• 26May 08

  I Dream of a 4X which...

  ..will be an excellent paragon of its genre and would blend the best features of games such as:

  Technology tree and research system from: Moo2

  Ground Battles from: Moo2

  Leaders & NPC's from: Moo2

  Story & Space Monsters: Moo2

  Trade & Freight system: Moo2

  Races & Starting traits/customization: Moo2

  Boarding & Capturing Ships: Moo2

  Resources & Production: GalCiv2

  Events & Disasters: GalCiv2

  Interface & Colors: GalCiv2

  Animatics / Cinematics: GalCiv2

  Government & Elections: GalCiv2

  Alignment System: GalCiv2

  Tax & (sub)Allocating funds: GalCiv2

  Galaxy Council: GalCiv2

  Diplomacy: SE5

  Ship & Unit Design: SE5

  Supplies & Ordnance System: SE5

  Fleet Management: SE5

  Modability: SE5

  Space Battles: SOASE / Starwars EAW.

  Do you think of anything better than that?

  *Moo2 = Master of Orion2 - Battle at Antares

  *SE5 = Space Empires V
  

  *SOASE = Sins of a Solar Empire

  *GalCiv2 = Galactic Civilizations 2.

  • Posted May 26, 2008 4:35 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 2Dec 07

  Ultimate Fetter by VISTA

  Well, if you are reading this, know that it is a warning of the VISTA will ruin your day sooner or later.

  I was very hapy to find one of the ACER 5920G Laptops with an NVIDIA 8600GT model with a very reasonable price a month ago. Of course i didnt have any clue of whats gonna run me insane when i was heading home with the machine, with a huge smile on my face.

  My happy days were over when i realized my pre-loaded WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM shown compatibility problems with XP games i already own like airline tycoon, axis & allies, hearts of iron2 -doomsday etc. Yes, vista is not compatible with even very simple games like the ones i mentioned even with the every compatiblity option tried, its a no go. Games which execute, come up with weird things that hinder you to play them. Axis & Allies, Airline tycoon evolution strangely slows down after 5 mins of play(notice that they are very simple games which have nothing to do with 3D graphics and un-demanding games by means of GPU) and Hearts of Iron-2 doomsday version keeps flickering the screen makes the whole thing annoying. I know it is because of VISTA because i was playing them with my Ex-Laptop (HP pavillion with an NVIDIA Go 7400 GPU) with XP like butter on ice. (I have over 100 games and i like revisiting old games occasionaly)

  There are also other software problems like, VISTA can not run AutoCAD 2006 or older, ridiculous crashes on Office 2003 and 2007 applications. Some extension of Firefox doesnt work (with stupid errors) and even they work, they work unstabe and cause you to tear your hair out! Also there are well known problems with VISTA not able to perform an easy connection with Wireless networks. That means when you are inbound of a WiFi coverage of the hotel you stay and want to use the free service, you have to ask the reception to change the settings of their Network so that your VISTA can connect to it??? Fragging awesome(!)

  It is definitely not worth to buy VISTA over XP by all means, as my friends also keep telling me, their performance were much better with XP during games and their FPS' was decreased greately with VISTA. The only benefit of a VISTA is an eye candy (The Aero interface) which is absolutely not worth the suffering, i dont even mention the cost.

  The real problem is VISTA is being imposed to us, to USERS of laptops as almost every laptop released is marketted with a pre-loaded VISTA. I can hear you say, "what is the big deal? just format it and install a fresh copy of XP" well, my friend, i wish it was just easy as it is.. Most of the Laptops released with a pre-loaded VISTA, are supplied with only VISTA drivers for their hardwares. Yes mate, if you format it and load XP on it, you will not find any drivers for your poor machine!!! This utterly leaves me o choice but to keep using this fragging crap called VISTA.

  Well ACER 5920G is a top of the line machine, an outstanding model but VISTA ruins everything. I think we must protest MICROSOFT (somehow?) for not for releasing such a junk product but her dictating us and forcing us to use this crap by preventing any alternatives. (Just like de-promoting XP on majority of laptops.)

