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Idle Thumbs Megathread | Indepth discussion inbetween horsebags and birdsounds

S

Shaneus

Member
I had a (not so) random fact that I tweeted to Chris: The studio he was talking about was actually Indie Built (the guys behind the Amped series... at least, Amped 3), which was the new name for the company behind the Tex Murphy series along with Links/World Class Leaderboard and Crime Wave once MS bought them out (ish).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_Built

Also, just quoting this from the last page... just in case:
Shaneus said:
No package for me today. I don't think. Unless they sent it via FedEx, in which case... it came for me today, but I couldn't sign for it :(

For those who chucked in $200, would the package be small enough to, say, fit inside a meterbox?

Or could anyone provide a photo/measurements?
Click to expand...
 
T

TTG

Member
Dear Chris Remo,

I feel your pain and it's not your fault. Early in the game, and I'll call anything up to the alien base early, any small thing can unsettle you. It's like putting a wheel on the grass in a race, doesn't really matter how well you were doing before then... Gotta make it out of that zone where ET can one shot you.

In my case tonight, it was a terror mission. All that made it back were 2 wounded out of 5, even though I technically finished it. UFO landed 3 days later and it was 5 rookies up against a full crew of aliens. Squad wipe, that left me with 2(wounded) soldiers in the barracks total... yea.
 
S

Shaneus

Member
Jintor said:
Package was fucking huge shaneus. Flat, but huge. Won't fit in a mailbox
Click to expand...
Sweet. Will get it sent to my folks then. Was hoping for electrical meter box, but definitely safer for my folks to get it... especially if it might rain tomorrow. Thanks Jinty!
 
A

Aaron

Member
I would advise Chris to play XCOM on Impossible, but not ironman. Get used to how insane shit can get, adjust your tactics to account for it, and you'll be ready for a classic ironman run.
 
C

Chris Remo

Member
Shaneus said:
I had a (not so) random fact that I tweeted to Chris: The studio he was talking about was actually Indie Built (the guys behind the Amped series... at least, Amped 3), which was the new name for the company behind the Tex Murphy series along with Links/World Class Leaderboard and Crime Wave once MS bought them out (ish).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_Built
Click to expand...

Ah yes, thanks for the reminder/correction.

The craziest thing is that after they were sold to Microsoft they were renamed "Indie Games." !?!?!? Then after being sold again to Take-Two, they were renamed "Indie Built."
 
S

Shaneus

Member
It really is crazy... because from what I can tell, at no stage ever did they come close to resembling an "indie" developer. In fact, they're probably now closer to being "indie" than before!

I also highly recommend playing Amped 3. Or to save some time and money, watch the GB Quick Look, as that has all the cinematics and goes for a little under an hour. Worth it for the amazing parody of EA/Activision as "Emag Live" or something (Evil Game backwards, I think it was).
 
F

fallout

Member
Chris Remo said:
Ah yes, thanks for the reminder/correction.

The craziest thing is that after they were sold to Microsoft they were renamed "Indie Games." !?!?!? Then after being sold again to Take-Two, they were renamed "Indie Built."
Click to expand...
Clearly, the rebirth of Idle Thumbs should have just been renamed to: "Video Games"
 
R

Rahk

Member
I think it was sent via FedEx, Shaneus? They tried to deliver something to me yesterday as well, and I don't think I have anything else coming.
 
S

Shaneus

Member
Ah, that'd be it then, I think. I just know I have something from ThinkGeek coming but wasn't sure if they used FedEx or they went via Aus Post as per their news thing.

Given they charge a $15 fee to change the recipient address (to the sender!) I might go for a drive tomorrow to Derrimut (I love our place names sometimes!) to pick it up from their depot.

Damn, I hope it's the IT stuff and not something else I've ordered. Nothing else would be worth the effort, IMO.


Edit: I just re-read the thing on Indie Built, and they were indeed called Indie Games before being called Indie Built. Sincere apologies to Chris for correcting him when what he mentioned really only needed clarification.
 
S

Sober

Member
After listening to the last episode I want someone to do a print of Sean fighting Bobby Kotick in freefall.
 
