VLC got a new GUI awhile ago. I only use it as my backup player, but was really surprised after upgrading to discover that it no longer looks like crap. It even displays subtitles properly.
It's very hard to market research a computer game before you've made it. Especially if you're not just copying some other game.
"I'm going to make a fantasy-themed FPS, with a skill system and customizable weapons. Sound good?"
I don't think you'll find many game designers not doing that to some degree. Those that skip that step are either operating on a scale where failure isn't a huge deal (the guy making a game in his spare time for example) are total idiots, or are essentially making a copy of some existing popular game. Like the dozens of Diablo knockoffs...
That's actually one of the big reasons why there's so many knockoffs... Just like hollywood, they don't want to risk money on something new, so they prefer to make a dozen reiterations on the last popular thing.
And if you've ever played those Diablo knockoffs, you'll know that even when you're copying another game, you can still screw it up royally in ways that won't be obvious on a box, or in concept art or descriptions or any of the other things that you can market test before you've actually made the game.
By the time they've reached the point where they've got something that can be used to show people and say "ok, do you like this?", they're probably fully comitted and have no choice but to follow the project to the end, even if there are glaring flaws. Delaying a game for years for major reconstruction is possible if you have have Blizzard's massive WoW-spawned budget... but most companies don't have that option.
Yeah, lag like that's a killer.... If you're playing action games. For turn-based RPG people and strategy gamers, however, it's far, far less of an issue.
Now all they need to do is come up with a foolproof way to determine if their game will be crap before they spend millions making it.
There's also the subjective factor... by way of example, I have yet to see anything by id that I consider remotely amusing and Blizzards's very hit-and-miss.
I'm going to take his base point, and expand on it a bit...
Science, when done right, about making claims, then trying your damnedest to prove them wrong, so that only the correct claims (and ones where falfification is a logical impossibility) are left standing. The latter category is generally described as being claims that should be ignored, etc.
Science, done the way it usually is these days, is largely about blindly accepting whatever some guy in a labcoat, or a talking head on TV tells you is the truth, because they spent a few years studying books. And you're supposed to ignore the counter-claims from other people who also studied books.
You know, like the way religion is all about listening to the guy at the front of the room who spent a few years studying one or more books...
Because people don't know jack about critical thinking in general, or what science actually is in specific, the differance between science and religion, for a hell of a lot of people, is very minor. To them, it's just a woldview dictated to them by some people who claim to be authorities on a subject that most people don't even come close to understanding, and take on faith.
If you can't think of a dozen major global-level problems not caused by religion, you have much bigger problems than whether or not somebody else is religious.
Re:Sorry, but I have to consider the source
on
UN Attacks Free Speech
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· Score: 2, Insightful
By many definitions, the French Resistance would have qualified as a terrorist organization... albeit one almost nobody other than the Nazis would object to overly much.
"An image is "pornographic" if it is of such a nature that it must reasonably be assumed to have been produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal."
That's a rather broad definition... Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, Victoria's Secret catalogues, and just about anything that directly or indirectly invokes the "sex sells!" marketing theory.
Not only that, but the Canadians (and probably the Aussies aswell) were consistantly used as cannon-fodder by british commanders who viewed them as being expendable colonials and STILL managed to be more usefull than just about anyone else.
We got even more impressive once we started getting our own commanders.
Actually, it says that only one copy of each game can be played at a time. So, you and your kid could each play your games at once as much as you like, but you couldn't both play seperate installations of the same game without buying multiple copies.
Ironically, schools are (or were) largely repsonsible for pushing ritalyn on kids because it makes them easier to manage. Still, I remember when thiz ZT thing started and people were being suspended for having mouthwash in their lockers, because it contains alcohol, amonst other perfectly normal, legal substances.
A guy who will very happily do basic tasks, but won't do many truely significan't things, and is a bloody nightmare to get to do anything unusual, thanks to requiring the editing of tons of intricately worded contracts.
(In other news: I hate editing poorly-documented config files)
True that. In order for Japan to "hate" the iphone, it'd have to be important enough for them to really care about in the first place. And it isn't. It's just another electronic device, and to them, it's simply not that impressive. The iRobots (aka apple fanboys) need to suck it up and move on.
It's the same as if you walked into a bookstore, took a book off the shelf, sat down with your laptop and scanned it, put the book back on the shelf, then put your scans up for download on piratebay.
Sadly, the audible format is the only way to get 99% of all the players to bookmark where you left off. I need a way to convert mp3s INTO audible format to get that one function.
Re:I can see where this is going
on
Designer Babies
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· Score: 1
Slashdot Mirror
VLC got a new GUI awhile ago. I only use it as my backup player, but was really surprised after upgrading to discover that it no longer looks like crap. It even displays subtitles properly.
And Zoomplayer's GUI is much better than MPC.
It's very hard to market research a computer game before you've made it. Especially if you're not just copying some other game.
"I'm going to make a fantasy-themed FPS, with a skill system and customizable weapons. Sound good?"
