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I'm no artist, as you can see from my attempts at fan art in the Art section -- my profile picture is probably the most polished thing I've drawn in recent memory. So I bring you not art, but what modern technology can do to bring out what was already there in the faces of our good friends and rebels who took down the Shadowling Empire.

They still bear a significant amount of pixel-roughness, but some of that can be smoothed in Photoshop, and some can be kept -- many of the single-pixel features are part of clothing texture and hair parts and such. Many are not. Regardless, these images provide a wonderful jumping-off point for anyone who wants to work with a high-def version of the true source images; nothing is lost here, only revealed from between the pixels. :)

I really love how all the soul the portraits have comes out now. Guy's curly hair, Anya's dubious expression, Jack's scar, Flint's facial textures.

I didn't enhance the shadowlings -- they don't have nearly as much to gain from it, and we all can tell what they look like. Black, floaty, smoky. Eyes. If you want to reveal every nuance in their character portraits, lemme know. The process didn't help Gelf any. Sorry.

[(this one!)]

All right! Everyone's curious about the mysterious ??? project, and none of us have real answers. I am certain, however, that many people have ideas about what the images we've been shown reveal about the nature of this project. That's where this thread comes in.

The plan at the moment is to split this discussion into two threads: one is for speculation based firmly in the evidence given in ???, mostly involving some form of interpretation of those images. Feel free to incorporate knowledge from previous games, but keep in mind that theories posted here should be derived largely from what you see in the pictures.

The second thread (this one!) is for freer speculation, derived mostly from knowledge of previous games and, for example, their thematic progression. It's equally acceptable to post your own pet theories that have little basis or grounding in reality at all there, but the key thing is that they're based on some other source than the images in ???.

The reason for this separation is to allow a cohesive discussion on the content of the released concept art, while still maintaining a forum for other kinds of prediction about the upcoming project.

[(this one!)]

All right! Everyone's curious about the mysterious ??? project, and none of us have real answers. I am certain, however, that many people have ideas about what the images we've been shown reveal about the nature of this project. That's where this thread comes in.

The plan at the moment is to split this discussion into two threads: one (this one!) is for speculation based firmly in the evidence given in ???, mostly involving some form of interpretation of those images. Feel free to incorporate knowledge from previous games, but keep in mind that theories posted here should be derived largely from what you see in the pictures.

The second thread is for freer speculation, derived mostly from knowledge of previous games and, for example, their thematic progression. It's equally acceptable to post your own pet theories that have little basis or grounding in reality at all there, but the key thing is that they're based on some other source than the images in ???.

The reason for this separation is to allow a cohesive discussion on the content of the released concept art, while still maintaining a forum for other kinds of prediction about the upcoming project.

[Hugo Goodman]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for another adventure! A War Story is dead and locked, so a new story shall arise, with more content, more effort, more illustration, more forethought, and more general goodness! This will be a story of mystery and magic, of motive and intrigue -- a story where, like in real life, everyone has something -- great or small -- to hide.

You are Hugo Goodman, Police Detective of the London Police Department. You are sitting in your comfortable chair, reading case files, in your office. Your feet rest on the mahogany desk that ten years of dedicated [and skilled, might you add] service have earned you, and you recline luxuriously. This is one of the many liberties you allow yourself in the semi-privacy of your office. The wooden blinds behind you are mostly shut, allowing only fine slivers of the morning light into the room, lighting you from behind. You are completely at ease, at least physically. But filling one of the several file drawers is the one case that has been driving the very downfall of the city, until whose resolution you cannot rest. You think to yourself for a second, and realize that this might not be the best of pseudo-vows to make to yourself.

For more than the necessary eight hours a night, you quickly amend. That manifestation of self-deception defeated, you move on to the altogether more serious matters of the day.

[To progress the story, interact with people and perform your duties as the character you are. To receive more exposition, tell the character to think about or reflect on a topic. A good balance of these two will make the story go along nicely.]

[As for frequency of updates, I'd love to do one every night, but I'm not sure that's going to be possible. I'll do my best to keep up with it. Maybe alternating posts and drawings?]

[Your posts should take the form of commands to the played character, and assuming that there are several by the time I check back, I pick the one I think is best or most entertaining. That said, don't be excessively silly "just for entertainment value", because watching the main character derp around not accomplishing anything gets old. Use your best judgement, or at least decently good judgement.]

