zigzag

[quote]Doesn’t anyone mind that the FBI (a law enforcement agency) can propose legislation? Well, why should they… after all, corporate lobbyists have been doing that for years. That it’s basically a police agency shouldn’t bother anyone, right? They’re just looking out for us. Just as they always have. They have our best interests at heart, and we should trust them.[/quote] This isn't uncommon. Federal agencies aren't generally prohib

[quote who="mastroego" reply="32" id="3145633"]I don't know why they keep designing tech trees this way. It's not like you can develop a high tech auto-homing missile without researching electronics and miniaturization first: knowledge is not sectorial in reality. Seems like meaningful tech trees can only be found in Civ and Alpha Centauri, still.[/quote] I wouldn't worry about it too much. None of the specific technologies seem like they would obviously require other spec

[quote who="mastroego" reply="28" id="3145556"] What I mean is a tech tree with interconnections between different fields of knowledge, like in Alpha Centauri: things like new weaponry requiring breakthroughs in physics and so on. Because that's how it should be, logically. Does it work something like that? [ That's one reason I stayed clear of Galactic Civilizations. I saw tech trees going something like Laser I -> Laser II -> Laser III and thought "eewww!". ]<b

[quote who="seanw3" reply="5" id="3143591"]If I were teaching a philosophy class, I might start with [b]Final Destination[/b] over this one. It engages the audience in death much better than this untouchable mess. [/quote] It's a good thing that you're not teaching a philosophy class, then. :-p

Whoa! The FBI are really in need of a competent graphics designer.

What exactly are you looking for? If you're looking for books on game design, I can't recommend any. All of the game/software design books that I've read are oriented towards team management, which isn't relevant for sole developers. (And most "business" literature is trash anyways.) If you're looking for books on game architecture, there are a number of good ones, but the best are all genre- or domain-specific (i.e. books on shooters, real-time-strategy, etc. or book

[quote who="shadowtongue" reply="1" id="3112470"]On the other hand a new MoO would be unlikely to be better than the slew of good space 4x seen since MoO3 died out. SotS, Sins, GalCiv2 even...[/quote] Heretic. MOO2 still is [i]still[/i] the best space 4x.

[quote who="Emperor_Nero" reply="6" id="3088125"]We own the rights to play the game, and they own the rights to the intellectual property and if they take away our rights to play the game as they see fit [/quote] Users don't own the right to play the game. The rightsholder licenses the right to play the game to users. This license is subject to certain conditions determined by the rightsholder.

In fairness, I can solve complex optimization problems involving millions of operations just by glancing at the screen. The computer can't do that.

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="11" id="3042210"]I take my lore from Wookipedia as well as the various novels. Plus, when I was writing Destiny's Embers, my editors were the same editors of the Star Wars EU books and I got to hear a lot of lore from them. But basically, the Sith are certainly evil from the Jedi point of view. The Sith believe that civilizations grow and improve by competition and conflict. They are similar to "The shadows" in the Babylon 5 universe.<br

It'll be interesting to see whether the game stays close to the original's formula (C&C does StarCraft), if it moves closer to some of the other games in the series, or if it's something else entirely.

Companies should not work on any downloadable/expansion material until after the game is published.

[quote who="Alstein" reply="9" id="3025388"]My guess: it costs money. Why would Steam let you use their services without getting a cut of the money?[/quote] This is a very good reason for Steam to let them use their services for "free". If I could re-register on Steam or GamersGate, I'd do so immediately. [quote who="bonscott" reply="3" id="3025216"]Excellent. I can re-buy Sins on Steam and [b]get rid of Gamestop completely.[/b] Then again if Stardock Cen

I'll offer a minority opinion. Neither. Distant Worlds is a real-time, macromanagement game. (Full disclosure: I love micromanaging and hate macromanagement games.) It's a game that aims at achieving the strategic depth of a traditional game and the tactical depth of a real-time game, but succeeds at neither. The game has too many mechanics at the strategic level for its pace. The upcoming expansion will only add to this. Sins navigates this tension by jet

[quote who="Yarlen" reply="42" id="3021384"]We're trying to time out the marketing stuff to coincide best with the intended release date. We don't want to drop a bunch of details right now when there's lots of new games coming out and the holidays approaching, cause only real fans like you guys are paying attention. Later this month I will be starting up a dev series about the factions in rebellion, why they split, and the titans they're bringing to the war.

[quote who="Itharus" reply="44" id="3017945"]Funny, I thought SOASE was supposed to be an RTS4X hybrid? When did it become just another RTS? IMO my comparison is perfectly valid. Especially since combat in SOTS is also real-time.[/quote] Of course you [i]can[/i] compare the games' complexity, but it isn't an [i]interesting[/i] comparison. The crucial design difference between SOASE and SOTS is that SOASE players handle combat simultaneously with other elements of empire manage

[quote who="Campaigner" reply="29" id="3017477"]I understand it's turnbased with realtime battles. Is it realtime like Dawn of War & StarCraft or realtime with pause like Knights of the Old Republic?[/quote] It's fully realtime, although you can choose to pause. [quote who="Campaigner" reply="29" id="3017477"]Do you build buildings that generate money, research and production like Master of Magic and GalCiv II ?[/quote] You generate money primarily by co

[quote] Its more than SoTS with bloom. Its SoTS, taken to a new level. Its more complex than the original. Looks to have alot more depth also. SoTS vets, will have to relearn alot of the game just like a brand new player to the universe would.[/quote] <span class="Apple-style-span"

[quote] If you guys can describe the game beyond what the sales pitch is I'd appreciate it. I'm curious, but not enough to buy it without some more info.[/quote] In a sentence: it's SOTS with bloom. Despite the changes, it's still the same macro-management-oriented space strategy

[quote who="Sinperium" reply="4" id="3012807"]Note that under the "military" that all the ones offered there are ones I suggested. Now if only my arms were long enough to reach around my head so I could comfortably pat myself on the back...[/quote] You didn't recommend Dune. :-p Although in your defense, it's not exactly a military sci-fi series.

[quote] He engaged in nation building, a purely progressive philosophy espoused by a broad spectrum of your loony left presidents including LBJ, Kennedy, FDR, Wilson and Carter. When realists, also known as Conservatives, bomb the shit out of someone else for fucking with us, we leave when the job is done. We don't stay to play suzie homemaker with the next bunch of jumped up dictators funding terrorists, as they're bloody likely

They may support bigger government than you'd like, but their stance on taxes is hardly progressive.

[quote]Never played but have seen a little of it 13 years ago. have no idea how the MoO series works.[/quote] You should put your work/family/etc. on hold and find out. :-D Definitely worth it.

Does this game have a permanent third-person mode? First-person perspectives usually make me sick to my stomach after thirty minutes or so.

[quote who="Stant123" reply="414" id="2982344"]Jesus Hootie Christ... Read the very first line of the text you quoted...[/quote] Whoosh?