RRS-1980

User Group: Members
Join date: 23-Mar-2003
Last activity: 8-Mar-2019
Posts: 993

Post History

Post: #315037
Topic: Old Star Wars Games on New Computer Systems (was: Tie Fighter Collectors' CD-ROM Works in DOSBox)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/315037/action/topic#315037
Time: 1-Apr-2008 3:46 PM

Don't miss the chance to see those old games again - check out my thread here:
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/The-history-of-Star-Wars-games/topic/9255/

Post: #315036
Topic: The history of Star Wars games
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/315036/action/topic#315036
Time: 1-Apr-2008 3:43 PM

Being an avid gamer and a fan of old-school stuff (I still play 15-year-old-games!) I simply can't resist to post here about an interesting feature presented at gametrailers.com

They're preparing a series (10) of "documentaries" about Star Wars themed games... and not only those PC titles old RRS used to play when he was young, but even going back to Atari & Commodore hits from the yesteryear.

First 2 episodes are already available, go see them here:
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/6389.html

Post: #313674
Topic: What are all the given figures for hyperdrive speed?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/313674/action/topic#313674
Time: 14-Mar-2008 3:43 PM

...but Spaceball One beats it with its light speed>ridiculous speed>ludicrous speed... not to mention jumping to plad.

IIRC from the "Behind the Magic" 'pedia, craft equipped with fastest hyperdrive units can go from one far side of the galaxy "disc" to the other in just few days.
But then: how big is SW galaxy? ;)

Post: #313673
Topic: Moscow Soon to Be Lone Carrier to Space Station
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/313673/action/topic#313673
Time: 14-Mar-2008 3:30 PM — Edited 14-Mar-2008 3:47 PM

lordjedi said:

RRS-1980 said:

Let me tell you a story - aviation technology is fairly close to space technology, right?

Um, no. In space[...]

LOL, thank you, you've proven yourself to be just another forum "troll" with little to none knowledge on the subject - and because of this I'll save time I'd otherwise waste e.g. translating a 10 page article to back up my words.

If you still can't get it: I gave you examples of how Soviets neglected safety rules in the aviation branch. You said that space technology requires even tighter safety policies because of hostile environment. So if those guys failed at the "easy skill level" (aviation), then how more dangerous are their spacecraft? ("the harder skill level")
And do try to understand that you won't be hiring solely Russian technology, which in your eyes is almost flawless. You will get the whole system that comes with it (the remains of their space program: infrastructure, policies, equipment & tech etc.) - and that includes people, too. Re-read your own words about the human error...

Alright, enough time wasted...

Post: #313631
Topic: The Power Of The Dark Crystal (The Dark Crystal sequel)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/313631/action/topic#313631
Time: 14-Mar-2008 1:42 AM — Edited 14-Mar-2008 1:44 AM

Even though I watched the DC for the first time already as an adult, I really liked this eerie fairy tale. It reminded me of my "trips to imagination land" from my childhood, when I was reading plenty of books. I wonder if they can capture today that spirit: the spirit of an old, classic fable.

Post: #313628
Topic: What are all the given figures for hyperdrive speed?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/313628/action/topic#313628
Time: 14-Mar-2008 1:20 AM

As much as amusing C3PX's reply may be, it makes valid points - especially in the last paragraph. ST is a scientist/intellectualist's utopia, where humanity dropped all wars to reach for the stars... technology will save you, friend. The world can only get better etc. Yet it uses the "science" part of sci-fi better than SW, which is only supposed to "look cool hi-tech" with a large dose of mythology mixed in (so it's the "fiction" part of sci-fi).
As such those both worlds should not be ever compared.

Post: #313619
Topic: Moscow Soon to Be Lone Carrier to Space Station
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/313619/action/topic#313619
Time: 14-Mar-2008 12:15 AM — Edited 14-Mar-2008 12:26 AM

lordjedi said:

Yes because of course the Russian space program hasn't moved in 30 years. Yeah, they're still using the same "safety" mechanisms they used from the 70's. Stop with the sky is falling bs.

I would say like 15 years and I wouldn't be far from the truth. But this is not what I meant to say.

Let me tell you a story - aviation technology is fairly close to space technology, right?

