Alot of people told me about Gish, and how they liked it :
I played the demo, and somehow, being a blob in a SNES environment, wasn't too exciting.
Sometimes the slow crawling over the ceilings really got on my nerves.
Then again, alot of people praise it.
Hehe, is that the (PS2?) game where everything in your surroundings stick on you ? Ifso, defenitely looked like a lot of fun ; Haven't come around to play it yet.
On another note ; I find the Wario Ware inc. games also very 'new' amd 'fun'.
I wasn't trying to bash the idea of pursuing more realistic physics
I know, nor was I trying to bash you;) Guess that the intention/tone of post, sometimes gets lost within translation (not a native english speaker here)
Of course, what you said, that not all games will be better with 'real physics' stands true (allthough I would like the marketing slogan : The New Tetris : Now with a real physics engine !;)
And no, I don't believe that a good game relies only on 'our perception of reality' ; But using physics (either as a gadget, or as a real gameplay element) is still a territory, in gamedesign, which is vastly overseen (or just not possible, seeing there are limitations on the processor)
I was attempting to point out that the idea of a real physics engine being the Holy Grail of gaming was based on the assumption that realism, complexity, and freedom are among the chief measures of the quality of a game.
But that assumption seems to be targeted only towards FPS/RPG games ; While the use of physics can also be of use in other games (no, not Tetris !;) )
On the topic of the Holy Grail : Any personal opinions on what you consider to be very important in future FPS gamedesign ?
As far as I know, it's not a company ; And any such 'warning' you will find on most ('amateur') software (those, and statements such as 'if this software will burn your 'puter : touch shit).
More seriously, it does seem that the video game industry has been moving more and more towards complete world simulations rather than "games with rules".
The key to (most) fun games is the ammount of interactivity between you (the gamer) and the game itself : Physics play a great deal in this.
...developers could keep trying to innovate on the Super-Mario-type games, but gamers and developers seem more focused on creating more realistic first-person-shooter war simulations.
I don't agree with you on this : There are various games around that use physics , now that the option of using (more or less) realistic physics calculations is do-able, and not too much a restraint on other calculations to be made.
There are various Flashgames who simulate physics as part of their gameplay, and one of my favourite (non flash) games that is based purely on 'physics' itself, is Bontago:
Check out their site (www.bontago.com) : They won the 2004 Independent Games Festival (which had 'Physics in games' as its subject) and the game is freely available from their site.
It's a great single player game, and even better multiplayer (more than 2 people possible)
To get back on topic ; I -do- think that physics is part of the Holy Grail for gaming ; as so much of our perception of reality, relies on realistic movement of objects (subjected to gravity).
So i think that simulating such (important) things precisely, does matter.
There are allready hubs in Japan that allow to download demos of games (which stay on the DS as long as you don't power it off) ; or there were plans to do so.
I like the idea of bringing Physics calculations to a seperate processor (then again, I'm a noob on hardware) ; as physics seem to be of great importance to bring quality interactivity to a user/gamer.
Whereas Havok (http://www.havok.com/) seems to be doing a great job , software wise, I don't find it too strange to let those calculations be done on a seperate unit ; and take the strains/limits off that we have with current hardware.
"Put it another way: adding false information to a product is just selling an inferior product. In a free market someone can and will come along and sell the same product without attaching a false information "feature." Then, with his "better quality" product he'll drive you out of business in no time. He'll have great fun and much success pointing out your lies in his own advertising. That is exactly what happens in modern American advertising. You can always count on Chevy to point out where Ford stretches the facts, or on Microsoft to keep the consumer thoroughly informed of the drawbacks of Mac OS X or Linux. These forces are far more powerful at keeping corporations honest than any fiddling oversight by the government."
Here in the Netherlands, it's not allowed to compare your brand (let's say, Coca Cola) against a competitor.
A while back, the infamous 'Pepsi Test' (asking people on the street to drink two glasses, and say which one is the nicest/Pepsi) was done with brand Pepsi, and brand X. Same goes for washing detergents etc.
Still, there's very strict governing against false advertising, with various organisations (eg. de Consumentenbond, translated loosely to the Consumer's Union) protecting the rights of the consumer.
Nonetheless, I agree with your statement, and would love to see more 'wars' fought out in commercials ; Would make them alot more entertaining imo.
I have had some strains several times ; But noticed that when I keep myself on a tight schedule of actually making breaks every 2/3 hours (in and about 15 minutes) is the best deterrent.
The shittiest thing that I experienced with this RSI, is that you really start noticing it, once you are allready too far to make 15 minutes breaks be helpful.
A recovery time of about a week is then not uncommon.
Both the games have teams that require a different approach:
The aliens in this mod can do alot of damage up close, and the humans are much more efficient with the enemy away from them.
The aliens make up for this in speed, but also other rts-like capabilities (cloaking, extra damage, different aliens/classes you can evolve into).
Since it's the HL engine, you -are- confined to very small spaces though , and not the vast landscapes you get in Savage.
If your only reason to not play this mod is your reluctance to use Steam ; I would say : Let it slide.
Steam is -not- a huge breach on your privacy (as some seem to be saying on this site), just, imho, a great server browser/connection service.
Just grab yourself a copy of Half-Life in a store (you can dig them up for as low as 5 bucks) and get a go at this game.
It's easier to develop for the PSP as it's so similar to their console, whereas the DS asks for a totally different approach to make full use of the two screens/touch screen.
The Combat gametype was allready present in the last version (pre 3.0) : It's very cool, and somehow they managed to also get the gamebalance perfect on that one.
I really like how the implemented two completely different gametypes/playstyles ; And still not make it biased to one team.
