Full Version: Teaser Trailer Thread #17
Man I would HATE to be in the shoos of the guy responsible for making the video. If it was done it would have been up by now.
I beg you BETH, plz give me that, i need it... Plz
what a [censored] mess
omg, im in australia, ive been up for so long my eyes are killin me, must see trailer
20 HOURS OF WAITING ... FOR WHAT? FOR "STAND BY" SCREEN ??????? 
ANYONE CAN MAKE SENSE OF THE CODES????
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>Fallout: Welcome to the Official Site</title>
<link href="countdown.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/" target="_blank"><img src="countdown/images/standby.jpg" alt="Please Stand By" width="975" height="548" border="0" /></a></p>
</body>
</html>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>Fallout: Welcome to the Official Site</title>
<link href="countdown.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/" target="_blank"><img src="countdown/images/standby.jpg" alt="Please Stand By" width="975" height="548" border="0" /></a></p>
</body>
</html>
QUOTE(Hungry Donner @ Jun 5 2007, 09:35 AM) 
I can't give you an official answer, because I simply don't know. But I'd wager a guess it has something to do with the fact that they only got to work a short while ago and they probably have to prep a lot of stuff. I'd also guess there's a specific time they've planned to put the stuff up, but I don't know when that is.
maybe if they sacrifice that cup of coffee ..maybe we will be get teaser sooner...
they should have prepared yesterday the lazy buggers
Stanly ... come out come out where ever you are %)
silly, why are the mods not embracing the explosion of people?
Boredom is a condition characterized by perception of one's environment as dull, tedious, and lacking stimuli. There is an inherent anxiety in boredom; people will expend considerable effort to prevent or remedy it, yet in many circumstances it is accepted as an inevitable suffering to be endured. A common way to escape boredom is through creative thoughts or daydreaming.
The first record of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, written in 1852,[1] although the expression to be a bore had been used in the sense of "to be tiresome or dull" since 1768.[2]
Time often seems to move more slowly to someone who experiences boredom. This results from the way in which the human mind measures the passage of time, combined with the infrequency of events perceived as notable. Children who continually suffer from boredom may become severely depressed, and might not be able to focus on the real world and life in general.
Boredom can be a symptom of clinical depression. Some boredom is a form of learned helplessness, a phenomenon closely related to depression. Some philosophies of parenting propose that if children are raised in an environment devoid of stimuli, and are not allowed or encouraged to interact with their environment, they will fail to develop the mental capacities to do so. These children are then bored even when placed in an environment others would find stimulating.
Boredom is often associated with adolescence, especially in suburbs, small towns, and other isolated areas. A typical teenager's complaint is that there is "nothing to do." This statement can have a number of economic and social causes.
Some people hold the belief that having too much spare time causes boredom. For example, parents might encourage their children to fill their time with extracurricular activities or homework. Others disagree, arguing that few environments are inherently boring, and that boredom reflects a lack of imagination, initiative and creativity.
Far from being a minor annoyance, boredom can have major negative impacts on people. Perhaps more importantly, boredom is often a symptom of deeper problems, such as depression, ineffective teaching, or ineffective management in a workplace. This can also be due to the fact that some people just communicate poorly.
Boredom in the workplace does more than just waste time. Studies in behavioral finance have shown that stock traders can enter into "overtrading" (buying or selling even without any objective reason to do so) because they feel bored when they have nothing "productive" to do.[citation needed] Boredom in the workplace also hurts people's sense of self-worth, which can cause them to work less effectively or even to not work at all.
Some people believe that boredom can be cured by activities such as exercise, social stimulation etc.
Arthur Schopenhauer used the existence of boredom in an attempt to prove the vanity of human existence, stating: "For if life, in the desire for which our essence and existence consists, possessed in itself a positive value and real content, there would be no such thing as boredom: mere existence would fulfill and satisfy us."[3]
Boredom also plays a role in existentialist thought. Without stimulus or focus, the individual is confronted with nothingness, the meaninglessness of existence, and experiences existential anxiety. Martin Heidegger states this idea nicely: "Profound boredom, drifting here and there in the abysses of our existence like a muffling fog, removes all things and men and oneself along with it into a remarkable indifference. This boredom reveals being as a whole."[4]
The first record of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, written in 1852,[1] although the expression to be a bore had been used in the sense of "to be tiresome or dull" since 1768.[2]
Time often seems to move more slowly to someone who experiences boredom. This results from the way in which the human mind measures the passage of time, combined with the infrequency of events perceived as notable. Children who continually suffer from boredom may become severely depressed, and might not be able to focus on the real world and life in general.
Boredom can be a symptom of clinical depression. Some boredom is a form of learned helplessness, a phenomenon closely related to depression. Some philosophies of parenting propose that if children are raised in an environment devoid of stimuli, and are not allowed or encouraged to interact with their environment, they will fail to develop the mental capacities to do so. These children are then bored even when placed in an environment others would find stimulating.
Boredom is often associated with adolescence, especially in suburbs, small towns, and other isolated areas. A typical teenager's complaint is that there is "nothing to do." This statement can have a number of economic and social causes.
Some people hold the belief that having too much spare time causes boredom. For example, parents might encourage their children to fill their time with extracurricular activities or homework. Others disagree, arguing that few environments are inherently boring, and that boredom reflects a lack of imagination, initiative and creativity.
Far from being a minor annoyance, boredom can have major negative impacts on people. Perhaps more importantly, boredom is often a symptom of deeper problems, such as depression, ineffective teaching, or ineffective management in a workplace. This can also be due to the fact that some people just communicate poorly.
Boredom in the workplace does more than just waste time. Studies in behavioral finance have shown that stock traders can enter into "overtrading" (buying or selling even without any objective reason to do so) because they feel bored when they have nothing "productive" to do.[citation needed] Boredom in the workplace also hurts people's sense of self-worth, which can cause them to work less effectively or even to not work at all.
Some people believe that boredom can be cured by activities such as exercise, social stimulation etc.
Arthur Schopenhauer used the existence of boredom in an attempt to prove the vanity of human existence, stating: "For if life, in the desire for which our essence and existence consists, possessed in itself a positive value and real content, there would be no such thing as boredom: mere existence would fulfill and satisfy us."[3]
Boredom also plays a role in existentialist thought. Without stimulus or focus, the individual is confronted with nothingness, the meaninglessness of existence, and experiences existential anxiety. Martin Heidegger states this idea nicely: "Profound boredom, drifting here and there in the abysses of our existence like a muffling fog, removes all things and men and oneself along with it into a remarkable indifference. This boredom reveals being as a whole."[4]
If this is the "silence before the storm" i'd like to see the storm!
Is it out yet???
okay, i am banhammed.
IS IT TEZERSZ DAYZ?
QUOTE(hrodhgar @ Jun 5 2007, 07:35 AM)
New contest - MOST ANNOYING PIECE OF SPAM EVER!
mine turn nabz
Personal computer game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Computer Games)
For information on interactive gaming in general, see video game. For the 80's UK magazine, see Personal Computer Games.
“Computer Games” redirects here. For the George Clinton album, see Computer Games (album).
A personal computer game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine. Computer games have evolved from the simple graphics and gameplay of early titles like Spacewar!, to a wide range of more visually advanced titles, although the computer game market has been declining in the United States since 1999.[1]
A screenshot of the best-selling PC game of all time, The Sims.
PC games are created by one or more game developers, often in conjunction with other specialists (such as game artists) and either published independently or through a third party publisher. They may then be distributed on physical media such as DVDs and CDs, as Internet-downloadable shareware, or through online delivery services such as Direct2Drive and Steam. PC games often require specialised hardware in the user's computer in order to play, such as a specific generation of graphics processing unit or an Internet connection for online play, although these system requirements vary from game to game.
