Alfonse

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]although it's a lot easier to make C# or Java leak free than C++[/quote] No, it is not. Well, not in the real sense of the program using less memory. Garbage collection doesn't fix the overall problem of the program using more memory than it [i]needs[/i] to. It simply helps ensure that the memory usage problem won't get out of hand. [quote]In addition, it can very well depend on the quality of the libraries you are using. I've seen my share of very poorly constructed too

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]I love very much to play FPShooters with a gamepad because it feels oh so natural.[/quote] Mouse&Keyboard is nothing next to Wii Remote&Nunchuck. Point-and-click gameplay got upgraded.

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]If someone can afford $1000 for a computer, I t h i n k they can afford a $25 Analog Gamepad Controller.[/quote] But you can't [i]make[/i] someone buy one; you cannot ensure that they possess one. The most you can do is strongly encourage them to have one. The interface is part of the experience of a game. If you're making a product that plays better with a gamepad than a mouse&keyboard, then does it not make since to make this product f

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]This is the thinking of somebody who does a lot of programming himself and knows how human we are and how difficult it is to produce a perfect software product. Writing software is not an automated process that can be easily perfected. It's as much an art as it is a science.[/quote] BS. I've been programming C++ professionally for near on 8 years now. It's no secret why so much software comes out buggy as hell, and it isn't some nonsense about coding being "as much an art as it i

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]I'm not sure I follow: Isn't MMORPG a subset of MMO?[/quote] They're all crap, as far as I've seen. Whether it's MMORPGs, MMOFPS, or whatever. [quote]but not really enough to prevent PC owners from buying games.[/quote] So, buying a product that [i]might[/i] or might not work is acceptable? This is the thinking of someone who has been trained to expect games (or other things) to not work. [quote]This arises from a couple factors:[/quote] <b

Reply to What would you do with a class 26 planet? in Strategies GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]What do you think?[/quote] PQ26 planet? Money world. It has enough squares to support 2 farms (13B pop) and the necessary happiness buildings to keep it content. Fill every other square with tax buildings. Money is the foundation of everything in GC2. This one world can fund 4-7 manufacturing or research planets.

Reply to Does anyone one else find that they play the game zoomed out far enough for icons? in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]Does anyone one else find that they play the game zoomed out far enough for icons?[/quote] Yes. And there's a simple reason for that. The graphics may be great or terrible depending on personal preference, but there's one that cannot be denied: they do not communicate information well. In icon mode, I can tell just about everything about a planet without having to mouse-over or select it. I can tell if it is a low PQ planet or a high PQ planet. I can tell if it

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]In addition, try finding a good MMORPG on a console.[/quote] Try finding a [i]good[/i] MMO on PCs. I haven't... [quote]You mean the console games that had to sometimes be re-released with new disks in the past[/quote] Are you honestly trying to say that per-capita, console games are buggier than PC games? I mean, really? There's evidence going back [i]decades[/i] of initial releases of PC software being essentially unplayable until the first patch. I ha

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]all I can say is: it is sad to see creativity curbed, and long-term fans being ostracized because of profits. [/quote] How is creativity being curbed by them not making a PC port? [quote]The PC can house any controller it wants.[/quote] You can't rely on that. You can't assume everyone will be using a proper analog-stick-based controller. Therefore, you must design for the lowest-common-denominator. If I'm making a Wii game, I can assume that the player

Reply to A few reasons why I'll never use Windows Vista again... in Personal Computing GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]I won't anger those fans of Vista by saying that Vista should be replaced and a more updated version of XP should be released with all the good stuff of Vista in it, but let's face it, it's the right choice, isn't it?[/quote] Let me tell you an analogous story. It's about a product called the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_FX_Series]GeForce FX.[/url] The time was late 2003. The Radeon 9xxx series was out and selling like wildfire. It was a massive performance

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]How do you know anything about how the game will play and feel since it hasn't come out yet?[/quote] Because I've actually been paying attention to the previews of it. It is a console-style action game, much like the 3D Prince of Persia games or Assassin's Creed. These games do not play nearly as well on PCs compared to consoles, and they do not appeal to the traditional PC gamer. [quote]If I bought a console just for this game, hoping that if I like it I would also like

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]IMHO, that pretty much justifies the higher price.[/quote] That's not the point. The point is that you can get a $400 computer and a $300 console, or you can get a $700 gaming PC. [quote]Well, when you start installing digital cameras, printers, memory sticks, scanners, and other devices on your Xbox, we can discuss drivers.[/quote] I was talking about graphics drivers. [quote]The last few games I bought through either Stardock Central or through Steam,

