Messages

1876

Sounds and Music / Preliminary voice samples list.

« on: August 03, 2007, 05:09:24 pm »

Wait a sec, I just got an idea:

I've seen lots of GM sample packs for music production that include screams in their SFX kits, many of them very convincing.

Some of these packs are free, distributed under various licenses, I'll do some research into this and post again later if I find any sample packs with a compatible license - I already know of one instrument sample pack that is free with a license saying the author just wants to be emailed if it is used so he knows how many people use it, but the pack is from 2001 and I'm not fully confident the listed email address is still valid.  If it isn't, it would be classified as abandonware, and the legal use of it would be too risky in my opinion.

1877

Sounds and Music / Preliminary voice samples list.

« on: August 03, 2007, 05:03:43 pm »

Thought I'd post a little update here,

Some of the shorter and simpler lines are easier to do, but some of the longer ones are rather difficult to make sound convincing.  I've been working over time on more samples, and I must confess it is more difficult than I thought it would be.  There are still a few other problems - I'm just one person meaning one voice, and I haven't found anyone else interested who could use my recording equipment.

Do we still have others interested in doing voices who have made any progress, both male and female?  If not, the talking soldier idea might not work out to well with not enough variety.

I'd really hate to kill the idea, but if we can't get enough voices perhaps we should just work on other sounds that don't actually use words (screams, dying, pain, etc.) for now.

I'm still trying to figure out where I can record a scream, as I live in an apartment building and can't irratate the neighbors.  I suppose I could get in my car and drive out somewhere and reoord it in my car?  (I actually tried that once for one of my songs, I found that it quickly attracted unwanted attention, although I did discover that my scream sounds like a cross between Bruce Willis (the movie actor) and Kirk Hammet (lead guitar player from Metallica).)

1878

Sounds and Music / [WANTED] Footsteps sound effects

« on: August 03, 2007, 04:43:14 pm »

I have the portable gear to record it, but my location might be a problem - I live in a high-rise apartment building, not near any place with straw or tall grass.  Could you do anything with carpet, linoleum, or bathroom tile?  Actually, now that I think about it, my bathtub could be good for a metallic sound, like the inside of a craft of some kind, if you could use a "clank-clank."

1879

Feature Requests / Sound / Video Lag, Sound Failures, and Inventory Hijinx

« on: July 30, 2007, 12:56:45 am »

It might have something to do with your SB soundcard.  I used to use and work with various Soundblaster hardware, and I hate to tell you this, but they arn't very good cards, and the terrible drivers they make for them typically cause all kinds of problems with various apps, including slowing down the system, crashing, etc.

As a former professional computer technician who even had experience teaching the stuff to students, I just can't recommend Soundblaster hardware for any purpose, whether it is gaming, music/audio design, etc.

1880

Discussion / UFO:AI on Ebay??

« on: July 30, 2007, 12:46:30 am »

Ebay just wrote back, I got about the same message BlondAndy did, I would have to go through the VERO program and fax in the form to get any further.

Speaking for myself, I'm not really interested in a lengthy drawn-out legal battle that could take a year before settlement.  Yes, we could probably eventually win in court, and yes we could win money plus the cost of court and legal fees, but I personally don't think it is worth it.

Posting an ad that says the game is free from this website seems to make more sense, although it can't be done for free from Ebay (at least on the U.S. site) and I don't personally have the spare money for a monthly listing fee (as a matter of fact, I'm progessing slowly out of debt right now).

At the very least, perhaps something could be posted on other websites or this one that people should not pay money on Ebay for the game?

I also noticed that this game shows up on IGN, Gamespy, Mobygames, and a number of other gaming sites that normally show info about commercial games.  These other sites tell the truth that it is free, although some of their entries have older versions and don't have complete listings (such as a link to this project website).

Any other ideas?

1881

Discussion / UFO:AI on Ebay??

« on: July 29, 2007, 01:19:11 am »

Update: The USA Ebay website doesn't list any previous buyers for me, but I was able to get an email form for reporting copyright violations, infringement of intellectual property, etc., and I sent a detailed message which included the URL for this project website for them to look at for reference.  I got an email back right away saying I should get an official response in 24-48 hours.

If I see that some poor buyer payed money for the game, I'll try to contact them.

I guess that's all I can do right now, when they reply I'll post another update.

EDIT: I noticed that the seller uses "we" in the description to imply that he/she created the game!

I also noticed the seller is based in the US, and I can tell you that US copyright and intellectual property laws are very tough here - this seller could potentially be liable for felony charges including up to five years in jail if this was really pushed all the way in court.  (Not that I'm recommending going that far, but just so everyone knows.)

1882

Discussion / UFO:AI on Ebay??

« on: July 29, 2007, 12:54:01 am »

Status Report:

The United States Ebay system is apparantly a little different, I was just able to get an immediate account opened including a seller account, but they want to charge me monthly fees to have any kind of listing with additional fees for special options, like digital downloads, etc.

