TomWithTheWeather

Don't get me wrong, I did really like the demo, but I'm used to hearing some of the ShackNews guys talk about it, and some of them think it's the new Halflife. I do plan on playing the full game, I just might wait a little while. I've heard some things about people finishing it in 8 hours, but I may be hearing a rumor incorrectly. And yes, Polaris, I did review a demo.

I'm going to hold off and probably play the game when it is cheaper. After playing the demo (which I did find fun), and in contrast to what most of the ShackNews groupies would say, I don't think this game is innovative in the way some people are claiming. To hear some people talk, no FPS game will ever be the same again after Prey. It has a few neat gameplay mechanics (ceiling tracks, gravity changes, spirit-walking) that open up a few interesting puzzle ideas, but overall, it hasn't done anything to revolutionize the FPS genre. AI is still bland. Weapons (in the demo) are mediocre and generic. And gameplay in general is just the same old shoot-stuff-that-moves formula. Level design is interesting, only because of the gravity shifting; otherwise, I've seen these levels before in Doom3 and Quake4. Will Quake Wars be the first Doom Engine game that doesn't look like all the rest? I hope so. Otherwise, it looked as pretty as the Doom Engine can manage. Story seemed pretty cheesy to me and some of the voice acting wasn't that great. Monster design seems kind of uninspired. I don't like the death minigame; not because it's hard or anything (quite the opposite), but because it seems lame and handholdingish to me. Just give me godmode and let me periodically play minigames. I give the game an extra point for Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" when the aliens abduct you. Prey = 7/10

Porkalator

Well I just got back from vacationing with the girlfriend and family at Topsail Island, NC. I finally got a good chance to play with my new lens, a Canon 100mm 2.8f USM Macro. A few of the pictures were taken with a Canon 70-200mm IS USM Telephoto or a Sigma 1.8f 20mm Wide lens. Most of the pictures were taken at the beach, some in the saltwater marshes, and a few others at my parent's house. Shark's tooth and Ocean view... both shot with the macro. Waves splashing on driftwood and Julie's feet in the sand. Both shot with the macro. Some random family shots. Matt and Sam watch Vicky in the kitchen. Rufus gets on the coffee table. Both shot with the wide Sigma. LOL hurricane. A few of the houses on the north end of the island are slowing being swallowed by the ocean. Nature - 1, Man - 0. The second picture is the name of the house in the first shot, "Half a Dream". Both macro'd. I few pictures by the New River Inlet. Shrimp boats and water reflections. All macro'd. Saltwater marsh pictures. The marsh is location at the inlet on the north section of the island. This were shot with the telephoto. More marsh pictures. All these were shot with the macro. Here are a bunch of macro shots I snapped at my parents house. No bug is safe! You can see my reflection on the beetle's shell.

What's wrong with auto? For what it's worth, I shoot with whatever is best for the situation.

Here are a few recent pictures. Some guys from work and I caught a case of World Cup fever and headed out to the park for some half-court soccer. Needless to say, we are all very out of shape, but we are going to continue to play a few times a week to get a decent workout. This was the first time I've really played since highschool. We had a company party last night at a place called Medieval Times. Basically you eat a half of a chicken while watching a jousting tournament. It was goofy, but provided some decent photos. All pictures were taken with a Canon 20D + 70-200mm IS USM Telephoto Lens.

I never really liked the game that much, though I will occassionally play in a LAN situation with people here at work.

It's a prime example for the reason for the separation of church and state.

Frodo was emo.

The Nintendo DS is the best console I've owned since the SNES.

I think the whole concern over it is silly. I don't think it should be illegal. What if I live way out in the boondocks and burn my trash, and I've just bought a new flag to replace my old, crusty flag? I think I'll start burning Bald Eagle figurines or "Support Our Troops" stickers. Or maybe we could just start burning overly patriotic people. "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- George Bernard Shaw If someone burns a flag as a display of disrespect, don't arrest them for burning the flag, instead figure out why they have this disrespect and try to fix the problem.

Here is a small selection of pictures from my Doom2 deathmatch maps. I made around 12 maps specifically for deathmatch; there were no enemies and lots of powerups. A random map. This one features a lot of "one-way-see-through" walls to make it scary. You can walk and shoot through the walls in a few places which made the gameplay sneaky and scary. This one was a big arena. Be careful to not shoot the barrels surrounding the Cyberdemon, or he'll start attacking. This map was a bad attempt at a cave. There were many confusing passageways to get lost in. You'd constantly round a corner to find your oppenent with a rocket launcher.

I'm liking the overall art style of this game.

I'll have to post some screens of my old Doom2 maps when I get home. Hmmm, maybe I can find some of my old Wolfenstein3D stuff.

Looking good so far.

I kind of like it, in a cartoonish sort of way.

Interesting stuff.

Apparently he attached the wrong file by accident. Or not, and he's dumb. Big'ol floppy boobs.

I just had a 50 minute long heart attack. (I missed the first half) For the US to advance to round 2, they need to win against Ghana and they need Italy to win agaist Czech.

The Unreal Engine mapping editor is called UnrealEd and comes with any copy of Unreal Tournament 2004. It installs right along side of the game itself. Some other Unreal Engine based games may or may not come with there own version of UnrealEd.

Nice! Mapcore is slowly turning into ProCore.

Like Reno said, most people here deal mainly with Source, but Unreal is probably your best bet if your interested in a game job. Editable UE3 games are about to start popping up everywhere, So I'd get a head start with learning Unreal. Get you a copy of Unreal Tournament 2004 and make some maps.

Morrowind: Tribunal and Bloodmoon UT2004: Bonus Packs (FREE)

I thought this kind of belonged in this thread. "The honest scientist, like the philosopher, will tell you that nothing whatever can be or has been proved with fully 100% certainty, not even that you or I exist, nor anyone except himself, since he might be dreaming the whole thing. Thus there is no sharp line between speculation, hypothesis, theory, principle, and fact, but only a difference along a sliding scale, in the degree of probability of the idea. When we say a thing is a fact, then, we only mean that its probability is an extremely high one: so high that we are not bothered by doubt about it and are ready to act accordingly. Now in this use of the term fact, the only proper one, evolution is a fact. For the evidence in favor of it is as voluminous, diverse, and convincing as in the case of any other well established fact of science concerning the existence of things that cannot be directly seen, such as atoms, neutrons, or solar gravitation... "So enormous, ramifying, and consistent has the evidence for evolution become that if anyone could now disprove it, I should have my conception of the orderliness of the universe so shaken as to lead me to doubt even my own existence. If you like, then, I will grant you that in an absolute sense evolution is not a fact, or rather, that it is no more a fact than that you are hearing or reading these words." -H.J. Muller