Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 August 14

= August 14 =

Top Gear
Who is the man sitting next to the editor of Rail Express magazine in Jeremy's Sports Train? S17E04. Th4n3r (talk) 06:15, 14 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Jeremy said on the show, "That's just a man."  → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 04:29, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Super Nintendo Entertainment System vs. Sega Genesis: Which side you were on
We all know who won the console wars. It was Nintendo. But originally, Sega was winning, with customers preferring to buy Sonic the Hedgehog rather than Nintendo's Super Mario World. Unfortunately, however, Sega was not prepared for the release of Street Fighter II: The World Warrior on Nintendo's SNES.

But enough history lessons. Which side were you on back then: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or the Sega Genesis? Ebaillargeon20 (talk) 07:09, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * This is not an appropriate question for a Reference desk. HiLo48 (talk) 07:32, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Some of us were mostly into Space Invaders. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:37, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Space Invaders is so modern. Pong is the only game to play - boop ..... boop .... boop MarnetteD&#124;Talk 16:01, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * "We all know who won the console wars. It was Nintendo.". Sure, big N was on top for a while, and was fairly dominant in the SNES generation. But you might want to consider market share of the Xbox360 and the PS3 compared to the Wii before saying the war is over and Nintendo won . A key quote from that article "So who won? By different metrics, all three can claim some form of victory."
 * I also like to discuss video game history, but this isn't really a place for polling type questions. However, we'd be happy to help with specific questions about gaming that are not polls or invitations to debate. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:55, 14 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Oh, and if you'd like a pointer to better places for general discussion and polling: Reddit has subreddits for gaming, retro gaming, console gaming, Nintendo gaming, even SNES gaming, Indie gaming, etc. See e.g. a similar question poll here They love to chat about this kind of stuff. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:43, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * While I agree this is an inappropriate question, Super Nintendo guy here. Pepsi over Coke, and WWF over WCW. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:33, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

Gender of sports fans
I live in the home town of Australian Rules Football. A personal observation of mine is that one of the reasons for its local popularity is that it's watched pretty much equally by males and females. It seems to me that soccer worldwide tends to be watched far more by males. I don't know about American football. But this is obviously my own original research. Has anyone formally studied this aspect of the gender make-up of sports fans? HiLo48 (talk) 08:47, 14 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Here are some figures for North America . Women represent over 40% of fans in both MLB and the NHL. Lowest figures (36%) are for the NBA, closely followed by NASCAR (the good ole boy stereotype is alive and well there). --Xuxl (talk) 11:11, 14 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Those numbers don't tell the whole story, as they don't show the absolute interest, i.e. the total quantities. MLS and NHL are kind of "niche" sports in America, whereas the NFL is very popular among both men and women, even if the percentage ratio seems to say otherwise. Sports in the United States has some interesting figures. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:36, 14 August 2014 (UTC)

