Nonek

A little tip when playing the Deus Ex: GMDX mod, Karkians are lethal, alpha strike the things or run/swim for your life.

I believe the meme is, "Fixed that for you." You're welcome. Causality is overrated.

I'm afraid to say that when NWN came out I just could not get over the absolutely hideous graphics, coming from the painted artwork of the IE games (which probably reached its zenith in IWD,) to the blocky and hideously designed artwork of NWN, well that was a regression that just didn't appeal to me. The modding scene was yet young when I abandoned the game, I think the mod everyone was talking about at the time was called Elegy or somesuch, and so I never saw much of that side of the game. NWN 2 however had a far superior campaign with a brilliantly implemented personal motivation for the protagonist, rather than the boring Chosen One trope that passed for motivation in the first OC, and a number of high points where Obsidian showed some real promise. Unfortunately the dull grind of everything between those high points was uninspired and repetitive, and far too Bioware-ish. I don't regret playing the second games OC like I did the first, and I appreciate what a visual treat it was, but I have as yet had no urge to play it again. Though I do ocassionally listen to the soundtrack of both games. I liked SoU, despised HotU, adored MotB and admired the innovation of SoZ.

Personally i'd have thought the Codex would have been crowing about the incident, affirm their reputation of being the ninth hell of game discussion, bearing blacklistings with honour. Exiled by InXile, is quite the catchphrase however.

Double English Literature with Sister Jane, long blond tresses, eyes as big and blue as a summer sky, a willowy figure that filled out her floral dresses in a breathtaking fashion, a slight Highland lilt to her pronunciation and the sweetest demeanour i've ever seen a grown woman possess. Every lad in class was a little in love with her.

"Well Gene, since you're in Heaven now, and you are the angels guest and they your hosts: What's your pleasure? What would you like to do?" "Oh I don't know. Play chess...screw..." "Well let's play chess!"

Theres a new King's Quest? They kept that quiet.

Jolly decent of them. I assume the rage over at the Codex is vibrant, self sustaining and memeful? Have to say that Divinity 2 preview with Sven was very informative, excellent piece of journalism, and far more in depth than the usual articles. Keep it up chaps. Edit: A pity really that Inxile chose not to benefit from such a thorough grilling as Larian, who came off looking like devs who are enormously consumer friendly and enthusiastic about their product, very good publicity. Still least said, soonest mended what.

Hong Kong, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. So many rough edges and yet so very, very good. I'm going for a dip in the canals.

Alright Codex, you've had your fun, let them out of the pit and stop making them rub lotion into their skin. You're just going to have to find somebody else to make a meat suit out of.

Just finished the Osgood & Sons warehouse mission in Deus Ex. An exhaustive and thorough exploration of the place, from every side, above and below I attacked and eliminated every NSF terrorist (except the dogs of course) with extreme prejudice. Had a few moments of near death, hiding and running away or falling back to a mined (well LAM'd) area, but that was all part of the experience. The tension and excitement were palpable, mostly I think because of the lack of idiot proof measures, I had to explore to find my way, there were no wallhacks to see enemies, rather I had to stick my head around a corner and risk detection, or listen to the sound of approaching or retreating feet. Listening, sneaking, preparing and then striking from a position of hopeful strength. I have to thank the devs who used to make games like this, and the modders whom are updating it. Exploration, experimentation and excitement rather than being led around by the nose in what are becoming Skinner boxes. Hope this design method comes back some day. Edit: I really wish that I could spare Gunther somehow, his situation becomes more tragic and relatable every time I play through the game.

Why is it that I find the music of Deus Ex so appropriate and appealing, while the Human Revolution soundtrack though technically I suppose better, left me so cold? I don't think it's just nostalgia with both being such recent games, sixteen and five years old, I think it's something else though i'm at a loss as to what that is. Also has anyone ever noticed the Deus Ex soundtracks resemblance to that of the film True Lies, or is this just me?

