Drew

Do you have to side with the Shapers in order to find out about the mushrooms? I couldn't get dude to spill the beans when I was playing a hard-core rebel character...

I just downloaded A2 (for Windows) to see what all the fuss was about (it seems many people claim it to be their favorite), and noted with irritation that the arrow keys on my laptop starting from the twelve o'clock position correspond with NW-NE-SE-SW as opposed to N-E-S-W. I can't figure out how to change this, and the "10-key" keypad (when I hold down the "function" key) doesn't seem to work. Any suggestions/help/comiseration available?

 

EDIT: I do know that the mouse works, but I find it a pain to use.

I go for names that are four characters or less usually, like Bob, Sue, Joe, Fred, Ed, Lily, etc. It's a holdover from my NES RPG days.

 

I also sometimes use silly names, like Chickie or Miss Sassy.

I agree - a thinner stone bridge is what I had envisioned. Also, I liked the hills for the columns better - regular earth just floating in the void like small islands is much more disconcerting and cool, IMO.

Definitely more cowbell. Life needs more cowbell, in general.

I would edit the bridge graphics so that they don't look so much like wood - either changing the graphics to a metallic gray color, or even better, making a sort of cobblestone foot path, where you can see the black of the void through the cracks - as though the stones were just floating in the nothing.

 

Very cool work!

Was it Emerson who said, "Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind?" I imagine the same thing could be said for old posts. I for one an definitely not a fan of things or old baggage. Purges are both necessary and good, on occasion.

Fair enough.

 

EDIT: Ben, obviously I'm aware of the sizable demos. I wasn't suggesting he let the game go for free. Were he to offer it instead for, say, ten bucks, I think he'd manage to sell a lot more of it. That's all.

You know, JV really ought to bring the price on his older games down a bit. I can't imagine his sales are that great for the Exile series when the Avernums are available for virtually the same price. I think he'd actually sell a lot more if he dropped the prices a bit. Law of Supply and Demand, and all that, you know?

Hmph. Your folks must be generous.

 

Strictly speaking, though, is it really a necessary upgrade?

Ha! Like anyone here has $100 to drop on an OS upgrade.

I would point out that the worth of Alwan is dubious. Better to go with a disposable thahd.

fyt

I agree - the guardian is seriously nerfed compared with the agent in GF3. The reduction in the effectiveness of parry, combined with the incredible usefulness of daze has a lot to do with this, I think.

The interest rate on my student loans is about 3.5% right now (should have consolidated sooner ). Finding a rate lower than that (outside of 0.0% financing from auto dealers desperately trying to clear out their inventories) is pretty difficult. Anyone in college/their early twenties is likely to get hosed when it comes to credit card interest rates, and almost no one in that age group has any collateral to put up for a bank loan.

 

The big thing though is just to avoid debt outright, with the exception of real estate mortgages.

This quote is actually much older than "Minority Report." I've heard that it's Irish, but likely it's much older.

Given that the player is such a hot shot, it's a shame he/she can't create his/her own faction - it seems many of the poeple in the game you can help would gladly join with your saner choices.

This is a pointless poll. May it die a quick death.

 

What stat should I raise so that Greta can cause more damage with her fire attack?

Luck actually looks like a pretty good deal, what with all those resistances. Do they in reality help that much though?

I guess what would be really useful is a quantitative breakdown of what affects what. For example, TM pointed out that raising a point in a given type of magic grants a +1 Bonus to that skill and +3 spell points, while a point in Intelligence grants a +1 Bonus to both types of spells and +3 spell points, in addition to some amount of magic resistance. What does an additional point in Dexterity/Strength/etc. do, and what does it affect? I know that some of this is detailed in the documentation (such as it is), but not really quantitatively. The side of the coin is: when does it become most efficient to start building something else?

 

(Maybe this is something I could figure out and contribute to the community...)

Would we have had a choice anyway? Technically, we all wait for everything, whether we want it or not.

Okay, I started over and picked up Greta, and she also seems to be pretty weak sauce - my new fyoras hit with more frequency than she does.

 

Is there really any point to picking up NPCs, other than for variety?

So Intelligence doesn't matter for a mage or priest until you're done building your particular spell-related skill, and dexterity doesn't matter at all for anyone?

Anyone else think Alwan is kind of a waste? He's supposed to be a guardian, but seems to be lacking in the shaping-skills department. Not to mention he can't carry anything, which is frustrating, and he's a boiling cauldron of moronic rage in all the important dialogues.

I suppose that's true... the demon-things I summoned (I'm pretty sure they were demons) in my third battle with Vakhos(sp?) made the fight pretty simple.

 

EDIT: Is there a character building F.A.Q. anywhere? I find I get a little confused when trying to decide what to put points into. Normally, I just stick with boosting main stats - it seems you get the most benefit for that - though I have boosted priest spells and mage spells for each of those characters up to level 20. Was that too far?