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Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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I tried but I have no clue what to do

You explore, land on planets and gather resources with which you can upgrade your ship. The space you travel in is HUGE, but there are wormholes you can discover which speeds up travel. It's usually a good idea to jot down the co-ordinates of wormholes etc.

There is a story to the game though. Something is destroying entire systems and as you explore and meet new races, you have to learn how to interact with them and you will learn more and gain newer technology to help you. Different races should be treated differently, some you should be aggressive with, other's not.

You should also watch who you have for crew members as certain races hate others and will not talk to you if you have a crew member on board they hate. I usually keep an alternative race for certain roles. I forget their names, but those dinosaur people and the plants ones hate each other.

The ending of this game and what is causing systems to be destroyed was one of those "Oh shit!" moments I will never forget.

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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So I'm trying Duke Nukem Forever for the first time. It's !@$!@'ing appalling.

It came out in 2011, and it runs like complete piss.

4K, I get <30 FPS in a menu system that is literally doing nothing but showing a static image and playing an upscaled video in the background.

In windowed mode? It doesn't support more than 720p. That's right. 2011 on a PC. 720p.

In fullscreen? It crashes all the time when you try to switch the resolution. But it doesn't crash gracefully to desktop. Nope. It just freezes, while still "capturing" the mouse cursor. So you have to do some WIN+TAB multi-desktop keyboard gymnastics to switch viewports to the second screen and you STILL don't have a mouse.

So the SECOND day (today) I tried to play the damn game, I get through the first level... it's a boss. You defeat the boss with guns. Then you have to run up to it while it's passed out, climb on top with 'e', and then press SPACE really fast to rip a pipe (heart or air flow) out of its body.

First, let's discuss the gaming holocaust that combining the legacy of Duke Nukem... with a fucking QUICK TIME EVENT.

"Press F to pay respects.", anyone?

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But not only that, but, just like !@$!@ DAMN FAR CRY 3, the !@$!'ing quick time events? (Where you press a button fast enough to "win" the event.) You know, something INSANELY SIMPLE to program correctly? Just like in Far Cry 3, in Duke Nukem Forever, it doesn't !@$!@$'ing work.

And, adding insult to injury, the game only supports CHECKPOINT saves now (WTF?!), and, there's no checkpoint right before the quicktime event! So every time it !@#$!'S YOU, you have to re-fight the entire boss again. ... and of course, you don't even know if it'll work that time.

When I have to GOOGLE HOW TO FIX YOUR GAME, your game is officially sh!t. Especially a game that came in out 2011 (and Far Cry 3, in 2012).

And as always, there's NEVER an official response from a developer on how to fix that crap. The best you get is people say "Well, try tapping it faster." (Really? Jack-ss, I wrote a forum post before simply trying to "tap it faster"?) And the others say "turn on VSYNC" "lower your resolution" and "rebind your jump key". What the !@$! would lowering my resolution help?

This game came out in 2011!!! Windows 8 (same as Win10 essentially) was already out in 2011! And 64-bit systems were the norm by then. So what @$!@'ing excuse could they have for it not working except being terrible programmers being run by a terrible company? It's not like we're going from Windows 98 to Windows 2000/XP with a completely different kernel or going from 32 to 64-bit systems. The ecosystem hasn't changed.

There is NO excuse for us to not be living in a age of renaissance where everything "just works." I can play a DOS game that was written for a 16-bit CPU just fine. I can play games designed for a freakin' console, just fine. But somehow, games that run through standardized APIs that mostly haven't changed in a decade, and they crash all the time. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

-----sig:
“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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Neil Roy said:

The space you travel in is HUGE, but there are wormholes you can discover which speeds up travel.

This description makes me think that I cannot possibly play the game because I don't have the time. I cannot imagine 1980's technology was so immersive that I'll dedicate myself to exploring the game for a month. Even a week would be excessive unless it was over the top amazing in every way. And every moment of frustration would detract from that. That type of game is well suited to teenagers because the world is still pretty new to them, and if the game just came out then they probably haven't experienced anything like it before (well perhaps that was more true 20 years ago than now...).