Computer games and game addiction are often the subject of criticism, focusing largely on the influence of objectionable content and prolonged gameplay on minors. The Entertainment Software Association and other groups maintain that parents are responsible for moderating their children's behaviour, although the controversy has prompted attempts to control the sale of certain games in the United States.[2]Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Early growth
1.2 Industry crash
1.3 New genres
1.4 Contemporary gaming
2 PC game development
2.1 User-created modifications
3 Distribution
3.1 Physical distribution
3.2 Shareware
3.3 Online delivery
4 Computer game genres
5 Computer gaming technology
5.1 Hardware
5.2 Multiplayer
5.2.1 Local Area Network gaming
5.2.2 Online multiplayer
5.3 Emulation
6 Controversy
7 See also
8 References
[edit]
History
Main article: History of computer and video games
[edit]
Early growth
Spacewar!, developed for the PDP-1 in 1961, is often credited as being the first ever computer game. The game consisted of two player-controlled spaceships maneuvering around a central star, each attempting to destroy the other.
Although personal computers only became popular with the development of the microprocessor, mainframe and minicomputers have been used for computer gaming since at least the 1960s. One of the first computer games was developed in 1961, when MIT students Martin Graetz and Alan Kotok, with MIT employee Stephen Russell, developed Spacewar! on a PDP-1 computer used for statistical calculations.[3]
The first generation of PC games were often text adventures or interactive fiction, in which the player communicated with the computer by entering commands through a keyboard. The first text-adventure, Adventure, was developed for the PDP-11 in 1972.[4] By the 1980s, personal computers had become powerful enough to run games like Adventure, but by this time, graphics were beginning to become an important factor in games. Later games combined textual commands with basic graphics, as seen in the SSI Gold Box games such as Pool of Radiance, or Bard's Tale.
By the mid-1970s, games were developed and distributed through hobbyist groups and gaming magazines, such as Creative Computing and later Computer Gaming World. These publications provided game code that could be typed into a computer and played, encouraging readers to submit their own software to competitions.[5]
[edit]
Industry crash
Main article: Video game crash of 1983
As the video game market became flooded with poor-quality games created by numerous companies attempting to enter the market, and major releases such as the Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T. failed to impress consumers, the popularity of personal computers for education rose dramatically. As a result, in 1983, consumer interest in video games dwindled to historical lows, prompting the near-collapse of the game console market while causing increase in sales of home computer games.[6]
The effects of the crash were largely limited to the console market, as established companies such as Atari posted record losses over subsequent years. Conversely, the home computer market boomed, as sales of low-cost colour computers such as the Commodore 64 rose to record highs and developers such as Electronic Arts benefited from increasing interest in the platform.[6]
The crash was largely reversed by the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System.[6]
[edit]
New genres
Increasing adoption of the computer mouse, driven partially by the success of games such as the highly successful King's Quest series, and high resolution bitmap displays allowed the industry to include increasingly high-quality graphical interfaces in new releases. Meanwhile, the Commodore Amiga computer achieved great success in the market from its release in 1985, contributing to the rapid adoption of these new interface technologies.[7]
Wolfenstein 3D, released as shareware by id Software in 1992, is widely regarded as having popularised the first person shooter genre of computer games.
Further improvements to game artwork were made possible with the introduction of the first sound cards, such as AdLib's Music Synthesizer Card, in 1987. These cards allowed IBM PC compatible computers to produce complex sounds using FM synthesis, where they had previously been limited to simple tones and beeps. However, the rise of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster card, which featured much higher sound quality due to the inclusion of a PCM channel and digital signal processor, led AdLib to file for bankruptcy in 1992.
The year before, id Software had produced one the first first-person shooter games, Hovertank 3D, which also represented the first use of realtime 3D graphics.[8] The same team went on to develop Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, which became the first commercially successful first-person shooter, kick-starting a genre that would become one of the highest-selling in modern times.[9] The game was originally distributed through the shareware distribution model, allowing players to try a limited part of the game for free but requiring payment to play the rest, and represented one of the first uses of texture mapping graphics in a popular game, along with Ultima Underworld.[10]
While leading Sega and Nintendo console systems kept their CPU speed at 3-7 MHz, the 486 PC processor ran much faster, allowing it to perform many more calculations per second. The 1993 release of Doom on the PC was a breakthrough in 3D graphics, and was soon ported to various game consoles in a general shift toward greater realism.[11]
Many early PC games included extras such as the peril-sensitive sunglasses that shipped with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. These extras gradually became less common, but many games were still sold in the traditional over-sized boxes that used to hold the extra "feelies". Today, such extras are usually found only in Special Edition versions of games, such as Battlechests from Blizzard.[12]
[edit]
Contemporary gaming
The high quality graphics of F.E.A.R. demonstrate the complex visual effects common in modern PC games.
By 1995, the rise of Microsoft Windows and success of 3D console titles such as Super Mario 64 sparked great interest in hardware accelerated 3D graphics on the PC, and soon resulted in attempts to produce affordable solutions with the ATI Rage, Matrox Mystique and Silicon Graphics ViRGE. Tomb Raider, which was released in 1996, was one of the first third person shooter games and was praised for its revolutionary graphics. As 3D graphics libraries such as DirectX and OpenGL matured and knocked proprietary interfaces out of the market, these platforms gained greater acceptance in the market, particularly with their demonstrated benefits in games such as Unreal.[13] However, major changes to the Microsoft Windows operating system, by then the market leader, made many older MS-DOS-based games unplayable on Windows NT, and later, Windows XP.[14]
The faster graphics accelerators and improving CPU technology resulted in increasing levels of realism in computer games. During this time, the improvements introduced with products such as ATI's Radeon R300 and NVidia's GeForce 6 Series have allowed developers to increase the complexity of modern game engines. PC gaming currently tends strongly toward improvements in 3D graphics.[15]
Unlike the generally accepted push for improved graphical performance, the use of physics engines in computer games has become a matter of debate since announcement and 2005 release of the AGEIA PhysX PPU, ostensibly competing with middleware such as the Havok physics engine. Issues such as difficulty in ensuring consistent experiences for all players,[16] and the uncertain benefit of first generation PhsyX cards in games such as Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and City of Villains, prompted arguments over the value of such technology.[17][18]
Similarly, many game publishers began to experiment with new forms of marketing. Chief among these alternative strategies is episodic gaming, an adaptation of the older concept of expansion packs, in which game content is provided in smaller quantities but for a proportionally lower price. Titles such as Half-Life 2: Episode One took advantage of the idea, with mixed results rising from concerns for the amount of content provided for the price.[19]
[edit]
PC game development
Main article: Game development
Game development, as with console games, is generally undertaken by one or more game developers using either standardised or proprietary tools. While games could previously be developed by very small groups of people, as in the early example of Wolfenstein 3D, many popular computer games today require large development teams and budgets running into the millions of dollars.[20]
PC games are usually built around a central piece of software, known as a game engine,[21] that simplifies the development process and enables developers to easily port their projects between platforms. Unlike most consoles, which generally only run major engines such as Unreal Engine 3 and RenderWare due to restrictions on homebrew software, personal computers may run games developed using a larger range of software. As such, a number of alternatives to expensive engines have become available, including open source solutions such as Crystal Space, OGRE and DarkPlaces.
[edit]
User-created modifications
Counter-Strike, a total-conversion mod for Valve Software's Half-Life, achieved great popularity online and was subsequently purchased by Valve.
Main article: Mod (computer gaming)
The multi-purpose nature of personal computers often allows users to modify the content of installed games with relative ease. Since console games are generally difficult to modify without a proprietary software development kit, and are often protected by legal and physical barriers against tampering and homebrew software,[22][23] it is generally easier to modify the personal computer version of games using common, easy-to-obtain software. Users can then distribute their customised version of the game (commonly known as a mod) by any means they choose.
The inclusion of map editors such as UnrealEd with the retail versions of many games, and others that have been made available online such as GtkRadiant, allow users to create modifications for games easily, using tools that are maintained by the games' original developers. In addition, companies such as id Software have released the source code to older game engines, enabling the creation of entirely new games and major changes to existing ones.[24]
Modding had allowed much of the community to produce game elements that would not normally be provided by the developer of the game, expanding or modifying normal gameplay to varying degrees. One notable example is the Hot Coffee mod for the PC port of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which enables access to an abandoned sex minigame by simply modifying a bit of the game's data file.
[edit]
Distribution
[edit]
Physical distribution
Computer games are typically sold on standard storage media, such as compact discs, DVD, and floppy disks.[25] These were originally passed on to customers through mail order services,[26] although retail distribution has replaced it as the main distribution channel for video games due to higher sales.[27] Different formats of floppy disks were initially the staple storage media of the 1980s and early 1990s, but have fallen out of practical use as the increasing sophistication of computer games raised the overall size of the game's data and program files.
