicon). The prequel ends with the investigators taking down the last of the cultists on Liberty island, too late, and seeing the wake heading towards them, the head of the statue flying towards the city . . .

  19. Re:Ah, teh good old days on Which eBook Reader is the Best? · · Score: 1

    Another good site is http://gutenberg.net.au/ (the au site has some stuff the full one doesn't) I particularly like their sci-fi section, even more particularly their Robert E Howard bit. Mmm, Conan. http://gutenberg.net.au/sfproject.html

  20. Re:at least 5 years away on Electronic Paper's Past and Future · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was envisaging something with the same reading qualities as a book, not the same qualities as a piece of paper. So something that folds once to fit in a (large) pocket, opens up to the same dimensions as a paperback, has switches for page flipping or whatever. Maybe I'm married to the past and have to move beyond the book paradigm, I don't know :) Wireless for the win, I guess. I just carry USB to mini-USB cables everywhere though, which has the added advantage of charging the device while I'm transferring.

  21. Re:at least 5 years away on Electronic Paper's Past and Future · · Score: 1

    They're already very low power usage, since epaper only uses power when changing the display - there's no passive power usage. Define "effortlessly"? Copying your text onto a flash card is pretty slow effort. Hanging out for foldable, for sure.

  22. Re:It was not part of the "Baldur's Gate family". on A Retrospective on Planescape Torment · · Score: 1

    It's a roleplaying game in the true sense of the word. It's barely a CRPG in that it's not all about the crunchy, crunchy numbers (like most other CRPGs are). It seems wrong that Diablo and PS:T both get the same label in the media.

  23. Re:If only . . . on Fantasy Author Robert Jordan Passes Away · · Score: 1

    My comment was glib and not intended to be taken seriously.

    I don't know anything about the back end of book promotion, so I'm sure you're right :)

  24. If only . . . on Fantasy Author Robert Jordan Passes Away · · Score: 1

    He'd spent less time reciting his works in Second Life, and more time finishing the series!
    I think there's a lesson there for other authors. *glares*

  25. Re:You love it... You should buy it. on Protoss For a Day · · Score: 1

    Ok, I'm with you now :) In terms of raw clout Blizzard certainly wins out too.