On a side note, I still regard FFVII as my favorite game and the greatest game of all time, but it took me about 3 tries to get into it when I was like 12. It was unlike anything else I had known, and it takes a fair bit of progress for the story to really grip you (once it does though, daaaamn). Even so, it can easily take 70 or 100 hours (or more) to complete, and just like work every distraction from the game costs you extra in getting back into it (a long enough distraction can even leave you lost). It's difficult for adults to dedicate themselves to that kind of thing. I've attempted a couple of FF games since then, and the older I get the more hopeless it is (albeit, I think they've also come up short in some respects; but I'm biased because FFVII was my first, and nothing else I've played seems to compare).

Quote:

Duke Nukem Forever

Something worth noting is that just because people within a company once had a great idea does not mean that future people within the company, even the same people, will still have great ideas. I don't even think I've played a Duke Nukem game before, but certainly when Forever finally was released I heard about how terrible it was. I never even considered getting it. I don't think anybody would have been recommending it, and if they were you know they were bought. :-/ Sometimes artist are geniuses that are full of great ideas, and they produce masterpiece after masterpiece (and these ones tend to be somewhat humble about their accomplishments). Other times, people stumble upon something that is wildly successful, and never manage to do anything else notable. The universe is full of chaos. Sometimes it produces glorious things, but often it produces shit. There isn't always a reliable mechanism to predict which.

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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Duke Nukem Forever is a fun kind of bad. Like watching a summer camp skit, you know it's campy, but that's what adds to the fun. :P That being said, I never finished Duke Nukem Forever... but maybe I should give it another go.

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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I knew I was getting a campy/cheesy game. That's not a problem. (The original Duke Nukem 3-D is amazing, btw. Some of the best designed levels ever made. Though I know DNF isn't as good.)

What pisses me off beyond imagination is that a 2011 game doesn't !@$!'ing run. How can a AAA studio SELL A GAME ON STEAM that DOESN'T RUN?

What the hell happened to gaming?

Skyrim? Buggy as hell to the point you have to use the console to FIX quest triggers that didn't fire correctly that leave quests broken. So much so there's unofficial mods to "fix" all the bugs. Think about that. There used to be games that developers would fix. Now they just give you a steaming pile of turd and expect the modding community to fix their stillborn creations. The same mods exist for other Bethesda products like Fallout 3 and 4.

Vampire Bloodlines had an amazing story, but once again, I had to use noclip MANY TIMES to unstick my character.

Far Cry 2 and 3, multiple times, my character got stuck in terrain and I had to reload. In Far Cry 3? Once again, there's no quicksave functionality. I had to reload FROM THE LAST CHECKPOINT.

In Far Cry 1, I had to MANUALLY quicksave using the CONSOLE by typing \save_game [name]. And then pressing "up" through history to re-use it.

Satellite Reign? I couldn't even beat. The final map trigger that lets you to take the elevator up to the final boss? DIDN'T EXIST. The elevator couldn't be used.

[edit] Also, in FC3, I spend literal DAYS having to Google, to try and figure out how to pass a !@$!@ damn Quick Time Event that borders on insanity. Literally the character preaches at you for 5 minutes about "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results" then... quicktime event... which on the PC... fails. Then, it's the SAME SPEECH AGAIN. Over. And over. And over. At which point you wonder if you're on some sort of Prank TV show. And then... over... and over... and you start thinking... "Is this real life? Why am I playing this?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lTrQdHv6bk

-----sig:
“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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Duke Nukem Forever

I loved the game. Didn't have any of the problems you describe, and that is on my system which had an nVidia GT240 in it, not exactly top of the line video card, even for 2011.

I do wish the world was more open as was originally planned. But I liked it for what it was.

bamccaig said:

This description makes me think that I cannot possibly play the game because I don't have the time.

As I said, as you discover wormholes, your travel times are immensely reduced as some take you to the other side of the galaxy. If you don't have the time to explore and discover them, there are maps online that show you where they are now.

And of course, if you wish to find them on your own, as I did, you should upgrade your navigator's skills first, as at certain levels they can detect wormholes easily.

But that sort of game isn't for everyone. This generation is probably too impatient for it. It's very similar to Star Control 2, in fact, SC2 was inspired by it, some say a ripoff, but the two are definitely different in important ways. It's too bad we don't seem to see more games like these anymore.

