Latest forum entries at UVL

re:

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:22:47 +0200

[quote=Sanguine]*snip* or whatever platform you're using for them?[/quote]
Oh, sorry, I tagged the LINUX/UNIX version of Them Mana World (rather than adding a new game). Software wise, Pandora is most closely related to Linux. The Hardware is PDAish. Philosophically its most related to the GP2X (which is often associated with the GP32). I wouldn't object to adding/tagging games in the GP2X platform, and I speculate that the GP32/2X/Pandora community would not overly object to this compromise either.

This could help reduce the dilemma also. True Pandora games could added/tagged in the GP2X platform (despite the hardware and software differences), but Pandora installable games (not built for Pandora) would be tagged (never added) in the LINUX/UNIX platform.

I await community input, and word from the top man.

Zerothis

A Rumor. Details of Apple's Licensing Agreements, whic

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:35:28 +0200

A Rumor.
Details of Apple's Licensing Agreements, which are under NDA terms >:-<, :-@, :-@!, and other facts, strongly suggest that Apple is gonna try again at entering the home game market. They actually, accidentally, did pretty good with the Apple][ as a gaming system, despite a near total 黙殺 of the market. Of course they only ever produced 5 games, and only one from an internal developers, that I know of, and quit publishing before the 1980s. Then they (Steve Jobs) [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II_series#Final_years]murdered the Apple][[/url] (not that I'm bitter at all :-). After that there was the disastrous Pippin. Which notable involved Apple licensing it's OS to a 3rd party! So what's new? Apple has a gaming platform, the iPod, especially the iPod touch. Unlike what they did with the Apple][, Apple is encouraging the game market with its App Store, and it's own games. The rumor is, their gonna maneuver their available library of games to the Apple TV and/or MacMini consoles. But since their Licensing Agreements (>:-<, :-@, :-@!) are under non-disclosure terms (>:-<, :-@, :-@!), no one has access to and the ability to discuss details. (>:-<, :-@, :-@!). I supposedly live in a free country, but to many people here are legally silenced :-(

If they go the MacMini route, then these could simply be classified as OS X games and tagged with MacMini. If they go the AppleTV route, then I think it should be its own platform; actually the platform would be AppleTV (probably new units, which I think should be called AppleTV ][ :) It will be like Apple 8-bit computer/5200. The AppleTV, like the Atari 5200, is just to different from it's computer base to be called the same platform.

Zerothis

Add Pandora in hardware when they're specifically for i

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:28:51 +0200

Add Pandora in hardware when they're specifically for it, and don't have a Linux port or whatever platform you're using for them?

I've tagged the first [game=#171746]Pandora game[/game]

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:55:18 +0200

I've tagged the first [game=#171746]Pandora game[/game] I can confirmed to have been built for and installed on a [url=http://www.uvlist.net/groups/info/pandora]Pandora[/url].
But there are some dilemmas.
Due to the nature of the platform and lack of multiple sources of information, I feel it important to actually confirm its installability on, [i]and[/i] optimization for, the Pandora, for now. At least this is how I will choose to add Pandora games. This is inspite of the claim by the manufacture that all Debian ARM (little-endian) game packages will install on it. I'm not actually sure this should count, eventhough such packages probably considers or uses HID controls instead of keyboard controls, the touchscreen, and are optimized for a small screen (due to the nature of most ARM based platforms/PDA's) they are not necessarily optimized for the Pandora's (which also includes a keyboard, a microphone, multiple drives, and dual analog). Bottom-line, they are not Pandora games, despite installability and playability. It would be like defining GameBoy games as Gameboy Advance games. Once (or [i]if[/i]) the Pandora platform is added, then the Pandora tag could be added to installable NIX games that are not 'Pandora games'. In the meantime, I'm not sure how to tag games that are installable to the Pandora.

