Profile for Slarty
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Slarty |
| Member number | 261 |
| Title | Raven v. Writing Desk |
| Postcount | 3560 |
| Homepage | http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/slartyvsdesk/ |
| Registered | Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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| "Turn al on" ...why? in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, October 12 2006 06:49
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Yeah, G1 was very unbalanced with regard to creation strength and how your stats impacted that. The levels creations gained from experience gave them, essentially, half as much power as the levels they gained from your shaping skill when you created them. The nice thing about that is that it made this kind of "disposable creations" model worthwhile to play. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Triadiads in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, October 11 2006 20:00
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Inspired by User:Dintiradan: You see a strange man, middle aged, calm and confident. He has a staff, carved in the shape of a cobra. NAME? He nods to you. "Welcome to my Encyclopedia. I am known as 'Aran'. I am of the Triad." JOB? "Mostly I teach, but lately I have been researching a new spell, which would make a strip of bacon drop on someone's head, even from a long distance. It would be a wondrous spell. I wouldn't have a chance to find it without this library." TRIAD? "I, Slarty, and Drakey rule the Encyclopedia. However, I have been busy, and Drakey is away, so it is mainly Slarty that is in charge. I wonder what he has been doing?" TEACH? "Yes. Powerful scripts. But I've been busy lately, and haven't time to do any teaching now." NOOBS? "Yes. Alorael and I look after them, teach them UBB markup, discipline them as necessary." LIBRARY? "Yes. One of the many gifts of Terror's Martyr. About whom the less said, the better." A young man with short dark hair sits at the desk, writing. Leaning against his chair is a short wooden staff, carved in the shape of a twisting serpent. The runes on his robe seems to indicate he is a person of great power. NAME? "Greetings. I am Slarty, of the Triad." JOB? "I am of the Triad that controls the Encyclopedia." TRIAD? "Yes. The Encyclopedia Ermariana is run by three users. I control research. Aran in is charge of teaching. And one of us is absent." ABSENT? He gives you a truly ugly smile. "Yes. One of the three is away. We don't know when he will be back." TEACHING? "Yes. He may be of aid to you. He's around here somewhere." RESEARCH? "On many, many things. This is an ambitious time for the Encyclopedia, a time of great and auspicious happenings. Right now, I am trying to find information on the First Expedition." ...GREP? "A strange and powerful item, only usable by the greatest of users. I would say more about it, but I won't. Suffice it to say this is a great and auspicious time for the Encyclopedia." He smiles, in a disturbingly sharklike way. You see an aging, bald man in brilliant crimson robes. He supports himself with an oaken staff carved in the shape of a cobra. NAME? He looks at you nervously. "I am Drakey, of the Triad," he says. JOB? His face sours as he looks at you. "I would like to welcome you, visitors, but your arrival fills me with fear. Let us just say I am here waiting." WAITING? "For my fellow members of the Triad to complete their business." BUSINESS? "Yes. A messy, dangerous business. They plan to dump a Scenario! And not any Scenario, but a Scenario Epic!" SCENARIO? "Ah. Be careful where you say that word. It has dangerous power. They are the lieutenants of fanon, powerful, and cruel. And my colleagues planned to dump one who is powerful enough to lead them. A Solid Adventure, as it were." "And now this foul deed is done! Heavens help us all!" TRIAD? "The Triad rules the Encyclopedia Ermariana. There is myself, Slarty, the initiator of this foolish operation, and 'Aran', who is too lost in bizarre schemes to do anything about it. Oh, the Triad is a sad thing these days. It almost makes me long for TM's return." "Almost, but not quite." TM? He smiles sadly. "Terror's Martyr. Scripter without par. Banished into Misc. by the fools above. Consumed with utter hatred. Without him, we would all be barbarians, rooting about in the filth." BARBARIANS? "He led us. Then his hatred drove him away." HATRED? "For those who cast him down. The mods above, together, were strong enough to curse him with death should the autocensor touch him. When he realized he couldn't break the curse, he began to plot." PLOT? "Ways to bring doom to the forums. He began to perform strange experiments, and consort with scenarios. Soon, all he was good for was planning his revenge. So, we asked him to leave. He now lives far, far to the west, in a huge tower." "And, to tell the truth, I'd rather not know what he is up to." -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| G3 decison on who to join up with in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, October 11 2006 18:46
