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double nine posted:I could have sworn ... I honestly have no idea why, but I really thought you fought him (or maybe someone else?) in the chamber with the 4 test tubes and datapads with your past on it, the one with the projectile door (which is a hilarious trap). I really don't know why it's such a vivid memory.
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Oct 16, 2014 11:47
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Dawncloack posted:Hey, kind of an specific question: That would be Lecture 32 on Bakhtin and literary criticism. Feel free to link to it however you like.
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Oct 16, 2014 14:33
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Faraday Cage posted:You fight someone in that room in Invisible War, maybe that's what you're confusing it with? Not sure how you've managed to confuse Simons for Billie though. Yeah, Billie's much less likable and chummy.
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Oct 17, 2014 08:15
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Just found this thread, woot another Deus Ex Let's Play. Nice work so far. One thing about lecture 36 (Everett's house) if you want to show it off: You know the helipad with its open ceiling? You can't get up there by LAM-climbing because of the way the walls bend inwards towards the ceiling. However, if you stack enough crap on top of each other (using superstrength) you can actually jump on the roof and leave the house. You are then free to wander the street that you can see from the windows. There is nothing to do there but I found it kind of neat. Anyway, keep up the good work.
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Oct 18, 2014 00:42
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vancho1 posted:Exactly. A similar thought experiment which kind of intuitively shows you can't communicate is as follows: There is actually communication technology that is based on this principle and you can even buy it right now!. However, it uses entanglement not for superluminal communication but for having a Mission Impossible-like message system where you can read a message only once. This is then used for encryption key transfers, e.g. inside bank networks. By communicating via entangled particles, sent over glass fiber lines, this system allows to detect whether a line is listened to by a third party as the listener will collapse the entanglement. Therefore, if you receive a message comprised by still entangled particles, you are the first and only receiver. Also, the range is limited to the 100 kilometers at max (according to link above). That is still impressive for glass fiber but hardly worth FTL communication. Normal glass fiber communication would go much further, but that has signal boost amplifiers at regular intervals, which would collapse entanglement, as they interact with the transmitted particles.
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Oct 18, 2014 18:25
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I have to say that whole symbols thing was right because this poo poo got TOO real for me  I didn't expect a lecture on Atlantis to spiral out into a dissertation on man's development and our necessity for science and magic to exist.
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Oct 18, 2014 20:33
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    Handouts: Company Log Area 51 Map Jacob's Shadow: Chapter 34 Dreamland Hack Problem Report Known misses: There's a second dead body on the cargo containers back by the helipad. There's also a body underneath the main elevator. Bobbin Threadbare fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Oct 20, 2014 |
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Oct 20, 2014 16:59
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Water is used as a sound dampener for rocket launches, for example in the launch platform for the space shuttle. I don't know if ICBM silos used a similar system, but Ion Storm seemed to be willing to do their research so maybe it's accurate.
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Oct 20, 2014 17:38
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I... I didn't realize you could destroy the fan. It was a very tricky jump with that still there. Also, back on the topic of recent levels inspired by other games, is it just me, or does Area 51 feel like a Goldeneye level?
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Oct 20, 2014 17:39
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Apparently, JC's poop is augmented 
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Oct 20, 2014 17:52
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In your lecture, you mention how people's memories are changable over time and subject to subjectivity. I'm not denying the latter, but there have been cases - I'm specifically thinking of Solomon Shereshevsky - of people who aren't just able to remember things perfectly, but are unable to forget due to abnormalities in the functioning of the brain - apparently, Shereshevsky considered being able to forget something absolutely wonderful;
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Oct 20, 2014 19:08
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There actually is one more thing you can do with those stacked storage crates on the surface of Area 51, with the slanted one you can run up. Over on the other side of the crates is a dead body--a soldier, if I remember right--with an item or two on him. You have to pull some boxes over to get to him, and I don't remember if it's really worth it or not, but it's there nonetheless.
