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Displayed name	*i
Member number	6
Title	The Establishment
Postcount	3726
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Registered	Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00

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CHAT (01/14/06, 3 pm EST) in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 10:47 Profile #9 Just a friendly reminder. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
6th Test in Avernum 4
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 10:46 Profile #3 Again, I do not believe so. The tests are there as an accessory. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
where is this sleater fellow? in Avernum 4
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 09:23 Profile #1 Getting past them will indeed get you to Sleater. I suggest haste/bless/shielding/augmentation before the battle. There is another way. From the start of the Honeycomb in Metris, head north until you find three stairways. I forget which one, but you want to continue heading north until you find a bunch of stairs in a row. Continue on that route to find Sleater. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
I don't find the wheel to open the grate in Avernum 4
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 09:03 Profile #1 There isn't one, I believe. You should be able to find the four pieces of research, however. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum Editor
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 09:02 Profile #7 What are the things you want to do, perhaps we can help? -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 09:02 Profile #7 What are the things you want to do, perhaps we can help? -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
6th Test in Avernum 4
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 08:09 Profile #1 I do not believe so. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
I Want to Crush Your Dreams. in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 07:27 Profile #90 Having random, unimportant monsters be a bit on the easy side is okay, especially for inexperienced players. I suggest saving the challenges for the more important fights. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
The Blosk Maps in Avernum 4
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 07:23 Profile #2 It's upstairs in the northern part of town. In a quite dark barracks in a box or something that might be easy to miss. I suggest turning the brightness of your monitor up. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum Editor
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 06:55 Profile #5 I would say add it to the list of bugs. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Saturday, January 14 2006 06:55 Profile #5 I would say add it to the list of bugs. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum Editor
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 21:25 Profile #3 Perhaps that do_attack_tactic() is broken? I haven't used it extensively, but I have not noticed much effect toward items with it. Your other option is to simulate using an item with scripting. Not as realistic, but plausible. [ Friday, January 13, 2006 21:26: Message edited by: i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726* \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 21:25 Profile #3 Perhaps that do_attack_tactic() is broken? I haven't used it extensively, but I have not noticed much effect toward items with it. Your other option is to simulate using an item with scripting. Not as realistic, but plausible. [ Friday, January 13, 2006 21:26: Message edited by: i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726* \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
The nephilim language in The Avernum Trilogy
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 21:21 Profile #55 Nephilian does not sound right for the name of Nephil speak as it sounds like a Latin based language. I don't know, I just don't see the Nephil language of having Latin roots. It has too much European flow. Perhaps you should invent a word for the preposition 'of' that sounds Nephil like and make that in some order. A suggestion could be Nephirar where the -rar suffix means of. The literal translation would be 'of Nephilim'. That's what I've been using in Chill Factor at least, my scenario that centers around Nephilim. [ Friday, January 13, 2006 21:22: Message edited by: i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726* \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum Editor
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 21:11 Profile #1 Rather than putting the code to prefer item use in an attack state, just have it be at the beginning of the START_STATE. See if that works. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Creature Script Problem in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 21:11 Profile #1 Rather than putting the code to prefer item use in an attack state, just have it be at the beginning of the START_STATE. See if that works. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
CHAT (01/14/06, 3 pm EST) in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 21:07 Profile #2 Fixed. That's what I get for typing while I'm in a rush. :P -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
