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RandomMagus
May 3, 2017

The Dark Id posted:

skeletons hate being set on fire and will quickly burn to rear end

Heh.

Edit: oh, update on previous page

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Ratoslov
Feb 15, 2012

Now prepare yourselves! You're the guests of honor at the Greatest Kung Fu Cannibal BBQ Ever!

Ah, and now it's been established that Koudelka can make bad decisions too. She fits right in now!

Hey, what's the origin of Koudelka's name, anyway? I don't recognize it.

Attitude Indicator
Apr 3, 2009

Koudelka is an eastern european last name. The most famous koudelka is probably Josef Koudelka who was a well known photographer. No idea why they chose it for their protagonist, except for her also being eastern european.

Tallgeese
May 11, 2008

MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR


quote:

And two-handed swords, which have high durability but break extremely quickly.

For all I know, this is legit.

Siegkrow posted:

It.is because Christian's mysticism isn't "witchcraft", it is "divine"

No, honestly. You have to remember that the Catholic Church didn't think witches or anything like what we think of as magic existed. It's all considered pagan... except demon possession.

The closest thing to accepted Christian mysticism was prayer to the saints for intercession in various manners.

Tallgeese fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Apr 3, 2018

Malachite_Dragon
Mar 31, 2010

Weaving Merry Christmas magic
It's hypocritical as gently caress is what it is, but this is hardly the time or place for that argument.

Danaru
Jun 5, 2012

何 ??
It reminds me of the game Inquisitor, where the game hammers in that heretical magic is extremely illegal and nobody's allowed to use it, then you and most of the inquisition quietly use it in day to day life :haw:

Also how many times would Eddie be dead by now if he didn't meet Koudelka? I count three but I feel like I'm forgetting something

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
I have to say, the Patches Gambit works a lot better when you can just stand on the drop itself.

GirlCalledBob
Jul 17, 2013

Danaru posted:

It reminds me of the game Inquisitor, where the game hammers in that heretical magic is extremely illegal and nobody's allowed to use it, then you and most of the inquisition quietly use it in day to day life :haw:

Also how many times would Eddie be dead by now if he didn't meet Koudelka? I count three but I feel like I'm forgetting something

Four, they were shot at and the idiot didn't get down until she dragged him to the floor.

Nohman
Sep 19, 2007
Never been worse.
Starting to think this monastery might be bad news.

Hwurmp
May 20, 2005

Nohman posted:

Starting to think this monastery might be bad news.

You're going to feel like a real jerk when we get to Koudelka's surprise birthday party. The monsters all worked so hard on it. Ghost Girl even learned to play piano!

Andyzero
May 22, 2009

I used to spoil, I'm sorry.

Tallgeese posted:

For all I know, this is legit.


No, honestly. You have to remember that the Catholic Church didn't think witches or anything like what we think of as magic existed. It's all considered pagan... except demon possession.

The closest thing to accepted Christian mysticism was prayer to the saints for intercession in various manners.

Yeah, I'm not talking about "Hey God, could you please do this?" I mean stuff like "Using the mathematics Nimrod used on the Temple of Solomon, siphoned through the true name of the angel Gabriel converted to numbers inscribed on this piece of the True Cross, I can shoot fire out of my hands"

Darth TNT
Sep 20, 2013

Danaru posted:

It reminds me of the game Inquisitor, where the game hammers in that heretical magic is extremely illegal and nobody's allowed to use it, then you and most of the inquisition quietly use it in day to day life :haw:

Also how many times would Eddie be dead by now if he didn't meet Koudelka? I count three but I feel like I'm forgetting something

Which reminds me of Apostate Hawke from Dragon Age 2. :allears:

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.

quote:


Close call, couple more steps and he would've become Edward J. Plungedd.

GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.
Hang on, were some of those stat changes from the level up negative? How does that work?

Blue Link
Apr 22, 2014
I think those are modifiers from equipped items, but I could be wrong.

Ubiquitous_
Nov 20, 2013

by Reene

GeneralYeti posted:

Hang on, were some of those stat changes from the level up negative? How does that work?

