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Yep, pretty close to what I expected as well.

[quote] Just note, however, that if you raise it too much it will "disappear." There is a kind of invisible ceiling on the tile editor, and you can't see anything above it (although I think it will still work if an object is above it, you just can't see it in the editor. [/quote] We wouldn't want our Orthancs to be sticking out of our monitors and poking our eyes would, would we ;)

Frogboy hinted at in-game item enchantment/creation coming in the first expansion pack, but there won't be anything for release.

One would hope that stamps can be randomly seeded - as I recall a year ago at PAX that's how Boogie described them when he was talking about the concept. Whether or not it actually works, I don't know as I'm not a mapper. If it doesn't, then I'd definitely vote for the random generator to pick up the stamps.

The map editor allows you to save groups of tiles as a stamp. In theory, you could easily make 4 tiles that connect with each other to form your thing, save it as a stamp, and use the stamp in maps. Then just attach the same XML info for each of the 4 tiles, so no matter which one you step on, they all behave the same.

The choices in #7 are lacking. Just because I may not be "excited" about the vast changes doesn't mean I'm disappointed. "They are vastly different, but I like the old a little better" (along with a 'like the new a little better') would be nice options to have. ATM, I have to answer that I'm not sure what to expect because it's the least incorrect choice for me :P Even though I know what to expect..

[quote who="vieuxchat" reply="2" id="2708754"]I use Visual studio express (c#), you can easily create xsc and then it saves you a lot of typing thanks to intellisense (maybe notepad has one, but I didn't find how to enable it) Intellisense is a lot of time saver. [/quote] Indeed. Express is free as well.

[quote]VAC didn't mess up here either, there was a situation where a certain file that was on the retail disk was setting off VAC flags when it was patched. Valve quickly realized that VAC must have been triggering a file that didn't need to be and fixed the situation by unbanning everyone and giving them 2 free copies of L4D2. VAC didn't make a mistake(it did exactly what it was designed to do), VALVE didn't make a mistake.[/quote] I thought they said that the issue wasn't specific t

I can't answer the why with any authority on the subject, but I think it's mostly a question of balance. By their nature, randomly generated maps aren't balanced, which is something that's generally required in a "battle". There are obviously some things that are meant to be a bit unbalancing, such as the defending being behind walls, but even then by hand it's possible to create maps that are balanced for their required roles.

[quote]The system was put in place by people with an overzealous position, company policy.[/quote] So, trying to prevent cheaters from ruining the experience of gamers is an "overzealous position"? [quote]Oh I love this. People don't ban people; computers do. Excellent, just excellent. Let me guess, you think guns kill people right, not people too?[/quote] What does this have to do with anything? If you want me to spell it out for you: yes, VAC the "computer" ban

That checkbox is in the main menu pulldown in the top left corner of Impulse.

[quote]The topic was actually thanking Frogboy.[/quote] Cute, but no. The topic was the discussion that you came into. You can do better with your arguments than word play about topic as in OP or topic as in what we were discussing. [quote]They were banned at no fault of their own. I stand by my example. [/quote] Through no fault of their own, yes, but not by overzealous forum admins which was Luckmann's and Zubaz' main arguing point. Therefore, your ex

[quote]Alright, you two, right here; you're both missing the point. The point isn't that it was an automated function or that it was abused. The point is that people were in fact banned, with no recourse and no accountability.[/quote] No, you're changing the point. VAC is an anti-cheat system, it glitched and wrongfully banned a bunch of people and the bans were reversed . They even got 2 free copies of L4D2 for the trouble. This is entirely different from m

There are specific tactical battle maps that get picked. I don't believe any of them are randomly generated. And the map edit should allow you to make your own tactical maps.

[quote]I'm saying that because it is wrong and because it does happen to others, I discourage people from supporting the corporation.[/quote] It's not "wrong". It's in their rules which you agree to follow when you post on the boards. As I said, I believe it's a harsh and unreasonable form of punishment, but it's not "wrong". It's spelled out in the TOS.

[quote]Valve banned a bunch of people from their games, 15,000 I believe over a mistake in their own program.[/quote] Er, that had nothing to do with forum posting. Stay on topic, perhaps? Those were automated bans with no human input, not a decision of forum admins. [quote]The point remains, I think, that a poster's definition of posting something ban-able and an admin's definition can vary. "Not being an ass" to avoid being banned is pretty vague and *is* the sli

[quote]I trust Brad more than I trust most people. He tries to do the right thing more often than not. But . . has he refunded someone their money and banned them from buying from Stardock? I'd bet on it. Was it for good cause? I'd bet on that too.[/quote] Sure, but you can't say "If someone has power they'll eventually abuse it.. except Brad, who has power but won't abuse it" :P My point of contention with Luckmann's original statement was warning peopl

[quote]It's a slippery slope. If someone has the power sooner or alter it'll be abused.[/quote] That's not a slippery slope, that's paranoia :P Frogboy has the power, are you saying sooner or later he'll start closing people's Stardock accounts for disagreeing with him on the forums? The truth is the vast majority of the visitors on any given game forum have absolutely 0 reasons to worry. The only "slippery slope" is how much of a dick you can be before the banhammer, but they

[quote]But yeah. Don't buy from EA/Bioware. At least not if you have a problem with their business practices (i.e. if you consider it bad form to take away purchases due to moderation gone mad) or plan to use their forums.[/quote] Well, really, it's more like "Don't buy from EA/Bioware if you plan on being a dick on their forums". 'Cause other than that, everyone's fine :P

Well given that there haven't been many posts with actual modded content (and only map uploading is allowed), I'm going to go ahead and guess around 0% :P

I like my version better. :P

[quote]1 : How is the AI? Is it hard to exploit (Hmm, AI doesn't attack me in force. Guess I can just turtle forward to win!) or will it adapt to the player? In short, will it be a challenge without it cheating?[/quote] Can't say, as the beta AI is not finalized. Stardock games are traditionally known for good AI (which keeps improving with patches), so this probably shouldn't be a major concern. [quote]2: Do we know if AI can be used online, mixed in with people? [/quote]

[quote]Let not your heart be troubled;[/quote] Zubaz is Galadriel now? Must've been a costly operation.

[quote]I mean, if any other intelligent civs would have the necessary techs to create "warp drives", "jump gates", "time machines" or stuff like that [to solve the "huge distance between the stars and galaxies problem], why haven't they visited our planet?[/quote] Possibly because we're one in several trillion? :P

Yeah, I loved the old mockups, but they decided to go with "minimalist" GUI. Can't really fault them for it. At this point as much as I like pretty UIs, functionality is more important. Sounds like it might be possible to skin the UI with a mod anyway, to create something flashier.