nbohr1more

Yes! I vote yes (if my vote counts )... A show-piece prefab contest would be great! (Since there are no prizes, all you would need to do is specify a deadline... ?)

This kinda reminds me of my troubles with the ole Hollywood idea of an Artificial Intelligence gone amok. We understand the motivations of a human that wants to rule the world but why would a computer want to rule the world. Unless the person who made the AI gave it emotions or primordial desires the AI would have no emotional need\desire to rule anything. I tried to contemplate on this emotion-free plane of existence once and found that it was a bleak place to live just as Tolstoy had warned it would be. On the other hand, we humans are often overrun with emotion and striving for rational, logical, and objective is a great way reign-in our wildness and get some work done (and keep from being cruel, unfair, etc). As a side note: I think that Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr's back and forth over Quantum Mechanics is the most interesting example of the effect of Religious thought on a Scientific debate. Even though Einstein essentially made the field of Quantum Mechanics possible by developing the dual-nature photon model, he did not like (emotion) the idea that probability played any role in reality. He went almost as far as to call the belief that Quantum Mechanics is the final theory "heresy" because he simply could not accept that God would create the Universe with probability interwoven into the underlying structure. Neils Bohr, on the other hand, used Eastern Mysticism to reconcile the bizarre magical qualities of the Quantum World. Since he knew he would have trouble conveying this way of thought he publicly adopted the Copenhagen Interpretation which essentially urges the experimenter to forget even attempting to develop a conceptual understanding of the results and simply focus on the resultant math and phenomenon. Throughout their arguments Einstein created the most extreme thought experiments to prove how absurd Quantum Mechanics is and that there must be an underlying classical mechanic to it all. To this day we continue to perform Einsteins experiments yet to our surprise (and especially Einstein's) the bizarre results keep coming true. So this stubborn religious streak in Einstein which, if it were enforced via dogma, would have held back Scientific progress instead has advanced Science because Einstein adhered strictly to the Scientific method in spite of his feelings and let the results speak for themselves. If all the Religious folk out there who object to Scientific data would propose experiments to prove or disprove their own claims the light of Science would shine even farther in spite of the motivations of the experimenters (presuming that the results were not "interpreted" into oblivion....) (Just wanted to mention Neils Bohr )

Extreme Old Crumbling Castle Technique: Ingredients: Id Tech 4 Engine (as is) Cube Maps Normal Maps Infinite time and patience Artistry Step 1: Create a basic Castle with (perhaps) some low-poly gaps representing damage (Texture the Castle make it look as good as possible) Step 2: Export the Castle into Blender Step 3: Clone the Castle then modify the cloned copy into an extreme high-poly version with tons of little cracks and separated blocks/bricks making sure that some of the original texture work is still present Step 4: Cut the High-Poly and Low-Poly Castles into components and create Normal Maps for the most detailed portions where things are crumbling Step 6: Identify the deepest cracks in the High-Poly Castle Step 7: Enlarge the Geometry of these cracks to the point where you can noclip into them when imported into Doom 3 Step 8: Fly into the Giant-Size cracks and capture an Environment Shot (part one of the Cube Map process) Step 9: Shrink the Cube Map in Gimp (etc) Step 10: Replace some of the texture work with the more detailed texture and normal map work Step 11: Replace the deepest cracks with the Cube Maps (Interior Maps) Step 12: Oh No! The Cube Maps look "wrong"! Step 13: Stretch the proportions of the 6 environment shots so that the central "shot" is pinched a bit (lots of fiddling) Step 14: After an eternity... Great crumbling castle with Cube Maps providing the illusion of deep detailed cracks

Thanks Sotha. I will keep looking around Google to prove to my wife that this is a "classic tale" rather than some crazy (and boring) story I cooked up on my own. I guess we all sympathize with our little Might-Flea a little... I suppose that this story would actually be more meaningful for a guy at a bar who feels that another stronger fellow is mocking him. Too bad he would probably be too drunk to listen. (Squish!)

