some school stuff on "Mort"
Treephwood
Hi,
I need some help on "Mort" for school, Could anyone send me a character
description, general description and a statement on this book, please? I need
this very urgently. Please eMail to treep...@aol.com. Thanks a lot!!!
Peter
Jos Dingjan
[cc-ed to poster. Tagged, resubjected, reformatted, you know, the works]
This has me wondering.. You say you need this for school, but why don't
you read the book and write that stuff yourself? Mort really *is* a fun
book to read, even if you have to do all the character description and
plot analysis stuff. I know you probably won't believe me, I know I
didn't always believe people when they told me that when I was in
school.
<generalise>
Is it just me, or is this getting more and more common, schoolkids
asking for people to do their homework on the 'net? I know I've been
seeing a *lot* of "I need help with this problem!!" on sci.physics and
sci.physics.research[1], and a large majority of that was "we throw a
ball into the air, speed such-and-such, angle so-and-so. We neglect air
friction. a) Where will the ball land? b) If the ball is thrown from a
height of 1.5m, what is the maximum distance it can fly, given the same
initial speed?" etcetera. Plain physics homework, that. Are schoolkids
*really* getting less and less motivated to do their own work, because
the 'net is so closeby? Is it a significant number that is? Should we
worry yet? ;-)
Anyhow, Treephwood, I wish you good luck with your assignment, I'm
afraid I won't be helping you with it. You may not like it now, but
maybe you'll understand why (gawds, I'm sounding like an old fart,
aren't I? Don't answer that..). And to the rest... let the discussion
commence!
TTFN, Jos (I *knew* I had some of those topics lying around..)
[1] But s.p.r is moderated, and the moderator adds a "Warning! This
person might be asking for us to do his homework!"-warning :-)
--
To the engineer, the world is a toy box full of sub-optimized and
feature-poor toys.
Hamlet Haegarsson
Jos Dingjan wrote:
>
> Treephwood wrote:
> >
> > I need some help on "Mort" for school, Could anyone send me a
> > character description, general description and a statement on this
>
> Is it just me, or is this getting more and more common, schoolkids
> asking for people to do their homework on the 'net?
>
Do you thinks these requests are serious? Sometimes I doubt it but I'm
*really* not sure.
I wonder if Pterry [2] gets requests like "Excuse me Sir, I have to
outline the plot and the main characters for school, you surely done
this before and can yuo please send it to me?"
[2] Where does this name come from again?
--
Hamlet, Son of Haegar (no relation to Denmark).
(I never even read Shakespeare [1])
[1] Okay, that's a lie.
To reply by e-mail, please remove "LMA..." at the beginning of the
address.
Phil Penney (YRL)
Hamlet Haegarsson writes:
> Jos Dingjan wrote:
>> Do you thinks these requests are serious? Sometimes I doubt it but I'm
>> *really* not sure.
>
> I wonder if Pterry [2] gets requests like "Excuse me Sir, I have to
> outline the plot and the main characters for school, you surely done
> this before and can yuo please send it to me?"
I'm sure Terry must get a lot of these, because a fair number find
their way to the fan club - both by e-mail and snail-mail. And yes, they
are serious!
Phil phi...@yrl.co.uk
Discworld Fan Club http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/redimp/index.html
Les Bessant
Treephwood <treep...@aol.com> wrote in article
<199804271754...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
: Hi,
:
: I need some help on "Mort" for school, Could anyone send me a
character
: description, general description and a statement on this book,
please? I need
: this very urgently. Please eMail to treep...@aol.com. Thanks a
lot!!!
:
: Peter
I don't want to be rude, but have you considered reading it?
moon...@bga.com
On 27 Apr 1998 17:54:24 GMT, an orbiting mind cotrol laser caused
treep...@aol.com (Treephwood) to write:
>Hi,
>
>I need some help on "Mort" for school, Could anyone send me a character
>description, general description and a statement on this book, please? I need
>this very urgently. Please eMail to treep...@aol.com. Thanks a lot!!!
If I do, do *I* get the grade for it? If I don't get the grade, why
should I bother?
Why not read the book yourself?
-Chris Zakes
Texas
Iwan Lamble
In article <3545A2...@tuatha.org>, Jos Dingjan <j...@tuatha.org>
writes
>Is it just me, or is this getting more and more common, schoolkids
>asking for people to do their homework on the 'net?
Its because companies advertise the internet as a homework resource for
children, so they treat it as one (not knowing any better), IMHO [1].
[1] Or their parents, who have bought an internet connection to help
their child at school, tell the children to get help from there and
where they use a search engine, find their exact question isnt there and
then ask in a newsgroup.
--
...............................Iwan Lamble...............................
Pratchett Extras Annotations (and temporary (unedited) Jingo ones) at
http://www.lamble.demon.co.uk/annotat.htm
Discworld Screensavers at http://www.lamble.demon.co.uk/disc/discsave.htm
Tom Lawton
In article <354f365b....@news.demon.co.uk>, Stephen Booth
<stephe...@bigfoot.com> writes
>On 28 Apr 1998 10:41:19 GMT, Hamlet Haegarsson
>
>
>
>pStephen[1]
>
>
>
>[1] Doesn't quite work does it.
but it works for me though
--
pTom Lawton
Bruceanna di Rosenkavaliera
Hamlet Haegarsson wrote:
> Do you thinks these requests are serious? Sometimes I doubt it but I'm
> *really* not sure.
