Recent content by Starglider

I don't mind harsh criticism of games. What does annoy me is ludicrous entitlement complex, mostly gamers demanding everything be free-to-play (and the developers get paid how?), or that there should be two years of support and free DLC for their $1 Iphone game (seen that happen).

IMHO SR3 has a really entertaining and well-crafted story campaign and slightly more polished side missions (activities). The sci-fi weapons and vehicles are a nice twist. However it did have one big problem for me, which was that Steelport seemed a lot more generic and less detailed than...

I had the most memorable gaming experiences on the PS2, it was the first console where I didn't immediately want to go back to Amiga / PC. The dualshock was a great controller design and there was a lot of great first-party IP. The Xbox360 is technically much better of course, and it does have...

Apache Air Assault (for Xbox 360). I'm playing it on realistic settings so it's taking quite a few attempts to complete the later missions. I can't honestly recommend the game to non flight sim enthusiasts, but I like the helicopter control challenge.

I submitted a very early prototype to the Microsoft XBLA team almost two years ago, in retrospect a bad idea as it wasn't developed enough. They turned it down, so I'll be releasing on Xbox Live Indie Games and PC. It seems reasonable to submitt the game to Steam, I need to get a decent beta...

Biggest problem right now is the escalating cost of content. It makes AAA games expensive, makes publishers very reluctant to take risks, and makes single player campaigns shorter and more linear as art directors can't bear the thought of users skipping content. We need much more use of...

System Shock 2. Played that as a student over a long weekend, with giant projection screen + surround sound + total blackout + munchies + complete isolation from reality. I think that's the most immersed I've ever been in a video game world, and damn it was genuinely scary. Dead Space was a...

No sane developer would deliberately reduce their potential audience. The problem is more that they don't have staff who know how to design for universal appeal, or don't think implementing a female protagonist option properly is worth the time & money. It's a vicious circle of copying each...

There are hordes of cheap, ridiculously cheap and free games out there. Don't like paying $50? Buy older games, budget games, XBLA/PSN games or indie games (which could certainly use your support). Big publishers get to charge such high prices either because the games have massive amounts of...

I loved the trailer when it came out but now I can't watch it without thinking of Kinectimals :)

As gaming advances into new areas, old restrictions are lifted (e.g. a lot of technical limitations) but new ones are imposed (spiralling cost of content, need to appeal to casuals). New problems and pathologies crop up and it takes a while for best practice to develop and overcome them. I think...

There are eight flyable birds : bald eagle, redtailed hawk, northern raven, trumpeter swan, peregrine falcon, horned own, wandering albatross and griffon vulture. Small birds aren't included because they're problematic for the finite element aerodynamic model and they cause visual scaling...

I put in a few but the tone of the script is mostly serious. Xbox Live Indie Games is absolutely flooded with parodies of major games (RPGs particularly) and gamer self-referential humor. I wanted to make something that stands on its own, but if I can throw in a few laughs for long-time flight...

Long-time Escapist fan and forum lurker here. I'm in the final stages of production for an indie game you guys may find interesting; It has a fairly realistic model of bird flight using a unique control scheme that maps one stick to each wing (triggers to flap). Once you've learned to fly...