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You can actually continue to change your mind up until practically the end of the third (and biggest) island, so don't worry about it yet. In G1, it is generally agreed the Awakened were presented as the most rational and humane (though there are plenty of reasons to choose the other sects). G3 on the other hand is clearly intended to force a choice between two bad options. More people seem to side with the Shapers, probably because some of them, like Khyryk, seem a little more reasonable and less crazed. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Physics conundrums in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, October 11 2006 07:13
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quote:Heh. I like that pluralization! -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Google Yourself! in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, October 10 2006 20:11
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quote:Wow. That is one of the most damning things I've heard about UBB (and that's saying a lot). They merge a list of strings into one string and apply a dysfunctional algorithm to choose where to insert a conjunction, rather than inserting it before merging and skipping the algorithm altogether? Sheesh! -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Google Yourself! in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, October 10 2006 20:09
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EE, LJ, an ancient mailing list, diki's script, several game forums, Warlocks, spiderweb, some long essays I wrote on Warlocks tactics, some unfortunately public spidweb chats, the a4 item list, slarty vs desk, the novel I wrote seven years ago, my elementary school alumni page, boardgamegeek, several others. all legitimate references to me! The shorter form of my handle gets mostly unrelated stuff, save slarty vs desk and desk vs slarty. and spidweb, and EE. my full name in quotes gets a LOT of unrelated stuff, plus: several pages about ccg tournaments I won a few years back, several ancient mailing lists, a concert review I wrote, a ccg strategy article I wrote, my BoE articles & examples submission, a post to a math newsgroup I made when I was 11, and a newspaper article I'm quoted in. I think I've been information autobahned! -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Dead Civilian in Town in The Exile Trilogy | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, October 10 2006 06:50
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Presumably, E3. I'm pretty sure there aren't any town character-based ferries in E1 or E2, just outdoor encounter-based ones. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Marralis! in Blades of Avernum | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Monday, October 9 2006 18:30
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I don't remember any town named Marralis in A3. Well, there definitely wasn't one in E3, and google searching the name only turns up VoDT references. Are you sure about that? Edit: Also, the text dumps for E3 and A3 both have nothing when I search for "Marralis". [ Monday, October 09, 2006 18:31: Message edited by: Auroraloraelis ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| "Turn al on" ...why? in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Monday, October 9 2006 18:25
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The longer you keep a creation with you, the stronger it will end up being. In G2 and G3, the intensity of this effect outweighs having a very high shaping skill. The result is that it's usually beneficial to create the creations you want as soon as you have the essence and skill. You can pump their INT later, when you have extra essence, but spending a few levels on perm AI is a small price to pay for having your creations be at a permanently higher level, by those several levels. As for make inactive: I use it whenever I have creations in tow and enter one of the damaging atmosphere zones (at least, the ones where the entrance is a safe area). -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| What's your opinion... in Blades of Avernum | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Monday, October 9 2006 11:58
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Trollin' Salmon! -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| What's your opinion... in Blades of Avernum | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, October 8 2006 21:10
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Armies of undead don't have to be boring. Not that I'm advocating them, mind you. But there are plenty of examples of modified minor undead, Ruby Skeletons and Slime Zombies and the like. Jeff did this in Exile II, with Quickghasts and Vahnavoi and the like keeping undead fights interesting. Any undead army CAN be interesting. They just usually aren't. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| What's your opinion... in Blades of Avernum | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, October 8 2006 19:04
