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Geek Culture / Is anyone excited about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 16:35 Edited at: 28th Dec 2005 16:36
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I'm sorta the opposite of Fallout - I hate being the centre of attention in games.

e.g "The fate of the kingdom rests in your hands now young one - now go and kill those 5 trolls"

I loved NWN style gameplay where you're just a nobody running around the town and doing good deeds for people. Don't really like reading those long ass "History" conversations that spend 15 minutes talking about whatever place I am currently in. I wanna hack people!!


The cat era has begun.
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Fallout
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 17:00
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Dont gemme wrong dude. I like games like CoD and battlefield where you can keep your head down and a lot of it rages on without you. I like to feel like I am a cog in the system, but at the same time, I dont like feeling like its necessary to care about the world around me. I like to think it'll do its own thing, without my having to invest time in liking it.

The whole lore thing is fine if you're a big reader and are happy to invest time in being emmersed in your surroundings, but I expect the emmersion to jump out at me. If I need to know about some terrible attrocity that happened in history, I want to walk into a section of the world which has a massive monument marking it, or a museam, and an NPC that actually tells me a story about it, while I'm walking around. I dont want to have to stand still and look at him. lol. And i dont want to read about it in a window of text.

This isn't a reflection of me in real life. In real life I'm fascinated by history, and happy to read about it, watch it on tele etc. But I'm far more impatient with games. I think this might be because I've outgrown them a lot, so whenever I start reading a paragraph of lore, I can't help thinking some dude has sat down and made this all up. It's all complete crap, and I'm having to invest a significant amount of time reading some crap some compo geek has made up, and it's not convincing me - nor is it normally interesting. They try and make it realistic by keeping it fairly mundane ... old granny higgins found out how to make smoothy blueberry pie using that mangot root and pickle lentils. But she didnt did she? You made that up, and it's not interesting enough for me to suspend my disbelief and get into it.

Yeah, being cynical again. So the reason why I'm really liking Oblivion so far is I can get my kicks of emmersion and feel like I'm there, and learn a lot about it via the visuals and NPCs actually speaking to me etc. Well, we'll see anyway.

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Ian T
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 20:47
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Quote: "They try and make it realistic by keeping it fairly mundane ... old granny higgins found out how to make smoothy blueberry pie using that mangot root and pickle lentils. But she didnt did she? You made that up, and it's not interesting enough for me to suspend my disbelief and get into it."


That's primarily because 99% of game developers have no clue how to write a story or design a world. I imagine games will start to get more entertaining and immersive when Hollywood-calibre writers start getting hired for projects more often.

And that's another reason I like TES so much, too; it has more detailed, complex and most importantly of all, original lore, than any other fantasy game or series I've ever played. Except those based off of Tolkein's work, of course, and those games were all hack-jobs anyway.


Arr
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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 21:00
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Well, we're kinda getting side-tracked when we start to think games need a Hollywood writer in order to have a good story.

Like Fallout said, I like my story expressed and flowing through game events: I don't wanna read 9 paragraphs about the great ancient dragon who terrorised the city - I wanna walk in on the ruined city myself and explore for abit finding clues, seeing some survivors etc.


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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 21:14
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Hell, even CGI movies will do.


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Tinkergirl
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 21:19
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I'm definitely with you on the "Show, don't tell" school of scene setting, however, I still like to read the books.

If the game wasn't there, and if the books didn't sometimes have little nuggets of information that I'll find relevant later, then heck no - I wouldn't read them.

But, to be able to take time out from orcocide, daedracide, or whatever species I happen to be wiping out at the time, and just chill in a bookshop somewhere, or in the secret (and until recently locked) private study of a wizard somewhere - and read some well written backstory - keeps me happy.

The fact that many of these books give information that later you'll see the effects of, keeps me even happier. To know that what to someone else might just look like a slightly damaged, ugly statue, to me is the petrified form of Ikthin, Orc Chieftan - because I read the backstory, is pretty cool.

However, I'm definitely with you on how horribly boring pages and pages of dialogue are, especially when you just want to get on to the next introduction between foe and broadsword. Horribly dull, and more often than not - I'll skip past it, missing anything important.

So, hmm, do I have a point?

I like my backstory to be well written, optional, occasionally relevant, and opt-in.
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Ian T
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 21:25
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Quote: "Like Fallout said, I like my story expressed and flowing through game events: I don't wanna read 9 paragraphs about the great ancient dragon who terrorised the city"


But that doesn't have anything to do with whether there's a good writer onboard. Good writers can make better immersive scenes, evoke better atmosphere, et cetera. It doesn't matter whether the script they're writing is a book you don't have to read or a piece of plot-critical dialogue; if it's well written, it improves the game.


Arr
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Xtreme RPGamer
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 22:33
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I thought i might just tell you that half of the space on the oblivion cd is 50 hours of talking dialouge, of other people talking to you properly, not with text in a box.

