CrowScape
- Posted on:
- Friday August 31 2007 3:06pm
Tonight. I'll probably be fighting rush-hour.
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CrowScape
Tonight. I'll probably be fighting rush-hour.
nearscape
When are you arriving? I've got a futon pad at home, but saturday night I'll be bunkered in at the location. Kruger has a few air matresses he said we could bring to Bucketworks.
CrowScape
B_W: Yes but... eh, we'll talk.
So... anyone want to volunteer a place for me to sleep? Preferably with a ready supply of free parking spaces?
B_W
NS,
What, huh?
nearscape
Cruise missiles are fun, but I found another reason why playing Aeon frustrates me: Their shields don't seem to hook up with adjacent power for efficiency gains. Which mean, if you survive until the tech 3 artillery game, you'll be spending a lot more power defending yourself than the other factions, which really slows experimental production.
nearscape
That is fine, there won't really be a LAN on Friday, I'll be running around gathering supplies and hauling shit to the location. Although I imagine after that there will be some Wii somewhere, or maybe a late night Shuttle run if Jim is around on Friday.
Dream BBQ Child
@adam
Eclipse: My long delayed exercise in Objective-C and cross-platform development.
Also, I won't be able to make it to the Lan until Saturday cause I have to take das Greyhound.
B_W
Crow,
In the video piece Mr. Rodgers mentions the grant from Sears, which if you remember from childhood was always at the end of every program.
You have to remember that at that time in television history there wasn't any kind of programing like Mr. Rodgers, so it wasn't like he could call up NBC and say "Hey, give me a slot!". Because children's programing was so different it also wouldn't have fit into any network lineup. Not only that, but could you imagine the show with commercial breaks for sugar cereals, or cowboy cap guns? It just wouldn't work.
You can talk up Rodgers like he's some bleeding heart trying to score public funds so he can put on his worthless program, but anyone growing up watching his show knows that he really offered a product that was different than the other shows on television, and would work for the public good. Frankly, that's one of the few things that I think government money would be good for.
Also remember that Mr. Rodgers was syndicated, so different stations in different markets would have to pick his show up, and pay per episode, which is a model that is very unique for television, especially in it's day.
When I watch public televison these days I see some sliver cast content that would appeal to only a slim percentage of the population. However, I would say the vast majority of my generation grew up watching Mr. Rogers, and were much better off because of it. You're hitting an entire segment of the population with some really responsible and beneficial programing. That is what systems like that were set up for, in my opinion.
D_R
adam
Linky, Linky:
- Old School TV Sign-offs... Flashback to the 80s! http://tinyurl.com/2l4b7y
- Tetris cosplayers in parking-lot brawl... Yes, giant it's giant tetris pieces fighting! http://tinyurl.com/33r8ar
- Idiocracy [http://tinyurl.com/2leb3v] is here! Seniors are averaging 502 in reading and 515 in math on the SATs. http://tinyurl.com/2kqd4d
-A
p.s. Yes, I like TinyURL.
nearscape
Holy crap, BioShock owns.
CrowScape
Did Mr. Rogers have difficulty getting a commercial carrier to pick up his show, or was he content to live off the public dole? I don't see anything in Wikipedia to suggest that he ever tried going commercial except for a mention of an educational network.
adam
@DBBQC what?
-A
Dream BBQ Child
2007-08-26 18:38:32.054 EclipseServer[7443] I was there at the dawn of this Eclipse Game. Which is a good thing cause I'm the one serving it.
2007-08-26 18:38:32.055 EclipseServer[7443] Attempting to load file ../../testPlayer.xml
2007-08-26 18:38:32.088 EclipseServer[7443] ../../testPlayer.xml loaded...
Creating Player[Dream BBQ Child]
First Eclipse Object detected, starting the Ticker thread
Beginning Game Timer
Tick Year 2257 Month 0 Day 30 beginning
Tick complete
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Research
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 1
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Farm
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 0
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Mining
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 1
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Attack
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 1
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Defence
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 1
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Hartiness
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 3
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Luck
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 1
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Looking up attribute Environment
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Found 2
Valid benefits for Dream BBQ Child with 10.
