Poor Man's Starbound?

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AuthorTopic: Poor Man's Starbound?
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #75
Of all these graemlins I've probably used ' :P ' most, and ' :) ' second. I like that smiling face more than the corresponding one on any other board - for some reason it looks so friendly. :)

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
Profile #76
Your ordering of the emoticons is coming dangerously close. Are you trying to summon the Black one?

*this message sponsored by :passout: and :argue:*

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WWtNSD?
Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00
Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
Profile #77
quote:
Originally written by Thuryl:

Hmm. Try transferring the file to a DOS-formatted floppy instead of a Mac-formatted one?
I've been transferring tons of files both ways using only DOS-formatted disks, so that's not the problem.
Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00
? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
Profile #78
quote:
Originally written by Icshi:

quote:
Originally written by Thuryl:

Hmm. Try transferring the file to a DOS-formatted floppy instead of a Mac-formatted one?
I've been transferring tons of files both ways using only DOS-formatted disks, so that's not the problem.

Did you format it as bootable? That tends to reduce usable disk space. On a side note, I just built a computer with no floppy drive. I feel just awful about it though, so I may put one in eventually.

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WWtNSD?
Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #79
Why not get a 128 meg USB stick? They're going to be giving those things away in breakfast cereal soon.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
Profile #80
This is an old Compaq from the early '90s. It only has a floppy drive.

And no, these disks were not reformatted or tinkered with in any way. My iMac can read and write just fine in DOS format, which it does on these DOS-formatted disks. I've had no other problems with these disks — just now, for some reason, they seem to think 1.3 MB is bigger than 1.44 MB... It's like the bloody thing suddenly thinks the eye of the needle is bigger than the camel, and I'm trying to get the camel to eat the needle. Or something.

The mystery continues...

[ Tuesday, January 10, 2006 13:39: Message edited by: Icshi ]
Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00
...b10010b...
Member # 869
Profile Homepage #81
The problem is that a 1.44 MB disk doesn't actually have a capacity of 1.44 MB, for some definitions of "MB". It's the whole megabyte/mibibyte thing.

Anyway, you could always divide a single file over multiple disks using a compression utility (WinZip has an option to do this). Then all you have to worry about is getting WinZip onto your Compaq.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
Profile #82
Gak! To hell with it.
Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #83
quote:
Originally written by Icshi:

Gak!
Gak? Never heard that one before. :P

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I'll put a Spring in your step.
:ph34r:
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #84
It is used when one is gaking on something. Or (as the alternate spelling goes) gacking on something.

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #85
Well, it's all just a long string of 0's and 1's, right? So, you could use some sort of Grep equivalent to find the string, and type it all in by hand. Or just decide that there can't be much interesting in a string of 0's and 1's, and forget about it. Sour greps.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #86
quote:
Originally written by Student of Trinity:

Sour greps.
That hurt.

By the way, this IS the longest active topic on Spiderweb (greatest time span between first and last posts). I've been tossing tables around like crazy in the last few days, and here's another.

+----------+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------+
| topic_id | forum_id | title | years |
+----------+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 8 | 13 | Poor Man's Starbound? | 3.0995 |
| 191 | 15 | Wish list for BoA | 2.5173 |
| 197 | 15 | Leaders of the Empire? | 2.4819 |
| 1104 | 1 | Undead Topics Need Loving Too (aka "Give Me Your First-Born") | 2.4626 |
| 7 | 15 | Refined Wish List | 2.3690 |
| 19 | 15 | We should slim down the wish list | 2.2396 |
| 76 | 15 | Newbie Question: Dual-Wield/Ambidexterity | 1.9272 |
| 5 | 17 | Pathfinding | 1.8341 |
| 898 | 7 | Where should I start designing? | 1.6490 |
| 1810 | 1 | For those who are interested... | 1.4996 |
+----------+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------+


[ Wednesday, January 11, 2006 07:22: Message edited by: Arancaytar ]

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #87
I take it that the numbers on the side are average time (days) between each post?

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I'll put a Spring in your step.
:ph34r:
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #88
No, I was being a moron when labelling the columns and labeled the far right one "days" instead of "years". :rolleyes:

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
Profile #89
quote:
Originally written by Spring:

Gak? Never heard that one before.
"Gak!" Short for: "Aarrggghhh! Why so difficult?!"

IMAGE(http://www.gateworld.net/farscape/s3/graphics/319.jpg)
Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00
Shaper
Member # 5450
Profile Homepage #90
This came up in recent discussion, so bump.

Reading back over the thread, some of it is quite entertaining.

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I'll put a Spring in your step.
:ph34r:
Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #91
That's against the rules of this thread, Spring! This topic may be bumped only when you have something to say - even if posts have to be half a year apart (unless a purge is looming, of course). If it were different, why, just any idiot could keep this thread at the top, and it would soon become no more than an imitation of TM's moniker topic!

Unfortunately, I have nothing more to say except that I haven't played Escape Velocity in far, far too long a time.

[ Monday, July 31, 2006 02:05: Message edited by: Drow ]

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #92
Is it really the case that GC is extremely easy, as people were saying four years ago? I've never played it, although I've intended to, just for laughs.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #93
It's been a while since I touched GC with a ten foot pole, but I remember it as moderately easy. The real lack of difficulty comes from AI with holes you could drive a starship through. You can have the computer waste all its time, energy, and resources and then clean up at your leisure.

—Alorael, who considers it somewhat easier than Starbound 2 with the difficulty turned allt he way down.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #94
It's the dumb man's Starbound.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #95
The real challenge, of course, is to lose the game of losing. Think! How can you manage to get beaten by a machine dumber than a rock? It takes some smarts to do that... :)

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EncyclopaediaArchivesMembersRSS [Topic / Forum] • BlogPolarisNaNoWriMo
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.
I have a love of woodwind instruments.
Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #96
Hmm, yes. I believe we have invented the research field of Artificial Stupidity.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #97
As I recall, I once complained about bad AI in Lost Souls. It's possible that RW's main game-design problem was that his AI's were not I.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #98
Yes, but what made it worse was that he persisted in designing games that made heavy demands on AI. In a lot of games you can kind of finesse around a bad AI most of the time. For instance in Jeff's games the AI rarely has to do anything except fight for a few rounds in one room, after the party kicks the door in, so simple rules like 'blast 'em until you die' don't seem too objectionable. RW's games need the AI to do strategy, which is very hard unless the game itself is trivial.

I wonder if one could make a pseudo-fantastic AI by designing a finite state game simple enough to be solved with a look-up table, but just complicated enough that, with some nice graphical bells and whistles on top of it, no-one would think to analyze your game. I'm thinking something a couple of times more complex than Nim, but so dressed up that no-one will recognize it as a simple game. People will play it looking for light strategic challenge with booms and flashes, and they won't be in the mindset for doing minimax calculations. And they'll be so impressed that the AI puts up such a good fight.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #99
The number of states could be fairly large (say, in the low-double-digit powers of ten), given the processing power of most computers right now. Heck, since one would only have to create the lookup table once and the only computing required after that would actually be using the lookup table, the number of states could be quite high indeed.

We're still talking many, many orders of magnitude simpler than chess, but pretty complex nonetheless.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00

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