> I wonder if Pterry [2] gets requests like "Excuse me Sir, I have to
> outline the plot and the main characters for school, you surely done
> this before and can yuo please send it to me?"
when I asked him if I could write a short (250 wd) thing about Discworld
for a school oriented section of a local paper he said fine as long as I
didn't ask him something like "who are the main characters?", "what is
the plot summary?") etc... (or something to that effect, I'm going from
memory, cause I'm too lazy to pull up the Inbox file and riffle through
some 500 old messages).
Tacked on to my message thanking him for being my good luck (the day I
opened that local paper's school section and found to my surprise that
with no notification there was my 200wd 'read these books' bit was the
same day I got my second young writers' award) was "who are the main
characters?", "what is the plot summary?"
I was joking, but somehow I doubt that most people who ask are.
--
Alcohol and calculus don't mix. Never drink and derive.
snail
>>*really* not sure.
>
>kind of requests by e-mail.
>
Agreed. I have a few poems on my website by well known poets and I've
had a few 'requests' for my interpretation of said poems so they can
answer their homework. In fact, I have one such request sitting in my
mailbox at the moment.
But this sort of thing is nothing new. I recall around 1989-90 seeing
requests from uni students looking for help with programming assignments
in comp.lang.c (or whatever it was called then). And it was a standard
joke then.
--
snail | sn...@careless.net.au | http://www.careless.net.au/~snail/
I'm a man of my word. In the end, that's all there is. - Avon
Eric Schellhammer
Somehow very many people ask us to do their homework, recently.
Has it always been like this?
Well, alright, it's probably a good indication of the fact that Pterry has
found his way into classrooms as (more or less) every other good author.
Or maybe all these requests come from the same class all the time, which
would make the thing much less representative, of course.
Anyway, I agree that you shouldn't get other people to do your
homework - and that anyone lucky enough to have to talk/write about
Pterry's book should gladly accept that opportunity instead of treating
it like the rest of the (mostly) boring literature usually used in class.
Is there anything in the FAQ-file or on lspace or wherever telling people
that we are NOT here for that purpose?
ERIC
(never been Faust)
--------------------------------------------------
Andy Davison
On 27 Apr 1998, treep...@aol.com (Treephwood) said ...
> Hi,
>
> I need some help on "Mort" for school, Could anyone send me a character
> description, general description and a statement on this book, please? I need
> this very urgently. Please eMail to treep...@aol.com. Thanks a lot!!!
Wasn't Mort the uncle played by Robin Bailey in the series "I Didn't Know
You Cared" whose description of his ideal woman was 'a bloke with big
knockers'? Quite why this sticks in the memory is beyond me. I vaguely
remember seeing the programme and only liking RB and Liz Smith out of
the whole cast.
--
Andy Davison
andyd...@oiyou.force9.co.uk
www.geocities.com/motorcity/3102
Andy Davison
The Dean
snail wrote:
> snail | sn...@careless.net.au | http://www.careless.net.au/~snail/
^^^^^
Does this mean any email to you becomes snail-mail?
<g,d&r>
--
The Dean (aka Sebastian "Peaches" Cerutti)
"The Dean, who was as impressionable as a dollop of warm wax, wondered if he
could learn to play the harmonica."
-- Terry Pratchett, Soul Music
Tony Ellis
In article <MlQVcOAs...@downtoearth.demon.co.uk>,
T...@downtoearth.demon.co.uk says...
> >
> >IIRC following Pyramids in the style of pTeppic and pTraci.
> >
> >
> >pStephen[1]
> >
> >
> >
> >[1] Doesn't quite work does it.
>
> but it works for me though
>
> --
> pTom Lawton
Of course it works best with sensible first names like...
PTony
--
Tony Ellis - PHB of the Computer Services Department
Central Gippsland Institute of Technical & Further Ed.
snail
The Dean <devab...@geocities.com> wrote:
>snail wrote:
>> snail | sn...@careless.net.au | http://www.careless.net.au/~snail/
> ^^^^^
>
>Does this mean any email to you becomes snail-mail?
><g,d&r>
>
<fx: sorts through Dean's splattered remans and finds...nothing useful>
Terry Pratchett
In article <JKuDmC...@yrl.co.uk>, "Phil Penney (YRL)"
<phi...@yrl.co.uk> writes
>Hamlet Haegarsson writes:
>> Jos Dingjan wrote:
>>> *really* not sure.
>>
>> outline the plot and the main characters for school, you surely done
>> this before and can yuo please send it to me?"
>
>their way to the fan club - both by e-mail and snail-mail. And yes, they
>are serious!
Oh, lor'...
Oh, yes. Oh, dear. The letters and emails full of questions...
The letters have always been around but it seems to me that the emails
have mushroomed in the last 18 months, and too many of them are simply a
request to do someone's project for them. Specific questions about a
particular aspect of a book are fine, but so many of the emails just
want...well, everything. Starting with 'who are the main characters?'
I think this is because 'everyone knows' the net is an educational
resource, and since my email address is easily found then so am I.
