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G4 Preview in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Thursday, November 2 2006 08:55 Profile Homepage #24
I guess that means I'm going to have to name my character Tim.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
No tag backs! in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Thursday, November 2 2006 08:05 Profile Homepage #61
DV, this is really a new side of you we're seeing. I would never have expected such a passionate outburst from you on this issue.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Does War Blessing Stack? in Avernum 4
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Thursday, November 2 2006 08:02 Profile Homepage #5
It's hard to balance a set of things where each thing has a unique effect. It's also usually better for a game to have some underpowered stuff than some broken stuff. Most designers of computer RPGs don't have the time to focus on perfectly balancing every spell, since so many things demand a designer's attention. So, some spells will always tend to be useless.

I can think of a few games where this isn't the case, but they are all games that had a small number of spells (Dragon Warrior had 10, for example, only 6 of which were combat spells).

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ghandi? You must be joking! in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Thursday, November 2 2006 06:53 Profile Homepage #35
Yes, and clearly Exile speaks to the reunification of nations divided in the Cold War.

*facepalm*

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
No tag backs! in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Thursday, November 2 2006 06:11 Profile Homepage #57
quote:
Originally written by *i:

If a kid is getting beat up every day, he needs to be helped. If he's being teased or people are stealing his football once in a while, then let him deal with it himself.
I'd say this is the right idea but the wrong metric. It shouldn't depend on what is happening, it should depend primarily on the kid's ability to handle it. It he is in an unpleasant situation and is struggling with it, give him a chance to deal with it on his own. If it looks like he won't be able to do so in a reasonable way after some tries, then assist. Otherwise, let him work it through, to learn. How quickly assistance is offered might depend on the situation.

Also note that it's possible to offer support in an unpleasant situation that increases the kid's abiltiy to handle the situation well, but does not remove his autonomy in handling it or what he will learn from it. Medical treatment when you get hurt would go in this category, or encouragement and discussion (not suggestive advice) in almost any situation. In order to learn successfully and then to be successful, kids need autonomy AND support.

Edit: In response to Alec, what surprises me is that almost nobody here is taking degree of damage into account. Tanbark is not there to prevent skinned knees, which can still happen in it, it's there to lessen the likelihood of serious head, neck, and back injuries, and to prevent anyone from making like Piggy in Lord of the Flies. And for most kids, skinned knees will only be traumatic if they don't get appropriate support from adults (and even then "traumatic" is a bit of a strong word). Same thing goes for wearing a helmet when you bike, calling "casting" when you fish in an area with other people, and so on. Preventing fatal accidents and trauma is good, period. Minimizing mere adversity is debatable and IMHO depends on situational factors. Doing it at the cost of fun and play is absurdly stupid.

[ Thursday, November 02, 2006 06:34: Message edited by: Frosted Cryodrayks ]

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Key items in Exile 2 in The Exile Trilogy
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 20:22 Profile Homepage #4
There are a number of people who refer to each item. Off the top of my head, Demonslayer is referred to by Efram and Anastasia in Silvar, Boutell in Fort Draco (I think), Solberg, Patrick, Micah, probably Rone and some other folk. The Orb of Thralni is definitely referred to by people in the Castle (where it was stolen from) and Fort Remote, and probably others as well.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 20:14 Profile Homepage #47
Unlike the other Gold Box games, there is a Mac version of Pool of Radiance that was actually ported to the mac gui and not just a single window direct port. It requires Classic obviously, but has always run fine for me. I actually own a copy of it. It's black-and-white, which has a charm of its own, though it's a bit different feel.

Pool of Radiance was released for NES and IIgs as well, in case that's helpful.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ghandi? You must be joking! in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 20:07 Profile Homepage #28
Interesting:

Economic
-10.0 TM
-9.63 Aran
-9.13 Alec
-8.13 Slarty
-8.... Alorael
-7.50 Ephesos
-7.38 Imban
-7.13 Andraste
-6.38 Dikiyoba
-5.75 Tyranicus
-5.38 Nioca
-5.38 Vlish
-5.00 Drew
-5.00 Redstart
-4.38 Stew Boy
-4.38 Zeviz
-3.63 Drakey
-3.50 Magma
-3.00 Lenar
-2.88 Salmon
-2.63 Lazarus
-2.25 Randomizer
-0.75 Jewels
-0.75 Niemand
-0.25 Sullust
0...... AM
+2.38 Tullegolar
+6.25 Alberich

Social
-9.28 Aran
-9.03 Alec
-8.50 TM
-7.08 Andraste
-6.62 Slarty
-6.10 Tyranicus
-6.... Alorael
-5.64 Ephesos
-5.54 Drew
-4.77 Nioca
-4.56 Redstart
-3.90 Randomizer
-3.85 Vlish
-3.03 Drakey
-2.92 Dikiyoba
-2.87 Sullust
-2.82 Salmon
-2.56 Imban
-2.15 Magma
-1.74 Stew Boy
0...... Jewels
+0.41 Lenar
+0.46 Tullegolar
+0.62 Zeviz
+0.97 Lazarus
+1.03 Alberich
+1.28 Niemand
+8.00 AM

[ Thursday, November 02, 2006 06:55: Message edited by: Frosted Cryodrayks ]

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 09:15 Profile Homepage #44
One of the reasons I still adore FF4 is that -- relatively uniquely -- it doesn't give you any choice in party composition or character selection, and shuffles party composition constantly as the story moves along. There's nothing wrong with the standard end-the-game-with-the-party-of-your-choice formula, but taking away that flexibility makes it much easier to balance the game properly. Even crappy characters can be useful or, at the least, non-annoying since they aren't taking up a spot somebody better could occupy.