Hallo, mates! Crikey, it's been a long time since there was a World Domination around here, probably from sheer inactivity about the place. Anyway, let's see if we can't get our seventh one started up, this time for the Australian States and Territories! New South Wales is the donor.

Cocos (Keeling) Islands: 10
Christmas Island: 10
Ashmore and Cartier Islands: 10
Western Australia: 10
Northern Territory: 10
Queensland: 10
South Australia: 10
Victoria: 10
Australian Capital Territory: 10
Jervis Bay Territory: 10
Tasmania: 10
Coral Sea Islands: 10
Norfolk Island: 10
Heard Island and McDonald Islands: 10
Australian Antarctic Territory: 10
New South Wales: 100

So, I was wondering if there was any interest in forum members getting together to play other games (if that idea isn't blasphemy), against / alongside each other [at least until Telepath Tactics is up for playing]. I'm pretty much not in a position that's good for buying games, so for the moment it would have to be something free if I were to be involved (TF2, Blast Rage, Ace of Spades ...), and I know Buggy plays Minecraft (or at least I thought he did), and I'll maybe be getting that at some point. Duskling had mentioned Quake Live, whatever that is.

So, what do you think?

[homework]

[This isn't a new thread, but just a renaming of the old game -- but don't stop reading! I modified the original first post so it explains better what this is about now.]

Hi! I decided that I would devote a certain amount of time to running a forum game, based on old text adventure games. Basically, you type commands into the game, and I come up with content in-game to match the command. You can make any decision in-game with the character, so long as it's a good one :D. In all seriousness, I'd like to go at least one story run with a good character, and maybe then I'll be willing to let you guys make him evil.Other forumers can just start their own or ask about hosting this thread for a bit, if they think they can do a good job, but for the most part I'd really like to keep the story-telling to myself, so I can establish the universe and its magical laws, and you guys can see if you like them or want to change them in your own stories if you choose to do something like this. I recommend examining things and exploring all possibilities as much as possible, and not just doing the stuff you're expected to do. Do the unexpected, use stuff with other random stuff, and generally have a cool adventure.

Right about now, you're probably wondering: how does this work? Well, here goes:

You are sitting in your room doing homework, and suddenly a portal opens on your walk-in closet's door. You may use an item, take it, examine it, or use one item with another.

So, I was thinking about TSoG. It's a great game. The combat is intuitive, the dialogue grammatically correct, and the characters practically develop themselves. But there are a few things that bother me about TSoG, and instead of just getting frustrated and not buying the game, I'd like to see if what I have to say resonates with anyone on the forums, and maybe even help to make the game better.

TSoG plays like a standard tactical RPG; you've got a mission, so you have to complete it. You talk to a random character, and you pursue a side-quest to spice things up a bit. The gameplay is simplistic and formulaic -- but then you realize the depths TSoG has to offer you. In a standard tactical RPG, you'll probably unlock all content through playing the main storyline, clicking around for cool dialogue options, and coming back to the same character over and over to have the same conversation go all the different ways it can go, because only one of them does anything for you. In TSoG, if you make the wrong move in a conversation, you have to fight and kill someone when you only wanted to recruit them. Sometimes, you have to push your moral boundaries in order to get the best results; if you play by the rules, you're going to, sooner or later, realize that you're shortchanging yourself, even if you are trying to stay on the moral side.

The main character is responsible for taking the initiative completely in a lot of regards; so much so that Griffin doesn't feel like the leader any more, but just the guy you report to to say, "Hey, I took down a camp of bandits by myself. What now?" The storyline isn't strictly linear, and you can make a lot of ingame decisions that decide your fate as a leader. In short, you have way more control in TSoG than you ever will in 96.3% of games.

Why am I saying this? Because TSoG gives you all this content, and then promptly limits itself. The way your talks with Griffin go feel like a clunky entity that could be replaced with a list of missions and checkboxes. The conversation structures itself around the mission, even if a small attempt has been made to avoid this. Because of this conversational structure, the player's expectation of the gameplay revolves around this impressioning first mission assignment. If the conversation were more centered around the idea of doing your best as a tactician (and really, the only one who can organize for squat; nothing would get done if it weren't for Duvalier) and behind-the-scenes orchestrator of the Resistance rather than focusing on the linear progression of events as they come, the player's mind would be more open to the fact that the world isn't just a bunch of side-quests; the world is many opportunities to help the Resistance and improve its situation.

