They had to be receiving kickbacks of some sort(be they monetary or sexual).
The game isn't complete rubbish, but the shining reviews granted the title by journalists are unfairly positive. Sure, the open-ended approach is a welcome change to the FPS genre, but the details of Ubisoft's implementation of that approach are too glaringly bad to be taken for granted.
Being able to approach an objective from any angle loses its value when the enemies you are sneaking up on can see the pimples on your ass through jungle underbrush in the middle of the night from 100 meters away without so much as a toy telescope(these AI shennanigans were one of my main issues with the original Far Cry). The same can also be said of their fallen bretheren. Since when can a guy 50 feet away from your target (and 100 from you), looking the other direction, instantly tell his comrade has been shot with an AIR RIFLE and immediately start firing on the attacker.
Frankly, the superhuman AI alone is enough to entirely negate any potential benefit from the open-ended mechanic. It leaves the player with pretty much one option for successfully completing a mission - brute force. You can't pick off scouts from afar and then make your way in to clean up the rest without half a dozen goons running right for your position, and you sure as hell can't quietly sneak in to the base and wait in a corner for your target to approach (these African supersoldiers can see through walls, you know).
There's more, but this thing is already starting to turn into a Tolstoy volume at an incredible rate
That's kind of like saying "ANOTHER linux distro?". One of the key ideas behind FOSS is the element of choice. If a dev-team thinks they can put out a better package manager or window manager or filesystem or , let 'em. If it turns out to be better, then everyone benefits from an improved user experience, or in some cases, an easier API to build on.
If it turns out the software isn't so good, we may still benefit from it by learning from their mistakes, or even taking the good portions of the software and applying them to other projects. So long as someone is attempting to do something new, benefits will eventually come.
While KDE 4 is far from feature-complete, I would not call it a mistake in any regard - the linux desktop needs to advance just like any other. The difference here is that, unlike some upgrades in other OSes, you aren't forced to use KDE4. The developers are aware that it's still pretty early in the game, and so should users. If it causes you trouble, let the devs know what happened and install KDE 3.5 in the meantime.
Just realised something - - I've been wondering for a while why they took it out of beta when it was still so buggy, and I think it's rooted in what I just said. Beta software (esp. something like a d.e) scares some people, so you won't get as large a user-base to give you feedback on bugs. This is especially important when you are on an open source dev team without huge piles of resources to use on testing.
So, what's the solution? Push it out early and see what people bitch about the most. Once it hits stable, more people will be willing to download, giving the devs a larger pool of feedback to look at and (in theory) providing a faster response time from first report of a widespread problem to a fix - the larger the population, the more accurate the statistics, the easier it is to tell just how bad a particular bug is, which in turn helps the devs to prioritize.
Just a theory, but it makes sense to me.
While not exactly a major powerhouse by my estimate, VIA still holds a pretty decent hunk of marketshare. Nice to see one more (relatively) large player see Linux as a valid enough market to make this kind of effort.
As much as I would like to see more large software publishers port their wares to Linux (both games and commercial software), the relative lack of market seems to be a large barrier here. Consider the issue from the point of the vendor - you've got M$, who have a HUGE percentage of desktop market share, and therefore take precedence over the less popular (though arguably superior) operating systems. Yes, linux is a good OS, and yes, it's gaining some traction in the desktop market, but as of right now, it just doesn't make much economic sense in the eyes of most vendors to devote the time and money required to port a piece of software over to linux.
That being said, give me a petition on the matter, and I'll gladly sign it. The sooner I can ditch windows for good, the better - the only reason I even have it installed is to run my games anyway.
I realize that there are intense and complex forces at work during this process, and it would be interesting to know what the impact would be on star systems within the galaxies...[this is the cue for astrologists in the audience to give their scientific input on the matter]
Wait until the Wii drops...imagine small children maniacally hacking their way through hordes of enemies with a machete, FarCry style. Their parents will most assuredly be outraged and write obscen letters to nintendo and ubisoft for creating such a monstrousity. I find it humorous that they would feel so entitled after having disregarded the large 'Mature Audiences' rating on the box and placed it into their preteens' wii little hands.
you COULD put either Snake onto a plane, however it is far more likely that Solid Snake would be almost undetectable and much more efficient (unless of course it happened to be snowing on the plane, in which case the guards would undoubtedly notice his footprints and follow them to their vertabra-snapping death). Liquid Snake could get the job done, however he'd probably get greedy and attempt to utilise the plane to carry out his own insane whims...we may only hope that the plane in question is incapable of launching a new stealth warhead with and integrated rail gun....
