Now that's just silly. In real life, I *don't* have to keep track of so many unrelated things. In fact, I don't even keep track of so many *related* things. And I keep all the related things *together*.
For example, I keep all the emails relating to a particular project in an organised set of mailboxes/folders - and I further categorise them depending on what they relate to within the project. That's exactly the same thing.
Morrowind doesn't have any organisation, and it's impossible to impose your own organisation on it.
The journal in Morrowind is effectively useless for keeping track of what's going on - even the "new improved" journal in Tribunal. It gets filled with all kinds of junk that hides the important information.
What it needs is categories - quests, rumours, etc - like most CRPGs have. You should be able to show all the quests that were given by either a person or faction, or just your current non-completed quests, without having to exclude all the extra crap.
The *only* games I've played more than about 5 times are Fallout 1&2 (40-50 times to completion each) and Arcanum (10+ times).
Bethesda, IMO you've picked up the best franchise you possibly could (I so wish Troika could have got it, and used the TOEE engine - with bug fixes - to implement it). Listen to the fans - we want isometric, turn-based with a storyline that is easy to follow if we wish, and easy to ignore if we don't.
The major problem with Morrowind (apart from the point of view) is that it's almost impossible to keep track of the storyline. I've tried so many times - played Morrowind for hundreds of hours in an attempt to do it - and never come *close* to finishing. That's no fun.
That's why you want to have it behind a NATing, firewalled router while you're setting it up.
In my case, I've got all the service packs, etc that I can on a local fileserver. This greatly reduces the amount of time that the machine has to be online before being patched. And by having it behind a firewall (stealthing all ports) that's also performing NAT, it's protected from being hit by something like Sasser.
It's going to make post code to newsgroups and mailing lists absolute hell.
I used to program with all tabs, but i saw the light when I started being involved in the Python newsgroups. All those people with crappy news/mail programs (including myself) that do stupid things with tabs - but they all handle spaces just fine.
I don't know who's doing what where though - mastering, dubbing, subbing, etc - it may well be that the Madman releases will be sub-only (SBS-subtitled I would presume) if there isn't already a dub, or Madman may be getting the dubbing done in the US, or it may be part of the US deal... I don't know.
"Prepare Yourself for the Biggest Announcement of the Century!
We are absolutely thrilled to announce the acquisition of a treasure trove of Studio Ghibli anime feature films.
After the success of the acclaimed Madman release of Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli has entrusted Madman with the DVD releases of 10 of their classic films including their newest feature - The Cat Returns.
Stay tuned and connected for updates and news on release dates and other details about this exciting announcement. In the meantime, make room on your shelves for all of these Ghibli Classics...
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (1986) My Neighbour Totoro (1988) Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) Only Yesterday (1991) Porco Rosso (1992) Pom Poko (1994) Whisper of the Heart (1995) My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999) The Cat Returns (2002)
Studio Ghibli's animated features are world-renowned for their intricate stories, multi-faceted characters and fluid animation. The painstaking attention to detail is evident in every cell of their largely handcrafted anime features. Its founders - Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata - have long been celebrated in Japan as visionary directors and icons in the field of animation.
Madman Entertainment plan to release all ten Studio Ghibli titles over the year between April 2004 and May 2005. Theatrical screenings and a Ghibli film-festival touring select locations will showcase the collection. Takahata's GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES - release date 11 February - will also form part of Madman's Ghibli Collection.
We hope you are as thrilled and excited about this announcement as we are... Stay Tuned!"
No. FOT:BOS was never considered Fallout 3 (and was never promoted as such). They were smart enough then to realise that the Fallout series was a CRPG series, and anything else was a spinoff - not part of the main series. With FO:BOS (what idiot decided to give such a similar name to a game?) they forgot this important point.
My KVM switch has a Samsung Syncmaster 15 attached - it's pretty dodgy, but it's still working well enough not to replace. Works for my Windows and FreeBSD servers, machines that friends bring over for updates, etc, and any machine I happen to be playing around with.
I occasionally plug my Macintosh Colour Display (13") when Dad brings up his powerbook, but that monitor's just started making sqealing noises...
My guess is that they will leave out "The Magician's Nephew" since they're starting with TLTWATW - and because it's so different to most of the others - and "The Horse and His Boy" as it doesn't have members of the primary (extended) family - unless you want to consider *very* extended (can't remember, but I think there was some link established in "The Last Battle").
