[Game Chat] VI: AGDQ 2013 Jan 6-12! Beat games and cancer!

[Artisticpolo]

45 minutes in. Is very good.

The stuff explaining the Ivysaur trick is just whack, whack I tell ya.

[ikkonoishi]

Yeah, again, emulation discussion is against da forum rules, regardless of if you own the physical copy in another format or whatever.

Must be in the super secret forum rules or something. The public rules just say no piracy discussions. I don't own the physical copy in another format. I am literally using my physical copy in my CD drive with the bios from my PS2.

In any case I make it a policy not to argue with mods so my lips are sealed on the matter.

[Solaris]

Almost the exact same thing was said on page 31, four days ago.

[weirdguy]

uh yeah....i thought he was just hacking his own game for the fun of it, not that it was indicating any sort of emulation

or are things like game genies also banned from discussion

cause a company bought the rights to that and are bringing those devices back

[Superfrequency]

Some higher-ups on this forum who don't actually read this thread take a very moralistic stance on that issue. Someone actually had a Let's Play thread closed because they were playing a romhack. It's stupid.

It's more of a "better safe than sorry" thing and not an "actual piracy semantics" thing. I've received infractions for alleged misconduct not actually forbidden in the rules. The admins aren't as nice about piracy/emulators/hacking as Wuff is. Play it safe.

[Warriorccc0]

Must be in the super secret forum rules or something. The public rules just say no piracy discussions.

They should add a proper list of rules for this specific forum, instead of just using the vague ones that encompass all of the forum.

[BRPXQZME]

re: that pokemon run

Let’s see, I was convinced the guy was legit at the pokesanta hat, but telling the other guy to :wq a document sealed the deal.

I pretty much lost it at the Quest 64 being a terrible way to start a conversation.

[Wesley Foxx]

Basically, "no piracy" includes emulators. Though literally playing the physical game on your computer (which is apparently a thing you can do?) is probably safe enough. :V

But yeah, like supes said. Just because I may personally be a chill bro about this stuff doesn't mean the admins won't get their peeve on about it. I'll inquire about making it a little more clear/comprehensively spelled out.

[Warriorccc0]

Though literally playing the physical game on your computer (which is apparently a thing you can do?) is probably safe enough. :V

Only way to literally play the physical game on your computer is through a emulator, hell the only way to play lots of older PC (DOS) games on a modern system is to use a emulator.

I kind of wish Nintendo and other console-only developers would release games on PC, it would be the best thing ever.

[Jacquerel]

Emulators are actually totally legal to both create and own, it's just using them that's not legal :V
I guess it's a technical difference like the difference between guns and shooting people except that owning an emulator isn't a deterrent and thus having and not using one is even more pointless.

If Nintendo and Sony and the like released games on PC I probably wouldn't buy any non-handheld consoles so I can see why they don't.

[WordsHere]

Yeah, technically if it's a blanket no emulators rule, the X-Com Let's Plays wouldn't be allowed. I think there's more wiggle room than some people think. The main thing I think should be to indicate that you own the game. Even if you're lying, at least you're not exactly promoting piracy either. It would be better if you didn't pirate at all, but still.

[BRPXQZME]

Emulators are actually totally legal to both create and own, it's just using them that's not legal :V

I know this is somewhat sarcastic remark, but I would point out that the actual laws seem to vary from country to country (I happen to know quite a bit about the U.S. legal situation and emulators, being a long-time enthusiast, but I’m not about to begin that wallotext without some form of immunity).

[Walliard]

So hey, let me tell you about Crusader Kings II: (large-ish images spoilered)

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I'm currently playing as this guy, the King of England. English territory also includes bits of Finland and Denmark due to shenanigans.

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This is my oldest son, the Duke of Poitou and vassal to the King of France. Note that France isn't actually as fractured as it seems in this screenshot (ironically the only independent lord is the Count of Paris); I'm just using this map mode to show you that he somehow wound up with territory in three different parts of the country.

If I were to die, he would naturally inherit the English throne. He's also my dynastic heir, meaning he would become my new playable character at the same time. Since a king cannot be a vassal of another king (only an emperor), this would cause him to break free of France, bringing Poitou along with him. He's also childless at the moment, making me his heir. So if he were to prematurely die in, say, a hunting accident, Poitou would pass to me directly, and my second son would become the new heir to the suddenly-expanded Kingdom of England (also my new dynastic heir).

