Capt. Manieri is back...armed with more questions.

[Guest Captain Manieri]

Well, overall I am very pleased with the reports coming out of BTS. Looks like they're definetly rapping things up. Believe me, my grades suck, my parents are on my ass, and I have nothing more to look forward to...except this game.

But, coupla things I need to ask and say...

1.) How exactly can one make a game such as this? I have a mac...but is there any kind of software I can buy to make computer games? I've been interested in game development, but never really known how exactly it's done. So, BTS..what do you use to make these games? How could I do it? What software titles is it done with??

2.) In the final product of CM, are there different color uniforms for the Germans? I know about the colors for tanks and halftrack crews but are there any other colors for the infantry troops besides the field gray? Perhaps a more green tone? Also, will the Canadian troops be wearing American-style M1 helmets or British-style bottlecap helmets?

3.) Will the choices of terrain and building features on the scenario editor make it "look" like a mission in Italy? Are there Meditteranean style houses that can be placed? Anything that gives it a Meditteranean feel?? Listen, I know it's "supposed" to be from Normandy to Deutschland 1944-1945...but I'm just wondering if the Scenario editor is expendable enough to do Italy....should I chose to do so.

4.) Another question. On the User interface, on the bottom of the screen, when one selects a unit a "face" of the person you select pops up. My question is....are there any new faces? Like, are there many more than the demo? Are there like 40 different faces as opposed to the usual 5?

I guess that's it. Later all. I'm going to have a smoke....

NEWPORT PLEASURE!!

[Berlichtingen]

To answer your first question... Code Warrior

[Eridani]

How to write a computer game:

NewGame MakeGame(time tons)

{

for(time allspare = alot; allspare = 0; allspare--)

{

Learn_To_Code_In_C(money ForBooks);

}

for(time whatsleft = some; whatsleft = 0; whatsleft--)

{

Learn_3d_Modeling(money AgainForBooks);

}

for(programmer = has_life; programmer = no_life; programmer -= time_spent_on_game)

{

Game = Actually_write_Game(money For_compiler);

}

Return Game;

}

-EridanMan

[Guest Babra]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Also, will the Canadian troops be wearing American-style M1 helmets or British-style bottlecap helmets?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Apart from the 1st Special Service Force (aka The Devil's Brigade), a joint Can-Am unit, I never heard of Canadians wearing American helmets with the exception of few individual officers. Heck, most units painted their invasion stars on their vehicles upside down (well, tilted really, so it amounts to the same thing) so as not to be confused with Americans.

------------------

Floreat Jerboa !

[BFCElvis]

Capt. I didn't start smoking until I was 32. When I think of all those years of smoking I missed out on it makes me sick. Thank God you didn't make the same mistake as I did. But do yourself a favor boy. Drop those damn menthols and grab yourself the smooth taste of Camel. Menthols will make your lungs bleed.

[MrPeng]

I happen to know that Elvis started smoking because his little brother said he would look cool if he did. So he did. Brilliant huh?

And Li'l Cap'n? pay no attention to his Camel line. Newps Rock man. That was my brand for 12 years. My lungs NEVER bled, not once, well at least not from smoking cigs, i think...probably was the pot.

Peng out

------------------

Peng sez "die a lot now."

[Major Tom]

Just have to add to the question about Canadians wearing American Helmets. Nope, didn't happen, except probably for the "Devil's Brigade" and possibly the 13th Brigade which fought in Alaska, and the 6th Division which was to participate in the landings on Japan. I am sure that most Canadian equipment was produced here in Canada. Since the American's decided only to join the war in 1942, and us Canadians have been fighting since 1939 our production facilities were in full gear reproducing British uniforms and equipment. It wouldn't make sense to change the entire system over just to emulate our southern distant relatives.

I would definitly assume that there will be MULTIPLE uniforms availible. This is only the demo, we only get to see a few units and uniforms. I would assume that there will be different pictures for the units also. These guys pride themselves on detail..

[Guest Ol' Blood & Guts]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Major Tom:

It wouldn't make sense to change the entire system over just to emulate our southern distant relatives.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And that's why a huge percentage of Canadians live within a few hundred miles of the U.S. border.

What gets me is that Quebecians "pretend" that they don't know English. We were in Montreal back in '87 and a gas station attendant acted like he didn't know what "Fill it up" meant.

[Major Tom]

EXACTLY, the reason why 90% of our population lives on the boarder is solely due to the fact that we decided not to change our system over to the American's. NOT because the climate up North SUCKS.

You think understanding French from Quebec is difficult? Try listening to Northern Ontario French.

[BFCElvis]

And the smokes are cheaper in the US

[Major Tom]

Yeah, but here in Canada we have a healtcare system that will take care of your Lung/Throat/Groin cancer that result from smoking tobacco without having to dish out the millions like in the States.