Some equips will reduce certain stats, which causes a deficit when adding to them in a level-up. Typically magic-based equips will reduce physical stats, and vice-versa. Late-game equips don't have these penalties, however.

Pyre of Word Salsa
Apr 25, 2017

I pray for a color palette that will not come.

quote:



Just made this:

EagerSleeper
Feb 3, 2010

by R. Guyovich

:five:

Kanfy posted:

Close call, couple more steps and he would've become Edward J. Plungedd.

Underrated comment here.

Kemix
Dec 1, 2013

Because change

Best picture.

Kanfy posted:

Close call, couple more steps and he would've become Edward J. Plungedd.

drat it don't make me like puns! Why is this good?!

Mazed
Oct 23, 2010

:blizz:



Gotta wonder if her design was finalized before they even decided on a setting for this game. Like everything here seems off for this exact time and place.

DeathSandwich
Apr 24, 2008

I fucking hate puzzles.

Mazed posted:

Gotta wonder if her design was finalized before they even decided on a setting for this game. Like everything here seems off for this exact time and place.

"Wildly anachronistic and out of place" pretty much sums up this entire game series to a T.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant features a Luchadore Wrestling Vampire (in World War 1 Europe) for whom his weapon of choice is whatever nonsense he finds in the environment (a gym locker, a wooden column, a stone statue, ect). Quite literally just weird bullshit you find in a city, a cut-scene plays where the character goes "I feel the fighting spirit in this!", he picks it up, and that is now his weapon)

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


The original Shadow Hearts, set in 1905, had a female spy dressed in an outfit like Koudelka's who could call in an airstrike on your enemies on her cell phone.

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



DeathSandwich posted:

"Wildly anachronistic and out of place" pretty much sums up this entire game series to a T.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant features a Luchadore Wrestling Vampire (in World War 1 Europe) for whom his weapon of choice is whatever nonsense he finds in the environment (a gym locker, a wooden column, a stone statue, ect). Quite literally just weird bullshit you find in a city, a cut-scene plays where the character goes "I feel the fighting spirit in this!", he picks it up, and that is now his weapon)

....that sounds right up TDI's alley. Are you sure he didn't make that up?

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


Not really.

Oxxidation
Jul 22, 2007

DeathSandwich posted:

"Wildly anachronistic and out of place" pretty much sums up this entire game series to a T.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant features a Luchadore Wrestling Vampire (in World War 1 Europe) for whom his weapon of choice is whatever nonsense he finds in the environment (a gym locker, a wooden column, a stone statue, ect). Quite literally just weird bullshit you find in a city, a cut-scene plays where the character goes "I feel the fighting spirit in this!", he picks it up, and that is now his weapon)

also the dungeon for the end of the first major arc is grigori rasputin's evil spaceship

Pesky Splinter
Feb 16, 2011

A worried pug.

Mazed posted:

Gotta wonder if her design was finalized before they even decided on a setting for this game. Like everything here seems off for this exact time and place.

I believe it was setting first.

Her original designs started off more fantastical and colourful, and drifted towards brown. Still fantastical by the standards of 1889, and her social class - acceptable break of reality, of course; they're not going for realism, they're going for that Victorian flavour.

(Far left reminds me of something out of Chrono Cross. Also, I really like that middle picture, with the red cloak - it's kinda striking. Top far left, and Far right you can see the gradual evolution of what she eventually ends up as.)

Bessy's probably more period appropriate.

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



I really like the middle.one, looks very similar road.

OJ MIST 2 THE DICK
Sep 11, 2008

Anytime I need to see your face I just close my eyes
And I am taken to a place
Where your crystal minds and magenta feelings
Take up shelter in the base of my spine
Sweet like a chica cherry cola

-Cheap Trick

Nap Ghost
The post length issue has apparently been fixed.

EagerSleeper
Feb 3, 2010

by R. Guyovich

Pesky Splinter posted:

I believe it was setting first.

Her original designs started off more fantastical and colourful, and drifted towards brown. Still fantastical by the standards of 1889, and her social class - acceptable break of reality, of course; they're not going for realism, they're going for that Victorian flavour.

(Far left reminds me of something out of Chrono Cross. Also, I really like that middle picture, with the red cloak - it's kinda striking. Top far left, and Far right you can see the gradual evolution of what she eventually ends up as.)

