Profile for Boots
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Boots |
| Member number | 455 |
| Title | Shock Trooper |
| Postcount | 265 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| New Scenarios in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Wednesday, March 24 2004 10:49
Profile
Few designers who intend to finish a scenario will advertise the fact until they release the beta. When asked about their work before then, they tend to react like somebody just yelled "Macbeth!" in a crowded rehearsal. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Isle of Morrow: Abandoned Fort in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Tuesday, March 23 2004 18:07
Profile
Isn't there another route heading (after jumping off a ledge) to the north? Or do I misunderstand which gate you're talking about? -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| New Scenarios in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Tuesday, March 23 2004 17:22
Profile
Speaking, as always, as a no-design-talent player, I'm happy to wait for BoA originals. If VoTD and A Small Rebellion are anything to go by, pulling off a decent port is no easy thing. Diplomacy with the Dead is, in many ways, inferior to SR, yet I'm finding its gameplay more interesting simply because it is built for BoA from the ground up. Compare the sewer sequences in both, for instance. Although Diplomacy's should be the one that comes off like a tired rehash (even its designer seems to know this -- heck, the device was satirized in BoE years ago), I think it has more bite to it than the ported SR's -- layout and encounters are conceived in ways that play directly to the tactical challenges that work for the Avernum engine. It isn't just -- to take one example -- that you would have to fiddle with opponents' strength and numbers in a ported scenario; you'd also likely have to retool the town plan itself in order to create spaces that shift combat away from static, pitched battles (which the Exile engine encourages, and which can be made interesting in BoE), at which point, you might as well design the town from scratch. And do I want Stareye to waste time figuring out how to reproduce his BoE innovations in BoA, or do I want him to revolutionize the BoA engine the way his first scenarios revolutionized BoE? Well, that point probably doesn't need making again. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Post yer monster scripts here in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Tuesday, March 23 2004 14:19
Profile
I haven't looked at the coding for the available examples -- still wasting time playing the scenarios -- but on the basis of that play, I'd be interested in somebody tinkering with NPC combat scripts. The ones in VoDT and Small Rebellion seem to depend too much (solely?) on line-of-sight with hostiles when deciding where to move, so one frequently has to leave combat just to get an NPC to catch up with the PCs (and if the NPC had the bad luck to enter combat around a corner from the action, he or she is unlikely to join). In sustained sequences (say, the SR mission against the Empire's hidden fort), this can be a pain. They're also unimaginative about target selection, though that is easily adjusted. EDIT: Of course, now that I actually read your entire post, I see that next week may deliver just this. Sorry. [ Tuesday, March 23, 2004 14:21: Message edited by: Boots ] -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Post yer monster scripts here in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Tuesday, March 23 2004 14:19
Profile
I haven't looked at the coding for the available examples -- still wasting time playing the scenarios -- but on the basis of that play, I'd be interested in somebody tinkering with NPC combat scripts. The ones in VoDT and Small Rebellion seem to depend too much (solely?) on line-of-sight with hostiles when deciding where to move, so one frequently has to leave combat just to get an NPC to catch up with the PCs (and if the NPC had the bad luck to enter combat around a corner from the action, he or she is unlikely to join). In sustained sequences (say, the SR mission against the Empire's hidden fort), this can be a pain. They're also unimaginative about target selection, though that is easily adjusted. EDIT: Of course, now that I actually read your entire post, I see that next week may deliver just this. Sorry. [ Tuesday, March 23, 2004 14:21: Message edited by: Boots ] -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| First impressions of the demo in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Monday, March 22 2004 18:40
Profile
Not Capture Soul but Capture Mind: "This spell attempts to take control of the mind of one of your enemies, causing it to fight on your side for a short time. . . ." Likewise, Simulacrum is not the same spell it once was: "This spell creates a copy of one of the enemies attacking you, which will fight on your side" -- no storage for future use. (From the spell descs. in the main game docs.) -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| The Don't Fix The Shark Competition! in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Sunday, March 21 2004 23:25
Profile
Moving/trashing the Blades Prefs does indeed get that resolution-setting dialog back, and I've had no difficulty running BoE in a small window without decreasing resolution or depth (though I'm using 10.2.8; dunno about Panther) -- Aqua stays its millions-of-colors self in the background. Oh yeah: Don't Fix the Shark is a swell plan. [ Sunday, March 21, 2004 23:43: Message edited by: Boots ] -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Bosses in VotDT? in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Sunday, March 21 2004 17:35
Profile
The only problem I've run into with a four-person party is boredom, and I've got all the combat skills and smarts that God gave three-toed sloths. As TM concluded in another thread, and as everybody complained after A3 came out, A3/BoA fighters don't have to do anything but super-specialize in strength (as long as the standard AI is involved). Well, strength, and a pinch or two of defense. There's no point building PCs to take more than one hit; just hit first yourself. During the scenario, I didn't spend a single skill point on endurance -- and not much on the weapons skills, either -- and had no trouble. It's an ugly and stupid way to build a party, but it's well-rewarded by the basic engine. I look forward to designers hauling the thing out of the water and rebuilding it. [ Sunday, March 21, 2004 17:40: Message edited by: Boots ] -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| making progress in VofDT in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Saturday, March 20 2004 20:10
