kxmode wrote on Aug 12, 2010, 22:04:
I've never seen C++ code before, but I'm trying to figure out if there is more to it than what I saw. Can anyone tell me what the differences are? Is ActionScript 2 like C++?

It's quite similar in several respects - the methods of creating functions, performing basic operations, and nesting {} are quite similar. You should have no problem tinkering with the existing code, changing a few numbers, etc.

I'm not familiar with AS2, but I think you'll notice three major differences:

1) The available libraries (import xx in your AS code) in most C/C++ applications are very limited. Even though it's built on OpenGL, I expect you'll find that id have had to write their own wrapper functions for drawing graphics, and so on.

2) Creating a new object in C involves declaring it (like any scripting language), and in many cases allocating memory for it as well, then de-allocating the memory once you're done with your work. You don't have to bother with that stuff when working with scripting languages (or .NET), which is one reason they're so popular.

3) Scripting languages are very self-aware - they'll let you know if you go out of bounds on an array, or try and use a variable that hasn't been given a value yet. C just fails. It can be a real pain to debug.

"we enjoyed working for you for the last 127 releases and wish we could stay to create the next 127"

I would venture to say that the Xfire team's version of "leaving" involves being shown where the door is. I'm quite sorry to hear that, particularly when the buyer is a "developer of a platform" and interested in helping gamers "monetize" their games.

Unfortunately it looks like the publishers have all of their priorities mixed up...

The new DLC allows you to instantly unlock decks that you can already unlock by playing the game, as well as paying to convert cards to foil versions, which can not be accomplished any other way. Ultimately, there's not really any new content.

The first expansion DLC (released several weeks ago) included new cards and missions, and it looks like PC gamers still haven't received the second expansion that has been available on the 360 for quite some time.

Thankfully many smaller operators or freeware developers already accept PayPal donations, and IIRC you can usually add freeform comments to such donations.

I'm not sure the tip jar is a good idea for larger houses, but I could imagine a "feature escrow" service working. For example, if the tens of thousands of people who "boycotted" (and subsequently purchased) MW2 for its lack of a dedicated server had instead donated $5 to an escrow service, they could have raised a difficult-to-ignore $100,000 carrot to the developers, which would have been largely refunded if the feature wasn't developed by a certain date.

(Edit: Looks like there were thousands of boycotters, not tens of thousands. But I still think the idea has some merit)

Jerykk wrote on Jul 17, 2010, 02:02:
When people speak of indie developers, they tend to be referring to developers who finance their own games without publishers. Epic does not finance their own games without publishers.

I imagine that Jazz Jackrabbit, Tyrian and Epic Pinball (among others) were self-funded, and those were created while Mark Rein was involved with Epic. Even if you discount Epic's recent history as a major development studio, Mark Rein has considerable indie experience (though in a different age... one where people still sent cheques in the mail).

Bhruic wrote on May 21, 2010, 08:18:
There's nothing specifically screaming 25% discount, but there is a "$54.99" price crossed out, with a "$41.24" price underneath (both in CAD). So I'm assuming the deal is active.

I just noticed the same thing. It must have come good overnight, as it didn't have the adjusted price yesterday... or they sent out the notification a day early.

Either way, downloading now

All these classic SEGA titles will be available from $ 2.99 but for a full list of all available titles and features, please visit www.sega.com

Perhaps the people writing the press release should have checked with the webmasters at sega.com - a quick browse turns up absolutely nothing.

kxmode wrote on May 20, 2010, 23:16:
I got an email from Impulse saying Mass Effect 2 is 25% off for a limited time, except when I visited the page I don't see a 25% discount. Anyone know why?

http://www.impulsedriven.com/masseffect2

No idea, but I'm seeing the same thing from Canada. Nothing is showing up in "view promotions" within Impulse, either.

dagger wrote on May 20, 2010, 12:12:
isnt Subspace still around in another form?

Yes, as Continuum.

I find this disappointing.

I used to spend thousands of dollars on AAA titles a year, and then give all of them away to my friends every 18 months or so. I have a huge appetite for games, so knowing that I could give a game away for someone else to enjoy played a big part in accepting the AUD$90 price tag.

My last major boxed game purchases have been DA:O, WoW Burning Crusade, and Red Alert 3. Each of these is licensed by way of an exclusive, non-transferable key (in DA:O's case, this is the $10 part only).

I don't think I can bring myself to pay for a AAA title any more - no game is worth $90 if I'm the only person who's going to enjoy it, or if my friends are going to have to shell out money to experience a game that I've already paid for.

Both EA and Ubisoft have now lost me as a frequent customer.

Really, I think we should be impressed that the figure is as high as 2/3.

