metadigital

I'm thinking a hybrid, like some sort of "Terminator" info HUD whilst your PC walks around the immersive world (all the better if it feels like you are actually in this world, like the Gucci-clad alter egos in the Matrix trilogy). Therefore you can incorporate tactics, like a RTS, over a FPS, with RPG narrative elements (complex plot interactions and twists). All of the technology has a well-trodden path to retail production; most of the cool stuff we hear about is still a decade away from general use. (Xerox Palo-Alto laboratories developed the mouse in about 1980 -- along with the Apple Lisa!)

Liked it a lot. Not tried Cold Fear, though the intro looks good.

Crypt of Medea on the Apple ][. Very cool game (even if the English was a bit dodgy: decapitated hand, anyone? )

You have a sense of humour? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, I know... What is THAT about? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> you should post a disclaimer then, like McDonalds had to with their coffee; y'know, something like: "These posts may contain humour. No warranties as to the gelogenic qualities, either expressed or implied, are undertaken by the undersigned. All rights reserved. This does not affect your IQ. Any issues, see your psychologist or increase your dosage."

... You've just crossed over into ... The Twilight Zone. ne-no-ne-no ne-no-ne-no eeeeeeeeeee-r-gggggg ne-no-ne-no ne-no-ne-no ticky ticky ticky ticky

You have a sense of humour?

:)

Don't get me started ...

How about the "Model they settled on for the release"?

The give-away is in the name ... " Not sure if that was directed towards me, but... I don't know anybody who doesn't agree that there are some people that are evil and twisted in this world. But being an evil tyrant and a kind person at the same time??? Bah! Don't see it...well unless perhaps they suffered from multiple personalities. The crazy factor always throws a wrench in logic. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I take it you have no problem with the postulate that a good person can be a bad ruler, correct? A sociopathic personality type is actually well-suited to leadership; some ridiculously high percentage of business executives have some form of sociopathy. Nevertheless, try and take a leader's power away, and a winsome personality may fade to the underlying lust for power that it masked, whilst there was no threat to the power. Take Zimbabwe; Mugabe ruled for decades without mishap or serious complaint; then, when it looked like he was to lose power, he began to change. He adopted Saddam Hussein's tactics, using them in an African context (rather than Arabic): by this I mean he attacked the "West" in such a way that he scared off the other African leaders (who are the only ones who might have an influence on his leadership) by becoming "more black than black". His logic, which seems to have been bourne out in the public attitudes in Africa, is that anyone criticizing him would be a white-supremicism-sympathizer, a lick-spittle to the colonial overlords. The result is that he has turned a once normal democracy into a despotic tyrany; those in his favour rape those he disfavours of political power and material assets (like the white farmers). Right, so now let's consider a nasty person who is a good leader. Well, according to our old friend Machievelli and his seminal advice in The Prince, it behooves a leader to rule the people so they remain happy and productive. In other words, to keep a long and successful reign, the sovereign needs to give something back to the people. Feeding the people stops civil unrest, which will unseat the sovereign faster than a rival.

H

So you're really a big fan, then.

You also had to clear the existing queue for all the characters who were not instigating hostilities; this involved targeting an enemy, in first person (so you switch to the each of the other two combatants in turn), and when the queue appeared (full), erasing the (probably inappropriate) combat commands and re-queueing the ones you wanted. This was a trick, because you had to target an enemy twice, because the first time the queue wouldn't show up (which was similar to when the queue is empty), and only after the second attack would the already-full queue appear, wihtout the two previous commands you entered. It just became frustrating so that I ended up not bothering (let 'em fall over, they get up again later and I can heal them).

I tried to use it all the time. It didn't work. (Well, actually there was a manual way to force it to work.) All the queued commands would be lost and replaced by the "AI-chosen" combat commands, which typically were completely inappropriate (like attacking with no weapon, or healing with no injury). The only way to make the queue work was to jump between each combatant and load their queue, before each queue got started, and then jump between them all to maintain the queues integrity (so defeatng the purpose of the queue in the first place, as you have to maintain the queue manually). Add to this the broken solo command: there is no way to enter a battle and stay fighting solo; your team will charge into battle even if they are set to a defensive posture. Still, as Steve said, the combat was laughable so it didn't matter in the end for getting through the game; it just meant that the suspension of disbelief was interrupted yet again. <_<

I'm a fraud. I have Adventure on my HDD, and I've never even started it. And I've never beat a Zork title, despite starting several. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The Original Adventure was interesting mainly for the characters and situations, it's probably really easy to beat now, as everyone stole their ideas (e.g. the maze). IIRC Zork II was the best. But I really enjoyed Planetfall the most (where you start off as a janitor on a military ship and are the only survivor to crash land on the unknown planet below that just happens to have an ancient, dormant civilization ...) Great kid, don't get c0cky ...