I don't think you'll find many game designers not doing that to some degree. Those that skip that step are either operating on a scale where failure isn't a huge deal (the guy making a game in his spare time for example) are total idiots, or are essentially making a copy of some existing popular game. Like the dozens of Diablo knockoffs...
That's actually one of the big reasons why there's so many knockoffs... Just like hollywood, they don't want to risk money on something new, so they prefer to make a dozen reiterations on the last popular thing.
And if you've ever played those Diablo knockoffs, you'll know that even when you're copying another game, you can still screw it up royally in ways that won't be obvious on a box, or in concept art or descriptions or any of the other things that you can market test before you've actually made the game.
By the time they've reached the point where they've got something that can be used to show people and say "ok, do you like this?", they're probably fully comitted and have no choice but to follow the project to the end, even if there are glaring flaws. Delaying a game for years for major reconstruction is possible if you have have Blizzard's massive WoW-spawned budget... but most companies don't have that option.
In retrospect, I could have worded that far better. Any conflation you experienced was a result of poor word choice due to tiredness.
The point was actually to highly the differances between Science and what I've occasionally heard called Scientism (the quasi-religious spinoff).
The current run of slashdot articles is reminiscient of having a drunk wino santa puking all over you during a date on christmas.
You're seriously killing the mood. Either put some actual effort into it, or give up.
Yeah, lag like that's a killer.... If you're playing action games.
For turn-based RPG people and strategy gamers, however, it's far, far less of an issue.
Now all they need to do is come up with a foolproof way to determine if their game will be crap before they spend millions making it.
There's also the subjective factor... by way of example, I have yet to see anything by id that I consider remotely amusing and Blizzards's very hit-and-miss.
If your masculine self-image is threatened by women saying your laptop is cute, you shouldn't be allowed to date.
I'm going to take his base point, and expand on it a bit...
Science, when done right, about making claims, then trying your damnedest to prove them wrong, so that only the correct claims (and ones where falfification is a logical impossibility) are left standing. The latter category is generally described as being claims that should be ignored, etc.
Science, done the way it usually is these days, is largely about blindly accepting whatever some guy in a labcoat, or a talking head on TV tells you is the truth, because they spent a few years studying books. And you're supposed to ignore the counter-claims from other people who also studied books.
You know, like the way religion is all about listening to the guy at the front of the room who spent a few years studying one or more books...
Because people don't know jack about critical thinking in general, or what science actually is in specific, the differance between science and religion, for a hell of a lot of people, is very minor. To them, it's just a woldview dictated to them by some people who claim to be authorities on a subject that most people don't even come close to understanding, and take on faith.
Ironic, isn't it?
If you can't think of a dozen major global-level problems not caused by religion, you have much bigger problems than whether or not somebody else is religious.
By many definitions, the French Resistance would have qualified as a terrorist organization... albeit one almost nobody other than the Nazis would object to overly much.
So, basicly what you're saying that you'd be ok with Machismo (a throughly masculine idea) getting human rights?
"An image is "pornographic" if it is of such a nature that it must reasonably be assumed to have been produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal."
That's a rather broad definition... Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, Victoria's Secret catalogues, and just about anything that directly or indirectly invokes the "sex sells!" marketing theory.
Not only that, but the Canadians (and probably the Aussies aswell) were consistantly used as cannon-fodder by british commanders who viewed them as being expendable colonials and STILL managed to be more usefull than just about anyone else.
We got even more impressive once we started getting our own commanders.
Actually, it says that only one copy of each game can be played at a time. So, you and your kid could each play your games at once as much as you like, but you couldn't both play seperate installations of the same game without buying multiple copies.
The floggings will continue until morale improves.
Ironically, schools are (or were) largely repsonsible for pushing ritalyn on kids because it makes them easier to manage. Still, I remember when thiz ZT thing started and people were being suspended for having mouthwash in their lockers, because it contains alcohol, amonst other perfectly normal, legal substances.
Future? I think not.
I could set you up a system that does all that right now for under $2000 - and make a really nice profit at the same time.
A guy who will very happily do basic tasks, but won't do many truely significan't things, and is a bloody nightmare to get to do anything unusual, thanks to requiring the editing of tons of intricately worded contracts.
(In other news: I hate editing poorly-documented config files)
Seems like it would be awsome for people who want to listen to audiobooks on their computers.
For those of us who want to listen to them from their mp3 players (which mostly support audible), the issue stands, unfortunately.
I live in Vancouver. Never mind craigslist, they advertise in one of the local newspapers.
True that. In order for Japan to "hate" the iphone, it'd have to be important enough for them to really care about in the first place. And it isn't. It's just another electronic device, and to them, it's simply not that impressive. The iRobots (aka apple fanboys) need to suck it up and move on.
I want a Japanese-built house too! Mostly because i'd much rather live in Japan than in the US.
Bad analogy.
It's the same as if you walked into a bookstore, took a book off the shelf, sat down with your laptop and scanned it, put the book back on the shelf, then put your scans up for download on piratebay.
Sadly, the audible format is the only way to get 99% of all the players to bookmark where you left off. I need a way to convert mp3s INTO audible format to get that one function.
Allow me to introduce Overlord Frank...