Slowtrain

It's too bad we can't clone you and use you as a replicant parent throughout the world.

Bioshock would have been better with toilets and pooping.

2 words Krezzie: plumbing sim.

If toilet requirements added something to the gameplay I wouldn't be opposed to implementing them.

I'm quite jealous that you get to experience that game for the first time. STALKER: Clear Sky has been pushed back to early 2009 I heard recently, so I've got a long wait until I can visit there again and be yelled at in Russian by strange men wearing gas masks and carrying anomolous blobs of alien funk on their belts.

You should check out the latest version of the Jag 2 1.13 mod. The entire inventory has been redone and you know have all sorts of different packs and rigs and vests you can buy that make the combinations of inventory loadouts totally endless. Sometimes I spend an hour just equipping a team. lol.

I agree that treating quest items as seperate from general inventory is a good idea, especially if you have limited inventory space and have to retrieve something big (That enormous freaking boulder in Arcanum comes to mind, trying to fit that into Sog's inventory was a nightmare. On p aythrough I forgot he had it in there and he ended up lugging this gigantionormous boulder all around the map for weeks. lol) I'm mixed on whether treasure shoudl count as general inventory. In Daggerfall for example your gold weight counted against your weight limit, but you could go to the bank and either deposit the gold or convert it into paper notes which were weightless. Did that add anything to the gameplay or was it just somewhat a waste of time to implement? I don't really know.

I would say because such a system devalues the importance of making decisions and living with the consequences both good and bad of those decisions. I find games in which there are no limitations to my player character, generally dull. (That's right Todd Howard, I am looking at you) An inventory system is only one aspect of gameplay and thus in and of itself rarely makes or breaks a game, but can certainly be a contributing factor either way.

Don't think realism per se, think decisions and consequences.

The limited inventory was part of the balancing aspect of the game. Just like in System Shock 2. A well-designed game uses the inventory system to advance and balance gameplay, not just as a bottomless hole to chuck all your junk into.

Well, in many games there's a lot of stuff to be collected, ergo you have to give the player the ability to carry a fair sampling of said stuff around or the game becomes tedious. SO enormous carry weght and item limits are more a result of overall game design than anything else. I personally would greatly support a shift in game design that would reduce the amount of toting around of items and loot that needs to be done in game and correspondingly reduce the carry weight and size limits to more realistic levels. However, I am probably alone in that as I am in many other of my desires for change in game design.

Oh it wasn't a complaint. I suffer from limited taste palette myself. It tends to make best of lists a little skewed since there are entire genres of games I don't even consider. After all these yeasr of posting alongside Sand, I;ve noticed his tastes tend to run in a somewhat one track sort of way. SLightly. Not an insult though, since Sand is fab whatever his curent alt.

Yeah, but its FUN, which is an important part of combat in an FPS. you mean, which is an important part of games in general? Ha no, just in FPS..oh wait, nevermind I think another reason I love the combat in STALKER is that I have no idea what anybody is saying, which lends the whole affair a suitably metaphysical vibe. Wait what's that? You need a medkit? Or did you just say my butt looks fat from that angle? ha well never know. (Because I'll never learn Russian)

Limited taste palette?

I haven't used any but here is where they are: http://www.gsc-game.com/index.php?t=commun...=xr&lang=en

Yeah, but its FUN, which is an important part of combat in an FPS.

Well, I found the Hyper forums, but no Falliut 3 preview sadly. Anyway, completely off topic: a quick browse through the hyper forums has once again reminded me that Australians RULE. yes. The end period

Is that preview linkable, HK? I'm interested in seeing what has lead to that statement. A statement which of course needs to be take with several grains of salt since it is atatched to almost every preview ever written. I actually always assumed it was simply a boilerplate line that had to be there in a preview.

Deus Ex

I didn't think anyone other than myself even remembered that game. Pretty fun game, both in MP and SP. Nice blend of RT combat on the battlefield and the TB strategy aspects. Nothng more fun then sending your macemen crashing into the enemies archers. lol. I used to get killed in MP all the time. I was so bad. But it was fun.

The tragic fate of bad AIs everywhere.

I've always wondered if gaming publications get emails from publisher's Pr departments saying things like: Hi, <insert publication title here>, with our new major game release only a few months away please note that it is now OK to say bad things about our last major game release, AS LONG AS such bad things are IMMEDIATELY noted to be fixed in our upcoming new release. Also, please mark yourr calenders for next months upcoming exclusive demo of the first level of our hot upcoming release. Please remember to bring a change of underwear, your toothbrush, and your soul. Please note that souls wil be signed for and collected upon receving clearance to view our hot new upcoming release (first level only). SIncerely, x snarkle.

I agree. Those were the days. It even used to apply to space sims. Space sims, tank sims, sub sims, destroyer sims. Them was the days. Now the only sims we get are those silly sim sims. Who they hell would rather place house then hunt a U boat in the North Atlantic. Domestic weirdos, that's who. DOuble boo.

MYSTARY! lol.

There are still plenty of other hobby magazines on the newsstand though. Ham Radio, model rocketry, sewing, body building, all sorts of esoteric hobbies still have magazines. If computer gaming was stil an esoteric hobby, it woudl probably still have magazines. It had a lot more magazines when there was a lot less money in the business. Newspapers are a different kettle of fish from hobby magazines. Bad example.