First-Person you say? I'll pass. I hate playing RPGs in anything but 3rd person. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Anyway, why not play a FP RPG ? I don't see the problem. What bad experiences have brought you to this conclusion? Or is it a game-mechanics pov? (Why?) I wish that were true.

i can recommend "The Prophet" for those interested in spiritual growth. It is decidely less preachy than most of the books in this category ...

They may, but it's always been because they doubt technology. Now there isnt much room for the graphics to go because they are almost photorealistic. It's not quite the same scenerio. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> There's plenty more to do. First off, there is actualy photoreality. Then we need to add true dynamic lighting, like the process begun with Half-Life 2's The Lost Coast. Then there is the super-realism, e.g. Matrix-style bullet cam on every object in the visible area. Then of course, after all that, there will always be the alternate-reality-type interface, like that heralded in such films as Lawnmowerman ... There is heaps of scope left, after all there is always incorporating dreamscapes into reality (which is what films are aiming to do) in realtime interative mode (which is what video games are trying to do), to the point where we are in a matrix-style technological age.

Wow, that's actually exactly what I'm going through. I've always had my nose stuck in a book, but then I stopped reading a few months ago after spending my time reading biographies on Henry the VIII and Elizabeth I, as well as L.M. Montgomery's journals. I just didn't read at ALL anymore. Thankfully, I was introduced to Robert Frezza's McLendon's Syndrome, and I've rediscovered reading. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, I devoured some SF novel after my hiatus and I realised that you really do need to budget for recreation in everything, even reading. Even though I can speed read, I rarely read faster than I can subliminally hear the words, mainly because I like to think whilst I read (I think my subconscious is solving the world's problems). Even getting a good comic to read can help re-focus to read that worthy weighty tome.

There is always a new weapon to develop in the arms race; that's wahy its a race. For instance, you didn't mention Psychological warfare ... Manufacturer: Hughes (Launcher) / Raytheon (Missile) Not long after, at the US Armed Forces Helpdesk: "Hello, may I have your Armed Forces ID, Unit, Geographicity, Weapon Category ID and Battle Status, please." ... "M-mm, okay, you're in combat with the Stinger missle launcher, and it won't fire. Do you have a comm ID that I can contact you on, should we be cut off prematurely? ... "Right. Okay, I'll just put you through to Hughes ..." ... "Okay, thankyou. Yes, hello caller? Yep, I'll just put you through to Raythorn, the Hughes rep insists it was their upgraded launch grappler that needs attention, so I'll just get them on the line ..." "Right, okay, well I'll have to put you through to second level, as it appears that we can't determine if the fault is with the launcher or the missile; I've recorded your comm ID so that we can contact you when someone is available ..." ...

I think there is a distinct lack of resulting characters ... Nah, I chose trust. " You're Bastila! "There is no emotion, there is peace." You live for whatever you respresent, and are a martyr to anything. You will go down in a flame for recgonition, but guard your heart -- it holds all of you. What KotOR Character Are You? brought to you by Quizilla ∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧ Um, "You live for whatever you represent and are a martyr to anything."? You might want to determine what the people represent, perhaps? And if I am a martyr to whatever I represent, why would I be a martyr to just anything? I take it this is meant to be a double insult: shallow priorities and stupidity prevents updating these priorities. <_<

Very few people (in Europe, anyway) could read at those times. Most of the scholarship was taking place in the arabic lands, so they took over the literary traditions of the classics (after the Roman Empire was extinguished finally at Constantinople by the Ottomans); that's why the Arabic words for algebra and alcohol are still used in English today. There was a rich Venetian with a library before Guttenberg; his extensive collection ranged to SIX books. Mostly the Roman Catholic Church was the centre of learning (and science), and therefore most -- but not all -- readers were senior clergy. Even the monks were pretty illiterate, copying letter for letter passages from the Bible (and making mistakes!); the nobility would have a better literacy rate, if they cared. So your bestseller in 650ACE would be something written in Persian or Arabic, if not the Bible.

Yes. :'(

Sounds like a heating problem. Whatever they told you, the Graphics Processor was overheating; that's why the game worked for a few minutes (until the chip reached a critical temperature). I've heard pretty good reports from the games mags about them; certainly if you write in to a complaints section the company will respond promptly, in my expeience. I don't like the quality of Dell's stuff. I'm sure they are implementing a built-in obselescence programme that Henry Ford would be proud of, whereby all their components are timed to disintergrate after the warranty. I have a Dell 8000 and the battery went about a day after the 12 month warranty ended. I have since found that most people with Dell Laptops are familiar with the Dell CBS (Crap Battery Syndrome). I used to use the laptop's battery every day, with a deep discharge one a week. Nevertheless, it still died after the perfunctory twelve months. One of the reasons I bought an IBM Thinkpad: they have the longest battery life in the industry.