General Questions Thread

[SaintessHeart]

Question : What is the difference between a Persona and a Facade?

[oompa loompa]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Question : What is the difference between a Persona and a Facade?

As far as I know they're not too different, particularly in the usage you're talking about ( a facade is also the side of a building). It's pretty similar either way, I guess the difference is slight. Facade usually has a negative connotation, while Persona does not, i.e. Facade more directly implies that it's being used to cover or hide something from someone else, while persona could simply be the public role that exists simply to satisfy the environment around him/her, without implying deception in a negative way. If that makes any sense.

Correct me if I'm wrong though, hell English isn't really my first language.

[monster]

In soccer (or whatever you want to call it), if a player who's in control of the ball somehow managed to get past the second-to-last opposing player and then passed the ball to a teammate who's in an offside position, is that still considered an offside offense?

[qwertyuiopz]

inception or salt?
i dunno which one to watch

[oompa loompa]

Originally Posted by monstert

In soccer (or whatever you want to call it), if a player who's in control of the ball somehow managed to get past the second-to-last opposing player and then passed the ball to a teammate who's in an offside position, is that still considered an offside offense?

Yes, if its you and your teammate vs the goalie, and you pass to your teammate its still offside. However, I think if you pass the ball perfectly horizontally or back towards your goal, (i.e. lets say you reach one of the corners of the goal, its too sharp an angle to shoot so you pass it back across the goal to your teammate) thats legal. I'm fairly sure that's the rule.. but only fairly

Originally Posted by qwertyuiopz

inception or salt?
i dunno which one to watch

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and suggest inception. Most reviews, both popular and that of critics received Inception far better than Salt. If you are paying to watch it, I suppose that is worth taking into consideration right?

[monster]

Originally Posted by oompa loompa

Yes, if its you and your teammate vs the goalie, and you pass to your teammate its still offside. However, I think if you pass the ball perfectly horizontally or back towards your goal, (i.e. lets say you reach one of the corners of the goal, its too sharp an angle to shoot so you pass it back across the goal to your teammate) thats legal. I'm fairly sure that's the rule.. but only fairly

Alright, thanks.

[thevil1]

New question: OpenGL, and DirectX: What are they. The reason I'm asking is because I'm trying to learn to make games, I already know C++, I just don't understand them. At least from what I've read, OpenGL is a library of functions. Is that correct? and DirectX is more of a modeling program for animation and objects. If this is more appropriate as it's own topic, then I have no problem with this question being deleted. and a thread being made.
If anyone can explain and would be willing to help me in making something I would not object.

[felix]

Originally Posted by thevil1

New question: OpenGL, and DirectX: What are they. The reason I'm asking is because I'm trying to learn to make games, I already know C++, I just don't understand them. At least from what I've read, OpenGL is a library of functions. Is that correct? and DirectX is more of a modeling program for animation and objects. If this is more appropriate as it's own topic, then I have no problem with this question being deleted. and a thread being made.
If anyone can explain and would be willing to help me in making something I would not object.

I think the question here should really be: "what should I be searching for to do [...]"

If you just want to know what the both of them are, simply use wikipedia:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL

Regarding "building my own game," my advice is you skip over these childish ambitions of creating "your own" engine and just use a existing one, like unity for example, or some other one depending on your needs.

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by felix

I think the question here should really be: "what should I be searching for to do [...]"

If you just want to know what the both of them are, simply use wikipedia:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL

Regarding "building my own game," my advice is you skip over these childish ambitions of creating "your own" engine and just use a existing one, like unity for example, or some other one depending on your needs.

I already Googled it, and came to the assumption of me not understanding it. If I did I wouldn't be asking.
I see what your saying with the engine.
ether way, I was planning on using the SDK version of DirectX. But am I correct in saying that OpenGL is a linker in sorts?

[Vexx]

They're more like *libraries* of routines you can call in your program (like the various GUI libraries). OpenGL is relatively platform independent and DirectX is, of course, MS Windows-only.

[felix]

Sorry but I'm not versed enough in OpenGL as I never took a licking to the low-level C like programing involved, but Vexx's answer pretty much nails it in simple terms. All you need to know about OpenGL (at this planning phase you are now) is it's slow, but cross-platform. The difference between them is the same as with comparing a web REST interface with a RPC; yes they are different, follow different standards, and offer different advantages/disadvantages, but at the end of the day you'll be using one or the other. Your decision better take into account what each is offering not some techwave-trend: do you want it cross-platform? do you need it to use XXX new feature in video cards? etc. Otherwise, you might end up scrapping the project half way though.

Also just to clarify on my earlier recommendation: by making your own custom brew you do not only incur just the costs involved in actually developing it, but also: testing, updating, patching and maintaining it (to name just the main ones) and there's a lot more risk and fail involved in making such low level routines then you'll likely face in creating the actual game. I hope you have life insurance covering this if you go though with it.

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by felix

Also just to clarify on my earlier recommendation: by making your own custom brew you do not only incur just the costs involved in actually developing it, but also: testing, updating, patching and maintaining it (to name just the main ones) and there's a lot more risk and fail involved in making such low level routines then you'll likely face in creating the actual game. I hope you have life insurance covering this if you go though with it.

Counter Strike Source had a main development team of two people (If I remember correctly.) I can't find the wiki page I read that on, but I think it was two people. Granted it started off as a mod, and evolved itself. And I'm not planning on going commercial. I just want to do it because I can program, and I want to test myself.

[felix]

Originally Posted by thevil1

Counter Strike Source had a main development team of two people (If I remember correctly.) I can't find the wiki page I read that on, but I think it was two people. Granted it started off as a mod, and evolved itself. And I'm not planning on going commercial. I just want to do it because I can program, and I want to test myself.

