You should have swerved and made the people behind you deal with it,

A full evasive was impossible, I was travelling to fast. To swerve you have to reduce speed enough and then I'd already have hit them (at least two deer, not only one), I swerved as much as was possible.

Nice dinner with parents and gf. Driving home in my parents' car, all four of us in it. It is pitch black here at ten o'clock. Two cars behind me, I think they're not keeping their distance enough. Three dears suddenly appear on the road standing transfixed, glaring at me with their headlight-dazed luminous reflective eyes. I have half a second before impact, tops. This is what I thought in that flash on an instance: (1) I can't apply full breaks because I will not be able to steer then, they're too close so I can't bring the car to a full stop and I'd still hit them, and I will risk stockpiling the other cars behind me causing a compound accident. (2) I can't take full evasive manoeuvres since I am travelling to fast and will risk losing control of the car and will risk being hit be the cars following me. Split-second decision: I went with a hard break and three-quarter evasive, taking the leftmost deer on the right wheel house. It worked, I only hit one deer and managed to take it on the rear flank bouncing it off rather than onto the car (if you take game full-on they will bounce and crash up onto the wind shield), I retained full control of the car, I didn't cause an accident, and we're all alive and uninjured. Stopping and inspecting the car it had suffered minimal damages, but it will still be at least a €500 repair changing the entire front spoiler (the car is insured, otherwise it would be way more expensive). Technically, I think I did a textbook-perfect example of handling the situation. I should be proud.

Emotionally though, I feel I should have done more, managed to avoid hitting it completely (even though that would have been all but impossible); I feel guilty about perhaps (probably) killing that deer (which is stupid since I eat meat, but that meat is not (perhaps) suffering in a ditch right now!); and feel guilty about--silly as it might seem--causing damage to a car not my own (my parents shouldn't have to shoulder my economical responsibilities by now).

Bah, why I'm writing this here I don't know... Perhaps because real-life is not a game, and here everything have real outcomes? Perhaps I just needed to share and hear I did well, I dunno.

Perhaps you need to try to assume an other aspect of the programmer/hacker mindset which has to do with the love of tinkering. Right now it seems that you try to envision an entire project, say a Mario game or something, and that IS a mountain. What we often do, however, is to become fascinated with an individual aspect and play with that, for instance a sprite renderer, a looping music player, an elegant input handler class or whatever. Then the next fascination that can strike us is with playing around with combining the odds and pieces we've written. So instead of focusing on an entire product we can focus on combining aspects, and that feels more manageable.

Wow, lots of replies, so that means a lot of replying to do! Still waiting for Superb Joe's list of recommended viewing though!


Smithy: Children on Men, thanks, will go to my viewing list! Thanks!

Crowe, It is "Moon" I have seen, and I agree, it really is great! I actually didn't know anything about it when I saw it and I think that made it even better. Today it is difficult to see films without having had them spoiled in some way, but since I managed that feat with Moon it felt that I actually joined the main character on his voyage of exploration. I lap up anything Terry Gilliam makes as soon as it hits the screens, but he is one of those low-paces guys, which I guess I love him for in a way.

Core, I actually love the two first Alien(s) movies. The third is ok, and the fourth is entertaining sci-fi but from an "real Alien" (1 & 2) standpoint is quite shitty. Starship Troopers is a classic! What I like about the movie is that it stands on its own apart from the book: they are totally different. Some Heinlein fans hate that, but I think they made a wonderful sarcasm of today's values and trends and made a quite unique film. But WTF happened with the sequel? It's WORSE than what Uve Boll could have made!

Markham, now we have both Metropolis and 2001 mentioned together with Blade Runner and Brazil, so we've got the higher echelons covered! Wish there were more sci-fi at this level!

Johan Sandoval, about 2001, really, the start and the end makes the film, but they also require the most thought. Some friends of mine hate it because they don't understand it. Btw, read the book 2001 too, it is amazing!

Gimmy: Wing of honneamise, sounds familiar... Isn't that an anime?

Headless Man: Lol, yeah, I actually really enjoyed Blixt Gordon! And Queen did the soundtrack! Cheezy B for the win! Counter-suggestion, have you seen Barbarella? See it with the blokes, an ironic mindset, and your beverages of choice and I promise you a great evening!

Pishtaco: Hmm, 1954 Disney docu of the future, eh? That's really interesting! Thanks!

Cystem glitch: Wow! We have quite the similar taste (or rather, we've both canvassed most of what's available to watch)! I see you left out Predator 2, which isn't as good as the first one but still nice enough. I guess "Mad Max" means the actual #2 (desert and fuel escort thing)? #1 isn't well knows, and #3 (Beyond Thunderdoom with Tina Turner) is quite shitty. And eXiztenZ is a little gem

Sinclair: I'm still out on whether I like the Russian 1972 original or the 2002 remake of Solaris better. Perhaps it is time to watch them again? Hmm...