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Oct 20, 2014 19:31
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Samovar posted:In your lecture, you mention how people's memories are changable over time and subject to subjectivity. I'm not denying the latter, but there have been cases - I'm specifically thinking of Solomon Shereshevsky - of people who aren't just able to remember things perfectly, but are unable to forget due to abnormalities in the functioning of the brain - apparently, Shereshevsky considered being able to forget something absolutely wonderful; It seems to me you're agreeing with the first part as well, since a normally functioning brain should be able to forget things and recall them differently. Not only that, but Shereshevsky's brain "cheats" by recording using every sense simultaneously. Let me give you another example. Throughout my entire life, my oldest memory has always been about the same thing. I am four years old and lying face-down on the staircase in my parents' old house. I then climb to my feet, walk over to the sofa, step onto the cushions, and then look behind it: in the space between the sofa and the wall I see a large box of diapers. But there's a problem: my parents never stored diapers behind the sofa, and even if they had I am the youngest child and so at four they would have gotten rid of all their diapers by then. So in other words, despite how no one has ever told me about that pointless fragment of an action, my earliest memory is a lie. Nevertheless, it is still my earliest memory.
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Oct 20, 2014 19:57
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The silo's always seemed weirdly tacked on to me. Is Howard Strong mentioned at all outside it? Other things: That first keypad is easily brute-forcible as it's only 2 digits and the code is 12 if I remember right. Killing Howard Strong finishes the level no matter what else you do, so you can skip most of the level by abusing the LAW's collision detection. The LAW missile itself spawns in some way in front of you, so you can use it to shoot through thin walls, or the silo roof. I've never managed to pull it off as the angle's tight and you obviously can't see where you're shooting. The Shifter Mod gives you a unique railgun weapon that can shoot through things and has a thermal scope, allowing you to do the same thing.
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Oct 20, 2014 20:05
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Samovar posted:In your lecture, you mention how people's memories are changable over time and subject to subjectivity. I'm not denying the latter, but there have been cases - I'm specifically thinking of Solomon Shereshevsky - of people who aren't just able to remember things perfectly, but are unable to forget due to abnormalities in the functioning of the brain - apparently, Shereshevsky considered being able to forget something absolutely wonderful; There were many instances, most of them early in Shereshevsky's career as a mnemonist, where he would memorize information incorrectly or fail to memorize individual items in a long list. Years later, he could perfectly recall all the things he had memorized, but his recollections contained the same flaws and omissions as when he first formed those memories. His memory was as subjective as yours and mine; it's just that he made mistakes faster and held onto them longer. (Here is an amateur English translation of Alexander Luria's short book about Shereshevsky. It's also available in the original language.)
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Oct 20, 2014 20:12
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The keycode for the aug update could be 9378. You cannot find it in game though. Also Bob Page's encouragement is great.  You can easily miss Bob Page's codec at the end, because the loading zone is in the middle of the room. I am looking forward to Area 51. Great atmosphere and music.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uttVMkGtPpQ
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Oct 20, 2014 20:58
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Since we're getting to the end of the game, this is as good a place as any for a question I've been struggling with: could Deus Ex be made today? Ignoring gameplay mechanics for a second, Deus Ex' conspiracy theories are overall very dated, and moreover our culture seems to have moved away from fantastical urban legends (greys, ufos, urban monsters, illuminati) and more towards exaggerating existing trends ie terrorist plots. In addition, government response in Europe and the USA after 9/11 has very much normalized cultural sensitivities towards the security state, in addition to cctv cameras' ubiquitous presence in commercial districts and most buildings with a public nature. It's a shame, though, because Deus Ex' whole "kitchen sink" approach to conspiracy theory/worldbuilding has created a somehow coherent and fascinating place, and I feel that today's culture just doesn't have the same fertile ground for this kind of "grab all modern urban myths, mix them, add milk, 2 eggs and keep in a preheated oven for 15 minutes and presto, insane yet plausible world". Has modern western culture become too cynical and boring for these fantasies? double nine fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Oct 20, 2014 |