Back when we had a freedom of choice (by this I mean interwar period) our airlines used aircraft made in USA. There was an incident that could have fatal ending: with the fuel lines cut in the air, the fully loaded plane can only fly downwards, you know...
It turned out that at high altitude (= low temperature) some water that got into the fuel lines froze and blocked the pipes, effectively choking the engines.
What was the Lockheed reaction when we reported this? They immediately issued repair kits to all Electra users worldwide to fix the potential danger.

After the World War 2 we were overrun by Soviets and all choices were limited to "made in USSR" ("sdielano v CCCP"). I'm not going to remind you about Chernobyl, but I'll give a more adequate example, to compare with the above:
One of our airliners goes down. The results of our investigation of the Ilyushin Il-62 crash go to the Soviets. Our technicians reported that the problem lies with the engines (crappy material & assembly quality, bad design). Ilyushin's Design Bureau reaction? "You is wrong, be sure* All engines good, everything chorosho. We don't see any problems." We insisted. They denied - and never admitted that the poorly designed & made engines caused the crashes - even after our second Il-62M went down 7 years later... due to the same problem (yes, even the modified variant suffered from the same errors!)... that's 270 dead people in total in those 2 cases, plus 8 more fatal crashes worldwide.

Plane crashes happen from time to time. No technology is totally fail-safe. But to deny a post-crash technical report in order to cover-up their technological errors (and bad design approach, and neglecting safety precautions, and poor manufacturing culture) because "all Soviet stuff must be fine - and no questions"?

The problem is that Russians still retain a lot of their Soviet mentality. Old habits die hard. They may be working for "Lincolns" instead of Lenin now, but it takes more than one generation to change the spirit of a nation.

*) too bad you don't frequent certain forum I do, you'd get this sarcasm

Post: #313616
Topic: What are all the given figures for hyperdrive speed?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/313616/action/topic#313616
Time: 13-Mar-2008 11:09 PM — Edited 13-Mar-2008 11:23 PM

Han Solo: "She'll make point five past lightspeed."
"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"

:D :D :D

Such discussion is pointless: while ST aims to be a little scientific (because it's targeted to such audience), SW is pure action & fun.

I also hate those "neo-technical" Star Wars geeks - with that "Imperator-class", "Star Dreadnought", "TIE Fighter's wings are heat radiators, not solar energy collectors" etc. bullsh*t. Trying so hard to bend the movies so that they're logical according to our world's physics etc.

You can just as well argue who's more powerful: Harry Potter or Gandalf the Gray.

But if you're so willing to find out, have you tried here?
http://theforce.net/swtc/hyperspace.html

If it's not working, here's a copy from google's cache:

http://209.85.129.104/search?q=cache:dovFMFsuUCEJ:theforce.net/swtc/hyperspace.html+hyperspace+site:theforce.net/swtc/&hl=pl&gl=pl&strip=1

Post: #313064
Topic: Moscow Soon to Be Lone Carrier to Space Station
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/313064/action/topic#313064
Time: 10-Mar-2008 10:33 AM

Originally posted by: Arnie.d
But I'd rather have someone else fly people and equipment to the station for a few years if it's safer.

Sovi... err... Russia? Safer? ROTFLMAO! Ever seen dead astronauts being given CPR? Then watch documentaries about Soviet space program.

Cheaper? Yes.

Post: #312393
Topic: Old Star Wars Games on New Computer Systems (was: Tie Fighter Collectors' CD-ROM Works in DOSBox)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/312393/action/topic#312393
Time: 4-Mar-2008 5:47 PM

Wow, I almost forgot how good was the ol' IMUSE. It never ceases to surprise me how they managed to make the rebel fanfare sound menacing (when a big bad cruiser hypers in)! So far I was only using VDMS for old games but you gave me the incentive to install DosBox

Did the floppy version also have the 640x480 res? I don't recall that!

When I find enough time I'm going to test that Virtual PC as well, because I can't get sound in "Battle for Naboo" on XP no matter how hard I try (compatibility modes, limiting to one CPU only, lowering sound acceleration...)

Post: #311785
Topic: Discussion: Awful Star Wars Collectibles
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/311785/action/topic#311785
Time: 28-Feb-2008 4:47 PM

Originally posted by: C3PX
I like that the Episode One figures are now 70% off in that picture.