The introduction of complex graphics engines in recent times has resulted in additional storage requirements for modern games, and thus an increasing interest in CDs and DVDs as the next compact storage media for personal computer games. The rising popularity of DVD drives in modern PCs, and the larger capacity of the new media (a single-layer DVD can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes of data, more than five times as much as a single CD), have resulted in their adoption as a format for computer game distribution. To date, CD versions are still offered for most games, while some games offer both the CD and the DVD versions.
[edit]
Shareware
Main articles: Shareware and Game demo
Shareware marketing, whereby a limited or demonstration version of the full game is released to prospective buyers without charge, has been used as a method of distributing computer games since the early years of the gaming industry. Shareware games generally offer only a small part of the gameplay offered in the retail product, and may be distributed with gaming magazines, in retail stores or on developers' websites free of charge.
In the early 1990s, shareware distribution was common among fledging game companies such as Apogee Software, Epic Megagames and id Software, and remains a popular distribution method among smaller game developers. However, shareware has largely fallen out of favor among established game companies in favour of traditional retail marketing, with notable exceptions such as Big Fish Games and PopCap Games continuing to use the model today.[28]
The Steam content delivery system allows users to preload games prior to their release.
[edit]
Online delivery
With the increased popularity of the Internet, online distribution of game content has become more common.[29] Retail services such as Direct2Drive and Download.com allow users to purchase and download large games that would otherwise only be distributed on physical media, such as DVDs, as well as providing cheap distribution of shareware and demonstration games. Other services, allow a subscription-based distribution model in which users pay a monthly to download and play as many games as they wish.
The Steam system, developed by Valve Corporation, provides an alternative to traditional online services. Instead of allowing the player to download a game and play it immediately, games are made available for "pre-load" in an encrypted form days or weeks before their actual release date. On the official release date, a relatively small component is made available to unlock the game. Steam also ensures that once bought, a game remains accessible to a customer for all of time, while the traditional mediums of floppy disk and CD-ROM are suspectible to unrecoverable damage and misplacement.
[edit]
Computer game genres
See also: Computer and video game genres
The real time strategy genre, which accounts for more than a quarter of all PC games sold,[1] has found very little success on video game consoles, with releases such as Starcraft 64 failing in the marketplace. Strategy games tend to suffer from the design of console controllers, which do not allow fast, accurate movement.[30]
Conversely, action games have found considerable popularity on video game consoles, making up nearly a third of all video games sold in 2004, compared to just four percent on the computer. Sports games have also found greater support on game consoles compared to personal computers.[1]
[edit]
Computer gaming technology
An exploded view of a modern personal computer:
Display
Motherboard
CPU (Microprocessor)
Primary storage (RAM)
Expansion cards (graphics cards, etc)
Power supply
Optical disc drive
Secondary storage (Hard disk)
Keyboard
Mouse
[edit]
Hardware
Modern computer games place great demand on the computer's hardware, often requiring a fast central processing unit (CPU) to function properly. CPU manufacturers historically relied mainly on increasing clock rates to improve the performance of their processors, but had begun to move stedadily towards multi-core CPUs by 2005. These processors allow the computer to simultaneously process multiple tasks, called threads, allowing the use of more complex graphics, artificial intelligence and in-game physics.[31][15]
Similarly, 3D games often rely on a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU), which accelerates the process of drawing complex scenes in realtime. GPUs may be an integrated part of the computer's motherboard, the most common solution in laptops,[32] or come packaged with a discrete graphics card with a supply of dedicated Video RAM, connected to the motherboard through either an AGP or PCI-Express port. It is also possible to use multiple GPUs in a single computer, using technologies such as NVidia's Scalable Link Interface and ATI's CrossFire.
Sound cards are also available to provide improved audio in computer games. These cards provide improved 3D audio and provide audio enhancement that is generally not available with integrated alternatives, at the cost of marginally lower overall performance.[33] The Creative Labs SoundBlaster line was for many years the de facto standard for sound cards, although its popularity dwindled as PC audio became a commodity on modern motherboards.
Physics processing units (PPUs), such as the AGEIA PhysX card, are also available to accelerate physics simulations in modern computer games. PPUs allow the computer to process more complex interactions among objects than is achievable using only the CPU, potentially allowing players a much greater degree of control over the world in games designed to use the card.[34]
Virtually all personal computers use a keyboard and mouse for user input. Other common gaming peripherals are a headset for faster communication in online games, joysticks for flight simulators, steering wheels for driving games and gamepads for console-style games.
[edit]
Multiplayer
[edit]
Local Area Network gaming
Multiplayer gaming was largely limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) before cost-effective broadband internet connections became available, due to their typically higher bandwidth and lower latency than the dial-up services of the time. These advantages allowed more players to join any given computer game, but have persisted today because of the higher latency of most Internet connections and the costs associated with broadband internet.
Typically, LAN Gaming requires two or more personal computers, a router and sufficient networking cables to connect every computer on the network. Additionally, each computer must have a Network Interface Card installed or integrated onto its motherboard in order to communicate with other computers on the network. Optionally, any LAN may include an external connection to the Internet.
Computer games have been known to give bugs and virus' by either not being a commercially marked game or having an online counterpart which then downloads the virus onto your computer. If a game a passed a commercial virus inspection it is then ready for sales and purchase.
[edit]
Online multiplayer
Main article: Online game
Online multiplayer games have achieved popularity largely as a result of increasing broadband adoption among consumers. Affordable high-bandwidth Internet connections allow large numbers of players to play together, and thus have found particular use in massively multiplayer online RPGs and persistent online games such as World War II Online.
Although it is possible to participate in online computer games using dial-up modems, broadband internet connections are generally considered necessary in order to reduce the latency between players (commonly known as "lag"). Such connections require a broadband-compatible modem connected to the personal computer through a network interface card (generally integrated onto the computer's motherboard), optionally separated by a router.
[edit]
Emulation
Main article: Emulator
Emulation software, used to run software without the original hardware, are popular for their ability to play legacy video games without the consoles or operating system for which they were designed. Console emulators such as NESticle and MAME are relatively commonplace, although the complexity of modern consoles such as the Xbox makes them far more difficult to emulate, even for the original manufacturers.[35]
Most emulation software mimics a particular hardware architecture, often to an extremely high degree of accuracy. This is particularly the case with classic home computers such as the Commodore 64, whose software often depends on highly sophisticated low-level programming tricks invented by game programmers and the demoscene.
[edit]
Controversy
Popular MMORPGs such as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft are a major subject of criticism, amid concern that they encourage game addiction.
Main article: Video game controversy
Computer games have long been a source of controversy, particularly related to the violence that has become commonly associated with video gaming in general. The debate surrounds the influence of objectionable content on the social development of minors, with organisations such as the American Psychological Association concluding that video game violence increases children's aggression,[36] a concern that prompted a further investigation by the Center for Disease Control in September 2006.[37] Industry groups have responded by noting the responsibility of parents in governing their children's activities, while attempts in the United States to control the sale of objectionable games have generally been found unconstitutional.[2]
Video game addiction is another cultural aspect of gaming to draw criticism, as it can have a negative influence on health and on social relations and in the most extreme cases has lead to death as a result of prolonged gameplay.[38] The problem of addiction and its health risks seems to have grown with the rise of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs).[39]
[edit]
See also
List of gaming topics
List of PC games
Decline of PC game sales in the US
Video game controversy
Gaming PC
[edit]
References
^ a b c Entertainment Software Association (January 26, 2005). Computer and Video Game Software Sales Reach Record $7.3 Billion in 2004. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ a b Judge rules against Louisiana video game law (August 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
^ Levy, Steven (1984). Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Anchor Press/Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-19195-2.
^ Chronology of the History of Video Games. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ "Computer Gaming World's RobotWar Tournament" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1982, p. 17. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ a b c Player 3 Stage 6: The Great Videogame Crash (1999-04-07). Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Commodore Amiga 1000 Computer. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Reimer, Jeremy (2005-10-10). The evolution of gaming: computers, consoles, and arcade. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Cifaldi, Frank (2006-02-21). Analysts: FPS 'Most Attractive' Genre for Publishers. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
^ James, Wagner. Masters of "Doom". Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Console history. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Varney, Allen. Feelies. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Shamma, Tahsin. Review of Unreal, Gamespot.com, June 10, 1998.