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Oct 20, 2014 21:51
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double nine posted:Since we're getting to the end of the game, this is as good a place as any for a question I've been struggling with: could Deus Ex be made today? Ignoring gameplay mechanics for a second, Deus Ex' conspiracy theories are overall very dated, and moreover our culture seems to have moved away from fantastical urban legends (greys, ufos, urban monsters, illuminati) and more towards exaggerating existing trends ie terrorist plots. I thought DX:HR did a pretty plausible job of updating the DX world using today's sensibilities. PMC's run rampant, supernational corporations, the seeds of technology running away from us. Playing that and then playing the original, HR feels more "realistic" (even discounting the graphical disparity). Ah, didn't catch your edit. It might not be as totally expansive as DX, but I think that was more for avoiding retreading the same ground as DX, not from a lack of writing ability. Really, the think I miss most from DX (and Thief) in recent games is the ginormous levels to really feel like you're in a world and not a closet. OAquinas fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Oct 20, 2014 |
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Oct 20, 2014 21:55
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Prenton posted:The silo's always seemed weirdly tacked on to me. Is Howard Strong mentioned at all outside it? No he's not. Strong's a very weird character, both gameplay wise and story wise. You'd probably never even know who he is unless you took the time to talk to that scientist. And yet there's like a million ways you can go about killing him because iirc he never ever moves from that spot. Snipe him, toss a lam at him, shoot a rocket at him, goomba stomp him. It's also worth mentioning that Strong is, to the best of my knowledge, one of only...two? characters you HAVE to kill/knock out in order to progress because Jock wont spawn at all until you do. It's a little frustrating if you're going for a pacifist run because it means agroing him (if you use a prod, or hit him with a tranq dart out in the open) and he likes to toss lams in-between firing his plasma gun. Even with regen on those things loving hurt. MechanicalTomPetty fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Oct 21, 2014 |
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Oct 20, 2014 23:25
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Plankalkuel posted:There is actually communication technology that is based on this principle and you can even buy it right now!. However, it uses entanglement not for superluminal communication but for having a Mission Impossible-like message system where you can read a message only once. This is then used for encryption key transfers, e.g. inside bank networks. By communicating via entangled particles, sent over glass fiber lines, this system allows to detect whether a line is listened to by a third party as the listener will collapse the entanglement. Therefore, if you receive a message comprised by still entangled particles, you are the first and only receiver. I'm far from an expert in quantum mechanics, but I have a hard time believing that a commercially available piece of equipment could do QKD today. KillHour fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Oct 21, 2014 |
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Oct 21, 2014 02:35
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MechanicalTomPetty posted:No he's not. Strong's a very weird character, both gameplay wise and story wise. You'd probably never even know who he is unless you took the time to talk to that scientist. And yet there's like a million ways you can go about killing him because iirc he never ever moves from that spot. Snipe him, toss a lam at him, shoot a rocket at him, goomba stomp him. Pacifist runs are made even more difficult by the fact the Strong loves to throw LAMs at himself.
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Oct 21, 2014 03:12
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MechanicalTomPetty posted:No he's not. Strong's a very weird character, both gameplay wise and story wise. You'd probably never even know who he is unless you took the time to talk to that scientist. And yet there's like a million ways you can go about killing him because iirc he never ever moves from that spot. Snipe him, toss a lam at him, shoot a rocket at him, goomba stomp him. There's stuff floating around about how Strong was supposed to be more of a character instead of just a puzzle boss, but they ran out of time. But here's the best way to kill him. Bobbin's right, you can snipe him from the 5th floor, but ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwtN-iATzCs
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Oct 21, 2014 03:18
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MechanicalTomPetty posted:one of only...two? characters you HAVE to kill/knock out in order to progress
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Oct 21, 2014 03:49
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RoadCrewWorker posted:Just curious, who is the other one (if we encountered them already)? Anna Navarre.
