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kaeroku

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Posts posted by kaeroku

  1. You can do these without being locked out, all of 'em will earn you reputation:

     

    Dozens: You can get Osric's Armor.

    Doemenels: You can obtain the letter and steal the gem, beat that guy up, help Merdreth, and kill the Trading Company guy.

    Knights: You can get the research notes and do something about the wanted orlan hiding in the catacombs.

     

    Anything further will lock you out, but they will all warn you.

     

    See, getting Osric's Armor is what locked me out of the other two factions. This is what baffled me. Maybe it was just a bug on my end.

  2. Now you know for your next playthrough. Being able to progress through all factions simultaneously makes no sense, thats what replays are for. Maybe they can add something of a disclaimer before /when giving you the initial quest in their dialog but no, dont try and make the game kidproof <aka dumbed down>. You learned something, pass it on to the rest of us and keep playing, imo.

    The issue isn't being able to progress through factions simultaneously (though, it does make sense that you would be able to play a double-agent style of character and do so. What makes everyone automatically aware of what I'm doing with everyone else? I can see it requiring certain attributes, but it's not like games haven't allowed us to do this sort of thing before.)

     

    This issue is there is no indication that you are progressing with a faction in such a way which will exclude you from progressing with other factions. It doesn't even seem that way in the context of the game via role play, which is how it really SHOULD be indicated.

     

    This is not something which needs to be dumbed down, and it's not a learning issue. It's a design issue... and suggesting that the "fix" is "play again and progress with another faction" just demonstrates that you have no idea what you're talking about.

     

    Also, you're a ****ing ****.

  3. So, I just ran into this: I had activated a lot of quests around Defiance Bay and started running around turning them in. Story-wise, you are made aware of conflict between the three factions, but they don't really make it clear that you reach a point of no return wherein you side with one of them, just by completing intro quests.

     

    Not only that, but how far you have to go into completing quests before you hit that point where the other factions associate you as an "outsider, aligned with the enemy" varies by faction.

     

    I had actually completed all three of the prereqs for the factions at the same time, went and turned them in - in order of convenience / relative to my current location - and found out after turning the 2nd one in that they wouldn't let me advance further simply due to a mistake in the order the quests were given. No option to take it back, no option to forswear my "loyalties" to the other faction, even though I'd done exactly the same amount of work for them as this other guy I'm talking to 20 minutes later, nothing. Just, "you already work for them, you are clearly conflicted with our interests, see you later."

    Complete lockout. No warning.

     

    I'd revert to a previous save, but this just seems like poor design. I generally like playing opposing factions off one another, so I'd like to have the option to progress with each of them and play the infiltrator role. But more than that, if I have to commit to a side, why not tell me before it's done with? Instead of the commitment being "hey go do this for me as a favor," have it be a bit more like a gang-initiation. Have it be more than retrieving a piece of armor and getting jumped in the street for my trouble. Have it be more than stealing something from a neighbor's house. Have it be more than freaking delivering a message including some notes on how to do something you were already planning to do anyway, and getting jumped by the people trying to kill the original messenger.

    None of these are acts which indicate collaboration with a faction, any of them could have been simple goodwill or easy money. None demonstrate loyalty, but all of the factions seem to think they do.

     

    I want a way to make that choice more obvious to the player, to avoid putting a player in the situation I found myself in: stuck, tied to the Dozens whose ideology I do not agree with from the role-play perspective of my character, and unable to do anything about it save reload. I realize there's no huge impact on gameplay except a few sidequests, but it breaks my immersion and it steals my ability to play the game the way I'd like to.

    • Like 3
  4. Also again - screw shades forever...

     

    I uh. I'm not sure if you want help here. But I had a *LOT* more luck vs shades when I boosted my accuracy a bit on my dps characters, and improved my tactics a tiny bit - maintaining a good frontline makes a HUGE difference. (You can do it in a way that your casters won't aggro the Shades if you send your tanks ahead and out of sight range of the Shades.)

  5. I really don't much care about achievements personally, but if this is important to some people and the devs want to take this achievement out, that wouldn't bother me either.

     

    I would also be okay with this. While achievements are not important to me, and while I strongly disagree with the entire mentality that places value upon them, it would not bother me if it was changed... again, because they're unimportant to me.

     

    But I can see the other side of it here. Imagine a KS backer who DOES care about achievements. Losing this might matter to them. So I think it's a hard call.

  6. the obvious concept behind them is attaining them - so making an achievement unattainable is illogical.

    It was attainable. It isn't anymore. This is not the same as being unattainable. Evidence: people have attained it.

     

    People dislike not receiving credit for something they did not do at the time? Sorry guys. Hate to break it to you, but sometimes you miss out on opportunities. Not really worth stressing over, but I can't stop you.

    • Like 2
  7. As title says, since 1.03 the cage cursor feature now sometimes applies a cage when alt-tabbing, sticking your cursor within the active window.

     

    I can reproduce it by alt-tabbing, but it is *not* consistent, and I cannot determine what the conditions are to make it happen or not happen, except that cage cursor must be active.

