firehose

nypl:

This beautiful image is the title page for the Seder Hagadah shel Pesah from the year 1731  (or 5491 for those keeping count on the Jewish Calendar). Wishing everyone a very happy first night of Passover! Save us some charoset!

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) will soon have its special interest groups post position papers on various topics impacting the industry, creating a more transparent sense of the organization. New IGDA Executive Director Kate Edwards told us today that she's aware of the organization's lack of profile outside of the development community, and would like to see it be an organization.

"We have our special interest groups in the IGDA who represent different topical areas like women in games, diversity, anti-censorship committee," said Edwards, listing several more groups. "For every one of these topics that makes sense to do so, we're going to have position statements on these issues. Basically, have something more overt out there, like: 'What does the IGDA think about sexism in the industry?'"

The IGDA will also have speakers on each of these topics. Edwards continued, "Every one of these major topics we will have position statements, we will have information on the website."

Asked if the IGDA was turning into a lobbying group for developers (like the ESA is for publishers), Edwards clarified it's not a lobbying group, but they see their "lobbying" as empowering individual members to speak up on the behalf of the development community. So when legislators try to enact unfair laws, the community reacts.

The IGDA won't get involved in the drama du jour, but according to Edwards, "Obviously, when big issues like SOPA come along, we'll be very vocal about it."

IGDA increasing profile, plans on posting special interest group position papers originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jason Kirby writes in

"I think that THAC0 is awesome, but I can't exactly say why or properly articulate to my friends why it is better."

And then he follows with:

"Here is my dirty little secret, I am not actually sure its better, or if I am just wrapped up in some odd nostalgia."

There's some very skippable math here. The meat is past the reference. I encourage you to skip down instead of skipping out if your eyes glaze over.

MATH STARTS HERE

Put simply, there are 5 terms in the equation:  

• D20 roll
• Class combat proficiency (which is defined as 'level' below for shorthand)
• Armor Class (assumed in all cases to be descending), 
• miscellaneous modifiers
• baseline success (i.e. 20 hits AC 0).

Delta goes into depth about it, but what's relevant here, is that the equation is flexible. The inequality can have any one of 32 different formats

Ascending AC is D20 + Mods + Level  ≥ (20 - AC)*;
Descending AC is D20 + Mods ≥ (20 - Level)** - AC;
Delta suggests
Target 20 which is D20 + level + AC + mods ≥ 20;

* This looks complicated, but it is the conversion to Ascending Armor Class from Descending Armor Class. If you are wearing no armor (AC 10) 20-10 = 10 AC in d20.
If you are wearing chain (AC 5) 20-5 = 15 AC in d20.
 If you are wearing plate mail + 4 with a Shield (AC -3) 20 - (-)3 = 23 AC in d20.
Note that in Pathfinder (half) Plate (+8) with a magic +4 and a Shield (+1) is equal to +13. 10+13 = 23.
** And (20 - Level) is the conversion for "THAC0"; where level is the combat ability of the character.

MATH ENDS HERE

Now Delta's extensive analysis is quite correct. However, we all know that life is not about maximizing efficiency  and that there are always unforeseen consequences to any sort of change.

And, as pointed out by Jason Kirby, ThAC0 is Bounded. The lowest AC possible is -10, and the system is constructed to make that nearly impossible to get. In my several long term ThAC0 campaigns the lowest AC I ever saw was a -8 and he died to a death beetle's death wail two rooms in the adventure. Fighters usually sat around -2 to -4 (Full Plate and Shield and Ring of Protection).

Everyone knows 3e changed it up. In the last pathfinder campaign I played, it was fairly routine to have Armor Classes over 30 for the fighters and barbarians. (Plate (8) + Enchantment (2) + Shield (2) + Enchantment (2) + Deflection (4) + Dodge (1) + Natural Armor (2), for starters. From there it's a hop, skip, and a jump to morale, divine, and other bonuses)

So the 3e system is easier for people to grok (even though the equation is identical), but leads to the problems with unbounded accuracy.

Jason Kirby asks:

"Anyway, as I said I am not sure that I know how to articulate why THAC0 is a good system, but if you are willing to help I would appreciate it."

Why is ThAC0 a good system? Because it implies bounded accuracy. Because it reduces the number of calculations when rolling. Because the calculations are easy for the players and the DM. Remember, in OD&D, everyone was ThAC0 19 till level 4. They players just have to add their bonuses to their roll and report the number. I rolled a 12 with a +1 sword! 13! How could that be difficult?

But that isn't really addressing the question.

