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hyndis

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Posts posted by hyndis

  1. I like the idea of ships being semi stealthy. It makes sense for smaller ships to have a chance of evading detection, and that could add an interesting degree of sneaking around.

    Perhaps each ship should have a stealth value, based on their size, and then the detection value could be a mix of their sensor range and average officer skill. Friendly ships would have all of their detection overlapped, so if you're sitting around in Earth orbit, using your fighters to keep any hostiles away, friendly ships could alert you, and then your officers could alert your fighters.

    So a few hostile fighters could sneak in system, and at enough range to evade detection from everything. Then as they approach a friendly ship, that ship detects them and alerts all other friendly ships in the system. Galcom HQ and Genesis station both become alerted (possibly launching fighters), and then the CC gets wind of the hostiles in the region. Those coordinates are then relayed to the fighters on patrol, and they go engage.

    It seems a little complex, but I guess it would just be an overlapping, simple check. Each ship has a chance of detecting things, and if it does, it informs all over ships friendly to it. So if you were to jump into a totally hostile system, you would have next to no information about whats in the area. However the hostile ships would each have a chance to detect you and if only one of them suceeds, all of them know you're there.

    On uninhabited systems, things could get interesting. For gameplay purposes, the AI could have a better detection value so it could better plan an ambush, but it would be neat to play a cat and mouse game in the middle of a dark room.

    Currently I like the radar system as it is, and its usually not a good thing to tamper with perfection.

    I've also got a quick question...I've been having really lousy comp problems and haven't been able to play for a while. If you're playing as a carrier and have your fighters out on SAD, will they automatically engage any and all hostiles in the region at any range?

  2. Also the cargo pod can be used as another cargo bay (albiet a small one) if you begin to run out of space. Be creative with it, and with the rest of your ship. There's some rather surprising things you can do if you think clever thoughts.

    One thing that would be kind of cool is to make weapons or other explosive cargos actually detonate if they're too badly damaged. You could buy a whole bunch of very large missiles, pack your ship full of them, then enjoy the fireworks if you get too badly damaged. Or fill up that cargo pod and set it off like a huge landmine...perhaps if you could trap the cargo pod? They'll see lots of nice items in there...then as soon as they load it up...BOOOOM!!

  3. I'm going to try this next time I play:

    I'll park my ship somewhere safe, load up all of the radium onto the shuttles inside the flight deck...then leave.

    I'll do some trading with a shuttle then come back when my entire crew is dead and go fly that ship myself.

    If someone tries to board me, I'll just hop out of the ship and run away.

  4. >how about a space station with a cloaking device

    someonce coming you dont like? just turn on the cloaks and they cant dock

    Umm. No. Thats just dumb. But it would be interesting if there was a way to command a space station. It would be more like a trade game, where you'd invest in trade routes and various products while also making sure that pirates or hostile fleets dont interfere in your profits.

  5. How long were you playing the game at that point? My guess is what a celestial orb on your ship kept everyone healthy and fresh, as they were on the shuttles, they weren't covered by the regenerative effects of the gizmo.

    Your marines also might not have had a food supply, since when you assigned them to the ship, they actually stayed on station the entire time and aside from the food that they carried with them, there was none on the shuttle.

  6. Here's something to watch out if you use a dial up connection:

    You'll often get a large list of access numbers in your area, but before you use any of them, call your local phone company. Ask if any of them are long distance. Trust me on this...

    I had been using the same number for about a year with no problem, and just the $20/month bill for MSN.

    Then I got a $800 phone bill!!!

    It turns out that somehow the access number that I had been using had been changed to a long distance line, even though it was in my city. I dont know who's to blame, but either the phone company or MSN really screwed me over. I finally got that resolved (after several months on hold with their customer abuse section) and only had to pay about half of that bill, but from now on, I'm checking every single number and recommend others do the same.

  7. Hey!! No dis'n the New Beetles!

    I got a nice 2001 bug. It can run really fast, and its silver!