Reproductive Life is 8
Score now at 0.
2007-08-26 18:38:32.089 EclipseServer[7443] Dream BBQ Child is a valid player with score 0
Tick Year 2257 Month 1 Day 30 beginning
Tick complete
Tick Year 2257 Month 2 Day 30 beginning
Tick complete
EclipseServer has exited with status 0.
Proof that Eclipse is the closest it's ever been to actually existing. :)
B_W
If you have 5min I think you should check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a41lJIhW7fA
It's Mr. Rogers asking for some $$$.
D_R
adam
door game? Does that mean you have an old school BBS running somewhere?
-A
nearscape
It's a little "door game" that I've been tinkering with. On hold for a Torque engine project I'm going to kick out with Jon for BarCamp Milwaukee.
Dream BBQ Child
Perl planets?
Dream BBQ Child
Any interest in C&C 3 at the LAN?
intrigue
http://warcraft.meetup.com/cities/us/wi/milwaukee/?a=wlnmlk1&ic=en15&list=1&wlMemberId=4882719
it seems like there might be enough people to have a good gaming night somewhere in MKE.
Big_Whisky
Mother: “Today our whole downtown is completely enclosed. Whatever the weather is outside, it’s always dry and comfortable inside.”
Father: “General Electric calls it a climate-controlled environment. But Mother calls it...”
Mother: “A sparkling jewel. Now far off to your right, we have a welcome neighbor...”
Father: “Our GE nuclear power plant, dear.”
B_W
Drugs.
CrowScape
Unsure if your computer is ready for UT3? The Bioshock demo, built on the UT3 engine, is out, and it is sweet. If this is any indication, my system will get a "Holy Shit" rating (unless it counts DX10). :)
CrowScape
No, it has no effect on Aeon Cruise Missiles, as they are classified as air units, not tactical missiles. For proof: two Cybrian cruisers are able to shoot down every single tactical missile launched by a group of ten strategic missile subs, but they cannot stop ten incoming Aeon Cruise Missiles to save their lives (literally).
NearScape
Something to test at the LAN: Regarding missile swarm defense, I noticed playing Jon the other day that I never noticed playing the computer. Tech 3 siege bots, at least the Cybran ones, have some sort of short range automatic missile countermeasure. The tooltip mentions tactical missiles, but I found it to be most effective against tech 2 mobile missile launchers. Since they are cheap, mobile and have a great range, I often use them for swatting tech 2 gun/artillery emplacements during standoffs, even tech 3 SAM launchers. However, as soon as Jon moved his army of siege bots into the area, all my missiles were mysteriously disappearing halfway to their target. And I was sending 20-30 at a time, at targets outside shield range. So I wonder if this ability has any effect on Aeon cruise missiles, since they are also considered tech 2.
CrowScape
I've found that if you use the right-click-and-drag formation move, as a default groups tend to put tanks in the very first row, with the rest of the formation gradually blending into pure support units. I was also happy to see that shield units get close to the units they are instructed to guard, and anti-air units form a ring around their objective. Still, I second intrigue's desire for a "guard group" function.
NearScape
I think position micromanagement is a problem in every RTS. While I have seen some frustrating behaviors in SupCom, it is still much preferable to the issues you see in StarCraft and WarCraft, for example, where:
a) firing and visibility ranges are extremely short, and unit collision models are too big, exacerbating the formation/pathing problems
b) most units can't attack properly while moving
I find in SupCom the key is to click first on where you want your units to go, not what you want them to attack. Move them into position correctly, and they usually target things smart enough on their own to get the job done (such as shooting guns and units before other structures). Target your target, especially if it's under a shield, and units tend to stand outside the shield and get slaughtered, instead of just walking in and wreaking havoc.
