Profile for Matt Thorn
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Matt Thorn |
| Member number | 2883 |
| Title | Apprentice |
| Postcount | 10 |
| Homepage | http://matt-thorn.com |
| Registered | Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
Recent posts
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| Question about the boards in General | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Monday, December 11 2006 23:28
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I looked everywhere and couldn't find an answer to to this. Is there some way to unsubscribe from e-mail notification of new posts in a particular thread, or am I stuck with the notices until the thread dies a natural death? See, now I'm afraid to click that "Email Notification" box. :P (Did I miss the meeting where the hyphen was removed from the word "e-mail"?) -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Is the Shaper Camp unbeatable? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Monday, December 11 2006 20:52
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Thanks. I was wondering about the ubercreations in the Western Barrier Zone and Thornton (though I cleared out both basements). Haven't been to the Western Morass yet, and have just peeked into Turabi Gate. You've saved me some unnecessary effort. -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Best Game Ever? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Monday, December 11 2006 20:14
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I played Nethergate for about an hour, and was so frustrated by the game play that I gave up. It looked cooler than the two-dimensional Exile games, but it seemed so counterintuitive, and just moving around was a major nuisance. In that sense, the leap in game play in Geneforge 1 was downright thrilling; just click on a spot and your character goes there! After you've gotten used to the Geneforge (and later Avernum) gaming, Blades of Avernum is unplayable. It'd be like moving from MacOS X to Mac System Software 6. (Anyone remember MultiFinder? I forget what they called those mini-applications you used to access under the apple menu. And what was that thing we used to add or remove fonts? .... What? Don't tell me you're all too young to remember any of this stuff? I won't even ask if any of you ever owned a Lisa.) Ehem. Anyway, Geneforge 4 is great so far, but I am a bit apprehensive. I was really unsatisifed with the choices we were forced to make in Geneforge III, and all of the endings left a bad taste in my mouth. -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Is the Shaper Camp unbeatable? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Monday, December 11 2006 20:02
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Wow. Then I'll put that on my list of things to do when I've gotten to the end of the game and my character has demigod-like powers. Thanks for the answer! -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Is the Shaper Camp unbeatable? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Monday, December 11 2006 19:29
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I am a level 35 infiltrator loyal to the Rebels (at this point). My trusty drayk (all right, maybe I'm on my tenth trusty drayk) and I have been trying to conquer the Shaper Camp through a war of attrition. I go in, kill maybe two at the most, and retreat. In this way I was able to kill the first bunch of humans/shapers who appear, and a bunch of creations, too. The hardest to kill, of course, are those creepy rotgroths, and I've found the only way I can do it is to charm at least two enemy creations and have them do a lot of the work for me. I killed one, thought I was safe, penetrated farther in, and another appeared. After several tries (and many Game Overs) I mangaed to kill that one. Another appeared. I mangaed to kill that one...and now yet another has appeared. Not only that, farther in I found a whole new bunch of tough-looking humans/shapers standing around a campfire just waiting to turn me into toast. Is this area impossible for someone of my current level? Is there some kind of spawner from hell in there pumping out rotgroths? If any of you were able to conquer this camp, what level were when you did it, and what advice can you offer? Thanks in advance for any help! -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| What do you think of A4 in Avernum 4 | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Thursday, September 7 2006 20:15
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I've been a paying player of Jeff's games since the first Exile. The games get better all the time, while retaining the best qualities of the earliest, and are quite addictive. Since I rarely play commercial computer games of any kind, it's hard for me to compare. I liked Avernum V, but at times I found it tiresome and frustrating. (Chitratchs...worms...slimes...ugh. Is this Peter Jackson's King Kong?) In particular, the Basalt Fortress assault seemed like an enormous amount of effort for surprisingly little reward. All right, I'll admit I was stupid: I actually killed every single pylon in the place. I know I could have gotten past them without doing so, but if you *do* get to the far ends of the rooms these plyons are in, there's always some treat (spells and such) waiting. But I think I did it out of spite. I would kill two, maybe three, retreat to Fort Remote to re-energize, then go