Evening Reading
by Nick Breckon, Jul 16, 2009 5:25pm PDTThere was a really interesting, spontaneous game design discussion on Twitter a bit ago. Might try writing some of it up later tonight. Twitter does not make for a very readable discussion forum.
News:
- Resident Evil 5 gets a release date, benchmarking tool
- ESRB reveals Red Alert 3 title
- Call of Duty: World at War PC patch coming tomorrow
- Possible video of unofficial Portal iPhone port released
- Prototype leads the June software sales
FileShack: Unity of Command, Skyjacker
Daily Filter: Planetside 2, Deadlight
Weekend PC digital deals: strategy-o-rama
38 Studios, Harry Potter Kinect - Shacknews Daily: May 25, 2012
Minecraft for Xbox 360 dev working on 'Adventure' update
I've been pretty much obsessed with Tron since as long as I can remember. I always promised myself I would get into 3D and recreate a scene from the movie. 20-some-odd years later I can actually DO it. I modeled the bike more accurately than any I've seen using lots of references.
I think I'm going to render it out in "break-my-computer-high-resolution" and print it out as a poster for my wall. I still need to add some bikes in the background and compose an exciting scene, add a crazy explosion with bike parts flying everywhere, and add the "Tron" logo in the background (which is already modeled, I just have to texture it), and create the walls of the game grid. This took me a few days to make so far.
Original: http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/8987/tronlightcycle.jpg
Mine: http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/3025/tronscene1.jpg
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So I was working on an online calendar thing for our QCon trip, and I've started to add a few other shackers who are flying in. I'm thinking of publishing it and making it a way to see what's happening and where around the 2009 Shackmeet Season.
If you're arriving in Dallas around that time, let me know. I'm going to put the calendar up soon so at the least you can all track the movements of us Aussie shackers as we traverse your country, including trying to gather interest for the LA Shackmeet on the 8th.
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http://www.fukung.net/v/15901/1e9338d05c1ce1a7ef551a0cb121ec03.jpg
Now we all laugh at the student's failure, but I am more concerned about the potential teacher failure. Should the directions not read '...the given words'? "Use only the word given", implies use of the word given.
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There are 3 new game videos up on MattPlays that you may want to check out. Games are Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Overlord 2, and Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena.
http://mattplays.com/
I've been having tons of fun with Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. I can't say enough how much fun the gunfights are, using all varieties of weapons; either as Ray or Thomas. In fact, this game reminded me why I love FPS so much in the first place. It's been a long while since a FPS made me this giddy. The cover system, takes getting used to, but it works so awesome once you figure it out. It is so well implemented. Also, the graphics are amazing, but even more amazing is the performance on my aging system when other modern games are starting to tax it. They really did a great job with the engine.
I was really hoping they'd make Overlord 2 more fun than the original, but it's more of the same really. The game still has a slow, deliberate pace, and while it's pretty funny at times, I find myself getting bored with it quickly like I did with the original.
CoR: Dark Athena expands a bit over the original. While I love the original and this new one, it woud've been nice if it were longer. Still, I can't complain too much because it was still a lot of fun. I wish they didn't make it more actioney, and retained most of the original's stealth-focused gameplay.
I need to install more memory in order to record myself playing The Sims 3. Expect a video of hot girl-on-girl woohoo'ing soon.
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I'm done. I'm fucking done with Prototype - the end boss is such bullshit, and then they throw in a timed fight just when you get the hang of things.
I'm done with this game, I'm selling it tomorrow and I don't even give a flying fuck how it ends. I'm so over it I don't even know what else to say.
Fuck you Prototype. inFamous was better - you're just a piece of shit with horrible game mechanics and a totally stupid storyline. Fuck you. I hate you, I've hated you since about 2/3 of the way through but I told myself I would finish you anyway. Well I'm not going to. I'm going to sell you tomorrow and pick up another, less frustrating, good video game in your place and I'm never going to see you again. You little fuck.
Seriously.
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I instantly remembered HKey_Local_Machine_Software_Microsoft_Windows_CurrentVersion
Oh, memory.
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"I'm all for escaping reality in video games. I love turning into a Spartan, cruising space as Commander Shepard in "Mass Effect" and have fun as Niko in "Grand Theft Auto IV." However, I am disturbed by the growing trend of racist undertones that are cropping up in video games.
One of the games that comes to mind is "Left 4 Dead 2." Though the game isn't out yet, it's already causing an uproar. Set in New Orleans, players will have to fight their way through hordes of zombies - with several of them who appear to be African-Americans."
The article itself is full of material to shit bricks :
http://blogs.chron.com/gamehacks/2009/07/racism_in_video_games_the_new.html#more
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hk-ru57A-c&feature=popular
Owned
"If there had only been cones there"
You would have tripped on the tape and fell in the bitch head first.
So shut the fuck up, watch where you are walking and leave the phone in your pocket.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/06/moshe-kai-cavalin-the-11_n_212239.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525254,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g7:r5:c0.000000:b-2:z0
Graduated college at age 11 with 4.0 GPA. Interest in math, astrophysics and wormholes. And the best part:
I feel it's a waste of time playing video games because it's not helping humanity in any way.
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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2423/3727408055_d8a2e2676b_o.jpg
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too harsh? no Hopefully not a repost
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBDQ76rQb6A&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Ev5HgGACg&feature=channel
I like these commercials a little too much.