  • Posted Dec 2, 2007 1:37 pm PT
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• 3Sep 07

  PTO2 improvements study;

  PTO2 improvements study;
  Mentat 2007
  
  * Graphic improvements:
  -Overall graphics must be improved, work should be started on releasing 256 bit color limit and 640x480 resolution.
  -Ship icons, Aircraft illustrations, Battle screen animations, are the first in line for improvements.
  -By the resolution limit lifted, 3x3 grids could be increased up to 5x5
  -Battles are not necessarily to be modeled realistically but they must offer more eye candy.
  -Animations for the newly invented technologies should be displayed before monthly conferences.
  
  * Interface improvements:
  -"Menu opens another menu" system should be purged. more comfortable icon interface should be implemented.
  -Ships that are damaged in game should be shown with red in info screen.
  -After battle report should always be shown (at least there should be an option for it) by means of losses and damages.
  -Battle screen should be kept for its simplicity but should be improved by means of providing more information for the player.
  -In Organizing aircraft screen, aircraft experience points should also be shown.
  -"Materials" consept should be renamed by "Supplies".
  -Info screen for Ships and aircraft should contain "Equipments" that are applied such as radar, rockets etc.
  -Mouse wheel should be usable in game, for zoom in & out, and panning abilities.
  -Patrol efficiency and range for the bases should be displayed on map.
  -Base geographical difficulty (rough terrain etc) should be displayed on map.
  -Marines attack & defence efficiencies for the current technology and geography should be displayed on the map.
  -Aircraft attack & defence efficiency for the current technology and weather conditions, should be displayed before commencing/during an attack.
  -Days to repair/build for a base structure (docks, airfileds) should be displayed (as a countdown)in map.
  
  * Gameplay improvements:
  -AI should be improved. It should have given the ability to perform well planned attacks.
  -the game must be either real time or Mobility points should be overhauled. It can bear a blend of both actually. (Realtime but Turns counting.)
  -Mobility points for Formation should be set to 1pts.
  -"Debark" command for marines from a fleet should be set to 1 pts.
  -Aircraft assignments from bases to carriers should be allowed due the range of aircraft to be assigned.
  -"Drill" should be renamed into "train" and there should be an "auto-train" feature that will relieve the player to hit drill numerous times each turn.
  -There must be an "auto-assign" function for the regiments that are damaged to be reinforceed automatically every turn.
  -Marines ordered to move to a location must be shown of their routes on map and they should turn red if their move is interrupted.
  -Materials transfered from "Base Ops" screen should not send the materials instantly. Shipment times should be considered now.
  -Besides Naval & Aerial Abilities for generals, "Combat" ability for ground fights should be added.
  -Total Sunk ships and downed aircraft should be displayed on a statistical chart along with the submarine efficiency (Transports sunk)
  
  * Structure:
  -A new tech tree must be prepared with extended options and players can see which investment will bring what.
  -More information must be presented by the new techs. what they do, what they improve.
  -Material (or supplies) should be spent more for game balance. Ships, bases should request more of materials.
  -Overpowered submarines should be down-powered. And their transport hunting should be up-powered.
  -Ship design should be overhauled, interface should contain "Production time", "Cost" as well. And features must be balanced like 2 units of armor should not be equal to 2 units of materials space.
  -Aircraft and transports should take time to be produced, they are available instantly now despite the game says 7 days of production?
  -The routes of Fleets and submarines should be shown on map, by a faint blue? line. it is often hard to spot which one is going where.
  -Game advances too slow by the structure it is now, for it will still be turn based game, at least "Move phase" and "Act phase" should be merged for a faser game. (60 turns for a month will be 30 turns for a month)
  -Bases should have basic AA protection even if there are no troops present in the area.
  -Foreign relations should play more role in game.

  

  • Posted Sep 3, 2007 8:17 am PT
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