What I'm trying to say is that as is, the wide range of things you can do in TSoG feel more like distractions from a main goal than a unified, cohesive rebellion simulation (which is now how I view the game more; not just a strategy game, but a management sort of game), and I think that that could be fixed somewhat by changing some of the first dialogue you have with Griffin the first time you visit HQ.

I think that those flaunting Christian creation as a truth superior to that of evolution might like to justify their "theory" in the light of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. For those of you insulted by the idea, you may choose not to participate. Evolutionary thinkers must fully explain their theory and expand it and revise it to fit the evidence, and subsequently properly understand all evidence supporting the theory, which would require completion of one's education, whereas Christians and creationists simply interpret the evidence as supporting their conclusion. These are two separate varieties of proposition, the latter being much easier to defend than the former; the difference is between justification and explanation of how the avaliable evidence supports the theory.

Thus, I propose an alternative; Christian creationists ought show their version of creation as any more true or factual than that of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

I'm also including a poll -- whether or not this should be a forum game. I hope for the debate to maintain formality, but if it breaks the somewhat formal atmosphere which I desire for it, then it had probably best be moved. Also, if flaming ensues, the thread will lock.

This ought to be fun.

ahh, until then what was that site you mentioned?

Edit- I remembered it, They don't hook artists up with developers, possibly because the logistics would be difficult for long disttance partnerships, especially because I have almost no means of travel. ahh, se la vi.

"I saw him/her/it to her"? That's Spanish. I think you mean "C'est la vie", meaning "such is life."



Edit: Added the quote. Ert

If you have a math problem you need help with, I'll give help.

Rules:

• I won't help you with more than one of the same type of math problem; this is to avoid doing your homework for you.
• I will discuss a problem I've explained, but will not reattempt to demonstrate the same method on another problem.
• I expect you to be able to do the math I explain, once I do so.
• Don't give me trivial math problems designed to waste my time. If you do so, I shall ask a moderator to delete the post. With luck and cooperation, this shouldn't happen too much
• I can't help with anything as complicated or more so than integral calculus.

Guidelines:

• If you have a question, post it in a separate post from the one where you discussed the previous problem, if you did. It's not a double post, since the subject matters are completely different, and the post is at a later time.
• If you'd like to discuss a problem, post only once after each problem. If you have something more to say, modify it in. After a few days, if the conversation is over or nearly over, I'll put the conversation in a spoiler, where one can go back and read it. Once I've done that, I'll ask people who participated in the conversation to delete their posts. That way, I maintain a clean question-answer format.

Not to put too fine a point on it, im2smart4u, but Britain wasn't really being that horrid. America wanted some excuse to break away from Britain, and took the excessive taxes. The taxes would have passed, and everything would have been fine, not to mention the fact that America's rebellion incited several other territories to revolt. If you look at history with an unbiased eye, we're the bad guys.

Okay, since I am sick and tired of people being omnipotent, I want to make a new KoTH thread.

Rules: The Constitution:

I wrote one that was a bit more extensive. Sign your username if you agree.

[spoiler=Hill Owner's Constitution]Admitted, the ten commandments does have some of the right ideas.

How about:

I, ____________ , registered Hill Owner, do agree to abide by these following conditions:

• That I shall not make an unauthorized¹ or unannounced² attack on any other Hill owner's Hill.
• That I shall respect the right of other Hill Owners to remain neutral³ in conflicts over Hill Ownership, and live peacefully.
• That I shall not recognize another Hill Owner as such unless to gain power they have adhered to the rules of conduct⁴ during battle.
• That I shall not terrorize, maim, kill, torture, or otherwise obstruct the life, liberty, property rights of innocent civilians, or their right to the persuit of happiness.
• That I shall not have goings-on on my Hill portion that would take more than five years in one post⁵.

Defined Terms:

Unauthorized: a Hill Owner's assault on another's Hill portion is unauthorized if the former or the latter has chosen to become a neutral power.

Unannounced: a Hill Owner's assault on another's Hill portion is unannounced if former has not announced their intentions to attack the latter's Hill Portion.

