*Bzzt*, both of you are wrong, sorry. Havok is the physics engine behind Half-Life 2. And Dues Ex 2, Freelancer, Max Payne 2, Thief 3... you get the picture.
The actual game/rendering engine behind Half-Life 2 is called "Source", and it was made completely in house at Valve. You can't play with it yet though, not until Valve releases the SDK anyways (which is supposed to be "soon", which, knowing Valve, means 6-8 months). Well, that is assuming Valve isn't "hax0rd" again. *Groan*
UED (Unreal Ed) is only really meets two of his "criteria".
In depth? Extremely. Impressive? Well, maybe Intimidating is a more appropriate word, but sure. Fun? Depends on how much of a sadist you are. It can be fun, but it can also be a lot of friggin work. Easy? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAAAaaaaaaaahhhh... good one!
Ok seriously now though. UED is a pretty damned fine level editor if I may say so. Powerful as all hell, but its not exactly idiot proof. Its not impossible either. I managed to learn the ins and outs of UED (and to a lesser extent, the Unreal engine) just by reading tutorials, dissecting other peoples maps, and screwwing around... but it took a while. Months really. Even after three years of occasionally booting up UED, i'm still learning new things. Though to be fair, a lot of it is stuff that changed from UT99 to UT03 (haven't had the urge to map as much for the new game:( ).
But hey, if people really want to learn, there isn't much stopping them. Most people just dive right in. You'll probably be frustrated and attempt to quit (repeatedly;)), but eventually some of it starts to stick. Maybe one day you'll even be half decent, if you keep at it. Funny how a lot of things in life work that way, no?:)
Is this one of those odd little things like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause or SCO's "proof"? Because I certainly have never seen "uneccessary" horsepower.;)
I use ObjectBar, a little taskbar reskinning program by Stardock. Its part of a greater suit of programs called ObjectDesktop, that basically includes a whole bunch of Windows-skinning programs. I don't use them though, they're kind of resource intensive. Object Bar is bad enough, but the functionality it gives me is irreplacable.
What I did for myself was take an existing theme (Developer link and orignal shot), and rework it to what I liked. Its quite nice IMO Combined with sysmetrix (system data program), it gives me pretty much everything I need. I've got a thin bar at the bottom with Sysmetrix stacked ontop (and skinned to match seamlessly). On that bar, I've got 4 menus: System (Run, Find, Regedit, Console, Logoff, Reboot, Shutdown, etc), Settings (Win Update, Add/Remove progs, Display and System properties, Control panel shortcut, etc), Drives (HDs, CDs, floppies, MyDocs, etc, all with popup lists of their content), and LAN (network settings and access to other comps on the network). I've also got two shortcuts I use a lot (My Computer and Firebird), and the local time. Of course, above this I have sysmetrix which i've tricked out to the nuts. It gives me CPU usage, CPU speed, RAM load, swap/virt mem loads, temperatures (CPU, CPU diode, case, outside), HD space, Network load (plus transfer rate and total data transfered), one click mail (checks for me every 10 min) and trash access, Win Uptime, and longformat date with three different timezones (GMT/EST/PST - i'm MST, which is on the bar below) and more!
Then i've got my popup sidebar, which shows pretty much everything else. Its got the systray and current applications (since its vertical, I can stack tons more programs into it. Plus, the width of the bar scales with program names, to a point). Then i've got a section with personalized shortcut menus, that I absolutely love. Its got primary menus (Games, Media, Utility, etc) that slide out into sub categories (Unreal Tournament, Media, Utilities, etc) that have drop down lists of commonly used programs. It gives me access to pretty much any program on my HD, but its sorted by program type rather than name, which is something I hate about the start menu. Speaking of which, the start menu popup sits above my own menus, just incase I ever need it (which isn't often). The best thing about the menu though, is that I can change anything I want. Sometimes, if i'm working on a project, i'll give it its own shortcut or side menu. I can drop in links to relevant programs, have popups to certain folders on my HD, etc. Very handy, and it only takes a few minutes to set up (templates are your friend!)