back again. It took ages. When it was all done, I checked my stats, expecting to see that I had rung up two or three new levels of experience, and was shocked to see they had barely moved. Even though they are harder to kill than just about anything else in the game, apparently they are worth few experience points. What's up with that? And what do you have to do to get your mage or priest up to level 17 in order to use the most powerful spells, Divine Host and Arcane Blow? Maybe if I had dedicated *all* of their skill points to Mage Spells/Priest Spells and Intelligence, I could have done it but the characters would have been so weak as to be a major burden on the group. I agree, though, with those who praised the fact that different monsters require very different approaches, and can't all be destroyed with brute force. You are forced to experiment and think, and this adds to the pleasure of the game. As for the plot, it did seem a bit like a retread, and I couldn't help feeling there were quite a few, shall we say "homages" to plenty of well-known fantasy stories, inclduing Harry Potter, Star Wars, and of course Lord of the Rings. But what bothered me most was the recycling of monsters and items from Geneforge. The first Geneforge for me was so refreshingly different. I really wish he would keep them completely separate. Unlike an earlier poster, I would be seriously disappointed if in a future game it turned out that they were in the same world, unless Jeff did something really clever and convincing with the setting and story. (Perhaps those vaguely Russian-esque "foreigners" in one of the Geneforge games are from the Exile/Avernum series' "Empire.") But Jeff has shown himself again and again to be not just a great programmer, but also an articulate and clever writer. I played some of the Blades of Exile games created by others, and most were horribly written crap. I haven't bothered buying Blades of Avernum, because I expect the same will be true of the scenarios available for that one, too. If I had loads of free time, I'd be tempted to make one myself, but it would certainly turn out to be as tedious and long as this post. I suspect I'll keep buying and playing Jeff's games as long as he keeps pumping them out. I can just see myself in a retirement home, sitting in diapers in a wheelchair, a bit of drool dripping from my mouth and long hairs protuding from my ears. Laptop on knee, I'll be playing Geneforge XXI. -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Lankin plot bug? in Geneforge Series | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Tuesday, April 26 2005 05:12
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It must make Jeff feel pretty lousy to see all our complaints on the message board, but he does seem to have rushed G3. There are some improvements to play, but a lot of annoying old quirks remain, such as the awkward procedure for saving that reminds of saving back in the days of the Mac Plus. (And if you don't know what a Mac Plus is, you're either too young or a Windows user.) Still, Jeff's work is a hundred times better than that of 99 percent of software game programmers. I would rather wait six years for a Geneforge 4 that reflects what Jeff is capable of, rather than getting another rushed game a year from now. -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Anvil on Dhonal's Isle? in Geneforge Series | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Tuesday, April 26 2005 04:51
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I never did run across the enchanted anvil on Dhonal's Isle that Sciolino asks me to find. Does anyone know where it is? My eyes started to glaze over half way through Dhonal's Isle, and I hurried through it as fast I could. I even left some Mandrake Tincture and Demon's Bile (?) there, because I didn't realize how much I would need the stuff later to make the Eight Artifacts. -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Middle of the road viewpoint in Geneforge Series | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 04:49
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I have to admit that, though I've been buying Jeff's games since Exile, I am finding G3 to be not very enjoyable, for the reasons everyone has pointed out. If I simply follow my conscience (as I have in earlier games), I talk like a rebel and (for the most part) act like a loyalist, with the results that have been noted here. I actually felt lousy when Greta--whom I liked--left my broup because she disagreed with what I was doing, and I was left with Alwan, whom I can't stand. The game has become a chore, frankly, and judging from what others have said, I don't think I would enjoy it any more if I started again and played as either a straight loyalist or a straight rebel. I'm curious to know what Jeff was thinking when he scripted this one. -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |
| Spharon? in Geneforge Series | |
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Apprentice
Member # 2883
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written Tuesday, April 12 2005 17:07
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I'm pretty sure I checked everything on that level (and even the level above) and couldn't find it. Could you be more specific? What do you mean by "posts"? -------------------- Matt Thorn School of Manga Production Kyoto Seika University Japan Posts: 10 | Registered: Wednesday, April 16 2003 07:00 |