What is best? What's the best skill resolution system? What's the best saving throw system? What's the best to hit calculation? We talk a lot about the features of differing systems and how they affect play at the table and what the consequences of the choices of each are. But what's the best choice?

Why, the one you like to use of course!

An anonymous reader writes "Homebrew Coder Pate has released a DOS Emulator for the Raspberry Pi. Originally released for the Nintendo DS and Android, the emulator currently can emulate a CPU: 80486 processor, including the protected mode features (for running DOS4GW games) but without virtual memory support. The emulation runs at a speed around that of a 20MHz 80486 (which equals a 40MHz 80386) machine. It has support for Super VGA graphics, Soundblaster 2.0, Memory, USB keyboard and mouse. Perfect for playing old classics such as Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Theme Park."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Behold Studios' darling mobile meta-RPG Knights of Pen and Paper - where you control a dungeon master and players in a heated session as they embark on traditional roleplaying quests - is getting an upgrade. Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition is set to launch on Steam for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android platforms in the early summer, published by Paradox Interactive.

Knights of Pen and Paper +1 includes the original mobile hit, replete with new dungeons, monsters and loot. Behold Studios has also added a tavern to switch out characters, so players no longer need to start a new game when they unlock a new character type, an issue in the current version of the mobile game.

Gallery: Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition

Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition coming to Steam originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Depending on where in the country you live, you might have the nagging feeling that portions of the United States have broken clean off. Just up and decided to veer into their own orbits, consequences be damned.

And, because any notion that these States aren't United is a really uncomfortable one, a cacophony of voices all jostle to demonize their opposing factions. They say that the other side has selfishly detached themselves from the reality that we Americans are all supposed to share. How dare they?!

BioShock Infinite takes that nagging feeling of disunion and makes players wade through its century-ago antecedent, in a way that lays bare the agonizing personal costs paid to the grinding cycle of history.

Columbia is a chunk of America that has in fact gone to pieces. And the result is horrifying. But beautiful too.

You haven't been to a place like this before. The fictional floating city where Infinite is set is all clockwork platforms and brass gears, its many sections populated with hucksters, strivers, lovers and schoolchildren. One minute, you're walking past a sheer drop, the next a park swings down into the open space. Sure, they seceded from the Union but it's such a bloom-lit paradise that you almost can't blame them.

Then you come along. Well, not you. Booker DeWitt--the former soldier and Pinkerton agent players control--isn't a cipher meant for you to occupy, like the mute protagonist from BioShock 1. He's his own man with a voice, a checkered past and reasons for staging a one-man invasion. Debt weighs heavy on his soul and the only way he can come clear of it is to fetch a supernaturally powered young woman named Elizabeth. If he gets her to the people who want her, then he might be able to get on with the rest of his life.

If you subscribe to the idea that there is in fact a formula for making a BioShock game, then Infinite will only support your thesis. Mix up sci-fi archetypes, comic-book super-science, ideologically driven conflict and old-school first-person-shooter love with narrative ambition and philosophical discord. The player character's special abilities get wielded through the left hand while weapons get gripped by the right and he must wend his way through an isolated city-state in turmoil. Once you do that, you have--in broad strokes--the component parts of the games that have been called BioShock.

The powers you wield this time are called Vigors. You can mix and match them so that you can electrify a flock of crows after flinging them at an enemy. Or you can hold the soldiers you're fighting aloft and then set them on fire with telekinetic and pyrokinetic Vigors.

Important moments of choice have been another hallmark of BioShock games. This time out, the importance of choice isn't in where you wind up plot-wise. It's in how you play. The method In which you cobble together the upgrades you find with Elizabeth's combat support and the amazing verticality of the game's battlegrounds will leave you with a unique experience that you can transform as you go. Couple that with the various firearms and Vigors you'll collect and Infinite's play feels like it gives you more tools and a faster pace to use in an expertly crafted playground.

For all that's familiar, Irrational Games' new release does add new seasoning to that BioShock recipe. One of the big changes is in basic locomotion. Columbia's mass transit is a series of snaking pipeworks called Skylines and they provide a thrilling, vertiginous way to get around the city. They feel like a one-man roller coaster that you can shoot at people from. Aside from that, you can pounce on enemies from way on high or rain down gunshots while zipping along. And enemies will do the same to you, so these aren't an easy way out of most battles.

But it's the character of Elizabeth who represents the biggest change to the BioShock formula, which up until now gave you scant companionship on your adventures in Rapture. At first, Elizabeth might remind you in a broad way of the dog from Fable II. That pooch found you loot and helped you get around the world of Albion. You formed a simple but meaningful bond with it.

