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Schmendrick

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Everything posted by Schmendrick

  1. I doubt you'll find many developers who actually play their own games for entertainment. Especially when it comes to single player games. I've made a few small games myself. But by the time they approach anything close to resembling "finished", I'm completely sick of it. It's a real shame too. I've got lots of ideas that I think would make excellent games. But now that my skills are getting to the point where I'm ready to try more ambitious projects, I find myself reluctant to actually do so. Knowing that I'll never actually experience my final vision, but just small incremental bits and pieces of it until the whole thing seems more like work than entertainment. At which time it'll most likely die a premature death on my hard drive like a few dozen other projects have. I truly admire the SC's fortitude to actually bring a project of this scope to completion. The colossal frustration I've experienced getting just simple isometric tile-based stuff to work could only be a drop in the bucket compared to the sh*t he's had to cope with. It's really too bad that after putting up with all of that, that he can't sit back and actually enjoy playing with what he's built.
  2. quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: Would somebody mind translating that for me please? Thanks. quote:Originally posted by Babel Fish I just wanted to announce an observation reguarding the jetpacks of sailor of SF. My package of jet of AE' S is again with the normal with the connection of 3. I has the initial thing 4-point, but the other equipment of soldiers of marine of SF in the play always has this half of jetpack for soldiers of marine on planets.... No business, and he is always possible only I did something badly. Ideas?
  3. quote:Originally posted by SmileyMan: While the inclusion of an in-game random mission generator is definitely "wishlist", I can't see a reason why someone (ie one of us) with decent coding skills could not write an out-of-game script generator. So you would run the script generator, start up the game and select campaign, and your randomly generated campaign would be there for you. Once I get my hands on GBS II I certainly intend to do some scripting, and I've done some pattern-based script generation before (admittedly for something entirely different!) so I'll have a go at the random generator. Might do it on SourceForge so it could be a group effort. Cheers, Smiley Depending on the capabilities of the scripting language (of which I know absolutely nothing), it might be possible to actually generate random missions in-game. The main capabilities required would be a random number generator and the ability to create arrays. of course these would have to be very generic missions and making it work for every race/caste combination would be a collosal pain in the ass. Furthermore, I don't know if it'd be worth the effort. Random missions are usually seem rather bland and pointless. Especially after doing the same one 20 or 30 times.
  4. quote:Originally posted by Soback: Come on. I don't know about you guys but I want the SC to concentrate on BCO. Instead of having some kind of random mission generator, I want to actually interact with people instead of go there do that get e.p. and credits. Of course (like most extras) it would be nice but not worth the ammount of time. I agree completely. I don't see wish list items as being immediate requests or anything, just a way of throwing ideas on the table for discussion/criticism/etc. And if the SC thinks something's a good idea, then he's the one to decides if, when, and how it'd be implemented. After all, most of my wish list items would require many months to implement. And most probably couldn't be implemented in the current system. It's stuff that'd have to wait for BCO version 7.0. And it's not a criticism of the current game at all. Quite the contrary. It's just a truism that the best games will always have the largest wish lists. [ 12-13-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  5. quote:Originally posted by Soback: How do I convert the screenshots to JPG? I just had some very very exciting experiences (posted about them in "BCM war stories and experiences" thread and would love to post my screenshots. By the way, how do I post them too? If you search the web you can find somewhere close to 7.4832 Sh*t-loads of utilities for converting images to various file formats. Here's a link to one of the better shareware image viewer/converter programs http://www.acdsystems.com/English/Products...eeClassic/index .htm As for putting the files up on the web, I usually upload 'em to my own webspace. If you don't have any, there's a bunch of different free image hosting services out there, but I've never used 'em myself so I can't be of much help with that. I think Yahoo will host images. Not sure though. [ 12-13-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  6. Well hell, since we're on the subject, could anybody explain to us noobs why wish list items are affixed such a stigma?
  7. quote:Originally posted by Stormshadow: Scmendrick, And so what? Alot of us have probably encoutered such individuals. They are one end of the spectrum.But, I don't think they represent Gamers.at least to me they don't.The gentleman that introduced me to gaming was a PHD,Head of the County Board of Education,and a well groomed,articulate and well liked man.Since then I've met gamers of every stripe. All of this aside though.I feel it is entirely inappropriate to insult the man because he has had a different experience with gamers than you. Whenever you read a post in which the writer seems to make completely absurd claims backed by ludicrous evidence. It's usually a safe bet that the writer was merely joking. Either that or they're British! [ 12-12-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  8. Give 'em a bogus email address if it makes you feel better. There's no email confirmation required to complete the registration.