Frankly, I was considering this option as soon as the XP on Mac rumors were confirmed (thank you again, narf and blanka). Why? LAN parties. I'm relegated currently to lugging my entire rig to and fro (WITH fossilized CRT monitor), and, while it is an SFF machine, it's still a pain to take anywhere. And while a gaming laptop would suffice, the prospect of carting an iMac to and from LANs seems a bit more inviting - you don't have to deal with unreliable hardware (ala Alienware), and you can use the same machine for 'work' apps.
Not to mention, it would be 500000000000000000 1337.......i should slap myself for saying that.
Just you wait until Bill Gates partners up with the Klingons in order to *actually* rule the universe..I doubt he will rest until humans are branded with the Windows and/or PlaysForSure logo before being given to their alien surrogates while their parents slave away in giant cubicle-farms of DOOM!!!!!!
Also, Gates will by that time amassed enough wealth and power to build a fully-functional death-star (named Windows ME). He will cackle maniacally while he destroys any planets that refuse to bow before the imperial might of the Windows Federation!
*ahem*
Admittedly, I also fear Microsoft's potential wrath...
While I understand that the Red Cross in no way condones fragging your fellow man into utter oblivion, it isn't like the boys at Valve slapped a Red Cross logo onto a rocket launcher or there's a hidden level in Doom 3 where the player has to fight his way through a sea of ambulances and humanitarian workers. The Point is that the red cross (as a symbol) has been used in conjunction with medicine and first-aid for decades. It's a familiar icon - it helps developers to create intuitive game elements that are easily grasped by the end user. Forcing the game industry to change standard MedKit procedure is a little ridiculous. How then would I differentiate between a Combine auxilliary power unit and a single use, wall-installed medical station? Beats the hell out of me....
A novel idea, yes, but what if they wreck the damned thing? There isn't exactly a Pep-Boys around every corner out there. While there is always a risk of men being stranded in space, sending them 900 km away from the lander on wheels is an unnecessary risk. Besides, driving across THAT landscape for twenty straight hours could make a man homicidal...it's hard enough driving through the American midwest, and we at least have a multichrome landscape and occasional flora/fauna to feast your eyes upon.
Slashdot Mirror
They had to be receiving kickbacks of some sort(be they monetary or sexual).
The game isn't complete rubbish, but the shining reviews granted the title by journalists are unfairly positive. Sure, the open-ended approach is a welcome change to the FPS genre, but the details of Ubisoft's implementation of that approach are too glaringly bad to be taken for granted.
Being able to approach an objective from any angle loses its value when the enemies you are sneaking up on can see the pimples on your ass through jungle underbrush in the middle of the night from 100 meters away without so much as a toy telescope(these AI shennanigans were one of my main issues with the original Far Cry). The same can also be said of their fallen bretheren. Since when can a guy 50 feet away from your target (and 100 from you), looking the other direction, instantly tell his comrade has been shot with an AIR RIFLE and immediately start firing on the attacker.
Frankly, the superhuman AI alone is enough to entirely negate any potential benefit from the open-ended mechanic. It leaves the player with pretty much one option for successfully completing a mission - brute force. You can't pick off scouts from afar and then make your way in to clean up the rest without half a dozen goons running right for your position, and you sure as hell can't quietly sneak in to the base and wait in a corner for your target to approach (these African supersoldiers can see through walls, you know).
There's more, but this thing is already starting to turn into a Tolstoy volume at an incredible rate
That's kind of like saying "ANOTHER linux distro?". One of the key ideas behind FOSS is the element of choice. If a dev-team thinks they can put out a better package manager or window manager or filesystem or , let 'em. If it turns out to be better, then everyone benefits from an improved user experience, or in some cases, an easier API to build on. If it turns out the software isn't so good, we may still benefit from it by learning from their mistakes, or even taking the good portions of the software and applying them to other projects. So long as someone is attempting to do something new, benefits will eventually come.
While KDE 4 is far from feature-complete, I would not call it a mistake in any regard - the linux desktop needs to advance just like any other. The difference here is that, unlike some upgrades in other OSes, you aren't forced to use KDE4. The developers are aware that it's still pretty early in the game, and so should users. If it causes you trouble, let the devs know what happened and install KDE 3.5 in the meantime. Just realised something - - I've been wondering for a while why they took it out of beta when it was still so buggy, and I think it's rooted in what I just said. Beta software (esp. something like a d.e) scares some people, so you won't get as large a user-base to give you feedback on bugs. This is especially important when you are on an open source dev team without huge piles of resources to use on testing. So, what's the solution? Push it out early and see what people bitch about the most. Once it hits stable, more people will be willing to download, giving the devs a larger pool of feedback to look at and (in theory) providing a faster response time from first report of a widespread problem to a fix - the larger the population, the more accurate the statistics, the easier it is to tell just how bad a particular bug is, which in turn helps the devs to prioritize. Just a theory, but it makes sense to me.
