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quote:</STRONG>
Originally posted by Azeral:
<STRONG> As for growing the mithril trees into weapon shapes...that is even more outlandish.
Growing trees into the shapes of houses and armor is perfectly acceptable
though?
quote:
<STRONG>
It sounds to me as if people are working from the assumption that mithril should be in-game and are struggling to find even the most convoluted solutions and justifications for it, rather than starting with the basic question, "Should we add mithril?"[ August 29, 2007: Message edited by: Azeral ]</STRONG>
Funny it sounds to me like people are just tossing around some interesting ideas that might balance out the elves...I admit I don't really understand why it's a such a sensitive subject for you.
quote:
Originally posted by BDR:
<STRONG>In the (highly unlikely) scenario that you are just a highly confused adventurer who sees lots of humans you can play as but no dwarves and are still interested in reading this topic, next time you start adventure mode you may want to look near the bottom of the screen; there you will find elves, and looking slightly further up you will also see dwarves.</STRONG>
Toady's edited that message; I don't think it was originally about...well, whatever it's about now. 
quote:
Originally posted by Squeegy:
<STRONG>I am intensely insulted but not surprised.
At least you didn't say 'furfags'.
[ February 16, 2008: Message edited by: Squeegy ]</STRONG>
Furry spotted in this thread! Let hunting season commence.
...seriously, what about that post was "intensely insulting"? If he'd said "I wonder how long it will take alien foxes with gigantic, lovingly detailed genitalia in bondage gear or diapers that crap themselves to start parading around my planet and ruin the game, just like they did in Second Life' yeah then I guess I could sort of understand where you're coming from, but as it is it just seems like you're being hypersensitive here.
quote:
Originally posted by Vodalian:
<STRONG>Just check youtube, there are multiple videos of the programmers demonstrating the AI and telling everyone that it's in no way hard-scripted or follows schedules. </STRONG>
If I recall correctly, they originally did have 'emergent behavior', but that caused problems where a fight would be triggered over something trivial and escalate until entire towns slaughtered each other. (you might remember that anecdote about the archer getting annoyed with her dog and torching him with a fireball, now multiply that kind of irrational behavior by however many NPCs are hanging around a town at any given moment...)
Unfortunately once they realized this instead of fixing the problem they just lobotomized everyone instead. Not that I even care about that aspect very much though - sure it would have been a lot of fun, but I'm still perfectly satisfied with Morrowind's NPCs that just stand around at all hours of the day (well okay I use the LGNPC mods that give them more dialogue and personalities...) so I can't really complain about Oblivion's AI.
No, what got to me was the general policy of dumbing things down (leveled enemies to ensure you never get in over your head, generic fantasy setting instead of the jungley awesomeness Cyrodiil was supposed to be, beast races that are basically humans with masks, lame minigames, "Dear Diary: I followed a giant arrow to a cave! I should probably go inside it." etc.) and limiting choices and freedom overall (less guilds, less skills, spells, and weapons, more linear quests, less moral ambiguity, less lore, and the list goes on...)
It was just disappointing to me that a sequel, instead of doing new things like I expected was basically a step backwards in every respect except for combat and graphics, neither of which are the reasons I play these kinds of games for in the first place.
[ February 15, 2008: Message edited by: Solara ]
quote:
Originally posted by Funkadelic Jive Turkey:
<STRONG>Regarding the Fallout 3 bit: My take on it is that it'll be a good mass appeal game and will alienate the core fan base.</STRONG>
That's my worry too, since that seems to be pretty much exactly what Oblivion did. Not to say it was a bad game at all, just kind...shallow, I guess would be the right word. As far as Fallout 3 goes, I'm trying to give Beth the benefit of the doubt and but I already learned my lesson about rushing out and buying a game just because it's the long-awaited next installment of a series I love. I sincerely hope it'll be a wonderful game in the spirit of the originals but if I have to deal with crushing disappointment I'd prefer not to lose $60 as well. (I'll just spend the money on booze and weep while clutching my copy of Fallout 2 instead... 
