Gingerbread Man on 26/3/2005 at 05:25
Evil doped-up spider is now a stain on the stone. And it's good to know I have only 10 levels... that puts things in a bit more perspective. I thought (feared) there might be 100.
I'm actually now wandering some kind of frozen cave area up above where Greu the FisherTroll lives, pissed off at my lack of Levitation. I've tried to make that sodding jump to the stalactite five or twenty hundred times, and I'm bummed.
Guess I'll wobble back to Arx to see about buying a levitation scroll or something. There's no chance of me inventing a levitation ring or potion or whatever, as I still haven't got the exp necessary to pick a sodding lock.
I've been focussing on combat and dexterity almost exclusively. I do really like the rune-casting magic idea, but it's just not something I can pull off conveniently under duress. Sure, I can queue up three spells, but fuck that. Wobbly Bob has a hard time turning 180, never mind pointing a fireball in the right direction. No, I'm a potions-and-sword man. Brute force and quickliness sees me through.
In any event, I'm a bit bewildered and starting to get a bit bored. And I hate to admit that. Arx is, so far, a really excellent stab at a first-person RPG, and I have the nagging feeling that there is so much more to it if I were more imaginative. Hell, it took me how long to realise I could cook food?
I don't know what I expect of these things... As I say, I'm not a fan of CRPG at all, really... pen-and-paper RPGs I've been playing since the first edition of D&D, but CRPG is a different kettle of fish. For instance, I find it very annoying and limiting that I can't walk up to a guard and say "So, how do I get into these Crypts, then?"
But yeah, I plough onward. Seems all there is left to kill are rats and spiders, though. I think there's something I'm missing that will make a breakthrough, something that will suddenly catapault me back into the thick of things... I just haven't stumbled across it yet.
Arachnocidally yrs,
GBM
(ps: still can't figure out a way into the bloody crypts...)
Musopticon? on 26/3/2005 at 09:14
About the Ice Caves, you can shoot some of the stalagtites down with your bow(and maybe fireballs) and it really is worth levitating there. Some hard-to-find loot and a BIG surprise. I don't know what's the problem with the crypts. What's the deepest level you've visited? I think there's another way into the crypts on one of the lower levels.
driver on 26/3/2005 at 11:49
You gain access to the crypts after raiding Akbaa's temple and triggering a further cutscene on a later level. You'll know when you're allowed in there as it's a specific quest, untill then, they remain locked.
Arx does suffer a bit from a lack of direction, I felt I more stumbled across quests and bits of plot rather than track them down. For the most part it encourages exploration (those ice caves are loaded with treasure, but are dificult to navigate without levitation, as you know), but there are a few points where you can bugger things up by going too far too fast, like the Snake Women for example.
Printer's Devil on 26/3/2005 at 21:37
Is it just me or is Am-Shaegar the most narcoleptic hero in the history of fantasy? "Oh, I am a actually some sort of supernatural creature sent by Yoda's cousin. I guess I'd better destroy that demon-rock and save the world. Zzzzzzzz." Ha! Arx Fatalis is a very bold (and fun) game bursting with contradictions. I like the bit where your cell-mate says: "You seem to have lost your memory, so I will name you Am-Shaegar!" Talk about cruel! The guy HAS TROUBLE REMEMBERING THINGS and you give him a three syllable foriegn name? Play it safe and call him 'Bud' or 'Guy'. GBM, you haven't met frustration until you've tried spellcasting with a trackball! Still, I love wearing the NINJA MASK (though it would be even better if it showed up in cutscenes: "Mr. King, I'm gonna bust out some ninja moves and defeat that EVIL MONSTER GUY from DIMENSION FIVE!). My initial problem was understanding the logic used to manipulate objects. For instance, it's true that water extinguishes fire, but the small bottles of water used in cooking never struck me as sufficient to do the job. I wanted to yank the torches out of the wall and roll them in the dirt or whip them into a pond (or set things on fire). And the pigs and chickens? Loved 'em. I wanted to lead them to victory against their human oppressors.
Gingerbread Man on 26/3/2005 at 22:44
I have a trackball, runes aren't a big deal. They weren't a problem in Black and White, I'm not having a problem with them now.
But why is it that EVERYTHING I want to levitate to seems to be about four inches higher than the place I started from? Is there no way to ascend or descend while levitating, or am I just a retard?
+++++
From the department of Unintentional Hilarity:
So, I finally managed to get around the Ice Caves, had a chat with a sorta neat Dragon (sad that it spouted the old "lol ur in a game" stuff... but maybe I've been spoiled by Anachronox), decided not to try to slay it at the moment (after three attempts), and beetled off to save Shany.