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Oct 21, 2014 03:52
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J.theYellow posted:There's stuff floating around about how Strong was supposed to be more of a character instead of just a puzzle boss, but they ran out of time. And then there's the speedrun tactic, which involves firing a LAW (since LAW projectiles originate in front of Denton's model) through the hatch at the top of the level and down into Strong without ever descending into the level proper.
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Oct 21, 2014 03:53
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berryjon posted:Anna Navarre.
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Oct 21, 2014 04:14
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Man, that spy drone is a lot smaller than I thought it was. It pretty much vanished from your screen and it wasn't even close to the tunnel intersection.
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Oct 21, 2014 05:23
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You can tranquilize Strong. You MUST kill Anna Navarre with the killphrase or otherwise. You can just run away from Gunther.
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Oct 21, 2014 07:42
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OAquinas posted:Apparently, JC's poop is augmented
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Oct 21, 2014 07:44
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AstroWhale posted:You can tranquilize Strong. You MUST kill Anna Navarre with the killphrase or otherwise. You can just run away from Gunther. It is possible to avoid killing Anna, too. If you get her into panic mode and corner her near the exit door she may open it for you. Once you leave the game registers her as killed, though.
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Oct 21, 2014 08:35
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Where does the spy drone come from anyway? Does JC poop it as well?
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Oct 21, 2014 10:49
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Herr R. posted:It is possible to avoid killing Anna, too. If you get her into panic mode and corner her near the exit door she may open it for you. Once you leave the game registers her as killed, though. You can also use a grenade to clip through the door, which is what this speedrun does. However, the game still assumes that you killed Anna.
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Oct 21, 2014 10:59
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MechanicalTomPetty posted:It's also worth mentioning that Strong is, to the best of my knowledge, one of only...two? characters you HAVE to kill/knock out in order to progress because Jock wont spawn at all until you do. It's a little frustrating if you're going for a pacifist run because it means agroing him (if you use a prod, or hit him with a tranq dart out in the open) and he likes to toss lams in-between firing his plasma gun. Even with regen on those things loving hurt. I've always found thet the easiest way to deal with Strong on a pacifist run is to take the elevator from the bottom to the fourth floor, chuck a gas grenade at him when you pass the floor that Strong's on and then tranq him from above.
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Oct 21, 2014 12:40
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Xander77 posted:Jump! You can make it! Arguably the best line in the whole game, and Bobbin barely reacted to it. 
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Oct 21, 2014 12:50
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Slimnoid posted:There actually is one more thing you can do with those stacked storage crates on the surface of Area 51, with the slanted one you can run up. Over on the other side of the crates is a dead body--a soldier, if I remember right--with an item or two on him. You have to pull some boxes over to get to him, and I don't remember if it's really worth it or not, but it's there nonetheless. That soldier up on the storage crates has a weapon mod that I didn't need any more of. I want to say it was accuracy. There's a quick glimpse of him at 28:34 or so in the video in case anyone was wondering where to look. Strong does have a couple of lines, but they basically only trigger if you get his attention and then run off and hide. It's mostly pretty generic, but there's one where he threatens to change the missile target back to X-51. I couldn't get him to say that one in the actual game, but I did get him to say most of his other lines. At least he isn't totally mute. And those easily-sniped guards playing poker in the big building at the missile base (around 1:43 in the video) have a couple of lines of scripted conversation if you sneak up on them. I found it by walking backwards from inside the main base and getting the drop on them from the second floor, but I'm pretty sure you can get it from downstairs too.
