Ryzom

nillian wrote:Thanks, but it's not the region that's the problem. Just wondering whether the NTSC encoding (as opposed to PAL which we use in the UK) is going to cause any problems.

I think there should be no problem, as your PC monitor doesn't care about PAL or NTSC encoding. But maybe you could get the "german" version, it has an english audio track, is region 2 and definitely PAL encoded

nillian wrote:I really want to see that 'Kaena - the Prophecy'

What is that - a film or some affiliated game?

zarozina wrote:What is that - a film or some affiliated game?

Its (and sorry if I get this wrong) a French Computer animated movie (like a French anime), and a good one at that. I saw it earlier this year and loved it

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/kaenatheprophecy/

"On a distant planet AXIS, a gigantic coiling plant, stretches high above the clouds... At its center is a village whose people are in mortal danger because Axis is withering... it's sap is drying up. The people beg their gods for help... but to no avail. Compelled by a mysterious force, Kaena, a rebellious, high-spirited teenage girl will defy the High Priest and her people's ancestral beliefs to take the perilous journey through the Axis and discover what dark secrets lie beyond the clouds... A dying world, an evil force, a terrible secret..."

Well, Asimov is one of my favorite writers, and the Foundation series is by far my favorite reading material. However is seem to recognise very little of it in Ryzom, simply cause it doesn't lend itself too well to adaptation into video games

I'd do anything if for it if someone somehow did find a way to make a decent game about it though

I grew up on the Foundation series too, and all the rest of Asimov's science fiction. Ground-breaking as they were, Asimov's works were particularly anthropocentric, though, which is almost painfully apparent in his robots.

I'd suggest you look to Brian Aldiss for something more like Atys, and especially "Hothouse" for an intense feeling of a world so dynamic, brutal and alive that natural selection occurs from one page to the next. Aldiss's "Helliconia" trilogy is more than enough to keep anybody busy during the 4-day patch , but my top recommendation would be the astonishingly coherent anthology of some of his short stories - "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand".

I only ever felt recognition for select elements of Ryzom's graphics - the translucent neon tree-like vanes in the desert came straight from Space 1999 when they cleared out the studios, I swear. All heavy armour except jungle remind me a little of Moebius' comics - highly recommended and often bizarre - also the Fyros and Matis "architecture", and the mektoubs with their 'goggles'.

I would reccomend The Year of Our War by Steph Swainstin as compulsory reading for all who play. When I first started this game I thought it might actually have been based on it. It even has Kitins - in all but name.