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Field	Value
Displayed name	The Immortal
Member number	4
Title	BANNED
Postcount	6936
Homepage	http://www.geocities.com/terrorsmartyr/
Registered	Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00

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Author	Recent posts
Where should I start designing? in Blades of Exile
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 18:37 Profile Homepage #56 Technically, I was around before then. Making Streila Spies, hosting TMU when less than nobody cared, and thinking that BSR wasn't one of the community's worst designers. God, was I a lost case back then. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Where should I start designing? in Blades of Exile
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 16:26 Profile Homepage #50 I joined The Lyceum when Solberg started complaining to me that he was being banished. I asked him where The Lyceum was, and here I am today. (Well, more accurately, I visited The Lyceum, played Redemption, played An Apology, and then decided to stick around. But that's being pedantic.) So yeah, mid-late '00. Alcritas was having trouble with his short contest, so TM came to the rescue! With Unbalanced Accounts. Oh yeah, and then came the Megasite... -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
movie of A3? in General
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 16:16 Profile Homepage #20 quote: Originally written by The Demonslayer: A) Please use at least some sort of grammer. Watch out! Falling irony. -------------------- 人たちを燃えるために俺はかれらに火を上げるから死んだ Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum Editor
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 13:13 Profile Homepage #77 Just keep track of the party's spell levels via SDFs, and call a node in the scenario's start script to axe that spell level- change it by -99 levels or summat- so that they can use it for, um... ...one turn at maximum, I suppose. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 13:13 Profile Homepage #77 Just keep track of the party's spell levels via SDFs, and call a node in the scenario's start script to axe that spell level- change it by -99 levels or summat- so that they can use it for, um... ...one turn at maximum, I suppose. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Suggestion for scenario design contest. in Blades of Avernum Editor
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 10:11 Profile Homepage #34 Four is passable, I suppose- there were only four scenarios in the second short contest, and it was... ...technically a contest. I'm not sure that you'll get the number of entries you want, so at some point, just accept the number of entries you actually get. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Suggestion for scenario design contest. in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 10:11 Profile Homepage #34 Four is passable, I suppose- there were only four scenarios in the second short contest, and it was... ...technically a contest. I'm not sure that you'll get the number of entries you want, so at some point, just accept the number of entries you actually get. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum Editor
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 10:08 Profile Homepage #74 short get_inven_item_type(short which_slot); short get_inven_item_level(short which_slot); short get_inven_item_bonus(short which_slot); short get_inven_item_abil(short which_slot, short which_ability); short get_inven_item_abilstr(short which_slot, short which_ability); So that we can check every item in the party's inventory for an item type, level, bonus, ability and ability strength. It would make parties entering scenarios much more reasonable. short revive(short pcent_or_amt, short amt); Called in a DEATH_STATE, so that a creature can still be alive even when beaten up. (Because really, half of the times I use the death node is to explain why somebody isn't dead, after all. :P ) More as I think of them. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 10:08 Profile Homepage #74 short get_inven_item_type(short which_slot); short get_inven_item_level(short which_slot); short get_inven_item_bonus(short which_slot); short get_inven_item_abil(short which_slot, short which_ability); short get_inven_item_abilstr(short which_slot, short which_ability); So that we can check every item in the party's inventory for an item type, level, bonus, ability and ability strength. It would make parties entering scenarios much more reasonable. short revive(short pcent_or_amt, short amt); Called in a DEATH_STATE, so that a creature can still be alive even when beaten up. (Because really, half of the times I use the death node is to explain why somebody isn't dead, after all. :P ) More as I think of them. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Artifacts Hall in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Tuesday, August 17 2004 09:49 Profile Homepage #0 http://www.geocities.com/terrorsmartyr/scenariosboa/artifactshall.html It's basically a complement to the HLPM, but also a way to record the artifacts used by scenarios. Basically, it's one town with every artifact from every scenario released thusfar. Enjoy. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Extending Graphics Comp Deadline in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Monday, August 16 2004 19:55 Profile Homepage #4 I suppose I could send confirmation emails. I think I'll start doing that, actually. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum Editor
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Monday, August 16 2004 16:44 Profile Homepage #69 You could just do a check in the attacking state for whatever you want to trigger the casting of the spell, and set the creature's spell levels accordingly. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Monday, August 16 2004 16:44 Profile Homepage #69 You could just do a check in the attacking state for whatever you want to trigger the casting of the spell, and set the creature's spell levels accordingly. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Suggestion for scenario design contest. in Blades of Avernum Editor
