12-06-2003 19:06									#391
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

quote: So? What's a couple of hours in a train…

A couple of hours not drinking for starters!

quote: Cohen, from my observation, unlike Howlett, needs to wind up. Tubbies are like that, I'm told.

You might benefit from watching his second half try last November again then. You see that forlorn lunging AB shirt in the background – guess who it belongs to? He can’t just take him on, he can skin him. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t need the ‘fat lads start’ though before you pick me up on it.

quote: Joe Rokocoko

What a name! Glad I’m not commentating. Hmm – the English press are going to make that ‘Rocky Cocky’ – you can see it coming.

quote: Oddly enough, everything that applies to the rest of the world doesn't apply to the parallel universe that is Leicester.

Oh well. I have blind faith that we will sweep all before us once again.

quote: They lost a hell of a lot when the Fitzpatrick-Zinzan-Bunce generation moved on. As happens.

And you don’t need to remind me of the similarities we could face to that after the World Cup.

quote: Which is your cue to remind me that he's a merchant banker.

Or was. He seems to be happily married now.

Do you think Tamerlin picks up on the cockney rhyming slang in that reference?

quote: Not really

Welcome Caligastia – getting round the web monitoring?

quote: The point I was making was that the Maori side is stronger on attack out wide, therefore the weather affected their game plan more than it did the English

How do you know the English plan wasn’t to spin it in dry weather? You are guilty of a stereotype assumption. Believe me the players in that side were fully capable of so doing.

Nice line about the clouds though.

quote: Come on, where's that English humor we all know and love?

It’s still here – just taking a small break.

Are you saying that at the instant of this move the wide line consisted of tight five players? One can see the funny side then.

If it was the actual back line he was both rude and daft because that consisted of Balshaw, Luger, Noon and Simpson-Daniel – and they all look like they need a slap up meal to me! Indeed their opposing numbers looked far more bloaty.

quote: As I said - well done England. A totally legitimate win.

I hope I can be as giving should the worst happen.
The warm up words are starting to move -

check here

I could link you to English players saying similarly repsectful things - but then they are English so you know they are anyway.

	12-06-2003 19:18									#392
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Originally posted by Havak Welcome Caligastia – getting round the web monitoring?

Nah, just going ahead and posting anyway. Others in my dept are going on non work related sites, and there's bugger all to do at the moment anyway.

quote: How do you know the English plan wasn’t to spin it in dry weather? You are guilty of a stereotype assumption. Believe me the players in that side were fully capable of so doing.

That may well have been the English plan, but I reckon the Maori team were stronger in that area - therefore the weather hampered a strength of theirs more than the English. The win was totally legit though.

quote: Nice line about the clouds though.

quote: It’s still here – just taking a small break. Are you saying that at the instant of this move the wide line consisted of tight five players? One can see the funny side then.

Can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure none of the England speedsters were out wide at the time.

quote: If it was the actual back line he was both rude and daft because that consisted of Balshaw, Luger, Noon and Simpson-Daniel – and they all look like they need a slap up meal to me! Indeed their opposing numbers looked far more bloaty.

That's probably due to the traditional Maori training diet - fish and chips.

quote: I hope I can be as giving should the worst happen.

It's only the maoris, I probably won't be so generous if the ABs lose.

	12-06-2003 19:22									#393
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: Originally posted by Havak The warm up words are starting to move - check here I could link you to English players saying similarly repsectful things - but then they are English so you know they are anyway.

I say, rather, old fruit.

	12-06-2003 20:07									#394
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

Quite right old boy.

quote: Others in my dept are going on non work related sites, and there's bugger all to do at the moment anyway.

Quite right too – down with censorship in all it’s forms.

quote: but I reckon the Maori team were stronger in that area

I just wonder why that’s all? This was the worlds number one ranked side playing a team that does not play test rugby – who would we expect the non test side to be better at anything?

quote: Can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure none of the England speedsters were out wide at the time.