     

    Will update if I find a pattern.

     

    FYI: Workaround involves manually alt-tabbing to another [different] active window.

  8. I understand why this might be done intentionally: because in most cases, the people speaking to you before an encounter have detected you. However, there are times (such as dungeon crawling in the Temple of Eothas, seeing the spirits of the past etc...) where breaking stealth just means I have to reactivate it immediately. Obviously, throughout the course of the game this is a lot of micromanagement which ought not require my attention.

     

    I'd suggest that stealth should behave normally in scripted encounters. That way, after (whoever) is done speaking, anyone stealthy enough not to be detected by the group confronting the party (such as a rogue) will remain in stealth and not have to wait for the detection timer to countdown before being effective once more.

     

    The above assumes that current behavior is intended. I suspect it is likely just a bug.

  9. Haven't figured out how to reproduce yet, but basically, my custom formation configuration does not result in the party members moving to the locations designated by the formation... after some time using it.

     

    It *may* have something to do with going into / out of buildings, but I haven't been able to reliably confirm this yet.

     

    For the record, I am testing this in open spaces, so it is not terrain messing with the formation placement. It is definitely some kind of bug.

     

    Edit: Currently, workaround seems to be switching to a different custom formation. However eventually this formation will break too.

    The only other workaround is to go into your custom formation (edit screen,) change the position of EVERY unit on the screen (just moving the broken ones does not work,) and then save and exit that formation, then go BACK into it, and change them back to where you want it.

     

    So far this second workaround has worked for me, but it is *very* annoying having to do this every 1-2 maps.

    • Like 1
  10. Picture of issue: http://imgur.com/Z1PiYhe

     

    I cannot attack it. It doesn't move when I approach it. I will upload a save game and the log... though I don't know how to reproduce it, or when exactly it started ( was in this area before but didn't see this particular corner, and it's been about a dozen saves since I was here the first time.) No other enemies in the game, or this area, have caused this kind of issue. I will see if it is still present after restarting the game and update this post.

    This is in Endless Paths 4. The circle should (I believe) be an ogre, though I'm not sure if it is a druid or not.

     

    File (most recent before glitch observed): https://www.dropbox.com/s/fja7zmjt9iryl86/158beba0-98c7-421d-ad99-699a73bc65ec%20quicksave.savegame?dl=0

     

    File (during glitch): https://www.dropbox.com/s/hd5innmam98owu7/158beba098c7421dad99699a73bc65ec%2011393585%20EndlessPathsofOdNuaLevel3.savegame?dl=0

     

    File (autosave before glitch): https://www.dropbox.com/s/2f4c1amm1yvz4nv/158beba0-98c7-421d-ad99-699a73bc65ec%20autosave.savegame?dl=0

     

    File (output log): https://www.dropbox.com/s/fab1ufz9fh5aqal/output_log.txt?dl=0

     

    dxdiag is in the actual attachments. Everything else was too big so is linked via dropbox.

     

    Edit: issue still present upon reload.

  11. In terms of realism vs nostalgia, I think the big winner should always be vision and fun. I don't care if it's entirely supported by historical precedent (although 'verisimilitude' is always vital), and I don't care about nostalgia in terms of the armor and weapons at all, but I do want it all to be sensible and add to the game. What I don't want are ridiculously oversized swords or insane looking armor that the wearer should be required to make a saving throw every time he dons it to make sure he didn't castrate himself in the process.

     

    You need to shout a bit louder, I don't think GW can hear you over in Nottingham :grin:

     

    I'm probably an oddity, because I don't really like a lot of loot in my games. I would love just for once to play a game where finding enough funds to upgrade my rusty shortsword to a shiny new longsword (with a pommel gem!) felt like something worth celebrating at the local tavern. Same thing for armours. Rather than an overabundance of types and making it hard to chose what to wear (that sounded all wrong?), let me refine and customize what I wear. Nice chainmail. Maybe add a bit of padding, some pauldrons and a fire retardant paint job? It's still my favourite old chainmail which I named after taking it off some baddies dead body and adjusted the length.

     

    I very very very much like the idea of customizable / upgradable armor. I'm thinking a pseudo-mechwarrior build option then, you have your "leather armor" and you can ADD studs to it, ADD shoulder padding (makes it quieter, so thieves have access to it), ADD a featherweight modification (for mages, minimizes spellcasting inhibition.) Also being able to find other armors (as death drops) and seeing how they're modded (with a skill roll?) to determine whether you can modify your own armor to work that way yourself or not, or if you have to take it to a master... I can see a whole world of possibility there, sticking with only 3 armor types and making it an almost pure upgrade system...

