I dont understand any of the science. But I do know this. It seems to me that 90% (at least) of scientists worldwide conclude that mans made c02 emmissions are causing serious global warming, and a c02 reduction is needed to fix it. Yes maybe 10% (max) of scientists may disagree. Meanwhile the climate clock is ticking. if 90% of doctors tell me to stop drinking or I'll die real soon. I like to think id stop drinking. Why should it be any different when its scientists telling to stop driving SUVs? Of course, I COULD hope the 10% are right, swig a bottle of wine and argue with everyone else, but Ill feel one hell of a jerk when I have to call an ambulance.
Air pollution kills people anyway, so its not exactly a 'solution' to encourage air pollution surely? Cue lots of 'hilarious' ironic tabloid newspaper columinsts suggesting that we all fill up the SUVS to 'do our bit' though.
Couldnt agree more, although I read that darwinia was not a big commercial success. A better example might be rollercoaster tycoon. that franchise was started by one guy on his own doing all the coding. it made millions. And it can still happen today. Uplink did very well as I recall, and I'm making a living doing small budget indie games (so far at least *crosses fingers*).
Its true you cant do civ4, as it currentl looks, but to what extent do we care about looks in games like that anyway? How much of the Civ4 budget is FMV? how much is it voice 'talent'. How much was wasted on that embarrasing 'virtual sid meier' bullshit that pollutes the tutorial? The one thing that hasn't advanced in as many leaps and bounds is pure gameplay code. The amount of actual gameplay code in big games these days isnt much greater than it was 5 years ago. The extra cost goes into graphics, sounds, hype and unneccesary content. If gamer werent so easily wowed by screenshots, they would find a lot of smaller games to be just as rich in gameplay. Democracy (www.democracygame.com) doesn't look as nice as Civ4, by a long way, but I'd wager if people could get past that and give the game a try, they'd realise that a game that small can be no slouch in the gameplay dept. (disclaimer -> i made it) The 2 best games I've played in the last 5 years have been BF2 and GalCiv2. One probably cost ten times what the other did, but I certainly dont notice a difference in quality. To be honest, I'd be just as happy if Galcivs budget was halved, I dont need any of the FMV or the 3D space battles for the game to be fun. There have been doom-mongering stories about indie gaming dying out for years. it never happens, and it never will.
so people who pirate products, first check to see if excess profits are being made by that company? Bullshit. I dont make crazy profits, yet people still try and pirate my stuff. Dressing up theft as some kind of civil rights movement, when its for luxury goods (computer games) is just desperate.
free software is still made by people who eat. If I make free software in my spare time, I still need a conventional job to pay the bills. Are you you suggesting every software developer double trains as a plumber to pay the bills?
motorola does not employ pixies from space. They employ people with jobs, probably your neighbours, friends etc. Or is it because they are a BIG company, its ok for their employees to get laid off so you get cheap phones for a year. Then once motorola are out of business, you are stuck with your current phone permenantly. You just voted with your wallet for the company that does zero R&D. Im glad arguments like this didnt win out 10 years ago, or I'd be sat at a 386 PC right now.
I disagree strongly. I've had various jobs, including (but not limited to), Carpentry, and Computer Game programming. If you do away with IP rights, and my computer games become worthless, I'll go back to sawing wood. Ill have to, even though Im a better coder than a carpenter. This is where it gets interesting... As a carpenter, I might work building houses, but I also might be a setbuilder for hollywood. I wouldnt be a 'creative' carpenter, Im just the guy that lays down floorboards. But suddenly you just killed hollywood. Lord of the Rings wasnt knocked up by peter jackson in his garage. There is ZERO chance of getting an 'open source' movie of that calibre, with that amount of work and effort. In my new role as carpenter, I aint gonna work for beans on it, thats for sure. Not only do creative people need to pay bills and eat, but they many thousands of non-creative people in creative industries sure need food too.
what do you do for a living? because if (like me) you make anything that can be presented in digital form, you just got yourself kicked out of where you live, into the street with no food and no source of income. Yes DRM sucks, yes unskippable DVD sections suck, but to propose we "make everything digital free!" ignores the questions of what all the millions of people who currently work in industries that produce content do to put food on the table.