I'll attempt to figure out how to contact people who were already swindled by the sellers, if the system lets me do it at all.

1883

Discussion / UFO:AI on Ebay??

« on: July 28, 2007, 07:49:25 pm »

BlondAndy, In response to your message, I'm willing to open a US account with a redirecting link, but before I do so, do I have permission from the devs?  Also, exactly which URL should I use - ufoai.ninex.info or ufoai.sf.net?

EDIT: Should I also include a copy of the proper license in the listing if I do this?

1884

Discussion / UFO:AI on Ebay??

« on: July 28, 2007, 07:44:36 pm »

I'm up for this - One of my music scores is in the package, under CC *non*-commercial, specifically the 3.0 United States version - I'll say right here and now that I'll give permission for the devs to speak on my behalf if they fight this.

1885

Artwork / Intro animation

« on: July 17, 2007, 12:27:42 pm »

If you're looking for acting, I have two digital cameras and a chroma key blue screen for photography, and I also have some nice police uniform boots as well as a bunch of BDU camo pants and shirts and stuff in different colors - not just the typical woodland green, but also city grey and sky blue (the blue camo isn't officially used by the US military, but coincidentally it *does* match the default blue color the soldiers in the game wear).  I also have a bit of acting experience in front of a camera from a college digital video project and past music videos I've done.

I also like to dress up in outfits - to be honest in my past I've gone through countless different styles, been into mohawks and long hair phases, and other wild stuff (I still have a black leather motorcycle jacket in my closet, too bad it's now a little bit too small).

Props might be a problem though, I don't own any firearms or have much that would look like one.

1886

Discussion / You have been spammed / Secure your forum

« on: July 07, 2007, 07:22:18 pm »

I know for a fact there are some alternatives to phpBB that are also open-source - One that I use on my own website forum is called Vanilla.  With Vanilla I get no spam whatsoever, and I've used it for about a month after switching from phpBB.

I can't remember off-hand which alternative BB programs have utilities to convert all old or existing phpBB posts and accounts over, and I know it's up to you admins which software to use, but I think that if you stick with phpBB you'll probably have to constantly police the forum for spam and keep using patches to stop automated bots from registering.  (Kind of like MS Windows and security.)

As a final note, I've seen a few other places running Vanilla, and they get no spam either.

Just a suggestion...

1887

Design / UGV Control Facility

« on: July 01, 2007, 08:29:15 pm »

Just a thought here, not necessarily one that has to be implemented:

What if UGVs were carried in a seperate part of a dropship instead of taking up a solider slot (such as a UGV cargo pod in the ship equip screen, along with fuel pods, weapons, etc.)?

Opinions?  Just an idea...

1888

Sounds and Music / Music for Airfights / Interceptions Question

« on: June 21, 2007, 02:23:27 pm »

I noticed that air-to-air combat is being worked on and might be implemented soon (from another part of the forum) -  Do you guys already have any music for the air combat yet?

If not, would you be interested in something kinda like the original XCOM combat music?  I remember the tune - it had a strong beat and took off quickly, although it was the exact same tune every time (something we wouldn't have to do, it would be nice to have multiple tracks).

I don't have any new completed tracks right now, but I do have some partially finished ideas I could put together that might work, although it would come out with real guitars and instruments instead of the synthetic sounds from the original XCOM.

BTW, while I'm on this topic, what will the air combat look like anyways?  I remember the original game had short and simple fights compared to the ground missions which could get lengthy.

1889

FAQ / Are there any UFO:AI related tutorials available?

« on: May 31, 2007, 10:06:30 pm »

Well how about that - I didn't know there was a manual already halfway put together, apparently I missed it - my fault!

The pages that are already done look good, they already have highlighted areas and everything.

If you can give me a list of screenshots that are missing, I can make them easily.

Would it also make sense to have a PDF format that could be downloaded?  There is an open source virtual printer util called PDFCreator (I think sourceforge has it) that I've found to work quite well in the past.

As an alternative, I've also seen manuals that are in HTML format that are downloadable.

These are just ideas, of course.

1890

FAQ / Are there any UFO:AI related tutorials available?

« on: May 31, 2007, 12:34:24 pm »

I've noticed there aren't tutorials on how to play the game, both for former XCOM players and newcomers, and some people still keep asking questions about how to build a new base or "what does this button do?" because they don't know the interface.

If anyone's interested, I could capture some video of a game session and put in subtitles, highlighted buttons, flashing arrows pointing to tabs, etc., and make a video of how to play the game as an instruction manual.  I could also break it into multiple clips or chapters for different parts of the game - research, combat missions, geoscape, etc.

I have all the software tools and stuff to do this, although I admit it would come out in English because that's the only language I'm familiar with, although with the help of translators I could make different versions.

Should I give it a try?