[MrPeng]

I think I can honestly say that I have never smoked any cigarettes with my groin. Why would I do that? Spalding Gray does a bit in one of his monologues about a strip club performer in Thailand who smoked (among other strange things) with her privates. Maybe SHE would get groin cancer. but not me pal.

Peng out

------------------

Peng sez "die a lot now."

[Berlichtingen]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>grab yourself the smooth taste of Camel<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Without filters

[Guest Babra]

Spalding Gray! Damn, I got that on tape around here somewhere... More fun than a barrel of Cambodian monkeys...

Err, hate to burst your (Y'all's?) manifest destiny-esque bubble, but we settled here on the border before there was a border

Forgot about those boys who went to Alaska; I think I saw pics of them in yankee pots.

------------------

Floreat Jerboa !

[Fionn]

Just for the record smoking CAN and DOES lead to not only lung cancer but also neck, bladder and stomach (and a few other intestinal) cancers.

The funny thing about smoking is that virtually all the cancers it causes are of the "REALLY bad way to die" types. Lung cancer is a BAD way to die, bladder cancer (with fistulae formation and MAJOR intra-abdominal infections) is an even worse way to die.

Neck tumours are pretty bad because sometimes you have to resect the entire neck region, lymph nodes and all.

Then you have those who get emphysema etc. Every so often one of these people who is so addicted to cigarettes that he can't stop himself lights up a little bit too near the oxygen mask and they immolate themselves in the bed. I was at such a location as they were taking the fried husk of what used to be a 70some year old guy out of the bed after he'd caught fire and burnt himself to death and it ain't the prettiest thing in the world.

Furthermore fully 1/3rd of ALL smokers will die directly from diseases caused by smoking while another 1/3rd will have significant decreases in lifespan and health due to smoking.

Smokers think they ONLY risk lung cancer but that's only one of MANY cancers which they risk.

I don't think anyone should be encouraging youngsters to take up smoking/keep smoking. While its a personal decision whether to smoke yourself or not just remember that if you turn 3 people onto smoking you're actually condemning 2 of them to pretty atrocious deaths.

I could tell you stories which would make you vomit just from reading of what I've seen happen to smokers.

[Thomm]

Just read a statistics that smokers have 50 % sexual intercourse frequency of non-smokers !

... and then they die from cancer ...

[Peterk]

Hey Captain,

Welcome back.

You got lot's of good advice about smoking and getting gas in Quebec but not much about programming so....

Actually Eridani was pretty much right on with his joke answer written in code.

1. Get a C++ compiler for Mac

2. Learn C++

3. Learn OpenGL

4. Practice practice practice.

5. Start game, start simple

6. Prepare to throw about 6 years of your life away. I wrote a little hockey game a few years ago and it took something like 3000 hours.

The good news is if you get this far, you'd probably be qualified to get a decent job in the software industry somewhere regardless of what you decide to study in school.

p.

[Guest Captain Foobar]

Thank You Fionn, for those reminders of why I quit. Its just a damn shame that I LOVE smoking so much. Smoking is cool! It just sucks if you plan on being around for another 20 years. I *have* to stick around more than 20 more years, because I put all my money in IRA's and I want it back, dammit; I'm not gonna give my next of kin all my money just because I needed to smoke. Sorry about the OT here, but I had to interject.

[Fionn]

Aye, I'm usually pretty damned good about not preaching to smokers about how bad it is but since Manieri is only 16 I made an exception...

Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled programmes

[EScurlock]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Captain Foobar:

Smoking is cool!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

'till you try to kiss a non-smoker. No one who doesn't have a mouth that smells like an ash tray, wants to touch a mouth that does.

Quit smokeing in '92

Eric

------------------

He who gets there the fastest with the mostest wins.

[Colin]

Well Captain if you are back then where is our PBEM game. It's your turn and I've been waiting for a long time.

------------------

Visit my webpage!

http://cm4mac.tripod.com

[Simon Fox]

I had a friend who when a medical student had someone (a woman) light up in his car to which he responded by pulling out his penis and declaring: "If you want to indulge in your filthy habits in my car then I'll indulge in mine." Needless to say the rest of the occupants just about died laughing.

I thought that was a pretty short diatribe for Fionn and he only stuck to cancer, there's plenty of other **** too. I actually research in the cancer area but not smoking induced lung cancer, that's easy to cure: grow a brain.

[Guest Mikeman]

Smoking isn't that bad for you. After a few years of it you just have to remember to set your alarm for 20 minutes earlier in the morning so you have time to hack your guts out before starting your morning routine.