You would have noticed if he had cracked the line about the matchsticks.

quote: That's probably due to the traditional Maori training diet - fish and chips.

The right diet – for a tight five a decade ago.

I used to play with a guy (a lock as it happens) who used to eat fish and chips superstitiously a few hours before each game. We played a Sunday game once and he was inconsolable (an old law preventing fish and chip shops opening on Sundays is still in effect here). Ah good memories!

quote: It's only the maoris, I probably won't be so generous if the ABs lose.

Losing I hope I will cope with. If we get stuffed – well then I’ll do a Tamerlin and return only when my blood pressure returns to normal.

	12-06-2003 20:27									#395
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

No sooner do I tell you how polite and respectful we are than Clive comes very close to disproving it

Although it is your media he is picking on which is fine by me.

	12-06-2003 21:17									#396
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: Originally posted by Havak I just wonder why that’s all? This was the worlds number one ranked side playing a team that does not play test rugby – who would we expect the non test side to be better at anything?

Not necessarily stronger than England, just stronger in that aspect of their game than in others.

quote: You would have noticed if he had cracked the line about the matchsticks.

quote: The right diet – for a tight five a decade ago. I used to play with a guy (a lock as it happens) who used to eat fish and chips superstitiously a few hours before each game. We played a Sunday game once and he was inconsolable (an old law preventing fish and chip shops opening on Sundays is still in effect here). Ah good memories!

Well I've had to do without good fish and chips for a while since moving here. Yeah, there are a few places that serve ok stuff, but it just doesn't taste the same...I'll probably get my fix in a month or so as the missus and I are plannign a trip to London. Will you be around?

quote: Losing I hope I will cope with. If we get stuffed – well then I’ll do a Tamerlin and return only when my blood pressure returns to normal.

Meanwhile, if we get stuffed I'll just make weak excuses and bring up past victories.

	12-06-2003 21:25									#397
	Remove this text

quote: Originally posted by Havak No sooner do I tell you how polite and respectful we are than Clive comes very close to disproving it Although it is your media he is picking on which is fine by me.

Anyone who thinks England will be smashed has lost any grip they may or may not have had on reality.

	13-06-2003 04:34									#398
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Just looked at the schedule on Fox - I have to wait till Tuesday night to see the big game!

	13-06-2003 05:03									#399
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by Havak A couple of hours not drinking for starters!

They have bars on French trains. Very civilised.

quote: He can’t just take him on, he can skin him. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t need the ‘fat lads start’ though before you pick me up on it.

Mmmm. Pre-emptive qualification of an outright whopper. Party pooper.

quote: What a name! Glad I’m not commentating. Hmm – the English press are going to make that ‘Rocky Cocky’ – you can see it coming.

Think yourself lucky the IRB knocked back the ABs' bid to have his Fijian flying mate Caucau deemed eligible to play for the ABs. He's just as quick and more skilled. He'll turn up for Fiji in the WRC. Keep an eye out for him if you happen to see a Fiji match.

quote: And you don’t need to remind me of the similarities we could face to that after the World Cup.

Good point. Age will knock you around quite a bit. Exactly what happened to the ABs for the most part.

quote: Do you think Tamerlin picks up on the cockney rhyming slang in that reference?

I doubt it. I expect that if we talked about tea leaves he'd be thinking Darjeeling.

quote: The warm up words are starting to move - check here I could link you to English players saying similarly repsectful things - but then they are English so you know they are anyway.

Ironically, there was an article in this morning's press about the WRC coaches being asked their choices to win the WRC (excluding their own teams). Eddie picked England. Only Samoa's coach tipped the Wallabies. There was no other detail of who picked whom, but the ABs topped the poll closely followed by England.

OT Red Mist* Outbreak. Why didn't the bastard who invented Optical Mouses (or is that Mice?) also invent some sort of alarm that sounded before the batteries went dead? I'm sick and tired of the batteries dying unannounced and freezing the damn cursor in the middle of the screen!

* Copyright, J****

	13-06-2003 05:25									#400
	Got spare money?