CounterStrike: Source used the existing Source Engine, just like Portal did. Also because it's a Mod (or whatever it is) they had complete access to existing textures, doodads, effects, events, etc. Something you shouldn't have too much expectations for when you will be building it from scratch.

I don't see what all this has to do with coding your own engine from scratch though.

[thevil1]

Well my assumption was that DirectX and OpenGL where separate engines by themselves. As well as a being a 3D molder and such.

[felix]

Originally Posted by thevil1

Well my assumption was that DirectX and OpenGL where separate engines by themselves. As well as a being a 3D molder and such.

No, they are not engines. And things like 3D assets are done in programs like 3Dmax and just imported. Same for textures, they usually are done in Photoshop. Of course this is a matter of preference of the artists on the team, they might just as well be done in Maya or Corels Paintshop Pro. You might have some features to help you working with assets such as scaling, moving, etc and also (more then likely) bridging with 3rd party software (such as the aforementioned).

A sentence like "I've made that doodad" usually means "I've combined that texture with that 3D model into a reusable object." Of course the texture and 3D model might have been created by the same person but that does not mean they were created in the same program. Also, the sentence might also be used by someone who used a lot of lighting and/or blending effects on a certain doodad or environment piece; but that doesn't really mean they created the core assets involved, nor programmed the effect.

Think about it logically for a second. What's simpler, re-inventing the wheel, or using programs that have been improving for years and have a truck load of followers and people with great skills in using them.

[dragon4dudes]

Originally Posted by Komari

What's up with those multi-sided dice? Are they nerdy? What are their origins?

Haha. I love how some questions are never noticed for the longest of times. Anyways. in all reality a die, the singular form of dice, are always multi-sided. But my assumption is that you're asking about the all of the different dice like, the 4 sided die to the 20 sided die. I'm not really sure of their origins persay but I do know that they are probably most commonly found in one of the nerdiest games ever to meet humanity that doesn't require the use of a computer and internet. The dice are used in Dungeons and Dragons extensively to determine many different results. For example whether or not an attack hits, whether a trap is found and disabled, or whether you jump a gap. I do know that the dice are based on regular polyhedrons.

[mindovermatter]

Originally Posted by dragon4dudes

Haha. I love how some questions are never noticed for the longest of times. Anyways. in all reality a die, the singular form of dice, are always multi-sided. But my assumption is that you're asking about the all of the different dice like, the 4 sided die to the 20 sided die. I'm not really sure of their origins persay but I do know that they are probably most commonly found in one of the nerdiest games ever to meet humanity that doesn't require the use of a computer and internet. The dice are used in Dungeons and Dragons extensively to determine many different results. For example whether or not an attack hits, whether a trap is found and disabled, or whether you jump a gap. I do know that the dice are based on regular polyhedrons.

DandD is probably what keeps most card and comic shops alive, even still (well, besides Magic the Gathering)
Dn'D is also one of the first origins of RPGs, right?
I know that on a different forum the OP of an RP is called the DM (dungeon master).

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Komari

+1 to you. Thanks.

What's up with those multi-sided dice? Are they nerdy? What are their origins?

My three year old girl substitutes Ds and Ts for numerous consonants, including C, F, G, J, K, P, S, Ds for Ts, V, and Z. She's gotten so deep into the habit of substitution that when you ask her to say a word that includes one of the problem letters, and you say it correctly, she replaces the letters, doesn't even try to repeat what you said. I have no clue if she even has the capability to pronounce the problem letters. Speech therapy, or will she just grow out of it?

1) multi-sided polygons have been used for probability and games of chance since the Greek times. However, in popular use they started appearing in the 1970s when Dungeons&Dragons first appeared. Today, people may know *nothing* about tabletop games and still can probably relate these dice to D&D.

2) Three year olds haven't yet trained their vocal systems to differentiate between phonetically related sounds. Just keep speaking normally to her and she'll likely catch on (as long as she doesn't have a hearing issue or learning difference). Now is a good time to have her hearing checked anyway (age 2-3).

Anecdote: my oldest son (now 25) was 3 years old and we all were eating with some of my coworkers while out on a project. #1 son had a favorite little toy car - a fire truck. He dropped it under the table and announced in a concerned voice to my coworker, "Fire Fuck... down dere" Needless to say, the group died laughing while my wife and one of the modest engineers turned deep red.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Komari

My three year old girl substitutes Ds and Ts for numerous consonants, including C, F, G, J, K, P, S, Ds for Ts, V, and Z. She's gotten so deep into the habit of substitution that when you ask her to say a word that includes one of the problem letters, and you say it correctly, she replaces the letters, doesn't even try to repeat what you said. I have no clue if she even has the capability to pronounce the problem letters. Speech therapy, or will she just grow out of it?

Being an ex-patient of speech therapy, I would recommend :

1. Don't slang in front of her. Speak proper English and pronounce the words properly. Queen's English can wait till she's older. Posh speak is definitely out.

2. If you plan to send her to speech therapy (or if the doc recommends it), watch how the therapist speaks to you. Pick those who speak slowly and don't slang or twist their tongues.

3. Keep her away from the TV. Sure it distracts her enough to give you a window of opportunity to cook meals and watch anime, but it will only aggravate her case.

Of course, making her wear cat ear hairband may have a low chance of fixing the problem by itself over time.

[thevil1]

If you want to teach her yourself, use M&M's as a reward. That's how I learned math. Make a letter point system, and flash cards. Also I would think that eventually she would out grow some if not all of the habit as she learns to interact with more people.