The Flea Circus: Once upon a time there was a Flea Circus operator who had the most extravagant micro-Circus ever seen. The Fleas were skilled in all manor of acrobatics and ingenuity but, by far, the star attractions were the "strong-man" Fleas. The strongest of the strong fleas could lift at least 1000x his body weight. (We'll call him "Mighty-Flea") One day the Flea Circus operator decided to stop and visit a real Circus to compare and get inspiration for his act. While there the resident Strong Man (we'll call him "Mighty-Man") took a keen interest in "Mighty-Flea". Every time Mighty-Flea performed a practice feat of strength, Mighty-Man let out a hearty laugh. Mighty-Flea was very proud and would not stand for this constant ridicule so he hopped up and called to Mighty-Man in his squeaky voice, "So you think my tricks are funny? Let's have a contest to see who can lift the largest amount compared to their body weight!" So the contest began with each lifting a small rock. Next a heavy bed... And so on until Mighty-Man relented and could not compete with Mighty-Flea. Mighty-Flea began hopping about and gloating about his victory. Just as Mighty-Flea was about to lift his final object in victory Mighty-Man squished him. The moral of the story: No matter how strong you are there is always someone stronger? This is a story I told the other evening but I swear I have heard it before. Am I really the original author? Bonus: My wife thought this was a boring story, do you agree?

A couple of questions: 1) What is the name of the directory where Doom 3 is installed? 2) Which user owns the FMS directory? 3) Which user owns the Doom 3 executable? 4) Did you install TDM's SVN for some reason (see below)? http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/11386-no-maps-show-up-in-the-menu/

Those materials can be "grimed" with decals no? (I read an ole TTLG mini-discussion about this...) I suspect it would be better if there were more pre-grimed stuff for this purpose though...

Yeah, I think the only thing that differs from your suggestion is that the Normal Maps in rich_is_bored's method are tuned by hand (or by a higher-poly model) thus adding more subtle lighting tricks to the leaf clumps.

I hate to keep leaving hints everywhere but if any of you Modelers out there grasp this article (actually doesn't look too difficult...) then Tels may have a use for it

This is kinda like filling your map with doorways that dont open. (BTW... Someone should make an April 1st FM that has no doors that open . Or infinite lock picks )

Well that's even more good news. I had seriously felt that Objective Truth was a DEAD concept in academia and along with it Pure Mathematics. Now I feel like a hopeful new foundation is out there and that the stability of reason has a chance to flourish again.

Well these replies are better than I could have hoped for . But as it stands my only reference for "Moral guidance outside of religion" is a Marxist essay ? (Unless I include Traditional Philosophy before the "Pomo" junk came along...) Well I have enough references to look through to last quite some time. I think I will stick to my moral calculation in reference to Demagogue's statement but I will keep an eye out and won't go entirely limp and apathetic. I hope God doesn't send another dream because of this whole discussion :laugh: (I hope God has a sense of humor too ). I'm a superstitious fellow I guess.

Well aidakeeley I agree with your "kick the stone" take on things but if the endeavors of Philosophy on whole have gone so far down the wrong path and have become tainted then where do we go to get our Moral ideas from? Do we choose the "ancestor ideas" that brought us up to this path in the first place? How do we trust the whole history of philosophical argument when this "stuff" is the end-result? Or do we simply posit the existence of a "Moral Atom" that simply must exist and then hope that some empirical method can be designed to prove or deny it's existence?

But here is the problem: 1) Science has no answers for moral questions and appeals to Logic to work out these problems 2) Logic falls squarely in the world of Philosophy 3) The most advanced examinations in Philosophy lead to Postmodern ideas 4) So now you have to build your moral compass in a reality that has no direction unless you take the arbitrary decision to stick with modernism

Well this is one of my personal problems I suppose. While I find Godel and Foucault repellent I cannot find a "Logical" method to refute their line of thought. And indeed many "Pomo" stances are hard to deny in pure logic. As a scientific person you must either: A) Disregard Postmodernism as if it were a form of insanity or nonsense or B. Take the stance that "Truth itself" is immutable but there is no logical way to prove this. We must appeal to a faith in the "existence of truth". So, essentially, our Scientific belief in an Objective Truth is a "gut-instinct" about the nature of reality. I agree though, even if Science is merely an extension of a primordial "gut-instinct" it is the BEST method we have to examine the nature of our world.