^ Durham, Jr., Joel (2006-05-14). Getting Older Games to Run on Windows XP. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ a b Necasek, Michal (2006-10-30). Brief Glimpse into the Future of 3D Game Graphics. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Reimer, Jeremy (2006-05-14). Tim Sweeney ponders the future of physics cards. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
^ Shrout, Ryan (2006-05-02). AGEIA PhysX PPU Videos - Ghost Recon and Cell Factor. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
^ Smith, Ryan (2006-09-07). PhysX Performance Update: City of Villains. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ Half Life 2: Episode One for PC Review (June 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
^ Wardell, Brad (2006-04-05). [http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060405/wardell_01.shtml Postmortem: Stardock's Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords]. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ Simpson, Jake. Game Engine Anatomy 101, Part I. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ Judge deems PS2 mod chips illegal in UK (July 2004). Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ Xbox 360 designed to be unhackable (October 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ "Quake 3 Source Code Released", August, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ The Next Billion Dollar Videogame Opportunity. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Lombardy, Dana. "Inside the Industry" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1984, p. 6. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Lombardy, Dana. "Inside the Industry" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1982, p. 2. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Chris Morris. "The return of shareware", CNN.com, June 18, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Brendan Sinclair (June 18, 2003). Spot On: The (new) dawn of digital distribution. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Joe Fielder (2000-05-12). StarCraft 64. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-19.
^ Xbox 360 designed to be unhackable (October 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ Platform Trends: Mobile Graphics Heat Up (December 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ X-Fi and the Elite Pro: SoundBlaster's Return to Greatness (August 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Platform Trends: Mobile Graphics Heat Up (December 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Xbox 360 Review (November 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
^ American Psychological Association. Violent Video Games - Psychologists Help Protect Children from Harmful Effects.
^ Senate bill mandates CDC investigation into video game violence (September 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
^ S Korean dies after games session (August 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
^ Detox For Video Game Addiction? (July 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
mine turn nabz
Personal computer game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Computer Games)
For information on interactive gaming in general, see video game. For the 80's UK magazine, see Personal Computer Games.
“Computer Games” redirects here. For the George Clinton album, see Computer Games (album).
A personal computer game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine. Computer games have evolved from the simple graphics and gameplay of early titles like Spacewar!, to a wide range of more visually advanced titles, although the computer game market has been declining in the United States since 1999.[1]
A screenshot of the best-selling PC game of all time, The Sims.
PC games are created by one or more game developers, often in conjunction with other specialists (such as game artists) and either published independently or through a third party publisher. They may then be distributed on physical media such as DVDs and CDs, as Internet-downloadable shareware, or through online delivery services such as Direct2Drive and Steam. PC games often require specialised hardware in the user's computer in order to play, such as a specific generation of graphics processing unit or an Internet connection for online play, although these system requirements vary from game to game.
Computer games and game addiction are often the subject of criticism, focusing largely on the influence of objectionable content and prolonged gameplay on minors. The Entertainment Software Association and other groups maintain that parents are responsible for moderating their children's behaviour, although the controversy has prompted attempts to control the sale of certain games in the United States.[2]Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Early growth
1.2 Industry crash
1.3 New genres
1.4 Contemporary gaming
2 PC game development
2.1 User-created modifications
3 Distribution
3.1 Physical distribution
3.2 Shareware
3.3 Online delivery
4 Computer game genres
5 Computer gaming technology
5.1 Hardware
5.2 Multiplayer
5.2.1 Local Area Network gaming
5.2.2 Online multiplayer
5.3 Emulation
6 Controversy
7 See also
8 References
[edit]
History
Main article: History of computer and video games
[edit]
Early growth
Spacewar!, developed for the PDP-1 in 1961, is often credited as being the first ever computer game. The game consisted of two player-controlled spaceships maneuvering around a central star, each attempting to destroy the other.
Although personal computers only became popular with the development of the microprocessor, mainframe and minicomputers have been used for computer gaming since at least the 1960s. One of the first computer games was developed in 1961, when MIT students Martin Graetz and Alan Kotok, with MIT employee Stephen Russell, developed Spacewar! on a PDP-1 computer used for statistical calculations.[3]
The first generation of PC games were often text adventures or interactive fiction, in which the player communicated with the computer by entering commands through a keyboard. The first text-adventure, Adventure, was developed for the PDP-11 in 1972.[4] By the 1980s, personal computers had become powerful enough to run games like Adventure, but by this time, graphics were beginning to become an important factor in games. Later games combined textual commands with basic graphics, as seen in the SSI Gold Box games such as Pool of Radiance, or Bard's Tale.
By the mid-1970s, games were developed and distributed through hobbyist groups and gaming magazines, such as Creative Computing and later Computer Gaming World. These publications provided game code that could be typed into a computer and played, encouraging readers to submit their own software to competitions.[5]
[edit]
Industry crash
Main article: Video game crash of 1983
As the video game market became flooded with poor-quality games created by numerous companies attempting to enter the market, and major releases such as the Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T. failed to impress consumers, the popularity of personal computers for education rose dramatically. As a result, in 1983, consumer interest in video games dwindled to historical lows, prompting the near-collapse of the game console market while causing increase in sales of home computer games.[6]
The effects of the crash were largely limited to the console market, as established companies such as Atari posted record losses over subsequent years. Conversely, the home computer market boomed, as sales of low-cost colour computers such as the Commodore 64 rose to record highs and developers such as Electronic Arts benefited from increasing interest in the platform.[6]
The crash was largely reversed by the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System.[6]
[edit]
New genres
Increasing adoption of the computer mouse, driven partially by the success of games such as the highly successful King's Quest series, and high resolution bitmap displays allowed the industry to include increasingly high-quality graphical interfaces in new releases. Meanwhile, the Commodore Amiga computer achieved great success in the market from its release in 1985, contributing to the rapid adoption of these new interface technologies.[7]
Wolfenstein 3D, released as shareware by id Software in 1992, is widely regarded as having popularised the first person shooter genre of computer games.
Further improvements to game artwork were made possible with the introduction of the first sound cards, such as AdLib's Music Synthesizer Card, in 1987. These cards allowed IBM PC compatible computers to produce complex sounds using FM synthesis, where they had previously been limited to simple tones and beeps. However, the rise of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster card, which featured much higher sound quality due to the inclusion of a PCM channel and digital signal processor, led AdLib to file for bankruptcy in 1992.
The year before, id Software had produced one the first first-person shooter games, Hovertank 3D, which also represented the first use of realtime 3D graphics.[8] The same team went on to develop Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, which became the first commercially successful first-person shooter, kick-starting a genre that would become one of the highest-selling in modern times.[9] The game was originally distributed through the shareware distribution model, allowing players to try a limited part of the game for free but requiring payment to play the rest, and represented one of the first uses of texture mapping graphics in a popular game, along with Ultima Underworld.[10]
While leading Sega and Nintendo console systems kept their CPU speed at 3-7 MHz, the 486 PC processor ran much faster, allowing it to perform many more calculations per second. The 1993 release of Doom on the PC was a breakthrough in 3D graphics, and was soon ported to various game consoles in a general shift toward greater realism.[11]
Many early PC games included extras such as the peril-sensitive sunglasses that shipped with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. These extras gradually became less common, but many games were still sold in the traditional over-sized boxes that used to hold the extra "feelies". Today, such extras are usually found only in Special Edition versions of games, such as Battlechests from Blizzard.[12]
[edit]
Contemporary gaming
The high quality graphics of F.E.A.R. demonstrate the complex visual effects common in modern PC games.
