Profile for Derakon
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Derakon |
| Member number | 1115 |
| Title | Shock Trooper |
| Postcount | 287 |
| Homepage | http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~cweisige |
| Registered | Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
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| Author | Recent posts |
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| Slith Warrior in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 29 2006 06:56
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There's also a bug where monsters that are generated while you are in combat do not give experience or credit towards First Aid. So if you were thinking of farming those golems... -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| How do I kill [SPOILER]? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Tuesday, March 28 2006 11:15
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Um, spoilers anyone? Please change the thread title. Anyway, if you're talking about the endgame, you need to survive each of her three area-effect abilities, one way or another. She's not allowed to die until she's done her thing; the fight's very scripted that way. Just stick around and keep your characters in good health. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Avernum V in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Friday, March 17 2006 22:49
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It actually would be rather interesting to see the Avernum nation go on the offensive. The problem is that the only other two nations in the world are a) friendly, and b) much more powerful. Avernum's the Poland of the Spiderverse. [ Friday, March 17, 2006 22:50: Message edited by: Derakon ] -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| How do I kill the Shade? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Friday, March 17 2006 08:00
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Well, I don't believe anyone's found out if there's a damage cap in A4, let alone what it is. The shades will regenerate health at the end of a round in which you've reduced their health below a certain point. So in theory, if you could deal ~1400 damage in one turn, you'd kill them before they got to regenerate. But you'd have to be cheating to do that, and it's completely muck up the plot, so don't. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Avernum V in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 21:25
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Honestly, what I'd like to see is a world-building/tactical game based on the Avernum series. Play as the original founders of Avernum as they fight to clear the caves of dangerous creatures. Protect towns as they get built to your specs, attracting shopkeepers to equip and train your soldiers. Build up the Tower of the Magi to get protection from the magical beasts. Forge alliances with the friendly nephil and sliths. Ultimately take down Grah-Hoth and bottle him up for a bit. Sure, the plot is known and completely flat, but the gameplay could be interesting. And I chose that scenario because it seems to fit well, but there's no reason that Jeff couldn't create an entirely new scenario instead. Avernum decides to go expansionist into some new caves in the northwest tunnels, for example. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Balanced Cheating for the Singleton in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 14:39
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If I recall correctly, singletons in the previous games finished at what, about 1.5x the average level of a normal party? So just keep track of your "real" level and your "balanced" level; every once in a while, give yourself enough skillpoints so that your "balanced" level is half again your "real" level. Alternatively, give yourself an extra five skillpoints every other level. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Avernum V in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 07:55
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While I'd love to see a game from the First Expidition's perspective, there are a few problems with the concept. 1) The First Expedition was chosen from the cream of the Empire's special agents. They were already strong, well-equipped, and dangerous. Changing this to be "You look disposable. How do you feel about caves?" would require re-writing part of the game's backstory. 2) The caves are completely unsettled when the expedition went through. No towns, no sanctuary. At best you would have only one town; it'd be your contact point with the surface. To make it useful, it'd have to update as you played along, but I've yet to see an implementation of that idea that didn't end up really rather contrived. 3) The First Expedition died. They didn't accomplish anything beyond proving that Avernum's a dangerous place to be. Moreover, they got split up. A couple fell to Nephilim in the northeast caves (just ask Motrax); someone died in the Waterfall Warrens and left the Orb of Thralni there; the pieces of Demonslayer got scattered all over (though it could have broken and then been distributed later). I think the Onyx Scepter was also a First Expedition piece of gear, and that's way over on the other side of the map! Ultimately, Jeff didn't leave himself enough wiggle room here to make a game that we wouldn't already know the ending of. Which is a pity. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| pylons? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Tuesday, March 14 2006 07:51
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You'll find out later. Just have patience. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Avernum V in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Monday, March 13 2006 14:17
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Couple things. 1) I suspect that Jeff doesn't like the kind of replayability that hides content from you because you made an arbitrary choice early in the game. I know I do. Why should I have to replay the entire game just because I wanted a racially-balanced party (or a kitty party, or whatever)? Especially if the bulk of the game is the same otherwise. Now, if you made a game that played out differently on the whole based on your party's racial mix, that'd be a different story. And a lot of work. 2) Vahnatai aren't all evil; they're a mixed lot just like the humans, nephil, and sliths are. Every game that's featured the vahnatai (in a speaking role; the crypt in A1 doesn't count) has had both friendly and hostile factions. 3) GIFTS are a one-off joke that got stamina beyond all consideration. There's a good reason why they only show up briefly in each game; players can only take so much high, squeaky voice acting, even if it's all imaginary. The Vahnatai are one thing; talking spiders are just a bit too alien. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Dumb question in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Thursday, March 9 2006 20:15
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Which makes F4 the quick-load. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Missing Bandit Key? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Thursday, March 9 2006 16:39