  9. Just set a waypoint for your CC where you want to make planetfall. BTW, you should link to your profile in your sig. Here's how: http://www.3000ad.com/cgibin/ultimatebb.cg...c&f=25&t=000023 [ 12-12-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  10. quote:Originally posted by Simparadox: Either you two live in one of the strangest places in the world or Connecticut is just some kind of sheltered little bubble. In my entire time playing RPGs, going to conventions, and literally asking people I met in gaming stores and book stores if they were interested in playing in a campaign I've yet to meet more than one or two people who even come close to fitting the description given. Sorry if I sound angry, but it's just such a stereotypical and uninformed thing to say it makes me crazy. Well I've frequented gaming shops all over the western half of the country. And I can honestly say that every one of them had at the very least one regular who redefined slovenliness. In all fairness, the real putrid ones usually weren't the younger people. It was usually the grossly overweight bearded guy somewhere in the 30 - 45 age range. The guy who only had one pair of sweat pants which he washes twice a year whether they needed it or not. They're usually quite good at the games they play, given that they've devoted every waking moment of the last 20 years to them. For each newbie that they mercilessly destroy they tattoo another hash mark on their upper ass cheek (which is always prominently displayed so as to intimidate any passers by). These people are always there. There's not a game store in the universe which doesn't have such creatures. And since you claim to never have seen such people, then there's only one possible explaination. It's YOU!!!! [ 12-12-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  11. Personally I use separate dockable hard drives for different operating systems. Makes life easy when dealing with different file systems. Having a secondary hard drive also makes it a lot easier to back stuff up when reformatting your primary drive. If you can afford it, it beats the hell out of burning everything to CDs and hoping nothing gets corrupted. As for partitioning disks, just make the partitions as large as you can while still using the smallest block size.
  12. quote:Originally posted by Soback: Well, I think magic (card game) is the best. I personally have never played it person to person, but rather got Magic the gathering for the PC and also it's one of the games where it's fun to watch other people play. Did you play on T.E.N. at all? I used to play there under the name Purvis.
  13. quote:Originally posted by Badgerius: That sounds like something I'd like to read. What's the source? The source is stated at the begining of the quote. It's often considered one of the best books ever written about programming/programmers in general. Beaten to it. But it is definately a good read if you're a programmer. [ 12-11-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  14. quote:Originally posted by WetWare: I was in tacops, trying to get one of my shuttles to launch (which won't, bummer but oh well) Use the menu for your CC in tacops to launch shuttles.
  15. quote:Originally posted by ooJAYoo: Ok all sounds truly wonderful, myself I prefer single player. Us 8am to 5pm workers are too knackered to have enough time for online playing never mind single. But what with the extensive universe as it is, and the shear horse power it needs to run it in its present state, how on earth will it cope with all these ships flirting about everywhere. What’s going to be cut, surely something has to give for MP to work. But what ? much of the AI will be handled by the server. The rest will be handled by psychotic players all over the world bent on your destruction. Thus feeing up resources on your system for rendering.
