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Wistrik

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Everything posted by Wistrik

  1. Nah, they wouldn't hit a library or resource center, but they might use it as a tool to gain knowledge/intelligence of a target or something else. Or use it as a cover so authorities can't track them so easily. Etc. Not that this guy is a terrorist, but his poor attitude sure didn't help him any, and only cast him in a more suspicious light.
  2. *steps onto UCLA soapbox* Not all buildings are public buildings, and it is expected that you will identify yourself and your business when entering many buildings. People who don't are viewed with suspicion and often asked to leave (the asking takes various forms depending on where you are, but force is almost always a last resort). In the current world climate with terrorism and nationalism running rampant, it is very foolish to enter a private building and not identify oneself. People are more suspicious of strangers than ever before. This guy apparently had a case of the stupids and figured he could just walk in and use the university resources (or whatever he intended to do.) Furthermore, after committing his initial blunder, he could have kept his mouth shut and let himself be escorted out of the building on his own two feet, but no, he had to throw a tantrum and make a scene, as if he was Mr. Innocent or something (Oh Woe is me!). Then the security police erred by using excessive force and some of the students behaved immaturely and disrespectfully (big surprise). The whole thing could have been avoided. Easy to say in hindsight, but it's true nonetheless. *steps down*
  3. I installed a new (at the time) ATI video card once and it prevented Diablo 2 from logging on to Battle.net, of all things. Gave up after a couple weeks and put the old card back in. Yay, back online. So yeah, video drivers can affect more than just video.
  4. Perhaps, but I've only played a few CRPGs in the last ten years, namely the BG series, IWD series, and NWN, where 99.9% of combat is inescapable through dialog, if dialog is even present. Sure you can sneak past while invisible, but I'm not counting tactics. So for me, NWN2 is an improvement. The fixed version of Carsomyr works well because it dispels things properly. Since I used to always make paladins, that came in handy. Breach was fun to throw in just before my three fighters triggered greater whirlwind. Boom, another dead dragon. Not much survived long in ToB, and I never had to use Time Stop. (Not much of a mage player.)
  5. Mmm toasty. I tried standing in the fire at Shandra's house and was damaged by "someone". hah. Gotta love this idiot AI where your party attacks an already dead corpse because it was the last thing on their to-do list. So much for being aware of the changing environment around them. Two wasted spells...
  6. I was on the old BIS boards but thankfully avoided the hall of shame. When the forums moved to IP, I didn't bother signing up. I miss the brooding encyclopedia of D&D lore, Tenebrous; Rachel the moderator; and a few others. I know some of them hang out at Sorcerers now, and a few also visit various BG2 modding 'communities', though sometimes under different names.
  7. You might as well try to finish it. Dragons are among the tougher things you'll face, and there aren't any after you head to the Vale. *stares back at Darque's avatar*
  8. I can tell a male artist worked on the area graphics in the first picture.
  9. I'm no PST fanboy; I disliked that game on the whole and stopped playing it after about an hour. Thankfully I hadn't paid for it. I know that most CRPGs are mainly combat simulators, but at least NWN2 lets me avoid some battles through skillful dialog, which is an improvement. I didn't say nobody had the right to complain, I only suggested they find another game to play if this one doesn't make them happy. Take a deep breath...
  10. You read too much into my post Volourn, I wasn't calling anyone a horrible roleplayer. I like this game because combat can be avoided in several areas, unlike other CRPGs that are more like Diablo (mindless hack-n-slash) than a D&D game; and what combat there is, it is manageable without relying on specific builds, skills, and items. There can only be so much in the way of tactics and strategy in a real-time combat scenario where everything's rushing to get in your face. D&D was meant for turn-based combat on a game board or similar (SSI's Gold Box series was more true to the rules in this respect than any modern D&D CRPG). If someone's complaining about fight difficulty, they strike me as the usual "combat is everything" player, so telling them to play a fighting game instead isn't silly, just a practical suggestion to help them avoid more frustration caused by yet another easy battle. As the tutorial portion of the game can show, party characters are usually a cut above the average person in Faerun, so it shouldn't come as any surprise if a coordinated group of skilled characters happens to mop the floor with Bad Guy #1 and his goons. I could understand the complaining if you did this with a level 0 villager and his chickens, but this is not the case. Rest assured, however, that sooner or later someone who values fighting above all else will produce a mod that increases combat difficulty by at least a magnitude, then all those who cry foul can experience their beatings with great joy and many tears of happiness.