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The admiral
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 22:58
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Well i dont think any computer would be fast enough to match the 360 yet anyway.

The admiral
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Ian T
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 23:28
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Quote: "Well i dont think any computer would be fast enough to match the 360 yet anyway."


They are


Arr
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Xtreme RPGamer
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Posted: 28th Dec 2005 23:44 Edited at: 28th Dec 2005 23:45
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yup, they are, my pc is pretty good, for what it is and the 360 is a third better, and my pc has a 7800gtx graphics card and a dual core 64-bit processor. The model is a Dell 9100

And why wouldnt Pc's be better, its just that nobody owns one. How do you recon all the games are made for the 360, there all made first on really powerfull computers.

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Ian T
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 00:36
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Quote: "How do you recon all the games are made for the 360, there all made first on really powerfull computers."


That's actually one of the reasons that the 360 had so few launch titles; it was impossible to develop games that realized its full potential until a year or two ago, and even that was with bleeding-edge hardware that wasn't on the market yet. As this is the first line of consoles that is more powerful than the average gaming PC as of their release date, they're all going to have less games in development beforehand, and only the later titles will realize their full potential as a platform.


Arr
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Fallout
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 01:49
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That sucks a lot. I've always enjoyed that fact that when people picked up an XBox or a PS2, my PC always peaced all over them from a great height. Now you're telling me my £2000 custom build AMD SLI monster is slower than a poxy game console?

It's a sad day indeed. I guess at least most people will be plugging them into their lame TVs though and undoing all the good work.

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Ian T
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 03:05
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Quote: "Now you're telling me my £2000 custom build AMD SLI monster is slower than a poxy game console?"


Maybe if you were using Crossfire it'd be ahead


Arr
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The admiral
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 05:47
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Yeah i guess but how many people will be buying the top of the range computer technology when they can just get a 360 for a few hundred not thousand. Besides compters dont have triple cores yet only double.

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Les Horribres
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 08:26
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Uhh, I am NOT going to buy a 360, I am an XBOX user, but only because I wanted a few games that weren't on PC at the time.

But as for your little redundant remark.
In 6 months technologys will start development
In 1 year, the XBOX 360 will be out of date.
In 4 years the XBOX 720 will be released.

And upgrading is only 300-500 dollars. It doesn't cost too much. (Well, I still need to buy RAM, so that is extra for me).

Merranvo, The Cool One

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Fallout
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 12:00
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I'm guessing Microsoft make a significant loss on the consoles anyway. There's no way they can ship that sorta technology sub £300 and make a profit? Maybe it's just a break even price tag. That would also explain why its hard to get one because they need to negotiate the cheapest possible production costs/source the cheapest materials.

I guess they take a healthy rake from the game sales, cos as usual, these games are £15 - £20 more than PC games. At a guess, I'd say £20-£25 of that is the MS rake. That's the only way I can see them making money.

As for Oblivion, we all know it'll play better on the PC with a keyboard and mouse, the construction set, the availability of mods, and the constant crashing to the desktop which keeps you on the edge of your seat.

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Les Horribres
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 12:03 Edited at: 29th Dec 2005 14:03
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Well, at least your computer won't catch on fire. Can't say that for the 360, all those cheap materials...

you have to wonder, how this guy who made these videos, couldn't even handle to play normally, without cheats.

Merranvo, The Cool One

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Xtreme RPGamer
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 15:36
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The 360 is losing money for Microsoft, but because Bill Gates is such a rich man he can afford the prices from the loses. He's trying to dominate the market, and he has gained alot of ground on the sales of all console.

Microsoft is also releaseing a new console in 5 years, where Sony are releasing one in 10 years. Now the maximum pontential of these consoles wont be reached until the 3 year mark. And because the Ps3 is more powerful, the console will probably look more impressive around the 4 year mark. But, then Microsoft will release the new xbox wich will be more powerfull than the P23 by triple, maybe quadruple.

P.s The reason Sony wont release a new console until 10 years from no is because they cant keep up with the prices, thats why their charging aroun 600-700 pounds for one. Bill Gates on the other hand can afford these loses, so he can keep charging low prices.

Plus the P23 hasnt got many developers following behind them. Final Fantasy(square enix) are now working for the 360, and EA are now working for the 360, they have over 30 titles coming for release for the 360 by the end of next year. Microsoft are doing the same to Sony, as Sony did to Nintendo. Their buying everyone out.

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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 15:47
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Quote: "and the constant crashing to the desktop which keeps you on the edge of your seat."


Amen. PC power all the way!


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Fallout
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 18:41
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I wonder what Bill Gate's motives are for all of his monopolies. Dunno whether he thinks he's doing everyone a favour by providing solutions from a massive company, or whether it's pure greed, or just because he's a horrendously geeky chap and teased as a child and he's still getting back at the world.

