Vinraith

It is, as stated, a mutation. It's a particularly easy mutation, though, because all it has to do is turn off the gene that keeps snakes from growing limbs. Snakes are descended from species which DID have limbs, and rather than having the code for said limbs "removed" (a virtual genetic impossibility) study of snake genetic code reveals that there are simply additional genetic components which prevent the limb-growing genes from being expressed. Turn off the "confounder" gene, and you get a

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you want to write your Congresscritter and tell them to fund NASA's NEA observation projects. As it stands, their ability to detect threats is severely limited by a lack of personnel and instrumentation.

I loved 1701, 1404 looks great. I'll gladly pick the game up... just as soon as they drop the install limit. Until then, well, I don't rent PC games. As for multiplayer, having played a few games of MP 1701 let me just say: there's nothing more pointless than multiplayer in a city builder.

Pretty much what it says. Checking it allows the AI to use more of your CPU to do its work, causing it to make better decisions. It's off by default because it can make turn changeover take longer, but personally I always leave it on.

The Dread Lords most certainly ARE a mega-event, but they shouldn't be. "Here's a free Class 40 planet" isn't what you'd call a major game shifter, except perhaps in your favor.

Zyx - I don't think you have anything to worry about with GC3, they've hinted VERY strongly that it will include multiplayer. My concern is that 1) that focus will undermine AI development and 2) multiplayer balance will be prioritized over diversity and variety of play (balance is not a priority for SP gaming). I'll be watching closely once development starts. I'd be perfectly happy if everyone could get what they want, but since all I care about is SP I can't help but

Flevance: Elemental has already been announced to include multiplayer. Gal Civ 3 will almost certainly have it as well. Most people won't use the MP in either game, and frankly I tend to think of the inclusion of MP in games like this as a waste of resources that would have been better used expanding the SP experience and (most importantly) constructing a genuinely competitive AI. The inclusion of MP in Elemental is why I haven't pre-ordered it li

No.

Airlines already do this. If you don't fit between the arm rests, you have to pony up for the extra seat. Now if you're complaining about people impinging despite that restriction, then you're in some seriously hazy territory. I've had more uncomfortable experiences with broad shouldered guys (who were in perfectly good shape and by no stretch fat) impinging on my personal space than I have heavy-set people. Airline seats are too narrow for many people of normal weight

So what's this about needing an XP compatibility mode? And what's this about it only being available in Pro and above?

Disciples is a different enough series from what Stardock seems to be planning in Elemental that I think the two can comfortably coexist, both in the marketplace and on my hard drive. That said, I haven't heard anything about the game in awhile either. I certainly hope it's not dead, Disciples 2 was a good time.

[quote]Edit: Though I think at this point we're talking about two different things. I was saying that it'd be fairly natural at this point for Paradox to put the game up on Impulse since they 1) have lots of games on it already and 2) just spoke pretty highly about SD and are using GOO. You're talking about where it makes sense to buy from.[/quote] Oh. Yeah, I guess we ARE kind of talking past each other, aren't we? Ah well, it's straightened out now anyway. Cheers!

[quote]I know Stardock, I know their support, I know Impulse.[/quote] And buying games from vendors that don't have their own outlet (or only have a crappy outlet) from Impulse makes perfect sense, as a result. Here's my confusion: if you buy a Paradox game through Impulse, there's only so much Stardock support's going to be able to do for you. Ultimately, the care and feeding of that game is in the hands of the publisher and developer of the game. So by purchasing it t

I'm aware that some people form attachments to specific services, but when you have a diversity of services that all work well and have no real disadvantages I really don't understand that. It's exactly the same as the throngs of Steam-lovers that won't buy from anyone else, it just looks totally irrational to me.

[quote who="arstal" reply="9" id="2276684"]It's a lot easier to buy off of Impulse then Gamersgate. [/quote] [e digicons]o_O[/e] What now?

[quote who="Annatar11" reply="7" id="2276550"]But there are two pages of Paradox games on Impulse already [/quote] And the exact same logic applies to them. Why wouldn't you buy a given game from the source, if there's no disadvantage to doing so? If Stardock games were on Gamersgate the same logic would apply (that is, it'd make no sense to me to buy a Stardock game through anything but Impulse even if other options were available).

[quote who="Annatar11" reply="3" id="2275888"]Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it'll most likely show up on Impulse on release, what with the GOO thing and all. It will be interesting to see if you can buy on another service and download from Impulse, though, as that was one of GOO's features.[/quote] No offense to Stardock but seeing as it's a Paradox game there'd be little advantage to buying it off Impulse. 1) Why saddle it with a client if you d

Better than activation limits, obviously not as nice as just being DRM free (like Paradox's EU3 functionally was). Still, if they had to go with a DRM system, they could have done a lot worse. I'm certainly pleased that Majesty 2 (a title I've really been looking forward to) doesn't have to come of the "to buy" list because of its DRM scheme. Now the question is: physical copy or buy it off Gamersgate?

[img]http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7218/evelearningcurve.jpg[/img]

@soasertsus You can get a jewel case version online quite easily (and quite cheaply) but I'll warn you, it hasn't aged well.

[quote]I don't think Valve would've gotten such a big outcry if they called it an expansion pack than a sequel. [/quote] Exactly. An expansion implies just that: expanding on the original game. A sequel, when it offers similar but improved content, reads as a [i]replacement[/i] and therein lies the problem.

[quote]Can you explain what content Valve promised that isn't being delivered?[/quote] Gabe Newell explicitly promised "more campaigns, more characters, and more weapons." We've seen none of those. As an added bonus, L4D2 undermines the yet-to-be-released SDK for L4D, since modders will be loathe to put effort into mods for a game that will be out of date in a few months. Split the playing community, split the modding community, and charge $50 for an incremental upgrade

[quote]people are just pissed because they feel like they are entitled to free shit.[/quote] Stupid consumers, always companies to follow through on the content they promised to provide. Why can't they be smart like you and bend over and take it like they should?

I'll pick it up in the bargain bin for $10, which is what I clearly should have done with L4D ("we'll support it for years" my eye). Lesson learned.

[quote who="Deepjay" reply="21" id="2270899"]God cant believe how many of you havent included company of heroes. /shocked[/quote] It just feels too much like a children's version of a real tactical game. As an RTS I suppose it's fine, but because of the subject matter and because it brushes so close to some of the ideas from games like Close Combat or Men or War it just seems... shallow. It's ALMOST more than an RTS, and that kind of colors my perception of it.