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[From a PM from the Game's Author:]

Then why not contact the author instead of digging up a dead thread?

Wayne Adams, If you're still working on this and want to post an update send me a PM and I'll unlock it.

JJ - please read the forum rules before digging up more threads!

From a PM from the Game's Author:
"[the] project is still ongoing, and work is being done.. Updates will come, but no date on them. Thanks"

For me it depends on the "tone" of the game ... Games like Full Throttle just wouldn't work without Ben's gruff and scratchy voice givin' you what-for.  Games like Space Quest feel better suited with a narrator.

Though I think this kind of thing boils down to simple personal preference.

My personal favorite accent is German... but only on women.  I think it is so sexy. I don't think it sounds stupid or silly on guys, it's just not sexy (to me).

As for the evolution/creationism topic; I think, on some level, most of that 50% probably do believe in evolution.  They just can't, for whatever reason, go against the views [religion] they were raised under. 

I was forced to go to sunday school as a child ... I would always ask the teacher(s), "How was Noah was 600 years old?  People don't live that long now?" or "If our God made ALL of mankind ... why are there different religions?"

I wasn't very popular with those teachers.

I didn't rebel too much though ... 'cause I got tons of swag every December and in March I got a lot of candy.  Seemed a fair trade to me.

Just to be clear, I don't think Americans are perfect (VERY far from it!).  And yes I think denying evolution (if that's what you are referencing) is extremely close-minded.

The very last thing I want to do is bring religion into this thread as it'll go even more off-topic

Darth i'm fairly sure (as ironic as it is) that you are using 'ignorant' in the wrong context.

Ignorant doesnt mean you ignore someone or something. It means you arent aware of something.

Someone cant be "ignorant to you" and if someone ignores you they arent being ignorant.. they are being rude

If you're referring to my story of the waiter ignoring me I was not calling him ignorant 'cause he was ignoring me, I was calling him ignorant because he was treating me rudely because I'm an American.  He didn't know me, didn't know what I was like, etc.  That is ignorant behavior.  It was just coincidence that his ignorance stemmed from ignoring me (which has now been pointed out during the time I was posting this!)

But still ... I think broadly accusing all Americans of being ignorant of the outside world (the stereo-typing) is a bit ironic as it shows a lack of knowledge and/or understanding of American culture and her people.  ** shrugs **

Stupid and ignorant people aren't an American exclusive.  The world is full of them. 

I think the problem is, for whatever reason, my country (and everybody else) seems to want to showcase the stupid and ignorant people here.

Anyway ... back on topic:

For me, growing up, I had very little diversity in accents.  Maybe a slight Canadian lilt (eh?), or a southern drawl (y'all) when I visited family down south but for the most part it wasn't much different.  There were variances but it was still basically the same English.  So when I hear an accent that is noticeably different I find it slightly appealing, sure.  This isn't ignorance or stupidity.  It's just an appreciation of the difference. 

I think another reason you find Americans enjoying a foreign accent is because America is large.  I have made the road-trip from Michigan to Florida many times.  It is very far (roughly 1300 miles) yet I don't leave the country.  Were I to make a similar length journey in Europe I'd probably travel through 3 countries minimum (I didn't load google maps to make a scientific study of this ... I'm just making a point).  So maybe Europeans are just more accustomed to hearing a variety of accents/languages which makes it more normal and less "exotic" for them?

I actually remember hearing my old teacher way back in high school, would tell us that Americans would stitch a Canadian flag to their backpacks and whatnot just so they could be treated with respect when traveling over seas.  I wonder if that is true.

When I was in Vienna last year Nacho, Lorena and I went into this restaurant.  The waiter wouldn't speak to me when he found out I was American.  He would ask Nacho to ask me questions.  It was hilarious.  I could care less ... if he is that ignorant I don't think there's anything I could do to change his mind.  As I said above, ignorance is not exclusive to Americans!

Yeah, just watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

(admitted: The reporter just picked out some of the most incredible nutcases and you could do such a survey in any country)

I dont think you could do that in any country. You'd have to walk around britain for quite a long time to find such a massive collection of idiots.

They arent stupid, just very ignorant of the world outside the US. Like i said.. isolationism.

Now now ... we generalizing and stereo-typing here (which is just as bad as the claims being made).  I know people that are isolated, sure.  But most of the people I associate with are very knowledgeable about the "outside" world and would have gotten those questions correct.  If I had been asked those questions I would immediately have seen the real reason behind it and would have put the guy in his place because I find that kind of thing to be just as ignorant as the ignorance they were attempting to point out.  Of course I would end up on the editing room floor 'cause they couldn't show that!

Sure that video is funny but why do they not show the people that got [at least] some of the answers correct?  Because that wouldn't be as funny!  I guarantee you if you gathered up the equivalent kind of people from any country the results to those questions would be the same.

