Posts by Thrik

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Teaser

    What if Carmack has come up with some ultra-sophisticated algorithm that makes Rage's peer-to-peer technology the fastest, smoothest, most stable way of playing online games ever? For Carmack of all people to say dedicated servers are a relic of older PC gaming is certainly surprising, he must really have faith in what they're putting together.

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Teaser

    It's less what you have to say, and more the abrasive manner in which you're saying it. This kind of thing:

    Quote

    IW: LETS COUNTER PIRACY BY MAKING IT FULLY INTEGRATED WITH STEAM AND VAC.Community: Sure sounds good, yay no punkbuster, woo!

    IW: LETS PROMOTE PIRACY BY RUINING THE FUCKING GAME

    If you decide to not be more adult about the way you put forth opinions, you'll find you're no longer welcome in an environment primarily populated by industry professionals who don't need to be told that they're "ruining the fucking game" they've spent years on.

    Just bear in in mind that if at any point you decide to criticise any game, there's a considerable chance someone who worked on it visits MapCore. As such, criticise it like you'd criticise a friend's work — with sensitivity and respect. Because we are all friends here, right?

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Teaser

    It really is very primitave, Taylor. The fidelity and visceral quality of today's games is truly the best it's ever been, but the storytelling and the impact it leaves on you remains extremely poor for the vast majority of games. Interestingly the only games that've come close to giving me the kind of emotional power I've felt from movies and TV are ones that feature no killing at all, such as Grim Fandango.

    I was probably being a bit hyperbolic when I said it's a milestone and that I applaud them for it, but it is nonetheless the kind of thing games should be doing more often and I don't think they deserve to be lambasted for it.

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Teaser

    Should murdering a load of women and children in cold blood be fun? I think they do need to be mutually exclusive. Just like how when watching Schindler's List I didn't sit there with a big smile on my face like I do during an adrenaline-fuelled action movie, but I did still enjoy the experience. 'Entertaining' was a shit word to use though, I couldn't think of a good equivalent to 'fun' in a movie context.

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Teaser

    Quote from D3ads

    See this is what I mean, nothing else before this has ever envoked this kind of harrowing reality, I just simply cannot have fun doing this

    See, I think this is where people are missing the point. What they're trying to do is take their game beyond 'fun', making you seriously think about the state of the world and how horrible it is what happens to often innocent people — something that films have been doing for decades, and that games have yet to really touch me with.

    I mean, you wouldn't say a film like Shindler's List is 'fun' or even 'entertaining', right? But you might still call it an incredible film. This is a distinction games haven't managed to make yet — games that aren't really what you'd call 'fun', but still deliver a powerful experience. I personally want more games that make me sit down and think about how much something I just did hit me emotionally, whereas I guess what you want is visceral entertainment (shock, scares, instant feedback). A difference of taste, I guess.

    What they're doing is comparable to things like 24 which give you a keen insight into the workings of terrorist organisations, and then actually follow them as they commit atrocities. Innocent people are depicted dying in horrific ways, and it's fucking ugly. But it's what happens, and the programme is making the viewer feel the impact. Some TV critics have called this kind of thing 'glorifying violence', of course.

    With games you can't really do it in the same way, unless you use a cutscene. Games are quite uniquely positioned to depict terrible things from the perspective of those actually doing it, whereas the closest films and TV can get is to watch them doing it. Infinity Ward are crossing a milestone in how seriously games will be treated as a dramatic medium IMO, and I applaud them for it.

  • To PS3 or not to PS3

    Owning both, if I were faced with a choice then I'd choose the PS3. Both platforms have some pretty killer games (Fable 2 being my main 360 one), but the PS3 consistently does a lot more for me as an overall piece of hardware as it handles my films, music, videos via the web browser, etc. Being in the UK, you may also like the built-in iPlayer integration.

    Also, as an overall system I definitely think the PS3 is more robust and well engineered. This includes the operating system, the hardware (quality control of the 360 pads is as abysmal as the console itself in my experience), the DLC shop, and to be honest just about everything from beginning to end. Even the save game system is better implemented on the PS3, whereas on the 360 I've had a good few games where you just get a single file and it can be easily overwritten by starting a new game.

    The 360 has some terrific exclusives and the best multiplayer middleware, but when you strip those away the PS3 absolutely annihilates it — and to be honest the PS3 has just as many compelling exclusives now anyway. IMO if the PS3 and 360 swapped launch dates, Microsoft's console wouldn't have stood a chance.

    Do try and get both eventually though so you get to fully enjoy what has been a generation of awesome games.

  • Forum feature request

    Significant forum work is on hold until the next version of phpBB, as we've got years of hacks and modifications that'll basically all be undone and I'll have to re-implement them — except this time documenting what's put in place so I actually know what we have. Planning to work in a new theme at last, too. Hopefully won't be long until it's out though, it's in beta testing AFAIK.

    If some kind of consensus regarding a rating system becomes apparent here I'm willing to incorporate it. I personally don't think a full-blown rating system will add much as most posts on MapCore are generally pretty decent, however I do like the 'Thanks!' feature some forums have where you can give someone props for a good post. Kind of feels warm and fuzzy to get approval of your posts, as usually if someone likes it they just say nothing unless they have something in particular to add.

  • Development Blogs - What when and where?

    The media handling functionality was dramatically upgraded about a year ago in WordPress. Have you used it since then?

    I personally think the way it handles media is fantastic, able to auto-generate galleries and whatnot. I use them all the time on my WordPress site. You can even easily get per-image comments.

    There's no upper limit on image resolution, to clarify. It'll always leave your original image as the largest size, and then auto-generate three smaller sizes for you that you can specify.

  • Development Blogs - What when and where?

    Unfortunately with so many blogs out there the chances of people just stumbling upon it and actually sticking around to read what you have to say are exceedingly low unless you are of some personal significance or have some good networking ties — the 'build and they will come' blogging boom is pretty much over.

    For example, if you work for a well-known company or whatever then people may bookmark/subscribe for that reason alone — the whole 'celebrity' pull thing is surprisingly effective. Similarly, if you're linked to from the blogs/sites of other people who fit that profile you may net some readers that way.

    However if you literally open up a blog and expect people to just find it, even if your content is consistently awesome you'll end up very disappointed. You basically need to market yourself, get involved with fellow designers' blogs and whatnot so people find it. Getting blog readership is kind of organic, where the more you involve yourself with the community of your choice (ie: game development) the more you'll expose your site to like-minded people.

    I'm sure even by posting on MapCore you'll get a few guys from here seeing your signature, reading your blog, and maybe linking to you. And if you don't, ask them to!