Supreme Cmdr

quote: Originally posted by KreKol: Twenty years in prison! He has something worse then the death penalty. They are going to have to keep him in segregation (for those of you who don't know what that is: an inmate is in a cell by himself, when he comes out of the cell he is restrained with cuffs and chains, only get three showers a week with less then 30 minutes to take one, an hour outside in a small cell twice a week, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed). If they stick him in general population he would be dead in less then a week. Not only is he going to have watch his back from other inmates but from the officers that are suppose to watch him. If he survives a year I will be surprised. Exactly. Some thing that 20 yrs is a walk in the park. Just try sitting in a room, without a pc for an hour and see how it feels. Hell, I was almost catatonic when I was barely on dial-up when I recently moved!!! Believe me, a LOT of people take freedom for granted. Until it is taken away from them.

quote: Originally posted by Race Bannon IV: First I did not mean to infer money changed hands. What I meant that money affords you better representation and that because his family has money he is percieved differently. I think as unlikely as it may seem, some people see him as more sympathetic as if he is a victim. Secondly in his statement in front of the judge he admitted to being in combat and bearing a weapon against his own countrymen. There is precedent for harsher sentences being carried out on civilians. Lastly I think it sends a mixed message to our so called allies. One that is devisive and not at all the image we seem to be trying to project. OK, I see. This didn't come across in your original post. Are you sure? As I understand it, he was only responding to the charges against him. In fact, he never was classified as a combatant. Further, the Taliban bears arms. So, naturally, he would be bearing arms. So, unless he actually came out and said that he actually fired up his countrymen, the sentiment is without merit and should be easy to toss out of court. I'm quite certain that the prosecution knew this. And the last time I looked, it wasn't illegal to bear arms against someone firing at and/or bearing weapons against you. Friend or foe; is irrelevant. It was war, not some civil unrest where a different stance is required. I don't think it sends any mixed message. He didn't get killed - like the others - because he was smart enough to surrender. Anyone in combat, should go in expecting to die. So, if any other countrymen and/or allies decides to bear arms against a combat force because of Walker's example (what example? the wimp surrendered), they should expect the same. To die and/or surrender, be captured, jailed for a long term.

quote: Originally posted by Parias: Bah, I'd actually prefer a prequel.. I'd LOVE to know where those dragons actually came from. That was explained in the beginning What I want to know is, if one lone soldier knew that it took only the killing of one male - who just happened to be at the same, exact location throughout, why not the entire world's force. Besides, a magnesium tipped arrow? And the world's nuclear arsenal and best scientific minds did'nt figure that out? What about dropping nukes on or near the nests? I mean, c'mon, the whole storyline reeked, but it was fun. Why ask why?

I usually don't get involved in these debates, but here goes nuthin'.... While I agree with your sentiments, you must remember that there is no evidence that he carried weapons nor fired at anyone. He was with the Taliban, yes, that much is obvious. He could've been at the wrong place at the wrong time. He could've pretended to be held captive. He could've said a dozen things. In fact, it is my opinion (and others share this) that there was a good chance that most all the evidence against him would've have been thrown out of court at some point. I think the Justice dept. knew that they'd have a hard time convicting him of treason (he isn't a military combatant) and even without that, it would drag on. I have full confidence that he will serve the full twenty years. Is that fair? Dunno. Life sucks. And then you die. Apart from serving twenty years, he is already a disgrace to his nation and that alone will follow him to his grave. Even his children (if any) and grand children will bear that curse. I suspect that as soon as he is released, that he will leave the country. After all, if he liked it here so much (as some of us do), he would'nt have been in Afghanistan to begin with. So, just like Manson et al, come 20 years from now, the hullabaloo will not be about him coming out, but where he is going to be going. War is combat. In combat people die. Regardless of how many people died in that uprising, why should any one person be held accountable? What about the others who die in combat from weapons fire coming from unknown enemies - or even friendly fire? Would you rather a soldier find all of them, bring them to justice and give them a life or death sentence? Or would you rather they be shot on sight. On the battlefield? The mistake in all this was bringing him back alive. But thats the human nature and the US combat forces playing by the rules. As such, we all have to bear the consequences. US forces were justified in capturing him. Besides, like others, he surrendered - knowing the consequences that were to come. Mike Spann's death is not unlike any other combat associated death. And while I sympathize, I fail to see what the big deal about combat death is. People die all the time. As do soldiers in combat. Why should there be such a ruckus over Walker getting 20 yrs instead of the death penalty just because a Mike died in an uprising? Perhaps, in fact, life without parole was offered and he rejected it. Either that or the justice dept cut a sweet deal with him in return for information which would provide critical info in their fight. I for one was surprised by the 20 yr sentence, to tell you the truth. If anything, life would've been more appropriate. So, something definitely went on behind the scenes. We just don't know what. And I don't think it has anything to do with money changing hands (are you kidding?!?!) I for one support Bush's decision to not try him for treason (he's not a soldier or a US force, remeber?) and waste a ton of tax payers money (which is better spent on more weapons in this fight) and prolonging this farce. Life without parole would've been better, IMO. Not prolonging this was a good decision - IMO - for all concerned. Whether he got the death penalty (which I am not an advocate of) or not is irrelevant, he's going to be punished and nothing that could otherwise be done (including killing him) would bring back Mike Spann or the hundreds of combatants and innocents (US citizens, allies, Afghans etc) back to life. The only thing I see here is the press being disappointed that they're not going to have another courtroom drama to make a spectacle of. Hell, they hardly cover Moussaoui's shenanigans. And don't forget, Daniel Pearl's killer is appealing the sentence. He's not likely to win. Did you want that to happen here too? I don't think so. [ 07-16-2002, 01:25 PM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

