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Topics - Sared

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6
1
Off Topic / Firesale
« on: January 05, 2015, 10:48:32 am »
Hey guys, sorry I couldn't be talking to you under better circumstances but it's another day that ends in Y and my life is somewhat upside down right now.

Saturday afternoon at about three in the afternoon a fire started in my office. Nothing is confirmed, but the best theory between the fire marshal and myself is that an electric heater got knocked over and the casing was still hot enough to cause something to ignite. The fire spread into the den and the kitchen and was stopped just before the living room and the hallway towards the bedrooms.

I have a phone and a tablet that I'm using to keep in touch with the rest of the world. Our bedrooms took heavy smoke damage but some of our clothes and furniture back there may be salvageable. My mothers studio with her piano and music was in the living room and may be recoverable as well. We're staying with friends now and have food and shelter. The insurance agent should be here this afternoon to begin the process, but it's going to take some time as we begin to rebuild.

We'll be getting a check from the insurance company for living/rent/food expenses soon, so my mother and I have our necessities taken care of. I've got a PayPal and Google Wallet account set up (both sared.k@gmail.com). If you've got a spare five bucks that you can pitch my way then it would help. I've have pictures in the next day or two, going to the house with some photographer friends to document everything we can during the daylight today and should have them uploaded somewhere soon. I've never had to start from ground zero entirely like this before so every positive word helps.

Thank you all for your thoughts, your friendship, and your prayers. I've started the New Year with a bang, now I'm going to make something big and great out of this year even if it kills me.

2
General / Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
« on: October 13, 2014, 09:13:35 pm »
Unlocks on Steam tonight. Looking for some hot co-op action if anyone else wanted to get down on this.

3
News and Announcements / Carmack Speaks Out About Facebook
« on: March 30, 2014, 04:25:22 pm »
Peter Berkman of Anamanaguchi recently spoke out about the recent Facebook acquisition. John Carmack, CTO at Oculus and also active tumblr user, responded positively.

Quote
I share some of your misgivings about companies "existing and operating only to be acquired". I am a true believer in market economies, and the magic of trade being a positive sum game is most obvious with repeated transactions at a consumer level. Company acquisitions, while still (usually) being a trade between willing parties that in theory leaves both better off, have much more of an element of speculation rather than objective assessment of value, and it definitely feels different.

There is a case to be made for being like Valve, and trying to build a new VR ecosystem like Steam from the ground up. This is probably what most of the passionate fans wanted to see. The difference is that, for years, the industry thought Valve was nuts, and they had the field to themselves. Valve deserves all their success for having the vision and perseverance to see it through to the current state.

VR won't be like that. The experience is too obviously powerful, and it makes converts on contact. The fairly rapid involvement of the Titans is inevitable, and the real questions were how deeply to partner, and with who.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting Facebook (or this soon). I have zero personal background with them, and I could think of other companies that would have more obvious synergies. However, I do have reasons to believe that they get the Big Picture as I see it, and will be a powerful force towards making it happen. You don't make a commitment like they just did on a whim.

I wasn't personally involved in any of the negotiations -- I spent an afternoon talking technology with Mark Zuckerberg, and the next week I find out that he bought Oculus.

4
News and Announcements / Facebook buys Oculus
« on: March 25, 2014, 04:57:31 pm »
From Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971

Quote
I'm excited to announce that we've agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we're in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you're actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it's different from anything they've ever experienced in their lives.

Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

But this is just the start. After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.

This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.

Speculations. GO.

5
News and Announcements / Bioshock dev Irrational Games Shutting Down
« on: February 18, 2014, 02:52:42 pm »
Today Ken Levine announced the wind-down of Irrational Games, most notably known for the Bioshock series of games.

Citing his need to refocus, Levine announced that the studio would be shutting down, retaining only fifteen members of the core development team while still giving gracious benefits both financial and job-seeking to those being laid off.

Levine concluded his letter saying that the studio will continue to produce narrative-driven games aimed at the core demographic, with a focus on high replayability and digital distribution; preceded by extended design periods. One more DLC is slated to release for Bioshock Infinite; while 2K, Irrational's publisher, will retain control of the Bioshock franchise.

You can read Levine's full statement here

6
Off Topic / Paying the Piper
« on: February 07, 2014, 12:42:10 pm »
This is what happens when you play PC games with shitty posture for a few years:



Sit up straight, get up and take breaks frequently, and stretch out regularly. Your spine will thank you.

Carry on!

7
News and Announcements / Bring on the Steam Machines!
« on: January 16, 2014, 02:33:29 pm »
Last week at CES, Gaben showed a line-up of various manufacturers and their own renditions of the Steam Box. Notably, high-end manufacturers Alienware (now a subsidiary of Dell), CyberPowerPC, and iBuyPower showed off their own versions of the SteamOS-powered devices. Of special note, the latter two were the only ones displaying hardware that was priced anywhere near current-gen retail prices; with Matrial.net, Falcon NW, Webhallen, Alternate, and Digital Storm giving estimated prices ranging from $1,000-$2,600.

Full Story @ PCGamer.com

Alienware's Steam Machine


iBuyPower's SBX


Gabe Newell's presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show

Valve Presentation @ CES 2014: Gabe Newell talks Steam Machines

8
Looks like the guys at Bioware were headed in the right direction, but not quickly enough. Disney has announced STAR WARS: Attack Squadrons to be a free-to-play online space sim. Right now the plan is to support up to 16 players in each match, with customizable ships hailing from the SW universe.

STAR WARS™: Attack Squadrons Announcement Trailer


Will Disney make the same mistakes Lucasarts did? Maybe this was orchestrated by EA, who still retains game licensing rights on Star Wars IP?  Do they not care about conflicting titles? Maybe they're aiming for console appeal with this? Developer Area 52 (a solid holding of Electronic Arts) has given very little information to date yet. Keep tuned for more!