Elizabeth is far more complex. She's a fully scripted persona who aids you in combat and in scavenging, by finding and supplying health, money and ammo. Most impressively, she can manipulate tears, which are space-time hiccups that let her pull things from alternate reality through to this world. Discount vending stations, machine-gun turrets and grapple points are just a few of the assets she can summon for you. Which tears you have her manifest will affect the strategy options you have during a firefight and this branching opens up the uniqueness of the strategies available.

From an emotional perspective, things change immediately when you meet Elizabeth. She's naïve, but with strong streaks of curiosity and desperation running through her. A skybound city doesn't feel like paradise when it's all you've ever known and she yearns to experience the world below. Columbia founder Father Comstock is a religious zealot, one who commands a city of totally obedient martyrs. When he tells them not to fight, it's far creepier than when you're battling them. He means to use Elizabeth's abilities to deliver an apocalyptic judgment to the America beneath him. But Comstock must also deal with an proletariat insurgency by the Vox Populi, who want to topple what they see as a corrupt oligarchy.

Elizabeth alternately wants to impress Booker and run away from him. They need each other and she never feels like a stack of AI scripts walking alongside you. When she throws you a health pack in a firefight, her need for you to survive is palpable. She's haunted by a lack of a past while Booker is chased by a history too full of blood. Together, their shared journey moves from wariness to warmth to resolution with real poignancy.

For all the talk of parts, this game is more than just the sum of its pieces. You're playing for story here, and that story is embedded through the entire fabric of Infinite. The more you explore Columbia, the more its made-up citizens and history pull you in. There's a mystery swirling around the clouds that surround the city and it kept me guessing until the very end of the game.

Editor's note: Some readers have complained that the following paragraph, which describes the conceit of the game, is spoiling the plot for them. We disagree. But in the interest of not ticking folks off, consider this a warning and please skip the next graf if you'd prefer to play it safe.

Early on, you get signs that something more than mere isolationism is amiss in Columbia. Those tears in reality's fabric are a tease to the main conceit of the game, with the gambit being nothing less than the re-writing of American history. Columbia's already well down that road as its spiritual revisionism has made demigods of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. But you can't shake the creeping sense that many things are going to happen as a result of your actions. They do and they're all pretty weighty.

Given the fact that there's inevitable conflict waiting to be joined, you might think that a repudiation of American self-aggrandizement is all there is to BioShock Infinite. The uppity sky-dwellers in Columbia need to be taken down a peg, right? But what's more surprising than the rude awakenings is the degree to which Infinite is a celebration of Americana. It's a game squeezed out of Normal Rockwell paintings, set to ragtime music and filled to the brim with jaunty bygone slang. It zips and zings, even with it's beating you down with giant robot president enemies.

And, yes, Irrational creative director Ken Levine and crew are lobbing a slew of scholarly -isms for players to chew through: racism, sexism, anti-intellectualism, 18^th century revivalism and the gospel of industrialism as a cradle-to-grave caretaker of the worker. The tribalism that's inextricably part of America's spiritual DNA is a big part of the game's factions and battlefields, too. The Vox Populi--made of common-man laborers--think they have too little while the well-to-do Founders essentially believe that Comstock's vision of America is a better one than the one lived on solid ground.

If you're acquainted with the language of revolution and regime change, then lots of the rhetoric slung across the conflicts in Infinite will ring familiar to you. Opponents from different classes and backgrounds slander each other. Divine/universal logic is on our side. That kind of thing. The difference is that Infinite places players in the fires of tumult and shows them the result of bloody revolts up close. Most of the people you overhear in Infinite are racist, classist, snooty and surly. Yet you feel bad for them as some of the illusions keeping Columbia aloft begin to crumble. It's a hell of a thing to believe in a dream with all your being, for both good and bad reasons.

BioShock Infinite may not the first game to try to say something about the very nature of the country it was made in--and the people who make it up--but it's certainly amongst the best. Some scenes reminded me of how people who looked like me had an unbelievable array of prejudicial forces from public and private institutions set against them. Yet, even as I played through those moments, I was reminded that America is a big experiment. That experiment in letting people chart their own destinies has sometimes made it so brother fights against brother.

It's easy to dismiss those people floating in the fractured mirror Americas that we disagree with. They're wrong; we're right. Who cares why they are the way they are? But BioShock Infinite asks us to consider that very question and gives an answer that mixes hope with bitterness, wonder with despair and allegory with history. The game doesn't offer any advice about how to make everyone get along better but it makes a powerful argument for owning-- and owning up to--all of our collective past.

