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bonesiii

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Blog Comments posted by bonesiii

    bonesiii

    Posted

    Hello! I finally refound BP: The Map of Mata Nui after off-and-on searching, and it's every bit as good as it was back when I played it as a little naive fifteen-year-old.

    ^_^

     

    It took me until last summer to beat MNOLGII

    I still haven't. :P (I actually started to try last summer too, but got too bored with it. Watching YouTube version of it suffices lol.)

     

    But anyways, the real reason I'm posting this: I'm a little confused about how the party system in this game works. Dunno if this is spoilers or not, but I've got the Ta-Matoran, the Ga-Matoran, and the Onu-Matoran in my party (by the way, male Ga-Matoran and female Ta/Po/Onu/Le/Ko-Matoran is a very much-appreciated way of mixing things up. :P ), but the only thing I see in game is a green number above Hujo's head. Do they do anything to help out in a fight?

    Only a little, honestly -- the damage gets spread out amongst the party, rather than focused intensely on one guy. But then, of course, you have to heal them all, so it's upsides and downsides. (Though healing should be easy with the one-button thing; it's the feeding them to replenish their energies that is a bit more work, as you say.) And they play important plot roles in places. No, you can't put them in the lead, at least in the versions that are out there, although I suppose there's no particular reason it couldn't be done.

     

    We were originally hoping to make an approximated "multiplayer" (same team) version, and maybe have one be controlled with other keys. Even tested a system successfully in an unreleased minigame, but it was a bit too awkward and complicated to put in the entire game, so we dropped it. Also, tests with keeping the party members visible, walking next to you, and such, failed to work consistently enough. If I ever get around to making other versions I might try to put this back in, perhaps in selected battles only for example.

    bonesiii

    Posted

    Now that I think of it, I guess my main concern will probably be getting my drawings and/or paintings scanned, if this actually happens.

    Heh, I get that. There's some things I couldn't put on the list I'll have to do myself (being major spoilers :P), and I plan to use sketches, but the scanner I've got isn't exactly the best. What I was thinking if it doesn't work was my brother's iPad might take a decent photo if held still enough (not by hands), so that might work for you. I've seen some pictures from that and they seem good (ironically far better than any actual camera from the old days that I ever had lol).

    bonesiii

    Posted

    @Bones: I can't seem to find the Ga-Koro key. I looked everywhere, started a new game, looked everywhere again, and can't find it. Am I doing something wrong?

    Sorry I took so long to see this lol.

     

    Did you try walking through every part of the slightly darker water at the base of the waterfall to the north? That is one location it can randomly appear at and where it's hardest to spot with eyes. But moving so that you touch each square there should find it by touch if it's there. Also I think it might sometimes appear near the end of that dry thin line of land up there which is hard to reach due to the turtles (although I forget if this is so :P), so you might have forgotten to check there.

    bonesiii

    Posted

    Wait, bonesiii is planning an RPG?

    No, no -- my computer-game RPG from a while back. I finished the main plot but some threads still need tied up, and stuff. Paracosmos. :)

     

    I made it back when "RPG" meant actual role-playing (computer) games, not the text things people usually mean nowadays. :P

    bonesiii

    Posted

    And I personally think that the modern and "Oriental" cultural elements shouldn't have to clash. Japan, once an extremely traditional society, is now on the cutting edge of technology.

    Yeah, that was part of what I was talking about in a post -- "Oriental" doesn't have to mean just old.

     

    Also, about the Power Rangers thing -- Power Rangers to me is horribly bad acting humans in hoaky costumes going around screeching wildly every few seconds. Of course, I've only seen ads and clips. :P I don't see anything like that in Ninjago, and the addition of vehicles is hardly evidence of it. Some clips I've seen could have been okay if the character had been CG instead of obviously a human in an incredibly cheap costume, and Ninjago obviously doesn't have that. (The clips still had bad acting though and Ninjago doesn't, other than the kiddy voices occasionally.)

     

    Maybe I'm wrong, though; I'm not claiming this is a universal perspective.

