From: piggy@hilbert.cc.utas.edu.au (La Monte Yarroll)
Subject: Re: PUBS: PCVR magazine, recommendation?
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 23:27:59 GMT
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.


tyrone@wmsa.att.com (Tyrone Shiu) writes:

>Hi:

>I received an e-mail about a magazine call PCVR.  The topics sound
>interesting.  Is it worth subscribing?  Any comment is appreciated.

>[MODERATOR'S NOTE: I visited the PCVR booth at the Meckler VR 92
>conference and looked through the copies of PCVR there.  Yes, I highly
>recommend this journal (it's more like a quarterly book) for people
>working toward virtual worlds on PCs.  The depth of the material is
>truly impressive and the code looks spot on.  You have to believe, of
>course, that PCs are where this is all going.... -- Bob Jacobson]

My appologies to the publishers of PCVR--this is why I did not
continue my subscription beyond the first two issues:

My primary objection is the gee-whiz tone of the editorials.  I've
seen quite enough of the if-you-die-in-vr-do-you-die-for-real genre to
satisfy me for a lifetime.

The code listings in those issues are largely uncommented, and thus
of marginal use to me.  To be fair, I find most published listings to
be far too sparsely commented.

There was quite a plethora of technical information, but of varying
depth and clarity of presentation.  I did not find anything which I
did not already have better documented in my collection of FAQs and
READMEs.

The overall literary and editorial quality is about what I'd expect
from a high school newspaper.

I wish the publishers of PCVR good fortune; I will probably look at
their publication again in a year or so.  For the moment, I do not
feel I can justify to myself the cost of a subscription to PCVR.
--
La Monte H. Yarroll	Home:		piggy@baqaqi.chi.il.us
   Work:		piggy@hilbert.maths.utas.edu.au
   AKA:			piggy@gargoyle.uchicago.edu
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