Krytos

The New Lara Croft

The Job “And you said this was going to be easy?” Bromé yelled over the sound of blasters and explosion echoing through the dank asteroid hanger. “When the bloody hell did it occur to you, ripping off a pirate gang was going to be fraking easy!?! And, AND, where the hell do you get off saying this is what the Alliance would want?” Anger stained Bromé’s face. Wrinkled together in a frown, all he could do with his anger was screaming across the new found battle field. “You bloody fool! You bloody moronic fool. And look what it got you, dead. You’re a smouldering pile a crap waiting for a cleaning droid to sweep you away.” His teeth gritted together with enough force they felt like they would shatter. He just sat there, back against a heavy cargo container, staring at the smoking, charred remains of that Rodian fool wishing with all his anger to bring him back to life just to kill him – slowly this time. “Hey, soldier boy. Wanna, geez I don’t know, help us the frak out?” An almost sweet voice called to him, accompanied by a harsh shove to the shoulder. So strong it almost pushed him out from his cover. Bromé had been so pre-occupied with his anger he’d almost forgotten about the battle raging all around him. Except for the sounds, he’d forgotten there were other people in the room. Even that people were responsible for the energy lashes threatening to tear open his flesh. “Yeah. Right. I’m on it.” He said as he manoeuvred from sitting down into a squat. This was real life. He knew one man, or woman, wasn’t about to become a hero like in a holodrama – diving in and out of cover and blasting every bad guy while saving his friends. In here, those “bad guys” were fighting for their lives too. And their shots were just as deadly as yours. Though Bromé did have an advantage, even beyond that of his years fighting the Vong. Thanks to being the only one with the knowledge of how to use it, Bromé was packing a nice, large grenade gun. And, unlike the rest of the equipment that had been supplied for the job, this was a brand new Etech 119 Houser. And ideal tool to blow people out of their cover with their repulsor field controlled grenades. Pocking his head out of cover, Bromé identified the largest group of pirates hiding together. 5 packed tightly together, foolish for them. Not waiting for his compatriots to help with some cover or suppression fire, Bromé slid from cover and fired the grenade launcher. The small, almost spherical, object landed two metres away from the desired target but didn’t detonate. Holding a small button down and moving the grenade launcher from behind cover, he managed to use the micro repulsor field the grenade had to move it behind the enemy’s position and detonate it for tremendous effect. Fire gauged out of the plume of erupting smoke that dismembered the bodies of those unfortunate soles in the blast. When the smoke faded, nothing was left of their bodies. He shot a sideway glance to the lady who’d knocked him out of his angry trance. She returned it with a quick smile that melted back into a determined mask as she got back to firing. Bromé took that as his queue to keep up the fire support. Repeating the same process as before, he emerged and pulled the trigger – but nothing happened. Falling back to cover, Bromé looked at the weapon baffled. The revolver magazine had cycled to load in another round – it should have fired! Grabbing hold of the large cylinder attached to the underside of launcher, Bromé tugged it free and looked inside. Empty! The cheap bastard bought the fraking gun and one shot! “That’s one more reason to smoke your smoked carcass you bastard!” He yelled as he tossed the grenade gun away. “Oh calm down you big baby, that was enough to get them running.” Said the lady in a playful voice. Bromé stuck his out from cover to look, and sure enough the pirates were running. Seeing 5 buddies get turned into a fine powder was enough to make the pirates turn coat. And, they didn’t know the gun was out of ammo. Back in the day when he was a soldier, such a site would have rattled a soldier, but not forced a retreat – but then, these weren’t trained soldiers. “Looks like you’re a hero soldier boy.”

You know, there should be a law against this kinda thing .... I mean, congrats Scath

Welcome aboard, and abroad Arcanewinds! Yeah, things have begun to slow down a bit around here unfortunately. But, feel free to jump in and start chatting - most of us don't bite (but the verdict is still out on Tofu ). Everyone here's nice and won't jump to attack you if you say something stupid or whatever - we just ask that you keep in mind that the forum has some young members, so no swearing or in-appropriate stuff. Just watch out for BEAKers .. you'll know them when you see them Have fun!