I think you will be *very* surprised. ToEE is not just going to be a combat CRPG, though there will be plenty of combat in it. The game will *change* depending on the choices you make - including the very beginning choices of alignment - and decisions you make during the game.
When ToEE (the module) came out, there were no other races - only the stock-standard races. Remember that this is Greyhawk - not Forgotten Realms. Drow are a mysterious, unknown quantity...
And yes - all the classes are lifted straight from the paper books - one of the primary aims of ToEE is to be as faithful as possible to the D&D rules. No bastardisation. 100% turn-based (with the gameplay optimisation option that opponents with the same initiative doing basic actions such as a melee attack can move at the same time).
There are things Troika would have liked to have got into the game (prestige classes and subraces for example) but didn't have time for. They instead have concentrated on producing a solid adventure with considerable scope for playing how you want. I loved the example of one of the artists (Chris Glenn IIRC) playing an evil cleric, controlling enemy skeletons, then using them to depopulate Hommlet:)
No - that is indeed spam. It is unsolicited. It is also sent to a group.
Spammers use exactly the same justification - that every person who receives their email is a "genuine potential customer".
The amount of paper junk mail I get at home is ridiculous. There are idiots who drive along the street *every day* in a van and put more in. Worse - they get their *kids* to put it in the mailbox, teaching the next generation how to spam.
Well, here's a tip for spammers and spammees. *Anything* may be attached to a reply-paid envelope in Australia, and the person who paid is liable for the entire amount. That's why I keep a good heap of bricks and rocks around at home. I take all the reply-paid cards, tape them to a brick and put it in the post...
ToEE is the first computer game to use the D&D 3.5 rules. The module has been updated to 3.5 rules, but is otherwise a faithful implementation of the original module (i.e. you will be able to use the original module as a walkthrough if you wish). Troika have expanded the roles of several NPCs, etc - just as any good DM would have done - and have been in semi-regular contact with Gary Gygax to ensure that the game meets his vision for the module.
Most importantly, ToEE fully supports characters and parties of all alignments - to the point that parties of different alignments start the game in different ways...
2003-07-13 01:41:37 Escape Velocity: Nova for Windows released (games,games) (rejected)
I've greatly enjoyed EV: Nova so far, having been waiting for a long time (since I fired the video circuitry on my PowerCentre Pro). My only complaint is the text size... at 1024x768 on a 17" monitor, it's just too small.
It is however possible to run at 800x600 - but you need to use something like ReForce to remove the 1024x768 option. That's a bit painful...
Well, you can pick up a rat bastard evil thief NPC. Who may well sell you out.
The rationale is that a good group would not adventure with an evil bastard (or an evil group with a good bastard, etc) for any significant period of time.
It also allows Troika to set up starting vignettes for the different parties i.e. each party alignment starts the game in different ways. It also allows each party alignment to *finish* the game in different ways - for example, the Lawful Evil vignette (I believe) continues throughout the game and can strongly affect the end of the game.
Perhaps I should have emphasised the *you* could not make a module that would come anywhere close to what Troika will make. It's possible that someone could (though I doubt it). But I bet *you* couldn't, since you've already displayed the lack of imagination and attention to detail required. I would also bet that your assertion that "the same number of people could remake in half the time as a Neverwinter module, and for less cost" is also false. Troika were starting with an engine that they developed and knew from scratch. That's a big advantage.
On top of everything else, ToEE is an isometric game - which is my favourite type of game to play. I never play first-person shooters. I rarely play over-the-shoulder games (I returned Dungeon Siege after a few hours play).
And no, I haven't played NWN. But I've done enough research to know that their implementation of the 3e rules was highly flawed.
Personally, I would have preferred that Troika not do a D&D game, but believe that they will once again produce an excellent game with their usual level of immersiveness and strong but relatively non-linear storyline. And the D&D license will get them a lot more sales.
ToEE is a completely new game. It uses a much enhanced version of the Arcanum engine, but uses 3D sprites on pre-rendered 2D backgrounds. It's a lot closer to Baldur's Gate than NWN, but not very close to that really. For example, it uses a *turn based combat system*, which is probably the best possible news for Fallout fans.
Apart from anything else, Troika wanted to implement the ruleset correctly (unlike NWN). In fact, ToEE will be the first game released using the 3.5 D&D rules.
