CraigHB

I have both games and I'm happy with the purchase of Sins. I think I like GC2 better. RTS games have a constant rush feeling all the time that I don't find particularly rewarding. TBS is much more relaxed and you can play a game a little at a time without getting too lost. Sins is a good game though. It doesn't have quite the depth of GC2, but it's a fun game and definitely worth the purchase. Given either or, I would have to go with GC2 unless you have your heart set on RTS.

Speaking of video, I just set up a new wide screen panel. Boy, every thing sure looks...well, wider. Anyway, it's a decent panel and it has fairly good performance. I didn't spend the big bucks, but I think I did pretty good. Games sure look nice. I think I'll really appreciate the screen real estate on those gig/abun games.

Hopefully avoiding the tired console vs. PC debate here, but I think you're right. It's possible to keep a PC more up to date with the latest hardware, supporting higher resolutions and frame rates. How often does an updated model of a particular console come out, maybe once every three years? I get a new video card around three times in that time span. I suppose you could get a new console as soon as any maker comes out with a new one. That might provide hardware updates as often as once a

I've been learning Sins of a Solar Empire (great game so far) so I've been browsing the Sins forum. It's hosted by Stardock so it looks similar to this one (my user ID even works there), but I can tell you, the overall tone is a lot different. There's a bunch of trolls there offering up digs in just about every thread. This forum is so much nicer and more intelligent. Still, I'll spend time on the Sins forum just to learn the finer points of the game, but I'm not going to "hang out" there.

Hehe, fortunately for me, my wife owns the TV. A game console would never work in my household. Fine with me. More time for computer games!

[quote]Thanks boys. P.S. I have dial-up. YAAA 56000 BAUD BABY!![/quote] The package files SDC uses to install and update programs are portable. I have backups of them on my hard drive. Burning them to CD/DVD or using a LAN to transfer them to another computer is not an issue. This is how I update installations on my laptop computer from my desktop computer. It will take quite a while to download those large files over a 56K modem. If you can get access to a computer on a high spe

Yea, for sure, strategy games are way more immersive. It's a lot of fun running around in those graphically amazing FPS environments, but like di55ec7ion said, I won't sit at one for more than an hour or so at a time. I'm finishing up with CoD4 and that one is fairly impressive. Though, Crysis has been my all time favorite FPS to date. Crysis, like Q4, is also sitting on my hard drive for replay one of these days. I'm finding Sins even more immersive then GC2, although I still lik

It's not necessary to be aware of the version numbers since the patches are only available through SDC and it keeps track of that stuff for you. In any case, Dread Lords is up to 1.50.135 and Dark Avatar is up to 1.80g.100. Some fixes originally released in DA have been back-ported to DL. When those are released, you see the minor version number increment. I'm not sure exactly what changes have been back-ported, but I know some of the major fixes have been. For example, DL now has the fix t

[quote]In the upcoming US election it looks as though we'll get a president who actually has a brain this time, so maybe that will help at least a little bit.[/quote] Hehe, a novel concept, a president with a 3 digit IQ :) I knew we were in trouble the first time I heard him say, "nuclear," but no more president digs or we'll end up trashing this thread.

[quote]Understand, Starcraft is effectively the sport of choice for an entire nation (South Korea)[/quote] I heard Starcraft was popular there, but had no idea it was *that* popular. Maybe that's where all the hype comes from, the people that take the game so seriously. If Starcraft is all about the multi-player, that's not going to be of great interest to me. I'll probably pass on Starcraft II then. In any case, I've enjoyed Sins so far and I think I'll be glad I bought it. Though I do

[quote]KziniPariarch still does'nt fit in, I mean he likes cats[/quote] Hehe, I have a couple a cats, well, they're my wife's really. But I like them. Though, they sure fill up my computer with cat hair when they jump on the table and rub against it.