)
[ February 14, 2008: Message edited by: Solara ]
I think one of the best really old school RPGs has to be Darklands. The graphics are horribly dated (give me ASCII over ugly pixelated people and landscapes any day...) but it gives you tons of freedom and the setting (Germany in the dark ages) is as far as I know completely unique.
It's very open-ended too, though that's hardly a surprise since it was made by the Fallout guys.
Also, dwarves with guns. 
quote:
Originally posted by Keiseth:
<STRONG>I bought 3.x of Unreal World, which is discounted as opposed to buying the whole game, forever. </STRONG>
That's the best way to do it, especially while there's still a long way to go till the next big upgrade. I made the mistake of buying the last version when it was at like 2.9, I should have waited a little longer. Though even if I say down another $10 for 3.x it'll still be cheaper than the full version and I've probably already more than gotten my money's worth...
EDIT:
Also, seconding everyone who's recommended Incursion. It's a great game with a lot of unique elements even if there are still some bugs and balancing issues that need to be ironed out. It's joined Nethack and Dungeon Crawl in the roster of roguelikes I'll obsessively cycle through every other month of so, even though I've yet to actually beat one.
[ September 17, 2007: Message edited by: Solara ]
quote:
Originally posted by Aribar Hunter:
<STRONG>
As for that UnReal World... Is the plot the only thing missing from the trial version? I mean, I won't try to build a house and get, "Sorry! You need to pay to build a sauna!" or something like that? That and the lack of a manual (from a quick glance over their site) kinda disinterested me from that game, but I think I'll give it another look.
</STRONG>
Don't let the lack of a manual bother you, the commands are actually pretty easy to learn: '?' for help, 'Shift+S' for skills, 'i' for inventory and F1 for the in-game encyclopedia will point you to everything you need to know when you're starting out. As for the plot, you make your own. The game is completely freeform - the restriction is that each character only lives ten days (game time) unless you register.
That's not so much of a restriction for a new player though, chances are at first you won't survive that long anyway, and it still gives you enough time to try out all sorts of things, like building a trapline and trading furs or hunting Njerpez warriors or slaughtering villages or just surviving awhile in winter without freezing and starving. (pro tip: your fellow humans are made of tasty meat)
Yes it has some flaws but it really is an amazingly addictive game, it's just too bad that 1) you have to pay so much for it, 2) paying for it is made needlessly difficult by an annoying 'no free email' policy, and 3) as Cosmonot said, Sami doesn't keep his faithful followers in the loop the way Toady does - he'll post an update every now and then and bugfixes when they're needed but as far as I know doesn't spend every waking moment either implementing new features or thinking of even more fantastic ones to add later, probably years down the road. It's almost like he thinks there are other things that are more important or something. 
Sometimes when I play URW, I like to imagine about what it could become with someone with even half of Toady's vision and drive at the helm - that's why as much as I love Fortress mode, it's Adventure mode where all my dreams of the game to one day make all other games obsolete are at.
[ September 17, 2007: Message edited by: Solara ]
It's got RPG elements, but I'd probably describe it more as a 'survival sim'. I just love the whole concept of running around in a huge world doing whatever you feel like. (Though I think I think I would love it a lot more if it you didn't have to pay for the full version... )
Another reason I like it is it's kind of what I imagine DF's adventure mode could be like once Toady is able to focus on it for a few updates. Running around strangling things gets old after awhile, and I personally can't wait till there's other things to do like fishing, crafting. etc.
[ September 13, 2007: Message edited by: Solara ]
quote:
Originally posted by lumin:
<STRONG>
By the way, I wrote a little review about the game at my site.
</STRONG>
Nice! You explained all the unique elements much more clearly than I did, next time I tell a friend about the game I'll have to point them to your site.
