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| 11/24 |
| 2005/3/22-23 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:36808 Activity:nil |
3/22 Has anyone played the game "Postal"?
\_ Yes. You know there are two?
\_ no i did not. explain.
\_ Postal is a ~1997 isometric-prespective kill-em-all game.
Postal 2 is a ~2003 mission-oriented first person shooter.
\_ yes, why? |
| 11/24 |
| 2005/3/14-16 [Recreation/Sports, Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Media] UID:36691 Activity:nil |
3/14 If you're bored, you can meander over to http://gamespot.com, click on Act of War: Direct Action, click on Developer Diary #2 movie, and watch as French game developers gloat over the tactical nuking of the White House. |
| 2005/3/12-14 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:36662 Activity:nil |
3/12 New Legend of Zelda Trailer:
http://www.zelda.com/universe/game/legendzelda |
| 2005/3/6-7 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:36548 Activity:nil |
3/6 This is a pretty fun TRON game:
http://www.gltron.org |
| 2005/2/21-22 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:36353 Activity:nil |
2/21 Someone please point me to a web site to learn about Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh,
and similar games? I'd like to know the rules of engagement in these
games, like how character X beats character Y under Z conditions
(levels, hitpoint, potions, etc). I just want to understand the
complexity of the game, and maybe write ILP constraints and see if I
can solve it or derive an optimal strategy using ILP solvers like
CPLEX or something. I'm in desperate need of a PhD thesis. ok thx |
| 2005/2/19-21 [Computer/SW/Unix, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:36258 Activity:low |
2/19 EQII's new /pizza command is really quite brilliant, but they're missing
out on dozens of other marketing opportunities. What sort of ideas
can you think of?
\_ /hooker
\_ Yay!
\_ /term paper
\_ /shower
\_ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/17/48hours/main525965.shtml
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2000dec/gam20010105003667.htm
I recommend "/psychologist"
\_ You mean M-x doctor
\_ /quit |
| 2005/2/19-22 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:36256 Activity:moderate |
2/19 Looking for DVD players that play AVI/DIVX/misc files, recommendation?
\_ Hacked xbox (+ airport express for wireless file transfer,
if needed). The only limitation is that xbm can only up-convert
un-encrypted vobs, so you have to rip your dvds and re-burn or
ftp them to the xbox before you can watch movies in HD.
\_ how hard is it to hack xbox? and do you install linux on it?
\_ http://www.xbox-scene.com/tutorials.php?p=14|#14
If you're not handy with a soldering iron, you can always
hire someone to do it.
\_ The Xbox is pretty noisy. It's not a problem for gaming, but
it's distracting when watching movies.
\_ The Philips 642 is fairly nice/cheap. It tends to crop subtitles
on some of the divx files I've played though
\_ can I put 10 400M AVI's and make it play 10 hours? That's what
I really need..
\_ Seriously get a hacked xbox. Just drop in a 120 gb hd and
forget about wasting cds and dvds.
\_ Right, the DVP642 is the standard DivX player currently.
It's $63 on Amazon but sometimes back-ordered. I have one, it's
fine; actually, many, many people have one.
\_ I'm still waiting for a portable DVD player that plays AVI/DIVX/etc. |
| 2005/2/18-20 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Humor] UID:36240 Activity:low Cat_by:auto Edit_by:auto |
2/18 http://everquest2.station.sony.com/pizza A sign of the times, or something \_ it would be cool if I could use motd to order pizza, because that's pretty addictive as well. \_ Just post your home address and credit card number, and we'll, uh, order something for you. \_ Everquest rules! |
| 2005/2/8 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:36096 Activity:moderate |
2/7 Playstation 3 preview pic
link:tinyurl.com/6xmuj -John
\_ I don't see BELLS and WHISTLES.
\_ I'd rather have a p-p-p-powerbook
\_ I'll totally buy one, could you ship me one? I'll pay when
I get it. Is overseas shipping ok? |
| 2005/1/28-29 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:35961 Activity:nil |
1/28 Seanbaby's 20 Worst Video Games Of All Time, the Director's Cut:
http://www.seanbaby.com/nes/egm.htm |
| 2005/1/13-14 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:35698 Activity:moderate |
1/13 I'm looking for a fun, cool electronic gadget toy for $100 or less.
Suggestions?
\_ Ipod shuffle crap.
\_ The OMRON HJ112 pedometer at Amazon for $31!
(Or, just click Top Sellers and Electronics category)
\_ does it work? Is it accurate?
\_ the user reviews on Amazon all say it's the bees knees
of course if you wanted to be elite, you could get a GPS
pedometer which will be more exact about how far you've gone,
but I think they're too big these days
\_ Laser pointer. Some dogs like to chase the dot.
\_ i hear green ones have a really long range, enough for airline
pilots to see ...
\_ pet lover.
\_ If you like to cook, I got a digital probe thermometer for $18 at
Target. It takes all the guesswork out of doneness and it's kind of
neat watching a roast's internal temperature creep upwards.
\_ GameBoy Advance SP. $80 + cost of games.
\_ Handheld GPS |
| 2005/1/5-6 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:35556 Activity:kinda low |
1/5 WoW players, what are your experiences? Is it soloable at high levels?
How does it compare to other games you've played?
\_ Come to #wow on screwdriver irc.
\_ Come to #wow on screwdriver.CSUA irc.
\_ Whether or not it is soloable really depends on class. DONT be a
mage if you want to solo! Paladins probably work the best for that.
Grouping isn't forced but definitely makes some things easier.
Very addictive, very well done, great graphics and artwork.
Crafting seems to largely be a waste/hobby. Take up two gathering
clases for professions, just for the money. Occasional server
problems, but not more than any MMO I've dealt with. -ERic
\_ Hunter and warlock are the best solo classes. All classes can
solo.
\_ My younger brother who plays it really likes the fact that PKing is
encouraged. Dying isn't a big deal unlike other games - you don't
lose much time and none of your cash or items.
And if you don't want to be a PK you can just leave the PK flag off.
There's also a challenge/duel option where, at the end of the duel,
the two fighters remain alive and retain their original HP.
\_ Unless you play on a PvP server, in which case you can't turn
off the PvP flag in contested or enemy territory. Also, you
don't return to your original HP after duels, but at least
you don't die. Anymore. -geordan
\_ In conclusion, nerf paladins. -geordan |
| 2004/12/31 [Politics/Foreign/Canada, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:35503 Activity:low |
12/30 katamari! http://csua.org/u/aj8 - danh \_ I will never understand why people flip over this game. It was amusing for about 10 minutes. After that it was just kinda stupid. \_ It's not our fault you have no taste. |
| 2004/12/10-12 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:35244 Activity:kinda low |
12/9 http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/12/09/hospitals.gaming.ap/index.html Video games calm kids more so than tranquilizer and parents. \_ In other news, oral sex performed my nurses on adult males show profound calming effect before anesthesia takes over. \_ I will do my part for science and volunteer for that study. \_ So will Helga the East German nurse. -John |
| 2004/12/6 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:35185 Activity:high |
12/6 Are you too old for a GameBoy?
\_ Yes. The LCD display is too hard to see for my eyes.
\_ No, but too old for a lot of its games. -24
\_ what kind of games (besides Mario bros type of games?)
\_ Advance Wars rules. -tom
\_ Tom, you and I had our differences in the past, but if you
like Advance Wars, check out Nectaris for ps1. Love that
game. -- ilyas
\_ will you give me a PS1 and a TV to use it with? -tom
\_ You can also try nectaris for the PC or the tg16
emulator (although the graphics are suckier... not that
nectaris is about graphics), just to see how it plays.
-- ilyas
\_ tom and ilyas making up! awww ....
\_ No way. Tom has cooties. -- ilyas
\_ and you know that because...
\_ tom and ilyas are actually the same person, and
he is responsible for 99% of all postings to MOTD
\_ So, John, williamc, ausman, and meyers are all
just subroutines? What about The Geordan?
\_ tom + ilyas = TOMILYAS -> MOSTLY A.I.
\_ My LOST AI!
\_ A, SO MILTY!
\_ I LOST YAM! MOIST LAY!
\_ MOLT, I SAY!
\_ Check out Wario. It's much more fun that it sounds. |
| 2004/12/3-4 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:35164 Activity:nil |
12/3 Sid Meier's Pirates r0x3s HL2's b0x0rz. Also, HL1 > HL2 (not
technically, of course, but as a game - HL1 was just more memorable and
satisfying back then than HL2 today). In this respect, The Sims 2 >
HL2 as well.
\_ is Pirates challenging at all? I tried it at a demo station
somewhere and was easily capturing ships left and right. That's what
I remember of the original too. And HL2 multiplayer is pretty fun
(CS:S and HL2DM).
\_ In Apprentice mode, everything is meant to be easy. Two
difficulty levels up (Adventurer) isn't bad. You also get
20% of the total lewt as opposed to 5% when dividing plunder.
(Periodically your crew will become restless and you'll need
to start over with one selected ship + ~ 1 year.)
Dancing is the toughest part of this game, but it is rewarding.
\_ Sorry, you're simply wrong on this. HL2 is amazing. You've just
played HL1 more.
\_ The new Pirates and The Sims 2 are/were just MORE FUN for me than
HL2, which is all I'm really saying. With respect to technical
HL2, which is all I'm really saying. HL1 back in the day was more
fun than HL2 today, for me. With respect to technical
achievements, HL2 wins hands-down. I guess "HL1 > HL2" is kind
of trollish. -op
\_ That's because u = teh gey suk! Ehh.. nevermind. It
could also be that you're just getting tired of first
person shooters. I got pretty tired of them back with
Doom 2. I only rarely see one that I like. (AvP
was awesome.) |
| 2004/11/22 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Academia/StanfUrd] UID:35015 Activity:high |
11/22 'Furd Daily: http://csua.org/u/a2o "Unforeseen were the penalties and the lack of sportsmanship displayed by both teams, especially towards the end of the game. ... It wasn't only the Cardinal who were playing dirty at the end of the game. Defensive tackle Babatunde Oshinowo was injured on what he thought was a dirty block by the Cal offensive line late in the game. While the Cardinal did pick up a lot of personal fouls, a good number were offset by personal fouls on the Bears." \_ Sshhh.... we beat them well; we can afford to be magnanimous. Just smile condescendingly if you must. \_ "They were playing just as dirty as we were!" |
| 2004/11/21-22 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:35004 Activity:moderate |
11/21 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,139213,00.html JFK assasination made into a video game. \_ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6549265 with pictures \_ Sweet! When's the WTC game going to come out? \_ 2041 |
| 2004/11/19-20 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:34988 Activity:nil |
11/19 Saturday, 11/20, 12:30pm
Cal will find a way to lose the game:
\_ I prefer the phrase "Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
Cal Golden Bears roll on: .
\_ Roll on, you bears!
\_ The Stanford newspaper is already saying how this would be the
biggest upset in Big Game history if they win. Nice big 'if'
\_ They just want everyone to forget "The Play", where even
having John Elway as their QB wasn't enough to seal the
victory. |
| 2004/11/17-18 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34936 Activity:high 61%like:30535 53%like:34200 |
11/17 Half-life 2: Best - game - evuh!
\_ Let's hear an in depth review!
\_ Better than Cats.
\_ I could play it again and again!
\_ Basically: Far Cry with a much better story, much better levels,
better physics, better graphics, outstanding polish, and the best
NPC emotions/animation ever. Still heavily scripted, and still
has intra-level loading like HL1. Say good-bye to Doom 3 with
its relatively small, block-like levels inhabited by NFL players.
HL2 features which obviously need improvement:
(1) Better, more realistic SMG or the addition of an assault
rifle (what, am I just going to use the Magnum or 9mm for
all distance shots?)
(2) Better story (people who could tell you wtf is going on,
don't)
(3) Better enemy AI (duh, you'll see)
(4) Better NPC-ally AI (they jumble up and get in the way easily)
(5) Realistic pineapple grenades
\_ Yeah, I've heard the AI is a bit of downgrade from HL1.
This seems wierd to me, since that was a main selling
point of HL1.
\_ I've only played a few hours, but this is about right. The
ability to pick up just about anything in the game adds a lot.
The intra-level loading does break the immersive feeling,
especially because the load times are longer than HL1. But
this is a *really* *great* game.
\_ I don't play video games much since college, so I have no idea
WTF this is all about. What I do know is that I have nieces
and nephews who want a game console for Xmas. Which is the best
to get? Are titles like HL2 available on multiple consoles?
\_ HL2 is PC only.
\_ PlayStation 2.
\_ It depends, how old are they? What kind of games do they
like? What kind of games do their parents want them to
play?
\_ Ages 5-17, most about 8-14. They like Tony Hawk, Justice
League, Sonic, that Dolphin game, and that stuff. Their
parents prefer stuff that's cutesy rather than violent.
They have PS1 already.
\_ Pretty much a toss-up between PS2 and Gamecube then.
Xbox is right out. Probably PS2 is a better choice,
but the parents would probably prefer the gamecube,
since pretty much all the games are non-violent.
\_ If you get them a Gamecube you will forever be known as
the uncle who cheaped out and didn't get them a PS2.
Tell the parents the kids can't play Dance Dance Revolution
with a DDR pad and lose weight that way with a Gamecube.
\_ People still play with the PS2? I haven't bought a game
for that console in over a year. Past ten games or so
have all been GC or XBox
\_ GC has a few good unique games. Kids would be happy to
have both. The biggest PS2 game is Grand Theft Auto
which is obviously pretty violent. Big game coming out
is a new Metal Gear, not exactly cutesy. GC will have
a new Zelda game next year that should be pretty great.
Man how many kids are in this family? "Most" 8-14?
\_ 5 kids. 5, 6, 8, 8, 15, 17. It's not just the
kids, but also their friends.
\_ That's six kids.
\_ The 6th is a different nephew, but he will
be over to play it. 5 kids in 1 family.
\_ GTA III |
| 2004/11/11-12 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34829 Activity:high |
11/11 Okay, my bro was from UW-Madison, and he's bringing his family
to visit our uncle in LA end of the year. We are thinking of
going to see Cal vs Badger in the Rosebowl since this would
probably be once in a lifetime. Anyone has any experience as
to how best to get tickets and how much they would cost?
\_ End zone tickets are selling for $250/each on EBay right now.
I doubt they are going to get any cheaper. If you want good
seats, expect to pay up to $750 each.
\_ I am a little worried about fraud. Is there a
reputable source for getting tickets?
\_ <DEAD>rickstickets.com<DEAD> has worked for me. rick is a cool guy.
\_ Hope you two still get along afterwards.
\_ Easy tiger, we've still got 3 games left. A lot can happen.
\_ Not to mention getting picked for a bowl that isn't the Rose
is a slim possibility even if we win out. How are people
able to buy tickets for games that aren't decided yet? Does
it mean they get stuck with Purdue-Texas (e.g.) in the Rose if
that's how it turns out?
\_ I'm sure someone will buy them off you later
\_ Maybe not for what you paid for them.
\_ I don't see Cal or Wisconsin losing more than 1 of
their conference games left. Maybe USC will lose
a game and bump Cal out of the Rosebowl, or Wisconsin
may have some chance to play in the National
Championship game if both Auburn and Oklahoma lose
one of their remaining games. But you are right,
I do plan to wait for things to clear up, but no
harm asking about it now. - op
\_ Limited tickets available to general public on 12/7 @ 8am. Call
Ticketmaster (info @ http://tournamentofroses.com) |
| 2004/11/9 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:34771 Activity:high |
11/8 Why do these guys look like the terrorists in Counter-Strike?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/041108/481/bag11811081424
\_ Because they killed all the sodomizing homosexuals who could tell
them that lumberjack shirts and checkered kaffiyehs simply do
not match. -John
\_ On a side note, does it ever get cold enough in Iraq or the rest
of the Middle East to justify owning a balaclava?
\_ Yes. Ever been in a desert at night? It gets cold.
\_ Damn, good point. Bang goes another theory. |
| 2004/11/2 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34536 Activity:nil |
11/2 CNN - "Bush also played gin rummy with some advisers on each leg of
the trip [between campaign stops today]."
So, how many games did you think he won?
How many games did his peons let him win? -troll |
| 2004/10/31-11/1 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:34469 Activity:nil |
10/31 President Forever Game:
http://www.computer-game.us/strategy_war/president2000.htm |
| 2004/10/28 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:34399 Activity:nil |
10/28 The Brain Game!
http://www.imgag.com/product/full/ap/3067907/graphic1.swf |
| 2004/10/26 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34361 Activity:moderate |
10/26 PC Computer Games? Xbox? PS2?
\_ Context?
\_ what do you prefer to play/buy.
\_ PC. I like turn-based strategy games which are few and far
between on consoles, and for non-action games, keyboard+mouse
input is really nice to have.
\_ Nectaris: military madness is an awesome PS1 turn-based
strategy game.
\_ Gamecube. My favorite system for get-togethers, with the most fun
4-player games (Super Smash Bros Melee, Mario Kart, etc)
\_ gamecube = teh gay
\_ whoops. sorry. lemme go back to my games where i blow shit
up and endlessly accumulate frags.
\_ You've been baited -troll
\_ Donkey Konga! |
| 2004/10/26-27 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34352 Activity:very high |
10/26 I haven't played any computer games in a very very long time. What is
a fun game to play in cooperative mode? I'm primarily looking for
first person shooter type games, but would be interested to hear
alternative suggestions.
\_ Bubble Bobble
\_ Star Wars Battlefront allows you to play coperatively, and you're
part of a massive group effort. It may start to lose appeal in
frequent replays, but right now it's a blast. Also, I just bought
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, and I'm loving it. There's a multi-
player version, but I don't know if it's cooperative; if it were,
that would be tres sweet. (And why did this get overwritten?)
\_ Cooperative mode as in buddies vs AI or buddies vs other players
over the internets [sic]? I've had a lot of fun playing BattleField
1942 on the internets [sic] if you find a good server it's a nice
teamwork game (4 players per bomber, 4 per battleship, etc.)