Smoking is also good for your finances in spite of the cost of cigarettes. You don't have to worry about planning for retirement. It's good for the Social Security and Medicare system too. You'll live long enough to pay in, but not long enough to collect.

Hey Fionn,

Don't they give massive doses of morphine or even heroin to terminally ill people suffering through one of those really BAD ways to die? I'm serious here. If so, does it work? Or is the pain that bad.

Mikeman out.

[Fionn]

Ok, youngsters and those who haven't had to handle nasty experiences shouldn't read on. This might get a little real and thus disturbing to some. I've learnt to put these kinds of notices since I'm quite used to dispassionately discussing horrible accidents etc etc and have umm "disturbed" more than a few friends who aren't in the field.

Simon Fox, yep, I kept it short since I don't like to lecture smokers about smoking UNLESS of course they come in looking to give up smoking whereupon scaring the s**t out of them is good for their motivation .

Mike,

Yes, they give absolutely massive doses of painkillers and sedatives to people suffering one of the truly bad deaths BUT I've seen many cases where it is simply impossible to deaden the pain.

I've actually seen people who have had operations done to CUT the pain fibres running to their brain since that was the only way to stop them being overwhelmed with pain in their last few days.

Have you ever seen anyone scream in agony in their sleep? I have, it's what happens to people who get bone cancer... FWIW quite a few people who smoke get bone cancer due to mets.

Then you get the ones who have lung cancer but can't digest or truly swallow their food anymore. I knew one guy who actually would defecate through his mouth. I don't mean vomit.. I mean defecate.. He had lung cancer... When he died he weighed under 90 lbs.. I don't remember the exact weight as it was a while ago but he really looked like those corpses you see in the death camp videos. He actually would have starved to death due to the lung cancer if it hadn't been for IV feeds. He was one of those who had so much pain that the morphine couldn't save him... He spent his last week either sedated or pretty much delirious with pain.

The lucky ones are the ones who get bladder mets or something along those lines. What we generally do with older people who get an infection relatively early on in their cancer is to give them painkillers and sedatives but NO antibiotic treatment. Thus we let the infection kill them since we know that our only options are:

1. Let them die now with very little pain and in control of their mental faculties due to a treatable infection OR

2. Wait 6 months and watch them scream themselves to sleep and die horribly.

It might shock people who haven't been there and seen it but when you have experienced these things it is easy to see why I and my colleagues feel that the first option is the better option.

Of course if the patient fully understands the consequences and wants to try to "beat" cancer then you'll treat them but the vast majority of the time they come back to you in a few months and regret that decision.

There are some levels of pain that painkillers can't stop... In a hospital it isn't possible to ease the patient's passage since any drugs introduced into their system will be spotted and you'll be put on trial for murder but what happens generally is that the family doctor will visit the patient at home and, as the pain gets worse and worse over days and weeks the patient WILL mention suicide and usually will ask the doctor to "help them".

The doctor then explains that he CANNOT help the patient as that would be breaking the law. The doctor then gives the patient a 1 month supply of painkillers or sedatives and takes GREAT CARE to explain to the patient that if s/he takes more than 5 in one go that this will kill them. It will cause them to go asleep and die peacefully in their sleep.

The doctor goes over this a few times with the patient until the patient "understands" what the doctor's telling him. The doctor then makes an appointment with the patient to come back tomorrow or the day after.

It is understood by both the doctor and patient that the patient will take an overdose shortly before the doctor comes back and when the doctor arrives he'll arrange for the body to be removed and buried etc.

That's how its done although you won't much hear it being admitted.

There are good and bad ways to die and when it is no longer possible to avoid death then I think it is only right to try to obtain as "good" a death as possible. I've already decided that if at all possible I'm going to go out on my own terms before I lose my faculties or the pain gets too great.

[Guest Captain Manieri]

A couple of things here......

1.) I don't pay for my cigarettes. They're all free. My father has connections with Distributing firms in other states and paying for smogs is something I don't have to worry about.

2.) You can tell me I can smoke?? THANKS MOM!! I already get chewed out by my mother...I don't need to see it when I turn on my computer. Listen, no disrespect. I HATE preaching non-smokers. We have this club at our school who wear this T-shirts with a cigarette and an "X" on them. Everybody spits on em', recently chucking snowballs...and I myself threw a chipwich at one of them in lunch and hit one of them. Why? Because if you don't want to smoke...FINE. But, to go and join a club is beyond me. Smoking is other people's business and any club that tries to bust my (or any other) smoker's balls should be kaput. Lemme tell you guys something. With all the recent tax increases and it being banned and everything, I think that somewhere down the road of time...smoking will be illegal. I hope this doesn't happen. But, again, you get all these assholes coming out of these gay highschool clubs and if these people become politicians of any stature.....my fellow smokers and I are in BIG trouble.