> Then they need to make the statistics and controls for experience points and rewards and rating systems available as open source to the gaming community and let the gaming community have partial control of the gaming experience and development.
You want to let non-designers and non-programmers tinker with the game? They don't have the *real life experience* to even know where to begin ! (not a troll, just stating a fact.) Putting "fun" into a game, is not something you can just "throw in." Look how long it takes "real game designers" like Peter Molyneux, or Sid Meier to design a game.... Years.
I don't see how this will help to "solve" the problem. Of course games are unfair. The "difficulty" curve is "easy" in the beginning, and quickly ramps up (making a S shape if the two ends of the S were pulled out) If games didn't get "much harder", everone would have them finished. If the game is too difficult people will stop playing it. What EQ has done, is found the "perfect" middle ground (as flawed as the game is. Yes, UO/EQ/AC all have their strenths and weaknesses)
> Sony needs to prevent players getting unfair advantadges (yes, buying items is an unfair advantadge)
That is a fallacy. SOMEONE had to SPEND the TIME in the FIRST place, getting those items. Sony ALREADY got paid by the person spendind the time acquiring those said items.
> Do you have any thoughts about why the shell concept has not caught on with other operating systems? I'm thinking of NT and Win2K in particular,
Guess you have never heard of 4NT and 4DOS (Sorry for sounding like a commercial, but I've was using 4DOS since MSDOS ver 5, as a command.com replacement and NEVER had any problems! Games, Qemm, etc all worked perfectly back then. (History Trivia: Norton Utilities licensed a version and called it NDOS)
I stopped using 4DOS about 3 years ago, when I switched over WinNT 4, and found 4NT.
4NT does file-name completion better then any shell I have seen. Everytime I hit tab, it completes the NEXT filename to match. Shift-Tab does the previous match.
i.e. directory
abc
ade
adz
foo
I press tab and it puts the first filename on the command line. I press it again, it cycles to "ade", pressing again "adz", and pressing once more, puts "foo".
If I start with "ad", then press tab it complets "ade" (like bash), I press tab once more, and it goes to the next match, "adz"
Can BASH / KORN be configured this way ?
P.S.
Filename completion IS in the default shell "cmd" of Win NT4 and Win NT5 except the idiots at M$ DISABLED it by default! Search the registry for "CompletionChar" and set it's DWORD value to 9 (which is the TAB key)
> The problem is that both are designed with large numbers of synchronous interfaces. Windoze has an excuse in that it is based on W3.1 where everything was synchronous,
NT 3.51 (I believe) batched GDI requests up, to prevent the heavy performance of user mode->kernal mode switch.
> the impression the kids in there have is that the DC is on par with the original Playstation.
The orginal playstation had affine texture mapping. The DC has perspective correct texture mapping. Kids these days. Can't tell the difference between the "swimming" textures of the orginal PS, and something which "looks right"?!
(Of course GAMEPLAY is where it is at. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 & 2 rock da house, ironically I HATE sports games!)
> outside of embedded programming of small devices and game console programming, nobody writes programs 100% from scratch anymore
That might of been true of 5 years ago - games would be re-written from scratch each time, but certainly not true from 3 years ago. Us game programmers try to leverage as much code re-usability as we can. With the average game taking 1.5 to 2 years, and millions of dollars to produce, we can't afford to just "throw-away" all that development time!
> Unfortunately there's so much suckage that is ingrained into current systems (and no, its not confined to Microsoft platforms)
Part of the problem with the Windows API sucking so bad, is that once a bug is found in a kernel function - M$ can't go fixing it, lest they break all the old apps that code around for the bug! Linux takes the opposite approach and will break things, so they are better designed/coded in the long run. (i.e. think device drivers from 2.0 to 2.2 to 2.4) A better solution, IMHO, but it creates havoc until everyone fixes all the driver code.
Part of the other problem, is we're using a 10 to 30 year old languages (C/C++) to design large systems. With the power, and speed, we make it to easy to "shoot your leg off." How many memory leaks have we had to track down because of pointers getting trashed, etc. While I love C++, sometimes I wonder if the language would be better off with more safety-nets. (No not Java) But as soon as we choose flexibility and abstractness, we loose speed. Something that us game code / programmers are allways trying to find a nice balance between. "Scripted vs Native language, Intepreted vs ByteCode, etc"
The other big problem is a changing design spec. How would the carpenters like if your house was half built, and then you told them, "Uhm, can you put in a swiming pool?" What will they say: "Sure, but it's going to cost you time and money" -- something the boss/management/marketing does seem to understand.