Perhaps more disturbing (since I play computer games) is hanging out in
games ngs and seeing the endless requests for walkthroughs and cheat
codes. It's one thing to ask 'where the heck is the third scecret on
level 3', but another to seek out the cheats the moment you buy the
game.
We've produced a generation of kids too dumb for the computer games that
don't involve mere physical skill...
--
Terry Pratchett
Hamlet Haegarsson
Terry Pratchett wrote:
>
> > > > <snip about serious request to do someones homework>
>
> Perhaps more disturbing (since I play computer games) is hanging out
> in games ngs and seeing the endless requests for walkthroughs and
> cheat codes. It's one thing to ask 'where the heck is the third
> scecret on level 3', but another to seek out the cheats the moment you
> buy the game.
>
> We've produced a generation of kids too dumb for the computer games
> that don't involve mere physical skill...
That's one hell of a pessimistic view. I sincerely hope you are wrong.
Maybe the kids are jst to lazy to *work* on what they like most? Only, I
fear you could be right and my explanation surely doesn't offer a [1] of
hope.
[1] Now WTF word for "Springquell"?
--
Hamlet, Son of Haegar (no relation to Denmark).
At times out of words
gwei...@powerup.com.au
>Oh, yes. Oh, dear. The letters and emails full of questions...
>
>The letters have always been around but it seems to me that the emails
>have mushroomed in the last 18 months, and too many of them are simply a
>request to do someone's project for them. Specific questions about a
>particular aspect of a book are fine, but so many of the emails just
>want...well, everything.
snip
And speaking of specific questions about books.... is it out yet? I
haven't had time to plow through all the articles that even vaguely
mention "The Lost Continent."
The reason I ask is cause I haven't seen it here in the backwoods of
Australia.... and there seemed to be a few messages indicating that it
was available from what I presume is an English bookseller.
Or is the venerable Mr P still working on it?
And just another quick question, how is the sequel to Truckers coming
along? Is it going to make it to video in the same format or am I
raising my poor boys expectations too high. (and mine)
thanks
a devoted fan... Daniel
--
>Terry Pratchett
Chris Ahchay
Terry Pratchett wrote in message ...
>Perhaps more disturbing (since I play computer games) is hanging out in
>games ngs and seeing the endless requests for walkthroughs and cheat
>codes. It's one thing to ask 'where the heck is the third scecret on
>level 3', but another to seek out the cheats the moment you buy the
>game.
>
This is not a new thing. I've been playing games on home computers for
nearly twenty years (more if you count those binatone things) and seem to
remember Crash or Your sinclair or one of those mags used to print
solutions to games in the same issue as the review appeared. Still happens
now, check out months issue of PC Zone, which contains the second part
of a complete walkthrough of oddworld, it was reviewed two months ago and
IIRC wasn't released until a month after that.
>We've produced a generation of kids too dumb for the computer games that
>don't involve mere physical skill...
Kids? Games are too important for kids, they shouldn't be allowed near them.
Love
Chris
Karen
In article <DulnHPA7...@lamble.demon.co.uk>, Iwan Lamble
<iw...@lamble.demon.co.uk> writes
>In article <3545A2...@tuatha.org>, Jos Dingjan <j...@tuatha.org>
>writes
>>Is it just me, or is this getting more and more common, schoolkids
>>asking for people to do their homework on the 'net?
>
>Its because companies advertise the internet as a homework resource for
>children, so they treat it as one (not knowing any better), IMHO [1].
>[1] Or their parents, who have bought an internet connection to help
>their child at school, tell the children to get help from there and
>where they use a search engine, find their exact question isnt there and
>then ask in a newsgroup.
>
they do not know enough to help their children but at the same time are
convinced that it will help them. This isn't helped by the fact that
IME it tends to be mothers doing most of the "helping", and it depresses
me to know many women who are utterly lacking in confidence when it
comes to computers.
I also suspect that many of the blanket requests are from those same
people Simon described as walking into the library and wanting the
librarian to do their homework for them.
My own children work along the following lines (granted we are talking
small children here)
1) Discuss the homework and sort out what is actually required.
2) Start with the books at home, then the cd-roms at home.
3) Look in the library on the weekend visit.
4) Hunt around on the net if nothing else materialises or something
slightly different is wanted (especially pictures)
They do often look for things on the net, sometimes for homework but
often for interest, but only with us to help them. I certainly wouldn't
let them loose on ng's to ask questions for homework.
To quote fTony quoting someone else:
"Anyone who lets a child onto
the Internet unsupervised should be taken out and shot."
Well maybe not shot but given some serious advice.
Of course I can say all this smugly atm but what I want to know is -
What do I do when they think they are old enough to fly solo and I don't
agree? The #1 (aged 7) already knows too many back doors for my
liking...
ttfn,
Karen
--
New to afp? mail new...@lspace.org for more information
or look at http://www.aber.ac.uk/~cap96/afpguide/afpguide.html
else http://www.lspace.org
lkin...@schawk.com
In article <Fz76KHAQ...@unseen.demon.co.uk>#1/1,
Terry Pratchett <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote:
<snipped for your convenience>
> I think this is because 'everyone knows' the net is an educational
> resource, and since my email address is easily found then so am I.
>
letter--writing a letter is as much work as writing the paper.