     

     

    It would be incredibly unique, and you could do just about anything with it, AND create the right kinds of upgrades to make armor of all weights accessible to all classes, with various options for mitigating penalties and adding value... I always like feeling like I'm getting just a little bit extra out of my gear, so maybe have a "soft limit" to the amount of upgrades, and then build in rare and/or difficult ways to bypass that limit to gain an advantage (something significant, but not game breaking... ie if upgrades usually carry a penalty of some sort, let met find a way to counteract that penalty and get an extra upgrade... something)

     

    I really really like this idea. Do it! (it also makes death drops a whole lot more interesting, especially if there's a randomness factor to the upgrades they can contain)

    • Like 4
  12. Regarding armor design... thinking about this, I realize that my favorite upgrade system is very simplistic... that used in the early FF games... Cloth, to Leather, to Iron, the Steel, to Platinum (or Mithril, whatever ;) )... etc. The reason being because I was going through a perceived progression of increasing quality.

     

    But for use in PE, what about a technological basis for upgrades? That is to say... one thing not covered in D&D or even really any of this type of RPG at all is modern synthetic materials... the advancement of armor tech usually STOPS at plate, which, while not necessarily bad, limits a bit of what you can do.

     

    Cultural modifiers get wordy and aren't meaningful to the player. I see "redskin jersey" and unless I know who the Red Skins are, I'm not really feeling it. Even if I DO know them, if I have no tie to their craftsmanship or cultural symbolism, it's still meaningless, and if I have to read through loads of lore to get there, well, then I should have bought the book instead.

     

    However, if you follow a technological progression, you get something like this:

     

    Light Armors:

     

    Loincloth - ancient era

    Cloth Vest - pre-Dark Ages

    Robe (soothsayers, priests, "mages") - Dark Ages

    Ballistic Vest (or simply "Light Body Armor") - Protects against bullets, moderate protection against handheld weapons, relatively very light (about the weight of a backpack, if that. Lighter than almost all historical leather armor types)

    Synthetic Fiber Suit - Modern era, high-tech materials enable a variety of amazing feats in fabric as light as cotton: from weaving nearly invisible chain through nearly invisible layers of kevlar and ballistic nylon to achieve a thoroughly cut-resistant result, to weaving in Dyneema for an extreme resistance to heat... variations on this theme allow for a huge array of options for light armor users to upgrade. You just pick your fiber mix for the result wanted.

     

    Middle Armors:

     

    Leather Hide - or Leather Strips

    Leather Skirted Coat (Greco-Roman Empire)

    Chain-Leather Vest (commonly known as chainmail, was often far lighter than plate and I always found it misplaced in heavy armor, especially since many historical accounts speak of chain mail as actually being leather with chain rings threaded through. True chain coats are a more modern concept.

    Breast Plate - Full Plate was discarded between the 16th and 18th centuries in favor of lighter weight armor. Lighter drops it to the med category as an option.

    Steel Vest - As weaponry advanced, plate became less effective. Protection was less important than speed (but AC is an indication of how hard you are to hit, so improved speed with similar protection results in lower AC... however you want to do that mechanically, I think it still holds consistent.)

    Kevlar - Modern Ages - stops bullets (or "interferes with magic" as well as crossbow and knife attacks)

    Advanced Composite Armor - Modern era, there are several variations including the US Interceptor Body Armor, the Dragon Skin Body Armor, and others...

     

     

    Heavy Armors:

     

    Mammoth Tusk Armor - or simply Bone Armor - ancient era

    Scale Mail or Hauberk or Cuirass - pre- and post- Dark Ages

    Iron Plate Mail (skipping scalemail because chain and scale were often tradeoffs with different strengths, this has been reflected in some D&D games and could be used) - Early Medieval Era

    Forged Steel Plate - Later Medieval Era

    Full Plate - Later on during the same era, just greater coverage, and continued post-renaissance along with steel plate

    Spectra (or whatever name you choose) - Modern era, heavy modern synthetic materials provide maximum ballistic protection as well as heavy resistance in hand-to-hand combat

     

     

    Obviously you could go more advanced. I know that many worlds (Forgotten Realms) are in a medieval setting which makes the top items on the list impractical in some respects, but nothing says you have to name it exactly by modern names. "Kevlar" becomes "Dragon Skin". .. etc. There's plenty of naming options to play with. "Balrog Skin" can be better than Dragon Skin, "Demon Skin" can be stronger than Balrog Skin, "Planar Armor" can be better still....... etc. You did a lot with this kind of thing in Planescape: Torment. Riff on that ;)

     

     

    Okay one last SHORT small thing: One major niggle I Have about all RPGs (Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale among them) is when I clear out an area (lets say, of bandits) and they have the EXACT SAME INVENTORY! It's terrible, Really. I don't want to pick up 40 UNSTACKABLE silver rings from 40 guys, especially if they don't have some kind of gang insignia on them explaining why all 40 had the same loot, same weapon, same range of gold drop, same armor, with only 1-2 minor variations between them if any! No, it's terrible. I'd suggest something like this, though that might be going too far in the other direction with a bunch of useless items. Having a better range of options for loot drops is important, though! At the very very least, if you're going to make me pick up 40 silver rings, PLEASE make them stackable! I understand why plate mail can't be, but just like keys, can't I put all the rings on a chain or something! Please!? Having a carry capacity of 400 lbs on my main character, and having him get full because he's holding 20 silver rings and a scroll book is just embarrassing.

     

    Thanks for reading.

    • Like 1
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