Ah, good to know Mad - now I know what your program can do. When it comes to taking the UVWs and creating a texture from them, Max (finally) has an inbuilt function. Once you've set up the UVWs with the Unwrap modifier, go into the EDIT mode and I believe under the Tools section of the tool bar there's the option to render the UVW. It should be labelled something like Render Template, Render UVW - something to that effect. I'm 90% sure, of which ever menu it's under, it's at the bottom. Click that, and you'll be given a new dialogue window that will allow you to render out what you see in the EDIT view, so you can directly paint onto the UVW's in Photoshop or whatever with ease. It gives you the ability to render out at different resolutions - whether or not you choose a square aspect ratio (which is a must if you're doing game models). A choice of what gets rendered in a sense of just a wire frame, shaded faces, normals etc. Whether overlaying faces are show and some other options. Very useful to use before getting into the actual texture making part. Some arty stuff: http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-6454-6928 http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/magazine/20070531_VINCENT_FEATURE/index.html

No probs Eagle, what forum did you think I got the link from? I'll point out now it's a car forum. The contruction of that machine - whether it works or not - is damn amazing. I'm eagre for them to pull the switch - then we can see if the world collapses or we move onto some new technological breakthrough. Some Airbus A380 stuff: Brake Test

RIP Bernie Mac

Short answer: To test various theories proposed regaurding inter particle collisions with a hope of discovering the "Standard" model of physics - one law to rule them all Also, they're trying to recreate what it would have been like seconds after the Big Bang. The long: wiki style EDIT: And the fun way to learn what it's about

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/2008/02/PleaseEmos.jpg

Why even the innocent shouldn't speak to the police. This is probably most relevant to the US (seeing as it's based on US law). However, with similarities in other countries, I'd say it's something important for everyone to watch. Personally, when I watched it, I got a deep sense of dread in the pit of my stomach thinking about how much you can get screwed around even if you've done nothing wrong. I should also point out that there are two embedded videos - a 27 minute and a 20 minute video. So, dial-up beware.

No words to describe the sheer awe of this NOTE: Read some of the comments for a laugh after the images

Woo! Now you can play it finally! And probably not like it

Happy birthday J!

Is there something happening in Hungary that we don't know about? Yeah, I think we've had the main part of the joke before - but this was a little longer

Nice snaps there LLF! Quick hands by the looks of it too No problems Mad. Any other questions, just fire away. Question of my own, what version of Max are you using?

OOC: Sorry for the lack of posting - I'm extremelly busy. With any luck, I'll get something up and out this week.

Bugger. You might try posting on their forum? Apparently this bloke on LucasForums found it on their forums, so hopefully it's their ... somewhere