Computer game development
Hello all, I couldn't sleep last night because I had an idea for a World War 2 RTS computer game rolling around in my head -- my idea is to make it the ultimate in realism (something along the line of Sudden Strike/Blitzkrieg, but with even more realistic gameplay -- for example, with units running away when demoralized, tanks stopping when out of fuel, and U-boats having to surface to recharge their batteries, among other elements of realism). However, I'm not a computer programmer, so I don't know how to translate my detailed concept into C++ code -- and in any case, I know that this project is beyond the ability of any one person, no matter how skilled. I definitely want to make some money off of this project if it's successful, and I also would prefer to have at least some part in the development, to make sure that realism is not compromised without great need. How do I go about doing it? Thanks in advance! (Also cross-posted to Computing/IT desk.) 24.5.122.13 (talk) 19:13, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, you could actually plan out a lot of the mechanics with pencil and paper before any coding is done. I would think you'll need to at least start thinking in pseudocode from the start. You might also research a game engine. Many of these are free for non-commercial use, most require some form of payment for commercial development. You could also check out fora for game developers, just google /indie game developer forum/ for a list, or check out some of the appropriate subreddits. The main thing to understand is that the vision in your head will likely take several years and several people to accomplish, at minimum. Securing venture capital would help a lot, but there are zillions of people with little experience making games that have great ideas, so I wouldn't hold out too much hope for that :) SemanticMantis (talk) 20:15, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * As a matter of fact, I already have some of the mechanics planned out in great detail, especially with regard to unit parameters (armor, attack points, health, experience, morale, ammo, fuel, etc.) and their interactions (movement, attacks, minelaying, resupply, etc.) And I believe my idea is better than most -- if it has any flaw, it's that it might have too much complexity, especially in the morale component.  And BTW, I've already found one indie game developer which specializes in RTS, but I don't know yet if they have the expertise to make something this complex.  So I'd say that for someone just starting out, I'm in pretty good shape. 24.5.122.13 (talk) 22:56, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * You might also want to check out a game called MechCommander, which has a lot of what you described above. Except it didn't have a morale system. --Wirbelwind( ヴィルヴェルヴィント ) 23:03, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes, the morale system will be pretty complex -- units start out at neutral morale (500 points out of 1000 possible), and they're demoralized by taking enemy fire, by enemy leaflets or propaganda, or by seeing other friendlies get killed or run away (in Sudden Strike 2, they were only demoralized by enemy leaflets or propaganda), or they can get their morale boosted by defeating enemies, achieving game objectives, or (temporarily) by being near an officer with high morale. Plus, when demoralizing factors are no longer there, the demoralized units will gradually recover back to neutral morale.  And morale will affect unit effectiveness in pretty much the same way as experience, but with an additional twist: when morale drops to 200 points, the units take cover/entrench/submerge/etc. and will no longer advance toward the enemy (but will still fire at enemies coming within range); when it drops to 100 points, they will run away and no longer obey orders until their morale recovers; and when it drops to 0, they will surrender to the enemy and will no longer be available.  On the other hand, I won't have unit salvaging (although infantry units will be able to capture abandoned artillery and vehicles), unit upgrades or base construction, and little if any unit production -- so in that way, it won't be as complicated as MechCommander. 24.5.122.13 (talk) 23:24, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * (Moved from Computping) Well, you can start with game designing software, such as GameMaker: Studio or Unity. As for the scope being out of the hands of one person, that may or may not be true. Some single-person created games include Dust: An Elysian Tail, Banished, and the infamous Minecraft. As for realism, games already exist where troops run away when demoralized (Age of Wonders and many 4X games), tanks stopping when out of fuel (Field Commander, Valkyria Chronicles), etc. How do you go about it? One step at a time, I suppose. You can start by learning about coding, game development, graphics design, writing and digitizing music, writing the story, or any number of things. You can also ask friends. Or if you have money and a business sense, you can always hire people... --Wirbelwind( ヴィルヴェルヴィント ) 22:56, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, in that case, I'd say I've already started taking baby steps -- I've already written the story (actually, the Nazis and the Allies have done this for me), and I've planned out the gameplay and user interface in considerable detail (logistics, etc.) And I know quite a bit about coding, just not the sort of code that games use.  As for the music, my plan is to use authentic World War 2 songs for the soundtrack -- the only concern with that is, this will mean a disproportionate number of Russian and British songs, and comparatively few from the other combatants.  So I'd say I'm off to a good start.  (Plus, I've just found an indie game developer the other day, but I don't know yet if they can take on something as complex as what I have in mind.) 24.5.122.13 (talk) 23:08, 14 August 2014 (UTC)


 * As for designing software (IF I end up having to go it alone): Unity it is, because GameMaker stinks to high heaven -- it doesn't even offer much in the way of 3-D graphics! And I'm pretty sure I'll be able to learn it without too much trouble -- I'm a quick study.  It's just the graphics design that will be the hard part, because I'll have to make a whole bunch of realistic-looking World War 2 vehicles (from a Willis jeep to an Iowa-class battleship), not to mention those tiny infantrymen!  So I'll definitely have to outsource at least part of the graphics design, even if I do the coding myself. 24.5.122.13 (talk) 01:06, 15 August 2014 (UTC)