Mea Tulpa

GIFTC -- if that's in response to the original post, yep, that's part of what "Attack Bonus" grants.

On the other hand, there have been some really fascinating discussions here that have touched on politics. Just make sure you frame things carefully so that the main issue isn't too heated for people to think straight. To give some idea of what's over the line and what isn't, threads about the ethicality/origin/politics of homosexuality usually work fine, but threads about abortion never work. The issue isn't the polarization so much as the heatedness. Similarly, debates about the virtues of different political ideologies work fine, but topics about the country Jerusalem is in never work.

Hmm. Perhaps I should make a set of Exile avatars after all.

Originally Posted By: JSMany Slarties, I love this. No, seriously. I wish everyone would address me us in the plural! (On second thought, I can't start using first person plural when I type. That would be a lot worse than the plurality of third person singular gimmicks currently running around.) —Slarties, who are borrowing this signature form just to emphasize the point. Address me in the plural, O ye singularities!

Everyone wants to live forever... thinking that it'd be a lot better.

Originally Posted By: Chokboyz The inventory of a character can hold up to 24 items, whereas in Exile I and II, it was limited to 16 items. Also, just noticed this. In Exile I it was actually limited to just 12 items, so it was apparently updated for E2, but not E3.

Yeah, I did something similar in 1999 or so. I believe I called it Pyrella's Hyperspace Citadel. The merchants were panels of Exodus from Ultima 3, and there were chocobos, in addition to the titular dragon. ...um, yeah.

HOLY WHOA. HOLY BROKEN INCONSISTENCY, BATMAN! I don't know if some of this was known before. I mean, we all knew that Bless was really, really good in Exile. But did we realize quite how good it was? After looking closely at how the source code handles Bless, I have to say that Bless is broken and grossly abusable. I think most of us concluded that Bless caps at plus or minus 8 just by seeing the effect on the PC status screen max out at +8/+40%. And that's accurate as far as the PC's attacks go. It's also accurate for NPC's defending against PC melee attacks. A few other potential scenarios have different numbers though. For example, when an NPC attacks somebody with a missle, the cap is +10/+50%. However, the really interesting caps are the caps on defensive bless action. When a PC is attacked by an NPC using a melee attack or a missile attack (or a gaze attack), there is NO CAP for the impact of bless on dodging. For melee attacks there isn't a cap for the impact of bless on damage absorption either. But wait, you say. Surely bless is just capped at 8 when you cast it, right? Well, it's capped at 8 if you cast Avatar, or if you're a monster and you cast any spell other than Strength. But for PC's casting the other 5 blessing spells, NO CAP IS APPLIED. But wait, aren't bless spells inefficient if you want really high bless values? Most of them are... the plain old Bless spell, however, gives you (0.75 * exp_level + 1 + spellcasting_bonus) levels of bless for 2 SP. For my current Exile 3 singleton, at level 24 and with 19 Intelligence, that means 24 levels of bless. Cast Bless 3 or 4 times and I literally CANNOT be touched with any physical attack for a lot longer than Invulnerability lasts. Is this a bug or just the result of Jeff's strong opinions on Bless spells needing to be useful when he wrote Exile 1? Who knows. What I have to guess IS a bug, though, is that the first 5 levels of damage reduction from bless when a PC is attacked by a monster in melee, count double. That's right -- bless damage reduction is applied twice, once in the attack routine and once in the taking damage routine; the first time it isn't capped and the second time it's capped at +/-5. Code: ATTACKING BONUSES:Att Def Typ Dam HitPC NPC MEL -8 +8 -40% +40%PC NPC MIS -8 +8 -40% +40%NPC PC MEL -Inf +8 -Inf +40%NPC PC MIS -Inf +10 -Inf +50%NPC NPC MEL -Inf +10 -Inf +50%NPC NPC MIS -Inf +10 -Inf +50%DEFENDING BONUSES:Att Def Typ Dam HitPC NPC MEL +8 -8 +40% -40%PC NPC MIS 0 0 0 0NPC PC MEL +Inf* -Inf* +Inf -InfNPC PC MIS +5 -5 +Inf -InfNPC NPC MEL +Inf -Inf +Inf -InfNPC NPC MIS 0 0 +Inf -InfNPC ANY GAZ -- -- +Inf -Inf*First +5 or -5 to damage counts twice.BLESSING SPELL EFFECTSCast Spell Cap EffectNPC Str -- +3NPC Maj. 8 +3d4NPC Min. 8 +3NPC B. 8 +5NPC Pty. 8 +2d4NPC Avat 8 =8PC Str -- +3PC Maj. -- +4PC Min. -- +2PC B. -- +(0.75*level)+1+bonusPC Pty. -- +(0.33*level)PC Avat 8 =8

