Xooxer's site

BYOND's Absurd Distribution System

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:04:52 +0000

I find myself *again* unable to download any BYOND games because the local networks have blocked just about everything but basic web surfing. Since BYOND insists on using its own protocol for distributing games, I and many other people who can't access the hub aren't even able to play a single-player game.

Will there *ever* be an option to just download the freaking games without having to go through the stupid and unreliable hub to do it? How hard is it to provide a direct link to the zip? I know your pager fetish has you all up in knots about installing things so the pager knows what you're doing all the time, but if it makes it impossible to actually download any games, who cares?

An Apology

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:48:01 +0000

I'm sorry to the BYOND moderators, all the staff and Tom for my outrageous behavior last winter. I acted immaturely, and with great disrespect to everyone. I won't give any petty excuses or try to convince you that my actions were justified, because they were not.

You folks have put up with me through some very difficult times, and for that I am grateful. I had no right to blow my cool like that, and I hope you can someday forgive my obnoxiousness.

I've removed the offending blog posts I made, something I should have done a long time ago. You were right, Alathon, you guys did try and understand. I wish I had listened better.

Again, I'm sorry to those people I hurt, alienated and abused. You all deserve much better.

~X

DO WANT

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:13:13 +0000

The new Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Series. It's so friggen sweet. It even has a built-in Waccom drawing tablet and comes with an optional 10" second screen. 0_0

Now if someone would just lend me a few grand....

http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&appname=gpateam&supplier=872 &letternum=ENUSAG08-0919

Multiplayer with Quests.

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:27:24 +0000

So, say you have this game all about questing, finding quests and completing quests. Many of these quests have some sort of story element that binds them to the world, not just "Go kill N rabbits and bring me their hides!".

As such, a quest could change things in the world for the player that completes it, like opening up new areas or changing how the NPCs react to you, so on. Many of these can be handled with tracking which quests the player has completed and reacting accordingly, but what of opening new areas, or cases where the change caused by beating the quest is something that affects everyone?

Players can't go around beating all the quests and simply leaving the world essentially "solved", and you can only mask others progress so much for new players. So what are some ideas for ensuring new players aren't met with a world with few unsolved quests?

One idea I had was to create circular quests. One quest will open new areas, but also unlock the counter-quest which will essentially reset the first quest's effects. It should be a simple matter to tie this counter-quest into the story (bad guy quest, perhaps?), and essentially making a revolving quest with one or more states that it cycles through.

With that sort of setup, new players will always have the full set of quests available to them, but they may not always be the same. The story would get kinda weird for those who stick around, but I'm seeing this as a more casual type game, with short sessions. The story elements are simply there to add value and meaning, and to motivate players towards new quests.

Evil Cows

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:50:23 +0000

Stumbled upon another strange pic that warranted loleration.

Tip one, I dare ya!

LHC Damage in Pics

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:29:15 +0000

As promised, an update on the LHC.

On Friday, CERN finally got around to sending some pictures of the damage done to the new accelerator back in September. I wonder if it's because it took them this long to find the leak? :P

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10120215-76.html?part=rss

What's in your head?

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:36:15 +0000

Japan's one step closer to Playstation 9:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081211/sc_afp/ sciencejapanbrainoffbeat_081211052641

Oh, but when MIT does it, it's true...

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:13:24 +0000

http://devicedaily.com/misc/ mit-researcher-mimics-photosynthesis-to-turn-water-into-hydr ogen-and-oxygen.html

I got you a pony for Xmas

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:22:32 +0000

Fun little game I found online.

http://www.pastelgames.com/charger_escape.html

Free Parsing eBook

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:42:36 +0000

http://www.cs.vu.nl/~dick/PT2Ed.html

From the site:

This is the new 662-page edition of Parsing Techniques - A Practical Guide. Like its predecessor, it treats parsing in its own right, in greater depth than is found in most computer science and linguistics books. It offers a clear, accessible, and thorough discussion of many different parsing techniques with their interrelations and applicabilities, including error recovery techniques. Unlike most books, it treats (almost) all parsing methods, not just the popular ones.

No advanced mathematical knowledge is required; the book is based on an intuitive and engineering-like understanding of the processes involved in parsing, rather than on the set manipulations used in practice.