Profile for Icshi
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Icshi |
| Member number | 1528 |
| Title | Mongolian Barbeque |
| Postcount | 907 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| What is the best Disney movie? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Monday, February 23 2004 11:49
Profile
Yes, Robin Hood was another good one. I must admit that I'd forgotten about it! I'll have to see it again sometime. For one thing, the music was better than what was done for most cartoons of the period. And the humor was great — especialy the scene where they were trying to extricate some object from the snake's grasp while he was sleeping. -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Exile or Avernum? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Saturday, February 21 2004 11:35
Profile
I've played all three Avernum games, and to some extent the demos of the Exile series. I found the interface of the Exile games to be almost impossible to work with, especially the dialog screens. I can't count the minutes I wasted typing in words, hoping that the person would respond to it! However, the Avernum series doesn't allow for typed-in responses. Nethergate had an excellent balance of the two systems, especially with the riddles in the Vale of the Sould — when you come upon riddles in the Avernum series, you have to have already been told the answer by someone else so it'll appear as a response option, or your luck has to be high enough. This eliminates the thought that had to go into the Nethergate riddles. I hope Blades of Avernum will give the scenario designer some flexibility to allow typed-in responses. I didn't mind the "crude" graphics of the Exile series, though I do prefer the Avernum style because it makes it easier to see where you can walk. I also wasted a lot of time in the Exile demos trying to walk over things that I thought were floors but turned out to be walls. I've got the bumps and bruises to prove it. -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| What is the best Disney movie? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Saturday, February 21 2004 11:26
Profile
The Sword in the Stone, easily. However, I saw it a few months ago for the first time in many years, and was surprised at the high number of references to contemporary things, such as airplanes, trips to Bermuda, etc. But it's such an enjoyable film regardless, with wonderful humor and a good moral to the story. The animation may not be of the highest quality, but it has a charm about it that is lacking in many of the more polished Disney productions. -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| It's a small world! in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Saturday, February 14 2004 12:36
Profile
quote:I live in the middle of the desert, 380 miles or so away from the nearest tree, and have so far not met a single fellow creosote bush that plays Spiderweb games. Electrical outlets out here are hard to come by, you see. -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Pets? in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Friday, February 13 2004 10:32
Profile
Ah. You got me there! Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Pets? in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Thursday, February 12 2004 11:41
Profile
quote:I betcha the Empire had several in reserve for such uses, giving only one to Thralni for his expedition. Wouldn't you do the same for your pet dragon? But the Empire was embarassed to admit they would use such priceless artifacts for their shnookiekins, and so pretended Thralni had the only one. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Pets? in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Wednesday, February 11 2004 11:46
Profile
Interesting poll. I voted for Khoth. After all, he proved to be a pretty docile pet to the Empire in Avernum 2. I wonder what kind of collar they gave him? A mithrail one studded with Orbs of Thralni? Did they take him for walkies? And did they feed him Pedigree or Eukanuba? Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| well... Goodevening sirs in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Wednesday, February 4 2004 14:27
Profile
I thought Geneforge 2 started out a little blah, but picked up speed once you learned about the sort of craziness the Takers and Barzhites were into, and you had to start making some pretty difficult decisions. I thought it had a stronger, fuller storyline than the first game. -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in Richard White Games | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Tuesday, December 16 2003 13:41
Profile
I didn't even get as far as decompressing the dratted EV Nova .SIT file! Apparently you need a version of StuffIt Expander that was only around for a few days, and Ambrosia has refused to rectify the faulty SIT file... I really enjoyed the first two Escape Velocity games, though, and would very much like to at least have an opportunity to generate a first-hand antipathy towards the third one! Yes, I quickly tired of Spacward Ho! because of how unvaried it was. Galactic Core at least has different ship designs and pretty planets to look at. The whole graphic design of Spaceward Ho was, in a word, ugly. EDIT: With regards to Ironweed's post -- surely I deserve some kind of award for having started the longest-lived Galactic Core topic? However, I must humbly admit that I had no idea how long this topic had been around! [ Tuesday, December 16, 2003 13:56: Message edited by: Icshi ] Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Tuesday, December 16 2003 13:41
Profile
I didn't even get as far as decompressing the dratted EV Nova .SIT file! Apparently you need a version of StuffIt Expander that was only around for a few days, and Ambrosia has refused to rectify the faulty SIT file... I really enjoyed the first two Escape Velocity games, though, and would very much like to at least have an opportunity to generate a first-hand antipathy towards the third one! Yes, I quickly tired of Spacward Ho! because of how unvaried it was. Galactic Core at least has different ship designs and pretty planets to look at. The whole graphic design of Spaceward Ho was, in a word, ugly. EDIT: With regards to Ironweed's post -- surely I deserve some kind of award for having started the longest-lived Galactic Core topic? However, I must humbly admit that I had no idea how long this topic had been around! [ Tuesday, December 16, 2003 13:56: Message edited by: Icshi ] Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Speculation about "that door"...? in Geneforge Series | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Tuesday, December 2 2003 14:43