Foucault if you read further is essentially saying that insane people are really just expressing their place in a reality which we are oppressing. As if reality itself is mailable and that Opinions are the crucible in which reality is forged. I find this idea very repellent. This excerpt only slightly alludes to this concept:

Yeah... That was sloppy: I use Postmodernism as a catch-all for the branches that directly attack the idea of objective truth: Primarily: Mathematical Kurt Gödel Philosophical Michel Foucault But the halls of Postmodern academia are loaded with postulations that have their arrows and daggers right at the "Truth" that the Scientific community treasures.

Well Sotha, I do see jdude's point about your implied evangelism on behalf of Science. As someone who admires Science a great deal I probably have said things that resemble your remarks at one time or another in my life. But when matters of morality come up Science will usually appeal to it's parent "Philosophy". Except now Philosophy is stabbing Science right through the heart by discrediting "Objective Truth". Postmodernism is the worst challenge to the ultimate goals of Science since the Inquisition. Most Scientists are ignoring Postmodernism as if it were a mental illness but if you take away all Faith then Postmodernism is what you have left. I outright object to the idea of "subjective reality" and believe (without rational justification) that an "Objective Truth" exists and that God is the likely cause of it. What is your take on Postmodernism's assault on Truth?

I won't say too much but awhile back I took the brazen step of posting a PM to Dram about beta testing this map. Rather than hit the "ignore button" he was gracious to offer that he is still making progress and said that if "I'm still around" at (some-unspecified-time-to-respect-the-implied-privacy) that I would be considered. I always presumed that he was in closer contact with the official team members but New Horizon's reply makes me wonder (unless New Horizon is just teasing us as well )

Well even though this thread probably plopped a lot of mud on my moniker I think we've covered some interesting ground: 1) Demagogue provided a evolutionary take on the question (Nature) 2) Midnight provided a psychological environment take (Nurture) and finally we have: 3) Jdude providing religious insights 4) Springheel finding that people more versed in religion turn away from it Then both talking about "religion as facade" (keeping up appearances) (and perhaps a little blind-faith criticism). And, of course, the overwhelming take from the community that our precious privacy is being eroded away and that even the contemplation of finding out what someone else is up to is a "slipper-slope" towards a Right-Wing nightmare world. (This community certainly is vigorous in upholding the fight against the Orwellian ). I will continue to sift this stuff and cobble together my own wacky conclusions. I am grateful for the feedback and I even think those who accused me of being "a fuck" had something interesting to say in the matter. I will patiently await the steady stream of newbs to come pouring in and ignore all the contextual clues in my poorly worded intro who will, no doubt, "tell me off" but will probably also add their own interesting spice. Until this thing finally dies and I can enter this forum without the rosy cheeks of embarrassment

You just said that to get a rise out of Dram (or an update ... )

I've read it through at least 2x. But after going to Kabbalah with my wife and learning about Midrash I suspect that "read" is not quite an accurate term when people say to "read the Bible". I think that the Christian way of deferring to a church authority for interpretation is a descendant of the Midrash way of interpreting hidden meanings in the words (but not as extreme in most cases). Magic is magic though. If you can clear the hurdle of "the existence of magic" then whatever is written in the Good Book can be chalked up to magic. As someone who enjoys the many-worlds interpretation of Quantum Physics I cant say that magic is excluded from the realm of possibility for me. I will say, however, that I'd rather believe that I'm going crazy than believe that God is mad at me

Look under the team member "Dram" http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/team.php (I think we're all awaiting this one...)

OK... Two lightning strikes today at work (with corresponding power outages)! (Maybe I'm not off the hook! ) Thanks for your take on things jdude. I will keep an open mind.