Neutrality: A Hill Owner is neutral if they chose not to partake in ANY WAY in the struggle for Hill portions. After at least one page of non-aggression, a Hill Owner may petition to become neutral, at which point they gain the appropriate protections. If a Hill Owner wishes to shed Neutral status, they may petition to do so at any time, and after a one-post period, they may resume aggression.

Rules of Conduct: If a Hill Owner wishes to attack another Hill Owner, they must announce their intentions to do so, at which point the defending Hill Owner must present a list of their defenses. Neither Hill Owner, attacker or defender, may attack or be attacked, or petition to become neutral during this time, until the defender presents a list of their defenses. Important: if the defender is online, they have ten posts to post a list of their defenses, or their defenses are NOT RECOGNIZED. If the defender is offline, they must announce their arrival when they return if they suspect that they were attacked, at which point the attacker must reannounce their attack within ten posts, or the attack is voided. If the defender has not returned by five pages after an attack, the attacker may proceed with the attack, ignoring any defenses. If a Hill Owner is on vacation, they may say so, at which point they become effectively neutral; anyone attacking must wait until the defender returns from vacation if and only if they have announced that they are taking a vacation.

If a defender's defenses are listed, the attacker must list rational actions to be taken in response to each level of defense. If a level of defense is deemed to be impenetrable, or Godmod, by the attacker, the attacker must call it to the attention of the Council⁶, and take a vote on whether the defense is Godmod. If so, the attacker automatically wins. If the attacker overlooks a piece of the defender's defense, the defender automatically wins. If the attacker wins, they claim 50% of their opponent's Hill, and may not attack the Owner's Hill until at least five attacks later.

Post: A post in which action takes place. Commentary does not count as a post, nor does double-posting.

Council: The organization or group of all five currently recognized Hill Owners. If a Hill Owner is eliminated, they are no longer on the council. If a new player becomes a Hill Owner, they are not on the Council automatically. If there is a slot vacant, as a result of elimination, a newcomer must immediately be placed on the Council. If a newcome wishes to be on the council, they must announce which Council member's position they are challenging. The seat is voted upon by the five council members, including the challenged one. If the newcomer is voted in, the Council seat belongs to them, and the old Council member is stripped of their Council status. The Council is the general judging body for settling disputes over the rules.

If any of these rules are violated in a post, the post is not to be acknowledged, and the relevant portion of the rules cited.

Terminology:

Hill and Hill Portion are to be used interchangeably.

Petition is synonomous with calling to an affirmation by a Council member that is not the petitioning party.

Defender, Defense, and Defending Hill Owner are to be used interchangeably here, not to be confused with a defense.

Attacker, Offense, and Attacking Hill Owner are to be used interchangeably here.

This document needs four-fifths acceptance to be ratified as the Home Owner's constitution.[/spoiler]

I currently own 100% of the Hill, and I guard it with terrifying dragons.

Does anyone know where a thread designated for this is? / if one ever existed?

'Cause I've got two:

The Beggar's name is Rajav, and he's an ex-guardsman.

Cygnus is a Seer.

Tomorrow, the votes are in, and days or weeks after, the decision shall be made. Polls are saying that marijuana legalizaiton supporters are in the minority, and Gil Kerlikowske is threatening that the federal government will sue California if Prop. 19 passes.

How do you log out?

Since I'd like to talk about stocks and why exactly they are where they are, I think this would be a good place to put this topic.

My Apple is all the way up to 275 from 265 a week ago, meaning I'm $1000 richer. However, I'm probably going to lose it back soon.

All attacks are mental, in a way. Even Physical attacks are the result of sending messages down to the nerve centers in your arms, which relay the message to the right parts, meaning you slash someone. This form of Mental attack is just sending electrical signals through an object, breaking it down, or in the case of living beings, overloading it with information. With feedback and Vengeance, their origins are very similar to that of Shadow attacks; using negative emotions to deal damage, but still classified as Mental. With the orb, Duvalier would be able to see where a negative transmission might do the most damage, in a similar way to Shadow. So Mental attacks aren't that wrong from my point of view. To you, it might not sound like a good idea, and I respect that. I just won't be swayed in my argument.

Who'll it be, folks?

Hey, could you PM me the user and pass? I fell asleep in class. Just kidding; I wasn't paying enough attention.