Profile
I'm still hoping that Easss summoned Cthulhu, or maybe even the Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep, and in his power-crazed state merely boasted to his friends that *he* created the Stygian Lovecraftian pantheon. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Speculation about "that door"...? in Geneforge 2 | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Tuesday, December 2 2003 14:43
Profile
I'm still hoping that Easss summoned Cthulhu, or maybe even the Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep, and in his power-crazed state merely boasted to his friends that *he* created the Stygian Lovecraftian pantheon. -------------------- The A.E. van Vogt Information Site My Tribute to the Greatest Writer of the Science Fiction Golden Age Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in Richard White Games | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Saturday, October 18 2003 11:59
Profile
Ran across and downloaded another conquer-the-galaxy-and-build-up-your-planets'-economies-to-build-more-ships game. This one's called Spaceward Ho! by Delta Tao software (http://www.deltatao.com/). It could do without the forced cowboy references that permeate the graphics and sound effects, but the interface is very intuitive and is somewhat challenging. It's also quite amusing. If you're loosing you can activate your Armageddon Device and randomly destroy half the galaxy. I used it once, and haven't laughed so hard in quite a while. The graphics and sound effects for activating the Device are perfect. It's worth downloading just to see it. I'm serious. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Saturday, October 18 2003 11:59
Profile
Ran across and downloaded another conquer-the-galaxy-and-build-up-your-planets'-economies-to-build-more-ships game. This one's called Spaceward Ho! by Delta Tao software (http://www.deltatao.com/). It could do without the forced cowboy references that permeate the graphics and sound effects, but the interface is very intuitive and is somewhat challenging. It's also quite amusing. If you're loosing you can activate your Armageddon Device and randomly destroy half the galaxy. I used it once, and haven't laughed so hard in quite a while. The graphics and sound effects for activating the Device are perfect. It's worth downloading just to see it. I'm serious. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Dirty Little Thieves, monsters who can steal in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Monday, September 8 2003 12:33
Profile
quote:I think that's a great idea. Rather like in Ambrosia's Escape Velocity games, I was always tired of the monsters/pirates only wanting to destroy you, and not take your stuff. For one thing, it's always possible to just reload the game after being killed, so being killed isn't much of a real threat. But being robbed! If it's something you think you can live without, you can just continue the game. Or if it's something you really need, you can try to get it back and get some extra experience. This would add a whole new aspect to the game. I look forward to seeing someone implement this! Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Mountains in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Wednesday, August 6 2003 13:15
Profile
Oh yeah! Nifty. I hadn't thought of that. Due to my lack of talent in that area, I'll just cross my fingers and hope someone else makes a set of nice mountain graphics and posts them somewhere for others to use. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Mountains in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Wednesday, August 6 2003 10:29
Profile
Speaking as a self-acknowledged complete ignoramus when it comes to computer programming and graphics, I hope my humble suggestion does not bring down the wrath and scorn of those more skilled in such matters. I'm not too persnickety about graphics and suchlike in computer games -- in fact, I often prefer them nice and simple, rather than so fancy that it detracts from the story or consumes so much processing power that the game is as likely to crash as run. I love the graphics of all the Spiderweb games, and am quite content with their level of complexity and the talent that went into making them. But there is one minor thing that mildly annoyed me when playing outdoor games such as Nethergate and Avernum 3: no mountain graphics. In their place were high brown walls enclosing a black expanse. The same goes for when you're in town mode in an area surrounded by mountainous terrain. This didn't matter so much in Avernum 1 and 2, since they were underground and therefore such areas really were just walls. Since Blades of Avernum will be more than just the latest Avernum game, but a device for creating an endless variety of smaller ones, I was wondering if maybe Jeff could invest the time and effort to produce at least a few rudimentary mountain graphics to further enrich the visual aspect of the game. For all I know, this could either be extremely difficult and therefore isn't going to happen, or it's already in the works. Please note that I'll still be quite happy with the end result no matter what that might be. It's just something I thought would further benefit an already excellent set of graphics. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Atmospheric graphics. in Nethergate | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Monday, July 21 2003 10:07
Profile
I've had the same feeling myself. I'm not sure. Maybe it has something to do with it being a historical adventure? Recognizable period details, rather than styles created from scratch? Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in Richard White Games | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Sunday, June 1 2003 10:34
