Re: Everything, including tools, in moderation!
on
UML Fever
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I don't think his point is that projects are too unique to be guided by such rules. He's merely saying that design patterns are often useful, but don't make sacrifices in your own design to adhere to specific pattern rules. It would be foolhardy to think that most problems could be solved by using straight from the text patterns.
Also I think he's driving at another point: you should only model as much as you need to. I think modeling is useful to help everyone understand how the system works but it's not always necessary to model every behavior before you continue with the project.
Well a good reason for having your most powerful thrust in one direction is the same reason you don't build a modern fighter with engines on front to slow it down for landing: Cost and mass. The sheer mass of a spherical ship with good manuevering thrusters at 6 or more points on a sphere would probably make it a sitting duck in terms of acceleration and give it a much larger profile. Also any good Engineer will tell you that the simpler a system, the less that can go wrong.
In terms of cost, I imagine the engine on a star fighter takes a large amount of the initial cost not to mention a huge part of the maintenance budget. Imagine the maintenance on 6, 8, even 10 large thrusters multiplied by a large fleet of fighters. Why build one spherical fighter when you can intimidate with 4 or 5 more traditional looking ones?
Also what happens when you have to land a fighter on a planet? Assuming most laws of physics still hold you'd want to conserve fuel and increase stability with something relatively aerodynamic.
I think he raises some pretty good points. You've got to wonder, with increasing development times, how long are companies going to keep reinventing the wheel for each game? A step forward was engine licensing but reusing level design elements would probably be a large step in the right direction as well...now all they need to do is license objects and generic levels.
I think it's interesting that AMD and the Tapwave are helping sponsor this contest. Also I think that as computer's get faster virtual machines will become more viable as a cross platform solution for porting games. Imagine taking a java game from your PC-CDROM and popping it into your console of choice when your friends come over.
Perhaps you should look at the growing difference between a coder and a software engineer. The SE program at RIT has a far different curriculum from the CS program. The first year is spent taking mostly the same classes but SE students take engineering courses and focus more on large system design as they move on while CS students continue to talk about theory and algorithms.
Frag was slanted more towards simulation the death match aspect, this seems to be slanted more towards the single player if it includes "scores" of miniature, Frag was fun but could get old quickly, I'm wondering what kind of replay value this will have.
I believe you're missing the point of Munchkin. It is meant to be a parody of DnD, the D20 version of Munchkin is essentially the same as D&D but the classes have ridiculous bonuses and the magic items are intended to be funny, like a two handed sword that actually has two hands on the pommel that can wield two more weapons.
SJG was raided by the secret service for their cyberpunk book (still bleeding edge at that point) because it had rules for hacking into computers. They've been a profitable company practically every year since then except for last year due to some reorganization of their supply chain (non recurring expenses). They continue to win Origin awards for their games and are usually the second or third company ordered from by any hobby store to fill up their RP shelves. The "gag" card game Munchkin has won two Origins awards. GURPS was also inducted into the Origins hall of fame a few short years after D&D was (pre D20).
You should probably take another look at GURPS. If you have a world in mind and you can't find a supplement, chances are GURPS has enough rules you can use to apply it to the world you're looking for. D20 on the other hand may have gobs and gobs of supplements but not all of the rules are nearly as high quality or go into as much depth.
Just because a game isn't OSS doesn't make it inferior or any less universal.
One important thing to note is that Stephan O'Sullivan, author of FUDGE, was (is?) an author and prolific contributor for GURPS and it's supplements. I can see advantages and disadvantages for both. GURPS can be easy for limiting power gamers, but can enable them at higher point levels. The same is true for FUDGE but it takes more effort on the GM's part to define rules, like magic systems and psionics and super powers are only briefly outlined in FUDGE.
IMHO off the shelf GURPS is better but with work and a good GM, FUDGE can really out shine it.
If a contributor wants his code to be open source, there's nothing stopping him from releasing the code unless he signed a confidentiality agreement with the project. If a contributor wants his code undisclosed that's his right as well.
Yes but the solution presented in your humble opinion would require some sort of definition of pornography and that is where things get really sticky. The Supreme Court has had a few flimsy definitions of profanity/adult content, some of which boil down to local standards which, in the case of the internet, would not apply. Some would argue that what the Supreme Court policy on profanity is that it is better to let a little profanity slip through the cracks than ban all questionable material.
Also it is important to note that some politicians may have put their name on this bill because it is popular with their constituants, not because they believe the bill to be constitutional.
As a game enthusiast I find it fascinating. As an academic, I find this is symptomatic of the walmartization of education. I'm sure this may be a nice small subsection of sociology or psychology but to me gaming doesn't seem to warrant a whole new field.
I think it will be difficult to sort out the popular games from the good games. Sure lots of popular games are good but often the best are second or third place winners. Of course this is all just my lowly opinion, feel free to flame. Also comparing some games will be like comparing apples and oranges, you'll be able to find a pretty damn good apple and a pretty damn good orange but how will you be able to judge which is better?
I love the comments so far that are foretelling doom. Perhaps these microbes will lead us in the direction of a cure for cancer or be ultra efficient energy producers that can live in batteries. Those seem just a likely to me.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think his point is that projects are too unique to be guided by such rules. He's merely saying that design patterns are often useful, but don't make sacrifices in your own design to adhere to specific pattern rules. It would be foolhardy to think that most problems could be solved by using straight from the text patterns.
Also I think he's driving at another point: you should only model as much as you need to. I think modeling is useful to help everyone understand how the system works but it's not always necessary to model every behavior before you continue with the project.