The thing I find lacking about traditional "Start" menus or other pre-defined ways of accessing a system is that they're made by someone else. The best system will always be one made by you, because you know what information you need at your fingertips. So all you really need to do is find a customizable way of organizing things (for your OS), and then go crazy. Yeah, it can take a while to get everything working just right, but the end result is so worth it. Not having to deal with the hassles and frustrations of finding a program or piece of info is priceless IMO, so I look at any time customizing my desktop as an investment.:)
That said, alternative interfaces would be pretty damned cool. I know it was mentioned in a previous post, but the way Minority Report worked (hand gestures) was very, very cool. I think adding more physical interfaces to our computers will be the next big step. Hell, i'm already addicted to mouse gestures in Fir
I'm Canadian too, so I share your pain in dealing with 2.5 measurement systems.
I'm a bit young though (20), so I rely on metric more than my parents (for example). I think of most things in metric, like litres for fluids, meters/kilometers for distance, and Celcius for temperature (honestly I find Fahrenheit to be confusing because it scales differently. Also, I can't spell it. Always seem to be looking it up:P). But I still measure people in Imperial. I'm 5 foot 8, and 165lbs. Whats that in metric? I have no fucking clue. If someone told me they were 172cm and 75kg, i'd be thinking "Goddamn you're tall. And skinny." even though they're identical to me in height and weight.
Fortunatly (or unfortunatly, depending on your perspective), I've had a lot of exposure to Imperial units too. One of the most noticible things (for me), was playing Warhammer, and other Games Workshop games. All the tabletop distances were measured in inches, so I became VERY good at estimating short distances in inches. You had to be to understand troop mobility and guess artillery ranges. Especially artillery - once I got good with my distances, I was so f00kin deadly with artillery that my friends started banning artillery-heavy armies for me. They didn't much like being hammered into the ground by 3 Earthshaker Cannons, 5 Deathrockets, and 3 HG Bolt Throwers. (Bonus points for Warhammer geeks: Can anyone name the army I played?;)).
But I also had repeated exposure from other places to, especially my father. He worked as a cabinet/furniture builder for several years, so any time I went to his shop or watched him in the garage, it was *always* imperial. Feet, inches, 3/16th drill bits, etc. Even now, when I walk into the garage (he builds boats in his spare time), I have to switch my thinking from Metric to Imperial. Sometimes I get screwwed up, but mostly i've managed.
The third place of exposure was working in an oil warehouse. Now THAT was a shock. Canadian warehouse, with Canadian customers... supplied by an American distributor. I got so fucking confused, dealing with litres and gallons and crap. It took me a couple weeks before I really actually understood all the measurements that were being thrown around. But for the first little while, it was just weird... I mean, we had 55 gallon drums that would hold 208 litres, and 5 gallon buckets that we'd put 19 litres into (all our pumps were metric). And then you'd get 5000 gallon bulk shipments from the US that'd you'd have to pump into a 30,000 litre holding tank that had 8,000 litres in it. Will it fit? Pull out the calculator.. yeah, ok, it fits, start pumping. It got pretty wild sometimes, especially when someone screwwed up. Anyone in the room ever had an ATF (automatic transmission fluid) shower? I have. Not fun:P. Hell, even our screw ups were confusing! I overfilled a 55 gallon barrel by 18 liters once, and it shot oil 25 feet up the wall and all across a 120 inch, 10,000 litre tank. "Huh?"
The other damned confusing thing for me is farming. I've got good ol' redneck roots in Saskatchewan, and most of my grandparents, aunts and uncles are either farmers or used to be farmers. So when you get them talking you've got to flip your thinking over to acres and buschels and square miles and townships and tons, etc. ACK!
All in all, its just a giant pain in the arse, and I really wish the US would just up and start the switch now (it takes a few generations), because I really don't want to go through the same crap with my kids.