The ideal RPG that I will obviously never end up making would combine that with a lack of XP and level ups. Skill progression is great, but putting it in the player's hands makes things less fun, ultimately, for (as you put it) "compulsive optimizers." I guess that puts me in a rather totalitarian, TM-esque game design camp...

[ Wednesday, November 01, 2006 09:16: Message edited by: Frosted Cryodrayks ]

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ghandi? You must be joking! in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 09:06 Profile Homepage #1
Funny -- I had thought my answers were more restrained than the last time I took this. Apparently not:

Economic Left/Right: -8.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.62

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 08:57 Profile Homepage #42
http://www.snes9x.com/

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 07:18 Profile Homepage #39
Edge was more useful in the original, non-easytyped version. The final boss's basic, hit-everyone attack was a lot stronger, and Edge could (with some effort) steal an item from him that would reduce the damage it did.

But he's still quite versatile; I found him more useful than Kain. His magic was a useful supplement to Rydia's in some situations, and with the claws and other weapons he could achieve almost any brand for a physical attack with good power. He is by far the most useful character against Odin, especially when Bersk'd.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 05:45 Profile Homepage #37
FF6 was a great game, but it too had characters that were mostly interchangeable, thanks to the power of magic and the universality of Espers. If you haven't already, I highly recommend playing a "Natural Magic" game of FF6, where you never equip Espers. It makes the characters more differentiated, and the game is still definitely on the easy side.

The thing that made FF6 into a legend, much like FF7, was the story and the characters. FF6 did a *great* job of telling a story, and didn't really include any RPG cliche characters (the ones that have been jam packed into more recent FFs). Combat was interesting because there were so many options, but it was never well-balanced in the mid and late game.

Honestly, I'm not sure game balance has really existed in any FF game since FF4 in, um, 1991.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
G4 Preview in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 05:33 Profile Homepage #14
Did you say chapter 2?

That, too, makes me happy. Having chapter divisions has been as good an indicator of a great Spiderweb game as anything else. (See: Exile 2, Nethergate)

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
That Literary Dog... in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Wednesday, November 1 2006 05:30 Profile Homepage #11
Perhaps I don't meet your definition of growing up in the 90's, which cover ages 7-18 for me, but I've never even heard of Wishbone.

Butterfly in the sky? I can go twice as high!

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
G4 Preview in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 20:00 Profile Homepage #3
Sweet.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 19:52 Profile Homepage #32
Ditto, I was about to quote the same line of Alorael's and affirm it. Also, if both (1) the game mechanics, and (2) the story and characters suck, what else is left to not suck? The graphics, I suppose? Meh.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
The SpiderWebWorld in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 19:41 Profile Homepage #27
Bahrain.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
GF2 ending irritation in Geneforge Series
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 09:11 Profile Homepage #9
I am fairly sure that you can only get Aodare's ending (he's the one character who alludes to it) by killing all of the sect leaders. The ending I'm talking about specifically states that the Shaper Coüncil is pleased that you demolished all four sects.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
GF2 ending irritation in Geneforge Series
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 04:05 Profile Homepage #4
Accepting the quest doesn't matter. And in order to get the non-aligned ending, you have to kill the people you listed PLUS Zakary. 5/6 is not enough.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Wealth. in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 03:51 Profile Homepage #99
This isn't my most constructive post ever, but it can't be helped:

:rolleyes:

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 03:42 Profile Homepage #27
The Gold Box series is a little narrower in time range than the others, 1988-1992 I believe. So if you are under 20 they were likely dated by the time you were old enough to play them.

And there was no Super Mario Land 3. Actually, I think Wario Land may have had that subtitle sometimes, but I don't think that's what you mean.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Monday, October 30 2006 09:13 Profile Homepage #24
I loved 9 when I started playing it (especially because I played it immediately after throwing 8 out the window in disgust). There are a lot of things about it that are really well designed, and it has great energy in the beginning. But that energy doesn't carry past the first part of the game, and the plot gets pretty ugly in parts, once you get past basic quests to the meat of the game. It also gets ridiculously easy after the first few quests... it wasn't well balanced.

I will always love 9 for the FMV of Vivi watching all the Black Mages fall out of the airship and die. And I will always hate it for the black hole of graphics and plot that is Amaranth. Also, Garnet is really annoying and stupid, but that has characterized every female lead outside of 6 and 7.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Monday, October 30 2006 08:29 Profile Homepage #22
Even 8?!?!

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Some Games Have Too Many Sequels in General
Slarty
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
 written Monday, October 30 2006 07:54 Profile Homepage #20
Yes, 3 hasn't been officially released in English, but it gets a lot of love on the net. Truly a great game. Better balanced, I think, than any other FF, and it allows for a wider variety of interesting tactics and gameplay than any other FF (well, except FF Tactics). It would also get my vote for second-best NES music ever, second only to the oddly melodious Ultima 4 port.

2 on the other hand manages to be both too hard and too easy at the same time while encouraging mindless repetition.

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Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central
Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00

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