[Source Code]

I saw Source Code, which was like a mix of 13th Floor and Memento, and I really recommend it!

I hated Source Code's ending. They should have just let the credits roll when time froze on the train, that would have been perfect. The whole cheesy Hollywood coda where everyone lives happily ever after feels so tacked on and really hurts the movie imo.

I didn't react that badly to it. Hollywood studios more or less require and impose a happy ending, which sucks, but given that restriction they handled it rather well. And the ending in the "real" world wasn't that happy, if you think about it. In one only of all the worlds created there was happiness. That's actually a bit dark, isn't it? Yeah, it is in the mainstream folder but still manages to be decent: an OK evening movie and served as a good distraction to me but probably not worth a second viewing.

I think that is about exactly what I too wrote.

I typed it with my toes for extra dramatic impact.

Oh, JWK5, will these one-upmanships between us never cease? We're like two titans locked in an eternal Sisyphean struggle that no one can ever win.

At first I thought that said "syphilis struggle", I was about to say if you're going to proposition me you'd better have a pre-order receipt for Skyrim in your hand.

Elder Scrolls pre-order: check. Syphilis: fail. Sorry, I fulfilled most requirements but failed the "positive to at least one major STD" one. Have you tried Cactus lately?

I think that is about exactly what I too wrote.

I typed it with my toes for extra dramatic impact.

Oh, JWK5, will these one-upmanships between us never cease? We're like two titans locked in an eternal Sisyphean struggle that no one can ever win.

Red Dwarf was enormously fun, and I think a defining series for me! Sad that Craig Charles (the guy playing Lister) didn't really got many more roles except for Red Dwarf. He was host for Robot Wars and Scrapheap Challenge, but that's about it.

The Moon is a great movie, liked it a lot!

I saw an animation movie simply called "9", also worth seeing, though Allen would consider it a bit mainstream, probably And of course everyone has already seen District 9, which is one of the better sci-fi movies these last years.

Otherwise, almost anything directed by Terry Gilliams is great: f.i. 12 Monkeys, Brazil, and one of his latests, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

The Man from Earth is on my viewing list, and I'll look into the other stuff too! I actually have watched the first season of Moonbase Alpha, good classic stuff there!

Allen, that seems intriguing, but the descriptions I've read about it seems more about the alternative life stories and characterisation of it than about sci-fi (Imdb even lists it as fantasy, for whatever that's worth).

Yeah, some of what I listed is mainstream, but most long-living series are. And I'd hardly call LEXX, Babylon 5 or ST:TNG uninteresting. I also don't think listing all movies I've watched is worthwhile, I just made a selection on the top of my mind, and yeah some of it can be considered mainstream. I like alternative, experimental, academic and intellectual titles, and I also can enjoy mainstream things, so feel free to suggest away!

If you haven't checked out LEXX, do so. It may surprise you.

If 'indies' expect a mainstream level of respect then to a degree they have to be held to a certain level of mainstream obligation, at least when it comes to the consumer-product relationship. Once you accept money from someone (for a product, not a donation) it is your responsibility to either get them what they paid for or return to them what they invested. I don't think 'indies' should have the luxury to bail out on that obligation any more than I think mainstream developers should. 'Indie' does not equal freedom from responsibility.

I think that is about exactly what I too wrote. And I appreciate your comment about the integrity aspect of the situation.

....And professionalism has nothing to do with making proper backups. Heck I backup my porn.

Lol, sorry for the direct confrontation, and thanks for the disarming porn comment! But I'd say that making proper backups is one of the very minimal definitions of profesionalism

[Defying Gravity]

So I am a bit bored and looking for new sci-fi stuff to watch and of course want to know what you recommend!

Recently I watched Defying Gravity, which was ok: a bit like a better Lost but in space. I also have checked out the relatively low-budget BBC series Outcasts, which was a bit underwhelming but still enjoyable. I saw the movie Hunter Prey, another low-budget title with some nice mind-fuckery and twists in it. I saw Source Code, which was like a mix of 13th Floor and Memento, and I really recommend it!

I haven't checked out Terra Nova yet but am planning to, but the premise seems a bit lame with humans going back in time to colonise the dinosaur age. Haven't seen almost any of Dr Who either.

