Nightshape

The more you open your mouth the dumber you seem...

Ramza, you're showing your ignorance to what actually takes place during game development. Iteration of design, art, and code are all required to achieve a decent result. Its neither as easy as you describe nor will it every happen, so STFU and get on with your life.

UPDATE 360: Now: Halo 2 So far Halo 2 is prooving to actually be a good and solid console FPS. It's far more enjoyable than Halo: Combat Evolved, visually is not bad, little over zealous on the normal mapping but otherwise pleasing. The colour palette seems alot less harsh and the overall art direction is certainly better. The gameplay feels slicker too, considering I've come into Halo 2 straight from Halo: Combat Evolved, I expected it to be more of the same and extremely stale. I'm being pleasantly surprised. Next: Halo 3 Previous: Halo: Combat Evolved I still don't understand why Halo was popular, level asset recycling is done to death, the level design is cookie cutter copy and paste, the art direction is poor. I don't see any reason why anyone would want to play Halo. It's a pretty horrible game. The story is average, and its certainly not delivered in an engaging manner. Verdict: 4/10 Now: GTA IV. I've been playing GTA IV since release, in short bursts. It's been one of those long, exuasting experiences which I have very little respect for, the gameplay is fairly fun, but hasn't really evolved very far since GTA III, and the story has not been worthy of mention. I do believe that the whole spree kill factor keeps the game interesting. Next: Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Previous: Black All in all I don't feel that Black was a bad experience, as an Audio and Visual experience it was top notch perhaps even the best experience of the last generation consoles, sadly the gameplay was certainly lacking, feeling like it was only a few steps removed from Doom. I certainly say it's worth playing if you like FPS's on consoles, it looks as good as a first generation X360 game. The story was forgetable, some strange live action pants which should have just been avoided entirely. It also wasn't skippable! very annoying. The level design and asset quality was well in excess of Halo, (which I would have expected Black being released in 2006). Verdict: 6/10 Now: Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Tactical shooter, not alot to say about it really. I do believe it's extremely challenging. Next: Gears of War, on Hardcore. Now: Endwar. I mostly play this online, I've not actually completed the games compaign Next: Nothing, I only play this occasionally online for an hour or two at a time. Wii: (GameCube) Now: Resident Evil Zero. I've been playing this for months, I mean that, I have found it to be a game that drags on, alot... It's not bad, mostly I have found it to be dull. I'm waiting for that final push, I just haven't managed to build up the motivation. Still haven't managed to motivate myself. Next: Resident Evil. (Virtual Console: NES) Now: The Legend of Zelda I've had this sitting around for ages on my Wii, I kinda fooled around with it for 10 minutes, and kinda smiled alot thinking it was a cute game but never bothered to play it properly. Until today when I just sat down and spent some time playing it properly, I've decided to continue playing it and see how it goes. Next: Zelda II (Wii) Now: MadWorld I've only played this for a short period of time since I picked up a copy, seems kinda novel and humourious so far... Not much to say at the moment. Next: Geometry Wars: Galaxies PC: Now: Hellgate: London I play this at lunch because it allows me to jump in and do a quick quest and not really care about anything other than slaying a bunch of monsters. (Work PC) Next: Dark Messiah Might and Magic. Now: Fallout I've not been playing this aggressively but after playing through FO3 I decided to go back and play FO... I'm enjoying it! And I'm enjoying the more casual pace that I am playing it at. (Laptop at home) Next: Neverwinter Nights OC.

"shop because they don't sell any PC games anymore" Bull****!

Is confused by this statement... Infact it hurts my brain.

This. After you finish it, there is really NO reason to replay it. None. Funny you say that as it's one of the few games that I instantly started over with.

I never really cared for modding. I don't see the fun in it, hacking I can respect, but at a base level all modding is is changing the data which is driven by the engine, it's like fixing up a Astra or Nova(cars) when you're a kid, think pimp my ride etc... Best thing about actual modern development has got to be live update of data, i.e. iteration on the fly.

Interesting, this has me wondering what exactly it was that they attempted for the GFX pipeline, i.e. Why it was so bad... Etc...

This isn't the first time I've actually played Halo, it's been some years but I played Halo during the initial few weeks of its US release and I didn't have a high opinion of it then. I gave it a shot again to try anf form a more informed opinion, and I'm still simply not impress. I have to admit as far as console shooters go, the controls are indeed excellent, this is actually due to some nice auto-aim tweak. It's almost a crappy aimbot it aids the player so heavily. So far Halo 2 is actually prooving to be enjoyable, the whole Arbiter thing aside, this doesn't bother me. You don't spend that much time as the Arbiter from what I have played/read and regardless I don't think it matters as I'm looking at the game on its own, and I have to say, it's significantly better than Halo: Combat Evolved. The level design is actually pretty cleverly done, working for on foot and vechile combat. The art direction is also a hell of alot better... Infact if it wasn't for the setting and characters etc... You wouldn't be able to put the two side by side, That's how different I believe they are. This is obviously related to the fact that Halo 2 uses a different game engine. I wouldn't know, I'm certainly not interested in Halo's multiplayer component. COD4 offended me the first time I played it multiplayer, if felt so drastically different to COD on the PC that I was shocked at them being related. I'm sure to have an opinion on Halo 3 at some point I am sure. Cheers Nightshape.

