Be Excellent To Each Other

I've just been thinking.

I remember reading something about 'floating point calculations' and 'computers' which was kinda like it decides most of the answers then gives the correct one, after it all pans out.

Which made me think about lag in online games.

Can't computers play for you a bit to cut down the lag?

As in "Oh, he runs a bit here then does a jump and jinks to the left, unless he's being shot at, so he hides under these barrels" or "he's good at the turn in, but shit on the exit, so I'll add that bit in".

So, then, lag would not happen, or not?

They already do yes. It cuts down on lag but can never eliminate it.

Warp in racing games tends to happen when the game's best guess disagrees with what you did.

You'd still have to communicate the bot's position to the other players, though.

And you'd lose so much of the unpredictability of human play that it might as well be a bot.

AND and, how does it feel for you when the computer takes the reins? Wouldn't you be a bit pissed off if the bot follows the preprogrammed behaviour above and suffers an easily avoidable death?

Taken to an extreme, it would then mean that after a couple of hours it would learn your playing style completely and then play the game for you. Not terribly entertaining, I don't think.

I wasn't aware it did that, to that extent. Hmm that's kinda cool

It sort of explains the utter shitness factor in Call of Duty 4, where you desperately fire entire clips into an enemy only for nothing to happen, and then you fall over dead, and the replay from your opponent's point of view show you blundering around doing nothing while they easily kill you.

I now feel inordinately better about my playing ability now.

At least, rather than shouting "I killed that fucking fuck!", I can now explain to MrsA how "Oh, it's due to the way the computer second guesses you at times, so I'm not really shit. So, 5 kills then you make dinner, darling? Darling?"

This .. this changes everything. I fucking KNEW it wasn't my imagination.

Ah come on, it isn't that big a problem. What with the millions of calculations and protons and electrons shooting backwards and forwards (and side to side) across the global possibily causing cancer or something going on behind the scenes, I'm amazed we can even play these sorts of games. Science is brilliant!

Isn't that effectively what your brain does for you anyway? So what difference would it really make?

I trick my brain by doing the opposite.

IS MALIA BOT OR NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION

Are you alone?

Tell me about your father

A botter maybe, he's too dumb to be a bot.

Does he eat hundreds and thousands?

MALIA-BOT.

Impressively pointless thread necromancy

So he is a bot, just with *really* horrible lag.

MaliA is a butt

I think Dudley and Kalmar are still considering their respective responses.

I miss Dudley

Wait, no I don't.

I vaguely remember having an argument with him about something or other, but then, there have been so many over the years....

Kalmar - seem to recall he was always obsessing about my hifi for some reason, year in year out, then just disappeared into thin air. Most odd.
I now listen to my valve monoblocs in peace. (well I would, if they weren't busted, stupids valves.... need to get them repaired )

I miss RevStu.

He's argue with everyone. I doubt you'd get let off.

Dudders was quite nice in person, I had a good chat with him at Shunt.

Fuck that seems like a long time ago though.

I too miss reading posts from some of those guys, but I still enjoy the forum.

Indeed - he came to my 30th birthday party.

He's not banned or anything.