General Chat

Heh, I remember Romero announcing Daikatana 2 was going to be made with the Unreal engine 2 years before Daikatana came out... :P

Ethan Watson, teh brand spankin' new Krome employee.

mmmmmm[:o)] wise words, very wise.....[:o)][:o)], ummmm what do you mean? are you saying....that one shouldn't become a jack of all trades master of none? or....[?]

I just loved the fact that in the middle of all the other crap thats going on Warne was leading story materal, and in other news priorities have become skewed.

Pantmonger

THat's what's crappy about AUstralia, like some flood or other huge disaster happens elsewhere in the world, like indonesia, and we focus on some sport guy's crooked leg?

WTF is with that?

This kind of reminds me of the Russian submarine incident in 2000. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)'s cartoonist, Warren, made a cartoon set on the inside of the sub, the captain at the periscope, and someone at communications saying "Great news! The Olympic torch just passed through Goulburn!" Brilliant piece of work, but just about everyone got offended at him stating the truth - stuff like that generally does tend to get more of the Australian public's attention.

Ethan Watson, teh brand spankin' new Krome employee.

The simple fact of the matter, is that the world is ruled by the majority, because being a majority, they actually form the largest market share :P

The marketeable news is different from what actually is the real news, and what goes on in the world. People don't want to read about subs blowing up, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, natural disasters, terrorism and bad stuff. They want to read EGO validation -> they want to see some kind of revered, "celebrated" person that they elevate above themselves, screw up and see that "hey look at that guy, I wouldn't do something as stupid as him, and he's f***ing a kick-ass sports dewd". And hence, people feel better about themselves in that they should be getting paid as much as some celebrity, and should be just as celebrated.

That's why everyone allegedly hates these celebrities, but yet, can't stop discussing them.

On top of that, give the sports people a break when it comes to their pay. I'm not saying that their job is more difficult than our job, but let's face it, it is far MORE APPRECIATED, and more valued, and that's the real trick. Sports fans pay to see their sports heroes play, and hence, sports heroes bring value to the game, and hence they get paid for circulating money in the direction of the sport.

Believe it or not, it's the same principal with video/computer games and games developers. So if we were over-paid (which some of us are) then people would be bitching about us in exactly the same way, which to me, is just a ridiculous recirculation of an old envious argument.

And just to keep ranting cause I've been off these boards for a while, but there actually is news services out there for you if you want to actually hear about what is going on in the real world without the over-saturation of ego, you can easily choose to not watch the news and do something useful too :)

Instead of bitching about sports stars getting all the attention, bitch about Osama, or Saddam or G.W. Bush and them being a bunch of tossers if your heart really is in the right place.

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

I'd bitch about Bush more, but then I'm afraid that if I try to apply for a job in the states that some guy will find my bitching post and decline me based on that.

Although Letterman brought up an interesting comparison between Bush and (insert North Korean Leaders Name Here), as they both had average grades, and got to power because their fathers used to be there.

Well true, bitching doesn't get you very far in general, which is why these message boards can get cluttered, did anyone watch Rove last week, Robin Williams had the balls to say that "we've hired the handicapped" in reference to G.W.B.

Anyway, enuff bitching, I'm going to go chase some ass.... (well, maybe I'll just sit around).

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

Maitrek

I have to disagree with your view of the situation. People do not love celebrity just because they want to see them fail thus making themselves feel better. People idolise celebrities and some see them as the pinnacle of what they themselves may become, empowerment fantasy abounds that?s why the fall of a famous (rather then notorious) celeb gets so much news, because people cannot believe that the archetype of their hopes was human.

As to the give sports stars a break about their pay. No I will never condone the ludicrous pay packets of the cult of personality, there are people out their making a difference, a real difference, developing new tech, curing illnesses, yet getting paid sqat and having trouble getting funding for there potently life saving research. Yet lets instead of supporting these people lets pay someone to hurls a ball around a field.

And finally, I was not just bitching about a sports star getting all the attention, I am aware that the popular media reports what sells and there for the subject matter was what most Australians wanted to here. I was using that as an example of the sad state of affairs in Australia (not just the media) that most would rather hear about the sport then critical world events.

Pantmonger

Pantmonger: Here here, totally hit the nail on the head!!

Maitrek: "Quote:... I'm not saying that their job is more difficult than our job, but let's face it, it is far MORE APPRECIATED, and more valued, and that's the real trick..." And here in lies the problem with our country.
"Me like sport, me no like science and arts, UG UG."

Whoa whoa whoa. Talk about being spoon fed words into my mouth. I never said people loved celebrities because they want them to fail, I said people liked reading about celebrities failing because of the fact that it's validating for them on a basic psychological level. People "celebrate" celebrities (hence their name) because they do look up to them, and admire their achievements (as shallow as some of them may be) and they want to emulate that kind of success in their lives.

quote:As to the give sports stars a break about their pay. No I will never condone the ludicrous pay packets of the cult of personality, there are people out their making a difference, a real difference, developing new tech, curing illnesses, yet getting paid sqat and having trouble getting funding for there potently life saving research. Yet lets instead of supporting these people lets pay someone to hurls a ball around a field.

But let's face up to it, are we making the world a better place as game developers? **** no, we are also part of the entertainment media, and NONE of us really care that we aren't donating all our lives to scientific/culturally significant tasks and making the world great. Okay, sure you could argue that games can be used to educate people about prejudice and racism and tolerance, but look at what the games market actually is??? Come on people, take yourselves off of your high horses.

Hell I don't care about making the world better, I've just always wanted to be involved in making games.

We aren't making big changes to the world, neither are sports stars, and we *both* get paid more than the charitable/scientific souls who do the hard work of cleaning up the mess of us ignorant.

On a more on topic note, sure I agree that the media should celebrate the real champions of the modern era, but unfortunately that just is, and NEVER will be, the case, because frankly the world is a little too bleak for people to face up to in it's entirity and acknowledge that sports really is just a game to waste time, the same way computer games are. So by saying that you won't condone the pay packets of the sports stars is only one or two steps away from saying your own pay packet is unjustified.

I made this point in my previous post, but it obviously fell on completely deaf ears. Sports stars getting paid = same principal as us game developers getting paid.

quote:And finally, I was not just bitching about a sports star getting all the attention, I am aware that the popular media reports what sells and there for the subject matter was what most Australians wanted to here. I was using that as an example of the sad state of affairs in Australia (not just the media) that most would rather hear about the sport then critical world events.

My whole post wasn't necessarily about your post, I was referring to the original topic, which if you can't be bothered looking upwards is

quote:what i really really hate is how sports people in australia and everywhere are put up on such high pedestals and get payed soo many dollars all just for training themselves and thus performing as to the amount of time they have spent on training.
Shane warne the idiot cant even explain to the media how he stuffed up without reading his press release word for word in front of the media. if you love sports, no worries... im not knockin what you might like....but sheesh why do the rest of us who dont give a hoot have to have it shoved in our faces over and over and over again???........you have to wonder

The last bit basically refers to the whole "sports stars pimping the media" argument going on here.

So to sum it up, I *do* agree with you about inappropriate media attention on some issues, the sad fact of the matter is in this world, not much attention is paid to the people who want to make the world, that we actually live in, a better place

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

youll get your cds faster if you send them cds/cash for cds...

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

thats true but buzz doesn't accept money for CD's, though you can become a member "sponser". which is sorta the same thing[B)]

And some animatrix screens from one of the clips.. (You can tell that these were done by the guys that did Final Fantasy)

http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/animatrix_osiris_gallery.h…

Ausgamers is hosting one of the released animatrix shorts... about 150mbs!http://www.ausgamers.com/files/details/html/4691

And that Animatrix flick... worth downloading @:-)

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

http://keanuweb.com/stories/2002_04.html
some untextured models from one of the animatrix shorts (done by the Final Fantasy movie people).. looks AWESOME... is that same as the animatrix short that was released btw? (haven't seen it yet)

I agree he sounds like a fruit loop, but huge leaps have been made in technology before.
I'm wondering if the guy actually fully realises what he's talking about...one would assume he does, but from the "layman" nature of the interview he doesn't really let any ideas or anything out that actually give what he says any credit.
I'm also interested as how detailed they can really do anything with the Unreal Tournament engine. It doesn't really strike me as an engine that can be hugely manipulated on the fly to do what he's talking about.
Anyway, we'll know in 5 years or so there'll either be a huge announcement or nothing. It'll at least take 5 years before consuemr hardware is anywhere close enough in power to do what he wants.
CYer, Blitz

I don't know if it's a hardware issue myself. I think in the article itself he's pointing out that now that graphics have gone as far as they have, it's most likely games will develop in different areas, and given the technology that we have today, I'd be amazed if this kind of thing couldn't be applied to the next gen of games ie 2005. I think there is tonnes of untapped processing power in modern PCs.

You're right in saying that he doesn't really say anything at all about how he proposes to do these things in the interview.

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

It is a hardware issue though. As fast as computers are, it still takes them a long time to solve complex problems and searches. If he really wants to do something new and amazing, he's going to have to do a lot more than use FSM's. There are a number of problems in AI that this guy would have to solve to get what he wants happening...and these problems have been being worked on for 50+ years.
CYer, Blitz

I heard about this a couple of days ago. Having had a lot of good and bad experience with university researchers working around game development type subjects, its sounds like he is suffering from a lack of understanding of how a game is put together.

In this case, he considers the story to be the fundamental foundation on which the game is built and pretty much the only element the gamer derives satisfaction from.

In reality, while story is important, a game is the sum of many pieces including aesthetic design, puzzles, interface etc all of which are closely linked.