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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The original Duke Nukem 3-D is amazing, btw.

As someone who isn't well acquainted with the series, is the original still worth checking out?

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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Neil Roy said:

in fact, SC2 was inspired by it, some say a ripoff

The Starflight creator... worked on Star Control 2. So whoever they are, they're pretty stupid. MASS EFFECT, on the otherhand, is a straight up AAA rip off, of Star Control 2. Hell, the damn ending is 99% Star Control 3 as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Johnson_(game_designer)

Quote:

Designer:
Star Control II (1992, Sega)[5]

As someone who isn't well acquainted with the series, is the original still worth checking out?

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“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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Chris Katko said:

As someone who isn't well acquainted with the series, is the original still worth checking out?

Thanks, Chris. :P

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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Hahahaha Allegro.cc did that crappy thing that takes 20 minute to post so you can hit the edit button. And I forgot.

;D

Duke is fun. You're an old fart, like me, so you might like "2.5D" graphics. That is, Doom. Sprite enemies, with polygon worlds.

Duke has INSANELY better levels, enemies, and fun than Doom. The levels are interactive. Doors can be opened or re-closed. Faucets can be activated and give you a single hitpoint. You can flush a toilet. You can push buttons that activate doors. You can view cameras. You can go outside.

It was also the first FPS game that really had full 3-D environments. (System Shock 1 might count but if you play both, you'd know SS1 is insanely slow paced compared to duke and counts more as an RPG than FPS. And it had almost no floor-over-floor levels.) You could, for the first time, have floors that were on TOP of each other. Doom only let you fake it. You could never be on a platform above something, looking down. Duke had tons of other features too. Better lighting. Way more interactive map trigger support.

The monsters are hilarious and tongue-in-cheek. The first badguys you fight are cops. Except they're pig... cops.

The levels are amazing. They're almost all based on real locations. The first level is a district and you end up going through a movie theater. You can shut the movie on or off. you can blow up the screen. By time you finish the level, you've actually turned the two safety keys ("TURN. YOUR. KEY!"), armed the blast cap for a demolition, and you watch (live, no cinematic) an entire building collapse.

All of that stuff didn't exist before Duke did it.

To this day, I have never played a game where I could blow up an entire building and watch it collapse, live. (No cinematic pre-rendered bullcrap.) Even though the game is set in the future or some alternate universe, it feels like a real, living place.

Wrap it all in a really funny, over-the-top, masculine character that spouts ripped off 80's action movie quotes (with no attribution) like "I'm here to kickass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all out of bubblegum." (from They Live by John Carpenter). The story is literally "Aliens invaded and stole all our babes" so Duke nukem has to go rescue the babes and kill the alien basterds. [sic] It's so simple, and yet, charmingly perfect for the "style" it is going for.

The weapons are fun too. You've got shotgun, rockets, etc. But you've also got a shrink ray and the biggest enemies now run around like little kids trying to avoid you. And when you get on top of them they explode as your character plays a "crush them with my stomping foot" animation. It also has an alternative fire that makes them bigger and they explode.

It also supports Mighty Foot mode. Pressing Q (I think?) lets you kick with your foot. But more hilariously, you can also use your foot as your melee weapon when you run out of ammo. Except... it's your other foot. So if you hold left click, AND, Q, you can walk around hitting people with TWO FEET. It's also super fun to run around and KICK every door open like a mad man.

Also, the foot has its uses too. A shotgun blast on harder difficulty won't kill a pigcop in one hit. BUT, a shotgun AND a kick will. So you'll quickly get the (fun) hang of it by blasting a guy around a corner, kicking, then turning to the next guy and blasting him, and kicking him in the face.

To this day, Duke Nukem's levels STILL strike me as some of THE most unique levels ever designed. You can literally tell someone "Remember the electric chair level?" and people know exactly what you're talking about.

And that's just what I remember off the top of my head. And it's not just nostalgia. I've literally beat the game like... 6 times and it's still fun.

OH, and the ENTIRE GAME SUPPORTS CO-OP.