K

KlotePino

Member
I wish someone'd called out Pierre more about that dishonored stuff. I was shaking my head pretty much the entire conversation. What a ridiculous reason to hate a game holy shit.

Edit: i wish both GB and IT would have people argue more. It doesn't have to be all the time but I love hearing contrasting points much more than just one person saying something and the rest nodding.
 
K

KlotePino

Member
Oh Sean talks about the new hire at TellTale Pierre hating Dishonored because he dropped a grenade in the main bar that acts as a hub and you get a game over screen because you kill important characters and Sean agrees.
 
X

xenist

Member
KlotePino said:
Edit: i wish both GB and IT would have people argue more. It doesn't have to be all the time but I love hearing contrasting points much more than just one person saying something and the rest nodding.
Click to expand...

Holy shit, this.

I gave up listening to Rebel FM because of this. "A." "B (louder)!" "You're right it's B." There are two things I get when people are not disagreeing with each other on subjects as subjective as games. It's either an echo chamber, in which case their opinions whether I agree with them or not are of no weight to me, or they do not like each other enough to be able to deal with discord, in which case their whole "we're buddies talking about stuff" is bullshit.

GB have their GOTY episodes which put rest to that argument and IT does not fall, in my opinion, into the echo chamber category.
 
A

Aaron

Member
While he shouldn't quit the game over it, it's completely stupid that it allows you to kill important characters AND is an instant game over. Either make them invulnerable, disable weapons in the bar, or let the game go in that crippled state.
 
F

FStop7

Banned
The Kotick airplane stuff, wow. Hall of fame stuff. "I JUST OWN A BASEBALL TEAM I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

Aaron said:
While he shouldn't quit the game over it, it's completely stupid that it allows you to kill important characters AND is an instant game over. Either make them invulnerable, disable weapons in the bar, or let the game go in that crippled state.
Click to expand...

But why? That stuff can be hilarious. Deus Ex, No One Lives Forever, and a bunch of other classics let you kill friendly NPCs and stop you with a game over screen or send everyone after you.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
KlotePino said:
Edit: i wish both GB and IT would have people argue more. It doesn't have to be all the time but I love hearing contrasting points much more than just one person saying something and the rest nodding.
Click to expand...

You would love the giantbomb GOTY podcasts then.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
Sorry to be a pain, but if any Thumbs are listening (heh) can they check the support email inbox?
 
K

KlotePino

Member
Antiwhippy said:
You would love the giantbomb GOTY podcasts then.
Click to expand...

I do! I think it allows for much more interesting discussion alhough the personal stuff in the GOTY podcasts can descend into petty arguments which although funny are time consuming and not very productive. IT has some really interesting discussion topics that I would think lead to different opinions. I just wish they weren't so afraid of stepping on each others toes so much.
 
C

Copenap

Member
Aaron said:
While he shouldn't quit the game over it, it's completely stupid that it allows you to kill important characters AND is an instant game over. Either make them invulnerable, disable weapons in the bar, or let the game go in that crippled state.
Click to expand...
Holy shit no!

Exactly the opposit. It's a game, I want tobdecide what to do, otherwhise I might as well watch a movie but if I do stupid stuff I obviously have to accept the consequences and in this case that means game over.

XCom has a game over screen, should the game just forbid the player to fuck up instead or what? I honestly can't understand this arguement.
 
F

flowsnake

Member
Copenap said:
Holy shit no!

Exactly the opposit. It's a game, I want tobdecide what to do, otherwhise I might as well watch a movie but if I do stupid stuff I obviously have to accept the consequences and in this case that means game over.

XCom has a game over screen, should the game just forbid the player to fuck up instead or what? I honestly can't understand this arguement.
Click to expand...

But that's different. The XCOM situation is one of clear failure. Presumably there's no "don't kill these special people" objective in Dishonored, it's a hidden failure condition.
 
C

commissar

Member
Well XCOM also fails because there's no opportunity to go full on private military if you lose funding from the allowed eight nations or more.
 
S

Shaneus

Member
bgAh8.jpg
Click to expand...