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Monday, August 16 2004 14:48 Profile Homepage #29 quote: Originally written by ButteredToast: Here goes. There seems to be some problems with the submission process. This is especially true with beta testing. Kelandon has written an article on what to do when testing a scenario... No, no he didn't. quote: 5) Assume it will take longer to create a small scenario than you planned. It took 6 days for Emerald Mountain to reach beta. It took 7 days for Edge of Ciprius to reach beta. Real life interrupts all the time. It will take at least 2 days to receive reports for a small scenario, then another 2 to fix problems. For a really fast experienced scenario designer it takes 10 days to do a small scenario. For others 14+ days. 1) EM took 5 days. Karzoth's scenario still hasn't reached beta. 2) 10 days for a really fast and experienced designer? You mean I don't count? And I most definitely don't agree with some of the additions you're proposing, even among those I can understand. (Language barrier between grade levels is inhibiting my cognizance here- apologies.) -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Suggestion for scenario design contest. in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Monday, August 16 2004 14:48 Profile Homepage #29 quote: Originally written by ButteredToast: Here goes. There seems to be some problems with the submission process. This is especially true with beta testing. Kelandon has written an article on what to do when testing a scenario... No, no he didn't. quote: 5) Assume it will take longer to create a small scenario than you planned. It took 6 days for Emerald Mountain to reach beta. It took 7 days for Edge of Ciprius to reach beta. Real life interrupts all the time. It will take at least 2 days to receive reports for a small scenario, then another 2 to fix problems. For a really fast experienced scenario designer it takes 10 days to do a small scenario. For others 14+ days. 1) EM took 5 days. Karzoth's scenario still hasn't reached beta. 2) 10 days for a really fast and experienced designer? You mean I don't count? And I most definitely don't agree with some of the additions you're proposing, even among those I can understand. (Language barrier between grade levels is inhibiting my cognizance here- apologies.) -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Extending Graphics Comp Deadline in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Monday, August 16 2004 11:55 Profile Homepage #0 Quite honestly, I'm shocked by how few graphics have been entered thusfar, and I'm seriously considering an extension to the contest deadline of the end of this month. To be honest, not all categories have received entrants yet- that's pathetic. REMEMBER! You can submit ANY graphic which you have made thusfar, even if the graphic is an edit or has already been released with a scenario or on the Louvre. I will take ANY type of Blades of Avernum graphic, and you can mail the graphic to me at terrorsmartyr@wi.rr.com If I have under 5 graphics for each category at the end of August, I will extend the deadline to November 1st, no questions asked. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Vahnatai Graphics in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Monday, August 16 2004 10:19 Profile Homepage #4 The second is almost passable, but the first is a bad joke. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Latest Pic! in General
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Saturday, August 14 2004 20:53 Profile Homepage #31 Most of it clicks fairly well, but holy HELL- Tempo's eye stands out way too much. Plus, I'd color the "inside" of the rabbit ears pinkish. Everything else clicks, I think. Although I still think the legs look weird. -------------------- 人たちを燃えるために俺はかれらに火を上げるから死んだ Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum Editor
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Saturday, August 14 2004 19:35 Profile Homepage #63 void set_town_noice(short sound); It's like set_incidental_noise();, except you can set it to any sound- even ones like fire burning, so that could be considered abusive. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Saturday, August 14 2004 19:35 Profile Homepage #63 void set_town_noice(short sound); It's like set_incidental_noise();, except you can set it to any sound- even ones like fire burning, so that could be considered abusive. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Everybody stop, put down what your working on, and look at this topic. in General
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Saturday, August 14 2004 18:52 Profile Homepage #8 quote: Originally written by Party GIFTS, made in China: (which is ironic because I can't accept votes) 249. -------------------- 私のバラドですそしてころしたいいらればころす Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Article - Playing Scenarios Critically in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Saturday, August 14 2004 12:14 Profile Homepage #0 Whether you're a designer, beta-tester or particularly critical player, it helps to know how to be the best debugger, critic and overall beneficiary to the scenario's development as possible. I have designed arguably my fair share of scenarios, and I have also tested many- some well, some poorly. Thus, I have a few suggestions on how to best get under the scenario's skin- your players and/or designers will, if they're any good, love you for it. 1) Take notes at all times! EVERYTHING that you see that strikes you as being weird should be noted the instant you run across it. Don't say to yourself, "I'll make a list of things I saw while playing today this evening." You'll forget most of the things you observed by then, so it's always best to keep a text file open to jot things down instantaneously. Often times, this will generate page upon page of critiques that you normally wouldn't have generated otherwise. 