astr0creep

Oh really? Sorry my bad.

I worked a contract for Ubisoft in Montreal, QA testing on this very bad game that Imust silence the name. During my time there they put together an internal contest for everyone to participate in, including us lowly QA testers. The contest was : Make a design doc. If the execs like it, your game will be picked up! The result, I think, was Splinter Cell. I worked for a few years at a QA firm. They were hired by publishers to do all the QA for there games, including pre-cert testing for console titles. Thats where I got to work for LucasArts and Pandemic, Jowood, Atari, Bioware. I had my foot in the door and I learned alot about the industry. then the work began to stagnate. QA was taking its toll on me. So I tried something else. Also, I was starting to build a life with my sweety... My limitation is that although I can write some very good fiction(from testimonies, not from my own ego) I never learned how to script or program. I was wondering if there are any websites or other places where aspiring game designers can submit their ideas or game design docs, similar to what already exists for movie scriptwriters? Also, although I don't consider myself a suckup, anyone here hiring for their company?

Lord of the Rings. Again. Every year.

Yes, absolutely. he looks the part but he couldn't act to save his life. Plus h'es a 36 year old man playing a 19 years old boy.

Coleman ftw! (He's probably going to die of a heart attack pretty soon. I am surprised he lasted this long.) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It's like looking at... a brain? Mesmerizing.

For a CRPG, 30 hours is not enough. 80-100 is just perfect, with the possibility of more if one wants to. The first time I played FF7, I loved it so much it took me 204 hours! Everyone at Lvl 99! I remember older CRPGs like Lands of Lore and the Might and Magic series. Those lasted a lot longer than 30 hours and they were much harder also. I believe the reason for shorter games in general is 2 things. First, games are tech demos. Second, the sooner you finish, the sooner you'll buy another one. $$$ people!

Nice thread. I'm diabetic so I must eat right and exercise. No choice. But my motivation is pretty high : Be healthy or die! I walk a lot but I find it boring now. Someone mentioned in this thread that he does photography while walking. Maybe I'll take it up too, it sounds like great idea and will keep me on my toes... I'm an amateur cinematographer.

Mary me!

I had this dish when I was living in Indonesia a few years ago. It was spicy beef but not BBQ or jalapeno spicy, something different, not too hot while being far from mild. Sadly i don't remember the name. It's been some time but I still salivate when I think about it. Other than that well, I'm diabetic so I like meats. Beef, chicken and pork the magical animal, any preparation but I prefer them with wokked veggies and/or salad.

25 to life?

Hehehe...yeah, that's one of the biggest cheats in sci-fi. But it sure would be boring in most films/games if they didn't break that rule. On topic - I don't understand why people want hoods so much - just because they're in the movies and look cool? I guess I like seeing the npc's faces/hair too much...in Kotor I didn't even like them to wear their headgear. Having a bunch of people following me all wearing hoods would feel too...I dunno, visually generic. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In Firefly/Serenity ships make no sound in space. No fire either.

Iron Maiden - Dance of Death

I believe FOX killed both Buffy and Angel. And Firefly. And Dark Angel. Buffy had a good run though but Firefly at the very least deserve 2-3 seasons. And by the way, I read that this is Smallville's last season. Another good show to watch : Battlestar Galactica. Simply awesome.

People actually watched that show before Jessica left?

Last in theater : King Kong Last on DVD : Serenity for the 4th time since 25 dec Oh and I also saw Bloodrayne. Immense pile of bantha poodoo, except for Kristanna Loken who is ok, plus a nice scene involving metal bars and her boobs.

Jagged Alliance 2! Brings me back. think I'll reinstall it tonight. Thanks!

This has no meaningful application in computer roleplaying games because the game can't react to what we're imagining. I could choose to imagine that my character would side with Dagoth Ur in the final stage of the game but that would still not make a difference because no matter how hard I'd imagine this, it wouldn't matter to the game. It can only work with what it was made to work with, in this case predetermined choices and consequences, not imaginary ones. Imagination can only be fully used in roleplaying if the medium actually works with imagination, as is the case with something like pen and paper. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I didn't mean imagining entire plot points. Only when faced with conversation methods like in Morrowind. The point is that if you keep an open mind about how the game is supposed be played, it is much easier to appreciate it. This goes with everything else in life, not just games. The point is to have fun while wasting time. Nitpicking about every little thing that bothers us is just useless stress. Lighten up people.

