Experience scenarios that don't work anymore - Quick Solution

[Redemption]

Some quick things that got me through my last game were:

 

Placing open doors to rooms I could not access.

 

Giving myself necessary plot items I could not acquire otherwise.

 

Finding the special node that wasn't working right, copying it, and placing the copy somewhere else.

[Redemption]

The text is available by reading "Edit Town Text" "Edit Scenario Text" and "Edit Outdoor Text"

[Tonweya]

I don't want to open a can of worms here, but that seems to come naturally to me, so here goes...

It sounds to me like the key word that you've written is, "Experience".

I've been at these Scenarios for over eight years now, and can tell you that I learn something every time I get into one.

At best, I'm only a mediocre player, and much less at the programming. I've only begun to understand the programming over the last couple of years.

From what I see, the new, "OBoE Editor" will access just about anything you might need. The people who have upgraded it have done a tremendous job, IMNSHO.

You DO NOT need to Edit any existing Scenario to access areas.

! Besides, you'll only contaminate what you have!

If you learn what the different symbols mean, you will know if a Door cannot be opened, (I), can be magically opened, (M), or is locked, (L) and can simply be "Bashed" open.

* Picking locks is unnecessary.

And/or you will see where the Secret Passages, (S) are in walls, etc.

If you want to use the Scenario Text, open the Editor, load a Scenario and look at the Drop Down Menu.

One of the options is to do a "Full Text Dump".

You can then put the "Dump" wherever you want, open and edit as you see fit with MS Word, or whatever. This will give you all the Conversations, Secret Words and Items you'll need to acquire, etc.

Again, once you begin to understand the BoE Editor and its Icons, or Symbols, you should be able to read the Pictoral Display in the Editor as easy as a comic book.

The hardest part yet to learn is chasing down the Nodes to see what does what to what, but that will come pretty easily if you aren't impatient.

There simply aren't any short-cuts; none that I've been able to find yet.

Be patient, and enjoy the journey;

me

[Tonweya]

Me again...

You may well have started with some of the more difficult, (better authored) Scenarios.

Might I suggest you start with a couple of the easier rated ones, or better yet, with "On A Ship to Algiers" where Alcritas recommended. Its written in his style, but is a good 'Beginner' Scenario.

me

[Redemption]

I hope we're talking about the same Blades of Exile engine, or else we might be misunderstanding each other (I'm using the updated free version). As it happens, Ship to Algiers was naturally the first one I tried, because it was the first in the story, and for novices (I did my homework before starting), but couldn't get anywhere so I figured it was bugged. I moved on because Of Good and Evil is supposed to have the best story anyways, and as I'm finishing up Falling Stars, I think that's true.

[*i]

Not wanting to put words in Ahbleza's mouth, but I think he meant by the technical sophistication of the scenario design. Algiers was written early when Alcritas was still learning the Editor. This can be good in that the nodework is fairly boilerplate, but the downside is that some things may not be coded up well and may be difficult to follow. Can't say this for sure, as I have never cracked open the scenario in question, but I can say from experience my first works were not nearly as smooth as my later ones.

[Tonweya]

Again, I'm, at best, only a mediocre player. Personally,I'm only interested in the Story-Line and Data Collection of the Scenarios, not the "hack-n-slash".

I have both the old and new systems set up on a single computer running Windows XP. *Obviously, I'm cautious that I don't use both at the same time.

Some time back, I was given the "wtf.ed" and about all I could do with it was to dump the scentext file. I still didn't understand the BoE Editor.

I wanted to "correct" a Scenario that was corrupt so I could play it and in the process learn how to use the Editor.

Having finally accomplished that, the new OBOE has been a dream come true for me. I can now access everything on any Scenario. If I have a problem, I just read through the Nodes to see how the Scenario is programmed until I find the missing detail I'm looking for.

(You wouldn't believe the number of sheets I've made of Nodes.)

(Well, actually, I'm sure that some of you Major Players would. ;^)

I'm now going back over all the ones I had done previously and still am having no problems with either the old, or new, BoE Games, nor the Editor.

1.) Have you tried playing any of the 'problem' scenarios with the Original System to verify that there is/is not a problem with any particular Scenario?

2.) Are you sure you have the latest version of the new OBOE?

3.) With the "editing" you say you've been doing to the Scenarios you're describing, are you sure you haven't contaminated one, or others? Again, there's no need to edit anything, just "read" what you need to with the Editor.

May I suggest that you try, (with at least one), deleting it completely from your computer, clean and defrag your computer, download a new copy of a Scenario from either Traci's True-Site, or Kelandon's Archive, and then start all over with the new Scenario; preferably with the Original BoE Game.

FWIW; I'm retired, will be 70 next April and have a LOT of time on my hands, (usually), and I spend a lot of time playing with these specific Scenarios; (the ARC).

I am enthralled with the over-all concept of the Historical Story-Line and specifically the many true-to-life fragments. Al seems to be someone who truly understands.

I'm sorry if I haven't been any help to you, but I just don't understand how you're having a problem.