9
News and Announcements / Valve ships out 300 Steam Boxes to Beta testers
« on: December 16, 2013, 03:28:00 pm »
Last Friday Valve shipped out their prototype Steam Box to a select group of beta testers.

Quote
As revealed before, the prototype's specs can vary by unit. Some will have Nvidia's Titan graphics processor, while others will have Nvidia's GTX 780, GTX 760, or GTX 660. Some boxes come with an Intel Core i7-4770 processor, while others have either a Core i5-4570 or a Core i3 chip. All prototypes come with 16 GB of general RAM, 3 GB of GPU RAM, and 1 TB/8GB of hybrid solid-state/mechanical hard drive storage. The box itself measures roughly a foot long and deep, and just under three inches thick.

Steam Machine Unboxing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXCbdn00pKY#t=66

Steam Machine Tear Down
Steam Machine Tear Down

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2080700/valves-steam-machine-prototype-pc-unboxed-pictured-and-prodded.html

10
News and Announcements / John Carmack Officially Leaves id Software
« on: November 23, 2013, 12:25:20 pm »
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/22/doom-creator-john-carmack-officially-leaves-id-software

According to Tom Willits, studio director at id:

"John Carmack, who has become interested in focusing on things other than game development at id, has resigned from the studio," Willits said. "John's work on id Tech 5 and the technology for the current development work at id is complete, and his departure will not affect any current projects. We are fortunate to have a brilliant group of programmers at id who worked with John and will carry on id's tradition of making great games with cutting-edge technology. As colleagues of John for many years, we wish him well."

11
General / Desert Bus for Hope 7!
« on: November 16, 2013, 02:13:12 pm »

Loading Ready Run is a comedy troupe from Victoria Canada that has been doing sketch comedy videos on the internet before there was a YouTube.

Starting at 10am this morning they began their 7th fundraising trek, playing Desert Bus (a horrendous mini-game on Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD), for as many hours as they can raise money to do so. Since 2007 they have raised almost $1.3 million USD for Child's Play charity.

How does it work? Challenges can be sent to the crew with a bounty amount. Things like "Do the macarena for $20", except they've been doing this for years, so the bar for such challenges has been exponentially raised. Also, live auctions and silent auctions will be going off on the site as well on the stream for fantastic prizes! The more money they raise, the longer they play! Lots of developers and prominent figures in the game industry usually get in on the deal and will call in to say hi during the show and sometimes auction off their own special items.

At time of writing, they've raised enough to continue bussing for just over a hundred hours, but I fully expect them to go for more than a week this time! Check out the madness over at DesertBus.org and have fun giving to charity!

12
General / Negative Possibility Space
« on: October 04, 2013, 12:43:44 pm »
I know a few of you might also follow Extra Credits, but I wanted to slap this here with it's own topic to maybe lull around some discussion.

Extra Credits, Season 7, Episode 04 - Negative Possibility Space

Now be nice, I'm going to be honest and a little vulnerable for a minute, but this well illustrates why the storytelling in MxO left a bad taste in my mouth for many years, and has since then become something of a sore spot for me. The continual plot-within-a-plot rabbit holes with unresolved endings made for some fun metaintellectual sport at the time (oh but they could bring back this character/device/mcguffin because they weren't actually dead! etc.), but that continued lack resolution eventually left me worn out. And betrayed.

Once, when the Wachowski's left MxO's continued storytelling in pursuit of other projects, leaving countless stories unfinished. Then again, as the game was shut down, silencing both the unfinished stories of the storytellers, as well as many unfinished stories by the players. (Though I do think I like our end to MxO a lot better than the official one. :P)

I've recently found relief in the form of games like FC3: Blood Dragon and the last two Saints Row games; games in which I have zero intellectual investment in the storyline and can un-tense that part of my brain enough to enjoy the rest of the game.

Thoughts? What other games/movies/books/music/etc. have created a negative possibility space and have resolved it well/poorly?

13
General / FireFall
« on: July 12, 2013, 12:13:06 pm »
I don't know who all had mentioned an interest in this game, but it managed to go into open beta without me noticing. Going to be playing through of the intro stuff in the next week or two to check it out. In-game name is 'thesared'.

14
Off Topic / Sared's Trip
« on: May 19, 2013, 03:43:42 pm »
So my summer plans of moving out of state again got accelerated by my landlord a few weeks ago.

Fuck it, time to go balls deep.

So I've been out of a home for about a week now. Most of my personal posessions are taken care of or packed, but apart from a bunch of books that are going to sit in storage for a while, I've not but some clothes, an old laptop, and my phone.

I'm currently couch-surfing my way towards/across the West coast. I'm going to be in North Dallas over the summer for work. Got a frend with a house and a car he can sell me for cheap. There's also the possibility for some technology-related employment that would look good on my resume the closer I get to NorCal/Washington.

Optimistically, I'm going to go from Dallas to Carson City to Anaheim to Redwood to land outside of Seattle by this time next year. This is an extremely loose itenerary, and should anyone have a couch for a magical hobo in that direction then let me know!

I know I burned out on SWTOR earlier this year, and subsequently haven't been able to afford EVE or really any game that requires any kind of major time investment. I'm just letting you guys know that I'm going to be touch-and-go on the boards for a while, until I've got a stabalized living situation again.

I'll still do my best to answer board PM's, but email (sared DOT k AT gmail DOT com) or GroupMe probably the best way to get ahold of me.

This is a new phase of life for me, and any thoughts or prayers you might have for me would be appreciated. Talk to yall soon!

15
Off Topic / Happy UN-Birthday Adad!
« on: March 09, 2013, 11:01:44 am »
Wherever you are!

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