thanatos

Commander Nava, Yea, this is trip down Memory Lane, with particular inquiry to the historical ad campaign of BattleCruiser 3000 A.D., not BCM. I started this thread as a heads-up to catch the CGW articles, but quickly side-tracked that issue by following my scientific interest concerning the utilization of beautiful young ladies to sell a product. And so it goes,......... Doc Hoover Just once I'd like to post a reply and not have to go back to edit a stoopid spellyng errer when I'm trying to sound so educated and learned! [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 03-08-2001).]

Typical of MicroSoft to make a product on-line help that doesn't really help. Nearly 90% of suicides are committed with guns, and you can't even choose "Firearms" as your planned manner of exit. Sheesh,.......MicroSoft. Reminds me of DirectX. Doc Hoover

Is this blond lady the same person as the gal with the dark hair wearing the light colored nightgown, waiting for her mate to finish his BC3K game. The one that is seen in the BattleCruiser flashback ad on page 68 of the CGW article of "The Second Coming of Derek Smart"? They look disimilar through the eyes,..... Inquiring minds want to know. Doc Hoover

I saw the recent posts concerning the UK version of Computer Gaming World in reference to BCM and our esteemed Supreme Commander, Dr. Smart. I just received my US of A copy in the mail yesterday (April 2001-Issue 201), and there is BCM on page 64, and the SC on pages 66, 67, 68, and 69. Check it out. Seems to be a fair article; I think if I knew this Green guy personally, I'd probably like him. A guy playing EverQuest as a Dwarf Paladin named "Doarkus" has figured out some important things about life, no? One multipart question to you true BC3K Forum vererans, as it has probably come up, and been asked and answered: What is the name of the female model in the "nightie" of the BattleCruiser ads that ran in various incantations in the PC game mags? Did she know she was to be hooked up with BC3K, or were these the modeling equivalent of clip art? What ever happened to her? My interest is purely fraternal, she reminds me of my sister. I'm now walking towards the airlock! Doc Hoover [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 03-08-2001).]

Welcome aboard, Commanders. You'll not find a more challenging and rewarding "game" out at this time than BC3K. The learning curve is steep initially, but worth the time to master. I did not have the time to dedicate to beta-testing BCM, but I have been informed playing BC3K will be a good foundation to have, and ease the curve for BCM. As you'll soon discover as well, you won't find a more friendly and interesting Internet forum and on-line community of players than the one right here. That remains one more reason I'm looking foward to BCM release. Doc Hoover

Aramike, I'm still hanging cool in Notre Dame City, er, I mean South Bend, saving lives and stomping out disease. I read the forums 3 to 4 times a week but don't have too much to add; most BCM discussion revolves around multiplay, and here in rural heartland, USA, I don't have the bandwidth to compete. Looking foward to single player BCM. Thanks for noticing. Doc Hoover

Both Godfather movies AND The Matrix would be in my top 10 all time favorites. Add in: BladeRunner Apocalypse Now Field of Dreams Casablanca The Thin Red Line Once Upon A Time In the West Ben-Hur Gone With the Wind,......whoops, I forgot the thread started as your favorite (single) movie. Doc Hoover

Happy Independence Day! By the way, I just have to ask and display my overwhelming American ignorance: independence from Who, the English? When did this happen in the time line of history? Doc Hoover

Good point Parias, No movie , great, good, or bad, can compare with what's really important in life, .....like your choice of video card! Commander Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion,....." Roy Batty, Replicant

Whoa Pyro, take it easy (and all I saw was the edited version). Sorry to set you off. My post is "Another View", and is my opinion. Please don't take it so personal. Never has a movie been reviewed to universal praise, just as we don't all like the same cars (Ford or Chevy?), hair color in the opposite gender (blond or brunette), or lunch "meats" (Spam or Treat). Some movies I really enjoyed have been soundly critized as poor, but it didn't make the movie any less enjoyable for me, just as I don't always think acclaimed movies are deserving of their praise. Your comments revolve around psychological observations concerning abused people; is this indicative of your personal or professional expertise in psychology, or are you re-iterating our present popular societal psycho-babble. The value of the psychology illustrated in The Cell is something that you might stress to illustrate the wrongness of my opinion, or at least we could have had an intelligent discussion around this point. Your reply seems more personal, and personal attacks won't go far here on this board. From the viewpoint of forensic accuracy, as seen through the eyes of this board-certified forensic pathologist, the movie was a zero. I know my opinion is discordant with the others posted on this board, but wanted to post a different view as I saw the film. If you really enjoyed the film, the experience for you was a positive one, and you should discount my opinion. If I have insulted you on a personal level, I am truly sorry. As this is BC forum, I'll not waste anymore of the SC's money on my opinions of this flick. In a year it will be only a shadow memory anyway. And by the way: can't wait for BCM. Doc Hoover Forensic Pathologist and critized film critic [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 08-24-2000).]

