Saturday, October 21, 2000

NFL Week #8 Picks -- 10:48 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

OK, I already lost the first game by picking the Bucs (hooray!). Here are the rest of my prognostications for this week in the National . . . Football . . . League (with a bit of a tip of the hat to Bill Pidto): Cowboys, Saints, Broncos, Colts, Rams, Eagles, Titans, 49ers, Vikings, Raiders, Steelers, Redskins, Jets.

The Master comments: Eeyore's picks for week #8: Saints, Broncos, Cowboys, Colts, Rams, Vikings, Eagles, 49ers, RAVENS, Raiders, BROWNS, Redskins, Jets

Todd Hollenshead .plan update -- 6:55 pm CST, Update by The Master

ToddH updated his .plan with a pointer to the recent ABC article on game violence and it's effects.

http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020Friday_001020_violence_feature.html

An excellent article (thanks www.shugashack.com proving sCary *is* good for something). I'm going to get the scientific review and read it myself. As soon as I saw that silly "1,000 studies" claim I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone debunked it.

A.T. Hun comments: As interesting as it may sound, since this Prof. Jonathan Freedman's research is sponsored by the Motion Picture Association of America, you have to wonder if it's a bit biased. Having said that, the most damning evidence I've found is that the violent crime rate in the U.S. is at its lowest point in many years. Certainly if such violent media had the profound effects so many claim, the rate should be skyrocketing. It isn't. It all boils down to paranoid fascism masquerading as parenting. Sad, isn't it.

Prism Review -- 6:39 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Visor Central has posted a review of the Handspring Visor Prism, the first PalmOS-based PDA with 16bit color. The review speaks of it in glowing terms. I don't doubt that the color screen is very nice. However, I have a hard time dealing with the $450 price tag. I'll be sticking with my Visor Deluxe.

Alternate Presidential Candidates -- 10:15 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

So you don't want to vote Republican or Democrat? Can't vote for Ralph Nader because the country just isn't ready for a president named "Ralph"? Don't want to waste a vote for the Jimi Hendrix Party candidate or whatever the heck Woody Harrelson's always talking about? There are still more options! There's Joseph Fitzpatrick Fitzgerald Fitzhenry Quimby and, of course, my favorite candidate: Dave Barry.

Tim Sweeney Interview -- 9:59 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Gamespy slapped up an interview with Epic's code wizard, Tim Sweeney, about the additions he is currently making to the Unreal engine and where he expects 3D graphics to be in five years (to sum up his point: I don't know, but it will be fast!). Thanks Blue.

Friday, October 20, 2000

Stupid VIC-20 Tricks -- 11:53 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

A group of folks on a website called GeekHaus (nice name, guys!) decided to see if they could do the nearly unthinkable: browse the web with a Commodore VIC-20. They had to cheat a bit, but they actually got it to work! The VIC was my first computer--that's the machine on which I became a hacker. I even learned some 6502 assembly language! Ahh, memories. I kind of wish I still had that old box. Thanks Slashdot.

10/28: Q3F Beta 1F -- 11:43 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

The Shugashack is reporting that the new beta 1F version of Quake III Fortress mod (a Team Fortress clone for Q3A) on Saturday, October 28. They even posted a bunch of new screenshots for your perusal.

Half-Life 1.1.0.4 Info -- 11:39 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Blue's News got wind of the changes forthcoming in the Half-Life 1.1.0.4 patch. The patch is due next week. Here's the scoop:

Half-life 1.1.0.4 will be released early next week. The update contains three new Team Fortress scenarios, adjustments on two TF classes, in addition to a variety of new features and fixes.

New TF Scenarios:

Avanti
Avanti challenges the offensive team to advance their flag to three successive capture points and conclude their run in the village cathedral, while the defense attempts to stall their efforts until time runs off the clock. The scenario takes place on the streets of an Italian village, with a wide variety of open spaces combined with tight corners and sniping positions.

Flag Run
Flag Run requires cooperative teamplay as some units attempt to retrieve their flags from the enemy's base while other units ward off the opposing team's attempts to the same. The scenario includes large, wide-open spaces in the center of the map with intricate base structures on either end.

Casbah
Like Flag Run, Casbah challenges the opposing teams to guard and defend captured flags as they fight to retrieve their flags from enemy territory. Designed by Dave Johnston (cs_cbble, de_dust), Casbah promotes extremely fast-paced battles that can realize sharp momentum changes in no time at all.

New features and fixes include:

• All map resources can be downloaded from the game server.
• Counter-Strike proxy cheat fixed.
• Linux security issue resolved. (story)
• Pyro's burn damage increased.
• Heavy Weapons Guy's chaingun damage reduced.

ToddH .plan Update -- 11:31 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

id CEO Todd Hollenshead updated his .plan with information on id's engine licensing policy and the status of the 1.25 patch for Quake III Arena:

If you're a professional or amateur game development team, you should take a look at this. It's a reference document for our technology licensing program and contains a ton of information.

http://www.idsoftware.com/corporate/idtech/index.html

1.25 info: We won't be able to finalize the 1.25 release this week, but we'll try and see if we can get it wrapped up next week. There are few remaining issues to fix and test.

In the engine licensing information, I had to laugh at the jab they took at Monolith:

And you won't have to worry about being a one-liner in one of our press releases touting our licensing prowess: we don't do engine licensing press announcements unless you want one.
. . .
The engine architect, John Carmack, is an owner of the company, so licensees don’t have to worry about the technical backbone departing the company and leaving the licensees in the lurch.

Hero Worship -- 5:26 pm CST, Update by J.t.Qbe

This afternoon I got to meet the one, the only living legend Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles (first science fiction book I ever read), Dandelion Wine, and many more. He was speaking at a library opening in St. Cloud, Minnesota, so I took the whole family. We managed to be second in line for autographs and I got a copy of The Martian Chronicles signed for my son to read when he gets older. A once in a lifetime experience!

UT in Linux -- 3:01 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I've been fiddling around with Unreal Tournament and Linux lately using Loki's 428 binary and 428a patch. It works surprisingly well on my system. There are a couple of pauses in gameplay occasionally that are very annoying (not sure what's causing that), but it's not a huge issue. I also downloaded UmodPack, the open-source umod installer. Once I got all the necessary Perl additions, it installed the Digital Extremes mutators and the UT Bonus Pack with no trouble at all. Much nicer than the older, flaky version.

NVIDIA Rumor Mill -- 9:45 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Blue found two articles with rumors about NVIDIA buying up the competition. The first is that NVIDIA might buy 3dfx (I think they might have enough change in the couch cushions at NVIDIA to buy 3dfx) and the second is that NVIDIA might buy ATi (RealPlayer required). I'll believe either one when I see it. Neither would surprise me, but I think that either one would be bad for the 3D video market. Less competition is A Bad Thing.

UPDATE! Gamers.com says they have information refuting these claims. The first was clearly a claim from an analyst and little more, the second was from an introduction to a story about NVIDIA taking over ATi's market share. While these are interesting rumors, I think anyone with any understanding would have considered them to be little more than hearsay or innuendo. Then again, maybe I'm overestimating people.

Past Two Days' News

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