SupCom addict
(intrigue)
i really wish we could write our own formations. something like tanks in front, shields, then missile & AA, then artillery.
or maybe something where you can tell air to air to defend a unit type or hold a region, etc...
it just seems like you either need to really micro manage your troops or they end up doing really stupid things on their own.
intrigue
got Chinese debt?
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=8717275&story_id=9622531
you'll love this comitc
intrigue
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070821-blizzard-negotiating-with-researchers-for-virtual-epidemic-study.html
this might get me playing wow again.
Doctors, well the PHD type are looking to infect blizzard's world or warcraft, and it sounds like blizzard might do it if the price is right.
CrowScape
My new video card comes today, so I absolutely will have lots of fun with thousands of robots on the screen. Before, they were just thousands of icons. I really do like being able to choose different formations with my experimentals :)
Some revision to my comments is in order: Multiple layers of heavy shields with decent tech1 and tech2 AAA works well at stopping even a 60 cruise missile strike. However, the shields will take a heavy beating, so Aeon, heave either artillery or an assault group that can take advantage of the opening. Of course, not everything is worthy of having three or four heavy shields protecting it. In that case, I recommend tech2 AA units positioned just outside the base perimeter. They'll be vulnerable, but they're also cheap and easily replaceable and the extra time you have to shoot down an incoming swarm will pay off. Patrolling air-superiority fighters might work, but I haven't seen the computer use those as part of its defense.
Experimental units are still screwed, however.
In other observations: submerged Fatboys stand up remarkably well against Tempests and Atlanti. Torpedoes have difficulty taking down their shields. Fatboys still lose, but if you have nothing else to intercept those units with...
intrigue
@crowscape
sweat work. i have been way to busy having fun with the game to "think about" how to win well, but here crowscape is thinking about winning, and i wonder if he is having any fun with thousands of robots on the screen. supcom rocks!
intrigue
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2031054020070820?src=082107_0525_ARTICLE_PROMO_also_on_reuters
still researching the wow virus
CrowScape
I now have the full version of SC, and I notice that many of the things I talked about in the Beta no longer apply (no surprise there). Chief among the changes for point of balance is that the Aeon's mobile shield floats, making it the only race that can have shields on the water (this will apparently change when Forged Alliance is released, as everone will have shield ships). The interesting things, though, are only in the latest patch, which for some reason you cannot get by using the "update" link on the autoplay splashscreen (version 1.3260).
Now, my favorite unit since Total Annihilation has been the strategic bomber. They're perfect for taking out that one vital, heavily-guarded structure like a targeting facility, big bertha, nuke interceptor, etc. The problem with strategic bombers is that they are slow to build, and even though they stand a very good shot of taking out their target, most missions are one-way affairs. 1.3260 gives the Aeon a way around this with a tech II cruise missile. You can build it from any aircraft factory (so that includes carriers and CZARs). Cruise missiles, as the name suggests, are suicide units. Additionally, once launched, they cannot land. So once you build them from an air factory they fly around until they either hit something, are shot down, or their limited fuel supply runs out (they can cross about 2/3rds of the way across a 40km map). They're cheap and fast building (a CZAR can build one every 15 seconds), and they do about half the damage as a strategic bomber (3000 points of damage). The trick to using them, however, is to build them within a carrier or a CZAR, as units built inside these units are not launched. Thus, you can stockpile cruise missiles and move them into a distance where they can attack anything en masse, even on the largest maps. I believe that this unit makes the Aeon rulers of the assassination game, as it takes only a handful to kill a commander (if you want to be certain you punch through all the AAA and shielding, send twenty. They'll only take five minutes for a single CZAR to build).
Cruise missiles can also attack flying units, meaning that you'll need at least twenty Scarabs to overwhelm a single, fully-loaded CZAR. For that matter, any unsubmerged experimental unit is ripe for completely effortless annihilation.
