It's interesting that you bring up UI. UI has been a point of contention since the beginning, for Starcraft 2. There were the biggest arguments about things you would never believe; unlimited selection is a great example of that. People thought unlimited selection would break it, arguing that you have to control groups of twelve units at a time, and that is the strategy and the way you have to play.
Very interested to hear about the UI, because Blizzard has a habit (or at least it can be perceived that way - intentional or not) of using the UI as a bludgeon to get the player to play the game a certain way.
I have heard the argument he mentioned above, and it is just absurd. The UI IS NOT A BALANCE TOOL! Or it shouldn't be - and trying to make it one is incredibly frustrating. If a unit/strategy is imbalanced because I can select as many units as I want and tell them to attack or do whatever, then it is imbalanced whether the game lets me do that easily or not. I emphasize 'easily' because that UI limiation (and others - spellcasting behavior/ idle unit behavior or ai/etc) doesn't stop anyone from doing it - it just makes it harder. It increases the mp difficulty without adding any value to the game.
I played Starcraft from the beginning (I still have my SC1 Beta CD) but I get frustrated going back to it when set next to all the advancements that have been made since. I know it will get my geek card revoked, but I am always struck by the glaring issues with SC1 in this regard and it's the only thing I think of when people go on about how good the game is.
It's just frustrating to play because of the lack of certain features and having certain limitations. I could be totally off-base, but sometimes I think the people that heap so much praise on it, haven't really played it in a while, or just re-install it instead of playing newer RTS games that might make them think differently. Might be just my own pet-peeve though.
Of the SC2 UI developments I have heard, it looks like they are getting away from some of the silly limitations and I am glad. War3 had some good advancements, and it seems it will continue here.
Also kudos on what sounds like proper hor+ widescreen support.
Frankly I see computer games as being for fun and not as another job - hearing what people go through to get games running on a PC sounds far too much like the bits of my job that I hate to pay for the privilege of doing it.
The reason you hear about the people that have problems is because they come on the internet to explain their problem and get help. You don't hear much from the people for which it "just worked".
The greater array of hardware can cause issues, but it may not be as widespread as it appears.
The most tweaking I have to do on a modern game is choose a resolution and quality, and most games have a function to estimate how high to put the settings. Having this choice is more complicated, I suppose, but that is a feature, not a bug, because the game scales. If you get nicer hardware or you come back to play it years later, you can make it look nicer.
If the game is old, there can be some issues (sometimes have to load up an emulator), but I can't put my SNES carts into the Wii either - so no real difference.
1. You could be talking about two groups of people and so the people that say "Apple sucks" are not the same people saying they would try this.
2. The reasons they are saying "Apple sucks" could be related to any number of things Apple does, most of which have nothing to do with the quality of their OS. There are lots of those.
For an example of #2, if one were to lambaste Apple because their computers are overpriced, or they don't sell one within a particular price range, that person would not be a hypocrite for using this dongle (in fact, exactly the opposite - since they could put OSX on a cheap, high-spec PC).
They also question how NATCA gets away with constantly stating that the US air traffic control system is the safest in the world, when it is actually behind Europe when it comes to safety metrics (Europe has.032 hull losses per 1 million departures vs..049 in North America). The only issue I would have with this statistic is volume differences and what that they count as a "hull". If we are talking any plane at all (small one-man aircraft to airliners) then the volume difference and difference in variety of aircraft is going to be huge.
Operating a private airplane in europe is ludicrously expensive compared to the US, and the infrastructure (countless small airports) aren't there either. Consequently, there isn't much volume in private aircraft compared to the US. That is going to have an effect on the numbers.
They aren't promising anything - this is just a tech demo by an academic guy now employed by Intel - not a game advertisement.
It's essentially a "gee whiz" engine mod - the game itself came out months ago and was made by a totally different company. The actual game uses a modified Doom 3 engine and doesn't use ray-tracing at all.
Just in case it isn't clear, this is just a tech demo some guy at Intel put together. It's totally academic/proof-of-concept, and doesn't have anything to do with the actual game.
The game they modded was Enemy Territory: Quake Wars made by Splash Damage - the same guys behind the multiplayer component of Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.
The game is already released. It uses an updated version of the Doom 3 engine and actual game doesn't use ray-tracing.
As for storyline, it is a team multiplayer game like Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was (and TF2 is, etc) so there really isn't much of one:) Just gameplay.
and it just feels wrong to hear our language used by Stroggs and other alien invaders Haha! So now I have to ask, how do they say "Oh my Strogg! They've taken the data brain!" in your localized version?;-)
That's fine - then the critism should be "it looks shitty on medium" rather than "it runs like crap on high! Why did they bother releasing this since nobody can play it!".