UPDATE 360: Now: Halo 2 So far Halo 2 is prooving to actually be a good and solid console FPS. It's far more enjoyable than Halo: Combat Evolved, visually is not bad, little over zealous on the normal mapping but otherwise pleasing. The colour palette seems alot less harsh and the overall art direction is certainly better. The gameplay feels slicker too, considering I've come into Halo 2 straight from Halo: Combat Evolved, I expected it to be more of the same and extremely stale. I'm being pleasantly surprised. Next: Halo 3 Previous: Halo: Combat Evolved I still don't understand why Halo was popular, level asset recycling is done to death, the level design is cookie cutter copy and paste, the art direction is poor. I don't see any reason why anyone would want to play Halo. It's a pretty horrible game. The story is average, and its certainly not delivered in an engaging manner. Verdict: 4/10 Now: Black A kinda generic shooter, its a twilight xBox and PS2 release, that still looks and plays well now. Next: GTA IV. Now: Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Tactical shooter, not alot to say about it really. I do believe it's extremely challenging. Next: Gears of War, on Hardcore. Now: Endwar. I mostly play this online, I've not actually completed the games compaign Next: Nothing, I only play this occasionally online for an hour or two at a time. Wii: Now: Resident Evil Zero. I've been playing this for months, I mean that, I have found it to be a game that drags on, alot... It's not bad, mostly I have found it to be dull. I'm waiting for that final push, I just haven't managed to build up the motivation. Next: Resident Evil. (Virtual Console) Now: The Legend of Zelda I've had this sitting around for ages on my Wii, I kinda fooled around with it for 10 minutes, and kinda smiled alot thinking it was a cute game but never bothered to play it properly. Until today when I just sat down and spent some time playing it properly, I've decided to continue playing it and see how it goes. Next: Zelda II PC: Now: Hellgate: London I play this at lunch because it allows me to jump in and do a quick quest and not really care about anything other than slaying a bunch of monsters. (Work PC) Next: Dark Messiah Might and Magic. Now: Bioshock I don't get what the fuss was about this game when it was released... That said, I don't think it's bad. (Desktop at home, which just broke, as a result I suppose I'll have to postpone these, till I get a new machine, or a slot fills up on another machine.) Next: The Witcher. Now: Fallout I've not been playing this aggressively but after playing through FO3 I decided to go back and play FO... I'm enjoying it! And I'm enjoying the more casual pace that I am playing it at. (Laptop at home) Next: Neverwinter Nights OC.

LOL Cliffy B right at the end...

Ta, I think I shall have to purchase it at some point based on the Old Skool vibe. I'm going through a retro phase.

JUst wondering if anyone had actually played this game, if so, what was your verdict.... Thought about picking it up, then I wasn't certain that it would actually be worth my time...

I find it impossible to play a single game, and simply stick with it, so I tend to be playing lots of games side by side, the actual situation i.e. Where I am and what I have access to dictates what I am playing. This is a picture of how my gaming sessions look currently, or atleast how I've structured them and what I intend to replace them with when I've completed said first game. A game can take anywhere between days and months, even years, for me to complete and occasionally I won't ever complete some games, but being stubborn I do tend to get there once I sit down for a final play session, i.e. Start a game with the intention of finishing it no matter how painful. Sometimes I have to restructure my sessions because of a new release, but I think if someone actually took the time to dig throught archieve they'd find this to be fairly consistant. 360: Now: Halo: Combat Evolved Working my way through the Halo series. I'm still not getting it... I'm nearing the end of Halo: Combat evolved and I don't understand why the game was so popular. Next: Halo 2 Now: Black A kinda generic shooter, its a twilight release XBox, that still looks and plays well now. Next: GTA IV. Now: Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Tactical shooter, not alot to say about it really. Next: Gears of War, on Hardcore. Now: Endwar. I mostly play this online, I've not actually completed the games compaign Next: Nothing, I only play this occasionally online for an hour or two at a time. Wii: Lots of Virtual Console stuff, but mostly R-Type. Now: Resident Evil Zero. I've been playing this for months, I have found it to be a game that drags, alot... It's not bad, mostly I have found it to be dull Next: Resident Evil. PC: Now: Hellgate: London I play this at lunch because it allows me to jump in and do a quick quest and not really care about anything other than slaying a bunch of monsters. (Work PC) Next: Dark Messiah Might and Magic. Now: Bioshock I don't get what the fuss was about this game when it was released... That said, I don't think it's bad. (Desktop at home) Next: The Witcher. Now: Fallout I've not been playing this aggressively but after playing through FO3 I decided to go back and play FO... I'm enjoying it! And I'm enjoying the more casual pace that I am playing it at. (Laptop at home) Next: Neverwinter Nights OC.