> You want to know exactly how much memory you have to play with.
I'm curious as to why you don't allocate a whole hunk of memory and do your own memory management? Yes, it is a little bit of extra work, but that way you know *exactly* how many bytes are being used. You can do your own tagging - as little as or as much as you went/need. The modern paradigm is a "memory pool" which is quite usefull in some circumstances.
Of course if the memory is coming from outside your program, then I can see your point. Yes, I wish it was standardised too.
Data structures will NEVER be standardized across the OS's, but we CAN standardize on the API ! *wishes the proc filesystem was standard on windows, *nix, *bsd, Be, etc.
--
"Sex is like math. Divide the legs, add it in, and out comes the result." - Anonymous
> A lot of them have a blip about anything you develop on your spare time is the property of the company you are currently employed under.
If that got slipped into your NDA, then you had better to learn how to READ NEXT TIME! (not a flame, just an opinion) If you can't understand what you are reading, then wtf are you signing your rights away?!!
Yes, companies try to get away with whatever they can. i.e. 2 year non-compete clause, ownership of all your ideas outside company time, and other bullshit.
Simple solution is to be reasonable:
a) Ask for a 6-month non-compete clause (if they offer a 2 year)
b) Point out, that outside company time, that is YOUR TIME, and the ideas your come up are yours.
A friend of mine, was once offered a contract where the company tried to claim ownerhip of all PREVIOUS ideas! He told the company where to go. They changed their wording to mean only company time, and offered substanially more.
Remember, a contract means you are signing your rights away. If you don't like the terms of the deal, offer to have it changed! (No one is forcing you to sign, and if they are, the contract is null and void, since it was signed under duress.)
Cheers
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
> The whole thing is more like "E=((mc^2)/(sqrt(1 - (v^2/c^2)))", where v is the velocity of the mass in question.
And if v > c, then the sqrt becomes negative. Doesn't this show that we can't travel faster then light (since it would take an infinite amount of engery) ?
> Anybody who thinks that charity could take up EVERYTHING government does is on crack themselves.
I never said charities could do everything the government does. I just believe in not giving money to certain government operations, that can be better spent elsewhere.
> putting dollars where the wealthy find it trendy to put them
So giving of your time and money to help those less fortunate is considered trendy?! Whoa! Guess I've been "trendy" all my life then!
> instead of where they're actually needed
Yah, like spending money collecting more useless rocks instead of on helping *people* that actually need it [tongue in cheek.]
The POINT is, some people like having their money spent on cosmology. Others think it is a waste of their money (and should be able to opt out.) Some guy gets marked as flamebait because he stated he was in the 2nd category. I was just agreeing with him.
God help us all, if we can't discuss an unpopular opinion rationally. But hey, this is/., home of the worst (& best) trolls I've ever seend. Go figure.
> I doubt the eventual fall of social security will lead to socialism.
I meant social insecurity will bring socialism crashing down. Guess I wasn't clear enough. *shrugs*
> 2) means test the recipients so that people like Bill gates don't get it.
You mean people that know how to take care of themselves, like our grandparents did before people got too lazy to look after themselves, shouldn't be eligable? If they contributed, then they are eligable for the benefits. (Fortunately there is no law that requires a person to contribute.)
If people were responsible enough to look after themselves, we wouldn't need it in the first place.
--
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin
> But you don't want to pay for anything that doesn't directly benefit yourself
Oh I see. You know everything about me.
I give money to help the homeless, tutor people for free, tip heavily, etc. Basically the things that are within my power - I do to help someone have just a tad better life. THOSE are the important things in [my] life.
Hey, if people want to spend THEIR money, on collecting rocks from another planet, I can appreciate their sacrifice for the betterment of human knowledge, but how dare someone else force ME to spend my money when I hold OTHER beliefs to be a better investment in our future.
NASA and government has NO RIGHT to FORCE _ME_ to pay for someone elses exploration of the universe.
Instead of "wasting" money exploring space, we should first improve the living conditions for the unfortunate on THIS planet first.
If you want, you can legally opt-out of having the government spending your money. (Thank Yahweh for the 14th Amendment;-) You can read more details here.
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
This just goes to show, that you should be reading the WHOLE document before you sign your rights away. If you don't understand what you are signing, then WHY are you signing it?!
