Posts by D3ads

  • More Crysis / F.E.A.R sequels

    So I've got the newest PCGamer UK edition and there's a couple news snippets you'll be interested to here about:

    More Crysis to come

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    Anyone who's played Crysis's cliffhanger ending would be hoping for comfirmation of the next game, and Crytek boss Cevat Yerli recently stated: "The game is designed as a trilogy, so you have two more installments to come and the ending (Of Crysis) is planned deliberately." It fits: Crytek have also trademarked Crysis Wars and World In Crysis.

    F.E.A.R. to get two sequels

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    A new F.E.A.R. is in development, we know this to be true. We even know that it should follow directly on from the events of the first game and take into account the violence witnessed and inflicted in the Perseus Mandate and Extraction Point expansion packs.We don't expect to be hearing much more than that for a while yet. Why? Because two companies can now produce games based on the characters and fiction of the first F.E.A.R. game: the original developers, Monolith; and their original publishers, Vivendi (under their Sierra brand). Project Origin will be Monolith's next serving of Alma flavoured horror. F.E.A.R. 2, comfirmed to us by company sources will be Vivendi's attempt.

    Political and financial manoeuvering mean that Vivendi won't make any announcements until after Monolith have played their hand. Naturally, Vivendi aim to match and then beat Project Origin in every way. It's going to be quite the feast for F.E.A.R. fan: two massive companies betting huge budgets on a single series - and they'll both be on the shelves by the end of the year.

    The reveal of F.E.A.R. 2 isn't far away. With the first screenshots and details of Project Origin out in the open, it will soon be time for Vivendi to pull back the curtains on their project.

    w00p!

  • The new year is coming...

    Quote from Thrik

    Firstly, many games just assume an internet connection is present these days because there's hardly anyone out there not hooked up. BioShock connects to the internet to activate, all of Steam's games do (which now includes hundreds of non-Valve games if you hadn't notice), and in general a lot of games use it for automatic patching and such.

    I know that there are non-Valve games on Steam but these are all titles that you can buy in a store as well? The downside of having a system whereby you can download your games is that much like the current status when it comes to music, with more and more people buying music off the Internet, the independant record stores are beginning to suffer and I can see this happening with games as well. In probably not many years from now, the days of going to a store and paying for a game over the counter will be massively reduced if not wiped out. Personally, I like going out to the store and buying a new game, having nice flashy packaging is part of the appeal, much like CDs and it gets me out of the house for however short a time. Perhaps I sound a bit over paranoid with this but you can hopefully see where I'm coming from.

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    I really recommend you get your main computer hooked up rather than this crazy splitting thing.

    With what? There's only one cable line to the house which is connected to the 20mb connection I'm using right now. I'm certainly not paying for another line, there's no guarantee I'll even be here for long next year to make use of it.

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    And that Paranoia shot you showed doesn't look particularly good, D3. It looks better than most HL1 graphics, but it's still noticeably inferior to the first-generation version of Source (2004). The latest generation as seen in the Orange Box has much nicer lighting, use of HDR, and generally looks better.

    You missed my point, the shot demonstates much more detail than Paranoia in itself has, I said with more work on that scene it could rival first generation Source, but not better it.

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    As I said, HL1 remains popular only with very small enthusiast communities. No mod for HL1 is really going to hit any headlines, just like Paranoia didn't. And more importantly, all these people playing newer games aren't going to go back in time and play a HL1 mod. It just isn't going happen, and I'm dumbfounded that after all we've said you still can't see this.

    There are still lots of people who play new games and older ones too, including Half-Life. Don't forget that because HL is so old now Valve might possibly release the source code for the engine allowing people to make games that can be downloaded as stand-alone products. It's not happened yet, but hopefully it will.

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    I'm glad you're looking into the suggestions, but please don't make excuses for your outdated mindset. Without making you paranoid or anything, we have discussed you on IRC before and the way that you're clearly throwing away your potential; indeed, some people in #mapcore have said they wish they could edit like you can and are amazed you're just doing nothing of note.