\_ BF1942 AI is teh suck, don't bother with coop mode against the
computer, but yeah, the teamplay is really nice. Have yet to
try BF2. -John
\_ BF:Vietnam is fairly additive. With the latest patch, you
now have maps that have added tunnels and sewers. There is
also a mod that updates the BF:1942 maps to the newer engine
with is very fun. Another game thats fun multiplayer is
Unreal Tournament 2004 in Onslaught mode. -rollee
\_ If the last LAN co-op you played was Serious Sam 2, you haven't
missed anything. Not much else.
For online team v team co-op, CounterStrike: Source is fun.
Unreal Tournament looks fun against bots, but it looks too twitchy
to me. There is an Aliens UT mod strictly against the AI, kinda
fun.
\_ The last good co-op game I played was doom2, haha -!op
\_ I've heard co-op in Halo is great (on xbox--co-op isn't available on
the PC port).
\_ MMOs like world of warcraft are good for coop play. It's required
really, to avoid some of the tedious stuff. Still takes too long
to play though.
\_ Is WOW out yet?
\_ Not yet. Will be in open beta soon, I suspect. -geordan
\_ Alpha bastard. -- ilyas
\_ I know. -geordan
\_ MMOs are a niche market, imho. -- ilyas
\_ how do you figure? they have many millions of users among them
and make lots of money.
\_ Well, lots of koreans and japanese play. A typical
American kid/teenager/young adult doesn't strike me as
a MMO type. *shrug*. MMOs are built on timesinks and
'character-building-as-work.' I don't think that sort of
fun is very widespread in American culture. -- ilyas
\_ Your suppositions are belied by the facts:
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000194.php
\_ Wtf? I am well aware of MMO demographics. What
does that have to do with my assertion that
most young people will not play everquest?
How many subscribers do you think everquest has?
Do you understand the difference between
'most people who play everquest are young males'
and
'most young males do not play everquest'?
-- ilyas
\_ Don't bring logic to a video game discussion.
\_ Video games are still basically a geek thing in
the popular culture. But would you consider Diablo
a niche market? MMOs have a lot wider appeal than
that with some of the same timewasting dynamics.
\_ Diablo is much more accessible than a typical
MMO. I think Diablo is pretty mainstream.
It's about as close to mainstream as an RPG
will come. -- ilyas
\_ Well I've only tried WoW but based on that you're
just wrong. I've seen a lot of interest from young
males (again, only a certain class of them even
play PC games and a further subset stray from the
FPS genre). WoW is very comparable to Diablo in
basic "get quest, go kill stuff, keep upgrading
weapons/armor/skills" gameplay. The combat is
slower paced and doesn't have the action-game
aspect of Diablo (frantically clicking and running
around). It's just a far more rich game world,
and has more to do besides just constant combat.
The social aspect is something you can't find in
regular games and appeals to a lot of people.
The Sims is the best seller and doesn't try to
target the teenage boy demographic, which Diablo
was all about.
\_ Blizzard is a good company, and WoW is a good
game. If any MMO has a chance at 'mainstream
status,' WoW is it. I don't think it will
reach it in the US, simply because most
US gamers aren't really into these kinds of
RPGs. Anyways, this entire thread is strung
out on dorkosterone. I am stopping, before
someone trolls me into a long rant about
MMO design, that I will later regret.
Guildwars is more likely to be mainstream
than WoW, I think. -- ilyas
\_ fwiw I don't plan to buy WoW and only played
a few days. just takes too much time to do
anything. Playing in teams is fun but you
have to play long periods to make the most
of that and find a good group. Or if you
make friends in the game you have to keep
up with them and regularly stay in touch.
I have a real life to attend to thanks.
It could work by scheduling times with a
friend so you keep in sync. Going solo is
unrewarding and the game punishes it. |
| 2004/10/18-19 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:34206 Activity:high |
10/18 sexy women kicking men's ass in Counter Strike: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/fun.games/10/18/games.swedishgirls.ap/index.html \_ Wow, it's great that women today are judged on their abilities, not their short skirts. Nice legs, though. -John |
| 2004/10/18-19 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34200 Activity:high 53%like:34936 |
10/18 Half-Life 2 has gone gold. Street date: November 16
http://www.vugames.com/news_story.do?storyId=1963
\_ Not released via Steam until it's available on store shelves.
Boo!
\_ I think this is apropos...
http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-10-15&res=l
\_ Steam purchase == activation. I never buy products with
"activation"
\_ I thought steam was just a way to activate something you
downloaded, rather than running out to buy a physical
copy? Unlike some products which require you to go buy
a hardcopy, then activate online. -John
\_ Steam is nice in that it gives you an account, and
you can actually use the game from your account
on multiple systems. The disadvantage is the net
MUST be working for you to be able to play!
\_ You don't get the equivalent of a cd key you can take
somewhere with you? I mean, with a hardcopy, you need
to have the booklet/case/piece of paper with the key
on it along... -John
\_ The games you can play are tied to your password-
protected account. It's just like AIM or MSN
Messenger. Login to multiple PCs with your account,
download the full game to every PC - but only one
person can play at a time (using your account).
\_ Yes you do, but you have to connect to the online
service to activate even if you just want to play the
single-player version (only once per install).
\_ The retail boxed version won't require product activation?
\_ Not as far as I know. CD-Key only.
\_ I wasted an unhealthy percentage of my weekend in Counter-Strike:
Source. It's the same old thing but I had forgotten how addictive
it is. I think I'll quit again now though. I had AK-47 sounds
\_ AK-47 sounds cooler in real life.
replaying in my head when trying to fall asleep. Yesterday played
with team kill turned on which was a new twist for me.
\_ Well, and aiming is a lot more forgiving. You can be zipping
left and right and your first shot will always be dead in the
center. Aim is primarily affected by "recoil" now.
Plus, there are less aimbots with CS: Source.
\_ fewer
\_ but yermom wants more
\_ Plus there are the motivational posters like:
<DEAD>_render_.blogspot.com/2004/10/cssource-motivational-posters.html<DEAD> |
| 2004/10/14-15 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34134 Activity:kinda low |
10/14 Duh. CompSci team wins Prisoner's Dilemma tournament by cheating
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65317,00.html?tw=rss.TOP
(Okay, more accurately, the rules were set up to allow this sort
of completely lame win.)
\_ One man's cheating is another's innovative solution.
\_ I would say smart people already thought of this but dismissed
it out of hand as lame.
\_ If it's good enough for Captain Kirk ...
\_ All they did was take the game up a level. The original winning
strategy is based on the idea of greater wins over a longer period
for a single player; the current idea is based on the idea of
greater wins for a *team* over a longer period without regard to
the losses. Future iterations of the game would need to take into
account net wins/losses for teams or limit the number of entries a
team could make. What's exciting is that this is the first time
it's been shaken up like this in 20 years.
\_ omfg, I can't believe you think this. This is so utterly lame
I am ... urgh, whatever.
\_ Not quite: The greater wins for an individual AS PART OF A team.
if you averaged the team score, it was probably very low because
of the sacrificial behavior of most of the team members. |
| 2004/10/13-15 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:34095 Activity:kinda low |
10/13 Here's a stupid question, can I copy playstation2 games using my
DVD writer? DVD+R? -R? booktype?
\_ I know DVD-R works but I think you need to get your PS2 modchipped.
\_ So ps2 will not work with DVD-R or +R unless chipped?
\_ I think there's some boot-disc hack also, but basically: yes.
\_ You want to start at http://lik-sang.com--they at least used to sell
modchips for Xbox/PS2. I think they had some court trouble, but as
another hint, an Italian judge ruled recently that modchipping was
fair use and that Sony/MS could go sod off. For some more chip
info, go to http://www.livejournal.com/community/modchips and if
you have some specific questions, I have a few friends who're
heavily into this stuff who'll probably gladly help out if you
drop me a mail. -John
\_ How would this even work for PS2 discs that exceed 4.3 GiB?
Wow, you used THE STANDARD _/
\_ If you have a way of transferring data to a memory card, there's
a buffer overflow trick that will allow you to boot arbitrary
programs (there's a similar trick for the XBOX), which I've
gotten to run software that will backup PS2 games to a maxtor
hd that hooks into the PS2 network adaptor. There's supposedly
programs that will boot DVD-Rs on the PS2, so if you can load
that program using the boot trick, you won't need to mod.
Please post if you can get this to work. Thanks |
| 2004/10/6 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA] UID:33947 Activity:low |
10/6 aaron the philanthropist, now that you're a rich Googler (you've been
with the company since 1998, no?), how much are you going to donate
to CSUA? \_ no. --aaron
\_ In the old days we got as much money as we could and spent
the excess on nice things like volleyball equipments,
beach party stuff, video games, etc. I'd imagine the
current politburo could have asked for lots of money and
squander them on XBox, games, PDAs, and other things. The
fact that it hasn't probably means that they've turned
into nice honest people or something. |
| 2004/10/1 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:33895 Activity:nil |
10/1 Game over for Peoplesoft. |
| 2004/9/26-27 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33759 Activity:moderate |
9/26 Has anyone played Dungeon Siege? I know its an old game, but I saw
it on sale and wanted to know if it was any good before I bought it.
\_ Dungeon Siege is like a crappy, Microsoft version of Diablo 2.
Diablo 2 is much more fun.
\_ DS is an old game that I still sometimes load up for kicks.
D2 is rehashed crap with zero replaybility.
\_ Is that why people still play D2 by the thousands on
battlenet, and why there are D2 item selling businesses
on the internet? No one plays DS except you.
\_ Lots of people commit suicide every year so suicide must
be good. That's the best you can come up with?
\_ Suicide is great, try it.
\_ A new twist on the "Coors" beer argument.
\_ I so thoroughly wanted to be done with this game that I started
just racing the characters through, ignoring the monsters. And
it worked.
\_ D2 >> Dungeon Siege. The makers of Dungeon Siege failed to grasp
what makes Diablo fun. -- ilyas
what makes Diablo fun. Sacred is apparently a better attempt,
but I never played it. -- ilyas
\_ I've played Sacred. Sacred is poo. DS >>> Sacred.
\_ It's probably worth $5 but don't spend more than $10. |
| 2004/9/24-25 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Domestic/Gay] UID:33743 Activity:nil |
9/24 Scott Kurtz breaks down the proper use of the word "gay"
http://www.pvponline.com
\_ I would add another use of the adjective "gay." Using it
sarcastically in a context where some dickhead 17 year old
meathead jock might, but around people who know you don't mean
it in the same way is a subtle way of making fun of the
17 year old meathead jock, which I don't feel the slightest
bit bad about.
\_ scott kurtz = teh ghey
\_ w00t! scott kurtz = pwned |
| 2004/9/19-20 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33623 Activity:high |
9/18 The Sims 2, TOTALLY AWSOME. I love how you can look at people's
expressions. It's like being a director in a soap opera. EA is
awsome. BTW you nuke this one more time, I'll retaliate.
\_ how do I do a "woohoo" in Sims? My love stat is 100/100 and they
sleep on the same bed but nothing happens
\_ In Sims 1 at least they have to 'play' using the heart-shaped bed
\_ have both sims Relax. the sex option will open then.
See http://gamefaqs.com forums if you have more questions.
I agree it is a totally awesome game, extremely polished.
I "beat" it yesterday and still think it's the best-game-ever,
and I've played a lot of games.
\_ CIVILIZATION SERIES BEST GAME EVER!!!
\_ How do you "beat" it? I thought the sims was just an aimless
endless dollhouse game where you constantly tell your sims
to eat and take a crap.
\_ I've heard in this one they're a lot smarter about
remembering to eat and go to the bathroom all by themselves
\_ You're right in that there is no endgame screen.
I decided maxing out all my skills == beating the game.
\_ how much will I have to upgrade my computer to play this game
properly?
\_ I don't remember exactly but I think you should have:
1GHz proc, 256-512MB RAM, 3.5GB disk, Radeon 9000 or GeForce 3
\_ Try the Microsoft Windows XP Game Advisor, needs IE:
http://csua.org/u otherwise just google for sims 2
http://csua.org/u/94k otherwise just google for sims 2 |
| 2004/9/17-20 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33590 Activity:high |
9/17 The Sims 2 -- Best - Game - Ever!!1!!! (really!)
\_ I believe it's spelled EVAR!!!
\_ But where are the guns?
\_ I took the blue licorice and got fired.
\_ Having spent the past 10 months of my life working on that game,
it's somewhat weird and comforting for me to see this on
the MOTD.
\_ Man, that must really suck, to have to work on a dollhouse
game...
\_ Ignore the jobless, clueless troll above. Any Easter eggs you
can give us the 411 on?
\_ How did you get started in the gaming industry? I get the sense
that AI and graphics as taught at Berkeley aren't particularly
helpful if one wants to work in the field. I know people once
got started tinkering at home or in the demo scene. It seems
like the teams making games today are really big. If this is
the case, how can one person working alone produce something
that comes close to a modern shipping game, that is, something
impressive enough to land a development position in a gaming
company?
\_ They can't. You can get in at the bottom or you can maybe
publish a free game that catches on and turn that into
something. A few folks made it as modders but very few.
\_ Okay, what's the bottom? Tech support? Play testing?
\_ I assume you want to be a programmer, not an artist or
other creative type? I suggest finding a small company
that will pay you nothing or look for a junior job at
a huge place like EA that will find *something* for you
to do. Why would you want to work in an industry that
pays so much less than anywhere else for the same work?
Just curious, but how old are you? When I interviewed
at Maxis/EA, everyone was early 20s or late 30s and
older with nothing in the late 20s to late 30s gap. I
was late 20s/early 30s at the time and found it weird
and not a good fit.
\_ if you want to be an artist-type, you might find
something at the academy of art, SF, or SF art
institute. very expensive if you go this route. |
| 2004/9/13 [Computer/HW/CPU, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33497 Activity:nil |
9/12 I don't play games but I want to play Beyond Good and Evil. I seek
people's opinions as to the cheapest way to do this. I own no console
and my computer has only the standar-issue graphics card.
\_ What's your CPU and RAM? Do you have an AGP slot?
\_ 1998 HP Pavillion. 199 MHz. 128M RAM. Yes - The old
fashioned kind.
\_ No such thing. The Pentium II started at 233 MHz. Oh, and
there's a difference between Hertz and MegaHertz.
\_ You'll either need to buy a console or get an all-new system.
6 years is long enough for an upgrade anyway.
\_ OK. But would it be better to buy a used PS2 or Xbox,
instead? That's what I'm asking, really. -OP
\_ If you're ONLY concern is to play the game as cheaply as
possible, then buy (or rent from Blockbuster) a used
console. The graphical quality will be best on a PC
with a DirectX-9.0 video card, but that will be a lot
more money. If my system was 6 years old I'd upgrade
for a lot of reasons, but your priorities may vary.
\_ Thx. It actually hadn't occurred to me that I can
rent consoles. That's what I'm going to do...as soon
as the wife goes out for awhile.
\_ New ones are ~$150, aren't they? You can also rent
them from some video stores.
\_ Why don't you just look and see? They're the same
price new. I'd pick based on if you think there are
any other games of interest. But, Xbox is capable of
better graphics, which might be better in BG&E.
\_ As above, thank you both. These were useful answers. |
| 2004/9/9 [Science/Disaster, Consumer/CellPhone, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33436 Activity:high |
9/9 Ali Rahimi's dumb retro phone thing makes it into the NY times
http://nytimes.com/2004/09/09/technology/circuits/09retr.html?8hpib
\_ The bluetooth model would be cooler without the cord.
\_ what's the csuamotd user id and password?
\_ Go Media Whores of the CSUA, Go!
\_ There's some dude in the UK who actually builds cell phones
into old handsets. Can't find the guy's page anymore,
though. They look pretty spiffy. -John |
| 2004/9/7-8 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33400 Activity:kinda low |
9/7 Atari to Reissue Scores of Old games
http://csua.org/u/8yb (Yahoo! News)
\_ What I can't figure about the flashback is, apparently it's
just an Atari 7800 with no cartridge slot, and 20 built in
games. Is a cartridge slot really that freaking expensive?
What if I have some 7800 or 2600 games I'd like to play on the
beast? WIth a cart slot, they could even release expansion
carts.
\_ A few months ago I saw an Atari game machine in a store which has
about 10 old games. The whole machine is just one old-style
joystick (the black one with a red button). There is no console.
All the electronics are packed in the joystick. Don't remember if
there's a name for it.
\_ Walmart or Target might have . $19.99 |
| 2004/9/7 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33384 Activity:nil |
9/7 And touching on videogames, I've seen some people pretty excited
for Gradius V, which comes out in spetember. I played this game
at the cgexpo. It's really annoying. It feels more like it's
mocking the 2D shooter genera than tring to be a good one.
You've got all the enemies flying around you, shooting at you
from every possible angle, and you're stuck shooting straight to
the right side of the screen. It's like the game is saying, "If
you were in 3D you could move around like this boss, but you
can't. You're only 2D. You can only shoot at the right side of
screen. Too bad there are no enemies over there. Ha, ha!" |
| 2004/9/2-3 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:33301 Activity:high |
9/2 Is it possible to download bloody patches (patches that show actual
blood instead of a cross) and Swastica patches for Battlefield
1942/Vietnam games? I want more realism...
\_ Get out a pixel editor. Anyway, good games don't require that
stuff. One of the best fighting games I ever played was so good I
didn't even notice there was no blood or special killing moves
until I'd been playing for 2 days.
\_ Uhh... which would called?
\_ Yes. Google for 'blood patch.' Also if you mail me I will dig
out a URL that has a ton of good no-cd patches and the likes. Be
careful though, as patching the exe may cause trouble with things
like Punkbuster for online play, as well as with other forms
of verification used by the game. -John
\_ if I patch the enemies, would they glow bright in the jungles?
I'm wondering if I can do this so that I can see them clearly
and piss everyone off.