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]I'm sorry, but the idea of having to buy an entire gaming platform just to play one game seems a bit extravagant to me.[/quote] If you would enjoy The Force Unleashed, then there are at least 5 other games on the platform that you would [i]also[/i] enjoy. [quote]They are making a friggin handheld version but not one for the PC?[/quote] No, they're not. They're [i]publishing[/i] a handheld game, but they are not developing it. They hired an external studio to do

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]If Stardock can make money on GC2 or SoaSE, you don't think that LucasArts can?[/quote] The Force Unleased is not comparable to GC2 or SoaSE. Those games don't have or need the sheer quantity of art assets that a third person action game gets. It's just not comparable. Games like those can be made on the cheap and still look nice. Action games, any kind of game where you have [i]people[/i] on the screen, and you need them to look comparable to other games with people, re

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]It is a MUST for today's work. [/quote] A fast computer with a good videocard is [i]not[/i]. You can be very functional with a computer built from $400 (without monitor, keyboard, etc). It can run just about anything very well (even Vista if you turn off the shiny bits), even playing DVDs and so forth. Media encoding, compiling large programs, and gaming are out of course, but everything else will be very fast. Most people own more computing horsepower than they need for

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]That reminds me - just like PCs do, consoles get updated every couple of years. Nintendo is in its fifth generation (NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii), PlayStation is in its third, and Xbox in its second. It appears that that you're spending money regularly on consoles (and their games) on a regular basis, just like PCs.[/quote] Except that you're spending far less and far less frequently. $250 is all you need for a Wii; $300 for the low-end 360. That will keep you set for gaming fo

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]It's not that hard to do[/quote] And you, with your extensive knowledge of game development, are certain of that? [quote]Even with the lower revenues from PC market they'll still make plenty of money on it.[/quote] What makes you think that? [quote]Their excuse for not putting it on PCs (the real reason is undoubtedly a fear of piracy that might eat into their console sales)[/quote] You know, if they were afraid of piracy, why not just say so?

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]"Art is not useless but bakers are much more important. They have to get up really early and bake bread so people can eat. If suddenly all bakers were gone that would be really bad. That's why bakers are much more important then artists."[/quote] Bakers keep people alive. Artists make life [i]worth living[/i]. So who's ultimately more important ;) [quote]If it can keep you for 100+ hours, it's finished[/quote] That's patently ludicrous. HL2 has about 20

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]Because Windows BSOD's my poor computers to a damaging extent.[/quote] The last time I suffered an actual BSOD on Windows (across 4 computers) was two years ago when I was playing around with sound drivers. If you're getting frequent BSODs on WinXP or higher, it's either a malicious driver or you've got some malware on your machine. [quote]Regarding games written Indie and then went commercial, remember a little game this year that won just about every best game of the y

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]when you have an interview linked from this very forum where Brad Wardell (Stardock CEO) and Chris Taylor (GPG Founder) say that its not?[/quote] Um, these two people are not exactly giants in the industry.

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]Actually, Roguelikes are just gameplay with more mystique.[/quote] No, it's gamble-play. If you're making decisions while completely and utterly blind to the consequences of those decisions (even a reasonable guess at the consequences would be an improvement), then you're gambling. You may as well be rolling dice each time you quaff a potion. Your character can die through no fault of your own. It's the exact opposite of rule-based games like Chess or Go, where the only

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]ASCII games are used in a roguelike as a visual component of a text adventure, but they are visual, have strategy, and gameplay, unlike traditional "Text-Adventures". [/quote] Text adventures have far more gameplay than any Rogue-game I've ever played. Gameplay is not the same as the "gamble-play" that Rogue games favor. Gameplay != killing stuff and looting rooms. And no, ASCII art of that kind is not commercially viable either.

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]Ah, but Wolfenstein:ET is open-source, and has similar gameplay.[/quote] It is not "open-source". Enemy Territory is freeware. And how "similar" it's gameplay is to ET:QW is up for debate. [quote]Plus, id releases most of the engines into the open-source community (Doom, Quake, ET) in a few years.[/quote] No, they release them when they're done making money off them, when they're so obsolete for high-end games that nobody would use them for such. [quote

Reply to What do you think about LucasArt terrible excuse for not having The Force Unleashed on PC? in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]I'm not sure the PC is such a bad platform for it, I think it's just that the PC has been saturated so much with other genres.[/quote] It's not that the platform is bad; it's that the people who want to play such games all have consoles, because the genre is so much more prevelant on consoles. Also, I tend to think that the interface device (a controller) is much better for that kind of intimate control than a mouse&keyboard.

Reply to Why PC Gaming is Dying in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

Hmm... no editing... Well, allow me to finish this sentence, "Further, this assumes that...": Further, this assumes that the developer/publisher doesn't want to make a profit. You know, profit? That thing that [i]companies[/i] like to make? And by "like to", I mean "exist for no purpose other than to".