"Daddy, how long is 3 feet?"
"Well ya see mommies butt?... *ducks incoming lamp*"
Could be painful trying to explain to my kid how heavy a US ton is!;)
And if you listen really carefully, you can even hear the sound of ten thousand athsma puffers being used simultaneously, which should give you about 5-10 minutes to run like hell before the nerd army arrives.
Cuba is a great place IMO. I spent two weeks there on vacation, and had a blast. The thing I liked about Cuba over, say.. Mexico (a similar experience), is that I was exposed to and absorbed a lot more of the culture and country. It was really great just to walk around a city and see people go about their daily lives. Just soak up the place.
The funny thing is though, the general vibe I got from the two weeks I spent there was that people really just didn't care. They didn't care about America, they didn't care what Castro was doing. Not that they're apathetic... I mean, it was all very relaxed. Sure, their country was communist. Who cares? They get free healthcare, free education, free food (limited, of course). Yay Castro! Yeah, he's a control freak. Big deal. They get everything they need, so whats the problem? The Cubans pretty much just live their lives, regardless of politics. I really liked that. Its kind of humbling to see when you're used to reading about a new lawsuit every three days. Honestly, we could learn a lot from their attitudes and lifestyle.:)
Looking for Beagle (or any other lost craft, like the polar lander) is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sure, they *can* zoom in on Spirit far enough to see parts and impacts and whatnot - but that's because they know exactly where it is. The probable area you'd have to search to find Beagle is massive (especially if something went wrong). Its not like you can take a wide angle shot and go "oh, there it is, zoom in on that" either. They'd need to cover every square inch of the possible landing sites with their highest resolution shots - something that could take years.
We probably will find Beagle eventually, but probably not with the cameras we have up there currently. The little lost puppy will just have to sit it out for a decade or ten.
Air? Wonderful. Now all you need is some way of kick starting Mars' core, to produce a stronger (and complete) magnetic field.
Otherwise you'd have to keep shipping air to Mars as it gets blown away by solar wind. Might get kinda expensive. Maybe you can work something out with UPS though, I hear they have good deals for long-term customers.;)
I hate to be a nitpick, but the exact quote (with context) is:
Andropov: Excuse me, but I think I know how to fix this.
Watts: Move it! You don't know the components!
Andropov: [annoyed] Components. American components, Russian Components, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!!!
Oh, and he has another quote I liked too:
Lev Andropov: This is how we fix things on Russian space station!
[hits panel with tool]
But maybe I just like it because thats how I tend to fix things too;)
Just because YOU don't have a use for overclocking, doesn't mean its "useless" and "not for geeks".
Christ, I thought gamer-geeks and techy-geeks were supposed to be on eachothers sides. Wheres the love?:(
Oh, and FWIW, yes, I do have an overclocked computer, and it could handle mail all damn day if it had to.
Actually, silver is a better thermal conductor than copper or aluminum. IIRC, it goes:
(In Watts per meter per degree Kelvin)
Silver ~420 W/mK
Pure Copper ~400 W/mK)
Pure Aluminum ~240 W/mK)
If you REALLY wanted some fancy shit, try a diamond paste. Diamond is like 2000+ W/mK. Really good at transfering heat. (No, I don't know if anyone actually makes the stuff).
Oh, and just for reference, air is about 0.025 w/mK, and water is somewhere around 0.6ish.
So you could use a copper paste, but it wouldn't be quite as good as the Silver.