Should a game be built around the system he describes using current or near future technologies you would either end up with

a) an achievable but lacklustre system that produces bland and generic feeling game worlds, storylines, characters and environments

b) a complex and rewarding system that unfortunately requires so much content to support it that you would never have the budget, dev team or timeframe to produce it

I'm not sure there is a happy medium.

Regards

Mario

A system like he describes would be interesting
however if you let something that can't "think" outside of logic will mean very standard stories and settings
and don't you think that kind of system would cause countless continuity errors in the story and i doubt a computer will ever be able to understand mood and feeling which are more important than the details.
Not even an AI (a computer that could think) could do that
you'd have to wait till humans develop AS, Artificial Sentience (or until an AI develops an AS [:p])

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

I guess one positive might be that an AI would never come up with completely abstract and insanely illogical puzzles that are impossible to solve unless you happen to have read the design spec :P
CYer, Blitz

I'm still not really convinced by people saying that there isn't the processing power to do this kind of thing. There is clearly alot of spare clock ticks lying around the place if you run Unreal Tournament on the latest hardware, anything over 80fps can't really be detected by the human eye anyway.

In response to Mario's two points

a) Have you played Morrowind? Okay, sorry to say this, but to me that was clearly a lacklustre plain world that I've been through before (Daggerfall) with an unconvincing and boring storyline.

b) have you played Ultima IX? The entire world took way too long to develop because it was so richly detailed...

These two problems aren't really specific to the whole AI generating storyline/environment, but are more related to game design in general.

However, you look at the tools we use for creating game content, and they are very production-line machinated. We employ professional artists who use these programmer generated tools to make content, imagine the fuss artists would kick up if some guy said that he could replace them and their creativity?

There is alot of automated parts here, but it still retains that human input that is vital.

It's the same issue here, this guy is saying that we need game designers to make like a tiny little introduction to a game, and then the programmer has to come up with some whizz-bang AI to parametrically create the storyline reward structure from there on in. To me, it's cutting out the creativity that I think is a very integral part of games success. Any entertainment medium has a level of creativity and artistic-license that is appreciated by the consumer. Movies, literature, music are all made by "artists" and all fall into this entertainment industry the same way computer games do. Cutting out the level of human and creative input in just about any form - although is good for budgets if you recycle code, is still a retarded idea.

I'm sort of trying to make people think forward here. Alot of your replies say

quote:Anyway, we'll know in 5 years or so there'll either be a huge announcement or nothing. It'll at least take 5 years before consuemr hardware is anywhere close enough in power to do what he wants.

and

quote:you'd have to wait till humans develop AS, Artificial Sentience (or until an AI develops an AS )

Let's hypothesise that we do have the technology today, is it worth developing these ideas to the extent that this guy is saying? Should game stories being parametrically designed to suit everyone?

Let's also hypothesise we can come up with a "creative" computer, how do game writers and designers feel about their jobs being axed, cause if a computer is that creative, and it understands humans surely it could design interfaces and gameplay as well? Do we want computers to do everything for us creatively, and the players just drones who blindly do what the computer imagines we want to play, rather than being involved in an expressive human creation with artistic integrity?

Saying we'll find out in five years is a bad idea, because the games we start now generally don't get finished for three or four. Technology is moving VERY very fast. I remember not so long ago, maybe five years, when graphics cards only existed in 3DFX Voodoo form and I owned a P166 with 32Mb of RAM. I remember five years before that playing doom/wolf3d on a 386, and a few years before that, I can only just remember the Amstrad where graphics were presented in 3 colours, and displaying many sprites at even close to ten frames per second was an awesome feat.

In five years time, I can assure you computers will be FAR more powerful than you can probably imagine right now.

Anyway, I digress, obviously this debate can go further, but try to view it from purely a game designer/player point of view.

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

Sorry, the 5 years thing was related to the article, that is the time frame the guy gives for his technology. So don't blame me! :)
"Q. So how far away is something like this artificial intelligence from the marketplace?

A. I think to some degree you can see in the next five years a lot of these techniques winding up in things that are sold. "

CYer, Blitz

The main benefit of the CRT's is that they are much better for gaming, since they can switch between colours really quickly, and LCD's get ghosted images usually, like when playing quake3 and moving in one of the space levels you can see the bright areas ghost over the dark black space areas. Although it would be nice having a few LCD's as secondary monitors / for working with, since you can fir them more easily on a desk.

I guess if they're only manufacturing 21" + CRT's then gamers will eventually upgrade to them.

quote:Although it would be nice having a few LCD's as secondary monitors / for working with, since you can fir them more easily on a desk.

As demonstrated here: http://www.tinmar.de/madboxing.jpg @;-)

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

Thats almost as bad as my desk
Seriously though for dual monitor a LCD would be perfect for my 2nd and third screen options.

You would not believe the amount of heat my current two CRT's (19" Pri - 17" Sec) generate in my small room - i would have a third as well but i just fit it in *grin*

hopefully it will kick in a lot more lcd competition and make them cheap :)
my 19" crt is around 4 years old. in human years thats about 250?

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

I think LCDs are getting better all the time. Alot of the early ones had that kind of laptop look to them, where everything had a shadowed when there was alot of movement.
I would imagine Sony would be phasing out CRTs because the market for them is getting smaller and smaller and less profitable. Plus, one way or another, LCDs are going to be the technology of tomorrow, and investing in their development now is probably a good thing anyway so that we don't have to deal with crap LCD monitors forever.

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

I wouldv'e recommended prohosting last week, but just this week they sent me an invoice for US$9.95 for my "free" website...you know where they can stick that.
www.crosswinds.net was ok last time i looked, fairly basic though, no cgi or anything but if you just want a simple webpage to show off your art or whatever it should do the trick.
CYer, Blitz

$9.95 for a free website, hrm, that must be some good website!

if your page is for 3d why dont you check out 3dluvr.com ? they have free hosting for 3d related sites. you just need to make the site, stick it up somewhere for them to check out and then if good enough (the content mostly..basic site is enough) your in.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

a good site - particularly if you want to get into asp and stuff would be http://www.brinkster.com

I find ausgamers to be alright. no banners (ok one little one) and no pop-ups. Plus its Australian to boot. http://hosting.ausgamers.com

thanks for the links every1

www.web1000.com has 50mb space and no popups, and you can choose to belong to some strange domains (scott.sexheroes.com!!!)

It can be a tad unreliable (some people I give a link to can't find the page) so don't put your portfolio on it, but maybe as a space for screenies for forums etc it could be cool.

web1000 only very rarely let me download files larger than 256kb from their servers

Ethan Watson, teh brand spankin' new Krome employee.

I made jaruu tenk to try and get a job at krome, maye i should post it in the exabition area? its pretty damn good... i will do it anyway and if i need to put the relevant copywrite info to it i can be notified by email or on the forum.. or whatever.. Im really tired coz i just finished work at a really really lame job...........

All of it sounds alright, I think they are heading towards the ultra-casual gamers with this product, since they will have the hiring of games and many MMOG's available. We will have to see how successful something like this is, since today there is a clout of MMOG's out there, or being developed at the moment, and we have yet to see how successful Valve's Steam technology is, since this console is about doing the same. The game hiring is interesting through, and I think the console would also allow the "chapter" game distribution method as I had discussed in another thread.

I guess I am waiting to see what they have to offer, but then again the Playstation 3 is around the corner, and the new Xbox shouldn't be too far behind either, so I'm a little apprehensive about how well this console will do.

And on the dick smith front, well tis a small Australian company, and it didn't developo the console during today's gaming "boom", so no real wonder why it fizzled out.

I think they are going to die a very quick death. As we have already seen with the dreamcast, being the best console on the market by no means guarantees success.
Also, they're not exactly offering anything that the xbox can't currently do. The only thing unique is the media they are going to deliver games on (all downloaded rather than hard copy). It seems that it almost relies on having broadband just to run...which will limit sales significantly. Game rentals will also be a much underused feature IMO...i can't think of many people who would pay $4 to wait 5-10 hours to download a game that they can only play for a day or 2...
The "Cross platform capabilities" is interesting... I'm not sure if it's actually legal for them to emulate the PS2, gamcube, or xbox to play their games, so assumedly this would only be for pc games?
I also thin their timing is bad, they'd be better off releasing in late 2004 and upgrading hardware accordingly in that time. Broadband takeup can only be higher in that time, and they will be the only "next-gen" console on the market (similar to how PS2 released before xbox and gamecube and got huge sales). If they release in the next year or so, they are competing against the consoles now (heck, most people probably only just got an xbox or PS2 this christmas, and aren't going to get another console for a long time), and then they will also be competing against the new xbox and PS3 when they are released around 2005, and by then their console will eb decidedly old-gen.
Lastly, if they plan for it to be the fastest on the market, are they also going to be the most expensive? High price != good sales. I'd also be interested in how much they plan to spend on marketing. I think MS's initial marketing budget for xbox was 1-2 billion or something? And it's only just really started taking off in the last 5 months or so when they dropped prices.
Anyway, don't like it's chances, but we'll see how it goes.
CYer, Blitz

Hi all,

This is my first post here, and I am just wondering is this "phantom" console a load of BS or what? I am not sure on the rest of your opinions but how can this company - and I quote "There are currently 32,679 retail game titles available and 418 shareware game titles and this does not include; adult, casino, sequels and new releases in past 6 months." and I am sure if this was my company doing an "Infinium Labs" and "phantom Console" search on google I would want some results and the results would want to be the first returned not someone advertising their digital wire guidance system.

