BurningFist_EU

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I suspect the morality will be based on the outcome of missions. Perhaps you have a choice of rescuing or kidnapping, robbing or recovering, saving or killing? Seems the easiest way to do it.. You have an alignment meter which swings based on the outcome of missions.

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Yeah, I reckon that'll be it, nice and simple.

Hopefully it won't be too abusable in the mission generator. It would suck if, for example, some nefarious mission maker made their "good" mission outcome give an "evil" swing.

EDIT: Too slow

I guess the best way to do a morality meter type thing would be to make all the choices fairly simple and clear-cut. There's no need to get too philosophical or deep about it because, as you say, there's no way a computer program can figure out motivations and judge accordingly. Hell, human beings have a hard enough time trying to figure that stuff out, hence Ravenswing's ideas about morality being at odds with the NWN developers' ideas of it, both of which are probably at odds with someone else's.

As players we'll probably be better off accepting the fact that the morality thing will be another abstract game system that won't even attempt to map onto real-world morality in any complex, nuanced fashion.

Is that a bad thing? No, IMO, it'd be another game mechanic that offers a bit more variety in how our characters develop and that's Win all round if you ask me.

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Excuse me, I have to go and build a time machine to avoid waiting for all this.

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Need a hand?

I was getting black textures at long distance with /visscale set to 3 or 4 and I think that's solved now. I've not been on an Arachnos mission since the patch so I don't know if that issue with the black crate textures has been fixed.

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EDIT Kerensky: Here's a fake warning and a fake edit for a disturbingly real looking complaint.

As much as I do appreciate your sense of humour, I think there are a few words in this particular post that are going a wee bit too far. My advise: more "[censored]", less "borderline" swearwords.

Cheers and don't take it much further, please!



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AAAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! its a free country and i can say whatevre i want and u cant stop me so stop trying to censorship peopel with valid complaints its peple like me that keep mmos going casuals are noobs u dont kno what ur talking abioyut if u only play for like 2 hours a week only hardcore gamres knoe what maeks a good game cos we play more than anyone including the devs so EVRYONE [censored]!!!!!!!!!! and tyo all u europeans we saved ur [censored] in the war so sho some respect

oh and dont bother trying to ban me cos im a lawyer irl and will sue ur [censored] off and get this gaem closed down mkay

lmao this game sux the leveling phase goes on for ages and the end game content is [censored] why dont they make it mor like wow with cool raids and bosses and whats up with the crafting lol u cant even make better armours and you cant get a better weapon after u make ur toon and superheroes dont make me laugh there arnt even any orcs or shammys yeh you can have defenders but thay are just healerz and controllers just suck its stupid and why does all the mobs have ranged attacks thats just dumb why should melee toons be punished for not having blasts and bows and stuff this game is fr noobs and fat comic fanboys with no life they could at least have made raids that take soem skill and reward peple who are willing to put loads of time in its just [censored] if i want to play for 15 hours a day i should get rewarded for it

im quitting this crappy game and going back to a real mmo where the devs make loads of cool stuff rofl wow has 20million accounts and this one has about 5 i kno everyone hates wow but your all just jealous face the facts wow knoes how to make a game thats why everyone plays it and noone plays this except fat comic kids with no life

DEVS R U LISTENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT Kerensky: Here's a fake warning and a fake edit for a disturbingly real looking complaint.

As much as I do appreciate your sense of humour, I think there are a few words in this particular post that are going a wee bit too far. My advise: more "[censored]", less "borderline" swearwords.

Cheers and don't take it much further, please!

It's pretty funny when you look back and remember the days when we wanted more content, then compare it with the current trend of doing as little of the content as possible for the maximum amount of rewards.

The mission designer thingy will save the devs wasting time on creating missions and storylines that a significant portion of the playerbase will gleefully ignore. At least this way we can all get the game that we want.

Or rather don't assume anything until it's been officially confirmed.

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... we plan to implement other methods of 'civilian' transportation, such as moonwalking and hailing piggybacks from passing tourists.'

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Moonwalking you say?

On a slightly different note, wasn't there an official semi-denial that player-made content would be in I13? I got the impression that the article which suggested it was due in I13 was less than reliable.

I don't bother with IOs much, they are mostly too expensive for me to be bothered with. On the occasion when I get a lucrative recipe I'll sell it and get a few minor sets on an alt or two but even then I can rarely sell them at the going rate because the cost to list at the going rate is usually too much, so I have to sell them for less. I don't really mind though, I'm just not inf/ubberiness motivated in MMOs.