  16. quote:Originally posted by Stormshadow: Ahhhh..Some of my fondest gaming memories are from playing Traveller.....It's hard to believe that's been 20 years ago...lol But nothing compares with those weekend gaming marathons when I was in the Military.Drinking beer, eating pizza and playing Twilight 2000.Those were the days....can't seem to find a group these days,at least not one that wants to role play instead of pencil-whipping their characters to perfection. And who here as ever played "Morrow Project"? [ 12-10-2001: Message edited by: Stormshadow ] I had a good time with Twilight 2000 too. It was one of the few times I've ever played with a group of people who actually had all their sh*t together and didn't waste half the night trying to find dice, character sheets, cheetos, etc. The main thing I didn't like about Twilight 2000/Traveler was the odd fact that my gun was more likely to jam the farther away my target was. Everyone thought I was the cursed because I honestly never managed to fire off a full burst without jamming. [ 12-10-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  17. Well i've tried to resist the urge to rant about RPG systems but I just cant. I absolutely despise 90% of the RPG systems out there. Most notably AD&D. The main problem with them is the basic hit point system. It just doesn't make sense. I don't care how big and bad you think you are, if I smack you with a 5 foot slab of sharpened steel, your ass is going down. Now the standard rebuttal to this is that hit points are just an abstraction reflecting both the health of the character and that characters ability to avoid damage. But this breaks down when you apply it to damage received from non-combat related happenings, e.g. A boulder rolling down a hallway squashing anybody in it's path. The level 1 character is nothing but a greasy smear on said boulder. The level 30 character however (apparently due to his extensive experience in boulder collision) is merely scratched. He dusts himself off and proceeds to single handedly beat the hell of 3 or 4 dozen orcs. (Now I'll really get off topic ) Now I'm an easy going guy. I can cope with most of these peculiarities with little or no complaint when it comes to pen and paper RPGs. After all you have to reduce things down to something that's easilly managable and doesn't require so much dice rolling that a 2 minute encounter takes 3 hours of cross referencing tables and such. But what really irks me is that computer RPGs still use the same damn simplistic systems. I remember playing old CRPGs like The Bards Tale and Wizardry and thinking to myself "Wow, this is cool, but imagine what they'll be able to do 5 or 10 years from now!". The really disappointing thing is that they aren't doing anything now than they were back then. We've all got computers that can process an absolutely obscene amount of data in the blink of an eye, and all that games use it for is making prettier pictures. Nearly every CRPG out there still uses the same lame roll to hit, roll to damage, subtract damage from hit points, rinse, repeat combat system developed 30ish years ago so that drunken college students wouldn't get confused by having too many numbers written on their character sheets. And these dolts call themselves game designers. They seem to have all the creativity of a mound of head cheese. And amazingly enough games like Diablo II get hordes of screaming fans marveling at how cool the character developement system is. Hell, there isn't anything done in Diablo II that couldn't have been done on a Commodore 64 witht the only obvious exception being that the graphics would have been worse. Oh well. I'll stop new before I really start annoying everyone.
  18. quote:Originally posted by Simparadox: I'm not interested in starting an argument over this, but I think your description of the "average" gamer is a bit harsh. First of all, it's pretty hard to stereotype the whole lot of gamers. Most I've met just have too many quirks to fall under any umbrella description (although "geek" seems to apply to most of them, myself included ). On the other hand, most younger gamers (which seems to be what you're describing, as opposed to the "average gamer") are probably pretty easily classifed as munchkins, power gamers, and what have you - it's not there fault, and the few that stick with the hobby as they mature will probably end up as fairly good roleplayers. Anyway, I highly suggest that you stop by a convention if you ever find yourself near one. They're loads of fun, especially if you lighten up a bit. Actually the only problem is that you seem to be taking me far more seriously than I take myself I've been to lots of conventions. And you have to admit that there's a significan proportion of people there that are just plain slobs. I often find myself wanting some of that minty smelling cream that coroners smear on their upper lips to mask the stench.
  19. quote:Originally posted by AshSpear: The linear/IV shield system has got to be god's gift to spacefarers. Complete with guardian angel. I just wiped out three startations and didn't get scratched. The last one featured a cloaked stormcarrier in waiting too. I miss the BC3000 days when taking out a station involved taking the day off work and scratching away at it, then limping back to GALCOM because it was the only place you could afford all the repairs. Now those were startations. I agree. So far my only real complaint with the game is that it's too easy. I routinely blow away dozens of enemies without taking any damage at all. The only times I've been killed have all been due to my own stupidity. But maybe after I've played a single game for a week or two the AI will start getting good enough to give me a challenge. Maybe an option to set the starting average computer AI level would be usefull. [ 12-10-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  20. I doubt tabletop gaming will ever go away. Every time I poke my head into the local game store it's still filled with smelly, unkempt, 14-year-old losers arguing endlessly over some miniscule rule interpretation and bragging about their crappy Warhammer 40k armies that look like they were painted by preschoolers. And that brings up the main reason I don't do much table top gaming anymore. I simply can't stand to be around the average gamer. For one thing, they smell. It's a rare treat indeed to find a gaming shop where there aren't at least 3 regulars who are always there who haven't quite mastered the art of bathing. Another problem is that these sad, sick human beings have nothing better to do with their miserable lives than to spend months pouring over the rules trying to find that elusive unbeatable combination of abilities and equipment which will render their special character{s} invincible. If you're the type of person who just likes to play games and have a good time, don't go anywhere near these people. If you should challenge the validity of their characters, or even just suggest that they're overlooking the spirit of the rules, you'll likely get yourself embroiled in a two hour arguement. That said, if you have a good group of friends with whom you can get together, drink some beer, and have fun playing some games, then consider yourself lucky. I really miss those days when I did such things, but these days everyone in my group has scattered to the four winds or is just too busy to have time for such things.