2) Spot errors intuitively. When something happens that is OBVIOUSLY wrong, jot it down. Bugs are usually the first thing that a designer tells his beta-testers to spot, and shame on you if you let one get by. Whenever something seems odd, jot it down. Maybe it's intentional- if so, the fact that you thought it was a bug means that it should be executed in a better way in the final release or next version. Don't always trust that the designer knows what he/she is doing- We're capable of error, and even capable of imagining flawed ideas and flawed ways of bringing those ideas to fruition. 3) Play Counter-intuitively. Sure, the plot makes you want to rush off and kill the bad guy the moment he becomes available, as most good scenarios should. As a player/tester, this is where you suffer- at all times, you should see if you can play a scenario in ways that its plot says that you shouldn't. In Nethergate, Jeff made an error. One of the three Crones is dead as you approach the Spire of Ages and the remaining two disappear thereafter, but if you return to the Crone Caverns, all three are still there and well. These types of errors are painful to have, and should be avoided at all costs. Another example- in An Apology, a towns-only scenario, it is possible to leave town and emerge outdoors. Whoops. A scenario's quality and the force of its plot often make these errors equally as difficult to discover in the eyes of any other player, but they're still dangerous when and if somebody does stumble upon one. 4) Spot spelling errors as you see them. Nobody is expected to test every paragraph for exact spelling or grammatical correctness, but you should be reading the text as it appears, and if something doesn't strike you as being well-written or is spelled outright incorrectly, then you should comment on it. A good designer should run his text through a spell-checker, but that might not catch there/their/they're errors. If a spelling error breaks up the flow of a paragraph when you play through the scenario, it will surely do it for other players as well. (Mac users using OS 10 or higher have an added benefit insomuch as TextEdit has an automatic spellchecker, though I'm not sure if PC users have such benefits.) 5) Testing combat. To be critical of gameplay, always play the scenario with the lowest level recommended by the scenario's author / yourself. You don't have to play any lower, but sometimes it's recommended. I had people saying that Roses of Reckoning was difficult at level 12 and that Emerald Mountain was difficult on level 30, in spite of the fact that both scenarios are rated levels 1-3 and 15-20 respectively. Being difficult is not a bad thing, but being overly-difficult. Echoes is a scenario for Blades of Exile that is totally unplayable and not worth the download for this very reason- I did not test for combat, and the scenario suffered accordingly. 6) Town Design Should Click. If you see anything out-of-place with terraining, whether it be dreadfully dull towns or dungeons that don't make sense, say so. Don't be tempted to shy away from this type of comment because it puts too much pressure on the designer to make major changes that he/she might not implement, those changes are often very important. Many articles have been written about towns and dungeons, and with good reason- If a town is outright terrible or a dungeon makes no sense, say so. Often times, it is very easy for a designer to make a dungeon that exists only for the party to tear it up, and is a twisty-turny, one-way path as a result of that. If the path doesn't make sense, say so. 7) Shout at People Who Use Too Much Outdoors. If you are a player/tester, shout at the designer committing this sin. If you are the designer, flog yourself heavily. Too much outdoors is a lose-lose situation with no upsides- even the best scenarios suffer for this. Adventurer's Club 3 has +150 towns, but people still complained about its expansive outdoors because it had ~60 sections, if not more. Almost any non-epic scenario can take place in 1 outdoor section (or no more than 9), and most probably should. 8) Don't Stop at Errors! Saying that the Balrog should have 100 fewer/more HP and that "Alter" is not a religious monument is good, but what is even better is saying where you thought the plot skipped or how you think an encounter should be improved. Your suggestions without any prodding are always appreciated, and at best, the designer can say "no". If something really irked you, say so, and then explain why to the best of your ability. As a designer, you should be looking at ways to increase the quality of your scenario as you play through it. Beta-testing isn't just custodian work and a face-lift, and neither is it limited to just that after beta-testing either. Don't treat it as such. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Emerald Mountain is Released! in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Saturday, August 14 2004 10:40 Profile Homepage #30 This'll be fixed in v1.1. I also have a few other things I want to change before then, so I'll probably end up doing an update. If you find anything else, just let me know. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum Editor
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Friday, August 13 2004 14:46 Profile Homepage #60 quote: Originally written by Kelandon: As for the second, though, char_on_spot and char_on_loc do this, if I'm understanding that post correctly. Yeah, but they don't check for party members... Again, I could do a while(i < 120) statement, but I don't want to have to. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA Editor Suggestions in Blades of Avernum
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Friday, August 13 2004 14:46 Profile Homepage #60 quote: Originally written by Kelandon: As for the second, though, char_on_spot and char_on_loc do this, if I'm understanding that post correctly. Yeah, but they don't check for party members... Again, I could do a while(i < 120) statement, but I don't want to have to. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00

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