And no, you won't be able to make your own modules (or at least it won't be supported). This is a single-player only game, with no modability. This is a Good Thing(TM) - it allows Troika to concentrate on what they do best, which is creating an immersive game with a strong but fairly non-linear storyline. I would be willing to bet a *lot* of money that you could not create an NWN module that would come anywhere close to what ToEE will be like.
Using your matrix, you select your party alignment. Then any alignment which is no more than one step away in a horizontal or vertical direction is valid.
So for example,
LG party alignment allows LG, LN, NG characters. NG party alignment allows LG, NG, CG, TN characters. TN party alignment allows LN, NG, NE, CN, TN characters.
There is one additional restriction - if you currently have a Paladin in the party, you cannot add any evil characters - and if you have an evil character in the party, you cannot add a Paladin. This does not mean that you can never have a Paladin and an evil character in the same party - just not at the same time! You can change party members at one of more of the inns (either in Hommlet or Nulb - I don't know - it may depend on your party alignment). So you could start off with a Paladin, then later remove him and add an evil character.
Troika are doing their absolute best to stay true to the module. Notable changes include the elemental nodes being somewhat smaller and more densely populated (anyone knowing the module will know just how large those elemental nodes were).
Other deviations include expansions of many minor characters in the module - for example one of the NPCs (a trader IIRC) is mentioned as not having being eligible for the militia because he's too short. This has been expanded such that there are quests revolving around this point.
One interesting - and to my mind much needed- feature is the concept of "party alignment". This is basically the "there's no way a paladin would work with a bunch of evil bastards" bit. Members of the party must be near the party alignment - for example, if your party is "Neutral Good" then all members must be Lawful Good, Neutral Good or Chaotic Good. This allows for a much more coherent game as characters you meet, etc respond accordingly. Previous Troika-member games (Fallout 1&2, Arcanum) have had the concept of developing your alignment/karma as the game progressed, but that doesn't carry over well to a party-based game.
Slashdot Mirror
How could you possibly fail to mention Raelee Hill (Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu) ...?
Elf needs food badly.
Now that's just silly. In real life, I *don't* have to keep track of so many unrelated things. In fact, I don't even keep track of so many *related* things. And I keep all the related things *together*.
For example, I keep all the emails relating to a particular project in an organised set of mailboxes/folders - and I further categorise them depending on what they relate to within the project. That's exactly the same thing.
Morrowind doesn't have any organisation, and it's impossible to impose your own organisation on it.
The journal in Morrowind is effectively useless for keeping track of what's going on - even the "new improved" journal in Tribunal. It gets filled with all kinds of junk that hides the important information.
What it needs is categories - quests, rumours, etc - like most CRPGs have. You should be able to show all the quests that were given by either a person or faction, or just your current non-completed quests, without having to exclude all the extra crap.
Ditto, except for that FPS thing. Don't play any.
The *only* games I've played more than about 5 times are Fallout 1&2 (40-50 times to completion each) and Arcanum (10+ times).
Bethesda, IMO you've picked up the best franchise you possibly could (I so wish Troika could have got it, and used the TOEE engine - with bug fixes - to implement it). Listen to the fans - we want isometric, turn-based with a storyline that is easy to follow if we wish, and easy to ignore if we don't.
The major problem with Morrowind (apart from the point of view) is that it's almost impossible to keep track of the storyline. I've tried so many times - played Morrowind for hundreds of hours in an attempt to do it - and never come *close* to finishing. That's no fun.
That's why you want to have it behind a NATing, firewalled router while you're setting it up.
In my case, I've got all the service packs, etc that I can on a local fileserver. This greatly reduces the amount of time that the machine has to be online before being patched. And by having it behind a firewall (stealthing all ports) that's also performing NAT, it's protected from being hit by something like Sasser.
In that case, you *do* consider your time to be free (in terms of working with Linux). You just agreed with the parent.
It's going to make post code to newsgroups and mailing lists absolute hell.
I used to program with all tabs, but i saw the light when I started being involved in the Python newsgroups. All those people with crappy news/mail programs (including myself) that do stupid things with tabs - but they all handle spaces just fine.
Madman December Newsletter
... I don't know.
I don't know who's doing what where though - mastering, dubbing, subbing, etc - it may well be that the Madman releases will be sub-only (SBS-subtitled I would presume) if there isn't already a dub, or Madman may be getting the dubbing done in the US, or it may be part of the US deal
"Prepare Yourself for the Biggest Announcement of the Century!
