random n00b
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I liked it. Not as much as its predecessors, but still. It had great atmosphere, and I think the concept was pretty good too. I didn't like the way they did away with Newt and Hicks, though. Death in a crash landing is something that happens in the real world, not in sci-fi... but I liked what was done with Bishop.
I think they might have overdone the FX, too. Both 1 and 2 rarely had clear shots of the critters, arguably due to visual effects limitations, but they turned that into an advantage.
The movie did have some really awful sequences, what with playing tag with the bug and all...
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Other way around, actually. In the director's cut you have the whole sequence with a lice-ridden dead cow and the xeno popping out from it. In the theatrical release, it was removed and changed for a dog.Yes, it was alien 3; originally supposed to be an alien-dog but changed to an alien-cow, IIRC.That was one mess of a movie...but as far as alien(s) films go, totally part of the back story (if the game is set later than it, I guess).
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And a meat grinder like Wanderlei Silva would probably mop the floor with poor little Jason Bourne... in a MMA-style fight. Which aren't the ones a covert operative would pick to begin with.New idea: Ok in DND world we can earn gold by kill goblin and other monsters. We could rap a dargon and become a magnate. But how could our spy earn enough money to have a comfortable life in the damn realistic world?Maybe there are a easy way----earn bonus by our fist. There are UFC, K-1,MMA,PRIDE,SHOOT and many black boxers.
A trained spy could do well in such matchs, even learn new skills in those matchs.
I think a spy would like to keep a little lower profile than competing in the UFC.
But it would be neat if there was an underground fight club in the game.
I assume a realistic approach to weapon concealment is a given? That was one of the aspects I liked the most of the Hitman series... and it would be goofy otherwise.
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And find out only in the end after a whole game of ****ting your pants everytime you suspect a facehugger is around. Plot twist! You are Revan!I'm actually pulling for a PC synthetic, but that's a long shot.Er...
That probably depends on how combat is handled. One thing all Alien-themed products had in common was that getting close to one of them usually = butchery. So it doesn't really matter if you only find out when the poor sod is lying in pieces on the floor.It also remains to be seen whether or not the synthetic's going to be "known" ala Bishop, or a company plant ala Ash. If the latter, he'll have to be kept out of battle for the secret to be under wraps.Also... combat synths?
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Save for, obviously, mobs that are immune to spellcasting interruptions. Lovely. I'll have to try that one on Kangaxx.Insect plague was affected by magic resistance, it only worked against dragons if you hit them with lower resistance / pierce magic at the beginning of the battle, and they didn't work at all against constructs. Not that it really mattered. All fights with mages were basically over once you got a successful breach spell off.What did work the way Enoch describes, interestingly enough, were the monk abilities. Going around Suldenesslar (sp?) and using quivering palm on iron golems was always fun.
As I said, it's been a while. I don't doubt that you're correct on MR and Insect Plague. But I was talking about one-high-level-enemy-mage battles (who seldom had significant MR), not dragon or golem battles. I never really had the patience to go through the combat log and remember which anti-magic spells countered which defenses-- I just Plagued 'em and hammered 'em into the dirt. One of my attacks (like, say, the various elemental bonuses from the Flail of Ages) usually got through.
That could be circumvented by applying a blanket era-effectiveness flag. Modern Age units should be able to stomp Stone Age units, period. And as far as the importance of research goes... it's not the modern military that will kick your opponent's rears. It's the huge boost in production that modern city improvements bring. As it should, I think. Definitely, Civ isn't one game to be looking up to as far as balancing goes. Or perhaps I just suck.It's fun to laugh at (and frustrating to see happen), but there is a serious scaling issue on how to balance each incremental step in the technological development in the game. Sure, Tanks should always beat stone age militias, but should Medieval knights? Should those knights, in turn, always lose to 19th Century rifle infantry? If you make the advantages of getting that next tech around the bend too high, you skew the balance between boosting research and boosting military, and the winner is always the player who stays "clean" enough to pursue his/her peaceful research until he/she can be the first to build a modern military. (In which case you might as well start the game in 1900AD instead of 4000 BC.) -
how do you know obi-wan was 25 i thaought he was about 19-20
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Obi-wan
Good job. I think the Prima Guides do have some canon value, albeit very low. So unless there's another source that conflicts with it, that's his age. 38 is also consistent with his attitude through the game, and it gives him some room for Dustil, too.This is probably a WAY nerdy thing to do, but since I happen to have a Prima Games Strategy Guide for KOTOR, I guess I'll go ahead and plagiarise it.Carth Onasi:
A career soldier at 38, Carth has seen more than his fair share of war. A skilled pilot and superior tactician, he has always faced his duty with grim determination, believinng that loyalty and dedication to the Republic would see him through. He has come to discover, however, that not everyone holds this opinion.