Bill, if you're reading this, fill us in please.

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Cash Curtis III
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 19:04 Edited at: 29th Dec 2005 19:06
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That's a good question there lad.

And the answer to that will be made publicly avaliable with the release of Longhorn, for only $499.99.

Thank you for asking.

-Billy

"You fools!"
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Xtreme RPGamer
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 19:39 Edited at: 29th Dec 2005 21:31
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Hey Bill

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Ian T
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 20:09
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Quote: "I'm guessing Microsoft make a significant loss on the consoles anyway. There's no way they can ship that sorta technology sub £300 and make a profit?"


The entire console division is a big loss leader for their push to dominate the market. They're losing $128 per new $400 Xbox 360, somewhat less per $300 model. The Xboxes themselves also lost money, though not as much. Whether the games will make up for the loss this time around, as they had hoped for last time, remains to be seen. But they've certainly managed to carve out a place in a very competetive market, which is no mean feat.

Quote: "I wonder what Bill Gate's motives are for all of his monopolies. Dunno whether he thinks he's doing everyone a favour by providing solutions from a massive company, or whether it's pure greed, or just because he's a horrendously geeky chap and teased as a child and he's still getting back at the world."


MS is bigger than Bill Gates at this point; he could die or fly off to Mars in a spaceship and they'd keep on growing without him. I doubt he could shut the company down if he tried. Companies try to grow, that's how it works, and frankly I don't find MS too scary - with all the competition they're recieving from all sides, they have more incentive to make good products than ever before. Monopolies are good for nobody, but big companies competing is often a good thing.


Arr
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Cash Curtis III
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 21:33 Edited at: 29th Dec 2005 21:33
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Quote: "what are your exact thoughts towards the 360"


It's a marketing distraction until we are ready to release our master creation: A an Xbox that plugs straight into your brain and controls your finances for you - you never have to decide which console to buy again!

Quote: "what university did you go to, why did you drop out, and what does your house look like"


That, my customer friend, is a question for my lawyers.

"You fools!"
-Bill gates
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Xtreme RPGamer
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 21:36 Edited at: 29th Dec 2005 21:42
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lol I was only joking, and i thought it was a bit mean to ask all those questions so i changed my post. But still your a funy guy.

One question though. My brother bought an xbox360, and i offered to pay half but he said no, so when he got it, he could tell me to get off whenever he wants. And now, all games coming out for xbox360 and pc(our pc could run them all on full graphics, its powerful) he wants me to get them on the xbox360, i asked himwhy and he said that it will run better. Now, im not stupid or young, so i know its because that if i get it on the xbox360 he can tell me to get off whenever he wants, and play my game, even if i own it!!! A man like you should know what to do, What should i do???

I Riff therefore I am
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Les Horribres
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Posted: 29th Dec 2005 22:10
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He may own the box, but you own the games. So when he tells you to get off, wait a few min, then take the Game DVD and say that you need to clean it or what not.

Merranvo, The Cool One

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Xtreme RPGamer
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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 00:02
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But whenever i take the game, he says crap like, "your off it for the rest of the day", or "your off it for the rest of the week", and then if i say fine you can play it he plays it for about 3 hours. And then he lets me on for about 1 hour, thens hes back on. Plus, when i got the game he said it will be a waste of money, and that it'll be crap. Well, look at him now, he plays it whenever he gets the chance.

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Fallout
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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 02:11
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Thanks for dropping by Mr Gates and answering my question .... in a very suspicious way.

Would you mind telling me why foot-and-mouth is the only virus that can't spread through Outlook?

Oh, and could you justify your evil Word paper clip???


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Cash Curtis III
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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 05:29 Edited at: 30th Dec 2005 05:29
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45% of our employees use that Word feature - it's much cheaper than laying people off!

Thank you for your support my British customer - I hear you're making a PC Zombie game where you get to shoot your Girlfriend in the head? That sounds very Mircosoft, leave your contact information with me and we'll talk.

"You fools!"
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Les Horribres
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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 06:44
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I say take all the games away from him for a week, delete his saves. Then proceed to beat the snot out of him. Trust me, he will never bother you again.

Merranvo, The Cool One

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Fallout
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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 12:44
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Quote: "I hear you're making a PC Zombie game where you get to shoot your Girlfriend in the head?"


Your industrial espionage skills are second to none, but you neglect to mention that when you shoot your girlfriend in the face, she is already one of the undead .... and there's another love interest to keep the player content. Making out I'm producing a game where you just pop caps into loved ones randomly is quite slanderous, but I doubt I can beat your lawyers, so I won't be sueing ....... this time.

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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 14:13
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My Brother is 19 and im 14, and if i delete his saves, well, he owns the box, think of all the things he could do.