\_ Probably. There are plenty of "overlay" clients that
run behind your game and recognize certain color tones
(i.e. enemy uniforms) and highlight them. -John
\_ Use motdedit! |
| 2004/8/31 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/Military] UID:33260 Activity:very high |
8/31 http://planetmayhem.org/glossary#91 Aimbot, autoshoot, wallhack, all here. Useful if you play games. \_ A non-trivial intersection between motd posters and the CS crowd would make all too much sense... with all of them 'w00t' and 'omg you got pwned' crap I keep seeing here. -- ilyas 'w00t' and 'omg you got pwned' things I keep seeing here. -- ilyas \_ Translation: ilyas is talking down 2 all u l00z3rS!!1! \_ n00b \_ Yeah, I hear there are a few gun nuts on motd. \_ What's a gun nut? Someone who believes owning a handgun is a good idea? -- ilyas \_ you can own 20 guns and not be a gun nut. you can hunt and target shoot and not be a gun nut. You can have a gun you carry at all times for protection and not be a gun nut. A gun nut is someone who *believes* in gun ownership as some sort of philosophical position, not just because they want to kill deer, protect themselves or practice their eye-hand coordination. That's a gun nut. \_ Wow, nicely summed up. \_ I don't understand this summary. Are the asterisks somehow significant? I believe in life, liberty, etc. Does that make me a life nut or a liberty nut? Of course I believe in all the rights I think I have. What you are saying is coming across as 'anyone who tries to defend a position I don't agree with is a nut.' Well, that's great, we found the nut in the conversation, and it ain't me. Or maybe you just object to people trying to come up with principled justifications for what they believe in, and rather the world was just a giant meaningless compromise between competing interest groups. That's not nutty, that's sad and depressing. -- ilyas \_ alan keyes is a "gun nut" \_ Anyone who uses cheats for an online game doesn't deserve to live. \_ "CAMELOT!" "It's only a model..." "Shh!" |
| 2004/8/31 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/History/WW2] UID:33245 Activity:high |
8/31 Battlefield Vietnam is AWSOME! I just downloaded the WW2 mod from
EA and now I can play some of the BF1942 maps. It is really really
nice. It's like buy 2 games for the price of 1, with a LOT of
improvements.
\_ You did not deserve to download that mod and are unfit to play
multiplayer. -Battlefield Vietnam Veterans for Truth
\_ Okay that was pretty funny.
\_ http://tinyurl.com/67x4j
http://www.gengamers.com/html/bv-27.html
\_ the Napalm on the F4-- totally useless
the mortars-- hard to aim, the range of harm is limited. USELESS
heat seeking missiles-- totally cool
\_ Do you get a purple heart for suffering 1 point of damage from
your own grenade you threw when you thought someone was there,
but actually no one was shooting at you?
\_ Use your name, coward, so I can mug you and make an imprint
of my dad's purple heart in your forehead with a bat.
\_ tough guy! reminds me of being 13 on a 300 baud modem when
everyone was telling their 'enemies' to show at some park but
no one ever did.
\_ actually when I was 15 and I had a fast 1200 baud
modem I tricked one of my enemies into showing up
at a restaurant (he stole my girlfriend so I made
up a fake girl account on a BBS that he visited
frequently) and he got really pissed that he waited
3 hours and asked me why I didn't show up and I
just wrote back "fuck off you pervert." That'll
show him not to steal other people's gf. Ah those were
the days
\_ You think you won that exchange? He waited three
hours in a restaurant and fucked your girl. Can
I get that special as well please? To go. Thanks.
\_ Women are property! There's a strong conservative
value!
\_ No, but you do get a silver star for valor with a "v" for valor
on it which has never been issued.
\_ So how many [DEM] JOhn_KErry players have you seen online?
Do they run away after the first shot?
\_ They kill [REP] and [VC] with their bare hands.
\_ For some reason [REP] John_McCain always gets shot in the back by
his clanmates.
\_ You guys are awesome. This totally made my day. |
| 2004/8/16 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:32933 Activity:very high |
8/16 Is it just me or do the Olympic Games in Greece this year seem
to really suck? It seems like nobody is really interested in them
and the stands are all empty. There doesn't seem to be a lot of
promotion either. I remember the games back in 2000 sure seemed
a bit more exciting. And it seems like the US, Germany, Russia,
traditional Olympic powerhouses are really sucking this year.
\_ The USA vs Puerto Rico basketball game was most exciting game!
\_ Why do you hate America?
\_ "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are
we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our
country and our people, and neither do we."
\_ Did anyone notice that on the 'Al-Qaeda hard drive'
they refered to the CIA and Mossad as 'Foreign
Competitors'?
\_ I don't get your point.
\_ It would be more exciting if something blew up.
\_ I'd be interested except I hate the coverage. I don't have a Tivo
so it's basically unwatchable. It feels like half the time is
spent with commercials, theme music, and random commentators. |
| 2004/8/11-12 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:32822 Activity:kinda low |
8/11 After spending over a day practicing, I can finally hover a
helicoptor. Battlefield Vietnam is the coolest game out there.
Much better than 1942. Go EA! Beat MS games!
\_ I dunno about BFV, but 1942 was only good in multiplayer. If
you don't mind absence of toys like loads of vehicles, try
Call of Duty--it's awesome. -John
\_ Agreed! Call of Duty was extremely good in 1 player. --aaron
\_ What is your login? Let's get on a server together sometime. --aaron
\_ Mine's "mrfluffy". I usually play at Eudemonia in Berkeley
--jeffwong, not op |
| 2004/8/9 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:32793 Activity:nil |
8/9 I am about to proceed to check-out on http://half.com and suddenly I got "The specified module could not be found." after entering the password. Is this a problem with my browser or the site? |
| 2004/8/3 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:32662 Activity:very high |
8/3 Doom 3 is fun and pretty, but Half Life 1 and System Shock 2 both
had more "wow". Doom 3 feels like a console port, what with the
blocky levels, blocky human models, weak weapons, and other
intangibles. Although it has its weaknesses (especially with
stocking enemies in illogical places for scripted ambushes -- you
always need to turn your back since they'll just create a monster
somewhere without opening a secret door or drawing a teleport
effect), Doom 3 is ultimately a game you will want to play and come
back to for the next level. Despite its negative points, go buy it
now now now.
(Side note: They had the level designer for Doom 1 come back as
lead level designer for Doom 3 -- it definitely shows. You'll know
what I mean when you play, and not in a good way.)
\_ Is it true there's a code to load the old version of Doom?
\_ What quality setting were you using? Supposeadly the models look a
lot smoother if you don't compress the normal maps.
\_ High. When I say blocky models, all the characters are football
players who fill up most of the corridor, even the scientists.
I also forgot that this will be an X-Box supported game. And
it totally shows (everything I've written). Yet, it's still fun.
\_ Don't you find it really dark? I could hardly see anything. The
only reason it was playable on my computer (AthlonXP 2500+, 9800)
was that most of the time the gpu was sticking black pixels on
the screen.
\_ I set my gamma at about 40% (80% was too much) and played in
the dark, and that's fine. As for frame rate, 1024x768 on
my Athlon 64 3200+ with Radeon 9600 XT is fine on High; my
younger brother has a Pentium 4 2.26 with 9600, and he's fine
on High as well. What's really, really annoying is the
stuttering when a door opens and the new textures for that guy
who's about to waste you need to load -- try this:
http://csua.org/u/8fq
\_ Another point, Doom 3 feels like it is targeted at 13-year-olds,
whereas the two other games I mentioned and most good RPGs
feel like they are targeted at 16-year-olds. -op
\_ Good RPGs are targeted for mature teenagers and old people.
Youngins these days think diablo is an rpg. *sigh*. -- ilyas
Consider the average age of people posting on the wizardry 8
forums. Youngins these days think diablo is an rpg. *sigh*.
-- ilyas |
| 2004/8/2-3 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:32633 Activity:very high |
8/2 Doom 3 Review: http://www.telefragged.com/reviews/doom3 \_ OMG that review is teh suck1!!!!!!1 \_ Someone's personal review: http://csua.org/u/8f5 \_ This sounds like what I expected. ID has been remaking the same game since Doom 1. Even Return to Wolfenstien was basically the same crap. \_ I played through some beginning parts. The levels are so pitch dark that you can barely see anything, and monsters pop out from various places accompanied by startling noises. It's simple but basically works, I started to get pretty pumped up. Graphically it taxes my system pretty hard. But the graphics don't match the hype IMO. The animation and lip syncing doesn't match Half-Life 2 video I've seen. The dynamic lighting looks spectacular sometimes, and combined with the highly detailed surfaces does achieve a great atmosphere, but doesn't seem so incredibly better than other recent games as hype would have it (Deus Ex 2 had similar technology for example, but wasn't as polished). It achieves a nice cinematic feel. I'll reserve further judgment until I play through it. \_ I've been thinking this same thought for the whole day: Why don't the marines of the future have the ability to mount a little flashlight on their gun? \_ Nah, it would give away their position. I'm sure we'll have flashlight technology in the next iteration when the gfx cards can actually handle a full scene without stuttering. \_ Or, more likely, a damn helmet light, with an infrared toggle. Or at least hold a flashlight and pistol at the same time... Mulder and Scully do it all the time. Pretty lame. \_ Do M&S have BFG9000s? No. They don't. |
| 2004/7/28 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:32520 Activity:high |
7/27 Hey, laser-game (reflections?) playing person(s), did you get around
that level loading problem? I get the same thing trying to go to level
23.
\_ try this url instead - http://www.nailmaster.ru/laser.html
\_ thanks.
\_ further proof that French programmars are all about aesthetics
\_ watch out for the pop up that says your computer is
infected and leads you to a commercial site
\_ further proof that French programmers are all about aesthetics
and little function. To recap:
http://csua.com/?entry=32455
\_ and http://csua.com/?entry=11448
although, i visited http://globulos.com yesterday for the first time
in many months and it seems they're improving it.
\_ that's because the number of users are cut in half, DUH. |
| 2004/7/23-24 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:32455 Activity:kinda low |
7/23 Cool game http://www.ace21.freesurf.fr/gamuz/jeux/laser.swf \_ Godamn it this has the same addictiveness as globulos. Anyways, I'm stuck on level 22. Literally. The screen says "loading..." and it just wouldn't load level 22. Anyone else have this problem? |
| 2004/7/15 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:32291 Activity:low |
7/14 East German Arcade Game:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/features/polyplay.shtml |
| 2004/7/7 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Domestic/President/Clinton] UID:31197 Activity:nil |
7/7 Yikes! Scotty has alzheimers! http://tinyurl.com/3ckj9 \_ Dude! Scotty has a 4 year-old daughter! Wow! |
| 2004/6/28-30 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:31049 Activity:insanely high |
6/28 What's a better 3D WW2 shooter game, Battlefield 1942, Call of Duty,
or something else?
\_ Medal of Honor. Very cool, very difficult D-Day Landing. Well,
then it kinda gets repetitive, but there you go. BF1942 is best
played multiplayer with lots of people, preferably not twinks.
\_ Seconded. I really enjoy 1942 (loads of variety, not too
twitchy) multiplayer, ith some clued people. I understand
that for single-player, CoD is brilliant though. -John
\_ Thirded. BF42 is pretty awesome with good teams. -eric
\_ Fourthed. BF1942 also has the awesome expansion pack Desert
Combat which is free and revolves around the first Gulf War
(vaguely). There are better vehicles to pilot including
choppers and an AC130 gunship. Also, consider BF:Vietnam
where the terrain and tactics are more interesting.
I say BF1942 has better graphics and gameplay than MoH.
--jeffwong
\_ Does anyone else think that turning genuine human sacrifice
into a game is deeply disturbing?
\_ nope.
\_ Yup. Kids might get ideas, better ban it. -John
\_ That is not what I mean. I don't think that these
games are bad in and of themselves. It just seems
to me that most people I've met treat these just
like any other FPS and do not realize that real
men fought and died at the battles that are
depicted in the game. This I found somewhat
disturbing. I was wondering if anyone else felt
the same way.
\_ They turn it into movies, why not games? By the way
you just jumped from "deeply" to "somewhat" disturbing.
\_ He's already getting used to the violence.
\_ Guess you are right.
\_ You mean like that Aztec ball game?
\_ Don't forget the Call of Duty Russian missions. Those were great. |
| 2004/6/20 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30923 Activity:very high |
6/19 BORING ASS MOTD. UGH!
\_ Sorry. Too busy playing City of Heroes. Maybe you should get off
your ass and do something to entertain us for once? I'm sick and
tired of your whining trap on here bitching about how boring the
rest of us are. Do something to make it exciting.
\_ City of Heroes!? Oh God...
\_ Yeah like all you idiots playing nethack, BF1942 and the
rest are so kewl.
\_ Let me spell it out for you. CoH sucks because THERE
IS NO EQUIPMENT IN IT. NO SHINIES. IT'S BORING!
\_ I'm still trying to think of a game that's as lame as
the metagame of discussing games on the motd. |
| 2004/6/18 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30886 Activity:high |
6/18 I've read a few message boards and articles from professional black
jack players who make it seem like their only problem with making
unlimited cash is getting kicked out of casinos. It was my
understanding that even with 'perfect play', the odds are still in
favor of the house slightly and thus over time a player is going to
lose money just like the average shlump, just slower. How are these
guys making money playing a game that doesn't favor them in the long
term? Of course they don't tell you how unless you buy their book.
I'm just curious, I don't want to buy someone's $99 book.
\_ With a contant size bet and perfect play, the odds are against
you in most versions of blackjack and you will eventually go
broke. The key in counting cards is to bet lots of money when
there are many high cards in the deck (this is when you have
the advantage) and bet as little as possible otherwise. By
varying your bet based on the count, you can consistently make
money. The tricky part is (1) counting cards effectively enough
that you don't get flustered by the lights and the action and
make an error and (2) concealing from the casions that you are
counting. I've read that even one mistake an hour is enoough
to destroy the benefit of counting. Check out a book from the
library for more info. I recommend "Blackjack your way to
riches" by Canfield as a readable intro. -emin
\_ Estimated edge for most systems are 1-1.5%. Conditions might
raise that to 2%. One mistake an hour will wipe your profit.
See http://www.faqs.org/faqs/gambling-faq/blackjack for an
See http://www.faqs.org/faqs/gambling-faq/blackjack for an
intro to basic strategy and simple counting systems. |
| 2004/6/18 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30885 Activity:very high |
6/18 Is this a good game? http://www.atari.com/axisandallies/us/thegame.php \_ It looks pretty in the demo movie and they claim historically accurate equipment, etc, but combat itself looks like the standard RTS "crank em out, rope em in, send em into enemy base, repeat until victory". Not that that is a bad thing. I like games like that but I don't see anything super original here. The RTS genre hasn't changed in many years. \_ It looks interesting, but it also looks suspiciously like WarCraft with different units. \_ If you want a game which approximates the combat of the era better than the obviously stupid RTS model, check out the Combat Mission games. -- ilyas \_ I like RTS games but they're really best with fantastic weapons, special units, etc. The ones where they try to be historically accurate always suck because it pisses me off when stupid AI destroys the realism. Like why is my American soldier just standing there and not running for cover when he sees a German tank coming up the road firing at him? Why does the Japanese soldier shoot at the APC with a rifle while 5 US marines casually stroll up next to him and kill him at point blank? ARGH! \_ It's true. Combat Mission is really fun against another human though. It is also RTS, but not like Starcraft. -- ilyas \_ What are some of the original RTS'? Were Dune II and Warcraft RTS'? \_ yes. \_ Yeah, I think Dune 2 was the first one of its type. \_ After Dune II, there was Warcraft and Command & Conquer. WC was all about a small number of units with special powers for some of them. C&C was about piles and piles of rock/paper/ scissors units, building as many of each type as possible and flooding the enemy base with them. \_ You should check out Rise of Nations. It combines a lot of elements from Turn based strategy games into RTS. RoN rocks!! It has completely changed the RTS genre. It is THE BEST RTS out there right now. Gamespot Review: http://csua.org/u/7tc \_ RoN was ok. Where does the turn based part come in? Did I miss some vital part of the game? \_ Borders, Attrition in enemy territory, no running out of resources (rather commerce limits), cannot destroy cities (you assimilate your opponents cities). Single player RoN is very good, but in multiplayer games is where it really shines. Gone are the days where you can rush your opponent and crush (although it is fun), you can choose to have a peace period in the beginning where no one can attack another. You can also win the game by other means than crushing your opponent by expanding your nation's presense (territory victory) or create multiple wonders and achieve a wonder victory. I can go on, but I'll stop here. \_ I think we have a different idea of what turn based implies. If I can't stop and think about my move for a few minutes and beat my enemy with superior strategy rather than tactics then it isn't turn based, imo. \_ Did anyone ever play Robosport? That was one of my favorite games of all time? Unfortunately, I can't get OS X to run it because the ROM I have only works for 16 color mode. \_ I couldn't get the playable demo to run on my PC. There was some stupid activation issue and I guess their server is permanently down or something. \_ Gamespot Preview: http://csua.org/u/7t5 \_ Looks cool but I can't imagine being able to finish a game. 5 players, multiple battles each turn, 1 RTS game within each battle. 5 players, multiple battles each turn, 1 RTS game within each battle. [formatd] it's going to take days to finish a game. |
| 2004/6/10-11 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:30731 Activity:moderate |
6/10 Cal football games to be broadcast on the radio in SoCal.
http://calbears.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/061004aaa.html
\_ Not free. Not on Yahoo Sports, anyway. If you know of
a way to get it for free, let me know.
\_ It's about time.
\_ You can listen to the games over the Internet, though. It
used to be free. It might still be.
\_ Might be hard to do while you're stuck on the 405.
\_ Satellite.
\_ Not free. Not on Yahoo Sports, anyway. If you know of
a way to get it for free, let me know. |
| 2004/6/3 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:30561 Activity:high |
6/2 Game review: Beyond Good and Evil. Really well done, how come I
didn't hear squat about his game before now? Horrid title, good
gameplay, lags a little in the middle, but what game doesn't? Does
a great job with the learning curve, never seems too hard. Probably
a bit short, but these days I appreciate a good well done short game.
Definate renter, possible buy. -aspo
\_ Beyond Good & Evil sucks. It got great reviews by most critics,
but the public didn't buy it at all. I did, unfortunately. I
played the first hour of the game and immediately put it on eBay,
to me it's THAT BAD. What's to not like:
- Ugly character: short hair, looks like a boy, no body, green
lipstick, looks like an 80's punk girl. In a game you're the
character, the person has to be likable, Jade is not.
- Boring character: no charisma, nothing, she's boring
- Stupid side-kick: a pig as a sidekick? Maybe when I was 10
years old, not in an adult game. Imagine if Solid Snake was
walking around with a talking pig, insults adult intelligence.
