Travel between islands in GF3
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, February 16 2005 10:05
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Jeff has said that GF3 will cover a series of islands. What ways do people anticipate being used to travel between them? This poll has been moved to another forum. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Friday, February 18 2005 18:42
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I'm expecting each island to have a small metal dome that is constantly rotating, and you need to make note of which eye symbol each has written on the outside in order to get the associated color from Gehn's survey room, then solve the marlbe riddle to get the power machine working, so each dome will uncover a magic linking book that will take you to a separate world where you can access individual books to link to the different islands... Or perhaps rusty tramcars that zoom around over the sea... Or maybe not. [ Friday, February 18, 2005 18:43: Message edited by: Icshi ] -------------------- The A.E. van Vogt Information Site My Tribute to the Greatest Writer of the Science Fiction Golden Age Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
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Canned
Member # 5490
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written Friday, February 18 2005 18:50
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i prefer sea draykes,like in the first gf -------------------- comminiscor ea superus san` coetus,momen athrad ea superus san` institio,uniformis ea superus san` complesso,superus honestas,superus dominatus,superus.ta ea superus a` imperator san` a` succedo Posts: 75 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |
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Master
Member # 1046
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written Friday, February 18 2005 19:08
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Ninjas. -------------------- Polaris - Weather balloons, ninjas, and your big daddy Wise Man. What more could you want? Undead Theories - Don't Ask, Don't Tell Posts: 3323 | Registered: Thursday, April 25 2002 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 5517
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written Friday, February 18 2005 19:58
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I think they'll be teleporters, or sea drayks, or maybe a flying creation. Posts: 49 | Registered: Friday, February 18 2005 08:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 10:33
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At this point I have 8 votes for 'Other', but the only really different suggestions mentioned so far have been 'rusty tramcars' and 'ninjas'. Rusty tramcars would be cool. They've been done, but they were cool then, and they'd be cool again. I really don't expect ninjas. (Of course, that's just the way the ninjas always like it.) Could the other six original minds indicate what they can imagine? Or do we just have six votes for the proposition that Jeff will have thought of something I didn't anticipate? (I'm hoping for that myself.) -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 12:31
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I think it will require different things to get to different islands. For the easier ones it might be boats. Maybe an undersea tunnel to get to one of the harder to reach islands. Maybe a teleporter to get into one protected by magic barriers. You may have to finish quests to find the way to reach some of them. Don't know. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
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Canned
Member # 5490
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 13:05
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ah ha,14 votes,majority vote for my idea :P -------------------- comminiscor ea superus san` coetus,momen athrad ea superus san` institio,uniformis ea superus san` complesso,superus honestas,superus dominatus,superus.ta ea superus a` imperator san` a` succedo Posts: 75 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 4278
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 21:31
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quote:possibly the best post ever made in this forum -------------------- Pathological Jerk Jerking at Spiderweb since 1999 Posts: 143 | Registered: Sunday, April 18 2004 07:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 3898
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 22:16
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Samurais. -------------------- ~Note : The professional newbie's advice should not be taken seriously, or at all.~ LINKAGE Posts: 364 | Registered: Saturday, January 17 2004 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4592
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written Sunday, February 20 2005 03:24