I spilt rum and coke on a keyboard once. God damn, what a mess that made. Keyboard was electronically fine, but pretty much all of my punctuation keys (,./;'[]\ ), plus the right shift and enter key was temporarily fucked. You'd press em, and they'd stay stuck down until you pried it up with your fingernail. Really really sucked, so I yanked the board and popped off all the keys. Ran the whole thing through the dishwasher and let it air dry. I spent half an hour trying to remember the exact layout of a keyboard (What? I didn't know there was gonna be a fucking quiz on it, and its harder than it looks!:P) before getting it all put back together. Plugged her in and tada! She worked:)
Red Orchestra sounds almost like what you're looking for. Iron sights (you look through a modeled scope), partial peripheral vision (depending on which scope mode you use - theres a textured scope for lower end systems, and a close up view for those who don't care for peripheral vision), and ballistics (travel time and bullet drop). The only things it doesn't have are gun waver (esp. if you're breathing hard after running) and manual bolting; but since its a mod in progress, both of those things are planned for future release (2.0 is supposed to hit in a month or three, and both features are expected to be in by then).
Be warned though, as of now, sniping is a pretty lame affair. Other than compensating for bullet drop, its basically a point and click deal. That *will* be changed though, so don't take current combat as a representation of the final goal.
Otherwise, the game is pretty damned fun. Its not perfect, but considering how early in development it is, the game is amazing. Its a wonderful feeling to carefully line up a distant silhouette in your sights, squeeze the trigger, and watch their shape drop to the ground just a moment before your empty casing goes *tink tink tink* across the floor.
That said, some people tend to be turned off by the hyper-realism attitude (and its only gonna get more realistic as they progress). But if you've got a copy of UT2003 sitting around, and have any interest whatsoever in a realistic (for a game) simulation of the eastern front of WW2... do yourself a favour and check the mod out.
Slashdot Mirror
*Bzzt*, both of you are wrong, sorry.
Havok is the physics engine behind Half-Life 2. And Dues Ex 2, Freelancer, Max Payne 2, Thief 3... you get the picture.
The actual game/rendering engine behind Half-Life 2 is called "Source", and it was made completely in house at Valve. You can't play with it yet though, not until Valve releases the SDK anyways (which is supposed to be "soon", which, knowing Valve, means 6-8 months). Well, that is assuming Valve isn't "hax0rd" again. *Groan*
UED (Unreal Ed) is only really meets two of his "criteria".
:( ). ;)), but eventually some of it starts to stick. Maybe one day you'll even be half decent, if you keep at it. Funny how a lot of things in life work that way, no? :)
In depth? Extremely.
Impressive? Well, maybe Intimidating is a more appropriate word, but sure.
Fun? Depends on how much of a sadist you are. It can be fun, but it can also be a lot of friggin work.
Easy? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAAAaaaaaaaahhhh... good one!
Ok seriously now though. UED is a pretty damned fine level editor if I may say so. Powerful as all hell, but its not exactly idiot proof. Its not impossible either. I managed to learn the ins and outs of UED (and to a lesser extent, the Unreal engine) just by reading tutorials, dissecting other peoples maps, and screwwing around... but it took a while. Months really. Even after three years of occasionally booting up UED, i'm still learning new things. Though to be fair, a lot of it is stuff that changed from UT99 to UT03 (haven't had the urge to map as much for the new game
But hey, if people really want to learn, there isn't much stopping them. Most people just dive right in. You'll probably be frustrated and attempt to quit (repeatedly
Oops.
I use ObjectBar, a little taskbar reskinning program by Stardock. Its part of a greater suit of programs called ObjectDesktop, that basically includes a whole bunch of Windows-skinning programs. I don't use them though, they're kind of resource intensive. Object Bar is bad enough, but the functionality it gives me is irreplacable.
:)
What I did for myself was take an existing theme (Developer link and orignal shot), and rework it to what I liked. Its quite nice IMO Combined with sysmetrix (system data program), it gives me pretty much everything I need. I've got a thin bar at the bottom with Sysmetrix stacked ontop (and skinned to match seamlessly). On that bar, I've got 4 menus: System (Run, Find, Regedit, Console, Logoff, Reboot, Shutdown, etc), Settings (Win Update, Add/Remove progs, Display and System properties, Control panel shortcut, etc), Drives (HDs, CDs, floppies, MyDocs, etc, all with popup lists of their content), and LAN (network settings and access to other comps on the network). I've also got two shortcuts I use a lot (My Computer and Firebird), and the local time.