Originally Posted By: Thaluikhain Oh yeah, definately. There's a few lil odd things (underground Troglodytes (which should fit canon better than it does, you'd think!), and that stuff of sliths and their metals, which may or may not fit canon), but otherwise excellent. The metal-touching thing is definitely the most borderline. It works okay given that we knew very little about traditional slith culture before A1 was released. It isn't perfect -- at the very least we'd have expected to hear a comment about metal in Gnass in E1 or E2 -- but perhaps that one was of the things the Gnass sliths were trying to forget. NG does maintain every characteristic we knew, implied and explicit, of the sliths. In particular, we don't meet slith NPCs who gush about their culture (Ask About... "Exposition"). As in Exile, there are a few conversational sliths and a lot of quiet or hostile ones Quote: At the risk of being banned and having null-bugs mailed to me, it does that somewhat better than the Exile games did. The world has a lot more "history" behind it, and some decent ecology as well...it doesn't really make sense to have ginormous caves with trees growing in them and natural lighting, and though the Exile games touch on this a little, NG goes a lot further and makes it seem much more sensible. I agree, but I want to point out that the lighting is *not* natural, and neither is the cavewood -- the latter was created by Erika and company and the former either by Erika or the vahnatai (quite possibly created by the latter and augmented or reproduced by Erika). This is explained several times, just not early on in any game. Quote: What's a TM scenario? A scenario by Terror's Martyr, notorious for his quantity of scenarios (something like 30, over the years), the sometimes high quality of them, his technical contributions to Blades, as well as his provocative forum posts.

Originally Posted By: Nathaniel the wepons you can use are... magic,crytals,ranged creations and stratagy to destroy your foes so the characters for this game are most likely the infiltrator, the lifecrafter and perhaps the servile (not likely) 3) try to keep a great distaance from your enemies... 4) when you use creations against enemies only use ranged creations...5) its best to use magical creations only... Neat challenge. I just want to point out that the above points are optimal for regular G4 play, too!

Originally Posted By: Lilith There are other scenarios with far more impressive technical design aspects in the areas of combat, puzzles or special effects: NG was well-made for its time, but scenario design techniques have progressed in the years since then. NG does have very good writing, though, which is why it's still ranked up there with the best scenarios of all time. This is well put. NG has very good writing, both in terms of text being evocative and resonant, and also in terms of storytelling. I think what really makes NG stand out for some of us is the world of the scenario. Everything fits together, the fleshy characters and the plot and the little details fit too, reinforcing everything else -- it's 100% internally consistent. Everything fits seamlessly with the Exile Trilogy, too, tying in to events from the trilogy without actually impacting anything. That makes it very easy to sink into the world of NG -- you don't have to suspend much disbelief -- and at that point the carefully constructed, intellectually provocative themes that inform NG's story become engaging enough to carry the player along. In a sense it's the inverse of a TM scenario, where individual IDEAS -- whether philosophical, or relating to combat or special effects -- are equally robust, but are so forced into the foreground that the characters and story get squished and distorted and lose their believability.

No, there was definitely an E1 graphics upgrade very early on, way before E2.

