Pied Piper Project
Profile for John S
Displayed name John S
Member number 5814
Title Agent
Postcount 1115
Registered Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00
Social Networking: Spiderwebbers on last.fm in General
written Monday, May 12 2008 18:38 Profile #25
Originally written by Redstart:
Originally written by John S:
On a related note, does anyone know if the Scenario Judging forum still open? I can't enter it because I wasn't a judge, but I would still like to know.
Why would it matter? The forum exists, and those who were allowed to post are still able to do so, but the contents have been purged.
I just think it's interesting to know all the board's little nooks and crannies.
"What can you do with an anthropology degree other than study people?"
"...Hunt people?"
Posts: 1115 | Registered: Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00
Originally written by Arancaytar:
And Nioca, I know. I've posted subterraneously too, if you know what I mean.
Originally written by Amyth:
GC/RWG was closed last year.
Wanna bet?
Topics cannot be started in RWG, though.
Vague in SubTerra
written Sunday, May 11 2008 14:50 Profile #0
ITT we are vague and mildly self-destructive.
SPAM in General
written Friday, April 25 2008 19:45 Profile #60
Originally written by Thuryl:
This is why Democrats should not be allowed to breed.
He's, um, not even American, you know, so he can't be a Democrat.
Originally written by Jumpin Salmon:
Self-limiting as it may be, the Interwebs need an entrance exam.
Thuryl, how is it you can ignore the blatantly incorrect and offensive statement as a whole, but still insist on factual accuracy in the details?
Salmon, I forgive you. I know you're just trying to suck up to Thuryl.
A question. in General
written Friday, April 25 2008 12:24 Profile #1
I don't know how big the biggest nuclear bomb is, but I do know that two nukes were dropped on Japan in WWII. So I'm guessing one or two nukes would not destroy the planet, not by a long shot. But a [i]nuclear war[i] would significantly impact the world. A nuclear war would almost definitely have to be between two superpowers; otherwise, conventional weapons would be used. If two superpowers nuke each other, the economic and political instability would probably cause the world to erupt into anarchy. Whether the world would become uninhabitable is a question I cannot answer.
I've always wondered what would happen if a nuclear bomb was detonated at the bottom of an ocean. Would a volcano form there? Would the explosive force of the bomb cause tidal waves all over the world? Somehow, I don't think it will. After all, countries test nuclear weapons out on the ocean sometimes. But maybe I'm missing something?
Originally written by upon mars:
ALL three sides payed by imaginary american money.
I mean banks did it.
That's where the imaginary money comes from.
Never herd a scandal about the Bush family financing nazis? Never herd about money lenders?
This concerns me. in SubTerra
written Thursday, April 24 2008 19:03 Profile #0
This concerns me very much. The "New Topic" button is not capitalized rationally, as "New Topic" or "New topic". It is offensively irrational; it is spelled "NEW tOPiC". WHY? It provokes ANGAR!!! :mad: It is things like this which will act as the minuscule particles which will precipitate the downfall of humanity itself. We will be overrun by apes, who will in turn be overrun by dolphins, before briefly experiencing a lull in the DESTRUCTIVE DELUGE before being once more engulfed in it. The English language is INADEQUATE to convey my DEEP CONCERN and OUTRAGE. WHAT WILL YOU DU ABOUT THIS?
Yomp! More Comix! in General
written Tuesday, April 22 2008 12:50 Profile #2
Dilbert - dilbert.com
VG Cats - vgcats.com
Ctrl Alt Del Online - ctrlaltdel-online.com
OotS - giantitp.com
8-Bit Theater - nuklearpower.com
Legends of Divinity OOC 2 in General
written Tuesday, April 22 2008 12:36 Profile #21
So it looks like most people want to use the same character as before. If that's true, is it at least possible that any old plots be explained either IC or OOC? Then new or rejoining members don't have to worry about missing any information.
An intellectual tidbit in General
written Monday, April 21 2008 12:25 Profile #11
Originally written by Ephesos:
Fair enough. I mean, the fact that it's from a site called Lenin's Tomb should be enough to tell that it's biased within an inch of its life.
At the very least, I'm puzzled by the article. I'm not really sure there's enough there to be anything other than puzzled.
What puzzles you?
Sixus suicide in The Avernum Trilogy
** Spoilers for the whole second Sixus tower ahead **
"2. SIXUS' SECOND CAVE Go north by boat from Almaria. You'll find a small area of land where you can disembark and move around. Go north, and you'll see a few shamblers shambling about. Go up to the tower and enter. Drop all your food at the entrance. Trust me. Then go down and pull the levers:
//\//\
Then go up and kill the giants, and go up through the secret passage. Look around and kill anything that moves. Get to the north, then go west as far as you can. Go through the secret passage, past the statues (which would have eaten your food if you still had some), and kill the drakes. Then use move mountains on the wall, and go north then east. Look in the nest for a rod of arcana. Go west (destroy the stalagmites with move mountains), and kill the ice hydras and the ur- basilisk (capture it in your soul crystal if you want it). Then go to the south and use move mountains again, destroying the wall. Enter the room, and tell Sixus that Bevan sent you. He'll thank you and tell you to grab a treasure hidden on the south side of his wall. It's a robe of the magi, very nice if your mage isn't a natural mage. Go south, and read the books on the bookcases, then use move mountains on the east wall to get beast ceremony 3. That's it for here, go back to Almaria to claim your reward: 75 xp(!), 4 rep, 600c. Don't forget to pick up your food."
