Duck in a Top Hat

Quote: What the Dog Saw, by Malcolm Gladwell. Turns out I had already read most of the chapters in The New Yorker, but it's nice to have them together. I like this guy. I have that book's voice recording, and I also have Blink and Outliers, some of his other books. They're all very interesting.

I can't remember the precise levels I was at when doing any of those quests, but here's some advice for the Gladwell quest above Fort Remote: Skip all of the doors that aren't the one you're looking for. Just go into the red door for now; you can come back to the others at a higher level. For the red door room, just activate all of the shades and run for your life. After a few rounds they will go away and the quest will be completed.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. So far I'm liking it a lot.

I think I can make it.

Quote: After all anyone that can bend an iron poker didn't get that way by just thinking. I'd have to look for the story that mentioned his involvement in boxing. I'm pretty sure that was The Speckled Band. Quote: What stories mention this cocaine addiction? I don't remember it. That was mentioned in both A Scandal in Bohemia and The Sign of the Four, IIRC. Edit: There are probably others, but I can't remember.

This scenario was a mixed bag. The dialog was hilarious, and there was tons, which I mostly liked. However, some of the profanity was unnecessary, and I got sick of reading through all of the dialog by the end of the scenario. As far as balance goes, it started out pretty easy at the start and later moved towards more challenging combat, but there was nothing throw-a-hammer-through-your-monitor difficulty, which was perfect. I was a little disappointed that I could avoid the boss-fight with Attorosi, though. So, while this scenario was mostly great, there were some things I didn't like, too. Rating: [rating]Good[/rating]

I've been reading Christopher Fowler's Peculiar Crimes Unit Mysteries recently, but since they were written in the UK it's been difficult finding them. So far I've read The Victoria Vanishes and Bryant and May on the Loose. I have The Water Room and Full Dark House as I got them for Christmas, but I haven't gotten around to reading them yet. I'm also just starting I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak.

I am conflicted about this scenario. I mean, it had amazing scripting, with the trick letting you control the child, and all of the changing terrain in your imagination. But that doesn't really make up for the fact that I got stuck for twenty minutes before I realized I had to pick up the Teddy Bear, that there was no real combat, and half of the dialogs read like propaganda. If I were to rate this scenario by the scripting I would definitely give it Best, but I just didn't really enjoy it. Rating: [rating]Substandard[/rating]

Quote: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - 1/10 (I fell asleep. Are these movies only popular because of Megan Fox?) Yes. I went to see it with some of my friends and they were talking about how they wanted to marry her... sometimes I can't help but be condescending. Quote: I still want to see Sherlock Holmes. I went to see Sherlock Holmes today, and I loved it. I didn't expect it to be very good. I thought they were going to completely ruin Holmes for me, but they actually portrayed the character quite well, plus it had a really good plot. Quote: Coraline - 7/10 I would give that one a 9. I think it might even have been better than the book. Quote: X-Men: Wolverine - 4/10 (worst) Really? I loved that one! Was Yesman 2009? If so, then it was my favorite of the year.

The quest 'The Dragon Gate' is just to find the gate. At that point in the game you won't be able to enter. The quest 'Honeycome Horrors' is to go inside and stop the monsters. Later in the game when you have a boat you can open the gate and finish the quest.

Click to reveal.. The epic battle is, in fact, held in the Horned Gate. I think the enemies you killed, however, are not part of it. The sliths on the cliff above the battle field are neutral for the fight, and the hostile enemies come out of the gate, so you should be fine.

Merry Christmas! Here's your present!

I suppose I could play anonymously, although I wasn't having that many problems with people recognizing me.

That game was awesome... I got the feeling I did a lot better than usual through being more involved. However, being both more involved and just as terrible at Northern Isles as usual caused me to die faster. Also, and I thought this was pretty funny, I didn't get in contact with Gladwell until too late because Rowen didn't know who Turkey was. Overall, it was still pretty awesome.

If I remember correctly, there's a woman in a building north of the gate who you talk to to get it open.

I'll also be on AIM under the name of duckinatophat.

Quote: having trouble with how to have multiple characters have their own dialogue I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that. If you mean you can't get the NPCs to open their dialog when you talk to them, you have to select them and set memory cell 3 to the number of their first dialog node. Quote: also can someone help me in how to script opening doors when you talk to a certain person? If you mean unlock a door, here's how you do it: In the BoA Editor, select the door you want. Set memory sells 2 and 3 to coordinates for a Stuff Done Flag. In the code section of the dialog node that opens the door set the flag to 1. Then the door will be unlocked.

I've played these games enough to know that I'm absolutely terrible at them, but if you need more players... REGISTER TURKEY IN A TOP HAT

Quote: ...so why didn't you pick BoA? I had a few reasons. 1. BoE was a lot more popular, and there will be a lot more information. 2. I already know a lot about BoA. 3. I figured I could go a little bit into BoA anyway, and the rest of Jeff's games.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'll probably ask *i, because it seems like he's been around the longest, but if he is unavailable or doesn't want to help, Thuryl, we can set a time. Originally Posted By: VCH My advice, pick another topic. Ah, but you don't know the best part! Another one of the assignments is called a Creative Product, and I have to do a visual project, such as a sculpture or a painting. I explained BoE to my teacher, and she said for the Creative Product I could do a scenario.

