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 “Just outside the gates of Avalon, a 12-year war realizes its climax... The uneasy alliance of seven western kingdoms created the Citadel of Avalon as a mighty fortress. But in the last eight months, the Citadel has become a city of refugees, a city under siege. The Sha'ahoul, under the banner of the Shaman Warlord Mithras, are waging a genocidal war against the Citadel. Avalon's garrison is depleted. Now is the time for courage. For a hero. Now is the time for the birth of a legend.” What is Siege of Avalon? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg_Iewk-eDc Not clear from that? Well, Siege of Avalon is an episodic computer roleplaying game developed by Digital Tome. The gameplay consists of talking to the colorful cast, finding unique equipment to make yourself broken with, and fighting the invaders in Diablo-esque real-time isometric combat. It is well-written, with many memorable character, mechanics, and story beats that have stuck with me over the nearly two decades it has been since the game was released. That’s right. The final chapter was released way back in 2001. Is this a nostalgia trip then? Not completely. Certainly a lot of my appreciation for this game is nostalgia-based, but I don’t believe all of it is. The game was one of the first times I encountered a lot of awesome, unique elements, both in story and mechanics. Like what? The obvious one is the format. Digital Tome released the game in six episodes, each available as a digital download. In 2000. While they eventually had to go to a fully CD-based format due to the cost issues of trying to do that in the goddamn year 2000, resulting in the Anthology version I ended up playing, it still blew my young mind that it was possible to release a game in installments, without physical copies being necessary. My love isn’t just for that though. •Siege of Avalon has a paper doll based equipment layout… where every piece of equipment changes a character’s appearance!!! I remember playing Diablo 2 and thinking, why does only body armor change how I look, and only at set tiers? Then I found this game. •Similarly, I played Baldur’s Gate and wondered why I could only progress in narrow classes with predefined abilities. Then I found this game where you can use any abilities as any specialization! You can be a fully-armored knight who slings fireballs, or you can be a mage with a massive sword, all depending on where you put your training points. •But at the same time, the specialization you choose at the beginning does make you better at that class’s “thing”, and it changes how characters react to you, including the availability of certain quests. A squire can undertake a quest to be knighted, while a scout has the opportunity to join the legendary Rangers. •The quests you do matter as well. If you don’t help someone in Chapter 1, you might not be able to do certain quests involving them in later Chapters. There is a surprising amount of reactivity in Siege of Avalon. •Not that there aren’t plenty of cliches too, but they feel like they were included more out of love for the genre than laziness. Basically, if you’re familiar with the concept, this game is to western CRPGs what indie fantasy heartbreakers are to D&D, except pretty good, especially for its time. Sounds cool! Where can I get it to follow along!?  . It is currently not available on any digital platforms. You can buy the Anthology CD with all 6 chapters from Amazon or eBay, but even then… the game does not play nice with modern computers. It took a lot of trial and error to get this thing working on my Windows 10 PC, but I did it. If anyone is having trouble getting things running, I’ll be happy to share what I have learned, but this is definitely an instance of the strong suit of LPs: I’m playing this so you don’t have to.There is perhaps another way though… one of the final decisions Digital Tome made before dissolving was to make the entire game open source. You can get all of the code here: https://github.com/CartBlanche/Siege-of-Avalon-Open-Source Only Chapter 1’s assets are included due to licensing issues, but that’s still pretty significant. If and when this project is finished, we could see this game up somewhere online. What's with the thread title? It's based on Digital Tome's marketing for the game. It's so earnestly silly that I can't help but love it. Let's get started.  ?? Update list  Part I - Goondalf the G(reeter) Part II - Goondalf the G(rateful) Part III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (1) Part III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (2) Part III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (3) Part IV - Goondalf the G(railseeker) Part V - Goondalf the G(ardener) Part VI - Goondalf the G(ilded) Part VII - Goondalf the G(railfinder) Part VIII - Goondalf the G(lorious)  Part IX - Goondalf the G(rand) Part X - Goondalf the G(litched) Part XI - Goondalf the G(houlish) Part XII - Goondalf the G(ame-player) Part XIII - Goondalf the G(eomorphologist) Part XIV - Goondalf the G(hostbuster) Part XV - Goondalf the G(hostbuster II) Part XVI - Goondalf the G(hostbuster Reboot)  Part XVII - Goondalf the G(rasping) Part XVIII - Goondalf the G(odking) Part XIX - Goondalf the G(len-wanderer) Part XX - Goondalf the G(rim) Part XXI - Goondalf the G(len-Warden) Part XXII - Goondalf the G(reat)  Part XXIII - Goondalf the G(renzer) Part XXIV - Part XXV - Sonlis the S(hadowwalker) Part XXVI - Sonlis the S(iegebreaker) Part XXVII - Sonlis the S(uccessful)  Part XXVIII - Goondalf the G(host) (Not) Part XXIX - Goondalf the G(allant) Part XXX - Goondalf the G(houl 'n' Ghost (Super)) Part XXXI - Goondalf the G(alactic) Part XXXII - Goondalf the G(lacial) Part XXXIII - Goondalf the G(uardian)  Part XXXIV - Goondalf the G(enius) Part XXXV - Goondalf the G(igantic) Part XXXVI - Goondalf the G(auze) Part XXXVII - Goondalf the G(opher) Part XXXVIII - Goondalf the G(rand Juried) Part XXXIX - Goondalf the G(enesis) Part XL - Goondalf the G(odhead) Part XLI - Goondalf the G Orbs fucked around with this message at 16:07 on May 10, 2019 |
