Ask the developer a question!

[Idozen Cair]

What does levelling up support abilities such as Transfer, or transport abilities such as Leap and Shadowport do?

[SmartyPants]

What does levelling up support abilities such as Transfer, or transport abilities such as Leap and Shadowport do?

Leveling up Transfer allows you to transfer more PsP.  Some transport abilities such as Shadowport and Juxtapose require leveling up to learn more advantace forms of those abilities such as Shadowport 2 and Juxtapose 2.  I don't know if leveling up Leap does anything.

[ArtDrake]

How did you make the preloader? I've looked around on the internet for various methods, but everything I've found seems sloppy, while the code you've shown in the past tends to be elegant and succinct.

[CraigStern]

How did you make the preloader? I've looked around on the internet for various methods, but everything I've found seems sloppy, while the code you've shown in the past tends to be elegant and succinct.

TSoG is coded in AS2, so it's likely that my methods there wouldn't be of much use to you. Also, I haven't gotten to the point of coding an AS3 preloader yet, so unfortunately I can't be of much guidance to you here. Sorry!

[bugfartboy]

Hi Craig! I have a question. You, being a lawyer, might have a better time making heads or tails of this. What do you think?

[CraigStern]

This is going to be a bit of a long answer, so click the button to see it:

[spoiler="Legal Analysis"]The U.S. Code (a compilation of all federal laws in the United States) imposes criminal penalties for certain copyright infringers who violate the Copyright Act for commercial gain. This is the current language of the Code:

(b) Any person who commits an offense under section 506 (a)(1)(A) of title 17—
(1) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of at least 10 copies or phonorecords, of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $2,500;
(2) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense is a felony and is a second or subsequent offense under subsection (a); and
(3) shall be imprisoned not more than 1 year, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, in any other case.

The amendment you linked to would insert a new instance under which an infringer gets jail time and/or fines:

(b) Any person who commits an offense under section 506 (a)(1)(A) of title 17—
(1) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of at least 10 copies or phonorecords, of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $2,500;
(2) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if--

(A) the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works; and

(B)(i) the total retail value of the performances, or the total economic value of such public performances to the infringer or to the copyright owner, would exceed $2,500; or
     (ii) the total fair market value of licenses to offer performances of those works would exceed $5,000; and
(3) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense is a felony and is a second or subsequent offense under subsection (a); and
(4) shall be imprisoned not more than 1 year, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, in any other case.

From what I can tell, it looks like it's trying to impose criminal penalties for streaming copyrighted content, as opposed to reproducing or distributing it through downloads (which is already covered by subsection (b)(1)).

The other changes in the amendment seem to back up this conclusion. For instance, it changes subsection (f)(2) from this...

(2) the terms "reproduction" and "distribution" refer to the exclusive rights of a copyright owner under clauses (1) and (3) respectively of section 106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted works), as limited by sections 107 through 122, of title 17;

...to this.

(2) the terms 'reproduction', 'distribution', and 'public performance' refer to the exclusive rights of a copyright owner under clauses (1), (3), (4), and (6), respectively of section 106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted works), as limited by sections 107 through 122, of title 17;

Conclusion: this is probably targeted at people who illegally stream copyrighted content to others via services like Hulu, Netflix and Youtube for commercial gain. It isn't something that affects you unless you're making money by illegally streaming unlicensed content to people, or going around publicly performing unlicensed works for commercial gain.[/spoiler]

[bugfartboy]

Okay. Thanks Craig.

[spoiler=My mutterings. Don't bother reading.]
Wonder how this is gonna affect YouTube's community and such.
[/spoiler]

[Cypher]

Even if Bill S.978 is passed, it's likely many game companies (like Mojang!) will add a special clause to the TOS to allow posting videos of their games, as it's great publicity. For example, one of the reason why Minecraft is so popular is due to the Youtube Community.

[ArtDrake]

Hmm. The director of the acting troupe I'm in never bothers to get performance rights. Hope they don't crack down too much, for her sake.

[CraigStern]

Duckling, I just read it a second time: it qualifies "public performance" with "by electronic means," so actually it most likely wouldn't apply to your actor friend if he/she's just doing public performances and not electronically distributing video of content he/she has no rights to.

[Deagonx]

Is there a team that works on the TRPG games? Or is it just you

[bugfartboy]

The readme files he puts in with his games answer that. They say that he's essentially a one man army at Sinister Design. If I remember right from the PA2 Demo I attempted to play.

[CraigStern]

At this point, I'm working on things that are critical to finishing the game (right now, that being Crypt 3). Rubat is going to be made, but it's an optional area, so it's a little lower priority.

That said, I see your point: for people trying out the demo, it probably strikes them as odd that they can't visit an area they're specifically prompted to visit. Don't worry, I'll get to it. ;)

[Zackirus]

Your going to make even more devious puzzles than the riddle? It cannot be done!

[spoiler]
My real question is, why are their orbs in the Crypts in the first place?
[/spoiler]

[CraigStern]

Why is there a boomerang in the middle of a dungeon in Zelda? Who knows, right? Some things are just a mystery. :)