Come to think of it, if anyone wants to play some co-op, holla. I'm going to be playing Duke again at some point for a let's play / series review.

[edit] The only game that oddly, comes close, to Duke? Postal 2. Duke was wacky, but it actually let you do way more interactive real-world stuff. Postal 2 also takes inspiration from Duke by using real-world locations (except it's a whole town!), has a wacky anti-hero (this time with an almost serial killer vibe), and the game is so dogged for being "evil" because you can do things like unzip your pants and pee on someone (or even pee into the air and get some in your mouth ahahha), the neo-cons / game haters / SJW types who never actually play games never even realized that you can beat the engine game without killing anyone. The game is actually like some sort of super philosophical experiment where every bit of "evil" you do is simply... because you want to, or, because you EXPECTED to do it thanks to all the over FPS games you played. You actually don't have to kill anyone at all. ;D Also, it guest stars Gary Coleman. Damn, postal 2 is a good game.

ALSO, Postal 2 supports "Mighty Foot". A clear, direct, homage to Duke3D.

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“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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From what you described, Duke Nukem 3D sounds pretty cool. I checked Steam, and the "20th Anniversary World Tour" version is the only one available. Apparently there was a "Megaton Edition", but the licensing for that fell through in 2016. I've added the game to my wishlist, but there's no telling when I'll get around to actually buying it. I have too many games as it is. :'( :P

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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WTF. That sucks.

Also:

video

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“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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From what you described, Duke Nukem 3D sounds pretty cool. I checked Steam, and the "20th Anniversary World Tour" version is the only one available. Apparently there was a "Megaton Edition", but the licensing for that fell through in 2016. I've added the game to my wishlist, but there's no telling when I'll get around to actually buying it. I have too many games as it is. :'( :P

Same. I just didn't want to spend $21 on an old game. I'd pay probably $5. I may have played it in school before (back in the day kids used to bring games from home and install them on all the computers in the lab "secretly"). In any case, they were somewhat before my time because when they were released I was too young for them so I never got to experience them in full. To some extent, they were great for their time, but no longer. But I think the comedy in Nukem would make it worthwhile even today.

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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The $20 one has a new episode by the original creators. However, it also DOESN'T include the old expansion packs and the audio is worse according to reviewers. I have not played it yet.

Megaton Edition was like $5 forever. It's a GREAT $5 game. If I had it on GOG, I'd just send it straight to you. But I have it on Steam.

Megaton Edition can still be found through... sites if you're willing to get them for free. Simply google "Megaton edition download".

I don't know. I think it's insanely stupid to not offer a game people want. It's like "Hey, I DON'T want to make money." ::) IP law is so damn crazy.

Here's the trailer for Megaton that shows the typical graphics / guns/ etc:

video

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bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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This is another example of a game where the original development team has already been fairly compensated (and if not, it's because of a crooked publisher, not because of piracy or anything like that). In other words, the people that did the work paid their bills. There's literally no reason to keep asking for money for it other than greed. Sure, it's quite convenient if the publishing executives and maybe some important artists or game designers get to live a life of luxury without having to work often, but how does that benefit society? It really doesn't. If those people are really talented then you want them to work as regularly as they can do so and still produce quality. In other words, at this point, copyright should not even be covering such an old game. It has run its course. People that were interested and able at the time would have already bought it. Continuing to ask for money, sometimes from people that already paid and then lost their license, is just highway robbery.

The extra "episode" is one reason to ask for extra money, but unless it's worthy of being a game in itself it may not justify the $20 price tag per person. I'd probably rather play the game with graphics and sound that "feel" equivalent to the original. If the original was so great then I don't need it redubbed and redrawn, etc. Don't charge me extra money in a vain attempt to redress old works. Just let people appreciate the brilliant work of the original artists, and if it doesn't hold up to 2018 then so be it. It wasn't meant to. The people that it touched will appreciate the original work forever. And if it's worthy of my attention in 2018 it'll also touch me without redubbing.