So the Aeon no longer suck. In fact, anyone playing them now will probably be accused of being a lamer. Although we should look to experiment on ways to defeat a missile swarm at the LAN.
nearscape
I'm assuming B_W is referring to Sexy Beast, which really wasn't as good as he remembers it. Though it should probably be watched just for Ian McShane, who is a great man.
On the LAN front, I have secured the services of Pip on the 1st as Master of the Keg. So we should put our heads together and figure out what to fill said keg with. He'd suggested Berghoff on the cheap front, and Lakefront or New Glarus on the expensive front, because he already has the appropriate tapping and CO2 equipment for their style of keg. I'm going to check around town tomorrow and see what else I can get in that style. But if you've got a Berghoff, New Glarus, or Lakefront brew you're just dying for, post it here! Personally, I think Berghoff Red is excellent for the price, and New Glarus Uff-da Bock is wonderful as well.
adam
@intrigue:
Yep.. All for that!
-A
intrigue
this rocks, russia rocks for doing this,
they have a national sex holiday, as an effort to increase birth rate.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20268426/
B_W
I'm gonna kick this off with something in 'bad taste' because that's how we do things around here.
Here's a link:
http://omg.yahoo.com/mary-kate-kingsley-lock-lips-in-movie/news/1723
In said link it talks about Ben Kingsley getting a big kiss from Mary Kate Olson in a film. At the end it references a few of Kingsley's films. Here's my question, which film did they not mention, but really should have?
B_W
adam
OOh... Looks cool...
-A
B_W
All seems well in the magickickal kingdom.
B_W
Wait...good taste? No way, that line has to go! I don't think any post I have ever made here has been in good taste.
SYSOP
Welcome to the new site. The CSS is very light as you can see, and I'm still troubleshooting a few things, but you should be able to start poking around without any serious meltdowns.
CrowScape
Actually, I still only have the beta :( But the real game is coming from Amazon!
In the Beta, the human faction seems the strongest. First, they have hovercraft instead of amphibious tanks, meaning that they have land units that can help them gain control of the sea if they get a slow start. They do have tech three gunships (I think they're the only ones that have this) and they have a tech three shield generator (I think the Aeon also has this, but I'm uncertain. The Cybrians do not).
As for experimental units, the humans have the best land unit, the land battleship/factory thing. This is mainly due to the fact that the Colossus and the Monkeylord are limited to a powerful short range weapon, meaning that it's entirely possible for static defenses to take them out before they get a shot off (although I believe the Colossus, with its higher hit points, is a good defensive unit against other experimentals). Considering experimental units are essentially bunker breakers, this is a big negative. The other land unit the humans have, the Maver, is nearly worthless as it takes way too long to build and its slow firing shells can be stopped by shields (in other words, you need two). The Cybrian artillery unit is better, but again it takes way too long to build. You're better off building Monkeylords and strategic bombers.
The Cybrians have the best air unit, but that's not saying much, as the giant gunship has problems against anything that is behind a shield, and air defense makes quick work of it. The Aeon unit would be the best except for its slow speed and the fact that you cannot repair it, plus it needs to be right on top of the unit it wants to destroy. It is a good support unit, as it functions as an aircraft carrier, but I wouldn't send it into the frontlines until after a breach had been created by ground units.
The Aeon do have the best sea unit. Their submersible battleship has a massive cannon with greater range than a tech 2 artillery piece, far better accuracy, and several times the punch. Plus it's submersible with lots of torpedo launchers, which means when the enemy gets too close it can protect itself from the heavy hitting cruisers and battleships while still dishing out the pain. Also, the fact that it operates as a factory (and a very quick building one at that) gives the Aeon sea superiority. The human experimental sea unit does not strike me as that threatening. I built one and lost all interest in it.
nearscape
I'm interested to hear your opinions on faction balance in Supreme Commander, Jim. I'm having trouble figuring out how to play Aeon without sucking. No tech 3 gunships, slowest-firing boats, no shield upgrades, and the weakest experimental units. What gives?