Hope this didnt offend anyone for my first post

Sam

its funny because 32,679 is exactly 32k -- its a programmer in joke, this thing must be a hoax ;)

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

ahhh.... you WHACKY PROGRAMMER TYPES... [:D]

This is exactly what I am thinking (not along hte 32k lines) why hasnt anyone heard of any developers for these guys - please correct me if I am wrong.

Sam

If the console is priced below the current consoles then it may yet live somewhat, but if its the same price or higher than the other consoles then it will die a quick death. Mainly because its not a brand name, sony was a brand name when it came onto the scene with a playstation, microsoft is a huge brand name.

Well we shall see what this brings.

Thats exactly the problem though daemin...it would be almost impossible for them to bring a much better console in at a lower price. Microsoft already lose like AU$350 on each console they sell or something. If these guys are gonna bring in a better console they'd have to have better backing than MS does...and somehow i see that as unlikely.
As for gaffers comment, i don't know where you get that 32k is 32,679 if you're talking about powers of 2. That isn't even an even number!!
2^15 is 32,768, so what power are you talking in gaffer :)
Also, i don't think microsoft being a big brand name has really helped xbox. In fact it's more likely to have hampered their success due to the microsoft stigma with many gamer types, and even just normal PC users who are pissed off with windows :) Simply the amount of financial force MS had behind xbox is what made it take off. (Initial input of about $4 billion if i remember correctly, plus $2 billion for xbox live). Not many companies or investors have that sort of spare cash to throw into something that has only a small chance of succeeding.
CYer, Blitz

It's gonna need a thousand exlusive triple A quality titles upon release, play CD/SVCD/DVD/vinyl, hook up to your fridge/microwave/washing machine/toaster, take out your garbage, and should be given out for free. Then it's got a chance against Sony, Nintendo, and M$! [:)]

Lol Souri, if only it did all that.

The games shouldn't be too hard to aquire, especially for the rental part of the console, since many publishers would like to get their PC games to be distributed agfain onto another market, and if its running an 80x86 chip inside then it'll be very easy to do.

Although The amount of money required would be prohibitive, possibly they are only aiming for the American market now, and a few other small markets with a large broadband penetration, like Korea?

Ahh well, as long as we keep hearing some good news about the console we can assume that its still alive, and if news stops coming in then it will be dead in the water like so many other attempted products. Personally I think the next big thing will be the 3rd generation mobile phones, and the networked games that will be played on those "platforms".

gafferdecimal

my bad, but its still close enough to 32k to make me think its a joke number :)

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

This makes me think back to the "open source" console that was going to run linux and so forth i forget its name now but it folded. Also reminds me of the freedom ship www.freedomship.com i already purchased a room on that ship for 131072 im pretty happy with my investment really.

Hrm, which company was going to do the Linux Console?

Anyways, almost anybody can create their own console, just need to get a set top box, mod the case a bit painting it different colours and adding fancy fan bits to it, put in a reasonable CPU, ram, video card with TV out, get a wireless keyboard and mouse and joystick / gamepad etc. Then just sit it on the floor, plug it into the tv, and play as many games as you want. Simple!

i even have a name for it "the couch potato - BROADBAND ready!"

That Linux console was called Indrema.. I think there's a company in South Korea that's doing a console too - but for the Koreans.. I think there's a good chance that that will take off in the local market. They're pretty patriotic, and everyone's got broadband..

Yeah, saw the fires on the news, hope everyone that you know there is safe and secure.

Great time to be looking for houses up there :
Could actually see some fires on the flight up (when the smoke was clear)

"Yes I Code"
Shirts for AGDC 2003:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/ladies/5b3d/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/ladies/38f0/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/ladies/38ed/

Holy... just saw it on tv. 100 homes affected.. Saw some very red skies, and lots of flying embers everywhere.. and a guy trying to put out some of the trees near his house with a small bucket of water.

Make that 388, current known total, including one very large church and a school.

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

And the historic Mt. Stromlo Observatory.. http://science.slashdot.org/science/03/01/19/0327242.shtml?tid=134

its all smokey and nasty down here :(

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

Good luck trying to survive out there with all your posessions intact - that goes to the people working at Irrational, Microforte Canberra, and the AIE.

Stay Cool.

we're all ok, irrational is in braddon in the inner city concrete jungle, and microforte is in watson - only problem is peoples homes, i havent heard anything, but i know some guys live down southish from irrational, will know tommorow morning i guess...

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

one of the game designers at irrational (andrew smith) lost his house in duffy, today at least two guys are staying at home watching their houses. ouch!

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

ahh that's a huge bummer.. [V] Today is supposed to be another huge problem day with predicted high temperatures, but hopefully things won't get as bad as the first few days..

Gungarlin and Belconnen regions are on high alert today. Wheeeee! We watered down outside, but it was bone dry within an hour. Pfsh... stupid summer. @:-)

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

Hrm, well all the best of luck to anyone that's facing the fires today, I hope it goes well for them and that everybody stays alive.

i'm at home from work, but i'm in lyneham - not really expecting any problems, i'm not near trees and grass and stuff, just that i'm nearish to kaleen which is on alert

bloody hot too with no air con :(

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

Summer + Drought + Morons who don't know how to control fire = bad... I'm sure that just like every other huge bush fire some moron thought it'd be kewl to light a fire, and it sucks because it's gone on to cause plenty of damage... Well, good luck to you guys.

Ethan Watson, teh brand spankin' new Krome employee.

add idiots who dont think to that equation...
for example, we were driving behind someone the other day in the middle of the day, very hot, dry grass etc on the side of the road and two idiots in the car in front fling their cigarette butts out the windows, u could see the ambers when it hit the road.

: lachlan inglis
http://effectism.com/sample/

I was talking to a police officer the other day that does tae kwon do with me, and apparently the reason we haven't had so many fires in S.A is because they have police officers tailing known arsonists all the time, he had to do quite a few hours over the weekend tailing them in his car etc etc.

Also, the CFS recently did a scientific study on cigarette butts starting fires, and they reckon it's damn near impossible - not sure the reason why, but I'd imagine they'd be reasonably thourough in that kind of study before saying that it's not a problem.

Although, throwing cigarette butts out of a window is pretty senseless anyway.

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

I heard the canberra fires were started by lightning strikes..?
(Thats what the paper says anyway)
CYer, Blitz

I was in Palmerston at my girlfriends standing outside her place when this guy wearing a safety vest comes up to us and tells us to water the house down etc and that our area was to be evacuated, said he had been at the fire front all day and was standing down to warn residents in the area.....anyways we watered the house down and put wet rags in the gutters etc, but my girlfriend thought the guy seemed a bit unusual, and his car and jacket had no markings to indicate he was SES or from the fire dept...so she calls the fire dept for an update...turns out we werent to be evacuated, and that the guy was impersonating the SES....the cops new about it and heaps of cop cars swarmed the area. They caught him and we gave a statement when they were sussing out the area...seems people were trying to take advantage of the situation to possibly loot houses, or to cause panic. Sheeesh! Never seen so many cops drive past my gf's place, there were over 10 cop vehicles....made for an exciting day :)

Bastards like that should be shot.
CYer, Blitz

quote:Bastards like that should be shot.

That goes double for spammers.

But yeah, let's hope that the winds don't change direction etc in Canberra, so the fire just dies out instead of assaulting the city again.

Well actually the worst isn't over untill the fires are out
The firestorm got the drop on the fire dept once and it can do it again.
Luckily i live in a grassland area (palmerston) with little trees so we won't have much trouble here (even though we were on alert 2 days ago)
and the count i heard on news last night was 520 homes destroyed

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

quote:Originally posted by Daemin

quote:Bastards like that should be shot.

That goes double for spammers.

Speaking of spammers, I was put on some list recently with my sumea email address.. GRRRRR..

quote:Dear friend,

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mail Sent from eSqueeky.com (Pronounced "e - Squeeky - dot - com")
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Your friend has gifted you a FREE subscription to Squeeky Club.

=======================================================
Your friend also included the following note:

Hi !!! ... You'll surely like this one.
Their jokes are great ... makes me laugh everytime.
Read one of their jokes newsletters to see what I mean.
=======================================================

My friend sent me that note!? And they didn't even address me with my name!! Or tell me who they were!! [;)]

So anyway, they just kept sending me tonnes and tonnes of emails every few days with jokes.......... and special offers. So I got fed up after a while and sent them an email threatening to report them to spam lists etc. Haven't received any spam from them since. (I was a bit wary of sending an email and getting on more spam lists though)..

I hardly look into my hotmail account anymore.. I get around 90 spam emails there a day.

i think ive blocked out almost all the spam i get on my hotmail account :)

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

well I live in Kambah and the fire got to just over a kilometre from me north to mt taylor and south to tuggeranong

amazing as the mt taylor fire was... it was the worst thing i'd been thru

quote:Originally posted by Meatex_Salami

Well actually the worst isn't over untill the fires are out
The firestorm got the drop on the fire dept once and it can do it again.
Luckily i live in a grassland area (palmerston) with little trees so we won't have much trouble here (even though we were on alert 2 days ago)
and the count i heard on news last night was 520 homes destroyed

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

I have an 8 hour video of Metal Gear Solid 2 (taped from the moment I started up the PS2 right until I finished the game).. it usually gets me to sleep in no time. [:)]

check em out ppls if you love to feel :)

wake up, we got, we want, CHAOS, wake up, we got perfect motion.
wake up, we've got, to stop, the rot, wake up, we want EVOLUTION
wake up, wake up, they've lost, the plot, so knock, 'till the walls come CRASHING DOWN. - sunscreem

Those movies sound great.. I just wish they were more accessable to me. I don't have the world movie channel or cable, and I haven't been to the video store in years.

