Warmaker

Hooray for revisionism?

Firstly, welcome aboard to MW! I've never seen Gundam, but I think I still qualify as one of the Macross "hardliners" I've never minded new additions to the Macross franchise. But for me, SDF:M had done so many things so well that since it did things right as the first production, subsequent ones are compared to it, at least for me. Where I went off on a tangent was when someone said that SDF:M is the most inferior Macross production out there, so I went out and shot that full of holes. The basic premise of other Macross productions is actually fine by me, but most of them have major, major faults involved. Macross Zero: Prequel leadup to SDF:M, UN & Anti-UN War, more Roy goodness. I wish there was more and I didn't like the mysticism aspects, but in general it was ok. Just not long enough for me. Macross Plus: Testing the YF-19 & YF-21 for acceptance into general UN military production (why they eventually produce BOTH, I have no idea... why even have a trial to compete the 2 models then?) with 2 great test pilots. Where it went awry with me were the 2 test pilots themselves who were both douchebags, with the other one (the main one) having the additional trait of being an a**hole. Macross 7: Follow the exploits of one of the colonization fleets. To colonize. To seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldy go where no Valkyrie (or Max) has gone before. That basic idea was fine with me. But it went awry for me for 2 major reasons. 1 truly awful character that made me despise the show. The hokiness of the enemies. I liken the opposition in Macross 7 to SDF:M to what Batman fought against. The enemy and combat in SDF:M were like the enemy in Batman Begins. The theme and opposition in Macross 7 where like how the 1960s Batman TV show was. Controlling a VF with a guitar? VFs with Breastesses? Hokey Meltrans? Space Monsters? Should I go on? Well, there are 2 things from Macross 7 that I like. Bridge Bunnies: The Sequel. Max & Millia. And that's it! It's not so much that I don't want more Macross productions. It's just I wish the subsequent ones didn't stumble so much. It's like watching someone fall and thinking, "Jeez, that had to hurt."

Bah! I still call the F-16 the "Fighting Falcon" since it has more flair than the generic sounding "Viper!" For me, "Viper" is as lame as "Raptor"

While on the subject of FPSs, here's a Star Wars mod for BF2142 called "First Strike."

Dang JBO, those are from way back!

My post was more of a "dreampost" but I didn't specify it

I'm willing to demand more than a lineup of pilotable vehicles composed solely of VFs. Macross has tons of mecha, friendly or enemy. Destroids? What about all the pods? Pilotable Q-Rau? What I want is demanding. - I want air combat of course. - I also want ground fighting to be there also, for those of us who like to fight down low. Hills, urban terrain (i.e. ruined city), etc. - I want a wide array of pilotable mecha. VFs, Destroids, enemy stuff too. - Toggable "era" setting, i.e. Space War I, where only stuff from that era are useable. You can also have a free for all setting to have a mix of all mecha regardless of era. - Personally, I'm one of those guys that love flying from a cockpit perspective. I want mecha specific cockpits. A VF-1's cockpit will be unique compared to a VF-19, and compared to a Monster's (which has several crewmen aboard). For the transformable mecha, there will be a unique cockpit to that mode. A VF for instance would have 3 cockpits, and each VF would be unique from a different model. Cockpits could also be toggled off by the player if they so desire. SDF:M for instance also has shown the cockpits of Zentradi many times. The Regult and the Scout version has been shown internally. Quamzin has been shown inside his Glaug with all the displays several times. And the Quadluun Rau had its screens shown extensively via Millia in her introductory episode. Bring all these unique themes into the game, especially since the shows are overflowing with examples. - Let me be able to shoot down missiles. It shouldn't be easy, however, but what better way to show your "Max" ability than dodging enemy attacks AND shooting missiles down. - For the VFs, esp the VF-1, don't slack on the variants, including FAST Pack variants. - Warships. There needs to be warships, in the atmosphere or in space, esp Space War I settings. And they should naturally be dangerous to a player if not careful. - Limited ammo loadouts. You do have a finite amount of missiles on you as well as rounds for your gun (if projectile based). But you CAN haul a** back to your base / mothership / SDF-1 for rearmament and repairs.