- Hammy: too tounge and cheek, very hammy dialogue, the voice
acting seems partly joking partly serious, too in-your-face.
- Boring gameplay: take pictures, fight, take pictures, fight...
+ Great graphics
+ Great production value
\_ A pig for a sidekick? That's nutty. Really? Does it fight or
carry a pig-gun or something?
\_ If you get low on energy, you get to eat it.
\_ Weird. And this got rated a great game by someone? |
| 2004/5/31-6/1 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30513 Activity:kinda low |
5/31 I've decided to give in and try out DDR. I have a PS2, what should I
get? DDR? DDRMax? What's the difference?
\_ DDR == PSone, DDRMax == PS2. i am selling my Ignition 2.0
pads (two of them). e-mail if you are interested. --jwang
\_ Throw away $2 in the arcade first.
\_ I'd rather rent or buy a used copy than embarrass myself in the
arcades. :)
\_ Well, don't forget you need a dance pad as well. The
cheap ones run about $20. What's the problem with
arcades? No one there will know you, or care for that
matter. I've seem plenty of newbies play.
\_ Exactly. I was going to say, make sure to get good pads,
that makes a huge difference. The Ignitions are good,
someone else posted another company that makes similar
ones for half the price (~$50). There are some
differences between Max and the older (PS1) versions,
I'd suggest getting Max if you have a PS2 anyway. Look
at the online reviews re: song selection, etc. |
| 2004/5/25-26 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30411 Activity:very high |
5/25 Oh ilyas (and other zelda peepz):
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/243453.asp?site=NLB0518#Screenshots
although the psp looks cooler than anything nintendough put out..
that thing has usb and 802.11 on it - will it boot netbsd or linux?
\_ I am a zelda people? -- ilyas
\_ I am a Zelda people? The last time I played Zelda was in the
CSUA office like 5 years ago, amusing those present by killing
Link's twin with a hammer: "What's that? The twin can't mimic
the hammer? Well that's just too bad!" -- ilyas
\_ You really liked the zelda line, iirc.
\_ Hey, what else do I like, unbiased stranger? -- ilyas |
| 2004/5/20 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30316 Activity:very high |
5/20 Everquest fraud:
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040506.html
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040513.html
\_ EQ? Who cares? It's a stupid and _boring_ game.
\_ Someone didn't get their Prozac this morning.
\- are you are such a loser apparently you dont realize EQ is about
5th in terms of what this situation is about. --psb
5th in terms of what these articles are about. --psb
\_ Hmm... Something is kinda telling me these people are only getting
what they deserve for letting their fantasy life take over so much
of their real life.
\_ There's a real easy solution to this, just make it illegal to
buy and sell "virtual" goods. We shut down sites that buy and sell
this kind of crap, and people who get scammed can just
duke it out in small claims court.
\_ Er, but what about virtual goods like digital music? |
| 2004/5/14-15 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW] UID:30231 Activity:moderate |
5/14 Anyone have any experience using a modded Xbox as a "media center" PC
and/or networked video jukebox? Any pitfalls or suggestions?
Can it mount external USB drives? Can it act as a SMB server?
\_ Don't know about the software featured on /. yesterday, but a lot
of people use xbox as a frontend for mythtv, which is a linux
based project, so yeah, you can do both of those with linux. |
| 2004/5/8-9 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30097 Activity:nil |
5/7 Fun site when you're working on a Fri nite:
http://www.funforwards.com/flash/june03/kungfu_bunny.cfm
http://www.addictinggames.com
http://www.funnydot.com/flashgamesp/Cyber-Mice-Party.html |
| 2004/5/4-5 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:30008 Activity:high |
5/4 I want to buy 'settlers of catan' online (because the idea of
leaving the house is abohorent to me). Also, i'm a cheap bastard
is there some discount game place online :)
\_ It's called "<DEAD>www.ebay.com"<DEAD> You might have heard of it.
\_http://www.google.com/froogle?q=settlers+of+catan&btnG=Search+Froogle&scoring=p
\_ http://tinyurl.com/yrlzz (froogle)
\_ I got it and others from http://funagain.com, they were nice/fast
\- funagain and fairplay are good in service and price.
if you are trying to save $, you should try to cluster
to amortize shipping cost ... like with catan you might
get the 5-6pp set at the same time. actually if you are
in berkeley, i might be interested in clustering a
game order. --psb
\_ funagain is good. fairplay is usually cheaper but i've never
ordered from them... i just get funagain to match their prices.
\_ Crypto fascist! |
| 2004/5/4 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/History/WW2] UID:29999 Activity:high |
5/4 Historical strategy games buffs, play these two:
(a) Europa Universalis 2, (b) Victoria.
Steep learning curve, but very fun. There is also a WWII one using
the same engine, but that's probably not for everybody. -- ilyas
\_ Are either of these free or Free?
\_ No. -- ilyas |
| 2004/5/4 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/History/WW2/Germany] UID:29989 Activity:high |
5/3 Attention 3d 1st person shooter gamerz: Battlefield Vietnam, yay or
nay? -BF1942 dude, alias "Nazi killing machine"
\_ I'm waiting for the truly accurate military video game where you
lay around terrified 98% of the time ... and then get insta-maimed/
killed by a sniper or pipe-bomb.
\_ BFV is much more immersive than BF1942. Plus infantry actually
stand a chance against tanks and helis. The terrain is beautiful.
\_ but should they stand a chance? against a heli? please....
\_ With a Stinger, sure they should. If you want game
balance + realism, make stingers easy to obtain.
\_ Well, this improves game balance. All you have to do is whip
out your RPK or M60 and start belting it out. When they realize
they are being shot at, they have to turn around, find you,
aim their chopper at you and shoot. Oh and in that time, you
get to find a place to hide. Most people are crappy chopper
pilots and are not resourceful enough to pickup other players
to act as door gunners.
\_ I'm still waiting for Battlefield: Iraq
\_ uh, desert sucks?
\_ No! Urban guerilla warfare!
\_ it's been done in BF1942, the Red Army field (forgot the name)
It's a nasty terrain. |
| 2004/4/29 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Computer] UID:13452 Activity:very high Edit_by:auto |
4/28 Playtested "Shinteki" last weekend. Day-long puzzle-road-rally event.
Well run and should be lots of fun for both experienced players
and folks who haven't done something like this before.
http://www.shinteki.com (May 8, 15, or 22). -jowens
\_ This sounds like fun, but I'd like to know more. Could you do
a write-up on your experience? ok, tnx
\_ Well, that would be kind of giving away the whole thing, since
what I playtested is exactly what it will be like. Here's a
writeup of another one from the same group that's running
Shinteki (in Las Vegas, and more elaborate of course):
http://csua.org/u/744 Let me know if you want more info. |
| 2004/4/27 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:13401 Activity:nil |
4/27 Has anyone played Rainbow Six (Raven Shield)? If so, did you
like it? Splinter Cell (1&2) seemed pretty good, so I was
thinking about trying out other Tom Clancy games, but I'm a
little wary because I've been told that they are very "realistic".
\_ You want violent games that aren't realistic? You can get a free
download of pacman at http://download.com.
\_ If I wanted realistic I'd join up. I'm a scrawny coder
who likes to shoot things for a few hrs a week. Too much
"realism" (a la SoCom) bores me.
\_ Have you tried Serious Sam or the sequel? Very fun and surreal
\_ No. I'll look into them.
\_ try FarCry
\_ agreed, you need a "real" computer and video card, tho
\_ I liked SC 1&2, and also Ghost Recon. Missions in Ghost Recon can
take a looong time though (once I got used to it, I really liked
it). Never played R6. |
| 2004/4/23 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:13347 Activity:high |
4/23 Man choses playstation 2 over hot date:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/508/508371p1.html?fromint=1
\-"it takes a lot of ploygons to approximate spheres" --psb
\_ is that some kind of obscure Flatland reference?
\_ Spheres are overrated. Complex curves are much better.
\_ Ah, but with NURBS...
How many of you would do the same?
\_ at least one person would choose otherwise:
http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/mis/29328995.html
\_ I'm happily married to a hot woman. I'd take the ps2.
\_ What he said.
\_ Hotter than Jordan? Let's see a picture.
\_ Jordan is fat.
\_ Jordan is hot, but you can always get hot girls but PS2 is free
and lasts a while
\_ Hot chicks are over-rated.
\_ That person is an idiot who will regret this later when he
can't even get a woman under 40 to talk to him. All the girls
in college who were "fat" or otherwise less than perfect start
to look better and better the older you get. Woman aside, why
not go out instead of spending more time in front of a CRT?
\_ Why not pursue a relationship based on mutual interests with a
normal person than an expenses-paid dinner with a chick who's
crazy enough (or shrewd enough) to take an all-expenses-paid
dinner with whichever shmuck happens to sound better in a
random draw of the audience? Get the playstation, then tell
the next girl you date you took it because you weren't
interested in some meaningless fling. You can thank me when
you wake up next to her the next morning. Then you can go
play Final Fantasy X. |
| 2004/4/21-22 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:13312 Activity:nil |
4/21 Does anyone archive funny/cute flash games posted on the motd?
I really need to do something fun before I am officially laid
off on Friday.
\_ try this you pathetic depressed laid-off silicon valley engineer:
http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~jha331
\_ In my day we surfed porn and planted at bombs. Kids these days.
\_ http://www.ebaumsworld.com/helicopter.shtml
http://games.geekhaven.net/penguin/penguin.swf
http://www.jfedor.org/misc2/penguin.swf (with sound) -John
\_ http://www.urban75.com/Punch/gates.html
http://www.axlrosen.net
\_ http://www.orisinal.com -- awesome
\_ Why do you hate america? |
| 2004/4/14-15 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:13190 Activity:low |
4/14 Not that there are any undergrads left in the CSUA, but particularly
for them: Several upcoming puzzle-fest-road-rally-scavenger-hunt "Game"
events in the next few months. This is spurred by the request of
the people running the Genome Game http://www.genodix.com (Jul 10-11)
indicating they'd like more undergrad participation. Since the Game
started at Stanford it's mostly Stanford folks who play; I'd like to
see some more Bears on the road. Non-undergrads welcome too. It's tons
of fun. Other upcoming events:
- BANG 6 (Apr 18) http://www.bloodandbones.com/thegame/bang6.html
- Shinteki (May 8, 15, or 22) http://shinteki.com
- Justice Unlimited (Jul 31-Aug 1) http://www.snout.org/Game
About the Game: http://www.gamecontrol.com, lots of good links at
http://www.snout.org/Game. Questions? Lemme know. -jowens
\_ Actually, the CSUA is doing quite well among undergrads these
days. Excellent leadership and enthusiasm have contributed to
something of a renaissance over the last few sememsters. None
of them read the motd though. (It's not displayed
automatically on startup for new members anymore. :( )
\_ why nopt?
\_ because paolo was whipped
\_ Who knew? Cool. How might I publicize this among undergrads?
\_ send it to csua@csua or office-hosers. You could also
just send it to the Librarian and have him post it on
the web page calender or something.
\_ Considering the extremely questionable nature of some of the
stuff that gets posted here, its probably best that the first
thing a new member is confronted with when they login is NOT
the motd.public.
\_ Are you saying they can't deal with open debate and a little
ranting? They're adults. They'll deal. They don't need you
or anyone else to nanny them.
\_ They may all be adults, but the content on the motd is
not.
\_ So what? They don't have to read it but they should
not be nannied into not having the opportunity to read
and participate.
\_ I know that the motd is pretty questionable, but not
exposing new members to it basically means the motd will
slowly die as us allums get lives. Which, may be just
fine. But things are already smelling kinda stagnant
around here.
\_ hey, some of us ugrads do read the motd; several are friends
of mine. - erikk |
| 2004/4/6-7 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:13041 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto |
4/6 Cute little "life" kind of game: http://www.rgb-game.com You build organisms out of some number of red, blue, or green blobs, which need to eat those colors in the environment to reproduce. But the blobs also impart abilities to the organism. \_ You bastard. There goes my afternoon. \_ 69000 so far. still got a bunch on the board. \_ I got 370000 but then I kind of screwed it up. Forgot for a second that adding something would drop my score, plus now the board balance seems screwed up and probably can't recover. I was using one blob of each color but the reds all died at some point. Now it's toast. \_ 73409 with 6red, 6green \_ That's really interesting getting symbiosis going. 2r1g, 1b2g is working pretty well. Also 1g, 2b1r \_ 445321, 1g 1b 1r, but I tossed some more in early on. \_ Fantastic and evil. I'll never work again. -John \_ again? |
| 2004/2/23-24 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:12357 Activity:nil |
2/23 I was reading about 321 Studio being sued for their DVD XCopy
software. I've never used it or ever owned a DVD burner, but
I got curious and did some more reading through Google. So
apparently you can't use it to rip PS2/XBox games. Now,
would that be because of technical-related difficulties (e.g.,
it's harder to break the code on these game discs) or legal
concerns (i.e., Sony/Microsoft are more likely to sue us than
Hollywood)?
\_ I don't know about PS2, but there is not problem ripping
XBox games using a DVD burner. In fact with XBox you don't
even have to waste a dvd on the game, you can just rip
the game and then copy it to the Xbox's hd and play it
from there. I do this for all my games since they load
much faster from hd than from the DVD-Rom.
\_ About how many games can it hold?
\_ The 10 gb drive that came with my xbox holds
about 2 games. I've upgraded to a 80 gb drive
and that holds about 15 games.
\_ Do you have any URL that has more information
on how to do this? |
| 2004/2/20-25 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:12321 Activity:nil |
2/20 Looking to contract out some work to experienced game
artists who don't suck ass. email jon@number-none.com
\_ What I do in my own time is none of your business!
\_ I'm still concerned about sucking ass. I'm an experienced game
artist but how do I know in advance if I suck ass? Thanks!
\_ What exactly does it mean to suck ass? Does it require the act of
physically putting someone's entire ass in one's mouth while
applying oral suction? Would one buttock be enough? What if the
ass were too large to fit within the oral cavity? Would whatever
smaller of piece of ass one could fit and apply suction upon still
count as sucking ass? Thanks!
\_ Ass sucking is not the proper nor terribly pleasurable way to
treat an ass. See PETA argument above for more details.
\_ Instead of looking for someone who won't mistreat an ass,
shouldn't poster be telling what they *are* looking for?
\_ I'm going to take a wild guess here, and say he might
be looking for experienced game artists.
\_ Yes, but he already says that. So he really wants
experienced game artists who don't "suck ass". I'm
concerned with the ass sucking part. Before I send my
portfolio in I'd like to know if I've been sucking ass
or maybe I have been but I've been doing it wrong or
something. It's good to be prepared for these things.
\_ I think I can say with confidence that blojo has
no interest in hiring you. -tom
\_ you "think" you can say that with "confidence"?
\_ you expected better from tom? |
| 2004/2/2-3 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:12078 Activity:kinda low 50%like:12085 |
2/2 I've never played Chinese Chess. Any comments about it?
Aside from:
http://www.chessvariants.com/xiangqi.html
\_ it's a good game, more like chess and less like Go or weiqi.
Probably a little less complex and difficult than chess, but
you need a few dozen games before you can possibly beat me,
a decent amateur, if you are pretty bright
\_ [ Chicom troll censored, Chinese government style. ]
\_ I think he means less complex is equivalent to fewer possible
moves
\_ Also called Elephant Chess. Very challenging and well-balanced.
It seems simpler than chess, at first, but takes almost as
much skill to master, so in that respect, it's similar.
Perhaps chess has a greater number of variations, but both have
a greater magnitude of variation than most non-experts can
calculate, so mastery is of a similarly high level. Btw,
you can play online, too: http://www.xiangqiclub.com -nivra
\_ Darn! I went to the site, and got slaughtered. Those
people pretty good.
\_ can one calculate the complexity of both games recursively? For
example, how many moves exist by multiplying the number of moves
for each piece with the next move, etc etc. Maybe that'll tell you
mathematically how complex both games are.
\_ No.
\_ The Horse in Chinese chess moves the same way as the Knight. (A
knight piece is a horse anyway.) The Chariot moves the same way as
the Rook. The Elephant moves somewhat similarly to the Bishop.
The initial positions of Chariot, Horse and Elephant are the same as
those of Rook, Knight and Bishop too.
\_ not quite the same as in western chess. The Chinese Horse
can't jump over pieces; it always moves vertically/horizontally
and then diagonally.
\_ which bought a interesting point. I am long suspect the Western
Chess and the Chinese "elephant" Chess derive from the same historical
Origin, as a lot pieces moves in similar way and has similiar
constraint.
\_ I believe western chess has arab origins who are known to have
been in contact with the chinese so it seems likely one got it
from the other. I don't know which had it first.
\_ Chess came from an Indian game called Chaturanga. It came
to Europe (in chess form) via Arabs, and to China (in
chinese chess form) likely directly. -- ilyas
\_ thanks for the info. Interesting how there is no concept of a queen
in the game. But it looks interesting enough. I like the
concept of cannons and palace, and palace guards.
\_ beware the double cannon checkmate and the cannon behind horse
checkmate
\_ are there are a lot of resources for english speaking
players? computer games? game databases?
\_ related question. Anybody here play wei-chi or go? I heard that
the rules of the game are so simple but the strategy is so
complicated that we still can't write computer programs that play
the game. Or rather a program that's any good. Not like deep
blue.
\_ I play. Very amateur. There is a Berkeley Go Club, iirc. -nivra
\_ Computer chess works because the number of moves that are legal on
any one turn are managable, so you can search reasonably deep.
Go has way to many moves to perform a good search, so the better
Go programs have to do some sort of pattern recognition, IIRC.
\_ I play wei-chi (badly). Always looking for more people to play.
-- ilyas
\_ I am a rookie go player. Go has simple rules. I wouldn't
call the strategy complicated. It's just very different.
Go has start game, middle game and end game, moving from
vision, imagination and creativity to the analytical, from
my limited understanding. Last time, I played online a few
years back, I beat the guy who gave me a four seed advantage,
which is huge. He thinks I play well for someone with less
than 10 games experience. He didn't know I read a Go book
from the game store on Shattuck. And I played very conservatively,
using the 4 seed advantage to sit on him. Still I almost lost
it all (one-seed slower and a big chunk of my seeds would have
been lost). I think making a good computer player is possible,
but it requires a different approach than chess. The Go book
I bought had a game by two masters with explanation of what
they are trying to do, and it was just very beautiful the way
each seed is placed at just the right place which at first
doesn't appear good, but slowly built up to a grand vision,
with developing patterns appearing like a monster jaw, etc.
