Walsingham

Settle down, there, Plato. Alright. What do I like in a story? I like deep themes, and deep characters in rich settings. By deep and rich I mean they must have several levels, and be related to reality in some ways, although those ways can be allegorical. This is input for my brain. However, for a story to stay interesting once I have sussed out the themes and characters I need the themes and characters to change. Good guys have to fall, bad guys get redeemed. Young must age and old must ...er. Howzat?

Indeed. Top marks on your ninja skills. But I'll stick to my machete. You still haven't answered my price point.

I've always enjoyed eating squid and octopus. Now I know why.

Er... I would've said fun is about as subjective as you can get. Not only does it depend on the individual, but it depends on the condition of the individual.

And in Reallife I couldn't find any save points. Presumably this is why my character started moving slower and slower ...data accumulation. Regarding system Shock 2, it looks about on a par with Deus Ex, for graphics and so on. But i keep getting glitches, particularly at points involving sound. So far i've only managed to start training, and nothing else. Any suggestions? EDIT: and by glitch I mean by beautiful XP shuts down completely. This never happens normally, no matter how many pints of custard I pour in.

But I agree that once it starts the majority of ads will be crappy. C'est la vie.

Ew. That's just nasty. Speaking of which I had forgotten about the tree-based violation in Evil Dead. There's nothing about voice talent that can't improved with contents of my ideal kitchen.

It's not just biology, but also the conscious/pre-conscious mind split. I apologise for not recalling the study researchers, but there was one in which it was shown that subjects reacted differently to a set of stimuli they had 'seen' only once before - in a room lit only by infra-red. This suggested that perhaps the subjects were unable to consciously perceive the objects, but were picking up something, somehow. I'm fairly certain I read this in the New Scientist.

I agree with Unicorn, Enoch, and Sevant of Eru. Kaftan, you said "Just buy a good quality Chef's knife from a real quality manufacturer like Sabatier. Theyre insanely sharp and can be resharpened with a simple (one of those thingies that have a slit where you pull the knife and it gets sharpened) and it'll hold for half your life(comes with a 20-year warranty)" I hope you're happy. You made me sob out loud. A good sized Sabatier will set you back 30 pounds. And while you can stop it being _blunt_ with one of those pull-through goodies, you can't make it sharp. And by sharp I mean, able to skin something, and slide through meat without exerting pressure. A properly sharp knife is actually fun to use. Not to mention that sharpening knives is therapeutic, particularly if you do it in the presence of subordinates. I should point out that I use a Chinese machete shaped object that has been worn down quite a bit by sharpening. It cost me the equivalent of five pounds.

In Syndicate Wars the electronic billboards just replaced fake ads with ads for relevant products, like 2000 AD and Ghost in the Shell. For the record I only bought Ghost in Shell because I watched the clips while standing around in the game. Maybe ads could be good in fantasy games, with a bit of humour. Demon: "Gee, Conan, I'm pretty tired after fighting you for hours. What say we take a break and have some refreshing carbonated beverage?" Conan: "Ugh. Okey demonboy, then we smashee smashee." *Cut to both sitting back to back on rock enjoying a pepsi* Conan: "...And then I say to him. 'No, you give all YOUR gold'." Demon: "Ahahahahaha" *sudden halt* Conan: "Hey, there no such thing as carboniferater beaver." *Conan frowns, then dies* *Text on screen: Drink pepsi.* *Replaced text: As soon as it exists*

We wouldn't want to appear rude by ignoring the thread completely.

See this is the pathetic spectacle of pacifists disagreeing. Where are the grud danged explosions, people?

Oh, that's just nasty.

Yes, you do that. We need the food.

You need: - A chopping block. Get a cheap wood one and burn it on the fire after it becomes grungy. Alternatively a wooden block can be scrubbed down with wire wool and used for grinding spices on. - Get a SOFT STEEL chef's knife. It is better to sharpen a knife as you use it, and for it to always be sharp than to have a modern hard steel one that is great until goes blunt, whereupon it will take a Japanese swordmaster to re-sharpen it. Chinese stores sell soft steel knives. They're also much cheaper. - Have a sack of rice handy. They don't cost much, and you'll never go completely hungry again. Also good if friends drop by. - Have a cast iron skillet. Treat it well. - Have a non-non-stick wok. Treat it badly. - Do NOT buy a steak tenderiser. God gave you fists. Use them. - A cheese grater. Also grates potato, carrot, and detainee faces. Sorry, did I say that out loud? - Make contact with a good butcher. Supermarket meat is for fools. Your butcher, once secure, will cut meat to your specifications, will give you deals on cheap cuts like offal (which is often pretty tasty), and is less likely to have urinated on the produce than supermarket meat-packers. - Flour. I cannot say enough good things about flour. - Onions. Last for ever and go with anything. - Tinned foods: Bully beef (also contains much fat and salt which are good IMO); tinned salmon (cheap quality protein and fish oils); SPAM (for comedy value only). - A bottle of vodka, which you will place in the freezer. - Three bottles of wine. One cooking red, one drinking red, and one pre-dinner white for the fridge. - A bottle of bourbon, for when you have drinks after dinner. EDIT: Also, possess one tin of goose fat, for use in special meals. Remove the label and replace with one saying "Whupass". Amuse yourself no end.

The only thing i can imagine that is more boring than a racing game is rowing. Round and round and round. Sheesh. GTA is about the only car oriented game I like, and that's cause if people cut me up I can stop my car, climb out, and shoot them. You mod Colin McRae so I can do that and maybe I'll sign up.

*buzzer* Bad Boy Bubby. Most disturbing film EVER.

Now THERE walks a PhD thesis...

Thanks 213374U, you're the *****. He also has a point in terms of perception. viz colour-blind people, and synaesthetics. Synaesthetics get cross-wired effects. For example they sometimes see sound, or hear smell.

You could use clingwrap. (ten points for anyone who gets the reference)

Actually I should say that giving the user power to customize the experience rather relies on them knowing what they want. <_<

The great thing about war is that wherever you go, you bring hell with you. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Steve for morale officer! Muso can be a crazed buffalo.

If you don't mind a rather hokey interface, you can't get a much better storyline than Circuit's Edge. The author, George Alec Effinger went through some crazy stuff in his life, and as a consequence this grittier-than-a-grit-and-glasspaper-smoothie story hits hard. It's also a good detective plot, although strictly linear in progression. Solutions to problems require you to immerse yourslef in the world and the character. No obvious purple key to purple door rubbish. http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=200

I think he is speaking the dialect known as 'teeth-spitting fury"

Well, Fishboot, I'm not sure you can carry a game by performances. As someone already said (give me a break, okay, I'm not taking notes) it is a game after all, not a movie. However, I think we are moving closer to a point where entertainment will become more interactive. This is merely playing on the issue of the customer tailoring their own entertainment experience to maximise their enjoyment of it.