I've seen glimpses of the X360's version of COD4's campaign. I like the storytelling aspect they did at the beginning with the SAS and all, but I left it at that. My Sister got me a copy of COD4 waiting for me when I'm done out here and come home Anyways, I'm already familiar with the COD series' very linear campaigns. They're good for a few complete runs, but that's it. There's no real variation. That's why the only COD game I've played was the first one. On that original, my favorite part was with the British Airborne for the bridge. By far the most tense part of that game. But the linear nature of COD was not endearing to me. But since COD4 is in a completely different setting and would look BEAUTIFUL on my PC, I'm willing to buy a new COD game. I wonder how the multiplayer is compared to other FPSs. I miss the tactical shooter subgenre in FPSs though. I can't recall any recent ones, the last one being R6 Raven Shield, and that was years ago. I really did love the whole briefing, outfitting, planning aspects. As for the random map generator for a FPS, I also agree it will be a PC sort of thing. I myself wouldn't mind the longer wait when a new map is generated and uploaded to the players. The very nature of everyone going in blind for the first of a series of matches in an unknown map is enticing for me, if someone can develop it. Let's face it, any FPS, once you've played enough, the maps are easily predictable. This includes even fan made maps for all those PC FPSs. It's simple human nature, you notice patterns, you know what kits work best at what parts of the map practically everytime. You know all the Sniper hideouts, lanes of travelling, bottlenecks, etc. But a random map? Toss all that out of the window. It's up to the players to recognize it first and adapt their tactics to it. It could be sniper heaven. It could be an armor map. It could be well suited for all classes.

First Person Shooters. Yeah, I know we have some FPS whores on this board also! Some more than others. The last FPSs I've put alot of time into in the past year: Battlefield 2: Arcadey, yes. But I love the setting and the maps are gloriously beautiful and very, very detailed. Far better maps than BF2142. My gametime has been very sporadic over BF2's history, so I never got too great. I've leaned towards Support and Medic. As support, if my teammates were guaranteed lots of ammo, then that's good. Medic? Patch the guys up and rez the guys who got reckless. Battlefield 2142: I liked the futuristic setting of the game, though I questioned what EA has deemed to be futuristic weapons which are no more effective than today's weapons (even inferior to BF2's take on modern weapons IMO). Regardless, this was the most recent FPS that I poured alot of time into and got pretty decent with it. I can play all classes just fine but Sniping is my specialty. I love finding the weirdest shooting positions to observe the enemy first, relaying intel to the team, and picking targets of opportunity. Rainbow Six III: Raven Shield + Athena Sword Expansion: The last true Rainbow Six game, before the Lockdown debacle and the copout design of Vegas for simplicity and cheese. Yawn. Anyways, I dug out my old CDs for Raven Shield, installed it, played, and remembered why I was such a big fan of the old R6 games. Making plans, practicing the execution, unforgiving gameplay. Too bad Red Storm Entertainment decided to make the R6 franchise just like any FPS shooter out there. When I get back to the USA, I intend to check out Call of Duty 4 and see what the hype is about. One last thing about FPSs: I wondered how great it would be that some future FPS would have a random map generator, like how some wargames do, but much beefier in what needs to be filled out. The host would set parameters, i.e. urban, open, "trenches," hilly, or just completely random settings. IF an FPS can ever have such a system and still allow specifically designed, player made maps, it would be so great. A randomly created map puts everyone on the blind before start of the first match on it. The teams need to scout it out. A good leader will read the terrain and quickly instruct his guys what to do for victory. You may not necessarily know at first what kit / class will be the best for the map on the first match.

Hooray for assuming? I've been pretty loyal to Street Fighter over the years. From SF2, thru all 3 Alpha versions, and finally SF3. But if something looks or feels off with a version, I'll pay no heed to it. SFEX is a great example. How about SF2 The Movie (game version)? Then there were some extra versions of SF2 that I felt were not necessary, even during the height of SF2's popularity. SF has a fond place in my gaming, but I'm not blindly loyal in light of Capcom's greatest gaming success. The artstyle we have here for SF4 isn't to my liking. Maybe they'll change it, who knows. But these guys to me have stumbled off the block instead of getting onto a good start.

I saw a "version" of this movie all the way where I'm at. I liked it alot and will get the DVD. It ranks there with First Blood. It's one of those flicks where you really can't wait for Rambo to nail the badguys

I'll probably snag it then when I get back. As for the registration issues, EA's shooters are notorious for it. I had an existing account due to being a previous BF2 player, and I purchased the collection with all the expansions. That was hell getting it to work.

A little question since this is the only BF2142 thread around: Is that expansion "Northern Strike" (or whatever it's called) for BF2142 worthy up purchase? Curious on getting it when I return to the USA. I was getting pretty decent before I went on hiatus on that game. Loved being that oddball maniac running around with the shotgun or that a**hole of a sniper.

*oops, nvm!*

That's fine, as long as people stay away from my Multi-Millia Clone Pleasure Pit P.S. - Because in this regard, I'm selfish!

*nods in agreement* Yes, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Then it's just plain fun

Roy... with an eyepatch and a scar for that badass vibe!

