Search found 144 matches

by aldel
Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:18 pm
Forum: Descent Development
Topic: Descent 3 Able To Support 4 Sided Polygons?
Replies: 24
Views: 7205

Re:

But tris were better for lighting but more resource consuming. Hmm, I wasn't even thinking about lighting. If lighting is calculated once per poly, you'd get better performance with quads than with (twice as many) triangles. If lighting is per vertex, you'd get the same performance. I think there's...
by aldel
Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:21 pm
Forum: Descent Development
Topic: Descent 3 Able To Support 4 Sided Polygons?
Replies: 24
Views: 7205

The way I understand it, the GPU will convert any polygon with more than 3 sides into triangles on the fly before rasterizing it. The conversion, I'm guessing, takes basically zero time, so pre-converting two coplanar triangles into a quadrilateral will have no effect on performance. I'd be interest...
by aldel
Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:15 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Movie Quotes
Replies: 249
Views: 11936

Re:

Topher wrote:Crash

"You can imagine where it goes from here."
"He fixes the cable?"
The Big Lebowski
by aldel
Mon Dec 25, 2006 12:22 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Post yer loot
Replies: 27
Views: 2353

I got a Theremin!
by aldel
Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:58 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Music Makes a Trailer
Replies: 9
Views: 817

My two favorite trailers ever were for Spinal Tap and Delicatessen. Spinal Tap's had no actual footage from the movie. Delicatessen's not only had footage from the movie, it consisted entirely of a single scene from the movie, exactly as it occurs in the movie. I don't remember much about the music ...
by aldel
Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:46 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: The Music Thread
Replies: 25
Views: 1793

Alan Parsons Project, The Amos, Tori Anderson, Ian Anderson, Ray Andsersson-Rice-Ulvaeus Antheil, George Archetribe Bach, J.S Bach, P.D.Q Barber, Samuel Bartók, Béla Beethoven, Ludwig van Bernstein, Leonard Bertrand,Emmanuelle Blue Man Group Boulez Bozzio et al Brahms, Johannes Bruckner, Anton Care...
by aldel
Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:10 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Affiliate marketing: good idea / bad idea?
Replies: 4
Views: 774

By the way, in case anyone's curious/interested, I decided to try an affiliate network, ShareASale, since no one told me not to. I'm paying 40% commissions, although of course it's not on very large sales (most sales are $9.50). So if you run a popular web site or blog or anything, you can sign up (...
by aldel
Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:21 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Free energy technology?
Replies: 32
Views: 2292

I \"registered\" with the Steorn site on Sunday night (not with my main email address, of course), mainly because of this message on the \"downloads\" page: White papers are available to registered academic users. Please register if you would like access to this part of the site....
by aldel
Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:16 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Bye Bye Pluto!
Replies: 44
Views: 2942

I've got it! Someone should just go out there, grab some matter from Neptune or whatever, and add it onto Pluto until it's big enough to be a planet again. Problem solved. Or, at least, this idea could be made into a movie. It would basically be a remake of The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill, etc. , ...
by aldel
Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:00 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Bye Bye Pluto!
Replies: 44
Views: 2942

It's good that Pluto is no longer a planet, because Holst didn't write a movement for Pluto. For the same reason, Earth should be demoted.
by aldel
Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:47 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Magrathea
Replies: 1
Views: 422

I think this is a different engine with the same name. It says it was developed by French students. Wasn't nTrap a German commercial project?
by aldel
Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:55 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Don't Download This Song.
Replies: 12
Views: 1145

Seems to me it starts a bit weak (for a Weird Al song), but gets better.