By 1995, the rise of Microsoft Windows and success of 3D console titles such as Super Mario 64 sparked great interest in hardware accelerated 3D graphics on the PC, and soon resulted in attempts to produce affordable solutions with the ATI Rage, Matrox Mystique and Silicon Graphics ViRGE. Tomb Raider, which was released in 1996, was one of the first third person shooter games and was praised for its revolutionary graphics. As 3D graphics libraries such as DirectX and OpenGL matured and knocked proprietary interfaces out of the market, these platforms gained greater acceptance in the market, particularly with their demonstrated benefits in games such as Unreal.[13] However, major changes to the Microsoft Windows operating system, by then the market leader, made many older MS-DOS-based games unplayable on Windows NT, and later, Windows XP.[14]
The faster graphics accelerators and improving CPU technology resulted in increasing levels of realism in computer games. During this time, the improvements introduced with products such as ATI's Radeon R300 and NVidia's GeForce 6 Series have allowed developers to increase the complexity of modern game engines. PC gaming currently tends strongly toward improvements in 3D graphics.[15]
Unlike the generally accepted push for improved graphical performance, the use of physics engines in computer games has become a matter of debate since announcement and 2005 release of the AGEIA PhysX PPU, ostensibly competing with middleware such as the Havok physics engine. Issues such as difficulty in ensuring consistent experiences for all players,[16] and the uncertain benefit of first generation PhsyX cards in games such as Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and City of Villains, prompted arguments over the value of such technology.[17][18]
Similarly, many game publishers began to experiment with new forms of marketing. Chief among these alternative strategies is episodic gaming, an adaptation of the older concept of expansion packs, in which game content is provided in smaller quantities but for a proportionally lower price. Titles such as Half-Life 2: Episode One took advantage of the idea, with mixed results rising from concerns for the amount of content provided for the price.[19]
[edit]
PC game development
Main article: Game development
Game development, as with console games, is generally undertaken by one or more game developers using either standardised or proprietary tools. While games could previously be developed by very small groups of people, as in the early example of Wolfenstein 3D, many popular computer games today require large development teams and budgets running into the millions of dollars.[20]
PC games are usually built around a central piece of software, known as a game engine,[21] that simplifies the development process and enables developers to easily port their projects between platforms. Unlike most consoles, which generally only run major engines such as Unreal Engine 3 and RenderWare due to restrictions on homebrew software, personal computers may run games developed using a larger range of software. As such, a number of alternatives to expensive engines have become available, including open source solutions such as Crystal Space, OGRE and DarkPlaces.
[edit]
User-created modifications
Counter-Strike, a total-conversion mod for Valve Software's Half-Life, achieved great popularity online and was subsequently purchased by Valve.
Main article: Mod (computer gaming)
The multi-purpose nature of personal computers often allows users to modify the content of installed games with relative ease. Since console games are generally difficult to modify without a proprietary software development kit, and are often protected by legal and physical barriers against tampering and homebrew software,[22][23] it is generally easier to modify the personal computer version of games using common, easy-to-obtain software. Users can then distribute their customised version of the game (commonly known as a mod) by any means they choose.
The inclusion of map editors such as UnrealEd with the retail versions of many games, and others that have been made available online such as GtkRadiant, allow users to create modifications for games easily, using tools that are maintained by the games' original developers. In addition, companies such as id Software have released the source code to older game engines, enabling the creation of entirely new games and major changes to existing ones.[24]
Modding had allowed much of the community to produce game elements that would not normally be provided by the developer of the game, expanding or modifying normal gameplay to varying degrees. One notable example is the Hot Coffee mod for the PC port of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which enables access to an abandoned sex minigame by simply modifying a bit of the game's data file.
[edit]
Distribution
[edit]
Physical distribution
Computer games are typically sold on standard storage media, such as compact discs, DVD, and floppy disks.[25] These were originally passed on to customers through mail order services,[26] although retail distribution has replaced it as the main distribution channel for video games due to higher sales.[27] Different formats of floppy disks were initially the staple storage media of the 1980s and early 1990s, but have fallen out of practical use as the increasing sophistication of computer games raised the overall size of the game's data and program files.
The introduction of complex graphics engines in recent times has resulted in additional storage requirements for modern games, and thus an increasing interest in CDs and DVDs as the next compact storage media for personal computer games. The rising popularity of DVD drives in modern PCs, and the larger capacity of the new media (a single-layer DVD can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes of data, more than five times as much as a single CD), have resulted in their adoption as a format for computer game distribution. To date, CD versions are still offered for most games, while some games offer both the CD and the DVD versions.
[edit]
Shareware
Main articles: Shareware and Game demo
Shareware marketing, whereby a limited or demonstration version of the full game is released to prospective buyers without charge, has been used as a method of distributing computer games since the early years of the gaming industry. Shareware games generally offer only a small part of the gameplay offered in the retail product, and may be distributed with gaming magazines, in retail stores or on developers' websites free of charge.
In the early 1990s, shareware distribution was common among fledging game companies such as Apogee Software, Epic Megagames and id Software, and remains a popular distribution method among smaller game developers. However, shareware has largely fallen out of favor among established game companies in favour of traditional retail marketing, with notable exceptions such as Big Fish Games and PopCap Games continuing to use the model today.[28]
The Steam content delivery system allows users to preload games prior to their release.
[edit]
Online delivery
With the increased popularity of the Internet, online distribution of game content has become more common.[29] Retail services such as Direct2Drive and Download.com allow users to purchase and download large games that would otherwise only be distributed on physical media, such as DVDs, as well as providing cheap distribution of shareware and demonstration games. Other services, allow a subscription-based distribution model in which users pay a monthly to download and play as many games as they wish.
The Steam system, developed by Valve Corporation, provides an alternative to traditional online services. Instead of allowing the player to download a game and play it immediately, games are made available for "pre-load" in an encrypted form days or weeks before their actual release date. On the official release date, a relatively small component is made available to unlock the game. Steam also ensures that once bought, a game remains accessible to a customer for all of time, while the traditional mediums of floppy disk and CD-ROM are suspectible to unrecoverable damage and misplacement.
[edit]
Computer game genres
See also: Computer and video game genres
The real time strategy genre, which accounts for more than a quarter of all PC games sold,[1] has found very little success on video game consoles, with releases such as Starcraft 64 failing in the marketplace. Strategy games tend to suffer from the design of console controllers, which do not allow fast, accurate movement.[30]
Conversely, action games have found considerable popularity on video game consoles, making up nearly a third of all video games sold in 2004, compared to just four percent on the computer. Sports games have also found greater support on game consoles compared to personal computers.[1]
[edit]
Computer gaming technology
An exploded view of a modern personal computer:
Display
Motherboard
CPU (Microprocessor)
Primary storage (RAM)
Expansion cards (graphics cards, etc)
Power supply
Optical disc drive
Secondary storage (Hard disk)
Keyboard
Mouse
[edit]
Hardware
Modern computer games place great demand on the computer's hardware, often requiring a fast central processing unit (CPU) to function properly. CPU manufacturers historically relied mainly on increasing clock rates to improve the performance of their processors, but had begun to move stedadily towards multi-core CPUs by 2005. These processors allow the computer to simultaneously process multiple tasks, called threads, allowing the use of more complex graphics, artificial intelligence and in-game physics.[31][15]
Similarly, 3D games often rely on a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU), which accelerates the process of drawing complex scenes in realtime. GPUs may be an integrated part of the computer's motherboard, the most common solution in laptops,[32] or come packaged with a discrete graphics card with a supply of dedicated Video RAM, connected to the motherboard through either an AGP or PCI-Express port. It is also possible to use multiple GPUs in a single computer, using technologies such as NVidia's Scalable Link Interface and ATI's CrossFire.
Sound cards are also available to provide improved audio in computer games. These cards provide improved 3D audio and provide audio enhancement that is generally not available with integrated alternatives, at the cost of marginally lower overall performance.[33] The Creative Labs SoundBlaster line was for many years the de facto standard for sound cards, although its popularity dwindled as PC audio became a commodity on modern motherboards.
Physics processing units (PPUs), such as the AGEIA PhysX card, are also available to accelerate physics simulations in modern computer games. PPUs allow the computer to process more complex interactions among objects than is achievable using only the CPU, potentially allowing players a much greater degree of control over the world in games designed to use the card.[34]
Virtually all personal computers use a keyboard and mouse for user input. Other common gaming peripherals are a headset for faster communication in online games, joysticks for flight simulators, steering wheels for driving games and gamepads for console-style games.