Zerothis

The real problem area is the CPUs introduced around the time

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:48:05 +0200

The real problem area is the CPUs introduced around the time 64bit appeared on consumer market (actually slightly before it, but this point seems to have made it even more pronounced). CPU performance seems to have little to do with Hz anymore. Look at Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood for example: 3.2 GHz Pentium 4, 2.66 GHz Pentium D or Athlon 64 3500+ (~2.8-3.2GHz) are mentioned as minimum requirements, so these would therefore be on equal standing performance wise. I have no idea how to handle these other than picking the oldest CPU (P4 in this case) and using it. But there are already games out that don't have support for that generation anymore.

PC hardware

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:49:47 +0200

I've been rolling around my head ideas how to record PC hardware as something else besides articles. The only real problem is CPU speed. (V)RAM is pretty much uniformly required at 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512 sizes and doesn't really require much (although there were cards with less, I don't think games reported required VRAM for less than 4M).

Game media is already covered as is operating systems and their variants. CPU instruction sets are covered as well as there are only few that really matter (MMX and SSE# so far, possibly math co-processor for even older games). Media speed does not need recording, as it's mostly relevant to CDROMs but it was barely ever anything besides 4 or 8x.

The CPU speed works best if we pick out some "milestones" in their usage and state that this or equivalent is sufficient to run the game (whether or not it's exactly the minimum or recommended, as long as it's above the minimum required = round up). Record two if the speeds for minimum and recommended vary greatly (I think I've seen some with 800MHz as min and 3GHz as recommended).

For CPU speeds, something like 120M, 350M, 600M, 800M, 1.4G, 1.8G, 2.4G and 3.2G would cover much. Think slowest Pentium I've seen in requirements was around 66MHz, can't remember the speeds used before that (33M was used, but many games used single digit speeds in the early days).

If hardware allows arbitrary numbers to be associated with the hardware, this would be trivial to have. But I'm more interested in how to do it until that system is upgraded (and if it doesn't do those arbitrary numbers, it wouldn't help one bit to wait).

Same hardware descriptors can be used for Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD, Unix, etc. that can have rather arbitrary hardware attached (meaning, even Amiga could probably share some of these).

Tags would work better initially since I could spam them a bit more freely and see how the stats go and finalize the choices for hardware from there. Probably something like cpu-####mhz (considering the use, these don't need the tag groups set up). Not that enthusiastic about doing this, but it seems useful. Starting with DOS games as they're likely to have least variance. Don't know [i]when[/i] I bother doing this, though.

way off topic

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:39:06 +0200

It doesn't matter if your a fan, or even if you hate it, if you only see one Star Trek production in in your life, its [url=http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/episode_weat.html]WORLD ENOUGH AND TIME[/url]

(Don't watch the trailer, the trailer sucks.)

Zerothis

Split is now complete, didn't create the bringer of cha

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:57:36 +0200

Split is now complete, didn't create the bringer of change group yet. Going to see if I can find good example cases for it first. Trying to tag Ultima games based on what was said in this thread in a moment.

edit: [quote]Note however, an "avatar" differs slightly from a savior. Though The Avatar is not always a savior, he has always been an avatar from the moment of 'enlightenment'. A savior comes to save. Change and possibly even destruction of the old ways are inevitable. But an avatar creates and destroys. The destruction part is always inevitable. Actually it was pretty short sighted for Lord British to select an Avatar. Of course the Stranger was given an opportunity to become a savior, which he passed up.[/quote]
This actually does sound appropriate example case, but the recognition as such would still be required. The destruction and evil things coming from it is usually not thought of beforehand, as change is in general viewed as a positive thing.

Added fourth for cases where there's lack of references

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:03:03 +0200

Added fourth for cases where there's lack of references to draw any conclusions on if they're proportional or not.

[url]/groups/info/unknownproportions[/url]

Added the groups with the supplied descriptions, games still

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:59:40 +0200

Added the groups with the supplied descriptions, games still missing (will deal with that later).

[url]/groups/info/disproportionalworld[/url]
[url]/groups/info/proportionalworld[/url]
[url]/groups/info/metaproportionalworld[/url]