Messages

[This]

I'd love to see a new competition and I'm really glad we managed to get The Great Stroke-Off done on time and that it turned out such a nice game. If there was a new competition and we could get our team up and running again it would be great. Not too fond with the idea of shorter competition .. that's what MAGS is for.

This is slightly off-topic, nothing to do with this competition, but it shows that even professional deveopment teams can have serious problems.

I've never been much of a visitor in Deviantart, but over the time I've come to the realization that indeed, it isn't what it used to be but there is still great art to found. And then there's is not so great art. I mean, there's even a picture of ME playing some show taken with a cell phone ... I mean ME .. gosh, that's no art.

A new community for artists would make sense when there's some control over the content. But of course, more users means it takes more time to get approval on a picture. But oh well .. what can you do when MySpace isn't enough.

I love that web design. Simple, yet masculine, just like "Arthur".

This goes out to all you adventure-game-problem-solvers. Here's the problem ..

I live in a 5 storied flat and all the apartments have a cellar. Recently someone has decided that he's/she's iron sawing skills need refreshening on your picklocks .. (s)he broke our lock but didn't steal anything. Dad bought a new and bigger lock which was also sawed open soon. (See the image) Again, nothing stolen. Not that there is anything to steal ... first time the grill was taken out from its box but seems it wasn't interesting enough.
I know it has to be someone from our staircase(?) - there are four staircases and we have 15 apartments - because the front door is locked and outsiders can't get in easily. There's also someone who likes to read our newspaper from time to time and not liking to return it, but that's not the issue.

So, help me figure out a way to catch whoever is doing this the next time the "thief" tries. I'd like to say a few words to her/him. I just can't stay in the cellar all night every day to wait until the thief comes. I wish I had a camera with night vision .. it would be perfect. Or this exploding ink pad like they use in banks .. I also had an idea to arrange a "noisy" delivery of something big that we would store in the cellar. Like bringing a bike but in a way, that the possible thief would see us bring it in and then wait until (s)he tries to steal it. But that's too extreme I guess, or not.

Also, don't say to call the cops. They are useless. Once dad's documents and wallet was stolen from the hallway when we were all at home, but the door was unlocked by accident. Now, 5 years later police replied with a letter that the investigation has been closed.

All ingenious ways to solve this problem are more than welcome.

It all started a couple of years ago. I visited a Navajo elder and among other things he said that I would have a vision in the future. I asked "What vision?" and he said "If you give me something in return, maybe I will tell you." You know, the usual adventure-game-like situation. So, I gave him a pack of tobacco, and he told me that it will be a vision of a "blue spirit". I had almost forgot about it until one night AGS's blue cup came to my dream and it spoke to me. It said "Wake up .. wake and open the editor and be a creator!". Then I fell asleep again. I don't know if it's mocking the spirit but I am yet to finish a game...



Well, actually I came across AGS from an old AGI/SCI site...but the first story is way cooler.

"I wants 1000 player MMORPG!!1"

or

"AGS was automatically edited for txt-style spelling"   /    "This editor was automatically edited for txt-style spelling"

I don't have a driving licence and don't plan on getting it any time soon because I really don't miss having a car. And I can't drive. But if I *did*, I'd like to own a Mini Cooper. I think it has style.

That said, my first car was built of wood and it drove down the hill

I don't have much to add but ..

From the "You know your game is in trouble when.."
*...when the sound for a robot getting hit by laser blasts sounds like someone spitting tobacco into a tin can on their front porch...
*...when all your sound FX are made by 1 person banging a microphone on various kinds of surfaces...

I think you computers have to be "wired" together to use file sharing. I have the same thing. If I use my laptop as wireless I can use the internet but not the local network. When I plug in the wire file sharing works. I presume it has something to do with wireless connection being very insecure.



-Eigen

Because 9th of May is the day when "The Soviet Union declared victory" and all the supporters celebrate this day. Last year, people gathered to the Bronze Soldier and bought flowers etc and it went pretty crazy, nothing like it's happening now though. People were even traveling here from Russia. Previous years have been rather quiet on the other hand.

I am surprised you even are able to keep your own language.

Well, during the ocupation, it was planned to "russianize" our country. Schooling in russian, estonian not allowed at all, disallow our coulture etc. But the regime fell before finishing with this. Otherwise I would have had to learn russian already in the first grade. Bah, don't want to even think about that.

The government proposed simple solution - to move statue where it fits better. Like a war cemetery, so Estonian shouldn't see this image of historical terror and horror in center of his capital city. Cemetery, where are the graves of those veterans remember. Right place for the statue. What was SO bad about this idea?!
Well, this was the statue. And the problem.

It's not a bad idea. We know it, and they probably know it too, but it's just a damn good excuse to stir up everything. I've been to the statue myself a couple of times and it doesn't FIT there. Right in front of the national library? Now .. come on.
And if everyone is soo upset with disturbing the peace of the dead soldiers then why didn't anyone bring any flowers to the military cemetary where rest of the monuments and things are. Right, you don't get to be seen on tv when going there.