I think the boom has to do with the increasing availablity of computers in
schools and libraries. There is a real push now to put computers in every
classroom.
Also your books have prolly made their way to the student recommended list
and thus kids who never heard of you have chances to write book reports on
your books because some student in the past read and liked your books.
Have you ever tried sending them a list of questions to answer? I read a
Beverly Cleary book about that.
> Perhaps more disturbing (since I play computer games) is hanging out in
> games ngs and seeing the endless requests for walkthroughs and cheat
> codes. It's one thing to ask 'where the heck is the third scecret on
> level 3', but another to seek out the cheats the moment you buy the
> game.
>
> We've produced a generation of kids too dumb for the computer games that
> don't involve mere physical skill...
>
> --
> Terry Pratchett
>
It is not just that they are too dumb. There are far too many who are, but
most who do this are competative. They want to beat the game before their
friends and will cheat if need be. Having the cheat codes is prolly seen as
cool, and the immoral aspect makes it all the cooler.
--
Lee Kinkade
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
Terry Pratchett
In article <0d+m9IAq...@goodgulf.demon.co.uk>, Karen
<ka...@goodgulf.demon.co.uk> writes
>To quote fTony quoting someone else:
>
>"Anyone who lets a child onto
>the Internet unsupervised should be taken out and shot."
>
>Well maybe not shot but given some serious advice.
>
The advice should be 'it's a bad idea to try to move while we put this
blindfold on you.'
--
Terry Pratchett
Leo Barium
In article <6ifnp1$jnp$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, lkin...@schawk.com writes
>In article <Fz76KHAQ...@unseen.demon.co.uk>#1/1,
> Terry Pratchett <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>> We've produced a generation of kids too dumb for the computer games that
>> don't involve mere physical skill...
>It is not just that they are too dumb. There are far too many who are, but
>most who do this are competative. They want to beat the game before their
>friends and will cheat if need be. Having the cheat codes is prolly seen as
>cool, and the immoral aspect makes it all the cooler.
I can't say I totally agree with that. PTerry is about right by saying
that many 'kids'[1] are too 'dumb'[2] to complete some of the harder
computer games (although, IMO, many of the pure action games, e.g.
_Doom_ are too hard to be completed without cheating, anyway), although
there *are* games - generally the strategy ones - which are within
completeable levels without cheating.
Completing games may be 'cool', but the immoral aspect of cheating to
achieve this does *not* add to the coolness of it. I find that most of
my friends do not feel this, as they don't even see the act of cheating
as immoral. To them, it is part of the game, which is built in; in their
view 'Why would the programmer allow the cheats if you're not supposed
to use them?'. Personally, I never cheat when I have computer games (at
least, not until I've completed them), as I feel that once I've
completed it, there's not much to play for. If I know a game is going to
be too hard for me - as many are, as I'm not great at computer games -
then I don't buy them, and I wish that others would do so too.
TTFN
Leo Barium
[1] - I would rather people don't class all 'kids' together - most of us
are totally different specieses <g>
[2] - But what does dumb mean? Intelligence? If so, I don't think that's
the right word; many of the less academically brilliant people I know
are much better at computer games then the more intelligent.
--
'There's nothing like being phoned up at two in the morning by the manager of a
nuclear power station who says "You'll never guess what happened this time"'
**Ffith Thrid of the Mark**Afpiance to Julia Jones and (ahem) Bruceanna**
http://expage.com/page/afplace2 - not as bad as last time you looked...
Terry Pratchett
In article <6lGauDAb...@barasi.demon.co.uk>, Leo Barium
<L...@barasi.demon.co.uk> writes
>Personally, I never cheat when I have computer games (at
>least, not until I've completed them), as I feel that once I've
>completed it, there's not much to play for.
Sure...after I'd been round Tomb Raider once for the ride and then again
more slowly to try to find every secret, I downloaded a walkthrough to
see what Id been missing. My point, though, was that it now seems to be
considered perfeclty normal to *start* with the walkthrough and cheats.
--
Terry Pratchett
Eric Schellhammer
On Thu, 30 Apr 1998, Tony Ellis wrote:
> In article <MlQVcOAs...@downtoearth.demon.co.uk>,
> T...@downtoearth.demon.co.uk says...
> > In article <354f365b....@news.demon.co.uk>, Stephen Booth
> > <stephe...@bigfoot.com> writes
> > >On 28 Apr 1998 10:41:19 GMT, Hamlet Haegarsson
> > ><LMA...hamlet@sg1508.chemie.uni-marburg.de> wrote:
> > >
> > >>I wonder if Pterry [2]
> > >>[2] Where does this name come from again?
> > >
> > >IIRC following Pyramids in the style of pTeppic and pTraci.
> > >
> > >pStephen[1]
> > >
> > >[1] Doesn't quite work does it.
> >
> > but it works for me though
> >
> > pTom Lawton
>
> Of course it works best with sensible first names like...
>
> PTony
Hm, it is less easily recognised if your name starts with a vowel, like
PERIC
(nothing to do with Perrier)
--------------------------------------------------
elfin
Terry Pratchett wrote in message ...
I just happened to have been at school during the years of the Sinclair
home computers, the zx80/81,spectrum & the BBC b etc. Even back in
those days my more computer literate friends were breaking game
codes to find the cheats. So I do not think that this is necessarily a new
phenomenononon just that with more users there are more cheats &
ppl to use said cheats.