\_ I should add that some go rules are not so simple. In
particular, rules governing ko (repetition) and scoring can
be a real bear. In fact, such rules differ depending on
the country you play in. The strategy in wei-chi is much
more complicated than in chess, in my opinion. In fact, the
strategy is what's hard about wei-chi, tactical aspects of
the game can be well-handled by known search techniques.
-- ilyas
\_ cf. shogi. There are similarities to chess, but big differences
as well. For example, when you take a piece, it goes into your
reserves and you can play it almost anywhere on the board. Also,
pieces can be promoted under certain circumstances, altering
their movement. Also hard to create an algorithm to emulate.
\_ "hard to create an algorithm to emulate?" What does this
even mean? Do you know what the words 'algorithm' and
'emulate' mean?
\_ One of those english majors who took CS to play netrek
and did well in neither.
\_ Chinese Chess has the (big in my book) advantage of being a
much quicker game. (fewer moves per game, king is much more
restricted making for a shorter end-game). I just learned to
play and I like it alot (though i've played only few games).
Here is a decent online Java app: -crebbs
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Grid/6544/cccintro.htm |
| 2004/1/27 [Politics, Computer/Networking, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29764 Activity:kinda low |
1/26 MSFT is taking over http://MikeRoweSoft.com (CNN) \_ damn, this was people's last stand against the Sauron. Now he's going to take over the world. \_ resistance is futile. you will be assimilated. \_ Now what'll happen to http://mycrowsoft.com and <DEAD>mycrowessoft.com<DEAD>? |
| 2004/1/15 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11788 Activity:high |
1/14 Re: deep blue thread yesterday. I actually met the designer of deep
blue, Feng-Hsiung Hsu, a couple of times because he's a friend
of my wife's family. People just call him "deep blue". :-) After
he left IBM, VCs started throwing money in his direction for his
startup. Not sure what happened to his company. -taiwanese guy
\_ my summary of this thread:
<DEAD>www.ucomics.com/foxtrot/2004/01/13<DEAD>
\_ Luddite!
\_ I've read up on some URLs. The Deep Blue team was allowed to
modify the program between games in the tournament. These
modifications were made with the help of human grandmasters.
Deep Blue didn't beat Kasparov. Rather, Deep Blue with between-
game tweaking by human grandmasters beat Kasparov. That closes
the issue in my book. (That Kasparov went nuts and was incorrect
in suggesting that Deep Blue was being modified during the game
doesn't change the main point.)
\_ Yes, but Kasparov consults (quite frequently) with fellow
grandmasters during (when recessed) and between games. He also
employs computers to look for variations. So the resources
available to the Deep Blue team are available to Kasparov.
Similarly between games Fischer would consult others for advise
and modify his tactics according to past games. So it's not really
fair to say that the Deep Blue team can't modify the program
to reflect what essentially amounts to learning. A human tweaks
himself between games, so why can't a computer program be
tweaked in between games?
\_ wait a second. he talks to grandmasters *during* games? how can
that be? that's like chess by committee. I think you're wrong
there. Or else grandmasters advising Deep Blue would be ok.
\_ You could even argue that Deep Blue was "talking with
other grandmasters and improving its strategy" between games,
just like Kasparov could do the same. But while it
sounds appealing, I'm kind of uneasy about this reasoning.
\_ I think it would be better if neither side could do any out
side consulting or tweaking.
My gut feeling was that Kasparov was alone here, and
the corporate resources of IBM way outmatched him in the
between-game improvements.
\_ Well in the end the machine played by itself each game. Being
tweaked before and after games doesn't really change that. GK
made some mistakes too. It's not like they would know what
Kasparov would do in the next game.
\_ Some would argue that the engine was so tweaked to play
Kasparov, that it wasn't a general engine, but rather a "beat
Kasparov" engine. We'll never know, since it didn'y play
anyone else.
\_ That's true for any world-class chess player preparing
the issue in my book.
for a match. Such a player would spend a lot of time
optimizing his play for his opponent by studying his games,
preparing tailored opening surprises, etc. -- ilyas |
| 2004/1/8-9 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11719 Activity:moderate 50%like:30052 |
1/7 Do you compete in anything these days? (non-sex related)
(Sports, Netrek, board games, ...)
\_ Basketball, Poker, board games, computer games in that order
of frequency. - crebbs
\_ what level are you? Win any competitions/money? What board
games?
\_ does netrek have an official rating system? Is anyone
on csua rated?
\_ netrek doesn't have ratings akin to chess ratings;
it's closer to MUD/Evercrack with levels. There are
a number of CSUA geeks who have at least one Admiral. -tom
\_ Counterstrike, Halo.
\_ Shooting real guns - no sim shit.
\_ are you in competition shooting? Biathalon? Skeet shooting?
\_ What do you have against competative sex?
\_ I compete in the MOTD.
\_ Competitive censoring?
\_Competitive trolling. |
| 2004/1/7 [Politics/Domestic/California, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11701 Activity:nil |
1/6 Pete Rose is a liar and a scumbag.
\_ I was shocked, shocked to hear that he had bet on baseball.
\_ Casablanca reference acknowledged.
\_ please tell us how you really feel about him
\_ Why is he a scumbag, aside from betting on baseball and then lying
about it? I'm serious.
\_ baseball elders get cranky when you bet on baseball,
especially if you are managing a team. ever
heard of the "black sox"?
\_ well what you mention is at the center of it. It's also about
him constantly pandering for attention, refusing to admit to
truth, showing no remorse or guilt for wrong-doing. If you
believe Gioso, he also had no qualms about corking his bat.
What about the insinuation that since he bet everyday on
games, and on the Reds, who he managed, only sometimes, that
the very act of "not betting" on the Reds is a signal that
he thought the Reds might lose. Oh, and perhaps the only
reason that this news is hitting the airwaves "now," is
because Pete stands to profit from a book, and the HOF
announcement is today.
\_ I hadn't heard about any bat corking. Re: the gambling, I
think that although it was against the rules, it was not
"wrong". Lying about it was, but not bad enough to make him a
scumbag.
\_ bat corking: http://csua.org/u/5g1
also, the gambling is wrong. Again, do you really think
Pete would manage the same when he bet for the Reds to
win and when he did not bet for the Reds to win? What
about blowing out a pitcher's arm in May in order to get
that crucial last inning when there's 5 months of
baseball left? Furthermore, Pete had to know that not
betting on the Reds would signal the mob bosses. How
hard do you think he played to win while he had that
knowledge.
\_ I would expect that rather than doing a half-assed job
when he didn't have any bets going, it's more likely
that he placed bets when he had "inside information"
which favored the Reds. This would be insider trading
with respect to his bookie, but that doesn't bother me.
\_ of course he had inside information. he was their
manager. What about the situation which may or may
not have happened where he gets pressure put on him
by mob bosses to whom he owes money to throw a game?
If the betting on baseball doesn't bother you, and
the inherent conflict in interest involved, whether
he was betting to win or to lose, and the lying,
public pandering, and insincere begging he has done
in public since 1989 don't bother you, then maybe
in your eyes he's not a scumbag. These things do
bother me, however. In general, it's been his
character, his willingness to do anything for a $,
and his willingness to do anything, say anything
to get back into the HOF regardless of what he hurts
or what he has to say to do it.
\_ some people just don't care about character. to
them there is nothing someone can do that is
'wrong' or immoral because they don't believe in
morality. anything that someone can get away
with is ok because they have no sense of right
and wrong. you're wasting your time trying to
explain immorality to someone that has no morals.
\_ you people are incredible. we just had a thread
about how EVIL teachers are bleeding the
taxpayer dry with their 30k/yr salaries for
teaching kids, but when it comes to baseball
teams
subsidised by the taxpayer for the profit
of a few millionares all you fuckers
care about is who gambled or cheated.
\_ 30k/year? Bullshit. In CA, try 50k for
passing the 10th grade level exam and 70-80k
for taking a few night or summer classes and
getting an "advanced" teaching credential or
"masters" in education from *any* third rate
school. You're so full of crap. You know
nothing about the teacher's union or
teaching. You're not even trolling anymore.
You're just spreading outright lies and
complete misinformation at best. Please
just go away.
\_ Is there anything more boring than baseball. I'd rather watch
grass grow.
\_ Yes, there is. It's called Cricket. |
| 2004/1/5 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:11662 Activity:very high |
1/4 Ok so what's the next bowl game for the bears?
\_ 2010
\_ If we don't go to a major bowl next year, it will be a
disappointment. We lose very little from this team, so both
offense and defense should be better next year than they were
this year. We have playmakers on both sides of the ball. -tom
\_ so are we done this year? We did Insight Bowl, now what's next?
(if anything)? |
| 2003/12/31-2004/1/2 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:11631 Activity:moderate |
12/31 How do I go about getting tickets for Friday night's Cal BBall game?
I'm an alum. I've never gone to a Cal ball game before. -crebbs
\_ why are you going now?
\_ Part of friend's 30th B-day.
\_ http://calbears.ocsn.com/tickets/cal-tickets.html
if there are any left. If not, you can try craigslist
\_ Isn't that illegal?
or stubhub, or if you are really determined, buy them
scalpers outside the arena before the game. -ausman
or stubhub, or if you are really determined, buy them
from scalpers outside the arena before the game. -ausman
\_ Isn't that illegal?
\_ No, it's not. Scalping tickets for less than or equal to
the amount than the printed price on the ticket is
perfectly legal. |
| 2003/12/31 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11626 Activity:nil |
12/30 http://www.wilddivine.com - anyone played this? Cool or crap? \_ Reviewed on http://Discover.com http://csua.org/u/5ee |
| 2003/12/19-20 [Transportation/Car, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11523 Activity:nil |
12/18 earn some quick shopping money this weekend flyering cars for
http://govojo.com - the netflix for games. email brain for details
\_ Yay! More trash in the gutters! Like my email and US mail spam
wasn't enough, now I've got to toss your shit off my car at BART.
\_ yeah, like we needed more trash in the gutters.
\_ what's wrong with http://redoctane.com? |
| 2003/12/14 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11450 Activity:nil |
12/13 I just got a palm zire (B&W). what are some good freeware games?
something like chess or a scrolling airplane shooter?
\_ http://www.freewarepalm.com
Let me know if you find anything cool.
\_ Dopewars. Great for meetings. -John |
| 2003/12/12-13 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11425 Activity:low |
12/11 My latest addiction: http://globulos.com \_ Dude, you suck. Look what time it is. I've been playing this for hours now. Hate you. -phuqm \_ Seconded. I have so very rarely wanted to lynch someone so generous. You bastard. \_ Thirded. I was up till 3. And it made me forget to make mashed potatoes. \_ Totally fucking EVIL!!! I was up until 5am playing this crap, and I've had an urge all day to play it at work. Then again, maybe that is because I hate my job. -phale \_ I tried it this morning but pulled myself away. This seems like it will have more staying power than isketch \_ Are there any good, up to date "simple" game listings? "Castle" was a cool one, I also like the Dismount games (simulations of people falling down stairs and crashing trucks). |
| 2003/12/10-11 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW/Memory] UID:11384 Activity:nil |
12/9 Anyone have any experience with the DDR RedOctane pad? I've been
happy with my Ignition 2.0 pads, but wanted to get a more affordable
for my brother's kids... Thx! http://redoctane.com/ddr.html
\_ i got Ignition 2.0's as well, but there are very similar
BNS pads for $50. see the listing and review links here:
http://www.buynshop.com/productinfo/44/VG-DDR-ULTDX
\_ Are the ignition pads really worth the price? I can buy pads at
EB Games for 1/3.
\_ the ignition pads are *GREAT* - solid, responsive, can't
complain at all. After a year of hard dancing, the foam is
still as thick/soft as new. Well worth it if you're serious,
but at a higher price. -op
\_ My friend bought these, $39 for a foam pad:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/ddrgame/deigpad.html
He's had it for a few months and it lasted way better than the $20
pads. If you look around you can get the cheap plastic ones for
about $10-15, here is one:
http://talkall-wireless.site.yahoo.net/playddrdanpa.html
-oj
\_ Every once in a great while, the motd comes through with a better
collection of info than I've been able to find through much
googling. I hate that.
\_ Thanks for the great feedback! Another DDR-related question -
how does DDR MAX 2 compare to Konamix? Worth upgrading to a PS2
for? (got the PS1 just for DDR, thinking of upgrading for MAX
and Karaoke Revolution)
\_ around 70 songs in MAX2, freeze arrows, 60fps for the
arrow movement, "light" mode (1-3 feet). songlists:
http://www.ddrfreak.com/versions/listver.php
-oj |
| 2003/12/5-6 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11320 Activity:nil |
12/4 Has anyone played either "San Marco" "El Grande" or "Puerto Rico"
(the games)? Any comments/reviews?
\_ Puerto Rico is very good. At almost every turn, there's a
"correct" move--it's a game for the analytical. -tom
\- Complexity? Is it a social game or all strategy?
\_ moderately complex. More strategy than social. -tom
\_ Played puerto rico for the first time last week, it's a hoot.
Lots of strategy, though, that we were just scratching the
surface of, I think. http://Funagain.com has decent prices.
\-hola, is "funagain" the default game site on the weeb? ...
at least for price? i am thinking of buying
PR, EG, SM and Princes of Florence from them. There is a
place in florida still selling MORE COSMIC ENCOUNTER(shrink
wrap) for $30. This is a pretty good deal iff you have the
Mayfair Cosmic. I am pretty sure you'll be able to sell this
at a profit if in good condition. Ok tnx. --psb |
| 2003/12/3 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11287 Activity:nil |
12/2 If anyone wants to see a video of some guy beating mario bros 3 in
~11 minutes, look at /csua/tmp/mariobros3.wmv (~18 MB).
\_ out of curiosity, why is that interesting/impressive?
\_ what, is that too slow for you? maybe i'm just easily impressed.
\_ No, specifically, what about it is impressive? Did he find
a shortcut through, and then memorize the moves? Or is that
the whole game? Or ... Basically, "what makes this
impressive?", from someone who hasn't played the game but
is randomly curious...
\_ just watch it, the guy makes almost no unnecessary
movements. there are just some sequences that are
incredibly well-timed. -- !op
\_ no unnecessary movements except for getting nonstop
1-ups on the scroller levels. that's just showing
off. -geordan
\_ It's amazing because he beat the whole game in 11+ minutes when
it should've taken an hour or so (at least with my sad gaming
skills). Also, he did it with such minimal movements (well,
minimal while still getting 99 lives).
\_ Amazing. I would say flawless but one of his cards was a mushroom
and not a star.
\_ That's intentional. If he got 3 stars it would take longer
to play the little anthem and award free lives, which he
really had enough of. -bz
\_ Genius. Pure Genius.
\_ Wow! Absolutely incredible.
\_ He used an emulator to slow speed down to 1/30th, also saved and
reloaded.
\_ I thought it was too perfect. You have a URL to back up that
claim?
\_ it looks like it was captured from a real NES. Emulators don't
produce the weird screen artifacts on the side.
\_ http://soramimi.egoism.jp/emu.htm is Morimoto's web page.
He describes doing exactly what is asserted here. -brain
\_ That's great, he describes it... in Japanese!
\_ You've never heard of http://babelfish.altavista.com ?
(Mind you, you need a good sense of humor to work
through it....)
\_ The part where he got 74 1-up's had me giggling like a little
schoolgirl.
\_ You should all watch Quake done Quick |
| 2003/11/24 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11206 Activity:low |
11/24 M$ Using PPC in XBox to Kill Linux:
http://tinyurl.com/wbrl (redherring.com)
\_ that has got to be one of the dumbest articles I've read in years
\_ agreed.. |
| 2003/11/20-21 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:11160 Activity:high |
11/20 Does anyone else use eMule to pirate games/sw? It's great!
\_ Don't Copy That Floppy!
\_ Best. Video. Ever.
\_ usenet. the only way you can be tracked is if your isp turns over
logs.
\_ I like W.A.S.T.E. but you need ot trust your friends, and it doesn't
scale too well
\_ how do new warez get into the system?
\_ By the whim of trystero... |
| 2003/11/16 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Taiwan, Recreation/Shopping] UID:11098 Activity:nil |
11/16 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/11/14/2003075781 Gigolo school raided by police. |
| 2003/11/12 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:11043 Activity:nil |
11/12 A cute little adventure-ish game that doesn't take too long to finish.
http://www.freshsensation.com/samorost.swf
http://www.samorost2.net/samorost1 |
| 2003/11/4 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:10927 Activity:nil |
11/3 I'm stuck at work twiddling for 3 hours. What easy to learn online
games are out there? No pay services, please, I just need to kill
one evening. Thanks!
\_ http://espgame.com
\_ nethack!
\_ http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=bookworm
\_ http://isketch.com
http://www.crystalnewmedia.com/gridlock/gridlock.swf
http://www.xgenstudios.com/castle
\_ sounds like a lot of people are on the same boat.
\_ you all rock! thanks! 3 hours killed. --op |
| 2003/10/10-11 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/SW/Languages/Functional] UID:10579 Activity:nil |
10/10 New copy protection scheme:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994248
\_ for software, not A&V
\_ if it's software, it can be hacked. they're just making it more
difficult.
\_ "copy protection" through standard-munging is lame.
\_ This is as old as Ultima. The game companies put in something
which detects if you have a pirated copy 1/3 through the game.
Crackers release a fix to the first crack later.
\_ Now imagine (as always happens) the false positives on this?
Everyone gets to blame the game. |
| 2003/9/24 [Recreation/Dating, Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:10306 Activity:low |
9/24 Half-life 2 delayed from Sep. 30 release. Release date unknown.
\_ Who cares? It's all the same.
\_ I've built my entire life around game release dates. I check
all the release date schedules on an hourly basis and auto alert
myself via my pager and email if anything chances!
\_ How have you not committed suicide over Duke Nukem Forever?
\_ I bet this guy is obsessed with masturbating, too.
\_ Heresy!!!