Of course, above this I have sysmetrix which i've tricked out to the nuts. It gives me CPU usage, CPU speed, RAM load, swap/virt mem loads, temperatures (CPU, CPU diode, case, outside), HD space, Network load (plus transfer rate and total data transfered), one click mail (checks for me every 10 min) and trash access, Win Uptime, and longformat date with three different timezones (GMT/EST/PST - i'm MST, which is on the bar below) and more!
Then i've got my popup sidebar, which shows pretty much everything else. Its got the systray and current applications (since its vertical, I can stack tons more programs into it. Plus, the width of the bar scales with program names, to a point). Then i've got a section with personalized shortcut menus, that I absolutely love. Its got primary menus (Games, Media, Utility, etc) that slide out into sub categories (Unreal Tournament, Media, Utilities, etc) that have drop down lists of commonly used programs. It gives me access to pretty much any program on my HD, but its sorted by program type rather than name, which is something I hate about the start menu. Speaking of which, the start menu popup sits above my own menus, just incase I ever need it (which isn't often). The best thing about the menu though, is that I can change anything I want. Sometimes, if i'm working on a project, i'll give it its own shortcut or side menu. I can drop in links to relevant programs, have popups to certain folders on my HD, etc. Very handy, and it only takes a few minutes to set up (templates are your friend!)
The thing I find lacking about traditional "Start" menus or other pre-defined ways of accessing a system is that they're made by someone else. The best system will always be one made by you, because you know what information you need at your fingertips. So all you really need to do is find a customizable way of organizing things (for your OS), and then go crazy. Yeah, it can take a while to get everything working just right, but the end result is so worth it. Not having to deal with the hassles and frustrations of finding a program or piece of info is priceless IMO, so I look at any time customizing my desktop as an investment.
That said, alternative interfaces would be pretty damned cool. I know it was mentioned in a previous post, but the way Minority Report worked (hand gestures) was very, very cool. I think adding more physical interfaces to our computers will be the next big step. Hell, i'm already addicted to mouse gestures in Fir
I'm Canadian too, so I share your pain in dealing with 2.5 measurement systems. :P). But I still measure people in Imperial. I'm 5 foot 8, and 165lbs. Whats that in metric? I have no fucking clue. If someone told me they were 172cm and 75kg, i'd be thinking "Goddamn you're tall. And skinny." even though they're identical to me in height and weight.
;)). :P. Hell, even our screw ups were confusing! I overfilled a 55 gallon barrel by 18 liters once, and it shot oil 25 feet up the wall and all across a 120 inch, 10,000 litre tank. "Huh?"
;)
I'm a bit young though (20), so I rely on metric more than my parents (for example). I think of most things in metric, like litres for fluids, meters/kilometers for distance, and Celcius for temperature (honestly I find Fahrenheit to be confusing because it scales differently. Also, I can't spell it. Always seem to be looking it up
Fortunatly (or unfortunatly, depending on your perspective), I've had a lot of exposure to Imperial units too. One of the most noticible things (for me), was playing Warhammer, and other Games Workshop games. All the tabletop distances were measured in inches, so I became VERY good at estimating short distances in inches. You had to be to understand troop mobility and guess artillery ranges. Especially artillery - once I got good with my distances, I was so f00kin deadly with artillery that my friends started banning artillery-heavy armies for me. They didn't much like being hammered into the ground by 3 Earthshaker Cannons, 5 Deathrockets, and 3 HG Bolt Throwers. (Bonus points for Warhammer geeks: Can anyone name the army I played?
But I also had repeated exposure from other places to, especially my father. He worked as a cabinet/furniture builder for several years, so any time I went to his shop or watched him in the garage, it was *always* imperial. Feet, inches, 3/16th drill bits, etc. Even now, when I walk into the garage (he builds boats in his spare time), I have to switch my thinking from Metric to Imperial. Sometimes I get screwwed up, but mostly i've managed.