Mind you I too have used the cheats but then I am so bad at computer
games even an untrained orang-utan could beat me...
elfin
Pope Jeremy I
On Sun, 3 May 1998 20:04:03 +0100, "elfin" <elf...@email.msn.com>
wrote:
>I just happened to have been at school during the years of the Sinclair
>home computers, the zx80/81,spectrum & the BBC b etc. Even back in
>those days my more computer literate friends were breaking game
>codes to find the cheats. So I do not think that this is necessarily a new
>phenomenononon just that with more users there are more cheats &
>ppl to use said cheats.
Breaking the game codes is just another game for some. Just sitting
down and using the codes is converting an interactive game into a
passive experience.
Pope Jeremy I ixo...@widomaker.com
http://www.widomaker.com/~ixolite
Commandant, AFP Musical Assault Squadron
"Beat down the walls, begin, believe, behold, begat."
Terry Pratchett
In article <354d3c46...@news.lspace.org>, Pope Jeremy I
<ixo...@widomaker.com> writes
>Breaking the game codes is just another game for some. Just sitting
>down and using the codes is converting an interactive game into a
>passive experience.
Right. In those days, children, we had to make our own entertainment
(and if you owned a ZX81 you had to make your own keyboard, too).
Breaking a new game was part of the fun (and often quite easy).
Ah...those were the days when the cassette picture shows vast alien
spaceships locked in combat, and the game itself probably involved
firing up-arrows at flying letter As.
--
Terry Pratchett
elfin
Terry Pratchett wrote in message ...
You mean that things have changed since then? I really must take
more note of what is going on in the world. Is it true that we have
new fangled flying machines now?
elfin
John Barberio
Well, when I try it, I sound like night time
clothing.
PJ
--
John Barberio =^.^= "The Future Is In Beta"- Wired
[a] 9729...@brookes.ac.uk E-Mail For PGP Public Key
I Am Deranged, I Live For Blancmange, I Die For Blancmange
Thrid Thrid Of The Mark, And Hater Of Sprouts
Brett Dixon
In article <6ikedm$7ha$1...@library.lspace.org>, "elfin"
<elf...@email.msn.com> wrote:
To get back to the topic my fired brain has insisted on focusing upon. I
think the biggest problem with many games today is that they focus on the
wrong goals. I've played doom, and it was not the violence that made me
dislike it, but the minlessness of it... It's essentially the same goal,
different map. I can't 'get into' a game who's objective is merely to hit
a switch that has some hastily applied effect for no logical reason.
Marathon, a Macintosh Doom clone (released well before MacDoom, though) at
least had a storyline... In some parts you were trying to save people
(that squished nicely, however) and others you were doing very doom-like
exterminations.
Most of the 'good' games I've seen recently (including Final Fantasy
tactics, Marathon I, II, and Infinity, and a few others) have a much more
realistic objective than 'get all the points you can'....
Just my random ideas...
MUST MAKE A SIG!
Mr JRV. Green
elfin <elf...@email.msn.com> wrote in article
<6ikedm$7ha$1...@library.lspace.org>...
>
> Terry Pratchett wrote in message ...
> >In article <354d3c46...@news.lspace.org>, Pope Jeremy I
> ><ixo...@widomaker.com> writes
> >>Breaking the game codes is just another game for some. Just sitting
> >>down and using the codes is converting an interactive game into a
> >>passive experience.
> >
> >Right. In those days, children, we had to make our own entertainment
> >(and if you owned a ZX81 you had to make your own keyboard, too).
> >Breaking a new game was part of the fun (and often quite easy).
> >Ah...those were the days when the cassette picture shows vast alien
> >spaceships locked in combat, and the game itself probably involved
> >firing up-arrows at flying letter As.
> >--
> >Terry Pratchett
>
> You mean that things have changed since then? I really must take
> more note of what is going on in the world. Is it true that we have
> new fangled flying machines now?
>
No, not in my lifetime.
Iain Hallam
>To get back to the topic my fired brain has insisted on focusing upon. I
>think the biggest problem with many games today is that they focus on the
>wrong goals. I've played doom, and it was not the violence that made me
>dislike it, but the minlessness of it... It's essentially the same goal,
>different map. I can't 'get into' a game who's objective is merely to hit
>a switch that has some hastily applied effect for no logical reason.
>Marathon, a Macintosh Doom clone (released well before MacDoom, though) at
>least had a storyline... In some parts you were trying to save people
>(that squished nicely, however) and others you were doing very doom-like
>exterminations.
>
>Most of the 'good' games I've seen recently (including Final Fantasy
>tactics, Marathon I, II, and Infinity, and a few others) have a much more
>realistic objective than 'get all the points you can'....
The whole point of games like Doom and its offspring is not to get to the button
(or slipgate or whatever) but to _shoot as many other monsters or players as you
can_. Getting X amount of points isn't always important, as long as you kill the
opposition, preferably in interesting and (usually) messy ways. Killing yourself
in the process isn't always a bad thing, either!
Andy Davison
On 04 May 1998, bdi...@pct.edu (Brett Dixon) said ...
