Eshanas

That map thing seems to be some leftover thing from the terrain? mapping these games use. In Fallout New Vegas, if you clip beyond the map...it keeps on going. It seems to be geographically correct, too, until you reach some water a hundred miles or so out. Why it was never cut or clipped, no one knows.

Carnivores 2 and Icewind Dale. They're not hated, but they weren't 'the best' even back then. But because they're what I grew up with, they have a special place in my heart. They would be seen with derision today.

The Iso Zone...went down? We really are approaching the end of the 'wild west' internet, sheesh. I didn't even notice....

Some forum post or guide form way back claims the sound are taken from command and conquer. I dunno about the engine, too. But honestly there's so little about this game...I should never had sold my copy. Nigh impossible to find now.

If one thought Deus Ex HR was a needless prequel (that may or may not had found its own footing) then you might think the same of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. It told a story that, frankly, didn't need to be told and no one really cared for. There was nothing new or special about the gameplay and the plot made it even more restrictive by forming it around a single campaign of a bigger war. Maybe I just wanted something more like Dune II/Dune 2000/Battle for Dune.... Or a proper Homeworld 2/Homeworld 3. It definitely felt lukewarm and a 'series killer'.

Apparently, a sequel's coming out. Prettier and beefier. Base building has become more formalized? New types of drives. I'm hoping for space-based infrastructure and building. RSS and other mod teams might migrate over and deal with my other wishes. Thoughts?

There's a lot of uncertainty going around as to what will really change on the ground. I, for one, am very interested in this. This isn't about sea level rise: we're still looking at around 1m, 2m rise by 2100; a lot will still be the same or easily walled off. By the time we're in the tens of meters, that's down this millennium and out of my purview. Here are some examples of stuff I've come across. And at the most extreme end, with little to no sources I've found, this map from Parag Khanna. He lists off a few sites and maps which I'll posit below. But if the prediction that we'll see a world 4c warmer by 2060 does come to pass, it's still a bad outcome. Extreme map that I can't find a source for: Maps cited by Parag Khanna: From New Scientist; and that only led me to one document here from the "Royal Society Publishing". That's quite a...difference. Parag is trying to sell a book I can't find nothing about, so maybe that's it. But yea, what do ya'll think? Rubel and Kottek's estimation has a lot of Siberia opening up, but arguably little change elsewhere. The map about desertification feels right, and that's been a big hurdle since the 00s and 90s: the Sahel disappearing, aquifers drying up in the South West, the Gobi, and the steppe. The fluidity of Europe turning more and more dry, and the huge drive up along the Rockies? That's something we'll feel, for sure. Then comes Parag's map which I'm this close to just writing off as a fiction unless I get some data, and my bias is saying that if there is any data, it's being squished into a more recent timescale than what it presents. Speaking of data, let me add some IPCC numbers I read from the...2018? 2017? report. Okay, so the IPCC said: 100% certain that: less cold days, more warm days, the permafrost will decline by a third or so. The ocean will be more acidic. No Northern Hemisphere Glacification before 3000AD. Sea level WILL rise beyond 2100; but for this century we're in the ballpark of 1-2m. It's very likely, (75+ chance of happening) that by the late 21st century (I'm taking late to be around 2066, 2075+) that the Ocean will deoxify by a few percent. There will be more warm spells, more heavy precipitation. The ocean conveyor belt will weaken but not collapse. More atmospheric CO2, methane, nitrous oxide. It's likely (60% chance or so) that the global temperature will rise by 1.5c to 4.5c. That means the 4c warming scenario is highly probable. Okay, sure. The subtropics will lose precipitation. Glaciers will decline. The Ozone hole will expand. More droughts. It's Semi-Likely (around 50? 40?% - flip a coin) that Tropical Cyclonic Activity will intensify. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappears, but only above 4.5C temp increase. It's Unlikely - around 33%, my note is '1 in 3' - that Antarctica and Greenland will lose all ice by the late 21st century. That's a bit high for something so drastic, with a sea level increase of...10 to 30? metres. That's... a lot. Very Unlikely - around 20%, still that's 1-in-5, too high for my tastes - that the Conveyor Belt system just...shutdowns completely. It's exceptionally unlikely, still around 10%, that we'll see a 6.0C increase by the late 21st Century. General stuff is that if we reach 1.6C by the 2050s, 9-31% of all current extant species will be extinct, most reefs gone, half of wooded Tundra lost. If 2.6c by 2080, loss of 25% of all large African mammals and most tropical rain forests. 60% of widespread and common plant species, and 35%% of widespread and common animal species will see habitat range shrinkage, up to a half of what they have now, by 2080. 20-30% of plants and animals will be subject o an increased risk of extinction if temps rise by 2.6c. If the temp rises by 4c, we're looking at the 40-70 ('flip a coin') range. 75% of South American aquifers depleted by 2050. This I think is important to note because, well, that affects people. That's what starts political crises and refugee movements. 20,000 more pollution related death per 'temp rise' (1c tiers?) There's an upside is that Temperate food production might increase and that's due to the climate zones shifting north. More Siberian, Canadian, North East, High European farming. 37% of all permaforst will disappear in a 2.6c scenario by 2100. 1m sea level rise will displace around 100,000,000. Now, there are other reports, of the last year or so, that have gotten a huge, how should we say, doomer reaction from the populace. What's in those reports? I don't know. I think one is from the UN and hasn't been fully published yet. What was thrown around is that it's all 'worse-case scenario' is basically the scenario we're getting or gunning for, and the number '8.5' is thrown around a lot which I think is basically 'we're going to warm up by 8.5c'. In what time frame I don't know. I don't think we 'only have 12 years' to solve it or '2 years or we're doomed', but extrapolating from it all, we should at least be prepared for the heavy end of Climate Change within this century or even the stuff for 2050. And since most of us will be alive then, that's something I think we should brace for. Again, what do ya think? Sorry for the number dump.

