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Messages - Jonathan S. Fox

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3661
Curses / Re: Ho Crap!
« on: May 17, 2008, 01:36:00 am »
Add their heart, music, religion, science, business, persuasion, and half of their intelligence and charisma. If the average across each Liberal in your team of 4 is 25 or more, you're likely to get "It was the best hour of AM radio EVER." This should only be likely, or even possible, if you've been training your team in those skills. But if your low juice liberals are skilled musicians with a lot of knowledge about politically relevant topics, it's possible for them to have put on a Really Good Show.

Do you think it's too easy, maybe?


3662
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 28, 2007, 11:48:00 am »
quote:
Originally posted by Gigalith:
<STRONG>On the Japanese side, I'm pretty sure what we are looking for is ドワーフ, as Dwarf is the name of the species, which also happens to be descriptive.</STRONG>

ドワーフ - Wikipedia

Edit: This is a courtesy link for anyone interested in accordance with Misterstone's suggestion about checking Wikipedia if you're not sure. So don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to correct you or anything.  ;)

[ October 28, 2007: Message edited by: Jonathan S. Fox ]


3663
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 28, 2007, 03:50:00 am »
quote:
Originally posted by Faces of Mu:
<STRONG>I guess I'm pretty confused about how to help this forum keep off the burning path without being antagonising.
I know I'd like these forums to be about each person being accepting of what others say while sharing what they know. And I know each person is more than what they say here.

Part of me tells me to keep quiet and leave others to their own devices and their lessons to be learned, the other part (which is typing now!) wants to take a step back and comment on what's happening with hopes of changing the hypocrisy. I believe people can change given the right conditions, and I also believe people have the strength to solve their problems and that they are the experts in their situation.

What is it you guys really want to have happen when you post these comments?</STRONG>

I may not by understanding you correctly, but it sounds to me like you're concerned with too much pouncing on people when they say or do unpopular things. I can understand that because it bothers me too when I see it, although in many cases I also sympathize with the pouncing instinct. If I feel the need to "chastise" someone publicly, I try to do so in a way that is as respectful as possible, at least as a general rule. There's no need to humiliate anyone; just enough sting to communicate the message is fine, and it doesn't take very much to do that. People are also less resentful of correction if you do it politely.

I don't know who you're addressing exactly with your question about what people seek out of their comments, and I can not speak for others, but I know that when I post I do so out of a desire for socialization first, and knowledge second. I also get a lot of gratification from being able to share knowledge or opinions that I possess, especially if I know that others appreciate reading what I write, or learn something. If I'm criticizing someone's opinions or posts, it's both a challenge to them and an alternative viewpoint for others to read, as I'm always aware this is a public forum. Additionally, my signature is as much a mantra for myself as it is a thought to share with others. I'm sure I sound pretentious enough to many people just due to my writing style without coming to the forum with an arrogant attitude.


3664
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 28, 2007, 02:04:00 am »
quote:
Originally posted by penguin:
<STRONG>"
Posted by Frogman
   quote:Originally posted by Aquillion:
   Learn Chinese! Dwarf. 矮人.

Dwarf Fortress. 矮人国. "

I'm not sure if this has been corrected or not, but I'm in Chinese 1 at school. First, 国 is pronounced 'gou', and it's the suffix for country; i.e. America is: a word for beautiful with 国 after it. Second, 人 is pronounced 'ren', and it litterally means person, but in this case it means person of, as in 'American'. Third, if your saying 'American', it's meigouren, you had it backwards. Fourth, I'm pretty sure you're not trying to say(what may or may not mean 'dwarf')dwarf person country, nor dwarfcountry-ian. Again, I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

You just got schooled, rudimental Chinese style.</STRONG>

矮人 means "dwarf" in Chinese. 矮 is "short", 人 is "person", 矮人 is "short person", or dwarf. 矮人国 is literally "dwarf nation". More correct would be Misterstone's suggestion of 矮人堡垒, but the original 矮人国 is much better than you are giving it credit for.


3665
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 25, 2007, 03:47:00 pm »
quote:
Originally posted by Pnx:
<STRONG>Hehe say, anyone ever play Narbacular Drop? It's the predecessor to Portal. A couple of years back I heard about it and I started waiting for Portal to come out when I finished everything.

Just goes to show that if any game company did something revolutionary some guy/group of guys did it first.</STRONG>

They weren't just average people off the street; give them a year and they all would have all been working as game industry professionals anyway, making games behind a corporate logo, and you would never have thought of them as just some group of guys because they would have BEEN in a game company. These were people who chose as a career professional game development. Narbacular Drop was their final portfolio piece -- and indeed, Valve developed Portal by hiring those exact same people to remake it professionally, and now they're permanent members of Valve.

I would claim that Portal and Narbacular Drop go to show that every faceless game company IS made of the same sort of guy/group of guys who you're talking about -- they just do it with a large budget, and behind a business logo. That's the only difference between Portal and Narbacular drop; same people, different budget, and one has the Valve name and Half-Life story attached to it. The only real advantage independents have over mainstream game companies is just that when you don't have big bucks riding on it, it's easier to be daring and experiment with the unknown. Companies that self-publish, like Valve and Blizzard, tend to be the exception to that rule, because there's nobody to tell them to play it safe except themselves.