> Most of the 'good' games I've seen recently (including Final Fantasy
> tactics, Marathon I, II, and Infinity, and a few others) have a much more
> realistic objective than 'get all the points you can'....
In the days of the Spectrum there was a game called Pi-eyed where you had
to get all the PINTS you could. Your character was the Pi-man who walked
down a road visiting all the pubs. Once in he couldn't get out till he had
drunk all the drinks but this made him more and more difficult to control so
he kept bumping into things losing points every time until down to zero.
The high score was the longest time taken before the points ran out.
The game was by Automata who were trying to introduce non-violent games
to the market. Each cassette had a crap song on the reverse side and they
even released a cassette with just the crap songs on it. I had a copy but
lost it or leant it to someone which annoys me as it's got the song
'Pompey Rock' on it (Automata were from Portsmouth). I quite liked
'Pompey Rock'. Sad git, ain't I?
Paul Rollo
>
>Sure...after I'd been round Tomb Raider once for the ride and then again
>more slowly to try to find every secret, I downloaded a walkthrough to
>see what Id been missing. My point, though, was that it now seems to be
>considered perfeclty normal to *start* with the walkthrough and cheats.
>
>--
a friend of mine once subscribed to the "if i'm going to pay 50 quid
for a computer game i want it to at least let me win"
all rather silly really
paul
Terry Pratchett
In article <bdixon-0405...@130.9.4.89>, Brett Dixon
<bdi...@pct.edu> writes
>Marathon, a Macintosh Doom clone (released well before MacDoom, though) at
>least had a storyline... In some parts you were trying to save people
>(that squished nicely, however) and others you were doing very doom-like
>exterminations.
>
>tactics, Marathon I, II, and Infinity, and a few others) have a much more
>realistic objective than 'get all the points you can'....
This is why I rather enjoy some of the later incarnations of the Wing
Commander games, where you choose goals and strategies. The latest,
Prophecy, is still based ulitmately on the 'fly out and shoot things'
scenario, but points are awarded for all sorts of extras -- how well you
prectected your wingmen, for example.
--
Terry Pratchett
Kevin Hackett
Terry Pratchett <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote in article
<KLI50DAZ...@unseen.demon.co.uk>...
> >tactics, Marathon I, II, and Infinity, and a few others) have a much
more
> >realistic objective than 'get all the points you can'....
It depends what you're after. I really enjoy a deep plot, varied ideas,
and the feeling that something new is waiting. I also occasionally like
to leave my brain in neutral and turn small blobby aliens into big blobby
explosions with no thought of what's next except for occasional
contemplation of whether it's possible for the guns to get any bigger. I
suppose it's the difference between a game and a diversion.
> This is why I rather enjoy some of the later incarnations of the Wing
> Commander games, where you choose goals and strategies. The latest,
> Prophecy, is still based ulitmately on the 'fly out and shoot things'
> scenario, but points are awarded for all sorts of extras -- how well
you
> prectected your wingmen, for example.
I never really got far into that game. I went on far too many 'Patrol
the waypoints, with fights at points 2 and 4', and began to lose heart.
My recommendation? Privateer 2. Plot, variation, decisions like 'Hmm,
shall I go and answer that distress call or get this cargo of medicine
over to the plague I read about in the news?', and more gadgets than Q on
a good day. Also, guns that don't need a 3-mile leading and
non-crippling collisions, which are my two major gripes about the Wing
Commander games.
Just my 5p (inflation, don'tcherknow).
Cheers,
Kevin
People often say to me 'Hey! Get off my lawn!'
Terry Pratchett
In article <01bd7823$fdd93160$38a4...@kevh.sci.co.uk>, Kevin Hackett
<ke...@sci.co.uk> writes
>
>I never really got far into that game. I went on far too many 'Patrol
>the waypoints, with fights at points 2 and 4', and began to lose heart.
>My recommendation? Privateer 2. Plot, variation, decisions like 'Hmm,
>shall I go and answer that distress call or get this cargo of medicine
>over to the plague I read about in the news?', and more gadgets than Q on
>a good day. Also, guns that don't need a 3-mile leading and
>non-crippling collisions, which are my two major gripes about the Wing
>Commander games.
It'd be worth trying the later games, then, which feel very much like
Privateer 2 -- decisions and all...
--
Terry Pratchett
Chris Raistrick
>Right. In those days, children, we had to make our own entertainment
>(and if you owned a ZX81 you had to make your own keyboard, too).
>Breaking a new game was part of the fun (and often quite easy).
>Ah...those were the days when the cassette picture shows vast alien
>spaceships locked in combat, and the game itself probably involved
>firing up-arrows at flying letter As.
My girlfreind is now in fits because she has never stopped calling all
video games V's and L's.
I have a 6meg ram pack for a ZX81 somewhere about the house.
Now that's a whiteout and a half when it happens.
Cheers,
Chris
Brian Howlett
In message <354f8876...@news.virgin.net>
chris.r...@usa.net (Chris Raistrick) wrote the bits I haven't
snipped:
> On Mon, 4 May 1998 10:27:41 +0100, Terry Pratchett
> <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Right. In those days, children, we had to make our own entertainment
>> (and if you owned a ZX81 you had to make your own keyboard, too).
Not wanting to be the one to pedant the man hisself, but wasn't that the
ZX80? IIRC my ZX81 was bought fully assembled.
