Not a bar, but plays one on TV

BESW

08:00

One reason I like Samurai is that with a cursed melee weapon he can throw spells for ranged junk.

Because otherwise you've got, what, a fighter throwing powders?

trogdor

lol

but my samurai is still a pretty weak caster

BESW

That's why some people start 'em off as a mage and switch to samurai as soon as they meet the prereqs.

(Takes about two levels, and you get minimum mage stats and two free spells.)

trogdor

yeah, but I bet their melee effectiveness takes a long time to get as good as Ryu's is right now

BESW

It's a two-level hit to Swords, Dual Wield, and Critical Strike, so yeah, it hurts a little.

trogdor

sinking most starting stats and two levels into getting casting good

BESW

08:06

Well, your stat bumps go into Samurai stats anyway, so you meet the minimum requirements there.

You just don't have access to any of the melee skills except Close Combat to put points into, so you get a jump on Wizardry instead.

trogdor

I do think I am fine with his casting sucking this bad

it's already cool that he can cast some buffs on himself and such

BESW

Buffs, yey!

trogdor

and that he might maybe also have a portal spell eventually if I need him to

but I might finish the game at this rate before that happens

BESW

That's likely.

trogdor

he is progressing real slow

BESW

08:36

@trogdor Well, focus on Air.

You'll need points in Air to cast the spell, but you'll need more points in Wizardry to be able to learn it.

trogdor

mk

BESW

To learn a spell from a book your [spellbook rank + (school rank / 10)] must be at least [(spell level - 1) x 15].

Otherwise even if you're the right level to cast the spell, you won't be able to use the book to learn it.

I'm not sure if the same applies to spell picks at level up, but I suspect it does.

Miniman

It does.

trogdor

oh dang

the T'rang got mad at me for doing Umpani quests

Miniman

I either didn't know or really forgot that was a thing.

BESW

08:51

[popcorn]

trogdor

and I was just about to ask them for more info on how to find that Rapax figure they set up

Miniman

@trogdor It's in Marten's Bluff (as opposed to Lower Marten's Bluff).

But you'll need an item you probably don't have.

trogdor

oh great

Miniman

Don't worry, it's pretty close by.

trogdor

I looked all around their base though

how close is pretty close

?

Miniman

08:53

@trogdor The swamp...

trogdor

oh

Miniman

I can't remember how you were supposed to work this one out.

@trogdor To be more specific, Crock sells Rapax perfume that you need to make the dummy smell like a Rapax.

trogdor

I got that perfume like, about the same time I first got to the swamp

I just need to actually find that Rapax dummy

Miniman

@trogdor Gj! In that case, just head up into Marten's Bluff.

trogdor

but I am also not sure there is any way to have the T'rang accept that I did the quest

Miniman

09:06

@trogdor Are they hostile, or neutral?

trogdor

cause if I go down there they will acuse me of spying again

pretty sure they went hostile when the boss menacingly said the words "KILL THEM"

Miniman

Yeah, that sounds problematic. I don't think I ever had that happen, did you go through a door or something?

trogdor

no

I talked to him

like I have been XD

the doors are all locked or electricuted

well, technically I think those ones are also locked

and like, not in a way you can pick either

they don't let me into their base in any way other than to let me accept and turn in quests

BESW

@trogdor That's not a very nice thing to call a Rapax.

trogdor

har har

eimyr

09:22

I am suddenly able to see and vote on flagged chat posts. Is that normal? Should I see my GP?

BESW

Did you recently get more rep on a Stack site?

eimyr

nope

and I'm a couple hundred away from 10k

I do have 11k of this weird chat points though

which seem like a mystery to me

BESW

Chat rep is cumulative of all the other Stacks.

eimyr

oh?

oh.

BESW

I speculate that you've just never been watching when flags started popping up since you hit 10k cumulative.

eimyr

09:29

Might be.

BESW

They don't show up very often, really.

But when they do, they come in flocks.

trogdor

I have no idea if I just actually screwed myself over with these quests,... I can't find any T'rang stuff, and this Rapax figure thing is nowhere to be found on Martins Bluff

eimyr

09:48

@trogdor what are you playing?

trogdor

Wizardry 8

eimyr

IS it good?

