simple machines forum

The demo can be twitchy with Sony's controllers...

There will be a proper fix in the SomEx.dll update that will be online in a few days, but the following changes can help make the sticks more linear (less sensitive at the extremes) which will make it less likely to twitch.

[Detail]
escape_analog_gaits = .2 .25 .3 .4 .55 .75 .95
The twitching actually happens when the controller sits on a boundary between the gaits causing the gait to change back and forth (probably more because the controller's sensors are noisy than your hands being twitchy.

We've had a bit of a ice storm here that set in on Christmas night starting with rain and turning into about 7 to 12 inches of snow. I enjoy this time of the year out on the ranch... for these kinds of natural challenges. For a little time each year you get to participate in almost a sport, man vs. nature, that people in the city with urban utilities can only liken to shoveling their driveway. Wood stove and horses tend to sap these days away, but this year, with the usual late December TV lull Dark Souls has also been sapping away my days...

I miss the KF and ST days, but Abyss was pretty weak, as was IV, so I don't know if From' would be able to crank out an honorable addition to these series if it wanted to... and that may well be why it hasn't tried. The DS series adds something different. It feels like a Shadow Tower MMORPG to me, but also like it would be better if it was a more character driven game comparable to the Castlevania series. Demons' feels like Portrait of Ruin with its centralized organization, and Dark feels like SOTN only with a bunch of secret passages connecting bits of the castle at every turn. Personally I would have preferred each zone to just have more organic exits into adjoining areas. And there is what seems like enough content in Dark that it could easily have been spread out into 3 games (2 expansions) if From' would go back to releasing games on a yearly schedule.

That said my main problem with DS is its fatally flawed control scheme. In my mind the series can only be a shadow of itself until it scraps the controls and does something completely different. It bills itself as a hardcore game, but it's controls manage to be even worse than those of ICO, which would be a perfect 10 if not for its controls bringing it down to a high 6. DS has no substance, which is probably good if From wants to spin out as many of these games as it possibly can muster. A game without substance must have tight controls, so DS is something like a 5 out of 10, could be an 8 if it had functional controls. It loses points for me personally in being so shallow while simultaneously more complicated than anything I can possibly imagine, and way more complicated (and obtuse) than any game has a right to be.


The controls have so many problems. In the places were Dark contributes new features to the controls, they are all features with huge potential blowback. Eg. the combos don't always seem to work... and when they don't, instead of leap attacking you do a strong attack, which of course doesn't have the necessary range, leaving yourself completely exposed. There is probably 10 gaping issues such as this, and 10 more more subtle issues with the dysfunctional control scheme. So I won't get into it. Bottom line there has to be a B scheme for players who desire a modicum of precision. Nothing kills immersion like making an ass of yourself and having to berate the game just to blow off the steam telling you to put it down and never pick it up again. Bottom line, if Armored Core had a control scheme like this it would be ridiculed. You can't take a control scheme like this seriously.



I'd like to just post a little bit about where I would like to see SOM go in terms of game play with respect to equipment. All based on my observations WRT the DS games. Some of the late PS2 Armored Core games had a system I really enjoyed, it involves the parts being destroyed. This would be equivalent to a piece of your armor breaking in Shadow Tower. Only its not slow whittling... its more immediate. You were hit in that spot, and your equipment is going to sustain significant damage. If it takes a few more like that that piece of your armor will be completely ineffectual...

That's how I would like to see part breaking work in SOM. That's how armor works in the real world. And I realize emulating the real world is not often, or even necessarily usually, the right thing to do in game worlds. But I think in this case it would be far more interesting. What if weapons had 2 stats? One for breaking, and one for dullness. So your weapon gets dull of course... you sharpen it, but it also breaks. And say if its at 50% then the next swing has a 50% chance of the weapon breaking in two! I think that would present way more interesting scenarios too. Add an element of chance...

Likewise if you don't wear a helmet... your head should not be protected by the armor stat of your boots. If you are hit in the head, well lights out. You'll find that this approach radically simplifies things in the defense dept. No longer do you have to factor every piece of equipment into your game's balance.

If your helmet is at 50% then there is a 50% chance that the next hit will go through it. Higher for pierce, lower for smash of course. Then you're mortally wounded unless you have something up your sleeve.

Finally rolling is retarded. It's not worth wasting buttons on, and being invincible while rolling is just cheese. But likewise you can't be expected to control everything when it comes to evasive maneuvers. My thinking is why shouldn't that be something the game does automatically? If you are not wearing a helmet, then the game should automatically have the player flinch when anything is coming towards their head in plain sight. You simply can't put everything into a controller, and I don't see any indication that we won't be playing games without controllers anytime soon. And I don't think anyone would seriously want to play a game in any other way anyway (short of telekinesis)

Likewise jumping. Sometimes a game might not do what you want it to do, but it should try not to do something that is stupid without any reason. For instance in Dark Souls there is a bonfire in the garden hidden behind a wall that is itself on a ledge. I quit using this bonfire because 50% of the time I'd fall off the ledge just trying to walk around the wall. No player would do that on purpose. Is it suggesting that the bonfire is actually a trap? I don't get it. It just seems like bad design to me.