\_ but I heard game cubes are now down to $99. |
| 2003/8/22-23 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29440 Activity:very high |
8/22 I just got a new computer and I wanna try out its capabilities
(I got 3GHz, 2Gig RAM, and a Radeon 9800 vid card). I want to
try out games where you see a LOT of blood and body disfigurement,
preferably where you're a general or a gunner trying to get rid
of a swarm of inferior army. What are some games that'll satisfy
the above requirements?
\_ Watch Al-Jazeera
\_ use your imagination. http://games.yahoo.com/go
\_ Quake 3 alpha?
\_ In Civ1 you run a vast civilization and destroy entire races. I
think you're looking for civ1. On the other hand, anyone who spends
a few grand on parts they don't need probably has a of more spare
cash around. I'll be your "Game Consultant". I charge $250/hr or
per question with a minimum charge of 4hrs/4questions and you pay
in advance.
\_ civ1? As in Sid Meier's Civilization? I played that on
my 386 game. Pretty cool. No blood though.
\_ Yeah, but think of the blood involved in wiping out
multiple enemy civs that might have a few million people
_each_! That's more blood per turn than all the Quake,
Doom, RTCW, etc, games ever played combined!
\_ Serious Sam
\_ And SS2. These two harken back to the Doom/Doom2 days when
there were a shitload of monsters all coming after you all at
once. This one outdoor level with two pyramids took me ten tries
to pass (but my oh my, how high the death count was)
\_ Half-Life 2 is what you'll want next month. There's nothing right
now to really push your system. For relatively recent action games
try Jedi Knight 2 or Battlefield 1942 (online only).
\_ Gunmetal (http://www.nvidia.com/object/game_gunmetal.html brought my
Athlon 1700 + GeForce 4400 to its knees, and not even at max
graphics quality.
\_ his machine is over twice as fast as yours btw
\_ It's all about the graphics card, not the CPU on these sorts
of games. Stick in a 100000ghz cpu and a shitty GPU and it
won't run any faster. Bottlenecks, kids. Think bottlenecks.
I guess bottles aren't shaped like that anymore.
\_ cpu is still important. 100000ghz cpu would probably do
much better than any existing gpu, assuming software
rendering support.
\_ yeah plus that 9800pro is a lot more powerful than 4400.
easily 2x fps with anti-aliasing and aniso filtering.
with fewer features the games become CPU-limited.
\_ Bottlenecks!!! Your memory and system bus can't feed
your infinite mhz cpu. So no, it won't go faster due
to software rendering without some incredibly rebuild
of all the buses *and* hey guess what? Your monitor
is hooked up to your video card (shocker!) and again
you're stuck with whatever copy-to-video-ram speed
your video card can do.
\_ *sigh* I had just bought the Athlon+GeForce last
year, and though it's plenty fast, I'm dreading
seeing how HL2 or Doom3 performs. Thus far, only
Gunmetal chokes my system... well, that and that
ATI-happy benchmarking program, 3DMark2003.
\_ I still game on a P3-700. Until very recently
it was a p3-450. The 700 was an upgrade. |
| 2003/8/21 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:29429 Activity:nil |
8/21 smurf finally writes a game: http://fa.xmunkki.org |
| 2003/8/20-22 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/Companies/Yahoo] UID:29400 Activity:low |
8/19 Programmer / Engineer position open in the Yahoo! Games
group. /csua/pub/jobs/Yahoo for more info. -- nickkral
\_ why did you take out the posts below. Can't handle criticism?
\_ he didn't.
\_ nick, you don't play games all that well and you're not even
hip, why are you in the game division? |
| 2003/8/19-20 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29393 Activity:very high |
8/19 Stupid Motd Poll.
I play video games often/allthetime: .
I play video games occasionally (<once a week): .
I rarely/never play video games: ...
\_ i put "often" but for me it happens in binges. other times i don't
play for weeks.
\_ i'm like this too, as i suspect many are. -phuqm
\_ About once a year I'll play video games a lot for 2-3 weeks,
but that averages to <once a week... |
| 2003/8/19-20 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29389 Activity:low |
8/19 ilyas, is Command & Conquer a good game? Graphics look nice. If
it's good tell me and I'll go get it
\_ Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun is fun (especially multiplayer)
-not ilyas
\_ I hate RTS games with a passion, so I am the wrong person to ask.
-- ilyas
\_ C&C Generals is the most recent in the series. It was fun enough.
There are some balance issues between the 3 sides. The single
player campaign was ok but nothing fantastic and didn't have
Westwood's more usual storyline and cut scenes. No cut scenes at
all in this one. Overall its ok but lacks that certain spark that
great games have. Don't pay $50 for it unless you've got money
burning a hole in your pocket. |
| 2003/8/19-20 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29385 Activity:insanely high |
8/18 Can someone repost a list of good strategic war games that don't
emphasize on civ build-ups? Thanks.
\_ Risk, Axis & Allies are good board games. Anything from SSI is
probably too complex. -John
\_ Avalon Hill Games
\_ What do you mean by strategic? True wargames differ by scale,
and are divided into 'tactical' (brigade level, and lower), and
'operational' (army level, and above). A good example of the first
group is Squad Leader. A good example of the second group is
Talonsoft's Operational Art of War. I prefer operational games
myself, but those games are no longer wargames per se, they often
model diplomatic, economic, and geopolitical considerations
(not to mention logistics). Thus, they are by necessity civ-like.
Good recent operational games are Hearts of Iron (centering on WWII),
and Europa Universalis (centering on 15th-19th century) by
Paradox Entertainment, both use the same engine. An excellent
tactical game is Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin, by
Battlefront. If you are interested in wargames, drop me an email
and we can chat more. I am always looking for more people to play
(AI tends to suck in complicated wargames, not surprisingly).
-- ilyas
\_ chess.
\_ baiting tom.
\_ not good, not strategic, not a war game. well ok, it's good.
and it's a game. but it's like playing solitaire and cheating.
you can't lose because it's too easy.
\_ like yermom? -!tom
\_ "i know you are but what am i?"
\_ "it's too easy, like yermom"
\_ checkers.
\_ Settlers of Catan is a simple yet very enjoyable strategic
game, but it's based on resources and growth not war. There
are supposedly expansion packs or newer versions that incorporate
war, though.
\_ settlers of catan is great, (even women enjoy it), but it isn't
a war game.
\_ odd game. i won my first game and i'm still not sure why.
\_ Settlers is an example of a steamroller game. A few
lucky rolls of the dice, and you win: some advantage
leads to more advantage, exponentially. It's not like
netrek, where the more you succeed, the harder it is
to gain more.
\_ If you like Settlers check out Puerto Rico. A bit more
complicated, but really fun and there's almost no
element of luck involved.
\_ there is luck in Puerto Rico -- the order and
ability of players is important.
\_ With the "Cities and Knights" expansion, Settlers is
a much better game, because it's easier to gang up on
whomever's in front. -tom
\_ Even without the expansion, whenever I play Settlers
people gang up on whoever is in front by using the
robber, refusing to trade with the leader, using
hostile development cards, etc. If you feel that
Settlers is a "steamroller game", you should try
playing against better opponents.
\_ Yes, but all of those things often don't
make too much of a dent in the front-runner.
With enough of an advantage, and some good dice
rolls you can triumph over all possible opposition
in Settlers. The robber is at the level of an
irritant only, if you're big enough.
\_ But cards like "Wedding" and "Sabotage", plus
futzing around with knights if you've got grain,
makes Cities and Knights a lot more dynamic,
and it's feasible to gain 4 or 5 victory points
in a single turn if you plan it right. I
agree that the base Settlers game tends to
steamroll. -tom
\_ Board games or computer games?
\_ board game: Rise and Fall fo the Third Reich ...
\_ Takes forever to set up, ages to get the hang of,
and aeons to play. I recommend against this and most
Avalon Hill games unless you're willing to put in
a lot of time with your hard-core gamer friends, at
which point they are pretty decent. -John
\_ how much of a hardcore gamer are you John?
\_ Not nearly enough to spend 3 days learning
Rise & Fall...you're talking to Mr. short
attention span here. :-) -John
\_ Fist of Fury in My Pants.
\_ Matrix Games is supposed to be releasing a PC version of
the ultra-complicated Napoleonic classic Empires in Arms
later this year. Looks promising.
\_ Cosmic Encounters. After 3 sessions of CE with 6 or 7 players that
last anywhere from 15 minutes to 8 hours you'll have earned your
degree in Cosmic Lawyering and be ready to squish the little peons
who normally argue in places like the US Supreme Court and the Motd.
\_ is it a cutt-throat game? More so than Diplomacy?
\_ Diplomacy is for the weak. It has set rules and a known
starting position. Only the strong survive in the world
of Cosmic Encounter.
\_ Have you played CE against PSB?
\_ I would not dare challenge the psb. I am beneath.
\_ I'm having a Big U moment.
\- hey i went 13 CE wins in a row ...
ATOMIC ENCOUNTER ... molon labe. --psb |
| 2003/8/15-16 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29362 Activity:high |
8/15 Rise of Nations is pretty cool, BUT, are there games that emphasizes
less on build-up (technology, citizens, research, etc) and more
on strategic fighting? Like simply moving troops, using artillery,
etc? This build-up process is simply stupid.
\_ "amateurs talk about strategy, pros talk about logistics"
\_ there are games which allow you to manage supply lines and such
\_ Nectaris: Military Madness for PSX. One of my all time favorites.
It's a turn-based game though, but I think that's better than RTS
anyways. [edit] Btw, N: MM feels a lot more like a board game
than a video game. If you are a hardcore grognard, try something
like Europa Universalis or wait for Road to Moscow to come out.
Also, check out http://grognard.com. -- ilyas
Also, check out http://grognard.com. [edit2] Sorry, I remembered one
more thing: check out Combat Mission games from Battlefront.
Yes, I play wargames a lot. -- ilyas
\_ play regular wargames. maybe like Hearts of Iron
\_ agree with above. there are tons of set piece turn based games out
there with a lot more strategic depth than the click fest you'll
get in any RTS game. |
| 2003/8/9-11 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29295 Activity:kinda low |
8/10 Rise of Nations, yay or nay?
\_ Is it like Civilization?
\_ I hear it is a good game, but I never played it myself.
\_ It is awesome, especially if you like RTS games. Two
thumbs up. |
| 2003/8/2-4 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29220 Activity:high |
8/2 Has anyone played Medal of Honor online/multiplayer? Any good?
The XBox version sucks. -John
\_ Because the Xbox is the same as buying a 3 year old PC.
\_ not quite. The fact that it is a single target lets you do a
hell of a lot more machine specific optimization, and the
bus architecture is more suited to games than a pc is. So go with
a year or two old.
\_ Nyet, comrade! Most of the high end games such as FPS and
flight sims are optimizing for both the cpu and video card
on PC's. The xbox version isn't going to ever compare to
the PC version of anything only a year old. Two is pushing
it. I've played plenty of both and the xbox just looks lame.
You can turn on *everything* on these newer games on an older
PC system and play 640x480 (similar to the TV the xbox is
sending output) and get more FPS than you'll need and it'll
still look better than xbox. What xbox has going for it is
the console thing with game paddles, etc. Sometimes keyboard
and mouse just doesn't cut it.
\_ yes they are optimized but not nearly as optimized. It just
just isn't possible. (That being said a lot of xbox
developers are just lazy.) And as far your resolution
claims, we these days fill rate is rarely the bottleneck,
especially not at 640x480. (ok, if you have a full screen
particle system with 100s of alphaed particles, but I'm
not talking about that kind of case.)
\_ the screen res. is a minor side issue from where I was
really trying to go: xbox is a console. consoles have
an advantage in HID and the owners expect less as well.
any PC game that came out today looking as lame as the
best xbox game isn't going to break even or probably
get shelf space. consoles are the low end of the game
market. buy a pc if you want real gaming.
\_ luckily, first person shooters and flight sims aren't
very entertaining
\_ i agree, however a few million others think otherwise.
what are you playing if not fps and flight sims? ive
been playing NWN and C&C:Generals lately.
\_ flight sims sell for crap these days. There
is a reason they aren't being made much anymore. |
| 2003/7/29-30 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29164 Activity:very high |
7/28 What are some of the cool games out there for PC nowadays?s
\_ I thought morrowind was neat.
\_ morrowind sucks donkey balls
\_ C&C Generals if you like rts games. Why don't you tell us what
type of games you like? Then we can help you better.
\_ My brother has recently played ETM and EF2. He's currently
working on KOTOR. All of these games looked pretty good.
\_ Battlefield 1942. Super-addictive online. And you get to
bayonet people. -John
\_ I played Warcraft III. The expansion pack just came out but I
haven't played that yet. The only other games I've played in the
past five years were Diablo (sucked) and Starcraft (great).
\_ I just finished single player expansion for WC3. Pretty fun.
I like the new units.
\_ Yeah, but the new units have even more micromanagement issues.
I pick up War3 occasionally, but it's even more of a clickfest
of SC.
\_ I think that's the point. They want you to micromanage
instead of building mass grunts and sending them off to
fight.
\_ Another reason why RoN is better: You can select to
not allow rushing in which case you receive a huge amount
of attrition damage in enemy territory (in addition
to tons of other multiplayer options).
\_ What genre? RTS (Warcraft), FPS (Counterstrike), RPG (Diablo?),
Adventure (King's Quest), Action (Street Fighter), etc?
\_ Check out Rise of Nations(RTS) with a unique blend of ideas taken
from Turn based strategy games(like Civ 3). Its Awesome.
Loved Warcraft III, but Rise of Nations is much better,
cannot go back. The Multiplayer games rock!
\_ I hated WC3. I couldn't even make myself finish the single
player campaign. Is RoN the same deal with silly hero units and
artificially small squads and the standard war craft deal with
a small variety of units with heavy paper-rock-scissors?
\_ It does have units in the P-R-S format that you mention, but
it has others which are not. RoN has a HUGE variety of units.
It does not have hero units. It does not have campaigns like
Warcraft III, instead it has a 'Conquer the World' scenario
really good.
which plays out differently every time you play.
Check out this link to find out how it has changed the RTS
genre and why its waaay better than other RTS games:
link:csua.org/u/3rn
\_ As much as I hear RoN is good, I couldn't stand the high
speed of the units. Reminded me of a clickfest. The last
RTS I really liked was Empire Earth, although it was
painful whenever your ally decided to drop a few nukes
on you, just for fun.
\_ Try playing on the slowers speeds. It has 4 different
speeds. The normal speed is quite fast, but you can
play on 'slow' or 'very slow' and you can even select
that technologies are researched fast, units are created
fast, etc.
\_ Play Planescape: Torment. A few years old, but as someone else
wrote, "the best book I ever played". System Shock 2 is also
really good. Just make sure you download the patch that prevents
your guns from degrading, and stops respawns. You can even do
SS2 multiplayer, although you have to stay on the same level.
\_ been playing billy boy's Age of Empires for the past 6 years,
the most mileage i've gotten out of a game.
\_ been playing billy boy's Age of Empires on the zone for the past
6 years, the most mileage i've gotten out of a game. |
| 2003/7/22-23 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:29103 Activity:nil |
7/22 Thank god for *nix millebourne(sp). I killed a whole work day doing
nothing but losing to the computer. I think it cheats. An entire
game without a single "Go" card? |
| 2003/7/16-17 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:29059 Activity:kinda low |
7/15 Seen the Dungeon Siege II trailer? Anyone believe that the whole
thing is really from the in-game engine?
\_ Sure, why not? Looks about par as far as game engines go. The Doom3
trailer was much more impressive graphics wise, and that was all
in-game engine driven too. If it were CGI, I'd expect a lot more.
\_ I wonder how much hardware it takes to play a game that looks
like that during game play without slowdowns.
\_ Most likely ATI Radeon 9800 and an insanely fast 2+Ghz CPU |
| 2003/7/15-16 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/History/WW2/Germany] UID:29040 Activity:high |
7/14 We have a lot of games that kill Nazis and Japs (Medal of Honor,
MS Combat Flight Simulator, etc etc etc). Just out of curiousity,
do the Germans/Japanese make games that kill the Allies?
\_ while there is plenty of nazi paraphenalia in Japan, I have never
seen a game where you actually fight the US. There are plenty
where you try to take over Asia though! Also I believe the
swastika is illegal in Germany. -brain
\_ Wolfenstein 3D is illegal in Germany for the Nazi imagery.
Probably the original Wolfenstein was not illegal though because
the graphics were so shitty!
\_ Games involving killing humans are illegal there. C&C
had humans replaced by robots. There is a game called
'camp commander' in the underground nazi scene in .de
that's a resource-management game involving sending "Turks"
off to concentration camps. There are a few games where
you play nazis/japs, like Battlefield 1942, and the old
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (the sound clips in
BF1942 are absolutely hilarious.) -John
\_ i wonder how come we don't have any game like "Slave Tycoon."
\_ that'd be REALLY cool too. I'm looking for similar games,
like Clubbing Baby Seals and Tiger Hunting
\_ You should play Fallout 2. Jet, man, Fucking Jet!
\_ there are lots of games where you can play a Japanese Zero and
shoot the Americans, or drive a Panzer tank and kill the Allies.
\_ or play the iraqi killing american troops.
\_ Not really because those Japanese and those Nazi are 'gone'. The
people there now (mostly) don't associate themselves with those
dead empires. Do you associate yourself with the slave holding
\_ No but it's a reeeallly touchy subject in both Japan
and Germany. Infinitely more so than anything you can
imagine here about slaves or indians. -John
south in this country? The natives? The Spanish who held CA?
The French who held the center of the country? The Russians who
held Alaska?
\_ I associate myself with cowboys who kill injun savages.
\_ Are there any games where I can play Israeli troops and exterminate
palestinians? I'm too much of a pussy to join the Israeli army
to do that, so I want to do the next best thing. Thanks.
\_ No, but I've seen the "Palestinian Pizza Bomber game" followed
closely by the sequels, "Disco Bomber", "University Bomber",
"Bus Bomber" and "Hotel Bomber" which were all included in a
special "Push them into the sea" pack which had a special addon
where you get to toss old wheelchair bound Jews into the sea
from a cruise ship you've taken over. I'm looking forward to
"The Last Arab/Israeli War" game where the Arabs attack (again)
and win this time and you get to play Arabs butchering Jews in
the streets en masse while the UN passes resolutions against
the wicked Jews for getting in the way of your axes and bullets.