Hailed as a hero of the Mandalorian War, when the Sith began threatening Republic space again, Carth thought that they could be fought like any other enemy, but their influence extends far past simple starships and blasters. Though he will not speak of it, a very personal betrayal has affected him deeply. Duty called him to fight the Sith, but now outright hatred threatens to replace it.
It is no longer clear whether he fights to stop the destruction or avenge what has already been destroyed.
This makes no mention of the PC's age, however.
And what do you mean "nerdy"? I ain't even wearing my Jedi robes at the moment!
Please note that those were simply educated guesses. I was in no way trying to impose anything on people's vision of Revan. There are many examples of contradicting facts in the EU, that are never addressed or even acknowledged. So Revan could indeed be made to be in the middle 20's or even younger, at the whim of some LFL editor, an in-universe explanation being readily concocted to explain it.I guesstimated that Carth was 38, so go me!
I made my Revan 28 and the age gap was pretty irrelevant to me. As random n00b said, though, it's entirely possible that Revan is older than this. I went with 28 because I was around that age myself, at the time, and I figured that was about as young as Revan could realistically be. But I think it's certainly possible that Revan could have been somewhere in his/her 30s.As for Bastila, most guesstimates I've seen say 18. I hope she wasn't supposed to be any younger than this, considering the whole romance angle and Revan's age.
I believe it was explicitly stated somewhere that Mission was 14 and I was under the impression that Bastila was supposed to be older.But yeah, Bastila's age is probably right. Either that, or she's simply immature and annoying as hell. She is just a padawan after all.
The exile is probably intended to be younger than Revan, since she was knighted during the Mandalorian wars, as opposed to already being a knight by the time of joining Revan's crusade. Mira's comments probably aren't intended to be taken literally.how old is the exile, cause mira seems to tell us she/he is old -
Er, yes. That's assuming the Xbox version has the audio files readily available, which most likely, it doesn't.
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It's impossible to tell for sure, but a late twenties estimate may be a bit too young. Revan has been stated to be a prominent and renowned Jedi Knight by the time the Mandalorian Wars began. And from the start of that war to the end of the Jedi Civil War, nine years pass. Obi-Wan for instance, was 25 by the time he was knighted, and only because he defeated Maul. Anakin was ~22, and he skipped the standard trial business, too. Revan might have been teh shiznit and all, but not much younger than that.I figured Carth to be maybe 10 years older than Revan, but it could have been even less than that. I don't really know how old Revan was supposed to be but my guesstimate was that she/he had to be late twenties, given the timeframe of events leading up to the opening of KotOR. Even if it was ten years, it wasn't an age difference that bothered me too much but I can see how it may have seemed like a big gap.On the other hand, the only data we have on Carth is that he is a somewhat competent Republic flyman by the start of the Mandalorian Wars, and that he has a son that's old enough to be a Sith apprentice, nine years later. That could make Carth as young as 36 by the time of KotOR, younger possibly.
But given the inconsistent mess that is the EU and the all too frequent retcons it suffers, Revan and Carth might be any age - logic is irrelevant and facts can be, and often are, retroactively reinvented.
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go hijacking
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"Relatively complex" compared to what? The 300?If you look at the Imdb top 100 list, you can see that many of the top selling films have relatively complex plots, yet the public have no problem understanding them. So, people are not the morons Ken levine would like to think they are.Stuff like how all stories must have a climax that is proportionate to the buildup to said ending, or that cliffhanger endings dont work if the audience has to wait more than a week for the next part etc.Kill Bill? STTNG? SAW? ESB?
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My vote is for Hillary.
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I like dark hair.So if I dye my hair some rich dark color, will I be entitled to complex computer games plots?
Wait, so you are saying that ideally games should be aimed at the lowest level of gamer? Those who find it impossible to take the time and effort to look into various corners of the gameworld and pursue obscure quests to see where they might go? I mean, the broad and well-marked path might be easy enough to travel, but it ain't very interesting. Or at least itr doesn't stay interesting for long? (Hello, my good friend Bioshock!)In my opinion game developers (or at least publishers) are seriously beginnig to paint all gamers with the stupid brush.
