Nahlakh and Natuk

[Fowyr]

- Enemy AI is horrible.

I once had a Skeletal Warrior who used randomly generated wand of Turn Undead on itself with obvious result.

 

[octavius]

Generally I think the AI is superior compared to the Gold Box games.
But there is some emergent gaemeplay that can lead to amusing results, like Blinded enemies hitting themselves.

 

[Jaesun]

I once had a Skeletal Warrior who used randomly generated wand of Turn Undead on itself with obvious result.

Now THAT is fucking AWESOME.

 

[Joined on the 4th of July]

But there is some emergent gaemeplay that can lead to amusing results,

I fought that skeleton knight in kobold caves (pretty tough early game enemy for those who haven't played) and the RNG had blessed him with a faerie armor. Faerie armors have pretty good stats and a nice extra effect of every now and then teleporting their wearer randomly around the battlefield. So he'd come to my guys and knock one or two of them down with one hit and then got teleported somewhere far away. Giving me enough time to patch up my guys before he'd come back for few more hits.

Funny and amusing, unless you're the developer and that was your carefully designed boss encounter I guess. Which probably is the reason why we don't see this kind of stuff in most other games.

 

[TigerKnee]

The speed setting is pretty fucked up on this game, isn't it?

Turning down DOSBox cycles doesn't even help me with reading the text that much... all it does is make the delay in between the messages longer. The message itself stays on screen for a split second before disappearing.

 

[octavius]

Use CTRL-ALT-F5 to start and stop video. Then you can watch the video and freeze it when the spell casting occurs.
Works for me at least.

 

[Joined on the 4th of July]

Memories are hazy, but I'm fairly certain that enemy spells blinking on screen for just a split second was in the game even when playing on 386. Ie. it's like that by design. I'd guess... Could ask from Proudfoot himself, if he remembers.

 

[octavius]

So I found 3 Jeweled Keys in dungeons early in the game, but now I've cleared out the lairs of the Orcs, Hobgoblins, Trolls and Frogmen (postponed Ogres), but no more keys.
Should I be worried?

EDIT: Just cleared the Ogre cave, so now I've cleared out everything on the first island. No key in the Ogre cave either...

 

[octavius]

Found two new keys on the second island, so now I'm relieved.

Most brutal fight so far was against Kremnak (sp?) the Sorceror. He had like 8 attacks in one round, and killed three of my party with three RakhMaMort spells. Create Tree spell could have saved the day, except my three characters who could cast the spell were the very same that were killed. So I had to reload, and I was fortunate that Big K was around a corner. He was weak physically, so went down quickly.

Other things I've discovered:

Raising Dex also increases the corresponding skills.

Summon Demon spell can backfire. Used in one hard fight that turned very hard when the demons (annoying bugs with teleport attack) attacked my characters. Oh well, those Staffs of Summon Demon now longer take up the limited space in inventory.

Birdmen are annoying. Very hard to hit, unless you come up from behind.

Buffing spells have a good chance of canceling each other out. If I cast first Mass Armour and then Mass Strength and Mass Haste, chances are great that the Armour spells will expire. Quite annoying...

Finding musical intruments is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I've seen about 3 regular ones, but no magical ones. The last instrument I had broke like 30 game days or so ago.

 

[octavius]

I've played this game for five weeks now, and I've only found six Jeweled Keys so far. I think there are 13 in all, which means I'm not even halfway yet?

Relying on one handed weapons for two of my three melee fighters is starting to look like a bad idea, when they can't make a dent in some enemies, and I have to rely on Meat the Ogre with his +5 Mithril Maul. If he can hit, it bleeds.

I had to retreat from the Birdmen Elders and their Phoenix pets in Guano City. Isn't it typical? I encountered a party of four Phoenixes and they want down quickly without doing any damage. But in the big fight against the Birdmen Elders the two Phoenixes suddenly instakill my characters.

So we boldly regrouped southwards and found a guy who could Enchant items, which was a very pleasant surprise. Anyone know if enchanting items with protection from the elements will make them protect better against the elements, or is just the Armour rating affected?

 

[octavius]

It's now Day 83 (game time), and I have now found 8 Jeweled Keys, and have explored all of the two first islands, except most of the Scorpio dungeon, which I assume lead to another, smaller island.
Problem now is that those Scorpios hit really hard, sometimes insta-killing my guys despite them having an armour of around 45 (thank to lots of enchanting of cloaks, helmets, boots and gloves to +5), and their mages can be very nasty, turning invisible, casting Mass Armour and Mass Strength on their allies, spamming Darken Magic, and sometimes casting Quickness and Drain Life.
But more worrying is the bloody inflation which means it's hard to scrape together significant amounts of money, which I could use for buying more Strength and Health. But going to the teachers will cost both time and money. It's kinda frustrating that going back to town to sell loot costs time in which the loots keeps getting less valuable.

Another alternative to press forward in the Scorpio dungeons is to take a ship to the third island.

Any suggestions?

 

[octavius]

Finally learnt the Quickness spell, so now I'm able to spam Brighten Magic spells myself, which makes thing much easier against Scorpio Mages, and of course generally easier against any enemy.
Still haven't learnt Raise Dead (had a nice Staff of Raise Dead that is now used up) , so it's annoying having to trek across the whole island if one of my guys gets killed.