You showing up for civ tonight finbar? Hydey and I are - we miss you.

I promise not to fight with deity

	13-06-2003 06:38									#401
	Full PM-box? Change here!

I was just reading through one of my childhood favorites (which I'm sure you will all recognise), and I thought I would share this bit:

Attachment: untitled-1.jpg
This has been downloaded 55 time(s).

	13-06-2003 06:39									#402
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

I'm out for dinner tonight and 6 people are coming for dinner tomorrow night and getting in the way of my watching England -v- All Blacks followed by Wallabies -v- Wales. Bastards.

My mate Pinky - who obviously makes too much money out of Machinegun Fellatio - bought me Civ 3, the SP version. I've been playing around with it. Vastly superior to Civ 2 in concept, IMHO.

	13-06-2003 06:39									#403
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Attachment: untitled-2.jpg
This has been downloaded 50 time(s).

	13-06-2003 09:54									#404
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

quote: Originally posted by finbar I'm out for dinner tonight and 6 people are coming for dinner tomorrow night and getting in the way of my watching England -v- All Blacks followed by Wallabies -v- Wales. Bastards.

Jeeez that was poor planning

Hydey, dr_eamer, maybe trev, and I will probably get something going on the civ front.

quote: My mate Pinky - who obviously makes too much money out of Machinegun Fellatio - bought me Civ 3, the SP version. I've been playing around with it. Vastly superior to Civ 2 in concept, IMHO.

Concept is fine, execution left something to be desired - but I never bothered to patch my version. I'm going to give it another burl when the expansion pack comes down in price.

	13-06-2003 13:48									#405
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Anyone who thinks England will be smashed has lost any grip they may or may not have had on reality.

Well anything is possible of course. But to be honest I expect it to be a fairly small margin whatever way it goes.

Always pleased to see a bit of Asterix. French humour at it’s finest.

quote: Just looked at the schedule on Fox - I have to wait till Tuesday night to see the big game!

Not good! Why on earth on they not showing it?

quote: They have bars on French trains. Very civilised.

I’ve only been on the metro and city lines – no bars on them. Plus do red wine and Kronenbourg constitute a bar – it’s a tough call.

quote: Pre-emptive qualification of an outright whopper

You really need to watch the game again – no whopper here. It’s a fallacy that the England back line is totally bereft of speed. It doesn’t possess it in every position like the team Mitchell has named seems to I will admit.
Only four survivors from the ‘development squad’ from November I see. And believe it or not this is the first time both Johnson and Dallaglio have faced the ABs in New Zealand. What a tasty game in prospect – I expect Spencer will push it wide from the off whereas I’m sure we’ll be using the pack to draw in defenders before giving our own back line a chance. A real clash of styles coming up.

quote: Keep an eye out for him if you happen to see a Fiji match.

I will do – though I can’t find any fixtures for them before the World Cup?

As for the IRB ruling I applaud it hugely. Partly because I feel it is high time New Zealand stood on their own two feet for rugby resources, and partly because for the game to grow the Fijians. Tongans and Samoans that excel at the game must be allowed to play for their own national sides rather than being made honourary Kiwis. The ABs have a lengthy history of crippling the Polynesian sides in this way?

quote: Good point. Age will knock you around quite a bit.

We are very aware of it. I’d like to see some new blood come in for the six nations, and yes including younger locks.

quote: I doubt it. I expect that if we talked about tea leaves he'd be thinking Darjeeling.

Whereas you would be thinking of all the points you make that I recycle to you a month later?

quote: There was no other detail of who picked whom, but the ABs topped the poll closely followed by England

Fascinating things aren’t they? How much is genuine and how much part of the ‘game’. I think I’m still going to go Wallabies-NZ-England-France in that order regardless of the next couple of games. The venue remains crucial to me.
I’m ruling the Boks out totally unless they make a huge turnaround in the second game with Scotland.

quote: I'm sick and tired of the batteries dying unannounced and freezing the damn cursor in the middle of the screen!

