Izuno

not surprised Valve got out of the deal with Vivendi for upcoming products. [speculation] Obviously for the Xbox version will require a publishing partner, lest Valve is willing to front the per unit royalty to Microsoft thereby establishing itself as an independent publisher. But that would be difficult and expensive as Valve would need a sales force to at least execute sales deals with retailerl. Sure, Xbox version of HL2 is probably an easy sell, however it still takes effort to manufacture, distribute and market the product, something Valve may not have the capacity, time or expertise to do so. HOWEVER, if I were Valve I would take a long look at it and explore the economics. If there is a way, then it would be worth it in the long run because then Valve would be in a much stronger position to make what they want, when they want and distribute however the hell they want. It wouldn't be the first small developer/publisher, but it would be the most concentrated in terms of product quality to number of products ratio. [/speculation]

Ghostbusters Old School Ace Ventura: Pet Detective South Park: The movie Ghostbusters is a classic...such a well structured movie that balances funny with creepy. The other three are the only movies i've laughed so hard at that i cried and almost peed myself. Old School had me fall out of my chair.

word. however there is such a thing as Second Mover Advantage. Basically, the first mover makes a mistake so big that it leaves a gaping hole in the market for a second mover to come in and capitalize. Microsoft Excel was certainly not the first GUI driven spreadsheet. We all know Windows was not the first GUI OS for a home computer...now look at it. Further, sometimes inferior technology becomes the better whole product solution due to strategic moves and market conditions...which is a real bummer. I mean, anyone here remember the Windows 3.1 and earlier days? If you have problems with Win 98, 2000, ME, or XP...WHOLY SHIT you should have seen the problems with Windows in the 80s and early 90s. One thing I don't like is this "omg the sky is falling" mindset. Sure Sony is trying to push proprietary technology and go after our wallets. I say let them try. Do you know how many times Sony has tried that? Remember Beta vs VHS? Sony actually had superior technology in the Beta format, but they failed get enough market support because they wanted to keep exclusive rights and ...well the rest is history. Oh yeah, remember the first Macs? Even though they were vastly superior for home computing than competing IBM and clone machines Apple would not license its operating system. Lack of 3rd party hardward and software support followed outside of core graphics and publishing...now look at the Mac marketshare. How many gamers here play on Macs? You know the score. Ok i'm starting an angry rant. If you want some more history that is specific to the gaming industry read this: http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hov/ In it you'll see how these very issues have plagued the video game industry since its inception. Also note how Atari has been the industry's whipping boy.

you mean Magic Mountain. Yeah it's pretty cool...though it's best to go early or late in the season on a weekday. nice shirt, mike. someone should chase you and try to drag you off like american gladiators. that would be cool.

What about S.T.A.L.K.E.R ? [hijack] They're working on it. April 25/26 was the 19th anniveray of the original Chernobyl disaster in 1986. [/hijack] as soon as they finish prey they'll finish DNF....right?

sorry i don't really have much relic swag lying aboot. i did just get to watch the E3 presentation demo...not fully polished yet but it looked really good. hopefully it will go online right around E3 so everyone here can see it and provide feedback.

omg pls...this is all CG and it's all marketing hype right now. I'm sure EA will have a Madden game for the Xbox360 launch...if they didn't they'd be idiots. But they will, and I'm sure it will sell a lot. I'm sure it will look better than anything they've done on PS2 or Xbox, but it won't look like CG in game. anyway...it's all hype right now so we'll just have to wait till E3 at earliest to see it.

no it's an entirely new engine from Dawn of War. the AI is designed around WWII units/technology rather than modified Warhammer 40k units/technology.

Not exactly sure. I got in with just a highschool degree, others got in with a few months of uni experience but no degree, and others got in with a degree. The official requirement is a 2-year degree but the consulates tend to make exceptions every now and then. Your best bet is to give it a try. You had a high school degree + mod->retail product experience, so that helped a lot. ...plus rec letters from people in the industry.

we're supposed to have this presentation on friday where MS comes in and talks about Xbox360, though they haven't told us if we can see what it will look like. my guess is no....but we'll see. :-(

Just curious, but are there similar work visa issues for employment in Canada as there are in the US? Since so many people here don't live in Canada I though I'd ask. Btw I'm playing SC: Chaos Theory on PC and damn, it's cool.