I love you guys. In a way, I feel that for donating $200, I ripped you off :(
 
A

Aaron

Member
Copenap said:
Holy shit no!

Exactly the opposit. It's a game, I want tobdecide what to do, otherwhise I might as well watch a movie but if I do stupid stuff I obviously have to accept the consequences and in this case that means game over.

XCom has a game over screen, should the game just forbid the player to fuck up instead or what? I honestly can't understand this arguement.
Click to expand...
Except in the case of Dishonored you don't decide what to do. You're a puppy that pees in the kitchen and immediately gets smacked with the newspaper. That's not choice.
 
R

Rufus

Member
Aaron said:
Except in the case of Dishonored you don't decide what to do. You're a puppy that pees in the kitchen and immediately gets smacked with the newspaper. That's not choice.
Click to expand...
While I agree with Jake on this (don't allow me to kill them if the only consequence is a game over), it seemed very strange of Pierre (?) to just ditch the game then and there. And here I thought I had no patience.
 
T

TTG

Member
Aaron said:
Except in the case of Dishonored you don't decide what to do. You're a puppy that pees in the kitchen and immediately gets smacked with the newspaper. That's not choice.
Click to expand...

I haven't played Dishonored, but is your argument that the player should be allowed to kill story/quest important NPCs... solely for the sake of "choice"?

This sounds to me like a developer proclaiming that they've made their game n times more immersive because they made the protagonist silent. Except, here we're talking about an issue that can come back to bite you in the ass down the road. Put me in the lower my weapon or change the color of the reticle camp.
 
J

Jake

Member
TTG said:
I haven't played Dishonored, but is your argument that the player should be allowed to kill story/quest important NPCs... solely for the sake of "choice"?

This sounds to me like a developer proclaiming that they've made their game n times more immersive because they made the protagonist silent. Except, here we're talking about an issue that can come back to bite you in the ass down the road. Put me in the lower my weapon or change the color of the reticle camp.
Click to expand...

One of the designers on Dishonored came by the Idle Forums to talk about friendly NPC death. Some good talk has come of it.
 
Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Member
Speaking of dumb shit, anyone get their Thumbs stickers? Was planning on soiling my laptop with em, but they didn't arrive with the other stuff.
 
A

Aaron

Member
TTG said:
I haven't played Dishonored, but is your argument that the player should be allowed to kill story/quest important NPCs... solely for the sake of "choice"?

This sounds to me like a developer proclaiming that they've made their game n times more immersive because they made the protagonist silent. Except, here we're talking about an issue that can come back to bite you in the ass down the road. Put me in the lower my weapon or change the color of the reticle camp.
Click to expand...
No. I'm saying DON'T let me kill NPCs if it isn't an actual choice, but instead a quick slap with a newspaper. If you do let me kill NPCs, design the game to account for it. There are plenty of games that take away your weapons when you enter a friendly area. I've got no problem with that because they make it clear what you can and can not do there. While the other extreme is Morrowind, where you can kill nearly every NPC, even if it breaks the quests. You live with the consequences there instead of a sudden game over. There's even a way to finish the main quest even if you go on a homicidal rampage.
 
R

Rufus

Member
^ Seeing how the game telegraphs
their betrayal
, it'd have been cool if there was a specific ending in case you made the decision to kill them all once you've rescued Emily. Corvo and Emily, sailing towards Sorkonos, or something of the like. (I see that was already covered by the developer on the thumbs forums, 'rabbit's hole', etc. and I agree... But still! A man can dream.)

Jake said:
One of the designers on Dishonored came by the Idle Forums to talk about friendly NPC death. Some good talk has come of it.
Click to expand...
Very cool, thanks for the link. The point he makes about making them feel more real by making them mortal rings true, but in most cases it just seems to turn into a curiosity you smirk about. It'd be much more effective in a game that let's you interact with them more intently and longer. I've had more compassion for random quest givers in RPGs than with Havelock and Pendleton, but that has likely also to do with the fact that they were unlikeable characters. (And what does that say about me? Ha.)
 
A

Aaron

Member
I don't think most characters in Dishonored get near enough development for them to be anything more than cardboard cutouts that hand you quests.
 
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