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Speaking of which, here he is - the pintsized Duke of Brunswick. After my first wife (the Duchess of Poitou) died, I married a powerful Duchess within the Holy Roman Empire (again, objects in mirror picture are more unified than they appear). I granted some English land to her first son to see what would happen when she died, but unfortunately it backfired and now Surrey is part of the HRE. His territory seen above is deceptively small; he holds at least three ducal titles that he could press claims on if HRE crown laws didn't prevent infighting.

Unlike the first son, if he ends up inheriting England he will remain a vassal of the Kaiser. However, if (hypothetically) he were to (hypothetically) die before me (hypothetically), then I think the territory would pass under English control.

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(hypothetically)

Now twice widowed (neither was my fault, seriously), I have since re-married to the Queen of Norway. Once she has a child, that will be another country controlled by a member of my dynsasty. Spreading your dynasty to as many places as possible is sort of the implicit goal of this game, since actually controlling a large empire is very unreliable. As a result, it ends up being half grand strategy, half dating sim.

I love this game.

[ikkonoishi]

Emulators are actually totally legal to both create and own, it's just using them that's not legal :V
I guess it's a technical difference like the difference between guns and shooting people except that owning an emulator isn't a deterrent and thus having and not using one is even more pointless.

If Nintendo and Sony and the like released games on PC I probably wouldn't buy any non-handheld consoles so I can see why they don't.

There are however difficulties involved with hosting a site that appears to support infringement. If you don't police your comments then the infringed companies can file takedown notices to your hosting which are just a huge hassle to deal with. Emulation is commonly used for piracy so I can see why they would want to keep conversations from drifting in that direction.

I completely understand the Admin's stance on the matter.
I just wish that the rules were clear on the fact that talks about non-infringing emulation are also taboo.

[illisid]

hell the only way to play lots of older PC (DOS) games on a modern system is to use a emulator.

Speaking of this, I have this copy of warcraft 2 that I haven't been able to play in FOREVER. Last time I tried to install it, in the installation process it asked me to select which video card my computer was using. Out of a list of like 16 video cards which must have been current when the game came out. And if your choice doesn't line up with what your computer actually has you can't actually play the game...

[weirdguy]

i would like to derail the current hotly debated situation with the previous hotly debated situation

[BRPXQZME]

Speaking of this, I have this copy of warcraft 2 that I haven't been able to play in FOREVER. Last time I tried to install it, in the installation process it asked me to select which video card my computer was using. Out of a list of like 16 video cards which must have been current when the game came out. And if your choice doesn't line up with what your computer actually has you can't actually play the game...

Yeah, DOS game hardware support was kind of a pain like that. That is to say, if the game didn’t support your hardware specifically and you couldn’t use one of the popular compatibility modes, well, tough beans. Fortunately, EGA / VGA / VESA and Adlib / Sound Blaster were something like standards for several years. And in all fairness, there are still games made these days that do not play nice with particular brands and/or models of video cards despite using common graphics libraries....

Printers were probably among the worst in terms of program support, in my recollection. Printer manuals would actually tell you what their control codes were just in case a program didn’t know about your brand and how it did things, or if you wanted to make a program that supported it. Actually, perhaps that is better than what we have now in some ways, considering that getting any sort of drivers for some OSes with certain printers is next to impossible.

[Artisticpolo]

Printers were probably among the worst in terms of program support

That's probably because printers are the embodiment of evil.

[BRPXQZME]

No, all computers are evil.

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[Artisticpolo]

No, all computers are evil.

My computer is a cool guy. I swear!

Buuut, I'm pretty convinced at printers being hell-spawn given my experience with them. Eitherway, this gives me an idea for a game -- Printer Sim. The worlds most frustrating simulation game.

[BRPXQZME]

Why you so mean to printers, man? They help you turn paper into documents! And FAQs into strategy guides! And... and....

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(explicit lyrics)

[Artisticpolo]

I would just like to inform you guys to expect a Printer Sim game some time in the future.

[Wesley Foxx]

The only thing more fun than printers are modern all-in-one printer/scanner/etcs. Because you can't just buy a scanner that plugs into the USB port or anything, that would be easy and simple. You have to use a wireless network. Cables? NOT ALLOWED. YOU WILL USE WIRELESS. And the only way you can reconfigure it is by having it physically print out its settings. Extra awesome because you all know how wonderfully well and reliably modern printers work in general.

Haaaaaate.

[weirdguy]

there is actually a printer based racing game where it simulates a car moving on a road much like the game you may have seen on a ti-83

it's rather wasteful if you don't need a printed play by play of your driving ability, though

[BRPXQZME]

Well, computer games did exist before video displays were the only sane way to interact with computers. O may we forgive the many scrolls eaten up for TREK73 alone!