Menchise

Tux rules! [ 09-14-2001: Message edited by: Menchise ]

People I Know: Theresa Menchise (the best big sister in the whole world). Famous People (living): George Carlin, Monty Python (well, most of them are living), Frank McCourt, Linus Torvalds, Tim Berners-Lee. Famous People (deceased): Gandhi, Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams.

This is a terrifying tragedy ( ), and it's not surprising that so many want blood for blood, but history has proven that it's never that simple. The USA has been a popular target of terrorism for decades, and the US government has issued the same response over and over again: military retaliation. Despite all of the military power that the USA has deployed in response to acts of terrorism, the attacks continue to get worse. Dropping bombs on people who are more than willing to die is ineffective. The "war on terrorism" is going the way of the "war on drugs": zero tolerance is becoming futile. A military response should not be the first resort. Of course the terrorists should be punished, but there are other ways of punishing them. They're called "courts". As soon as the criminals are discovered, and they WILL be discovered (they hit the Pentagon, dammit), the government should push for extradition and put the terrorists on trial for their crimes. This is an option worth exploring for two reasons: 1. Civilians are less likely to get slaughtered by stray warheads. 2. That's what America is all about (at least according to the founders).

You can't build structures in BCM. Not sure about GCO. The mining drones are just one way of getting money (by selling the minerals in Tradcom).

Hehe. I had no idea that BC3K had null space. Does it have Thargoids too?

Ep5, if you have time, I would like a sign somewhere in the central square that 'points' to the Directory's location. Preferably, it could be a sign3.rwx object with the full name (New Commanders Village Directory) and the coordinates (956N 904.3E facing E). No rush.

quote: maybe the nutripak in that file are drugged or something ,blame the insurgents !!! Hm hm hm...hm hm...hm hm hm ha ha ha ha...Hm hm hm hm HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!...ahem...[whistles and walks away].

Hmm...it's possible that one could assume it's land-based just because it doesn't specifically refer to space (force of habit). On the other hand, it could be counter-effective to specify every type of region in BCM. Doing that would just be a description of the game itself instead of a genre definition. By excluding any specific references to such regions, the genre definition is broad enough to comprehend the game while keeping the terms as compact as possible. It's also more consistent with the method I'm using to determine genres (from the roots up). Here is an example: 1. Strategic Combat and Trade Simulation -----------branches off to-------------- 2a. Planet-based 2b. Space-based BCM incorporates every small branch, both of which are part of the big branch. Therefore, using the big branch as the definition covers the entire scope of the game.

Well, what do you think?

To say the least, I'm confused here. quote: Yes, Hatch jumped the gun and P.O'd Spelling but Spelling does not own the franchise, creator or not. The creator of Battlestar Galactica was Glen Larson. Spelling had nothing to do with it. quote: MGM does. How did MGM/UA end up getting the franchise from Universal?

As another Star Wars fan, I feel I must counter-rebutt. There are approximately three Star Destroyer classes: Victory, Imperial, and Imperial II. I've never heard of an Imperator class. In any case, I agree with you about the Tyderium issue (it was a Lambda class shuttle).

Hehe. Some of it was funny (Reboot and Word), the rest is just old jokes. In any case, the Flash work is very good.

Hehe. Use exclamation points in moderation. Here is a working link to Infantry Online

quote: It would be fun to blow up a ship with a microsoft ad on it, however. Hehehe. [rp] You're not going anywhere today, Billy Boy! [/rp]

Good point. Since only part of the game is in First Person and both FPS and the Combat/Trade Sims are combat-oriented, the 'First Person' term can be dropped. Therefore, in my revised opinion (hehe), Battlecruiser Millennium is a... Strategic Combat and Trade Simulation. [ 08-31-2001: Message edited by: Menchise ]