    It's not an 'outdated mindset', it's my opinion on things, like I said I'm far from the only one who thinks about things in the same way. I think the best thing to do would be to push myself to work with some newer engines doing something and still continue my personal project as it is for now and then maybe think about porting it all to Source when I'm more akin to it so it can have improved lighting and effects but I don't need HDR, normal, specular etc for what I'm doing.

    As for discussing me on IRC, it makes me raise an eyebrow more than induce paranoia, I suppose it's flattering to know people think highly of my work but I really think that I am nowhere near as talented as most of the people in Mapcore, whether being in the industry or not!

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    It's time to stop moaning about Steam requiring an internet connection (we all did that and forgot about it over three years ago), get everything on one gorgeously powerful PC, and start making visual magic.I don't really want to drag this out though, and will let you have your own thoughts from this point on. All I can do is desperately urge you to accept that HL1 isn't on the radar for most gamers, it looks extremely outdated without any exceptions, and your time would be infinitely better spent working on newer engines.

    I'll be on IRC later if you feel the need to drag it out more

  • The new year is coming...

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    ":2ka6aqfg]You gotta be kidding me... When was the last time you checked? 2 years ago?

    To be fair Thrik's right what CS is the reason for such a thing. I don't know how to actually check what games are at the top at the moment but I saw something fairly recently. With TF2, there's possibly a lot more Source servers.

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    The era of "difuse texture" only are long gone my friend!bump/normal maps, parallax mapping, relief maps, specular maps...

    What do you take me for, some kind of idiot? I know I like old technology but I know what kind of texture maps surfaces use these days thanks! Indeed, textures I'm talking about use defuse, normal and specular.

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    And wtf is that screnshot you posted? Are we suposed to be impressed? ok.....

    It's a very quick muck around with Paranoia assets, it just shows that the detail can be pushed easily, I've implemented 512x512 textures into that scene with detailtextures trick (thanks to ifO for showing me that).

  • What to do.. what to do!!!

    There's a 7600GT going for £40 new on ebay, it's the last AGP model before everything went PCI-E, 512 version, shader model 3. That would do nicely until I upgrade properly, I don't think the motherboard I have has any newer versions that will support my components as they are so it'll probably be a case of going for a new rig and keeping my HD's, DVD drives etc.

    Btw, how do I check what kind of RAM I have?

  • The new year is coming...

    Christ Thrik, you're like the dad I never had

    Quote from Thrik

    D3, you really need to understand that not that many people care about HL1 anymore. Even 'big' mods like that Paranoia have barely managed to scratch most gamers' consciousness, because HL1 is so far in history for them they literally couldn't care less.You need to move on from HL1. Even if you manage to make something wondrous for the engine that's never been seen before, most people will still think it looks like shit. The engine is so old that isn't simply incapable of impressing anyone, even where it's been heavily modified as Paranoia was.

    Except that HL1 is still the most played game last time I checked, because it's still perfectly moddable and there's plenty of mods out already for it and the like. There's still a lot of projects in the works for the game, it's far from dead as I've said many times, you just have to find the right communities.

    Paranoia isn't as detailed as it could be, the engine is perfectly capable of more:

    [Blocked Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/deathcrush/paranoia/paranoia_textest4.jpg]

    With more work, it can easily rival some of the HL2 environments.

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    You have to acknowledge this fact. Unless you want to continue applying for piece of shit jobs at supermarkets for the next five years, you need to move on and apply your clear passion for game design to something more appropriate to the modern audience.

    You're right, it's worth pointing out that I make textures in general that can be applied for any engine, just because I work with HL1 doesn't mean that I don't understand newer techniques and I have several textures which can be applied to more 'modern' games.