Probably a combination of cost and the fact that it would never occur to a design engineer people might want that. I use optical mice (mouses?) with cables still (saves money on batteries).

And J**** is making a fortune from your use of his IP this week.

Given the time difference you may well be dinner party bound already so I’ll catch you after the weekends games.

But are you saying, and I find this hard to believe, that you prefer Civ 3? Or were simply admiring the concepts? Horse was right the execution was lacking. I think you will find the structure it imposes on your play very restricting given time. The patches did change it although I didn’t give it much of a go with the final patch for the initial release – I was far too brassed off with it by then. And the expansion packs are an expensive gamble for a game that managed to alienate one initially.

Try RoN – an RTS sure but it was designed by a team that understood a game should be accessible to newbies, allow variety of strategy and above all be FUN. Is it available for Mac?

On topic in the OT – whatever next.

	13-06-2003 16:54									#406
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Originally posted by Havak Losing I hope I will cope with. If we get stuffed – well then I’ll do a Tamerlin and return only when my blood pressure returns to normal.

WE HAVE NOT BEEN STUFFED...

	13-06-2003 17:13									#407
	Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by finbar They have bars on French trains. Very civilised.

The world have many things to learn about our great civilization.

quote: ... he'd be thinking Darjeeling.

I don't know this band, is this one of those awfully gluey English pop music bands?

quote: OT Red Mist* Outbreak. Why didn't the bastard who invented Optical Mouses (or is that Mice?) also invent some sort of alarm that sounded before the batteries went dead? I'm sick and tired of the batteries dying unannounced and freezing the damn cursor in the middle of the screen! * Copyright, J****

Buy a PC...

	13-06-2003 17:55									#408
	Put an end to popups!

quote: Originally posted by Havak Always pleased to see a bit of Asterix. French humour at it’s finest.

These comics have rythmed my youth.

Though the adventures of Asterix and Obelix are distributed in at least 39 countries I didn't knew they were so widely known...

Unfortunately, I would have liked to claim Asterix as a french creation but as far as I remember Uderzo and Goscinny are Belgian, though the famous Gallic village is located in modern Bretagne.

quote: Plus do red wine and Kronenbourg constitute a bar – it’s a tough call.

Agreed!

quote: Probably a combination of cost and the fact that it would never occur to a design engineer people might want that. I use optical mice (mouses?) with cables still (saves money on batteries).

Havak, do you have some Scottish ancestors?

quote: But are you saying, and I find this hard to believe, that you prefer Civ 3? Or were simply admiring the concepts? Horse was right the execution was lacking. I think you will find the structure it imposes on your play very restricting given time. The patches did change it although I didn’t give it much of a go with the final patch for the initial release – I was far too brassed off with it by then. And the expansion packs are an expensive gamble for a game that managed to alienate one initially.

IMO, many concepts in Civ 3 are very good (though some have been ill implemented). My main concern is the lack of real armies, why have they kept this stupid combat system where you attack unit by unit.

IMO again, cuture is a good concept, so are bombing, outposts and the strategical resources...

What I really dislike in Civ3 is the behavior of the AI and the rude way it is cheating. The AI civs are producing scores of settlers and military units without the penalty associated with the maintenance cost of a huge army, the settlers walk through the map to colonize the areas where will appear a modern era strategical resource... a few millenia later.

The palm of the most stupid implementation of a concept goes to "movement in ennemy territory". The concept is simple, when you move a unit in an unknow or hostile territory, your units are limited to a 1 tile movement (not very realistic either as scouts are supposed to "open the road"). Suppose you are at war with another civ and that you are allied with another civ which units have to cross your territory, which we consider as rather big, to wage war against the common ennemy. Your ally will move units in your territory... tile by tile, without the benefit of the roads or the railroads. 30 or 50 turns later, your ally have not yet reached the front, you are growing tired of this war and ask for peace with the AI Civ that you have so badly injured they are reduced to a few unimportant cities. Your ennemy accepts peace but your ally considers you have betrayed him and attack you the turn after with the myriads of (mostly) outdated units that are currently in the middle of your territory... isn't it stupid?

