I think C&C's damage system makes a lot more sense if you think of every unit as a group of those units, tank shells aren't very effective at dealing with entire platoons of infantry but an MG will drop 'em like flies.
Are units intelligent enough on their own, e.g. will tanks automatically run over nearby infantry or do you have to babysit them? Will the units just sit there when artillery fires at them or will they react to that? I hate it when two or three units break through a heavily fortified line of defense just because my units didn't think being shot at would warrant a reaction.
I have to strongly agree, the aggregate score only tells me whether this game is worth researching, something with 20% average rating isn't even worth reading a review for (except maybe for any jokes the reviewer makes at the game's expense). If the score suggests that the game may be worth it I start reading individual reviews and form my final decision.
Because Nintendo, until very recently, considered demos as a bad idea, they said that time spent playing a demo isn't time spent playing a game you paid for. At least if we consider their comment towards MS bundling some crappy games (really crappy ones) with the XBox and Nintendo said that bundled games take away from the time spent on paid-for games.
How's the game balancing in Act Of War (not the factions but how unit strengths and such play out)? Is it like C&C's "if it's effective the target is gone in seconds" or more Blizzard-like (i.e. slower)?
There's a larger number of people playing at first and with many games one moron can ruin the fun for an entire server. Since those jerks usually move on much quicker than serious players and the influx of people reduces later on, you'll have less jerks to deal with. Unfortunately most of the serious players will by now be trained enough to mop the floor with any newcomers and you'll need to play catch-up for a while...
Well, seriously, what sites require login? I've seen a few warez sites use that but no serious (large file provider, files distributed by companies, etc) sources so far.
Utter nonsense. I have one GB of RAM and I often leave Azureus, Photoshop, Blender and a few more programs running while playing games and I don't see any impact on my framerate.
1. Some people may read those reviews to see if there's better software than their current one available so they may already be using BT. 2. BT is designed to be a replacement for HTTP downloads (or at least that's the thing it's closest to), due to its centralized nature it's too easy to shut down to be good for warez groups. That's where things like eDonkey or all those P2P systems designed for anonymity are better choices.
Actually BT is used by commercial file providers a lot (Fileshack or something offers torrents). Or at least should be, in case of things like Fileplanet. It's great for distributing large files (even demos and patches fall under that by now) to many users and personally I find it preferrable to HTTP or FTP downloads, especially with popular files.
The most important question would be whether a US judge upheld Gemstar's patent. The USPTO doesn't really check for validity anymore so just because it has been granted doesn't mean it's a valid patent and a judge may actually decide that the distinction drawn in the patent is not sufficient to dismiss any prior art claims. In this case I'd say that "using a grid" should not be patentable since that's an outcome, not an implementation (I don't think it should matter what data is displayed in this grid, that'd at best belong into a process on gathering the data and making it human readable). That's ignoring obviousness, of course (come on, tables have been around since ancient times and even digital implementations existed since pretty much the beginning of digital computing).
I couldn't find the patent you're talking about, though. There's 6,477,705 "Method and apparatus for transmitting, storing, and processing electronic program guide data for on-screen display" but searching for the term "two dimensional" brings up only one instance, mentioning how a grid for display could possibly be implemented so you're probably talking about part of another patent.
Also, even if software patents were to be allowed in the EU I'm not sure all US patents would just become valid over here, no questions asked, because many of the US patents violate the three basic rules deciding what is patentable and what isn't (useful, non-obvious, implemented IIRC) and the EU system tends to be a bit more careful with examining patents. If the WIPO really forces the EU to accept all US patents verbatim, wouldn't that also grant the EU the right to invalidate any US patents that violate local laws?
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I think C&C's damage system makes a lot more sense if you think of every unit as a group of those units, tank shells aren't very effective at dealing with entire platoons of infantry but an MG will drop 'em like flies.
Are units intelligent enough on their own, e.g. will tanks automatically run over nearby infantry or do you have to babysit them? Will the units just sit there when artillery fires at them or will they react to that? I hate it when two or three units break through a heavily fortified line of defense just because my units didn't think being shot at would warrant a reaction.
I have to strongly agree, the aggregate score only tells me whether this game is worth researching, something with 20% average rating isn't even worth reading a review for (except maybe for any jokes the reviewer makes at the game's expense). If the score suggests that the game may be worth it I start reading individual reviews and form my final decision.