    Also its got a HUGE cargo capacity, though the thing is so light you'll notice a definite performance change between a nearly empty or full tank of gas.

    The only problem is that the cup holders are sized for european beveridges, not something like the new ueber size drink. I think it can hold a gallon of soda.

    Heck, even the regular 44oz cups dont fit anywhere! And the three cupholders in have part of the dashboard overhanging them, and you can only put small, very short cups there.

    Damnit, I want my obscenely large, American-sized cupholder!!

  8. Until we can all build holodecks and every person has an AI assisted universal game builder (ala the holodeck computer), there will ALWAYS be pipedreams.

    Give me any creative work, and I'll give you a wishlist of at least 100 items. Yes, I know its utterly infeasable to include all of them, but its still fun making those wish lists.

  9. I considered joining the military, but decided to put it off as I simply do not want to sign away a big chunk of my life. The military will always be there, and even though when I'm in my late 20's I wont be a prime canidate, the military is so understaffed that I dont think they'll turn many people down.

    I made the mistake of taking the ASVAD test, and as soon as I did...those recruitment calls kept pouring in! I would get on the average 10 calls a week, and this kept up for several months. First the Army kept trying to recruit me, but I told them I was interesting in being a pilot, but as I need glasses, they said I couldn't fly. The Air Force then told me the Army guy was completely wrong; as long as I had 20/20 vision (no matter how I got it) I could infact fly. Then the Navy tried briefly to recruit me as well.

    The thing is, I scored so high on the ASVAD test that these recruiters were saying I could choose nearly any field in the military, though they were also trying to beat the other branches, and in the process, all of these recruiters turned into used car salemen promising me the sky if only I'd sign on the dotted line...

    The last straw was when I got a call from the Army, then the Air Force, then the Navy, then the Navy again. All within a 30 minute period. At that point I just snapped and told them to not call back again. Damn...someone scores high on their evaluation tests and they jump all over them like pirahnas. Works great to scare people off.

    So I now have no interest at all in the military, except perhaps a job in a missile silo or some other stationary job where I dont have to listen to some dumb jackass scream at me all day. I've got brains, and I'm going to go use them in the private sector.

    That was my first and last experience with the military, though I might possibly join the national guard for that extra bit of money.

  10. One time I attempted to land my Warmonger on a part of Earth that wasn't controled by any faction, but the area had a little slope and my ship skidded down for a dozen miles or so before bursting into a flaming ball of death...but I digress.

    First off, is it possible to land a big cap ship on a planet, assuming you find a better spot to land than I did.

    Second, could you order your entire crew to go take a very long march to gain experience? Lets say you land somewhere in China (an unoccupied area), then get your entire crew out of the ship and order them to walk to Europe. Would such a thing work to give them lots of experience?

    It would be kind of fun to fire up a new game with an Firestorm, land, unload all of your crew and vehicles, then start rolling like a land army.

  11. Little bump, just to get this conversation back.

    They recently used a quantom computer to calculate that 3x5=15. Thats an enormous achievment, even though it seems like a very elementary thing.

    Do you know how big that computer was?

    5 atoms.

    Quantom computers work differently from conventional computers, which are essentially just a vast array of on and off switches. In a quantom computer, as quantom mechanics begin to kick in, each switch is both a one and a zero at the same time. This may seem rather weird, but computing power is limited only by the size of the computer.

    Lets say you have 3 atoms. With these, you can have the following combinations:

    111

    000

    101

    110

    011

    010

    And those 3 atoms are those combinations at the same time. Now, if we make a 10 atom computer...

    1111111111

    0000000000

    0000000001

    0000000010

    ...

    I couldn't possibly write out all of those combinations. It would take me years, probably. And yet, those atoms are all of those combinations at the same time.

    Now, if we have a computer that is made up of a million atoms...the computing power is for all intents and purposes unlimited! Such a thing could solve ANY code at all instantly, and you no longer have to worry about even Windoze eating up your CPU power.