The third place of exposure was working in an oil warehouse. Now THAT was a shock. Canadian warehouse, with Canadian customers... supplied by an American distributor. I got so fucking confused, dealing with litres and gallons and crap. It took me a couple weeks before I really actually understood all the measurements that were being thrown around. But for the first little while, it was just weird... I mean, we had 55 gallon drums that would hold 208 litres, and 5 gallon buckets that we'd put 19 litres into (all our pumps were metric). And then you'd get 5000 gallon bulk shipments from the US that'd you'd have to pump into a 30,000 litre holding tank that had 8,000 litres in it. Will it fit? Pull out the calculator.. yeah, ok, it fits, start pumping. It got pretty wild sometimes, especially when someone screwwed up. Anyone in the room ever had an ATF (automatic transmission fluid) shower? I have. Not fun
The other damned confusing thing for me is farming. I've got good ol' redneck roots in Saskatchewan, and most of my grandparents, aunts and uncles are either farmers or used to be farmers. So when you get them talking you've got to flip your thinking over to acres and buschels and square miles and townships and tons, etc. ACK!
All in all, its just a giant pain in the arse, and I really wish the US would just up and start the switch now (it takes a few generations), because I really don't want to go through the same crap with my kids.
"Daddy, how long is 3 feet?"
"Well ya see mommies butt?... *ducks incoming lamp*"
Could be painful trying to explain to my kid how heavy a US ton is!
And if you listen really carefully, you can even hear the sound of ten thousand athsma puffers being used simultaneously, which should give you about 5-10 minutes to run like hell before the nerd army arrives.
Cuba is a great place IMO. I spent two weeks there on vacation, and had a blast. The thing I liked about Cuba over, say.. Mexico (a similar experience), is that I was exposed to and absorbed a lot more of the culture and country. It was really great just to walk around a city and see people go about their daily lives. Just soak up the place. :)
The funny thing is though, the general vibe I got from the two weeks I spent there was that people really just didn't care. They didn't care about America, they didn't care what Castro was doing. Not that they're apathetic... I mean, it was all very relaxed. Sure, their country was communist. Who cares? They get free healthcare, free education, free food (limited, of course). Yay Castro! Yeah, he's a control freak. Big deal. They get everything they need, so whats the problem? The Cubans pretty much just live their lives, regardless of politics. I really liked that. Its kind of humbling to see when you're used to reading about a new lawsuit every three days. Honestly, we could learn a lot from their attitudes and lifestyle.
Looking for Beagle (or any other lost craft, like the polar lander) is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sure, they *can* zoom in on Spirit far enough to see parts and impacts and whatnot - but that's because they know exactly where it is. The probable area you'd have to search to find Beagle is massive (especially if something went wrong). Its not like you can take a wide angle shot and go "oh, there it is, zoom in on that" either. They'd need to cover every square inch of the possible landing sites with their highest resolution shots - something that could take years.
We probably will find Beagle eventually, but probably not with the cameras we have up there currently. The little lost puppy will just have to sit it out for a decade or ten.
Air? Wonderful. Now all you need is some way of kick starting Mars' core, to produce a stronger (and complete) magnetic field. ;)
Otherwise you'd have to keep shipping air to Mars as it gets blown away by solar wind. Might get kinda expensive. Maybe you can work something out with UPS though, I hear they have good deals for long-term customers.
Oh, and he has another quote I liked too:
But maybe I just like it because thats how I tend to fix things too
Ah, they probably just used the tried and true, highly-scientific method of:
- Mash-Mash-Mash
Mash-Mash-Mash-Mash-Mash-Mash-Mash-Mash-Mash-Mash
"Got it!"
1. Make crappy website
2. Steal competetors ideas and patent them
3. Sue your competetors
4. ???