This is a classic pipeline problem as you've so clearly communicated. Tom, Kosmo and Kedhrin all gave great advice and I would do what you can to follow it. So it sounds like the critical issue is time. So here's a short primer on project management that is sort of basic that any good designer/producer will already know....but I mention here for anyone completely new to this stuff who happens to be reading. In any project, there are 3 major factors to balance: scope, resources and deadline. If your deadline is fixed, then you'll have to make compromises on your scope or resources (meaning "less scope" or add more resources/people). If your resources are fixed, then you have people work longer hours but that can often backfire on scope (a.k.a quality...read up on the EA labor controversy for some example stories). So back to von*ferret's specific problem: Your issue is making sure that your teammates always have something productive to do and aren't wasting time on work that will have to get thrown away because sizing/scaling is not accurate. If that's so much of an issue, you try exporting bits of your BSP to max for them to build the required models as you go, rather than have to wait for the entire BSP to be finished. That way they can get working on the meshes and get the sizing/geometry nailed and move on...handing the mesh to the skinner. For that major indoor scene, are there any models that you can have leeway on size? Say there is some statue or light fixture whose size may not matter if it's just a bit off? If so, have them work on that like the foliage as you discussed. (I'm sure you've already come to that conclusion) In general, do you have a priority list of what models that absolutely must be sized exactly? If it is not possible to get proper BSP layout to them for sizing, have them work on other things that will need to get done eventually. Anyway, I'm not sure I can suggest much more than that, as I'm not very experienced in unreal2 engine. One thing to keep in mind, if nailing down the mesh sizes is a critical bottleneck, then you should immediately test them asap once a mesh is complete so that your mesher knows if they are correct. The faster turnaround on that part of testing will enable faster corrections and keep your mesher working on getting it to fit and waste as little time as possible. (Again you probably know that) 4 weeks is not a lot of time. I suggest your work your ass off this week just as long as you don't burn out or burn out your team. The more time you spend now the easier the final week will be. Good luck and keep us posted. Listen to the other guys here, they gave really good advice. Additional: I think this is a "bite the bullet" type of problem. You're just going to have to suck it up and test meshes as you go...but to enable that you must hav those portions of the BSP they're fitting into completed. That's a bitch of a process given the short deadline, but you may not have any other choice, assuming the meshing/skinning is so time consuming and corrections so costly to schedule. Can someone make a "bite the bullet" emoticon?

More like a better timeslot to get more sales OR to help sells with other titles that were being published by THQ at the time. I woudln't be surprised if they cut funding for the stalker project some time ago, and they're working on a different project. DD...sorry but that's just not true. GSC needs more time and THQ agreed. This is one of those "when it's done" products. I understand your cynicism, but that's simply the truth.

guess i'll just quit my job now as an Art Director...wait a second, i'm not an Art Director. i'm not even a 2d or 3d artist...i designed a few levels then got into product/project management. that's right...whew! glad i don't make a living creating art for games. anyway, it was a doctored photo...nice job.

looks like a nice scene from Max or something. definitely does not look like a photo... look at the metal square in the lower right hand corner. it has that "unreal soul glow" effect we've seen in past shots from Unreal3 techdemo. Similarly, the bricks on the left wall seem like they're reflecting a lot of light in that "unreal brick-soul-glow" sort of way as well. And then there's the lamp post lights as mentioned... Look at the building in the background behind the trees...that feels a little artificial looking, like a background painting on a big budget movie (um...like in an Indiana Jones or Star Wars film) even though i'm sure it's 3d. Finally, does the sky ever really look that blah vomit pink? looks like Unreal3 to me, else some Max scene or something. way prettier than anything i could ever produce.

Dawn of War multiplayer is probably a better game than the single player. THe single player is still great IMHO, but of course I am biased. Multiplayer, especially team based like 4 v 4 on a LAN is friggin out of this world, assuming multiplay RTS games is your bag. Even if not, it's probably the best aspect of DoW. Relic is putting out an expansion pack to DoW called "Winter Assault". I think it's going to release this fall but not sure of the exact date yet. If you want to look at that intro movie, you can watch it on Blur's site (Blur is the studio that did it). http://www.blur.com Click on animations then game cinematics and then on the space marine image on the left of the collage (he's the dood with the 2 iron bolts in his forehead and he's yelling or something). You'll see a little Q in the lower right. click on that to watch a quicktime of it. This cinematic represents the flavor of the game pretty well.

notice how much golf is near me

congrats Zaphod!!! Glad you found something close to home. Midway is on a major rebound from past years.

ReNo, Excellent work! I suggest you make a small tutorial about it and we pimp it.

yeah my friend at namco showed it to me. played it when someone brought it on the PS2 to a ski trip. pretty good fun...even the ladies at the party were into it.

you speak truth. the most important factor in joining a mod or not is the leadership. would i join on a mod? no. at this point i have enough to do with my full time job and my other projects. would i consult for a mod? perhaps....dunno depends on the mod and the leadership of the team.

i got an ergonomic setup at the office for the last year now, plus i never sit for more than 20 minutes so my back is doing fine. same thing at home.

hrmm...never seen that before. so you're saying it loads into the map in Hammer fine and there are no issues in compiling? Are these custom models or default models?

quite a few people at the office got one already. it looks very cool and the screen is great. I think if you have the cash, getting it would be a great way to watch movies on the go. I know Sony is releasing some of Sony Pictures movies direct to PSP, but other movies would be watchable in a variety of ways (read PSM's PSP guide this month for details). I don't think many of the launch games have caught my interest. I'd like to play SSX3 or MX vs ATV on it. The ATV game launching with PSP is made by Climax and not Rainbow so I'll hold out for a better game. I might have a PSP game to launch sometime later this year, so if that happens I'll get one but I probably won't spend the cash now....

yeus!