Left most design is definitely Chrono Cross as heck, but all the other designs I think do a good job going for a Romani-inspired look.

I'm fully expecting Edward's concept art to be a black and white photo of Lord Dunsany wrapped around a wire model.

iospace
Jan 19, 2038


exploded mummy posted:

The post length issue has apparently been fixed.

Can confirm, it's fixed. Kudos to ZDR for fixing it.

Paused
Oct 24, 2010
Assuming TheDarkId is still cool with typos being pointed out for when this gets archived...

In the latest update whilst detailing the level ups, you refer to both the lads as James.

Just something as someone who is god awful with names stands out. I mean, Koudelka I'm not forgetting anytime soon, but it'll be update 50 before I recall which one is Ed and which one is Jim.



Such an odd game mechanically so far. Going off the LPs comments it kinda feels like a prototype for another game that would refine the mechanics a bit? It's really wanting me to see the speedrun for it (if one exists) once this is done. With so many obscure and in depth details feels like (with luck) this would end up shockingly broken.

EagerSleeper
Feb 3, 2010

by R. Guyovich
DarkId's making James into a spellcaster, but here's footage of what gameplay with a physically-oriented James is like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKrIEOOkC1A

Malachite_Dragon
Mar 31, 2010

Weaving Merry Christmas magic

iospace posted:

Can confirm, it's fixed. Kudos to ZDR for fixing it.

What was causing it, if you don't mind my asking? I'm just curious.

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.

Malachite_Dragon posted:

What was causing it, if you don't mind my asking? I'm just curious.

Fedule posted:

The issue was, an nginx update changed/introduced a default max post size of 16kb. There wasn't a max size set before now so that was suddenly being imposed. Now it's set to something large enough to allow 50k char posts again.

Mazed
Oct 23, 2010

:blizz:


Pesky Splinter posted:

Her original designs started off more fantastical and colourful, and drifted towards brown. Still fantastical by the standards of 1889, and her social class - acceptable break of reality, of course; they're not going for realism, they're going for that Victorian flavour.



Too bad they rejected the non-white ethnic look. And I'm seriously digging that middle outfit, particularly the jewelry and long cloak. But, rendering that right on the PS1 would've probably been a gigantic pain in the rear end.

Bricoleur
Feb 1, 2012

I've said before that I'd like a game all about punching werewolves to death. I think I'd be just as happy with a guy using hammers. Not the big weapon hammers you often see in videogames. I want a lycanthropy or giant bug outbreak to happen so people hit up the Ace Hardware.

The mummy seems really out of place. I don't know if they were just going for something scary looking or if there's a little-known history of mummification in Wales.

RudeCat
Aug 7, 2012

The rudest cat for the rudest jobs


I always thought the mummy was a bit of a reference to the story about the bride that got trapped in a chest while playing a pre-wedding game of hide and seek. If nothing else a body can mummify without being a "mummy" as long as the conditions are right. Maybe it's just another weird and creepy thing to encounter that sets the atmosphere of the mansion as a place where a lot of bad things have happened over a long time.

habituallyred
Feb 6, 2015
Bog mummies are definitely a thing in Ireland.

The Dark Id
Aug 13, 2005

Why
you
know
I
LOVE
THIS SHIT !!!!
[citation needed]
Episode VII: What a Sham



Previously on our story, Edward was once again saved from dying like a dipshit due to walking off a cliff following what was clearly an evil ghost girl. What does that make it for rescues from Koudelka? Four times now? Werewolf attack, poisoner couple and standing up to argue during sniper fire were the previous three times Koudelka had to bail this dipshit out. Maybe he’ll get it together soon as we descend to the lower level of the dungeon.



Though... upon closer inspection, maybe having to acquire a rope ladder to shimmy down a ten foot drop is a bit of overkill. That staircase is just mildly hazardous, not completed destroyed. Though that said, I have no doubt Edward would have managed to fall and break his neck if he tripped over this ledge. Wales has similar fall damage to Drangleic, so I’m told.





Looking at our map, it seems there isn’t much in the way of ground to cover in this new section. There is, in fact, only a single corridor leading to one open room. The two rooms to the south are inaccessible. So let’s just head on into...