Invites are no longer anything special ... it's just Google's way of making us all think getting onto Wave is something "elite" and/or "special". 

It's their (admittedly brilliant) marketing ploy to draw in users.  Make it seem hard to acquire and more people will want it

By popular demand ... get back on target guys! 

I saw that episode too (it was a program called "Extreme Engineering").  Very cool stuff.

Here is the youTube video for part 1 (of 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frYWTrEfPRs

Then follow the links to the other parts as well.

I could tell straight away that was from the FoY tutorials! 

I have never agreed (and will never agree) that using a tool or two makes something not pixel-art but this isn't the place for such a discussion. 

I think it's off to a good start. 

However, my feelings on what is or is not pixel art aside, I think you are using WAY more colors than you need to.  In such a small space that amount of color is undetectable to the human eye.  You could probably achieve the same look with 4-5 colors.  However ... since you probably aren't going to be animating the background mountains ... an overuse of color probably doesn't matter much in the long run.  But achieving a look like that using less colors is good practice.

This conversation did get slightly off-topic didn't it?

My original point (before the tangent of space rocks began) was that space exploration (space elevator) is important.  Furthering space exploration/study would advance the detection of asteroids/comets (even if it wasn't the primary focus) as well as advancing countless other areas that could use a little advancing (IE the problems we face daily here on earth). 

I see this is painfully obvious but, as this thread proves, opinions vary.

I find it very fascinating to ponder on the far future of mankind, in a perspective of thousands or even millions of years. Will we have spread to other planets? What will our civilization(s) be like? How will religion and philosophy be affected by the discovery of other worlds?

I, too, am fascinated by the future ... I consider myself an amateur futurist.  I love considering where we'll be in even 100 years.  I also love going back and watching old sci-fi (tv/movies) and seeing how badly they got it wrong (Disco referencing Back to the Future 2  in that other thread of yours is a great example).  Aliens is another ... apparently in the far future we'll still be using CRT monitors with interlaced video and computer displays with only 2 colors.  I can't wait for the future!!

I just saw Phil Plait [the bad astronomer] give a talk and he said the prevailing plan is to build a rocket that has a lot of mass and position it next to any incoming projectile, leave it there for a little while and they will attract each other, put some rocket boosters on it so it stays a fixed distance away and the asteroid will move out of a collision path and we're safe from that strike.

Yeah this is my favorite of the current plans... It's called the "gravity tractor".  The reason it's the most appealing to me [now] is because we already have the technology to make this possible.  The set-back for this method is it requires knowledge of the impact WAY in advance (years).  If we discover the impact only 15 hours (even a few months) in advance we'd be in some trouble!

For me, personally, I'm already drowning in the flood of ideas in my head for applications I could create using "wave" technology (XMPP).  Maybe it's a case of where it's mostly web developers seeing the future of the tech?  I don't know what rharp does for a living so I'm just speculating.

While I'm not as convinced as the author of the article lemmy linked to that it will be a game-changer I definitely see it's potential to be one.  You just never know what the masses will adopt.  They adopted http and email ... and this is the next evolution of that so we'll see! 

Personally; I have my adoption papers signed and ready!

The sheer probability of a big asteroid hitting us is ginormously big

Yes the probability of an impact is ginormously big.  It's 100% in fact.

I actually agree with [some] of what ProgZ is saying.  Giving in to the "fear syndrome" is the wrong move.  However, most of the scientists I see discussing the subject approach it rationally (based on the science) and with the knowledge that it's just a matter of time.  Granted some of them can be a tad grandiose when they talk about it but I don't see it as fear-mongering but more as a passion for the subject.

I agree 100% with Calin's quote, "It is better to be vigilant than blasé".  It's far better to be educated about it, make a plan, and be proactive than it is to sit around, [maybe] discover it coming, and then try to react to it.

Of course this entire debate is kind of silly 'cause I really really hope we never have to find out if we're "ready" for the eventuality

I find the quote from Douglas Adams to be very meaningful indeed.  Given the sheer vastness of space I consider a mere 14,000 km to be WAY too close.  It's like a bullet missing your head by less than the width of a human hair.  I, personally, don't see how anybody with a concept of the size of space can't see just how close that really is.  But hey, to each their own I guess.

People who panic over the issue of an impact are every bit as bad as the 2012 nut-jobs who actually believe the Mayans knew anything about the future.  They also thought the first people were made of mud, then wood, then leaves.  Yeah, I'm sure they knew about the end of days!

I never said that asteroid detection should be a priority surpassing all others.  Space exploration (research and exploration) is of major importance and asteroid detection is a part of that.  And I'm aware that it is being undertaken.  In fact, the delta II rocket carrying the WISE (wide-field infrared survey explorer) program, launches next week.  One of the main focuses of the WISE project is near earth asteroid detection.  It's a step in the right direction.