>> Breaking a new game was part of the fun (and often quite easy).
>> Ah...those were the days when the cassette picture shows vast alien
>> spaceships locked in combat, and the game itself probably involved
>> firing up-arrows at flying letter As.
>
> My girlfreind is now in fits because she has never stopped calling all
> video games V's and L's.
>
> I have a 6meg ram pack for a ZX81 somewhere about the house.
>
Was this something home-made? My wobbly RAM pack [1] was a huge 16K, but
nowhere near /6 meg/... I dunno, people are spoiled these days...
[1] Oo-er, missus!
--
Brian Howlett
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sex is like a bridge game - if you have a good hand, no partner is needed!
Catja Pafort
Terry wrote:
>Ah...those were the days when the cassette picture shows vast alien
>spaceships locked in combat, and the game itself probably involved
>firing up-arrows at flying letter As.
It's my turn!
QUOTE!
(no, sorry, you can't say *anything* in afpublic that is safe from us.
Especially not since I've got a new newsreader that, from time to
time, includes said quotes.)
Catja
aka PerditaX
--
Catja Pafort
<http://www.aber.ac.uk/~cap96>
"Ah...those were the days when the cassette picture shows vast alien
spaceships locked in combat, and the game itself probably involved
firing up-arrows at flying letter As." (TP)
Chris Raistrick
>In message <354f8876...@news.virgin.net>
>chris.r...@usa.net (Chris Raistrick) wrote the bits I haven't
>snipped:
>
>> On Mon, 4 May 1998 10:27:41 +0100, Terry Pratchett
>> <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> Right. In those days, children, we had to make our own entertainment
>>> (and if you owned a ZX81 you had to make your own keyboard, too).
>
>Not wanting to be the one to pedant the man hisself, but wasn't that the
>ZX80? IIRC my ZX81 was bought fully assembled.
Both came with keypads but you could buy keyboard kits that weren't a
lot better. The QL came with a keyboard but the keys fell out if you
turned it upside down.
The Spectrum was best because you could get some grip from the keys.
Right, I'll get me anorak.
>> I have a 6meg ram pack for a ZX81 somewhere about the house.
>>
>Was this something home-made? My wobbly RAM pack [1] was a huge 16K, but
>nowhere near /6 meg/... I dunno, people are spoiled these days...
Kind of.
Not home made because it was done by the company I later worked for.
They did 2, one for Birmingham Poly and I ended up with the other.
I've also got the remains of a portable ZX81 that they made, complete
with 2 line lcd display.
I don't know about being spoiled now. They had some real fun at work
in those days.
Cheers,
Chris
Barry R
<Snippetty Snip>
>Was this something home-made? My wobbly RAM pack [1] was a huge 16K, but
>nowhere near /6 meg/... I dunno, people are spoiled these days...
Cor. Possibly a(nother) VIC 20 owner. I used to love the game Psycho
Shopper [1], and if i want to play a fruit machine sim, I still dig
the VIC out and load Vegas Jackpot. I've yet to find anything to even
rival it for fun.
>[1] Oo-er, missus!
>--
>Brian Howlett
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Sex is like a bridge game - if you have a good hand, no partner is needed!
Barry R
To reply replace .commie with .com
Sex should not be fast. It should come in spurts.
gwei...@dontbagme.com.au
>In article <354d3c46...@news.lspace.org>, Pope Jeremy I
><ixo...@widomaker.com> writes
>>Breaking the game codes is just another game for some. Just sitting
>>down and using the codes is converting an interactive game into a
>>passive experience.
>
>Right. In those days, children, we had to make our own entertainment
>(and if you owned a ZX81 you had to make your own keyboard, too).
>Breaking a new game was part of the fun (and often quite easy).
>Ah...those were the days when the cassette picture shows vast alien
>spaceships locked in combat, and the game itself probably involved
>firing up-arrows at flying letter As.
>--
>Terry Pratchett
On the odd occasion I still play games like that. ZZT and Nethack.
Great games, good for the imagination.
I still see those funny looking S characters and scream "dragon".
Gweidion
Tony Finch
Terry Pratchett <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Karen <ka...@goodgulf.demon.co.uk> writes
>>
>>To quote fTony quoting someone else:
that being Ian Jackson
>>"Anyone who lets a child onto
>>the Internet unsupervised should be taken out and shot."
>>
>>Well maybe not shot but given some serious advice.
>
>The advice should be 'it's a bad idea to try to move while we put this
>blindfold on you.'
Giggle.
FTony.
--
"Gently break the heart of a young lettuce."
Marty O Leary
PJohn Barberio <9729...@brookes.ac.uk> wrote in message
<354E74...@brookes.ac.uk>...
>PEric Schellhammer wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, 30 Apr 1998, PTony Ellis wrote:
>>
>> > In article <MlQVcOAs...@downtoearth.demon.co.uk>,
>> > T...@downtoearth.demon.co.uk says...
>> > > In article <354f365b....@news.demon.co.uk>, PStephen Booth
>> > > <stephe...@bigfoot.com> writes
>> > > >On 28 Apr 1998 10:41:19 GMT, PHamlet Haegarsson
>> > > ><LMA...hamlet@sg1508.chemie.uni-marburg.de> wrote:
>> > > >
>> > > >>I wonder if Pterry [2]
>> > > >>[2] Where does this name come from again?