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I answered all eight of the possibilities, so I might as well explain. I did so in the hope that there are several possible ways to travel from island to island, not just one or a couple. As for the flying, I'd love to see a behemoth creation, like a blimp whale (the itch of Farscape forces me to have that image) Other: nothing very original, I was thinking of a cable car system, or a terrestian train type of transport. P.S: Icshi, I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time, but I haven't posted in ages: Thank you for putting van Vogt in your signature. Thank you very much. (ever read Jack Vance?) -------------------- quote:Random Jack Vance Quote Manual Generator Apparatus (Cugel's Saga) Posts: 604 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Sunday, February 20 2005 12:16
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quote:Nice to know there are other people on these boards who know who van Vogt is! I've that had signature for a while but you're the first person to make mention of it. I don't think there are as many SF readers here than I first assumed. Jack Vance is another one of my favorites. I particularly like the Dying Earth saga, the Demon Princes novels (especially the second and fourth), *Space Opera*, *The Languages of Pao*, and *Nopalgarth* (aka *The Brains of Earth*). But to get back on topic: I don't expect anything really fancy to get from one island to another. The usual methods of bridge, boat, and underground cavern are the most likely to appear. However, I would be greatly delighted to see something new and unexpected (such as the afore-mentioned putative Shaper-created being that inflates like a balloon and you can hang onto its tail and go soaring up and over things — that would be niftiness supreme). [ Sunday, February 20, 2005 12:18: Message edited by: Icshi ] -------------------- The A.E. van Vogt Information Site My Tribute to the Greatest Writer of the Science Fiction Golden Age Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Sunday, February 20 2005 19:08
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I read Slan and Space Beagle many years ago, and liked them; I'm not sure they're so much my cup of tea these days. Vance is amazing. What about his short stories, though? "The Moon Moth", "Green Magic", "The Men Return" ... Oh, yeah: the Blimp-Vlish would definitely be cool. The trouble with flying, though, is that it would be hard to explain why you can't fly everywhere. [ Sunday, February 20, 2005 19:18: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4592
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written Sunday, February 20 2005 19:48
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Yeah, I think flying won't happen. The magic book is more likely, if such a thing as teleportation does happen. In the end, we may get the usual things as Icshi pointed out. I doubt there'll be anything fancier than that. I'd love to see underground caverns, though, specially as he can institute them as a separate dungeon and kill to two birds with one stone. Vance: Dying Earth. Superb. I specially love the Cugel books, which are the only books I've read about five times each. Demon Prince: Wonderful stuff, I go back and forth between that one and his two other major series, Alastor and Planet of Adventure (sometimes the latter wins due to its E.R. Burroughs feel) Languages of Pao: What cool premise that had, about how languages affect our way of thinking and acting! Space Opera: Hah! And it was indeed an opera in space, and a Space Opera at the same time! :D Nopalgarth: Gods. That's a really obscure part of his ouvre! One of his earliest, too. Short Stories: Trinity, you may have just quoted his three most classic short stories ever. The Men Return had such a beautiful concept, if I remember correctly that's the one about the pocket of Causality. And Moon Math is one of best expositions I've seen on fiction about the role of masks in our society, both literal and figurative. Note: If you win the lotto and want to spend 1000 or so dollars, there is a gorgeous collection of all of Vance stuff in hardbound. It's called the VIE project and what these people did (I was briefly part of it) was that they took all the versions of all his stuff and in conjunction with him and his wife they completely revised each and every single piece of his work to produce what they called: Vance Integral Edition. Purer than these versions, there is naught! The new iBooks versions are taken from these editions. Hey, who knows this thread may get people reading van Vogt, Vance, and perhaps indirectly, those old time SF writers who were so magnificent (the occassional mediocre piece consciously and politely ignored). SF just isn't what it used to be. By and large. -------------------- quote:Random Jack Vance Quote Manual Generator Apparatus (Cugel's Saga) Posts: 604 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
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Canned
Member # 4042
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written Monday, February 21 2005 11:49