CHAT (01/14/06, 3 pm EST) in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 18:42 Profile #0 The chat is on AIM at 3 pm EST on January 14, 2006. The chatroom name is 'blades'. If you want to join and don't know how, read the Instructions. [ Friday, January 13, 2006 21:06: Message edited by: i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726* \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA save in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 14:06 Profile #6 For us to be able to help, you need to be very specific in your requests and describe your problem well. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA save in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 12:56 Profile #4 Again, I would suggest not using words like pssed on these forums. We tend to expect a little more here than on other places. :) -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726* \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Helping Jeff advertise in Avernum 4
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 12:51 Profile #62 quote: As for an rpg with a deep interactive world with non-static characters and so on, that is a really tough nut. I need to be convinced that the payoff is worth the huge amount of work. When I'm planning Geneforge 4, I think my energy will be much better spent planning cool, badass (albeit static) dungeons to go through. It does not have to be that deeply interactive really. Even simple things like, you help out a fort. The fort sneds help to you later on. Or, you do something to offend Jack. Jill, who is friends with Jack, decides to make things inconvenient for you later on. We see some of this minor stuff already, but it would make things more interesting and really be only a little bit of code. The other more detailed part comes from a very few characters who take more of an active role. Bob was just an example. Gretta and Alwan are characters who sort of do this, but never really develop beyond being poster childs for each extreme. They have a few lines here and there, but otherwise they do not do anything other than following the main character. The way things are written it works decently well. However, they could have played more active of a role, actually influencing the storyline in some way. A possible suggestion are a few recurring characters who have their own agendas (related to the plot in some at least tangential way) that sometimes either coincides with or against that of the party. In cases where the needs coincides, the character offers assistance, and in cases where it is against they may work to stop them. Again, not a lot of coding, but goes a long way to make the world more interactive. Unexpected things could happen that change the dynamics of the situation. An example is the death of Houghton. As far as I can tell, this should have been a major event in Avernum but was regarded as little more than a hiccup because King Starrus was able to jump in right away and act as a new Bob as if nothing happened. Suppose there is no clear leader, we get a vacuum. This could have very interesting implications. This would take a bit more coding and plot modification, but if planned, it can be done well. I'm not sure I see a whole lot of effort needed here. Have the main villain not sit in his tower all day cackling and thinking up evil schemes. Have him do stuff in the execution of these plots and be an active character rather than just rely on lieutenants. Have other characters have their own stories that have intersections with the main plot. Make us know them as actual people with likes, interests, and ambitons. quote: By the way, I've been reading D-Day by Stephen Ambrose. At first, I thought it was really exciting, but now I know that it is not. Eisenhower was such a "Bob" character. All he did was sit in the back and give orders. I had no idea that World War II was so uninterestingly plotted. I respectfully call this a strawman argument for several reasons: 1) WWII is a real event. RPGs bear a semblance to the real world, but are ultimately fantasy. We can draw parallels, but making direct comparisons is untenable. 2) Eisenhower was a fairly interesting character that I'm sure D-Day develops quite well. We get a lot of backstory on him; he becomes someone the reader can relate to. For example, someone like Lord Rahul gets little backstory other than that he is a big, powerful shaper. Had we known more about him, his personality, etc. Rahul would certainly have been interesting and crticism far less. 3) The face of war has changed in the modern era. Used to be the big guy like Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, etc. would go on the battlefield with their men. Sure, these guys did Bob like things, but they were more than just barkers of orders. I would put the RPG worlds of Avernum and Geneforge closer to those commanders. 4) On that note, Eisenhower is really just an old man who probably would not last long on a real world battlefield. Lord Rahul is very powerful, more powerful than virtually anyone on the isle, especially the main character. Why doesn't he take on Akari Blaze himself? Why does he need the party other than the fact that its a game and it would be uniteresting if Lord Rahul just won the game for them. Thanks for participation in this discussion. [ Friday, January 13, 2006 12:51: Message edited by: i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726* \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Helping Jeff advertise in Avernum 4
