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Post by beowuuf on May 19, 2009 18:24:32 GMT
They are always called humanoid, but not of human stock. It sounds like parallel evolution, like homo sapiens and neanderthal. Or maybe the idea is that they came from another plane originally, or are somehow creations of Naar.
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Post by jellyfish on May 19, 2009 18:46:06 GMT
Hardcore provides +2 with magic spear even though weapon rules options only specifies that SS is gimped to +2, mentioning nothing about bonuses to other special weapons.
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Post by jellyfish on May 19, 2009 20:29:32 GMT
No equipped weapon = no unarmed penalty
At the beginning of Book 3 I dropped the Sommerswerd into the trash forever... err, I mean, I left it with the King under strict instructions never to give it to anyone, not even myself (those sneaky Helghast, you know).
I went to Kalte and lo and behold, while I was slaughtering some unarmed barbarians for their neat fire-bowl thing, in my excitement, I totally forgot to ready a weapon, and yet I got no penalties.
Turns out the unarmed penalty only applies if you have absolutely no weapons or weapon-like special items in your inventory, and it doesn't matter if you have it equipped. So I can go into battle with my bare hands, equip a shield (+2 CS) and have a 2-handed magic spear strapped to my back, and end up with a net +2 bonus (yes, this is tested and confirmed).
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Post by Dave on May 20, 2009 3:21:03 GMT
Well, I remember making sure to check for whether the player was carrying any weapons at all back when you couldn't actually change weapons mid-combat. Perhaps it would be best now if I reinstated the penalty when you haven't equipped anything, regardless of whether you have any weapons in your posession. So, it wasn't really a bug - it was by design. Maybe poor design, but intentional, nonetheless! Hardcore provides +2 with magic spear even though weapon rules options only specifies that SS is gimped to +2, mentioning nothing about bonuses to other special weapons. Actually, every weapon-like S.I. gives a +2 bonus in Hardcore (I guess I may have forgotten to mention it anywhere... ). I did it for 2 reasons: it encourages the use of other weapons than the Sommerswerd (since you still get the same bonus) and it makes weaponskill with other weapons than swords a bit more worthwhile. (Spear, mace, dagger to name a few)
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Post by jellyfish on May 20, 2009 4:05:30 GMT
back when you couldn't actually change weapons mid-combat. Wait, you can change weapons mid-combat? What if I use a spear to get a free hit first round, and then swap to a sword and board to get the shield bonus?
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Post by Dave on May 20, 2009 4:30:32 GMT
That's a valid and good Hardcore strategy (it only works in hardcore). I have used it myself on occasion! LW is a warrior monk after all, it's not outside of the scope of reason to assume that he could actually whip a different weapon out between rounds of combat.
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Post by majestic on May 20, 2009 6:41:09 GMT
Dave,
Great update to your program, since your last year's releases. Here are a few things that I've noticed...
When the user starts a new campaign, the option for the book covers are available. I downloaded Book 1 and covers. After I finished Book 1, your program downloaded Book 2, but there were no options to download the covers.
In Book 2, 314, forces the user to select eat prior to being able to choose other options. Seems like the user will lose 3EP if they want to wait for the delivered food.
Also, I was a bit surprised at seeing the fan art during the game play, since I'm familiar with the books so far. It would be nice to somehow distinguish them from the original artworks and/or have the option to enable/disable them. [Update: I now noticed that if the user hovers the mouse pointer over the artwork, the description mentions fan art.]
Anyway, thanks again for the program.
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Post by jellyfish on May 20, 2009 17:28:15 GMT
That's a valid and good Hardcore strategy (it only works in hardcore). I have used it myself on occasion! LW is a warrior monk after all, it's not outside of the scope of reason to assume that he could actually whip a different weapon out between rounds of combat. As far as I can recall, every single time in the gamebooks LW needs to swap weapons (or is caught without a weapon ready) he loses a combat round (opponent gets a one free round with a x0 on their EP loss). Arguing from a gameplay perspective, allowing this makes 2-handed weapons not so much an alternative weapon selection with its own tradeoffs as much as an independent, add-on bonus that allows you to get a free first hit on any combat at no cost whatsoever. It's like giving LW a second "hardpoint" onto which he can mount a totally different class of weapons for a cumulative effect (rather than having to make a meaningful choice between tradeoffs) Personally, I would consider it cheating, but obviously other players can make up their own minds.
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Post by majestic on May 20, 2009 20:03:10 GMT
In attempt to get covers for Book 2 with one profile already created, I decided to create a new profile and selected it for a new campaign. The Book 1 pic download icon is available, while the book cover is not showing. Yet, when click to download it, the msg shows that no new covers available. Thus, the book cover remains blank for Book 1.
