The Almighty Doer of Stuff

Another thing I'd like is this: I want to make it so Instant Help is NOT turned on by default with new parties. I want to make a more intuitive, more in-depth tutorial scenario and make it prominently visible. Instant Help with every new party gets grating and it's not especially easy to understand.

I've sent you a message.

Could you do that, please? I tried installing SheepShaver but something didn't work. Since you mention it, could you also extract the graphics from Exile 1 through 3, please? Thanks!

BoE is Free Open Source Software and can be freely modified and distributed under GNU GPL. I've patched my copy of legacy BoE with the Thrown Missiles fix described at http://spiderwebforums.ipbhost.com/topic/25797-archery-vs-item-lore/ and will distribute it. This Intel Mac version is in the forum header: http://redsaurus.net/boe/BoE10.7+301212.zip Assuming this version works well, could this please be patched for the Thrown Missiles fix? I don't want to clutter up OpenBoE.com with non-experimental stuff, but I did buy BladesOfExile.com and BladesOfExile.net a couple months ago. I'd like to use one of those for more general Exile stuff, including hosting Thrown Missile-patched legacy versions, links to Trilogy downloads, and instructions for installing the software that allows the series to run on x64 Windows systems. I'd also like the MacOS graphics files extracted from the Mac BoE version, for inclusion with the legacy Windows download from my site. I'd like to make the darker MacOS graphics the default, while having copies of the Mac and Windows graphics sets in two subdirectories for easy copy-paste to match any given scenario or preference. Could someone assist me with this, please? The legacy release and the open-source release can be found here: http://spiderwebsoftware.com/productsOld.html (What I mean about the graphics subdirectories is this: Graphics are stored in BLADEXIL/BLADEDIT/ by default. I would include two subdirectories, BLADEXIL/BLADEDIT/LightGraphics/ and /BLADEXILE/BLADEDIT/DarkGraphics/ which would have the complete sets. Then you just open one up, copy the contents, and paste them over the files in BLADEXIL/BLADEDIT/ , which I hope will be easy to understand.) The PowerPC version link in the header is dead. Would the original legacy MacOS version run on PowerPC Macs easily, perhaps with a simple compatibility layer or something? I don't know how it works. Which would be the preferable domain to use for a BoE hub: BladesOfExile.com or BladesOfExile.net? i don't know the standards.

(Moved to its own thread.)

At the time, Mac mice typically only had one button, IIRC.

Nice! Do you know if there's a way to create a patch for each game instead of using a hex editor? That would be good. The bug is fixed in OpenBoE but that version is otherwise very buggy. Between the new Windows x64 fix and this hypothetical patch, it'd be easy to get a decent version of BoE usable easily for many people, so legacy scenarios can be played or even made. I'm trying to make one but I'm hesitant with the thrown missiles. I want to include them but not if I can't include a simple patch with the scenario.

Well, no. In Exile 3, keyword clicking becomes available, and there are extra permanent keywords along the bottom for convenience. I'd consider the GUI to be part of the system. The underlying talk-node subsystem is the same, of course.

I tested it earlier and bows use Archery skill, not Thrown Weapons.

Yeah, but it's a big step up to E3's talk system compared to E1's talk system, is my point. I couldn't remember if the change happened in Exile 2 or 3, which is why I phrased my earlier post that way.

Oh, OK. My mistake. Thank you.

I'm testing two PCs using bows and arrows. Both have 5 Dexterity. One has 10 Item Lore and the other has 10 Archery. I had heard during the picking apart of BoE's code that bows used Item Lore skill instead of Archery skill due to a mistake on Jeff Vogel's part; however, my test shows dramatically more accuracy and damage from the PC with Archery skill instead of Item Lore skill. Where did this idea and/or this bug get introduced? It's not evident from my playtesting that it was ever a problem.

Sorry, I'm still unclear on this myself, I think. Nevermind this post.

