LightofAbraxas

I think that they said at one point that only a new Pixel Shader version would be required. Which I took to mean, the requirements will be very similar, but not identical.

[quote who="AlLanMandragoran" reply="163" id="2934778"]In short, here goes my basic assumptions: If there is a Creator, Creator is by default above his/her Creation - let's call Creation "Brad's EWOM Sandbox" and the Creator "Brad" Science is limited to observing and experimenting within the boundaries of Brad's EWOM Sandbox - our self-aware Sovereigns checking out their little world. What is this fertile land? Thus, observing and experimenting bey

[quote who="AlLanMandragoran" reply="160" id="2934761"]Religion/theology is considered to be strictly faith-based, thus the opposite of science's methods of observation and experiment.[/quote] And, most importantly, revision of your beliefs in light of new evidence. I personally think that they are polar opposites, but I would be interested in hearing your opinion as well.

[quote who="Drifter-san" reply="19" id="2934755"]Like you, I would like some unexpected events. GalCiv I & II had them and you had to be a good player to recover. It made for an interesting game.[/quote] I'm also excited that these are in the works. I think that they would add a lot to the game. Having said that, I much prefer Civ4/FfH style random events to GalCiv2 style random events. Just a personal preference, of course.

Wow, this looks really good. I was kind of hoping that FE would have a slightly darker look to it- from what I've seen so far (which is just a little, so I might be wrong), this looks to be the case?

Thanks, guys. This thread makes me feel a lot better about my life. Seriously.

[quote who="s2amrose" reply="60" id="2933991"]My question is this, however: is there really much effort going in to improve EWOM at this point, or has the vast majority of SD's focus been shifted to FE?[/quote] I think that most of their game division is working on FE, with 3 or 4 people working on improving WoM. It's been my impression that it's a matter of pride/principle that WoM eventually be a fun game, in addition to FE. I personally think that it's prett

[quote who="tetleytea" reply="11" id="2933247"] I'm doing research in neural nets and I'm trying to train them for a very specific application, and I'm laser-focused on solving about 3 specific problems with them.[/quote] OHHHH! Any chance that I can get you to elaborate? Umm, I understand that there might be NDA issues involved, in which case, I won't insist. But now you have my interest piqued. Also, I didn't mean to imply that applied research 'hurts

Wow, a bunch of cynics here, huh? I guess I just don't see what's wrong with wanting to make make money for your empoyees and stakeholders, or to advance your career if it's going to put you in a better position to contribute to the corpus of human knowledge. [quote who="Heavenfall" reply="7" id="2932755"]This evolution of the field is unavoidable. Academics are simply not well suited to attract capital. The best research will happen behind closed company doors, because th

[quote who="EternalRequiem" reply="86" id="2933158"]Only problem I see with the amount of bitching people do is that they never give good suggestions.[/quote] I'd argue that there are actually too many good suggestions for the game. That is, given limited time and budget, there have been more good suggestions on the board than could realistically be implemented. There are tons of posts with constructive non-bitching criticism, but I agree that they can be overshadowed by

[quote who="Lord Xia" reply="74" id="2933039"]I would find making custom units fun, IF I could change their look more, or if there were any real choices with weapons and armor. There isn't. Heaviest armor and best 2handed weapon. Make the exact same units every game, they look the same, they play the same, and that is true of 7 out of 10 races. Then the other three look alike. We have 2 different armor types, little people and big people. And two weapon

It's no problem, and I do agree with you. It's essentially the weaponization of math, isn't it? Not that this is new. The calculation of artillery trajectories was a big driving force behind the development of computers early on. Which, as you mentioned, has evolved into guidance systems for smart bombs. And yeah, all I can think of is the creation of more advanced data mining algorithims for intelligence gathering and to make Predator drones smarter. I'm not sure

Yeah, I agree completely. Not only that, but even in a field where applications are still somewhat limited, the opportunities for, and sources of, funding have changed substantially. We have a grant right now through NIMH, but only because we bent over backwards to tell the story of our research program through its potential benefits for therapy. We likely won't even be able to do that 3 or 4 years from now. Interestingly enough, the main (and pretty much only, as far as

I came across this article today in MIT's Tech Review: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37525/page1/ Some of the big names in AI research have become unhappy with the state of the field. The shift away from basic science to more specialized commercial applications and the fracturing of the AI community into subfields that tackle only one specific problem, or tackle a problem in one specific way are major

Yeah, it seems to me that the developers have been very reluctant to adapt successful ideas from any halfway decent game in the genre. Don't ask me why, and don't ask them why. I don't know and they won't tell you.

I think that he has a fair point. If what you mean is: "there is no multiplayer option whatsoever," you need to update the game on Impulse. If I recall correctly, multiplayer was enabled shortly after release. If what you mean is: "multiplayer isn't very fun," well then you should know that making a bad game isn't a crime. And yeah, it's helpful to read reviews before purchasing a game. Otherwise, you have to expect a poor one every once in a while.

I love then name 'Filthgrinder,' personally. You should embrace it.

I'm getting you a big bottle of thorazine for your 14th birthday. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Yeah, I do have to say, though, that I have the sinking feeling that Stardock is past the design phase, where something like this is open to change, and into the implementation phase. So... I'm really not holding my breath that we'll see anything like a re-imagined tech tree. All I really hope for at this point is a flexible enough end-user modding system so that I can take a stab at this, myself.

Ooooh. I like this. If I can rework my house spell mod to work with the overwrite mod, I may actually give the game a complete playthrough. Here, have a little karma.

Maul sounds pretty sweet. That interview also makes it sound like essence is coming back in some form or another?

[quote who="Verkinix" reply="15" id="2932038"]I'm finding that the game now has imprecise cursor. I have to aim at the top half of a square or above to target or move to a square.[/quote] I've had that same issue since the back in the release version days. Always seemed to happen after playing with the camera angle. Not sure if I still have it or not in this version...

[quote who="Vandenburg" reply="136" id="2931888"]Another idea from another Paradox game, Victoria. In that game, you have a literacy rate. Depending on that percentage, you got a big bonus to research or a lower one or none (it's granular). As a small state, you could easily increase your literacy rate to the high nineties. As a big, expanding empire though, conquering illiterate indigenous people your literacy always stayed low and increasing it to high numbers would have cost twice or t

Completely agree. While I appreciate all the work that SD is doing (especially because I'm getting free expansions/sequels), I'd be lying if I said that I was having fun with the game at this point.

[quote who="asadex" reply="27" id="2931653"]Please Fanboys, plase stay home[/quote] I am at home. So... there!