 

[Fowyr]

Any suggestions?

Quickness+Death Bolt.

 

[octavius]

Dralkha's Castle is some wild, weird stuff...like monsters that can only be killed with magic and plants that chunk even the toughest warrior, producing the largest blood splatters I've seen so far in the game (not a pretty sight when one is one the receiving end).
Keeping up four buffs at the same time is also problematic, so I mostly walk around with only my artillery (thief/archer and two mages) Quickened.

According to the hint book Proudfoot's best game tester used 297 game days to complete the game, and I'm only at day 84 so far. So either I'm ahead of schedule, or else the game will last me another two months...

 

[Fowyr]

According to the hint book Proudfoot's best game tester used 297 game days to complete the game, and I'm only at day 84 so far. So either I'm ahead of schedule, or else the game will last me another two months...

Don't think so.
You are pretty much on beeline for a finish, just a continent or two ahead.
Though I, as usual, played it with a big breaks for several years.

 

[belowmecoldhands]

Good read, but I won't play it. Too many games to play. I'm sure they're worthy.

You know that feeling you get when you ponder... alll the thousands--or millions--of movies and books and board games and computer games and console games and .... suddenly feel like a single grain of sand on Earth?

Just because it's old doesn't mean it's not worth seeing. Especially with books. I read old books all the time (usually 1960's and after). And even though I think computer/console games don't age as well, I can still play old ones.

And what about music and art? There's that feeling of again... a single grain of sand on...

When I'm done with Baldur's Gate I might try Unreal World or ToEE. One at a time. Might be a year or two...

There was a famous game maker said something like "I can only do X amount in my short life."

Carl Sagan:

 

[octavius]

Good read, but I won't play it. Too many games to play. I'm sure they're worthy.

You know that feeling you get when you ponder... alll the thousands--or millions--of movies and books and board games and computer games and console games and .... suddenly feel like a single grain of sand on Earth?

Just because it's old doesn't mean it's not worth seeing. Especially with books. I read old books all the time (usually 1960's and after). And even though I think computer/console games don't age as well, I can still play old ones.

And what about music and art? There's that feeling of again... a single grain of sand on...

When I'm done with Baldur's Gate I might try Unreal World or ToEE. One at a time. Might be a year or two...

There was a famous game maker said something like "I can only do X amount in my short life."

I know what you mean.
That is why I started playing the games and reading books I want to experience chronologically.
I feel I get much more done that way, than just pick one "grain" of all the possible one. I also used to replay the same few games too much, and even reread the same books (damn you, GRRM).

 

[octavius]

I wonder what is the best course of action before heading for Avard Isle?
Use all my money to give one of my Mages as high DEX as possible, so that if meeting enemy mages he can hopefully spam ZuNulGohk (Brighten Magic) before the mages can act? Or give my party as a whole more ST and STR, to make my fighters even more effective and all my guys being able to take more damage?
Decisions, decisons...

 

[octavius]

I went with max Dex for my Mage. He now has a Dex of 95.
Luckily enough there were trainers for Str and Dex in the first town on the island. Hopefully there are at least one more city where I can also boost Health further, and perhaps even a second enchanter.
Finally found someone to recharge items, but that is mostly moot now that I can cast most spells myself.

 

[Fowyr]

Have you found that nifty holy greatsword +7? Treasure it and learn to use it.

 

[octavius]

Have you found that nifty holy greatsword +7? Treasure it and learn to use it.

Yup, and already had an expert with 2H Swords.
Check the Screenshots thread.

 

[octavius]

Those crocoshamans must be the most fucking annoying motherfuckers so far. If you don't kill them before they cast TaBisQu and TaMaQu they are virtually impossible to damage physically, even with a +7 Greatsword. And then they keep spamming Mass Heal...
I hope there's not a whole cave full of the motherfuckers.

 

[Joined on the 4th of July]

I don't remember melee guys ever going useless. Are you targeting specific body parts? Like vital organs or brain or neck.

 

[octavius]

I don't remember melee guys ever going useless. Are you targeting specific body parts? Like vital organs or brain or neck.

Brain. But there is a -4 damage modifier. So I tried Neck and Vital Organs instead, but still no dice. With two armour buffs they can soak up more damage than my best melee guy can dish out.
But the Crocoshamans are extreme cases, though. So far, at least.

 

[octavius]

Twelve Jeweled Keys, only one to go before I enter the Ice Palace.

Hardest fight so far was against the Spider Queen and her extremely hard hitting spider demons. Took me 3-4 tries and I was drenched in sweat when the ordeal was finally over. Had to use my two melee guys with shields to get next to the spider demons, hope they not got chunked, but "only" fall down or, if lucky, take little or no damage, before the +7 Holy Sword hacked them to pieces.
Hyperspiders were even nastier, but thankfully not present in the boss fight. At least the spider demons are juicy and crunchy, and go down in 2-3 blows.

One mistake I've done is to not have hoarded Rejuvenation Potions, since running out of ST in large battles is not fun.