3666
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 24, 2007, 08:12:00 pm »
quote:
Originally posted by BurnedToast:
<STRONG>

I believe you just missed the point completely.</STRONG>

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the practice of building a bunch of gem windows in your fortress to create a color animation pattern within Dwarf Fortress, which seems to me to be entirely within the spirit of the conversation. Perhaps I'm missing the point too, but I don't believe the point of creating water computers in Dwarf Fortress is to recreate what is already possible in the game using a simpler method. With that said, I don't know if gem windows would work or not, as I don't know how they rotate through -- if they're all synced, you could do it, if they aren't, it'd be a problem. It also depends on sufficient availability of properly colored gems, and is limited to three frames. But that's okay, and it's especially doable if you're comfortable using a lot of dark green or light blue in the animation. It would be easier if you had more control over the order of the frames, however.


3667
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 24, 2007, 01:34:00 pm »
quote:
Originally posted by Turgid Bolk:
<STRONG>

Ah, but screw pumps only operate while a dwarf is pumping them, from what I understand. No perpetual motion machines!</STRONG>

Excerpt from today's update on the development log:

Tomorrow I'm hoping to have water wheels hooked up to mills, optionally through horizontal and vertical axles and gear assemblies if you want to locate the mill further away or on a different z-level from the water wheel. You should also be able to hook up a screw pump so as not to require a dwarf to turn it. Also on the table during this initial work are animal-powered wheels, windmills and tympanum-type water pumps.


3668
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 24, 2007, 12:32:00 am »
quote:
Originally posted by nagromo:
<STRONG>

idk... there's a big difference between mechanical computers and silicon ones. Even ancient greeks had mechanical computers (albeit using gears instead of water). Silicon would be way too far beyond dwarf technology.</STRONG>

Ancient computers were specialized analog machines designed to do one thing. What we have here is people talking about trying to build computers using boolean algebra, and once the dwarves get into that, it's only a matter of time before they try to miniaturize them, as the possibilities are endless... or would be, if only they had room for more more gates! However, I think it's a safe bet that dwarves are as yet unaware of the intricacies of electricity and magnetism, and this at least will keep them free from any swift descent into a dwarven computer age. Due to the difficulty and overhead with such massive water computers as described here, and the lack of a robust academic class in dwarven society, it should be several centuries at least before they develop even the most basic programmable computer. Still, I'd keep an eye on those mechanics in particular, and be very suspicious of any fey moods, lest they dig too deep into the secrets of technology...


3669
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 21, 2007, 03:50:00 pm »
Right, I forgot that at the moment it doesn't matter too much whether you use windows or walls. Eventually it will again though, and I plan to roleplay it.

For the mountain-supporting material, glass, so smooth and clear you can't see it.  It's a flying mountain! Then you throw the lever. It's a falling mountain!


3670
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 21, 2007, 11:17:00 am »
Well, presumably you can still make glass windows that will allow LoS, but of course there's the issue that windows don't act as supports. If the value calculations stay the same, they should be more valuable than a true wall of glass, however -- owing to their transparency, no doubt! A possible explanation for all this is that if you actually rewall the whole wall with massive glass blocks strong enough to support what's above them (rather than just making a window), the glass is eventually so thick with so much distortion that you can't really tell what's behind it at all. It's like glass windows placed in bathrooms that are heavily frosted and have a lot of distortion so they let light in, but scramble it so much that whole images no longer pass through, thus making them suitable for a bathroom.

Edit: Actually, that would be quite cool when lighting comes in, if glass walls blocked LoS but still let a lot of light through. You could place those between rooms you didn't want to expend lighting apparatuses on and well-lit areas, without feeling guilty about installing a fully transparent two-way viewport between the crowded dining room and the dwarf's private bedroom.   :eek:

[ October 21, 2007: Message edited by: Jonathan S. Fox ]


3671
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 20, 2007, 01:20:00 pm »
Bah... two color glasses! It's all about polarized 3D! It's all about...

handle testing notes (31)
update zlib code

ooohhh. ^.^


3672
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 20, 2007, 01:00:00 am »
If you use true z levels when rendering, then a 3D monitor (example) will be able to support that. I haven't seen the effect myself, but I have it on good authority that it's genuinely awesome.

3673
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 19, 2007, 02:53:00 am »
Until there's a mac port, I have to use tiles 8 pixels by 12 pixels just to squeak out a mere 30 frames per second running on a virtual computer. I'd challenge anyone to come up with a real-time resizing scheme without anti-aliasing that will look anything but atrocious when you're starting with 8x12 as your baseline and shrinking from there across several levels. Have resizing for distance and my copy will look horrible, run even slower than it does now, or both. If you want resizing, then please, spare me the agony and use pre-resized tilesets for distant things, and don't do everything on the fly.

Edit: Also note that scaling will chew up custom graphics tiles, and the alternative of requiring multiple versions of tilesets at different scales will make it much more work for people to introduce new tilesets.

[ October 19, 2007: Message edited by: Jonathan S. Fox ]


3674
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 17, 2007, 11:49:00 am »
quote:
Originally posted by Sean Mirrsen:
<STRONG>Also, didn't you say sand should collapse when dug under? Why then do you have corridors mined through dark sand?</STRONG>

I got the impression that this was a case of "should" but "doesn't just yet":

quote:
Originally posted by Toady One:
<STRONG>Soil, especially the sand in deserts, should just collapse whenever it is undermined (the sand should really just flow like a liquid, I had mentioned wanting to do that somewhere up there). Right now, however, it only handles disconnected components. The rest is on to do, but I've set up a cavein framework that should make it fairly straightforward to get a lot of this done.</STRONG>

So right now you can mine corridors through the sand, but eventually it won't be possible. If I understand correctly.  :p


3675
DF General Discussion / Re: Future of the Fortress 2
« on: October 15, 2007, 07:56:00 pm »
It looks really amazing, I can't wait for the cmv. Will soil have a lower cave-in threshold than rock?

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