Your plan for a futuristic hippy-communist world where information is free will simply mean no more new information. Everyone has to eat, and if I cant make a living writing code, I'll go train up as a plumber. you suddenly make the days work of a plumber infintiely more desirable than the work of a programmer, artist or writer. Enjoy your utopian future of zero new entertainment or software.
so? word processors made many typists redundant. I'm sure the correction fluid business nose-dived too. Those ex bank tellers hopefully retrain and go on to do something more stimulating and creative than a paper task that a computer can automate. thats the hope anyway:D
I dont give a damn about any of that in games. I want to see the GUI. The GUI neatly sums up what options the player has, and something about how the game is actually PLAYED. The rest is just eye candy. if I want eye candy, Ill watch LOTR on DVD. Worst of all, many games these days release screenshots with the GUI artifically removed. Ive even been asked to remove the GUI just so *triple A* games screenshots werent 'polluted' by people seeing the GUI. Thats insane. Without a GUI, a game is just a substandard CG movie.
agreed about office 97. I still run this, and see zero reason to upgrade. I'd imagine even an earlier version would be perfectly adequate. For doing siple spreadsheets and letters, anything newer is probably just uncalled-for bloatware.
it makes sense to the same kind of person that thinks its beneath them to not place an interntaional dialing code on their business phone number. Happily, the majority of us in the 'rest of the world' have learned that its usually only american companies that have this particular arrogant habit:D
I think the difference is that you wrote original games. Anyone who reads the article and reckons that 'diner dash' is an original game, should downlaod and play "wild west wendy" written a short while beforehand. DD looks to be just a reskin of a great game by a genuinely independent 1 man developer (cant remember the name). These days, if you write a successfull small indie game, some bigger VC-funded company comes along and clones it instantly, and its their game, not yours, that gets the publicity.
Sadly I know as much about macs as I do Hungarian clog making, so its outsourced to a guy who does mac ports all the time. I know hes cracking along with it, but I don't have an ETA or tech details, sorry.
and the energy used in china, malaysia et al to make products that the US imports has to be factored in as well. I cant remember the last time I saw "made in america" on pretty much anything, except software.
A very sensible post. It always makes me laugh when people say "your software suxxorz you cant stop us warezing it". If its so bad, WHY pirate it? Windows is a complex bit of kit. I dont mind paying for a full proper legal version.
your kidding. for $500 I can almost buy a PC, why buy a proprietary games machine that hogs the TV instead? Besides, all Ive seen as far as ps3 games go is pre-rendered FMV pretending to be a game. I'll pass.
They seem to be ironically promoting piracy of a companies product just because they wouldnt use starforce. thats clearly illegal so... http://www.theesa.com/piracy/index.php I've already reported them, the mroe who do so, the better.
Theres no shortage of games without DRM and without the big 'EA / Sony' attitude. My own companies one of them: www.positech.co.uk There is enough choice to buy the DRM-free games that you enjoy, this game isn't the only option. That said, galciv 2 IS a superb game, and one I've been addicted to since the day it was released. All power to them.
Absolutely. Eve is the closest I've seen to a proper MMORPG, and I've played it on-and-off for years. The only negative thing it has is the way in which you can be so massively outgunned. Gate camping means that fairly newbie players literally have no chance. an ultimatum of "2million isk or we pod you" isnt much gameplay-wise when you dont have the cash. But eve is pretty good, and something other MMOPRGS should learn from.
This looks shit. And why? Because "customising your uniform is a big part of MMOs" BULLSHIT Just because its a big part of EverCrack or whatever MMO is trendy this week doesnt mean its carved into a fucking stone tablet that all MMORPGS must be the same. The concept on an MMORPG is great, but its totally ruined by: Different servers, I cant play with my buddies Leveling-up. Who gives a shit, some of us have a lfie and dont want to be outgunned as a result Grinding - I have a day job thanks, no need for another one. Everyone making an MMORPG has NO ideas and is copying the people who went before them, its really very sad. Why not get some people who a) Have some ideas on how to do an original and fresh MMORPG and b) are die hard trekkies who would laugh customisable uniforms out the room
Im such a trekkie I use a Klingon daqh-tagh as an orange peeler, and no way will I be playing this. They lost my vote the moment I realised you couldnt be a ferengi.
Thanks for your comments, of course I agree mostly, which is why I don't use any DRM on my stuff. Nor do I stuff them full of tedious FMV and unskippable tutorial bull. I do take issue with the cost vs value argument though. Granted, I dont have 500MB of art assets in my games, but I'd argue that to do so would add nothing. Obviously indy games cost less to make, but they sell less too, so lowering the price further wouldnt work. Its the same with indie or niche films. I can bet Revenge of the Sith cost a damn site more to make than Good Night, Good luck, but I had to pay the same amount to see both. At least indy games ARE cheaper thn triple A ones (whatever that means).
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I dont understand any of the science. But I do know this. It seems to me that 90% (at least) of scientists worldwide conclude that mans made c02 emmissions are causing serious global warming, and a c02 reduction is needed to fix it.