While not exactly a major powerhouse by my estimate, VIA still holds a pretty decent hunk of marketshare. Nice to see one more (relatively) large player see Linux as a valid enough market to make this kind of effort.
Call it a pipe dream, but could this (a while down the road of course) mean we'll be seeing some ports of commercial Adobe apps for Linux?
As much as I would like to see more large software publishers port their wares to Linux (both games and commercial software), the relative lack of market seems to be a large barrier here. Consider the issue from the point of the vendor - you've got M$, who have a HUGE percentage of desktop market share, and therefore take precedence over the less popular (though arguably superior) operating systems. Yes, linux is a good OS, and yes, it's gaining some traction in the desktop market, but as of right now, it just doesn't make much economic sense in the eyes of most vendors to devote the time and money required to port a piece of software over to linux. That being said, give me a petition on the matter, and I'll gladly sign it. The sooner I can ditch windows for good, the better - the only reason I even have it installed is to run my games anyway.
that the "Legendary Edition" also includes a lifetime supply of celibacy.
i meant to say astronomers...sorry...tired
I realize that there are intense and complex forces at work during this process, and it would be interesting to know what the impact would be on star systems within the galaxies...[this is the cue for astrologists in the audience to give their scientific input on the matter]
Wait until the Wii drops...imagine small children maniacally hacking their way through hordes of enemies with a machete, FarCry style. Their parents will most assuredly be outraged and write obscen letters to nintendo and ubisoft for creating such a monstrousity. I find it humorous that they would feel so entitled after having disregarded the large 'Mature Audiences' rating on the box and placed it into their preteens' wii little hands.
you COULD put either Snake onto a plane, however it is far more likely that Solid Snake would be almost undetectable and much more efficient (unless of course it happened to be snowing on the plane, in which case the guards would undoubtedly notice his footprints and follow them to their vertabra-snapping death). Liquid Snake could get the job done, however he'd probably get greedy and attempt to utilise the plane to carry out his own insane whims...we may only hope that the plane in question is incapable of launching a new stealth warhead with and integrated rail gun....
Frankly, I was considering this option as soon as the XP on Mac rumors were confirmed (thank you again, narf and blanka). Why? LAN parties. I'm relegated currently to lugging my entire rig to and fro (WITH fossilized CRT monitor), and, while it is an SFF machine, it's still a pain to take anywhere. And while a gaming laptop would suffice, the prospect of carting an iMac to and from LANs seems a bit more inviting - you don't have to deal with unreliable hardware (ala Alienware), and you can use the same machine for 'work' apps. Not to mention, it would be 500000000000000000 1337.... ...i should slap myself for saying that.
Just you wait until Bill Gates partners up with the Klingons in order to *actually* rule the universe..I doubt he will rest until humans are branded with the Windows and/or PlaysForSure logo before being given to their alien surrogates while their parents slave away in giant cubicle-farms of DOOM!!!!!!
Also, Gates will by that time amassed enough wealth and power to build a fully-functional death-star (named Windows ME). He will cackle maniacally while he destroys any planets that refuse to bow before the imperial might of the Windows Federation!
*ahem*
Admittedly, I also fear Microsoft's potential wrath...
While I understand that the Red Cross in no way condones fragging your fellow man into utter oblivion, it isn't like the boys at Valve slapped a Red Cross logo onto
a rocket launcher or there's a hidden level in Doom 3 where the player has to fight his way through a sea of ambulances and humanitarian workers. The Point is that the red cross (as a symbol) has been used in conjunction with medicine and first-aid for decades. It's a familiar icon - it helps developers to create intuitive game elements that are easily grasped by the end user. Forcing the game industry to change standard MedKit procedure is a little ridiculous. How then would I differentiate between a Combine auxilliary power unit and a single use, wall-installed medical station? Beats the hell out of me....
A novel idea, yes, but what if they wreck the damned thing? There isn't exactly a Pep-Boys around every corner out there. While there is always a risk of men being stranded in space, sending them 900 km away from the lander on wheels is an unnecessary risk. Besides, driving across THAT landscape for twenty straight hours could make a man homicidal...it's hard enough driving through the American midwest, and we at least have a multichrome landscape and occasional flora/fauna to feast your eyes upon.