How would you "improve" SS2?

ZylonBane on 11/6/2006 at 02:56

Ummm.... errrr.... what?

An oscilloscope IS a vector display.

(http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taouu/html/ch02s04.html)

Quote:

There were sporadic experiments with what we would now call a graphical user interface as far back as 1962 and the pioneering SPACEWAR game on the PDP-1. The display on that machine was not just a character terminal, but a modified oscilloscope that could be made to support vector graphics.

And...
(http://mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/spies.cgi?action=url&type=conv&page=SegaToAtariXYConv.txt)

Quote:

Many collectors have played Atari vector games on an oscilloscope
in XY mode, and know that a color vector monitor is just an o-scope with
three color guns.

IceNine on 11/6/2006 at 06:27

Oscilloscope is a term used to describe two things - a device designed to measure electrical current, and the cathode ray tube that is used to display the result. The tube itself goes by a number of names, of which oscilloscope is one, and the concept and general function of the device as a whole is in essence a voltmeter with a display device and predates the oscilloscope itself. It's just a really eloquent implementation from the start.

Unfortunately, in the spelunking for what the hell you were confused about ( I assumed you meant the device as a whole, as you would have said CRT had you meant only the display itself ), I found (http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/higinbotham.asp) this nifty little bit. Seems Space war IS predated by another game with physics, Tennis for Two, but only by two or three years though. There are other references to earlier things (http://www.pong-story.com/intro.htm) at this page, though none directly state physics.

All that said, we've burned half a dozen plus posts off topic, so it's probably time to return control to those that have ideas for improving SS2.

Briareos H on 11/6/2006 at 06:45

Quote Posted by IceNine

I don't want to admit that I didn't understand you in the first posts -and anyway I was discussing things as a whole, you just can't trick me-, so here instead have a bit of information which is largely irrelevant to what we are discussing.

And by the way, you shouldn't respond to this post (though I am obviously trying to have the last word) because this discussion is off topic.

Well done sir :joke:

descenterace on 11/6/2006 at 09:53

Electrical current? Wrong. Oscilloscopes measure voltage.
It's basically a graph-drawing device. What sort of gadget converts a pair of voltage inputs to a point on a screen? A cathode ray tube. I don't know what the other device you're thinking of is, but I suspect it's an ammeter, which is definitely NOT the same thing as an oscilloscope.

Kolya on 11/6/2006 at 11:41

More ingame games! I want to play jump and runs and vertical shooters and point and kill games a la Cannonfodder in SS2. :)

EDIT: On a more realistical note: I saw a very nicely animated fish in a dromed demo mission. And I instantly thought how much it would add to immersion when we had fishes in the various ponds of the Von Braun.
Maybe frobbable as sushi? I don't want to get overboard again though...

EDIT2: Sushi = PSI

ZylonBane on 11/6/2006 at 16:09

Quote Posted by descenterace

Electrical current? Wrong. Oscilloscopes measure voltage.

Well you could just use a multimeter for that. Oscilloscopes are for viewing waveforms (or, ahem, oscillations).

And that's why bullets in SS2 don't send objects flying across the room.

Bluegrime on 11/6/2006 at 21:12

Cool an idea as fish are.. Where would they go? The only bodies of water that wasnt created by an accident/irradiated/circulated or some other reason fish couldnt live in there are the pool, and that big lilli pond in hydroponics.. At least I think so.

But, what would the Many do with fish? They turned spiders into those giant biting bastards, so.. Evil Many zombie fish?

Kolya on 11/6/2006 at 21:34

I don't think they turned spiders into something. These spiders are annelids, a part of the Many evolution.

Generally I'd like to see more animals onboard, eg a cat like in Alien2. You could pick it up and put it into your inventory. Drop it and it will wander around the level meowing from time to time.

And only a few fish would be okay. Just in the places where they could have been put by the crew. Oh and the cat would eat the fish of course. :)
You could feed it in your inventory like you feed the recycler and gain some health for this relaxing behavior.

ZylonBane on 11/6/2006 at 22:19

Quote Posted by Kolya

On a more realistical note: I saw a very nicely animated fish in a dromed demo mission. And I instantly thought how much it would add to immersion when we had fishes in the various ponds of the Von Braun.

Haven't you played Ponterbee Station? It has swimming fish in several locations.

Kolya on 11/6/2006 at 22:34

I only played the first level iirc. A series of unfortunate events* kept me from finishing it. Actually I only reinstalled SS2 a few days ago when making the screenshot of your 3d goo.

*Thanks Bill.