Games should incorporate a kind of AI to make sure the player cannot do nonsensical things. Consider every action instead to be a gesture, or communication to the game, to indicate what the player would like to do, and ultimately let the game make the best decision.


EDITED: I played an MMORPG once upon a time called Megaten (Megami Tensei) IMAGINE, because I felt like if I am going to be serious about a career in games, I have to seriously play an MMORPG at least once. Anyway when you repaired a piece of equipment in that game, there was always a chance of diminishing returns. The better and more expensive the repair NPC at their craft the less the likelihood of the item loosing some durability permanently. I would like to see that in From's games. I don't think a durability system even adds anything at all to games if there is not diminishing returns, and immediate consequences that do not just come from forgetting to keep your stuff in repair. You may as well just play an accounting simulator at that point.

Here (http://www.swordofmoonlight.com/bbs/index.php?topic=628.0) is the announcement thread at www.swordofmoonlight.com

It includes a link to this (http://www.swordofmoonlight.net/holy/Rath%20Crags.htm) page where I recommend you look for the demo. The top post has a link directly to the .zip file, also hosted here, but I can't vouch for how long it will be before that link goes dead.

I recommend editing the following code into the [Adjust] section of the Rathmor Ex.ini file:

[Adjust]
pc_walk_speed_multiplier = 0.5
pc_dash_speed_multiplier = 0.7

;edited: for difference in dash
fov_frustum_multiplier = 1.35

This will make the PC walk at the speed of a man. It may seem like a slow pace to you, but it takes time to walk several meters. Go outside and try it

Anyway the adjustment is mainly to make the walking locomotion provided by Ex (do_sway) appear more natural. Once trying that out you might want to undo the changes or adjust things as you like. The motion itself can also be adjusted but that is beyond the scope of this post.


Now I don't exactly expect anyone to do so. But if you are a responsible and good and decent human being, you will help us gather some numbers about whether or not two particular menus work for you. SOM has only one single remaining game ending bug that can make the Take X item? and the in-game Save Game (event triggered; such as when examining a save point) menus unnavigable...

Ex does some magic to make this work for most users (computer setup wise) but unlike possibly every other fix, this one is only a bandaid. It also has the negative side effect (when necessary) of making these menus clunkier than others. Unfortunately I've had at least one report of the fix having no effect upon the menus. I can't exactly understand how that is possible, but it seems to be the case.

Regardless this is definitely a bug that needs to be fixed. But it's a rather intractable bug with no obvious fix. I'm confident that a definitive fix will arrive eventually but in the meantime it would be good to know just how many people are affected by this, and potentially helpful to see if they share anything in common.


You can comment on this blog without registering with website. Please comment to say you tried the demo, and tell us if you were able to pickup items and use the save-point, which looks like a giant skull (it's pretty hard to miss)


PS: If you are experiencing this bug and are resolved to finish the demo. For some reason clicking on another window makes the menus just work the next time you press a button. We love From Software as much as anyone here, but SOM is a monument to buggery. Make no bones about it

EDITED: I noticed that all of the (presumably) free software library licenses are printed in the back of the game manual. It's shocking just how much of commercial software nowadays is built on the back of free open-source software libraries. You get the impression that probably sooner than later commercial games will be built entirely out of free software.

Let's face it, there are a lot of really really ugly smileys out there on the internet. But I am a big fan of smileys. The trick is just finding the ones that get their message across while being pleasing to look at.

Ever since I've been administrating websites I've kept my eye out for well done smileys. You could even say that I am a bit of a collector of smileys. Anyway I found my first new smiley for a long time just now

I just nick the things wherever I find them devil may care. And I just thought it would be a good idea to ask everyone that ever comes to make a home here to join in the great smiley hunt with me/us here


Credit where credit is due. I inherited the bulk of these smileys from websites I've either inherited or had been forced to take over (for lack of any other takers) over the years. I won't go into gory detail. That's just a nod to anyone who knows what I am talking about.


But brass tax if you look at the smileys available in the post form here its pretty obvious the kind of smileys that are welcome here...

A) The circumference of the round head if there is one needs to be about the size of an average line of text, which incidentally is the same size as all of the other smileys here. They can vary by only about a pixel. If the smiley is not head based it can have a bit more lee way.


B) The background needs to be transparent. There are a number of not featured smileys that are not transparent. These need some work. If you post a smiley here please doctor the background to be transparent first if it isn't already and you know what you are doing.

C) Generally it's best if the lines are clean. I prefer personally the hard black outline and solid colour smileys, but as long as the head size is appropriate for embedding in average height text its hard to make a smiley too ugly.

D) Smileys expressing derogatory and intolerant positions toward others are not welcome here and should not exist in the world. You know these when you see them. Likewise for violent and unjust smileys ... bottom line ugly smileys are not welcome whether they are ugly on the outside or inside

E) That said there is a grey area that is perfectly acceptable. Like we have an angry smiley in case you want to rant at corporations or some other faceless evil out there in the world. And you are welcome to be cheeky as long as keep everything impersonal, or at least passive aggressive


All smileys will be available on demand in the form of a .zip file. Allow time for processing


PS: Be sure to not miss the additional smileys in the popup window on the post form. Just click the [more] button below the featured smileys

I saw this (attached) for the first time today

I hope the organ theme wasn't butchered too