Take a closer look: they're all Jar-Jar

Post: #311750
Topic: Discussion: Awful Star Wars Collectibles
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/311750/action/topic#311750
Time: 28-Feb-2008 9:57 AM

I was hoping to find these for you here, but no such luck... (I found this site while looking for pilots' favorite Beemans chewing gum)

Post: #311652
Topic: Those nice fellows from the Jedi Order...
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/311652/action/topic#311652
Time: 27-Feb-2008 2:22 PM

This game features in-mission dialogue. It would be enough if they'd added the following exchange:

Padawan Blonde: Master Achoo, wasn't there any other alternative? No matter how savage Sand People may be, I feel sorry for their little offsprings...
Master Old-Fart: Now, now, young Jedi. What we did was OK... from a certain point of view...
Padawan Blonde: Reaching your goal no matter the cost - isn't that a way of the Sith, Master?
Master Old-Fart: You're asking too many questions today. I must rest... yeeesss... rest... want some rootling soup? I cooked!

...assuming that they had put this scene on real purpose - to show the fall of a Jedi Master avenging his former apprentice.

Post: #311639
Topic: Those nice fellows from the Jedi Order...
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/311639/action/topic#311639
Time: 27-Feb-2008 10:59 AM

I'm afraid you're overinterpreting facts. This is not some fairly serious game about World War 2. It's Star Wars, with somewhat comic like characters, sometimes quite two-dimensional.

Heck, I could expect moral dilemmas in, say, KOTOR, but this is just some RTS game aimed for teens.

Originally posted by: FanFiltration
If you are going to play war games, why not see what battle is all about? It's about death, not much more. If you don't like the message this game is sending, don't buy it. If you don't like the truth about battle, don't fight in one.

Umm... the game got "Teen" rating, so "mild fantasy violence". As I said, it's not a game for older gamers, such as "Vampire - Masquerade: Redemption" where you make moral choices.

And even if it was, I'd expect some comment from "senior Master Jedi Samuel Mofo Jackson" about Master Achoo-Whatever pushing a bit too far this time. Instead we get some generic ramblings about dark side (which is probably more about the Master falling in love with his padawan).

What I'm saying: this is not the case of a game touching serious subjects, like war atrocities. I think this is an example of "wanton game designing".

Post: #311624
Topic: Those nice fellows from the Jedi Order...
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/311624/action/topic#311624
Time: 27-Feb-2008 8:02 AM

...are slaughtering children again. In "Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns" game by LucasArts.

Is that a Jedi trademark, LOL? At least the evil Galactic Empire does it in a more painless way, by blowing up a whole planet in a second...

The 3rd mission of the Galactic Republic campaign features Tatooine and its local problems. In order to defend the city you have to fight the Tuskens (Sand People). So far so good. But when you are destroying their camp, females and children appear. There is no way not to kill them.

And remember: all the time we're playing the good guys. The noble Jedi Knights and the just Republic. I would close my eye on such act if we were to play the ruthless, mercilles Sith or totalitarian Galactic Empire.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those people screaming about violence in computer games etc. I'm not so innocent: I cut things in a half with my chainsaw in Doom, blast people's brains with my sniper rifle in Fallout, set people on fire in Blood, bomb cities in flight simulators and I explode my opponents into gibs in Quake. And it gives me some twisted pleasure & relief from stress. So I'm not that easily shocked (at least when compared to some oversensitive people).

But what the heck were the game authors/developers thinking when they added this? I'll bet it wasn't "we have to show that even the good guys sometimes commit bad deeds, especially during the war and while trying to achieve higher goals - we need to show that the world is not white&black and that morality is more like in shades of gray". I'm quite convinced that it was "hey, let's put some Tusken(TM) Children and Tusken(TM) Females, as shown in Attack of The Clones(TM)(C) simply because we can! After all, the box cover says that the game features content from this movie, so let's squeeze as much as we can to make our customers happy-happy-happy!".

Couldn't they simply skip children (and females?) altogether? We would simply obliterate warriors' camp. Just like every other enemy camp in the game (i.e.: I don't recall killing Gungan kids).

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/7301/scr000wq0.png

Post: #311186
Topic: What do you think? What the hell was Leia doing at Tatooine at the start of ANH?!
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/311186/action/topic#311186
Time: 22-Feb-2008 12:17 PM

LOL, makes me want to run old "X-Wing" game to remind myself the details of Operation Skyhook...

