Heh.

← 4 messages moved from RPG General Chat

@Emracool The Not A Bar is for subjects which are not, for a variety of reasons, appropriate for main chat but which don't really need a dedicated room.

I mean, we go off-topic in the main chat a lot, but sometimes the conversation gets so intense that people apologise for bringing up RPG-related things.

Or maybe the topic isn't something everyone wants to endure, like religion or whatever.

@Emracool I was automatically appointed owner of the main chat by virtue of being the most talkative person in chat and the previous owner (Brian) having been inactive for a really long time.

Mostly it means I can move and pin messages, and control feeds.

No worries.

I remember my Riven notes....

I still know the number system from that game by heart.

I cut out a model of the spinning room with the doors so I could model its movement.

Heh.

Without knowing D'ni, it's actually very elegant.

(Albeit a little clunky for practical use once you pass 26, but it's not like the Romans were any less clunky with their numerals.)

Oh, indeed.

(In high school I used the boxless numerals for an alphanumeric substitution cipher.)

I never paid a lot of attention to the D'ni written language....

But I've gotta give massive props to a game that makes learning a base five numeral system a (relatively) easy and integral part of its play.

And to do it so naturally, integrating both the learning and the use into the setting.

There are similar toys for learning to count.

Most of them aren't as human-sacrifice themed, though.

That was a brilliant bit of worldbuilding--usually you'll see the toy, spend a lot of time with it, and then later you find the throne with the levers and discover that the toy is... not fanciful.

Not that far ahead yet?

Ooh, with the big lake and the wood chipper?

What's the third island look like?

[launches Riven]

I haven't played in years...

I'm using a not-quite-out-of-beta third-party program for running it on OS X, and that lets me run it in windowed mode.

How did you get to the third island (not everyone goes to the islands in the same order...)

Was there an underwater roller coaster ride?

It's possible to go to the "fourth" island from either the second or third.

But... let's see, that means this is your current stumbling block?

One thing I love about Riven is that until the very last chapter you can always walk away from a puzzle that has you stumped and try something else.

Ah, yes. That one will require that you, among other things, be able to approach the first island from the fourth island.

(If I'm remembering it correctly.)

The upper level of the dome is a late-game puzzle.

Let me go back and look at that puzzle... have you approached the dome from a very long bridge over water yet?

Okay, so you haven't been to the fourth island.

Have you found the prison in the village?

Ummm. You ride up a rope to the top of a scaffold that you reach via sub.

There's a cell with a guy inside.

Okay, so you aren't too far in the Moiety story, then.

Dude, it took me more than a year. I was something like 12 at the time, but...

The more you wander aimlessly and push buttons, the better it is.

It's not really a game which responds well to being treated as a series of puzzles.

afk a bit

What's your OS?

Hmm. I haven't tried Riven on Windows in ages.

I think GoG and Steam make it work...

Hah, finally got into the dome.

Yeah. Back in the day I had a diagram of the outer hull with the five doors, and a cut-out circle with the two inner doors marked.

Every time I pushed the button, I'd rotate the cutout to help me remember which doors were where.

@Emracool Okay, I just reached this part of the puzzle and now I remember it.

And yes, you need to be able to approach the first island from the fourth before you can reach the upper level of the golden dome.

It sounds like you've done most everything you can on the first island. Leave all the steam levels "on" (not venting) and take screenshots/draw pictures of anything that looks clue-ish, and that's about it for the first island until you come at it from the fourth.

You should also try finding a high vantage point in the village from which you can draw a map of the sub's route, so you can keep track of its movements while you're inside it.

Doing that may give you the insight you need to reach new areas of the second island.

...I can still draw it from memory.

ooer.

My main problem with Steam, practically speaking, is that it's very pushy about updating.

View (from second island, near wood cart to third island) of the fourth island (left) and first island (right), with bridge connecting them.

Again, this is a game which works best when you play "tourist who pokes things."

Heh.

Have you discovered the secret of the wooden fish statue yet?

...wait, my bad. That bridge is third-to-first, not fourth-to-first. [face/palm] I just suddenly stumbled onto it by accident.

Hmm.

If you've seen the toy in the school house, that indicates you've done almost everything you can do on the second island without either a visit to the fourth or a very VERY lucky/cunning breakthrough on the second island.

So... yeah, I think the caldera on the third island, with the boiler, is the place to focus your energies.

Of course, downloading the game anew probably means re-doing all that work.

And copious notes!

I'll be happy to be your brainstorming board if you ever want; I can be as useful as you like, from "mhmm" to asking questions which might get you thinking in new directions, to more direct assistance.

Something I found useful which it sounds like you're already doing is to take notes by hand, including sketches instead of screenshots.

It puts the information in different parts of your brain so they can rattle around in new and interesting ways.

(And you don't have to tab out to look at them!)

ttfn

@Lord_Gareth [snackrifices a Peep bunny]

You should totally make me a room owner.

@BESW - How do I do that?

This computer game looks very interesting but time consuming.

@Emracool I'm currently busy trying to level up in a play by chat game, keeping my daily quests on a mmorpg done (otherwise I feel I'm not getting all I could from the game), leveling up a Path of Exile character and looking for a job.

I think I should get some game to play when my internet connection goes wonky, as of now it's Diablo II.

@Emracool If you liked Diablo II, it's a great game. It has a nice setting, a wide array of recognizable enemies with different behavior and the gems/skill system is nice. You get a FFX-like feat tree for passives and some can completely change your playstyle ("you never miss but you never crit", "you gain immunity to chaos damage but you have 1 HP", "you lose all evasion but you can't be stunned", "you cast spells with life and lose all mana")

@Lord_Gareth [Add a user] button on the Owners section of this page.