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Nothing Plus Nothing Equals Nothing in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #16
Again, your idea of what scientists think could stand to be informed by some experience with actual scientists. Good scientists are actually very good at admitting what we don't know. I can't count the number of times that my professors this semester have admitted that no one knows the answer to a question.

One of my favorites was my astro teacher mentioning that our established theories predict that all the mass of a black hole should be crammed into a point with literally zero radius, which is one of the ways that we know that these established theories must break down at something like 10^-30 meters or some such infinitesimal distance. They work at the energies and distances at which we can test them now, but they need refinement at these vastly different orders of magnitude.

You may have come to the impression that scientists are very sure of themselves because sometimes they are, and usually with reason. The fact that our current quantum mechanics and relativity break down at ridiculously small orders of magnitude doesn't mean that they're wrong at the orders of magnitude at which they've been tested. Quantum is definitely really good at the scale of the atom, and scientists know that with pretty darn good certainty. It needs revision for other scales, but scientists can be as sure as you like that it works at the scale at which it has been tested.

This applies to biology, too: we're not suddenly one day going to discover that the heart mostly regulates reproduction and the spleen mostly pumps blood, or something like that. The stuff that we know, we do pretty well know.

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 21:24: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Nothing Plus Nothing Equals Nothing in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #10
I think you were the one who got upset with me for not making enough jokes, were you not? It appears that the problem is not that I don't have a sense of humor, but that you don't like my sense of humor. :P

I would reply to your ideas, but Alorael has already said what I would say and has said it better than I could. Basically, the problem with what you're saying is that scientists are not actually ignoring what you claim that they're ignoring.

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 20:25: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Nothing Plus Nothing Equals Nothing in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #6
It may be that you're having trouble communicating your ideas because you have no scientific background and therefore little scientific vocabulary with which to express yourself. I suggest that you take a good year of real science (physics, chemistry, and biology) at your nearest university in order to remedy this situation at your earliest possible convenience.

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #18
I might somehow try to shorten up the Slime Pit, too.

And yeah, god parties already can get flight from the HLPM, and it'll be slightly better in the next version.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Scenario Grouping Game! in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #1
EDIT: Thanks, Bain.

[ Thursday, December 14, 2006 00:08: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Nothing Plus Nothing Equals Nothing in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #1
Synergy, my biggest problem with what you're saying is not how you think the body works. (I do have problems with that, but they're not my biggest problems.) It's how you think that scientists think that the body works. Your conceptions of what scientists believe would best be informed by speaking with actual scientists.

Also, your understanding of physics is horribly erroneous and it would be best if you left your Newtonian physics/quantum physics analogy out, because it is so far removed from reality that your point will be lost entirely.

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
8000: Pseudoscience Postravaganza in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #35
You're not talking about what scientists call "energy." You're talking about what biologists call someone's "mental set." That's totally different, and it has been and continues to be studied. It's just not as effective at, say, curing cancer as medicines are.

Moreover, it has nothing whatever to do with quantum mechanics or relativity.

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 16:34: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #15
After some thought, I think I'll auto-kill for 20 levels of Webbed or more, but I'll leave the Paralysis alone, because the player can just reload.

I'll also:

* Slope the hills in the Berekh Hive and see if that makes it shorter. I want it to be a good 15 minutes, but not an hour.

* Give Kass the ability to cure a Dread Curse, just in case.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #18
quote:
Originally written by Micawber.:

Is it possible that the to-hit % is misleading for a similar reason to the armor %?
Probably.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #13
It wouldn't be a discrepancy in the walkthrough if you get the spell when walking into the spot and not when searching.

I found the problem. It was a line in my modification of trap.txt. Easily fixed.

On another subject, I think I'm going to have insta-death for webbing over 20 and paralysis over 4. Anything less than that, and the party has a chance to recover. Thoughts?

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 14:24: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
I was afraid this day would come.... in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #28
In that case, I feel less bad about this post.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #15
quote:
Originally written by Student of Trinity:

But we do notice 'Hey, that's three times in ten rounds!'
Three times in ten rounds would not have raised my eyebrows, but ten times in ten rounds started to. When I was consistently getting hit more times than not, I started to wonder.

I should point out that I'm not a fool. I am aware of the human element in observing probability. I took this into account when I realized that the displayed to-hit probabilities were not accurate.

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 10:45: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #12
I'm not totally sure. I think part of the problem that I've had with it is that I've been looking at to-hit percentages, which are just not accurate. Monsters that have %5 chances to hit me hit me a heck of a lot more often than one time in twenty.

I don't know about drops, though. I should check that in BoA, where it's really easy to conduct a simple experiment: make a monster with a 5% chance to drop something, place about forty of them in a town, and then kill all of them and check how many actually dropped that item.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #10
We do know from experience that the random number generator does not, in fact, generate random numbers, though, unless Spidweb has changed it since the last few games.

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 09:13: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #6
Well, no. He is right to point out that this event was unusual, and it is not statistically immoral to calculate the odds of it happening again, which ought to be negligible if Spiderweb games actually used legitimate random number generation. And if something happens that ought to have an almost zero chance of happening again, it is reasonable to call that event unlikely.

Still, if you find that thahd droppings are ridiculous, you might want to check what they ate.

