SplaTtzZ

Definitely; IMO Mass Effect was one of the premier RPG titles of all time and easily the best rpg of the year. Only problems i found were the economy and items and also the reptitive nature of side missions. The dialogue sequences were brilliant but, and the overall storyline i found satisfying too. I thought the climactic ending was fantastic too.

Meh, Call of Duty 4 managed to completely own the whole entire Stalker game in just one level; with its own version of Chernobyl that in my opinion was way more fun, way more atmospheric and far better looking. I wish Infinity Ward and Activision had done Stalker, the premise was good but the developers of CoD4 would have actually made it into a proper game. Overlord was a brilliant game though; I particularly liked how your minions could wear different hats like chef's hats and the heads of slugs Oh, and the flesh-eating, vampiric Unicorns too...

Hehe, 3 of those consoles are mine. EB offered an extended warranty on top of microsoft's, where they immediately replaced a faulty console for a brand new one. I'm on my 4th 360 now, i have no idea whether those other ones could be repaired or not; but judging by the quality of microsoft's complaint department I'm glad i didn't wait the 2 weeks to find out. It may nor may not affect their stock, but it won't be affected because of ethics. In my experience 'ethical business' is a contradictory term.

On the other hand, when was the last time you met an opinionated lawyer?

I've been using Vista pretty much since it came out and i haven't really had any problems with it so far. I have a high-end machine and it has yet to crash and most of my games are very stable. Only problem i have had with crashes and CTD's have been with dodgy Euro games like The Witcher or Gothic 3, which are the games' fault as far as i can tell. It still kind of pisses me off though that Microsoft basically just tacked a whole lot of bells and whistles onto Vista that are really pointless. I have yet to see anything in the gadget sidebar that makes it worth any system resources, or the Aero system which i immediately switched off. It's all just some visual crap that makes your desktop look prettier; I've got it all switched off so my computer resembles windows xp pretty much, at first glance you wouldn't know vista was on it. In fact I really can't see much of a difference between the two OS's besides the fact that my games are on the whole more stable on Vista. The only real changes i've noticed is that my computer sleeps instead of shutting down and i can make my desktop look more flashy. As for games w/ DirectX 10: haven't noticed anything really outstanding about some games like Bioshock which have partial DX10 compatibility, Mainly post-processing effects and the like. still there are more games adopting it, and not necessarily Microsoft ones; Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is a new mmorpg which is supposed to use full DX10 tech IIRC. Edit: Ok apparently its the first MMORPG to use DX10 tech; so I'm unsure whether that means it uses it fully or what.

Yeah formatted successfully and the trojan is gone as far as i can tell. No more attempts to connect to an ip address nor any popups etc. A hydra is the perfect metaphor for it in the respect that it kept coming back in different ways despite deleting numerous files and entries. What really kind of freaked me out was after i thought it was gone and it tried to recconnect again; it must have been operating under a different set of registry entries (which i couldn't find) and it was no longer creating .dll's in the system32 folder but a temporary internet one. There was no startup entry either for it to run so i couldn't figure out how it was starting up. It was as though the trojan learned what i was doing to attack it and adopted new tactics. Maybe it was doing those things all along and I'm just paranoid, a couple of times norton had deleted files in that same temporary internet folder; but the majority of the time it was system32. Added to this is the fact that there was no startup or registry keys that I could find, which was also weird. It's worrying that someone could code these programs to adapt in that way. it's like we're only one step away from uber-viruses destroying the planet or something Still my bank account is ok and my computer didn't have anything important on it, and generally norton is ok; I rarely visit dangerous websites except in great need, i usually only get an intrusion from the phishing ones that attack when you mispell a URL and norton blocks those. I think it was because I didn't think and actually ran the executable that the trojan got in.

Great! Thanks for the advice mate I'll check that site out. The trojan actually has resurfaced again, despite all my attempts to kill it; so I'm actually formatting my computer right now. Hopefully that'll get rid of the bastard once and for all.

Bit of a silly post really but i just spent the last couple of hours trying to remove this thrice-damned trojan from my computer which was really starting to piss me off. I was kind of surprised though at the resilience of some viruses and trojans these days towards being removed. I unkowingly infected my computer when i downloaded a serial generator trying to start a network multiplayer game with a friend of mine. Since i refuse to buy another copy of a game i already own just to play on a LAN i needed a second key. The file i downloaded off some dodgy site was a .rar with a notepad fiel and an .exe called 'keygen'. I scanned the file twice with norton, both packed and unpacked and ran the .exe which promptly did nothing. I knew something was up then, but i first saw the effects when norton kept blocking access to trojan.vundo Apparently this file shows pop-ups and sends your internet history away to some ip address. Norton kept blocking its attempts but refused to remove it even after doing a deep scan twice. Symantec basically describes it as 'easy to block, but very difficult to remove', and none of its custom removal tools were working. I ended up disabling it at startup using msconfig and deleting its registry entry, only to find that something kept creating a new entry over and over again. In fact, it kept creating a new dynamic link library file in the windows folder under different grabled names, and then creating an assoicated registry key. Form what i gather there are heaps and heaps of different .dlls it can create. In the end after continually deletign things and restarting my comp I went into safe mode, blocked network traffic, removed the startup entries, deleted any associated .dll's and wiped the registry entries out before restarting. So far so good as the file hasn't attempted to access the net anymore and there are no more registry keys or startup entries. Finger's crossed it remains that way Maybe I'm just dumb and there's is an easy way to fix this problem but I was surprised at its resilience and the fact that very few programs and fixes I downloaded seemed to work. Anyone else had some crazy virus or trojan that was hard to kill? Maybe someone had the same problem as i did? if so I'd like to hear how you dealt with it. Moral of the story: if you want to play LAN buy a second game and don't do the dodgy