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Apr 22, 2018 20:44
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A History of the Conflict Thus Far A map for reference. Not my work, but it seems accurate based on what I remember.  source       Into this world steps our hero. To determine what kind of hero does that stepping, the game tracks a number of choices and abilities. Such as- TRAINING STYLES Fighter The fighter takes up arms against even the most powerful foe, for he knows that those with the courage to meet might with might will obtain honor. He is the knight, the mercenary, and the champion who defends the meek. He is a master of weaponry and defense. Fighters need high Combat, Strength, Constitution, and Coordination abilities to prosper. Scout The scout is cunning, quick, and deadly. He cloaks himself in shadows to obtain the secrets of the enemy. He prefers strategy to strength, although his skill with the dagger and the bow are not to be underestimated. He is the spy with information that will destroy his opponent, the silent visitor in the night. Scouts benefit greatly from high marks in their Stealth, Coordination, Perception, and Combat abilities. A scout may need a higher strength to use a high-powered bow. Magician The magician spells his destiny. He uses his paranormal powers to surprise and confuse his enemies. His robes refract his enemy's mightiest magic, and in his hands are the fires of creation and destruction. He protects his companions with unprejudiced philosophy and the power of the supernatural. Magicians are more effective if they have high Mysticism, Constitution, Coordination, and Perception abilities. PRIMARY ABILITIES •STRENGTH The stronger your character, the more damage he will inflict when he strikes an enemy. Some weapons (including the larger bows) require that the character have a minimum Strength rating to effectively wield. •COORDINATION Coordination is the measure of aim and agility. The more precise your character is, the better chance he has to hit an opponent. Coordination also determines how adept your character is at dodging an enemy's hits. •CONSTITUTION Constitution is the measure of a character's stamina and vitality. The higher a character’s Constitution, the more hit points he has. •PERCEPTION A character's Perception determines his awareness. It allows him to detect hidden motives and concealed people, and sometimes when another character is being untruthful. •CHARM A character with a high Charm rating radiates with a positive energy. He makes an impact on people he meets, and makes friends with influential citizens. This trait also affects bargaining skills and powers of persuasion. •MYSTICISM Mysticism is the measure of a character's aptitude in the magical arts. A high Mysticism makes spells stronger and use less mana. (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STAT FOR EVERY CHARACTER. Even pure fighters and scouts will need spells to buff and heal themselves, and being able to do so well and quickly is incredibly useful. This is definitely a setting where casters are supreme, but another neat thing about the game is that this does reflect in the story.) •COMBAT The higher a character's combat skill, the better he is with weapons. Combat determines how skillful an individual is with his armaments in both attack and defense. •STEALTH Stealth is a character's ability to travel unnoticed. Your foes can be surprised or bypassed easily when they fail to detect you. (Stealth can be incredibly powerful once it gets high enough. You deal massive sneak attack damage to characters who haven’t noticed you, and once your Stealth breaks 100, it starts getting impossible for many characters to notice you even in melee combat. So you can deal critical damage with every swing of your greatsword while your target’s companions stand around oblivious.) You also have SECONDARY ABILITIES, which cannot be increased with Training Points directly and are mostly determined by combinations of other stats. • Attack - This stat is crucial to determining your ability to hit an enemy during combat. It is affected directly by Strength, Coordination, Combat, and Restriction. • Defense - Defense is the measure of how well your character can guard by dodging a blow or rolling with the punch. This stat is directly affected by Coordination, Combat, and Restriction. • Attack Speed - A character's attack speed is determined by his Coordination, Strength, and Restriction. It represents the rate at which your character attacks his enemy. (Hilariously, this stat can make you look like