     

    Also, yeah, this is directed at a lot of people. I'm not disputing your guys's tastes -- they are what they are, but some of the reasons that have been given to justify criticisms have been illogical and not just taste-based, like the idea that vehicles are modern (vehicles can be ancient, etc.) or that tech is not oriental.

     

    Even in ancient times, Japan has been highly inventive, as have other oriental cultures (for example, China built the Great Wall while the rest of the world just dabbled in little castles, and had rockets and the like), and Ninjago is said to be a world created by the father of Wu and Garmadon, by the power of the weapons. Apparently something like a pocket universe or something. It makes sense to me that perhaps in ancient (LEGO version of) Japan, a real (minifigureized) human could have created both the realm and inventions within the realm (such as the ancient vehicles I theorized the skeletons based their designs on). It's possible these inventions were never in Japan, only in Ninjago, and yet just as inherent to Ninjago.

     

    So again, I dispute the label of those things as "modern" or non-oriental. I think that idea comes more from a misunderstanding of oriental culture than from trying to stick to that culture.

     

    All that said, I get that there was a change, and from your personal tastes, you don't like the change. That's perfectly valid, and I respect it. I just don't agree that some of the reasons added onto it work, or that it works as an argument that LEGO made a bad decision for the majority. :) (It's very similar to such nuances that have been historically necessary in Bionicle criticism too; so it's not surprising to me.)

    • Like 1
    bonesiii

    Posted

    FYI, avatar and personal photos are the same thing now.

    I see. Thanks. :)

     

    I have three questions regarding Paracosmos: - If I recall correctly, in Twisted Island the Bohrok that weren't sliced in half near the beggining were later lost or destroyed in twisted island. Will there still be Bohrok during the 2002 story epics?-Are The Perfect Cage and Falling Sun still 2002 story or are they already 2003? You said you were going to compress your story so this question has shot through my mind...-Do your story plans include serials taking place in 2004-2005 flashbacks?

    1) The Bohrok who went to Twisted Island were just a tiny percentage of the swarms on Mata Nui. There's almost as many as in the canon story still there during Endless Blue. :)

     

    2) Endless Blue finishes out 2002 story, and both TPC and FS will take place in 2003.

     

    3) I keep going back and forth on this; I have the potential to do it, but I could also turn the entire flashbacks into intermixed flashbacks in an epic taking place also in present time. At the moment I'm leaning towards the latter. Got a cool title and theme concept lined up for it, but I won't call the decision final until I write it. :P

    Riisiing Moon

    Posted

    Well, said, RM -- I'd just like to add that in such cases, something I like to do is just politely say something like, "Well, I disagree, for what I think are good reasons. I'd rather not just launch into it, though, without knowing if you're interested. :) Lemme know if you'd like to hear more. ^_^"

     

    Generally that seems to work wonders. :)

     

    And often if they do express interest in that, I'll start by cautioning that such things can take a lot of time to truly go through all the evidence and logic, so there's no "quick fix" and suchnot, and also make sure we both agree there's a chance (however slight :P) either of us might be wrong, and to discuss it calmly and rationally.

     

    If they agree from there, we can have a discussion. Also it's often best to do that privately rather than publicly as in forums, I have found (through learning the hard way lol). That way you and the other person can speak fully intelligently and candidly in the ways we know each other are okay with, and observers who aren't paying as close attention or have different tolerance levels won't work themselves into a fuss over misunderstandings.

     

     

    That said, though, there is something to be said for speaking up even when you don't think the person in question is likely to see the light -- but I agree it should probably depend on the severity of the emotions involved. The reason I say this is that I have oftentimes seen people post opinions which I believe are strongly wrong, or at least loaded very negatively in tone, and if left alone, they can sway others negatively. However, if I calmly (usually very concisely is best) explain some basic reasons why that opinion is wrong, at least it "puts a cap" on the wrong ideas (or very negative ideas, etc.) spreading to others.

     

     

    My basic rule of thumb for deciding whether I should speak up in such cases is to ask "is this a more emotional issue? If yes, then only speak once you have looked into this issue in a lot of logical depth and you are more sure of your view (or have changed your view to one you're more sure of). The more emotional it is, the more you should do your own homework on it before saying or even asking anything.