Yes maybe 10% (max) of scientists may disagree.
Meanwhile the climate clock is ticking.
if 90% of doctors tell me to stop drinking or I'll die real soon. I like to think id stop drinking. Why should it be any different when its scientists telling to stop driving SUVs?
Of course, I COULD hope the 10% are right, swig a bottle of wine and argue with everyone else, but Ill feel one hell of a jerk when I have to call an ambulance.
Air pollution kills people anyway, so its not exactly a 'solution' to encourage air pollution surely?
Cue lots of 'hilarious' ironic tabloid newspaper columinsts suggesting that we all fill up the SUVS to 'do our bit' though.
Couldnt agree more, although I read that darwinia was not a big commercial success. A better example might be rollercoaster tycoon. that franchise was started by one guy on his own doing all the coding. it made millions.
And it can still happen today. Uplink did very well as I recall, and I'm making a living doing small budget indie games (so far at least *crosses fingers*).
Its true you cant do civ4, as it currentl looks, but to what extent do we care about looks in games like that anyway? How much of the Civ4 budget is FMV? how much is it voice 'talent'. How much was wasted on that embarrasing 'virtual sid meier' bullshit that pollutes the tutorial?
The one thing that hasn't advanced in as many leaps and bounds is pure gameplay code. The amount of actual gameplay code in big games these days isnt much greater than it was 5 years ago. The extra cost goes into graphics, sounds, hype and unneccesary content.
If gamer werent so easily wowed by screenshots, they would find a lot of smaller games to be just as rich in gameplay. Democracy (www.democracygame.com) doesn't look as nice as Civ4, by a long way, but I'd wager if people could get past that and give the game a try, they'd realise that a game that small can be no slouch in the gameplay dept. (disclaimer -> i made it)
The 2 best games I've played in the last 5 years have been BF2 and GalCiv2. One probably cost ten times what the other did, but I certainly dont notice a difference in quality. To be honest, I'd be just as happy if Galcivs budget was halved, I dont need any of the FMV or the 3D space battles for the game to be fun.
There have been doom-mongering stories about indie gaming dying out for years. it never happens, and it never will.
so the motivation for doing R&D on a new product that takes 10 years, but can be reverse engineered in 6 months is what exactly?
so people who pirate products, first check to see if excess profits are being made by that company?
Bullshit. I dont make crazy profits, yet people still try and pirate my stuff. Dressing up theft as some kind of civil rights movement, when its for luxury goods (computer games) is just desperate.
free software is still made by people who eat. If I make free software in my spare time, I still need a conventional job to pay the bills. Are you you suggesting every software developer double trains as a plumber to pay the bills?
motorola does not employ pixies from space. They employ people with jobs, probably your neighbours, friends etc.
Or is it because they are a BIG company, its ok for their employees to get laid off so you get cheap phones for a year.
Then once motorola are out of business, you are stuck with your current phone permenantly. You just voted with your wallet for the company that does zero R&D.
Im glad arguments like this didnt win out 10 years ago, or I'd be sat at a 386 PC right now.
I disagree strongly. I've had various jobs, including (but not limited to), Carpentry, and Computer Game programming. If you do away with IP rights, and my computer games become worthless, I'll go back to sawing wood. Ill have to, even though Im a better coder than a carpenter.
This is where it gets interesting...
As a carpenter, I might work building houses, but I also might be a setbuilder for hollywood. I wouldnt be a 'creative' carpenter, Im just the guy that lays down floorboards.
But suddenly you just killed hollywood.
Lord of the Rings wasnt knocked up by peter jackson in his garage. There is ZERO chance of getting an 'open source' movie of that calibre, with that amount of work and effort. In my new role as carpenter, I aint gonna work for beans on it, thats for sure.
Not only do creative people need to pay bills and eat, but they many thousands of non-creative people in creative industries sure need food too.
what do you do for a living? because if (like me) you make anything that can be presented in digital form, you just got yourself kicked out of where you live, into the street with no food and no source of income.
Yes DRM sucks, yes unskippable DVD sections suck, but to propose we "make everything digital free!" ignores the questions of what all the millions of people who currently work in industries that produce content do to put food on the table.
Your plan for a futuristic hippy-communist world where information is free will simply mean no more new information. Everyone has to eat, and if I cant make a living writing code, I'll go train up as a plumber. you suddenly make the days work of a plumber infintiely more desirable than the work of a programmer, artist or writer.