CrowScape
I'm not too worried, as I'm going to do my best to avoid Vista for as long as possible.
Of course, I would like to have the new card in time for the LAN as well :)
nearscape
You might want to read this before buying a DX10 card quite yet.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=41577
Probably not as big of a deal as they make it out to be, since we're unlikely to see any 10.1 games any time soon. Are there even any finished 10.0 games yet?
I have to run Supreme Commander on low fidelity, which makes me sad, but I think my CPU is more of a bottleneck there. But since my socket is obsolete, I'd need a new motherboard, which would probably invalidate my AGP video card, my IDE hard drives, etc. So I'm fucked all around. Choice being: spend $1000 on a new computer or on air fare and rail passes for Japan '08, I choose Japan.
CrowScape
Hmm... I'm thinking it is time for a new video card. I downloaded the Overlord demo and I had to run it 800X600, Low setting. I'm thinking of this card, any feedback would be appreciated:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082
adam
Oh?
Like I said.. Been out of the loop. Starting to think I need a nice job in front of an editor. Stress of TV news is getting to me.
-A
nearscape
This site is dead. SpooLAN 2.0 later this week. No RSS feed right away, but it will be XHTML Strict so it will be easier to add.
adam
Man.. I'm so far out of the loop.. spooLAN needs an RSS feed.
-A
nearscape
So let it be written! So let it be done.
CrowScape
We should also bring some Wii's along.
nearscape
The signup site is almost done. I don't really know what's going on, so I'm open to game suggestions, but for now I've got Supreme Commander and Prey on there as "new" games. I haven't really played much outside of those 2 and WoW since the last big LAN. I don't think the new Team Fortress or UT are going to be available in September, and I probably couldn't run them anyway. I'm curious about Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, but that looks like October at the earliest. Whisky said something about some cute little free games?
CrowScape
Oh, and what new games are we playing, so I know what copies to secure.
CrowScape
Yeah, I was thinking of the level editor. Oh, and don't forget that things like flags were affected by gravity, so if you placed it on a slope, it would just ski down to the bottom.
Now that I remember the construction mod, that was damn cool! Why did all the cool tribes mods die, yet Renegades survived and flourished?
I should be available for Labor Day weekend, provided I don't have some ridiculous paper assignment the first week of classes (it's happened before).
nearscape
Are you talking about the actual level editor? That had some...interesting conventions. Like, different rotation units for things like guns than for things like walls. The range wasn't 360, or 100, or even 1.00, but like 6.75 if I recall. Never could figure that one out. Still, ski ramps are fun! :)
Hey Crow, are you available for some LAN action on the saturday and sunday before labor day?
CrowScape
"Lucky?" I remember trying to use that abomination. For some reason, 360 degrees were not sufficient for Dynamix...
The process was horrible, although the result was good. In that respect, it's similar to sausage making.
intrigue
now you can play supreme comander with the wii mote
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/06/wiimote-support-added-to-xna-dev-kit/
well maybe in the near future.
nearscape
Those lucky few who remember the Construction Mod for Tribes might get a kick out of this. In the new Fraghouse Invasion, you get to build your base out before the attack. Cool!
http://www.beyondunreal.com/daedalus/singlepost.php?id=10809
nearscape
Speaking of console hard drives, I hear that UT3 user mods and maps made on the PC can be downloaded to the PS3 version as well. Since it would cost easily $1000 for me to replace my 32-bit AGP PC with one that cuts it for UT3, I may just drop $500 + $60 for PS3 version and be done with it.
Also, Mark Rein of Epic Games is of the opinion that one Vista's main selling points, DX10 gaming, is not going to get much use for the next few years because of, ironically enough, the Xbox360. Just in the unlikely event there's someone out there who needs another reason to not get Vista.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=169116
intrigue
its soo easy to upgrade that sony hard drive its not even a hack.
hmm i have a 160gb drive just laying around. i think i will do this when i get back, maybe i can profit from it????
http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps3/games/features/127009.shtml