     

    If no, and you really aren't sure why you believe what you believe, then you really have no place in a controversial discussion. Probably anything you say will just make things worse.

     

    If it's a less emotional issue, then you can often benefit from saying things like "this is my current opinion but I'm not super sure of it, so I wondered if yall could provide some thoughts on it." :)

     

     

    Anywho, you and I both have now kinda stolen some of my thunder from my upcoming How to Disagree Well Rule #4 entry, on speaking your mind, heh. Glad for it though, you helped me figure out how to put some of it into words (mainly why I've been delaying it so long, heh.) More to come when I post it. ^_^

    Elmara: Spirit Of Fire

    Posted

    When Teridax banished Mata Nui, what do you suppose was going through his mind when he decided to trap him inside the most powerful kanohi in the universe, one that controls the power of life itself?

    Actually this one made sense. The Mask couldn't be just destroyed; it would unleash life upon every part of him, a horror-chaos even Mr. Nothing couldn't stomach. And since the Mask of Life was used to revive Mata Nui, it was a convenient way to remove Mata Nui's spirit. Other ways may have been very difficult, except just destroying the Core Processor which of course would defeat the purpose.

     

    The best place to destroy Mata Nui actually would be once he uploaded his consciousness into the prototype robot, so killing him wouldn't destroy the Ignika. :)

     

    Exhibit B: When Teridax banished Mata Nui, why would he shoot his brother towards a PLANET?

    Actually, he most likely did not. He simply stood up, and shot Mata Nui upwards. Remember that from the island of Mata Nui, neither Bara Magna nor Bota Magna could be seen -- AM was orbitally aligned to point away.

     

    So Makuta actually shot the Ignika away from any planets.

     

    His mistake here is fairly understandable -- as brilliant as he is, he was dealing with a mathematical problem he wasn't used to -- the gravimetric trajectory logic of orbital directions. He probably assumed the mask would just fly off away from all three planets, not curve back and land on Bara Magna.

     

    I say it was understandable 'cuz that was literally the first time he'd stood up as controller of a giant robot. Mata Nui probably would have been used to such things, seeing them as kindergarteney (:P), because he's been traveling through space all this time, but not Makuta.

     

    I mean, there is the possibility that Teridax had overlooked the potential for life on said planet

    He might not even have known it was there at first. Like I said, you can't see it from where the giant robot landed on AM. It might not be until he stood up or even until he took off from AM that he saw it and put two and two together (or maybe he found info on it in the memory banks).

     

     

    but before then, it would seem as though Teridax had thought of everything.

    That's because he was in "his realm." It's kinda like the Drome, if you remember that, when I was the top champion. I knew the ins and outs of it and "newbs" coming into it might have looked at me as seemingly all-knowing, able to pull off the impossible. But toss me into some completely different computer game and I might make newbish mistakes myself, yeah?

     

    He learned "everything" about the running of the MU from Mutran via Tren Krom. But Tren Krom never had to deal with what Mata Nui did; traveling through space; he was just to keep the interior running while it was being finished.

     

    Plus as one of the scientists, and leader of them, who designed the Rahi, Makuta had actually invented a significant percentage of that universe.

     

    It was his backyard.

     

    Why not, you know, shoot Mata Nui into the system's central star, or at least not towards the nearest planet?

    I talked about this when it first came out -- think about what a living star could do! It might seem tempting, but even Makuta was probably knowledgeable enough to know a giant ball of gas turned alive by the Ignika being destroyed in it could be a serious, serious threat.

     

    A living star could technically move itself around, by ejecting large amounts of plasma at once in one direction (like a rocket), and could intentionally shoot superfast, superdeadly solar flares in whichever direction it wished. Bad idear. ;)

     

    So basically, the second part of your quoted sentence here is probably what he thought he was doing. At least that was where he aimed it initially.

     

    It's also possible the Ignika could actually move itself (it's alive after all, and it can control life), so there may have been nowhere Makuta could have shot it that it couldn't come back from.

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