Humodour

Gimmie some new reads, guys.

Those are lame reasons. AFAIK the dialogue can be text based or voice-over based, and if you mean the character animations - what's so 'unique and difficult to replicate' about 'em?

One need only take a look at the reaction to LFD2 to see that. Still, that's got nothing to do with the perfectly reasonable desire for non-intrusive DRM.

Actually, I don't think it's North Korea after all: NK isn't rich enough to own 130 billion dollars, something that didn't occur to me when I wrote that. It could well be an attempt to destabilise the dollar through counterfieting after all (China wouldn't be happy since they'd lose their savings, so it's certainly not them). I mean, why would any country entrust their fortune with just 2 guys?

Why don't you start off with a cheap second-hand car and bash around in it learning to drive? You're not even 15 yet. You've got plenty of time to waste money on a sleek expensive car so you can show off to your friends.

I'll tell you what I WOULD buy a CE for: Portal.

Eh, I'll buy a collector's edition. I probably don't care about the trinkets, but it's a nice way of supporting Obsid without buying the game twice.

It is inconvenient. That's probably one of the reasons the EU is mandating the ability to select and install a browser without depending on the OEM to provide one to start with. Though I think even Microsoft's bastard solution has a line hidden in it to the effect of "users can elect to install Internet Explorer" - i.e. it's not installed by default, but it'll be lying around your Windows directory somewhere if you chose to install it.

Or it's because it's so cheap. It only costs 20 bucks/Euros. Therefor, Nintendo wins by default. Something I don't thing Microsoft comprehends. But that lessens Nintendo somewhat. Nintendo sells because they're good at what they do: they're cheap, but they're also high-quality, fun, simple, reliable and non-confrontational. Man I want my Wii. Played my sister yesterday at super smash bros (she got one for her bday) and it was really fun once I got the hang of the Wiimote/Nunchuck combo. I think she got a bit bored when I kept killing her though.

I agree - I much prefer the old avatars. Seems like the only way is to not install HoW. You could maybe replace the bifs in your override directory but I'm not sure if that'd make the game crash or not (probably not, since there's no dual-wielding?) Do you know which files those would be? I could try by installing vanilla IWD to a different directory and copying them over. Worth a shot, since it would make the game much more enjoyable. Hell, if i worked for IWD, it could probably work for BG2, but then you have the dual-wielding problem. Hmm. I don't have IWD1 installed, sorry. But I think they'd be easy to find because I recall they had intuitive filenames. What's the TeamBG programme that unpacks the chitin.key file and lets you extract the spell/avatar/weapon/etc bif/bam files (animation files)? Let me check... OK, it's called WinBIFF, download it here: http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/IEmodding/index.php Edit: download Bamworkshop on the same page to view the animations to confirm they are what you want. Edit 2: I just checked and I do have IWD1 installed. I can see the bams for Arundel and bats and stuff but character avatars aren't immediately obvious... Edit 3: OK, found them. They're under data\CHRAnim.bif in the chitin.key file. I guess you'd just extract that entire part of the chitin.key file to your override directory once you've installed HoW? No guarentees. There could be hard-coded animation frame count differences between IWD1 and HoW. Edit 3: Supposing you get bored and want to make your own spells or items, the IEEP tool on that page is a gem for that. DaleKeeper can detect any items/spell you make and add to the Override directory, too, if you can't be bothered using the console in game (I couldn't!). Thanks Krez! I'll give it a try after uninstalling IWD+HOW+TotL and report back. Edit 1: Ok, I extracted ALL the files from CHRAnim.bif into the override directory. I didn't really want to fuss with searching for each individual one because there are so damn many. Here goes nothing. Edit 2: Well, that didn't work. I didn't get any error messages or anything, just that nothing was changed WTF. That's exactly what's NOT meant to happen. Try this: delete that entire directory from the chitin.key file using WinBiff (also delete those override files you extracted( and see if anything changes (hopefully it should crash because there's no animation files - if not, we've got the wrong suspect). Report back here with what your findings, soldier! What do you mean when you say "delete that entire directory from the chitin.key file"? Do you mean delete all of the .bams or just delete the CHRAnim.bif? Just CHRAnim.bif I think (so all the character avatars, hopefully). The whole idea is to (hopefully) break your IWD install so we know for sure that those are the correct files to edit. So do a backup, if you don't want to reinstall from scratch. I might reinstall IWD1 sometimes soon myself and play a solo or duo squad, as I haven't done that before. I recall it being frustrating at first when I last tried, but I imagine I'll become overpowered eventually from all the extra XP.

Sega doesn't hire them; they're so mesmerised by Obsidian's awesome games they offer their services willingly.

Microsoft's ****ty new search engine they spent hundreds of millions on marketing for, because people weren't using the old one. The fact that their first attempt was so simple, intuitive and successful kind of speaks for itself.

Sounds like Microsoft hype, like Bing. I'd say it'll be a fail. Nintendo's on the right track with more specialised motion control devices, and they have a proven track record.

I'd suggest agents for a rogue regime. Considering NK has been withdrawing large sums from tax havens and secret banks recently to pre-empt the UN sanctions and assets freezes, it's probably them. Could also be Iran of course - lots going on there. It definitely has to be a country though. That amount is bigger than the combined cash on hand of Google, Microsoft and Apple combined.

So? You could do that in Fallout 1 and 2, as well. And Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 (super items). But the game was still hard. Having those weapons didn't make you godlike. So it sounds like a balance issue in FO3 (I haven't played it yet).