Thanks for the clarifications & corrections! I am a bit embarassed by how many errors my summary had -- guess I shouldn't do this stuff after I stay up all night Originally Posted By: Chokboyz Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Fire Barrier 6-21 In the Windows code, the damage are 2-20. Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Force Barrier 14-49 As far as i know, the Force Barriers don't do damage, just preventing a space from being entered. The code appears to deal this damage to anything in the square when the barrier is cast. I know from experience that barriers definitely do damage when cast, just as the damaging walls do, but the mechanism appears to be different. I'm going to paste the code because this is actually one of the cleanest bits of it: Code: case 42: // Fire barrier play_sound(68); r1 = get_ran(3,2,7); hit_space(target,r1,1,TRUE,TRUE); make_fire_barrier(target.x,target.y); if (is_fire_barrier(target.x,target.y)) add_string_to_buf(" You create the barrier. "); else add_string_to_buf(" Failed."); break; Quote: Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Ravage Demon 15-165 (8 + Int Bonus*2)d11 (note: you also get a flat +25 bonus if you are in the Anama!) Ravage Demon does indeed (8 + Int Bonus*2)d11 damages. For information, the Anama thing is not longer present in BoE, but should be accurate for Exile 3. The bonus is definitely present in the Mac BoE code, although it is not possible to join the Anama in BoE so it's irrelevant. Quote: Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Use the Hit Chance table. Do this process for EACH encumbering item. Oddly, i've just noticed that the last 8 items are not checked in this process (that's undoubtly a leftover of Exile 2 when pc could only have 16 items ... i bet it's present in Exile 3 as well). I should fix that, i think ... It isn't possible to have items 17-24 equipped, is it? LH, RH, Bow, Ammo, Cloak, Helmet, Armor, Pants, Boots, Gloves, Ring, Ring, Necklace, Lockpicks... I can only get to 14. Quote: Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Defense skill has a chance to reduce damage by 1 using the Hit Chance table with a 20% penalty. For each armor item worn. Whoa -- you're right! I missed that, and WOW does that make Defense skill more useful. You can easily knock off 6-10 damage per attack with a high Defense. Quote: Seems a bit off there ...If the damage type is X and the wearer has a "X Protection" item, the amount of damage is reduced by 50% if the ability strength of the item is < 7 and by 75%, if >= 7. Whoops, I thought get_prot_level summed all the scores for some reason. It doesn't.

