DanJW

Ah yes Redwall. I thought the prequel, Martin the Warrior, was good too. Other good talking mouse books include the Deptford Mice trilogy, which is actually quite scary. Did anyone else get taught to read by the Fuzzbuzz? that little critter evolved and progressed until finally at about 8 years old you were forced to be traumatised by this: Huhn. I see that these books are now marked as part of a "remedial" learning scheme. It must have worked because I love reading and have a better vocabulary and grasp of grammar now than the average.

It occurs to me that both Farlight 2 and Torchcry are excellent names for games (that we would love). But yes we are grammar nazis and pedants, but we will give you a big hug after we rip your post to shreds. *hug*

You're right! Steve Gaynor should be made permanent, and should probably get paid for his time on the 'cast too! It's the only way. All the best episodes featured Hot Scoops. And "Hot Scoops". Steve MUST be surgically implanted into the truncated stump left by Nick. MUST!!!!! ...Ahem Anyway, I think "an end, for now" is actually the best choice, but I can't help hoping that a new podcast will be born once the memory of this one has faded and become less painful to the bereaved. A new format perhaps, and a makeover - but only when the time is right.

I've had a hunger for L4D this week, but with no recourse other than public games. Jeeeeeeezus it makes me hate humanity so much. What is it about this game that attracts so many ADHD sufferers? Most people leave a lobby if it doesn't go to a game within 5 seconds. Then there's the constant ragequits, or the teams who use unbeatable exploits to ensure a win. Or the teams than sprint off and don't notice that you have been pounced, and then vote-kick you for "beign laem". Are all online games like this now? Ahhg. I love this game but I can't stand the people who play it. Except for you, you gorgeous Thumbs people. It makes me love you all the more.

They are worse graphics than Mass Effect, but for the reason that some of the battles are on a much bigger scale than those in ME. I expect you will see bigger and bigger battles as you progress through the game. PC is the way to go on Bioware games, for this reason. Anyway as much as I love Bioware RPG's I have neither the funds nor the hardware to play this yet, so I'm going to have to duck out of this thread to avoid spoilers and cravings.

I played a bit of the first game, and appreciated the novelty. The sequel doesn't interest me at all. Seems like they have made it so nasty that it's just boring.

Maybe for the "realism mode", but in general I think the more arcadey feel suits Left 4 Dead and makes it more accessible to all types of gamers.

I watched the "Epitaph 1" bonus episode of Dollhouse, and now I've moved onto season 2. Epitaph 1 was nice, finally seeing what the "ultimate purpose" of Dollhouse was and its ramifications cough cough. Given season 2 I now wonder if this is cannon or just a 'possible' future. Season 2 is off off to a good start, maintaining the quality of the end of season 1. And what the hell if the entire cast of BSG aren't parading through at at least one per episode. Perfectly fine by me.

"If you are sick of looking for shields in dungeons, then you are sick of life" -IGN.com

If you are sick of looking for shields in dungeons, then you are sick of life (-IGN.com) from what I gather most quests will be better justified.

I really like having iron sights in more realistic military shooters - Call of Duty, STALKER, etc. It improves the verisimilitude for me. L4D isn't one of those.

If the lack of iron sights put you off L4D, then it's probably not the kind of game you are looking for.

I hang out on the bioware forums from time to time, so a lot of the more itneresting backstory was leaked to the fan community a while ago. It is actually a pretty interesting world, while still remaining epic fantasy. This made the heavy metal trailers all the more galling.

http://www.vg247.com/2009/11/03/l4d2-realism-mode-glows-dropped-one-hit-kill-witch/ Ooooh, I hope they patch that into the first game too!

Goddamn I just spent my entire evening playing http://www.dragonagejourneys.com/ I need to sleep but I can't save unless I make a stupid EA account - ahhhhhg! If the real game is half as addictive as this flash version, then we're all in trouble.

I keep meaning to watch the final season of X-Files, and somehow have avoided spoilers for it all these years I used to love it and watched it from the very first pilot onwards, for many seasons; but eventually I got bored even before the Moulder-less series.

Seems like a decent bet - Bioware released a G-Max plugin for Neverwinter Nights in the past. I definitely plan on checking out the toolset. However I need to first buy a new processor for me improved PC, and then save up more money for the game itself. And then choose between the many games I want this winter.

Jake! I thought you were younger. Take it is a compliment. Happy Birthday!

Sadly I have to work all day tomorrow as well. But have fun and take lots of annotated photos!

Is Killzone 2 really that highly regarded? From what I gather it was well-crafted but utterly uninspired. Psych, if you look at it as Alyx's relationship to 'Gordon', then yes it will seem odd. But really Alyx is talking to you, not 'Gordon' as a third person. If you can commit to that level of self-immersion, then she works very well indeed.

It actually denotes the state of the game and the type of testing. An alpha build is not a fully playable game - it's more like a proof of concept, with the initial gameplay and some environments, so that any immediate problems can be spotted before too much work is put in. As content is created it is added to the alpha build. When the game becomes playable start-to-finish, it normally goes into beta. This is where you unleash your full army of low-paid testers on it to find all the niggle bugs and iron it smooth. Every developer approaches this differently, but generally there will be a preplanned number of Quality Assurance "passes", with the occasional extra build thrown in when something urgent crops up (ie often). For online games you will probably want an open beta to check the server setup and so forth. In theory only bug fixes and polish and cosmetic changes are added to the game during beta, but not infrequently more substantial changes are commited, even as the launch window nears - much to the chagrin of QA departments everywhere. It's theoretically impossible to iron out every little bug, but once all the big ones and annoying ones and review-score-affecting ones are addressed and the person whose job it is to make these decisions decides that no more changes are going to be made to the code, a final Gold build is compiled and printed to disc. Then everyone gets very drunk (or drunker). Then once they sober up they are reunited with their loved ones, who they have not seen for a long time. -- On-topic - the game sounds both interesting and utterly terrifying. From you description Miffmiff, it sounds a bit EVE-ish? is it? P.S. Just noticed that this week I passed my 2000th post. Go me.

You're in for a pleasant surprise then; Alyx is present for almost the entirety of the episodes, and she is even improved upon (try shining a light in her face and generally messing with her in Episode 1). In fact the first trailer for Episode showed Alyx about to have a... nasty accident. The fans' outcry was so great that they apparently changed the plot.

GTA: Tron

GTA: Canada? Or Alaska as experienced by Al Pacino in Insomnia? That could be really pretty. And a crime-film, which is what the GTA series hangs on.

Do you mean the Idle Thumbs crowd or the Information Technology crowd? Meh, in the past we've generally shortened it to Thumbs, or The Thumb. Acronymization is usually done ironically round here. Maybe. Maybe not. I dunno. Is it dinner time yet? TTFN