The mandatory series-to-watch library, according to me:
* Star Trek TOS & TNG (I don't really recommend Voyager and DS9)
* Babylon 5
* Firefly
* Farscape
* LEXX
* Stargate SG:1 & SG:Atlantis
* Andromeda
* Battlestar Galactica (not my cup of tea, though)

Lost will not make it to my recommendation list And Heroes plain suck.

start gaining commercial success and building a community around your game, you need to be professional.

That's the fun thing there. I personally never expect such projects to be ever professional, or their creators either. That's how I see indie crowd funding system and accept it. Way of doing stuff for non-professional hobbyist some sort. If there are real professionals, let them take the classic route through commercial steps ...and actually, they do. And independent non-professional are free to mess up in spirit of this: 

I don't equate being Indie with being childish and stupidly irresponsible. Being Indie is about not being a serf of the mass-industry, about being your own boss. It should entail fun, as should all life's callings. That is not the same as it should be a frat party. To make an analogy, I love cooking and when I cook I try to have fun in the kitchen. I have strict routines when cooking though: I don't juggle knives, I never place washed utensils with the edge or points up, I don't walk with dangerous things (hot trays, knives) without alerting people I pass or fail to warn people cutting things that I am behind them, etc etc. And development is just another kitchen. Indies should be professional just as much as any other software developer. When you deal with other peoples' money, even more so. Professionalism != no fun. But if you're not professional about how you go about things you will certainly not have fun in the long run, and these guys have learned that. And just as people that are irresponsible in the kitchen quickly learns grief, so did these guys.

So 1982, I think you are blatantly and dangerously wrong. One can never be childish and irresponsible in any serious undertaking. Being Indie is not a licence to be immature and believing that is damaging to our business reputation and livelihood. I don't know how old you are but you sound very young, so let me just tell you that messing up is not fun and lacking professionalism leads to not having fun.

Ok, this situation sucks dirty balls for them and I hope they will rise from this to finish the game. If you read this, I feel with you because I know what it is like losing investments of time, life and precious data.

That said, I have read statements and coverage of this and I really don't get it: I might be biased from having worked professionally for some years but this is actually beyond understanding. They used two laptops to develop the game. Whenever you use more than one computer the far easiest way to share and synchronise the code is by a versioning system. All other schemes basically require either a standalone locally networked server (which they apparently didn't have) or synching through removable media. If they synced using flash memory they should still have the memory sticks. If they used emails they should still have the emails. If they used sneakernet with friggin' 3½ inch floppies they should still have the disks. Etc etc. Whatever their synchro scheme was it must have been fubar on an epic scale. So did they use bluetooth, hot-spotted wi-fi conections or 19.2kbaud 25-pin cables hooked to the parallel port?

Somewhere along the line they should have stopped and thought that there was probably something very wrong with their methodology.

Backstory plez for us lazy bastards that don't know what you're talking about.

Wow. Slow, "fixes the shit in a minute" == serious effort being invested, AND can't be assed to read the rules in the first post.

It seems that GCC v3.4 onward has correct #pragma once handling.

I also like to use

Code:

#pragma once

in addition to the #ifndef,#define,#endif enclosures just to be safe.

Don't forget to #define twice in case the compiler misses the first time. Just to be safe

It's an artillery game, hardly a rip off, it's a genre that have very old legacy.

Also to understand more: http://www.youtube.com/v/YVBep6rO7Jw
They had the right metaphore for the right time

My Chinese isn't up to par with that speed. It is a demonstration about unemployment, and the police took the side of the demonstrators, but not many turned up for the demonstration. Did I miss something? What's the connection to Angry Birds? The demonstrators are the angry birds that want to strike down the greedy pigs (society, politicians?) or something?


@JWK5: There are probably several reasons for the resentment:
1a) It is really quite a lousy game, so a kind of gamer elitism strikes when non-gamers like something that sucks. The more hype the larger the reaction.
1b) The game is lacking any creative ideas of its own. People that realise this reacts to people who doesn't, whether it is against fans of an undeservedly hyped/lauded book, tv series, movie or game.
1c) People who wants identifies themselves against the mainstream reacts against mainstream icons. And Angry Birds is (intentionally) as mainstream as you can get.
2a) Actual game designers or people with aspirations to be game designers resent when quick-and-dirty shit without much thought, depth, or inspiration succeeds where long-time labour of love, skill, sweat & tears or genius fails.
2b) Most people resent rip-offs. And though Angry Birds perhaps doesn't rip off one particular title it takes everything it has from other sources and not in the evolutionary or refinement way but in the copy-cat way.
3) Uber-commercialism is ugly and repulsive. And it is understandable and just to react to market cynicism.

a lot of what he describes was covered by chris crawford in his books, but ... not everyone reads crawford (even tho they should)

Book link plez for greater edification of the populace.