5. PROFIT!!
Seriously?!
*reads*
Bahahahahahahaha!! OMG, its right there on pg 17! Hahahahahaha!
Damn, I can't believe they printed that!
1. Download music illegally
2. Get sued by RIAA, loose $3000
3. Star in Superbowl ad
4. PROFIT!!!1
Well damn. Looks like a pretty good deal to me! *Loads Kazaa*
Crow Recipes.
;)
Gotta love the internet!
WTF?! I'm not a professional network admin. I'm still a geek though.
:(
Jesus, and I thought gamer geeks had a fetish about being "1337". Looks like the real inflated egos are over on the tech side.
Just because YOU don't have a use for overclocking, doesn't mean its "useless" and "not for geeks". :(
Christ, I thought gamer-geeks and techy-geeks were supposed to be on eachothers sides. Wheres the love?
Oh, and FWIW, yes, I do have an overclocked computer, and it could handle mail all damn day if it had to.
Actually, silver is a better thermal conductor than copper or aluminum. IIRC, it goes:
(In Watts per meter per degree Kelvin)
Silver ~420 W/mK
Pure Copper ~400 W/mK)
Pure Aluminum ~240 W/mK)
If you REALLY wanted some fancy shit, try a diamond paste. Diamond is like 2000+ W/mK. Really good at transfering heat. (No, I don't know if anyone actually makes the stuff).
Oh, and just for reference, air is about 0.025 w/mK, and water is somewhere around 0.6ish.
So you could use a copper paste, but it wouldn't be quite as good as the Silver.
I really, really, really hope you're right. Because i'm not sure how much more of this consolization bullshit I can take. :(
Now if you'll excuse me, I think i'm going to go dig out my collection of classic PC games, and cry myself to sleep while holding them.
"third-person cinematic action view"
:(
ARRGH! Its been consolified!
IBM doesn't need their legal team to destroy SCO when SCO is doing a great job of that themselves.
I spilt rum and coke on a keyboard once. God damn, what a mess that made. Keyboard was electronically fine, but pretty much all of my punctuation keys ( ,./;'[]\ ), plus the right shift and enter key was temporarily fucked. You'd press em, and they'd stay stuck down until you pried it up with your fingernail. Really really sucked, so I yanked the board and popped off all the keys. Ran the whole thing through the dishwasher and let it air dry. I spent half an hour trying to remember the exact layout of a keyboard (What? I didn't know there was gonna be a fucking quiz on it, and its harder than it looks! :P) before getting it all put back together. Plugged her in and tada! She worked :)
Hah, thats the first time i've had a joke backfire by the admin actually showing up! :o
;)
Eh well, was bound to happen some day.
Red Orchestra sounds almost like what you're looking for. Iron sights (you look through a modeled scope), partial peripheral vision (depending on which scope mode you use - theres a textured scope for lower end systems, and a close up view for those who don't care for peripheral vision), and ballistics (travel time and bullet drop). The only things it doesn't have are gun waver (esp. if you're breathing hard after running) and manual bolting; but since its a mod in progress, both of those things are planned for future release (2.0 is supposed to hit in a month or three, and both features are expected to be in by then).
Be warned though, as of now, sniping is a pretty lame affair. Other than compensating for bullet drop, its basically a point and click deal. That *will* be changed though, so don't take current combat as a representation of the final goal.
Otherwise, the game is pretty damned fun. Its not perfect, but considering how early in development it is, the game is amazing. Its a wonderful feeling to carefully line up a distant silhouette in your sights, squeeze the trigger, and watch their shape drop to the ground just a moment before your empty casing goes *tink tink tink* across the floor.
That said, some people tend to be turned off by the hyper-realism attitude (and its only gonna get more realistic as they progress). But if you've got a copy of UT2003 sitting around, and have any interest whatsoever in a realistic (for a game) simulation of the eastern front of WW2... do yourself a favour and check the mod out.