Some industries have non-compete clauses up to 2 years which I think is a bit excessive.
If there is a non-compete clause, just ask them to lower it! Mention that you need to be able to support yourself, and ask for 6 months (or less)
If you don't try, it won't get changed.
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
Copyrighting your personal data won't work, since technically you don't "own" the data, but this does:
"All Rights Reserved."
Remember, when you give your signature, you [potentially] are waiving certain rights. Include the above phrase to keep all that you can. (Make sure it is JOINED to your signature, not seperate!)
WHY do you think companies have this everywhere?! They are legally a person under the law, so use the same laws they do, to your advantage for a change!
Another interesting tidbit, is that the Queen of England is a corporate sole. And the Governer General of Canada! What do these people know that most people don't?!! Black's Law Dictionary gives a hint "in order to give them some legal capacities and advantages, particularly that of perpetuity, which in their natural persons they could not have had."
So if a person is a corporate sole, do they have to pay estate tax on their death?:-) Things that make you go, hmmmm.
Do you own research though. For other ways to protect yourself, you can read the Frog Farm FAQ
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
> Make no mistake--about 85% of the population in the western world WILL quietly accept graver and graver restrictions on their internet access until they view exactly what the government and corporations tell them to.
They that would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Ben Franklin, 1759
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."
-- Thomas Jefferson
HP48 supports BOTH rpn and infix notation !
on
William Hewlett Dead
·
· Score: 2
On the HP48 press the single quote button ' then enter your expression in "normal" math notation (infix) and finally press eval. Don't have to deal with that "confusing" Reverse Polish Notation (sarcasm)
RPN is much faster and easier once you get used to it. The best part about RPN is that when someone borrows your calculator, they stare at it for a few mins, then hand it back;-)
Slashdot Mirror
> Then they need to make the statistics and controls for experience points and rewards and rating systems available as open source to the gaming community and let the gaming community have partial control of the gaming experience and development.
You want to let non-designers and non-programmers tinker with the game? They don't have the *real life experience* to even know where to begin ! (not a troll, just stating a fact.) Putting "fun" into a game, is not something you can just "throw in." Look how long it takes "real game designers" like Peter Molyneux, or Sid Meier to design a game.... Years.
I don't see how this will help to "solve" the problem. Of course games are unfair. The "difficulty" curve is "easy" in the beginning, and quickly ramps up (making a S shape if the two ends of the S were pulled out) If games didn't get "much harder", everone would have them finished. If the game is too difficult people will stop playing it. What EQ has done, is found the "perfect" middle ground (as flawed as the game is. Yes, UO/EQ/AC all have their strenths and weaknesses)
> Sony needs to prevent players getting unfair advantadges (yes, buying items is an unfair advantadge)
That is a fallacy. SOMEONE had to SPEND the TIME in the FIRST place, getting those items. Sony ALREADY got paid by the person spendind the time acquiring those said items.
> There is nothing to protect you if you get fucked over because you legally bound yourself to a bad contract.
Not true. If the contract is for an illegal act (like murder) then the contract is null and void.
You can "escape" a contract, if it was signed under duress (i.e. a gun held to your head, with someone forcing you to sign)
> zsh (and bash) is much more powerful than 4NT.
Yeap, I know. I just got used to the 4NT %@ commands and have a hard time converting over to another shell.
Got a link for zsh? That shells sounds kind of interesting.
> Do you have any thoughts about why the shell concept has not caught on with other operating systems? I'm thinking of NT and Win2K in particular,
Guess you have never heard of 4NT and 4DOS (Sorry for sounding like a commercial, but I've was using 4DOS since MSDOS ver 5, as a command.com replacement and NEVER had any problems! Games, Qemm, etc all worked perfectly back then. (History Trivia: Norton Utilities licensed a version and called it NDOS)
I stopped using 4DOS about 3 years ago, when I switched over WinNT 4, and found 4NT.
4NT does file-name completion better then any shell I have seen. Everytime I hit tab, it completes the NEXT filename to match. Shift-Tab does the previous match.
i.e. directory
abc
ade
adz
foo
I press tab and it puts the first filename on the command line. I press it again, it cycles to "ade", pressing again "adz", and pressing once more, puts "foo".
If I start with "ad", then press tab it complets "ade" (like bash), I press tab once more, and it goes to the next match, "adz"
Can BASH / KORN be configured this way ?
P.S.