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Oct 21, 2014 13:18
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I've nothing to say at this juncture, except to say that I LOVE the music at Area 51; it's this great quick-tempo, minor tune that, when married to the visual of a bombed army site, really sells the image that, yes, poo poo has hit the fan, everything's gone to hell, and we are building to the final confrontation toot sweet. This tune and the background music for the next area are good at that. JC himself is really good here too, and his performance at the tail end of the game is where his VA pulls out the big guns here. His entire last conversation with Simons (as well as that line later) are part of the reason I (and a lot of other people) love this game.
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Oct 21, 2014 15:43
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I...I had no idea you could meet Walton Simons here oh my god that's a loving epic dialogue right there before the asskicking cometh.resurgam40 posted:I've nothing to say at this juncture, except to say that I LOVE the music at Area 51; it's this great quick-tempo, minor tune that, when married to the visual of a bombed army site, really sells the image that, yes, poo poo has hit the fan, everything's gone to hell, and we are building to the final confrontation toot sweet. This tune and the background music for the next area are good at that. Area loving 51, the very nanoangstrom of all modern conspiracy theories all dwindling back towards this strange mysterious government facility. JC's voice actor does a pretty great job of being both unemotional yet also very invested in his actions and what he's doing. Like you can tell this is someone who can't SHOW emotion as we heard long back at the beginning of the game, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of it as his voice starts getting more and more serious and determined throughout the course of this game. Also why was the satellite dish at the launch base marked UN-001?  Thank you very VERY much by the way for straightening out a hell of a lot of facts about Area 51. There's a lot of weird poo poo that gets muddled all over the place so...that also goes along with memories. Memory can be very strange, and there is actual evidence proving there is absolutely no way for a person to tell the difference between a false memory, and a real memory psychologically. Unless you have evidence that refutes it from another source. Blocked memories are an entire different feature which are...I'm not sure how they happen in the sense that they DO exist but for the sake of your sanity, your mind keeps it hiding away. For example, I know absolutely nothing about what happened to the year 1997, my entire memory of that year is completely blocked off in my mind due to a rather traumatic memory of my life. My parents have told me things that happened, things I barely see images and sounds of faintly, but nothing coherent. But they all back it up, and four people related to me telling me it happened, is the only proof that it did happen as well as mitigating bits and pieces of local newspapers involving what my family went through. This is one of the reasons that I believe people cannot live alone. We need someone to help us figure out the right and wrong as our prosecutor of sorts. FinalGamer fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Oct 21, 2014 |
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Oct 21, 2014 17:30
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Marker17501 posted:Where does the spy drone come from anyway? Does JC poop it as well? I wondered if those black vans serve the same purpose as those Chinese Party vans that take entire families away for harmonizing?
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Oct 21, 2014 17:43
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So I've run into a bit of a conundrum. See, I just recorded all the footage of Area 51 short of the endings themselves (which will get their own video after this), and in total I spent nearly an hour in the facility. Now ordinarily I would simply cut the video in half and stretch the footage across the next two weeks, but I've got something special planned for the penultimate video and the previous two corners have kind of been building up to it (and of course the penultimate video will build into the final video). It wouldn't be much trouble for me to bullshit together an extra topic for an extra corner, but it would...break the flow, let's say. Since I'm being indecisive, I've decided to poll the audience. What would you folks like? One feature-length video (counting an especially long corner lecture)? Two videos half the size, presented simultaneously, and with one corner between them? Or two regular-length videos, one of which kind of wanders off on a tangent? To make things easy, I've hacked together an online poll for you to use. Feel free to explain yourself or argue your opinion in the thread, however. I'll leave this up for a day or two because after that I've got to get cracking on production.
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Oct 22, 2014 04:48
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I'm leaning more towards "two videos, one corner", personally. It's not that difficult to watch two videos consecutively (hell, Youtube even has playlists for that very reason), and it's more convenient for people who, for whatever reason, are unable or unwilling to watch a single hour-long video. Not that I'll be complaining no matter how it turns out, mind you. It's been both educational and a blast following along with this.
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Oct 22, 2014 04:57
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