From my faulty memory: Tantive IV was supposed to transfer the plans (& VIPs onboard?) to a larger Rebel vessel, but everything went FUBAR when ISD Devastator hypered into the area. Speaking of party crashing, eh? The transfer was interrupted. Leia's ship escaped, but the Star Destroyer followed her... probably in a way it caught the Falcon: Vader was onboard and out of the possible destinations calculated from the jump direction he chose one: "Tatooine. That is the system. Set your course to Tatooine."

The Rebels probably didn't expect to be found so quickly: Devastator appeared right after they jumped in and opened fire. You know the rest

(Please note that games often mess up with official storyline)

Of course this is just a movie and movie storylines rarely make sense (like talking to your enemy for 10 minutes, thus giving him a chance for a rescue instead of promptly killing him etc.).

Post: #310265
Topic: Indiana Jones IV
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/310265/action/topic#310265
Time: 14-Feb-2008 8:14 PM

Fast forward the official IJ4 trailer to 1:26 and you will see it in all HD 1080p glory. Oh, and it's magnetic! Fancy alien tech!

I think I'm starting to hate the "return to RotLA warehouse" idea just as much as the alien thing.

"See? I told you before!" <-- and I'm saying that without any twisted "Schadenfreude", honestly

My otherwise healthy & realistic pessimism is turning into some sort of fatalism... it seems that I'm going to loose or hate everything I like, enjoy, cherish, need... I have this for several years now (13?), it's getting progressively stronger... even such innocent joys like Star Wars or Indiana Jones movies are irreversibly tainted... 10 years ago I'd never believe that I won't be happy to see another SW or IJ movie in the cinema

Looks like my existence will turn into "eat, sh*t, sleep"...

Post: #310236
Topic: Indiana Jones IV
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/310236/action/topic#310236
Time: 14-Feb-2008 4:48 PM

OK, folks, there's no "alien plot" here, it's just a meteo balloon, now move along, move along...

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3117/indy4roswellqm2.jpg

Damn, why do I have to be always right when it comes to bad things? I wish I was wrong...

IJ4 will be just what Prequel Trilogy is to Star Wars... we see a trailer, get enthusiastic because we hear music we know so well, the movie makes money - "so why are those people complaining?".

It won't go above "Lara Croft" or "National Treasure" level in terms of quality... which is way below old IJ movies.

Post: #309923
Topic: Old Star Wars Games on New Computer Systems (was: Tie Fighter Collectors' CD-ROM Works in DOSBox)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/309923/action/topic#309923
Time: 12-Feb-2008 3:05 PM

C3PX, thanks for the tip, I'm going to try it, albeit I'm not very optimistic about it (sorry, it's just my newly acquired fatalism). You see, operating system environment is one thing, but let's not forget about hardware...

For example, I did experience few times a problem related to texel alignment. I have a GeForceFX 5600 Ultra right now (don't laugh), the current drivers won't allow me to adjust texel (in the center or in the corner) just like I used to do it on my old RivaTNT-based card (even the fan-made tweaking proggy didn't help). Without this fix there may be problems with textures on some older titles and often game text will be "garbled"(e.g.: Darkstone). This is true in the case of Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3D and X-Wing Alliance. Luckily for me, there is some fan-made fix for X-Wing Alliance, just as some people try to patch Populous 3 (which also gives me blinking and warped interface textures).

tiefighter, are you by chance a flight sim fan? I'm infering this from the joystick types you've collected: Thrustmaster FCS/WCS surely isn't built for arcade shooters

I know because I used to have this combo

Too bad we live so far from each other, I'd send you my old gear if you had any need for spare parts - but I guess this thing isn't worth its dead weight now, LOL (I was saving them for my old buddy, who used to make custom modifications to flight sticks).

* * *

While we're speaking about running old games on new systems, I thought it would be nice to remind people reading this thread about a useful website - this forum often saved me a lot of trouble finding myself the way to launch a given old game.

VOGONS - Very Old Games On New Systems

Right now I'm finishing last touches to revive my old Warhammer - Shadow of the Horned Rat. This was the game that forced me to switch to that new Windows 95 thingie, imagine that!

