BehemothMargerine

Again, I tend to attempt to complete all the side quests (this includes jobs on the job board) before I leave an area. They don't seem to have new jobs no matter how many you complete. But, yeah, that's so far. Then again, perhaps I did something that generated a new one, or it just refuses to work for me, before I even click on the job board? Like, y'know, breathe? I don't know. Haha. Anyway, I'll have to mess with it and try and figure it out.

Heh, I know it's about the difficulty, but the guy misnamed the topic. So I decided "what the hell" and wrote that. Technically, it's on topic. "what do you think of A4" haha. Also; I've completed a fair amount of quests. the job boards don't seem to have new jobs at any period in time. unless, you basically have to complete half the games quests just for a new one to generate at the very start of the game.

As far as I can tell, the job boards don't refill with jobs no matter how long you wait, and the money limiter is a *really* downpoint. especially since you're an adventurer, not someone working to barely make cut. overall, the games plotline is cliche but it works (sort of). The bows, as far as I can tell, were edited to not need arrows because of the lack of cash, and other things were changed around as well to adapt to the new engine. It's really not too bad, and looks better then the older avernum games, but contrary to popular belief, looks aren't everything. Another thing that comes into play, is evolution of the timeline between avernum 1 to 4. Spells change little except for strength and such, but mostly, spells keep the same names, and pray few new ones are ever created. Realistically, that would be impossible, especially given the nature of sages and magic users in the game (as well as priests). Really, there is little variety. Fortunately the creator(s) make up for this with, of course, the game itself. New areas, old areas, new enemies (stuff from G4 is interesting. Watch! How much you want to bet the empire and avenrum, are in the same world as where Geneforge happens. Will the creators merge these two seperate empires into one game at some point? Who knows, but if you ask me, it'd be an amazingly interesting clash. Especially with how different the magic and cultures and such are), old faces and new ones. That and the fact you ALWAYS hear about the old adventurers but *never* get to see them (one of these days I want to bump into some weird old guy and eventually find out he's one of the former or something) adds some interesting points. Heh the lack of a day counter is nice, since it makes the game less of a *RUSH* and more of a laid back thing. Less EXP points per level also makes it more challenging. And the old enemies (chitratch, for example, which if you ask me are the main pests in the game. f34r the pun) seem to like to return every so often to bring back some nice slaying memories of the earlier games. Which also adds to realism, since they don't just vanish. One aspect which I don't get, is why Cordelia and Mycroft changed places at the default. Now the guy is a priest while she's a spellcaster. Random? Or what? I don't know. Haha Anyway, overall, the game sort of balances itself out. Realism wise, and "well, that's not logical or realistic within the game world" instances. so, the rating? 6 out of 10. Given how many games are created, as opposed to other games and their sequals/etc, this game basically defies the market. Especially since most games tend to chuck out so many crappy sequals/etc to their already overly animated and their too-much-shiny-graphics-to-focus-on-gameplay sucky games. So hopefully they keep making the series for a while (And who knows, maybe the creators DO have a sinister plan to clash the world of avernum with geneforge ;o) and we get to see just how much the creators decide to play it out.

Actually, the nature of the spell, if you want to be realistic, would mean that daze makes it impossible for you to mentally function, such as move your limbs, eyes, hear, or anything, properly. The stronger you are will and intelligence wise, the more you can resist the mental clouding. "strong daze" would basically daze even intelligent people, such as somewhat trained (or well trained) wizards and sages (maybe that's pushing it, though). A thief basis everything on NOT getting caught, therefore, clouding the persons mind would be a good tactic, especially if you *HAD* to steal something and them seeing you just isn't an option (like, for instance, them seeing you then you becomming sort of #1 on the watch list even if you dazed them afterwards). Realistically, the spell would basically be used for thieves as a *BEFORE* effect, rather then a nasty "they still remember my face" after effect that would make any thief get into some fair amount of known trouble. The definition of thief: One who steals, especially by stealth. Therefore, realistically, this is how the spell would be applied logically. unless the spell workings don't cloud someones mind to the point of them not being able to concentrate enough to remember anything while they were in a daze. Unfortunately, that basically contradicts being in a daze. *especially* strong daze. Edit: and if you're going to create an atmosphere, suggesting it's a spell thieves use would suggest they use it to aid in their stealth, as opposed to getting CAUGHT and thus *faces remembered* and *no longer very stealthy*. Then you have mental ability put into play when a person is in a daze. Talking is out of the question, and if you check information about the brain and psychology, I seriously doubt, depending on how dazed you are, your ability to remember or see very well at all. So, that is where the intelligence of the person you dazed comes into play, and thus, the balancing factor and realism factor.

Why is it that, one of the spellbooks you can improve Daze from, mentions it's a spell every thief should have and yet you *CAN'T* cast daze on people in order to steal stuff? Especially because it puts you in battle mode instantly, and they're considered allies so it doesn't work. I have to ask: Why was this done?

Now now guys, don't swamp him too much. Haha. if he adds it he'll add it. if not, we can always hunt him down and eat him. <.< >.>

Thanks. And, I'm not sure, but MAC should support DVORAK keyboards. There are basically two main keyboard layouts that most everybody uses (well, QWERTY is the main one). QWERTY and DVORAK. I googled it for the mac OS and it would appear like it supports DVORAK as well, but since I don't have a mac, I'm not 100% positive. Edit: If you want a side by side thing, go here: http://www.webopedia.com/FIG/DVORAK.gif

Ah but see, he could just do what most programs do. Let the operating system decide it. I'm sure it would be less work then programming in the keyboard layout manually. Then again, what he could do, is allow the user to redefine the key definitions. DosBox (a dos game emulator) does this, and although it's time consuming on the poor users part, it works. Although, I think I'm probably not getting how it's done, since I've never had to do it (that and my "coding" experience is almost zero. Hah).

I've checked around the website, and the games help file, also checked the options and the programs folder itself. I've also searched the forum. There is no apparent way to switch the keyboad layout for avernum 4 (or your other games, as far as I can tell). I have manually set the keyboard layout with the operating system, but Avernum 4 appears to ignore it and default to the QWERTY layout. I use a DVORAK keyboard and the settings within the OS are set properly for that type of layout (double checked, and when all else failed, I googled it, still no luck) and it would appear like it should work, yet it does not. I would be very thankful if someone knows of a way to make avernum 4 read the keyboard layout that the OS has, rather then continually default to QWERTY. Or with the next update/patch, have it implemented, if possible. If not, I'll have to suffer through it. haha