We are absolutely thrilled to announce the acquisition of a treasure trove of Studio Ghibli anime feature films.
After the success of the acclaimed Madman release of Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli has entrusted Madman with the DVD releases of 10 of their classic films including their newest feature - The Cat Returns.
Stay tuned and connected for updates and news on release dates and other details about this exciting announcement. In the meantime, make room on your shelves for all of these Ghibli Classics...
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (1986)
My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Porco Rosso (1992)
Pom Poko (1994)
Whisper of the Heart (1995)
My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999)
The Cat Returns (2002)
Studio Ghibli's animated features are world-renowned for their intricate stories, multi-faceted characters and fluid animation. The painstaking attention to detail is evident in every cell of their largely handcrafted anime features. Its founders - Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata - have long been celebrated in Japan as visionary directors and icons in the field of animation.
Madman Entertainment plan to release all ten Studio Ghibli titles over the year between April 2004 and May 2005. Theatrical screenings and a Ghibli film-festival touring select locations will showcase the collection. Takahata's GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES - release date 11 February - will also form part of Madman's Ghibli Collection.
We hope you are as thrilled and excited about this announcement as we are... Stay Tuned!"
Generator expressions are *much* better :)
No. FOT:BOS was never considered Fallout 3 (and was never promoted as such). They were smart enough then to realise that the Fallout series was a CRPG series, and anything else was a spinoff - not part of the main series. With FO:BOS (what idiot decided to give such a similar name to a game?) they forgot this important point.
My KVM switch has a Samsung Syncmaster 15 attached - it's pretty dodgy, but it's still working well enough not to replace. Works for my Windows and FreeBSD servers, machines that friends bring over for updates, etc, and any machine I happen to be playing around with.
...
I occasionally plug my Macintosh Colour Display (13") when Dad brings up his powerbook, but that monitor's just started making sqealing noises
My guess is that they will leave out "The Magician's Nephew" since they're starting with TLTWATW - and because it's so different to most of the others - and "The Horse and His Boy" as it doesn't have members of the primary (extended) family - unless you want to consider *very* extended (can't remember, but I think there was some link established in "The Last Battle").
I think you will be *very* surprised. ToEE is not just going to be a combat CRPG, though there will be plenty of combat in it. The game will *change* depending on the choices you make - including the very beginning choices of alignment - and decisions you make during the game.
...
:)
When ToEE (the module) came out, there were no other races - only the stock-standard races. Remember that this is Greyhawk - not Forgotten Realms. Drow are a mysterious, unknown quantity
And yes - all the classes are lifted straight from the paper books - one of the primary aims of ToEE is to be as faithful as possible to the D&D rules. No bastardisation. 100% turn-based (with the gameplay optimisation option that opponents with the same initiative doing basic actions such as a melee attack can move at the same time).
There are things Troika would have liked to have got into the game (prestige classes and subraces for example) but didn't have time for. They instead have concentrated on producing a solid adventure with considerable scope for playing how you want. I loved the example of one of the artists (Chris Glenn IIRC) playing an evil cleric, controlling enemy skeletons, then using them to depopulate Hommlet
No - that is indeed spam. It is unsolicited. It is also sent to a group.
...
Spammers use exactly the same justification - that every person who receives their email is a "genuine potential customer".
The amount of paper junk mail I get at home is ridiculous. There are idiots who drive along the street *every day* in a van and put more in. Worse - they get their *kids* to put it in the mailbox, teaching the next generation how to spam.
Well, here's a tip for spammers and spammees. *Anything* may be attached to a reply-paid envelope in Australia, and the person who paid is liable for the entire amount. That's why I keep a good heap of bricks and rocks around at home. I take all the reply-paid cards, tape them to a brick and put it in the post
You will have plenty of opportunity to play evil characters in The Temple of Elemental Evil.
...
ToEE is the first computer game to use the D&D 3.5 rules. The module has been updated to 3.5 rules, but is otherwise a faithful implementation of the original module (i.e. you will be able to use the original module as a walkthrough if you wish). Troika have expanded the roles of several NPCs, etc - just as any good DM would have done - and have been in semi-regular contact with Gary Gygax to ensure that the game meets his vision for the module.
Most importantly, ToEE fully supports characters and parties of all alignments - to the point that parties of different alignments start the game in different ways
It's *my* A B friggin' C ...
...