Couple of minutes later, standing over the freshly-rifled pockets of some cultists, Bob Wobbles looks around and says, in a calmly assured voice, "I'm hungry."
:D
(Also, from the Department of Intentionally Messing About, I have filled the King's throneroom with demon chickens)
driver on 27/3/2005 at 00:13
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
But why is it that EVERYTHING I want to levitate to seems to be about four inches higher than the place I started from? Is there no way to ascend or descend while levitating, or am I just a retard?
The only way I've found is to get hit by something while levitating. This causes you to float upwards, but there's no way to get down without cancelling the spell. You have to judge things carefully though or you get jammed in the middle of the ceiling with a 50 foot drop waiting for you when your spell runs out. :erm:
Munin the Raven on 27/3/2005 at 00:26
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
But why is it that EVERYTHING I want to levitate to seems to be about four inches higher than the place I started from? Is there no way to ascend or descend while levitating, or am I just a retard?
No, the levitate spell is not a flying spell. It's not like the levitate spell in Morrowind where you can ascend and descend.
The best option is to find the highest place you can to levitate from (towers, slopes, walls, etc.). Also, precast the levitation spell and activate it at the apex of a jump to add a couple of extra feet to your levitation level. Sometimes bumping into terrain such as slopes and stalactites while levitating can add a couple of extra inches.
Gingerbread Man on 27/3/2005 at 01:15
So I found some new caves. And a rat bastard tried to sneak me up behind, but ho ho I wear nightvision goggles and I stabbed and stabbed and stabbed him with my Super Assassin Knife until he went away.
Bought some runes, found some others, and now I have a fairly useful repertoire of magical arm-movements. Can't wait to try this "Freak Out The Undead" move... 'Course, I'll probably need to find a way into those CRYPTS if I'm to get my zombies on. Although, I haven't been back to ask anyone about anything since I sent Shany home... Maybe after that someone will ask me to clear out the crypts a bit in case she goes back in there. Even though her nearly getting her fool self sacrificed had nothing to do wtih the crypts at all.
Ran into some fish goblinses who want me to kill the earth goblinses. I'm not entirely sure who they mean, but if they're happy to give me some kind of Fish Wizard Thing if I go back to Goblin City and murder them all again, I'm probably down for that.
But then Pog will be mad. Maybe I can hook him up direct with a gem merchant... I know I'm still masquerading as one as far as the Gobbos are concerned, but perhaps there a way to do a little Bolshevik Revolution down in Pogland. Certainly that big troll I watched thump four gobbos to death in the mines would be up for a brawl.
Couple of other fun things I forgot to mention earlier:
I stumbled across some kind of room with pews and an altar (later to discover that was where Shany was to be sacrificed) long before I found that Snake Pillar. But I did steal all the sacrificial knives, so I wonder if that perplexed the cultists a little bit.
Also saw a few gold coins on the ground. Picked them up. Then some more. Picked them up, too. Then more, then more, and there was a trail of coins leading up to a chest in the middle of the room. And I said ¬¬
Picked up some more, then more, then started grinning. I could hear the clever goblinses up above, and I realised exactly what their game was. That was a true moment of hilarity for me... I actually laughed out loud at that. Great little set-piece. :D
driver on 27/3/2005 at 01:24
You'll know when you need to go to the crypts because someone will say, HEY, WHY DON'T YA GO INTA THEM CRYPT THINGAMAJIGS?! They're a specific quest rather than a random expore-y cave type place.
Gingerbread Man on 27/3/2005 at 03:24
So I stabbed and stabbed and stabbed the demon to death finally \o/
And then someone killed a chicken on my blankets >:(
So I made MORE chickens with my hilariously impotent Summon Demon hand-wiggles >:D
I sat and listened to a wildly improbable tale about Krahoz and Zohark (lol I see what u did there), then went around Grand Moff Tarkining the populace.
WHERE IS TEH REBAL BASE?????
Found the rebel scum in the end, entirely by accident. Frowny the Sacrifice was lurking in the Underground Puddle, and her goons whopped me right in the head and dragged me off Gordon Freeman-style. How unexpectz0red.
In the course of my Tarkining, I found out that the fish gobbos weren't actually suggesting I kill all the goblins, just the earth ones. Who were just as eager for me to kill the water ones. Probably I'll kill them all, just to prove a point.
lol krahoz zohark fs
(ps: Oh good lord, did one of these rebel scum guards just tell me this batty frown chick's name is Lea? Wow, that's just dumb. Maybe he said Aliya.)
(pps: Crypts quite sppoky :D I especially like the zombies saying COME HERE. Also now a lich is totally pwning me. :( )