Games are meant to make money. And while I'm sure devs would love to make the critically acclaimed CRPG of the century, few would be happy to repeat the debacle of say, Vampire Bloodlines.
It's nothing new really. The same happens with books, for instance. Just look for the sales of Thus Spake Zarathustra and compare them to the same numbers for the latest Harry Potter release.
It's a sad state of affairs, but once more, the masses rule. You can find comfort in thinking yourself an exception. Or not.
I can't agree with this. OE have shown in the past their ability to produce above-average writing and levels of plot complexity that are not quite the norm. Even in such a silly setting as Star Wars, they managed to produce a dark and mature story. I think they at least deserve the benefit of doubt.I dunno. Look at Obs 2 games in development here:One is based on an existing IP, developed under license. Bleah. Now, in point of fact, I have some hope for the Aliens game, simply because the aliens universe is a decent IP, discounting the mauling it has received at the hands of the AvP movies. There is potential to develop a game that has some interesting aspects to it. I'm not saying this game will, but I am hopeful
The other appears to be a beyond generic computer game, utter formula, connect the dots, etc. Even the name Alpha Protocol. It sounds like a really bad DTV release, maybe one of Steven Seagal's recent films. The lead player character looks generic as crap. The screenies look generic. Heck, when I look at that batch of screenies I'm seeing screenies of games that were released three years ago, just updated with vanilla next gen graphics. When developers are looking no further than last years games as inspiration for this years games, how excited can I possibly get? I'm sure it will be a fine, vanilla game. But there are a lot of fine bland games on the market every day.
But perhaps you are seeking to be engaged intellectually in all the wrong places? Gaming isn't exactly the most challenging of activities for the mind, anyway, and I don't think it's ever been intented to be.
If bad games is all people have to play then that is what they are going to play. Its the same with movies. If Hollywood just releases piece of crap after piece of crap film, people are stil going to go see them because people want to go to the movies on Friday night. If all people know is crap, then what else are they going to do. I think what is happening to gaming is that publishers (and probably some developers) think gamers are idiots and so they make games that are especially geared for idiots. That's why I was so blown away by that "quote" from Levine. I couldn't believe that some major developer would have the balls to come out of the closet and fess up to what he really believed. Guess that didn't happen after all, but I was so excited at the time.
So it *is* an april Fool's then? It's good material for debate anyway.
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An experimental H.O.L.Y hand grenade by developed by the Marines?
...win.
And a one-of-a-kind mutated vorpal facehugger too plz.
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Well, it's obviously a matter of preference. I feel more comfortable playing with characters with a clearly defined role, but I can disregard that if they have an interesting backstory and/or personality. If they lack both, they are a no-no for me.
I was kinda disappointed with how Jaheira's romance proceeds. She starts from an overly self-protective attitude and then evolves to a revenge-driven attitude. But despite all that <charname> and her have been through together, she never stops watching you and comparing you to Khalid (what's so great about that guy, anyway. He could barely speak). There's a feeling of lingering mistrust for the duration of the game. Carth's attitude is somewhat reminiscent of hers...
I don't know what's the deal with romanceable NPCs always having issues, anyway. It's almost a cliche by now. I so wanted a Shar-Teel romance.
-Shar-Teel: I spit on your manhood!
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You need a high (9-10) luck and agile character, and the more and better criticals and perks. Slayer is a bonus. Pump up your Unarmed skill like crazy and get to about level 15 where you get the best melee attacks. I'm not sure but I think critical side effects (insta death) are also dependant on your level. But yeah, you can go around killing pretty much anything in one hit, even power-armored Enclave troopers. Floaters and Centaurs seem more resistant to that for some reason, though. And they appear in large numbers, so it's not healthy to try.
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It was relevant in that the moral distinction between the US and its enemies has always been imaginary.
You forgot to finish the sentence: "...imaginary, though the fact that morality is imagined does not mean we should discard it."
Saying there is no good and evil in the world at all and we are all pond scum is just as unproductive and dangerous as saying the US is the guardian of the world and will always be a force of righteous good, sort of like Superman Gundam.