Go SBS and their Cult Movies :-)

Souri, why dont you go to the video store anymore?, i hadnt been for a year or so until recently, and i guess that was due to lack of time and other interests etc..
World movies is pretty cheap to subscribe to, altho alot of junk is on there. I think the australia day weekend they are having a martial arts type fest...that will be pretty cool, i wont get to watch many tho, due to work and stuff:(

wake up, we got, we want, CHAOS, wake up, we got perfect motion.
wake up, we've got, to stop, the rot, wake up, we want EVOLUTION
wake up, wake up, they've lost, the plot, so knock, 'till the walls come CRASHING DOWN. - sunscreem

Lack of time, and I have a bad habit of spending ages and ages deciding on what movies to take. And on the way home, I usually regret my choices and don't end up watching most of it... [:)] I have my Alien Legacy DVD boxset which I don't mind watching over and over again though!

i have a habbit of whatchin movies for like 3 quarters and unless they have me hooked or i know they are going to deliver, i just go bwaahhhhhhhh, stuff it, i got betta things to do, i know how this is going to end. I also have a habbit of forgeting what it was that i was swatchin! :) and noddin off if its boring! teehee

keep on doin, what you been doin!
And one day, you will be free!

i didnt watch reqeuim for a dream on snday,my lil sis did, i will get it on dvd, get happpy, and watch it me thinks :) any1 else catch it? dont ruin it for me.....but was it good?

keep on doin, what you been doin!
And one day, you will be free!

quote:I have a bad habit of spending ages and ages deciding on what movies to take. And on the way home, I usually regret my choices and don't end up watching most of it...

I suffer from the same habit. I could spend upwards of over an hour (sometimes 2!) just selecting a movie. First it begins with whether I want a game rental or a movie (that takes roughly 10-15 mins!). Then comes the choices (takes up the rest of the time). I just wonder what the store clerks think I'm doing, going around their store, not quite being able to pick whether a relaxing action flick like Spider-Man is worth choosing over a comedy like Bend it Like Beckham (see, I have a trouble discerning my moods as well...). Yeah, the habit sucks. My parents call me sometimes as well, shouting comments of disbelief that I spend that much time there... alright, they don't shout. They just "voice concerns".

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

i enjoyed playing it every once in a while at a lan..SOF2 imo is much more fun...

We always play it a bit at every lan that I go to, played it here last night aswell (hosted a lan).

I think 1.6 should be good, but I don't know if the CS "veterans" would appreciate it.

Not a fan of the new equipment they're adding, but i'll check it out.
I play a lot more Natural Selection than CS these days.
CYer, Blitz

Some of the changes they have made are interesting and will change how the game is played a little (more guns, riot shield, not seeing how many of the enemy is still alive etc) I'm just a little 'ho-hum' about it all at the moment. It's still a great game - relatively easy to get into, lotsa practise required to master. Just like Street Fighter 2 was when it came out. But after so many sequels and years of that game, I'm really sick of that as well. [:)] I guess I should just start playing other types of games.
I wanna try Natural Selection out soon - it sounds very interesting. I was wondering when RTS/FPS would meld one day.. There are a few of those types of games in the works too.

well, u wld obviously get a hell of a lot more performance, if u can.. then do it for sure, why render on a single/dual cpu when u can render with that much cpu power :)

wtf. you have the money for those sort of computers? (looks at my 350mHz pc) I hate you

the dual 2.2, its only a barebones 3d computer..no networkcard,modem,cd/dvd...

ERhm, well I'm pretty peeved off that I only have a 433, but still.

If you want a render farm computer check what this guy has done: http://gollum.flipcode.com/farmshots.shtml

i still hate you. my global illumination code often take 24hours plus to make the texture for a model. a 350mHz sh_t box does not fare well on several thousand inverse square roots per pixel.

have fun with you demo reel.

DSC

The more PCs you use to render stuff, the better, there won't be alot of wasted time with network data transfer, so if you had two same pcs, you'd probably get stuff done near twice as fast.

As a side note, I live at home so I, too, can afford multi-good PCs.

If you had a 350Mhz AMD s***box you could use AMD MMX/3D-NOW extensions/op-coded to do s*** fast :P

Snootchie bootchies!
Any off-topic issues send to maitrek@austarmetro.com.au

quote:there won't be alot of wasted time with network data transfer.....you'd probably get stuff done near twice as fast.

thats all i wanted to know.if a renderfarm was worth it with 3computers.
thank you-

ps: davidcoen: if you hate me that much feel free to come and steal one...not the 2.2, it is the only one that is really mine.

: lachlan inglis
http://effectism.com/sample/

jealousy is a curse :) i got a 233...snigger. i dont render much. a couple of years ago i did a nurbs/poly character with cloth simulations and soft body dynamics and ray tracing on lights and shadows and materials...sheesh was that fun ;/

wake up, we got, we want, CHAOS, wake up, we got perfect motion.
wake up, we've got, to stop, the rot, wake up, we want EVOLUTION
wake up, wake up, they've lost, the plot, so knock, 'till the walls come CRASHING DOWN. - sunscreem

I have small renderfarm setup at our shack (office / crashpad) and we are setting up decent one at the moment.
Waddaya need to know? There are aLOT of tricks and kwirks.

Our fuzzball, ever-changing mish mash cluster is (usually) 2 P4 2.4GHz, 2xP3 (various), 2xP2 300MHz and 1x G4 dual800. This varies depending on whats plugged in, been pinched or otherwise in bits. Our first real one is a 28 machine cluster of G3 Mac's. (dont ask, they came at the right price and im still having OS-Huh? issues so far as net-booting is concirned.

Ask away>my email

thanks- but cant do it now-
dont have access to two of the computers anymore :)

because i haven't bought a console since the nintendo64. :)

is there an article on poor sales in australia?

gamecube rocks, its the only console i currently have, apart from my n64 that is...

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

are there many great games on the gamecube?

1) They hardly advertise it at all.
2) It's the most difficult (pretty much impossible) console to pirate games for.
3) It's not very appealing to over 18's which i've read recently is about 70% of the market.
4) It doesn't have the range of games that PS2 and even XBox now have (not from what i've seen at least)
Thats some of my guesses.
CYer, Blitz

xbox is the only console i have seen advertising for.
plus im not aware of any great games on the gamecube.
and i would imagine i would be in their main target market.....

so i would imagine 1) and 4) would without doubt be the main reasons for it poor sales.

PIKMIN!@#!#!

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

hmmm..im not a fan.

i gave up any interest in 'kiddy' games with donkey kong 64. when i got all the way through the game, up to the point where you have to complete the old donkeykong from like 1989 to get through the last door to fight the final boss.
i completed the old game once..(after a million attempts) and was like 'wahoO!! i did it...now i can finally finish this game'....then it says 'good work, that was a practice go, now do it again'.
, i beat every boss in that game the first attempt and couldn't finish the 1980's version of donkey kong within the game, now it sits uncompleted collecting dust.

anyway- thats really off topic. :)

i'm 25 and i still enjoy kiddy games i guess, monkey ball is great, mario i find a bit kiddy and annoying yes - but pikmin is not kiddy, its just beatiful, the new zelda wont be kiddy, nor metroid prime

actually, i kinda dislike kiddie games too - but some games are so good, it doesnt really matter imo.

besides, we make PC games at work, i dont play PC games... i like something a bit different for play i guess :)

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

i still kick up the old n64 now and again and have a game of mario kart [:)] so i dont dislike them all [:)] ...

...they're good fun in moderation

I think Zelda looks nice, Resident Evil 0 looks awesome, and Mario Sunshine looks interesting.. so there's a few games there I'd like to buy if I had a gamecube. But you're right, I've hardly seen much Nintendo advertising anywhere (other than the Pikmon ad on TV). PS2 ads are everywhere.. Go and see Two Towers and there's an ad for the PS2..

I'll find it extremely hard to hold back when Metroid gets released in Aus, and highly likely Zelda aswell. I may be able to make a deal with Mum, seeing as she really wants to check out Zelda and Luigi's Mansion (no doubt Dad'll find a game he's intrigued in, though Bejeweled currently has his addicition @:-D

I'd hate to see Gamecube go the way of the Dreamcast (granted, a dead console's stuff is much cheaper to buy. Damn ebay...)

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

I've got a gamecube and I love it, I'm glad there going for a more mature market now with all of the resident evil titles coming out (anyone seen the movie for resident evil 4? It looks awesome)plus eternal darkness(which is out) Killer7 etc etc
One misconception with nintendo is that just because it has kiddie looking graphics the games must be shit. thats not true at all. every zelda game is awesome to play, mario is great, super smash brothers as well.
Its a lack of advertising thats slumping there sales. They need to advertise and not just games that came out when it was first released, show off some of the up and coming titles as well.

"when it comes to angry killing machines, nothing beats the Lord Jesus!"

i got an american gamecube so i rarely get many games cos of shipping but i'm waiting out for zelda[;)]my brother gave it to me after he decided he wanted an xbox [:p]

quote:Originally posted by Souri

I think Zelda looks nice, Resident Evil 0 looks awesome, and Mario Sunshine looks interesting.. so there's a few games there I'd like to buy if I had a gamecube. But you're right, I've hardly seen much Nintendo advertising anywhere (other than the Pikmon ad on TV). PS2 ads are everywhere.. Go and see Two Towers and there's an ad for the PS2..