Back in January of last year, Irrational Games announced that BioShock Infinite would have a hardcore 1999 Mode, which would make players pick a specialization that locks them into a set framework of powers and skills. There'd be no going back on those choices and death would be permanent. Back then, Irrational said that the only way to unlock 1999 Mode would be to finish BioShock Infinite for the first time.

But, as the game goes on sale world wide today, the developer is revealing that all you need to do to go straight to the hard stuff is used the beloved Konami Code at the main menu. Here are the inputs:

For PC or Xbox 360: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A

For PS3: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, O, X

You'll get a notification that the unlock worked and then you proceed to getting your butt kicked by guys in breeches and bowler hats. Enjoy!

Penguin

Who

Scrolls--the next game from Minecraft studio Mojang--will be releasing in beta next month, according to Polygon.

sebastiankmtco:

OMG (in profound admiration voice). -SEBAS’

Via Twitter (and still looking for the original poster’s name)

peterfromtexas:

80.000 people leave after the match between England and Brazil

Axel Braun, the auteur behind Asstronomical, Naughty College Schoolgirls 32-38, and most of Vivid's superhero porn parodies has just released the first entirely safe-for-work picture of Kimberly Kane as Wonder Woman from her upcoming porn flick, and holy god that is the best Wonder Woman outfit I've ever seen.

Read more...

For his birthday, Giev Fowler's girlfriend took him to Wolf Creek Habitat & Rescue in Brookville, Indiana. There, with the pair standing among the sanctuary's (apparently very habituated) canids, one of the creatures started howling, which quickly "led to a symphony of howls from all 30 of the wolves." It's absolutely remarkable to behold, if a little chilling.

Read more...

tush:

My wife didn’t appreciate my fridge magnet poem.

North Dakota’s state insect is the lady bug, but right now the state is just bugging ladies (let alone everyone who cares about women’s rights).

On Friday, North Dakota’s legislature approved a measure that would define life as starting at conception, giving personhood to fertilized eggs in the state Constitution. It’s  the first time a personhood measure has passed in a state legislature. The North Dakota House approved the measure in a 75-35 vote (it had already been approved by the state Senate), and it will now go to voters as a referendum in November 2014,  If it goes into effect, the measure would effectively ban all abortions in the state.

Another measure passed by the state House on Friday is a bill that would require abortion clinic physicians to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. This particular measure is obviously designed to shut down the state’s only abortion clinic in Fargo, and is commonly known as a TRAP law. It now goes to Gov. Jack Dalrymple for his signature (or veto).

On top of these bills, the North Dakota House narrowly pushed down another Senate-approved bill that would have prohibited the intentional destruction of embryos, the goal being to block stem-cell research.

“Planned Parenthood will continue to fight these legislative attacks on women’s health in partnership with a broad coalition of doctors, patients, teachers, lawyers and other concerned North Dakotans who do not want to see politicians inserting themselves into the private medical decision-making of women and families in our state,” said Sarah Stoesz, the head of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.

EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock hopes North Dakota voters will see through this attack on Roe v. Wade and reject it.

I am outraged that North Dakota women’s rights and personal health are under attack by extreme politicians. Not only is the personhood bill extraordinarily dangerous, it’s unconstitutional.

 Photo of North Dakota state capitol in Bismarck by jimbowen0306 via Creative Commons 2.0.

solar-tsunami:

allonsymytardis:

He can say it to an inanimate object, but he can’t say it to Rose Tyler.

OUCH!

tardismonkey:

Doctor Who Stamps go on Sale (x)

NEETZAN ZIMMERMAN | Gawker

A housekeeper at West Point who was busted with a bag full of frozen meatballs that didn't belong to her is facing two years in prison on federal charges of larceny and possession of stolen property.

Put in perspective, that's the same amount of time Trent Mays was sentenced to serve following his conviction in the Steubenville rape trial.

56-year-old Estelle Casimir stands accused of trying to make away with a bag of frozen meatballs that were slated to be served to at the West Point Cadet Mess Hall.

According to court documents, a supervisor became suspicious after spotting Casimir with a grocery bag in her hand.

Confronted, Casimir, who is responsible for cleaning the mess hall latrines and does not handle food, claimed she found the meatballs in a trash container "and was on her way to dispose of them in another trash container."

An affidavit signed by the operations manager on duty does not specify how many meatballs were in the bag.

At an initial court hearing earlier this month, Casimir pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her next court date is scheduled for April 19th.

In the meantime, she has been forced to look elsewhere for employment after the food services company Watson Services, her employer of 28 years, suspended her pending the outcome of the trial.