Filename completion IS in the default shell "cmd" of Win NT4 and Win NT5 except the idiots at M$ DISABLED it by default! Search the registry for "CompletionChar" and set it's DWORD value to 9 (which is the TAB key)
> The problem is that both are designed with large numbers of synchronous interfaces. Windoze has an excuse in that it is based on W3.1 where everything was synchronous,
NT 3.51 (I believe) batched GDI requests up, to prevent the heavy performance of user mode->kernal mode switch.
Comments are a paraphrase of the theory. Code is the implementation details.
One without the other isn't all that usefull.
[No Text]
> the impression the kids in there have is that the DC is on par with the original Playstation.
The orginal playstation had affine texture mapping. The DC has perspective correct texture mapping. Kids these days. Can't tell the difference between the "swimming" textures of the orginal PS, and something which "looks right"?!
(Of course GAMEPLAY is where it is at. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 & 2 rock da house, ironically I HATE sports games!)
> outside of embedded programming of small devices and game console programming, nobody writes programs 100% from scratch anymore
That might of been true of 5 years ago - games would be re-written from scratch each time, but certainly not true from 3 years ago. Us game programmers try to leverage as much code re-usability as we can. With the average game taking 1.5 to 2 years, and millions of dollars to produce, we can't afford to just "throw-away" all that development time!
> Unfortunately there's so much suckage that is ingrained into current systems (and no, its not confined to Microsoft platforms)
Part of the problem with the Windows API sucking so bad, is that once a bug is found in a kernel function - M$ can't go fixing it, lest they break all the old apps that code around for the bug! Linux takes the opposite approach and will break things, so they are better designed/coded in the long run. (i.e. think device drivers from 2.0 to 2.2 to 2.4) A better solution, IMHO, but it creates havoc until everyone fixes all the driver code.
Part of the other problem, is we're using a 10 to 30 year old languages (C/C++) to design large systems. With the power, and speed, we make it to easy to "shoot your leg off." How many memory leaks have we had to track down because of pointers getting trashed, etc. While I love C++, sometimes I wonder if the language would be better off with more safety-nets. (No not Java) But as soon as we choose flexibility and abstractness, we loose speed. Something that us game code / programmers are allways trying to find a nice balance between. "Scripted vs Native language, Intepreted vs ByteCode, etc"
The other big problem is a changing design spec. How would the carpenters like if your house was half built, and then you told them, "Uhm, can you put in a swiming pool?" What will they say: "Sure, but it's going to cost you time and money" -- something the boss/management/marketing does seem to understand.
Cheers
> You want to know exactly how much memory you have to play with.
I'm curious as to why you don't allocate a whole hunk of memory and do your own memory management? Yes, it is a little bit of extra work, but that way you know *exactly* how many bytes are being used. You can do your own tagging - as little as or as much as you went/need. The modern paradigm is a "memory pool" which is quite usefull in some circumstances.
Of course if the memory is coming from outside your program, then I can see your point. Yes, I wish it was standardised too.
Data structures will NEVER be standardized across the OS's, but we CAN standardize on the API ! *wishes the proc filesystem was standard on windows, *nix, *bsd, Be, etc.
--
"Sex is like math. Divide the legs, add it in, and out comes the result." - Anonymous
> Imagine you BUY somethign from a company, but at the end of the day they still own and control it? Can you spell 'sucker'?
;-)
You mean like a typical commercial software licencse?
Or a driver's license?
*ducks the flames, because this will get incorrectly mod'd as flamebait*
> A lot of them have a blip about anything you develop on your spare time is the property of the company you are currently employed under.
If that got slipped into your NDA, then you had better to learn how to READ NEXT TIME! (not a flame, just an opinion) If you can't understand what you are reading, then wtf are you signing your rights away?!!
Yes, companies try to get away with whatever they can. i.e. 2 year non-compete clause, ownership of all your ideas outside company time, and other bullshit.
Simple solution is to be reasonable:
a) Ask for a 6-month non-compete clause (if they offer a 2 year)
b) Point out, that outside company time, that is YOUR TIME, and the ideas your come up are yours.
A friend of mine, was once offered a contract where the company tried to claim ownerhip of all PREVIOUS ideas! He told the company where to go. They changed their wording to mean only company time, and offered substanially more.
Remember, a contract means you are signing your rights away. If you don't like the terms of the deal, offer to have it changed! (No one is forcing you to sign, and if they are, the contract is null and void, since it was signed under duress.)
