rjy01

quote: That may be, but after he gets realeased she has some kind of wild (as in 37 different Barbies at the...) party planned. You know, being a toy might not be so bad sometimes.... My wife disagrees, but I always thought that Barbie had to be doing something illicit to support her expensive lifestyle.

quote: making kids take the purses off barbie doll because they could be a bomb? New this X-Mas: Barbie's Homeland Security playset. Barbie can now teach Skipper how to recognize and defuse weapons of mass destruction. Director of Homeland Security Ken sold separately.

I've heard that Halo is coming out on the PC, but from what I've read it will be slightly different than the Xbox version. Regarding Steel Battalion: $150 bucks for a controller for one game? I think some parents are going to experience sticker shock this Christmas!

quote:My biography is still in works and has been since 1998 actually. Cool -- can't wait to read it! Reading Opening the Xbox actually convinced me to go buy one. I'm glad I did -- Halo alone is worth the price of admission. It looks as if there's some good stuff coming down the pipeline too.

Has anyone else read this book? I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in console development. The author details the genesis of the Xbox and the turf wars within Microsoft during it's development. It's a real page turner -- I had trouble putting it down. I hope SC someday does a similar history of the Battlecruiser series (hint hint!)

Hey! Now we don't have to fix the Social Security system!

Has anyone actually paid for Gamespot's premium service? I honestly don't believe their exclusive content is that special.

quote: The hardcore gamers who make these games successful can usually obsess over only one game at a time. There are only so many hours in a week, after all, and MMORPGs are nothing if not massively time-consuming. So true. Sigh -- to be a teenager again.

How about a virtual picnic like the upcoming Star Trek Convention? Check out www.vir-con.net Speaking of MP, I get cable internet access installed tomorrow!

You can see the latest here. Pretty cool!

Grayfox is on the mark. The Dark Knight Returns was such an awesome series. Nothing like an unlimited fortune to allow one to develop synthesized kryptonite. Never underestimate Batman -- he's much more devious than Superman.

quote: Hey, I've been wondering.. the guy says the "universe" is about 400 miles high (or whatever)... what happens when you reach the ceiling? You either meet Jesus or hit your head. Or is it hit your head to meet Jesus? Hmmmm.

quote:Soooo when the aircraft is on the ground taxiing it is a vehicle of mass transportation but as soon as it takes off it is not anymore?] Apparently not. The judge must think it becomes a big and uncomfortable flying restaurant and hence not subject under the act.

From the AP newswire: quote: A judge Tuesday threw out one of nine charges against a man accused of trying to blow up a jetliner with explosives in his shoes, ruling that an airplane is not a vehicle under a new anti-terrorism law. The charge - attempting to wreck a mass transportation vehicle - was filed under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge William Young said that although an airplane was engaged in mass transportation it is not a vehicle as defined by the new law. Richard C. Reid, a British citizen, still faces eight charges, including attempted murder and attempted destruction of an aircraft. He allegedly tried to light the explosives hidden in his shoes while aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami three days before Christmas. Young said although prosecutors submitted dictionary definitions of vehicle that are broad enough to include aircraft, he looked to a legal definition of vehicle drafted by Congress in an earlier law known as the Dictionary Act. That defines a vehicle as something used as a means of transportation on land. ``It is not a 'vehicle' as that word is used by Congress,'' the judge wrote in his 24-page decision. Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, refused to comment on the ruling. She said no decision had been made on whether to appeal. Reid's lawyer, Owen Walker, did not immediately return a call for comment. The USA Patriot Act was signed into law Oct. 26, giving the government broad powers to fight terrorism. Among other things, it expands the FBI's wiretapping and electronic surveillance authority and gives police wide-ranging new anti-terrorism powers to secretly search people's homes and business records. The new law punishes anyone who ``willfully wrecks, sets fire to, or disables a mass transportation vehicle or ferry.'' Reid's attorneys had argued at a hearing last month that there was a potential defect in the law because it does not clearly define an airplane as a vehicle of mass transportation. At that hearing, prosecutor Michael Keegan said Congress clearly intended the act to cover violence or terrorism on airplanes. He said that an old law on which the act was based focused on the safety and navigation of aircraft, while the new law also focuses on violence against employees, in this case, the flight crew who subdued Reid. ``What Congress was clearly concerned with in the wake of 9-11... was the need to ensure that there would be provisions in U.S. law to protect against acts of terrorism in mass transportation vehicles,'' Keegan said. In his ruling, Young noted the law is new, ``its contours not yet fully explored.'' Utterly ridiculous. Regardless of what you think about the Patriot Act's search and seizure provisions, you would think the definition of an airplane would be beyond dispute.

quote:You'd be surprised how many of Resnick's boys run around with empty mags. Marine : (Whining voice) "But sir, my gun's too heavy when it's loaded!"