  21. quote:Originally posted by Tyrn: Alt-E from the shuttle and Alt-D into the CC and pray you can dock with HQ. Doh! Why didn't I think of that? [ 12-09-2001: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]
  22. quote:Originally posted by ooJAYoo: But times have changed together with technology, you may have been lucky to carry this off once upon a time, but I feel the day a game is released without using today’s hardware in one shape or form are seriously numbered. Actually it looks like the days are numbered for developers and publishers who shovel out crap wrapped in pretty graphics. Unfortunately they'll probably drag most of the good developers with them and all we'll get is a steady diet of anime-infested pseudo-artsy console garbage from Japan. The larger publishers have enough cash to keep going a lot longer than the developers. But by screwing over developers with shitty deals and forcing them to release stuff unfinished, they're shooting themselves in the foot. It looks like soon, all they'll have is their in-house products to keep 'em going. I don't know if many of them can stay solvent that way. Perhaps it's just wishfull thinking on my part. Graphics processing has come a long way in the past few years. This has taken the focus off of gameplay. But soon, it's going to reach a point where the graphics can't get any better. New graphics processors will only be minor incramental improvements over the previous generation. Even today, with a high end card, you can render scenes in real time that would only be minorly improved if you were to ray-trace every frame. Very soon, graphics will all be of sufficient quality that any improvements won't be immediately detectable by the average joe. When that happens, gameplay will once again be the yardstick of the industry. At least, that's what I'm hoping will happen. Six months ago I purchased a cheap hard drive so I could install DOS 5.0 on it an play some games that were actually fun.
  23. I started a new game in a Warmonger. I give the CC orders to escort Galcom HQ and I take off in a shuttle to do some trading. I was really lucky this game, Galcom HQ had ~900 Deflector shields and ~400 FPI-PSUs I could make billions with this! After about an hour of trading, I've accumulated about 54 million. A Violin and a pair of fighters had entered the system a short while ago and were attacking a friendly Garid. Seeing that the Garid isn't doing very well, I order my CC to attack the Violin while I do one more trade run to Genesis(yes, I know that was stupid). The good news is that the violin and one of the fighters were destroyed, and the other fighter ran away. The bad news is that the Garid was also destroyed, and my CC was disabled. I order my second shuttle, which was out cargo sweeping and towing disabled craft, to tow my CC back to Galcom HQ. I do my trading at Genesis and head back to Galcom to see how my CC is doing. Unfortunately, I was unable to dock with my CC. I need to get my CC docked with Galcom, so I tried ordering my second shuttle to deliver the CC to Galcom HQ. That didn't work. I tried towing my CC myself and docking. That didn't work either. So my question is, Am I completely screwed? I can't figure out how to get my CC repaired, or how to get back on it for that matter.
  24. quote:Originally posted by KreKol: I have a dead I/M (Inmate, take a look at what I do for a living and you will understand why I did not use the P word) in my detention hold that has been there for a few days and I am sure he is smelling up the place. None of my crew will take the body out and I have docked with several stations with no success. It is going to be very hard to keep other I/Ms in there. They are not going to be able to take the smell and will think we don't feed our I/Ms. I am afraid they are going to escape and wreak havoc on my ship. SC if you have the time could you please fix this. Yeah, I've seen this happen a lot. It also seems that my searching medics spend a lot of time down in the prison playing around with the corpses too.
  25. Just found something really odd. Whenever I try to start a new game with these settings: -Race: Syrion -Career: Commander -Planet: Sarien I get a CTD immediately when I try to access Tradcom. I had just installed a new sound card so I figured that was probably the problem. However, I tried starting new games starting with other race/planet selections and it works just fine.
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