a blender at high levels.) • Restriction - The items equipped or the weapons your character uses modify your restriction. The lower your restriction, the easier it is for your character to move around. Bulky and/or heavy items, like armor raise restriction. Be careful, because the higher your restriction, the longer it takes for you to recover from a stun, which can be up to several seconds of being unable to move. • Movement - Movement is the character's walking speed. It is only affected by certain items and/or by carrying too many items at one time. • Healing Rate - The rate at which your health meter refills itself is determined almost directly by Constitution. • Recharge Rate - Recharge rate is the measure of how quickly your character regains his mana. It is affected by Mysticism and Constitution. • Hit Points - Hit points represent the total health of the character. The player may increase his total health by adding more training points to Constitution. • Mana - Mana reflects the magical energy that a character can possess. You may add points to this stat by raising your character's mysticism and constitution. There are also resistance and damage stats that are determined by your equipment. You have an Invincibility value, which is a direct amount of damage you avoid, and a Resistance value, which reduces any damage that gets through your Invincibility by a certain percentage. Complicated enough yet? Just wait. You also have several different classes of damage, which you and enemies can have various levels of Invincibility and Resistance toward. This is a lot of stats to deal with, for sure. But they are robust enough that, while you might feel like a chump at times early in the game (though never quite on the level of a level 1 Wizard in Baldur’s Gate), in the late-game you’ll feel like a demigod, in between the magic armor with high Invincibility and the magic weapons with high damage in multiple categories. But even then, the final boss can pose a decent challenge depending on your build. It’s not easy to make a challenge progression in a classless, levelless RPG, but I think Digital Tome did pretty well at it. As for Training Points, the key is not to spend any of them at character creation. The reason for that is that Siege of Avalon features a set of trainers in each chapter, who offer skill packages that increase specific stats at a much more efficient rate than just spending the points on your own. The three trainers you have access to in Chapter One can be found before engaging in any combat. This way, if you do a couple quests in the keep, you can get all of the training in the chapter before the game begins in earnest. You can and will need to spend points directly, but always make sure you have found and used all the trainers in a chapter before you do. IMPORTANT CHARACTERS  source • Goondalf the G: A young mage from Elythria who dreams of becoming a hero, when he isn't pretending to already be one.  • Corvus: Our character's Sad Bro, whom we have sought out at Avalon to tell that our father is dead.  • General Roth: The commander of Avalon and a hero in the war against the Sha'ahoul.  • Mithras: The mighty Sha'man warlord of the Sha'ahoul.  • Elarath: A kind but forgetful old wizard from Fornax.  • Elazar: A surly Fornaxan seer who can glimpse pieces of the future.  • Olon: or "Olon the Quick", a rogue from Nisos who has become Avalon's resident information peddler.  • Mudam: Avalon's Master of Scouts, a position he is well suited for, being a native of the area here in Elythria.  • Freeman: Avalon's blacksmith.  • Pellandrian: Goes by Pell. Another mage from Fornax, but younger and more troubled than the other two. In love with Lahren, a scholar who came to Avalon to study Sha'ahoul culture.  • Felious: Avalon's resident necromancer, whose misunderstood work has basically banished him to the basement. Orbs fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Jun 12, 2018 |
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Apr 22, 2018 20:45
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Fantastic! I've been wanting to see this game LPd for a while, because it's really a forgotten and somewhat unknown gem. For its time and quality, it has a lot of really interesting features, a great story and very cool mechanics in terms of gameplay, inventory and RPG elements. I'd definitely say that Magician is a strong choice for specialization for an LP, because it's both interesting, fun, spectacular and hilariously stupidly broken once you get yourself up there. Also it rewards creative gameplay, and we won't have to watch you Conan your way through eleventy billion morons. So I'm voting for that. As for name, Discount Merlin? Arshan Wizard For Hire? Shallefex the Somewhat Certain? I'm honestly not good with names.
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Apr 23, 2018 12:49
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I remember reading about this in the classic RPG thread a few years ago and being disappointed it wasn't readily available anywhere. Will be following. I have no problem sticking with Arshan!
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Apr 23, 2018 18:19
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This game looks interesting. How about something very creative like Grand Alf, Rincebreeze or Hewhoshallnotbenamed?
