Posts by Thrik

  • Gears of War 2

    This thread is for GoW 2 discussion, not general "360 sux" comments. If you want to have a rational, mature discussion about the downsides of the Xbox 360 then by all means start a new thread to do so.

    I've removed the inappropriate posts from this thread.

  • My portfolio

    IMO if you haven't got good web design skills yourself, you're better off using a pre-built application with a nice theme to showcase your work. There're plenty of PHP/MySQL gallery apps out there, and even blogging software like WordPress can produce a gallery easily enough. Slap in one of the billion WordPress themes out there and you'll have something pretty nice.

    The minimal touch with a dark theme works well I reckon. Tends to draw attention to the work much better than a white background.

  • Crysis Map ~ Vulcano [WIP]

    I love this engine. You've done beautiful work with it HP.

    Considering Crysis has a good stealth element, someone should make an SP campaign based on Metal Gear Solid. The snowy Shadow Moses from MGS1 would be superb, as would the oil tanker from MGS2, and the jungle from MGS3.

  • Mapcore Trojan

    That's exactly the point I'm trying to make. I appreciate the work Mike and Mojo have done, and Mike deserves a lot of gratitude for funding the site, but if they don't have the time to maintain it I can do so. I have no problem with funding any hosting costs necessary.

    The simple fact is that online communities have to be looked after or they die -- the personal circumstances of the owners are pretty much irrelevant to that fact. We've already had numerous long-time MapCore regulars who have outright refused to visit because of the trojan issues (Did you notice?), and any new members who visit and hit virus warnings are likewise going to vanish.

    If it takes two months to move MapCore to another host (which I must point out again, I did in less than 15 minutes), there's a clear problem. And again, I have no disdain for Mike or Mojo about this. I know full well that running a large forum can be pressing, which is why on LucasForums we have a team of over a dozen administrators -- a number of which with domain access -- so there aren't major bottlenecks like this.

    Think of this as the web equivalent of constructive criticism, Fletch. You don't need to jump to your friends' defence because I'm not attacking them. I'm pointing out factual issues. I've repeatedly offered my time and hosting just to get things back on track; it's pretty much embarrassing and I don't know what to say when people are on IRC or on the forums asking why the problems haven't been fixed.

    As for the domain, I've never had any problem with Mike having the domain. Don't confuse domain ownership with domain configuration; it's perfectly possible for Mike to point the domain's name servers towards another host (this involves changing two text fields). That host can then make full use of the domain, but if Mike ever changes the name servers again that host will have no relationship with the domain whatsoever. We're should literally be talking about a 5-minute job for Mike to switch the hosting to elsewhere.

  • Crysis Map ~ Vulcano [WIP]

    It's more akin to visually composing a scene for a film, dux. Just because you're not building every piece doesn't mean your overall ability to direct the art isn't very important (in a lot of films there's no scene building at all -- it's all on location). As more stuff is procedurally generated in the future it'd be wise to appreciate this rather than (presumably) thinking 'oh all he's done is put together a load of props'.

    I think as games technology progresses, an eye for a good scene will become increasingly important, and the actual process of building it much less so. That, or the job roles will just be completely separated.

  • Mapcore Trojan

    Don't they work together? Can't they just talk to each other? Even if Mike does own the domain and pay for the hosting, moving it to another host is literally a 5-minute job. I know because I've done it countless times.

    Whoever's to blame, the fact is that there's a major administrative bottleneck that makes resolution of problems like this incredibly slow. We're over the two month mark that this issue has been ongoing now, whereas it should have been sorted out within a week or so at the very most (and would have been if it were my community).

    I don't hold any contempt for Mojo or Mike over this, but from a professional standpoint this is really bad management and something needs to change -- I'm thinking about this community and whether or not it dies rather than individual people. I've not even seen Mojo since our last conversation, when he told me he'd be moving it that very weekend.

    Neither Mojo nor Mike is to blame. They just clearly don't have the time to look after MapCore appropriately, which is understandable but they ought to act in the interests of what is a good community and make sure there is someone who can take care of it.

  • Mapcore Trojan

    I honestly don't know what to say. Mojo just seems to have gone completely AWOL, and I haven't seen him since my last big rant in this thread. He said he was going to work on it weeks ago, but he never did.

    I do want to fix this, and I've even put the time into putting up a non-infected version of MapCore on another host, but without Mojo's help it's no good. All Mojo would have to do is point the domain name servers towards my hosting and we could have an infection-free MapCore up immediately.

    IMO running a community requires you be able to respond to problems like this within days, not "at the weekend" (which never seems to come). I have respect for you Mojo, but you aren't doing a very good job of running this community. You've let it spiral to the point where regulars are leaving, and again I dread to think of how many people have actually been infected and/or just left as soon as their virus software alerted them.

    If you haven't got the time then I urge you to let me take over handling the forums' hosting and whatnot. Managing websites is my day job, as well as big forums.

  • TF2: CP_REDSTONE

    Ah, right.

    The biggest problems with the current implementation of the planet are:


    • [*:1f0bcl8r]It needs to look more faded, similarly to how when you see the moon in daylight on earth it's got a very blue tone.
      [*:1f0bcl8r]The dark/shaded areas shouldn't actually visible at all; instead, the colour of the sky should show. This is due to the unique way lighting works in space and is then viewed through the atmosphere.
      [*:1f0bcl8r]The earth must appear behind the clouds in the sky box.

    Check out these photos for examples of my first two points:

    http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=moon+daytime

    Pretty tricky things to think about fixing.

  • TF2: CP_REDSTONE

    I'm a bit confused about the planet. Is it meant to be out in space but close enough to be clearly visible, or actually in that immediate environment?

    It kind of looks like it's floating so I can't really tell.

  • The Evolution of The FPS Genre

    Haha, awesome. Weirdly kind of nostalgic seeing some of that.

    Pity some of the screenshots were really bad though, as already pointed out. I'm also a bit disappointed they didn't show 3D Monster Maze, which clearly should have been the real #1 of the list even if technically not a shooter. Highlights the extreme divide in technology better.