Ninja Dodo

I'm intrigued. The tv program was pretty stupid, but I can see how if Hollywood is left out of the equation this might actually be good.

I don't know. I think the idea that somehow this time revolution would break the cycle of hierarchical society and result in a proletarian paradise is absurd. Communism is a charming idea in theory but in practice it just spawns another aristocracy... just like capitalism. I don't think Marx had any more of a clue than Lenin or Stalin, only better intentions. Oh and as nod to staying on topic... I thought that original article was quite good. I don't even really read reviews anymore (most of them are bought by the publishers anyway). I just rely on word of mouth. Intelligent discussion about games is all the journalists have left.

He might be bored.

CTRL is by default the universal action button, you use it in combination with the arrow keys to do basically anything. For example, if you have your sword drawn: CTRL + up = slash CTRL + left = slash left CTRL + right = slash right CTRL + down = block ... and when you want to interact with an object you usually press CTRL + up, or in some cases + left or right. Although I think I remember that in Gothic 2 you don't always need to use the arrow keys...

You'd think so. I almost never played it cause the first time I came across this game it, er, didn't have a manual and I spent ages trying in vain to figure out how to play the damn thing until the friend who had recommended the game pointed out that you want to hold down CTRL and then use the arrow keys to do stuff.

Gothic definitely gets the prize for Most Confusing Control System To Get Into, but once you do, it's kinda cool. Oh and have you tried the lock-picking?

I disagree that the combat is crap. It's not great when you're fighting many enemies at the same time and they should figure out some way of dealing with that for nr 3, but otherwise it's fine... even really good. For example, you fight better if you time your slashes right, as a result you can sometimes beat enemies that would statistically kick your ass. I really like the way you can basically directly control the slash by holding down control and using the arrow buttons. You can block too in case you didn't know. And you can run away from a fight, just quit holding down the action button (usually CTRL). In fact, running is great. I've floored massive trolls by running between their legs and stabbing them in the heels. I do remember not being able to learn magic as a mercenary, but you can become a mage and still be good at combat... or you could become a Paladin. They do both, I believe.

I agree with you though, Kingz, that there's a time and a place for grand artistic visions and that's probably narrative games moreso than games like this... but even then I think a healthy combination of creative material and flexible interactive systems is a good thing.

Don't get me wrong. When I say 'not convincing' I'm not saying Endorphin is not a seriously impressive system. I'm just saying the end result does not look to me like a person doing stuff. It looks like a robot that's been taught to walk like a human. It's moving, but it's not alive. You can code a program that understands the mechanics of a walk, but you can't make a piece of software that understands emotion. The same is true of all procedural things. They may be scientifically accurate, they may even look nice... but at the end of the day it can't compare to something that was deliberately created a certain way by a person with an idea. Looking at the screenshots of Spore I'm going to guess they are using some handmade artwork as well as procedural stuff - which I think is the way to go, really... combining the strengths of both. What's interesting though is that in a way the gamer becomes the artist, sculpting his vision of the world. My point is, without an artist, be it the designer or the player, procedures can do nothing but sit there and generate random stuff.

I have my doubts about procedural content. Computers are not artists, animators, writers or designers... If you look at something like Endorphin which is supposed to replace motion capture and even animation by simply generating character movement through algorithms, the results are not actually that convincing. It's cool and could be used for some stuff, but I don't see a computer coming up with The Incredibles or Grim Fandango. Having said that, the game definitely looks and sounds promising.

Wait... I thought they were just publishing this game. They've bought the whole company?

I'm going to assume you're just talking about 2D digital art here so I'll leave 3D out of it, but... and

... or stifled creativity. I just read this in Develop magazine... Dammit.

Even the demo of BG&E didn't really grab me. They completely failed to put any of the 'character' of the game across. It seemed like just another average platformer.

What are his thoughts on Lara Croft, I wonder.

Long term, I think our only hope is indie development.

I guess the difference here is mainly that Tim Schafer owns his own studio and can do whatever the hell he wants. Let's just all hope that Psychonauts is going to sell loads.

Yeah your arms will probably fall off from RSI.

I'm not one for suicide missions. I doubt anyone else is. Oh, they own 50% of DICE (Battlefield, etc.) now too. Magnificent.

They have an inhouse development studio as well... do they all think like that I wonder? I was planning on applying there after uni.

An interesting article on Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20041229/kelly_01.shtml

It happened with film, it will happen with games, sooner or later technology will hit a plateau. Already, you can't really sell a game on graphics technology anymore. Visual aesthetics help to be sure, but "Now with normal maps and realtime shadows!" is not going to sell a game. As the article describes though, if game developers just play their cards right and continue developing for older hardware in the early stages of the next generation, a lot of smaller developers may be saved from going under.

Not really you so much, anyway... Point is, maybe it would do the games industry good if they froze hardware development and allowed people the time to just really experiment with the tools that are available now.

A thread about technoholism and you're discussing upgrades...

Maybe it differs per country but in Holland it's like your average supermarket.