We've got to have more power! Physicist (on a dying cell phone): W*&&^* it a*&^ she's got sir, but the batteries, they can't take..(call dropped)
You know I think Slashdot is overlooking THE ultimate April Fool's story....Duke Nukem Forever to ship next April.
Well a good reason for having your most powerful thrust in one direction is the same reason you don't build a modern fighter with engines on front to slow it down for landing: Cost and mass. The sheer mass of a spherical ship with good manuevering thrusters at 6 or more points on a sphere would probably make it a sitting duck in terms of acceleration and give it a much larger profile. Also any good Engineer will tell you that the simpler a system, the less that can go wrong.
In terms of cost, I imagine the engine on a star fighter takes a large amount of the initial cost not to mention a huge part of the maintenance budget. Imagine the maintenance on 6, 8, even 10 large thrusters multiplied by a large fleet of fighters. Why build one spherical fighter when you can intimidate with 4 or 5 more traditional looking ones?
Also what happens when you have to land a fighter on a planet? Assuming most laws of physics still hold you'd want to conserve fuel and increase stability with something relatively aerodynamic.
I think he raises some pretty good points. You've got to wonder, with increasing development times, how long are companies going to keep reinventing the wheel for each game? A step forward was engine licensing but reusing level design elements would probably be a large step in the right direction as well...now all they need to do is license objects and generic levels.
I think it's interesting that AMD and the Tapwave are helping sponsor this contest. Also I think that as computer's get faster virtual machines will become more viable as a cross platform solution for porting games. Imagine taking a java game from your PC-CDROM and popping it into your console of choice when your friends come over.
Perhaps you should look at the growing difference between a coder and a software engineer. The SE program at RIT has a far different curriculum from the CS program. The first year is spent taking mostly the same classes but SE students take engineering courses and focus more on large system design as they move on while CS students continue to talk about theory and algorithms.
I frequent OpenRPG but beware the servers are very unstable. This project could use some coders who don't think Python is the greatest
Frag was slanted more towards simulation the death match aspect, this seems to be slanted more towards the single player if it includes "scores" of miniature, Frag was fun but could get old quickly, I'm wondering what kind of replay value this will have.
I believe you're missing the point of Munchkin. It is meant to be a parody of DnD, the D20 version of Munchkin is essentially the same as D&D but the classes have ridiculous bonuses and the magic items are intended to be funny, like a two handed sword that actually has two hands on the pommel that can wield two more weapons.
SJG was raided by the secret service for their cyberpunk book (still bleeding edge at that point) because it had rules for hacking into computers. They've been a profitable company practically every year since then except for last year due to some reorganization of their supply chain (non recurring expenses). They continue to win Origin awards for their games and are usually the second or third company ordered from by any hobby store to fill up their RP shelves. The "gag" card game Munchkin has won two Origins awards. GURPS was also inducted into the Origins hall of fame a few short years after D&D was (pre D20).
You should probably take another look at GURPS. If you have a world in mind and you can't find a supplement, chances are GURPS has enough rules you can use to apply it to the world you're looking for. D20 on the other hand may have gobs and gobs of supplements but not all of the rules are nearly as high quality or go into as much depth.
Just because a game isn't OSS doesn't make it inferior or any less universal.
One important thing to note is that Stephan O'Sullivan, author of FUDGE, was (is?) an author and prolific contributor for GURPS and it's supplements. I can see advantages and disadvantages for both. GURPS can be easy for limiting power gamers, but can enable them at higher point levels. The same is true for FUDGE but it takes more effort on the GM's part to define rules, like magic systems and psionics and super powers are only briefly outlined in FUDGE.
IMHO off the shelf GURPS is better but with work and a good GM, FUDGE can really out shine it.
slay moblins, duh!
If a contributor wants his code to be open source, there's nothing stopping him from releasing the code unless he signed a confidentiality agreement with the project. If a contributor wants his code undisclosed that's his right as well.
As a consultant I can tell you, with no idea what you want to do, you really should hire a consultant...
Wow! A consultant recommending you hire a consultant? You're pulling my leg right?
yeah, but who can rely on the flip of a coin nowadays?
(too lazy to post a link to a previous story)
Yes but the solution presented in your humble opinion would require some sort of definition of pornography and that is where things get really sticky. The Supreme Court has had a few flimsy definitions of profanity/adult content, some of which boil down to local standards which, in the case of the internet, would not apply. Some would argue that what the Supreme Court policy on profanity is that it is better to let a little profanity slip through the cracks than ban all questionable material.
Also it is important to note that some politicians may have put their name on this bill because it is popular with their constituants, not because they believe the bill to be constitutional.
As a game enthusiast I find it fascinating. As an academic, I find this is symptomatic of the walmartization of education. I'm sure this may be a nice small subsection of sociology or psychology but to me gaming doesn't seem to warrant a whole new field.
RTFA...oh wait, maybe I should do that too...
What world do you live in?
More like:
Him: Hey, I've got a 300-disc DVD changer!
Her: That's pretty cool...
For an array:
Him: Hey, I've got a terabyte array!
Her: *blinks a few times* oh...
I think it will be difficult to sort out the popular games from the good games. Sure lots of popular games are good but often the best are second or third place winners. Of course this is all just my lowly opinion, feel free to flame. Also comparing some games will be like comparing apples and oranges, you'll be able to find a pretty damn good apple and a pretty damn good orange but how will you be able to judge which is better?
Oh they were jokes, I didn't even think of that. Thank you captain obvious.
How did they find out exactly what I would never buy for my computer? This is amazing!!
I love the comments so far that are foretelling doom. Perhaps these microbes will lead us in the direction of a cure for cancer or be ultra efficient energy producers that can live in batteries. Those seem just a likely to me.