Off Topic Thread

[MarcoPolo]

Originally Posted by jars_u

I'm curious to solicit thoughts from people who have played

Distant Worlds and Armada 2526

in general what they like or dislike (as it pertains to wanting or not wanting to see in SL) and if you feel they were worth parting with your money for (or perhaps would be when the price drops).

I haven't spent any real time playing Flotilla yet so haven't any real insights to share yet.

Thanks.

I am actually currently playing Armada 2526, And I must say it has a way of growing on you. But maybe because I have had so little time to figure out its nuances. I am not sure if it would hold my interest as much if I was playing it for more than a few hours every lazy Sunday or so.

However I will say this about it, it falls short of what I would call a truly immersive game universe. I am sympathetic towards its building construction and tech tree, to a point. But its weaknesses is definitely the way war is waged. Very uninspiring and short lived. I would have preferred a Sins of a Solar Empire style engine or even a 2D gratuitous space battles style (if gfx and developing an upto date engine proved too costly)

As for FreeOrion, its ok as far as 1st impressions are concerned. But its more like a game I would of played in the 90s than something I would even give a chance to today. Its very conservative and lacks any innovation or ingenuity.

I also got a copy of Lost Empire Immortals, but I have from 1st impressions deemed Armada 2526 the worthier candidate. Lost Empire just seems way too repetitive for my liking, and despite it having its unique system of planet resource building, its still quite unpalatable for me.

However Star Ruler seems worthy of a look by me. I'm not too sure about Thousand Parsec, seems dated and constrained by a tiny budget.

Here are some more stellar scales for you amusements

HERE

Stellar Scales and the Future of Planet Detection

PlanetQuest

As well as some real life star system comparisons.

5 Worlds of Kepler

Five Exoplanets

First Time Photos of Extrasolar Planets

Corot 7b

Gleise 5c

[Ed Kolis]

To get back off-topic, thought I'd share some nursery rhymes... programmer style!

// Little Bunny Foofoo v1.0 beta
public static void Main()
{
	var foofoo = new Bunny();
	foofoo.Size = 0.001; // foofoo is a little bunny
	var forest = new Forest();
	forest.PopulateMice(typeof(FieldMouse), 50); // TODO - more diverse mouse population
	foofoo.HandleMice(forest);
	var fairy = new Fairy(Alignment.Good);
	for (var chances = 3; chances > 0; chances--)
	{
		fairy.SetDesiredVisibilityOf(foofoo, "mouse handling", false);
		fairy.Warn(foofoo, "mouse handling", "goonification", chances);
		foofoo.HandleMice(Forest);
	}
	fairy.SendLink(foofoo, "somethingawful.com"); // should turn him into a goon!
}
// Mouse event handler
private static void HandleMice(this Bunny bunny, Forest forest)
{
	foreach (var mouse in forest.Mice.OfType())
	{
		bunny.Scoop(mouse); // prevents mouse out of range exception
		bunny.Bop(mouse.Head);
	}
}

REM ANNUAL TODO LIST
1 PRINT "1-2 BUCKLE SHOE"
2 GOSUB BUKLSHOE
3 PRINT "3-4 SHUT DOOR"
4 GOSUB SHUTDOOR
5 PRINT "5-6 PICK UP STICKS"
6 GOSUB PIKUPSTX
7 PRINT "7-8 LAY THEM STRAIGHT"
8 GOSUB LAYMSTRT
9 PRINT "9-10 BEGIN AGAIN"
10 GOTO 1

// Dog Finding Script
// TODO - figure out why we're getting out of memory errors
function FindMyLittleDog() {
	// Find all dogs in world
	var dogs = Array();
	for (var i = 0; i < world.length; i++) {
		if (world[i].type == "dog")
			dogs.append(world[i]);
	}
	// Criterion: it's a little dog
	var littleDogs = Array();
	for (var i = 0; i < dogs.length; i++) {
		if (dogs[i].height < 15)
			littleDogs.append(dogs[i]);
	}
	// Criterion: it's a he
	var littleMaleDogs = Array();
	for (var i = 0; i < littleDogs.length; i++) {
		if (littleDogs[i].sex[0] == 'M' || littleDogs[i].sex[0] == 'm')
			littleMaleDogs.append(littleDogs[i]);
	}
	// TODO - check with SPCA on ethicality of these next search criteria
	var withCuts = Array();
	for (var i = 0; i < littleMaleDogs.length; i++) {
		if (littleMaleDogs[i].cuts["ears"] < 5 && littleMaleDogs[i].cuts["tail"] > 10)
			withCuts.append(littleMaleDogs[i]);
	}
	// Where oh where could he be?!?
	return FindMyLittleDog();
}