quote: Originally posted by Dredd: but the fan base will sharply decline at some point when the older players get sick of being so powerful, and the newer players stop coming because they are so weak and hate the fact the game caters to the people playing for 50 hours a week. heh, try telling that to the 400K+ EQ players I suppose for fantasy RPGs, rule based combat is more appropriate. As a gamer from the old days, I really, truly don't see how rules games combat could possible compete with real-time combat. Maybe they know something that I don't. But, we'll just have to wait and see how E&B works out. I dunno if Eve uses real-time combat (like Darkspace) or not. Anyone in the Beta?

You guys might want to check this one out. Richard's a pretty nice fellow; nice to see he's got a new deal on publishing this to a wider audience. Probably not as boring and lifeless as Jumpgate

aha!

heh, nevertheless, I'm sure that it would be some sort of hit - though not in the numbers they're thinking. Unless of course there are some gamers out there who would play several MMOGs. I may be impartial, but I've always been against rules based combat. There's just something un-natural about it. But it is required otherwise there is no way to use skills to determine combat success. For BCO, real-time combat it is. One can model skills and experience in a lot of ways, without going the rules based route (I should know, after all, I am the AI guru ), lag or not. Them using the same model as EQ is just testament to the fact that it is EQ in space, with a few things thrown in an attempt to make it somewhat different. If you have the code already written, why re-invent the wheel? I'd sure as all hell like to see how they merge a rules based space combat flight system into SWG. In fact, it is my bet that they can't. Which is why they are thinking of shipping it as an add-on (another EQ favorite tactic) once they figure it all out. Even then, it will probably end up being something in E&B. Again, rules based.

quote: Originally posted by Epsilon 5: What's with reanimating dead threads? He must've entered a flux field? Who knows.

quote: Originally posted by Eclipse: Did anyone else think it was odd that it took 2 magneseum(sp) tipped C4 arrows to take that thing down at the end? Especially since the first one didn't seem to do any damage. The first one missed and hit him on the head I believe. The second one was perfectly timed and detonated right as both glands started mixing the chemicals required for the flame burst. Chris Bale timed it right, which is why he was waiting for it (which Mathew told him) to do it. And seeing that we don't know what happened to Matt, even in the three months time that the movie indicated at the end, who can say sequel?

quote: Originally posted by Epsilon 5: The new ping does seems to sound louder than the old one, but it's not what matter. the new one is high pitched and less as "smooth" as the old one. Then I suppose when I adjusted the volume of the new beep05 (all the soundfx were re-mastered for BCG) in BCG because its definitely much softer than the one in BCM. Which is why I changed BCM to use that one as well. I didn't realize that the BCM version is as loud as you make it out to be. In fact, I checked it - its not. But as I said, if you don't like it, change it.

How can beep05.wav be louder than beep16.wav which everyone complained was loud? Well, if you want to have your own sound, look in soundfxmisc.zip and pick one. Then copy it to beep05.wav and put it in the soundfx folder. To me, beep05 is a lot better than beep16 and softer. Its all about preferences I suppose. But, I don't plan on changing it again.

quote: Originally posted by LordDavid: I was expecting some massive dragon vs military war to happen, but it never did. It would have been cool if they showed a big machine vs dragon battle, or the dragons reigning terror on big cities instead of just showing some Time Magazine covers of it happening. Yep, I'm with you on that one. I was disappointed by that myself.