Fantastic news guys! I can't wait to play the demo/tech-preview/whatever I'm just wondering though whether you may want us to report bugs or errors or anything like that? Or have you already got it covered?

That's probably for the best. I imagine there won't be any problems with conflicting resources/files until there is a large proliferation of custom content and conversions made by various modders.

I assume that accounts for all custom content including new sounds, AI, weapons or whatever? If so then that's brilliant, as I hate having to overwrite stuff for the original game. I also remember that Doom 3 had a 'mods' option in the main menu where you could select stuff to use; will TDM be featuring the same option?

I've never met the man either, but I've bought all his books and he's a brilliant author so it is sad that he might not be able to continue writing for as long as he could. I believe he was one of science fictions truly great authors.

I'm not sure whether this is in the Wiki or not as I can't seem to access the page, and it's a bit off-topic; but i was thinking it would be good to get a standardised procedure for installing mods. For example i've played games that are somewhat moddable and allow for custom content but when you try to install mods they require you to unpack things, overwrite core files, backup others, create shortcuts and use different executables. I often find this highly frustrating and prefer mods that have setup and install programs and the like that make it easy to install. So I reckon it would be a good idea to include technical aspects in the Wiki that could help mappers actually pack their mods in standardised executables or zip files and the like. The same goes for making Readmes and disclaimers which I've often found are not present in some mods. You guys have probably dealt with this already, considering that TDM is built from the ground up for modders. Also a while back I remember when the Darkmod was first starting up someone on TTLG had developed a mod-organiser for the DromEd stuff; it was compatible for TDP and TMA and the author was suggesting adding DarkMod compatibility. I can't remember the name; but do any of you guys know if that went ahead? I've always found such tools to be very handy, particularly when you have alot of FM's installed. If it is compatible, adding something to the Wiki to ensure FM authors' uploaded maps work with this program would be a plus IMO.

I agree with Cripsy on this issue; I wonder how much time, money and other resources were wasted in making this stupid teaser. Probably not much, it might only take a day for a skilled artist or whatever to pull it off; but it's just so wasteful when, as has already been said, a simple text message in the announcements section would probably have more panache. I would rather the developers spend that time and resources fixing bugs or improving gameplay. And as for hiring that wanker to do a voice-over, imo it bodes ill for the game. Every damn hollywood blockbusta! trailer has that same twit trying to sound as impressive as he can in a deep voice, I seriously believe if you correlated using that guy(s) voiceover in the trailers of a film with the actual end quality of the film you'd probably get some startling results. I've always found that narration pointless and irritating.

I prefer UFC myself, the fights are more technique oriented and usually have more action.

I don't see how anyone other than the victim can be 'blamed' for suicide; my understanding of the term is that people make conscious decisions to off themselves, no one does that for them. Those adults that made the fake account are pretty sick people but.

The game got a terrible review; 40% average which isn't surprising I guess since most games using movie licenses are pretty crappy. I might go see this one since there so few movies about Vikings and I'm probably the only person on earth who liked 13th Warrior.

I think its the cloaking that screws up the AI; everytime I see them heading towards me I cloak and then snipe them in the head one by one. Sometimes you can be fighting them and just cloak and they have no chance. Often they'll decide to go into really strange search/patrol algorithms that are quite hilarious; like moving carefully away in single file in the opposite direction from where are a massive firefight just took place with dead bodies, burning jeeps etc. That said however, I've noticed some pretty good AI for crysis in other situations: enemies lay down suppressing fire particularly from mg nests; they shoot through cover, if they see bushes moving while you're cloaked they spray bullets everywhere in the hopes they can hit you; they flank, take cover and call for help. Once you get hit enough and can't cloak then the combat becomes much more balanced. the AI certainly isn't ground-breaking but I found it adequate I guess. I don't know whether the AI for Crysis is better than Far Cry, as i haven't played that in a while; but it doesn't really matter because half of Crysis is fighting giant, flying squids anyway and they don't really have any AI except for leaping about the place and shooting or just flying around and bumping into things. The encounters with KPA are fairly brief, and the challenge is only the nano-suit ones who have the same AI as normal soldiers but are just harder to kill.