ANOTHER VIEW Saw the movie last evening, and after the glowing reviews the film has received, I must say I was disappointed. If you plan on watching the movie read no further. The basic premise is taken from an earlier and more entertaining flick, Dreamscape, with Dennis Quaid and Kate Capshaw. The plot of The Cell is fragmented and some of the dialogue seems out of place, as if the rest of the story ended up on the editing floor (eg. the BIG deal the F.B.I. agent made about abused kids being able to transcend their abuse,...AND.....?). I know it's Hollywood, not real life, but it portrays itself as serious, and has so many reality flaws: -serial killers who are schizoprenic would rarely if ever commit such organized crimes and death rituals displayed in the movie. -serial killers don't have pets; they are sociopathic, remember. -individuals in deep coma without any hope of recovery don't have any dream state or conscious thoughts. To diagnose this condition would require an EEG showing disorganized, low amplitude brain activity and theta waves production. -dream states don't need to follow natural law, however, the movie rarely diverged from it in the "mind" scenes. -the implanted metal rings on the back of the serial killer would have become infected in a few weeks, causing them to fall out or cause lethal sepsis from cutaneous necrosis. -anyone dressing like Jennifer Lopez at a professional/scientific center would be asked to dress a bit less provocatively. Nice to look at though. Additional random observations: -what's with the main character smoking marijuana to relax after a tough day at work? Aren't we as a society spending billions to educate and keep kids off hooch? -the whole movie seemed to be a continuous series of Jennifer Lopez glamour shots. She is a beautiful woman, but the movie needs something more. -the old premise "die in your dreams-die in real-life" is just too worn out to keep popping up in any movie. -if law enforcement had done their job in the first place, they would have noticed the company name on that unique stainless steel table at the serial killer's house, and tracked down its origin so the death of the killer would have been without consequence. -the cinematography was gorgeous. Too bad there wasn't a movie to go along with the art work. -doesn't come close to the quality of the movie "Gladiator". About on par with MI:2. BOTTOM LINE: OVERALL: 2 stars out of 4 ACTING : 1 star out of 4 CINEMATOGRAPHY: 4 stars out of 4 ONLY MEMORABLE LINE: "My world, my rules." THE CELL should have been named JENNIFER LOPEZ DOES MILLENNIUM/MATRIX. Where's Neo and Frank Black? That's my two pence; remember I liked the WC movie if you want to keep it in perspective. Doc Hoover Forensic Pathologist and Film Critic [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 08-23-2000).]

I thought the movie Wing Commander was an entertaining sort of movie, however, after living through all of the WC PC games, starting with Wing Commander (#1), all the add-ons and subsequent games through WC Prophecy Secret Ops, I was left a little flat. Freddie P. was okay, but I would have preferred the guy who played "Catscratch" in WC IV as the lead. Liked the lady cast as "Angel", though! Didn't Prince Thraka give her a Kilrathi abdominal salute 5-6 years ago? Back to "The Cell". Can I take my 14 year old son with me without exposing him to too much sexual imagery? So wierd, I don't have too much trouble having him watch people get stabbed, shot, or fragged, but throw in some "nekkid" ladies and I feel it's inappropriate for my youthful progeny. Go figure, right? ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake"

I'm only too dejected to say that DSL isn't even rumored to be coming to BF Indiana until early 2001, and Ameritech and Bell are supposedly in a battle of the telephone giants for who gets to bleed the consumer, er, I mean provide the service. Remember, Indiana is that state that you pass through driving the Interstate on your way to somewhere else, and us "hillfolk" don't impress the telephone company enough for them to hurry up and lay cable. I'm so far away from a telephone link station I'll probably see DSL about the time everyone else is using quantum-burst-packet Internet transmission. It's amazing how many DSL guys/gals are already connected. How will BCM be as a stand-alone single player game, because I beginning to see that conglomeration of markings on the wall turning into handwritings? When BCM arrives and you see a cruiser stuck in space, unable to move, fire, or defend itself, think of me. Cmdr. Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "Do you know what happens to a battlecruiser when it gets hit by an IOD?" "The same thing that happens to everything else."