This is from Zeviz's site. If you want to find the whole walkthrough, Google "Avernum 2 Zeviz".
mined shore, iron bars, and 6 other Q's in Geneforge Series
"First, in the mined shore, I dismissed Camille before she deactivated the mines.
Is there a way of doing that myself without upping my mechanics from 10 to 14?
I might be able to cheat using an "SDF" and if that is the only way does anyone know what it is?"
I don't think an SDF can help you.
"Second, is there any use for iron bars like in the previous games?"
There is no quest to collect iron bars. There are quests for dried herbs, research notes, and shaper equipment.
"Third, is the rubble in the lower school removable or will the blackened areas be forever hidden?"
The rubble is eventually cleared away. I think you have to defeat the spawner on the first island.
"Fourth, I have piles of special items I probably won't use.
In the GF1 and GF2 I could sell them to stores and still be able to buy them back if I needed them for some reason.
Can I do something like that here so I don't have the piles?"
Things you sell to shops will remain in the shop inventory until the shop inventory is full. Items sold to a shop with a full inventory will be lost forever.
"Fifth, it is possible to go through the green areas like in the other games but you can't do that here when going from island to island.
Can that be remedied or must I still go through the endpoints to get to the skiff. (I learned a couple new words when playing this game)"
You must use skiffs to move from one island to another, and typically only from one dock to another.
"Sixth, in the previous games when you picked up a group of items it said, "how many?"
It doesn't say that here so I can't consolidate my tools in one bunch or I'd have to carry around 100 pounds just for tools.
I fix this problem but putting my tools, crystals, and other items in several groups of about 20.
20 pounds is alot light than 100 so I might be able to use my tools without having to not carry any and go back to "home base," that is South End, and pick up all of them and use some."
Hold Shift and click the stack of items while they are on the ground.
"Seventh, I am following the walkthrough, Matt P's.
He has many places, up to Dhonal's island, in which he says stuff like, kill the golems and deactivate the acid baths.
That one is on the acid plant new the beginning of Dhonal's.
I am not even remotely able to defeat golems and barely other creatures.
Yes I am 'torment' and I can lower the difficulty but they still seem to inflict enough damage and I can't that I don't think that will help."
Every class will have problems with different areas, and different styles of playing will also have effects. If an area is too hard, skip it. Also, golems are weak to acid damage.
"Lastly, eighth, I kill the ghost attacking General Greiner(sp).
I then go to Lord Rahul and tell him of that.
I get a quest to deliver new orders but can't find the General to give them to.
He isn't in his quarters but I can't think of anywhere else to look."
Check his front office.
Future Series - What Would You Like? in General
Vogel has stated that he plans on introducing a whole new series after he squeezes out Geneforge 5 and Avernum 6. Now, we can be pretty sure that the game will be an RPG. But almost everything beyond that is, as far as we know, undecided.
So let's hear your opinion - in which direction would you like the future series to go?
I used to play Pokemon, and whenever one of them would evolve, I was so excited. I would get all sorts of cool new abilities, and the creature would get tougher. And in KotOR II (based on the d20 system), when my character changed class, it was so cool. All sorts of new powers and feats would open up for my character.
I would love it if characters had classes, and probably more race-based effects. I think that Vogel is afraid to encourage players to play a single type of character because they may find themselves restricted, but I think it really adds to the game. KotOR and Pokemon are two of the most successful games of the genre, and I think the class change plays a big part in that. New abilities, attacks, and classes also act as carrots on the ends of sticks in many MMORPGs, which are known to be highly addictive (but enjoyable!).
I also think that things like armor and attacks (melee and magic) should be more specialized. For example, plate armor should be good against swords but weak against spears. And mages should have weak armor, but should be able to deal a lot of damage (this is already a fact in all Spiderweb games, so kudos).
I also want an essentially transparent engine. If I want to know what affects my character's chance to hit, I should be able to look it up either in the game or in some other easily accessible area. I'd prefer it if hidden stats and calculations were nonexistent, but I know that some feel that a few makes for a better game. I also don't know why so many stats are necessary. While the number of trainable stats in Spiderweb games has tended to shrink (I think), there are still approximately twice as many stats available to us as in most mainstream games. I think that most casual players find the lack of distinction between Magery and Spellcraft, for instance, to be counterintuitive and frivolous.
Essentially, I want combat to focus more on tactics and less on a character's strength. I think it's a bad thing that almost every Spiderweb fight has the same solution: buff yourself, then blast them. Of course, we get little kinks like an overpowered Parry or Daze in the Geneforge games, but apart from that there has been very little deviation. In addition to something like the battle skills of Avernum 5, I would like to see a number of abilities which activate when two or more characters work together. For example, when two characters attack the same enemy, they should get a bonus to damage. Or when an enemy attacks a nearby ally, I can stab it in the back with another character. I also think it would be cool if terrain and height played a role in calculating damage. If I'm knee-deep in sewage, I should get a penalty. If I have the high ground, I should get a bonus.