/rant

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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The Megaton Edition can still be purchased from Steam key reseller sites, but the price is closer to $40. I'm sure the 20th Anniversary World Tour version will be plenty fine, but I don't feel like paying $20 for a 20-year-old game. :P

I just wonder why the developer and publisher didn't renew their agreement to sell the game after just one year on the Steam store (Megaton Edition). They brought it back the year later as the 20th Anniversary version, but the fact that it's missing the expansion packs is really bizarre.

bamccaig said:

There's literally no reason to keep asking for money for it other than greed.

I think if someone or a group of someones creates something with the intent to sell, so long as there's still a market for the product, they should have the freedom to milk it for all its worth. Is it greedy? Sure. But game-making isn't a charity. So while the game is 20 years old, and the market might be mostly dried up, I wouldn't feel right pirating it...

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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I think if someone or a group of someones creates something with the intent to sell, so long as there's still a market for the product, they should have the freedom to milk it for all its worth. Is it greedy? Sure. But game-making isn't a charity. So while the game is 20 years old, and the market might be mostly dried up, I wouldn't feel right pirating it...

Again, how does that help society? All it does is make the rich richer, and the poor poorer. The work involved was programming, graphic design, modelling, composition, etc. These things are measured in man hours. Should these people get paid a million dollars an hour? Once the game is developed the work is done. Copies can be made using less than a cent worth of resources.

When the game is first released it's time to make back the initial investment to cover the cost of hiring all of the staff for production, distribution, and marketing. And sure, for a few years after they can continue to milk it for some extra revenue to help cover the expense of the other less successful projects. At some point though, and it's fair to say that point was probably reached over a decade ago for Duke Nukem, everybody involved has been more than fairly compensated (or more likely, certain people that were an insignificant part of the project are grossly overcompensated, while the true talent probably was underpaid).

It's toxic to continue milking this work for money, making rich corporations richer, while forcing struggling people to choose between entertainment and social inclusivity (you'll note that media has become ingrained in society, such that having media is necessary for thriving in social circles; moreso this affects children, who the industry targets because they're easier to exploit), versus other needs/wants in their lives that actually do have a significant resource associated with them, and cannot be "copied" at negligible cost.

The corporation has other works to profit from today. If the programmers, artists, and musicians are not retired they probably still have an income source today: they continue to work in some form. And that's reasonable. We expect far more valuable contributors to society to continue working hard for 30 years. Why the hell should we enable entertainers to do a tiny little bit of work and then milk it forever? It would benefit society more if they continued creating. And if they continue creating they'll always have an income source and never need to milk old works for extra.

Capitalism is toxic. It has demonstrated how unsuccessful it is on the whole for society. It's full of corruption. And it only benefits the top 0.1% while the rest constantly have to struggle to get by. I'd much rather live in a world dreamed up in fictional works like Star Trek, where the need for such things is no longer a thing, and everybody just cooperates, does what they can, and all benefit. That's the world I want to work towards. Not a world where my descendants (if there are any) continue being pushed around like puppets on a string, tricked into believing their lives are empowered and libre, all the while making particularly evil people's lives insanely easy and comfortable at the expense of everybody else.

I used to take a hard stance against piracy. I figured the laws existed for good reason. But the more I explored the subject the more that I came to realize that the system is corrupt. The laws don't exist for the betterment of society, but for the empowerment of the elite. The laws actually harm society, and neuter distribution of existing works, and bias production of more works towards lower quality. Society overall agrees that the laws need to be changed, but the elite are the ones that set the laws, and they're also the ones that currently benefit. It's not hard to understand why they'll never change. Now I am tolerant of copyright infractions when I believe the "infraction" does more good than harm.

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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I just wonder why the developer and publisher didn't renew their agreement to sell the game after just one year on the Steam store (Megaton Edition). They brought it back the year later as the 20th Anniversary version, but the fact that it's missing the expansion packs is really bizarre.

Megaton's IP was owned by Devolver. So when the old guys re-released their game, they probably bought the IP which included exclusive store rights to Duke Nukem.

I've seen Fallout 1 and 2 change to "Fallout 1/2 classic" on GOG. Same exact game but the IP switched hands. And you can't buy classic, so when I go to the store page, it goes to a 404 now.

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“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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As someone who isn't well acquainted with the series, is the original still worth checking out?