[edit]
Multiplayer
[edit]
Local Area Network gaming
Multiplayer gaming was largely limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) before cost-effective broadband internet connections became available, due to their typically higher bandwidth and lower latency than the dial-up services of the time. These advantages allowed more players to join any given computer game, but have persisted today because of the higher latency of most Internet connections and the costs associated with broadband internet.
Typically, LAN Gaming requires two or more personal computers, a router and sufficient networking cables to connect every computer on the network. Additionally, each computer must have a Network Interface Card installed or integrated onto its motherboard in order to communicate with other computers on the network. Optionally, any LAN may include an external connection to the Internet.
Computer games have been known to give bugs and virus' by either not being a commercially marked game or having an online counterpart which then downloads the virus onto your computer. If a game a passed a commercial virus inspection it is then ready for sales and purchase.
[edit]
Online multiplayer
Main article: Online game
Online multiplayer games have achieved popularity largely as a result of increasing broadband adoption among consumers. Affordable high-bandwidth Internet connections allow large numbers of players to play together, and thus have found particular use in massively multiplayer online RPGs and persistent online games such as World War II Online.
Although it is possible to participate in online computer games using dial-up modems, broadband internet connections are generally considered necessary in order to reduce the latency between players (commonly known as "lag"). Such connections require a broadband-compatible modem connected to the personal computer through a network interface card (generally integrated onto the computer's motherboard), optionally separated by a router.
[edit]
Emulation
Main article: Emulator
Emulation software, used to run software without the original hardware, are popular for their ability to play legacy video games without the consoles or operating system for which they were designed. Console emulators such as NESticle and MAME are relatively commonplace, although the complexity of modern consoles such as the Xbox makes them far more difficult to emulate, even for the original manufacturers.[35]
Most emulation software mimics a particular hardware architecture, often to an extremely high degree of accuracy. This is particularly the case with classic home computers such as the Commodore 64, whose software often depends on highly sophisticated low-level programming tricks invented by game programmers and the demoscene.
[edit]
Controversy
Popular MMORPGs such as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft are a major subject of criticism, amid concern that they encourage game addiction.
Main article: Video game controversy
Computer games have long been a source of controversy, particularly related to the violence that has become commonly associated with video gaming in general. The debate surrounds the influence of objectionable content on the social development of minors, with organisations such as the American Psychological Association concluding that video game violence increases children's aggression,[36] a concern that prompted a further investigation by the Center for Disease Control in September 2006.[37] Industry groups have responded by noting the responsibility of parents in governing their children's activities, while attempts in the United States to control the sale of objectionable games have generally been found unconstitutional.[2]
Video game addiction is another cultural aspect of gaming to draw criticism, as it can have a negative influence on health and on social relations and in the most extreme cases has lead to death as a result of prolonged gameplay.[38] The problem of addiction and its health risks seems to have grown with the rise of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs).[39]
[edit]
See also
List of gaming topics
List of PC games
Decline of PC game sales in the US
Video game controversy
Gaming PC
[edit]
References
^ a b c Entertainment Software Association (January 26, 2005). Computer and Video Game Software Sales Reach Record $7.3 Billion in 2004. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ a b Judge rules against Louisiana video game law (August 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
^ Levy, Steven (1984). Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Anchor Press/Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-19195-2.
^ Chronology of the History of Video Games. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ "Computer Gaming World's RobotWar Tournament" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1982, p. 17. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ a b c Player 3 Stage 6: The Great Videogame Crash (1999-04-07). Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Commodore Amiga 1000 Computer. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Reimer, Jeremy (2005-10-10). The evolution of gaming: computers, consoles, and arcade. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Cifaldi, Frank (2006-02-21). Analysts: FPS 'Most Attractive' Genre for Publishers. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
^ James, Wagner. Masters of "Doom". Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Console history. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Varney, Allen. Feelies. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Shamma, Tahsin. Review of Unreal, Gamespot.com, June 10, 1998.
^ Durham, Jr., Joel (2006-05-14). Getting Older Games to Run on Windows XP. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ a b Necasek, Michal (2006-10-30). Brief Glimpse into the Future of 3D Game Graphics. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Reimer, Jeremy (2006-05-14). Tim Sweeney ponders the future of physics cards. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
^ Shrout, Ryan (2006-05-02). AGEIA PhysX PPU Videos - Ghost Recon and Cell Factor. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
^ Smith, Ryan (2006-09-07). PhysX Performance Update: City of Villains. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ Half Life 2: Episode One for PC Review (June 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
^ Wardell, Brad (2006-04-05). [http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060405/wardell_01.shtml Postmortem: Stardock's Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords]. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ Simpson, Jake. Game Engine Anatomy 101, Part I. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ Judge deems PS2 mod chips illegal in UK (July 2004). Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ Xbox 360 designed to be unhackable (October 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ "Quake 3 Source Code Released", August, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ The Next Billion Dollar Videogame Opportunity. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Lombardy, Dana. "Inside the Industry" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1984, p. 6. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Lombardy, Dana. "Inside the Industry" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1982, p. 2. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Chris Morris. "The return of shareware", CNN.com, June 18, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Brendan Sinclair (June 18, 2003). Spot On: The (new) dawn of digital distribution. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Joe Fielder (2000-05-12). StarCraft 64. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-19.
^ Xbox 360 designed to be unhackable (October 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ Platform Trends: Mobile Graphics Heat Up (December 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ X-Fi and the Elite Pro: SoundBlaster's Return to Greatness (August 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Platform Trends: Mobile Graphics Heat Up (December 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Xbox 360 Review (November 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
^ American Psychological Association. Violent Video Games - Psychologists Help Protect Children from Harmful Effects.
^ Senate bill mandates CDC investigation into video game violence (September 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
^ S Korean dies after games session (August 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
^ Detox For Video Game Addiction? (July 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
AN EXPERT'S GUIDE TO MASTERING FALLOUT
=============================================
==============================================
===============================================
Last updated June 21, 2000
This FAQ is copyrighted by the author and may be freely distributed so long as
it appears in its complete, unaltered, and unplagarized form. This FAQ may not
be sold for monetary gain or be republished/reproduced, in part or in whole,
for any reason whatsoever, without the express permission of the author.
Copyrighted by Cole Simmons, A.K.A. Kazorky Pantz, June 2000
Kazorky_pantz@hotmail.com
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
---------------------------
After playing the excellent game Fallout extensively, I have decided to share
what I believe is the best, easiest possible way to not only solve every quest
in the game, but also to achieve such hallmarks as obtaining the maximum level
possible for your character, increasing your stats to their maximum levels,
and finding out why exactly the world of Fallout is as it is in the first
place. I did not write this guide in order to explain things to you, however;
you will have to make your own discoveries regarding the plot and sub-themes
in the game.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
---------------------------
A. GETTING STARTED
1. Character creation
2. Some Rather Important Game tips
B. Vault 13 / Shady Sands
C. Vault 15
D. Junktown
E. The Hub
F. Necropolis
G. Vault 13
H. Shady Sands / The Khans
I. The Hub
J. The Glow
K. The Brotherhood
L. Gettin' Stronger
M. The Hub
N. Adytown
O. The Military Base
P. The Brotherhood
Q. The Military Base
S. Gettin' Stronger Still
T. The Cathedral
U. The End (sorta)
So, without further ado....
A. Gettin' Started
===================================
1. Your Character
---------------------
This guide really refers only to one type of character, but it is, in my
opinion, the character best suited for the completion and enjoyment of the
game.
What I advise you to do:
STR: 5
END: 5
PEC: 7
INT: 7
CHR: 5
AGI: 5
LCK: 6
Why I advise you to do this: Increased Perception lets you shoot things with
guns a long way away with more accuracy. Increased Intelligence lets you gain
more skill points per level, and also increases the amount of experience you
get from certain tasks. Increased Luck actually helps quite a bit -- you're
more likely to succeed in using skills, hitting targets, causing critical
hits, gambling well, and basically doing anything you want to do a little
better. Besides, if you don't have sufficient luck, there's no way you'll be
able to find the ULTIMATE WEAPON in Fallout.
My preferred tag skills:
Small Guns (recommended above all other skills. Being able to shoot guns
good is ESSENTIAL to blazing through Fallout without a whole lot of fuss.)