Actually, the AI Civs have been programmed to use all the tricks the veteran players of Civ2 have used to crush the AI in the previous editions of the game... tricks I am not using and that I am not really interested in using. The AI is hard to beat not because it is "intelligent" but because it is heavily cheating and exploiting the gaps in the game system.

It's like a NH team playing against a SH team, you don't know the laws that will be enforced on the field and thus can not build an efficient strategy...

BTW Finbar, there is a Mod called Civ3 like Civ2 that you could find funny to test... and update your civ3 to 1.29f.

	13-06-2003 18:06									#409
	Put an end to popups!

quote: Originally posted by Alexander's Horse [QUOTE]Concept is fine, execution left something to be desired - but I never bothered to patch my version. I'm going to give it another burl when the expansion pack comes down in price.

I think this game is much more interesting when it is played as a MP game... the 1.21f and 1.29f patches are correcting many bugs and issues.

	13-06-2003 18:28									#410
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

quote: WE HAVE NOT BEEN STUFFED...

It was a conditional parameter applied to England’s possible outcome followed by a statement of intended action following that outcome – I didn’t mean the two to be directly associated as meaning Toulouse got stuffed. Honest.

quote: The world have many things to learn about our great civilization.

You can take our live but you’ll never take our…red wine?

quote: I don't know this band, is this one of those awfully gluey English pop music bands?

quote: Buy a PC...

Brave man to once again yank the chain of a Mac devotee.

quote: but as far as I remember Uderzo and Goscinny are Belgian

I honestly did not know that – apologies.

quote: Havak, do you have some Scottish ancestors?

Don’t tell anyone but on my maternal side there is both a little Scottish and also a little French blood (and sadly some truly loopy east anglian blood too). Of course my paternal side is English all the way Mind you under Kiwi rules I probably qualify to play for both Scotland and France - it was only four or five generations ago after all.

quote: The AI is hard to beat not because it is "intelligent" but because it is heavily cheating and exploiting the gaps in the game system.

And there’s the key Tamerlin. They removed the ‘fun’ and made a game only to challenge the uber-players. A wasted opportunity – but consummate proof who the real talent as Firaxis was as his absence shines through Civ 3.

quote: It's like a NH team playing against a SH team, you don't know the laws that will be enforced on the field and thus can not build an efficient strategy...

To draw on the sarcasm inspiration from our friend Finbar earlier in the week I have to say it is a real shame the SH get treated so distrustingly by us NH fans. Of course they don’t cheat endemically, that is just us being unfair to them. They really know what is best for the future of rugby and if that is no more competition for ball then we should support them to the hilt in changing things.

	13-06-2003 19:16									#411
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

quote: Originally posted by Havak I will do – though I can’t find any fixtures for them before the World Cup?

They'll be playing someone somewhere. You probably won't see them before the WRC, though.

quote: Whereas you would be thinking of all the points you make that I recycle to you a month later?

And not a royalty charged.

quote: I think I’m still going to go Wallabies-NZ-England-France in that order regardless of the next couple of games. The venue remains crucial to me.

The four are a safe bet. I'm not sure about the order.

quote: But are you saying, and I find this hard to believe, that you prefer Civ 3? Or were simply admiring the concepts? Horse was right the execution was lacking. I think you will find the structure it imposes on your play very restricting given time. The patches did change it although I didn’t give it much of a go with the final patch for the initial release – I was far too brassed off with it by then. And the expansion packs are an expensive gamble for a game that managed to alienate one initially.

No, I was just admiring the concepts. I've only fiddled around playing Civ 3. The concepts of Civ 3 and demands on the player - I mean choices and options rather than playability - are much more, um, cerebral than Civ 2. Civ 2, for anyone with half a brain, is, ultimately, I think, fairly simplistic. While still a fine piece of technical and intellectual creativity. So it's enjoyable and playable and a fine creation - which explains its success and its longevity.