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

quote:Originally posted by inglis

because i haven't bought a console since the nintendo64. :)

is there an article on poor sales in australia?

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,5832779%5E15338%5E%5Enb…
"NINTENDO'S GameCube console was the "glaring underperformer" in Christmas sales, taking just 3 per cent of the games hardware market."

I remember when *everyone* had a Snes.. Those darn things were everywhere.

quote:my brother gave it to me after he decided he wanted an xbox

That scenareo sounds alot like poetry..[8D]

____________________
Andrew Fitzsimon

I am a BIG-N fan so forgive me if i get a bit passionate
i just quickly read up the previous posts and ppl seem to be saying there are no great games on the cube.
I'm sorry but have you had you head up you arse since it's release (a bit much)
There are more great games on the cube than on ps2 or xbox
Eternal Darkness
Metroid Prime
the 2 RE games
Time splitters 2
Splinter Cell is coming to cube
as well as FF crystal chronicals
those are just off the top of my head
sure there are good games on the other console (MGS 2, FFX, i have heard devil may cry is good, and i want to play GUNVALKIRE)
although the reason why cube is failing everywhere is because its not cool to have one. simple as that. I know people who have a ps2 for 6 months and haven't played a single game.
The cube has the best controller and the most top quality games in my opinion and i am VERY picky about what games i declare as good
the ps2 controller is pathetic and uncumfortable and the xbox is fine except the buttons are too small and too far from the control stick so it's hard to hit the button you want in a hurry and get you thumb back on the control stick (although you could probably get used to it) i would like to get all consoles cause they all have games i want i just think waying up all the details of the consoles the cube is number 1 (and i am not talking about specs, the xbox wins in that dept)
but like i said the cube just isn't cool, it doesn't have the hip factor.

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

also what is with the ps2 ads
do they think that by totally weirding people out that they will buy a ps2.
Obviously they know something i don't cause it's working
although i reckon the ads are meaningless (they could probably do a black screen with the ps2 logo and a guy saying woozle-wozzle and they would still shift tones of units)
Although now that i think of it they are quite effective.
but i mean they are just too fudgeing weird

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

Time splitters 2 and splinter cell are already on xbox (and splinter cell will probably hit PC before cube) so it's not worth putting them on your list.
I don't think owning a cube has anything to do with coolness factor, although i've never really been one to follow trends. It's almost certainly to do with the lack of games and support for cube in australia.
Personally i like the xbox controller, fits my hand nicely, i find the cube controller too small and constricted. Agreed that the official ps2 controller bites.
I'll be very interested to see how the cube port of splinter cell goes...see wether they have to drop a lot of features etc.
Oh and btw, gun valkyrie isn't that great...
CYer, Blitz

i agree, that ps2 ad before lord of the rings is fucked up shit...

i dont even understand it "the third place"

?! =p

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

Maybe they put a bit of forethought in and realised that once gamecube and xbox hit the market the PS2 would be the third best console? :P
CYer, Blitz

quote:Originally posted by Blitz

Maybe they put a bit of forethought in and realised that once gamecube and xbox hit the market the PS2 would be the third best console? :P

lol
well it's true
and timesplitters 2 is and has been out for a while on the cube
people don't want to buy a cube because it's still seen as a kiddy console.

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

I find the XBox controller too big (the Japanese controllers are better), the Gamecube controller feels like I'll break it if I push it the wrong way, and the way I hold a PS controller means I have to fight to get the L/R buttons that I want (I only have one finger from each hand resting along that row, having two there feels weird).

I'd get a gamecube just for the new RE games.

Ethan Watson, teh brand spankin' new Krome employee.

i luuurve the gamecube controller :)

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

I've always found the Playstation controllers the best.. It fits perfectly in my hands, and it still looks pretty cool. And yeh, the L and R buttons aren't as easy to access though, but it's not too bad.. The old Xbox controllers were too ugly.
I think Nintendo's choice to get in early for the next gen consoles will be an interesting one.. Get in too early, and they might be in the position of the Sega Dreamcast.. Get in too late, and it's a tough up hill battle. It's all about who can hype their console the best in the end. Dreamcast died off purely because Sony hyped their PS2..
Those PS2 ads might not make a lot of sense, but Sony is at putting the brand out there..

I the Gamecube.

I think Nintendo produces the most playable and timeless games, that to me, defies the trends and fashions of adolescent 'coolness' that the PSXes and Xbox thrives/depends on. The 'kiddiness' aspects doesn't bother me at all, I think it makes them far more amazing that these games can be enjoyed almost universally by almost anyone or any age. I _would_ however like to see them not just concentrate on these ideas, and have them branch out to show that they can also do very 'current' and pop-cultural games (or perhaps 'american' games). It would help their marketshare outside of Japan immensely... and also sorta, beat the others at their own game sorta thing.

As for the controller... i think Nintendo has really been The pioneer in controller designs. Look back a bit through console history and its evident when you compare it with the other designs that were available at each specific time, and noting which elements got adopted for the next generation of consoles (by nintendo's competitors)

- the original Famicom gamepad (trying to think of the controllers of consoles before the Famicom from which the idea of right thumb=control cursors; left thumb - buttons .. but i cant think of any... the atari and pong machines had paddles/knobs and jet-fighter joysticks stuff yeah?). I think it came from Nintendo's Game&Watch handheld games. (and what before that?)

- SNES introduced the shoulder buttons (L and R) and the multi-coloured, diagonally laid out 4 button design when Sega had the 3 button idea... and we have seen how this layout has been imitated by everything now: Sony's Playstation, Sega's Saturn and Dreamcast, psx2, Xbox.

- N64 with its analog stick (in addition to and not replacing the direction pad) and more buttons, and a Z-under-controller button... (i believe the n64 analog stick came before Sony's analog stick addition to the PSX controller - correct me if im wrong), and again, these ideas were adopted by the dreamcast controller, xbox etc.

.. you get the idea. (read: i'm so lazy).

So why don't they sell? I think its mostly Nintendo's marketing and probably overly ideal philosophy on games. However, it almost seems like they don't mind... you have to remember that they have the Gameboy and their huge dominance in the portable gaming market. Let's not forget Pokemon. They have very well established sources of income and revenue, it almost seems like it lets them indulge in making what they want. And i like that... its like, they're not selling out on their philosophy of what a good game should be, and that's pretty damn cool to me.

I think the Cube is doing badly over here because of both Nintendo's marketing scheme and the public perception of Nintendo products as toys.

I wish it didn't go so badly. I'm a pretty big Nintendo fan, and coupling that with the Resident Evil series puts their new console in "must have" territory for me (if you haven't worked it out yet, I don't own a GC, but will be buying one at the end of this year... hey, I can wait).

Right now, I own a PS2, and I think the reason why hardcore gamers dislike it is because it appeals so much to the mainstream audience. And it is a quality console. It's got a lot of AAA titles such as the much lauded Grand Theft Auto III, Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, etc. So it's success is no surprise as a lot of old franchises are there and also a lot of new great ones.

Anyway, that's my rant. Slightly off the topic, but considering this is my first post, I wanted to make a good impression. [;)]

P.S. How do I put an avatar up?

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

You can email me ya avatar at sumea@hotmail.com ... make sure you have something like *** AVATAR *** as the subject header, or else I'll miss it in the piles of spam I have there. [:)].. I'll put it up as soon as I get my internet connection happening again.. I have to ftp the avatar images up myself for the forum, and I don't think this computer has any ftp software. (I'm at an internet cafe atm)

Okay, thanks. I'll send the avatar pic by the end of the week.

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

There are already plenty of articles such as those described there for free all over the internet. Just look at places like www.gamedev.net, www.gamasutra.com, and others like them.

I contributed to their piece on how to become a f/t games journalist. They left out all the negative bits...which was 90% of it :)

So what are the negative bits then ? [;)]

http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/specials/special.pl?spec=myth&pagenum…

A revised version I wrote for Gaming Age :)

Do you ever have to watch what you do write, due to the magazine's reputation or connection with a publisher? Have you had anything rejected because, well, the game just plain sucked, and you went all ballistic on it? [:)]

tut tut where'd you run off to! *pulls Souri back into thread of the damned* [;)]

quote:Originally posted by Souri

Do you ever have to watch what you do write, due to the magazine's reputation or connection with a publisher? Have you had anything rejected because, well, the game just plain sucked, and you went all ballistic on it? [:)]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

Noo.. help! *clutches at the dirt*

MWAHAHAHA now why on earth does the image of someone clutching the dirt make me grin most evily [;)]

quote:Originally posted by Souri

Noo.. help! *clutches at the dirt*

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

Oh yeah, did i mention i was the evil twin[;)] or did you just gather?[^]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

Oh, you know, the way you constantly rub your hands together and laugh to yourself was a dead giveaway. [:)]

MWAahahahaR! [;)] no I'm a good girl an ANGEL even I swear! why don't you believe me now Souri *tries to use eye trance on Souri*
lol damn your [8D]sunglasses have reflected my seduce mind rays! i shall have to find another way..

quote:Originally posted by Souri

Oh, you know, the way you constantly rub your hands together and laugh to yourself was a dead giveaway. [:)]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

My superhero sunglasses aren't just for show!!... the underpants on the outside, however...

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!! awwww Poor Meatex_salami....all he ever wanted was his own thread without two...one disgusting perve? lol 2? 1? 2? *grin* yeah well I'll make sure I turn you into a disgusting perve yet :)

quote:Originally posted by Souri

My superhero sunglasses aren't just for show!!... the underpants on the outside, however...

