Tonweya

Assuming that functions such as 'look', 'take', etc. are pure programming and cannot be modified by a Player using the Editor, and that the same applies to the Scenario Terrains Icons, I'd like to ask how an Author might make their own icon fluctuate. Specifically, the standard icons in the Scenario Terrains include a campfire and deep water icons that 'move' by rotating through four icons. I've seen Scenarios that utilize custom icons such as the 'Fireplace", and don't think I've found a Node that would do the trick Is it possible that Authors with programming capabilities have written in this item, or is there something I simply haven't noticed, (again). tx, me

I joined the Community in 2004 and downloaded the Editor Documentation soon after. The 'bladedit.hlp' file appears to be the same one that I already have. I think the term, "in-progress" answers my question well. I've encountered an occasional difference and "assumed" that most all the work had been completed; that there were only minor "tweaks" being done. One of the items that I noticed was different was the numerical identification of "Mage Lore" under "Affect PC/Party Specials: Type 98 - Affect Statistic, (0 = increase; 1 = decrease). The Statistic, "Mage Lore" is listed in the Editor Documentation as #11, but looking at a Node in use, it was listed as #25. I can certainly understand that a complete rebuild is a huge undertaking and didn't know that this was still " work-in-progress". Please accept my humblest appologies for not realizing this unnecessary question, but, hopefully, I'm a little better informed. Thanks, me

The Original BoE Editor included documentation that described some 229 Nodes, including descriptions of each Node and the description of each of the Fields, Spells, Alchemy, etc. Soon after I joined the community, I made a 'hard copy' of this documentation. As I've used the new, 'Classic', version of the Editor, I've routinely encountered these changes and cannot find any updated documentation as complete as the Original File is. Was there ever an updated version and I simply haven't found it? I've made lists of the new identification numbers of Spells, Ingredients, etc. but am hoping there is something already in place so I don't have to re-write this entire File. ;^{ Any help for an aging "Analog man in a Digital World" would be greatly appreciated. ;^} me

Windows 'XP' and Office 2003 With these programs, I've made numerous 'forms' to use for disecting Scenarios. When I'm playing with a Scenario I usually have no less than 6 things running and often 2 or 3 others; WORD: ScenText & Walk-Through, Game & Editor, XL: Towns & Sectors, PAINT: Individual Towns + Total Outdoors. If I run into something confusing, I have XL forms for the Editor Nodes and I'll often hand write the entire string of Nodes for a particular Town so I can 'visualize' the progression, although that only happens once in a while. I'm "Old School", (71), in that I enjoyed playing with Basic and QBasic in the days of the Commodores, but had too many other things going on in my life at the time to follow-up into present-day programming. We have three sons and the oldest makes a good living programming and is my source of information when I need it. My Mom, one Sister and I all loved puzzles growing up and that led me to enjoy trouble-shooting Industrial Electrical problems for a living. Now I continue the "Puzzles" with these Scenarios. At this age I'm no longer in the mayhem of the games, but do enjoy digging into the Scenarios, making Walk-Throughs, and repairing 'Flaws'. I have other things that keep me active enough that I don't feel guilty when the weather is foul and I spend my time doing this me P.S. Oh, yeah... I also type well enough to be a bit of a "ratchet-jaw". ;^}

I can't believe I missed that. ;^{ Thanx a bunch. I kept trying to find something programmed intp the Scenario, rather than the item. kinda like I couldn't see the tree for the forest. Again, thanx, me P.S. It's nice to know that there are still people out there. I look at this board regularly and fear that everyone has moved on to other pastures, so thanx for that, too. Things like that happen with age. ;^{

In a particular Scenario, I find that several of the "Special Items" are in the possession of the Player/Party from the very beginning of play. These are all items that should/would be acquired during Game-Play. And, this occurs with any type Party. I've gone over the drop-down menus, to the best of my limited ability, and cannot find any way to remove these items. Any help in how to remove these items, modifying the action so it cannot occur again, etc. would be greatly appreciated. And, uh, yes, I'm still playing these Scenarios and making their "Walk-Throughs". ;^} many thanx, me

Check your E-mail; I hope this is of some assistance, me P.S. I'll start sending what you've indicated. P.P.S. Please excuse the fact that they'll all come individually. I'm in the woods and dial-up is the only real choice. ;^}