Thanks for the reply Gallion, I'm surprised we've never bumped into one another, as you live in BF MD and I live in BF IN. What bandwidth do you see running a speed test, such as the one on MSN. I have tried 3 ISPs, including a local one at $60/mo. All of these ISPs showed with what I consider low bandwidth for a dual 128k ISDN line. I don't really expect 128k, or even close to this with my 115k com port. The best speed I see on the MSN Bandwidth Speed Test is 60-64Kbps with any of the 3 ISPs I have tried in the past 6 weeks. One "b" line connects at mid-50'sKbps; two "b" lines connects at mid-60'sKbps. Doesn't it seem something is wrong if a second 64k line can only add 10Kbps to your bandwidth? What am I missing here? I was expecting speeds of 80-100Kbps, and hopefully higher with a high speed com port. Even the ISDN ISP providers (you know, the guys marketing this stuff) indicate those expectations are not unrealistic. Any other ISDN users who can share their ISDN experience? Anyone who can give a good ISP ISDN recommendation? MSN is extremely popular , busy, and probably over-sold, using BACP that will introduce additional problems into the speed mix. How many DSL Commanders are out there smiling and licking their chops? ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake"

When BC Millenium arrives on the scene, any idea as to the bandwidth requirement needed to be competitive. Is a DSL battlecruiser going to crush the fool flying around in space at an analog connect of 33.6k, or even 52k? Will this be like playing Unreal Tournament with a 225 ping against a DSL guy pinging out at 50? I ask because here in "Mayberry" Indiana, I live at the end of the South Bend Ameritech telephone trunk and can connect at a blistering analog dial-up speed of 22.6k. This speed is good for maybe on-line tic-tac-toe, only (turn based, of course). I have spent the past 6 weeks and many hundreds of dollars attempting to get a dual channel 128k ISDN, however, it is the same old story: it doesn't work as the telephone Co, said, so they blame the ISP (I've tried 3 different ones, all with 128k) or the modem maker. I can get a connect of about 64Kbps at best, after paying $300 for the ISDN modem, $280 for teleco. set-up, $40/mo. for ISDN ISP, and $60/mo. for two telephone lines. I am limited by a 115k com port, but I don't think this explains a dual connect 128k maxing out at 64k. Any ISDN geniuses out there to take pity on yet another computer fool? Does anyone out there have an ISDN that works well? Do the names Ameritech, MSN, or Eicon Diva show up in any of these happy stories? I'll truly miss not being able to go on-line to play BCM, but the cash doesn't grow on corn here in Indiana, and the monetary amount is too steep, even with all of our medical over-billing and Medicare fraud (just joking IRS Internet Secret Police!). Please share your modem types and connect speeds, and rate their quality if possible, especially any ISDN people. It will be interesting to surmise the competition and potential bandwidth speed handicaps. I'm still looking for a non-BACP can-connect-at-or-near-128k ISDN ISP that services Hayseed, er, I mean South Bend, Indiana. Any one have a good ISDN ISP provider? I'll say "hi" to Gomer for all you Commanders when he comes by to take away my money-pit ISDN modem. Please admire the Ameritech buildings for me as you pass them; I helped heavily to buy that "purty" reflective glass. Thanks for allowing me to blow off, and any info that you can provide. On the grand scale of life, connect speeds count for very little, but I want my 128k! I'm still sore at all the LPB's out there, who can frag me before I even know an opponent is in the area. I really need low pinging because I'm too old to react in time and I'm just no good, but that is too painful to admit. This old "Ensign" turns 46 years old tomorrow, D.O.B. 7/23/54, and the brain and nerves are in advanced atrophy. ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake" [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 07-22-2000).]

