metadigital

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.

That would have been a significant sale. Weren't Atari the imbeciles that argued with their staff and the result gave birth to Activision? (I can't recall off-hand ...)

Actually, all signs are that 3D Realms is about to release Duke Nukem Forever; there was a report in PC Gamer and PC Zone (I think) acouple of issues back where they explained that the game was finished, has been for a few months, and the devs are just play-testing it to get out the kinks. The implication was a Fall release. I've thught of a way for 3D Realms to retrieve some of their public standing: simply announce (and be half-way through) the sequel ... Call me an optimist ...

GOLD

It was a nice proof-of-concept, but I would trust that they won't implement it like that again.

... Or a superset of 24 large goals, and each game randomly choose 12 possible and a minimum (of whatever the critical path is between those goals, which could be as little as a couple); these goals would be randomly assigned to difficult areas to reach: Korriban (for example purposes only) defeat hordes, get there, maybe there is a crystal/Jedi Master/widget/map shard/green doohickey/written clue/etc and maybe THERE AIN'T. Have a two dozen worlds, so there is lots to discover, but if you choose to go straight to the "end boss" you can ... and die more often ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Just douse the louse in petrol. Remember that the vapour is the inflammable phase, so be sure to stand well back as the liquid starts to evaporate ...

Use the Search, Luke ...

Yeah, I originally thought there was some substance to the hype, but when I opened the DVD that was all there was ... I think this was noted by a few others elsewhere ... Anyway, here is the latest Gamespy Call of Cthullhu review. :D

Yeah I know. Just thought I'd throw it out there <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ... And against the forum rules.

NTL re fine as long as you don't get any issues ... " Tabacco companies (like British American Tabacco) actually have most of their revenue generated outside their industry; have done for decades (diversified at the first sign of trouble). I guess some of the less scrupulous are still dumping third grade toxic coffin nails on the developing world, though ... It's fine as long as you don't buy the insurance plans. (I never buy insurance anyway. By the time you need to claim, you've bought the insured goods five times over, not including the opportunity cost, and they won't pay out the full amount anyway; even if they don't completely disqualify the claim on some fine print. E.g. are you covered if you have flood insurance and your roof leaks and your contents are saturated, resulting in water damage? No, you need to stipulate deluge cover. <_< ) They can't get rid of morons on the sales floor: 1. It is the first link in the chain of distributed-power for managing price-bargaining; 2. The staff cost less than the air conditioning run; 3. What would all those college drop-outs do for work?

Is that like the scientist who grew the human ear on the back of a mouse a few years go? " Now, now. Namecalling is hurtful and wrong. I would hate to be in the position where I was certain something so basic in our society felt completely wrong to me; the bravery of the people who have to face a life of incomprehensible hell, just to feel normal. I heard odds for a baby born with an extra X chromosome (i.e. a Y and two X chromosomes for the 23rd set) is about 1 in a thousand. If it's true, that's a lot of unhappy people. There goes half of the internet. Next thing you'll want p

Saw Ladies in Lavender the other day; didn't cry, but Dame Judy Dench moved me with her portrayal of the innocent girls trapped in the lady. Magnificent. Flawless.

Um, no. ... The same battle that saw the only deployment of the legendary "Schwere Gustaf" railway supergun that took out an entire Soviet bunker buried 30m below the bottom of the harbour in a single shot. I think that is a pretty nifty gun, taking out an entire secret underground bunker with no risk to allied troops ...

I hated that continual re-authorisation process. Boy that was a bad idea: evey time you load a savegame? To the internet? Why not download a hashed (asynchronous) secret once. Check it every time the game engine is updated. Sheesh.

I don't believe we get any of that armour in K2 (I guess it might be a remote possibility through the random loot generator). It might be the big area before the control panel to disable the forcefields, yeah. Kreia might be doublehanded grip on the lightsabre. (It's a tough call.) That isn't T3, it's a forcefield generator (although I don't remember one on that part of the map).

poor bukkake, being associated with the frankenfrog

She's only got one lightsabre -- the red flashes are blaster fire -- (but two hands); but there is a Sith Soldier (none that I remember in K2), and that area isn't familiar, either.