A room where “Something’s not right...” which is the universal code of Koudelka for an upcoming major boss battle.



Stepping further into the room, we come upon a chapel. One with another Holy Water font that has gotten all clogged up by the evil energy innate to Wales. Or a boss battle. One of the two. Before we approach the font and initiate the next fight, there is some manner of item on the floor. A closer look reveals...



Literally just some broken glass that Koudelka has decided might be useful. You never know! I mean, there is a stained glass window of Jesus right there just pass a boss battle initiation trigger. But for all we know that is merely a coincidence.



As preparation for this fight, we’re going to push Edward to the front-center of our half of the grid while Koudelka and James hang in the back row, slightly more clumped together. There’s a reason for this. We’re also going to leave that sword Edward had for the Mummy Bride equipped for this fight as well for a little extra oomph in his attack output.



The back door of the chapel is “barred by a mysterious force” so our only option is to step up on the Jesus plate and encounter...


Music: Incantation Again




The Disc One Endboss – the Doppelgänger Trio. Evil spirits have taken the form of our party and are now here to rumble. Clone Edward comes packing 961 HP. Faux-James has 841 hit points. Koudelka-2 comes packing only 784 HP in total.



Doppelgänger James is a cowardly ghost and kind of just more obnoxious than trouble, if anything. He has first turn and immediately retreats to the back corner of the grid to take up a supporting role in this fight. Doppelgänger Edward is quite similar to our version in that he is just going to rush forward and punch anything in his path. Doppelgänger Koudelka also tends to rush forward just so her spells will be more potent.





Ghost Koudelka’s magic is actually by far the biggest issue since it can hit James and Koudelka in the back row and can potentially do enough damage to one shot any of our party. We can nip that slightly in the bud by casting a Fortify Intelligence spell the Doppelgänger to lower her magic strength. Regardless, Koudelka-2 needs to be priority one with real Koudelka’s spells. James can also help out by buffing Koudelka’s and Edward’s AP and even giving real Koudelka a boost to Intelligence for better spell casting.

Koudelka is starting to stop sounding like a word...



Our Edward can tank a ghost punch just fine and is already established to be good at punching ghosts himself. By the way, I’d just like to point out this damage number....



...And this one came fairly close together and I was pretty happy with the way the battle went.





Unrelated, it turns out that the sword from earlier Edward has been wielding has an innate poison ability. Apparently the undead cannot be poisoned, since it never worked there, but ghosts absolutely can be poisoned. That’s just science at work. So... status effect infliction is another random trait weapons can possess. There is zero indication of this until the weapon is used and you go “huh... why did that happen...?” So that’s fun!



Remember how we put James and Koudelka in the very back row within a couple grid spaces of one another? That’s because both the clone version of Koudelka and James come packing Level 2 versions of spells, which hit multiple enemies if it’s cast within close proximity to other targets. I’m pretty sure it’s within two grid spaces to the left or right of the first target.



Given we have our two party members in such a grid configuration, the AI will opt to attempt casting that Level 2 magic spell hitting them both over just targeting Edward out front (who will get absolutely rocked by magic.) Given Koudelka and James’s high PIE and the distance on the grid, this results in a completely worthless magic attack our party completely no-sells. Koudelka-2’s Intelligence debuffed self has similar results.







Nice try, ya cheap imitations. That’s one down and two to go. With Koudelka’s doppelgänger destroyed, we can push forward with our Koudelka so our spells will do more damage as our focus shifts to Edward’s clone.







Ed 2.0, just like our version, is extremely weak to magic due to his lack of PIE intake. And as long as our Edward stays in the front row of the grid, enemy Edward can’t do dick to Koudelka or James. Leaving him easy pickings.



Now for the annoying one, James. Enemy James’s AI is the least threatening of the trio, but the most annoying for one very specific reason. As soon as he takes any damage, his next turn he’ll cast...



...a healing spell restoring roughly two-thirds of his total health. The only real way to counter this is to deal enough damage to outright kill him before he gets the chance to do another heal. Our James fortifying Agility to the other party members or debuffing his clone’s Agility can give us the time to burn through his HP. It’s just real lovely to ever see a boss just waste your time by doing a near full heal.