In GIMP, using the Brightness-Contrast filter, setting Brightness to -70 and Contrast to 20 gives a close approximation. It's not perfect, noticeably with the cave floor, but for purposes of adjusting Windows custom graphics to Mac appearance and have it look decent, it should work well enough. Also, unless there were mistakes in the OpenBoE graphics sheets I have and the Windows and Mac graphics are mixed, some graphics are the same already, like adobe walls and stone tile floors.

No, the talking system. It was refined and made nicer. Exile 1 through 3, left to right. E3's is integrated into the main window, replacing the terrain view.

Yes, I agree. Slarty and I clash often over argument styles, with the clash usually being mostly or entirely one-sided on my part, but he's not stupid. For professional reasons, if nothing else, I really wish I could understand how he thinks. It'd help the conflict mediation parts of my duties, for sure. It's not easy to be a good conflict mediator when you can't even mediate your own conflicts... Luckily I have teammates. Edit: I think if I were more familiar with the material and were discussing more practical, life-based issues rather than a fictional game, that's where i fare better with debate and discussion. Mediating a conflict over vague video game lore isn't the same as mediating interpersonal issues based in real conflict, I suppose.

I respectfully say I understood Ess-Eschas's arguments, evidently well enough to explain them back to him, so I'm not sure if that means I'm an extraordinary guesser or if it means TM Paladin isn't always good at parsing sentences exactly as phrased. I suspect the latter as it's not an uncommon trait among people. It's actually part of my job duties to listen attentively and parse other people's words very, very carefully. I don't usually misinterpret people; if I do misunderstand it's usually that they're not being eloquent and I help them get their point across through careful questions and analogy, as I tried to do here. Oh well.

Thanks! I'll actually catch up on reading this thread after I watch a movie with my friend. But I hate formalized debate, where people stand up and lecture each other and someone "loses" and someone "wins". A bunch of people putting their heads together and unraveling the truth using their own individual skills is far more gratifying to me. Making a verbalized case isn't so much one of my talents, but I try to be good at helping people understand each other. I like to think that's valuable too.

But TM Paladin, I'm reading this debate and you did specifically state that not following from the game makes a statement false, and Ess-Eschas has been trying to clarify, regardless of how he phrased it earlier in the debate, that he doesn't believe "that shapers, in Geneforge, art least some of them, can actually do this thing." I beleive the phrasing of yours that I called into question remains worth examining. There's zero indication that a shaper with the proper talent and skill couldn't absorb and retain a personality. It's simply not addressed. It's nonsense to suggest that asserting a global principle is not an assertion and is somehow different from just asserting something. As an aside, a lot of things follow from scraped together evidence, in art and in life, that may be confusing, inconvenient, or even terrifying to come to understand, and hard proof is overrated.

I love this. Just to try it, I saved that render, rotated it by 30 degrees counter-clockwise, and then sheered it with magnitude 6000 in GIMP. It's pretty cool to look at it that way too.

The caches are mostly full of junk. I love the junk bag though. Exile features trips back and forth and back and forth carrying junk to merchants so you can afford to buy anything.

You open chests and other containers by standing next to them and using the Look command with the L key. Nothing will happen if the container is empty, but if it has something in it, it will open the Get Items dialog. Also, you can place items in containers by pressing the Drop button next to the item in your inventory, and then clicking on an adjacent container.

Mostly true, but three corrections: 1. You can store items anywhere in the storage rooms, typically, not just in a particular chest. 2. Towns and dungeons will reset but only after you've visited several other different towns without returning in between. This means you can still leave a dungeon, sell loot in town, and return, without having to do it all over again. 3. Clickable dialogue was introduced in Exile 2 or 3, I can't remember which. Exile 1 does not have clickable dialogue.

Hello! If you have a 64-bit Windows operating system, you can use the software in this thread: http://spiderwebforums.ipbhost.com/topic/25777-exile-fix-for-x64-windows/ I was shocked by how easy it is to install and use. All you have to do is let the file bypass your firewall, with a few clicks. Otherwise, as Warrior Mage said, we won't be able to help you without knowing your system specifications. Welcome! :)

Classic Shell is no longer developed. The code has been released and is being developed as OpenShell. I love it.