Atreides

Use Newton's method (calculus) Basically get an estimate/guess of X (say .2), then keep doing the iteration below (computer recommended for sanity). Xn+1 = Xn- f(Xn)/f'(Xn) f(x) = -4x^3+3x-1/2 f'(x) is the derivative of f(x) Successive X's will be converge to the "real" root (they get more accurate each time), so keep doing it until it's accurate enough for you. Here's a short cut: http://www.math.sc.edu/cgi-bin/sumcgi/Newton.pl Answer: x=0.17364817766693 Edit: Here's an explanation (semi-proof) why Newton's method works. Stop reading just after equation (5), we're not really interested in the rest (and it gets ugly too).

^To be fair to Slammy, he was only adding his thoughts to your suggestion/observation for powergaming.

The bad hair day crap really hurt. I suggest there be ingame salons where you get to alter your looks for a few hundred credits. Maybe a full face makeover to evade pursuers, or just change the goofy head models.

^Product placement is rampant in movies yet we still continue to pay for tickets for them when we go to cinemas, buy or rent the movies etc. It's not going to go away anytime soon and it's arguable we've gotten so used to it that we hardly notice it. Eventually I don't see why games would be any different.

Didn't you say you were disturbed by the Ayatollah guy's constant references to religion?

Followed by: So, dislike other people shoving their opinions on a personal subject to some but you're pretty fine "sharing" your (somewhat overgeneralised, bigoted views like "Of all the people who calls themselves religious I have met over the years have been weak minded fools who couldn't think for themselves") own in a public forum. Pot calling kettle, come in kettle.

Definitely, but it is time consuming. Kaori Yuki's Angel Sancutary is very well done. I'll read Kenshin when I have more time. Btw manga's not usually hentai.

Some very good points, especially how players get annoyed when enemies don't play by the rules to continue the story. However, I agree about letting Malak die there. If you killed Malak the story from then on would be pretty flat. You've already defeated the ultimate bad guy so there won't be much drive left for the game (who's to spur/guide the forces of evil on?). Of course, there'll be the story of Bastila being turned, your potential for becomming the Dark Lord etc wasted. As for the near-impossible battle, it makes sense. However there'll always be players who may keep trying, reloading etc until they do win, simply because they're hardcore or they think that it's meant to be part of the story (good one getting the player to make story-choices while in combat). It certainly is an interesting one though.

^No, Yoda actually said that in Ep5.

*Thumbs up*

[Yoda]You will be, you will be...[/Yoda]

Prolonged exposure to the Light side addles your grammar and makes you look like a green shriveled up prune. In that sense the Dark Side isn't that bad after all.

^I'm not sure. What I read that he was checking whether the artifact worked on someone else. It did and he was pleased that he had discovered that it worked as he had expected it to. The short story didn't mention if he tried it on itself. It was part of the SW novels so I think it's reasonable to consider it canon.

I read something like that - the Emperor was testing a Sith artifact on one of his minions that displeased him (but was still valuable). He transfered the soul (after tourture that would have been fatal) to a new body and was pleased that the artifact worked as intended. It would make sense. Senator Palpatine's body should have been more deteriorated given he was already a Dark Jedi master. @Chris: Senator Palpatine was already a Dark Jedi master but he didn't look that bad (though he should). I was expressing surprise that his appearance deteriorated so drastically in just a few years, relative to the Old Republic's last days.

When I saw the forum title had changed, I thought they'd announced the game

I get what you mean. Personally, I prefer story and interaction with the main NPCs, to the point that I'd pick story over open-endedness (both of the negatively correlated?).

I think black robes aren't specific to a side, but the type of make might be. Btw even if plain robes are traditional, the Jedi suits are still cooler As for Palpatine, I'm surprised that his appearance deteriorated that much from Ep4 onwards. He looks relatively okay in the prequels but by the time he's officially the Emperor he's completely off the bend. Maybe Drain Life restores looks/vitality?

I really want evil options to be smart (politics/manipulation/deceit to gain power, influence etc?) rather than just "could I pls have some more?".

I think people should notice lightsaber colour too, maybe some observant person would notice Jedi-type robes (Sith lord), and maybe the appearance (flaming eyeballs, veins, pale complexion etc) might tip them off.

Because everyone knows that even if you don't ask for rewards, you always get rewards, and mean evil people who do ask for rewards actually get worthless gold instead of precious items or experience... *draws deep breaths* Some things really suck in RPGs right now. Maybe we could have an evil response to make it clear that the player'd expect the NPC to return the favour in the future. I'm not saying that the response should be a raving maniac saying "YOU OWE ME!!11", but it could be a subtle twist of words with a hidden meaning - something Senator Palpatine would do Having friends in high places (and blackmailing them for power/position) > money.

True. One way I could imagine doing it is writing out 9 responses, scaled to allignment. The engine would display the range that's appropriate. However, I agree that things would get sticky if you were to add in other variables such as stat, class, skill checks etc. Probably better to concentrate on a few things, or the stat, class, skill, race specific stuff.

Sounds good!

What would you think if dialogue options was affected/partially restricted by alignment so that there wouldn't be too much variance (character speaking way out of allignment)? For example, say there are degrees of response, from 1 being Lawful good to 9 being most Chaotic evil, with 5 true neutral (halfway between the two extremes). The player could start out at true neutral (pretend allignment is determined by actions alone), so they'd have a dialogue scale of 4 to 6 (chaotic to lawfull neutral). There'd be good to evil responses but they'd be mild (close to neutral). Of course the range could be wider (3 to 7?)but the main idea's the same. If the player's allignment slips towards evil, the response range could shift closer to 9, 5 to 7 from 4 to 6. Eventually the range would shift up or down, but the effect would be something like a good paladin wouldn't say evil lines. This is what I meant by reducing variance and not speaking out of role. There'd be relatively good and bad responses, but nothing too far from your allignment. Eventually you could go to the other extreme, but gradually as your allignment changes. True, it's restrictive but it could convey the idea that the player's getting more deranged/evil/good as the game progresses due to his/her actions that influence allignment.

It all rolls down to whether the expected *present value of forecasted/expected cash flows (from sales, publishers?) is equal or hopefully greater than the present value of costs. Plus there may be the added challenge of matching costs vs income (bills need to be paid on time). Quite clearly the present value of the amount depends on what interest rate OE or the industry in general is using. A risky project usually drives the interest rate up because people expect to be compensated for the risk that things may turn sour. Anyway it's a way of calculating whether projects are worth taking on. I'm guessing this answers MC's question as to how late sales are handled - they're still income, but less "valuable" (a $ today is worth more than a $ tomorrow). Before taking on a project they may estimate how sales will go at different times after release and then calculate its present value, then compare it to the present value of costs etc. That's why sales close to release are more valuable then sales much later on (longer time = smaller present value). *Present value (PV) is the discounted value of a cash flow. Er, you could look at it this way: say you invest $100 for a year, and at the end of the year (at interest rate = 10%) your investment is worth $110. Looking at it backwards, you could say the present value of $110 in a year is equal to $100 today. Basically PV takes into account the time value of money, not just the magnitude. Edit: sorry if it doesn't make much sense, I'll try to explain if somebody wants me to. I'm sure Feargus or finance dudes could do a better job.

^Good point. People usually pick interesting or unusual circumstances to represent an unfamiliar genre. It's like making a (false) generalisation by saying western porn's primarily scat, puke or some torture crap.