    Currently, the problem with this is that we have no idea how to wire the thing. I'm pretty sure those 5 atoms were hooked up to a warehouse full of equipment to get it to work, and with far more complex arrays of atoms, it'll take some major work getting it to a commercial standard. Its sort of like in the first days of computers...you have a vaccume tube. Now how do you use it?

    We have a simple quantom computer. The hard part is wiring it up, then writing the OS for the thing. Once thats done processing power will be utterly unlimited.

    It takes the human brain about 10ghz of power just to process the images you see, and right now I'm using a 1.8ghz computer. As computer power doubles every 18 months, this could very quickly add up to some immense power. Power is not the issue...the problem is what to do with it.

    I loved the old NES and SNES games, even though by today's standards, the graphics are far outdated by even solitare and tetris, and as the monstrosity called EQ proved, just because your game has pretty graphics doesn't mean it'll be a good game. Sure, it did have nice graphics, but if the thing wasn't more addictive than crack, heroin, and tobacco all rolled in one, EQ would be dead by now.

    In order to build a holodeck, we'd first need an AI that worked, or at least an OS with a very detailed way of responding to a vast array of possibilties. Then work on the interface system, and I'm gonna get one and seal myself in there with a welding torch. '

    I'm guessing some sort of universal graphics engine will be made and then from there, with a real AI helping, anybody could create anything. That would be awesome...I could finally create that use game universe I've been dieing to make! It would be something like a first person RPG where you've got several entire galaxies to work in. Everything from high tech sci-fi down to Tolkeinien fantasy, depending on the area.

  12. Salesmen that sell things? Are you out of your mind?!

    I loved this...it happened just recently.

    I picked up a few things at a local 7-11 last night to make dinner and the store was empty except for me and the guy running the place. I walked up to the register, put the things on the counter, and he looked at me with a blank expression.

    Cashier: What do you want?

    Me: (stunned pause) I'd like to buy these things.

    Cashier: Huh? Oh...with cash?

    Me: Umm...yes.

    True story! I am not making this up!

  13. Thats why you have to practice population control.

    Red dots are the predators. Blue dots are the prey, and green dots are in competition with red.

    If you see a red winning against a blue, let them win, then go in and get rid of the red. If you see a red fighting a green, help out if the green is losing. And if you see a red by itself, go after that nice cargo pod.

    Its all about the ecosystem. You gotta have balance or else things get all weird. If you dont keep their numbers in check, the ecosystem will be overwhelmed and bad things will happen.

    Also, you can give your pilots and marines some exercise, or else they'll get fat and lazy.

  14. On certain TFC maps where ammo backpacks would give you ammo, health, and armor, I do remember quite a bit of camping.

    Though those backpacks usually weren't in great camping spots, on a few certain maps, such as dustbowl and warpath, I could just sit on those ammo packs as a heavy weapon guy and fire my chaingun for the entire map duration without having to stop once for reloading.

    Didn't do much damage at that range, but if you spew enough lead at anything, it'll hurt.

  15. One thing that always annoyed me about the damage is how quickly it eats up spare parts. Yes, I know fixing damage uses spare parts...but what about just minor damage on many systems? If you have 10 systems with 90%+ integrity, that ought to only use up a few spare parts, but instead it just eats through them.

    Also, with the tac computer down, you cannot move people around the ship, which seems kind of odd that if the computer dies, your feet stick to the floor.

    But then I fixed all those problems! I learned how to command a ship! Whatever you do, do NOT order your ship to auto attack anything, especially fighters. Its utter suicide. Your ship will try to go head to head with other ships, and fighters can tear through 6000+ shield units in just a matter of seconds, and then they'll turn the front of your ship into wreckage.

    The best thing I've found it to mostly try to take out other things with your turrets. I use Starflash missiles (I'm a cheap bastard) and on occasion main guns while I manuver around and avoid most of the fire.

    With fully upgraded systems on my Warmonger (6400shields, 8400 or so hull) I can go toe to toe with nearly everything, against any odds, and come out okay. One time I was under attack by a dozen fighters and half a dozen cruisers. Those cargo pods were sweet loot.