I obviously haven't yet run into any of the playability problems that Civ 3 poses. I've heard all about them. It seems to me a bit of a tragedy because the complexity of the concepts was a great start. As you suggest elsewhere, it probably does reveal who really did what originally.

quote: Try RoN – an RTS sure but it was designed by a team that understood a game should be accessible to newbies, allow variety of strategy and above all be FUN. Is it available for Mac?

I keep hearing about RoN but I've never checked it out. I've never strayed from Civ 2 before this.

	13-06-2003 19:19									#412
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Tamerlin I don't know this band, is this one of those awfully gluey English pop music bands?

As you well know, Tamerlin, I'm of the firm belief that not a note of decent music was written after 1969, so I have absolutely no knowledge of gluey English pop music bands whatever they might be.

quote: Buy a PC...

The batteries would still run out.

	13-06-2003 19:26									#413
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Tamerlin Though the adventures of Asterix and Obelix are distributed in at least 39 countries I didn't knew they were so widely known...

They've appeared in our papers for eons.

quote: What I really dislike in Civ3 is the behavior of the AI and the rude way it is cheating.

The AI cheats outrageously in Civ 2.

quote: The AI civs are producing scores of settlers and military units without the penalty associated with the maintenance cost of a huge army

How many times have you taken an AI city in Civ 2 to discover the city has - when in your hands - a massively negative shield count?

quote: The AI is hard to beat not because it is "intelligent" but because it is heavily cheating and exploiting the gaps in the game system.

See above. And above that too.

quote: It's like a NH team playing against a SH team, you don't know the laws that will be enforced on the field and thus can not build an efficient strategy...

Now you're just being ... French!

quote: BTW Finbar, there is a Mod called Civ3 like Civ2 that you could find funny to test... and update your civ3 to 1.29f.

I'll check out the mod. And I did the update to 1.29f today. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

	13-06-2003 19:29									#414
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

quote: Originally posted by Havak Well anything is possible of course. But to be honest I expect it to be a fairly small margin whatever way it goes.

Yep

quote: Always pleased to see a bit of Asterix. French humour at it’s finest.

I thought it was French too until Tamerlin corrected us.

quote: Not good! Why on earth on they not showing it?

They may not have the rights to show it live. I'm grateful to be able to watch it at all - last time I had to pay $20 at the door to watch it at the pub.

	13-06-2003 19:29									#415
	Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by Havak To draw on the sarcasm inspiration from our friend Finbar earlier in the week I have to say it is a real shame the SH get treated so distrustingly by us NH fans. Of course they don’t cheat endemically, that is just us being unfair to them. They really know what is best for the future of rugby and if that is no more competition for ball then we should support them to the hilt in changing things.

Doesn't work nearly so well when you deliver it to a third party. Much better delivered to the relevant party. Remember?

And now I'm off to bed. I've got a huge amount of food prep to do tomorrow if I'm going to get to watch England -v- ABs uninterrupted.

	13-06-2003 19:33									#416
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

quote: Originally posted by Tamerlin These comics have rythmed my youth. Though the adventures of Asterix and Obelix are distributed in at least 39 countries I didn't knew they were so widely known... Unfortunately, I would have liked to claim Asterix as a french creation but as far as I remember Uderzo and Goscinny are Belgian, though the famous Gallic village is located in modern Bretagne.

I used to love going to the library to check out the Asterix and Tintin books! They were very popular in New Zealand.

	13-06-2003 20:00									#417
	Increase Your PM Length

quote: They'll be playing someone somewhere. You probably won't see them before the WRC, though.

We get fairly good coverage of the big teams but the minnows only crop up when those big guys play them. Ireland are playing Tonga I see – I can seem them losing that.

quote: And not a royalty charged.

Your public service is much appreciated.

quote: So it's enjoyable and playable and a fine creation - which explains its success and its longevity.

And also why repeating it has proved so hard in a way? Can lightning strike twice? Only if you are France facing the Pumas.

quote: I keep hearing about RoN but I've never checked it out. I've never strayed from Civ 2 before this.