Check your E-mail; I hope this is of some assistance, me

I believe I understand your logic and I also feel that there could have been at least a bit more 'fine-tuning' of a PC's abilities, or at least a few more abilities available. There would necessarily need to be a limit on the number of initial abilities or they would overwhelm the game itself. I'm sure that was considered when these games were originally created. As time passes, the PC 'grows' to 'learn' just as it happens in 'real life'. In many Scenarios Authors have created 'Special Items' to accomplish this purpose and there is a lot of room for a lot of Special Items. Perhaps the creators of the basic program, and others, deliberately minimized the initial abilities of the PCs to that of a 'Novice', but allowed the creation of 'Special Items' to accomplish the effect of 'growing'. me

There has always been the ability to create a "God" Party and I'm sure we all have our own favorite version(s) available. I doubt that any "new" characteristic would jeapordize the quality of play, (any more than has quite likely already been done), if/when someone wanted to use these new characteristics on an original Scenario. It seems more likely that creating additional characteristics might entice potential Authors and existing Authors alike to attempt a few new Scenarios utilizing these new characteristics. Or, possibly, entice them to create follow-up Scenarios for ones that had already been established. And that, I feel, would be a very positive effect. (Hmmm... Blades of Exile II...) me

"Heirs to Thesus" is a short "Spin-Off" from "Of Good and Evil". It is a very short set of three battles with the Slith at the Slith Checkpoint. The Player is limited to what they begin with so they must play conservatively to accomplish the Scenario. It is not necessary to play this but it is an added "fun" scenario. Kalloskagathos was written as sixteen resolutions to the basic Story-Line. However, I found a couple of "bugs" that can confuse a sequence of play, and/or prohibit accomplishing two versions. 1.) In “The Manor, LG, in a conversation with personality # 8, Lord Vaughan”, when you ask his “Name”, he will respond, “I am Lord Vaughan”. When you ask his “Job”, he will respond, “I am a Lord in her Majesty’s service”. The Player should ask, “Lord”, or “Majesty’s”; Node 26, Personality # 8. Later in the Game-Play, if/when you find his Journal and confront him with it, you should ask, “Journal” and receive a response relative to the Story-Line; Node 33, Personality # 8. The Author included the word “Vaughn” with the word “Journal” in Conversation Response Node 33, albeit unintentionally, and this causes both words to yield the same response. Since it is possible, (and I did), to ask his name, “Vaughn”, in the original conversation when the Player would not yet have known about the Journal, that information would be given too early and Spoil, or at least, Confuse, the Story-Line, especially in the fifteen versions that it is irrelevant. 2.) After playing through all sixteen Versions I found that, although playing through was unique to each, two Versions, (K and P), came to the same conclusion, (ending). I searched through the Nodes in each Version and found that an error had been made when calling the Final Town for the conclusion in Version K. * The Original Version took the Party from the Wine Cellar, (Town 69), to Secret Cellar, (Town 73), which took them back to Wine Cellar, (Town 72). * Towns 72 and 73 are written for Version ‘P’, not ‘K’. I've probably said too much here, but wanted you to understand that a couple of items in this Scenario will confuse the Player and why. For my own sake I made the necessary modifications and the entire Scenario plays out as it was intended. me

Lastly, and I'll drop out of the picture; the "Adventurer's Club" trilogy is worth an effort, also. Specifically, AC-3 is quite large and although there are some battles, they're more about the Player resolving searches than most of the mayhem that is in other scenarios. IIRC, AC-3 is the largest of all Scenarios. me

I assumed that because you were new to BoE you were looking for a starting point. Although Algiers is a "Beginner" type scenario, the rest of the series gets much more involved and difficult. As I originally stated, "The Arc" is probably the most played and appreciated series in the BoE group of scenarios; as much for it's complexity of game play, but IMNSHO, for the main Story-Line. But, of course, it requires the commitment to play through them all. I agree whole heartedly that ATG should satisfy your gaming desire in that it is large and involving. If you hit all the details, you'll be at it for a while. How about another series of three scenarios? Drizzt made a good, and reasonably difficult group. They are: The Foresaken Brotherhood of the Hand Shadow of the Stranger These won't take as long to play through as The Arc, but should be quite rewarding if you're looking for something much more involved. me