For another hybrid of FPS/RTS ; Have a look at the (commercial) Savage : Battle for Newerth ;
If you can't afford the game, be sure to check out their excellent demo.
More info at http://www.s2games.com/
Slashdot Mirror
I played the demo, and somehow, being a blob in a SNES environment, wasn't too exciting.
Sometimes the slow crawling over the ceilings really got on my nerves.
Then again, alot of people praise it.
Bontago (www.bontago.com) all the way ! ;)
(Last year's winner)
On another note ; I find the Wario Ware inc. games also very 'new' amd 'fun'.
'DriveBy' featuring the late 2Pac and Big-E :D
Very true ; But they don't seem be consistent in applying that rule : I am not sure, but didn't they update/bugpatch Ninja Gaiden ?
I know, nor was I trying to bash you ;) Guess that the intention/tone of post, sometimes gets lost within translation (not a native english speaker here)
Of course, what you said, that not all games will be better with 'real physics' stands true (allthough I would like the marketing slogan : The New Tetris : Now with a real physics engine ! ;)
And no, I don't believe that a good game relies only on 'our perception of reality' ; But using physics (either as a gadget, or as a real gameplay element) is still a territory, in gamedesign, which is vastly overseen (or just not possible, seeing there are limitations on the processor)
I was attempting to point out that the idea of a real physics engine being the Holy Grail of gaming was based on the assumption that realism, complexity, and freedom are among the chief measures of the quality of a game.
But that assumption seems to be targeted only towards FPS/RPG games ; While the use of physics can also be of use in other games (no, not Tetris ! ;) )
On the topic of the Holy Grail : Any personal opinions on what you consider to be very important in future FPS gamedesign ?
Some people... Then again, it's an AC anyways.
The key to (most) fun games is the ammount of interactivity between you (the gamer) and the game itself : Physics play a great deal in this.
I don't agree with you on this : There are various games around that use physics , now that the option of using (more or less) realistic physics calculations is do-able, and not too much a restraint on other calculations to be made.
There are various Flashgames who simulate physics as part of their gameplay, and one of my favourite (non flash) games that is based purely on 'physics' itself, is Bontago :
Check out their site (www.bontago.com) : They won the 2004 Independent Games Festival (which had 'Physics in games' as its subject) and the game is freely available from their site.
It's a great single player game, and even better multiplayer (more than 2 people possible)
To get back on topic ; I -do- think that physics is part of the Holy Grail for gaming ; as so much of our perception of reality, relies on realistic movement of objects (subjected to gravity).
So i think that simulating such (important) things precisely, does matter.
Yep, official Nintendo hubs ; Imo, with the capabilities of the DS, a -great- way to let them 'taste' samples of games.
I think it was also featured on /.
Whereas Havok (http://www.havok.com/) seems to be doing a great job , software wise, I don't find it too strange to let those calculations be done on a seperate unit ; and take the strains/limits off that we have with current hardware.
Here in the Netherlands, it's not allowed to compare your brand (let's say, Coca Cola) against a competitor.
A while back, the infamous 'Pepsi Test' (asking people on the street to drink two glasses, and say which one is the nicest/Pepsi) was done with brand Pepsi, and brand X. Same goes for washing detergents etc.
Still, there's very strict governing against false advertising, with various organisations (eg. de Consumentenbond, translated loosely to the Consumer's Union) protecting the rights of the consumer.
Nonetheless, I agree with your statement, and would love to see more 'wars' fought out in commercials ; Would make them alot more entertaining imo.
Not to mention their search results have sucked since 2003, but that's totally beside the point.
Any better engines around then ? I do see that Google gets more and more polluted ; But I haven't heard of any good alternatives around.
This gave me a good chuckle : Surprised that it bares so much results :)
I assume they're not risking their "don't do any bad "-policy for this ?
So what -is- the catch ?
I am fedup with using the regurlar search in Windows, so I am defenitely in for some improvement.
The shittiest thing that I experienced with this RSI, is that you really start noticing it, once you are allready too far to make 15 minutes breaks be helpful.
A recovery time of about a week is then not uncommon.
'Who invented the steam engine ?'
'Watt ?'
'Who in-ven-ted the steam en-gine ?!'
What's it exactly : One or multiple maps?
It looks very nice.
Both the games have teams that require a different approach :
The aliens in this mod can do alot of damage up close, and the humans are much more efficient with the enemy away from them.
The aliens make up for this in speed, but also other rts-like capabilities (cloaking, extra damage, different aliens/classes you can evolve into).
Since it's the HL engine, you -are- confined to very small spaces though , and not the vast landscapes you get in Savage.
If your only reason to not play this mod is your reluctance to use Steam ; I would say : Let it slide.
Steam is -not- a huge breach on your privacy (as some seem to be saying on this site), just, imho, a great server browser/connection service.
Just grab yourself a copy of Half-Life in a store (you can dig them up for as low as 5 bucks) and get a go at this game.
It's easier to develop for the PSP as it's so similar to their console, whereas the DS asks for a totally different approach to make full use of the two screens/touch screen.
Free if you own Half-Life...
The Combat gametype was allready present in the last version (pre 3.0) : It's very cool, and somehow they managed to also get the gamebalance perfect on that one.
For another hybrid of FPS/RTS ; Have a look at the (commercial) Savage : Battle for Newerth ;
If you can't afford the game, be sure to check out their excellent demo.
More info at http://www.s2games.com/
The Utah governor might want to have a talk with the Chinese government on this...
A copy of The Sims 2 ?
Google's search for "Microsoft" results in full-frontal-goatity :D