SteveThaiBinh

Since the topic title has *warning spoilers*, I think we could possibly do without spoiler tags for entire posts? Thank you all for being so considerate, though - with a combined discussion and spoilers forum, we do need to keep this issue in mind.

I think releasing games as episodes is still fairly unfamiliar for most people, including me, so we're not quite sure that the experience will be a positive one. But there's no reason it shouldn't be. I suppose it's like the difference between a movie and six half-hour episodes of a TV series. It will be interesting to play Sam & Max through from start to finish when all episodes have been released, and get a feel for how the game as a whole has been affected by being cut into episodes - whether it works as a single unit at all. Nevertheless, if episodes make adventure games more popular and more commercially viable, I'm all for it.

Yes, I had that a lot. Especially if one of the vampires 'charmed' me - I could usually dispel it within a few seconds, but one hit and the Paladins ran away. Very unhelpful bunch. Drizzt was actually useful in those battles, and usually survived them, too, unlike the shadow th- whoops, he's dead.

Hopefully the episodic delivery will be based more on the Sam&Max model, which has been one episode a month over six months.

YES!!!!! I'm very happy about this. And it really is excellent to see governments beginning to support games development as they have long supported theatre and film.

Exactly. That's why I'm so glad that we now have a real consensus on the need to deal with man-made global warming in the UK. There are debates between left and right on how to do it, but all the major parties accept the strength of the science now. It's good that all science continues to be debated within academic circles, including the theory of relativity and who knows what. This academic process of testing and refining knowledge should not impact upon public policy debate, however. The inherent 'unprovability' of science should not be used as an excuse to bury one's head in the sand.

I played The Sims for fifteen hours once, but I did have breaks. That was part of the fun, to go off and come back and see what kind of mess they'd got themselves into. Yup.

It looks a bit flimsy at first glance, doesn't it? Of course, the police must have more evidence than is revealed here. But when I read this kind of story, my first thought is always that teachers and headteachers do attract more grudges than most, and in a profession where even an ultimately disproven accusation can devastate reputations and careers.

I thought Greenland was so named as a con trick, because the King of Denmark wanted people to settle there to reinforce his claim of ownership, and the name 'Greenland' made it more attractive. For the evidence to be so strong that even the Bush administration now seems to admit that global warming is taking place, it must be strong indeed. Of course, those on the left will tend to propose government-led solutions, and those on the right will prefer private individual responsibility and market mechanisms. That's the next great debate. The debate on whether global warming is happening, whether we're causing it, and whether it's desirable is over.

'Arthur Smith sings Leonard Cohen' is one of the funniest performances I've ever heard. I wish I could find it on CD. I also heard some amazing guitar stuff from Antonio Forcione a few days ago - I've never heard of him outside of Boothby Graffoe's radio comedy show, but he's a fantastic player.

It's March 2 outside the Americas according to the Steam website, which is my only way of getting hold of it.

Baldur's Gate - to be followed by Baldur's Gate 2, and then Jade Empire once it's released.

*Looks glumly at contents of wallet* :sad: Jade Empire made its way to the PC eventually, and so may Mass Effect, but it's a trilogy. It could take a long while to reach PC, if it ever does.

It's the wild frontier, with fortunes to be made and lost. And still untaxed, is that right? It's quite exciting in its way. You have frontier capitalism, and then the world runs out of frontier, and you just create an imaginary one.

You should write that on your application form.

No Italians, I notice. How have the Italians been playing since all the fuss and the closed games in their domestic league? You'd think it might have shaken their confidence at European level. That's been a fascinating scandal - so reminiscent of the worst excesses of English football hooligans, thankfully in the past we hope. Edit: Let's keep this discussion courteous and on-topic, please.

I don't think there should be legal restrictions on how these drugs are sold - it's up to the individual to weigh the risk of hypertension against the discomfort of her pain. A good pharmacist can take information like this report and inform customers of the risks. I do take painkillers for anything more than a very minor pain, but if it hasn't gone away in a couple of days I tend to go see the doctor rather than continue taking them indefinitely, in case there's a serious cause that needs treating. So far, touch wood, the medical profession hasn't let me down, but there are plenty of people with chronic pain that the doctors can't treat - they may not even understand the cause of the pain.

Sounds like it, and it would appeal enormously to me as a lover of adventure games. Quite a number of the most successful NWN mods are heavy on story, dialogue and thieves skills, light on combat, so I'd imagine that you'd find an audience. Making the combat work through dialogue would be a serious endeavour, because you'd have to make each battle unique, otherwise it could begin to look like the Oblivion persuasion mini-game. Where you say, for example, that combat would be based on choices made by the player, how does the player get the information he needs to make those choices? Is it by watching the actions of the opponent, possibly in real time or real time with pause, or is it by reading text that describes his actions? All in all, I think it's a really good concept. Do you think there's an existing game engine that can support it? No, Deekin must live! And sing! Deekin must sing!

That does actually make sense. The Star Maps on Kashhyyk, Manaan and even Korriban are in rather out-of-the-way places that the casual passer-by wouldn't find, whereas the Tattooine one just seems to be in a cave in the desert that anyone might stumble into. I think descending into a sarlacc would be extremely cool and scary.

And a very good reason it is too.

Have fun. Oh, and will we get to see the results? Come back any time for themes. We can do themes.

Come on, it does sound rather fun, doesn't it? Is there a video game verson yet? Kite Warriors 2, or something along those lines. And when will Jack Thompson tackle the kite-flying menace?

Interesting. These are two of my least favourite planets, for much the same reason - they were all action, and very little dialogue or NPCs or life. It's a long time since I though about this or played the game. I wonder if I had the same memories of the planets a year ago as I have now. In any case, I'd probably go for Nar Shaddaa for Kotor 2 (so much to do, so busy and full of life), and Dantooine in Kotor 1 (I just love the scenery, once the silly bug is fixed, of course).

It's very hard to choose between Kotors 1 and 2. Kotor 1 did what it set out to do very well, and was tremendously successful. Kotor 2 aimed a little higher, dealing with deeper issues and with a more mature approach to story-telling, but it fell somewhat short of its promise. Nevertheless, I find myself looking forward to replaying Kotor 2 more than Kotor 1, because the story and dialogue are more thought-provoking and less predictable. Maybe that makes it a better game? Haven't played any of the others, sorry.