I.I.R.C. = If I Remember Correctly. First: If you bring up the window for a particular Monster, you should notice that there ways to set parameters for that Monster. The Main Window gives you the opportunity to set the conventional parameters for that Monster. On the bottom of that window is a 'select' tab titled, "Edit Abilities"; choose that. This next Window that comes up gives you the opportunity to set other parameters for that Monster. One of the parameters is titled, "create monster/fields". If you select this, you'll have several selections, one of which is titled, "death triggers scenario special". If you choose this option, you can choose a "Global" Scenario Node to be called upon the death of this particular Monster. What it does is your choice. Second: If you select "Edit Items", (NOT "Edit Special Items"), you'll see that one of the parameters is titled, "Special Class 1-100". This gives you the ability to "Tag" any Item, or number of items with a numeric "Tag" from 1 to 100. Third: Call any Unused Node and you have six groups of options for that Node. Under the "One-Shot" Title, one of the options is, "Have Item with Class?". Finally: You can give each or all item(s) a "Class Number" and use this Option to identify whether the Party, or whomsoever, has any or all of them and if so, or not, call the Monster. If/when the Monster dies you can call a "Global" Scenario Node to perform which ever function you want/need to. And... you can use a Node, (Flag), to identify the status of events to call or not call the Monster. I'm not much of a programmer, but I think (hope) I've explained, albeit over-explained, several options to call, or not, the Items and or the Monster. me

You came here looking for the "Staff". Ask Nikky, "Staff". What she tells you is true. me

I think you'd be more than pleased by running through all ten of Alcritas' Scenarios, a.k.a. "The Arc", beginning with "On a Ship to Algiers". It's the recommended starting Scenario of a ten episode history of a world of his creation with all the comforts of reality. Follow the suggested playing sequence and if you run into any problems, just post 'em here. Most everyone in the Community has played them all. There are varying degrees of difficulty and you may notice that most are written in a slightly different style from each other. Lastly, the Author appears to be keeping in contact with this Board should you have any serious questions. me

With the exceptions of upgrading Weapons and Armor, or certain Potions or Scrolls, the "Treasures" that you acquire should be sold to provide gold to upgrade your Party; training, etc. Saving them, "just in case" will only unnecessarily burdon your Party. Although they only garner half their rated value, literally all scenarios provide more than enough found items for the Party to sell for this purpose. Personally, I find that raising one of your Mage's Spell Points to 50 a.s.a.p. to "Identify" is important, just as learning where to sell these items and where to purchase Weapons, Armor, Training, etc. me

And I. Although there may not be as many players around as there used to be, I'm sure there are others out here who would, too. Also, I'd bet you'd enjoy writng it. me

I assume you mean the coordinates of a space other than where the Party is at any given time. How about opening the Editor to the town you're in and then center the space in question on that screen. The Editor posts the location of the center of that screen. me

Because I like to make "Walk-Throughs", I try to make a balanced Party, rather than a "Specific Purpose" one. For a "straight", (non-edited), Party I prefer six PC's; two Fighters, two Priests and two Mages. (redundancy back-up). Two Fighters use Edged Weapons. One Fighter Disarms Traps, (it is better armored). Picking Locks is useless as any locked door can be bashed. Usually there are enough Potions available in the Scenario that Alchemy isn't needed although it does make for a more enjoyable Game-Play. Priests and Mages have Archery Skill. (Some Authors "drain" Spell Points.) (I normally only use a few 'favorite' Spells.) One Priest increases Spell Points A.S.A.P. so it can cast, "Ritual Sanctify" and one Mage increases Spell Points A.S.A.P. so it can cast, "Identify". Mage Lore is 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5. All Attributes are distributed throughout the Party. I include "Assassination" and "Luck" as I can afford to add it. (It doesn't do much at low levels, but comes into play at higher levels.) We could go on about a Party Style for days; it's always personal preference. But this is what I use for a "Generic" Party. I would, of course, make something different if the Scenario required so. me

Years ago Tarl Roger Kudrick made a list of the BoE Monsters. It was titled, "bladbase100monsters" and I think it should be posted on the Spiderweb Site. There are actually 187 Monsters including their attributes and a few notes. I have a copy of it and tried to "copy" and "paste" it here but it didn't work. I'm one of those out-of-date computer illiterates. ;^{ With any luck, perhaps someone else who has the list and knows how to attach it to a post will see your request. me