    And not once were my shields penetrated!

    Here's a tip that will vastly increase your survival. Start off at your home planet, sell all of your weapons, or enough to buy the best shield system availible. (Tac Anagram for carriers, dont buy it if you're a cruiser.) Then send all of your engies to installing that, and wait around near the station until its finished. That'll tripple your shields easily, and that gives you a very nice cushion against damage.

    The best thing for damage control in BCM is to avoid it entirely. Dont fly into corrosive atmospheres, turn on your countermeasures if a flock of missiles are after you, and jink. If you know how to jink, the few shots that do manage to hit you will just slide off those thick shields.

    One final tip! If anything is damaged and its not a vital system, do not try to repair it yourself. Simply fly to a friendly station, click on the repair button, and the station will give you the spare parts. Just do that until you have all of the spare parts for the repairs needed and depart. You can have your engineers put it together on the road.

    [ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: Fox ]

  16. Well, according to NVidia.com, I do have the correct and most up to date drivers.

    Here at [ http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=windows9x ] is where I got the thing, and here [ http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=products_supported_win ] is where it lists my video card model as supported.

    If the drivers aren't officially released, why are they on the website? Again, I'm sorry to be pestering you, but this bug is the damnedest thing as it seems to be affecting everything.

    The solution is probably something exceedingly simple, but something that I keep missing. I did, however, find a lose jumper at the bottom of my computer case, and it could fit onto my video card, though it seems the problems started after I had to do a complete reformat and install of everything after windoze somehow corrupted itself. WinME installed just fine, and then I installed the sound and video drivers, and then everything seemed to work nicely. Thats about all I did in terms of drivers. What am I missing? I know I missed SOMETHING, I'm just pulling my hair out trying to figure out what it is!

    (And it'll be the simplest, most idiotic thing, too!)

    I'm just totally and utterly lost and need help.

    [ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: Fox ]

  17. Well, I've got the most up to date drivers, v23.11 Detonator XP for my GeForce2 MX400 with a WinME OS.

    Should I get a lower version of the thing? Again, I love the game, but could only play it briefly on a friend's system. But that was long enough to get me addicted...I haven't had my BCM fix for 3 days now!

    As for the weird framerate loss, it happens whenever I play anything multiplayer. Unreal Tournament, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and even Stronghold, which is a top down strategy game, though I've been told that Gamespy is really buggy and the other guy was suffering the same bug.

  18. Its me again, the guy with the bizzare no hyperspace problem.

    Whenever ships try to jump, they just sort of pause and hang in space, as if the jump engines stalled. They're semi transparent (looks like a bad graphical error) but it seems that the hyperspace processes just sort of stopped halfway through. If I save and reload the game, hyperspacing works just fine for those ships currently stuck. It seems in order to have anything more through hyperspace, the game needs to be saved and reloaded.

    I have a Geforce2 MX400 with drivers 23.11, and all of my settings are at system defaults, or at least all of the settings I could verify.

    I'm guessing this is a video card issue, and I'm thinking it may be a defective card somehow, as when playing any first person shooter in multiplayer, I get a horribly frame per second drain after just a few minutes of gameplay. Strangely, this only happens in multiplayer.

    WinME is fully patched, I've got DirectX 8.1, Media Player 7.1, and I dont see any obvious conflicts.

    Any ideas where I might be able to possibly look for a solution aside from pulling out my warranty and getting the card replaced? This weird bug has been plauging almost every game I own, but BCM is the hardest hit.

    I dont mean to bug you Supreme Cmdr, but I just want to do a little fishing to see if anyone knows how I might go about seeing what the problem is, as this group seems to be very knowledgeable indeed about the obscure details for various systems.

    Oh, I did find a lose jumper at the bottom of my comp box, and it would fit perfectly with the video card jumper prongs, which have no jumpers on them at all. Could that possibly be affecting things? Or am I looking at the wrong area? Could it be another piece of hardware/software thats screwed up?

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