Actually I do mean it as I remember you saying you had no intention of playing it for some time when it was released, so naturally I'm wanting to see if you think it is actually as bad as you initially thought it would be. So you ended up being right for you... Fair enough. I wouldn't outright disagree with you, the visuals are fine, but the animations are a freaking joke, I'm certain that Bethesda must hire trained monkey's to do the animation, it's genuine CRAP work. Some of the texturing is rough on the many environmental objects, it doesn't actually feel like it has the same visual production values as Oblivion. Characters actually look bland also, no real facial animation etc... So much time seems to have been invested in the world itself (they screwed up and actually ended up cutting alot of the world... They made it too big initially). I don't dislike the concept of FO3 being first person, I do think it could have been done better but Bethesda didn't seem to iterate on the correct area's. It's better than Oblivion in some respects, such as a ruleset that works better, worse in others. FO3 does alot of things wrong, but I'm certain that it was successful enough to mean that we'll probably see some more offerings.

You obviously have different requirements. I was merely sat thinking in terms of processing power and misconception. It's more that people talk about the PS3 like it's miles ahead of the 360 in terms of technology, and frankly it isn't. It has a very nice processor, and a crap GPU. The Xbox has a nice processor and a very nice GPU, which lead me to saying "I just don't see why anyone would want a PS3". I stand corrected, there are certainly subjective, and personal reasons why this infact may be so, making it the better machine for certain individuals. I've said before that the PS3 has yet to peak, and that's true. It's going to be a few years yet till the cell processor can be used efficiently, hence the PS3 may infact be a smart buy, but right now I don't see a reasonable reason for myself to actually get one, I'm definately waiting on a price decrease (and maybe even a case redesign) before I seriously think about it myself. After everything is said and done, there is very little reason why anyone would want to own BOTH an 360 and a PS3 at the moment.

Uh huh. I can see why that would bother some people. When I get the red ring, I'll air my frustrations I am sure... I'll probably just send it off for repair, or buy a new one. I'm certainly not a ff fan in any way shape or form. Many people are, I suppose it comes to personal choice about number of discs at that point. Racing games... I can count on one hand the amount of racing games I have enjoied, GT certainly isn't one of them I've heard alot of good things, but then again I've heard alot of good things about other PS3 exclusives aswell, Killzone 2, Valkyrie Cronicles and MSG4. Downloadable rental movies are more to my tastes, I really dont want to be shelling out for Blu-Ray discs. Shame I can't download stuff to it while I'm doing something else. Irrelivent. That would require I have a wireless router, and I could just buy a wireless dongle for the XBox and still be cheaper than a PS3. Subjective. When I made the statement I wasn't particularly thinking of the user experience, I was seriously concerning myself with best cross platform software, cost and hardware. Logical things opposed to subjective reasons. I think you'll find that I don't hate the PS3, I've just not been convinced I need one (yet), already having a PC, Xbox 360 and Wii, the PS3 really doesn't seem to have enough of a reason for the me to buy it. Everytime I've seriously looked into getting one, I've always convinced myself that the need isn't actually there and it'd be a choice made in greed, the exclusives are too few and unappealing, the cost too high, and the benefit of blu-ray movies just isn't enough for me to take that step.

Why? I know you've said, end of story, I won't try and convince you otherwise either... Pointless little endevour. I'm assuming it's probably because it's a Microsoft product.

Funny list you have there, as it's split across disciplines... 1. Design 2. Code 3. Art 4. Design, mostly.... That and you've always got the iteration factor, the more you can iterate a concept the better it can be.

It's a blu-ray player that play's games? It's great at upscaling those old DVD's for your HD - TV? ... If those haven't worked you're screwed... Well unless she's some bizzare Spiderman 3 fan? You know if it looks like a george foreman... It probably is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Hh3tBdHwM

Okay I don't understand why anyone would choose a PS3 over an XBox 360... The player experience is usually a lesser experience on the PS3 compared with the XBox 360. The PS3 has alot of apparent processor grunt but the realities soon hit home when you realise the limitations of the PS3 hardware, along with a whole host of annoying idosyncracies, the GPU just isn't upto the job at all. PS3 GFX chip is alot like a Geforce 7800, it pretty much is, heck it even required an endian flip on data that's passed to the GPU, but I've covered that before. XBox 360 is more on par with a Geforce 8600. Regardless... Buy a Wii, if only because of this advert... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7PhJp3ciRQ

How ironic, so any verdict yet Volo?

You'd like alot of Neural Network stuff...

General concept is the first thing, details come later... Depending upon the type of genre, you will likely find that "Story", isn't that important early in development.