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Donald Hebb

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Everything posted by Donald Hebb

  1. It depends on the size and complexity. Unbalanced Accounts would be easy and heavily not worth it to the extreme. Bandits would be worth it (by comparison- it's not bad, but it beats most BoA scenarios), but it wouldn't be AS easy. Converting NTH would be somewhere around "impossible," but if you could think of a way to do it, it would be incredibly worthwhile. If we could gather a group of people to convert a BoE scenario, we could see just how many manhours need to be put in.
  2. Quote: Originally written by SupaNik: TM: you used the conversion tool. What's it like? Absolutely horrible. Be prepared to re-write scripts by yourself, and the towns/outdoors will be completely butchered. I tried it for RoR, but when I found out how absolutely intolerable it was, I just decided to re-write the scenario from scratch. It's better than re-writing it for longer scenarios, though. EDIT: Ash, replied to your email.
  3. Also, remember- when inputting coordinates, the x and y values go in the opposite order. That's a good way to trip people up. And Ash... Nicely done.
  4. Quote: Originally written by Lenar Labs: Go ahead, I can be a sounding board. And I can be a competent one.
  5. This is true. And it was only one game for the programming contest.
  6. Those Rakshasi got their health because your allies are tossing spells at them. Cover the rakshasi in antimagic fields and cut them down to size. (Or just have them run out of SP.) You don't actually have to kill the Rogue Rakshasi- it's just probably a little easier. "Also, I don't think I understand the plotline. In Corporeus, Karl Gottfried says "the enemy has been waging war on us from Sanctuary. (Katothen's place)" Wasazore implied that his boss was Karl Gottfried. However, he also said that he knows I'm working for Katothen. Wouldn't he, I, and the entire Turkish Division be enemies, then? Or am I wrong?" Well, both the Turkish Division and Sanctuary are enemies of Deacon. (Plus, Wasazore isn't as crazy as Gottfried.) It's one of those "enemy of my enemy is my enemy too" deal. So yeah, you're enemies, but Deacon is an enemy to basically everyone. Man. I'm going to have to continue the Echoes series one day.
  7. I've got a little different history than Kel's: Quote: 2/19/03 - Louvre by BB established. 3/17/04 - Blades of Avernum is released. 3/18/04 - Comprehensive BOA Scenario Rankings established. 4/3/04 - Beta Call for Roses of Reckoning by TM 4/7/04 - Roses of Reckoning by TM is released. (20 days post-BoA) 4/27/04 - Beta Call for Cave of No Return by Eldiran 5/25/04 - High Level Party Maker by Kelandon is released. (58 days) 5/30/04 - Babysitting by Khoth is released. (63 days) 6/2/04 - Blades of Avernum is released for Windows. 6/18/04 - Cave of No Return by Eldiran is released. (82 days) 8/5/04 - Beta Call for Emerald Mountain by TM 8/9/04 - Beta Call for Xerch'de by Zxquez 8/10/04 - Emerald Mountain by TM is released. (145 days) 8/17/04 - Artifacts Hall by TM is released. (152 days) 8/17/04 - Death at Chapmans by Eric Westra is released. (152 days) 8/22/04 - Beta Call for A Perfect Forest by Stareye (157 days) 9/5/04 - A Perfect Forest by Stareye is released. (171 days) 10/17/04 - Beta Call for Canopy by TM. 12/25/04 - Canopy: Manufactured Womb by TM is released. (282 days) 12/27/04 - Beta Call for Bahssikava by Kelandon. 12/28/04 - Xerch'de by Zxquez is released. (285 days) 2/1/05 - Beta Call for Backwater Calls by Smoo. 2/20/05 - Bahssikava by Kelandon is released. (339 days) 2/28/05 - Backwater Calls by Smoo is released. (347 days) 3/25/05 - Beta Call for The Darkness by Kelandon. 3/29/05 - Lord Putidus by Kelandon is released. (376 days) 4/7/05 - Nine Variations on Point B by Alec is released. (385 days) 4/16/05 - Cresent Valley by Michael Slack is released. (394 days) 5/15/05 - Beta Call for Mad Ambition by TM. 5/24/05 - Undead Valley by Archimagi Micael is released. (432 days) 6/5/05 - Druids of Krell by Ephesos is released. (444 days) 6/6/05 - A Large Rebellion by Otto Halmén is released. (445 days) 6/9/05 - Mad Ambition by TM is released. (448 days) 10/17/05 - Proving Grounds by Michael Slack is released. (578 days) Quote: Attitudes like these are snobby and unproductive. What, you think that my perspective is lacking? If so, let's talk facts. For the BoA contest, we had roughly 15 scenarios entered. Let's be generous and say that we had 20 altogether (including beta-testers') when the contest hit. For the corresponding time in the BoE contest, we had soooooo many it's not even funny. Blades of Avernum does not have an answer to Amazonian Saga, Tatterdemalion, et cetera, DESPITE BoA's having a larger pool from which to draw designers. And I would be absolutely astonished if BoA had an answer to An Apology or Redemption 1-2 years from now. We have a better platform with more power and a larger pool of potential designers, many of whom have far more resources than the BoE designers ever did. Regardless of BoA's difficulties, the absence of excellent scenarios signifies a horrific low in designing which cannot be rationalized away. Action has to be taken. Open-sourcing BoE would be a nice start. Quote: It's already been superseded in both technical and story terms by Av4 Anyone who dares complement A4 deserves whatever form of death visits such a subhuman animal.