I think \"Hardware Store\" may be my new favorite annoying pop song, except maybe Code Monkey.
by aldel
Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:09 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Free energy technology?
Replies: 32
Views: 2292

Why not just build a prototype, get backers and mass produce it...if it works. Who needs a bunch a silly scientists to approve the idea? I can see why they might not want to do this. If they mass produce it without first applying for a patent, anyone could reverse engineer it and start making their...
by aldel
Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:36 pm
Forum: Coders Corner
Topic: Web Programming Recommendations
Replies: 5
Views: 3788

PHP and/or Ruby on Rails. Rails is complicated but does a lot of your work for you if you're writing a complicated RDBMS-backed application. PHP is wonderfully simple. I was able to pick up enough PHP to get by from the PHP home page . Most Rails programmers get started here . Rails also gives you s...
by aldel
Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:38 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: What does it mean: Ter Amor Amora
Replies: 15
Views: 1283

When new lines hit your eyes
From two screens when they ply
That's a Moiré!
by aldel
Fri Aug 04, 2006 5:01 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Affiliate marketing: good idea / bad idea?
Replies: 4
Views: 774

DCrazy wrote:I bought it :P
I know-- and thanks! You were only the second person to buy it. (The first was my wife.)

I'll probably release the level editor eventually. I might release another set of "official" levels too.
by aldel
Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:40 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: I are a collage gradge-yooate
Replies: 18
Views: 1206

Study means read all of the material you have. Read all the material that exists, i.e., the books you don't have. Read every page of your textbooks. I disagree. If you are going into engineering I think it is a bad idea to read your textbooks. Treat them as reference material. There is way too much...
by aldel
Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:10 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Affiliate marketing: good idea / bad idea?
Replies: 4
Views: 774

Affiliate marketing: good idea / bad idea?

Anyone have any experience with affiliate marketing, good or bad, as an affiliate or as a merchant? Specifically \"pay-per-sale\" types of arrangements. So far I've had a hard time trying to market Dork , and I'm wondering if affiliates might be the answer. It seems like an attractive idea...
by aldel
Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:35 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: The Prestige
Replies: 5
Views: 576

Looks awfully superficially similar to this. Another case of \"Antz / A Bug's Life\" syndrome?
by aldel
Sat Jul 08, 2006 11:02 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Tell us something different about yourself
Replies: 66
Views: 4421

I have no car, TV, or kids, and I like it that way.

Except I sort of have a TV now, since I have a tuner card in my PC that picks up a few stations, but I don't watch it.
by aldel
Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:14 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Building Your Own Guitar?
Replies: 4
Views: 573

If you have access to woodworking tools, you could make the body yourself. You could even wind your own pickups. The hardest part of a guitar to make is the neck, and you've already got that.
by aldel
Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:42 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Building Your Own Guitar?
Replies: 4
Views: 573

Stewart-MacDonald
Luthiers Mercantile
Carvin

Not sure about compatibility with non-Strat bodies, but you can get replacement Strat bodies that should work. I bet it'd work with some others too; Strats are about as standard as you can get.
by aldel
Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:56 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Old Descent Commercials.
Replies: 18
Views: 1260

Diedel wrote:Hey, Descent shield contact lenses would be cool!
Looks like this place could do it if you paid them enough.
by aldel
Sun Jun 18, 2006 3:29 pm
Forum: Tech Forum
Topic: .osf files
Replies: 11
Views: 1072

OSF files don't use compression, do they? If not, you can probably use a general-purpose audio converter like sox. You'd just have to experiment a bit to figure out how many bytes to skip at the beginning, and what the sample rate is. They would almost certainly use a single channel of 16-bit samples.
by aldel
Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:50 pm
Forum: Coders Corner
Topic: someone pls compile this for me
Replies: 8
Views: 3964

roid wrote:this whole thing should take only a few minutes.
Famous last words.
by aldel
Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:55 am
Forum: Tech Forum
Topic: Anyone have an Intel Mac and/or OS X 10.2?
Replies: 0
Views: 457

Anyone have an Intel Mac and/or OS X 10.2?