After the big security ruckus two, three years ago, everyone should had moved over to HTML5 or so. Homestuck apparently did. Though, Flash was great. Lots of memories and lots of games played. Sadly, was.

I don't like how my face is so stiff and has a resting bitch face. Near everything else I'm fine with. But I want my face to be more expressive, more animated, more capable of motion. Anime me up, yo. Do I need to go to some psuedo-yoga thing or something? Like how I managed to control and change my voice, is there something like that for the face?

The Surge piqued my interest but it was executed horribly. I hope the Devs do go on to make a sequel or another game in the same vein because there's a lot of potential here.

Aye, that's our worst fear, basically just handing them a lot of cash just for the name. I do wonder If I can just talk to the original developers instead for the code....

Oh hey, Republique. I got it via Twitch; and it's an interesting game. You're helping a dissent or refugee girl flee her dystopian dictatorial Orwellian state, using the surveillance tools of that state against them to get her free. There's like five stages/chapters or so. Good art direction, though it might be seen as frustrating.

I've come across this thread which sort of talks about the same situation. Just to make it more general. The game in question was StarQuest Online, a MMORPG where you had multi-crewed spaceships, interactive in game screens, planet-to-space-to-hyperspace connectivity (though I think some people tried to go from Sol to Alpha Centauri in real space and couldn't do it?), and a playing field at 1000x1000 LYs with huge star catalogs and generated systems with multiple alien races to find and play around with. I was notorious for being a genocidal pirate, then I shifted over to cultivating a colony. They were brought out by Nexeon Technology or Nexon? or somesuch, which might be a HUGE company with many local offices, or not. I'm just scratching the surface there.

I saw Midsommar. It felt like the story cuts off half-way. There's no fighting back, no sweet, sweet justice on the Cult, no massive conflict. Which was the point, sure, but I'm tired of that stuff. I want the characters to make basic changes and go through a basic arc. They don't need to be perfect, but just team up, be better, then set the stupid cult on fire and kill them all. Still a beautiful movie, though.

Oh, for sure, the Political Compass is just a quick and easy time-passer. But it does put you generally in the right place. If it all hinges on one question, well, just see what happens when you place a different answer for that question. Here's my 8values.

<- Epicurean Hedonistic Optimistic Nihilistic Gadabout, I do believe.

These threads always have interested me. I'm here. My 'drift' has been from low right Red to deep Green, though maybe I bounced up a point in either direction because of minor things, but solidly on a 'Soc Dem' basis. Mostly because I don't trust a state, detached from the people on all levels and all sectors, to actually care for anything but itself over time. States should be of the people, by the people, and for the people, and the people compromise and adjust as needed ontop of a bedrock of supreme law, checks and balances, self-rule, democracy, transparency, and participation. Now if only that could be made as easily and as much as people go grocery shopping

Hey guys. This is more about on how one, or a group, could get the code/source code of a dead game. In this case, the game was sold or handed over by the parent company who has all but disappeared back in 2009 or 2010, over to a Infrastructure-as-a-service/hosting company. That company then seemingly axed all the games it had, but it still exists. Do you think there's any, any way the video games could be salvaged out from that company? I've heard from a few fellow gamers that they contacted the company but it went nowhere since the guys they talked to didn't know. But could there be a outright legal process or business process to get the games back in some form? Or is it a lost cause? It doesn't help that the game has been down and out since 2014, and was brought in 2011. But who knows? That's only...five years in this ephemeral, ever-changing information age.

