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Wowies, why wasn't I informed there was a new map?

Because nobody likes a stalker.

This does dip into another interesting idea: Best of..

We've got the annual awards (Both the more official and the more tongue-in-cheeck).  Why not a vote (perhaps re-voted upon every year or semi-annually) for best of categories.  It seems like it'd be a great way for newbies to see what AGS has to offer.  Some categories might be: Best artwork, most brilliant puzzles, most well-scripted, best GUI, most innovative, etc.  It's not so very different from the awards in place except that the gems of previous years don't get lost in the flow of time.

It's about time we got some more Californians in here.  Place was becoming far too sane.
Welcome, and best o' luck avoiding the procrastination demons that are running amok.

Are you using a router or just Windows firewall? Normally, the firewall applet will pop a window up asking whether you want to Keep Blocking or Unblock the application the first time you run it.  If you don't get that option, go into control panel and check out the security settings.  I'm not on a Windows machine at the moment, so I can't give precise instructions.  It'll have a place to enter exceptions for certain URLs or IPs.

If you're using a router, then you may end up having to open a port (Port forwarding under router setup) that corresponds to whatever mIRC, Kazaa, BitTorrent or other programs are set to use.

It always sucks when someone sounds like they're reading, but the ad-lib only works when you've got something a bit broader to talk about than pod-casting (or at least its inanity). 

As for the voice, it's a bit like mine except more ...  mid-western US.  All-in-all, pretty good sense of sarcasm and decent delivery when inspiration strikes.  I certainly would mind seeing this put through a wave-editor to remove some pauses, clicks and noises (like when adjusting mic). 

Agreed on the banality of podcasting.  If it were inherently live, streamed p2p or something else convenient or dynamic, then I could see the need for a buzzword. 

Ah.. maybe the "patch" only updates an .ini or somesuch.  Either way, the game was much more interesting with it.

The americans are just diverting attention from the real problems

Look over there! A three-headed monkey!

Actually, I was thinking somewhat inline with That Guy's statement.  Rockstar did make the content and it is included with the game.  The fact that a hack allows access to an area that exceeds the rating doesn't change that fact.  However, your point is a good one - somebody needs to alter the game in order to access this area.  Granted, the user didn't put the pixeled-lucious-naughty-bits in there, or the gameplay for it, but they've still altered the game from the boxed product.  Maybe Rockstar's disclaimer should've been more thorough: "Any alterations or 'hacks' of the game not specifically sanctioned by Rockstar may results in gameplay experiences beyond the scope of the ESRB rating." 

It's still astounding that the huge controvery is only because it's 1) Sexual in nature and 2) An already controversial and popular game.

Jedi Knight Academy got a Teen rating for violence but certainly would've scored higher if evaluated with a widespread patch in place.  There were blood-patches (about which I've no idea if they opened original game code or replaced some) and severing/decapitation patches (which made the game run according to some in-house code and allowed more variety of saber-slicing).

Interesting.  I'm with Ghormak on the hesitant optimism.  It feels a bit GK3-ish (based upon trailer).  I'm just hoping it's more story/puzzle-driven than fighting/defense/fleeing.

(or perhaps hadn't joined the forums yet)

*choke* *snort* *raucous laughter*
It may seem rather elitist of me to express my amusement except that it's so damned easy to check how long Helm's been around (postcount and "Transferred from EZboard" should give some indication).  Not elistism.. observant.

Farl's never been tactful but I can't say I disagree.  Spliced art (splicing mechanism provided by website) with quips fairly irrelevant to individuals you don't know don't exactly portray skill or wit, merely copious amounts of time on one's hands. 

Horror, sci-fi, or whatnot, what I'm really wanting in an FPS is an FPS-and-then-some.  If it aped the interactivity of Deus Ex or even System Shock 2, it'd be a must-play for me.  Gasping until the reflex to pop-outs dies off and shooting everything in sight doesn't sound like a good time (unless it's in real-life).

Or Jack Thompson's wonderful arguments that the US military uses games like Delta Force and other "Combat simulators" to break down troops' resistance to killing.  Additionally, GTA3 was -apparently- used extensively by gangs to teach new members "how to hijack a car."  GTA is like the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

When my great-grandfather crossed the Sierra Nevadas by pack-mule.  Everytime since then, only games.

I'm looking forward to the game if only for some WTF moments and hopefully a bit of genuine creepiness here or there.  Since things have dried up so much on the adventure front (aside from half-assed Myst clones) it's left me with little interactive multimedia to enjoy. 

I'd prefer something a touch deeper than an FPS but the last time I got my hopes up, it was for Deus Ex: Invisible War...  'nuf said.

Dragon Egg

That's a very nicely intricate piece of work you've got there.  Unfortunately, I felt the need to call you on a technicality.  The drawing is over twice too large to be entered, doing the reverse and down-sizing means that it should be judged only on the 100x80 thumnail which isn't nearly as crisp as the larger original.