Not understanding what the fuss is about is fine too - there are a ton of games I play where I have that feeling. I just figure it isn't my kind of game.
Incidentally, I think HL2 was one of them for me. I borrowed it using a friends steam account one time, got bored, and quit part way though. I now own it with the Orange Box bundle, but I've never finished it.
(Portal and TF2 were enough fun to justify the cost, of course:-) )
The best is when people compare it consoles - where you have no choice on quality and it is locked at whatever the devs could get to run.
I guess the take away "winning strategy" from this is just to artificially limit the settings so stupid people don't bitch and give your game a bad reputation. Then 2 years later release a "graphics upgrade patch" that removes the limits:)
Future-proofing AND idiot mitigation. Win! (Profit???)
It's all perception. People want to think they are running it at "The Best Settings" and feel cheated if they aren't. Because, by God, they are entitled to the best settings no matter what their computer is like. It's just not fair otherwise!
Yeah, I agree. But they'll keep doing it as long as they can get away with it. Look how many people play BF2 and BF2142. It is many times more than people who play similar team-based FPS games made by non-asshat companies.
This habit of theirs is one reason I passed on BF2142 and simply waited for ETQW to come out.
If Pyscho's story is supposed to involve "life" on the other side of the island, as the release calls it, I have to assume they are talking more about the aliens than the Koreans. I would think just the opposite. IIRC Nomad and the squad leader were the two mucking around in the ship while Psycho was off doing something else. This says to me more koreans rather than less.
Like you, I found the first half the game much better (and CERTAINLY more replayable) than the second. The second part was fun for about 10 minutes with the whole floaty thing, but that is only novelty value.
Where would they go if we made them again? A zoo. These species would be interesting to see/study even if we didn't re-introduce them into the wild or repopulate the species.
I'd certainly like to see a live woolly mammoth walking around:-)
When I read this, the first thing I thought of were the evil overlord rules - specifically this one:
One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation. They just need to have some intern to sit around and spot obvious flaws in document security. Any idiot giving this doc a cursory examination would have found this.
Slashdot Mirror
From the interview:
It's interesting that you bring up UI. UI has been a point of contention since the beginning, for Starcraft 2. There were the biggest arguments about things you would never believe; unlimited selection is a great example of that. People thought unlimited selection would break it, arguing that you have to control groups of twelve units at a time, and that is the strategy and the way you have to play.
Very interested to hear about the UI, because Blizzard has a habit (or at least it can be perceived that way - intentional or not) of using the UI as a bludgeon to get the player to play the game a certain way.
I have heard the argument he mentioned above, and it is just absurd. The UI IS NOT A BALANCE TOOL! Or it shouldn't be - and trying to make it one is incredibly frustrating. If a unit/strategy is imbalanced because I can select as many units as I want and tell them to attack or do whatever, then it is imbalanced whether the game lets me do that easily or not. I emphasize 'easily' because that UI limiation (and others - spellcasting behavior/ idle unit behavior or ai /etc) doesn't stop anyone from doing it - it just makes it harder. It increases the mp difficulty without adding any value to the game.
I played Starcraft from the beginning (I still have my SC1 Beta CD) but I get frustrated going back to it when set next to all the advancements that have been made since. I know it will get my geek card revoked, but I am always struck by the glaring issues with SC1 in this regard and it's the only thing I think of when people go on about how good the game is.
It's just frustrating to play because of the lack of certain features and having certain limitations. I could be totally off-base, but sometimes I think the people that heap so much praise on it, haven't really played it in a while, or just re-install it instead of playing newer RTS games that might make them think differently. Might be just my own pet-peeve though.
Of the SC2 UI developments I have heard, it looks like they are getting away from some of the silly limitations and I am glad. War3 had some good advancements, and it seems it will continue here.
Also kudos on what sounds like proper hor+ widescreen support.
Frankly I see computer games as being for fun and not as another job - hearing what people go through to get games running on a PC sounds far too much like the bits of my job that I hate to pay for the privilege of doing it.
The reason you hear about the people that have problems is because they come on the internet to explain their problem and get help. You don't hear much from the people for which it "just worked".
The greater array of hardware can cause issues, but it may not be as widespread as it appears.
The most tweaking I have to do on a modern game is choose a resolution and quality, and most games have a function to estimate how high to put the settings. Having this choice is more complicated, I suppose, but that is a feature, not a bug, because the game scales. If you get nicer hardware or you come back to play it years later, you can make it look nicer.
If the game is old, there can be some issues (sometimes have to load up an emulator), but I can't put my SNES carts into the Wii either - so no real difference.