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Post by Dave on May 20, 2009 22:30:12 GMT
Dave, Great update to your program, since your last year's releases. Here are a few things that I've noticed... When the user starts a new campaign, the option for the book covers are available. I downloaded Book 1 and covers. After I finished Book 1, your program downloaded Book 2, but there were no options to download the covers. In Book 2, 314, forces the user to select eat prior to being able to choose other options. Seems like the user will lose 3EP if they want to wait for the delivered food. Also, I was a bit surprised at seeing the fan art during the game play, since I'm familiar with the books so far. It would be nice to somehow distinguish them from the original artworks and/or have the option to enable/disable them. [Update: I now noticed that if the user hovers the mouse pointer over the artwork, the description mentions fan art.] Anyway, thanks again for the program. Thanks for your comments, majestic. There is an option to turn on/off the fan art - look under Settings->Misc. Settings. in book 2,314 the only way I could think of for giving players the logical option of actually eating a meal from the backpack was to give them the options in a typical "eat a meal" scenario, and then make available navigation to the appropriate section. Otherwise, players who have a perfectly edible meal in their backpack *will* lose 3 EP, just for choosing not to eat the tainted meal, or if they have Hunting. Makes no sense. At least not to me. But I have still given them the option of simply not eating at all, so if they want to play that way they can. You currently can only download covers from the main menu when you're selecting a book. Maybe I'll include cover downloading mid-game in a future version. Thanks again for your comments!
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Post by Dave on May 20, 2009 22:37:44 GMT
Arguing from a gameplay perspective, allowing this makes 2-handed weapons not so much an alternative weapon selection with its own tradeoffs as much as an independent, add-on bonus that allows you to get a free first hit on any combat at no cost whatsoever. It's like giving LW a second "hardpoint" onto which he can mount a totally different class of weapons for a cumulative effect (rather than having to make a meaningful choice between tradeoffs) Personally, I would consider it cheating, but obviously other players can make up their own minds. Well, the only way to prevent such behavior is by making it impossible to switch weapons during a fight (which used to be the default behavior). The big problem there is more serious - if you forget to switch to a weapon like the Sommerswerd/Magic Spear before engaging in combat with a Helghast, you are doomed to a grisly death. By allowing players to switch weapons mid-combat, they can make a mistake on the first round of combat, possibly suffering some EP loss, but still go on to actually have a chance to win. So, is it cheating? Maybe, maybe not. If you don't like it, don't do it. But it must remain as a possibility, because of the more serious issue above. And it only applies to Hardcore. I think people can use all the help they can get! So, I've got no problem with it if they want to use a two-handed weapon for extra help in the first round, and then switch back to a different weapon. Any other opinions on this?
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Post by jellyfish on May 22, 2009 3:38:45 GMT
Book 2, Section 284
'Back to Hammerdal without delay,' he orders the driver, and you are thrown back in your seat as the coach moves off at breakneck speed. ... During your ride through the Tarnalin, you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points. The journey to the capital will take five hours and you are advised by Lord Axim to get some rest. As you slowly drift off to sleep,...
No option to not eat and lose 3 EP. Hunting discipline use is allowed in Tarnalin (a barren mountain tunnel), while on a horse-drawn coach moving at "breakneck speed without delay", during most of which time Lone Wolf is asleep.
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Post by jellyfish on May 22, 2009 3:46:40 GMT
Not really a bug, more like an exploit:
When you are instructed to lose your backpack, since the player gets to choose when to click the button, the player is able to first drink all the potions and eat all the meals before losing the backpack.
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Post by Dave on May 22, 2009 4:32:24 GMT
Good call on the Tarnalin tunnel. If no one objects, I'll change that eating to "no hunting allowed" for next release.
I might be able to fix that exploit - it would involved a new flag for each section of text, but would be easy to set for only those few sections that actually have the player lose the backpack. Would you be willing, jellyfish, to track down just which sections would be affected by the change? Once I have that, I can disable the "use/eat" button for meals and potions when those sections are opened up.
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Post by majestic on May 22, 2009 6:55:54 GMT
Thanks for your comments, majestic. There is an option to turn on/off the fan art - look under Settings->Misc. Settings. I'll take a look as I don't have it installed on my home computer. Probably need to replay the campaign at home as your cheat checksums might check it if I transfer the save file across machines. I don't exactly remember the choices when clicking the eat button, but couldn't you move the eat button to the 178 choice sentence and not subtract 3EP if you have Hunting plus carried ration?
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