"I just sit in the house," Casimir is quoted as saying. "I don't have anything to do."

[photos via AP, Hot Cheap & Easy]

Gawker dishes the nation's most current and cutting gossip across media, entertainment, technology, and business. Founded in 2002 and namechecked frequently in mainstream publications, the site is essential reading for those who want big media hypocrisy debunked and faux-sincerity exposed, all with a healthy dose of snark.

BBC Books have sent DWO the cover and details for the upcoming Doctor Who book title; Summer Falls.

Synopsis:

“When summer falls, the Lord of Winter will arise...”

In the seaside village of Watchcombe, young Kate is determined to make the most of her last week of summer holiday. But when she discovers a mysterious painting entitled ‘The Lord of Winter’ in a charity shop, it leads her on an adventure she never could have planned. Kate soon realises the old seacape, painted long ago by an eccentric local artist, is actually a puzzle. And with the help of some bizarre new acquaintances – including a museum curator's magical cat, a miserable neighbour, and a lonely boy – she plans on solving it. 

And then, one morning Kate wakes up to a world changed forever. For the Lord of Winter is coming – and Kate has a very important decision to make. 

‘Summer Falls’, a book written by Amelia Williams, is featured at the beginning of episode (The Bells of Saint John) of the new series of Doctor Who. It is being read by Artie, one of the children taken care of by Clara (as played by Jenna-Louise Coleman).

+  Summer Falls is released on 4th April 2013, Priced £1.99.

+  Preorder details will be available here soon.

[Source: BBC Books]

Back in 2002, [Dave] came across a discarded PUMA robotic arm and quickly set his sights on turning it into a bartender to serve drinks at his parties. Unfortunately, the arm was far from operational and being an engineer at his day job meant that working on this project was the last thing he wanted to do when he came home. So, progress trickled along slowly for years. He eventually announced a public deadline to spur him to action, and this years Pi(e) party saw the official debut of  ‘Sir-Mix-a-Bot’ – the robot bartender.

With the exception of having to build a new hand for it, mechanically, the arm was still in good condition when [Dave] found it. The electronics were another story however. Using some off the shelf components and his own know-how, [Dave] had to custom build all the controls. The software was written from scratch as well. (He lucked out and had help from his brother who was taking a Ph.D. program in robotics at the time).

As if the robotics aspect of the project wasn’t enough, [Dave] even created a beautiful custom table that both houses and displays his masterpiece. The quality of craftsmanship on his table alone is worth the time to check this out – there’s a short video after the break.

[Thanks Dave]

Filed under: beer hacks, robots hacks

The NRA has apparently decided that the "Connecticut effect" has had enough time to fade—and the gun lobby group celebrated by robocalling residents of Newtown, urging them to oppose new gun laws in Connecticut.:

“I received one of these,” Newtown resident Christopher Wenis wrote on Facebook Thursday afternoon. “I was insulted and offended.” Wenis told The Huffington Post in an interview Friday night that in the 36 hours since he first posted his response, he received two more robocalls from the NRA, one later on Thursday night and one on Friday evening.

“I’ve got a 5-year-old son who went to preschool on the Sandy Hook Elementary School campus,” Wenis explained. “And this was a really hard week for me on a lot of levels. These calls were the very last thing I needed.”

Fuck the NRA.

Is it safe to lance?

Just a fun screenshot from Rune Factory 3 that popped up on Tumblr today, courtesy of CD-ROMantic. Oh, and a reminder that Rune Factory 4 is coming out July 19, hopefully with more jokes like this one.

BUY Rune Factory 4, upcoming releases

RougeFemme writes "To capitalize on Google Reader's shutdown, Digg is building an RSS reader from scratch. But this Reader replacement will go beyond RSS to include social media content, like Facebook, Tumblr, Hacker News, Reddit, LinkedIn, etc. From their blog post: 'Google did a lot of things right with its Reader, but based on what we’re hearing from users, there is room for meaningful improvement. We want to build a product that’s clean and flexible, that bends easily and intuitively to the needs of different users. We want to experiment with and add value to the sources of information that are increasingly important, but difficult to surface and organize in most reader applications — like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, LinkedIn, or Hacker News. We likely won’t get everything we want into v1, but we believe it’s worth exploring."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Julie188 writes "This should make VMware nervous. PayPal and eBay are yanking VMware software from some 80,000 servers and replacing it with OpenStack. Initially, PayPal is replacing VMware on about 10,000 computer servers. Those servers will go live this summer."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Boys keep swinging

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