Absolutely! Actually, these days, since the source was released, the game has been recompiled with newer versions along with higher resolution textures and even 3D models for some characters which still preserve the original feel of the game. OR you can just get the classic for DOSBox.

The game came with a superior level editor as well which was a lot of fun.

All you need is an original copy of the game, any will do, find the cheapest available online. Then look for eDuke32, which is a modern engine made from the source and then search for the Duke Nukem high res pack.

Here's a couple screenshots I took a while back with the high res pack etc.

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The Starflight creator... worked on Star Control 2.

Thanks for clarifying that. I'll try and remember that fact the next time I see such comments. I loved all of those games.

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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bamccaig said:

Again, how does that help society?

It doesn't help society, nor should it. What a great fantasy it would be if everyone help each other out for no reward, and if every product made was created to benefit society. It would be nice, but it's a fantasy. We will never live in a world like Star Trek. If given the opportunity, most people would not work, and they would not contribute to society; instead, they would be parasites that would suck it dry. You'd end up with a minority workers supporting the majority of those who don't work. This is already true to an extent in the welfare state.

Why should I bust my balls to make ends meet while part of my income goes to pay for others to live off of "the government's dime" and not work? I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'd like to be. :P I do agree that capitalism does sometimes run amok and is filled with corruption, but if I ever produce a product that is profitable, you can bet your ass I'll milk it for every cent it's worth.

Chris Katko
Member #1,881
January 2002
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Neil Roy said:

Here's a couple screenshots I took a while back with the high res pack etc.

I actually hate that pack. I'm fine with high res textures. But when they added 3d models they instantly "dated" the game into looking like half-life 1, Quake, (or at best, Postal 2). It lost a ton of its charm. It looks like some high res version of an N64

Even weapons don't have the same "bulk" to them. The shotgun is thinner, for example.

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::vomit::

-----sig:
“Programs should be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
"Political Correctness is fascism disguised as manners" --George Carlin

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
avatar

If given the opportunity, most people would not work, and they would not contribute to society; instead, they would be parasites that would suck it dry. You'd end up with a minority workers supporting the majority of those who don't work.

I don't think that's true. Many people cannot sit still forever. They would find things to do. Hopefully they'd find the things they're actually good at and naturally enjoy, instead of being forced to do jobs they are bad at or hate.

This is already true to an extent in the welfare state.

That's not exactly the same. The people on welfare are at the bottom of society. It doesn't look good for them no matter what. A few will move up into middle class if they struggle long enough and work hard, but some no matter how hard they try are going to remain trapped where they are. It's easy to judge when you are born into a family that is already doing OK. But it's wrong to judge people that are suffering from social problems or are actually hindered from succeeding. It's impossible to know who is just being lazy versus who has given up on a world that has given up on them. I would wager that the people that were willing and able to work, even when all of their basic needs were met, would be enough to carry the ones that were unable or too lazy to contribute. Of course, our current definition of "work" isn't the only way to contribute to society. For example, mothers that raise offspring are also contributing to society. The world is not as black and white as we're lead to believe it is.

Why should I bust my balls to make ends meet while part of my income goes to pay for others to live off of "the government's dime" and not work? I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'd like to be.

"Money cannot buy happiness." True wealth is appreciating the things that actually matter in our lives. Relationships. Family. Reproduction. To a lesser extent, hobbies and passions. If you are making enough money to pay your bills then you have all the money you really need. It would be ideal to have more "in case" you need it, like for a medical emergency, of course. But money corrupts so if we had too much of it we'd only squander it and potentially ruin our lives in the process.. Look at how "happy" Hollywood is. They're all standing in line for the noose. The whole point of wanting more wealth is to achieve sustainable living. Which is basically achievable for all of us if we were willing to spread it around, and did so with a system that prevented abuses/corruption. We may not have been able to devise one yet, but that's not proof that it cannot be done.

There's also the argument that the struggle is part of what gives our lives meaning. And that without struggle our lives lose meaning and purpose. That said, I think there are plenty of natural struggles to keep us preoccupied so we don't need to invent artificial ones.