\_ Can we have an adult themed fantasy role playing game like
ultima6 or something but with lots of kinky sex?
\_ Write it and they shall cum. |
| 2003/7/14-15 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:29029 Activity:nil |
7/13 Real Life, Reviewed by Gamespot:
http://csua.org/u/3m6 |
| 2003/7/1 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/SW/Mail] UID:28874 Activity:insanely high |
6/30 related to the friendster thread below. Do most of you even have time
to 'try new stuff on the web'? When I was a student I had time to
screw around and surf all day. After graduating and getting a job
and getting married, I don't have time for that. My web surfing
consists entirely of a few sites like yahoo and google and some
technical web sites like http://ietf.org or financial info like irs.gov.
Even then I'm looking for specific info. I don't randomly surf. I
stop as soon as I find the info I need. Anybody else in the same
boat?
\_ Occasionally while taking a break or eating at my desk or waiting
for a client to get back to me (when I'm at their office with
nothing else to do.) Not for hours on end, though. -John
\_ yet another reason marriage is for suckers
\_ if you think randomly surfing the web is better than having a
life, you're either very very young or I pity you. --done both
\_ having a life != being married
\_ randomly surfing web == not having life
being married == having life for those with real marriage
\_ Just don't be so PW. My wife expects me to spend an hour or
two online a night. Beats sitting in front of the TV set.
\_ Try friendster and you will learn. Bye bye marriage and job
sucka!!! You're HOOKED. h0oK3t!
\_ yeah, right after I get one more everquest level.
\_ it makes it easier to set up extramarital affairs.
but yeah, after marriage, you pretty much disappear.
i think they call it "growing up". -sl
\_ I see webbrowsing as roughly equal to reading magazines.
Do you read Time/Life/NewsWeek/Harpers/Barrons/Economist/etc?
People/Cosmo/Red's Digest/SciAm/Nature/Science/etc?
\_ science, nature, sciam and economist are available online,
and the other things you named are fucking trash.
\_ The Economist and Barrons are trash? Fucking trash? ????
You must have a really amazing reading list.
\_ maybe you should add the motd to your reading list before
posting. I did not include the Economist in the
"fucking trash" list.
\_ I beg to differ. Web surfing is highly personal and
individual. Reading a magazine can be a social event. I can
easily show my wife some interesting article when she's sitting
next to me on the couch. Can't do that with computers. And
not easily with a laptop also. Plus with a magazine or book
I can rest my head on my wife's lap while reading (or vice
versa). It's a lot more fun reading while you stroke your wife's
hair. ;-)
\_ though I am loth to respond to idiot trolls, let me make the
point that our definition of what is "social" changes with
technology. When the telephone first was introduced, luddites
had the same idea, that somehow you weren't socially
interacting if you couldn't see the other person. Most
of the world has gotten over that by now. Email and other
electronic communications are just another type of social
interaction, with different parameters. While you can't
"show your wife" a web page you're looking at, you can
mail her a URL. -tom
\_ Every day I wake up and recite a long prayer thanking
God I don't work with Tom.
\_ Your redefining "troll" to mean "anything I disagree with"
is like the NOW bimbos defining sex in marriage as rape.
You make the term meaningless.
\_ Yeah I love stroking your wife's hair while reading, too. |
| 2003/6/26 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28842 Activity:very high |
6/26 Does anybody remember ExciteBike? That game was so rad.
\_ I play it in Animal Crossing in on GameCube.
\_ those small ramps that shot you straight into the air were the best!
\_ especially when you could land on the downward ramp and just
coast along at super speed.
\_ I've played it pretty frequently in the last few weeks, once I found
that it was among my 4GB of mame roms (under 'vs. ExciteBike'). I
loved that game in the arcade, but wasn't very good at it.
\_ I dunno man, it was fun to play for a bit, but I never really
got too into actually trying to win the races or whatever. and
what was the deal with the fact that there were always bikers
ahead of you to pass, even if you were in the lead and hadn't
made one lap yet? so lame. Now, Kung Fu... there was game.
\_ Building your own tracks was the best. 50 laps, cooldown zones
everywhere, and then you'd just ride the bike and knock over
other racers. And of course the cool jumps.
\_ there was recently a dirt bike game that had the old excitebike
music as something to unlock.. anyone know the name? |
| 2003/6/26 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/SW/Graphics] UID:28841 Activity:insanely high |
6/25 Has anyone attended Academy of Arts in SF? I would like to
know if this is a good school to go to in order to study
computer animation and modelling.
\_ my gf worked and took classes there for years. She decided
that it was NOT a good way to learn 3D and ended up taking
classes independently for a certificate with companies such
as "Mesmer". Note that AoA classes are NOT transferable to
other schools, nor do they teach you what you need to land
a real job or do your own sizeable project. Email me if you'd
like more details. -brain
\_ Magic cursed words: unaccredited school. As noted, you'd be
better off with one of the local comp. animation schools.
\_ Mesmer's offering a bunch of 1-5 day classes in the fall.
If I were to go with one, which package should I look into?
(alias, 3dsmax, softimage, maya)
\_ Maya is the program of choice in film. Max is still
leading in games, but Maya is a major contender. So
it depends on what you want to do with the knowledge.
The artists I know that have used both prefer Max.
Then again, most of the artists I know are in the game biz.
Ultimately, once you learn one, picking up another
isn't too big of a deal. -bz
\_ i think you should email wolberg@csua
\_ I love you Carrie! |
| 2003/6/21-22 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28797 Activity:moderate |
6/21 Fun game we played yesterday:
http://quiz.ngsec.biz:8080/game1/index.php
some of you should make it to level 10 within 2 hours. Took us
2 hours, and yes google is allowed. Cheers.
\_ 2 hours? Took about 15 minutes to zip through. Google? pshaw!
\_ J00 R ZO 733+!
\_ I am so teet? What?
\_ I'm so 318 that I'm going to hack your keyboard and make it
automatically convert all your future posts to real English.
\_ If it took you 15 minutes, then congrats, altho I was hoping
my post would spark discussion about how you did it, rants about
php, warnings about fopen, discussion about how this could be
avoided. But hey if it took you 15 minutes, more power to you.
\_ Discussion of what? A lot of it was time wasting trying to
guess fake passwords.
\_ is this something like http://www.try2hack.nl |
| 2003/6/6-7 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28654 Activity:kinda low 80%like:28648 |
6/5 SimOnline: Mobs Form:
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6019958.htm
\_ UPDATE: It's a nice day outside. -John
\_ So here's two side-by-side items I think the typical CSUAer will
find most the interesting:
``I am amazed personally as to how this whole game has become
so real . . . I spend more time with my computer than I do with
my friends,'' said Velie, who like about 60 percent of the
players, is a woman.
Which makes it clear that you *can* meet women online, just not
playing quake, *and* those women are just as fucked up as you are.
We prefer to be called differently _/
prioritized, thank you.
\_ You can prefer anything. You're still fucked up
as much as any other lifeless drone who spends
more time online than off. |
| 2003/6/6 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28648 Activity:high 80%like:28654 |
6/5 SimOnline: Fobs Form:
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6019958.htm
\_ UPDATE: It's a nice day outside. -John
\_ So here's two side-by-side items I think the typical CSUAer will
find most the interesting:
``I am amazed personally as to how this whole game has become
so real . . . I spend more time with my computer than I do with
my friends,'' said Velie, who like about 60 percent of the
players, is a woman.
Which makes it clear that you *can* meet women online, just not
playing quake, *and* those women are just as fucked up as you are.
We prefer to be called differently _/
prioritized, thank you. |
| 2003/6/5 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28639 Activity:high |
6/4 Is there a game review site that covers all these new MMOG games
out now? I was in compusa today and there's at least 4 new ones
I've never heard of. The boxes of course don't tell you anything
about any of them. Thanks!
\_ ign and gamespot seem to cover the big ones eventually. i
think they're all worthless. stick to diablo 2... no monthly
fee and the same basic game mechanic.
\_ Some Neverwinter Night servers have job systems implemented |
| 2003/5/26-28 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28558 Activity:high |
5/26 http://www.sirlin.net/Features/RubinsFans2.jpg Totally work safe but might cost a few SANity points. \_ I don't get it. \_ Yeah, what the hell is that? \_ http://www.sirlin.net/Features/feature_GameBalancePart1.htm "Female fans of top Magic the Gathering player Ben Rubin await his arrival at a Pro Tour tournament in Sydney, Australia." \_ There's a recognized top Magic player?! Words escape me... |
| 2003/5/16 [Recreation/Sports, Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28461 Activity:moderate |
5/15 Would someone be so kind as to post a "Complete" Gamespot ID and
password. I want to watch some game previews and $30 is just a bit
much. I'm actually disappointed the game companies don't post these
on their own sites.
\_ Why waste their own bandwidth when there are web companies like
Gamespot who would gladly host their stuff for them? And $25
is chump change for a year's worth of access. Oh, and yes, the
Half-Life 2 videos are most impressive.
\_ Thanks for the pointer. Now kicking in my p2p client...
...yes, those are pretty neat!
\_ I don't think you even have to go that far. If I'm not
mistaken, some of the videos are BitTorrent'ed
\_ Really? I'm googling and not finding. Perhaps I suck. |
| 2003/4/29-30 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:28260 Activity:high |
4/29 This guy is awesome! Why doesn't Berkeley have cool people this like?
http://www.ai.mit.edu/~rahimi/coolmf
\_ We used to.
\_ I like the d10 in the photo. It's real old school.
\_ Yeah because people who game today have a different shape for
10 sided dice.
\_ No, because it's all about the d20 these days. What sort of
nerdy geek, are you?
\_ Oh. I didn't know that. How many d20's do I roll for
a dagger hit? SHIT! I've been gaming all wrong!!!
\_ Sigh. Go home and play Diablo. Leave the real gaming
to those who know what they're doing.
\_ Diablo? What gave you the idea I play that shit?
\_ A true geek would use a d100.
\_ you mean 2d10?
\_ the shape of the ten sided dice has changed? I did not
know that.
\_ well there are these really annoying 10 siders
that look sort of like cylindars and take forever to
stop rolling.
\_ speaking of which, do you see gamers using their palm pilots
to aid gaming?
\_ You trust the DM to tell you the truth about whether
or not a gold dragon can take a hit from a +35 flaming
sword of perpetual destruction and survive?!?
\_ Munchkin! Everyone knows the flaming sword of perpetual
destruction can't go above +30!
\_ hi, i'm a liar
\_ who is a liar?
\_ it depends on what your definition of the word "is" is
\_ I did not have sex with that woman! I only inhaled!
It was a chemical weapons plant, not an aspirin factory
and I was not wagging the dog!
\_ What's d10 and d20 ?
\_ http://www.abookorgame.com/reviews/dice/images/blue-10-dice-set-10-a.jpg
http://www.abookorgame.com/reviews/dice/images/gem-20-die-a.jpg
\_ ten and twenty sided dice.
\_ Why is "university" spelled wrong? It's written "MIT univeristy"
on the website.
\_ What, like MIT nerds need to spel correcly?
\_ Why is Ali so fat now? And I don't mean phat.
\_ url? |
| 2003/4/14-15 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Academia/StanfUrd] UID:28120 Activity:kinda low 50%like:10063 |
4/14 Will Kyle Boller have a good NFL career?
\_ No. He's not better than Pat Barnes (who wasn't that great to
begin with), and look where Barnes is now (nowhere).
\_ QB's are hard to predict; I thought Barnes was a sure-fire
winner, and also Ryan Leaf, and we know how that worked out.
However, it is worth noting that Boller has significantly raised
his stock in the NFL combines, while Barnes' stock dropped.
Boller was originally projected as a late-round selection and
now most sites have him going in the first round. He's tall,
mobile and has an astounding arm (at the combine he threw a
ball through the uprights from midfield, while on one knee).
He will definitely get a chance. -tom
\_ strong arms aren't everything these days. mobility seems to
more important. teams are spreading the field, and not
putting enough blockers for the QB, and so the QB has to
improvise.
\_ yes, but that's why his stock is rising; he ran a 4.6
at the combine, the fastest time for a pure QB. -tom
\_ hope he has a good NFL Career. Was Jim Plunkett ex-Cal?
\_ hardly: he was ex-Stanford. -tom
\_ Stanford QBs seem to have greater prominence in
the NFL: Elway and Plunkett, for example.
\_ Yeah, but we have the best tight-end (Gonzalez)
and kick returner (O'Neal) in the game
\_ we also have a number of pro-bowl
linemen. In fact, Cal is one of the
top schools in the country in terms of
number of players in the pros. -tom
_/
What about Pac-10 as a whole? Looks like Miami*/Florida*/
Ohio State have large number of top NFL players.
\_ This factoid just seems to prove how bad our coaching
is. Great players, lousy record. What else coudl it be?
\_ Cal has rarely had depth to recover from injuries.
\_ Who's the last Cal QB with a significant NFL career? Joe Kapp?
\_ Craig Morton. -tom
\_ QB rankings in draft:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfldraft/story?page=qb_rankings |
| 2003/3/10-11 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:27639 Activity:high |
3/9 Interested in coding games for a living?
Check out Three Rings Design. They are working on a game called
Puzzle Pirates. It's a massively multiplayer game that's not
'just another treadmill' (TM), and may appeal to a wider demographic
than the traditional hard core gamer set. They are looking for
a kickass Java hacker.
Job details at:
http://threerings.net/jobs
I met Daniel James, Three Rings' CEO and one of their game designers
at the annual MUD-DEV dinner held during GDC. He seems like a pretty
cool guy, and I have it on good advice that he is a standup guy when
it comes to business stuff. Mention you heard about this from me,
by way of the Berkeley Computer Science Undergraduate Association.
If you have further questions, feel free to drop me an email. -dans
\_ Other random info... their head art guy is Rick Keagy. Cal
grad, and cool fellow that worked with blojo and me in the
Bolt-Action days. -bz
\_ I'll check it out right after I kill just one more mob. I think
he'll drop the stone shield of karthas for sure this time!
\_ Oh, yeah, as an added bonus, you get to make piratey noises
as part of your job, without having to be a warez kiddie. -dans
\_ Is that part of the interview? "AAARRRRR! AVAST YE MATEY!
SHIVER ME TIMBERS IF IT ISN'T EDONKEY SCUM!" Like that? Do
I win?
\_ I dunno. I don't work there. I just got a very good vibe
from Mr. James, and heard good buzz about the game. Of
course, this begs the quest, why am I not trying to get
this job? Main reason is that I'm a little busy with
trying to finally graduate, and, apparently, they want
someone NOW.
\_ A general observation on game developers. I'm not one and I have
this image of game developers being a bunch of slackers who slap
something together that sort of works and never fix bugs. Seems
like the nature of the industry. It's not critical and there's never
a version 1.1. Another thing is commitment to the job. Turnover
seems high. Can't get their ass in gear and do maintainance work
or write specs. That's why I haven't hired anyone with a background
in gaming industry and is looking to switch. Am I being too harsh?
\_ I'm inclined to disagree with you entirely. I work for a MUD
company, and everyone here works his/her ASS off. We have
limited resources and often need to choose between maintenance
and feeping creaturism. This is an engineering tradeoff like
any other with costs and benefits associated with each option.
Unlike business/productivity software, when it comes to games,
one can make pretty strong arguments for features over bugfixes.
Basically, new features in games often make all users happier,
while new features in a word processor will probably only appeal
to a small portion of existing users. Bugfixes in games only
please the people affected by the bug. That said, when a game
crashes, what have you lost? Some play time. When your word
processor crashes and you lose your PhD thesis, you're going to
be pissed. Like many things, ymmv. -dans
\_ dans, you're confirming my views on game developers as far
as fixing bugs go. Nothing personal, but it's the nature of
the industry not to fix bugs but put out features. Fine.
If I need a guy to sit down and fix bugs and write specs,
game developers aren't a good fit. Writing design specs and
test plans is more important than actually doing the work
for nearly all non-gaming businesses. Are game programmers
cut out to do this?
\_ I think you misunderstand what I said. I'm not saying
that game programmers choose features over bugfixes
because that's what they like to do (though that may be
true for some), I'm saying they make this choice because
it is often the correct engineering decision for the
situation. The same can be said for folks who chose to
use two digits to represent the year in systems that were
never meant to last until Y2K. I have seen people that
program games, and are capable of writing a solid spec,
testing plans, and following up on the project. For
example, our very own appel holds the distinction of being
the most frighteningly good documentation writer I have
ever met. He also happens to be the guy who hired me
at Skotos. :) -dans
\_ sounds like you don't know what an SDLC consists of
\_ Considering many game engines are used by multiple teams at once
over a lifespan of several games and possibly even for several
generations of consoles, I think good game programmers need to be
able to document code, fix bugs in a timely manner, all the while
adding features to keep the engine cutting edge. Oh and as far as
bugs go, console games don't get to be patched and so the console
company tends to be pretty anal at making sure there are no bugs
in there. (Not to mention a computer game's complexity is insane
compared to something like a word processor.)
\_ Game development is so much more difficult in every way than
the puny "software development" you're familiar with, that this
discussion is pointless. Go try and make a modern game before
you go slagging game developers. -blojo
PS: Not to say that a lot of game developers aren't lame. Just
like any industry, there are plenty of dumbasses. Yet most other
"software developers" don't even measure up to those dumbasses.
Sad but true.
\_ I see blojo has done some empirical studies of the software
development industry and has come forward to present his
results. Hear hear!
\_ I'd agree with him... game dev salaries are lower than
elsewhere in CS because the supply of geeks who want to
do games is high. Companies can afford to be picky, and
their interview processes are usually tougher. You can
argue that perhaps game developers are more willing to
use hacks to squeeze some more performance out of the
engine, but to question their overall professionalism
and engineering quality is probably misguided.