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

*digs fingers deeper in the dirt and yells louder* HELPPPPPPPPPP!!!! haha

lol DAMN why'd you have to type dirt! lol so many other words could replace it to give it...lol ok no I won't I'd better not mwahahahahhah >:) but .. oh god HAVE to control myself for Souri, I will not do bad llama things. lol but so tempting just do it! no ..ugh grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr *thinks where Souri is getting put NOONE would hear his screams* mwhahahahahha AHAHHAHA omg I'm so gross lol lol bad llama . damn it control girl!

quote:Originally posted by Souri

*digs fingers deeper in the dirt and yells louder* HELPPPPPPPPPP!!!! haha

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT!

oops.. sorry!.. I know how hard you are trying to restrain yourself! [:D]

oh man....why'd you have to go do that! Darn you Souri you know I can't control myself! [;)]

quote:Originally posted by Souri

DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT! DIRT!

oops.. sorry!.. I know how hard you are trying to restrain yourself! [:D]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

...i need my handcuffs

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

lucky your not in brisbane because I think I would have ripped your shirt of by now.damn it.lol bad urges yes!yes no, yes mmmmm no yes LOL again poor viewers who are reading this. lol I apologise but please don't ban me! hahahha I have been banned every other forum [:(]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

HAHAHAHAHAAHA...

(shuts up now)

I was laughing about the handcuffs, and you snuck that post in while I was replying!

Who said I was wearing a shirt eh! (rrrrrowl!) kidding. hehe

TEASE![:X][:X]LOL...hmmmm no shirt hey? lol reminds me of what i....mmm maybe not here. [:p] otherwise all the members will know my ..habits um yeah *looks side to side* "la la la la" *BITING LIP"

quote:Originally posted by Souri

I was laughing about the handcuffs, and you snuck that post in while I was replying!

Who said I was wearing a shirt eh! (rrrrrowl!) kidding. hehe

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

i need to be restrained in a chair.

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

*found another void in the forum to jump into*

[:D]

LOL Velcome to the Dark VoId! >:) there are loop holes in Souris members forum,*whisper- he doesn't know I have escaped yet BUT I HAVE SHHHH I am slowly making my own clan of debauched cage lovers :D WHEEE I LOST TRACK*[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

quote:Originally posted [:D][:D][:D]by inglis

*found another void in the forum to jump into*

[:D]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

gday
this did say gerneral comments didnt it,well i just have a question.games like operation flash point,close combat which are strategy and simms, using there editors in game is that anything like creating the original levels in the game and what would the name of this person be called who dose that sort of work.1st question.thanks

lol twas general comments till I invaded the board hahah :) but I only make havoc at night :)

quote:Originally posted by devils guard

gday
this did say gerneral comments didnt it,well i just have a question.games like operation flash point,close combat which are strategy and simms, using there editors in game is that anything like creating the original levels in the game and what would the name of this person be called who dose that sort of work.1st question.thanks

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

ok, thats it, i'm moving to QLD... [8D]

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

I think QLD needs to be quarantined...obviously theres been some kind of outbreak!
CYer, Blitz

LOL! there has [:D] *mohhahaha*

quote:Originally posted by Blitz

I think QLD needs to be quarantined...obviously theres been some kind of outbreak!
CYer, Blitz

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

3 years is a long time.
the only real proberly i see is power the chip would drain it real quick
but memory isnt really a problem, most of the data would stream from the dvd
i reckon if they could find a suitable way to power this beast it wouldnt be much bigger than a cd walkman ,in 3 years that is..

If they do a handheld Xbox in 3 years, then I'd be impressed.. If they do a laptop Xbox, then I think Bill is smoking some wacky tobaccy.. some pretty fine laptops these days.. Imagine in 3 years!

That's just whacked...

Never been there before but that one article makes me think its just a gag site against christians.

Might be interesting though.

quote:I felt my heart flutter with excitement when Timothy was able to position Jesus in a spot under a tree on the Mount of Olives and get over 20 kills, but I was not pleased when a Muslim character snuck up behind Him and shot His head right off His shoulders!

that cracked me up.

(rant)
Okay, to an extent I appreciate the message behind that article - that christians are pretty damn dumb and should stop pushing their values around the place, and I think some bits of it are funny. But just paying out a christian and expecting it to be hliarious is a little simple. It's like saying something in an Indian accent and then thinking it's comic genius.

On top of that, I hate to be a spoil sport, but a divisive attitude like that only provokes the image of gamers that there is. That we are a bunch of people who think that bloodthirsty (although) virtual killing is some kind of non-issue, when in a sense, it is a pretty sad state of affairs that the only fun we can think of doing is killing things.
(/rant)

Daemin, yeah it is a gag site, go read the movie reviews :) Maitrek: your rant has a point, but the stuff on that site isn't to be taken seriously ;)

"when it comes to angry killing machines, nothing beats the Lord Jesus!"

I agree it's not serious subject matter, and I'll admit it raised a chuckle or two :)

Hey Grif,

It sounds very interesting. So I guess one show of hand here :)

Not sure where I might really fit in... I have been programming in Java for about a year now and will start learning C++ in Feb.

I have done some work on games (online volunteer work) but tend to work more with the community in a role much more invloved with communication then coding.

-Jacana

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

Sounds good - count me in!

Check out http://www.gazunta.com/fun/fun_3d.htm and http://www.gazunta.com/fun/fun_design.htm for what I can bring to the mix - I can also do 2D. My most recent game was Ryan Starr which was showcased on Sumea a while back (thanks again, Souri!) and I'm looking to get some more games under my proverbial belt...so...um, yeah, there's my hand :)

HEY! yes i am very interested, i am a 2d/3d modeller and texture artist. i ave experience with rigging at animation but would love the chance to get better at it in a production environment. count me in!!!
heres my website if you wanna check out my gear....

www.lukedwyerdesign.cjb.net

Jacana - Hey, knowing Java's certainly nothing to be sneezed at. =) In fact, in this case it'll most likely come in quite handy with a couple of elements I have in mind that are quite important, so... =)

Gazunta - Ahh, Ryan Starr was yours? Good stuff! =) Very nifty demo, that one... nicely put together. =)

Idaho - Cheers for the link, Luke... some really nice stuff in there. =)

All right then, that's certainly a good enough showing to kick off with! =) Might be best to move to a more "proper" thread for discussion in the MOD section to keep this out of everyone's face in general at this point, I think, so... yeah. Anyone else interested, head down thataway and take a bit of a gander. =)

- Grif

I'd be interested in doing something, but I already have a couple of projects that I'm working on at the moment.

Still it would be cool to see what can come out of it.

Well, that's no worries, Daemin... any comments, constructive criticism, or whatever else you have to offer'll always be more than welcome. =) The more people that're thinking about this sort of stuff, the less likely it'll be for us to make some sort of oversight or totally boneheaded mistake, after all (which is all too easy to do, in my somewhat-pained experience). =) And hey, if nothing else we might get a nice bit of philosophical design discussion going, eh? =)

- Grif

Sounds good... but I am curious about the finer details of the project.

WAR-HEAD
2D/3D artist

Well, I certainly have a few ideas of my own about what this project should be, but I certainly don't want to simply hoist them onto everyone and dictate in a "this is what we're doing, and that's that!" sort of way. A bit of discussion about what we should be aiming to make and the reasons it should be our choice is pretty much the primary goal for now... I don't doubt pretty much everyone 'round these parts has at least a couple of great game ideas of their own, so we'll just have to nut out which we all think sounds like the best one to go with, I think. =) Wish I could be more specific, but, again, this isn't going to just be my project, so... =)

- Grif

I guess you guys (not counting myself) could start off with deciding what genre you would want to tackle the most, or what genres (mix of?), and from there come up with a setting, some sort of rudimentary background information, and the rest would follow.

I just hope that after the vision has been said, and all the ideas accumulated, that you guys can pull it off, and work on one common shared vision, since its too easy for internet teams (especially) to be working on the same project, but going after different goals and ideas of what the final thing should be.

I,m currently working over the net on a FPS game with an indy team, based primarily in the US. The work for this involves a wide range of modelling and 2d texture,concepts etc..My main roles is ptutting together the high end cut-scene cinematics.
There's some of my stuff on Sumea, or have a look at my website for a broader picture http://scepta.tripod.com
I'd be interested to be involved in a project that's Australian based, if you feel i can contribute to your idea let me know.

-Ben.

Daemin: Certainly the biggest uphill struggle anyone working remotely from a "central hub" is in making sure you're working to the same vision as everyone else, definitely. =) A big part of countering that is in making sure you're sharing a common vision from the start point, I think, and making sure that that vision is the sum of what people think should be explored in the eventual project. To that end, I should maybe be asking different questions in the other thread, eh? =)

watchmaker: You've got some really, really nice stuff on your site there, and the stuff you've posted to Sumea already looks really great. =) We'll certainly have need for someone with an eye and an eagerness for creating great concept work and cinematics and polishing them up to be as involving as they can be, I'm sure, so the offer of help is much appreciated, if you've got the time and inclination. =)

- Grif

Does it matter if the software I'm using is only a student liscence?

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

sounds real interesting
hope i haven't missed the boat [:)]

all i have to show is here:
http://effectism.com/sample/
all the 3d is basically wip.

my hands in the air.