Enjoy your utopian future of zero new entertainment or software.
so? word processors made many typists redundant. I'm sure the correction fluid business nose-dived too. Those ex bank tellers hopefully retrain and go on to do something more stimulating and creative than a paper task that a computer can automate. :D
thats the hope anyway
I dont give a damn about any of that in games. I want to see the GUI. The GUI neatly sums up what options the player has, and something about how the game is actually PLAYED. The rest is just eye candy. if I want eye candy, Ill watch LOTR on DVD.
Worst of all, many games these days release screenshots with the GUI artifically removed. Ive even been asked to remove the GUI just so *triple A* games screenshots werent 'polluted' by people seeing the GUI.
Thats insane. Without a GUI, a game is just a substandard CG movie.
agreed about office 97. I still run this, and see zero reason to upgrade. I'd imagine even an earlier version would be perfectly adequate. For doing siple spreadsheets and letters, anything newer is probably just uncalled-for bloatware.
it makes sense to the same kind of person that thinks its beneath them to not place an interntaional dialing code on their business phone number. Happily, the majority of us in the 'rest of the world' have learned that its usually only american companies that have this particular arrogant habit :D
I think the difference is that you wrote original games. Anyone who reads the article and reckons that 'diner dash' is an original game, should downlaod and play "wild west wendy" written a short while beforehand. DD looks to be just a reskin of a great game by a genuinely independent 1 man developer (cant remember the name).
These days, if you write a successfull small indie game, some bigger VC-funded company comes along and clones it instantly, and its their game, not yours, that gets the publicity.
Sadly I know as much about macs as I do Hungarian clog making, so its outsourced to a guy who does mac ports all the time. I know hes cracking along with it, but I don't have an ETA or tech details, sorry.
*that guy* has a mac version currently in development.
and the energy used in china, malaysia et al to make products that the US imports has to be factored in as well. I cant remember the last time I saw "made in america" on pretty much anything, except software.
A very sensible post. It always makes me laugh when people say "your software suxxorz you cant stop us warezing it". If its so bad, WHY pirate it?
Windows is a complex bit of kit. I dont mind paying for a full proper legal version.
your kidding. for $500 I can almost buy a PC, why buy a proprietary games machine that hogs the TV instead?
Besides, all Ive seen as far as ps3 games go is pre-rendered FMV pretending to be a game. I'll pass.
They seem to be ironically promoting piracy of a companies product just because they wouldnt use starforce.
thats clearly illegal so...
http://www.theesa.com/piracy/index.php
I've already reported them, the mroe who do so, the better.
Theres no shortage of games without DRM and without the big 'EA / Sony' attitude. My own companies one of them:
www.positech.co.uk
There is enough choice to buy the DRM-free games that you enjoy, this game isn't the only option.
That said, galciv 2 IS a superb game, and one I've been addicted to since the day it was released. All power to them.
Absolutely. Eve is the closest I've seen to a proper MMORPG, and I've played it on-and-off for years. The only negative thing it has is the way in which you can be so massively outgunned. Gate camping means that fairly newbie players literally have no chance. an ultimatum of "2million isk or we pod you" isnt much gameplay-wise when you dont have the cash.
But eve is pretty good, and something other MMOPRGS should learn from.
This looks shit. And why? Because "customising your uniform is a big part of MMOs"
BULLSHIT
Just because its a big part of EverCrack or whatever MMO is trendy this week doesnt mean its carved into a fucking stone tablet that all MMORPGS must be the same. The concept on an MMORPG is great, but its totally ruined by:
Different servers, I cant play with my buddies
Leveling-up. Who gives a shit, some of us have a lfie and dont want to be outgunned as a result
Grinding - I have a day job thanks, no need for another one.
Everyone making an MMORPG has NO ideas and is copying the people who went before them, its really very sad. Why not get some people who
a) Have some ideas on how to do an original and fresh MMORPG and
b) are die hard trekkies who would laugh customisable uniforms out the room
Im such a trekkie I use a Klingon daqh-tagh as an orange peeler, and no way will I be playing this. They lost my vote the moment I realised you couldnt be a ferengi.
Thanks for your comments, of course I agree mostly, which is why I don't use any DRM on my stuff. Nor do I stuff them full of tedious FMV and unskippable tutorial bull.
I do take issue with the cost vs value argument though. Granted, I dont have 500MB of art assets in my games, but I'd argue that to do so would add nothing.
Obviously indy games cost less to make, but they sell less too, so lowering the price further wouldnt work. Its the same with indie or niche films. I can bet Revenge of the Sith cost a damn site more to make than Good Night, Good luck, but I had to pay the same amount to see both. At least indy games ARE cheaper thn triple A ones (whatever that means).