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 08:28: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
How about new BoA scenarios? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #21
quote:
Originally written by Ishad Nha:

It is magical; choose the Import option and a few seconds later an entire scenario appears all at once!
Have you actually tried it? If you had, you would know that this is an entirely misleading statement.
quote:
Originally written by Lenar Labs:

Kel, how long did it take you to port 9 Variations on Point B?
I think it took me a day. Possibly a few. But that scenario has almost nothing in it, so my experience with that is not at all representative of what people would face in porting real, decent scenarios.

And it was annoying as hell — the way that BoE and BoA deal with space in towns is totally different, so you have to place most of the specials (and many of the walls) over again. And, of course, you have to re-make all of the custom graphics and re-write much of the code. In fact, you basically have to re-write the scenario from the ground up.

No, porting BoE scenarios is not a quick and easy way to make more BoA scenarios. There is no quick and easy way to make more BoA scenarios, except perhaps making small, manageable scenarios.

[ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 08:18: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #9
quote:
Originally written by Alchemy:

If I look at either of said boxes, I don't get any message about the spellbook inside. If I walk into one of the boxes, I do.
Strange. I'll take a look. I may not be able to fix this, though.

quote:
In fact, my inclination would have been to make a Flight special spell rather than an Orb of Flight item, but perhaps you were expecting some loony to try and run through Exodus with a no-magic party.
The thought did cross my mind. It probably is a good idea (and not much work) to turn it into a special spell, so I'll do that. It may just be a special spell that requires very little magical ability.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #7
Kill the party! I like it. Unless there are any objections, this is my solution.

[ Monday, December 11, 2006 21:43: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
How about new BoA scenarios? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #12
quote:
Originally written by Alchemy:

I hope you get around to this sooner rather than later, if only because I'm itching to see how in the flying blue hell you intend to make a scenario for level-120 parties.
Well, my first idea was monster plagues of level-edited demons and undead. :P

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #5
quote:
Originally written by Alchemy:

* run_town_script apparently can't be called from the SEARCH_STATE of a terrain script.
This, I think, is not true. If it were, the basic specobj script would not work. I don't know what it is that you're seeing, though. When I checked those spots, they worked for me, so they do work sometimes.

quote:
* If you kill the barbarian archmage before getting the quest from Khalthanas to do so, you can't get his reward.
Damn it, damn it, damn it, is this still not right? This is a simple enough quest, and it's been screwed up from the beginning. Okay, I'll see what I can do.

quote:
* In Manikoss, you can only open one of the impenetrably-locked doors from the inside (the one you get to from the eastern half of Under Manikoss). With the other, you're forced to run all the way back through the underground area. Even if this is intentional, you'd better pretend it's a bug for your own safety.
Oops. Yes. Oversight.

quote:
* The BoA engine does not handle paralysis-by-script gracefully (for example, in the fight with Dalaganth's Haakai Lord lieutenant); if the entire party gets paralysed while already in combat mode, the PCs don't lose their turns but the game becomes unresponsive to player input. Try it and you'll see what I mean.
Webbing, too, but what am I supposed to do about this? I suppose that I could put something in the START_STATE that checks for party paralysis and then, er, what?

EDIT: By the way, if anyone has any other bug reports, e-mail or posting them here is the way to let me know.

[ Monday, December 11, 2006 21:30: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Avernum 5 Early, Early Notes in Avernum 4
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #90
For some reason, the idea that Valorim was considered settled with the defeat of the Ratbane clan.

Aha: "You find an interesting book: The Early History of Valorim, Vol. 1, by Zaft. When the Empire turned its mighty eye to the continent of Valorim, it was settled only by fierce, mindless nephilim and similar monsters. The tale of the Empire's taming of this savage continent is a long and exciting one! The first settlement in Valorim was Blackcrag Fortress, a mighty fortress at the north end. The early building of this fort, which provided a safe place for settlers and a supply depot, was the key to the destruction of the nephilim tribes. From this stronghold, settlers were able to establish the Keep of Tinraya, the largest and mightiest city in Valorim. The Keep's mighty walls and limited access makes it the Empire city safest from attack. From the Keep, lightning raids by Empire Dervishes were able to devastate the mighty Ratbane clan of nephilim. This cleared the way to the founding of Gale and Lorelei. The tale of the taming of the southern half of the continent will follow in Volume 2, coming soon."

This tell us nothing about when it happened, though. But we know that Valorim already had a fair number of cities for a while before it was considered "settled."

[ Monday, December 11, 2006 20:52: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #3
quote:
Originally written by Nioca:

However, I didn't think you got the copper key in the fort.
You do. You get it by freeing Britha.

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
I'm back in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #11
Because you were paying little or no attention?

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Stuck in Exodus in Blades of Avernum
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #1
quote:
Originally written by Jewel:

Pennunsula
You, madam, are drunk. :P

This is a slight omission in the walkthrough. You don't need the brass key in order to get into that room. You need the copper key in order to get into that room, which you can find in the prison in the southwest behind the magically locked door.

Oops. I didn't mean to have that door be magically locked, I think. Cast Unlock Doors on it, and it should open. But I'll fix the walkthrough and change the door for v1.0.1, due out sometime in my lifetime.

[ Monday, December 11, 2006 20:34: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Use Other Message Icons! in General
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #4
It's hard enough to write text that's coherent and relevant. Now you want a picture to go along with it?

--------------------
Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.
Smoo: Get ready to face the walls!
Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00

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