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Nonfunctional keyboards suck. (Don't even get me started about AZERTY keyboards.) You have my deepest sympathy. quote:That wasn't quite what I meant. The problem isn't so much that the creatures wouldn't work well in conjunction -- I can't imagine they'd have much synergy, but it doesn't take much synergy to guard or kill things when you're a monster. The problem is thinking about why your villain would choose to use each of those creatures to begin with. Since we are on the surface, they obviously weren't just the closest formidable creatures to grab. Why gorgons, as opposed to something more common? Why Vahnatai, as opposed to something more obedient? And why this strange variety of creatures, rather than just an army of one type? It adds versatility in combat I suppose, but I imagine it would also add a lot of hassle when it comes to recruiting the creatures, particularly when they don't live nearby. The biggest question for me is about the undead. Undead don't have minds; if they are controlled at all, it is inherent to their creation. So pretty much anyone who can tell an army of undead what to do or not to do used necromancy to obtain said army. That begs the question of why not just use more necromancy and make more undead, instead of spending (presumably) greater resources acquiring the other critters? FWIW, I also thought A4 was cool as a game -- just not any of its text. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| What's your opinion... in Blades of Avernum | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, October 8 2006 17:58
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Nioca, nobody's saying you can't make your scenario the way you want. But if you link to screenshots on a BoA forum it seems reasonable to expect some feedback! That said... another monster factory?!? I realize that the last SIX games Jeff has made (not counting BoE and BoA, and probably seven with Geneforge 4) have all revolved around some version of monster factories. But there are really very few reasons one would exist. "Revenge on an entire race and/or civilization" (see Avernum 3, Avernum 4, Geneforge 2, Geneforge 3, Geneforge 4) works, I guess, if that's your thing. But just think about the story you are putting together. It has to make sense, it has to be believable in the context of your fantasy world, for it to really engage players. Similarly, while undead CAN appear anywhere, they don't just appear randomly. That goes doubly for gorgons, exotic-sounding spiders, and Vahnatai. Mind control or no mind control, it would take an awfully complicated backstory to convince me that anyone would reasonably use that particular combination of creatures as minions. Why those? Why not creatures from less far away? This is not YuGiOh; throwing monsters together for no reason destroys your atmosphere. Not to mention, mind control over all those creatures, particularly the Vahnatai, sounds like an insanely powerful ability. I'm just sayin'. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| I Am Engaged in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, October 4 2006 23:58
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...really? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Fun things to do in Avernum 4 in Avernum 4 | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, October 3 2006 05:12
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How dare you compare a dysfunctional villain like Rentar-Ihrno with Slartibartfast. Rentar and bistromathematics... pshaw! The Nine-Headed Cave Cow is not pleased, and He or She has indigestion today, so you'd better watch out for bovine retribution. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Monday, October 2 2006 06:47
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quote:Well, obviously he didn't think that far, considering that House Sol is a total fabrication, never mentioned in the games. I think the line I quoted must be a mistake. Obviously Micah et al would have been aware of this irony wrt the Avernum crest, and I can't believe nobody would comment on it, ever. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Monday, October 2 2006 00:23
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I got it from Alec, actually, who mentioned it on page 1 of this thread. The reason why it sounded right to me is probably that the earlier games refer usually to a "sword and crown" symbol. There is, as usual, inconsistent retconning... Exile 2: "On the wall is the sword and crown symbol of the Empire." "He wears long silk robes, with the sword and crown symbol of the Empire on the chest." "Out here, in the middle of nowhere, someone has placed a fresco of the symbol of the Empire on the cave wall here. The design is a horizontal sword over a crown." Avernum 2: "He wears long, silk robes, with the crown symbol of the Empire on the chest." "On this wall, out in the middle of nowhere, someone has created a small fresco. It depicts the crown symbol of the Empire, with a horizontal sword under it." "This storeroom is filled with empty sacks and open crates and barrels, many with the sword and crown symbol of the Empire." On the other hand, maybe we shouldn't trust what the game has to say about symbols... Exile 1: "The door in front of you has the hated symbol of the Empire military on it. Strange. Very strange." Avernum 1: "The door in front of you has a symbol on it. You recognize it instantly, and when you do, a chill feeling grips your heart. It is the sun symbol of Emperor Hawthorne." Riiiight. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, October 1 2006 23:12