That is correct, thanks for clarifying that CM. Today's installment is a lot of random stuff that I don't have time to make look pretty. There's some pretty neat info in here though that I at least haven't heard before. Defense bonuses and Rings of Resistance are hugely overpowered! PICK LOCKS: 5,30,35,42,48, 55,63,69,75,77, 78,80,82,84,86, 88,90,92,94,96,98 2.0 steps @ Dex Bonus 1.0 steps @ Pick Locks 0.5 steps @ Luck Flat +6% @ Nimble Fingers HIT CHANCE 20,30,40,45,50, 55,60,65,69,73, 77,81,84,87,90, 92,94,96,97,98,99 1.0 steps @ Appropriate Weapon Skill (Raw Dex is used for bare-handed attacks) ASSASSINATION = double base damage, need Assassination Skill of at least half the target's level, also need to be at, above, or exactly 1 XP level below the target. Chance of Assassinating: 1.0 steps on Hit Chance table @ Assassination -1% @ level of the target STRENGTH Carry an extra 15 pounds per point of Strength RAW STRENGTH BONUS Affects HP gained at each level. HP will never go down on level up. Levels 2-25: 2-6 HP plus (or minus) Raw Str Bonus Levels 26-50: Raw Str Bonus ITEM LORE 0,10,15,20,25, 30,35,39,43,47, 51,55,59,63,67, 71,73,75,77,79,81 Chance of identifying a non-boring item when it is created. 1.0 steps @ total of Item Lore skill in the party DEFENSE REDUCTION TO ENCUMBRANCE Use the Hit Chance table. Do this process for EACH encumbering item. If the encumbrance value is exactly 1, roll a random number from 0-130; if it's less than the lookup value for Defense skill, reduce that value by 1. If the encumbrance value is greater than 1, roll a random number from 0-70; if it's less than the lookup value for Defense skill, reduce that value by 1. Unfortunately, this means that Defense skill can never guarantee being able to cast mage spells if you are wearing more than 1 piece of encumbering equipment, or 1 piece of equipment that has 3 or more points of encumbrance. 10 Defense Skill can however guarantee mage spells with 1 piece of 2-encumbrance equipment. LUCK Total party luck positively affects item drops in some way POISON APPLICATION CHANCE 40,72,81,85,88, 89,90,91,92,93, 94,94,95,95,96, 97,98,100,100,100,100 Two rolls. One to put the poison on well -- if it fails, its strength is halved. Nimble Fingers gives +6% to that roll. A second roll with a 10% bonus (but no NF bonus) to avoid nicking yourself; if it fails, you're poisoned. As you can see, this skill is totally useless and even if you like using item poison, there's no need for more than 2-4 points. MINDDUELING Roll a random number from 0 to 100. Do this 10 times but stop if a participant is killed. Adjust by: +1 @ PC Level / 2 +1 @ PC Raw Int / 2 +35 @ each Ring of Will equipped -2 @ Monster Level +5 @ level of Monster being dumbfounded -5 @ level of PC being dumbfounded -5 @ each time this turn the PC has won a mini-duel +5 @ each time this turn the PC has lost a mini-duel Each time you get a result, do the following before rolling again: 0-30: -- Drain 1-6 SP from PC (to monster) -- If PC is already at 0 SP, add 2 levels of dumbfounding -- If PC then has 8 or more levels of dumbfounding, kill her! 31-69: -- Nothing 70+: -- Drain 1-6 SP from monster (to PC; can go over max SP) -- If monster is already at 0 SP, add 2 levels of dumbfounding -- If monster then has 8 or more levels of dumbfounding, kill it! Thus, a single Mindduel spell can theoretically result in the exchange of up to 60 SP, although this is very, very unlikely. ALCHEMY FAILURE CHANCE 50,40,30,20,10, 8,6,4,2,0, Alchemy skill above 9 has no effect on failure chance. There is an additional modifer to failure chance based on potion difficulty; this goes as high as -20. If your alchemy skill is at least 5 higher than the potion difficulty, you get an extra charge. If it's at least 11 higher, you get two extra charges instead. ARMOR AND DAMAGE Armor with defense rating X reduces all physical damage taken by a random number between 1 and X. Armor with defense bonus Y reduces it by a random number between 1 and Y, PLUS HALF OF Y. Non-armor items with a protection rating reduce damage just like armor defense rating, 1dX. Defense skill has a chance to reduce damage by 1 using the Hit Chance table with a 20% penalty. Luck has a chance to reduce damage by 1 double the Hit Chance table value, with an undoubled 20% penalty -- this reaches 100% at 6 Luck. Parry reduces damage by 25% of its evasion value (see below). MAGIC DAMAGE Onyx Charm reduces energy damage by 50%. Ruby Charm and Ring of Fire Res. reduce fire damage by 50%, or by 75% if two or more are worn. Ring of Warmth (NOT Iceshield -- bug) reduces ice damage by 50%, or by 75% if two are worn. Ring of Resistance is AMAZING -- it reduces fire, cold, energy and poison damage all by 75% and is cumulative with other rings and effects! Magic Resistance status reduce fire and cold damage by 50%. LUCK SAVING LIFE It uses the Hit Chance table, so you can't actually be 100% immortal... just 99% immortal. This means that a mere 1 point of Luck gives you a 30% chance to stay alive... you do need at least 1 Luck for this check to take place. PARRY ("WAIT") BONUS TO EVASION: 0.25 * (2 + Dex Bonus + Defense) @ Remaining AP Practical range: 0.5% per AP to 6.75% per AP PICK LOCKS Just a flat +5% bonus per point, no table lookup.

I can't help you with your problem as I haven't played it in years, but I just wanted to affirm once again that Nephil's Gambit is one of the best BoX scenarios ever made. I back the charms of the fair priestess Karolynna!