At 13, I was into electronics which was something fairly unusual for a kid that age at the time (this was at the dawn of personal computers, game consoles hadn't even been thought up yet). I sort of blew off that interest for the more popular interests of my friends at the time. It wasn't until I went to college that I studied electronics again. In retrospect, sticking with my electronics hobby would have been more rewarding. Do what is important to *you* and don't let your desire to "fit in

[quote]17. Still clinging on to childhood. I'm sure my parents will tell me I'm to old for computer games as soon as I turn 18[/quote] Hehe, if that were the case, I'd be in big trouble at 48. I was 46 in my first reply to this thread (#87). This one may now have the record for the oldest active thread.

Question answered, the games don't compare. However, I was more interested in hearing if "the value" was comparable to Starcraft, which from what I've read, is one of the most replayable games ever made. When you spend ~$50 on a game, you'd like to know if it's a good investment. I bought Sins last night and played it for a couple hours. It's going to take me some more time to get a handle on it, but it feels somewhat like Company of Heros, the only other RTS I've played. I enjoyed

I think I'm going to buy Sins of a Solar Empire. It got a very good review at IGN PC which I've found to be a reliable source. I was wondering how it compares to Starcraft. I haven't actually played Starcraft, but I've read it pretty much set the bar for this type of game.

If she flags ARC as a cheat, the decision will be made right there. That would make it easy. But, she's already indicated it's only a slight advantage at most and releasing an update to check for it would be more work than it warrents.

Just to reiteriate my feelings on specified race configurations, I do like the flexibility the MVL offers. I wouldn't be as interested by a game that specifies it.

[quote]it's refreshing to see people having adult conversations[/quote] One thing I like about this game is that it requires a lot of thought. I believe that kind of game attracts intelligent mature people mainly. I do like the forum here because I feel like there are a lot of piers contributing to the discussions. I enjoy reading their insightfull and well written posts. Take a look at [link="https://forums.galciv2.com/post.aspx?postid=117380"]this post[/link]. You'll see the

That was a tough one, but fun. After several failures, I managed to pull one out so I'm going with the first success; [img]http://craigblock.com/pics/mvl7.jpg[/img]

[quote]I think the idea that playing MVL games is simply fun should be the prime motivation...[/quote] That's pretty much the main motivation for me, that is the games are are really fun and don't require a huge time investment. It's also a motivator to try game settings I probably wouldn't attempt otherwise. The competition is good because it motivates you to improve your game. It's a great way to play and compete without the BS that goes on in the Metaverse and AltMeta.

I'm not having too much problem with the forum other than what I mentioned in the OP. The only new complaint I have is the way the forum always loads the first page of a multi-page thread. Not only does it do this when opening a thread, but it also does it when posting or editing a reply. It's a hassle to wait for the first page to load, click the page index, then wait for the last page to load. If it's not possible to fix the forum so it remembers your place like it used to, it should at le

Lots of perspectives on this issue. I find the flexibility granted in race selection and configuration an attractive feature of the MVL. It makes the games more interesting and encourages the use of race setup to the fullest extent. Pidgeon holeing every game into one exacting configuration would do the MVL a disservice I believe. OTOH, if a setting or a group of settings circumvent the spirit of the MVL, then it might be a good thing to rule against them.

[quote]Anyway what do you think?[/quote] There's a certain amount of unfairness between DL and DA at best. The two games play quite different without any other consideration. Depending on game configuration, you may be able to gain an advantage playing DL over DA or vice versa. The "not fair to DL" argument doesn't hold water AFAIC. Modification of the raceconfig file is not something with limited access. The file is in plain text and it's a simple task to make the available modificatio

Well, look at what you *can* edit that has any effect on the game, it's a very small group of characteristics, basically alignment, homeworld, and super ability. To quote Purge, think of it as advanced race configuration. Personally, I don't like things inundated with rules and the MVL already has its share. I don't have a problem with it and I think it should be allowed. Thanks

I'm having a hard time as well. This is a tough one for me, but it's very interesting. Unfortunately, I'm rather buzy right now and don't have a whole lot of time to play. I hope I can post something decent before the deadline.