Post: #309578
Topic: Old Star Wars Games on New Computer Systems (was: Tie Fighter Collectors' CD-ROM Works in DOSBox)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/309578/action/topic#309578
Time: 9-Feb-2008 9:06 AM

I'm very glad to see another fan of the classic SW spacesims! I've wasted endless hours (days? months? LOL) playing them... in fact it was "X-Wing" what reminded me of Star Wars back in 1993... looks like you truly deserve to use my avatar

Originally posted by: tiefighter
The difference with those Windows games is that none of them use the nifty iMUSE system that gave the originals the dynamic MIDI soundtrack.

Yeah, that was a huge step back and they couldn't fix it until the mp3 format started to be used in the games. Did anyone else noted that it always took about a second for the CD drive to switch to victory/defeat track? I always dreaded that "jump" while in flight...

Another thing I miss was the grayness of the starships etc. That black/white feeling from Empire Strikes Back. Later on with the introduction of textures and colored light sources everything became too colorful to be "starwarsy".

PS: maybe you could change the title of the thread to something more generic, so that we can also talk about other old games? I managed to launch TIE Fighter 95 (I'm even converting old MIDI tracks to replace poorly recorded .wav files that came on CD - shame on you, LEC!), but I have major problems getting "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine" to work stable (even after the patch and compatibility settings).

Post: #309378
Topic: Where would you be if...
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/309378/action/topic#309378
Time: 7-Feb-2008 9:54 AM

tl;dr = too long ; didn't read

Crap, answers like this remind me of the jerks infesting tf.n forum... low attention span kids

Post: #309310
Topic: Indiana Jones IV
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/309310/action/topic#309310
Time: 6-Feb-2008 8:50 AM

Originally posted by: C3PX
Spielberg is involved, I must have more faith in Mr. Spielberg than that...

Ahem...
Well...
...have you seen the "A.I."? It was OK for me until I got to the ending... and AFAIK this was Spielberg's idea...

Post: #309308
Topic: Where would you be if...
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/309308/action/topic#309308
Time: 6-Feb-2008 8:43 AM

"my cat jumped on my keyboard"

Post: #309227
Topic: Indiana Jones IV
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/309227/action/topic#309227
Time: 5-Feb-2008 6:30 PM

Originally posted by: C3PX
but that would be a huge leap from the Indiana Jones style that is known and loved.

Wasn't the Prequel Trilogy a huge leap from the original STAR WARS Trilogy style that is known and loved?

Reading (only right now) IJ4 producer Frank Marshall's explanations only confirmed my suspicions. Mark my words...

Remember, there are Soviet soldiers out there, not just archeologists. Military expedition wouldn't be sent to collect just some rare and expensive ancient items. There has to be ancient uber technology in the movie, and since the movie producer himself hints that they may come from aliens...

EDIT: OK, "Google is your friend":
speculations or major spoilers?

Although I wanted to boycott the movie, deep in my heart I wished to see it, if only for the purpose of having something to rant about. But if this is true, if Indiana is really meeting aliens in that flick, then I'm skipping it. Seriously.

Time to hit them where it hurts most. I've wasted enough money to buy Lucas' merchandise, all those tapes, books, CDs, games, posters, model kits, be it Star Wars of Indiana Jones. I'm a dissatisfied customer now. Not only I never received any "loyality program points" for those, but the quality of the present products is far less than I expect. I guess after 20+ years of Star Wars I need a break.

Post: #309223
Topic: Indiana Jones IV
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/309223/action/topic#309223
Time: 5-Feb-2008 6:05 PM

It's not about whether I like the looks of the skull or not:

In previous IJ movies, The Ark "works as Wunderwaffe" and the Grail gives immortality. The Nazis from the film want these objects as they could make their armies invincible. That's the plot.

In the upcoming IJ4 Soviets want the myserious skull for... for what? What does it do? I'm sure they don't want to simply put it into some museum in Moscow. The skull clearly looks not human (humanoid - yes, but not human). The title says "the kingdom of the crystal skull", so the whole thing is about the place where the skull comes from. The place where you can find alien lookin skull may contain other artifacts. Artifacts of similar origin.

Alien technology. Soviets want to capture ancient alien tech. This will be the surprise behind IJ4 plot.

Stargate, anyone? I liked that movie (but not what followed it), but I don't want IJ series become yet another UFO-centered flick. X-Files fans have enough content everywhere, please keep IJ movies free of such bull****, it totally ruins the style, the look&feel, the... "that elusive thing certain unique things have".

And to think that I considered Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis plot to be slightly "over the top" in terms of realism...