I'm sorry that asteroids worry you; it's not fun to be worried about things, but I think our resources are better spent taking care of our myriad problems here on Earth, and we have a lot of problems here to resolve before we can even hope to start looking outward.  While NASA efforts have made several breakthroughs, I'm not sure asteroid deflection research will be terribly more useful than for asteroid deflection.

As I said (a few times) asteroids do not worry me.  It's not "unrealistic" fear, rather, it's logical thinking based on scientific fact that it is going to happen again.  We [humans] are the first species on this planet that actually has the capacity/ability to do something about it.  And we should (and are).  Perhaps not enough (but I hope we never have to find that out).

As for the research into asteroid deflection being useful for nothing more than asteroid deflection... well, I'd probably tell a story of a guy named Alexander Flemming who was doing research on mucus and stumbled across a little thing called penicillin.  One can never know what will come of research.  Yes, there are myriad problems here on earth, but like I said before, the solutions are in space.

YES! How the heck did you find them so fast? Do you have an IMDBPro account, maybe?

Nah, no pro account.  I recognized #1 and #3 right away and had to dig a bit for #2.  It was vaguely remembered (though I've never seen it, just remember hearing about it).

[The Invisible]

The first one is quite clear in my memory. It's about some jock that gets kidnapped, walks back out of the woods on a road. He goes to class, the teacher calls out his name, he put up his hand but the teacher ignores him. He thinks it's a joke, he gets mad and then realizes he's a ghost. He then has to find out where his body is or he will die for real.

The Invisible

Number two must be an indie film. It's about a teen that I think killed himself and is in purgatory. He's looking for his girlfriend who he hears also killed himself, but then picks up a hitchhiker girl. It's a road trip movie, not a horror movie

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Last one is really really vague but I really really want to see this one. I can only remember one scene which might have been the trailer. It's set in suburbian America. A teenager goes to his neighbors house who are having a barbeque party. He goes to the poolhouse (or bedroom?) where his friend lives, but when he opens the door he sees his friend hung himself. He then closes the door as if he didn't see anything and walks out, along the way the mother asks if he seen her son, he says he's fine and keeps walking. The guy was a dealer and it's most likely that teens on drugs or fake gloss of suburbia was the theme of the movie.

The Chumscrubber

I actually liked The Chumbscrubber.  It tries a little too hard but gives that eerie feeling I like in that type of movie.  If you want a really creepy/disturbing movie try Bully from 2001.  It fits the mold of "gloomy teen movies" quite well!

[back in March]

As for asteroids and the recent fear mongering mega-craze, all I can say is you should petition NASA to build a giant cowboy robot with a lasso so he can ride the asteroid safely towards the sun, a futuristic Dr. Strangelove if you will.

Nah.  I don't subscribe to the fear-mongering (as you call it).  I subscribe to a common sense and logical approach to a very real problem we will have to face someday (maybe even by those reading this message).  Just this year we've had two close calls; one back in March and one just a few days ago.  While neither were "global killers" the one in march was similar in size to the Tunguska event in 1908 (800 sq miles of forest leveled).  The most recent one was discovered a whole 15 hours before it passed us by (less than two earth widths from us). 

Not exactly a lot of warning. 

Also humans will never have to face pandemics, earthquakes, volcanoes or global warming! Let's just ignore them and save a little money.

Research, from space, has led to more breakthroughs than people realize.  So the argument that, "we have problems to deal with here on earth" feels VERY close-minded to me.  Yes, any idiot knows there are problems to deal with on Earth, but space exploration has proven time and again to be the spur for innovation/discovery that can help solve those problems.

Pandemics?  NASA is conducting research to track such things from space (about 2/3 down the page).  Many common illnesses and diseases (such as influenza, diabetes, psoriasis, and even lymphoma) have drugs in clinical trials now solely because of NASAs research done in space.

Volcanoes? Caldaras (super volcanoes) went largely undetected until they were able to be viewed from space.  Opening a whole new realm of geological study and understanding.  Earthquakes?  Major advances in the understanding of plate tectonics and fault-lines came directly from the space program.  Our geological understanding has increased exponentially because of the space program.  Not just from being able to view the planet from afar but from studies of other celestial bodies and how those geological bodies function.

Yes, we have issues need dealing with here on mother Earth.  And space is the place to find the solutions.

Darth ... out.

There is/was a [reasonably] successful group called Lifehouse which I keep thinking of when hearing Leaf House.  Actually there were two bands named Lifehouse now that I think about it (one from the late 90s early 2000s and one from the late 80s).

Leaf Hose.

[NOT THE CRITICS LOUNGE]

NOT THE CRITICS LOUNGE ... if he needs/wants critics on the graphics he'll post in there.  Let's get back on target.