Unlike InC, I personally don't know any russians. I used to know a few as a child, but they all learned estonian and even tought it to their friends. So it probably has something to do with upbringing.

But I do hate those bastards who just laugh into our faces and not learn the language, because they don't HAVE to. They can work and live easily without speaking any estonian. This is what concerns me the most - the attitude towards us and our country. The days you ruled over us are over! Smash that into your heads instead of display windows and cars.

The supporters? They sit in Kremlin.

Indeed, the support comes from Kremlin. Because they *control* the national television and media in Russia and how this event
was covered is pretty much brainwashing everyone. The sad thing is, that most of the foreigners around here watch broadcasts from Russia instead of our local. So it's like wearing a blindfold. I saw and heard the interviews of russian politics and even foreign-minister and they all say that Estonia is bad, evil and a threat to "Mother Russia" ... crazy! And now the people who are not shown anything else believe it. Brainwashed.



And check this image I can see from their faces that they are upset with the whole event. Nooot! They just enjoyed wrecking and stealing .. and then calling us *bad words* .......

Now added that accusations by Russia are completely ridiculous and are nothing but a hostile verbal attack on Estonia.

There have been accusations troughout our independent years, but this is different and really serious with actual act. Deep inside I'm afraid a little that they might use actual force because this is the perfect excuse. But I'm sure this won't happen..

But the only way to get rid of such things is to compromise, after all, 25% of people are a large minority, and will always make a difference.

This plan came after a long time of planning and consideration and it had to be done. Of course with threaths from the other side during that time. I personally think it was executed well but also I couldn't care less of the statue. The sooner we get rid of all the signs of occupation (of course it's only occupation for us .. ) the better.

And yes, the statue has nothing to do with the whole thing. It's just an excuse.


And good luck with the seminar Tuomas. I'm sure there will be Estonian representatives there as well.

They are a great nation indeed, but for some reason they are sooo easily gullable by the media and their leaders. And whenever you note about something negative around there, it's "interfering with their politics" and considered as a threat/insult. Rather hippocritical.

This topic probably doesn't matter to most of you here, except for some fellow Estonians. But I hope it matters to else too. Let me start from the beginning. In Tallinn there *was* a statue, called Bronze Soldier, put there for the dead unknown Soviet soldiers who fought in the Second World War. (As Sovient sees it: Freeing us from facist Germany). But our government recently, last night, decided to remove the statue and move it to a more proper place, some cemetary. But Russia, and local russians see this as a mock of the memory of these soldiers and Soviet Union as a whole. And last night things really went crazy. Angry russian mob (a. 1000 people) gathered around the park where the statue was to show what they think of it. Basically it was smashing down all the nearby stores, flipping cars and plain stealing. And then they are ignorant enough to justify this and even laugh while doing this. This is first time in Estonia btw.

Anyway, as of this morning, Russia cancelled diplomatic relations with our country, also other limitations I don't even know about.  BasicallyI couldn't easily travel there anymore if I wanted to. Which I don't. And how do you think Russia media covered this? Calling Estonia facist and nazis, only showing the footage where the local police is pushing back the mob, only interviews from one side, *not us*. But that's common in Russia - propaganda that is. I wished they had shown the footage where local rus. teenagers where carrying out stuff from store, stealing that is, smashing windows, and doing all kinds of cr*p.

So, don't believe russian propaganda, because I'm sure they start in Europe pretty soon to show how much of a threat we are and something should be done soon.

P.S - Just a week or more ago, in one town in Russia, a statue of pilots who fought in the WWII was just torn down and of course that was justified.


Sorry, I just needed to vent. I just can't stand those russians anymore. Sorry to those AGS members who happen to be from there

Also .. "Be happy we're letting you live here and speak your language." as said by someone in the mob. This shows the overall feelings.



Also read this
And check this image


-Eigen

I think a name is an important aspect of a band. Because if you have memorable name, you'll get some attention just for that. My friend's band name is "BedWetters" and they are getting really known around here. But come on .. bedwetters. Try googling for that.
Also, the name should LOOK cool when written on a shirt, poster etc.

My own band is named "When The Glory Fades" .. WTGF with the obvius joke  WTgF  (with 'g' being really small)     It's lenghty but that makes it stand out. Like recently we had a live with bunch of other bands and on the poster our name was the entire width of the poster, so it was the first thing you noticed.

I'm going to name my next band, if I should do such a thing,  Prophets From Phoenix .. I think it sounds cool.

Police Gun and Nuke Island 1 & 2 were pretty good too.
Oh, and that 5 Days A Strangler was such a kick.

He mentioned the background being incomplete.

First of all, really nice(!) for a first background. Really good.
Anyway, I think the main problem is the lack of shape and difference in trees. I made a really bad and sloppy edit:

Yes. I prefer black coffee.

I think if guns weren't so easily available these kinds of things wouldn't happen so often at least. Because when you're angry or whatever that causes you to do something like this you'll just grab a gun and go. Otherwise you'd had to come with something else and actually PLAN and do stuff before doing anything. And during that time people tend to come down rather than acting on first emotion.