No i'm wearing pyjamas and my robe, hipster jeans would look ridiculous on a gentleman of my years. Press ^ to walk forward eh? Putting thoughts into their brains, I apologize :-P You claim developers do something for a reason that you have constructed in your head was my point. Just as I have done in the games you have just mentioned (okay, I didn't play Styngian Abyss), but also in, say, STALKER, Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Dishonored. And I agree, experimentation and exploration are my favourite things to do in videogames. And it's cool that you didn't have to ring anyone for help, same as I never had to enable objective markers. But the phone service was there. I'm pretty sure you can just kill him, no? Well i'm sorry for whoevers brain i've putten thoughts into. Good for BT. I still prefer fun to boring quest markers and other such insulting handholding measures. Try it sometime.

That they're adults who can decide for themselves which features would they prefer in their game? Putting words into someone else's mouths without a single shred of evidence notwithstanding, I guess I am missing your entire argument since I for one enjoy when developers give paying customers some agency in how do they wish to enjoy their game. It's not fault of the entire gaming industry that you choose to perceive optional features the way you choose to perceive them. Were you even around in the earlier days of teh interwebz? No matter the stage of evolution of gaming media, questions of "Where is X?", "Can't find Y." and "How do I do Z?" kept popping up pretty much constantly. Hell, before that, major developers had paid phone services in place to help players who were stuck in their games (thinking their audience are a bunch of idiots, clearly). It would require some major selective memory to phase all of that stuff out and claim that an entire generation of gamers did not need help with navigating large and complex levels. Developers obviously don't think of their customers as adults if implementing such insulting features. Whose mouth am I putting words in exactly, could you name the chap please so I can apologise to him? Yes I was around before the Internet and I played all of the early games without having to ring anyone for help, I navigated Wizardrys, Ultimas, various Dungeon Master clones, the Stygian Abyss, the Labyrinth of Worlds, the Thief games, Deus Ex etcetera. I used some graph paper and a notebook if needed, or wrote on the map like in UU. Experimentation and exploration were part of the fun instead of blindly following boring quest markers through levels that absolutely do not need them. Edit: I really wish there were a way to betray Paul, I can see the latter part of the game playing out fairly similarly as Page's goon and hatchet man.

I uh... I'm not sure how to tell you this without offending you, but developers of Human Revolution seem to think that their audience is intelligent enough to choose which features do they wish to use. Look, I'm not lying here: I'm playing with most of that stuff disabled (yes, including aiming reticule because you can aim down sights, but I hate inventory tetris so automatic inventory management is a must for me) and the only thing which the game still does is mark the objective on your map, which is a feature we've had for ages now and makes quite a lot of sense. Aside from users preferring more convenient measures, there's a wide array of people with various degrees of visual impairment for whom these modes can be quite helpful (there's no colorblind mode which sucks tho) or, say, people who have trouble with navigation for no fault of theirs. I don't know how about you, but I think giving users a choice is always a good thing. Well you can, just ... Just click the "off" button and they're obliterated in your game :-P You can even imagine an Ion Cannon shooting them from orbit or whatever, it's crazy! If a dev is implementing such features in their game at all then it's quite obvious what they think of their audience. Of course you can find options in the options menu, you're missing my argument if you think that's what this is about. As for applauding the idiotic handholding measures that a whole generation of games and gamers did not need when navigating much larger and more complex levels, well that's your decision, personally I don't need them and don't like to be treated as feckless and bumbling by the developers. Edit: Just managed to kill every terrorist and save the lives of every UNATCO trooper in the firefight at the 'Ton on my first save, gas grenade spam at distance, pepper spray and pistol at close range and repeat. I feel quite proud, i'm sure Paul will be horrified.

Meanwhile at the foot fetishists convention...

A hammer driver is quite a good job, I worked a few months at Firth Rixsons doing this, requires quite a bit of manual dexterity but i'm sure you'll have that because of youth and fitness. Scale is quite a hazard and accidents do happen that are sometimes incapacitating, however as you say the pay was even then very good. Edit: Are you sure the industry won't head East as most manual work has done? Oh while I remember, I cramped because of loss of liquids quite regularly, took salt tablets and drank little regularly. I at first worked like a Dervish and then collapsed when taking a big drink of chilled water, tea hit the spot for me when i'd learned better.

