mines

[Noman]

Does your mechanic skill help in any way with mines? I don't mean the pylons but the round mines with the waving feelers on top. With a high enough skill can you deactivate them?

[googoogjoob]

It depends. The "mine with waving feeler" sprite is used for three different types of mines. One type (probably the rarest overall) is clustered in a group around a yellow crystal- these you can deactivate by interacting with the crystal before it goes off, and passing a Mechanics check. Another type can be deactivated by using a spore box in the area- which may or may not require passing a Mechanics check to use, depending on where it is. The last type can only be deactivated by detonating them remotely with a spore baton of the appropriate color (nb: the color of the mine's sprite doesn't necessarily indicate which-color spore baton will detonate it), which doesn't involve Mechanics at all.

Edited March 19, 2021 by googoogjoob

[Noman]

5 minutes ago, googoogjoob said:

It depends. The "mine with waving feeler" sprite is used for three different types of mines. One type (probably the rarest overall) is clustered in a group around a yellow crystal- these you can deactivate by interacting with the crystal before it goes off, and passing a Mechanics check. Another type can be deactivated by using a spore box in the area- which may or may not require passing a Mechanics check to use, depending on where it is. The last type can only be deactivated by detonating them remotely with a spore baton of the appropriate color (nb: the color of the mine's sprite doesn't necessarily indicate which-color spore baton will detonate it), which doesn't involve Mechanics at all.

That's what I wanted to know. Thanks.

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

There are also mines you have to click on individually to disarm. These all require a mechanics check. Those look different from the "mines with feelers" though.

[Mechalibur]

On 3/19/2021 at 7:49 PM, Iguana-on-a-stick said:

There are also mines you have to click on individually to disarm. These all require a mechanics check. Those look different from the "mines with feelers" though.

 

I don't think there are any mines like that in the game. Unless you're referring to the crystal-operated mines which you can disarm by quickly clicking on the crystal in between them.

[maddz]

15 hours ago, Mechalibur said:

 

I don't think there are any mines like that in the game. Unless you're referring to the crystal-operated mines which you can disarm by quickly clicking on the crystal in between them.

 

Nope, these are red or blue orbs on a stand.  There are several areas with them in.

 

What I find annoying about the crystal-triggered mines is that the crystals reset after you leave the area.  OK if you failed to disarm them and set them off, but a right pain if you need to return.

[Mechalibur]

Oh the box mines! Duh, sorry.

Edited March 21, 2021 by Mechalibur

[TriRodent]

3 hours ago, maddz said:

What I find annoying about the crystal-triggered mines is that the crystals reset after you leave the area.  OK if you failed to disarm them and set them off, but a right pain if you need to return.

 

Really because I had to return there later in the game to go down to the basement & the ones that were disarmed before were still that way when I came back (including that really big minefield up in the upper left corner).  Maybe some do & some don't, I really didn't pay that much attention (mainly because if I'm going back somewhere it will be many levels later & I'd just walk through & absorb any blasts & redo my shield/heal as needed.)

[Magenta]

2 hours ago, Mechalibur said:

Oh the box mines!

Does anyone besides me think it strange that big round balls are called box mines? Did they look different in the original release? Just curious.

[alhoon]

19 hours ago, Mechalibur said:

 

I don't think there are any mines like that in the game. Unless you're referring to the crystal-operated mines which you can disarm by quickly clicking on the crystal in between them.

 

I think he refers to the mines in the tombs or the place with the Alpha colony (the one you have to explain to the Alphas that they should put things on the shelves and not throw them on the floor) that you have to quickly click on the mine or it goes booom. 

[googoogjoob]

44 minutes ago, Magenta said:

Does anyone besides me think it strange that big round balls are called box mines? Did they look different in the original release? Just curious.

They're colored spheres in the original games, too. I suppose they might be called "box mines" because they sometimes contain a Creation lying in wait? But they don't all have Creation traps. It's never really made sense.

[Mechalibur]

Yeah, I'm not sure where the term "box mine" came from, since they're, well, spheres.

[Noman]

On some mines there is a gray spot, as we are told. What does this mean?

[Randomizer]

Gray spot means use gray spore baton, green spot for green spore baton, and red stripe for red spore baton.

[Ess-Eschas]

5 hours ago, Magenta said:

Does anyone besides me think it strange that big round balls are called box mines?

 

Not particularly!

 

There is a tendency to associate the word ‘box’ with cuboid (3D rectangular) shapes these days, perhaps due to how common cardboard boxes are in so many aspects of modern life. However, this isn’t the most general use of the word. In a broad sense, a ‘box’ is simply any form of enclosed container – and it can be of any shape! In fact, there is something to suggest that the word originated from a Middle English word for a type of jar, one that was usually cylindrical!

 

As as example of this, take a look at this picture of a traditional snuff box. You’ll see it’s far from being cuboid. It’s an (elliptic) cylinder!

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Francois_Guillaume_Tiron_-_Snuff_Box_(Tabatière)_-_1958.126_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif/lossy-page1-1024px-Francois_Guillaume_Tiron_-_Snuff_Box_(Tabatière)_-_1958.126_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif.jpg

 

In theory, boxes can be of any shape. So, while it might sound unusual, there’s nothing all that wrong with having a spherical box!

Edited March 22, 2021 by Ess-Eschas
Adding some slight clarification.

[Mechalibur]

That's certainly interesting, but I'd definitely say contemporary usage of "box" almost always refers to a rectangular shape. Seems more like a prescriptive definition than a descriptive one, in other words.

[Ess-Eschas]

9 hours ago, Mechalibur said:

That's certainly interesting, but I'd definitely say contemporary usage of "box" almost always refers to a rectangular shape.

 

Hmm, that’s interesting. It looks like our experiences of contemporary language differ in this case! Perhaps that’s due to cultural differences? I’ve found on quite a few occasions that implied meanings associated with words can differ quite substantially across English speaking cultures.

 

Where I live, there are a number of common examples of ‘boxes’ that come in a variety of different shapes – many are round to some degree. And not just obscure objects like snuff boxes, too! But I think a lot of these examples are probably specific to my own location. Perhaps that encourages a more fluid use of the word ‘box’ over here, where other countries might be a little more rigid with the term?

[Raptor]

11 hours ago, Mechalibur said:

That's certainly interesting, but I'd definitely say contemporary usage of "box" almost always refers to a rectangular shape. Seems more like a prescriptive definition than a descriptive one, in other words.

In some parts of the US you buy a "box of eggs". While that's sort of rectangular, all the indentations that hold the individual eggs make it definitely not rectangular when viewed from the front or the side. (Don't get me started on buying "a dozen of eggs")

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

It's usually called a "carton" of eggs, not a box, in my experience. But here's an obvious one, given the recent holiday: A heart shaped "box" of chocolates or truffles! There's also a Nirvana song called "Heart Shaped Box", named after such a (non-chocolate-containing) item Courtney Love gave Kurt Cobain as a gift when she asked him out. Then there's a hat box, which is usually shaped to fit the hat inside.

[Raptor]

16 hours ago, The Almighty Doer of Stuff said:

It's usually called a "carton" of eggs, not a box, in my experience.

Yes, but note that "usually" is not the same as "always". As I said, "In some parts of the US you buy a 'box of eggs'."

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Seems fair.