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Abandoned Isles=Boats Shaper Isles=Sea Drayks There may be secret methods like a hidden Flying Machine/Creation Or Even Teleporters! -------------------- Geneforge & Geneforge 2 rock!!!!! Posts: 78 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00 |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Monday, February 21 2005 13:04
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quote:Incidentally, this putative flying blimp monster reminds me of a Philip Jose Farmer novel I once read: *The Winds Whales of Ishmael*. This was supposedly an SF sequel to *Moby Dick* if you can believe it. I know that makes it sound like instant rubbish, but Farmer carried it off quite skillfully. By page 20 I had already stopped thinking of this Ishmael in terms of Melville's. And the central idea was rather interesting: hundreds of thousands of years in the future, all the seas have dried up, so the creatures of the deep have taken to the skies. Most of the book is routine adventure, but the setting was done with such imagination and flair that it's well worth reading. Besides, it's only 128 pages long — and Farmer apparently wrote it in one week — so it's not as if you'd be sacrificing a significant portion of your life by reading it. It doesn't even have chapter divisions! quote:My personal favorite is "The World Between" — using ecology and terraforming as a weapon. Unique and brilliant concept, with a superb ending. quote:I've heard of it. It's been on my millionaire's shopping list for quite some time. It's good that so many publishers are doing this sort of thing: Robert E. Howard is another, with Wandering Star and Del Rey reprinting his work as he originally wrote it. I've heard that even Lovecraft is being given this treatment, after the horrid things that the well-meaning August Derleth did. quote:Oh yes. Van Vogt wrote some real stinkers all right. They all have. It's unavoidable when you're writing for a living. quote:Too true. The only authors who have written SF in recent years that I enjoy are Iain M. Banks, Jack L. Chalker (who died just last week :( ), and... Someone else I can't think of at the moment. I also enjoy those *Doctor Who* novels put out by Virgin in the early and mid '90s, and then by BBC Books after that. I know, hardly the most literarily respected form of fiction, but I've found the stories enjoyable and many of the premises surprisingly original. Lawrence Miles in particular is a star author in this area: he recently created a spin-off series called *Faction Paradox*, with new novels published once or twice a year. But what they lack in quanity they make up for in quality. -------------------- The A.E. van Vogt Information Site My Tribute to the Greatest Writer of the Science Fiction Golden Age Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Monday, February 21 2005 15:31
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SF and fantasy are clearly changing: there's money in 'em now. Top flight authors come out in hardcover, and movie deals sometimes happen. I don't know that it's really getting worse, though. I personally read less nowadays because I have less time, but I think good things are still coming along. The old days look better because we only remember the good old things. What does bother me is that publication deals seem to make authors rush series into print too quickly. I've seen several amazingly promising first books lead into banal trilogies, when I'm sure that the author could have kept up their initial standards if they had just taken the time. (Gregory Keyes's Newton's Cannon was tremendous, and A Calculus of Angels was at least a cool title; but the series had gone so far downhill into random weirdness by the third book that I never read book 4.) [Abruptly forces himself back on topic, more or less:] I hope Jeff bears this in mind with the GF series, which he anticipates running for a few more installments after 3. Since he does have Avernum under his belt, let's hope he knows how to pace himself. I at least felt that GF2 was a worthy sequel. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4592
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written Monday, February 21 2005 20:24
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Icshi: P.J. Farmer is a god among men. Okay, that was a slight exageration, but he's one of the few writers out there who have succeeded at telling modern versions of pulp stories. I love pulp fiction writers. His stories about Tarzan are wonderful, and the one were Tarzan fights Doc Savage is wonderful. Granted, they are what they are: exagerated pulp fiction retellings. Don't expect any brain candy in those. He also did one for Philleas Fogg that was rather entertaining! There's also his Dayworld books (first couple fine, then not so fine to rather bad) His classic series may be Riverworld. Wonderful concept: a world where the dead people end up (no, not Heaven. Far from it) First two books are as entertaining as adventures get. Then he gets weird when he explains what's going on. However, the