If you are running RC13, disable Flight Path Trails in Config in order to prevent a crash when going to an F9 camera view or Tacops.

uhm, doesn't this sound like EQ in space? Dunno

Man, Tom Hanks just gets better and better. If you're into gang movies, you'll love this. Quite good. 9/10

Frigging awesome!!! Can't wait for RoF2 9/10

Read my first post in the thread

*bump*

quote: Originally posted by Dredd: ....but aren't we just going to get a RANDOM, cloak for awhile, then just blow Earth up? Nope. Its not as easy as you might think. Unless of course you're playing a server with a bunch of hapless n00bs.

quote: Originally posted by LordDavid: Rant mode ON. I agree 100% quote: Originally posted by Epsilon 5: I never said the game should be done considering the mass market. ... I suppose that will be true also for popular fan requests? ... I suppose that will probably mostly be about (drastically) improving graphics over time. ... That's ok, but you have to admit that the more players there are, the more its potentially fun. ... I have never doubted your programming skills, I was just being... curious. ... ...and because you don't have a publisher [*]I never said you did [*]BC games have several sensible fan requests. So, that question is moot. You must be under the impression that just because I welcome fan feedback and requests, I'm going to run off half cocked and implement them just because someone [fan] thinks I should. You haven't been around as most of the BC gamers (from the old school) who know me. Those who do, know that I consider fan suggestions/requests base on merit and feasibility. I'm not out to please everyone and never have strived to do such. Nor am I going to start now, tomorrow or next year. Its just never going to happen. Period. [*]There's more to enhancing a game than just graphics. Go take a look at the VCF for BC3K v2.0x or BCM and refresh your memory wrt the BC tradition. [*]Wrong. Fun is a not measured by the number of people on the server. It is measured by the quality of gameplay you engage in with those who are on the server. Whats the point of playing with 1000 other people if you're never going to see 32 of them at any one time? PLUS, you can still play a 64 player mp game and never run into anyone. Hell, its hard enough keeping tracking of gamers on a 16 player server! The notion of bigger being better is just that. A notion. And a rubbish one at that. I don't care if my technology can support 10,000 people per game world, I'm not going to do it. 1000 people per game world/server is more than enough. If you [gamer] want to play on different servers/worlds, create new avatars. Playing on a server with a lot of gits and a bad connection is surely going to be a bad experience, no matter how you look at it. [*]I never said you did. I think you got the impression that my post was primarily for your benefit. It wasn't. I was making general statements and addressing everyone wrt the subject matter herein. As such, I don't think I misinterpreted your original context. So, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. [*]heh, thats right. And even then, publisher or not, if something ends up being a collossal cluster****, you [developer] will still get blamed for it, regardless of who the publisher is. quote: Originally posted by Dredd: The more time you play, the better you get/are able to get. You aren't rewarded for being good at anything, just how well you can repeat actions and how long you can play. That's why BCO seems like it's going to be great. If you suck, you die. If your good, you live. Nice idea, huh? Indeed. My plan for BCO is similar to my plan for BCM/BCG mp. You play when you want and whether you play for a day or a month, you should be able to achieve your goal: have fun. BCO is not about making a life online. I don't want someone paying $10+ per month and feeling like they have to play or they are not getting their money's worth. What I want is someone to login, play for a few hours, and maybe a few hours or a day later, he's at a rank or stature where he feels he has achieved something. So what if you achieve the highest rank in the game, amass all the wealth possible. Is that going to stop you from playing? I doubt it. Why? Well, because for the average BC gamer, its about doing new things, capitalizing on experience and extending a playing experience for others. As such, it is not unfeasible for a play to be a very wealthy Terran/Trader and not want to build/buy yet another station or city, having people working for him, selling illegal items on the Black market etc etc. The way I am designing BCO is such that I want any one person to critically and in either good or bad ways, alter the course of the world history on that server. Hell, all it takes is a band of very powerfull players on a server to blow up each and every jump gate in a region and completely isolate it. Or to seige an entire planet or space region etc etc. Why won't you want to come back to see wtf is going on since your last carnage ridden session? Even if you just login, check the stats, laugh your ass off, and log off? I'd still be getting your $10+ a month regardless and as long as you're having fun, your gameplay style won't and shouldn't change - nor should you be on a perpertual treadmill. And what happens when you logon one day and find that, without warning, I've erected a new station slam in the middle of a once empty region. Some would be thinking, trade. Others would be thinking, missile fodder. OR one day, you're a marine protecting a base and a cargo pod of weapons and ammo drops from out of thin air? What about staged fleet battles or runtime on-the-fly missions? One minute you're prancing around on a starbase shooting at sharks in the sea, the next you're on a shuttle bound for Mars to fight in a war you had nothing to do with....because some git promised you something if you helped him out? What about the social aspect? Just the same way we come here, shoot the breeze, fight about differing opinions etc, this is also going to be encouraged and is my #1 priority for BCO. Even if a bunch of players get together to just sit around a rock on the bank of a river and chat crap (or pull up the ingame bulletin to see whats going on elsewhere in the game or external world) with someone's PRL protecting them, you don't have to play the game. Just sit around and chat, hang around etc. .....right until someone lobs an OTS smack in the middle of the virtual camp. Look, my plan for BCO is more ambitious than anything I have ever attempted before - in my entire life. Its not going to get done overnight, nor in the first iteration, but its going to get done. And its going to be kickass to the hilt. And hey, so what if we don't have 100K subscribers? I don't think I even know more than two dozen people in my entire life, let alone 100K strangers. Sure, the money is nice, but I like my life. So, 10K people is just as good as 100K people. It just so happens that BC has a massive fan base; so, its all good. ....man, I can't wait to screw this up.