Gambling (get your gambling skills over about 75% with good luck and you'll
never have to worry about money. EVER.)
The last is a toss-up between Energy Weapons and Speech. Speech is always
good to have, but Energy Weapons is a necessity a lot sooner than you'd think
-- and a tag helps a LOT to become proficient in their use earlier.
My preferred Traits are Skilled and Gifted. Gifted is an awesome trait -- +1
point to every attribute for the cost of 5 skill points per level, a decrease
in your overall skill percentages, and a perk every four levels instead of
three (which has never bothered me, I don't rely on perks). To balance out
the loss of skill percentages, I choose Skilled -- it will bring your skills
back to beyond their original levels and negate the loss of skill points that
Gifted causes. So basically, with these two, you gain +1 to all attributes
and a few percentage points for all skills for the cost of decreased Perk
frequency. In my eyes, it's an easy choice.
The name, sex, and age of your character are inconsequential.
2. Some Rather Important Game Tips
------------------------------------------
My game tips aren't like anybody else's, I guarantee. But I can get a level
17 character in a day, and I always get at least 100,000 caps before I cease
my play, so go figure.
1. In combat, always use targeted shots if using a rifle or pistol of any
kind. Try to get close to your enemy, and shoot them repeatedly in the
eyeballs. Usually, with a good Luck and good Perception and good Small Guns
skills, you can kill any foe in one good shot by doing this.
2. When browsing over your fallen foes' corpses, pick up only money and
healing chems (unless you happen to see they have better guns or armor than
yours, or you need ammo -- and then leave behind any discarded munitions or
armor on their bodies.) Carrying around thirty guns and leather jackets is
really pointless. Take what you need, but don't play the pack rat.
3. Don't use Stimpaks or the like unless you're severely wounded (your HP
counter is yellow). Stimpaks are your friends -- but don't waste them.
You'll be a lot happier if you end the game by facing the legions of minigun
toting super mutants with an inventory of 150+ Stimpaks -- quite easy if
you're conservative throughout the game.
4. Don't do drugs. Drugs are bad. (Actually, this is a personal thing; if
you enjoy being addicted to chems and having the wildly fluxuating stats that
accompanies their use, then be my guest. I just stay away from them; I don't
need them.)
5. Be careful who you kill. Don't shoot little kids, even by accident -- I
hate nothing more than to have important people who I plan on completing
quests for suddenly start shooting me because of a bad shot -- if this
happens, reload your game and try again.
6. SAVE OFTEN. I MEAN, A LOT. I MEAN, SAVE AFTER EVERY BATTLE, EVERY
JOURNEY FROM TOWN TO TOWN, EVERY LITTLE THING THAT SEEMS IN THE REMOTEST WAY
RELEVANT TO THE GAME. A good character can get you through the game easily,
but that doesn't mean that some yahoo with a 10mm piece of crap can't get
lucky and critically hit you in the eyeball for 274 HP worth of damage. And
if that happens while you're two steps from beating the game, and you saved
back after leaving Vault 13 the first time, you're not going to be real nice
to friends and family for days following.
7. GET THE PATCH to v1.1! This is essential. Not only does it fix a lot of
stupid bugs and glitches, it removes the time limit from the game -- if you
don't get it, you'll have to complete the game in 500 days, and that really
sucks. Trust me. So UPGRADE.
8. Personally, I prefer to play the Good Guy. I just like being the champion
of humanity in this game, though it's a choice you could deviate from and
still have fun with the game. However, there are more experience points to be
gained from peaceful solutions to problems, and being a Good Guy will
definitely get the right people to like you in the right situations. Just a
thought to ponder.
9. Here is a list of Perks that will, I assure you, help you to become a
walking incarnation of death in the world.
For your first Perk, choose Toughness. Choose it again a few times until
something better comes along. I prefer to gain all three ranks of it, the 30%
damage resistance boost makes me laugh derisively later on when raiders
attempt in vain to do even a single HP worth of damage to me.
More criticals is another Perk I like to stock up in. More criticals is fun.
Here's the best Perk combo in the game:
Action Boy (one rank)
Bonus Rate of Fire (must be level 9)
With these two, and the Ultimate Weapon, (to be mentioned later), you can
easily do about 180 HP of damage to your enemies every turn, sometimes upward
of 600HP. This'll be explained later.)
10. If, at any point in your journeying, you happen to come across a crashed
UFO with two alien bodies next to it, SEARCH THE BODIES AND TAKE THE GUN.
TAKE IT. TAKE IT. KEEP IT. DON'T SELL IT. DON'T LOOSE IT. KEEP IT.
11. If, at any point in your journeying, you happen to come across a lone
traveler going through the mountains, make sure you TALK TO HIM ABOUT SINGING,
and ASK HIM ABOUT THE CELTIC SONG. This will boost your charisma by one
point. This is the only time in the game you can improve your charisma.
12. When you've worked up your weapons skills and gambling skills, try
working on the doctor skill. It's MUCH better than the first aid skill, can
repair broken limbs, and does 10-15 HP worth of healing with each use at high
levels.
That's about it. The rest of what you need to know, you'll find below.
(I'm a poet but don't know it.)
B. VAULT 13 / SHADY SANDS
=====================================
Vault 13 and the area beyond are barely worth mentioning at the moment.
Search the corpse next to you, pick up what you want, arm yourself with the
10mm, and kill all the rats in the area. There are 20 of them. This may not
seem like fun, but its 500 experience points (XP from now on), and that's
halfway to the second level.
Once you've done this, leave the vault and head for Vault 15, but stop in at
the unknown city on the way -- Shady Sands.
There are only a few things to do in Shady Sands, but you'll leave with at
least one level up for doing them.
1. Talk to Katrina at the gate about everything you can. This'll earn you
about 300 xp.
2. Search all the bookcases in the town except for the one in Razlo's (the
doctor) house -- he doesn't appreciate it. You'll find throughout the town
some ammo, a rope, and a few books that will increase your outdoorsmanship
skill.
3. Talk to Ian in the guardhouse to the east of the gate, and ask him for
directions to Junktown and the Hub. Also ask him to assist you -- you may
have to offer a share of the loot a few times, but he SHOULD come with you
without being paid. Once he agrees, steal his money from him -- he doesn't
need it and won't get mad if you take it.
4. Talk to Seth, the man by the gate. Get him to take you to the Radscorpion
caves, and kill all the scorpions. Take them one at a time, strike from as
far away as you can, and let Ian do most of the work. Once you've killed them
all, grab one of their tails and go back to town.
5. Go to Razlo's hut, give him the tail, and give the antidote he makes to
the sick man in the back room.
6. Go to the second part of town to the east, and talk to the farmer out in
the garden. Talk to him about crop rotation for 500 xp.
That's it. You're done with Shady Sands for now. Leave the way you came, and
go over to Vault 15.
C. VAULT 15
============================
Vault 15 is pretty cut-and-dry. With Ian in tow, of course, go through all
three levels of the vault (accessed by going down the ladder in the shed) and
kill every single rat and variation of rat that you find. You'll need a rope
to go down the elevators, but you'll find another in a locker on level 2 and
you should have brought one from Shady Sands to go down the first one. In
Vault 15, you'll also find a leather jacket and a 10mm SMG, a small machine
gun that works wonders with burst mode. When you get to the very end of level
3, you'll get a chunk of xp. After that, clean up the rest of the rat
infestation and go back out the way you came. Next stop: Junktown.
D. JUNKTOWN
=============================
Junktown is a fun place to make your name known -- for good or for evil. If
you prefer to take the high moral road, though, you'll find it much easier
(and rewarding) in the long haul. Trust me.
Here's what you need to do:
1. Nothing much in the first area. Search everything you want, get healed by
Doc Morbid if you mind the cost. (If you want, you can go down the ladder in
the hospital and talk to the midget -- he'll tell you about Doc Morbid's
rather odd scheme. You can capitalize on that later, but I just avoid the
evil doctor entirely.)
