Topics

1

Offtopic / Recommendations for a Linux VPS

« on: April 19, 2008, 10:00:05 pm »

Hello,

I've been looking at various options for a Linux-based virtual private server, but I'm having trouble deciding what I want, mostly since I'm having trouble getting google to find them for me.

Besides that, looking at their websites doesn't tell me how reliable they are (businesses usually exaggerate this and/or are very misleading). For that, I need people who use the service(s) to tell about the good and the bad.

I figure a handful of you might have some experience.

So far, I've been looking at Redwood Virtual (http://www.redwoodvirtual.com) and Linode (http://www.linode.com). Both seem very nice, but the Redwood Virtual folks did not respond to my E-Mail asking questions, so I'm wary of using their service.

Ideally, I want something for about $10-$15 a month, with at least 100 gigabytes of bandwidth a month. Processor time and hard drive space are not all that important, but 5 gigs would be nice (I can live with 2 if needs be).

All I'm going to be running at first are a web server with static content (dynamic later on) and a Mumble (http://mumble.sourceforge.net/) server so my friends and I can voice chat while playing games. Neither should require much horsepower.

Thank you.

2

Offtopic / My 3D Modeler

« on: March 10, 2008, 05:20:33 pm »

I've been working on an open source project of my own the past few years.  One of the sub-projects is a very oddly designed 3D modeler; I built it for programmers to use, rather than artists.  Artists have enough modelers.  We programmers needed one, too!   

It was inspired by POV-Ray to a certain degree; you build models by programming Java source code instead of manipulating a GUI.

Anyway, I just made a new release.  I've finally added the ability to export to a couple of 3rd party model formats: Wavefront .obj files and you can produce POV-Ray mesh2 structures.  You may be interested to know Wavefront .obj files can be loaded in blender, which can be used to convert them into md2...

I just thought some of you might be interested.  I'd also like your opinions, if you'd like to try it out.

The URL for my project is in my sig.

If you want to know more about the modeler itself, here's a link to it's readme file: http://deimosproject.sourceforge.net/Readme%20%28Modeler%29.html

If you want instructions on using it, here's a link to a tutorial I wrote to explain the process I go through to build a model: http://deimosproject.sourceforge.net/Model%20Building.html

3

Design / Alien Ideas

« on: March 01, 2008, 09:52:12 pm »

I've got a wiki I've been working on for my own open source project, complete with descriptions of aliens of my own quirky design.

I thought you might find them useful, as I'm perfectly willing to share them.  They're under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License, but if you need another license, I'm willing to be flexible.  I seem to remember you guys want all parts of the project under the GPL, even the non-software parts, right?

You'll find a list of the aliens I've designed at:
http://deimosproject.wiki.sourceforge.net/Alien+Races

Of those I believe the Molluskos and the Teachers would make excellent XVI fodder, perhaps with a bit of tweaking.  Unfortunately, I've no pictures, as my talents lie in writing rather than drawing.

The Molluskos should work fine as is, especially the Soldier caste.

The Teachers should also work if you either tone down or omit the bit about their immune system.  I could see an interesting sub-plot with the Teachers being freed of their XVI infection if desired; perhaps XVI is simply the one disease they could never conquer and a war is constantly being fought for control of their bodies.  They'd most likely be used in some kind of research/scientific role, because in essence, they have a genetics/medical lab built into their bodies.  Alternatively, you could just use their body form and most of the anatomical info from the wiki, omitting what you don't like.

Combat-wise, the Molluskos soldiers would be a pain; bullets should bounce right off their shells (or do very little damage) and they could hide inside them between the player's turns.  I'd assume this would be what happens when they "crouch".  Salt would be the deadliest thing you could use against them.  Snails do tend to die rather quickly when exposed to it...

Teachers on the other hand would be fairly weak against bullets, but could be easily "genetically customized" for almost any task.  You could do something similar to humans having cybernetic implants.  Players would have to be cautious with them as they could have almost any unusual ability and could easily take on traits of the other aliens by sampling their DNA.

4

Mapping / Printing Maps

« on: February 28, 2008, 04:41:46 am »

Is there any way to print the UFO: AI maps?

I've been thinking they'd make excellent tactical combat maps for table-top role playing games, if printed to a proper size...

My preference here is 1 inch squares.

5

Feature Requests / Feature Request: More non-lethal weapons

« on: August 03, 2007, 07:12:19 am »

I'd like to see more non-lethal weapons.  The stun rod, flashbangs and gas grenades just don't seem like enough to me.

Here are some of my thoughts, based on modern weapons:
Dart guns + Tranquilizer darts
Tazers
Rubber bullets
Pepper Spray (Mace)

The above might not be very effective at first, perhaps requiring research to improve them for use on aliens.  I imagine other dart types might be possible, too.

Rubber bullets probably wouldn't do much vs. armored foes.

These are all available today.  I see no reason they (or something equivalent) wouldn't be available in the future.

Thank you.