jmusshorn

This is my map! I'm so glad you included it in your post, thank you!

tl;dr SC4 sucked eggs in 2003 and now it's awesome. Have some friggin' patience. It's a virtue, don't'cha know. So I'm glad that every reply to Van has, for one reason or another, completely ignored (what I assume to be) the entire point that he wasted the energy to type it out in the first place... I'd like to echo the point that SimCity 4 began as a terrible game. Buggy as all get out (still is), extremely limited diversity in both infrastructure and architecture styling, and felt as though it were a third finished. (Seriously, does nobody remember that?) ...Yet somehow, ten years later, it's regarded as if it were the simulation genre's Citizen Kane right from the get-go. In other words, to everyone who can't find a single positive thing to say: Quit being so damned impatient. It might, crazily, be more difficult than you think to create a visually appealing city simulator in which every single individual Sim has their own statistical and physical agent-based representation, not to mention interaction with an internet-connected framework of any size or complexity. I mean, if you guys happen to be programmers or designers for a rival developer that are close to releasing your city sim, I'd gladly start making both professional and personal attacks upon you and your present and previous body of work, if it's not everything that I wanted. That seems to be the style gamers have chosen to run with, more so than usual, lately. Everything sucks and nothing's good, right? Play another game. Believe it or not, there are games other than SimCity that do exist. Other city simulators, even. You're going to have to trust me on this one, seeing as you may very well have just never checked. I hear that Cities XL has had massive city tiles and realistic buildings for years, why aren't you touting that game's achievements here, or complaining about the new SimCity there? It would definitely make more sense, at least to me, and you'd probably be happier and have more fun with your gaming time. On the other hand, maybe you just want to complain like an old man who got a very-slightly-incorrect sandwich order and just wants to complain at the manager because they crave a constant audience to whom they can air their grievances. Who can say, really. P.S. This entire opinion completely ignores the additional fact that nearly every always-on game (not going into the fact that I, too, believe that it should at least be offline-capable) has experienced launch-day/week disasters on-par or worse than SimCity's. If you don't remember/believe me, WoW's initial launch is a great example. Google it and read a review or two, preferably posted around late 2004. Pretty scathing stuff if you ask me.

Any residences directly parallel to their workplaces (consistently car only, peds no problem) cause infinite pathing flyaways. Most specifically OWR-3, or at least that's the only network type in which I've encountered this. Also, this new version is absolutely amazing! Thanks for continuing to do all that you do, NAM Team! - Jamie

I just want to point out one thing, on the subject of regulation on when/where people can smoke: When someone lights up in, say, a restaurant, they are imposing on everyone who is not smoking by essentially polluting the air. The same can not be said of non-smokers. When was the last time that someone was told to NOT not smoke because it was bothering the others in the area? The same could be said of people who are excessively loud in public, or in housing areas. The quiet are not imposing on the loud, so why should the loud be granted permission to impose upon the quiet?

Hay guys, what'd I miss?

Where have you been? It was great! Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane really did the movie justice. One of the funniest I've seen in years, easily. Anyway, I thought that a Blazing Saddles remake would be awesome. Honestly, I think that with the right cast, it could be pulled off. I mean, it's meant to be derogatory. That was the joke of it all. I think that maybe if it were given to, say, the writers and cast of Family Guy, they could actually revamp it into being something mind-blowing. Hey, it's possible I suppose. ~Jamie~

Date: 1/4/2006 6:51:32 PM Author: vidioman Date: 1/4/2006 5:49:39 PM Author: masher Date: 1/3/2006 12:12:43 AM Author: vidioman I took another picture of myself....... Will I post it? no one knows I might post it tho...Muahahaa! *waits for vid to say some girly stuff like 'If you post it i'll tell everyone you shave your legs'..or whatever* <<<edited --->>> Dude. Dude. DUDE. Seriously. Not only back on topic, please, but wow. No more speaking about <<<-edited--->>>. Eww. ~Jamie~

I like this idea! I'll just post a few pieces that I've done. (Copy and paste the hyperlink in the pictures to view them full-size.) The small forest in front of my neighborhood, Hale Pi'ilani. It was made for decoration purposes only. Actually, I believe that it's some sort of urban renewal project. Strange. People don't treat their yards very well in this neighborhood... Nor their cars. I took this picture of Downtown Sacramento while I was on vacation in February 04'. Actually, I was at an EAST Conference (if anyone's ever been to one of those here). Well, there you have it! I hope that everyone enjoyed the limited amount of photography that I do. ~Jamie~ EDIT: That should do it.

Watch yo' language, foo'. *Crawls back under a rock*

I can respect your answers and convictions, ephorex. You've thought them out well, and you have studied what you believe. I admire that. That being said, I say this: In your analogy (while it is a hyperbole, and I realize this), you claim that all of these denominations imply that one thing is correct while everyone else is incorrect. However, while I truly do not believe the Bible to be infallible, I do believe that mathematics, as a science, is infallible. It is the only exact truly science, and it has been mastered (so to speak) by many, so within one or even many lifetimes, it could be scientifically proven that only one answer is correct. (I'd also like to stress that it could be proven by those of us still living, as I do believe that we will only truly understand what will happen in the afterlife in the afterlife.) My point is that while such things as mathematics, genetics, et cetera can be scientifically proven, religious tales and teachings cannot be, as far as I have seen. This is not to say that they are wrong, however. I am not saying that at all. What I am saying, though, is that none of us can say with any assurance that we have the exact and correct philosophy on how to live, how to pray, or how to die. There simply isn't enough consistent evidence to prove any one religion to be correct. Perhaps though, if we were to respect one another's ability to harbor our own beliefs and opinions, this deity (what/who-ever you happen to believe in) will reward your good treatment of your fellow man. I mean, if they're not doing anything bad to you, why would you want to take it on yourself to fire the first shot? Perhaps God wants us to treat each other with respect and love instead of discrimination and elitism. None of us can truly know until we're dead, but I believe that if we live our lives well, and help out each other as much as possible, that our behavior will truly be rewarded in the end. Of course, these are just my opinions. I hope that everyone not only realizes that, but disclaims their own posts with such a statement. We're all going on interpretations, perceptions, opinions, and beliefs here. Just have an open mind, we'll accomplish a lot more in here than just debate and discussion. We may figure out a little more about ourselves in the process. Good day, everyone. ~Jamie~

