A giant squid has washed up on a beach in Tasmania. ” It would not taste very nice at all,” scientist says. I ask you… if you can’t make truck-wheel-size calamari, what use is it?
(Link)
Let’s give a big hand to George Lucas
Being the sci-fi geek I am, I recently watched the entire Star Wars series on DVD. Again. And it struck me that George Lucas has a penchant for severed limbs. Seriously, in almost every movie, at least one character loses a hand or limb.
I don’t think that I’m being OCD about this, because most other movies I watch don’t have quite so many body parts hitting the ground. To make sure I wasn’t imagining things, I compiled this handy list:
Star Wars I: Phantom Menace
Well, nobody lost limbs in this one. That I could see.
Star Wars II: Revenge of the Sith
- Obi-Wan cuts off bar patron’s hand.
- Count Dooku cuts off Annikin’s arm.
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
This one is a veritable limb-fest.
- Annikin cuts off both of Count Dooku’s hands.
- A battle droid loses both arms aboard the ship.
- Annikin cuts off Mace Windu’s hand.
- Obi-Wan cuts off Annikin’s real arm. Then both legs.
Star Wars IV: A New Hope
- Tuskan raider rips off C3-P0’s arm.
- Obi-Wan cuts off bar patron’s arm (this is becoming a habit with him).
Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back
- Luke cuts off the snow creature’s arm.
- C3-P0 loses all limbs off-screen.
- Darth Vader cuts off Luke’s hand.
Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
- Luke cuts off Vader’s hand.
So there’s my handy (heh!) list of lopped limbs. I put this question to George Lucas: What is your fascination with dismemberment? I should watch Lucas’ other movies. Did anyone lose limbs in the Indiana Jones movies? Or maybe American Graffiti?
TCS 2.5 is done — get your copy today
Terra Combat System 2.5 is now finished. Vehicle makers, get your copy on the top floor of Abbotts Aerodrome or from SL Exchange (link).
TCS is the combat system that works like laser tag for vehicle-to-vehicle combat. Instead of shooting bullets, it uses sensors to track hits, so bystanders don’t get hurt. It works in any script-enabled area, and even works in no-build areas. If you build planes, tanks, or any other vehicle, you can use this kit to add TCS capability.
As always, the TCS developer’s kit is free.
Pimp my chute
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(Link to SLPics.com.)
(* “Limited Edition” refers to the the number of copies available — limited by the number of twits willing to pay money for this offense to good taste.)
Terra Combat System 2.5 coming soon
This one is for makers of Second Life combat vehicles. I am presently updating Terra Combat System (TCS) with a handful of oft-requested features. For those of you who aren’t familiar with TCS, it’s a free sensor-based combat system that’s safe to use outside of damage-enabled combat sims. Because it uses sensors (no bullets), it’s completely harmless against anyone who isn’t a participant in combat. This lets you engage in dogfights over any script-enabled sim.
TCS 2.5 introduces the following changes since the last public version, TCS 2.1:
- TCS now works even if the pilot is not the vehicle’s owner.
- TCS now uses llSay instead of llOwnerSay because the pilot may or may not be the owner.
- TCS no longer attempts to rename the sensor’s prim to include the owner’s name. This means that it’s up to you, the developers, to ensure that the gun’s name includes the pilot’s name.
- New “tc ctrl” link message. TCS no longer uses the link messages “tc fire” or “tc cease fire”. This means better control over the gun and continuous fire while the button is held down.
- The TCS2.5 particle emitter script now responds to “tc ctrl” link messages instead of “tc fire”.
- TCS no longer turns on/off physics. I made this decision because I really don’t know how you, the vehicle maker, want your vehicle to react to being “destroyed”.
- Smoke particles and explosion sound are now in a separate, full-permission script, so you can alter the appearance and sound of a TCS death.
Those are the release notes so far. I’ll add to it as things come up. When it’s released, it will be available free from the top floor of Abbotts Aerodrome.