I have to be specific because there's two versions of the same game. On the PS1, you play it as a sort of shooter; selecting various units and blowing up objectives. In the PC version, you take control as a warlord, churn out units and buildings, and direct them to do the same. There are two factions: WOPR and NORAD; robots and humans. WOPR wants to take over the world, NORAD wants to save it. Now it was basically just a Command and Conquer rip-off, but I didn't know that at the time. I also didn't know that all early versions came with the Marburg Virus. Fun for everyone. You go through 15 missions per side, all around the world, from land to sea to the air, to destroy humanity or save it. It's probably written better than it was made, though the execution got it average (60s-80s?) reviews at the time. Looking back it was a cheaply made, rushed, asset-stealing and paper-mask swapping cash grab, but it was fun enough. You can't find this game anywhere - all I found was just the PS1 version. Maybe I should ask MGM themselves for the .exe....

Good setting, but I never finished it. Hmm. GA GaaS: It's on Gog and I've gotten the .exe with no problems.

I can't recommend this game enough. If you like old style, non-hand holding RPGs, this is the game for you. And if you don't like the Esp/Psi stuff, don't worry. I played a weird stealth/assault guy (wanted to be a sniper). It works out...if you manage your equipment and stats right. That said, builds are necessary for this game, think of them as unofficial classes. And if you DO like Psionic stuff, you can become a near-unstoppable demon. The lore is rich and the setting - a collection of underground train stations divided into different groups - your crazy gangs, your not-so-goody-two-shoes-knights-in-shining-armor, your morally ambiguous rebels, your crazy cult, your weird off shoot humans, your survivalists - is fun. There are two main plot-lines depending on what side you pick. Choices matter, and people who you kill stay dead - and everyone can die. If you did a genocide run in UnderTale or Fallout 1 or Morrorwind, you can do that here. You do end up at the same place, sure, but for different reasons. I think there are four main endings. There are some planned DLCs and one has come out, expanding the level cap from 25 to 30 and is leveled accordingly. It added Jet Skis, Shotguns, and Swords. If you want, you probably could just don some heavy armor and go to town on the underground. GaaS: It's on GoG and I've gotten the .exe with no problems, moving it through multiple drives. This applies to a lot, if not most, GoG games so expect that to come a lot.

I had high hopes for this game because it's a spiritual successor for Syndicate. But, like NuXcom, they shaved off the strategy and scope, made it a small story, and then shoved in a normal hack plot. No longer are you a corporate warlord, you're the plucky band of omnipotent heroes who are gunning a corporation which is evil to take out their...competitive edge in the market? Again, we go from fighting all over, and for, the world to fighting just one corporation in some city. I don't like this trend of games in a series down-scaling their scope and scale. On top of the problems in getting it to run.... I've had it on four computers. I think a Lenovo computer from three odd years ago was the best. "Gaming" laptops and ASUS or Dell towers don't work. I don't know if it's a compatibility issue or something but I've never got it to run.

Far Cry 2? Maybe? Honestly everyone who plays it seemingly loves it and quickly notes the flaws and potential it had. We barely have any games set in Africa and Far Cry was still just 'fancy nice shooter game' then but they were scratching the surface of a harder story. No side is right (though no side is fleshed out), people suffer, and everyone eventually basically goes 'We're all just doing this for cash. Fuck it all.' The setting was very engrossing and that made up for a lot of the pitfalls - the weird Malaria thing, the non-existent plot and factions, the samey gameplay.

Yea, something about the execution didn't rub me the right game. I played it and felt "I've played this before." And while I'm not a self-described Graphics Whore, this was just...too stiff. Everything feels too detached, too clinical. Click buttons and text appears over something flashy. Now, the DLC did add a lot more content, but the gameplay is still the same. Honestly I probably just have high expectations. The 4x genre died because it got too samey. The 4x revival is...still too samey. I want them to push the envelope and unite more things together and go from the small scale to the big scale and you get to see it firsthand. That's what Spore did, in a way. And then they removed most types of FTL apparently. And the random Tech Tree - I never liked that. At all. Loads of games do well with fixed tech trees, and I would extend this to the 'procedurally generated' (in this case, faux?) craze we had that reached a Zenith with Strafe. People don't mind set-in-stone maps or set-in-stone tech trees. Instead of making it random, put more work into it to make it huge and expansive so a player can go to one corner and still progress in the game. Then in another playthrough they can go through the center or the other corner. Spice up a bit of the stuff on the inside to keep players on their toes, but that's about it.

I'm liking it so far. Reminds me of stuff like Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate and the like. Plotwise it's the opposite? Of Avernum and Underrail and Arx Fatalis.