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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 3:15 am
by Des
It's a cracking dunge but there's a lot to get to grips with before one can make a real assualt on the quests. Trying different parties by gathering (e.g.) extra maces and corbums (corba?), learning how to cast spells with the changed formulae (I've mustered a fireball, hooray!), generally sussing out the dungeon and the new monsters, and of course you have to map by hand as the dungeon can't be opened in CSBuild (presumably to stop cheating).

Last time I did any hand mapping was about 10 years ago playing EOTB on the Amiga. Previously about 14 years ago we had the luxury of three of us playing DM and CSB on the ST as a team - one controlling, one mapping, one helping (switch roles every hour or so).

Whilst time-consuming, mapping can be quite satisfying when it all comes together, though really annoying when you have to sellotape on extra bits of graph paper for small sections that won't quite fit.

Anyway, I'm doing the dunge but it will take me several weeks as I don't have a lot of spare time for games - a common trait amongst us old farts :)

P.S. Is it possible to make CSB4Win open with your favoured size and speed settings, either using the config file or runtime parameters?

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 4:32 am
by Paul Stevens
On the command line: SIZE=SMALL
or LARGE or VERYLARGE or EXTRALARGE or FULL.

No way to control speed. I've carded it.

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 4:07 pm
by PicturesInTheDark
I think you could start tackling the main quests, Charlatan, if you want to. Characters will improve during the time you try to complete one and they're beyond the first real weak part already as far as I've seen.

As a sideline: I did not draw maps at all - probably cost me extra time but after playing a while I found my way with occasional errors of course - it's too non-linear to remember everything in there :wink:

Regards, PitD

CSBWin size / speed

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 12:58 am
by Des
Thanks Paul,

VERYLARGE works fine though FULL doesn't seem to do quite what nature intented on my machine - I get a small game screen in the top left corner and a load of black space.

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:42 am
by Paul Stevens
When you specify FULL you must define each of the
four pieces individually in the config.txt. Where each
piece goes and how big it should be. I think it shipped
with just the one piece because it was done for someone
who did not like the distractions of the flashing buttons, etc.
Lost the ambience or something like that.

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:08 pm
by Des
Out of interest I had a quick fiddle with the CONFIG file and

Place A 3 0 0 140 C8 20 40

gives you all the sections and fills most of the screen at 1024x768, though the colours look at bit off. Is this becasue the four sections should be specified as separate viewports as you implied above? (Place A, Place B etc.)

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:49 pm
by Paul Stevens
Yes, I think you had better put them in individually. They use
different palettes.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:07 am
by Charlatan75
Hello! :)

I sent 2 savegames wednesday for the quest competition and I was wondering if you received them ("circus prize 99" and "certificate of innocence").

Otherwise I've got 4 new savegames ready to be sent (cerberus + 3 main quests ^^). Can I send them now or should I wait for the scores to be updated?

- Charlatan75 -

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:59 am
by Zyx
Yes, send them, I will update as soon as possible. I received the previous two.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 1:54 am
by Charlatan75
Ok, thank you. I've just sent them. ^^

- Charlatan75 -

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 2:19 am
by Zyx
Impressive! Charlatan75 completed the three main quests and has now 113 quest points and 41 record points!

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 10:42 pm
by PicturesInTheDark
The others are still in starting position I assume ;o) BTW: I noticed that the "last post" was still shown as being from in my browser when it was actually Zyx who had made it - could it be that sticky posts have a different handling than "normal" ones in that respect ?

Regards, PitD

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 9:41 pm
by Des
I'm out of starting position, making slow but steady progress.

My "mapping" party has just got the flask. All four characters can make a stamina potion, but alas nobody can muster a health potion despite numerous attempts (using the standard LO VI formula). Maybe I have to find something else in the dungeon, or I need a higher level priest.

My mapping party is the default characters (Iaido, Zed, Lief and Gando) resurrected and sent out to map / suss out the first couple of levels before I pick my "real" party to do the quests. Zed is supposed to be the priest but he isn't very good, and he's also a bit of a wimp fighter - one rat bite and he snuffs it!

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 10:45 pm
by beowuuf
hehehe, notice the message doesn't say 'you need more practise'?
One of the fun surprises of Conflux : )

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 10:53 pm
by PicturesInTheDark
Only laughed about it a fair time afterwards myself... but you're right. Amazing there can still be so many "new" things to this old game!