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    There is absolutely nothing even remotely perplexing about Source mapping, so drop the excuses and get on with it. All your little tricks for HL1 are still relevant, but because there's a higher detail ceiling you can do so much more with them.Honestly D3, the way you think is so outdated and generally weird for a guy in his twenties that it dumbfounds me. What's all this shit about separating your internet PC? What are you, 50? How can you possibly use a PC in this day and age that isn't hooked up to a permanent line?

    Haha, there are plenty of people who think like I do, I'm far from the only one with such opinions. How do I use a PC without the Internet? Easy, in this day and age of DVD-RW, if I want to move something I got from the Internet to my other machime, I just pop it onto a DVD and copy it over, it doesn't take that much longer. I used to have an internet connection upstairs, but it was shared with my dad's (this computer) so I couldn't stay on it 24/7. It's too much of a distraction too, I used to spend far too much time online because the Internet was just there and I'd rarely get any other work done. By seperating the two, I can work on my stuff without having the Internet to distract me and if I need to go online for anything.. I just come on here. I don't play multiplayer games anymore, have no interest in them and I don't miss them truth be told so there's another reason for not needing the Internet on my own machine.

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    Steam is something people just run in the background all the time these days. It hardly eats into your performance at all thanks to the wonders of modern hardware, it's useful to have all your stuff available at once, and for those of us living in the 2000s with broadband the whole offline thing really isn't even considered.I've not even encountered the 'Run in Offline Mode' thing in about four years. Why? Because I have a connection plugged in all the time. It's just how computers are these days.

    Yeah but my point stands, why should you need to have internet access to play single-player games. Activating the products once I can live with, but needing a constant connection for them? What's the point? If I want to play online, I'll setup a connection, if I want to play offline with myself (hrhrhr) then I shouldn't need to worry about it. Again, no SP games other than HL2 et al need the Internet to play them.

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    Honestly D3, what's up with you? How have you transformed from a passionate budding level designer into someone critically behind on technology, who hasn't really played any truly modern games (Games from two years ago like F.E.A.R. don't count -- and weren't you talking about F.E.A.R. months and months ago?), and who is completely unwilling to even try modern game development?

    I'm not completing unwilling, give me a bit of time to sort out a new machine and possibly look into getting a new line put in or something and I'll see what I can do, it's about time now that I delved into Source design anyway, you're right. Doesn't mean that I have to stop working with old stuff on the side if I wish. I've messed about with the Doom 3 editor a little too, maybe I should try and have a go at developing that further. Sure I've played F.E.A.R. but not on the highest settings, due to the crappy video card. I wanted to change that ages ago but I just forget due to other things taking much higher priority. F.E.A.R. on max at 1280x1024 would be a wet dream for me

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    The only reason those Unreal Engine maps look so crazy to you is because you wouldn't have the first idea about where to even begin making one because you've fell so morbidly behind on technology. It's not like you just press a 'make map' button and all the mapper did is put the special effects into it. It takes just as much knowledge of engine limitations and skill as your HL1 mapping does.I mean what, do you think engine limitations are something only HL1 has? Do you think it's not possible to push the detail ceiling on modern games and do something people never thought possible with the engine? Well, I guess your view of modern graphics is so blurred (due to having hardly experienced them) that it's hard for you to know what's pushing the limits and what isn't. I think it's that lack of comfort zone and familiarity that frightens you.

    Hey there's no need to be patronising, I can see it's taken a lot of skill and dedication to produce such environments, I just don't like the Unreal 3 engine, it all just looks so overdone. GOW looks really nice in a lot of areas though. Of course I don't think HL has limitations, don' be silly, I'm also well aware that modern game engines can be pushed further too.

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    It's not too late to catch up and get yourself a real job, but it will be unless you take the advice everyone's giving you.So far pretty much everyone has agreed with me in saying that you're a bit of a mess D3, and this is a sentiment that's been running for some time. Nobody wants you to stay like this, but nobody's going to hold your hand either.

