Profile for I'll Steal Your Toast
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | I'll Steal Your Toast |
| Member number | 2210 |
| Title | Agent |
| Postcount | 1084 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
Recent posts
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| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| 4543 in General | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Tuesday, March 8 2005 09:52
Profile
i/o system error 4543 :eek: -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Your Thoughts .... in General | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Tuesday, March 8 2005 09:05
Profile
Hard cider goes well with cheese... Leave a jug of cider on your windowsill in winter... :P -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| HLPM v1.1.2 released in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Tuesday, March 8 2005 05:18
Profile
You would have 1) A separated area (raised ledge) with archer monsters-- that could not be directly reached by the party members. 2) In the open area in front of the ledge; a group of melee monsters. Thus you would have to use a combination of melee and missile combat. This would be in a tight space-- so it would be a bit tougher than melee or missile combat alone. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| HLPM v1.1.2 released in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, March 7 2005 07:44
Profile
Another way to improve the arena would be to add a third option to the type of fights. 1) Melee combat. 2) Missile combat. *3) Melee combat with a separated area like the missile combat area for archers. Also one tiny peeve. You cannot collect any items dropped on the missile platform after you kill the creatures. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| HLPM v1.1.2 released in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, March 7 2005 01:58
Profile
Could you add a couple beasties that are tougher than dragons for high level parties to fight in the arena. Here are a few suggestions: 1) Demon golems. 2) Purple Dragons. 3) Avatars-- I am guessing there is a Slith Avatar as well as a Nephilim avatar. 4) Ur basilisks. 5) Null Chitrach mixed with Dark Chitrach. (Bug Fight.) -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Concentrated Linearity Debate (New Voices Welcome to Participate and Vote) in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Sunday, March 6 2005 07:37
Profile
Replay value is a cure for boredom. It creates greater immersion. I am guessing that some beta testers quit or stop going through a scenario if there aren't things to search for. They simple get bored at too much repetition. Part of this game is exploration. Finding things which are hidden or new is one of the fun points of the game. Also, there is a decent time between releases of new scenarios. It extends the life of a particular scenario if it can be played more than once. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Concentrated Linearity Debate (New Voices Welcome to Participate and Vote) in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Sunday, March 6 2005 05:01
Profile
Think of the words "replay value". A scenario without any choices, without details to look for, and without optional sidequests loses a lot of replay value. Having more than one ending creates a situation where the player is more likely to play through more than once. Thus it gets tested more and is more likely to have a better scenario when released. Also the sidequests and options create an atmosphere which asks a few questions What if? Did I miss? What would have happened if I did? I happen to like this. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Your Favorite Small Details In A Scenario in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Sunday, March 6 2005 01:49
Profile
There are numerous small details in scenarios that make them better (or worse). They often get carried over between scenarios. What are your favorites in the scenarios you have played so far? Some of my favorites are: 1) The chess playing ghasts in Cave of No Return. 2) The dog in Backwater Calls. Also the herbal tea in Backwater Calls. 3) The hidden mithril in Canopy. 4) Calling the friendly ghost in Basshikava Kassper. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Concentrated Linearity Debate (New Voices Welcome to Participate and Vote) in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Saturday, March 5 2005 18:18
Profile
It is not the linearity of the scenario that bothers me so much. It is when you do not get to make small choices that affect the final outcome as you go along in the quest. All scenarios should have some variety of endings even if they are linear. It makes it more interesting. Also small decisions keep you immersed in the scenario. Both Bahssikava and Canopy were linear. I liked both of them. I did not like having my characters stating opinions. It would have been better if leader stated the opinions and the bad guys expressed the opposite. The thing which Bahssikava did was add in a few elements like choosing to learn the ancient slith language or end the scenario early at the gates which made it somewhat more varied. Canopy was better in that it had a few optional side quests. Specifically, the tigers lair which is one of my favorite dungeons ever. I also liked the goblins lair. I find the addition of optional detail can make a scenario much better. Things like petting a dog, curing a mans sickness, or delivering a package. Optional small detail quests are often missing from a linear scenario. If a linear scenario has choices which affect the ending, minor details that add spice, and open ended sidequests it would be just as good as any non-linear scenario in my opinion. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| In Defense of Pure Linearity: a Case Study in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Saturday, March 5 2005 08:56
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Peoples are taking this **** too ****** seriously. I say **** this *** bleep bleep bloop. Make me :P . This has become a kind of pretentious argument, which although entertaining is starting to get off track. The whole point is not whether the scenario is completely linear or not. The point is that sometimes players like to make decisions no matter how small and not have words put in their mouths. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - Basic Communities and Towns, A Concept in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Thursday, March 3 2005 06:34