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There's two copies of the bronze key. That lets you get to the female bandit (Schrödinger says her name is Kelda; I can't recall offhand), who has the key that lets you into Bragg's fort. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| stockrooms in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Thursday, March 9 2006 08:03
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As far as I can tell, the game keeps track of every single item that's dropped on the ground, for all time. You could go back to the goblins at the beginning of the game and pick up all those stone knives if you wanted to. I'd recommend dumping your stuff in Fort Avernum, though, since you tend to pass through that location often. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Easter eggs? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 8 2006 08:11
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Burma Shave showed up more than once. I think the other one was If Exile You want to save Back up your save slots Burma Shave (Substituting Exile for Avernum as appropriate) -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| DEMONSLAYER in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 8 2006 08:09
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There's some levers around the edges that will open up portculli which will let you get into the center area. Incidentally, Acid Spray is your friend when dealing with golems. Low-cost, high-damage spells that deal acid damage (which almost nothing besides slimes resists) is handy. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Avernum 4 Bug in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 8 2006 08:06
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It's kinda weird, since you see the name and think it should be an Eyebeast or something, but that's intentional. I don't think we've seen Gazer Beasts in any of the previous games; just Eyebeasts and Gazers. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Sooo dark!! in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Tuesday, March 7 2006 17:43
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In the meantime, try holding down the Tab key to get some limited highlighting. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Easter eggs? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Tuesday, March 7 2006 14:03
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quote:Especially in E2. It was one of the very few times that you could unload a Firestorm and hit with every square of it. Mmmm, bloody mayhem. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Easter eggs? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Tuesday, March 7 2006 07:37
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Much of the Monastery of Madness was references to bad action flicks. I believe that most of the references survived the transition from Exile 3 to Avernum 3, though it's been a while since I played either. Exile 3 also had a secret room that was rather more explicit about the references, as I recall. In E2 there was the "eas ter egg" teleport code. I don't think that one made it to A2. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Sage, Scrolls in Fort Sanctuary in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Monday, March 6 2006 16:15
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It's a surprisingly long quest. The first step after you get your hands on a copy of the scrolls is to go to Formello; the librarian there specializes in languages. She'll set you on the next stage. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Will Spiderweb issue licenceson a Sunday, ya think? in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Monday, March 6 2006 12:23
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If you can pay by credit card, do so over the phone. They'll ask you for your game ID and give you the registration code right then and there, and then mail you the paper copy. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Sooo dark!! in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Monday, March 6 2006 10:32
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quote:This shouldn't happen unless the monitor is being overdriven. To make a clumsy analogy, if you try to make a 60-watt lightbulb output the light that a 100-watt bulb would normally, then that 60-watt bulb is going to give out faster. Well-made monitors will last for decades. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Sooo dark!! in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Sunday, March 5 2006 21:53
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Quick question to the original poster - are you using a Macintosh or a Windows machine? Because if you're using the latter, then you're lending credence to a concern I had earlier. Windows machines tend to have a much darker "gamma" setting (basically the reference point for "white"; high gamma settings make for darker screens). On the Mac, the "second layer" caves are dark but still mostly navigable and comprehensible; I fear that a Windows user would be completely sunk, however. Of course, I assume that Jeff did more than just a little testing of the Windows version before releasing it. Then again, it's entirely possible that he, a native Mac user, tweaked his Windows machines to match the Mac's in brightness and thus did not notice this problem. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Stuck (possible spoiler) in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Friday, March 3 2006 13:31
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The mission basically looks like this: Vahnatai stay behind because of irritating noise. You go ahead and destroy the source of the noise. Return to pick up the Vahnatai again; move forward. Encounter a locked door; Vahnatai stay behind and tell you to find a way to unlock the door. You go to the side, do some exploring, find a lever, and pull it to unlock the door. It may be hard to see; as I recall that part of the fortress is "underground" and therefore dimmed. Look carefully. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Exile Buttons for Avernum 4 in Avernum 4 | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Friday, March 3 2006 11:20
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Don't upload a BMP file, please. A rough estimate for that image would put you at 500-800kb for a BMP image. BMPs use absolutely no compression whatsoever, and while they are lossless, they're a terrible way to distribute content over the Net. If you want a lossless format that won't bloat your hard drive, use PNGs. MS Paint can save as PNG, if you're on a Windows box. Mac users can download GraphicConverter for any file format translations they need. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |
| Mac mini in General | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1115
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written Wednesday, March 1 2006 08:31
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Idly, "PC" means "Personal Computer", and should in a true and just society refer not only to Windows and Macintosh computers, but also to Amigas and Commodore 64ks and Linux users and so on. The problem of course being that there's already a short name for Mac users, but "a Windows computer" is pretty bulky. Hence "PC" got co-opted by the Windows people somewhere along the line. -------------------- "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -Porkypine Derakon's Library Posts: 287 | Registered: Thursday, May 9 2002 07:00 |