I Riff therefore I am
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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 16:07
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I don't like this. He knows too much.


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Les Horribres
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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 18:45 Edited at: 30th Dec 2005 18:45
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Even better, just threaten to call his friends and tell them that he is still living with mommy. Is Little Mommy's boy going to college yet?

But back to the subject...
I read that you would need a 256MB GPU, and 1GB Ram with 2ghz to run this, or so said at one time, but I am more curious how many people don't actually have a configuration close to this. the 2ghz is probally higher now, but still...

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Posted: 30th Dec 2005 20:04
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I do, and i probably have more than the specs neeeded.

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Thetyrant
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Posted: 31st Dec 2005 01:25
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Saw the video behind close doors at the following years E3 Expo in LA. It was very beautiful game.. the depth and livid shaders and light rendering ont he art and full enviroment is truley grand.. It reminds me of 3dMarks Testing video of the babbling brook. i dont know.. But looks like a very nice game.. hopefully the game play is going to be vast like the last game.

-=CommonersChantGames=-
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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 31st Dec 2005 19:24
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I still think this game in development looks cooler:




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Dot Merix
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Posted: 31st Dec 2005 19:53
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Isnt that just a 3d render?


WindowsXP Home(Service pack 2), Athlon XP 2400+(2.01Ghz), 1GIG Ram, Ati Radeon 9800Pro 128MB.
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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 31st Dec 2005 20:53
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Shut it!


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Les Horribres
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Posted: 31st Dec 2005 21:19
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It has improved a lot since that E3 expo, or the recording I found, I must agree with the dev's , waiting and optumizing the engine was an excellent choice.

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The admiral
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Posted: 1st Jan 2006 22:35
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How has it improved since the vids?

The admiral
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Kangaroo2 BETA2
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Posted: 1st Jan 2006 23:33
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Well I've never really played a game like this properly. But I've just watched a 360 [review video and I have to say its the best looking 360 game I've seen so far...


Preorder EA here:http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=67575&b=8&p=0
+ Model Pro out now in Program Announcements!
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Xtreme RPGamer
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Thats what, i say. My brother disagrees, i think its because he doesnt play RPG's. He plays first person shooters.

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Les Horribres
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Posted: 2nd Jan 2006 21:05
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Okay, I have a bad memory, IGN, not e3...

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Videos.Detail&id=55

This was from (05/19/2005). You can see the persistance the team has to get "everything perfect" although the game was playable, although they could make so many quick 'patchs' and just release it. Look at what was, and what they have achieved now. And what they continue doing, to get it to perfection.

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Ian T
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Posted: 3rd Jan 2006 04:41
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I don't think it has so much to do with tuning the game to perfection as it does with them getting their collective asses whipped by Microsoft if they release a buggy product onto their valuable console. But in general principle, I agree.


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Jeku
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Posted: 3rd Jan 2006 08:32
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Quote: "I don't think it has so much to do with tuning the game to perfection as it does with them getting their collective asses whipped by Microsoft if they release a buggy product onto their valuable console. But in general principle, I agree."


Actually the three major console manufacturers have strict testing guidelines that every title must adhere to. Basically they will test the crap out of the game and deny it for the smallest guidelines violation (i.e. loading screen displaying too long, etc.) As for game bugs themselves, ones that affect the game only (aside from crash bugs), there's really nothing MS can do except warn them about the bugs.


Automaton Games website has been revamped! Check it out!
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Tinkergirl
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Quote: "Actually the three major console manufacturers have strict testing guidelines that every title must adhere to. Basically they will test the crap out of the game and deny it for the smallest guidelines violation (i.e. loading screen displaying too long, etc.)"


Unless of course your game is 'too big' to fail on TRC's or RTC's (I think the second one is right, for XBox) - then they'll casually look the other way for a few B-Class bugs. If you've got the cash, or your game will net them a hell of a lot of publicity and/or direct console sales, then what's a few bugs between friends?

(Sounds cynical? We've all seen games by huge companies get through with some stonkers of bugs that a blind tester with both hands tied behind his back would have spotted.)
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Jeku
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Joined: 4th Jul 2003
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Posted: 3rd Jan 2006 22:11
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Quote: "(Sounds cynical? We've all seen games by huge companies get through with some stonkers of bugs that a blind tester with both hands tied behind his back would have spotted.)"


Enter the Matrix comes to mind....


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Les Horribres
18
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Joined: 20th Nov 2005
Location: My Name is... Merry
Posted: 4th Jan 2006 02:50
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Quote: "I don't think it has so much to do with tuning the game to perfection as it does with them getting their collective asses whipped by Microsoft if they release a buggy product onto their valuable console. But in general principle, I agree."

Halo 2 comes to mind... Microsoft didn't care about "bugs" then.

Merranvo, The Cool One

Anti-Noob Justice League, an ANJL of Mercy.
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