Again, it depends how you roleplay. When I click on Pork Soda in Morrowind, in my head I speak a sentence to the NPC. To me (and i'm not the only one), less description allows for more roleplay because I can make up any sentence that I want. I choose, in my head how my character will react. In NWN, the game tells you how to react by giving a limited choice. Good, Neutral, Evil. D&D. I see and understand your point though. And I have no real preference for one style or the other. I just never had a problem with Morrowind's conversations and I have a problem in understanding why some people make such a big deal out of it. The story is told, the ideas are there.

Roleplaying requires dialouge. You need to be able to express your character in different ways through dialouge choices to simulate you speaking as your character in PnP. Morrowinds "keyword" wikisystem made that impossible <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What is the difference between clicking keywords and clicking key sentences? In order to communicate the way you write about, a game would have to include speech recognition or typing, much like the old adventure games like King's Quest. Or, MMORPGs.

Agreed. Although I don't think I would mind being able to wait some more before dishing out another 500-1000$ to upgrade my computer...

I loved Morrowind. I LOVED Morrowind. It was the (almost) perfect RPG, a lot better than NWN. It did not take you by the hand to show you where to go and what to do. it allowed you to do WHATEVER you wanted, be WHOEVER you wanted to be and the great Construction Set allowed you to expand on that. The story was very good. You become a frakkin' god! It was however diluted by the huge environment and hours upon hours of exploration which made plot points few and far between. You can actually get lost in this game! Total immersion due to great FP perspective(the only way to play!) The graphics at the time were state of the art, especially if your machine could handle a bit more workload. Lightyears beyond what NWN offered. Most bugs could be fixed simply by reducing the resolution by one notch. Granted, character models, voices and sounds could've been better, but they were fixed later with truly fantastic user mods. The player made the game balanced or not, easy or hard and all of this was available within the game, out of the box. Morrowind allowed the player to actually play a role! It even allowed the player to create and customize a role. Because it was a role-playing game, not an adventure game! Best of all, for once there was an original RPG product that didn't rely on D&D!

It's not action but I think Superpower 2 allows you to do that!

More species and customization for character creation. Revan and Exile return as NPCs only. Completely new and original party members with no depressed pilots please. I'd like a Gamorrean berserker and a Jawa tradesman as buddies Giva a choice to be Jedi/Sith or not with special perks at higher levels to compensate for lack of force powers. Less party members to limit the useless characters but more customizable party members. Influence system was fantastic. Bring it back with more rewards for conversations. Modifiable Ebon Hawk, including internal layout/features. More varied enemies, not just Mandalorians and Sith. Give us creatures! Mini hunting sim, like Monster Hunter in the Star Wars Universe. More opportunities to make money and evolved economy system. Galaxy wide Pazaak tournaments. Galaxy wide customizable swoop bike races. Slightly more open-endedness. Instead of a cutscene, let players enter coordinates of planets and pilot the Ebon Hawk from one planet to the next; make the search of planet coordinates part of the main quest, with some optional planets/space stations to find. Oh yeah! A finished product! Take your time and frakkin' finish it!

I COMPLETELY agree! NWN OC was very standard, the basic fetching quest : Chapter 1 - fetch me 4 creatures. Chapter 2 - Fetch me 4 artifacts. Chapter 3 - Fetch me info on the cult. Chapter 4 - Fetch me a cup of coffee I'm falling asleep. And the end-boss, after 40 hours of yawning, is a snap to beat. HotU however is VERY good. Riddick, although critically aclaimed, is one of the most underrated and underappreciated games EVER. It has nothing to do with the movies and it is a magnificient technical achievent. A bit short but only because you really want to play more (about 10-15 hours to complete).