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Hmm. Some thoughts. Completely forgotten was the manufacturing centers. As far back as the bronze age, certain towns manufactured certain goods. Thus you could have all the furniture, ceramics, jewelry, tools, and other manufactured goods come from certain towns. I think because most of the goods (graphics) for items are the same , they are probably mass produced. I can imagine all sorts of interesting ways this could be done. A factory full of summoned spirits or imps who work on a specific product. A golem mass production center-- they make cabinetry, chests, beds, etc. programmed to specification. You see very few people actually making things in Avernum. There are a number of interesting things which I've noticed about Avernum. There is a four part ruling class-- priest, bureacrat, military lord, and mage in each city. The priest is usually in a spiritual non-governmental role. A triumvarate of mage, bureaucrat, and soldier is the direct government. The cities are further divided into two sections-- one for the craftsmen and traders, and a separate usually better part for the rulers. This was true in Dealing With the Dead and other places as well. Mages towers, research centers, educational centers, and magical schools are usually separated from towns by a good distance and have garrisons not far from them because they contain either toxic potion materials, dangerous summoned monsters, or worse. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Blades Converted To A Strategy Game in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Wednesday, March 2 2005 14:44
Profile
I was looking at how Blades of Avernum is put together. I noticed that it used a hex map system. I also noticed that you could move a around a group of monsters within a hex system. Maps in Blades of Avernum do not seem that different from the old time tabletop strategy games where you could move little paper stacks of units around a map. There are already different graphics for parties of creatures which move around the terrain in a standard Avernum map. Thus with a bit of fiddling you could design an interface to move around units of monsters to attack each other in an avernum map. In the scenario Lost Bahssikava, a group of sliths attacked the main slith temple followed by a cut scene. Put in a few cut scenes and your characters could watch large scale battles. I am hoping in Avernum 4 a front end like this could be put in to add a bit of a strategic element. Thus when you jumped into fights it would look like you were in a larger war, less of a small guerrilla war. Or possibly, you could design a strategy function or game based on Avernum using the same map as the RPG. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - Party vs. Designer in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Tuesday, March 1 2005 17:45
Profile
Maybe a better way to say it is-- Jeff is one person. He needs to have a certain amount of focus to move from one game to the next. If he had made the character races open ended-- it would have turned into too great a variety to move from one game to the next and be manageable by one person. Open endedness in world building works when you have a huge design team who can work out tons of little details, or an obsessive person who locks himself in a room for weeks at a time (but that is another story). This was a major problem with Runesword. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - Party vs. Designer in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Tuesday, March 1 2005 16:29
Profile
I think it is better that he did not create a world construction kit. To put it mildly, Runesword II is garbage compared to Blades of Avernum. The Runesword world is nowhere as good as Blades of Avernum. Putting some limits on the game makes it more focused... I do not want a million classes and races. That would be stupid. Your player characters may not be dwarves, elves, faeries and other such nonsense, but you can certainly have a scenario built in a tolkienesque world. The characters can travel to any world imaginable through the various portals in Avernum. There is no reason you cannot design power armor, etc... You would just call it "Golem armor", or guns-- wand of steel bolts. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - bjlhct2 On Scenario Design pt 1: Linearity in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, February 28 2005 18:26
Profile
This game is very close to the roots of the first roleplaying games. The first consumer wargame was put together in Little Wars by H.G. Wells -- it was basically arranging soldiers with guns. This followed with various tabletop type military simulations. In 1970 Gary Gygax invented a game called Chainmail a precursor to Dungeons and Dragons. It was a medieval miniatures simulation game of small unit tactics. It was played on a tabletop with miniatures. You had a small unit with missioins to take care of. In a similar manner-- reading various threads Avernum started as a tabletop game. You had a small unit. Thus it was not pure pencil and paper roleplaying at all. The game is designed around building a small unit which is sent on missions to complete. Thus in a sense it is more of a simulation of a tabletop miniatures roleplaying game with miniatures and fully laid out maps than a pencil and paper game. You can see the sense of the tabletop with how the grids are laid out for the dungeons and the graphics are designed for monsters. Also the maps in the game are grid maps. The characters at first appear to be standard heroic fantasy types but they are not. They are an amalgam of characters who would function as either a party of explorers, a guerrilla fighting unit, covert operations crew, -- basically military specialists. Thus they do all things which these kind of people would do -- retrieve things, blow up things, solve problems, deliver packages, spread disinformation, raid enemy camps, perform assassinations, hunt down people, scout enemy territory, etc. This is not necessarily heroic. It is also much more interesting-- reading up on this kind of thing as a designer would seriously expand the kind of missions being created. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Scenarios in Development in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, February 28 2005 09:57
Profile