2. Go north to the second part of the city and go in Darkwater's, the shop to
the east. SAVE YOUR GAME, and then talk to Killian. After you're done
talking to him, Kenji (some guy in red) will attack him; empty a clip into
Kenji and end combat. If Ian happened to get his stupid but in the way of
Killian's shots, or you accidentally hit a guard, or something terrible
happens and you end up fighting all of Junktown, you'll know why I told you to
save beforehand.
3. When Killian asks you to help with the Gizmo problem, say yes, and you'll
get a tape recorder and microphone.
4. Go to the Crash-House Inn and buy one night's sleep. You'll awake in the
night with the landlady screaming at you; save the game and go talk to the
crazy guy in the adjacent room. Be calm and polite to him, keep talking, and
eventually tell him he can just leave and won't be bothered. You'll get
1000xp (and Sinthia will make it worth your while... hee hee).
5. Go north to the third part of the city and into Gizmo's casino. At the
end of the building, you'll find the big G man himself; talk to him. Take a
hypothetical situation in the conversation, get Gizmo to hire you, and ask
what his motive is. Try not to say anything stupid. When you've been asked
to leave, go back to Killian and play the tape for him. When he asks you if
you want to help take Gizmo down, say yes, and go back to the guard standing
just inside the gate to the town, Lars. Talk to Lars, and go fight Gizmo.
What I do here is basically shoot Gizmo in the eyes a few times, and if Izo
gives me any trouble I do the same for him too. This fight should end quick.
6. Get your reward from Lars and go search Gizmo's place.
7. Find Phil and the troublesome dog in the same area of town as the casino;
if you walk up the dog with a leather jacket on, he'll think you're his owner
and come with you. If you don't have a leather jacket, give the dog a piece
of meat (you can find one in the casino), and he'll come with you. Your new
friend is Dogmeat, one of the most popular NPCs and allies in Fallout. He
won't last through the whole game, but you'll greatly enjoy the memories
you'll share.
8. Go to the Skum Pitt north of Phil's house and go in around evening. Talk
to everybody, and soon one of the Skulz inside will start some trouble with
Trish, the waitress, and as a result loose a variety of body parts. Talk to
Trish, ask her about Saul. Talk to the singing guy, compliment him, and get
directions to the Brotherhood and Adytown. Talk to Tycho, and ask him about
the dangers of his travels, how he survived, and about his survival skills.
He'll ask if you want to learn a few pointers, agree, and you'll get a boost
to your Outdoorsmanship skills. Then tell him you're cleaning up the Skulz,
and ask him to help. Tycho rocks; you'll wish Ian would just go away after
you see how Tycho handles himself.
9. Go north of the casino and talk to Saul, the boxer. Talk to him about his
family and why he stays in Junktown. Talk about Trish, and how she feels
about him boxing. This will get you a few hundred xp.
10. Go in the Skum Pitt and rest till morning. Take the urn on the bar and
go to the Crash-House. Go in the part that the Skulz are staying in, talk to
Vinnie, and ask him if you can join. Show him the urn, say you have other
stuff to do before you kill Neal, and go talk to Lars.
11. Lars will ask you to help them bust the Skulz; agree and you'll have a
good fight. You have Tycho, Dogmeat, Ian, and about six police officers on
your side, though, and it shouldn't be too hard. When you've won, give Neal
the urn back for more xp and that's it. You're done with Junktown.
E. THE HUB
===============================
The Hub is a really cool place, but you won't be here long on your first go-
through. There are only a couple of reasons to go here now.
1. Go to the Maltese Falcon bar/casino in the second area of the Hub. If you
gambling skill is above about 50%, talk to the dealer by the roulette tables
and hold down the 1 and 4 buttons on your keyboard for about ten minutes, or
weigh them down. You can start with as little money as 100 caps and when you
come back, you should have several tens of thousands. With gambling really
high, it's possible to win thirty thousand caps in a couple of minutes.
2. Once you have enough money, go to the library in the same part of town and
buy as many books you need to get your skills in the related areas about 91%;
books can't increase skills beyond that percentage unless you're playing on an
easier difficulty setting. If you run out of money, go gamble some more until
you have enough.
3. Once your skills are raised enough, take another chunk of change from the
casino and go buy some stimpaks and whatever else you want from the midget in
the convenience store. Then go take one more chunk of money and go to the
part of town to the east, Oldtown. In one of the buildings there you'll find
a weapons dealer; buy some combat armor, a sniper rifle, some .233 ammo for
the rifle, and if you want, a combat shotgun for Tycho and maybe a .44 for
Ian. (To equip them, just steal from them, plant the weapons and ammo in
their inventory, and tell them to draw their best weapons next time they're in
combat.)
That's all for now -- you have great armor, a great weapon, an infinite source
of money, and the ability to lay down some serious smack. Time to swing by
Necropolis.
F. NECROPOLIS
=========================
Necropolis is a rather large and complex town with several rather simple tasks
to perform.
1. First area : kill all ghouls standing in the street. Find the sewer
cover, descend.
2. Sewers below first area: kill all rats, find path to sewer below second
area (it's in the north).
3. Sewers below second area: talk to ghouls and agree to help them fix the
water pump. Kill all rats, find ladder to above-ground second area.
4. Second area: kill everybody and everything.
(Okay, that one warrants some explaining. There are a LOT of ghouls here, and
they're all evil. They're begging for you to kill them in their own evil way.
First, kill every ghoul you find on the street and in the small buildings near
the sewer cover. Next, there's a church to the north here, and inside is the
ghoul leader, Set, and his minions. A full frontal assault will usually be
VERY difficult and get your companions killed, so do this:
Go to the north side of the church ON THE OUTSIDE, stand in front of a window
into one of the side rooms, and snipe everybody inside in the eyes. They
won't retaliate. Repeat at the other two rooms. Then go to the other side of
the church and repeat. Once you've killed all the ghouls you can snipe, go in
the front and take out the remainders. It shouldn't be too hard. Grab some
stuff from the corpses and environment.)
5. Now that you've killed all the ghouls in the central part of town, go back
down into the sewers and find the path leading to the third area north of your
current position. Climb up the ladder, kill the ghouls you find, and save
your game.
6. There are six mutants in this part of town -- some are pansies, one is
mean and has a laser rifle, and one is a wuss but has a flamer (which is BAD
news to somebody at a low level.) Kill the first mutant you see from a
distance. The next mutant is in the water shed to the north; snipe at him
from the window to the rear of the building. He shouldn't be a problem; keep
sniping through that window if the other three in the hall attack. The rest
shouldn't be a problem either. There's one more in the small building to the
east of where you are (roughly); kill him two.
7. Go down the sewer cover, kill the rats, grab the junk you'll find down
there.
8. Go back to the peaceful ghouls in the sewer; they'll give you some books
if your repair skill is too low.
9. Go back to the watershed (where the mutants were), find the pump, and use
the parts on it until they work.
10. Go south in that same building, lockpick the jail cell if you can and
talk to the ghoul there for 500 xp.
11. Find the sewer cover in the room by the jail cells, go down. Kill all
ghouls you find on all three levels of the vault down there, find the working
water computer on level 3 and search it to find the Water Chip.
And that's it. Take the chip back to Vault 13 and you will have completed
your first major quest in the game.
G. VAULT 13 (AGAIN)
=================================
There aren't many things to do in Vault 13, but nonetheless you'll leave with
a LOT more xp than you came with. Listed below are some things to do in your
brief stay:
1. On the second level of the vault (the living quarters), find the red-
haired lady in the room to the north and talk to her about the Overseer's
concern for the vault. This'll get you about 700 xp.
2. On the third level, talk to the guy in front of the storage rooms, and
find out about the water thief. Go in the room adjacent to the storage room
and hide, then rest until midnight. You'll see a vault dweller go through the
hall soon after; wait until he's looked in a box in the storage room, then
confront him. Threaten him if you need to, but look in his pockets. You'll
get 1000xp for solving this quest.
3. On the third level, find the Overseer and talk to him (you'll have to
stand directly in front of him to do so.) You'll get 7,500xp.
4. If your character is old enough, you can use one of the computers in the
library for a few hundred xp.
5. Go back and talk to the Overseer again, then leave the vault and head back
to shady sands.
H. SHADY SANDS (again)
===============================
Things have gotten a little bad in Shady Sands since your last visit. The
Khans have kidnapped Tandi, and everybody&