*scribbles notes down* I can't believe I forgot about that fact! As for the movie being worthy of mocking: Would it be at least a worthy subject if Mystery Science Theater was still on?

Why I feel SDF:M is overall superior to any later Macross production. + More fleshed out storyline; the best of any Macross production. You go from the initial shock of the Zent. assault, the fold out to the edge of the system, the perilous trip back to Earth and the impending disasters awaiting after arrival. It even went to the post-bombardment / reconstruction phase Earth had to face. You had all the back and forth drama between Hikaru, Misa, and Minmay. All the combat in between. You felt the overwhelming military power of the Zentradi until the cataclysmic battle over Earth ended. This gave the series a great backdrop to operate in: Space War I. Compared to other Macross productions, this was the era where the UN forces were brought to their knees, to the point of nearly breaking into a collapse. We're not talking skirmishes in some remote area between occasional, randomly wandering Zentradi forces. We're not talking the potential loss of just a single colonization fleet. We're talking the potential loss of Earth, central UN forces... home... before it had a chance to branch out. You saw the UN Spacy go the distance against a determined enemy and come out victorious. Battered, but victorious. + Character development; Far more characters I cared for than any other Macross production, compared to Macross Plus, where 2/3 of the main characters I utterly despised; Alot of the interesting characters in SDF:M had their chances to do extensive things within the span of the series. Roy, Hikaru, Misa, Max, Millia, Quamzin, etc... they all had extensive chances to shine over the show, a glaring weakness DYRL? had due to the time constraints. Also, there were NO characters that I hated in SDF:M. Something Macross Plus and 7 failed to do for me. The characters I felt were more "grounded." + A wide array of ships and mecha are on display. Warships of varying types. Destroids, VF-1 series, the variety of Zent.Regults, Q-Raus. We see them in small or large numbers. Granted, VF's get to mug the screentime, but Destroids had plenty enough segments (mostly combat) to be shown. - The one weakness of SDF:M is the up and down quality of animation. A bunch of episodes looked great. Some looked horrendous to the point of embarassment. I was showing the show to a friend who as a recent anime fan. He was thoroughly enjoying it, but seeing these badly animated episodes embarassed me to show it. The only other anime where it had something embarassing when shown to a friend was some of the recycled combat sequences of the old Record of Lodoss War OVA (but everything else was just great for that show). DYRL? had outstanding quality of animation & artwork, but it was only a movie and the vast majority of characters really only had cameos. Quamzin didn't do s**t but get killed in less than 5 minutes of screentime. The storyline and massive number of events from SDF:M had to be axed out due to the time limitations of a movie. Macross Plus? Great mecha combat. YF-19 and YF-21. But that's it. I hated 2 out of the 3 main characters where it just constantly nagged me the entire show. If the YF's weren't flying, it was a painful sequence to wait until you saw them fly again. Macross 7? It like SDF:M had the luxury of putting a storyline over the course of a series. But the storyline to me, just didn't approach SDF:M's level. There was one character on there that really dragged it down for me (of course, that could be just me). It's just the overall "hokey" theme of M7 to me, including "that one awful character" really put it in a negative light to me. That's why I feel SDF:M is so superior overall. The animation isn't great these days. But the story, the great sequences in between, the mecha, and great characters more than make up for it. No other Macross production comes close overall, IMO.

They're building Pyramids? Where's the Predators? I thought it was the Predators that taught man how to build them

I would have to agree. Not sure how much extra work it is or how much more expensive it would be. But it would really lend towards the feel of the cockpit. No part of the canopy frame would be required since it's shown open anyways.

I have to disagree Roy. I think Sarah Jessica Parker looks closer to Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister

WORD "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. Smoke 'em if you got 'em... we're going down!"

The reason you see multiple accounts by MMO players are for several reasons, but they're predominantly based on how the game designers approach characters and how many you can have on a server per account. I'll use old SWG as an example, since I've never played WoW. In the old days, SWG only allowed 1 character per server, per account. You could have tons of characters, but they'd be scattered on different servers. Most people were fine with that. Some however become very involved with the server their character is in. Most of their in-game friends or there, their favorite crafters are there, etc. That's where they're established: They've called that server's community "home." Some people want an alternate character for various reasons but they want it on that same server their main character is on, to keep the same contacts and all that. So some of us got an extra account. I was one of them, so I had 2 'toons on SWG's "Ahazi" server. A few more went further. Most people I have felt were content with 1 acct. A character requires more than enough time to work on.

Wikipedia: WWII Casualties People are replaceable, up to a certain point. Machines? Keep churning them out, especially if the country has a sound technological and industrial base. And most especially, that country has the $$ money $$.