  8. Furthermore, two things: 1. Those of us who have been in the community for over 5 years (this is how long Creator has been in it, I believe) have a better perspective than most. When we say things like "the community is incredibly slow" or "people have no sense of organization," it ain't just blowing smoke. It's a crisis that aught to be addressed. 2. Meaningless rhetoric is meaningless. This is not the same as good ideas- for instance, if you have a suggestion on how to improve the rate of design or how to make it an easier process or something we haven't thought of, that's awesome. But if your ultimate conclusion is "make more scenarios," then your statement is vacuous. You may as well say that the solution to ending poverty is for the poor to have more money.
  9. Quote: Originally written by Arancaytar the Grey: Uttered motivational, optimistic phrases. Aran's right. The more all of you try to defeat this notion by talking, you prove it. All we're suggesting for right now is open-sourcing BoE. And hell- even if we don't open source it, I'm willing to start pirating it like hotcakes. It's just that all other ideas are exhausted, and putting BoE out there as a penultimate demonstration AND a more feasible designing platform is a good idea at this point.
  10. Quote: Originally written by Gnarzuul: I'm not a designer, but I've had a few ideas--for example, why not do a version of Doom for Blades? Look, just because it's dying doesn't mean you have to piss on it.
  11. The plan is to convince JV to open-source BoE. This is basically the last-ditch effort- if this doesn't work, nothing else will. And really, Stareye's always been here. I've been here for a long time too. This isn't just a somewhat low period- this is catastrophically unproductive.
  12. Thuryl's right. When I got discovered by the cat, I was asking myself why it wasn't purple.
  13. Quote: Originally written by Spidweb: I've never been entirely happy with how mines and traps work, so I'm tinkering with that. I want to find a way for Tool Use heavy zones to be a more fun experience. Agreed. Honestly, if you have creatures that can be manipulated by tools like computers, you could have a lot more power with tool use rather than "you're allowed to take this alternate path since you have x of a certain skill". For instance, if you have tool skill, perhaps you might be able to repair some types of broken batons, create magical crystals with living tools and the right type of crystal/gem, etc. Heck, maybe you could even create copies of keys without having to steal them from their owners. I like the ideas. They might just provide a sense of innovation that a series of 3+ games ends up needing quite badly after a while. EDIT: Ooh! Before I forget- if you have weather, you may want to give the party spells to control the weather. Imagine, creating gusts to foil ranged attackers, thunderstorms to zap armored foes, etc... For that matter- if you make weather effects, have each metal item the player wears increase the odds of the player's getting struck!
  14. I feel that JV should make the windows version ASAP. It's not fair that only us Mac-users should have to endure such a horrible pile of dreck.
  15. I liked the very idea of a mage hammering you with spells why you have to try and actually do things. I really liked Rentar's teleportation spell- it'd have been nice, though, if she REALLY went all-out on the party (and by her, I mean JV). Not just difficulty-wise, either. I mean, what if Rentar made the ground next to the party instantly form an earthen barrier? Or why didn't she seal off rooms with small cave-ins? Or what about making her fly, so that she can't be hit by melee attacks? Or what about giant, searing waves of fire that the party has to get out of in order to breathe? Man, I would love- just once- to actually fight a mage, not just a dude with a flamethrower.
  16. Avernum 1's plot: "Empire is evil. Kill demons. Kill emperor. Leave." Avernum 2's plot: "Empire is evil-er. Meet the Walking McGuffins. Retrieve the Non-Walking McGuffins. Blow up portal. Kill demon-emperor." Avernum 3's plot: "Empire is good-er. McGuffins are evil. McGuffins make plague. Kill plagues. Kill Queen McGuffin." Avernum 4's plot: "McGuffins are evil-er. McGuffins make plagues again. Kill plagues again. Kill Queen McGuffin again. Kill Queen McGuffin again-again." ... Where's the difference? A2. You're never going to be compelled to do anything very often in the Avernum universe, but from chapters 1-3 of the game, you will want to play because you don't know what will happen next. The endless waltz of "Kill, loot, sell" takes a backseat for a while as Jeff actually tells a compelling story, and the Vahnatai (before they too simply become another source for new monsters) are actually interesting. And hell- even the gameplay in chapter 4 of the game is better than average in Avernum. The "plague" in this instance actually makes some sense, and the party takes a more lifelike (although still unreasonably powerful) role. Some of the dungeons even have character. For instance, the Portal Fortress- that thing actually succeeded in giving off a feeling of bleakness (much moreso than Garzahd's fortress). And okay- so combat in A2 gets stale relatively quickly, but that's the way things work in all of these games. A2 doesn't lose much on a comparative basis.
  17. Quote: Originally written by Wanderer: But....I finished. The fights with R-I and Dorikas are definitely the most tactically challenging in all the games from E1 onward. Oh, look. Someone who hasn't played BoX.
  18. Quote: Originally written by Dikiyoba: If it isn't to people's satisfaction, one could always jack up Ghaldring's level in the script or start a story about it in this forum. Good lord. JV doesn't even need to write his own plots anymore.
  19. ...Am I the only person who got the wrong idea when reading this topic's title?
  20. Hell, I fostered them right until the end. And was told that they were shocked by the events- too shocked to reward me, I suppose. (Not that any reward in this game is ever MEANINGFUL...)
  21. Quote: Originally written by Thuryl: It's worth noting that I found the passage wouldn't open for me again after I'd already killed Imelda and left. Someone has Langrisser on the mind.
  22. He's not hostile and he doesn't talk to you automatically, making him difficult to spot.
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