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 09:19 Profile #55 quote: I would have to agree with the fact that the world of Spiderweb games are static, and that it is an issue. How could the games rather be done? Well, I'll use an example of my scenario A Perfect Forest. Although it is very short in comparison, I purposely tried to avoid the Jeff Vogel method. I warn that there be spoilers ahead. The identity of Bob is not fixed and sometimes not a person at all. I will also look at the villains: Initially Bob is the Empire sending you out to survey a remote isle. I could have just used the you were wandering a forest excuse, but I felt this to be more coherent. Upon discovering the village, you are interrogated by Arivan (one of the villains) and then you continue to investigate and find Klinger (who takes the role of Bob). You help Bob escape and complete his mission to go to Asmur. Asmur gets quashed, you pick up Valzier (who sort of serves as a Bob accessory). Get to Rebel lair, the role of Bob transfer to the rebel leader, Suvar. Rebel lair gets attacked by Arivan (who takes an active role). You rush to escape to get to Lost City, smack Valzier who turns out be an imposter and agent for Arivan. Suvar gets killed and the rebellion crushed, thus leaving the party Bobless (although the player knows, the party does not, to be fair). Klinger sacrifices himself to kill Arivan and her followers. Go though Lost City, meet Perfect Spirit (the main villain) in the Lost Mine. At this point, the player is motivated by the fact of uncovering the mystery. The party does not necessarily know that Bob is dead, so he remains as the party's motivation. However, for the player, Bob is now the abstract mystery itself. The Perfect Spirit is a static villain and one that is not really developed that much. This is on purpose because of the mystery atmosphere. If I had it "active" in the party's adventures, it would have diminished the mystery. To justify the Perfect Spirit staying inactive, I made him trapped in the mine by magical machinery. You destroy machinery, Perfect Spirit leaves island. Return to rebel lair, talk to Arivan before she dies. Speak to last remaining Rebels, learn of their future plans, leave. Meet the Empire (your original Bob), tell your story. In this, Bob does not just sit in his office. We have the Empire who sort of does, but only serves to get the party to the action, not facilitate it. Bob, as Klinger joins the party, fights along side them and plays an active role. Bob transfers to a less interesting character who is immediately killed and replaced by an abstract concept of intrigue and perhaps wanted to report results to the Empire. The villains Arivan, Valzier (who is really the imposter), and the Perfect Spirit each have varying degrees of involvment. The party meets Arivan before meeting Bob (Klinger), which is somewhat of a reverse. Arivan also takes an active role by crushing the rebellion. In addition, you never fight her, you only speak to her just before she dies. Valzier joins the party, pretends to be a friend, leads Arivan to the rebels unknowing to everyone else including the player, and eventually betrays the party. The Pefect Spirit I have already discussed. The difference in this from Jeff's is that Bob is actually an important and active character in the story. The villains (except for the Perfect Spirit) do not just sit on some throne and laugh meniacally until the party sets them straight. That's the difference, it shares commanility, but is different. quote: The part of Bob just sitting in his office, dispening missions, is another easily fixable thing. Just have him change location, or aid you in battle now and then. That's exactly what I am saying. The characters would be more realistic if they actually did stuff other than act important. To take it further, the more interaction of other characters with the story, the better the characters, and the better the story, generally speaking. [ Friday, January 13, 2006 09:20: Message edited by: i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726* \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
BoA save in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 08:44 Profile #1 No profanity please. Further use of it will result in an instant revokation of your membership priviledges. I would suggest reinstalling BoA and try to reload the old save files. It's impossible to say exactly what got corrupted without actually looking at the files. My guess is that your save files (except for the one that caused the problem) should work. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Play BoA or A1-4 first? in Blades of Avernum
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Friday, January 13 2006 06:52 Profile #1 Well, the story of A1-3 is given in the manual of BoA (as well as A4). If you do not mind learning the broad outline of those plots and maybe even a few details, Blades of Avernum should be all right. Of course, it should be said that there are many BoA scenarios NOT set in the Avernum universe. Those that are, most are tangentially related. So my answer is, the scenarios themselves will probably not be too much of spoils, but you may still want to exercise caution. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Question! in General
*i The Establishment Member # 6	written Thursday, January 12 2006 21:32 Profile #1 Why don't you just use Google and type in Counterstrike and look for yourself? This board is not here to answer questions you can easily answer yourself by learning how to use a search engine. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00

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