Damn I loved Dexter Pinion
Note: my complaint is not that *my* story got rejected, but that obviously *every* story about this got rejected until now.
But come on ...
... at 1024x768 on a 17" monitor, it's just too small.
...
2003-07-13 01:41:37 Escape Velocity: Nova for Windows released (games,games) (rejected)
I've greatly enjoyed EV: Nova so far, having been waiting for a long time (since I fired the video circuitry on my PowerCentre Pro). My only complaint is the text size
It is however possible to run at 800x600 - but you need to use something like ReForce to remove the 1024x768 option. That's a bit painful
Well, you can pick up a rat bastard evil thief NPC. Who may well sell you out.
The rationale is that a good group would not adventure with an evil bastard (or an evil group with a good bastard, etc) for any significant period of time.
It also allows Troika to set up starting vignettes for the different parties i.e. each party alignment starts the game in different ways. It also allows each party alignment to *finish* the game in different ways - for example, the Lawful Evil vignette (I believe) continues throughout the game and can strongly affect the end of the game.
Perhaps I should have emphasised the *you* could not make a module that would come anywhere close to what Troika will make. It's possible that someone could (though I doubt it). But I bet *you* couldn't, since you've already displayed the lack of imagination and attention to detail required. I would also bet that your assertion that "the same number of people could remake in half the time as a Neverwinter module, and for less cost" is also false. Troika were starting with an engine that they developed and knew from scratch. That's a big advantage.
On top of everything else, ToEE is an isometric game - which is my favourite type of game to play. I never play first-person shooters. I rarely play over-the-shoulder games (I returned Dungeon Siege after a few hours play).
And no, I haven't played NWN. But I've done enough research to know that their implementation of the 3e rules was highly flawed.
Personally, I would have preferred that Troika not do a D&D game, but believe that they will once again produce an excellent game with their usual level of immersiveness and strong but relatively non-linear storyline. And the D&D license will get them a lot more sales.
Bwahahahaha! You made a funny!
ToEE is a completely new game. It uses a much enhanced version of the Arcanum engine, but uses 3D sprites on pre-rendered 2D backgrounds. It's a lot closer to Baldur's Gate than NWN, but not very close to that really. For example, it uses a *turn based combat system*, which is probably the best possible news for Fallout fans.
Apart from anything else, Troika wanted to implement the ruleset correctly (unlike NWN). In fact, ToEE will be the first game released using the 3.5 D&D rules.
And no, you won't be able to make your own modules (or at least it won't be supported). This is a single-player only game, with no modability. This is a Good Thing(TM) - it allows Troika to concentrate on what they do best, which is creating an immersive game with a strong but fairly non-linear storyline. I would be willing to bet a *lot* of money that you could not create an NWN module that would come anywhere close to what ToEE will be like.
Using your matrix, you select your party alignment. Then any alignment which is no more than one step away in a horizontal or vertical direction is valid.
So for example,
LG party alignment allows LG, LN, NG characters.
NG party alignment allows LG, NG, CG, TN characters.
TN party alignment allows LN, NG, NE, CN, TN characters.
There is one additional restriction - if you currently have a Paladin in the party, you cannot add any evil characters - and if you have an evil character in the party, you cannot add a Paladin. This does not mean that you can never have a Paladin and an evil character in the same party - just not at the same time! You can change party members at one of more of the inns (either in Hommlet or Nulb - I don't know - it may depend on your party alignment). So you could start off with a Paladin, then later remove him and add an evil character.
The Greyhawk Inn - Unofficial Offical Board
Atari ToEE forums - Official Board
Troika are doing their absolute best to stay true to the module. Notable changes include the elemental nodes being somewhat smaller and more densely populated (anyone knowing the module will know just how large those elemental nodes were).
Other deviations include expansions of many minor characters in the module - for example one of the NPCs (a trader IIRC) is mentioned as not having being eligible for the militia because he's too short. This has been expanded such that there are quests revolving around this point.
One interesting - and to my mind much needed- feature is the concept of "party alignment". This is basically the "there's no way a paladin would work with a bunch of evil bastards" bit. Members of the party must be near the party alignment - for example, if your party is "Neutral Good" then all members must be Lawful Good, Neutral Good or Chaotic Good. This allows for a much more coherent game as characters you meet, etc respond accordingly. Previous Troika-member games (Fallout 1&2, Arcanum) have had the concept of developing your alignment/karma as the game progressed, but that doesn't carry over well to a party-based game.