Well, it's been revived so I'll weigh in. You're right about the game over all being more like Rebellion than FoC. Although, I actually find ground combat to be more fun than space combat most of the time. When dealing against the AI, at least, I rarely find myself pulling in more and more re-enforcements. In fact, I rarely pull in the full 10 points. The Galactic Conquest game I'm playing currently had me yesterday fighting off at least 4 invasions on 3 worlds where the Rebellion AI took this approach of the more the merrier. Fortunately for me they were established worlds, and became a crucible for my to destroy large numbers of enemy ground forces. Korriban was probably the hardest, and hit more than once, as I'd recently swapped out the barracks for a Hypervelocity Gun to make battles above the world less intense, of course that means no infantry and no speeder bikes - if you're playing as the empire, those initial 4 speeder bikes are great to get rid of Rebel Torp Launchers as they land. Zip in, drop their Thermal Detonators as they're off loading, get to their rear and shoot the little droids. Bombs go boom, as do the rebel's artillery. But in this case, creating a bottle neck at the top end of the canyon that the invaders comes down with At-St's, Hover tanks and my own Art and rushing their line before their missiles got in range worked, even if with loss of life. Carida was more fun. 4 AT-AT's, 6 Artillery walkers, 8 AT-STs, 7 Hover Tanks and some badly placed AT-AAs (seriously, thanks a lot for putting them at the far end of the Rancor valley!). A bit simple in strategy - move my forces over the river while using the local population to stall the enemy. I think they end kill count was 8 squads of T-4s and 8 squads of Torp Launchers. Currently, the only world where I've played the game of throwing more fuel into the fire was Polus - where the planet's garrison was a mixture of T-2s, Air Speeders, and infantry tied in with the local populace. I hate Polus, the locale's weapons are a pain, freezing vehicles and infantry, by passing shields. That was met with a flotilla of Palpatine, 22 Storm Trooper units, some TIE Maulers and AT-AA's. I ended up winning, but not before getting creamed and loosing 6 or more Storm trooper Units, my Maulers and 2 units of AT-AAs. I could have done with a Death Star then. Right, so my point was ground forces often soak up more punishment, though it really depends on what you're packing. Every unit has their use, and way of being defeated - so you often need to plan before just rushing in. If you're the Empire, drop in a probe droid and maybe but Boba in orbit to get a look at what they have. For the Rebellion C3-P0 is the best. Placing him in orbit allows you to see space and ground units so you can build appropriately. For the Empire, depending on the number of units you can call in, the obvious is an AT-AT as they can march through pretty much anything except an over whelming number of plex soldiers. One of the greatest benefits of an AT-AT is it's ability to dispense Storm Troopers for free, so you can capture re-enforcement point and build pads - and don't forget build pads make excellent fall back points. Then add some Artillery, they slow down an AT-AT's advance (which, in this game, speed does matter), though gives you greater range (by about the length of an AT-AT) and highly effective anti-infantry weapon. The next unit should depend on what you're enemy have. If there are air speeders, you'll need AA. Lots of infantry - either a hero's like Vader, or some Maulers to run them over. If lots of armour, maybe Veers or another AT-AT or go for some mix up and throw in AT-STs for numbers or their Hover Tank (2-M?) which is excellent for fire support or flanking the enemy to find their artillery. If you have more units to bring in, don't just throw in heavy firepower. Heroes are good, but seeing they come in ones you can only assault along one path - not always the best route. Commanders are good, increasing the abilities of all units on the ground, just try to stop them from being killed. In the end, the Empire is focused on brute force of armour, just mix it up a bit and don't be afraid to hold back an advance to repair or let the enemy come to you. Likewise, know when to advance or retreat. If the enemy has you ranged you'll either need to rush in and fix that, or pull back and regroup. For the Empire, having an AT-AT is perfect for an almost constant advance - they just suck at retreat. For the Alliance, things can be a little more complicated. First and fore most you'll want infiltrators. Apart from dealing with enemy infantry quickly and easily, they can take out most other units with a single thermal detonator, or with 2-4 a building. For a lot of worlds, the Alliance will won't to raid it and weaken them earlier. Some worlds poorly defended (especially against the AI) can fall to 3 Infiltrator Units. But the main point is to hit the enemy before they're expecting it and aiming to inflict high or strategic damage while losing those units. Mixing up the raiding units is helpful. Air Speeders are great for harassing the enemy, and if they find a blind spot on the map where there aren't any build pads they can eliminate anything except AT-AAs. Of course, if they meet AA, they're gone. Art is useful, but needing to deploy can be a problem. If the world has a lot of armour, I find that Torp launchers get destroyed too easily in a raid. As for the main force - the Alliance often has to play be the moment and take along a bit of everything. T-4's are good at holding off AT-STs or 2-Ms, but are more on par with these units than better. They're also weak against AT-ATs (der) and infantry and are really an area denial weapon. Plex troopers are great to kill vehicles, but are easily countered or stepped on. T-2's are .. well, don't pack much firepower, can't squish soldiers though are fast, hover over water and can actually absorb quiet a bit of punishment. Good to support infantry early on - especially if you can get the enemy to fire on it. Also effective at taking out Imperial art by rushing under their barrage range with a quick flank. Torp Launchers are the Rebels most powerful unit and are a must on most occasions, their weaknesses are a lack of armour and taking a long time to deploy and reload. Their droid buddies are useful to zip around the map to annoy and confuse the enemy or to use their scanning ability to call in air support or take advantage of the Torp's range. But, they're also very good at dealing with Palpatine or Vader. Air Speeders are good to harass the enemy or take out AT-ATs - also, I've found that you can use them to heavily damage an enemy base if you watch out for any AA turrets, it requires micromanaging. Infiltrators are useful, and in a lot of ways supersede regular infantry if you micromanage them and keep them at long range from other infantry. Right, I officially went off track there.

