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AuthorRecent posts
Orb of thralni in Blades of Avernum Editor
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, June 24 2005 05:32 Profile Homepage #27
Have you made sure the creature's cr_small_or_large_template attribute is set to the appropriate value? Is the problem fixed if you change the monster's graphic number to one of the default graphics?

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Orb of thralni in Blades of Avernum
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, June 24 2005 05:32 Profile Homepage #27
Have you made sure the creature's cr_small_or_large_template attribute is set to the appropriate value? Is the problem fixed if you change the monster's graphic number to one of the default graphics?

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Great Debate Live? in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, June 24 2005 03:52 Profile Homepage #22
(Apologies for the double post. Bumping was necessary.)

Imby, Alec wants me to tell you that he's decided IRC is a good idea after all. Can you suggest a server and channel?

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Two envelopes paradox in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, June 24 2005 03:42 Profile Homepage #44
At least probability theory is a relatively easy and practical area of mathematics. This is a lot more fun than integration, at any rate.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Two envelopes paradox in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, June 24 2005 03:31 Profile Homepage #42
No, because unlike in the 3-doors situation, the options that are removed are completely independent of the option you chose. The chance of picking a wrong answer *which is not then removed* on your first guess (and thus being right by switching) is exactly the same as the chance of picking a right answer on your first guess (and thus being wrong by switching), since only one wrong answer isn't removed and which wrong answer isn't removed is random.

[ Friday, June 24, 2005 03:36: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Great Debate Live? in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, June 24 2005 02:20 Profile Homepage #21
Well, the currently proposed time would be 4 am Victorian time, so I don't think you need to worry about it conflicting with any of your other activities. :P

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
My girlfriend is dead... in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 23:34 Profile Homepage #49
No, but X wasn't as young as you are.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Two envelopes paradox in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 22:58 Profile Homepage #40
quote:
Originally written by Ash Lael:

Say you mentally pick one option randomly, then use the 50/50. There is a 50% chance that the one you picked won't get eliminated. In that event, you have a 75% chance of being right if you switch to the other one. If the one you picked is eliminated, you're back to 50/50. So the 3 door trick will increase your chances, marginally. :)
Not really. The 3-door trick only works because there's a guarantee that the option you pick won't be the one eliminated.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
I want to frolic in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 19:22 Profile Homepage #5
Drakefyre. Member #7. The admin. Somebody told you this the last time you asked, but apparently you didn't read it.

[ Thursday, June 23, 2005 19:33: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Your first crafted item in Geneforge Series
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 19:17 Profile Homepage #5
Actually, it seems as if you can enhance some of the artifacts but not others. This goes for other magical items as well.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Game finished : remaining quest in Geneforge Series
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 19:13 Profile Homepage #23
quote:
Originally written by Hume:

If I complete the game with a tunic and a stick, will that make them as good as emerald chestplate and gardian claymore?
Sure. Maybe even better. It's not about how easy the game was, it's about how much fun you had. That's why people like to play on Torment.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
loading problems in The Exile Trilogy
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 19:11 Profile Homepage #5
In future, please use the Edit button that appears above your post instead of multiple posting. Thank you for your cooperation. I'm glad to hear your problem has been resolved.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
What gender is Sulfras? in The Avernum Trilogy
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 18:19 Profile Homepage #9
All five dragons are referred to primarily as "he" in Exile 1 -- not sure to what extent Avernum 1 fixes this. In Exile 2, Athron and Sulfras are mostly female and the others are mostly male (except Pyrog, who's dead and thus doesn't get mentioned much one way or the other.

As for the amphibian thing, yes, I think we've all seen Jurassic Park. :P

(Actually, changing sex isn't all that uncommon. Lots of fish can do it too.)

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Two envelopes paradox in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 17:46 Profile Homepage #27
Here is an analysis of the problem. Essentially, the "paradox" rests on the flawed assumption that the envelopes are equally likely to contain any amount of money. This is impossible, because there is no probability distribution that is uniform across an infinite range. Since the envelopes can't contain any amount of money with equal probability, we have to take into account what amounts of money the game show organisers are actually likely to put in the envelopes. If there really is a 50% chance they put $100000 in the other envelope, then it's in your best interests to switch (actually, this is complicated by the non-linear relation between money and utility, but that's an issue for another time). But this condition won't hold true for every possible dollar value that could be in the envelopes, so always switching regardless of the amount of money isn't actually an optimal strategy.

It is possible to apply strategy to the game, but only by finding out the probability distribution used to generate the particular sets of dollar amounts used, which requires playing it repeatedly.

[ Thursday, June 23, 2005 17:54: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Two envelopes paradox in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 17:25 Profile Homepage #24
Okay, new analysis.

Suppose there are 200 players. 100 decide to adopt an "always switch" strategy (let's call them switchers or group S), 100 decide to adopt a "never switch" strategy (let's call them non-switchers or group NS). 50 S and 50 NS are randomly assigned to a group where the envelopes contain $25000 and $50000 -- let's call them S-A and NS-A respectively. 50 S and 50 NS are randomly assigned to a group where the envelopes contain $50000 and $100000 -- let's call them S-B and NS-B respectively.