Part 2: Spell Damage, # of Targets, Walls This took a bit to figure out, but here it is. Note that most magical damage is subject to a saving throw for half damage, and enemies that resist it take half again... so you will rarely see maximum damage. This is also why Wall of Blades (and the walls in general) are so amazing. Also, exception: Wound can't be resisted. I've listed max achievable damage for easy comparison, when damage varies that formula comes after -- but do note that max damage listed may cap it. Code: Spell Damage on castingFire Barrier 6-21Force Barrier 14-49Spark 2-8Ice Bolt 20-80 (Level Bonus + Int Bonus)d4Flame Arrows 2-8Smite 2-10Wound 7-28 (Level/4 + Int Bonus + 2)d4Flame 10-60 (Level/6 + Int Bonus + 1)d6Fireball 10-60 (Level/3 + Int Bonus + 1)Firestorm 14-84 (Level/3 + Int Bonus + 1) * 14/10Kill 140-70 40-70 + Level*2Death Arrows 101 0-30 + Level + Int Bonus*3Turn Undead 2-28 ??Dispel Undead 6-84 ??Ravage Demon 15-165 (8 + Int Bonus*2)d11 (note: you also get a flat +25 bonus if you are in the Anama!)Wall Damage Chance of fading each turnIce Wall 3-18 1 in 6Force Wall 3-18 1 in 6Fire Wall 2-12 1 in 4Blade Wall 6-48 1 in 5Quickfire 2-16 ---TARGETSYou get one target for every X levels, and every Y points of Int BonusSPELL Poss Level BonusSmite 1-8 @ 4 @ 2Sticks to Snakes 1-8 @ 5 @ 2Summon Host 5 -- --Flame Arrows 1-8 @ 4 @ 2Venom Arrows 1-8 @ 5 @ 2Paralysis 1-8 @ 8 @ 3Death Arrows 1-8 @ 8 @ 3Spray Fields 1-8 @ 5 @ 2Summon 1 1-7 @ 4 @ 2Summon 2 1-6 @ 6 @ 2Summon 3 1-5 @ 8 @ 2 Int Bonus ranges from -3 to 5 according to Int, you get +1 for Magically Apt or for Micah's Gloves.

I'm again doing a bit of dissection of the code for Jeff's open source release of BoE, mainly for use in playing BoE as well as the Exile Trilogy -- most, though not all of it, we can safely assume applies to the preceding games, with obvious exceptions for the stuff that was added in E3 or E2. This installment deals with races and traits, and experience level. The amazing thing here, given what we've gotten used to from SW over the last decade, is that pretty much every race and trait does exactly what the in-game description says, and nothing more. Race determines: - First two items in starting inventory - Sliths get +2 Str, +1 Int on creation - Nephils get +2 Dex on creation - Sliths get +10% to hit with polearms - Nephils get +10% to hit with missiles Recuperation: - 1 in 11 chance of healing 2 HP each turn. Chronic Disease: - 1 in 111 chance of getting 4 levels of disease each turn. Cave Lore and Woodsman: - 1 in 13 chance of getting 2-12 food each turn when in appropriate terrain. - Activates the appropriate checks. Nimble Fingers: - +6% chance to disarm traps - +6% chance to apply poison well - +8% to pick locks Ambidextrous: - Negates -25% penalties for dual-wielding Good Constitution: - 5/9 chance of additional reduction to poison level each time you take poison damage - Appears to do nothing vs disease due to a bug Exceptional Strength: - Carry 30 extra pounds - +1 to skill bonus for Strength (damage, bashing down doors) Bad Back: - Carry 50 pounds less Frail: - Will usually get 1 extra level of poison or disease, when so afflicted Alertness: - Will get 1 less level of sleep, when slept; NOT cumulative with Hyperactivity status Magically Apt: - +1 to skill bonus for Intelligence (most spell effects) Toughness: - Reduces most damage by 1 Sluggish: - Reduces base AP by 1 Magically Inept: - Can't use magic items Basically, as we have known for ages, several of the advantages are REALLY good: - Toughness - Magically Apt - Exceptional Strength The rest are okay, but not so critical. Races and Ambidextrous are useful at the start, but not necessary in the later game. The only reason not to take other advantages, would be to get a higher level sooner. Well, what does level do, aside from giving skill points and HP? It does: - Affects treasure drops in some way (this part isn't spaghetti code, it's couscous code -- I can't even tell if it's a positive or negative impact) - Allows you to assassinate monsters of your level or lower (your Assassination skill also needs to be higher than half their level, so this is unlikely to be relevant until late game; also note that this is just a check and not a roll, so there's no advantage from being extra high level) - Increases the power of many spells (often every other level; more for Kill, Death Arrows, Charm, Bless, Stealth, Unlock Doors, Dispel Barrier; less for a lot of others) - Increases resistance to petrification, dumbfounding, disease, sleep - Reduces XP gained. This is not done relative to monster level, it is a FLAT reduction of all incoming XP. You actually earn 150% at levels 1-2 and just 15% (with an increasing chance of an additional -1 XP) above level 40. In actuality, this is a VERY gentle curve compared with most games, including the Avernums. Conclusion: level is not tremendously important, unless I am underestimating its impact on spell damage. So advantages can be piled on with a clear conscience... as we have known forever