RPG Maker for the PS2.
We only reached rentals because you said there are no good rentals for PC games near you. If you can't even rent GC games you're SOL.
Because Nintendo, until very recently, considered demos as a bad idea, they said that time spent playing a demo isn't time spent playing a game you paid for. At least if we consider their comment towards MS bundling some crappy games (really crappy ones) with the XBox and Nintendo said that bundled games take away from the time spent on paid-for games.
Anything I'd suggest for making sure of that would automatically take the buyer out of my definition of "casual gamer"...
How's the game balancing in Act Of War (not the factions but how unit strengths and such play out)? Is it like C&C's "if it's effective the target is gone in seconds" or more Blizzard-like (i.e. slower)?
There's a larger number of people playing at first and with many games one moron can ruin the fun for an entire server. Since those jerks usually move on much quicker than serious players and the influx of people reduces later on, you'll have less jerks to deal with. Unfortunately most of the serious players will by now be trained enough to mop the floor with any newcomers and you'll need to play catch-up for a while...
Problem is that the majority of phones in the United States are complete shit.
That's why it's more profitable to go for the european or japanese markets.
DICE (the people who actually made BF2) has always been producing buggy games.
Usually they add a footnote "Thanks to [list of usernames]" when they do that.
Wouldn't "source: DoA Central Forums" be sufficient?
Well, seriously, what sites require login? I've seen a few warez sites use that but no serious (large file provider, files distributed by companies, etc) sources so far.
Utter nonsense. I have one GB of RAM and I often leave Azureus, Photoshop, Blender and a few more programs running while playing games and I don't see any impact on my framerate.
Fileshack offers torrents for most files. Fileplanet should get a clue and do the same.
1. Some people may read those reviews to see if there's better software than their current one available so they may already be using BT.
2. BT is designed to be a replacement for HTTP downloads (or at least that's the thing it's closest to), due to its centralized nature it's too easy to shut down to be good for warez groups. That's where things like eDonkey or all those P2P systems designed for anonymity are better choices.
Actually BT is used by commercial file providers a lot (Fileshack or something offers torrents). Or at least should be, in case of things like Fileplanet. It's great for distributing large files (even demos and patches fall under that by now) to many users and personally I find it preferrable to HTTP or FTP downloads, especially with popular files.
It says acidity. Acids are always ionized because the H+ ion splits off so the remainder has a negative charge.
That's like taking Bud Light, putting in thru the machine, and having produced aged Lager.
That's rather easy to do, you just have to regularly replace the keg of lager and empty the bucket of Bud.
Well, ARM or CORE?
Why do you need money when you have a replicator? Well, why don't you ask a Ferengi?
I think H.G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes came out a BIt earlier than that Futurama episode...
Well, yes, but overall the thing was intended to be a proprietary system for proprietary software.
Besides, there's prior art: Any politician's brain is driven by expanding nothing.
The most important question would be whether a US judge upheld Gemstar's patent. The USPTO doesn't really check for validity anymore so just because it has been granted doesn't mean it's a valid patent and a judge may actually decide that the distinction drawn in the patent is not sufficient to dismiss any prior art claims. In this case I'd say that "using a grid" should not be patentable since that's an outcome, not an implementation (I don't think it should matter what data is displayed in this grid, that'd at best belong into a process on gathering the data and making it human readable). That's ignoring obviousness, of course (come on, tables have been around since ancient times and even digital implementations existed since pretty much the beginning of digital computing).
I couldn't find the patent you're talking about, though. There's 6,477,705 "Method and apparatus for transmitting, storing, and processing electronic program guide data for on-screen display" but searching for the term "two dimensional" brings up only one instance, mentioning how a grid for display could possibly be implemented so you're probably talking about part of another patent.
Also, even if software patents were to be allowed in the EU I'm not sure all US patents would just become valid over here, no questions asked, because many of the US patents violate the three basic rules deciding what is patentable and what isn't (useful, non-obvious, implemented IIRC) and the EU system tends to be a bit more careful with examining patents. If the WIPO really forces the EU to accept all US patents verbatim, wouldn't that also grant the EU the right to invalidate any US patents that violate local laws?