\_ Game development is all he knows. He may be right, in some
limited sense (I am still not convinced) but more likely
he is just shooting his mouth off. |
| 2003/2/25-26 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:27516 Activity:nil |
2/24 nethack-3.4.1 installed. You can use ~mconst/bin/nethack-convert
to move a 3.4.0 saved game to 3.4.1; please let me know if anything
goes wrong. --mconst |
| 2003/2/8-11 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:27348 Activity:moderate |
2/8 I'm going on a digital photography jaunt soon and I need a simple
way to store a large amount of images from my compact flash cards.
Is there some sort of device (say 10G of space) that would allow
me to transfer files from the CF cards? I don't want to purchase
a laptop for this purpose alone, and I also don't want to buy
several gigs worth of CF.
\_ you need a CF->CD Burner. lemme know if you find out that this
exists
\_ uh, no, he needs CF->HD. There are a number of such devices.
\_ http://www.interactivemediacorp.com/mediaxchange.html
http://www.mindsatwork.net
\_ http://www.dpreview.com Look at Storage and Media forum. You
are looking for something called Digital Wallet. Cheapest
price without HD is about $80.
\- are you going to be near electrical power on your "jaunt"?
if not, what are you going to do to juice up non-disposable
battery powered stuff? does anyone have experience with a
solar charger? i am thinking about one for 2003 Sola Khumbu
Expedition. --psb
\- i gave this some more thought. i dont know where you are
going [what kinds of conditions you will be facing] or
how long you will be gone or how many pix you expect to
take, but i think a not unreasonable idea is to beg/borrow/
steal as many compact flash/micro drives as you can from
your friends. keep in mind some drives may not work at
altitude, and i'd be a little nervous about carrying all
on one potentially fragile digital wallet ... especially
under harsh conditions ... altitude, dusty, crossing
streams etc. are you sure you will need 10gigs? i think
jpegs shot at 2-3megs are pretty decent quality and that is
300+ shots on a 1gb microdrive. if you were an associate of
and you had reasonable liquidity and not a history of being
ass, i would probably loan you my digital media in return
for lunch or even a good postcard. if we are talking about
a 3month trip, of course that is a different matter.--psb
\_ A microdrive is more fragile than a Digital Wallet. Even
if the Wallet fails, the hard disk inside will likely still
be usable. -tom
\_ it'd be cool to be able to use an iPod to this end.
\_ or an XBox!
\_ well... I made the iPod remark in light of psb's
"what about electricity" comment. ok tnx.
\_ Yeah, but with an XBox it's a sleek looking digital
entertainment center, and you'd also be able store
your photos on it for just $200 and you'd be socking
it to Microsoft. Modchips rule.
\_ how is buying products from Microsoft "socking it
to Microsoft"?
\_ supposedly Xboxes are sold at a loss.
\_ of course if you buy one microsoft gets to add
1 to the numbers of xboes sold column which
is a big deal. The fact that the xbox is
outselling the gamecube is killing the cube.
Also it is giving the xbox incredible amounts of
credibility.
\_ try the archos jukebox multimedia with optional card
reader. 20gb. http://www.archos.com |
| 2003/1/26-27 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:27203 Activity:nil |
1/24 Mech Warrior 4 Mercenaries: do not buy. Serious game suckage. The only
thing that made the game take more than 5 hours to complete was having
to restart a few of the "oh no instantly dead again" missions many
times each. When I saw the final cut scene I was thinking, "Oh cool,
now I can really get into the game" before I realised this was an
outro, not a cut scene leading to more interesting missions and mechs.
The only good thing I can say is that it has God Mode so that I could
quickly see the other 2 mediocre alternate ending cut scenes without
a lot of replay hassle. |
| 2003/1/24-25 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:27191 Activity:very high |
1/24 Moo3 gone gold for anyone who loved moo or moo2.
\_ Note the 1 month store delivery time. -- moo fan
\_ Yes, but that's better than "in final regression testing, will
be released very soon now".
\_ i have bad apprehensions about moo3. its graphics are rather assy.
\_ They made a real effort to remove micromanagement, the first
such effort to my knowledge among games of this type. I think
it's worth checking out. If you play games like moo or civ
for graphics you are barking up the wrong tree, friend.
-- moo fan
\_ Empire anyone?
\_ to the person who asked which one: the original
computer game in the 80s (destroyers, battleships...)
\_ graphics? If you want eye candy go play doom3. These are slow
long drawn out thinking games. The graphics are nothing more
than place holders for information. Maybe PS2 or xbox is more
your speed? I don't mean that as an insult. Just different
things are fun for different people. now begins the wait for
moo4! :-)
\_ i played civ1, moo1, moo2, mom, etc. i like the graphics to be
clear and nice to look at. it doesn't need fancy bumpmapped
3d whatever, but good art and UI...I find various aspects of
the screenshots i've seen turn me off, ie worse than moo2.
\_ Don't kill me, but what's moo? Is it a cow game?
\_ Masters Of Orion
\_ Yes. It's fun. Dominate the galaxy. Meet strange new
species, and kill them. Or interbreed. Whatever.
\_ Basic idea is thus: start with your low tech barely space capable
race on one planet, invest planetary resources in research,
building ships, planetary improvements, etc. Expand to other
worlds, other star systems, meet other alien races/players,
trade with them, eventually crush them, rule the galaxy. This is
"4x" genre. Explore, expand, exploit, exterminate. Classic.
\_ Hopefully it's funner than Civ3
\_ MOO3 has built-in multi-player, and I think part of the delay
was in fixing late-game show-stoppers in multi-player
(sounded like corrupted game-crashing save games in SP too) |
| 2003/1/14 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/SW/Apps/Media] UID:27091 Activity:high |
1/13 http://www.looper.info/contents.htm Does anybody know anything about this band? I just recently heard some stuff by them (like it a lot) and their website says that the lead guy has "disappeared" but mentions that it could just be his artistic temperament at play. Is there really a police investigation or is it just a stunt? \_ main member from Belle & Sebastian, don't know much more than that. -sax \_ I don't know anything about the band really, but they did have a cool song, "Mondo 77" on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack. \_ It's also on the XBox game that involves "Kudos". \_ They were the opening band for a Flaming Lips concert a couple of years ago (either that or Radiohead). pretty nice stuff. |
| 2003/1/7-8 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW/Memory] UID:27018 Activity:high |
1/7 Does saving PS1 game data on PS2 require a PS1 memory card?
\_ yes. --jwang@playstation
I STFWed and found many conflicting answers. Anyone has
first-hand experience on this?
\_ Ask Sony.
\_ Yes. Because PS1 memory cards use blocks and PS2's don't,
I think. -geordan
\_ I'll try it tonight and post or email the results. --peterl |
| 2003/1/4-5 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26989 Activity:nil |
1/4 http://www.chroniclogic.com/toverview.html This game is awesome |
| 2002/12/27 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:26922 Activity:high |
12/26 What is the best way to make a Linux game (xlander) run slower?
\_ hit the turbo button on your 386
\_ on a pentium.
\_ Change the program so that it doesn't run faster if it gets extra CPU
time. Use the Source, Luke! |
| 2002/12/17-18 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26843 Activity:kinda low |
12/16 Do you like Sega Mobile?
http://www.zakzak.co.jp/top/t-2002_10/2t2002101108.html (not work safe)
;-)
\_ better link (unless you actually READ japanese) :
http://www.zakzak.co.jp/top/t-2002_10/image/2t2002101108megumi_b.jpg
\_ what's not work safe about an oiled up chick with a big rack in
a bikini?
\_ Megumi. DOB 09/25/81, T156 B94 W60 H86 (in cm). Hot! |
| 2002/12/14 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26817 Activity:nil |
12/13 http://www.solidsharkey.com/nocturnal.html |
| 2002/12/13-14 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26803 Activity:nil |
12/12 Anyone have any ideas when the playstation 3 is due to come out?
STFW returns a LOT of bogus links...
\_ my understanding is not before summer 2004. the "cell" chip
won't be done before then.
\_ dude im leik totalley waiting for the ps-9 like in that commershul
where itz leik totalley reel! |
| 2002/12/13-14 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26802 Activity:high |
12/12 Can anyone recommend some good non-fighting multiplayer PS2 games?
(e.g. similar to mariokart on N64 or fusion frenzy on Xbox) Thx!- mds
\_ head-to-head: NBA Street, Burnout 2, DDR (dance pad)
coop: Baldur's Gate, Contra, Time Crisis 2 (GunCon)
\_ GT:ASpec
\_ Fusion Frenzy and good do not go together
\_ It was definitely different/amusing... :)
\_ Fusion Frenzy was a real crowd pleaser when i played it,
especailly sumo (the american gladiator style game).
\_ Let your boys fight; they'll learn not to kill.
\_ you're an idiot.
\_ The Bust-A-Move series is always good (somewhat Tetris like if
you've never seen it)
\_ SSX:Tricky is loads of fun.
\_ Madden Football, any sports game
\_ Especially hockey
\_ It's actually for my wife, and she isn't into sports...
Sorry, should have specified that. Bust-a-move sounds great,
thanks! - OP |
| 2002/12/9 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26755 Activity:high |
12/8 Ice Wind Dale II: Finally finished this fucker after setting it
aside for a month. What a nightmare. I don't know how this game
is supposed to be beatable without cheating. And the outro was
*really* weak considering what they put you through to get there.
When playing on normal difficulty it shouldn't take multiple reloads
and abusing game bugs to finish the final battle.
\_ how many hours did you spend on this?
What are the most addicting games the rest of you have played?
\_ I find Doom 1&2 pretty damn addicting. I've been replaying them
on ultraviolence using the stuff at http://www.doomsdayhq.com
\_ Nethack.
\_ I didn't keep close track but maybe 60? Disk space recovered. |
| 2002/11/24 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:26620 Activity:high |
11/24 Hey, I missed the big game (projects), is there any way I can
watch the game online? I can't even find clips...
\_ whiny liberal scum!
\_ It's John Ashcroft! He's found me out! |
| 2002/11/24 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:26619 Activity:high |
11/23 Why is your stupid article about Pelosi and how
she's responsible for high housing prices in SF
more important than my Big Game article?
And why the hell are you battling with me for
control of the motd at 11PM on a Saturday night?
Who the heck are you? - danh
\_ It's probably the same whiny shithead that was insistent about
claiming "all football players are rapists" was a refined debate
tactic.
\_ No, it isn't. And that 'idiot' claimed no such thing. You're
a moron. If you're going to use direct quotes at least put in
the 5 seconds required to dig up what someone actually said.
Yet another blazing idiot disgraces the motd (that's you, btw)
and doesn't even see his own hypocritical stupidity. Learn to
read and then return.
\_ If it makes you feel good about yourself to believe that,
then go for it. You're still an idiot, though. Just like
that other self-styled debate 'expert'.
\_ Both (all three?) of you have already lost. -pld
\_ Ten to One says the message above was by the same idiot. |
| 2002/11/22-23 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:26604 Activity:nil |
11/21 For Cal football games, can you sit anywhere in your assigned section
or must you sit in your assigned seat? Is seating first come/first
serve?
\_ Know you nothing, grasshoppa? This is Cal. You have an assigned
number. Use appropriately or they'll send a dorm health worker
around to show you how.
\_ The student section is general admission, the rest is assigned
seating. In most cases, you can move around a fair amount, but
not so much for the Big Game. |
| 2002/11/8 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26464 Activity:moderate |
11/7 Does anyone want to buy my copy of Vice City? It is in perfect
condition and the is fun as hell, I jsut shouldn't have spent that
money on a game right now. -aspolito
\_ rent it to the CSUA office
\_ Jobless and nearly homeless? Sell your body to strange men.
parts_/ |
| 2002/10/28-29 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:26339 Activity:moderate |
10/28 http://www.evilninja.net/buybush.htm \_ brilliant. \_ at least it's a bit more clever than the standard "bush is stupid and stole the election from that nice man Al". |
| 2002/10/25-28 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:26320 Activity:nil |
10/24 Has anybody tried ripping songs from an XBox game? I stfw but
only find stuff about ripping a regular cd to the xbox HD.
\- emacs M-x extract-audio xbox RET |
| 2002/10/7 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:26118 Activity:nil |
10/6 Merchants of Andromeda is a pretty decent puzzle game --pld |
| 2002/8/27-28 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:25706 Activity:high |
8/27 Anyone knows how to get a development kit for Nintendo (n64, gc)
from sources other than Nintendo. (dead company?)
\_ nintendo is dead??
\_ know.. hope to get spare sys from dead companies
\_ I know a GC development kit costs around $10K, good luck...
(Oh and the compiler you need to buy from someone else and goes
for about 5k.) |
| 2002/8/26 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:25692 Activity:high |
8/26 After doing quickie install/try/delete of about 15 recent games over
the weekend I finally found one that's actually fun. The Thing. I'm
not a big fan of FPS-style games (this is over the shoulder but same
idea) but I like this one. There's an actual plot, you can't trust
your team mates, they don't trust you, and everything is classic
military quality fubar.
\_ does it have anything to do with the movie?
\_ Yes, it's a game-based 'sequel' where you're the commander on the
ground of a military unit sent to find out what happened to the
scientists in the movie. There's a few direct movie references
but nothing that gets in the way of the game. Sort of like the
way Aliens was the military sequel to Alien but with The Thing
instead.
\_ Are they ever coming out with the movie sequel Thing II, or
did I miss it? Not another remake, but real sequel. |
| 2002/8/16-17 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:25589 Activity:kinda low |
8/16 deep-sexed by microsoft again:
Additionally, the company took a charge in the quarter, which ended
July 28, to write down excess inventories of Xbox and nForce chips.
The surplus of chipsets for the Xbox, the gaming console developed by
Microsoft, was made obsolete when the software behemoth shifted to new
security chip codes during the first quarter.
\_ Who was this? Nvidia?
\_ C'mon, Bill can't reach that deep. He's micro and he's soft.
\_ Nice job. Write off the chipset as complete loss for tax purposes
and take a minor hit which can be covered easily by MS cash surplus.
Ooo and it force everyone to upgrade to the more secure version.
\_ this would be Nvidia taking a charge for nforce chips. and
"secure" == "better copy protection".
\_ This was an attempt (which will be defeated) to kill mod chips,
which will of course be changed to work with new xbox
protections.
\_ Nvidia still made money though. |
| 2002/8/15-16 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:25578 Activity:nil |
8/15 ESPN Classic is showing the 1982 Big Game again on Saturday, 9-11 a.m.
Is someone gonna record it and digitize a good quality version of
"The Play"?
\_ What's the significance of that year's Big Game? I was too young
back then.
\_ "The Play."
\_ Five laterals and one trumpet player.
\_trombone
\_ The Play plus John Elways last college football game?
The stanford band getting trampled on the field as well.
\_ The best part is hearing Elway whine about Cal ruining
the end of his college career. Bwahaha! |
| 2002/8/5 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:25497 Activity:high |
8/5 A while back there was a commercial of a video game and it has a
tank chasing and shooting at snuggles, the fabric softner bear.
Anybody remember the name of the game? I'm trying to find the
commercial.
\_ 3DO, Battletanks or something |
| 2002/7/30 [Recreation/Computer/Games] UID:25444 Activity:high |
7/29 Do game boy games work in game boy advance?
\_ yes
\_ Not particularly well, by all reports. The problem is that the
games have to be played in a compressed area on the GBA's wide
screen (GBC games only have a resolution of 160x140), and this
makes them dark and hard to see. While they can be expanded to
fill the whole screen using the shoulder buttons, the
difference in screen dimensions means that they look stretched
and distorted. The best advice is to keep your GBC and use the
GBA to play GBA games.
http://www.gbacentral.net/gbadv.html
\_ or do like i do and play them all on my 19" PC monitor. |
| 2002/7/29 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:25437 Activity:high |
7/29 All my favorite PC gamer news sites are dead. I'm down to gamespot
which is nothing more than advertising and screenshots. What are
the rest of you reading? Thanks for any URLs.
\_ whatever happened to http://gamers.com?
\_ dead dead dead
\_ how about http://ign.com?
\_ I just don't know which is why I'm asking. All PC gamer news
URLs appreciated. --OP
\_ http://shacknews.com, http://evilavatar.com -blojob |
| 2002/7/10-11 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Recreation/Sports] UID:25324 Activity:very high |
7/10 I forgot to mention it yesterday, but Rod Steiger is THE most
connected actor in Hollywood history, in terms of the Kevin
Bacon Game. That is to say, if you play the Rod Steiger game
instead, the average path length is shorter than for any other game,
like the Groucho Marx game or the Adam Sandler game. - cody
\_ is that like an erdos number?
\_ "was", not "is". He's dead, Jim.
\_ Ted Williams is still the last person to hit .400, even though
Ted Williams no longer "is." -tom
\_ Well, he also 'was' the last person to do so. Om. -John
\_ Well, it all depends on what the meaning of "is" is.
\_ *laugh* And we have a winner!
\_ Ted Williams is at 77K.
\_ But, but...you wouldn't say "g. washington IS the first pres",
you'd say "g. washington was the first US pres." right?
\_ maybe.. the fact of this presidency being first does not
change with time so perhaps "is" is acceptable?
\_ no, we always refer to dead people in past tense even if
their accomplishments are current such as first pres. or
fastest runner or most records sold, whatever, etc. it is
the living/dead status of the person that is being
tensed, not their accomplishment.
\_ It depends on the sentence and the context. -tom
\_ no, it doesn't. you may have heard that english
grammar has a lack of rules. this is false.
the rules are specified by a secret, anonymous
body of CSUA members who let the rules be known
by motd posts. these rules may never be broken.
\_ We are the MOTD Grammarian Star Chamber Police.
We took English in HS and remember most of it,
so we aren't taking any crap about "it depends"
from those who don't remember and want to make
it all up. --MGSCP
\_ well, MGSCP, surely you'll understand that
the sentence "Ted Williams *was* the last
player to hit .400" is ambiguous. It
implies that someone else has hit .400
since then and is now the
record-holder. Babe Ruth *was* the
single-season record-holder for home runs.
Babe Ruth *is* the single-season
record-holder for walks. -tom
\_ We'll drop by with black masks later to
explain the difference to you. --MGSCP
\_ Three demerits!! Tom is the founding
member of the MGSCP.
\_ Speaking of demerits, anybody
remember that old arcade game
where you drive around and get
penalized demerits? I can't
remember anything else about it
because it was like 15-20 years
ago and I'm getting old and slow. |
| 11/24 |