Cheers
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
> The whole thing is more like "E=((mc^2)/(sqrt(1 - (v^2/c^2)))", where v is the velocity of the mass in question.
And if v > c, then the sqrt becomes negative. Doesn't this show that we can't travel faster then light (since it would take an infinite amount of engery) ?
> Anybody who thinks that charity could take up EVERYTHING government does is on crack themselves.
/., home of the worst (& best) trolls I've ever seend. Go figure.
I never said charities could do everything the government does. I just believe in not giving money to certain government operations, that can be better spent elsewhere.
> putting dollars where the wealthy find it trendy to put them
So giving of your time and money to help those less fortunate is considered trendy?! Whoa! Guess I've been "trendy" all my life then!
> instead of where they're actually needed
Yah, like spending money collecting more useless rocks instead of on helping *people* that actually need it [tongue in cheek.]
The POINT is, some people like having their money spent on cosmology. Others think it is a waste of their money (and should be able to opt out.) Some guy gets marked as flamebait because he stated he was in the 2nd category. I was just agreeing with him.
God help us all, if we can't discuss an unpopular opinion rationally. But hey, this is
> I doubt the eventual fall of social security will lead to socialism.
I meant social insecurity will bring socialism crashing down. Guess I wasn't clear enough. *shrugs*
> 2) means test the recipients so that people like Bill gates don't get it.
You mean people that know how to take care of themselves, like our grandparents did before people got too lazy to look after themselves, shouldn't be eligable? If they contributed, then they are eligable for the benefits. (Fortunately there is no law that requires a person to contribute.)
If people were responsible enough to look after themselves, we wouldn't need it in the first place.
--
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin
> But you don't want to pay for anything that doesn't directly benefit yourself
Oh I see. You know everything about me.
I give money to help the homeless, tutor people for free, tip heavily, etc. Basically the things that are within my power - I do to help someone have just a tad better life. THOSE are the important things in [my] life.
Hey, if people want to spend THEIR money, on collecting rocks from another planet, I can appreciate their sacrifice for the betterment of human knowledge, but how dare someone else force ME to spend my money when I hold OTHER beliefs to be a better investment in our future.
Like I said, the moderators are on crack.
> It's not as though it will bring socialism crashing down on your head, is it?
;-)
Nah, the ponzi scheme called social insecurity will do that, all by itself
I agree.
;-) You can read more details here.
NASA and government has NO RIGHT to FORCE _ME_ to pay for someone elses exploration of the universe.
Instead of "wasting" money exploring space, we should first improve the living conditions for the unfortunate on THIS planet first.
If you want, you can legally opt-out of having the government spending your money. (Thank Yahweh for the 14th Amendment
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
> it seemed to neglect a detail that many game developers sadly overlook. A game is *nothing* without playability.
THAT is the responsbility of the game designers!
Programmers implement the game rules, they don't create them.
This just goes to show, that you should be reading the WHOLE document before you sign your rights away. If you don't understand what you are signing, then WHY are you signing it?!
Some industries have non-compete clauses up to 2 years which I think is a bit excessive.
If there is a non-compete clause, just ask them to lower it! Mention that you need to be able to support yourself, and ask for 6 months (or less)
If you don't try, it won't get changed.
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
Copyrighting your personal data won't work, since technically you don't "own" the data, but this does:
:-) Things that make you go, hmmmm.
"All Rights Reserved."
Remember, when you give your signature, you [potentially] are waiving certain rights. Include the above phrase to keep all that you can. (Make sure it is JOINED to your signature, not seperate!)
WHY do you think companies have this everywhere?! They are legally a person under the law, so use the same laws they do, to your advantage for a change!
Another interesting tidbit, is that the Queen of England is a corporate sole. And the Governer General of Canada! What do these people know that most people don't?!! Black's Law Dictionary gives a hint "in order to give them some legal capacities and advantages, particularly that of perpetuity, which in their natural persons they could not have had."
So if a person is a corporate sole, do they have to pay estate tax on their death?
Do you own research though. For other ways to protect yourself, you can read the Frog Farm FAQ
--
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson
On the HP48 press the single quote button ' then enter your expression in "normal" math notation (infix) and finally press eval. Don't have to deal with that "confusing" Reverse Polish Notation (sarcasm)
;-)
RPN is much faster and easier once you get used to it. The best part about RPN is that when someone borrows your calculator, they stare at it for a few mins, then hand it back