The Web 2.0 mantra of "innovate first, monetise later," has done so well that I no longer pay for services like IMAP email, which used to cost me an arm and a leg a few years ago.

I used to spend thousands of dollars a year on games, but with the current free-to-play casual games, occasional high-quality gems (GemCraft, Wolf:ET), necromancy of old classics (MW4 Mercs), and access to classics on the cheap (GOG), I'd be lucky to spend $300 a year on AAA titles.

Of course, if the multi-million dollar gaming industry is going to stand by while garage flash developers beat them in the fun/gameplay department, that's their own fault.

mobo13 wrote on May 17, 2010, 17:10:
And then again, look at the prices for new titles...$50-60 ???. Not an easy amount to part with.

Many of Sierra's early PC releases, including Kings Quest, Police Quest, and Space Quest, fetched USD$49.99 in the late 1980s. That's approximately USD$95, adjusted for inflation.

In Australia, current PS3 releases are $120 in local currency - approximately USD$105 at the current exchange rate.

Surprisingly, both are easy amounts to part with if you really want the game that's on sale.

Something else just occurred to me - Epic may claim that the future of PC gaming is "not going to look like Gears of War", but given the recent release and commercial licensing terms (25% royalty on revenue) of the Unreal Development Kit, they're certainly hedging their bets...

I think that this problem was at least partly brought about by game publishers in the first place. Out of all the people I used to LAN with regularly (Quake 2 era), the vast majority are now either console gamers (the only place to get many first-run AAA titles) or too jaded to buy AAA titles any more.

Or maybe the Blue's News community is a microcosm of gamers who buy the games they play and want to support game developers/publishers, while the rest of the world really doesn't mind stealing every game they can get their hands on (or perhaps they see it as fighting The Man).

kxmode wrote on May 17, 2010, 14:30:
Valve released Left for Dead 2 and is releasing Portal 2. How are they innovative?

On the other hand, they're not making Episode 3

"Communal experience" is a bit of a whitewash when you're talking about upwards of 1,000,000 people.

I would argue that my favourite dedicated server is closer to offering a communal experience than peer-to-peer matchmaking.

Also, "working very hard to marry these two things"? The original Modern Warfare included persistent unlocks across dedicated servers.

I hope this concept gets developed to allow trading of games a bit more like I would in real life.

Allowing a bit of store credit for "trade-in" of games is one thing, but what I'd really like is to be able to give away my old games to my friends for a nominal handling/royalty fee.

If anyone still has MTX installed, the tracker itself seems to be up, so downloading via MTX does actually work.

So far my install process seems to have been:

• Run MTX and download MW4 (.0017)
• Kill MTX when it tries to install, disable antivirus, restart MTX, right-click MW4 and select "install game"
• Wait a few minutes for MTX to successfully hash and install .0017
• Right-click MW4, select "check for updates"
• Wait for MTX to download .0018 update
• Kill MTX when it tries to install update, restart MTX, right-click MW4 and select "check for updates"
• Wait for MTX to install .0018 update
• Right-click MW4 and select "check for updates
• Wait for MTX to download and install .0020 update

I figure that the biggest problem is MTX playing nice with my anti-virus, or maybe it's just randomly hanging... but I did finally manage to get everything running using just MTX. No CD checks, registry editing or anything else was required... and I can now launch the .exe directly from the MW4 directory.

ColoradoHoudini wrote on Apr 21, 2010, 22:15:
I hear them play and sometimes the games go 10 minutes.. is that fun?

Once you're so used to a game that you've got it down to a routine, I suppose it's more fun than losing

I know what you mean though - I have enjoyed stuffing around with WoW off and on, but I had the chance to watch some hardcore colleagues do a dungeon run one day... and with all their scripts and clicking the same numbers over and over, it looked like the most boring thing in the world. They didn't even talk.

I don't get why everyone wants to pretend HoMM5 didn't exist - I never played 4, but I have played 1, 2 and 3 extensively, and found that 5 was easy to get into, looked good, played similarly to the other games, and the cutscenes (though poorly done) made the single-player plot much more engaging. It can also be picked up for less than $10 including Hammers of Fate, which includes a Map Editor.

I am a little worried that Heroes won't translate well to an MMO, but I do hope to be proven wrong.

Silicon Avatar has a point - I can't really remember any early games which had free content updates, but expansion packs (PDLC) have been around since around 1990 (e.g. Wing Commander: The Secret Missions), and predate even that by years on the Amiga and other platforms.

Why are we paying $10 for a map pack when 12-year-old girls get new, free content every day in FarmVille?

This would be because many Zynga gamers pay money while routinely playing the game.

I'll stick to paying my money up-front, thankyouverymuch.