Reviving an oldie Economic Models explained with Cows SOCIALISM You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour. COMMUNISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk. FASCISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk. NAZISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you. BUREAUCRATISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away... TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income. SURREALISM You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons. AN AMERICAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead. ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull. A FRENCH CORPORATION You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows. A JAPANESE CORPORATION You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.. A GERMAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves. AN ITALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch. A RUSSIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka. A SWISS CORPORATION You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them. A CHINESE CORPORATION You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation. AN INDIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You worship them. A BRITISH CORPORATION You have two cows. Both are mad. AN IRAQI CORPORATION Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy.... AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate. A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.

Double post Multitasking at it's ... weirdest

Two more free 3d modelling programs for people to play with. Wings 3d An exceptional 3d modelling program based around shortcut keys. It's small and light weight, so it can be used on practically any computer system (and Operating System), all you need is OpenGL. It's excellent for beginners to start with, and is also more than adept for experienced modellers. What's more is it's a pretty simple and easy program to use. My brother, who is not artistically minded in anyway (the logical, programmer) uses Wings when he needs models. It's capable of doing polygon editing at a level you would expect from a high level program like XSI, Max or Maya. It allows UVW mapping, polygon smoothing and other feature sets. The three key points for this program are: It's simple. It's easy to use. And, it's small. GMax A stripped out, free version of 3d studio Max. It has most of the features of 3d Max version 4 - which while it's quiet old (They're up to version 11 - called 2009 at the moment). However it gives you a modelling, UVW mapping, animation tool kit based on one of the most popular 3d modelling interfaces available. It's only limitation compared to the original 3d max 4 is it can't render images. Though, it does allow you to use the extremely useful modifier stack, and as mentioned, the tool and interface of 3d max. Gmax was so popular that many people and companies reportedly by-passed 3d studio max and use the free gmax for the majority of their game modelling work. Just remember, these programs are just tool sets - and it's not the tool that does the work, but you. Find something you're comfortable with - it doesn't have to be the same program you will use through your 3d life, but for a starting point you need to feel comfortable. Also, keep in mind that modelling techniques will be shared across different programs - a tutorial for Maya can be adapted for 3D Max and so on.

Lion hug

Okie dokie, questions for thee: What hardware does your computer have? Have you downloaded the latest drivers for your video card? Have you updated the game with FoC 1.1 patch? If not, try the latter two. Hardware wise, check the manufacturers website for common issues or google it. Do you have another computer you can try and install the game on to test that the CD isn't damaged EDIT: Also, post up what that Exception text file says. You might try a Window search for the log file as well. In Vista, you'd need only to use Explorer to navigateto the Empire at war base directory and then use the search box in the top right for Log or whatever. Hopefully you'll find it, chances are you'll need to have run the game once before the log gets created EDIT2: You know what I just remembered - I stopped playing EaW on my desktop because I couldn't play it for too long without the game crashing with said Exception error. I kind of diss-missed it as a fault with my system then, as my desktop has become renowned for crashing any and all games/programs. The OS is XP, though it is a 64bit processor - not sure if that plays a part. EDIT3: Seems like the Exception bug is quiet popular. From the LA forums: "I was having the exception error too. Mine always showed when i first clicked Start Game or during the EAW logo before the LA or Petro logo animations. I started searching for a possible fix and found this: http://pff.swrebellion.com/index.php?topic=4058.0 I tried and it fixed it. I can now play EAW with the 1.05 update with no problems. Hopefully this will fix it for anyone else who has it too. Problem is, that's a dead link. You can try search or even posting on that site though, assuming they've got a fix/work around.

I can't seem to find the original tute, but if you've got the help files for max just search up the Unwrap modifier. Otherwise, here's a tute online that I just found that seems helpful. Texturing a character model