BMA

That's neat, I didn't think of that.

What's remaining to be understood from the data file ? I can't wait to play custom Geneforge scenarios :-/

It was black pepper from a shaker; I'd sprinkled a lot of it into my mouth for some reason and I can't stand the stuff ever since.

But what about the extra time taken in compiling each each script each time, in games like Geneforge where the script isn't normally expected to change between program executions ? I don't understand why Jeff took the trouble of creating a whole customized compiler (assuming that is difficult to do) unless he wanted players to understand what is actually going on, and create script-cheaters and AI-variations for his games (and that's improbable). I was reading Scripting language and Softcoding. I understand that none of this actually matters to an end user, but I'm curious about why Jeff's doing things this way.

How is it that every SW game is so open that you can modify the scripts (especially the creature behaviour files) ? Are the scripts compiled just in time, before the game executes and if so how ?

Ah. No wonder your name sounded familiar; I think I've used one your editors many years ago, along with Nightwatcher's more recent reshaped one.

I have a childhood horror of pepper, so if some stuff has been peppered I don't eat it. And how can you make a curry without salt in it :-/ Still, sweet is always better; if you find yourself in southeast Asia, don't leave without having a gulab jamun.

I found this on somebody's signature over there and the onion is now my favourite source of news :>

Nice poll, I like it.

Changing the GFPref file to open with notepad won't create any problems, so long as you don't edit and save anything. If you want to look like a Shaper too, a similar but equally difficult option to editing the save games would be to load the program into a Memory Searcher (like MHS) and do Trial And Error until you get the memory which contains your character's class. Note that I've not done this on a steam's version of Geneforge, but it should be the same.

The swastika's a commonly seen auspicious symbol in Hindu households, sometimes designed outside our front doors with white powder. Whimsical of the Nazis to use it really, if it was indeed a borrowed idea. I liked the Alien Blade, it looks nice and wavy. Maybe the wave is to make it cut through the air faster.

Somebody (not me) might just decide to make one; there are lots of create-mmo tutorials lying around.

You can use PSPad (hexedits show the contents of a file as a sequence of bytes, the way they're stored in memory) to open the ".exe" of the Geneforge's. The ending stories are towards the end, at least for Geneforge 2 or 3, but it's probably like that for the others also. The cheat codes are located there too. Wonder why he didn't include the ending texts alongside the scripts; to prevent peeking maybe.

What cutting satire !!! If you haven't played the games, here are videos of Hitman and to better appreciate the essence of the parody.

A completely inept player would make all the wrong large-scale decisions at the start of the game, and since you can only fine-tune those wrong decisions as you get to the higher levels, it's possible that the poor chap finds it impossible at some point to proceed any further; if this happens after the person has reached more than halfway through the game, he ends up cursing the developer and vowing never to buy any of his games again. A character customization screen at the beginning, therefore, should ideally be a farce, because the ludicrous player chooses stuff based on the front-page graphics and erroneous first-impressions. The real powering up can happen later on, when the player gets a better picture of how the game really works.

It would be great if they make developing games a family tradition. And I'm sure children would kill for a dad who makes games for a living.

Do you think it might be possible to create a two-player variant of any of the SW games, using the computer or enemy AI whose movements are actually controlled by the second player sitting over a network (and the reverse for the first player) ? (This isn't one of those excited-newbie questions; I've been doing some actual thinking).

I know practically nothing about music, but I'll vote that you do the Geneforge. Both would be nice, but I'm not sure how you'd get the two to intersect.

The games and ciphers on that site were quite entertaining. Phone authentication's a real plus, we could all post our passwords in public, and still only the holder of the phone would be able to get past the second tier.

When you mentioned "the creator" my first thoughts were that of an immobile misshapen spawning monstrosity lol.

Congratulations Alorael ! Maybe that is Jeff's subtly ironic message that one should not smoke

2. NO. 3. NVM 9. Nightwatcher 10. Newbies

There's a Thief 4 ?! That's great, must get that. And I must clear the academic arrears I've been accumulating over the years.

I'm not worried about the prospect of being titled Tinkermage; I just read a review of Avadon 2 where they strongly recommend this class and declare it to be the most enjoyable.