My school has been doing a program called 'Personal Exploration' (or PX) for the past couple of years. This means that everyone has to pick a subject that interests them, and then they have to research it and do a presentation at the end of the year. We also have to do several other assignments in between. One of those assignments is finding someone who knows a lot about your subject and interviewing them. This year for my topic I chose Blades of Exile, so I need to find someone to interview. Would anyone who designed or played BoE back in the day be interested? Or, of course, anyone who still plays? I'd like to do the interview on IM, and we'll have to set a time before January 4. Thanks!

I'd prefer the second, if there's still room.

Congratulations!

I am totally in. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays generally work best for me, but usually any day will work. I use Mountain Time, and I was fine with the time we used for the Labyrinth campaign, but a little earlier might be better so I could get more than six hours of sleep.

A story I wrote for school: Click to reveal.. Bartholomew’s Stop The train rattled noisily along its rusty metal tracks at a speed that made is passengers nauseous to no end. Whenever the vehicle so much as jolted—which happened very often—it was expected of at least one passenger to let out a frightened yelp, go green in the face, get puffed-out cheeks, and hurriedly lurch off at the next train station. They would return shortly before the train sped off, with flecks of something green on their faces. Bartholomew watched them go in amusement; while the train still somewhat sickened him, he was far more used to it by now. After all, he had ridden this train many, many times. Bartholomew slouched down in his seat, shrugged his backpack into a more comfortable position, and stared longingly out of the window. He gazed at the telephone poles as they flitted by, as if running in terror from the train. The train was small. There were seats—uncomfortable ones with torn up cushions that itched irritatingly—in aisles of two along the walls. Most of them were full—with sickened passengers who yelped at every vibration—and Bartholomew was getting more and more claustrophobic with every unbearable moment. Sitting next to him was an overweight man wearing a dirty shirt and sweatpants. He was fast asleep, complete with obnoxiously loud snores and a string of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. Bartholomew suffered noiselessly—but for a few protests from his upset stomach—as the train traveled along, occasionally stopping to let passengers off at their stops. Bartholomew stared after the people leaving with envy—his stop wasn’t until the end of the line. He groaned. This felt like it was going on forever. Finally—after another half-hour of pushing his sleeping neighbor off of his shoulder and wiping the spit off his shirt—Bartholomew shot up excitedly as the train jerked to a gut-wrenching stop. He hastily unbuckled his belt and pushed his way past the sleeping man, who mumbled something about a cheeseburger in his slumber. He sprinted to the sliding door, and was the first one to exit through it. He fell through the door and onto the dimly-lit train platform. The place was large and empty, with smooth concrete floor, walls, and ceiling. It was lit by hanging lights that descended from the ceiling and cast a dim glow on the floor. A moth flew repeatedly at one of the bulbs, making a quiet clinking sound. There were four stairways up out of the train station. Bartholomew ran for and up the closest one, and into the light. The sun dazzled his eyes when it first hit them; he was momentarily blinded. When he regained his sight he took a moment to survey his surroundings, as well as recover from his nausea before starting on the way to his school. It should be starting about fifteen minutes from now, and the school was about three blocks away. He would arrive on time, if not a little earlier. He set off. Something rattled on the sidewalk behind him. He reached a hand into the pocket of his worn coat, and felt around. He glowered. There was a large hole in the pocket. He turned around and quickly gathered up the coins that had fallen through the hole off the sidewalk. He would need those to pay for school. Bartholomew’s family was poor. They barely had enough money for food every day, yet his parents insisted that most of it be used to put him through school. It made him angry—to think that for once he could have a decent meal, but instead he had to learn long division, and write essays. There was no school in their village, so he had to ride the train into the city to learn there. He roused himself from his thoughts. There were seven minutes left, and he still couldn’t see his school. He quickened his pace. Something twinkled out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned around. Laying in a puddle in the gutter by the street was a wallet. A wallet. He walked over and stooped down to pick it up. It was made of leather, and it felt smooth in his hands. He could tell it was old by its surface worn from a life of use. He opened it eagerly. The smiling face of a beautiful young girl stared out at him from a photograph in the wallet. She had silky brown hair and smooth tan skin. He ignored her and opened a velcro pocket on the inside. Out spilled a handful of sparkling metal coins. He stared at them hungrily. Right then, they were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He counted them up. He gasped. There was enough money for… well, almost anything he could think of! He could give it to his parents; they would buy food for the family! But no… they surely would use it for school. He wouldn’t give it to them. He could buy his own food! He could have the first decent meal in his life! He could— His fantasies were interrupted by the ring of the school bell. He was late! He must have been fantasizing for a full six minutes! He hastily stuffed the coins into his jacket pocket—the one with the hole—and sprinted off to the school.