I was very skeptical about the books.  Kids I knew were all enamoured with them, but they'd also been in love with the Goosebumps series (which I'd read if I saw around but always was bored by - both writing quality and enjoyability).  I quite enjoy the HP series.  It's not superb writing but quite acceptable and it does something that many authors (even accomplished ones) don't manage to pull off: The ability to lose yourself in the writing and almost forget that you're reading a book.  I've read 1-5 and will, undoubtedly, read the 6th.. I just have to make sure they put it in a non-descript paper bag for me so I can hide it in public.

I'm certainly not very well-read as I can't stand many of the books referred to as "Classics."  Remember, Classic just means old, it's not the antithesis of crap.  Recently enjoyed authors: Margo Dockendorf,  Terry Pratchett, Albert Einstein, George Orwell, John Shirley, E.B. White, Orson Scott Card, Douglas Adams.

Perhaps I'm just overly pessimistic but it seems to me that a good number of posts come from the perspective of those that are actually motivated by things like the "Determination" and "Teamwork" posters.  Aphorisms aren't always accurate.

Yep.  Instead of ranting and raving about the death of S&M2 and FT2, we should've realized that the cause was hopeless and had a mass funeral for LucasArts.  Interesting that LucasArts was still in the very creative stages when it was Lucasfilm EC.. after adopting the LA moniker, it was only a matter of years before the creativity was used up. 

I agree with Ali.  Headshaking about LucasArts gets one nowhere - looking to other companies (The Adventure Company, Double-Fine, et al) provides the only optimism.  It's not just LA, many Lucasfilm employees have been seeking other employment due to the current direction of the company.

A very good read.Ã, 

Throughout everybody's life are a number of things you could do, ought to do and shouldn't have done. Thankfully, I'm not painfully aware of aging yet. I do, however, contemplate how I'll feel when I am at the brink (so to speak).

Just about the best think for the elimination of regrets is to gain discipline rather than ambition.Ã,  To some it seems to come naturally, they pour their heart and soul into a certain sport, art-form, or career.Ã,  To me, at least, despite enjoying several hobbies immensely, once it becomes something resembling work or a duty it starts to lose its charm.Ã,  My "ought to's" and "someday I will's" become more and more concretely potential as time accelerates and the years spin by like a gradually quickening carousel, centrifugal force causing this thing or that to fly off into forgetfulness.Ã, 

On the subject of time, I alternate between avoiding clocks on days/time off and waking up whenever I happen to, and sometimes setting alarms compulsively for as little sleep as I can get away with leaving the utmost opportunity in the day to get things done.

Ah, the curse of aging.Ã,  I'll know when I've actually become old when I resign myself to my present course and don't even think about the "could's" and "should's" anymore.
[Actually, Farl reminded me of something I was going to toss in here but spaced out (in too pessimistic a mindset, I suppose).Ã,  For the most part, I've just enjoyed life and haven't stressed too much about the things I have or haven't done.Ã,  All to often it's the very ambitious or the rather accomplished that die young.]

It's rather one-dimensional to say that only the older adventure games from LucasArts are "classics" and the flight-sim or FPS types don't have any merit.  Ah, but to each his own.

LucasArts got a couple new managers nearly a year ago.  The finance manager was hired in order to try and turn it around.  LucasArts was running in the red for awhile and Sam & Max 2/Full Throttle were two of the projects that promised the least amount of money from their investment.  The people working on the adventure projects were laid off (most), transferred (a few) or quit after the cancellation announcements (the remainder). 

I have to admit, business-wise it was the smart thing to do.  I don't like it, and I think they've lost what little personality they had left.  I enjoy (ed) some of the Star Wars games: Tie Fighter, Dark Forces, Jedi Knight Series, Knights of the Old Republic, but it's lost some of its charm for me since the games are becoming less and less original, without introducing anything worthwhile to a genre and becoming mainstream clones with Star Wars characters.  Trying to purchase anything older (particularly adventure) from them isn't worth the effort (or, in most cases, possible).  Better to go with eBay, obtain a copy of a desired game, and put a couple bucks in some fellow-gamer's pocket.

I dont like DG 's posts. Don't get me wrong, DG, I love you. Lets get married. Have 2 and a half kinds, and a white picket fence. But your posts are usualy just pure hate.

Fuck DG, raging cock-wit, forums'd be 10x better without 'im.

I wouldn't mind seeing a little more tact when pointing out someone's discrepancies but at the same time seeing more criticisms brought when somebody's definitely acting like a knob.

This has frequently been true of the General Discussion forum, but the Critic's Lounge, Competitions and Activities, and technical forums seem to be staying on-topic fairly well. Ã, Since the general forum is basically the cesspool of AGS interaction, it's hardly productive to expect anything more from it. Ã, 

I will agree, however, that there are many less interesting threads that provoke discussion, debate, or introductions to new subject matter. Ã, The number of "I like X, do you?" and "Name your favorite poodle breed" discussions has sky-rocketed in the last several months. Ã, Perhaps people got burnt out by all the religious, morality, and political discussions that took over the General Discussion area for awhile. Ã, For my part, if a thread seems pointless or uninteresting, I don't reply, I just wait for it to sink into obscurity. Ã, It's taking far too damned long for some of them though.