I'm interested. I just completed the course offered by QANTM. If you want to see what I'm capable of, check out:

http://www.doomworld.com/doomarcade/downloads/amgos_wormsintanks_v0.95_…
- Worms in tanks
Source code available at:url=http://www.doomworld.com/doomarcade/downloads/amgos_wormsintanks_v0.95_…

http://www.doomworld.com/doomarcade/downloads/amgos_wh40k_alpha_bin.zip
- Third person shooter based on the Warhammer 40000 universe that I showed off at industry night (that was a bit of a collaborative effort, someone else wrote the MD3 displaying code and rezn0r on these forums wrote the enemy code

EDIT: I have ported all those to DirectX 9, I just haven't put the binaries and updated code up

404 on those files gooberman.

Thanks. Fixed now (forgot to put the /downloads/ part in).

Fluffy CatFood: Nope, doesn't really matter. =) If this gets off the ground in a more official sense then new commercially licensed copies of whichever package is applicable will be bought, anyway, so... =)

ignlis: Wow, some nice stuff in there! And nope, certainly haven't missed the boat at all. =) We're still just in the formative stages here... be sure to check out the "game pitch" topic in the MOD forum, which is chugging along nicely right now, and be sure to throw in your input. The more the merrier at this point. =)

GooberMan: So the Warhammer one's a three-person effort? That's not too shabby at all, given the amount of actual functional content. =)

- Grif

If you think that's not too shabby, consider that all work that myself and rezn0r did for the game (minus the AMGOS.exe base - a nice little framework that I've made for developing games) was done in 6 weeks (the MD3 code was written a few months prior, was simply a matter of splicing it in).

Well I'll definately contribute if you want me, that is if this project starts some time towards the end of january. I'm currently doing some cel-shaded animation work for a low budget film, filming starts on the 9th of this month. I hope to be finished in around 2-3 weeks

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Hi, Murray Lorden here.

Sounds very interesting, guys, especially if it leads to both making an awesome innovative game, and also starting up a new Australian game development studio. :)

Go for it guys!

I work at Bluetongue Software, but I'm still very interested in joining discussions about the game!

- Muz
http://staff.bluetongue.com/~mlorden/

GooberMan: Not bad going at all for such a short period of time. =) Have you continued working on the various bits of the engine since, or have yuo moved on to other stuff in the meantime? =)

Fluffy CatFood: Any offers of help are more than welcome at this point, so definitely, if you've got the time, the contribution would be appreciated. =)

muzboz: Well, fire away! =) The more ideas the merrier at the moment, so... =)

- Grif

[:)]

I'm currently rewriting the AMGOS.exe base. There's a lot of code in there that I didn't like, and I've got better ideas on how to do other things now, so I'm rewriting it.

I haven't touched that game since except to port the code to DirectX 9. I will be throwing out all that code and starting again aswell. I did some silly things in it that I thought were good but ended out biting my ass towards the end of the project (the big one is that I decided sectors should own entities, which ended out in a messy implementation of passing entities from one sector to another - I'm not sure how I'll approach it next time, but I'm wary of doing that again).

Everything's always written better second time around when it concerns code :)

Ahh, the eternal dilemma of the perfectionist. =) Never a bad quality to have in a games programmer, of course. =)

- Grif

Apparently the reference to where this conversation continued might've been a bit too vague, so... sorry! =) The conversation about the actual design/game creation has been continuing at:

http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=221&whichpage=1

Again, sorry if you've just been sitting and waiting for things to proceed apace in this particular thread... got some catching up to do now! =P

- Grif

Hi guys, I'm new to these parts. Really love the positive vibe here...just goes to show that there are Australians interested in the indie development scene.

Hope it all works out for you! [:)]

Happy new year also, even if I am writing it still half drunk and hung over from the festivities last night.

I would add my new years resolutions, but last night was kind of a blur to me right now and I can't remember them.

Happy Recovery to everyone else out there too ;-)

Happy new year everybody
wishing you all the best for 2003 and hope that all your new years resolutions are met!

Peaceful recovery . Best of luck with the berocca

____________________
Andrew Fitzsimon

oh man.. I spent the arvo at a friends place for NYE till 11pm, then we made the mad dash to Rose Bay (which was really far away) - we managed to get there 5 minutes before the fireworks went off.. stayed there for a while before going home for a few hours sleep before going to Field Day (dance party across the Art gallery in NSW) for the whole day..It was pouring, and there were people dancing in the mud. I came home about 2 this morning.
My legs and head hurt, and I need some of that berocca..! (going back to bed now)

I saw it last yesterday as well. The most visually stunning movie I've ever seen. I agree with you souri, Gollum looked amazing. I also loved the ents (I think thats what they were called)
A shame your experience was wrecked though, you should have told those geeks to shut-up! I had a nice backrow seat on the isle with a nice quiet audience :) I'll be going again on saturday.

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

I saw it yesterday too on opening night, we got our tickets ahead of time, and luckily we knew some ppl that came at 6:00 to line up (the movie started at 8:45) so we were right at the start. They were about 10m into the line, and when we came the line length was 50m+.

It was a damn good movie though, and well worth it.

Would have seen it opening morning, but tickets were sold out *grumble* so had to make do with the 5:45pm session. Pretty good, but I enjoyed the first movie better. Gollum was perfectly cast, and the CG used for him actually looked pretty good.

I saw it opening morning at 10am, we got there at 9:40 (5 mins before the cinema opened) and were about 10th in line. Got good seats on the middle aisle a bit below the middle of the theatre (eye level was about middle of the screen, so good seats).
Gollum was great...although once or twice i was comparing him to jer-jar binks haha.
I really liked it, although i didn't think it was quite as good as the first. I personally put this down to the fact that the 1st for the most part followed a single story with all the main characters, whereas the second was showing about 4 or 5 different stories, which kinda broke the continuity just a little. The battles were excellent, the battle for helms deep was just amazing...
Also, those weird creatures (can't rememebr their names, they looked like big cats) that some of the orcs (urukai?) rode looked great, especially the way they moved at times, it was perfect.
Some very good jokes at gibli's expense :)
I'll go see it again in january, then maybe again after that.
CYer, Blitz

don't you mean gollum/smeegle [8D]
yeah i liked it to.
I only had one problem with it and that was those tree guys they walked funny in medium and wide shots. They looked great in closeups etc. Some GFX seemed more obvious than GFX in the first but i guess thats cause there were alot more complex things on screen.
anyway good movie, mostly action so the 3 hours seem to fly by. And that last battle kewl.
Can't wait for next one [:D]

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

If I get the cash I'm gonna go to the movie marathon which is showing them both one after the other, starting at 11pm tho.

Now THAT's a marathon.. [:)].. 6 hours. I don't think I could ever manage that. The ents (tree herders) were interesting. They seemed a bit too 'muppet' like to me though. Very exaggerated/comical looking faces in design. And yeh, LOTS of jokes on the dwarf's expense. Oh, and the funny part when Gollum is talking to himself - that had a damn hilarious moment. The audience was laughing their heads off!
I *definately* want to buy the DVD when it comes out.. but I can wait for the special edition/extra footage version..

Is there an extended version of 2 towers coming out is there? Like the 4 disc set thats out now for fellowship.
I thought the ents weren't very muppet like i just thought they walked funny. But i guess seeing as they are trees that they wouldn't walk like humans. Also the bit with the ents fighting was kewl.
Although was it just me or did only some of the CG creatures intergrate as well as in the first movie. In fellowship the cavetroll intergrated really well and was very believable but the ents and those things the ouraci (don't know how to spell it) riding were quite obvious. But i thought those elephants and the dragon that the wring wraith rides blended quite well.

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

I thought the ents looked great, my favoutite scene was when they trash isengard. The only bit I thought looked fake was when legolas jumps down from a ledge and runs towards those guys riding the dog type creatures. It looked really blue screen.

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

quote:Originally posted by Meatex_Salami

Is there an extended version of 2 towers coming out is there? Like the 4 disc set thats out now for fellowship.

I think it's a pretty safe bet to make that there will be a special edition of Two Towers DVD.. I'm sure it's a huge money spinner for them.

Hey Samon, good stuff, mate!! [:)] What kind of stuff will you be doing in your new position?

Awesome, thats a pretty good christmas present:) Good luck with it ;)

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Thanks Souri and Fluffy, I've been away in Canberra (The AIE is still there), over the xmas hols and just read your posts today. If you ever get back to this thread, thanks for the congrats - it's a broadcast design position which is usually mostly editing (they have 5 media 100 suites)and 2d motion graphics, but they also have Max and seem to use it quite a bit for tvc's and promos, so it's a perfect start to the year. I've had little opportunity to use 3d creatively in the previous editing jobs, so I cant wait to work for a real company.

Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

Lucky then that I didn't get to watch it. I was at a lan all day, with a 1.5 meg internet connection too :-)

I guess it was all for the best.

Yeh, it seemed they were trying to fit in as much as they can in half an hour. I didn't mind that it was so brief though, I was just happy to get to see some of the games on tv. That rally game looked impressive. It's interesting how much detail get put into games now.. For that rally game, you get to see the guy next to you reading the turn information [:)].. oh, and the Sunday midday time slot is a very interesting one too.. I saw an advertisement with lots of fast cars, women, and action happening - and it was for a Panadol ad!! They showed a glimpse of next weeks show, with some bits at Ratbag Studios - they sure do have a nice office!
Actually, I had a look at my referrers log yesterday, and notice a tonne of aol/google search hits on Sumea from people looking for 'Control Freaks' & 'channel 7' , right after the show. [:)]

yeah my dad went to ratbag about a month ago.
The one thing he noticed was they have their like fridge full of red bull [:P]
well i will still watch the show this sunday still
anyhow me want to go play MOHAA now
even if its a pretty standard FPS i love the sniping levels [:D]

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

Hehe, I've been inside the ratbag offices a total of two times I think...