BESW

@eimyr I'd played it in high school and when Miniman reminded me of it a month or two ago I realised it was probably exactly the sort of thing that would lodge firmly in Troggy's brainspace.

trogdor

@BESW you have tricked me you fiend, I can't figure out what to do now

the freaking main quest is all jacked up because I can't complete the thing for either the Umpani or the T'rang now

@eimyr I would say it is, but being used to more modern games could make it an uphill battle to figure out at first

Miniman

@trogdor Well, you can definitely do the Umpani quests. Just kill T'Rang and explore until you find the item.

trogdor

09:53

so it's good, but it depends how much of the old school stuff it does you can tolerate

BESW

@trogdor I distinctly recall that some playthroughs would have a period of "RUN RUN RUN do the quest thing before the T'Rang/Umpani catch up to me RUN RUN RUN."

trogdor

@Miniman they will definitely be permanently hostile then though, right?

aren't I supposed to be able to get them both to like me at some point?

BESW

@eimyr It's a single-player team dungeon crawl RPG with enough complex strategic build options to make for nigh-infinite replay value, and rather clever setting.

eimyr

cool

BESW

I like it, despite of several "old school" traits that should really be deal-breakers.

@trogdor Trust in the power of the railroaded plot points.

trogdor

10:00

hmm

so kill T'rang?

BESW

Or, you know, lead T'Rang into hordes of bugs and laugh.

Miniman

@trogdor I'm not sure, I've never been in your situation.

BESW

@eimyr Looking back, Wiz8 taught me a lot of things that I brought to DMing when I started D&D a few years later, both good and bad.

BESW

10:16

Sandbox railroading comes to mind.

trogdor

11:00

wait,... was I supposed to get to the T'rang base somewhere other than from going straight to Martens Bluff?

like the Mine Entrance?

BESW

That is another way in, yes.

trogdor

11:26

mk well,.. everything worked out

I found the way into the upper castle, killed the Rapax in a hilarious way that didn't even require me to actually fight him, and the questgiver T'rang was happy to see me and gave me the next quest

Miniman

@trogdor Hooray!

trogdor

hooray indeed

BESW

You'll find a lot of named NPCs are willing to talk to you even when their generic brethren want your entrails.

Miniman

Did you find the item the Umpani want?

trogdor

@BESW he was the same guy who yelled to kill me earlier though

@Miniman yes,... I found the very disgusting item they want XD

Miniman

11:30

@trogdor Heh.

BESW

[amused] I webbed up half the Savant Henchbots and am letting lay brothers punch them while I kill the other half.

We each wrapped up at about the same time.

trogdor

nice

those lay brothers are tougher than I expected

BESW

Those brothers punch hard.

trogdor

when one got into a fight alongside me I thought he would die

he tanked most of the hits and dished out some decent damage

so now easy teleport to Umpani base to give it to em XD

eimyr

21:34

@BESW I need to make some mistakes this Friday

BESW

@eimyr Get molasses and chocolate syrup mixed up.

eimyr

how is that a mistake?

BESW

Not all mistakes lead to awful outcomes--sometimes you learn great new things!

(Molasses and chocolate chips on vanilla ice cream is awesome.)

eimyr

indeed it does

thoguh it might be a tad too sweet

thoguh! Another goblin.

BESW

@eimyr Molasses and honey instead of syrup on pancakes.

eimyr

21:50

hmmm

I use muscovado sugar much more happily than the regular white kind

I assume molasses have a similar taste?

BESW

Probably. Though I prefer blackstrap molasses.

That's much stronger and less sweet.

eimyr

@BESW rpgsapart.wordpress.com

Does that sound like a good website address?

BESW

Looks too much like "RPG As Art" for a clear read, in my opinion.

eimyr

hmmm

good spot

BESW

22:18

@eimyr It sounds great said out loud, but as mushed-together text less so.

eimyr

I realise

It doesn't get me any further though unless I want to settle for overcomplicated alternative

BESW

Just unmush it: rpgs-apart

eimyr

no hyphens!

anyway, I need sleep

ttfn

BESW

22:57

Kids reading to shelter dogs.

Snooze against the machine.

BESW

23:11

Eels - I Need Some Sleep

►

trogdor

oh,... I just realized one of the reasons I like the T'rang theme so much

it reminds me of the theme of the final area in BoF3

XD

definitely not entirely the same, but one bit of it is eerily similar

Miniman

Plus, the T'Rang are just awesome.

trogdor

yes

it's good on it's own, but I just realized the reason it has hit me in a particular way

and yes ,it is a theme worthy of their awesomeness

and it has it's own thing going for it, it isn't sooo similar, but it is reminiscent in some ways of one of the best BoF3 area themes

Miniman

@trogdor Have you played Golden Sun?

trogdor

nope

Miniman

23:26

As a fellow connoisseur of videogame soundtracks, it's definitely worth a look. I mean, it's a great game in every respect, but I consider it to have the best videogame soundtrack I've ever heard.