Yes, yes, I know you can't run 10.2 on an Intel Mac. Don't change the subject. I'm getting close to releasing the Mac port of Dork . I want to make sure it runs well on Intel-based Macs, but I don't know anyone who has one. Same goes for 10.2. So if you have such a thing and would like to be a beta ...
by aldel
Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:26 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Which one....
Replies: 29
Views: 1202

Dakatsu wrote:Crapy? The word is spelled 'crappy'.
I thought he actually meant crapy. Seems like a strange word to describe a plane, but who knows? I've never seen one made out of sticks before.
by aldel
Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:47 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Which one....
Replies: 29
Views: 1202

Doesn't it matter how long it's been since a chute was packed? I guess maybe it doesn't... when I launched model rockets as a kid, a chute that had been packed for more than a day or so was likely to not open correctly, but that's because they were plastic stuff that could stick to itself. I guess a...
by aldel
Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:56 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: How to Pick a Kensington Lock...
Replies: 5
Views: 732

I tried this once last year and couldn't get it to work. Either my Kensington lock is an improved model, or I just suck at lockpicking, or both. It makes sense though; those tubular locks work just like regular cylinder locks (which are pretty easy to pick), except that the pins are easily visible, ...
by aldel
Sun May 28, 2006 10:29 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: What Video Game Character Are You ?
Replies: 22
Views: 1348

Is there one for \"Which 'Which ______ Are You' Quiz Are You\"? That's one I'd like to take.
by aldel
Fri May 26, 2006 8:13 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Remember vinyl records ?
Replies: 11
Views: 780

If you want \"warm\" sound from a CD player, you could always run it though a bandpass filter followed by mild harmonic distortion. A good all-tube guitar amp should do it. Or I think there's software that specifically imitates the distortions of vinyl records, if you're too used to that.
by aldel
Wed May 10, 2006 9:34 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Wanted: Beta testers for my new game
Replies: 19
Views: 1423

Dork (tm) is now available to the public! (Just for Windows so far.)

Er, am I allowed to say that? Technically it's advertising...

:D
by aldel
Mon May 08, 2006 4:20 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: AARP
Replies: 5
Views: 512

I think my parents joined as soon as they were eligible because of some kind of insurance that AARP provides really cheaply.

You might want to look into their lobbying activities before you give them any money, though. It's quite possible that they're evil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARP
by aldel
Sun May 07, 2006 7:43 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Wanted: Beta testers for my new game
Replies: 19
Views: 1423

Re:

Cool. I am 13 so I couldn't buy it, but if I didn't get it for free and I could buy stuff over the internet, I would get it. Actually this raises an important question. How could I make it easier for people under 18 to buy the game? Payment is through PayPal, so you don't necessarily need a credit ...
by aldel
Sun May 07, 2006 7:37 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: What's wrong with weather web sites?
Replies: 33
Views: 1612

I don't think Google Maps uses Flash at all. I heard it was an Ajax application, meaning it's all Javascript.
by aldel
Sat May 06, 2006 1:43 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Wanted: Beta testers for my new game
Replies: 19
Views: 1423

Re:

Btw...Looks cool although I haven't had a chance to play it. I like the concept and the graphics. :D Thanks! I've never been sure whether to be proud of the visual design... I spent a lot of time on it, but I still don't know what I'm doing. I try to think of it as charmingly naive, or something. :D
by aldel
Fri May 05, 2006 7:50 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Wanted: Beta testers for my new game
Replies: 19
Views: 1423

Controversy's always good...
by aldel
Thu May 04, 2006 8:44 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Wanted: Beta testers for my new game
Replies: 19
Views: 1423

I've thought about running Dork on cell phones, handhelds, etc. Cell phones really don't have enough resolution for the level designs I've made, so it would require redesigning everything-- and probably reprogramming too, because I somehow don't think cell phones support OpenGL. Handheld game consol...
by aldel
Thu May 04, 2006 8:34 am
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Wanted: Beta testers for my new game
Replies: 19
Views: 1423

Re:

Xamindar wrote:I'm interested. But I don't see a Linux version. :P
A Linux port is pretty likely to happen. A friend of mine wants to do the port; we just have to work out the details, and I haven't made it a priority. Should I put you on my (rather short) list of Linux testers for when it happens?
by aldel
Wed May 03, 2006 10:21 pm
Forum: PTMC Cafe
Topic: Wanted: Beta testers for my new game
Replies: 19
Views: 1423

Thank you! I was beginning to wonder... 24 hours and no responses. I guess my tone was a bit presumptuous, talking like people would be jumping at the chance, but I'm pretty sure someone would have told me if I was being really inappropriate. People here tend to be honest about that. So I guess most...