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http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1512
Gasp! That's racist
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Remember when Lindsey Graham told Sonia Sotomayor, "unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to be confirmed?" Well those days are gone, now that Graham has emerged as Sootmayor's chief tormentor, something that's sparked Jon Stewart's ire.
Stewart was particularly irked last night over Graham's demanding that Sotomayor respond to criticism of her job performance written by anonymous attorneys, which in turn led Stewart and his staff to seek out some anonymous commentary on Graham that had been recently posted to the web. They also noted that Graham is featured on the website, Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians, and Stewart demanded that he answer whether or not he actually does look like an old lesbian
video here, or at gawker link above: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-july-16-2009/white-men-can-t-judge---sotomayor--judgment-days
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RAM question
my mobo takes DDR SDRAM PC3200 and has 3 slots for a max of 3 gigs.
( http://epox.com/product.asp?id=EP-8KDA3J )
i currently have 2x512 in there, could i just throw a single 2gig stick? can you mix-n-match like that?
do they actually make a 3 x 1 gig set of RAM for a board like this? i can't find any =(
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When I was about ten, my Dad brought home a game on 3.5 diskette. He bought it from a guy at work and it didn't have a manual or anything. Just install disks. So we installed it and my sister and I played it regularly for months, or maybe even more than a year. This also, however, was before our computer even had a mouse. See, when my parents bought our first DOS computer, it was for a family business (that never happened.) All of the software that came with it was for DOS, and this was just before Windows 3.1 or shortly after. Point being, we didn't need Windows.
One thing we DID need was a user's manual though because playing this game without a mouse or a manual was an extremely painstaking process. Figuring out the controls to a ten year old took a little bit of time. Getting them all to work properly was an even more challenging process.
What you basically have to do to play this game with a keyboard is this:
Use arrows to move the crosshair around. The keys for your choices would utilize the left half of your keyboard from Q-Z and R-V (and T & G also.) This painstaking process, and figuring it all out was frustrating to say the least.
But playing it was SO much fun. Without hints, without cheats, without looking things up on Gamefaqs, or calling a hotline or anything. Figuring things out like the stone floor slabs Venice library or in getting past the huge muscular guard in the Nazi castle and getting through it all was SO rewarding. Exploring the huge castle, or the caves, or even Indy's Dad's house. So much incredible fun, and easily one of the most memorable gaming experiences of my life. So much to the point that I think I still have that mentality about games so I always manage to appreciate the diamond in the rough experiences (even with getting the damned thing to work.)
The kicker though? When we got out of the Nazi castle by pushing the little statue on the fireplace, there was no motorcycle waiting for us on the other side. There was actually barely a short view of the castle from an external shot. Then... THE GAME CRASHED, and no matter how many times we reinstalled it, or blew on the disks, or blew out the disk drive... the game would always crash there. I don't know if our save file was corrupted or if it was the files on the disk or what but it was DEVASTATING. So much more devastating than even having the set of 8 Duke Nukem levels that I worked on all summer long for many many many hours being wiped out before my very eyes.
Well... now I have it on Steam. I plan to get out of that castle and finish the game. I am pretty damn excited. :)
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A bunch of the comments do a pretty good job of invalidating his points or showing that he doesn't actually have a clue what he's talking about.
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Nice job S2Jason.
Besides wiping stats clean, here are the biggest elements to the next patch. Makes things MUCH easier.
- Voting system implemented, with three vote types:
* Remake - remakes the game, returning everyone to the game lobby. Requires 100% of connected players' approval to pass. Only available during the first 5 minutes of a match.
* Concede - concedes the match, allowing the game to progress without tracking stats (allowing players to leave if they choose). To pass, concede vote requires 100% of the conceding team to vote yes. The non-conceding team will spawn fully upgraded creeps.
* Kick - votes to kick a particular player
A. Kick vote won't work if there are less than 4 players in the match
B. If there are 4 players in the match, it requires 3 of them to vote yes to pass
C. If there are more than 4, it requires the total number of players minus 2 to vote yes to pass
Leaver rules and AFK Detection:
- If one team is down by more than 2 players, the players left on that team may leave the match without gaining a leaver mark on their stats
- If a player stays within their base for 4 minutes without engaging in combat (attacking, taking damage, or gaining experience) they will be kicked (and terminated) for idling
- Disconnect dialogue in game now gives a clearer indication as to how it will affect your status as a leaver
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I feel weirdly detatched from the world, like my brain is sitting in fog.
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http://sparklyfresh.com/video/peaches.mpg
http://sparklyfresh.com/video/space_police.mpg
Ahh those were the days. :D
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I just tore off the new film from an iphone which is only there temporarily and put a proper screen on and it looks terrible, there's bubbles all over it and dust too hahaha shoot me :(
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I'm thinking the genre should be Sci-Fi or I will also allow a wildcard for Western's. Actually if you have a great western besides Tombstone and Wyatt Earp I haven't seen it so suggest away. I feel the need to veg and watch a movie tonight, but everything that has come out recently seems pretty horrible.
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One guy in my crew cut this movie from our trip last weekend. No boobs (sorry!), crappy cameras, laughs at my expense. Also, if you're in the LA area, feel free to tag along next time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_mv6vOOmUE
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-gGes6qig
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