I also think that not all monsters should attack in the same way. Some should be long-distance snipers which can strike from several times the range of the average mage. Others should not be able to attack at all; they should only be able to heal or bless their allies. I also believe that depending on the character's class, the character should deal a lot or very little damage. A tank/defender/whatever should be weak, but a fast swordsman should be a melee glass cannon. Also, not all monsters and characters should get the same number of movement points. It isn't sensible to give a bear and a bat the same speed, because a bear is limited by its large bulk, whereas a bat is not and probably can, in fact, fly.
I hated the traveling system of A4. Instead of towns being areas which you could explore and leave, towns and the outdoors made one continuous map. To make things worse, stairs and trapdoors were everywhere; you might essentially play through the same area three times before being able to move on. I never bought A4, and I blame it for putting me off the Avernum series.
The Time has Come in General
written Thursday, April 10 2008 13:12 Profile #167
I think that there are very few members here who can stand up before all the other community members and say "I have demonstrated no bias against or for any member group." I think that when it is impossible to be anonymous, it is impossible for others to be impartial. I am not suggesting that people avoid passing judgment or calling attention to issues which they consider serious problems. I am, however, suggesting that in the heat of the debate some people may have forgotten that they are not perfect; they are, in fact, human.
Tables, tab stops in General
written Wednesday, April 9 2008 12:08 Profile #6
HTML was at one point enabled in the old Nethergate forum. Maybe try it there and see what happens?
Geneforge 5 - April Update in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
written Tuesday, April 1 2008 16:21 Profile #7
I started at the bottom of the thread and read upwards...
written Tuesday, April 1 2008 16:10 Profile #75
I should have made that gullibility link point to a certain Youtube video instead of drupal.org... Never gonna give you up...
:mad: :mad: :mad: !
written Friday, March 28 2008 19:18 Profile #21
Remember when Djur was writing a program to block Ben's posts?
Of course, now I'm sure that all the newbies are thinking "Djur and Ben? I must know more!"
New user titles in General
written Monday, March 24 2008 18:45 Profile #95
Originally written by Rowen:
From what others here have said about the UBB this is what I understand in my own analogy: We are all on a boat and that boat is sinking. Many people wonder why we on a sinking boat and wish to move to a safer boat. We don't leave the boat because we can bail water as fast as the boat is sinking, thus there is no point leaving the boat because we are not really sinking.
That make sense to anyone else?
Well, your analogy isn't perfect. It's like what you said, but every day on the boat comes with a complimentary kick in the balls.
Actually, it's less like a boat and more like Southwest Airlines.
[ Monday, March 24, 2008 18:47: Message edited by: John S ]
Behold II in General
Mmmmm. Jelly filled German doughboys....
A Quick Debug in Blades of Avernum Editor
written Friday, March 21 2008 12:35 Profile #1
As I was writing a message that the location of the town script was the problem, you edited your post!
Anyway, if a string is too long, it means that the section in quotes is too large to be displayed. So in this case, you need to shorten the part which reads "You enter a walled building in the middle of this large swamp. You pass through the damaged gates and see what looks like the site of a magical disaster. It looks as if something either escaped or got in the large construct in the center of the building. A small building is near the construct. Perhaps you can find answers there.".
10,000 BC [Spoilers] in General
Originally written by Lepus timidus:
The main part I didn't like was how the protagonist's girl was miss perfect blue-eyed white girl, and the bad guys were the evil, bearded, towel-headed Arabs who kill people for fun. It was worse than 300 as far as racial undertones go.
That's why the movie was so exhilarating and revitalizing to my European soul. It stresses how we (the West) are awesome and progressive, whereas they (the East) are dastardly scumbuckets who can only win battles when they have a gross numerical advantage. And even then, they usually botch the job due to their innate pussiness and slack-jawed mentality.
Joking or not, people have been banned for less. Maybe that should be done now.
Quick Question in General
written Tuesday, March 4 2008 18:51 Profile #72
Originally written by Nemesis.:
Do you laugh at an inside joke every time you hear it? I doubt it'll be funny every time, no matter how amusing it was the first time.
So what you're saying is only a few people are still laughing, because most people have already heard it enough. Why is it still being perpetuated?
Originally written by Emperor Tullegolar:
More arcane inside-joke oldbie gibberish, no doubt.
Don't pretend you don't admire it. If you dislike it at all, you know where the door is. Same place as the sanity.
Tell me: when someone writes "Leave your sanity at the door", do you laugh?
General Greiner in Geneforge Series
written Thursday, February 28 2008 15:46 Profile #3
You have to do more than just click on him and cycle through the dialog options, as suggested above. I think that immediately after entering the dialog screen, you have to pick the option "Examine him more closely" or something along those lines. Otherwise the only dialog choices you will be presented with will result in the game ending your conversation.