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Apr 23, 2018 20:56
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Poil posted:This game looks interesting. It's surprisingly well written, iirc. I like all of those suggestions, but how about Goondalf the Gray or maybe just Goondalf for short?
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Apr 23, 2018 21:19
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Nice piece of fish posted:It's surprisingly well written, iirc. I like all of those suggestions, but how about Goondalf the Gray or maybe just Goondalf for short? A wizard's staff has a knob on the end. 
Poil fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Apr 23, 2018 |
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Apr 23, 2018 21:33
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You know, I'd never actually tried to enter a name that long. Apparently the limit is 14 characters. Which means Goondalf the G would fit. It's very wizardly to leave people guessing what the G stands for, imo.
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Apr 24, 2018 00:20
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Klingon w Bowl Cut posted:You know, I'd never actually tried to enter a name that long. Apparently the limit is 14 characters. Which means Goondalf the G would fit. It's very wizardly to leave people guessing what the G stands for, imo. I agree a lot.
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Apr 24, 2018 10:17
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Magician has a pretty commanding lead and has held steady, so I'm calling the vote. I went ahead and changed the first and second posts to be background information. I have recorded enough for the first few updates, now I just need to sift through for screens and maybe gifs. The first update of the tale of Goondalf the G will begin some time within the next couple days!
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Apr 25, 2018 05:25
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Klingon w Bowl Cut posted:Magician has a pretty commanding lead and has held steady, so I'm calling the vote. I went ahead and changed the first and second posts to be background information. I have recorded enough for the first few updates, now I just need to sift through for screens and maybe gifs. The first update of the tale of Goondalf the G will begin some time within the next couple days! Klingon w Bowl Cut posted:
Fantastic. I was gonna say, I've never seen that map before so that's really cool. Where did you find it, if you don't mind sharing? SoA and related stuff is basically internet/games archeology at this point and it's really lucky for you to even have a playable version. I lost mine ages ago and the only thing I managed to find online was a german version, which is nix gut. That you've managed to find any information at all online is impressive. Also, that's a great portrait for our protagoonist. Did you find it or make it?
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Apr 25, 2018 20:18
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Nice piece of fish posted:Fantastic. I was gonna say, I've never seen that map before so that's really cool. Where did you find it, if you don't mind sharing? SoA and related stuff is basically internet/games archeology at this point and it's really lucky for you to even have a playable version. I lost mine ages ago and the only thing I managed to find online was a german version, which is nix gut. That you've managed to find any information at all online is impressive. The map is from someone's tabletop RPG campaign setting wiki. http://eurale.wikia.com/wiki/Seven_Kingdoms Tbh Eurale would be a cool setting to roleplay in. Also, I'm working on the first update now! How soon it will be depends on how many calls I get here at work.
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Apr 26, 2018 15:07
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Link to Part I to save some page space.
Orbs fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Apr 30, 2018 |
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Apr 26, 2018 17:45
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Goondalf the Glorious hero. Slayer of multiple beetles. Rescuer of grain. 
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Apr 26, 2018 21:52
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Fantastic start. First time through I did the beetle quest with the beginner charge spell. Took forever.
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Apr 27, 2018 20:25
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Nice piece of fish posted:Fantastic start. First time through I did the beetle quest with the beginner charge spell. Took forever.
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Apr 28, 2018 14:57
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SSTP Link to Part II
Orbs fucked around with this message at 22:29 on May 2, 2018 |
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Apr 30, 2018 02:34
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Klingon w Bowl Cut posted:lol, wow. Even a rusty dagger is better against beetles than Charge. You were certainly brave! Certainly an idiot. Great update, I like how well this format of LP works for this game. It's actually much better than a video LP would be, because of all the running around and loading different areas. I actually miss playing this game now, it must be something along the lines of the best -technically freeware- game out there. I have to go digging in my old computers to see if I have any old functioning versions. Thanks for bringing this back to life.
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Apr 30, 2018 08:57
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Never heard of this game, but it certainly looks interesting.
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May 1, 2018 05:49
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Nice piece of fish posted:Certainly an idiot. Great update, I like how well this format of LP works for this game. It's actually much better than a video LP would be, because of all the running around and loading different areas. I actually miss playing this game now, it must be something along the lines of the best -technically freeware- game out there. I have to go digging in my old computers to see if I have any old functioning versions. Xander77 posted:Never heard of this game, but it certainly looks interesting.