The Giants: Citizen Kabuto nude mode was pretty good.

monopolies cannot exist without government laws/regulations in the first place. Are you going to bother justifying that outrageous claim in any way or just let it sit there?

a) what part of what i said was contrary to this? b) what does a 4WD have to do with anything i said anyway? To both points: it doesn't. I wasn't arguing with you, but building on the thread in general. Quit being so anxious.

Obvious trolling? How many open source (read: volunteer) source projects do you know that failed especially due the will of a "project lead" that refused to force his decisions upon the team even in fields where he clearly lacks the expert knowledge? I'm with Krezack here: especially if you're working with volunteers you might want to let them decide about specific aspects how things are handled in their department instead of playing all-knowing dictator. You might have simply misunderstood the concept of subsidiarity: it actually means leaving the main decisions in a certain development department to the developers who understand the field best. You usually don't want to let your musicians decide what design patterns to use programming-wise. You don't want to let the programmers dictate all the gameplay elements. You actually got experts for each field, artists, programmers, musicians, gameplay designers, project managers, story writers. Why not use this expert knowledge and leave the majority of the decisions in each department to them? It doesn't mean that they're unwilling to listen to feedback; quite the contrary! It just means that it's a bad idea in general to let the designer of a car decide how the engine of a car should be constructed while he actually knows far more about design than about how to properly construct an engine. The project manager is responsible that each department properly cooperates with each other and that you get a working car in the end. So far - despite some obvious drawbacks here and there that are pretty much what happens to 95% of all open source projects - we seem to be on a quite good way. Of course I don't jump on the lets pat you on the back bandwagon so I MUST be trolling... can't be I say something out of experience or even project mgt 101 skills. That said, the very reasons you list is why commercial ventures are more times then not vastly more successful (as in get completed) then open source projects. The whole 'let run it as a democracy' (or there abouts) outlook which you apparently have. Sorry that is a poor way to get a job done. You are not trying to run a legislative branch of a govt. You are running a s/w project. Which includes you having vision, goals and as a project lead executing those goals and vision. Nothing wrong with getting feedback back and input from your team of course. But in the end of the day you need a strong leader to put his/her foot down and say this is the direction we are going, this is my vision and this is what you need to get done. And if someone isn't on board with that there is the door find someone who is. I lost count how many times I have seen open source teams try this concept of mgt and looking at sourceforge, for example, of the completed projects vs abandoned, unfinished projects I think the numbers speak for themselves. Certainly not wishing your project ill but until I see a working alpha or better I have no hopes this project will make it past the screenshot phase like the million other open source projects who claimed they were reaching for the stars yet never got off the launching pad. I really think your hands off approach of leadership style is not helping you either. A project like this needs a strong leader with focus and ability to delegate direction not someone who lets his team do what they want and turn critical choices and vision into a community vote. Um, get your facts straight: most open source projects fail because they are either trivial/bad ideas, or not worth the time. Because the barriers to entry are so much lower than commerical ventures (you don't need capital, you don't need to please clients or shareholders, etc), it's completely natural that you'll get a much higher number of people thinking their idea is the next best thing since sliced bread, start the project, then lose interest a month later. If your project is non-trivial, worthwhile, and your team is motivated, you've got a really good shot. I just noticed you used the sourceforge example. That's unfortunate, since nobody should actually think of that as a serious index of open source project success. I myself have 4 unfinished/abandoned projects on there. Again, barriers to entry mate. Anybody with a web browser can start a sourceforge project. It's even easier to abandon it.

Actually that's a very successful business model, especially in the open source world, and the only reason it'll become vapourware is if there's no team drive or coordination. But you don't understand his system anyway (it's laughable that you think you can make a judgement about the project's fate by trying to interpret a single sentence): just because project leaders seek consensus where possible (which is a GOOD thing since they often don't know the ins and outs of the thing they oversee, like engine code), doesn't mean they roll over paralysed at the first sign of deadlock in on a decision - they're fully capable of making decisions when they need to. And managing a project by consensus certainly doesn't mean that the leaders lack drive, motivation or vision.

It's the latter; we have a menu of missions that you select from in the safehouse. Mike warps to mission, beats up/stealthily passes by a bunch of bad guys, and then you return to the safehouse to check your news, emails, etc., and repeat the process. Wow that's disappointing. I was hoping for some exploration in some of the major cities and such im guessing the reason obsidian didnt want it free roam is because they dont want u going around killing people mindlessly because that is something u save for GTA.... Yeah, that's exactly NOT the reason. What the heck does that have to do with whether or not they have an open world? Fallout and Baldur's Gate had open worlds, and they were story based games. The reason there's no open world is because you need to put a LOT of time into making the fully explorable world. You often lose out in other areas when you do that (see any game by Bethesda). However they could of at least did a behind the scene transitioning system like VtM: Bloodlines, or Deus Ex.

lol, I criticised this bloke a bunch yesterday for being stubbourn and arrogant (repeatedly calling some poor kid stupid because he didn't understand a topic), and I walk into my first day at work today and he's my boss.

One upside of gaming coming to the uneducated masses: female gamers.

It's the latter; we have a menu of missions that you select from in the safehouse. Mike warps to mission, beats up/stealthily passes by a bunch of bad guys, and then you return to the safehouse to check your news, emails, etc., and repeat the process. Damn that sounds lame. Couldn't have at least integrated it seamlessly like Deus Ex?