I had the perfect evening last night. I got home after having a lousy day and really wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. Nevertheless, I fired up BCM to tool around the and unwind. When I had last left off, my mining drones were full at Midae so I decided to make what I thought was an easy milk run to retrieve them. I warped into the system and then the fun began. Before I could power up the launch bay for my shuttles, the intruder alert sounded. I pulled up Tactical and sent my marines searching the ship. I happened to look up the bridge and saw that my AE, along with my Comms and Nav officers, were taking some damage. The funny thing was, before I could get any marines to the bridge, the intruder had taken off. Sandy and Lanna either kicked the guy's privates up between his shoulder blades or kept them as a trophy because they only had damage in the 80s and the intruder was down to 63%! The marines finally trapped the intruders in the shuttle crafts, but they ended up prepping for combat for about three minutes before storming in(probably playing rock-paper-scissors to see who was going in first -- I should have sent the girls down.) In the meantime, several enemy ships showed up out of nowhere (I was still sitting next to the wormhole.) I couldn't launch fighters because I didn't want my shuttles stolen so I had to fight the hostiles with FATAL and my main guns one-on-one. It was a glorious battle. By the end, my ship was venting a little plasma but still intact, the intruders were captured, and I had earned over 6000 experience points (bringing me up to a grand total of 38,914.) I was so jazzed I had trouble getting to sleep. This game just gets better and better!

Thank God for shuttles. Did you ever see your gas tank on "E" and pass by several service stations just to see how far you could push it? ("Nah honey, we can make it.") I was doing somthing similar today as I was heading back to Earth to retrieve my drones. After jumping into the home system, I didn't have enough fuel to engage my hyperdrive to make the final jump to Galcom HQ. Rats! I sent my AE out in a shuttle on a fuel run to HQ so I could get my CC started up again. I can just see my crew waiting for me to show up with the red gas can. Maybe some individual with ambition can start a Triple A service when MP arrives?

Hey now, don't knock Latrobe PA. It's home of Rolling Rock beer! Besides, you know what we yankees call Florida don't you? God's waiting room! BTW, I agree -- STBC's demo rocks. I think it tipped me over the edge -- I'm going to pre-order the game tonight.

Maybe SC should add "herbert" to BCM. "Beware of lurking herberts in the vicinity of Gamma 2. Although not generally dangerous, they can cause minor skin rashes among your crew if they manage to sneak aboard your ship." BTW, should people be warned to erase their CD keys from their public profiles? I noticed them showing up in a few instances.

Email: [email protected]

Many thanks for all the well wishes everyone. I was discharged this morning! I almost threw up in the car on the way home (I think my equilibrium is screwed up from the swelling), but I made it. I collapsed into a deep sleep for a few hours after hitting the bed (why aren't you actually allowed to rest at a hospital?), but I'm up and around now. My wife is out getting my prescriptions filled. More Vicodin & antibiotics. Subsequently, the doctor substantially limited my activities for the next few days, but he said I can still play BC3K to my heart's content. No driving cars for a few days, but I guess it's okay to command a BC under the influence! Just watch the planetfalls, right?

Supreme Commander: I wanted to take a moment to thank you for making my life a bit more endurable this week. Monday morning, I woke with a very painful, very swollen right side of my face. I looked similar to Tim Roth in Planet of the Apes. I figured it was a bad allergy attack or reaction, so I went to work and called the doctor to see if he had any cancellations that morning. He scheduled me for 10:45am. I figured I would get a quick prescription and go back to work. I even left my computer on at the office. Well, the doctor took one look at me and immediately admitted me to the hospital. He said that I had a severe infection and he was worried it could possibly spread to my brain since it had appeared so quickly! Sure enough, the remainder of my face soon swelled and the pain kept getting worse -- it felt as if someone had stuck barbed crayons up my nostrils. So I was stuck in the hospital. But I quickly discovered all was not so low and depressing. My loving wife brought me my laptap on which I had downloaded the free version of BC3K some time ago. A newbie to Battlecruiser galaxy, I had yet to even install it since spare time has not been plentiful for me lately. (Nevertheless, the promise of BC3K had picqued my interest enough to make me preorder BCM last month.) After some false starts which I fixed by reading the troubleshooting FAQs and browsing the forum, I got the game running and haven't stopped playing except for when the doctor and nurses have made me. Bloodwork, tests, IV, repeat. Well, 3 days later, 7 IVs of antibiotics, and many, many pain pills (Vicodin -- injected morphine didn't even touch the pain!) and many hours of BC3K, my swelling is finally going down and I MAY be going home tomorrow. The doctor still has to check my white cell count in the morning. SC, delving into the BC3K universe this week made the pain and discomfort bearable for me, and I wanted to sincerely thank you for creating such a great game. If BC3K is any indication, I think BCM is going to spectacular! Take care!

I added the /v and...it works! Thanks for the assist guys!

I know the SC said BC3K probably won't run on Win ME, but I thought I would try it since others seem to have had some success. Here's my problem: after clicking the icon (non 3DFX) and the movie finishes, three quarters of the screen is black and the menu on the upper third of the screen. The menu itself is scrambled (music plays normally). To close the game, I have to use CRTL-ALT-DELTE to bring up the close program box. Per the FAQ, I freed up as much memory as I could in the DOS box and used the chipset info file so I could edit the BC3K.BAT and BC3K3DFX.BAT files with the appropriate switch (v/82). Am I missing anything? Or should I just play the game on my dinosaur computer at work? Specs: PIV 1.4 256 RDRAM GeForce 3 card Turtle Bearch Santa Cruz sound card 40 GBHD