chance to read Richar Burton (the explorer) having adventurers with Mark Twain and other luminaries was too cool for me. I'm also delighted HPL is getting a clean up, being an enormous fan of him. Ditto for REH whom I proffesor of mine once described as a warrior wimp (wimp in real life, warrior in fiction) Maybe we will get some treatment for ERB? And, even though he is not SF, Edgar Wallace, which is one of my favorite thriller (old meaning) writers around. The fact that "The World Between" had a superb ending is a bit of a detour for Vance who usually just kind of ends his stories like. . . there. Ended. You guys know he's got a new book, right? It's called "Lurulu" and is a sequel to Ports of Call. He's almost 90 years old (born in 1916), and almost completely blind. VIE is also in my millionaire list--> it costs over 1000 dollars! Actually, I enjoyed some of those Doctor Who books. I particularly enjoyed the one with Sherlock Holmes. . . something about fire. Iain Banks is indeed one of those cool ones. I read recently a book by James Alan Gardner, "Expendable." Short book. Not bad. I thought his eyes screamed for more depth and more examples, but it was cool enough. I hear there's a sequel. Trinity: No kidding, man!!! I read the Age of Unreason by GK too and felt the exact the same way you did. Darn it. The first book was so wonderful (gotta start using other adjectives :D ). And then. . . I read all of them. You didn't miss much. In fact it has been about a year since and I hardly remember at all what happened at the end. Still, I'm reading right now the Briar King, the first of his new series. So far so good, but we'll see. Deadlines can be a drag. On the other hand, look at George R. R. Martin. It has taken him over 4 years to complete the fourth book of the Song of Fire and Ice saga and he's still working on it. BTW, if you guys haven't read it, I sincerely recommend it. It has a very strong historical feeling. Very gritty, unrelenting and unrepenting. Oh, and if you guys want to read another "version" of what Keyes was doing with Age of Unreason, you may want to check The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. Now, as far as alternate histories go, this is as subtle as they come. No big chances. In fact, hardly any chance at all from what I've been told (haven't read vol. 2 and 3 yet.) but it's very well written (if you get his style, which may not be for al tastes) and they are a nice "tour" through the political/social/scientific changes of the 18th century. In fact, by the same author, Cyptonomicon, Diamond Age and SnowCrash are fun. BTW, guys, there's a cool SF series by Stephen Donaldson, the Gap Series. A cool adventure. -------------------- quote:Random Jack Vance Quote Manual Generator Apparatus (Cugel's Saga) Posts: 604 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, February 23 2005 07:07
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Actually I read somewhere that Howard took a bodybuilding course that turned him into a big guy in real life, so maybe he wasn't such a wimp. I'm also hoping The Briar King series goes better. Hagia Sophia really is pretty impressive from inside. It's such a vast space. I think it would become a famous building if it were built today; and to think it was built in, what, 550 or something? Once I'd been there I suddenly understood why all those medieval Europeans had been so in awe of their classical forebears. Western Europe couldn't dream of doing anything close to it for about a thousand years. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Wednesday, February 23 2005 12:29
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quote:I read a lot of Farmer several years ago, and have about 25 of his books. He's not one of my favorites anymore, but lately I have been tempted to re-read some of his novels. His best was probably *Dark is the Sun*, which everyone else seems to detest. quote:For years now I've visited a certain used book store, and every time I'm there *A Feast Unknown* glares at me from the shelf asking me to buy it. So far I've resisted, since I don't know much about Tarzan or Doc Savage and wouldn't enjoy all the nuances of the work without having the appropriate background. Also the blurb led me to believe some of the story would be far more disturbing and revolting than Farmer's usual fare. quote:Another one that I haven't read because I lack the proper reading background. It's sitting on my shelf, though, and still calls out to me from time to time just to be annoying. quote:I really enjoyed the first one, and have all three. Or are there more now? At any rate, the hero of the series seemed very much a traditional VanVogtian uberman, one reason why I enjoyed the first in the series so much. quote:I feel that Farmer failed to use the amazing premise to its full potential, and was too content to let the books deteriorate into a series of repetitive adventures. A recent book, and one in that *Doctor Who* spin-off series called *Faction Paradox* that I mentioned earlier, that uses the same idea to far better effect is *Of the City of the Saved...