    I'm a mess? You'd be a mess too if you'd had to endure half the shit I've had to put up with for the last two years! It's both emotionally and physically draining. Anyway, my life is still much much better than it was sometime ago, thanks to all the new friends I know. 2008 can only get better, I'm sure.

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    Just think about being in our shoes D3, where buying a £350 graphics card really isn't that much of a deal because it's only a portion of our monthly wages, and we go to work every day and do something we love with guys who're into the same thing.

    Well I've always been a sensible spender, even when I was using my trust fund 7 years ago, I hardly ever spent any of it. Unlike my sister who throws away £30 for fucking perfume (wtf?). Even when I've got a disposable income I doubt that will change much.

    Quote from curman

    i like d3

    and D3 likes you curman

    Quote from FrieChamp

    I think now would be the right time to post the "THIS CANNOT END WELL!" macro.

    Haha, nah I don't have any problems with Thrik giving me honest and open advice and criticism, I appreciate his concerns, there's nothing offensive or overly harsh here.

  • What to do.. what to do!!!

    Quote from Thrik

    I don't think D3adlode is looking for top-end equipment anyway seeing as he's looking into GeForce 6 cards on eBay (wtf).

    Well it's a huge step up from my Ti, I just want something to tie me over for a bit IF I can get it cheap, I'm certainly not going to buy anything like that new, it's pointless. I have a guy I know from my hardware course who builds computers for a cut price so I'll approach him in the new year. Don't worry Thrik, I'm sorting out my 'specs' life...

    Thanks I'm here all week, try the fish.

  • The new year is coming...

    *sigh* Having long hair has nothing to do with it, most of my friends are in employment and some of them have lots of tattoos piercings and stupidly excessive hair-cuts. If you think I seriously walk into an interview without a suit and the like then you are pretty deluded.

  • The new year is coming...

    Well I was at college for 5 years, I have qualifications in general IT and autocad (which isn't something that interests me anymore). After sometime of unemployment, I went on a computer hardware course, then later on I got a voluntary job for about 7 months. Further on from that, I got the telesales job and then when that ended there's been nothing. Seriously I'm not making excuses for myself but I am far from lazy, I've applied for Boots, Tesco, Morrisons, (ASDA!), Subway, Inkfish, Capital One, HMV, Virgin, GAME, city council, universities and colleges, loads of private firms, even the friggin police and I don't get anywhere! I even wrote off to over a 100 companies once and got 3 replies, what a crock of shite! I expect it's all lack of experience but how the Hell am I supposed to get experience if I can't get the job?!! I plan to raise Hell in 2008, in an effort to gain employment.

    I like the challenge of working with HL and producing environments with detail that hasn't been seen in the engine, it doesn't mean I don't like other engines or anything, I just find them more perplexing and complicated. I don't like some engines as well, I mean look at that Unreal 3 Garden environment posted in the WIP thread, it's nicely built and everything but it looks like shit because of all the excess bloom and stupidly bright specular. It seems to be the case with a lot of new engines, make it all shiney and add lots of HDR. Crysis is the only game that actually moves away from that crap and strives to look real and actually bloody decent!

    Source issues arrise because of Steam and needing to have Internet access to load everything up including Hammer 4. I use the Internet on another machine, it's how I like it, no single-player games other than HL2 + extras need to run through an external program to play online, they're always out of the box and run offline without any fuss. Don't get me wrong Steam is ok when it's working but it shouldn't be a necessity to play, it should be there as an optional extra. Offline mode never works, what's the point in having it? Why do you need the Internet to run a level editor? Makes no sense.

    As for having money to spend on hardware only at Christmas, lol.. It's more a case of not really knowing what the Hell to ask for and thus it makes sense to ask for new games at al. Doesn't mean I don't buy stuff in between

    As I said to dux, I think I'm at the quarter life crisis stage a little earlier or something