It's better than Halo 3 I'll give it that; and it certainly is lots of fun. Still I thought the ending was the biggest load of crap ever, I'm sick of these games that offer 6 hours of gameplay and then say 'tune in next week for the real proper 'proper!' ending!! haha that'll be $100 please..." so you have to keep paying to get what amounts to half a game. I remember back in the day we had single-player games that lasted for a few weeks (even months!) of gameplay; hell Thief took waaay longer to finish than Crysis. Still there's pretty good replayability thanks to the open-endedness of the game i guess; i just wish the developers could have spent a little extra effort in making the singleplayer go for longer.

Well thats one problem i had with hellgate; there really isn't any reason to group with anyone. The dialogue interface I found was very annoying and clunky so most of the time I had it switched off. And the game really doesn't give any incentives to group up with people to finish quests like other mmorpgs do. So provided you know someone else who has the game and you can play online with them at the same time then the game has some redeeming features; but I found it difficult to group up with strangers to play online and ended up doing everything myself because most parts are pretty easy. Im playing Call of Duty 4 at the moment, which I have found to be quite enjoyable; not only the multiplayer which was always very good for an fps but even the single player campaign, which has improved alot since earlier incarnations.

Not to mention the simplistic storyline, stupid dialogue, dumb combat, retarded AI, useless skill tree, ridiculous system specs, drab textures, poor animations, bugged code, CTD's, only 2 servers, repetitive level design, 'random trash generator', no online community and a rather annoying and pointless mini-game. Now that I've exhausted my supply of adjectives, I too would suggest that everyone stay away from this video game. the engine and graphics are not much of a step up from Diablo 2; which this game is basically a complete clone of. there's nothing new here and don't think its an rpg, because it isn't. The only other game this year that was this big a disappointment was Fury. Sorry Unstoppable; but i really can't see this game being anywhere near the price people have to pay for it. In my opinion, its maximum a 5/10; just another silly click-fest like diablo was.

Yeah the mission I was thinking of was the sword; i haven't played Thief 1 in quite a while but i really liked the mission for the surreal kind of qualities it had. It truly was amazing what they were able to do with the perspective and textures; in particular I remember one part where you walk into a room with a bridge leading acrossto the other side, but the every surface of the room had a pitch black texture with little points of bright lights that looked like stars. It made you feel as if you were walking out in space I'm quite excited to see what the Doom 3 engine might be capable of in the same area; that is creating levels with a really surreal feel to them. It even adds to the horror genre of levels we were discussing earlier; I envision a genre map that is a maze-like insane asylum that is designed to make its inmates go even more insane. The thief has to navigate these twisting corridoors filled with all kinds of crazy stuff whilst nameless terrors stalk him through the shadows. Hehe, it could be really scary blending surrealistic environments with 'boogotcha!' moments Are there any elements of Prey's code that are open-source or the like? Like would you just be able to, err, 'borrow' assets from Prey and use them in Darkmod or is that highly illegal? Mainly i think it would be cool to have the gravity stuff to play around with in maps but having portals could be pretty fun too.

All I remember of that game was the ridiculous character model that was basically just a giant Eyeball attached to an inverted bird-like leg. I really hated that guy but it was sure was damn funny to see him hop around flinging rockets everywhere. I dunno what the developers were thinking when they put that alien in there.

Did anyone ever play a game called Trespasser on PC? its a really old one, like built for windows 95, and it was an FPS set in the Jurassic Park world, where you crash land on one of the islands where they're busy breeding dinos. Heh, it even had voice-overs done by David Attenborough and Minnie Driver of all people. It was a horrible game, suffering from terrible code; but it was one of the first fps' to implement Body Awareness and a minimalist HUD. Basically you looked down at a little heart tattoo on the avatar's chest. And boy, it was a nice chest Personally I don't have much problem with Body Awareness, but if it is implemented I think it needs really high res textures and detail; I find in some games it looks a bit weird when you've got heaps of normal and bump mapped, high-detail wall and floor textures, but when you look down theres this shapeless blur of colour that's supposed to be your body.

I was wondering how the Doom 3 engine approaches gravity in the game. A while ago I played Prey, which is basically a sci-fi shooter that plays aroun with gravity; the game was weird but I thought they actually manged to achieve what they set out to do, at least technologiclly. I've always wanted to make a map like Constantine's mansion in T1, and based on the works of M.C. Escher, for example 'Relativity'. Even in the other thread about Craymen and those beast it was suggested that maybe they could walk on the ceiling. Is this a plausible concept? Even if we could realistically stick guys on the roof and have them patrolling around I imagine it would be huge task to code the AI to actually chase the thief across all the dimesions of a room. Maybe this could be solved just using guys with ranged attacks, i dunno; i just have this visions of a huge room filled with stairways that are all over the place and have different centres of gravity and the thief has to navigate his way to the top somehow watching for guys not just on his relative gravity but on the ceilings and walls too.