quote: Originally posted by KreKol: You agree that: (i) you will not copy or reproduce the Beta-Test Materials; (ii) you will not use the Beta-Test Materials for any purpose other than for Evaluation; (iii) you will use the Beta-Test Materials in strict compliance with the provisions of this Agreement; and (iv) you will carry out the Evaluation personally and will not provide access to the Beta-Test Materials to any other person. Sorry Dredd but you can't talk about it. Shame on you SC for edging him on. Now, show me which of those conditions, prevents him from talking about it. I'll be waiting.

quote: Originally posted by Epsilon 5: I'm not even sure how BCO will get away from that. I mean, seriously... Derek is there a way you could explain how you could proceed? ... Without going into too much detail, here are some thoughts [*]I am going to have dedicated servers that don't cater to all that rank/skill based nonsense if you don't want to pay attention to it. You logon, you play, you logoff. And since you can have more than one persona, you can have separate characters on different servers. [*]Not only am I not interested in any additions outside of the existing fan base, but BCO, like all BC games, is designed and geared toward the fanbase playing style and the features that keep you guys coming back version after version. I have no interest in making my games for the mass market. The closest I came to making it easy to play (different premise) was making as much features in BCM as mouse driven as possible, icons for some items (to reduce manual and keyboard sheet lookups etc). This again, is just for ease of use more than anything else. And according to the press and fan reviews, I think I succeeded in this regard. [*]And since I'm notorious for enhancing BC games outside of bug fixes, that alone is a sure fire reason for someone to keep paying their dues each month to play - if they so choose. With all MMOGs, as far as I'm aware, the only time you ever get new high-end stuff, is when you go out and buy add-ons etc. My strategy for BCO is only related to the fact that if it all works out (as I expect that it will, God willing), I don't have to do a new from-the-ground up product every two years. I'm dead serious about this. After BCTC, apart from the XBox title, thats it. BCO will be the last BC title ever developed from the ground up. And if there comes a time for a major overhaul, well then, thats why I'm a brilliantly mad isn't it? [*]As the article says, most of these will either never see the light of day or will fail. Even those that do get released, are going to have an uphill battle. So far, only E&B, Eve and BCO are even outside the same fantasy fare, but we've seen what happened to Jumpgate, Darkspace and even other much-hyped EA properties. Sure, they will have subscribers, but will have enough to sustain their financial burnrate? Only time will tell. Me? As long the number of subscribers is enough to pay the bills and bandwidth, I have nothing to worry about....except for those bastards looking to paint a bullseye on the side of my ship or to send me sailing skyhigh with a well place rocket launcher Let me say this again, so that nothing is lost in the translation. When BCO comes out, it will beat the living crap out of ANY space sim MMOG (so far E&B and Eve) that is out at the same time. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee this 99.999%. The underdog will always find a niche and then slowly start chipping away at the install base of others. To wit: DAOC. I'd like to see how those two space sims can even think of suceeeding without (a) brand name recognition ( nothing new outside of the same old tired leveling system © ha, a pretty much abandoned genre, space sims You can't even get gamers to buy space sims in the numbers required to recoup high dev costs, let alone get them to pony up $120+ a year to play the same tired old crap. I mean, seriously, has anything thought about this? Probably not. BCO offers an all encompassing world with a plethora of game play types thrown in. THATS why it constantly (at least since Freespace, since that did more numbers than BC3K v2.0x, last time I checked) beats space-sims at retail. For every 100 copies these guys have to sell to recoup costs, I probably only have to sell, oh, maybe, well, 1. Anyway, only time will tell. [ 07-12-2002, 09:00 AM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

Well then, there you have it. Anyway, we just want to know if its good or not

Pretty good read [ 07-11-2002, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]