As I've said before I do think that allowing farming to reap all the rewards better than all other activities is poor game design. I also think that if a team leaves a mission, whether voluntarily or by a team wipe, the mission should fail. CoX needs more consequences IMO, and I've thought that since day one.

Hey, thanks for the nomination

Glad you liked the car chase, you really can't have a '70s based action type story without one

I just read Lost and Found and To Die For and really liked them both. Good job!

I've sent feedback in a PM so as not to spoil them for others

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hope they crawl up out of the ground instead of teleporting...


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Well, they've already got the animations for that connected to summoned zombies, so it'd make sense for them to use them.
Plus, it'd look awesome to see several dozen emerge at once on Talos hill, for example

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But far funnier to see some emerge from between Ms Liberty's feet. Wonder if THAT would make her move? It'd certainly give a few newbies a surprise!

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Not to mention Ms. Liberty.

I'd be interested in taking part in this too, and maybe this could form the start of the co-op comic thing if enough artists are interested. What we end up with could maybe be turned into the storyline and dialogue for the comic.

Having thought on it realistically I'm not sure if I'll have the time until mid-September, and maybe not even then, to put enough time into running the co-op comic thing so this could kill two birds with one stone

Fair point, my main reason for mentioning deadlines was to keep things moving but as you say it could make it feel more like work than what it should be.

I don't have any firm ideas on any of this by the way, I got in from work and basically splurged a load of stuff out, stream of conscious style, to get the ball rolling a bit

There's some good points and good ideas on this thread already. This will look like a lot of writing but please read on if you're interested in participating. And don't let it scare you off

The trick will be to get as many people as realistically involved as possible while keeping everyone's input as manageable as we can (losing interest is a common problem with long-term internet projects, as Swissy points out) while maintaining consistency across everyone's efforts.

Maybe one approach would be to pair up an artist with a writer and give each pair a single thread (featuring just one or two characters) in an overall story arc which draws all threads and characters together for the climactic finale.

This way individual art and writing styles would have enough room to breathe and develop, and if a writer/artist pair need to drop out they'd be able to wrap their thread up without stalling the project.

I guess this would need one or more writers to develop the overall storyline. Fewer writers would be better in this role as collaboration between too many could become too slow and bogged down with discussion and conflicting ideas etc.

The overall story could even be "dripped" to the artist/writer pairs giving them things to respond to in their own arcs. This would work similar to how a GM works with players in a P&P RPG, where the GM would be the overall story-writers and the players the artist/writer pairs. As in a P&P RPG the trick would be to give the artist/writer pairs enough freedom to develop their own threads while keeping them all focused on a single story. It would also help keep the individual threads dynamic while (hopefully) keep everyone's interest by making it bit of a game too.

Now, this would obviously be a lot of work, especially for the artists (although having separate letterers, colourers and 'inkers' would help them a lot). Also, creative collaborations can get pretty fraught so it'd be important for everyone to do work together with as little ego as possible and always put the project first. We'd also need to jointly establish some firm deadlines to keep things moving along and it'd be important for everyone to factor RL commitments and such into the amount of work they can do per deadline phase.

I have no idea how or even if this will work. All I know is that there's a ton of talent on these boards and would be great if somehow we could bring it all to bear in a joint effort.

I haven't thought much of this through and there are some issues that I definitely haven't considered, so if anyone has any comments, ideas or anything else to add, please feel free to post 'em.

There's only one word for this...

GROOVY!

All really nice stories

Got my PC fixed and rescued all my data from the hard-drive but it's got late now, but I'll send some PMs to you guys when I've got a bit more time at the weekend.

On a barely related note I had a potentially great idea earlier on - maybe the writers and artists on the forum could get together and knock together a comic or two between us?

Thanks for the kind words, guys, it means a lot

I'm still looking forward to reading the other entries. Come on Mr W, put the joypad down and get to some posting!

After the motherboard failed on my main PC on Sunday taking my hard-drive with it (as I've just discovered) I'll be out of the game for a bit while I rebuild and figure out what data is salvageable and which is backed-up.

Luckily, I uploaded my entry to writing.com so I'll take the plunge and share it regardless. I wasn't in it for inf anyway so no worries if I've broken the rules by posting it here.

So, here's my entry. It's kinda based on a post I made ages ago on some thread or thread or other, so if it some bits seem familiar that'll be why. Anyway, on with the show...