Give it a ‘burl’ as your countrymen would say – I’ve been quite pleased with it myself.

quote: The batteries would still run out.

Logic at this time of the morning? Are you tea total Finbar?

quote: See above. And above that too.

All fair points – but give Civ 3 a stab, say on one level below your Civ 2 favourite (Deity) and see how quickly the AI hands you your ass. They really did make it a very good cheat indeed in some ways.

quote: Now you're just being ... French!

Easy going and full of flair? Relaxed and unhurried? Or
stubborn in his viewpoints?

quote: They may not have the rights to show it live. I'm grateful to be able to watch it at all - last time I had to pay $20 at the door to watch it at the pub.

I thought Fox was Murdoch’s big happy global family? I’m sure we get so much S12 and tri-nations in this way because Fox have the live rights. Still I guess it might be sold on to a niche PPV in the US?

quote: Doesn't work nearly so well when you deliver it to a third party. Much better delivered to the relevant party. Remember?

Quite. I chose the third party route deliberately for comic effect of course…

quote: And now I'm off to bed. I've got a huge amount of food prep to do tomorrow if I'm going to get to watch England -v- ABs uninterrupted.

And here’s to a great four hours of concentrated rugby – that’s how every Saturday should be.

	13-06-2003 21:20									#418
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

quote: Originally posted by finbar As you well know, Tamerlin, I'm of the firm belief that not a note of decent music was written after 1969, so I have absolutely no knowledge of gluey English pop music bands whatever they might be.

You know I disagree a bit about the 1969 deadline though I must admit the music I usually listen would easily qualify as "brute" to an educated hear.

About the English pop music bands I would write that not knowing them is a kind of boon.

quote: The batteries would still run out.

Yes but you are deprived of the pleasure to spend a full afternoon or a night twicking your computer or/and its OS to solve an interesting problem.

	13-06-2003 23:18									#419
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

quote: Originally posted by finbar They've appeared in our papers for eons.

quote: The AI cheats outrageously in Civ 2.

I know but I expect it to be more refined (which is more or less the case in Civ2), what I don't like in Civ3 is not the fact the AI is cheating but the way it cheats to the point it is direspectfull of the player's intelligence.

quote: How many times have you taken an AI city in Civ 2 to discover the city has - when in your hands - a massively negative shield count?

Once again I agree with you but it is more or less transparent in the game.

One of the worst cheat I have seen was in the last game I played (it was last year and I uninstalled the game quickly after):

I was at war against the evil Roman and 3 of my cities were near the front, a Roman stack was near these cities and one was lightly defended. The Roman units attacked the lightly defended one. Was I out of luck or was it a cheat? I had a save from the previous turn. I loaded it, reinforced the city previously attacked by units from one the other cities which then became undefended. Guess what? The Roman units attacked the newly lightly garrisoned city. In order to be sure, I loaded the previous saved game again and reinforced the two other cities from a third one which then became undergarrisoned. The Roman units attacked the third city...

1 - Though there were close to my cities the roman units were too far away to spot the movements between these cities as my roads were beyond their spotting range.

2 - None of the civs (including mine) had yet discovered the advance that is the prerequisite for spies.

Conclusion: the AI knows at least the number of units in a city and uses the information to build its "strategy". As far as I know I am not interested in playing against an AI that ignores the most basic rules.

quote: Now you're just being ... French!

quote: I'll check out the mod. And I did the update to 1.29f today. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

The mod called The Balancer seems rather interesting.

	14-06-2003 00:47									#420
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: as far as I remember Uderzo and Goscinny are Belgian

NO!
Goscinny is French (born in Paris from Jewish Pole parents as far as I recall - do a google search for Goscinny for details). I don't really care about Uderzo, who is an OK drawer, but Goscinny is the best comics scenarist and dialoguist ever. He also wrote some very good books (Le Petit Nicolas). Probably the most important figure in French and Belgian comics world (there's also Franquin).
And don't get me started on comics...