  11. I don't mind battles that are winnable with average characters who don't use all of their skills. If you want a challenge, get a console and a few fighting games. <_< D&D does feature combat as part of the rules, but role-playing is supposed to take the lead.
  12. In general, I prefer the designers give the engine the ability to support an NPC relationship of some sort, and then leave the writing to modders, though in the case of NWN2 I feel the relationship with a certain druid is reasonably well done. (Better than the 'woe is me!' NPCs of BG2.) Another favorite NPC along this topic is Nathyrra, from HotU. Someone you adventure and explore with, survive combat with, etc. It wouldn't be a paperback romance (yuck!), but instead a bonding of two (or more, if friendships) individuals who are struggling just to stay alive. Romance would add the twist of attraction and love, but the story typically would allow no time for things like settling down or having children. (I suppose one of them could stay at the stronghold for the remainder of the game, the price you pay for fooling around on the battlefield. hah.)
  13. Meh, I find the BG2 engine to be look better than the Electron engine. High-end 2D is more aesthetically pleasing than middling 3D. Some of the level design (particularly the mountain environs) are certainly better looking, but there were no aspects of the BG2 engine that obviously came up short in the way NWN2's do. For example, it's obvious from the design of the areas that the engine can't handle more than 3-5 sub-areas per location, which is a problem in, say, marketplaces, and it makes the gameworld feel way too tight. The entire city of Neverwinter is about the size of a single BG2 district. The weight of some of the BG areas would be too much for the Electron engine to handle, which makes me skeptical about the chances of the planned BG version coming out whole. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ultima IX had it's flaws, but I could walk from one end of the world to the other and explore buildings along the way without a single transition (only subterranean caves/dungeons had transitions). It used progressive load-ahead to pre-load meshes and pre-draw models just beyond the visible horizon (much like previous 2D Ultimas), so the player was treated to an uninterrupted journey. I'm still waiting for a D&D-based CRPG to do this. I thought about rewriting the BG saga in a newer engine, but no, I'll do something original instead. On the other hand, NWN2's engine is well suited to a rewrite of Ultima 3. After two decades of "progress' we're back to tiny maps. The BG2 engine has static, non-resizable bitmaps, non-resizable sprite animations, limited script and spell effect capability (with many hardcoded traits), and limited rule customization (again, much is hardcoded). I modded it for several years and am ready to move on, but to what I'm not certain. I'll give NWN2 the benefit of the doubt for now. I don't think NWN2's graphics look ugly at all, though NPCs would look better if their lips sealed properly over their teeth.
  14. I haven't fought the dragon yet. The first time I went through, I made a deal with the dragon to kill the Fire Giants, and it agreed to assist me in doing so. Alas, I encountered a bug. I killed the Fire Giants alone, and the dragon was stuck in a dialog/script loop back in its lair, so it never did anything, and I could advance no further in conversation with it. Maybe this time it'll work better.
  15. I hope not. BG modders need their testers. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Though I did test a few mods in times past (starting with Tashia), I spent more time working on my own projects and helping in the development of Near Infinity. The current stock of modders have more than enough willing testers, and I'd rather be creating my own mod than testing someone else's stuff.
  16. NWN2 second game. May start a third after the patch just to see what happens. Want to start using the toolset so have to stop playing sometime. Have Dreamfall for when I'm not in a NWN2 mood; the TLJ storyline intrigues me I suppose, and the lead character (Zoe) is a cutey. Taking a long, possibly permanent break from the BG series. My hope is that NWN2's toolset will let me put BG to rest finally. A 3D world is just so much better to look at, and the engine is much more powerful in terms of what can be done. Oh, also have Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and waiting for Episode 2. That's for my action moods. Don't know what I'll do when Dragon Age comes out. If it's any good, I may have to drop back to part time work so I have more free time.
  17. In reality an adult dragon would throw you across a small valley with a solid blow, and you would likely be dead shortly after becoming airborn, so hits in games tend to underplay things somewhat drastically. The best I've seen in this regard is BG2's wing buffet effect that threw the entire party, prone and sustaining damage, away from the dragon for a few seconds.