The first round of handing out envelopes occurs.

25 S-A get $25000, 25 NS-A get $25000, 25 S-A get $50000, 25 NS-B get $50000.

25 S-B get $50000, 25 NS-B get $50000, 25 S-B get $100000, 25 NS-B get $100000.

Obviously, after switching, the switchers as a group are not any better off -- the switchers who got the smaller amount have simply exchanged places with the ones who got the larger amount, meaning that they're in exactly the same situation as the non-switchers. It seems obvious that switching is not really a better strategy than non-switching.

quote:
That is, you see the 50K the first time, trade envelopes, and get 25K. The second time, when you see the 50K and trade envelopes, you could get 100K.
Ah, but there's the rub. The second time you play, you could just as easily see $100,000 the first time. Since you have no way of knowing that the values are $100000 and $200000 instead of $50000 and $100000 (since the strategy relies on one set of envelopes being independent of the previous set), you switch and get $50000.

[ Thursday, June 23, 2005 17:43: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Two envelopes paradox in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 17:13 Profile Homepage #22
That's the thing, though -- the values are what they are. My example works exactly the same if you assume the values are $50000 and $100000; in that case, half the people playing the game will lose $50000 and half will gain $50000, and still nobody is better off. What you can't do is say there's a 50% probability that the envelopes contain $25000 and $50000 and a 50% probability that the envelopes contain $50000 and $100000, because the value of what's in the envelopes is already decided. I'm pretty sure the source of the "paradox" is a misuse of probability theory.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Two envelopes paradox in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 16:55 Profile Homepage #17
quote:
Originally written by *i:

With this, if you did the envelope experiment an infinite number of times and selected the other envelope, you would come out k/4 dollars ahead on average for each selection.
The above analysis cannot possibly be right. Consider 100 different people all on the show with the same prize -- they don't know about each other, so they don't know that the prizes are (for the sake of argument) $25000 and $50000. Initially, we expect 50 of them to get $25000 and 50 to get $50000. They all switch, because that, supposedly, is the logical thing to do. After everyone switches, 50 have $50000 and 50 have $25000. Clearly, switching every time does not increase the amount of money you can expect to win.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Orb of thralni in Blades of Avernum Editor
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 06:38 Profile Homepage #24
You're not supposed to modify the game's resources. You need to create a custom graphics file -- check out Section 4 of the editor documentation.

To make custom terrains and items that appear in the game, though, you also need a custom objects script -- check out Chapter 2.2 of the editor documentation.

The best way to learn how to do things you're unsure of is to poke around inside the folders of existing scenarios by other people, and see how they work.

[ Thursday, June 23, 2005 06:40: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Orb of thralni in Blades of Avernum
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 06:38 Profile Homepage #24
You're not supposed to modify the game's resources. You need to create a custom graphics file -- check out Section 4 of the editor documentation.

To make custom terrains and items that appear in the game, though, you also need a custom objects script -- check out Chapter 2.2 of the editor documentation.

The best way to learn how to do things you're unsure of is to poke around inside the folders of existing scenarios by other people, and see how they work.

[ Thursday, June 23, 2005 06:40: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Avernum V. Exile in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 06:22 Profile Homepage #30
Shockwave does fewer than 10 points of damage at close range -- it does 20-30 at 10 spaces away, but good luck keeping the majority of the doomguards at that distance. So yeah, lots of copies to deal with all at once. Not that they can actually hurt you if you're sufficiently blessed, but that's just another reason to beat them to death with weapons instead of wasting SP on damaging spells.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Oh My! A New Topic! in Richard White Games
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 06:18 Profile Homepage #45
quote:
Originally written by Drakefyre:

The world subjugation is secondary to our cult status.
Yeah, that's exactly how Dr. Frank N. Furter took over.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Old physics question in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 06:13 Profile Homepage #2
"Sagot" has more currency these days anyway. It means pretty much what you'd probably guess it does.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
It is that time of the month again in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 06:06 Profile Homepage #130
Sadly, that promise is not incompatible with continued failure to furnish Alorael with a custom title.

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Avernum V. Exile in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 06:04 Profile Homepage #28
Pretty sure it's possible to do even better than that with judicious use of Shockwave.

(Well, it isn't really, because none of the Exile games allows more than 60 monsters to exist in a town at once. I suppose if you were to use it against a bunch of Doomguards so that the ones that didn't die from each shockwave split off to create more ones to kill with the next casting, you might be able to kill off over 60 in a round. Then again, using Shockwave on Doomguards isn't exactly wise.)

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My BoE Page
Bandwagons are fun!
Roots
Hunted!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Game finished : remaining quest in Geneforge Series
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, June 23 2005 05:59 Profile Homepage #17
Um, wow. You had those creations as an Agent? Agents don't have creations at all, most of the time. Learn to do without creations and you shouldn't have too many problems with essence.

If you're too attached to your creations to go without any, you might do better as a Shaper.

[ Thursday, June 23, 2005 06:00: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00

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