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quote:Yes, what Drakey said. We both vote for cave/surface. ...That said, I hate democracy, or even oligarchy; EE has run quite smoothly under a benevolent dictatorship of Aran and I see no reason to change that. You do ask for and listen to advice from others, which is one of the reasons it's been so smooth. So I'm content to just let you make the decision, weighing the evidence, choosing the one you think fits best. ...That said, you did implement that hideous dark blue and yellow color scheme... ;) quote:No, no. The detail of TGM's first logo was distracting because it (1) looked a lot like the text it would be near, and (2) had a confluence of lines that is disorienting for physiological reasons. I don't have that problem with his second logo, at least not the all- or mostly-silver versions. And the cave logo doesn't have that problem. It's colorful and busy, but the colors and their boundaries are soft, not hard (unlike the harsh orange of the TGM sun). Also, it is an elegant microcosmal representation of EE's subject matter. If you want something that is symbolic of mediawiki, why not just go with the old logo? Meh. quote:I disagree, but I wouldn't object to it being a title/template picture, either. Meanwhile, what happened to the sword through the crown? I want an answer! This is supposed to be an accurate encyclopedia, not a mishmash of haphazardly assembled lore. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, October 1 2006 18:28
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I agree with Drakey. Let's just vote the cave/surface pic in, commission whatever changes are necessary, and be done with this mess. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, October 1 2006 07:11
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I like the new crown. What about the size, though? Have you tried shrinking the crown slightly and enlarging the sunburst slightly? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, October 1 2006 05:50
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An interesting motif that just occured to me. Since the empire logo is really supposed to be a crown with a sword through it, what about a crown with a wave blade through it? Anyway, I like the silver version. TGM, ADOS certainly could have been more tactful with what he said, but he was only stating an opinion. If you can't handle a little bit of criticism, submitting creative work to be judged on the internet is definitely not a good idea. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Saturday, September 30 2006 19:30
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As art, I think TGM's latest are fantastic. They look really good. But I don't like them for the EE logo. If this was for a title page logo that displayed once per login, I'd be loving them. But this is a logo that goes in the upper left hand corner of EVERY PAGE. They are the only bright thing on the page, so your eye is drawn to it even though it is always the same, and it is so busy with the textures and shapes, it's disorienting when placed next to text you are trying to read. (The effect is maybe a bit more subtle then the way I'm describing it, but you get the idea.) What I *would* really like to see is this logo done entirely in silver. (Or maybe with just the sun silver and the others in the gold.) I think that would work much better on an actual EE page than the current version. One comment about the symbols. The sun is wearing the crown? What the heck does that mean? I know I'm reading too much into them, but if you're going to consciously include symbols you may as well be conscious about how you use them. I'm really split. These logos have potential, as does TGM's other one and both of ADOS's. Aran, you must be surprised to have gotten so many great submissions! -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Artwork request - Encyclopedia Logo in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Saturday, September 30 2006 14:55
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I have a suggestion for TGM's logo. Make the smaller circle (the one in the background) yellow (like the text) instead of black. I think that will preserve the things we like about the logo while making it less grating on the eye. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Alchemy recipes in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Saturday, September 30 2006 13:46
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muchos gracias. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Alchemy recipes in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Saturday, September 30 2006 13:02
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Does anyone have a complete list of alchemy recipes and ingredients needed for each, in Avernum 3 and BoA? It's the last piece I need for some research I'm doing for EE, and I can't find one online. Thanks in advance. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |