tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post2765184156313184510..comments2024-03-28T15:04:57.804-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Dungeon Master II: The Legend of the Area Outside SkullkeepCRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-78690360502363699422022-09-24T10:46:05.411-04:002022-09-24T10:46:05.411-04:00DM1 did it differently: it shows a message like th...DM1 did it differently: it shows a message like this down at the bottom of the screen.<br /><br />"Wuuf needs more practice with this priest spell."<br /><br />Also, the damage display is visible for a little bit longer. Can't help but feel that the UI of DM2 is a tiny little bit worse than the one of DM1.Bitmapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-70749756554253577132022-09-24T10:26:31.851-04:002022-09-24T10:26:31.851-04:00I suppose a person is more astute playing games at...I suppose a person is more astute playing games at the tender age of 13. Also memory worked better then, as evidenced by me being able to recall such a detail as a decrepit 40 years old.Jíhahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16503212530647458148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-83905182464828133502022-09-24T08:37:25.621-04:002022-09-24T08:37:25.621-04:00"I can see why people think Lands of Lore is ..."I can see why people think Lands of Lore is the superior RPG. With continual cinematics, scrolls, and NPC comments, you never forget your quest or the basic nature of the game world. The designers of Skullkeep seem to have gone out of their way to avoid putting any text in the game. There are no monster names (as usual), no NPC names. Spells use symbols and shops use signs with pictures on them. The only writing I've found so far is the scroll that told me how to use the resurrection altar."<br /><br />Lands of Lore is great in that regard. The story proceeds at a good pace, and the animated cutscenes are a real reward. The tone of the writing is very pleasant -- not overly serious, but also not ironic or silly.<br /><br />But the stories and writing of most other RPGs are rather tedious and irritating to me personally, aside from some Ultimas and a couple of other accomplished game stories. In contrast, the wordless Dungeon Master games are never annoying and nicely atmospheric. I'd like more wordless games that still achieve some kind of ambience and a certain depth in the world design.Bitmapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-90092739253743216682022-09-23T23:23:49.261-04:002022-09-23T23:23:49.261-04:00"Just did"=just encountered movable boul..."Just did"=just encountered movable boulders and candles.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-66641983143854185852022-09-23T23:23:21.596-04:002022-09-23T23:23:21.596-04:00Just did last night. Funny--I don't think I...Just did last night. Funny--I don't think I've been hit by lightning once. I didn't realize it was a hazard.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-85694567041289852102022-09-23T23:22:38.691-04:002022-09-23T23:22:38.691-04:00Yeah, Bitmap is right. If you can make out the sym...Yeah, Bitmap is right. If you can make out the symbol in the brief time it flashes on the screen, you're more astute than I am. Another problem is that the damages flash too quickly.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-36415381824322310852022-09-23T18:55:17.428-04:002022-09-23T18:55:17.428-04:00"Has become" implies that it is a recent...<i>"Has become" implies that it is a recent term. I'm pretty certain I've seen it in reference to films (mostly with music) in reviews dating back to the 70s.</i><br /><br />I agree that it's (demonstrably) an old word for film scholarship; I primarily had video game scholarship / discussion (aka "ludology", a moderately silly word) in mind with my post, with my reference to cinema meant as an aside.<br /><br />I seem to remember learning the term in the early 2010s, and then suddenly seeing it <i>everywhere</i> in discussions of video games (scholarly and otherwise). It may just be the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon at work -- and probably is -- but communities also take up existing words pretty suddenly, of course, and there was a big push around then to take video games more seriously as an object of study.PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-40993161772545573802022-09-23T17:55:32.413-04:002022-09-23T17:55:32.413-04:00I wonder if you have discovered the movable boulde...I wonder if you have discovered the movable boulders and candles, they are new in DM2. It took me a while, because double weapons or not, I was quickly in a DM mindset when playing and applied the old rules.<br /><br />I find it interesting that the underground plays a larger role. It helps to have a hiding spot against the lightnings, those can actually wipe your party. The manual warns if I remember right, but I had to experience it for a learning effect.<br /><br />While the tower looms and promises more riddles, I actually liked the outside areas.sucinumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14198771998880365061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-69172151691460344102022-09-23T07:47:01.215-04:002022-09-23T07:47:01.215-04:00It's kind of hard to escape some of the weirdn...It's kind of hard to escape some of the weirdness of character progression.<br /><br />Day 1: Said bye to Mama, drank my first beer, killed a rat.<br /><br />Day 20: I'm a regional power in my own right.Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-4977034252589488462022-09-23T07:10:35.483-04:002022-09-23T07:10:35.483-04:00That's right. It's in the manual on page 4...That's right. It's in the manual on page 43:<br /><br />"A correct combination invoked by the inexperienced also results in the dissipation of the Mana involved, but a very small amount of experience is gained in the attempt. In this case a brief glance of the sphere of influence invoked is shown, either DAIN or NETA."<br /><br />The DAIN symbol (an abstraction of a wizard's staff) represents a wizard skill and the NETA symbol (a cross) represents a priest skill.<br /><br />However, the results are only visible for an extremely short time. I never noticed these when playing without the manual, and even knowing what to look for, it's hard to see, because the symbol is surrounded by some other pixels that represent sparks. Also, the designers must have set the display duration to very low because otherwise the results display would occlude the combat UI and slow the player down a little.Bitmapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-62237787382325770402022-09-23T06:49:01.461-04:002022-09-23T06:49:01.461-04:00"Has become" implies that it is a recent..."Has become" implies that it is a recent term. I'm pretty certain I've seen it in reference to films (mostly with music) in reviews dating back to the 70s. <br /><br />In gaming, I'm nearly certain I saw it used (without clarification, meaning that it was expected that the audience would know it) in magazine reviews for the (horrible) 1998 game Jurassic Part: Trespasser, which tried to make everything diegetic to the extreme (instead of a HUD, the player character counts her shots verbally, and you look at a tattoo on her breast to check health; and interaction is done by directly moving her arm) to horrible results.Gnomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920812227941556716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-73361235920999813282022-09-22T20:23:39.471-04:002022-09-22T20:23:39.471-04:00(Arcane word, that is. How I miss the preview butt...(Arcane <b>word</b>, that is. How I miss the preview button...)PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-14281095962720848482022-09-22T20:23:02.410-04:002022-09-22T20:23:02.410-04:00"Diegetic" has become a pretty standard ..."Diegetic" has become a pretty standard term of art for anyone talking about games (or cinema) in a serious way. I don't blame anyone for not knowing it, but it's also not some incredibly arcane words, any more than terms like "catalytic" or "sacroiliac" or "probiotic". They mean specific things, so there's a word for it.<br /><br />It's an important skill in life not to take it personally (or to assume evil intent) when someone knows something you don't. After all, most people do!PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-88813091734483152642022-09-22T19:26:29.976-04:002022-09-22T19:26:29.976-04:00Had to look up "diegetic." If you are go...Had to look up "diegetic." If you are going to show off your vast vocabulary, please, at least spell the words correctly.<br /><br />adjective<br /><br />(of sound in a movie, television program, etc.) occurring within the context of the story and able to be heard by the characters.<br />"the music used is strictly diegetic"<br /><br />1. The presentation of a narrative without direct dramatic imitation of the events, scenes, or characters described.<br />2. The world that is depicted in a work of narrative art, especially a film.Futilitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-39908529751408076252022-09-22T11:11:01.204-04:002022-09-22T11:11:01.204-04:00I'm not normally into grinding, but when I pla...I'm not normally into grinding, but when I played Octopath Traveler a few years ago, I found that there were places where I could do "directed" grinding - targeting certain kinds of character growth in a way that enabled a very specific strategy I wanted to employ against the next boss, and that particular form of grinding did appeal to me a lot. Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09703211229982182936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-7656202002630696872022-09-22T09:31:50.306-04:002022-09-22T09:31:50.306-04:00But don't take the grinding discussion as an i...But don't take the grinding discussion as an identity! This is the problem you, and you guys have so many times when having any discussion: you confuse discussions as arguments, and you confuse choices as identity traits, and criticisms of these choices as an attack to yourself. Personally, I fall in the field that I like to do any mechanic 1k times, but not 10k times. Yay for short games. <br /><br />I do think though that the DM games are designed in a way that you can approach them with or without the need of min maxing, grinding or whatever gamey term. And to add, I think that DM2 is so beautiful. Risingson Carloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08915480026187953569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-76494625184794050232022-09-21T15:29:29.119-04:002022-09-21T15:29:29.119-04:00"I don't even know if it's a priest o..."I don't even know if it's a priest or mage spell."<br /><br />IIRC, there is a priest symbol or a wizard symbol showing briefly in the spell area when the spell fizzles indicating which level you need to train to cast it successfully. The question marks show there, when the rune combination is not valid.Jíhahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16503212530647458148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-53563713767135437602022-09-20T21:42:25.980-04:002022-09-20T21:42:25.980-04:00DM2 puzzles are neither good nor bad. DM2 puzzles are neither good nor bad. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22385956671544301082022-09-20T21:16:10.590-04:002022-09-20T21:16:10.590-04:00Yes, I said there were some in the tower, and I re...Yes, I said there were some in the tower, and I remember thinking one in particular was the best DM puzzle ever... but you are correct insofar as there were not nearly so many.Gerry Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078394659680797175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-40385221475158354882022-09-20T17:04:31.309-04:002022-09-20T17:04:31.309-04:00I couldn't get it to work when I tried it but ...I couldn't get it to work when I tried it but maybe I just did something wrong or it was a situation-specific glitch. I'll give it another shot.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-8101867821333211092022-09-20T17:03:55.695-04:002022-09-20T17:03:55.695-04:00We've had the grinding argument a million time...We've had the grinding argument a million times by now and I don't feel like engaging it again. But I do want to point out that what I did this session is indicative of neither my usual approach nor what the game requires. I haven't met an enemy yet who was so difficult that I felt I had to grind, and I usually wait for that to happen before I do grind. Sometimes you just get stuck in a rut and spin your wheels for a while for no reason except that you lack a general motivation.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-6500635473902292122022-09-20T14:11:10.928-04:002022-09-20T14:11:10.928-04:00I'm with Harlan.
All that tedium some people a...I'm with Harlan.<br />All that tedium some people are willing to endure just to avoid the fun of challenges boggles my mind.POnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-70641469571455251102022-09-20T11:57:19.420-04:002022-09-20T11:57:19.420-04:00DM II did have a better fleshed out world (even in...DM II did have a better fleshed out world (even inside the dungeon), but it was curiously lacking the typical DM-puzzlesd. There are some in DM 2, but few. Maybe they thought they couldnt top Chaos strikes back in this regard and went into a different direction.Peerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02297963116849711354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-26851862990802546082022-09-20T09:09:13.410-04:002022-09-20T09:09:13.410-04:00Then is the problem with walzingthat technically m...Then is the problem with walzingthat technically means you could clear any enemy in the game without leveling with enough patience Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-27440905412708951612022-09-20T09:02:16.390-04:002022-09-20T09:02:16.390-04:00One of the things I learned from reading this blog...One of the things I learned from reading this blog is just how much some people <i>love</i> grinding. They really enjoy maxing out all levels and skills on all characters. This sounds like tedium to me, but it takes all kinds in this big world. When I play, I just kill the creatures it seems I'm supposed to kill and figure my characters level naturally. Going into an area just to fight random combats for hours is something I never do. When I replayed Phantasy Star a few years back there was an area where I had to do exactly that: wander around and fight random monsters in order to progress. I didn't finish the game. <br /><br />I remember the original Dungeon Master, my buddy who was teaching me told me to put my spellcasters in the front ranks and fight without weapons to get some ninja levels. There's a line between doing something like that and killing monsters for hours until your inventory is bursting with screamer slices. Harlandnoreply@blogger.com