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May 1, 2018 16:09
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Xander77 posted:Never heard of this game, but it certainly looks interesting. It's a surprisingly big game, but it was originally billed as a sort of modular deal, where certain chapters were specifically suited for a character type (Warrior, Scout, Mage) and could be skipped to go straight to the end. The developers thought it would make sense to make the chapters mostly individual and standalone, and so you bought and played as many chapters as you wanted. I don't know how well that would have worked. Well, I guess it didn't work all that great. I consider every chapter a must play at least, and I would hate the final chapter without enough experience. You'll see what I mean. Anyway, I agree wholeheartedly, because this is a very interesting and well-written game and we really haven't seen anything yet.
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May 2, 2018 07:03
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Part III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (1) Link Orbs fucked around with this message at 15:24 on May 4, 2018 |
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May 2, 2018 19:49
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Unless the game is seriously out to gently caress with us (which I doubt), I'm pretty sure the nice and gentle options are the way to go. (I don't know how many dialog choices we're getting in total, but "vote for a general approach to the conversation" may work better than voting for each individually)
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May 2, 2018 20:18
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Liking the LP, I've heard of this game but never played it myself. Voted, and looks like we're all in agreement so far. ^^^ agreed, this game has detailed enough conversations I figure it'll probably have quite a lot of choices.
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May 2, 2018 20:22
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Black Robe posted:Liking the LP, I've heard of this game but never played it myself. Agreed. The game has a lot of dialogue up front which is very deceptive, as it is totally quite action packed once you get out the gate. As an introduction, this game does the start of a game/story rather well. I've always really liked the start.
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May 2, 2018 20:26
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Xander77 posted:Unless the game is seriously out to gently caress with us (which I doubt), I'm pretty sure the nice and gentle options are the way to go. Black Robe posted:Liking the LP, I've heard of this game but never played it myself. Orbs fucked around with this message at 20:47 on May 2, 2018 |
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May 2, 2018 20:44
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Will you be showing the road not taken afterwards?
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May 3, 2018 06:34
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Black Robe posted:Will you be showing the road not taken afterwards?
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May 3, 2018 12:46
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Part III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (2) Link Orbs fucked around with this message at 23:20 on May 7, 2018 |
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May 3, 2018 13:08
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Goondalf certainly is a poetic sort, isn't he.
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May 3, 2018 13:17
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Black Robe posted:Goondalf certainly is a poetic sort, isn't he.
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May 3, 2018 20:54
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Lahren is such a goon in a well.
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May 3, 2018 21:03
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Nice piece of fish posted:Lahren is such a goon in a well. 
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May 4, 2018 12:46
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Part III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (3) Link Orbs fucked around with this message at 23:20 on May 7, 2018 |
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May 4, 2018 15:21
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Such a goon in a well. Thank christ the «wrong» answer didn't screw us out of that Shadow spell, because it comes in handy. I knew that answer was wrong but I couldn't say anything without spoiling it, and besides, this is a good example of this game subverting expectations just enough to keep the player guessing and avoiding the obvious answer... some times. It's not going to be the last time.
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May 5, 2018 09:20
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Part IV - Goondalf the G(railseeker) Link Orbs fucked around with this message at 17:56 on May 10, 2018 |
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May 7, 2018 15:27
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That is a neat gameover, really shows how they went above and beyond on the design on this game. Not only do we get an actual end to the story besides a meaningless "game over", we even get a glimpse of the future that makes a lot more sense as we progress and we learn the cost of our failiure. The game over text even changes depending on our progress if I'm not misremembering. And yes, gently caress this game's difficulty. This game will kill the poo poo out of you if you go into this thinking it's some kind of Diablo-like. It isn't.
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May 7, 2018 19:43
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...oops. Also, Nice piece of fish posted:Not only do we get an actual end to the story besides a meaningless "game over", we even get a glimpse of the future that makes a lot more sense as we progress and we learn the cost of our failiure. The game over text even changes depending on our progress if I'm not misremembering. If so, that's awesome. I love little details like that, really shows the people behind it cared about what they were doing.
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May 7, 2018 20:19
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Black Robe posted:...oops.
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May 7, 2018 20:57
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Klingon w Bowl Cut posted:It is. Each of the 6 chapters has a different death journal entry, and I will definitely be showing them. Probably involuntarily. There's at least one monster capable of one-shotting you in this game no matter yours stats and it might not be what you all readers think. This game is a motherfucker.
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May 7, 2018 21:07
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