toblix

First of all, when will this thing start? How much remains of preparations, and how many people actually want in? Maybe some more should be said about what kind of time investment will be required, and how long it will last. Does anyone know if I'll have everything I need at my fingertips if I subscribe to the D&D online thing? I get the character generator and something called the D&D Compendium – will this be useful?

First of all, it seems very unlikely that the hackers would charge money through Sony. Also, this would probably be a good time for someone to explain the concept of "credit rating" to me. I hear US-Americans speak about it from time to time, but I don't really understand it. What is it, and how does cancelling a credit card affect it?

Wait just a minute, this is multiplayer? That makes it interesting again! Is it like Minecraft, only with stars?

Sounds absolutely awesome, Dan. They haven't gone all web-only, have they? There's a 4E player's handbook and equipment guide and whatnot?

You had me at before the screenshots.

First of all, if the hackers have access to our passwords, this means Sony are terrible at computer security (nobody, not even Sony, should have access to our PSN passwords). Secondly, if they knew that credit card details couldn't possibly have been compromised, they would have said so. They said they're not sure, and they're having an external company look into it. This indicates to me that there is a non-trivial probability that my name, address, birthday, credit card number and credit card expiration dates is now in the hands of a criminal mastermind. Just to be sure, I've ordered a new card, which will make all my credit card numbers stored on more or less secure servers around the internet useless. There's a very slight annoyance with having to enter the new details in some places, but the feeling of having regained a temporary control over my bank account is priceless.

This is the segment that's referenced the most often when people are critiquing HL2, so it's probably the worst part, but I honestly don't see it. To me, HL2 was an unrelenting torrent of awesomeness. I've probably been everywhere in that game, and I love every little cranny. I'm probably overestimating their attention to detail, but their design seems so incredibly detail oriented, thorough and deliberate.

I interpreted it like that, though it's not explicitly stated. One of the main reasons I would miss playing Valve single player games is their absolutely fantastic level design. Ever since Half-Life they've been the best at level design, in every respect. Textures, layout, you name it. Like mentioned about, they're able to evoke strong feelings just through level design alone, even when there's nobody around but the player. The exit locations, for example, with elevator doors, huge "elevator to surface" signs above them, thoroughly barred. The enormous caverns with endless towers of abandoned, crumbling structures. The rat man dens. When opening the giant vault door to the abandoned test sphere labs, behind it is a smaller door with a guard chair next to it – funny, but also sad, just like the whole game, really. The puzzle rooms were the least interesting places in the game (though obviously they had to be there.) It was much more exciting when you got the chance to catch a peek of some hidden machinery before it managed to position itself perfectly, or when they mixed it up in whatever way.

My favourite is having the DM prepare a highly scripted story and then always walk in the opposite direction of all the things. Seriously, though, how many players would you be able to support? If I remember correctly, there are quite a few willing players – would there have to be a lottery of some sort?

If you have an iPad, you should check out The Final Hours of Portal 2. There's plenty of interesting and cool stuff in there, but also this: "In fact, Portal 2 will probably be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player experience."

Happy birthday!

Also, it wasn't a reference. It's very cool in a thumb context, and it's hinted at earlier in the game, but I doubt they wrote the ending with Idle Thumbs in mind.

As they say, "this."

Sweet game. Obviously not as great as I had hoped, but still terrific. Quick review: :tup:The Source engine has really come a long way, and Valve has to have some of the best design people in the business. It's obvious that the engine has aged if you compare it to recent, newly developed games like Crysis 2, but the stuff they've added (lighting, shaders, HDR, deformation) combined with their amazing design work still makes it highly competitive. :tup:The deformation stuff is amazing – I'm surprised I haven't heard more people gushing about this aspect of Portal 2. Ever since they hired that Weta guy and the railway bridge collapsed in Episode 2, I've been excited to see what they would do with the tech for their next game. Apparently they just went crazy with shit colliding, bending, breaking, stretching, tearing and bursting. Whenever I noticed something was about to move, I just kept waving the camera around, trying to catch every detail. :tup:Also, all the arms moving all over the place, trying to position their little plates in the right way. :tmeh:The 60s/70s thing with the huge, empty dome was depressing and not that fun. :tdown:I was hoping for a ton of Half-Life references, but there were/I only found very few! Realistically, though, this is probably a :tmeh:Reading the developer interviews way back they were clear about not trying to more of the same. For example, I only saw one cake reference in Portal 2. I was a bit disappointed that they went with a song in this one as well. It's obviously subjective and nitpicky, but with the level of popularity and attention Still Alive has gotten, you can't prevent people from comparing this new song to the last one, and, since it's a sequel, it'll come out badly. They probably should've gone with something completely different. They did a developer's commentary! I was afraid they were going to skip it, but it's there, and I'm going to play through it later. Anyone know if I can get my missing achievements with them on? I'm guessing not... This isn't Half-Life/Episode 3.

Cool game. Shame about being destroyed by an instant kill spell. What the fuck is up with this game and killing you for every little thing. Falling off edges, being hit while frozen... the list goes on (I would imagine). Anyway, I liked it as far as I played it (I was fighting towards the big giant in the background), although doesn't it get tedious with the combat?

Fucking Startopia, yeah! That game had the coolest music.

So all those hours spent replaying long missions because of some harebrained move towards the end have all been for nothing?! Now I feel hardcore.

I just got so excited about this game I just can't hide it. If there turns out to be a Half-Life reveal in or around this game, my face is going to physically detach, make its way to Washington and kiss Valve on their big fat lips.

What in the name of the Lord – you can save in Shadow Wars?!

I would post an huge, ironic black BMP, but instead I won't, but I can recommend DisplayFusion for easily setting up multi-monitor wallpapers. It also has some other neat multi-monitor stuff, but this thread is about wallpapers, and I don't want to derail anything. elmuerte should have this.

So, after Capcom fucked everyone up the ass by not releasing the next Ace Prosecutor game or whatever it's called in English, I've decided to learn Japanese. I know some of you are ahead of me (for the time being), so some questions: What is it called, the language of scribbles they use in those games? What is the best way of learning to decipher them?

Yeah, this is awesome! Just don't forget where you came from.

Why are this?

Is this the same version as the iOS one? It has the faces and everything.