Fascinating thread. I'm a medical doc, but fortunately for you, not the kind you see very often. After I finished Med School, I went on into the speciality of Pathology, getting my speciality medical boards in Anatomic, Clinical, and Forensic Pathology. I'm a real life "Quincy", and also teach forensic medicine at the Univ. of Notre Dame here. The autopsy skills come in handy on BC3000AD when trying to decide if a dead marine was taken out by one of those pesky intruders, or a jealous lover. You have to interpret the pattern of injury, yea, that's the trade buzz word, "pattern of injury". I like saying that,...(stares into space and drools). ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake"

I just love it when you people go on and on talking dirty! What other public forum, based upon a space simulation GAME, has scientific discussions of this depth occurring? Is this great, or what? (he types, patting self on back) Anyone interested in the biomechanics of contrecoup craniocerebral trauma incurred in an unrestrained fall, or the forces required to cause sonic-type solid organ injury with firearms? Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not some kind of human-cyborg genius; I don't know enough about advanced theoretical sciences to sound "learned". Commander Doc Hoover Biology-Chemistry Major; no theoretical sciences in this guy's curriculum GCV JOHN PAUL JONES [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 06-10-2000).]

GadZooks Shiva, you sound like my 14 year old son! What are you gen-xyzers going to do when the Chinese detonate an EMP nuclear bomb over our heads and fuse all our non-shielded electronics? Life is so rich, boredom is simply wasting this precious time; too soon you're out of school, married, and watching your hair gray out. Nobody has read all the good books that are in print. Find an alternative author to your favorite and try one of his books - read one of your favorite books again. I've read all of Tom Clancy's novels three times and still enjoyed the third go around. Have you read Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series? How about shoot baskets, you know, like in basketball? Swimming, biking, running, walking in the woods, talking with your PARENTS (yes, I went too far, sorry). The virtual world is alot of fun, but don't forget the REAL WORLD. Your virtual internet-paternal commander, Doc "Thanatos" Hoover

Congratulations! You'll soon see how this new little terran will fill a void in your heart you never knew existed - that is, until he's about 10-12 years old, and then tears that void into a larger cavern with his acts of rebellion, as we all lived through with our parents. ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake" [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 06-10-2000).]

Happy Birthday, Billy-Boy! Enjoy your first birth anniversary of the Third Millenium. Best wishes from another old war horse. ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake"

Finally saw Gladiator. Good movie worth the time and money. One point: Maximus must possess and have used HYPERDRIVE to go from Germania to Spain in record time and two horses (he used the famous Roman Equine HyperDrive). Cmdr. Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "You don't have to accept every invitation you receive, to an argument. [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 05-17-2000).]

Happy BDay, Blades! In answer to your last post, you've got many years ahead before one birthday will be different than any other. Wait until you zero in on 40 years of age, (ah, yes - the fifth decade of life) and you won't need to ponder if one birthday is going to be like the one before. Poster's Note: Apologies to all Commanders born on or before May 17, 1960. I just love the appellation GALCOMMIES. It's just too funny. I never tire of seeing in posts, although some Insurgents seem to use it the word like it's a bad thing. ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake"

Welcome KnightCad, As a fairly new commander, myself, the very best advice to learn the game is to read, read, read the manual. Sit in front of your PC and try the described features as you read about them to put the words of the manual and visuals of the game together. Once you get the basics down, you have trouble going back and playing the usual "go here-blow this up" space-sims. ------------------ Cmdr Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "I will not fear death on the field of battle, for life is but a dream from which we all must wake"

PAMPERS, PLEASE! I don't want to say that link site is busy, but I had a savings bond mature while waiting; havn't seen so busy a site since "Victoria's Secret" site opened. Cmdr. Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES

Parias: I'll be watching for your review of StarLancer. Let me know. I really enjoyed FrSpc 2, and would buy what ever is next with the FrSpc series, if there are any. I'm probably in a minority, but the Tachyon Demo seemed FLAT. Game shows promise, though. Cmdr. Doc Hoover GCV JOHN PAUL JONES "Look Raoul,....stars!" Roger Rabbit [This message has been edited by thanatos (edited 04-28-2000).]