Money is not a real thing. We made it up. The real question is do we have enough resources to provide for everybody on the planet. And I think the answer is easily yes, or at least, if we all cooperated it could be. The amount of "wealth"/power that the top 0.1% has accumulated is insane. It's probably more than enough to feed/cloth/house the entire planet for decades if not centuries. Certainly if we were to pool everybody's wealth/resources it could be. The Internet suggests that the total amount of "wealth" on planet Earth may have been something like $1.2 quadrillion (I assume US dollars). That's approximately $160000 per person. Mind you, that's probably only enough for a small to medium sized family to survive in Canada for maybe ~5 years or so. But in poorer nations that's probably more than enough for them to last 20 or 30 years, if not 50 or 100 years. Obviously there's too many variables to be certain of much of anything, other than, the richest people in the world are hording all of the power/motivation to get things done, and they certainly have not contributed enough to society to be worthy of their net worth.

I actually hate that pack. I'm fine with high res textures. But when they added 3d models they instantly "dated" the game into looking like half-life 1, Quake, (or at best, Postal 2). It lost a ton of its charm. It looks like some high res version of an N64

Even weapons don't have the same "bulk" to them. The shotgun is thinner, for example.

951dd7abf95edf4fe98a3681d422e3d5-240.jpg

::vomit::

I actually think that in some ways worse graphics are better because they come across as more abstract. The advantage to this is that your brain has to fill in the blanks, and no matter how powerful our computers get, our brains continue to be way more powerful (at least in ways that matter in this domain). When I was playing FFVII I wasn't seeing the blocky 3D models that the game actually has. I was seeing fully detailed world. It was too abstract to answer all of my questions, and so my brain had to "guess" on some of the details and fill in the blanks. And the result was wondrous. They did have FMV sequences with better graphics, but they were still pretty dull by today's standards, and they only showed to pieces of the world so you still had to do your share of imagining.

That's something that I think has been partially lost in today's AAA sphere. The graphics are detailed enough that there's not much room left for your imagination. As a result, the studio had better do a fantastic job of imagining and presenting the world to the player or it won't "pop" the way it could. There are games that do a great job of this, and there are games that fall short. The ones that fall short are in limbo. They're too detailed for the imagination to take over, but too vague to really communicate everything the player wants to know about the world. The result is that the immersion is lost. And for games that are not pure mechanical that's game breaking.

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
avatar

I actually hate that pack.

I'm not surprised.

I had a small part in the hi-res pack back when it was first put together by fans at the 3DRealms forums. I done the magazine with the partially nude woman (Poser 4 rendered), though I see someone touched up some of the text on it since, the bulk of it is my work. And a simple crate texture.

When the project was first started there were no 3D models, but having high res textures and low res, flat 2D characters just don't mix. So the best thing was to have 3D models with high-res, you can then choose which you want to play with.

As for dating the game, well, umm... it IS dated! Those 3D models date it later than the game actually is no matter how you look at it.

For those that like it, like me, it is at least an option.

-------

On a completely different topic, I found this fascinating video on Technicolor which explains the history of it. It actually helps explain CMYK as well. Quite the complex system.

video

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“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
avatar

bamccaig said:

Hopefully they'd find the things they're actually good at and naturally enjoy, instead of being forced to do jobs they are bad at or hate.

For the sake of conversation, let's say that such a system did come into fruition... So the basics are taken care of, but that leaves a few questions:

1. How would such a system be funded? How would it continue to be funded for decades or centuries thereafter? And how would that funding impact global trade?

2. Why would people working hard labor jobs (such as farming or construction) continue to do so if there is no monetary incentive to do so (assuming robots aren't doing all of that by the time such a system came into being)?

3. Is it reasonable to believe that everyone has something beneficial to offer to society? How do you define what is and is not beneficial, and wouldn't that lead to more of a utilitarian style of government?

4. What would you do with your time if you were a part of this system?

Also, I was watching a video about OpenGL and guess who I saw in the comments! :o

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Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
avatar

Why should I bust my balls to make ends meet while part of my income goes to pay for others to live off of "the government's dime" and not work? I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'd like to be.

Proverbs 19:17 (NIV)
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”

Psalm 82:3-4 (NIV)
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV)
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Matthew 19:21 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

There's one thing Jesus or His apostles never said to a beggar; "GET A JOB!!!"

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“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy



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