Regards, PitD

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 11:09 pm
by Des
But I DO get "xxxxx requires more practice with this priest spell" rather than "xxxxx mumbles a meaningless spell" when I cast LO VI. This is why I assumed the formula had not changed. Unless VI on its own is a legal spell but it's a really tough one like resurrection....?

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 11:25 pm
by beowuuf
Oops, my bad...i remember now
Yes, the spell you are trying to cast is powerful, and yes it isn't necessarily the healing spell you know and love</hint>

PitD: Yes, the second i managed to not die alot, I laughed too
Until then it was %^&*( zyx and his ^&*( dung...oh, that works, wow, this is cool : )

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:34 am
by Des
Eureka! I have now made some "Ichor of Life" :D

I won't reveal the answer as previous posts may already serve to spare others of the sweet torment.

I should now be able to keep Zed alive a bit more often, so far I've felt like naming the party after a pop group: "Right, Zed's Dead".

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:58 am
by beowuuf
LMAO
I'm singing the old song their name is based on

'Right' said Zed, 'that there floor there is probably gunna go' etc


Everyone picks on Zed, but I like him...i picked Zed and Iaido as a starting party in Conflux and did fine

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 11:06 am
by PicturesInTheDark
Funny... "Zed's dead" reminds me of Pulp Fiction first... although I think he was spelled with an "s" in that movie...

Regards, PitD

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:59 pm
by beowuuf
Iaido: Where's Zed?
Leif: Zed's dead baby...Zed's dead...
Iaido: You're...scaring me....and watch out for that screamer...

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 6:00 pm
by Zyx
Charlatan75 found the dragon armor. There is only one quest left for him, the fiery cerberus quest. (and then the quest of legend).

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 9:55 pm
by PaulH
Zed in Pulp Fiction waas definately spelled with a 'Z'. Remember that keyring? Off topic, but I just picked up a Sting sword on ebay for 25 pounds. There is one more... be quick!

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 10:05 pm
by beowuuf
Hmm, quest of legend - how are we going to handle that for multiple entries?

Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 2:54 am
by Gambit37
I've just started playing Conflux 2 -- just a cursory look for now. I am incredibly impressed! The new graphics really take this to the next level and it's like playing a brand new game -- I love it! The rocks falls and wooden beams are great, and the fact that the dungeon has lots of decoration really adds to the atmosphere.

I haven't got far yet -- keep getting killed by spitter trees. And I keep getting lost. Looks like it's back to the gold old days of mapping by hand.

I'm really looking forward to exploring this! Well done Zyx, Charlatan and Cowsmanaut!

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 12:36 am
by Des
Ah yes, the joy of mapping. I've now mapped most of the first 4 levels and a bit below when I went down the pit wot you mustn't look in. The big clue that you might be a tad lower than you think is the level gains: "Gando breaks wind" - "Gando has gained a Priest Level". I did make it back up but it crocked my food supply as does mapping if you forget to slow the game down.

Nevertheless, I've decided that hand-mapping is better than just peeking at the dungeon when you get lost. Much more in the spirit of the original game. Only downer is that I only get the odd hour here and there to play DM, this combined with overhead of mapping means it will take me ages to finish Conflux II. But I don't mind as it's superb :D

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 1:04 am
by beowuuf
Just out of interest, how do people map?

I did the old pencil and paper thing, rather than, as would have been more sensible, the art package with square brush tip and very quickly creating the floor lay out - could have even used blobs for wall features and objects on the floor that way!

Of course, i only think of that now... : )

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 1:39 am
by Gambit37
Old skool paper and pencil -- it's the only way, and it's bringing back fond memories of late nights in a dark room -- in fact it's re-creating memories, as that's exactly how I'm playing at the moment! ;)

Luckily I chose a sensible place to start mapping on my page, so all the other pages have fitted and lined up perfectly, so no annoying sellotaping or anything... glad I have a compass -- would have been pretty hard otherwise. :P

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 8:27 am
by beowuuf
A3 sheet of graph papaer...started mapping in the middle...stil somehow managed to get to the edge!
never used cellotape, just do arrows and draw on another section ; )

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:57 am
by Antman
Well, i just finished lemmings, oh no more lemmings and lemmings 2:the tribes so now its time for Conflux 2. I managed to get a flask in less moves than Chalatan75 so i shall pass it on to Zyx, more quests to come....