But... None of those things are forced upon you in either Human Revolution or Mankind Divided, they're entirely optional. (what is not optional is level design, sadly) Anyway, never heard of GMDX mod, it does look rather great tho. Let's see whether I can force myself to get past the terrifying aiming controls the original had. I wouldn't know about the latest Deus Ex but in Human Revolution when I started playing all of these options were on, assuming that I am the kind of moron who does not know that one can climb up or down a ladder. Insulting to say the least and indicative of how the developers think of their audience. Edit: Furthermore I believe such babying measures should be destroyed! Judging by your attitude maybe they're right in the way they perceive their audience. Ooh handbags at dawn.

Well its not really that much if it helps the lady regain self confidence I think, after breast feeding a lot of vitality can be drained from that area so surgery is sometimes a recourse... Oh, i'll get me coat.

But... None of those things are forced upon you in either Human Revolution or Mankind Divided, they're entirely optional. (what is not optional is level design, sadly) Anyway, never heard of GMDX mod, it does look rather great tho. Let's see whether I can force myself to get past the terrifying aiming controls the original had. I wouldn't know about the latest Deus Ex but in Human Revolution when I started playing all of these options were on, assuming that I am the kind of moron who does not know that one can climb up or down a ladder. Insulting to say the least and indicative of how the developers think of their audience. Edit: Furthermore I believe such babying measures should be destroyed!

Deus Ex with the GMDX mod: This is very good and obviously a work of passion for the modder, requires a little setting up but the results are more than worth it. Such a relief to be back in a game where the subtle bigotry of low expectations is not forced upon you from the outset, no quest markers, no highlighting ladders and other such inanity, a game that expects one to experiment, learn and adapt, refreshing.

A rainy day, just finished watching Raiders of the Lost Ark with the family, as usual fantastic entertainment, I never really noticed the Noirish elements in the film before strangely enough. Karen Allen is probably one of my all time favourite female co stars, and I wonder how they could go from her brilliantly tough yet fragile performance to the shrieking harridan of the next film in the series? In point of fact i'd like to sit quite a few directors (George Lucas, Ridley Scott etcetera) down and ask them where exactly their talent went.

Well for all of my criticism I must admit that the spell system looks very promising, an expansion of UUs Futhark casting by the looks of it. I wonder if it can be used out of combat?

You know looking at a few illiterate cultures one finds quite an interesting take on intelligence that makes a chap re-assess their views ocassionally. The Old Norse had no written language, they had the runes of Allfather Odin of course but these were not used for writing but carving as their angularity attests, and yet they were a clever people. One need only listen to their poetry, which the Skald had to learn through mnemonics and recite, and these were often lengthy, dry recitations of names and deeds such as when Odin lists his hundred names. Then there is their kenning poetry, where the speaker hides his meaning behind allegorical references from Eddas, myths and culture, and the audience must riddle out those meanings. Intelligence may take other routes but who among us can truly compare themselves to the great minds of science, when placed next to Newton, Gallileo, Copernicus or any of a hundred others. I know that I am not standing on the shoulders of giants, I am the pocket lint that has fallen under their shoes. To criticise them would be immodest, unwise and short sighted considering how many boons science has bestowed upon humanity.

That's an extremely unusual and very broad definition of wacky if I may say so. Korgan I would say is well characterised and stays true to that character throughout. The Planar Sphere is an interesting and well implemented locale, the Underdark much the same. I would add that in comparison I find Pillars companions about equal all told, Durance and Korgan two of my favourite characters would no doubt get on like a house that they'd set on fire. Whereas if you are saying that Poe's locales suffer in comparison to BGs, then I would agree with you. The easiest example is Durlag's Tower versus Od Nua, nothing need be said here. As for emotionally touching, I really wasn't affected by the BGs in this manner, Torment yes, the Ultimas of course, Krondor without a doubt, but the BG series was just an ARPG to me. Though as i've said before this is coloured by playing through the Ultima saga before BG and seeing it as an enormous decline in terms of features, worldbuilding, non combat gameplay, exploration and thematic strength. Edit: I never went with a six man party in IWD, always used four, far better in my opinion.