You might want to check out M.I.L.T. for an important social commentary.

UnrealScript... man! What a mess. But it looks like I have found how to create new console commands (and thus new key binds) for a game type. In Engine.PlayerPawn.uc, starting at line 1138, there are series of "exec function" statements that correlate with console commands. The comment there reads "Normal gameplay execs / Type the name of the exec function at the console to execute it". I'm assuming I can simply subclass any PlayerPawn child class (like TMale1) and put a few "exec function XYZ()" blocks in to define new commands.

Of course the obvious flaw in the class hierarchy model is that if I want to make a change to PlayerPawn, I can extend it, but what about all the classes that already use PlayerPawn as their base class? They don't inherit the changes, so I have to extend each "child" class independently? Yuck! I'll ask around about this one, because it seems like too much of a weakness to be true. (But you never know.)

Hey, Smith & Wesson: You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

Faced with the public backlash from their agreement with the Clinton administration, Smith & Wesson has posted a "clarification" of their government deal. You see, their agreement stipulates that each and every Smith & Wesson distributor and dealer follow a certain code of conduct. This code of conduct, as I've described previously, lays down very specific restrictions on what the dealers can and can't do. Any dealer/distributor that does not agree to these guidelines cannot sell Smith & Wesson firearms at all.

If you read the agreement, you can see that there are stipulations on the details on guns and magazines that dealers can sell. Though these points plainly refer to ALL guns the dealer sells, Smith & Wesson has "clarified" the agreement by maintaining that these conditions apply only to S&W guns and products. Not surprisingly, this interpretation has been challenged by the White House.

I dunno, it was all pretty clear to me, and I'm not a lawyer. The way I see it, S&W just pulled an "Oh, shit, what the hell did we do?"

I spent a lot of time today scouring the web for information on the original Dungeon Master and Alternate Reality games for the Atari ST and 8-bit repectively. In my view, these two games were the grandfathers of modern first-person perspective games, whether they be role-playing games (like DM and AR) or shooters. My interest in them was sparked by an Atari emulator I got from a player at the recently ended Free Range Action Gaming v6.0.

What Dungeon Master lacked in depth, it more than made up for in its atmosphere, graphics, and joy of playing. There was a single goal; destroy the evil wizard at the bottom of the dungeon. Getting there was the trick... and it helped to yoink all the powerful magic items you would find along the way. This isn't one of those games that addresses the question "Why would a wizard leave all this powerful equipment lying around for you to find?" because back then we didn't ask such questions! Infidel! Blasphemy! No, this was a pure and simple dungeon crawl and you loved it. Along the way you could pick up spiffy matching sets of plate armor (two complete sets, if I recall correctly), wicked magical blades, and a snazzy assortment of wands, potions, and other stuff. Dungeon Master actually had a system that improved the skills you used. If you fought hand-to-hand a lot, your warrior level would increase, pumping up your Strength and Hit Points. However, if you relied on the bow or thrown weapons, you would rise through the ninja levels, raising your Dexterity in the process. Wizard spells would raise your wizard level and mana, while priestly spells, such as healing, would increase your priest level (and mana). Along the way, clever puzzles, tricks, and traps slowed your progress. The only serious drawback to Dungeon Master was the static nature of the dungeon... it never changed. You had to wait for a sequel, such as Chaos Strike Back and the poorly designed Dungeon Master II.

Alternate Reality blew me away in its immersive environment. The intro to The City may have seemed cheezy to some (a huge alien saucer "beaming" up hapless victims to transport to a distant world), but the following theme song and star field were mind blowing at the time. Though the designers of AR had an ambitious 8 or so installments of Alternate Reality mapped out, only The City and The Dungeon were ever completed. The City, though well done, could not compare to the vastly superior and much larger Dungeon. Plus, in The Dungeon you actually stood a chance of surviving (in The City everyone is much tougher than you, finding money is nearly impossible, and killed enemies never drop their weapons behind for you to use). The (under)world of The Dungeon was incredibly complex with numerous minor quests beside the main one (which isn't really known to you at the beginning, and completing it does not prevent you from still playing the game).

It's hard not to think back on these games and get glassy eyed with fond nostalgia. Does memory view the past through rose-colored glasses? Hopefully I'll find out, because I'm going to try very hard to find a way to play those games again.