There's no need to discard morality. Since it's something completely made up, it's so plastic that it can be twisted to support any line of action. Thinking ourselves better than our forebears is just another clever trick to establish the alleged superiority of the currently prevalent morality. People just do whatever it takes to get through the day - or die, making the point moot.
And now I'm going to steer clear of this discussion, since I'm derailing the thread and, as you said yourself, this line of debate is unproductive. Albeit funny as mental gymnastics.
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The problem I see with Aerie is that she can work both as a mage and as a cleric, but can excel in neither role. Edwin is an excellent mage (cheat-quality good, in fact). Viconia can cover all your healing/buff needs. Aerie's problem is the same as Jaheira's, with the added disadvantage that she can't work as a second-line tank (which is the best Jaheira can aspire to, given her scarce HPs), meaning she can't take the heat off you squishies if need be. To fill that extra slot I'd much rather take another tank (Keldorn or if I'm playing a paladin myself, Korgan) or a custom-made bard, even. But it all comes down to personal preference, I guess. Her personality is the biggest problem for me.
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It was relevant in that the moral distinction between the US and its enemies has always been imaginary. Both sides do what they think they should... and then make up various moral workarounds to justify it.
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Terrorism is "evil" now, because we're the ones writing the newsflashes. If they actually "won", they'd be the ones writing history and they'd make sure they won't be remembered as murderous fanatics. There have been instances of this, in fact. Good and evil are behavioral constructs, inventions implanted into you before you can rationalize them.
Thinking that stuff that just reading about makes your skin crawl shouldn't be done to anyone is not entirely rational because for starters, you wouldn't be caught in a terrorist training camp in the depths of Afghanistan.
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That's the way it's done even in MMOs. One is the party "leader", and the others just help get the job done. Having a co-op system in which 1P is as relevant story-wise as nP would be impossibly complex. That has never been a problem for co-op RPGs in the past.I can't imagine them doing it without having the same problem the IE games had with multiplayer - you have one important PC and one faceless tagalong PC. The only way to rectify this would be an Army of Two-style game in which your character is never alone and your companion never dies, which is a surefire way to defuse the sort of tension that an Aliens title should have. This is the problem that Gearbox is having. Why even bother making the game co-op if the second player has to cycle through expendable characters?
Says you. But I think it's no different than knowing that your character isn't going to bite it no matter what. Following your reasoning, knowing that your character can win any situation detracts from the feeling of uncertainty that is so essential to any Aliens product - according to you.It's Aliens. If you're going through the game expecting to win everything and save everyone, you're doing it wrong.
Mostly being the key word. That's the player's choice. It sucks when <charname> gets hit by Chaos and chops off Jaheira's head with his Vorpal sword, but it makes the game feel more real than "oh jeez, I just got hit with Disintegrate. I think I'll take a nap until the end of the encounter", only to have that same character die inexplicably a few minutes later after you *won* some other battle.Effectively, though, if the players know he/she is saveable, they will mostly just reload until they do it.
So I guess this puts co-op right under the bowling minigame in the priorities list.Multiplayer, whether co-op or head-to-head, requires a lot of time and effort from both programming and design. Even when implementing a split-screen solution, it can have a very large impact on the schedule of the team.
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Good and evil exist only in your mind.
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You can use Fred Tetra's KotOR Tool to open the dialog.tlk, but it's a bit... raw. I think you're better off getting the PC version and using that tool to browse through the modules and view the conversation trees that are of particular interest to you. Besides, you'll be able to play TSLRP when it comes out!
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Sounds bad but it's not quite so. Those are in fact rather mild "torture" methods, when compared to stuff they do elsewhere. That kind of torture is just an accessory to the feeling of powerlessness and being at the mercy of people that can do anything with you to get what they want that breaks a person's will.
And unfortunately asking politely just won't do the trick.
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The point of this thread eludes me.
I made my Revan 28 and the age gap was pretty irrelevant to me. As random n00b said, though, it's entirely possible that Revan is older than this. I went with 28 because I was around that age myself, at the time, and I figured that was about as young as Revan could realistically be. But I think it's certainly possible that Revan could have been somewhere in his/her 30s.
I believe it was explicitly stated somewhere that Mission was 14 and I was under the impression that Bastila was supposed to be older.
Torture!
in Way Off-Topic
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"Enhanced interrogation", heh. Whenever I read one of those phrases, I'm always reminded of "wardrobe malfunction", for some sick reason.
Anyway, you some kind of History buff? You seem to know your stuff pretty good.