Profile
quote:There are a few tokentistic technological differences thrown in as well -- for instance, some races can use fractal cores while others can't; some can get the speed upgrade, others can't, etc. There's nowhere near the well-thought-out genuine diversity that can be found in Starbound II. It all seems hurried, contrived, and put in just to make it *seem* like the species really are different. In a way this is both a pro and a con; it takes a lot less time to learn how to play any particular species (which also makes for simpler, quicker gameplay), but that also means that the game wears out its welcome after only a few weeks and you get sick of it because it lacks depth. After playing it quite a lot each day for almost a month, I just woke up one morning and didn't have the slighest inclination to even diddle with it. Haven't touched it since then... But it was fun while it lasted. It's sort of the "cotton candy" of strategy games. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Sunday, June 1 2003 10:34
Profile
quote:There are a few tokentistic technological differences thrown in as well -- for instance, some races can use fractal cores while others can't; some can get the speed upgrade, others can't, etc. There's nowhere near the well-thought-out genuine diversity that can be found in Starbound II. It all seems hurried, contrived, and put in just to make it *seem* like the species really are different. In a way this is both a pro and a con; it takes a lot less time to learn how to play any particular species (which also makes for simpler, quicker gameplay), but that also means that the game wears out its welcome after only a few weeks and you get sick of it because it lacks depth. After playing it quite a lot each day for almost a month, I just woke up one morning and didn't have the slighest inclination to even diddle with it. Haven't touched it since then... But it was fun while it lasted. It's sort of the "cotton candy" of strategy games. Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Wallpaper? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Tuesday, May 27 2003 19:55
Profile
quote:I had the same thought myself this afternoon. A Google search (gotta love Google!) turned up http://members.aol.com/wormius/. He didn't seem to have any of his Spiderweb art posted, so I'm going to send him an email. Thanks for the ResEdit suggestion, Daravon - I seem to recall having that program lying around in some deep, dark subfolder on my harddrive. Chances are I'll have to fight a whole multilevel dungeonful of monsters to get to it, and all I'll end up with as a result is a Dread Curse ... I think I'll play it safe and just email Mr. Hunter. Incidentally, in my original post I accidentally referred to him as Andrew Hunt - his name is actually Andrew Hunter with an "er" at the end. I got his name confused with that of a *Doctor Who* novelist, who wrote *Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible* in the New Adventure series (if that means anything to anybody, which I doubt). Edit: Turns out Hunter didn't do the art for Nethergate, either -- that was done by Brian Snoddy. I really was born with my foot in my mouth, you know. Edit #2: I've been in contact with Hunter, and found he has a newer website at http://www.wormwoodstudios.com/, for anyone who's interested. He's also arranged to send me the startup screens in whatever format and size I'd like! Very polite and obliging fellow... [ Sunday, June 01, 2003 20:07: Message edited by: Icshi ] -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Wallpaper? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Tuesday, May 27 2003 10:11
Profile
quote:Uh... Because I don't know how? I'm not terribly computer-savvy; I just play the games, really, I don't know the first thing about how to access the data files and so on. -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Wallpaper? in General | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Monday, May 26 2003 17:50
Profile
This may have been discussed before, but I was wondering if Jeff (or whoever does the actual day-to-day administration of the Spiderweb Software website) would consider making available wallpaper JPGs (or GIFs, BMPs, whatever) of the start-up screens for their various games. Avernum 3 and Nethergate in particular have beautiful art (by Andrew Hunt, I believe) and I'd love to be able to have those pictures on my desktop. I tried making a regular snapshot of them (Apple + Shift + 3), but apparently the operating system won't allow any such activitiy while the start screen is displayed. Just a hopeful suggestion... -------------------- A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) The World's Most Influential Science Fiction Writer Author of such classics as Slan (1940), The World of Null-A (1945), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), and The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) Visit my website about him at www.home.earthlink.net/~icshi/ Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Some Other Things About BoA in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Sunday, January 12 2003 16:10
Profile
quote:That's a very good idea. Your English is quite good -- don't worry about it! Ah, I see that it's called "get" window. Now I know... Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
| Some Other Things About BoA in Blades of Avernum | |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
|
written Saturday, January 11 2003 13:14
Profile
quote:Would it be possible to make a different background color for such items' squares? In other words, regular/identified items would have the usual white background, special/unidentified items have a, say, gray background. Edit: Anther idea -- maybe have the gray items grouped together at the top of the, er, look-at/pick-up collection-of-item-squares thingie. You know what I mean? That pop-up selection thing that appears when you hit 'g.' I'm not well versed in RPG terminology; I'm sure there's a proper name for it. [ Saturday, January 11, 2003 13:21: Message edited by: Icshi ] Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |