Pioneer

SC, thought you might appreciate these comments from GoneGold, which is the best game preview site out there: Speaking of demos, I gave the latest Battlecruiser Millennium Edition demo a shot. I've mentioned Denny Atkin's excellent preview in the past and that I've really been looking forward to the game. Since the game is close to release, I was interested in seeing the features included in the latest demo. The very first thing that's very apparent about the game... it's not for the casual gamer. To the producer's credit, they've mentioned that right up front. Their target audience is the hard core gamer and I think this game will fit the bill nicely. Unfortunately, you can't mention this game without mentioning the nonsense that has gone on between Derek Smart, the mastermind behind the game, and a handful of gamers that refuse to let arguments die. As a gamer, none of that effects nor interests me. I could care less who hates the man, who loves the man and vice versa. My main concern is what kind of ride am I getting the my dough. Having said that, the first thing I did was click on the "Training" button on the main menu. To my dismay, it's not implemented as of yet, but thankfully, three tutorials are included. They walk you through the major functions of the game and it's here you begin to realize just how detailed and engrossing the game is. The shallow gamer in me was also pleased to see the graphics look good too. This is going to be a game that has a large learning curve, but thankfully, it's set up so you can dig in quickly and feel as if you're making progress. There's nothing worse than going through tutorials and coming away as if you still don't know how to play the game. While the open ended-ness of the game may make it a bit difficult to teach how to play well, once you have the controls down you'll be flying around learning that on your own... adding to the enjoyment. The enormity of the game should even quell the "nay sayers". From commanding a Battlecruiser, you can jump into a fighter, break into a planets atmosphere, land, exit and head into the water for a swim. Taking a refreshing swim on "Corion 12" and then fighting a huge galactic battle a few hours later is beyond what any game has ever brought us. All the attention to detail is stunning and may be overwhelming. Booting up the new offering shows us that the team has learned "refinement" of controls as well. What once was a series of screens is now a simple matter of hovering over a button and selecting from a pop up menu. Very nicely done. If you passed on the demo due to a bad taste in your mouth from the original game released by Take 2, do yourself a favor and "forgive and forget". Haven't you ever needed forgiveness? Besides, you'd only be spiting yourself and missing out on one of the most intense and open ended games ever.

Hey SC... Regarding the two graphical fixes that were needed for E1, namely turning of Video Bios Shadowing, and disabling the Z-buffer, what impact do you think those might have on other games?

Everquest...its a MMORPG.

Sweet!

Two days ago she was hired as the new Internet Relations Manager for Mythic Entertainment, creators of Dark Age of Camelot. Hey SC, if I create a rant site about space sims will you hire me? =P

The 6th axis allows you two fast forward through the space/time continuum. Am I the only one that knows that?? =)

6.50 is still the way to go. The newest drivers have reported issues with Anarchy Online, as well as Tribes 2.

Hell I still have Freespace 2 on my computer... ~Pio

The pictures look great...can't wait for Demo Part Deux. ~Pio

Wow...pics look great SC. ~Pio

No I didn't understand it, and if that was your intention then I apologize. ~Pio

Think that's nuts...when my parents' cat got diabetes in its 14th year on this Earth, my mother gave it insulin shots every day for 6 months until it died.

You know Jaguar, in one post you say you have Chinese friends in Taiwan, and in the next post you refer to their beady eyes. Am I the only person here who finds that narrow-minded and absurd? Thank god your not in a decision-making position in our government. ~Pioneer

I'm sure that the SC would be elated and overjoyed to find out that the board community was decending on his house =)

I'd be kind of surprised if any sane person would take B over A.

Well Hector that really does illustrate the issue well. There are only 2 options in this test of wills...slowly agree with what the Chinese want, or go to war. The value to us in flying reconaissence missions along the coast of China is 2-fold. It allows us to take a look at their tactics and the weaponry that they are purchasing from the Russians. It also allows us critical first-response data for Taiwan. Letting them patrol the coast of Florida s a meaningless exercise because American military tactics are on display for the public to see all around the world. There is no big secret about our deployment strategies or combined-arms policies, in fact the Gulf War has been dissected and analyzed and the info is in the public domain. Allowing the Chinese to patrol the border doesn't put hardware in their hands, which is where our real advantage lies. The only problem is that it will violate our national pride and stuff like that. I don't know what the answer to that is though, because its hard to contemplate unrealistic hypothetical situations. ~Pio

Now that the situation is drawing to a close I have to say I think it was handled very well by our government. Like it or not, when you sign on to serve in the military you are accepting a risk of death, capture, etc. Although I hate to see 24 servicemen and women being detained, there is a right way and a wrong way to handle the situation. Trade embargos and such would be detrimental to the US despite what the pundits say. Companies like Boeing, Motorola, IBM, AT&T, and others have significant investment and revenue from Chinese business. Hurting that business doesn't damage "Big Business"...it hurts the tens of thousands of regular Joes employed by those companies. The reality of the situation is that our government weighed the options and made the right call. End of game. ~Pio

Well now that we've totally succeeded in comfusing each other =) I thought that I had to come up with my own quote...its kinda catchy, no? Hehe...

My point exactly =) ~Pio Yikes! I got rated! How am I to continue my anti-rating stance if I've joined the establishment?? *panics* [ 04-10-2001: Message edited by: Pioneer ]

Based on how many posters have 5 stars I would say that the rating system has a somewhat dubious value. Of course when we are playing the game online, perhaps a kill rating will be a more effective technique for separating the proverbial "men" from the "boys". =) ~Pio

I'm a little late to the discussion, but I would stick with your decision to keep the boards browsable by non-members. I can't count how many boards I've just browsed over my career but never registered because I found what I was looking for. Its just good community relations... ~Pio

Happy belated birthday chief... ~Pio ------------------ Commander Pioneer ICV-Striker, Spectre (Antis) Spectre Fleet "If you're thinking about losing, you're already dead."

You can download an update to installshield from Microsoft...just search through their download section. ------------------ Commander Pioneer ICV-Striker, Spectre (Antis) Spectre Fleet "If you're thinking about losing, you're already dead."

You might be getting slow in-game responses just from your low system specs. I'm sure Windows ME(first) is eating up most of your RAM.

Hehe...things like this are examples of Natural Selection at work =P ~Pio ------------------ Commander Pioneer ICV-Striker, Spectre (Antis) Spectre Fleet "If you're thinking about losing, you're already dead."