  18. In NWN characters actually looked up/down at our main character, dunno why that was disabled/removed for NWN2. Elanee > all other female party NPCs
  19. It's okay. The sleeves look funny, and the inner shading should be black, not gray. If that was the case, the snapshot would be more intimidating. Haircuts? Manicures? Anyone??
  20. Hah, Imoen is pretty (in BG1). Neeshka looks like she got her head stuck in a wind tunnel. She'd be pretty if her hair didn't look blasted and her mouth didn't move in odd ways.
  21. Alright, second run with stronghold is going much smoother. Got another bombshell on the murdered nobles, which leads me to believe this was possibly written by different people on different days. 1. It all starts with a cutscene showing Lord Dalren being murdered by Ammon Jerro. Okay, no problem. 2. I Ask Duncan about the murdered nobleman while visiting the Sunken Flagon, and he and Sand verify it was Lord Dalren. However, before the conversation is over they switch to talking about Lord Gentry instead, and Lord Dalren is no longer mentioned. 3. Later on, Capt. Brelaina says Lord Gentry was the first noble murdered, and now Lord Hawkes has been murdered. She never mentions Lord Dalren. 4. In Chapter 2 I find out from two different sources that Lords Dalren, Brennick (!?!), and Hawkes have been murdered, and only Lord Tavorick remains of the original lords of Neverwinter. So there are some goofs in this plot thread. Lord Gentry is apparently the same person as Lord Brennick, who is never mentioned except at the end where the name is included in a list of dead lords. Perhaps Brennick should be renamed to Gentry. This still doesn't explain how Duncan and Sand managed to switch Lords in the middle of a single conversation with only a few game minutes passing by. I'm thinking Lord Gentry's murder may at one time have been a cutscene but was cut, and this dialog was stitched together. Or something like that. It's also odd that Capt. Brelaina completely omits Lord Dalren's death, which starts the chain of events and is again referred to at the end of the chain. No wonder I found it confusing the first time I played.
  22. It depends. Most people wouldn't consider a spelling error in a string to be a bug, even though it technically is. Furthermore, some would label the AI as being buggy, while others would label it as just being poor. I'm betting that the people that said they didn't encounter bugs didn't run into any quests breaking, or NPCs disappearing, and that sort of stuff. The stuff that MAKES you take notice. The fact that a guy got stuck during pathfinding and had to click again, easily overlooked. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I have a programming background so I find bugs/glitches/typos etc., hard to miss most of the time, though I tend to overlook them when I'm playing while half-asleep/tired. If I'm rested and raring to go, and have a notepad handy, I can quickly fill a page with text errors I see while playing. I don't submit these because devs usually don't care unless there's a crasher, quest breaker, or some other 'serious' thing. Obsidian renamed the engine to 'Electron' because it's supposedly a heavily modified version of the original 'Aurora' engine, so I expect NWN2 reviewers to get the engine name right. Since that review used the name 'Aurora', they should have qualified it with something like "a heavily modified version of the Aurora engine, called Electron by Obsidian" which is more accurate. The top-down camera is very similar to NWN's, though it can be picky. I don't like that it can't drop down to ground level like NWN's camera could, so the lowest I can get is looking at the upper body of an elf-sized character, or the head and shoulders of a gnome; smaller characters don't even appear. The inability to render 'second story tiles' invisible tends to make the top-down camera more annoying in NWN2, so I'm having to remember to zoom in so I can see what I'm doing, even though zooming in typically reduces your field of view. A reduced field of view is better than no view at all.
  23. If the main character is wearing plate armor (I have Enkidu's at the moment) and takes his helmet off, the game will show a default full helmet on his head even though he's no longer wearing a helmet. This occured during the trial when the game unequipped his weapon, shield and magical hat. He stood around in a full helm until I could put his hat back on. Taking the hat off reproduced the glitch. It's a cosmetic glitch, but ugly, and not what the trial script was intending to have happen (no hat/helm, no weapons).
  24. Obs should tweak the lips to close tighter, so teeth don't show through. Also looks like most of the polys are dedicated to the face, since other body features tend to look blocky in comparison.
  25. Also show that you care about party members being injured or something of the heart; Elanee appreciates those things too. Agreeing with her helps as well, as it shows you value her input. I haven't found a single idea of hers to be a bad one, at least not for my LG character. She doesn't like cities or the way people try to act civilized like they're above nature or something, but for you (if you're getting along with her) she'll endure it, so long as you stay focused on the ultimate goal.
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