All that said, it’s not too bad of a battle. Let’s see the spoils of war...


Music: Level Up!




Everyone does earn another level since major boss fights almost universally provide enough EXP to put everyone over the top. I’m not really going to mention our stats unless messing with equipment going forward. I think I’ve made clear roughly how we’re building these characters.



Defeating the Doppelgänger Trio unlocks yet another new spell that we’ll probably never use – Revive. Revive does what it says on the box, it restores downed characters. That said, it does take 18 MP, takes a while to cast and the amount of HP restored on revive is determined by the person being revived’s Piety stat. So if James tried to revive a downed Koudelka, it’d take twice as long to perform and revive for less HP than just using the Phoenix Down equivalent Whiskey item which is instant use. PIE is a remarkably dumb stat idea!



Also from the battle, we acquired a High Potion. Which is just herb infused red wine. This restores 1,500 HP which is... excessive at this point. On that note, perhaps Edward is making all these dumb decisions and nearly getting killed constantly because he is just utterly trashed at all times and can just keep it together vocally real well.



Also acquired was another key item belonging to the mysterious Icon statue we’ve yet to locate but keep acquiring rare jewelry to adorn. Koudelka, you’re supposed to show where the insane arbitrary key items to unlock a door go first BEFORE sending the player on their way to find the horse cock emblems and rare gems to slot them in.

Music: ENDS



Defeating the clone trio has unlocked another Permanent Save Point. But before we can use it or do anything really, Edward decides to get everyone’s attention in his charming passive-aggressive way.



Did you see all those bodies? Be quite a party if they were alive.
The undead just don’t know how to mingle.
They probably have been abandoned for hundreds of years. Must be some fascinating old stories.
About dying horribly in a torture dungeon?
Quite the tales indeed...

I saw some pretty fresh ones too. One who was shot. One who had been cracked in the head with an axe. And some with no visible signs of injury -- they must have been poisoned.
There was also some decapitations. A hanging or two.
I think a few got turned into skeletons too. Brr... No thanks.
I... don’t think being turned into a skeleton was the cause of death.
You don’t know that!




I bet the new ones were fortune seekers like us. That old couple must have—
Do you mean to tell me they killed all those people? Rubbish!
All those deaths are rubbish!?
They are all liars and thieves anyway. This is still a monastery. This is still God's house, prison or no.
God’s house sure has an awful lot of spirits and monsters.
He works in mysterious ways!

Why all those liars and heathen were killed is none of my concern.
How could you possibly say a thing like that? That doesn't sound very priestly.
JC is hanging on that window right up there. I think he’d have a few issues with your reading of the scripture, father...



I am not a priest. I am a bishop!
I don't give a rat's rear end what you are!
<points back> Look, I’m not saying that all those people were saints, OK? But that doesn’t mean they should be put to death.
And they definitely shouldn’t be judged by some walking cock in a priest smock.
As I said, I’m a bishop...
You’ll have to excuse my heathen ignorance since I don’t know the difference and I *definitely* don’t care.

<visibly getting extremely annoyed by argument>
You saw that old couple. They are so well mannered... kind.
<scoffs>
Do you think they are killers?
Good manners...?
Yes.
THINK ABOUT IT! Why would they leave the place in such a mess?
I don't know...
Maybe they’re waiting until spring...
You'd at least think they'd bury the bodies!
Possibly!
Anyway!



<stop arguing and look at Koudelka>
<steps forward> I have this strange feeling we’re not alone with all these bodies and ghosts.
<looks at James> You’d better keep your mouths shut...
<looks at Edward> ...If you wanna live.



What a friendly lot. Tune in next time as our fragile alliance finds a secret Jesus code, uncovers backstory on the Nemeton Monastery's history and stumbles upon the conclusion of Disc 1 as Koudelka continues.






Video: Episode 7 Highlight Reel






James O’Flaherty Model – Nice purse, father.

The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Apr 12, 2018

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Ubiquitous_
Nov 20, 2013

by Reene
James totally sells the “I am not a priest... I am a bishop!!” line so well.

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