Profile
Have you released the drake yet? If not, go to the storage level. [ Saturday, March 20, 2004 20:31: Message edited by: Boots ] -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| cant download boa scenario editor in Tech Support | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 19 2004 17:36
Profile
Probably no help for your problem, but for reasons I still don't understand, Safari wouldn't download the Editor (returned similar errors); I had to use Netscape. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Question about place_monster call in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 19 2004 13:49
Profile
For clarity: by "spawned," you mean "placed," right? (another call, spawn_creature, activates a creature with a specified character number at a specified spawning point). There's always char_on_spot: you could call that after the place call and identify the placed creature. Seems unduly clunky, though -- my kind of coding! -- so better wait for responses from beta-testers or those who actually know what they're doing. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Question about place_monster call in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 19 2004 13:49
Profile
For clarity: by "spawned," you mean "placed," right? (another call, spawn_creature, activates a creature with a specified character number at a specified spawning point). There's always char_on_spot: you could call that after the place call and identify the placed creature. Seems unduly clunky, though -- my kind of coding! -- so better wait for responses from beta-testers or those who actually know what they're doing. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Minor Bug in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 19 2004 11:33
Profile
Training is possible in any town. See p. 23 of the manual. I'm trying to keep my mind open about that development. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Blades of Avernum Editor in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 19 2004 07:54
Profile
Void Master: Apologies if this has been asked and answered; the search function isn't working for me, so I'm asking it here to save a thread, should it be old news. Is the Louvre going to host "Custom Scenario Graphics"? (450x450 intro pics, 200x200 & 400x400 pics for dialogue boxes, and 64x64 dialogue pics). Not that I have now or will ever have any. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Blades of Avernum Editor in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 19 2004 07:54
Profile
Void Master: Apologies if this has been asked and answered; the search function isn't working for me, so I'm asking it here to save a thread, should it be old news. Is the Louvre going to host "Custom Scenario Graphics"? (450x450 intro pics, 200x200 & 400x400 pics for dialogue boxes, and 64x64 dialogue pics). Not that I have now or will ever have any. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Maybe bug, maybe not (either way, minor) [VoDT] in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 19 2004 06:25
Profile
I was given the option to ask Avizo about his runed stone before I spoke to Hamer and learned he had it. [ Friday, March 19, 2004 06:39: Message edited by: Boots ] -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Monsters resetting in BoE in Tech Support | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Monday, March 15 2004 00:49
Profile
Nethergate/Avernum does tend to have better mechanics for the kinds of stories Spiderweb likes to tell. But any number of talented Blades designers have taught me that, should you want to tell some other kind of story, the dowdy old Exile engine can do some spectacular things. If you can excuse VoTD's gameplay suffering from its understandable interest in demonstrating design featuers to prospective scenario authors, it is worth slogging through it and the other prepackaged scenarios. Good stuff lies beyond. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Spiderweb Newbie Looking to Find a Good RPG to Begin With in General | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Monday, March 15 2004 00:30
Profile
With the possible exception of the Blades of Exile scenario A Small Rebellion, Nethergate is Jeff Vogel's best work. I'd say start with it, then wade through the pre-packaged Blades scenarios, then try out some of the better third party offerings for Blades, and, in so doing, learn that TM is right. -------------------- Winter comes: game over -- he's in the driveway removing snow with a flame-thrower. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Script question in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Friday, March 12 2004 14:54
Profile
I also cannot speak to BoA scripts, but I can say that BoE players are by now accustomed to using prefabricated singleton parties provided by a scenario designer (in separate save files alongside the .exs), so you wouldn't necessarily have to accomplish this within the scenario program itself. Of course, having to design and distribute six individual party files (Mac and PC versions of each class) might get a bit ungainly. -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Of Damage Caps & Screenshots in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Thursday, March 11 2004 19:35
Profile
". . . yeah, but this one goes up to eleven . . . ." -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |
| Of Damage Caps & Screenshots in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 455
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written Monday, March 8 2004 18:09
Profile
SpineRaker: You don't recall wandering through the Keep of Tinraya, or whatever that place is called, monotonously slaughtering Alien Beasts without ever entering combat mode? "Unbalanced" is maybe better than "inflated." However you slice it, some people have called it the narcotics-dealing approach to game design: sucker new players in with easy combat; by the time it loses its meaning, they'll be too far gone to quit. Good for the sales of A3; maybe not so good for BoA (some BoE scenarios have already turned into dreary arms races in an effort to make things challenging, and that combat engine has some teeth). It doesn't help that A3 monsters have all the small unit tactics of five-year-olds playing soccer, though at least that won't be a problem in BoA, if I understand correctly. EDIT: Sorry for the superfluous post -- by the time I hit the button, the need had gone. [ Monday, March 08, 2004 18:13: Message edited by: Boots ] -------------------- Forgive them, for they are young and rich and white. Posts: 265 | Registered: Saturday, December 29 2001 08:00 |