They layout keeps on changing in the main area :-), and its always dark inside.

I missed the beginning of it (what was that Dreamcast bit about? Only saw the end) but what I saw wasn't too bad. I'd have to agree with the product-moving comment, as there weren't any bad games; they were all rated highly and any quibbles were quickly dismissed.

I'm sure next week's ep will be pretty similar, but I'm still looking forward to it. (Ooo, Souri, do a reminder for next week too. I only remembered cuz I saw it here @:-)

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

They were babbling about how some people have been able to hack Dreamcasts.. I think you could see it booting Linux (well, it just had some text on the screen).. it was pretty much a 10 second rush segment with no real in-depth details, but hey, it's a kids show [:)].
A lot of the games were 'brought to you by' publishers, like Vivendi Universal. So yeh, you couldn't really expect any terrible reviews. [:)]
You gotta watch this weeks show! Ratbag's on! Anyone got a video capture card? [;)]

i have a capture card
Leadtek Winfast TV200XP

I really liked it.

I mean, yeah, there are tons of quibbles, but you're always going to have problems talking about any non-TV medium on TV (have a look at shows about books, for example).

And as far as reviewers trying to shift units, well...yeah, it's a no-no, sure, but hell it's almost industry standard. I used to work for one editor who had a strict "say nothing negative" policy. You learn to damn with faint praise :) I think also when you have 100+ games to choose from in a tight half hour space, you really don't want to waste valuable time on a game that's crap. I'd rather spend the time promoting the good stuff.

Stuff I think they got right:

No presenters - YAY. Good idea. I really like how 95% of all the visuals werein game / FMV footage. It's absolutely the right way to go. Very visually engaging and it's what we tune in for anyway. (on a similar tangent, nice video capture hardware, guys! Very clean, especially with the PC stuff which is typically a pain to get right on TV)

Fresh content - Besides Warcraft 3, it was pretty close to the current scene. Nice stuff. The news section was particularly good, and props go to them for the Dreamcast mention.

Speed - It never got boring, which is a hard task. By continually moving onto the next game / topic, you didn't have a chance to get bored even when you didn't like the topic on hand.

Research - This is where I'm _really_ anal but the show didn't dissapoint. Usually I'm picking out factual errors at a mile a minute but I didn't catch any while watching the show. (Well, besides saying that This Is Football is any good, but I'll let that one slide)

Bad stuff:

Hyperbole: I'm paraphrasing here, but stuff like 'the wonderous soundtrack will tug at your emotions while the eye-watering graphics will redefine reality' belongs on the side of a Kleenex box - ie, it's a bit of a wank. I know I fall prey to it myself in my writing (sometimes!) but it sounds a million times worse when it's read out aloud. Tame it down and DESCRIBE the graphics / whatever instead. Are the realistic? Cartoony? Capture the style? Do they use colour to describe emotions or just full of eye candy? Etc.

Indecisevness - The console war thing just shouldn't have been done at all. The final ratings were meaningless. You might as well have said that while the Xbox is a red monkey, the Gamecube is a banana and PS2 comes in a solid telephone place. I'm sure the intention was to explain the consoles to a new audience but...bleh. Oh, and there was no need to describe the Gamecube as a kiddies console. It's lazy writing for one thing.

No Super Guile!!! Oh wait, that's just a The Zone flashback. Damn I miss that 12 inch stupid plastic doll.

Gazunta's hit it on the head methinks, and he's just gotten a +20 cool factor in my book for being a Zoner. Bring back Adster, Mutlee and Guile and I'll be a happy little gamer. @:-D

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

Ok, I'll bite.. what is the 'Zoner' or 'The Zone' that you two are talking about?
StrkEagle - would you capture and divx it for me ? [:)]

I was really dissapointed with that console war thing, i was looking forward to an in depth REAL comparison. But oh well.
It probably wouldn't of been anything i don't already know [:P]
EG they made that dbz game look quite interesting, but they never went into the mechanics of how it plays, i have read a couple of reviews which says it has nice ideas and lots of those extras which no one had to put in but its still a shit fighter with terrible gameplay. Oh well [^]

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

Souri, what time and channel was it on again ?

assuming the reception is ok... shouldnt be a problem

It should be on Sunday. midday this weekend.. 12 - 12:30pm. http://aol.yourtv.com.au/guide/index.cfm?region_id_fta=73&region_id_pay…

Meatex, what was your dad doing at Ratbag's studio ? A fridge full of Red Bull!! That'll certainly keep you awake for milestone crunchtime. [;)]

My dad is a tax assessor, he goes in and checks out places when they ask for a tax break claiming research (at least im pretty sure thats what he does)
I have never tried red bull, i go for red eye which is like a tame version of red bull [:P]

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

The Zone was a games show a few years back on Channel 9, airing around 8 or 9am on Saturdays. Reviews, cheats, news, previews, and general shenanagans. Most of the crew were Megazone and Gamestar magazine reviewers. I actually still have most of the episodes taped. Sentimental old fool I am. @:-)

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

That show yeah, I kinda remember some of it...

Oh well, we don't have enough channels to have enough decent content for gamer society shows. I.e. the fringe shows like Americans have on Cable.

Watching control freaks right now. Seems like a pimp show for console games, and young gamers.

---------------------
Andrew McGregor
Engine programmer
Tycom Studios
andrewm@tycomstudios.com
www.tycomstudios.com
---------------------

If this is any kind of indication of the state of the game industry in Australia, then this is a sad state of affairs.

:-)

---------------------
Andrew McGregor
Engine programmer
Tycom Studios
andrewm@tycomstudios.com
www.tycomstudios.com
---------------------

well they aren't going to have much about PC games cause anyone with a pc that plays games will more likely than not get their info of the internet rather than watch TV.
Yeah the revies do seem to be simply there to help shift units but you can see they do try to get some critism in there. They are a new show with a small audience so they have to appease the companies that support them (and those that don't yet incase they do need their support later) otherwise they will die [xx(]
I certainly would never buy a game based on their reviews [8]

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

I missed it again, this time I slept through it...

Oh well, I missed stargate as well, which is far more interesting.

quote:Originally posted by Daemin


Oh well, I missed stargate as well, which is far more interesting.

Nar you didn't
it wasn't on.
It was that shitty caroles crap show.
besides they are only showing repeats [:(]

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

quote:Originally posted by AndrewM

Watching control freaks right now. Seems like a pimp show for console games, and young gamers.

Well, if a show is coming after "Saved by the bell: the new class" and "Planet X:trials" (crazy extreme sports), you can guess the audience it is targetting [:)]. I like the show for the eyecandy. I don't have broadband to download mpegs or demos of games, so this is a good alternative for me to check out some of games around..

That Ratbag segment at the end was interesting. They have a nice roomy office.. I thought they would be much bigger though (they're working on 2 or 3 games at the moment, I think)..

Souri: I thought the ratbag segment was quite useless. You would have learnt about 10x more by emailing them then watching the show, altho they showed some flicks of their office. :)

And, well, the gamers web sites seem to cover most stuff in fairly great detail, plus you can choose your favourite site to visit as well (to get a balanced review of a title).

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Andrew McGregor
Engine programmer
Tycom Studios
andrewm@tycomstudios.com
www.tycomstudios.com
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Yeh, that Ratbag feature didn't really give too much insight on Ratbag. The individual profiles were a bit too general knowledge stuff, eg "I'm a tester, I check the games for bugs"... but seeing their office and some Ratbag'ians was pretty cool. Didn't get to see any new game details from them though..

Yeah, thanks for that Meatex, but they're actually a new series now of stargate, not repeats...

What state do you live in?
cause the new season has already come and gone for us
unless you have cable TV or something

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

SA, its seasaon 5 if I remember correctly, which hasn't been shown so far.

Season 6 (maybe 7) is the latest AFAIK.

I remember the show called "The Zone" (at least that's what I think it was called :))...that was some kind of gaming show that reviewed games way back in the early/mid nineties, had a couple of "cool" young hip game reviewer people with cynical attitudes, that didn't last very long though.

Was totally for young gamers though, as I was young at the time and I enjoyed it, I don't remember it being particularly poor when it came to content reviewing and stuff.

Haven't seen Control Freaks tho. Sounds crap.

If I had it my way, there'd be a 24 hour games channel with intelligent interviews, reviews, behind the scenes, tonnes of eye candy, and plenty of tutorial segments.. 2 hour segment on how to skin,bone,animate a character today! Now that would be cool. [:)]

Perhaps you should throw that idea to your potential sponsers. I'm sure it'd go down REAL well. @;-)

Be nice though...

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

Actually, why didn't they get to do Dark Reign 2? Did Auran create Dark Reign 1, or was it someone else's intellectual property?

They probably had to sell the IP rights to the game to the publisher, which is unforunate but it happens, especially with startups.

I'm not sure with that though.

auran very much made 'darkreign' 1, it had a slew of original features and beautifully ballanced as well as a good story, and i though it sold quite well. Pandemic made darkreign2 which was a lot less sucessful (but in full 3d)

Graham Edelsten (CEO Auran): Coem work for me if your company fails O_o

I played poker with a Tarot deck the other night. I got a full house and four people died.

--Steven Wright.

Well the first one is really open to interpretation.
I remember the bit vaguely but haven't seen the movie in ages.
If i see it some time soon and i remember this post i will be able to help you.
For the second one i think its got to do with time distortion. Those are things she is saying in the past and future. Again i don't remember exactlly cause last time it was on TV i watched something else [:p]

That which makes us human will inevitably destroy us.