Raithe

http://youtu.be/UjnuAgEP4kU I have to admit, I'm liking the Hawaii reference..

I thought this news article might amuse a few folks here.. BBC News - How Scientology Changed the Internet

Cloned Gat is amusing. The narrative of the "mad scientist fanboi" is also kind of chuckleworthy.

Just finished off Far Cry 3. (although only picked up 90 of the 120 relics scattered around the islands). Hm, I have to say, that finale is a serious wtf moment of writing. Seriously, you go through the whole game geared on saving your friends.

I'm kind of getting the idea that you're talking something akin to the oh..Radiant System of quests in Skyrim, but applied to NPC's, their relationships, and the quests they're invovled with/provide to the player.

Well, it's a fair swathe of returning talent from the previous three games. Apart from Eliza Dushku's Shaundi, and Michael Clarke Duncan's Ben King (for obvious reasons), I think that's pretty much the original voice actors for all of them.

Welcome to your local branch of the bank ,where we can do all the usual helpful things. Like tell you that for problem a> you have to make an appointment to see someone at a different branch. For problem b> we talk as if we can help you, but actually that means you going away to write a letter you bring back so we can send it to someone else, so they can do stuff that in a week or two might help. For problem c> we'll smile and re-iterate that you need to make an appointment with someone at another branch.

Heretic! BURN THE HERETIC!!

The joys of what looks like a table when you write the initial post, turning into a mass when you actually post it..

Hm, for those folk still wandering about the voice actors of Saints Row 4 and who is returning and who isn't.. In case you hadn't found out yet: The Cast: Keith David - As himself Danielle Nicolet - Shaundi Jennifer Jules Hart - Shaundi #2 Natalie Lander - Kinzie Kensington Terry Crews - Benjamin King JB Blanc - Zinyak/Phillipe Loren Michael Dorn - Maero Neil Patrick Harris - DJ Veteran Child Yuri Lowenthal - Matt Miller Arif Kinchen - Pierce Washington Tim Thomerson - Cyrus Temple Mike Carlucci - Zach Rob Van Dam - Bobby Rebecca Riedy - Asha Odekar Andrew Bowen - Josh Birk/NyteBlayde Michael Yurchak - CID TC Carson - Big Tony Ursula Taherian - Tanya Ogie Banks - Warren Williams The President: Nolan North - The Player Troy Baker - The Player Laura Bailey - The Player Robin Atkin Downes - The Player Diane Michelle - The Player Kenn Michael - The Player Sumalee Montano - The Player

Well, I'm not sure it's purely about the resources. If you right an npc so they're intimately linked to a specific story archetype : ie, revenge, loss, etc.. Are they going to be suitable to follow a completely seperate storyline? Would it work to the same depth if their range of emotions are tied to something else? If they aren't tied to that, are they going to have a suitable depth to really connect to the storyline and to you as the player? If they're going to assume a completely different personality type, is there any point in them being the same NPC?

I think on one hand it could be feasible ot do that on certain technical levels, but I don't think it would be able to engage as emotively if it was set up like that. Part of the reason those sorts of stories can work is because the characters (npcs) involved are fleshed out and provided with that background and depth. If you try to make each npc fit a whole bunch of different stories depending on whether you picked up x,y or z... you'd have to shift the focus on each specific character and provide too many story linkages. So you'd end up with shallower characters with the potential of linking to multiple arcs.. Also, that could mean that each NPC's "own" brand of story would be set aside in favour of the new one. So at what point would that choice be made? Or were you meaning that rather then each NPC having their own storyline, there are a dozen or so stories that randomly get linked to the NPC's travelling with you depending on choices you've made and how you've interacted with the world and them?

Far Cry 3 has some weaknesses, but some amsuing points as well. On the one hand it's got the whole "go through hell to rescue your friends one by one, make sure they can hide out safely while you get the rest, provide them an escape option from the island.. and then the moment you say 'you guys go, I'm staying here' you get accused of being a jerk who always runs away".. On the other, you get a german mercenary with some snappy "evil. huh, I lied to get in this group and because I'm german they assumed I was evil and on their side. I only got the promotion because of my accent.." type of snark.

Heh. "You nuked an elder god. You didn't think he'd notice?"

Chasing up an assortment of bank things today. Pondering on whether to try the barber's in this weather.. Also have assorted furniture moving/going through piles of crap and sorting what stays and goes going on at the moment... Although right now I'm pondering on a quick cool shower to fight off some of this clammy heat.

BBC News - Nasa tests 3D-printed rocket engine fuel injector

Wait until you see the third in the series.. 2&3 were directed by Jonathan Frakes (of Will Riker STNG fame..). When you have russians trying to find a chalice that is connected to Vlad the impaler, and Stana Katic doing a lounge singing, parisian vampire impression all set in New Orleans.. you know there's going to be chuckles.

We all know most civilised life stops half an hour past the Watford Gap...

Yes, but think of the neighbours you'd have to deal with there?

Part of the fuss seems to be the balance on this. There's another trial just completed where a black woman was sent to jail for a silly number of years for firing a weapon near a guy who was threatening her. So when that's held up as one standard, and then Zimmerman on the other, a guy who from all accounts basically went out, started a fight by verbally harassing a teenager until said kid threw a punch, then when he was losing pulled a gun and shot the kid (who happens to be a black teenager), and he gets away fairly scott free... There's going to be a whole heap of fuss.

I think whats making this more of a pain, is that there's bugger all air movement. When its hot and there's a breeze, it's not so bad. But when its just "dead" air thats hanging oppresively there as you kind of bake, it feels a lot more draining.

You guys have to remember, we're all adjusted to being pleasantly warm and strip down to tshirts for soccer games when it's around 14 C (about 55 F) or so. When the weather hits 20 C, it's just warm. When it's bouncing between 26-30 C (around the 80-88 F) range, it's feeling sweltering.

I'm enjoying my wander around in Far Cry 3. Definitely a far cry from the original game. More or a story to sink into, and a lot more atmospheric island to enjoy.

Had some really weird dreams running, being a single parent and an oddball mix of conspiracy-thriller stuff while trying to organise things with dream-friends who also had kids. That was.. a bit bizarre. Stumbled awake, got a cup of tea.. then my sister's all "fix my laptop! the screens flickering oddly!"

Well that's fun. I decide Far Cry 3 is tempting at that sale price and pick it up, get it downloaded, and think that I have enough time to give it a brief play before I call it a night. Then for the "first time run" it spends 15 minutes dowloading and installing stuff, including uplay. Then when it starts up uplay, it then spends another 10 minutes dowloading updates for uplay. I finally get into the game, 5 minutes in and it crashes out. I try running it again, and it immediately crashes. I think I'm going to call it quits for now and see what it's looking like in the morning. Still a wee bit annoyed you have to be running both steam and uplay at the same time to get the damn thing to work.