BESW

What kind of music?

Miniman

Or any soundtrack, really.

trogdor

that is high praise

the kind of praise I am not even sure I can give to any single thing XD

Miniman

@BESW I don't quite know how to describe it...that sort of music halfway between classical and rock that you only seem to get in soundtracks?

I'm sure there's a word for it, which people who know more about music than I do would know.

If you look up "Mars Lighthouse" on Youtube you should be able to hear one of the best songs.

trogdor

mk

yeah I get what you mean

have you played Legend of Dragoon?

it has some stuff that is kinda similar to this

Miniman

23:30

@trogdor Nope, haven't even heard of that one :(

trogdor

though its a little heavier usually, which could be either good or bad

depending on your taste

and definitely not as fast as this

Miniman

@trogdor [Googles] looks interesting, shame it's on PS :P

trogdor

lol

you can emulate it

my favorite non boss theme is probably "Hellena Prison"

Miniman

@trogdor I'll look it up when I'm not at work :(

trogdor

the boss themes are great, but there are only three of them and it's a loooong game

@Miniman fair nuff

Miniman

23:34

@trogdor Well, no, because that's illegal. But hypothetically yes.

trogdor

@Miniman yes of course

I do no emulation whatsoever

I do almost wish I still had my PS3 or whichever the latest I had was, and Legend of Dragoon, and maybe the Sly Cooper series to replay

well like, the first 3 of it anyway

Miniman

And BoF?

trogdor

they kept making more and I don't know where they stopped

@Miniman I definitely don't emulate that, no sir

Adeptus

I don't think the emulation itself is illegal, provided you own the original game. Of course, most emulator-gamers don't have the originals...

trogdor

@Adeptus it is sad like that

Adeptus

23:38

It's like torrenting. Yes it's used for piracy a lot, but it can be used legitimately.

Miniman

@Adeptus The thing is (by my understanding), if you own the original game, it's not illegal to own a ROM. Bit it's still illegal to download a ROM, so if you wanted to emulate entirely within the bounds of the law you'd have to rip your games yourself.

trogdor

@Miniman that is a really stupid distinction

XD

Adeptus

@Miniman Yeah, that's an odd line to draw. You should be able to "outsource" your ROM extraction.

trogdor

I think I sorta get why it is made, but I still think it is stupid

Miniman

@trogdor YMMV, IANAL, etc.

Shalvenay

23:46

it's doubly weird because someone can sell you the physical CD or cartridge, but probably couldn't legally sell you the ROM image, in spite of first sale doctrine

trogdor

@Miniman actually, I think BoF3 music seems to be the most similar thing I have heard to this

Miniman

@trogdor Damn, you're giving me the hard sell...it's a classic JRPG, right? Turn-based combat? Puzzles?

trogdor

@Miniman yeah

Miniman

@trogdor I'll add it to the list.

Fair warning: It's a pretty long list atm.

trogdor

keeping in mind, it isn't the exact same thing, and the music is obviously more varied than to just all sound like Mars Lighthouse, but this does remind me of music I have heard in BoF3

@Miniman no problem with me, I am just sharing

XD

there is also some similarity I can see in some Fire Emblems, but you have played those

Miniman

23:52

@trogdor Well, the same is true of Golden Sun! The composer does a great job setting a mood (he also did the Dark Souls series), and over the course of a 50-hour journey you hear a lot of wildly different stuff.

trogdor

and this song at least, is much faster than those usually are

Miniman

@trogdor Well, except Together We Ride.

trogdor

@Miniman yeah, I was just trying to make sure you realize it isn't all really similar to your favorite

I don't want you to just be disappointed when you get around to listening to any of it because of some expectation that I might have accidentally created XD

Miniman

@trogdor I assumed that. After all, an important part of a good soundtrack is variety.

trogdor

mmhmm

Miniman

23:54

@trogdor Or playing it. Hypothetically.

trogdor

yep certainly

BoF3's soundtrack is definitely one of my favorites, and the themes in the areas are usually spot on for those areas

and the final area has a theme (I think there is more than one, cause the "final area" is a huge place that has a few different parts to it) that is basically like a reflection or echo or foreshadowing to the final boss theme

which is just a tidbit that tickles me a lot

anyway, stopping there cause otherwise I will start to gush about every little thing and probably actually spoil stuff XD

Transcript for