* by Phil Purser-Hallard. It's the third in this series, but you only need to have read the first *The Book of the War* (a weird dictionary-style anthology edited by Lawrence Miles) to understand it. The second *This Town Will Never Let Us Go* (by Lawrence Miles) was a stand-alone work that didn't have much to do with the main story. You might enjoy it. As a matter of fact the publisher recently had a big sale and I bought duplicate copies of the whole series. If you're interested, I could mail you the first three books, and if you don't like them you can send them back. If you do like 'em, you can keep 'em! quote:*All-Consuming Fire* by Andy Lane. A smoosh between a traditional *Doctor Who* story, Sherlock Holmes, and H.P. Lovecraft. It even has pulp-style illustrations throughout. Certainly one of the more entertaining of the series. -------------------- The A.E. van Vogt Information Site My Tribute to the Greatest Writer of the Science Fiction Golden Age Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4592
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written Wednesday, February 23 2005 19:49
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Ischi: "A Feast Unknown" is definitely. . . graphic at times. And I don't mean sex. It gets pretty violent and gruesome. Thanks for the Dr. Who recommendations. I'll try to buy the first one. Thank you very much for the offer. But mail down here (Venezuela) is a mess. I basically have to get things through my sister and MailBoxes. I think there are only the 3 Dayworld books. There's another series by Farmer I forgot about the other day, which was silly of me. "World of Tiers." I never read the last one that came in the 90s. (What I mean by that is that while I'm trapped in this country, I'd feel terrible accepting your rather generous offer without being able to send you books in return, thus beginning a SF Books mail correspondence, which would be brilliant. Thank you, though, very much for your offer. Indeed!) Trinity: Oh, man. I'd love to go visit Hagia Sophia. I'd love to visit Contan- sorry, Istanbul. They built it five years (532-537) under Justinian. St. Peter's Basilica (more or less as we know it, there used to be a smaller one there), began construction in the middle of the 15th century and was finally complete (inside decorations, the works) in 1626. Of course, Justinian was quite a powerful Emperor and it was easier for him to order something built and get it done. (Sorry about the measly information above) So far, "The Briar King" is fine. But, remember what happened with the "Age of Unreason." Guys, rather blindly I bought a couple of books by Stephen Baxter and have been about to start reading them. Should I? They are "Ring" and "Manifold: Time" [ Wednesday, February 23, 2005 20:01: Message edited by: Bireme sailor's concubine ] -------------------- quote:Random Jack Vance Quote Manual Generator Apparatus (Cugel's Saga) Posts: 604 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Friday, February 25 2005 12:39
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quote:No problem — although the U.S. mail is better than in most countries, it's becoming increasingly unreliable too, and I understand your trepidation. My own family recently had a bit of a fiasco involving important papers sent through the post that disappeared and then arrived too late to be any good. I didn't know you lived in Venezuela! That's quite a ways away. The *Faction Paradox* books are published by Mad Norwegian Press. Here's their website — you can visit it to learn more about the series' background and the individual books themselves: http://www.madnorwegian.com -------------------- The A.E. van Vogt Information Site My Tribute to the Greatest Writer of the Science Fiction Golden Age Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, March 2 2005 06:48
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Okay, the 'Shaper boat-creature' is the clear favorite. I'll be so disappointed if we don't get one. The plain old boat and the bridge are surprisingly popular. Presumably people expect the game to take a while to really heat up, so that the first crossing or two will be mundane. It is widely expected that there will be a magic gateway at some point, even though anything like that would be quite a novelty for Geneforge magic. Flight is considered unlikely, perhaps because it is difficult to imagine a plausible rationale for restricting a player's flying ability to just the necessary hop between islands. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 3676
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written Wednesday, March 2 2005 12:01
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How about a creation that swallows you up and then spits you out to the next Island. cannonball man style of express transit. "We are not responsible for (rough) arrival time." -------------------- The living are important. The dead, to be remembered. Posts: 23 | Registered: Monday, November 10 2003 08:00 |