Back to the update: What is currently in development. Since I last checked Lost Bahssikava, Canopy, and Backwater Calls came out. There were others in development: Dahak-- Longshanks Retr-O-- Saint Brevity and the Oochie squad Supanik-- The Yedda Prophecy and Hope Overwhelming-- Roussa Poit, Venom, and Killercrono were working on unspecified works. Jonah Zolohahni-- is starting another one. Terrors Martyr-- requesting graphics for new scenario. Lynkfox-- mentioned was working on mob graphics for a new scenario with his girlfriend. Being obsessive in Wonderland :rolleyes: -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Is This the Real Life? in General | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, February 28 2005 01:36
Profile
Try posting this question to rec.music.makers.percussion -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Backwater Calls submitted. in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Sunday, February 27 2005 10:56
Profile
This is a very good scenario. It does a few things which the other scenarios haven't done in terms of story-- a series of excellent small sidequests based on the needs of the characters in the game, as well as a feeling of pathos-- a style that evokes feeling. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - bjlhct2 On Scenario Design pt 1: Linearity in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Sunday, February 27 2005 10:48
Profile
For me the immersiveness as well as the appearance of choice no matter how small makes the game enjoyable. When the game becomes too obviously controlling and linear it becomes less fun. How does one generate the appearance of choice? How does one create the atmosphere where a character wants to move forward in a linear progression? Even in open ended scenarios-- you still have to progress to the end-- it is just you do not have to do every piece of scenario. You get to avoid the boring parts. Also, you have more options to find hidden material, explore, and do sidequests in a non-linear setting. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| is there any body know auto translation tool in General | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Sunday, February 27 2005 05:44
Profile
The term after looking at the translation sites is localization of language. It involves translations from France French to Canadian French, Cantonese Dialects, Portuguese Portuguese to Brazilian Portuguese. I think if you looked around you could probably find a description of the differences. I think Microsoft Word has a built in Canadian speller and grammar checker. It is supposed to be buggy though. I am not sure of this. http://www.cornerstoneword.com/misc/cdneng/cdneng.htm -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| How Does One Become A Hero? in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Saturday, February 26 2005 15:50
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I have two characters that are ranked as lords, one as an arch wizard, one as a high priest. Supposedly there is a ranking called Hero-- what balance for the character stats are required to become a hero? I think this title is available at the highest levels. I would like one of the lord characters to become a hero. I am wondering if there are any higher rankings? When does a party become a god party? -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Weapons and Warfare in Avernum. in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Friday, February 25 2005 18:30
Profile
If I remember correctly, the friendly spiders took gnat eggs from you as part of a quest. Some of the giant gnats had antimagic fields. I can imagine either the friendly spiders, or possibly to make it interesting Aranea would capture and train chitrach and null bugs to guard their nests. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - Party vs. Designer in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Friday, February 25 2005 16:31
Profile
How would one create the illusion of control in a linear scenario? I think it is with simple breaks in play where minor decisions can be made that may or may not effect the outcome of the whole scenario. This satisfies me that I have some direction in the game. Do I pull the red lever or the green lever? Do I decide to learn a bit of Vahnati Lore or destroy the Vahnati tome? One of the problems of pure linearity is that it assumes that there is no unpredictability in what is happening to the characters-- One maxim of the military is that "NO BATTLE PLAN SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY" -- there should be instances where decisions need to be made by the characters which are not completely foreseen. In a totalitarian setting it would be part of the characters job to sweep these things under the rug and deny them as a way to protect themselves. The characters are essentially problem solvers in Avernum. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - Party vs. Designer in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Thursday, February 24 2005 17:43
Profile
1) Character stagnancy is not a good idea in my opinion. If everything is the same you get a technical puzzle not a scenario. It is like a tour bus trip where you look at things but do not go anywhere on foot in the city. This can be fine for a while, but then you want to get off the bus and decide what sights you want to see. 2)The problem with very controlled scenarios is that they lose my sense of suspension of disbelief (immersion) because in a way I am not a direct participant. Everything follows a set rigid pattern led by a totalitarian hand that never makes mistakes. Giving a breaking point where a decision can be made -- reconnects the story and allows the party to get back on the bus. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
| Article - Karma, Dharma and Somesuch in Blades of Avernum | |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Thursday, February 24 2005 08:52
Profile
It seems that the karma flag could be used for something else entirely. It would be useful for a mercenary scenario based on actions to create opportunities. Your party is hired to do various missions-- certain actions increase your available missions. This is neither good nor bad-- just there. The actions would have to be searched out. Thus the more side quests done, the more that is available in the main quest. You could eliminate the negative side of the equation entirely. An example-- Knights Quest-- you are going to a tourney-- there are side quests for archer, mage, cleric, fighter, etc. Each side quest determines the events you are able to compete in in the the final tournmanet. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |