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crakkie

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Posts posted by crakkie

    Freelancer

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    All I remember is expecting another Privateer and being sorely disappointed. I just wanted to be free of it to explore the systems, but the game forces you along with the story. The systems scale up linearly in enemy strength and available ships, so that by the "Germany" system where you can finally travel from system to system, you have (or nearly have) the best ships and equipment.

     

    Anyway, RIP space sims ;____;

    :(

    Yeah, that was one of the last ones from a big developer, though there's still some indie space sims like the Star Wraith guys

    Left 4 Dead

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    Wrong. The HL1 engine called "Gold Source" (but barely used by this name) was a heavily modiefied Quake1 engine. Source (HL2+) otoh has been completely written new from scratch.

    It was rewritten piecemeal from GoldSource and I think by HL2 it was completely Quake free, but the engine's structure still resembles it's granpappy. Anyway, I like Source, and I REALLY like it in Left4Dead. I found it to be very well optimized now as well. My 8600GT pulls it off at full detail.

     

    Expert is a bit hopeless though. You need to find 3 other good players to have a chance, and I know no such people. I tried 6 times on the subway with 2 different groups and we never even got to the end of the tunnel.

    Left 4 Dead

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    It's actually astounding how well the aged Source engine still looks. Especially the superb dynamic shadows, the lighting and particle effects. Not to mention the smooth framerate despite having a few dozens high-poly zombies rushing at you.

     

    Edit: And it's the first game that uses film grain that doesn't look like crap.

     

    Well, technically the Source engine is 10 years old and at its core a heavily modified Quake 1 engine. Valve is always updating it, adding HDR, swarming AI, multicore support. I think the Source engine in HL2 is roughly equivalent to UE2, while in HL2:E2 and L4D it's more comparable to UE3.

    Suggestions for NWN2 NX3

    in Computer and Console

    Posted · Edited by crakkie

    Taladas!

     

    Yes, the next expansion should take place on a different planet, in the lesser known expansion of a setting long abandoned by WotC.

     

    In Northern Hosk and the Glass Desert and the Steamwall!

     

    edit: well I was kidding, but wikipedia says "In 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons, each campaign setting is receiving an entire year of focus, with 2010 being set aside for Dragonlance." So now I'm not kidding...

    World of Goo

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    I tried the demo, then got for the Wii. It's a bit easier to construct goo (?) with the wiimote. Very fun and innovative. It's a puzzle game that makes failure fun. It's gorgeous, has the best music of any game this year, and it's actually fun to watch someone else play it. I still haven't finished it; my wife won't give me a turn.

    Should the Aliens RPG have MASS EFFECT elements in it?

    in Aliens RPG: Speculation & Discussion

    Posted

    * The US/UA has a colonial military force called the United States Colonial Marine Corps. These are basically space marines, but their equipment is nowhere near as heavy and crazy as (for example) Warhammer 40k stuff. They wear body armor, carry motion trackers to detect enemy movement, and have two signature weapons: the M41 pulse rifle and the M56 smartgun. The former is an assault rifle with an underslung grenade launcher and the latter is a big support weapon on an armature connected to the wielder's body. Smartguns also auto-track enemies, hence the name "smart"gun. They fly around space in big transports, land on planets using dropships, and roll around in big APCs. In all other ways, they are pretty much like regular American marines.

    They also have women serving in combat roles.

    Holy Goddam

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    The model was created with a dome of digital cams with TTL flashes capturing her movements exactly. There is no muscle structure or skeleton modeling, it's just a very high resolution capture of her exact movements as she talks. As it stands this is only really useful for something like interactive movies where you interact with the story, not games where you interact with the world.

     

    Also, if models and animations were that exact, it would push development costs up another order of magnitude. That's not good for industry, and it isn't worth it, not for something you'll get used to seeing after 30 minutes. Unfortunately, customers by and large are going to keep pushing for graphical improvements until that level is reached. Exponential content creation costs will at some point outpace linear sales increases. Then society will collapse.

    Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    Since there have been so many overland maps in RPG history, can you share any specifics about SoZ's?

     

    What's actually going to happen when I run into an enemy or a caravan in the overland map? Does it start the battle in a regular (small) map or do we talk it out in the overland map first? Are there battle maps for each environment? Can I fight on the bridge? And the "hidden areas", are they actual locations ala Fallout or are they just little "chests" that might pop up depending on your Spot skill?

     

    And the overland map looks quite awesome.

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