My turn (who didn't see this coming?). OK, here goes. BCM has space and planetary regions, therefore it is not just a space sim. The player can select from multiple career types, races, and castes. In the Commander career, your crew's performance improves with experience, you can buy upgrades for your ship, and you can command a fleet once you achieve a certain rank. These features are a giant leap forward from Battlecruiser's ancestors (Elite et al). However, the game does not really have any true RPG elements, because the alter-ego's abilities and characteristics don't change (the AI level doesn't count because it's only used when you're not controlling the character). Some examples of potential RPG elements in a game such as this would be that as you swim, run, and exercise more over time, you start moving faster and able to carry more items (up to a certain threshold, of course). The Fleet Command and Tacops features provide the elements of Real Time Strategy, First Person introduces the FPS features, and the Elite style gameworld provides Combat and Trade. When one encounters a game of this complexity, identifying the genre(s) requires that one examine the roots of the genre tree and work upwards. 1. The Five Root Genres Action (Yes), Adventure (No), RPG (No), Sim (Yes), Strategy (Yes). In the action tree, BCM is an FPS. In the Sim tree, BCM is a Combat and Trade Simulation. In the Strategy tree, BCM is an RTS. Since BCM is a three-way hybrid, the final step is to examine each separate genre and identify the commonalities, thus enabling a combination of terms (I'm confusing myself too ). An FPS is combat-oriented, so the FP and Combat/Trade terms can be combined. The RTS, FPS, and Combat Sim games are all inherently real time games, so the 'real time' term can be dropped without a loss of definition. After a long and messy analysis, it is my opinion that Battlecruiser Millennium is a Strategic First Person Combat and Trade Simulation.

The-song-was-crappy-and-the-video-totally-sucked-Weeeeeeeeeee!

The good news. I have Win98 and NT4 on the same hard drive and I haven't noticed a decrease in performance as a result. The bad news. There will be a future decrease in performance as you install new hardware and software, a.k.a. Windows Rot. This occurs on single boot systems as well. I think Windows ME requires installation on the primary partition, usually Drive C.

New Village Update --------------------- This is going to be a long one. By the way, I write these updates so that people who don't use the Active Worlds browser (at least not very often) can be informed about what they're missing. Come visit sometime. 1. Rec Park Officially Open $iLk's new city block has been officially opened as the New Village Rec Park. In this new wonder of Active Worlds, visitors will see the return of $iLk's Bar as well as new additions to the New Village. The new structures include the return of $iLk Enterprises in its own Burnsian tower (under construction), a new dance club called the C.O.F. (Club of Fire), and the Mars station of the Galcom News Network. Of course, a park is more than just buildings, so expect to see lots of trees, some grass, and an artificial lake nearby. 2. New Village Directory at New Location The New Commanders Village Directory has a new home on the west wall of my new office, right next to the new artificial lake. New visitors to the New Village can find the Directory at (956N 904.3E facing E). 3. Under Construction and Coming Soon Orion Fleet's Mars Outpost, by Epsilon 5. It's going to be HUGE! 4. Trivia Question of the Week How many times did I write the word 'new' in this update (not including the last one)? Have fun!

$iLk, don't worry about the Directory, I just found a good spot for it (outside the west wall of my office, facing the artificial lake). I can put it in myself. However, I still need to know the name of your new city block.

The male version of Issues. BTW, this has been done before. [insert rant here]

I tried docking at a starbase for the first time today (I've been pre-occupied with space until now ). I managed to locate and dock with Sygan on the planet, but when I tried to launch, the game quit to the desktop. There was an error message in the DOS box that said something like "Error finding start location in EARTHZ".

$iLk, what will be the name of your new city block? Is there a space for the Directory yet?

I tried to vote, but it wouldn't let me (I tried both URLs). It kept complaining about multiple votes, but I haven't voted in any of their polls before.

Hehe. When I saw the Ensign rank for the first time, I was puzzled to say the least. I re-registered to the Battlecruiser forum in 1998 (there was a period of time when the site was offline due to a crash at the ISP). Back in those days, the UBBs didn't have the 'ranks'. I visited regularly but only made about 30 posts between Oct '98 and Oct '99, after which I got sidetracked for about a year and a half. I came back in March and saw the Ensign rank. Hehe. By the way, do any of the veterans here remember the old Battlecruiser site with the Arcade section and the Asteroids clone?