Date: 12/30/2005 8:03:27 PM Author: ephorex_77 Date: 12/30/2005 7:57:14 PM Author: deadwoods But it was written a long time ago, for a very different audience, and in a very different language...... Which one is right? Perhaps none of them. It's not worth fighting over. Truth has no age, nor audience. It doesn't matter if it was revealed by God yesterday, the day before, a decade ago or 2000 years ago. Truth is unchanging; men and his ways are. Audiences' mentalities and boundaries of acceptance and reason change, Truth does not. The language barrier too, can be overcome, as well as misinterpretations. Just because it's written in Swahili doesn't mean to say we throw our hands in the air and say, 'I give up!! It's too hard!!'. I don't know what your view is on the value of human life, but I think life is worth fighting over. Much more so eternal life in God. quote> I think that perhaps you misinterpreted what he said, ephorex. If I am getting this correct, I believe that what he's talking about is the debate between which particular interpretations of the Bible are correct, which he believes is not worth fighting for, as everyone automatically believes that they're right. On that same wavelength of thought, I have a question. If all different denominations of Christianity believe that they are the only correct ones, then who is truly correct? I mean, if everyone of their own particular religion believes that they're correct; who's right? I don't believe that anyone truly knows, and to claim absolute knowledge on such a subject as religion is not only silly, it's downright ignorant. No-one knows everything, and no-one has all the answers. No particular religion makes all the rules on who goes where after they die (well technically, all of them do, but that's not the point). If we can all realize that we all have good points, and to try and listen to each-other's theories and experiences, we might just become better people in the long run. ~Jamie~

Date: 12/30/2005 5:21:30 PM Author: Joesocwork The Community is quite diverse and even the most devout atheists and most devout Christians/Muslims/Jews/etc. aren't going to come to 100% agreement on everything; and that should be fine. quote> I couldn't agree with you more. And seriously, I think that something should be said to the younger participants in this thread (I know that I'm young as well, but listen): Most of us in this thread are 14-18 years old; an age group that, while occasionally under a false-impression that they are old and wise, are still young. We lack the life experience and wisdom, as well as the seniority to speak as if we're %100 correct about anything, especially when it comes to religion. My point is that we're still young. Rather than trying to prove why we're right about everything, I think that we should heed the wisdom that some of the older participants in this discussion have. They've been on this earth longer; they understand more than we do. We should respect and really ponder what they have to say. If everyone can do that, we just might come out of this a little (or a lot) wiser. Happy New Year ~Jamie~

I have a simple belief system, personally. If you're a good person, and refrain from harming the plants and animals (that includes human-kind) as best you can, then you'll die knowing how good of a person you were. If God exists or not, I don't know. I have no opinion on the existence of a deity, because I have not truly seen solid evidence for or against it. I truly believe that someone's ability to do good things for others is what any deity would look highest upon. If someone's in trouble, help them out of it (provided it's not something that they really deserved, like jail-time for a criminal act). If they're hungry and can't get food, give them some food. These types of simple things that make the world a better place to live in are what any God would look highly upon, I would suppose (and hope). There's something that we all have to keep in mind here, I think: We're all on the same level of non-disclosure. By this I mean that, unless you've spoken with God, Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Satan, or Jesus Christ personally, you really can't say with full assurance that you're correct. We all have our theories, hypotheses, and inferences, but none of us are absolutely sure that we're correct on where we stand or what we say. Having an open-mind and a non-confrontational attitude in these types of debates and discussions is the best way to, not only avoid flame-wars, but leave the discussion a little wiser, which I'm sure is partly the reason why most of us are here. Christianity. Hey, I have no problems with religion whatsoever. It's done great things for people, and great things for those in need. I do not like, however, how some religions generally believe that they're the only correct religion, and that everyone else must be wrong. How do they know? They don't; Bible, Pope, or otherwise. Christians, I do believe, have their faith deep-seated in being good to others and respecting their fellow human beings; of that I have no doubt. However, telling someone else that they're going to hell unless they do Task A, B, and C isn't essentially a live and let live attitude. I mean, there are some radical Islam people out there who believe that Christians and Jews are the most evil people on the planet solely because of what they believe. They even have their own Bible (the Koran, I believe), with its own religious miracle-style occurrences, and their Koran, as they interpret it, tells them that Christians and Jews are evil. Does that make them right? No, I don't believe so. [That example was not generalizing Islam as a religion, just the few extremists out of the entire group that practice the religion.] My point is that we're all humans on this planet. If who/what you are, and what you do are not harming anyone else, then so be it; continue as you were. Praying, volunteering, being an all-around good person are all great by me. I think that any good behavior will be rewarded in the end, even if the reward is no more than being able to, at the end of your life, look back and say wow, I did some great things for some good people. Good night, and Happy New Year, when that comes around. ~Jamie~

Date: 12/29/2005 1:18:08 AM Author: dev I'm straight. quote> Thank you for clearing that up. The ambiguity was killing me.

Date: 12/26/2005 6:04:12 AM Author: MrCinatit the arguement is now over, everyone. understand?quote> I'm good with that, thank you.