This is the two-parter you mean:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_Hell :)
1. You could be talking about two groups of people and so the people that say "Apple sucks" are not the same people saying they would try this.
2. The reasons they are saying "Apple sucks" could be related to any number of things Apple does, most of which have nothing to do with the quality of their OS. There are lots of those.
For an example of #2, if one were to lambaste Apple because their computers are overpriced, or they don't sell one within a particular price range, that person would not be a hypocrite for using this dongle (in fact, exactly the opposite - since they could put OSX on a cheap, high-spec PC).
See my sig - we can make it class action!
Yeah, pretty much - though I would go the other way: Pet equals Kid.
There are lots of people for which this is the case :-)
I don't think that is it. From the article:
When a baby too small for the regular dialysis machine (similar to the one pictured above)
http://www.hackaday.com/2008/08/05/diy-kidney-machine-saves-girl/
Also, it doesn't look nearly ramshackle enough! ;-)
The picture of the patient is nice and all but the interesting part is the machine, right? I'd like a clear picture of that instead ...
What a coincidence!
(see sig)
Operating a private airplane in europe is ludicrously expensive compared to the US, and the infrastructure (countless small airports) aren't there either. Consequently, there isn't much volume in private aircraft compared to the US. That is going to have an effect on the numbers.
They aren't promising anything - this is just a tech demo by an academic guy now employed by Intel - not a game advertisement.
It's essentially a "gee whiz" engine mod - the game itself came out months ago and was made by a totally different company. The actual game uses a modified Doom 3 engine and doesn't use ray-tracing at all.
This article is about a tech-demo based on the actual game, not the game itself.
But you mentioned demos, so if you want to try out the demo of the actual game, here it is:
http://community.enemyterritory.com/?q=node/225
Team-based objective multiplayer is tons o' fun.
Just in case it isn't clear, this is just a tech demo some guy at Intel put together. It's totally academic/proof-of-concept, and doesn't have anything to do with the actual game.
:) Just gameplay.
The game they modded was Enemy Territory: Quake Wars made by Splash Damage - the same guys behind the multiplayer component of Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.
The game is already released. It uses an updated version of the Doom 3 engine and actual game doesn't use ray-tracing.
As for storyline, it is a team multiplayer game like Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was (and TF2 is, etc) so there really isn't much of one
I have a sandisk Cruzer "Titanium" drive. The casing is made of metal so it is a bit more sturdy.
http://sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1167)-SanDisk_Ultra_Cruzer_Titanium.aspx
I'm sure it featured some sort of automated fluid capture and disposal. It did use forcefields for everything, after all.
If the first one didn't feature that, you can sure bet version 2.0 did!
That's fine - then the critism should be "it looks shitty on medium" rather than "it runs like crap on high! Why did they bother releasing this since nobody can play it!".
:-) )
Not understanding what the fuss is about is fine too - there are a ton of games I play where I have that feeling. I just figure it isn't my kind of game.
Incidentally, I think HL2 was one of them for me. I borrowed it using a friends steam account one time, got bored, and quit part way though. I now own it with the Orange Box bundle, but I've never finished it.
(Portal and TF2 were enough fun to justify the cost, of course
So true.
:)
The best is when people compare it consoles - where you have no choice on quality and it is locked at whatever the devs could get to run.
I guess the take away "winning strategy" from this is just to artificially limit the settings so stupid people don't bitch and give your game a bad reputation. Then 2 years later release a "graphics upgrade patch" that removes the limits
Future-proofing AND idiot mitigation. Win! (Profit???)
It's all perception. People want to think they are running it at "The Best Settings" and feel cheated if they aren't. Because, by God, they are entitled to the best settings no matter what their computer is like. It's just not fair otherwise!
Yeah, I agree. But they'll keep doing it as long as they can get away with it. Look how many people play BF2 and BF2142. It is many times more than people who play similar team-based FPS games made by non-asshat companies.
This habit of theirs is one reason I passed on BF2142 and simply waited for ETQW to come out.
Like you, I found the first half the game much better (and CERTAINLY more replayable) than the second. The second part was fun for about 10 minutes with the whole floaty thing, but that is only novelty value.
Consoles have parental controls as well:
Here is handy instructions for each one:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2006-12-28-parental-controls-consoles_x.htm
I'd certainly like to see a live woolly mammoth walking around
This is the one time where people could legitimately use the term "jetpack" and then the submitter and TFA choose not to!
Looks very cool.
The second photo on this link shows the inside of the drive:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=hard-drive-recovered-from-columbia&sc=rss
(Link stolen from another post in this thread)