The End and The Beginning

The blind old man sat in the back of a rattling, bumping ox-drawn cart. He was lost in memory, recalling the events that had led him away from here almost eight decades ago. His master, Yao Shoushan, had gone to teach in distant Paragon City where he'd been killed by an unknown enemy. Then young, the old man had left his home full of earthly anger, determined to find Master Yao's killers and avenge him. He remembered the battles he'd fought, the enemies he'd overcome and the adventures he'd had, and he smiled at his youthful naivete. Of course he'd never found Old Yao's murderers, but over time he'd come to understand his master's final lesson in that great, heroic city.

And now he was returning home.

It was the first time he'd made the journey to the Wu-Kong Monastery since leaving all that time ago and, although he was now sightless, his mind's eye saw the valley exactly as it was. Terraced rice paddies arced around the rising foothills, stepping up to the plateau from which the first rocky outcroppings of the great Himalayas reached toward the sky. The road wound through them, meandering lazily toward a high finger of mountain at the head of the valley. The monastery straddled its summit and the ancient walls continued heavenward. The whole grand vista was dwarfed by cloud-wreathed mountains beyond.

Presently the cart halted and the driver turned to him.
"Master Xiang, we have arrived," he said respectfully.
"I know, Bu," his aging passenger replied, "I can smell the peach blossom; It is as sweet as ever it was in my youth." The old man stepped from the cart, and his aged knees complained at the strain. He stood by the driver's seat and bowed toward Bu.
"Thank you, my friend. The journey was most pleasant," he smiled. Bu watched the old monk as he hobbled to the steps that led up to the monastery, then he tapped his lead ox on the shoulder and the cart rolled back toward his village.

A young boy, no older than seven or eight and clad in the yellow garb of a lay-monk, stood at the foot of the monastery steps. Xiang sensed him waiting for him.
"Hello, old friend," the old man said happily, "it is good to see you again after all these years."
The boy grinned and took him by the hand. Together they began the ascent to the monastery.

The monastery's courtyard remained as unchanged as it had for two millennia. The old peach trees stood in regimented rows between which a group of monks practiced their martial art in perfect synchronisation. A fat acolyte swept dust and rice husks from the cobbled floor, humming to himself. The abbot taught a gaggle of shaven-headed children who sat crosslegged around him and swirls of peach blossom danced all around them. As old Xiang passed they all bowed their heads reverentially and he nodded greetings in return.

He eventually came to the meditation hall. He spun the prayer wheel and then went inside. His young companion smiled after him and then turned back to attend to his afternoon duties. The old man walked along the dim hallway, passing the simple wooden columns that extended up into darkness, and came to his favourite boyhood meditation bench. He ran his hand across the seat and sat down, hauling his aged legs up beneath him. He took a deep breath from the ancient air, closed his eyes and settled into gentle meditation.

At 4:15pm Lai Pang Xiang, known in his youth as Burning Fist, Hero of the Wu-Kong Temple, drew his final breath. His eyes remained closed and a smile of satisfaction lingered on his face.

In the shaft of sunlight that angled down through the hall's high, narrow window a pair of dust motes lazily hung.


Far away, in the city of Louyang, two young lovers lay in post-coital bliss. Their room was small with space enough for their bed, a table and a little shrine to Buddha and the Bodhisattva Guan-Yin. The door to a narrow balcony stood open and muslin curtains flapped in the breeze. Spring sunlight flowed between them, framing the couple on the bed.

Bao found Mei's peaceful face and gently kissed her forehead, then he rolled off the mattress. He pulled on a pair of shorts, picked up a packet of cigarettes and went out onto the balcony. He glanced at his young love and grinned at their good fortune. Mei smiled contentedly and turned over to watch Bao on the little balcony. There was only the moment and in that moment there was only happiness.

Deep in Mei's belly a tiny tadpole of DNA merged with the egg buried there and the Celestial Wheel turned one more time.

Me too, post 'em! It doesn't matter if you want to judge them later

KB FTW!

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So, unless we get a substantial engine upgrade I seriously think Animated Hair won't be on the cards.

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CoX could definitely do with an engine upgrade after 4 years, especially with direct competition coming up in 2009/10.

Overhaul the AI by creating a number of different behaviour profiles so that all spawns don't behave in exactly the same way. Make some mobs taunt resistant to introduce a more active off-tanking role for Scrappers.

Would you mind if I sent you a revised version of my entry? I wrote it in a oner last night and sent it without any proof-reading, so a few spelling mistakes and grammatical errors made it through.

It's only little stuff really but my inner perfectionist is nagging me about it.