 

** To Stareye; as above, even if there were a problem with the programming, such as that done by someone who is just beginning, it would have shown up with other players over the years. As I said, there was a Scenario that I liked the Story-Line, but the programming was 'flawed'. Once I learned the BoE Editor, I corrected the Scenario and it played fine. I've yet to find any game-stopping flaws in any Scenarios that still exist. Any that 'didn't work' have been duly noted and pretty much fallen by the wayside. There are a few that are written in such a way that makes for a few difficult moments, but with the Editor, a Player should be able to read the Nodes and get past it. Again, any "Flaws" would have been corrected years ago and one should safely assume that there are no flaws in any of the Scenarios of "The ARC".

me

[Redemption]

Firstly and most importantly, you should share those fixed versions! (I recommend divshare or mediafire). If you do please mention which engine they are designed for.

 

I don't have the "original system" (Original Blades of Exile) because I never bought it, I've only downloaded the OBoE, so that's why I'm stuck with some scenarios that aren't made for that engine, including Of Good and Evil which Alcritas had to explain to me why it didn't work and was kind enough to send me a fixed version. (http://www.spiderwebforums.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=213050#Post213050)

 

I would like to congratulate you on your retirement, you are living one of my dreams - to be done with work and play video games. Very jealous.

 

I also love the Greek influence inside Alcritas' scenarios, which is another reason why I chose them. Not enough moral dilemmas, philosophy, and inevitable-oracle-prophecies though! I wish I were 13 again so I could have time to make scenarios and show people what good stories can feel like. Have you ever made any scenarios for any game?

[Tonweya]

Firstly and most importantly answer:

The Scenario I fixed was NOT MINE. It was released quite some time ago by someone else who 'apparently' didn't realize you can only use a Node for one function, not repeatedly, over and over, again.

I seem to have a different set of ethics than many others. The fact that someone else wrote and released the Scenario originally makes it their property and NO ONE ELSES.

Even though it was released to the BoE Community, IMNSHO, no one has the right to modify and then re-release it, or any other Scenario.

Imagine if anyone had taken one of the Scenarios you've just played, modified them to a bunch of porno in the middle of the game, and then re-released it to an unknowing BoE Community.

We all walk a fine line of morality here, ESPECIALLY now that OBOE is available to everyone.

 

Nextly:

You really don't need the Original BoE Editor. The thing is... Play the Scenarios straight; don't edit them and don't 'cheat' yourself. It appears that you're giving up too easily simply because you have the OBOE at your disposal. How do you think all the rest of "us" have worked through these Scenarios before the OBOE? I, for one, still have a string of Scenarios that I've never completed, not only because they were tortuous, but I simply didn't find the solution to a problem and set it aside for another day.

 

Nextly, nextly:

I came into the BoE Community 12 FEB 2003 and soon hit a problem in a Scenario. It was, "Tatterdemalion" by Tarl Kudrick. I went to the Board and asked my question only to have one of the Members tell me that Tarl had left the Community some time prevously for other pastures.

That's what gave me the idea to start writing Walk-Throughs in case other Authors have departed, too.

Several years have gone by and two things have happened:

One is OBOE. There is no longer a need for documented Walk-Throughs as the programming is visible to everyone.

The other is that releasing the information on a Scenario that someone has busted their chops to write, (and darned well usually), seems to be terribly unethical.

I've watched this Board very regularly and have yet to see a posting not get answered in more than a few hours. Several of the names you'll see here have been here for a long time and it appears that they will continue to do so. I include myself in that group.

If I know an answer, it will be here right then and there. But again, I feel like it's undermining the hard work that Authors have done to release all the answers to their puzzles.

 

Lastly, (for now):

Retirement isn't any different that any other stage of life. It's only that; different. There is good and bad in every stage and moment of life. For one thing, I may not be around to see what happens to the Human Race. I've been given a few 'clues' and it ain't a pretty picture. ;^{

I'm not so sure I'd like to be 13 again. In my case, it was my own particular, Hell.

And that's a conversation for another day.

 

Learn the Editor, Play the Scenarios straight and you'll enjoy the accomplishment they were meant to provide.

"Cheaters never Win and Winners never Cheat".

me

[Milla]

I believe Redemption wasn't talking about changing scenarios to make them easier but fixing problems which make the scenarios unfinishable on the newer engine. It isn't cheating.

 

If uploading a fixed copy isn't to your taste, then merely telling people which scenarios have problems and where would help people alot in fixing the problems themselves.

 

And yes, I once owned the original BOE until life events caused me to lose the hard copy as well as the digital version. Besides, my current system wouldn't let me play the original BOE anyway.

[Redemption]

Interestingly both points of view apply - My initial problem was a broken scenario that needed to be edited in order to work properly, but since then have tried to fix other scenarios only to find out that I simply wasn't playing the game right. The problem is how can a player know -- hard to say.

 

Intellectual property rights are an interesting topic and deserve an entirely new topic on it. There could be one already for all I know. My opinion is that when a person gives something to me, whether it is a car or a painting, I can do as I please with it, unless agreed to otherwise. As much as I like the idea of respecting invention, I much more believe in respecting personal property. Intellectual property is a very gray area that is highly debatable both ways.