I appreciate both responses and I'm sure Al does, too. And, yes, what you've said is quite understandable. I should have mentioned earlier that you go back and re-read what McTavish had to say to the Party at the end of "Falling Stars" regarding to how humanity has progressed throughout history. As to the killing everything; I adamantly agree. Long ago, during the early days of the 286/386 genre, our oldest son had become deeply involved with computers and computer games. He ran bulletin boards from C-64 to this day. Back then he explained to me that to "win" these games you had to "kill everything". Obviously, I've never done well at computer games. I do, however, fare pretty well at research, data collection and documentation. I took an early retirement pension and purchased the Exile Trilogy and Blades of Exile primarily because I wanted to delve into the stories and make Walk-Throughs of them. Once I realized what Blades was, I saw a veritible Gold Mine of enjoyment ahead of me. There were hundreds of scenarios I could work on. I tried Al's Scenarios early on, but they were way beyond my comprehension. After some easier Scenarios, I managed to get into them and was amazed at his subliminal story information. Battles be damned; he seems to be someone who has felt the true inhumanity of war. I've played most all his scenarios several times and Falling Stars the most. I'd recommend that you play them through again, in order, and this time you can read the documentation more closely. It's worth the time you'll spend on them. me

To quote another source, "The War is never over". There is no "ending", per se. As you should have noticed throughout the series of "The Arc" there is always a war going on somewhere and the final installment points out that fact. And, as the Mage who destoned the Party says, “Quickly! We must hurry!” She says, “We have very little time and much to do!” as she hurries back up the staircase. It's still going on. To me, Al was writing about the consequenses of war, not war itself. If you simply played each Scenario for the game and didn't sense, or realize what was happening to the characters in the stories then I fear you missed what he was really writing about. Do you remember the couple who lost their child in "On a Ship to Algiers", or the girl in the Dungeon Cell in "Falling Stars"? I've re-played all his Scenarios at least a couple of times and am impressed as to what a good Author he is; more than just a writer of games. Al has answered a couple of postings within the last year, so I presume he still watches this column from time to time. However, I'd imagine that he, like so many others from the BoE Community, has moved on with his life and he may not watch this column very often. Sorry to ramble on so, but I obviously think very highly of what Al has accomplished. me

I make documents and/or spread sheets of things I need to know while playing games and making the Walk-Throughs. I'm looking at one with the Scenario Nodes for the advancement of the Rune Shield and the "extra reward". It's pretty "cut and dry". I also looked to see if the Rune Sword had to be within a specific distance from the "magical character" because Rally stated that it needed to be "in the vacinity". It appears that it should advance no matter where it is. It also appears that any Party Member can have it equipped, although I have one of the two Fighters using it. I've played this Scenario quite a few times, primarily to get the sequence of play to what if feel is optimum, but just don't seem to be able to get the Sword past Level 35, (the fourth level). That's why I was asking if there is something not in the Editor, but rather in the programming that might affect it. Over time, I learn new things about the BoE Editor, such as each of the Undead NPC's in Castle Relaford L1 has its own Flag and ALL must be satisfied for the next event to occur. I cannot find anything that prevents the accumulation of 'credits' to the Flag, so I'm now going to play through with a Basic Party, (No additional NPC's), and no "Anti Magic Cloud". Back to the "Drawing Board". ;^} Thanks for the reply, me

I have killed 20 Rokka, 2 don't count as they were in Plyos-L4, but the other 18 should have yielded 36 'credits' to SDF? 1,0 toward advancing the Rune Sword. I have killed 6 Seraphim which should have yielded 42 'credits' to SDF? 1,0 toward advancing the Rune Sword. Each 10 'credits' advances the Rune Sword one Level. I have played the Scenario quite a few times over the years and have never gone beyond the fourth Level, (Level 35). * but have used "Anti-Magic Cloud" in most cases. At 40 'credits' I should have made the top Level, (Level 50) and at 50 'credits' I should have received the "Special" reward. And yes, these Nodes are all Scenario Nodes, ie: "Global Specials". I keep spread sheets, documents and all sorts of information to make Walk-Throughs and this is the only thing I haven't been able to accomplish. I do appreciate your reply, however, I'd recommend doing Pylos A.S.A.P. so you can get the Rune Sword and start whacking Rokka and Seraphim. Although there should be more than enough to advance the Rune Sword, there's no sense in wasting them. The only two that you cannot use for the Rune Sword are the two in Pylos, Tower 1, Level 4 where you do the last battle there. I've read and re-read all the Nodes and cannot find anything that affects the accumulation of 'credits'. It seems that, no matter where you are in the 'Town', you should advance the Sword, but I keep coming up short. Thanks for the response though, me