>> > > >
>> > > >IIRC following Pyramids in the style of pTeppic and pTraci.
>> > > >
>> > > >pStephen[1]
>> > > >
>> > > >[1] Doesn't quite work does it.
>> > >
>> > > but it works for me though
>> > >
>> > > pTom Lawton
>> >
>> > Of course it works best with sensible first names like...
>> >
>> > PTony
>>
>> Hm, it is less easily recognised if your name starts with a vowel, like
>>
>> PERIC
>
>Well, when I try it, I sound like night time
>clothing.
>
>PJ
I get to be in charge of a country.
PM O'Leary
--
Marty O Leary
"All tribal myths are true, for a given value of 'true'."
Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent
Mattheq
In article <6ivfl8$ilp$2...@news.indigo.ie>, "Marty O Leary"
Fortunately my name's pretty unrponunceable anyway - PMattheq, what do you
thing?
Mattheq
--
"And then, one Thursday nearly two thousand years after one man had been
nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for
a change..." http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/9079/ Sig V 3.5
Afpurity 59% / Frist Thrid of the Mark / Occasional Omnipotent Supreme Being
Jon Amery
In article <BSh*04...@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>,
Tony Finch <fa...@lspace.org> wrote:
>Terry Pratchett <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>Karen <ka...@goodgulf.demon.co.uk> writes
>>>
>>>To quote fTony quoting someone else:
>
>that being Ian Jackson
THE Ian Jackson? Or one of the imitators?
>>>"Anyone who lets a child onto
>>>the Internet unsupervised should be taken out and shot."
>>>
>>>Well maybe not shot but given some serious advice.
>>
>>The advice should be 'it's a bad idea to try to move while we put this
>>blindfold on you.'
>
>Giggle.
>
<VBG>
Jon.
--
Jonathan David Amery, Trinity Hall, CAMBRIDGE, CB2 1TJ. #####
http://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/~jda23/home.html o__#######
Nondeterminism means never having to say you are wrong. \'#######
Knowledge=Power=Energy=Matter=Mass=>Books=Small Black Holes. - T.Pratchett
Stephen Tempest
Terry Pratchett <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> writes:
>This is why I rather enjoy some of the later incarnations of the Wing
>Commander games, where you choose goals and strategies. The latest,
>Prophecy, is still based ulitmately on the 'fly out and shoot things'
>scenario, but points are awarded for all sorts of extras -- how well you
>prectected your wingmen, for example.
The later X-Wing/TIE fighter games have a similar idea (I'm currently
playing Balance of Power): you have to complete your mission
successfully to continue the campaign, but there are all sorts of
bonus points you can pick up for side missions.
For example, your orders may be to destroy a space repair dock, and if
you do that you'll win the mission; but at some point an unidentified
freighter may jump into the area, hang around the edge of the battle
for a while, then jump out again. If you notice it at all, do you
ignore it and continue with the mission, or do you go and inspect it -
perhaps earning lots of bonus points if it turns out to be a pirate or
smuggler, but also losing the game if while you're distracted a big
enemy strike force appears on the other side of the dock and wipes out
your fleet...
I like the Wing Commander/Privateer games, and I've played most of
them (heck, I've even _paid_ for most of them <g>); but I think the
X/TIE series gives a much better feel that you're actually part of a
real, ongoing space battle with different things happening all around
you - rather than just "Fly here, fight 10 Kilrathi, fly here, fight
20 Outer Worlds pirates, fly here, fight 30 insectoid aliens".
Stephen
Denis Hackney
Stephen Tempest wrote:
> The later X-Wing/TIE fighter games have a similar idea (I'm currently
> playing Balance of Power): you have to complete your mission
> successfully to continue the campaign, but there are all sorts of
> bonus points you can pick up for side missions.
>
> For example, your orders may be to destroy a space repair dock, and if
> you do that you'll win the mission; but at some point an unidentified
> freighter may jump into the area, hang around the edge of the battle
> for a while, then jump out again.
That just sounds like Space Invaders to me - the real aim is to kill all
the little ships, but every now and then the mother-ship would fly along
the top of the screen... you didn't *have* to kill it to get to the next
level, but you got bonus points if you did.
Or even the power-pills in Pac-Man, that let you turn around and eat the
ghosts... You didn't *have* to chase them...
Or even the flying saucers from Asteroids...
Aren't all these fancy new ideas they're now coming up with for computer
games amazing?
<g,d&r>
Later,
Denis.
--
ThisEmailBelongsTo:DenisHackney-IfFoundPleaseReturnTo:paln...@groo.com
Look,ThereAreThreeKindsOfPeople-PeopleWhoMakeThingsHappen,PeopleWhoWatch
ThingsHappen,AndPeopleWhoWonderWhatHappened-FUBTHR2RDTHSUHV2MCHTMNYRHNDS
Eric Schellhammer
How do you pronounce Mattheq anyway?
PERIC
(never been PFaust)
--------------------------------------------------
Mattheq
In article <Pine.SUN.3.91.98050...@ccsp-19.brunel.ac.uk>,
Matteck. Not Mathyeq or Mattewq or Mathyewq or Matteak or Mattuk.