The Almighty Doer of Stuff

I believe so, yes.

I believe it does check for some nodes, though, like Secret Passage and Can't Enter. Perhaps it would be possible to create a makeshift, clunky "Stepping Block" with two separate node chains on one space? For example, here's the first node chain: 1. Looking Block, jump to 2 if not blocked 2. Set Flag (0,1) to 1, end chain (The effect of this is that the flag is not set to 1 if the party triggered the chain by looking, but is set to 1 if they stepped on it.) Then, the second chain: 3. SDF Equals? If (0,1) == 1 (party stepped to trigger first chain), then jump to 4. Else, jump to 5. 4. Set Flag (0,1) to 0 (to reset encounter), end chain 5. (whatever you wanted to be triggered only when looked at) Seems like it would work, although obviously an actual, single-node Stepping Block would be nice.

Yes, it does.

It's been a while since I played this, and I'm a bit fuzzy on some of the details, but I remember enough to write a review. It's one of my favorites for BoE. As for BoA, it's also one of my favorites, since unfortunately, as of the writing of this review, the only BoA scenarios I've played are this, High Level Party Maker, and Ritual of Registration. Anyway, the review. This scenario is split into two parts: First, the sprawling, above-ground, people-filled exposition section, where you learn about the problems of the Vale and its people, and solve some additional problems that are making things worse. There's some very nice town design in Skylark Vale, and the dialogue and other writing is engaging. Often the writing is very serious and somber, which suits the situation this scenario presents, but sometimes it's very funny. Second is the long, underground, dangerous dungeon crawl section, where you go into the School of Magery and try to solve the sickness in the Vale. Unlike the first half, there is little dialogue, but in this half, the focus is instead on exploring the abandoned school, discovering its many secrets, and meeting its many, usually but not always hostile, residents. There is plenty of descriptive writing and entertaining level design in this half. The dungeon has very few low points and could easily keep me entertained straight through, but it's probably impossible, or at least very difficult, to survive the whole thing at once. Luckily, there are a few points in the dungeon where you can find hidden back exits/entrances into Skylark Vale, to refresh your party, and then you can continue. The scenario is very well balanced, both in terms of combat (which is mostly but not always straight hack'n'slash), and in terms of treasure. Overall, it's a scenario in two parts, both of which are extremely entertaining in different ways. The first half is mostly story, and the second part mostly exploration. To enjoy this scenario most thoroughly, it helps to be able to enjoy both types, which I certainly do. But neither half was at all a let-down in its own genre, and it was a very good scenario. Rating: [rating]Good[/rating]

Archery is more or less useless in all Exile games. Arguments can be made for thrown missiles and slings, as they can be a free extra hit per round for a melee fighter, but they should always be only a secondary source of damage. Specifically, if you have a melee fighter with 3 or 4 AP, if you do a melee attack, you lose all the AP. If you throw a missile, you do damage, and still have AP left over for the melee attack. It can also help when the melee fighters can't reach the opponent. Archery is too expensive, however, both in terms of gold and skill points spent on bows, arrows, and skill training, and for the fact that it costs 3 AP per shot, as opposed to thrown missiles' and slings' 2 AP.

You don't, not with what you downloaded. You only need the code if you're a programmer and want to work on improving the game. If you just want to play the game, try this link: http://code.google.com/p/openexile/ The download links are in the green box on the right-hand side. Download the one that's for your operating system, extract it to wherever you want to keep the program, and then just open the executable.

Avernum's "window" mode is really just a non-full-screen mode, IIRC. Exile, however, was in a standard operating system window that could be moved around, stretched, maximized, restored, minimized, etc.

Uh, yeah. That was the pun. Congratulations, you got it.

Originally Posted By: Alorael Bladur's Gate II That game didn't quite live up to the initial teaser the company gave out early in development, I think: "A great flood is coming. Will the people of Faerûn be prepared when Bladur's Gate opens?"

Will the BoE version be up in time for the rating contest? It may have to be an extended rating contest, because school is starting soon for a lot of people, I believe. In the next week, I have to sort out my possessions for a yard sale on August 29th, and then school starts for me on September 9th.

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan But what if a scenario has three reviews, and two say its terrible etc... ? I don't think a scenario can be the best if the majoriety thinks it stinks. First, a scenario needs at least five reviews to be put in those lists. Second, the system is designed to account for differences in personal taste. For instance, I thought BoE Za-Khazi Run was a wonderful, fun, gripping scenario, but most people shredded it in their reviews. I like exploration and adventure in exciting new places. Most of the designer base (which makes up most CSR reviewers) prefers plot-based scenarios. The point of putting the scenario in Best even if it's not thought that way by the majority is that enough people think it's a Best-quality scenario that there's a decent chance you might too. So you follow the link from the list and read the reviews, and decide for yourself.

On XP? I thought that was only a problem with Vista.

If you're too impatient to read a long review, then don't. Nobody's forcing you to do so. Your loss if the review says something insightful that would determine whether you'd play the scenario. "tl,dr" isn't a helpful comment and you know it. Don't be discouraged, Nioca. I'd volunteer my scenarios, but they're only for BoE. When you create the forum, though, I'll give the details.

http://www.truesite4blades.com/Home/Terrain/OutdoorFloor/Other/Terr_citywallsStareye.gif I guess Stareye's walls weren't actually based on the Huge Wall graphics. They're still really nice, though.

Stareye made a lovely set of outdoor huge walls, complete with gates and corners. It should be on Pixel Profusion, but if not it shouldn't be too hard to find. I think it was included in At The Gallows. I made a full-tile bookshelf a few years ago. I'll go find it. Hold on. EDIT: http://ados.ermarian.net/BoX/Bookshelf.bmp It has an ornate wooden base instead of a purple stripe.

They could have been. Anyway, they're not there anymore, so it doesn't matter much.

There could be a Preference for it, or just an LED in the Get window, that switches between automatically picking up gold and food and not automatically picking it up. Possibly.

Haneda Yoshiyuki had the list on his old website, although I think his website is down. The other spell unavailable to the party is Unholy Ravaging, at any rate.

Both desks look like they'd match the original Exile I and II graphics better than BoE graphics. The stone floor (third from the top) is equally crude-looking, as are the chairs and tables on that set. The portcullis wheels and beds look. really nice, though.

In Exile I and II, gold and food were never Not Yours. You could take them, but you wouldn't get anything. It would tell you you got 0 gold. In other words, it was there for decoration.

I don't really like the Avernum lava. It looks too much like fire and not enough like lava. Most of it looks good, though, although the wooden Avernum desk and stone floors look a bit crudely drawn.

They're still up, if anyone wasn't aware. http://es.geocities.com/mabplay/alcritas_lyceum/scenrev.html I don't know how long that will last, however, given the impending doom of Geocities.

Question: What will we do with all the scores whose textual reviews were lost due to ezboard suckage? Drop them? Make special exceptions to the 100 word rule? Something else? At any rate, the "make a new post and the old one will be deleted" idea seems very reasonable to me.

I like the idea a whole lot, personally. I don't think it's "perverse" at all, and I think it accomplishes the goal better than flat ranking can. When it was just a flat placing into one of five categories, I was pretty ambivalent, but I like the threshold idea a lot.

That's by how much they sell, not how they're rated, though. We're not ranking scenarios by download numbers, after all. Any thoughts on the Poor/Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent scale?