Yes, of course -- that isn't what I'm saying. I'm saying there were two sets of old graphics BEFORE the Exile III style, 2.0 graphics. One was introduced fairly quickly, I think around the same time of the 4 AP update. IIRC, the oldest graphics set had fewer and cruder PC icons to choose from.

I believe there were two sets of "old" graphics in the old version of Exile 1; the second, slightly updated set came in with the 4 AP system. Not 100% sure about this, but that's how I remember it.

They clearly coexisted in Vahnatai lands, but the dungeon Monroe mentioned (also what I was thinking of) suggests it wasn't too peaceful. However, in checking this I also realized that the Nephil fort in question is the one near Fort Ganrick. Avernite soldiers (aka the PCs) encounter hydras and nonchalantly call them by their names before Bon-Ihrno appears in Formello... so they can't have been totally unknown to Avernites before that. They may only have gone higher in the caves after the Resting began to end and the Vahnatai reclaimed their lands, but this does suggest at least some were in Exile proper.

There's no way to decrease skills, but you should be able to delete and replace a character in the Edit Party window -- click on the button that looks like four little vaguely upright blobs.

Whoops, I accidentally downgraded all of the spells by 0.5. Thanks for catching that.

Originally Posted By: Lilith Hey, you know what monsters I miss from the original trilogy? Hydras. Where did all the hydras go? Were there ever hydras in Avernum proper? I don't remember any, but even if there were 1 or 2 isolated encounters in X2, it's probably safe to assume that they were obliterated by the chitrach infestation of A4.

In the short term, i.e., during the summer, it often works wonders. In the long term, it varies, and according to the professors who do studies on these children, the single most important factor is the outside environment: gains made are most likely to be maintained, compared to data from before the summer, when caretakers and referring schools/agencies are invested and available, and they are least likely to be maintained in the opposite situation, or when the kid lives around heavy gang activity, etc. Having worked with them (and in some referring agencies and schools) for six years now, I've seen enough kids maintain significant gains over time that I'm sold on it. Of course, it was seeing the changes that happen, often quite suddenly, in situ that sold me first. But as I see it, the point of the program isn't change in specific ways of adapting to the world, so much as expansion of worldview. When it comes to coping with trauma, the best thing kids have going for them is their resilience and openness to different experiences, but their biggest problem is their lack of different experiences. If things have always sucked because of factors X Y and Z, well, as a kid it doesn't really occur to you that things can really be different. Intellectually you might realize that, you might see that other people don't have those factors in play, but it just doesn't seem like a real possibility. So seeing that things can be different FOR YOU, even if just for a few brief days and only after you struggle and writhe for two months, well, that plants a seed.

The amount of time grad students work varies widely depending on what kind of school they are in and for academic grad school, I imagine it also varies based on field. I went to a hardcore research university and I didn't know any grad students who worked that much on a regular basis, and very few who worked more than 50 or 60 hours per week. Medical residents, now that's a different story. SoT -- I work at an unusually intensive short term treatment program for severely emotionally disturbed children.