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This just checks out in sci-fi it's the same with Stargate and all of the Ancient technology. "What? The whoosh evaporates anything that gets in front of it? Then don't stand in front of it, stop bothering me"
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Feb 1, 2022 06:20
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The fun take I've seen in a couple of bits of scifi (including one from a goonmade project) is that the reason most alien species are so regressive or uncurious compared to 'those enterprising humans' is actually a survival trait. The galaxy is full of horrible civilization-ending stuff like the Flood and other gribblies where one dumb innocent mistake could set off a cascade of problems. Most alien species have thus learned to stay in their lane and stay safe, but humans haven't had a civilisation-ender they triggered yet. I think this actually gets brought up in Mass Effect, where when they made first contact, humans were seen as dangerously reckless for reactivating a dormant mass relay without knowing where it actually goes.
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Feb 1, 2022 09:19
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Oh. Oh. I just now got what y'all are referencing by Cortana's line about keeping what she steals. I had interpreted Cortana as talking about the Master Chief, how he's been doing progressively more reckless things and talking further steps out on a long, thin branch for her sake. That John was supposed to belong to the UNSC and their concept of humanity, but John's been demonstrating quite different loyalties - Cortana stole and kept him, you might say.
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Feb 1, 2022 14:28
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bewilderment posted:I think this actually gets brought up in Mass Effect, where when they made first contact, humans were seen as dangerously reckless for reactivating a dormant mass relay without knowing where it actually goes. That's the basis for the first contact war yes, the Turians catch humans opening an unknown mass relay but instead of telling them why they shouldn't, they immediately opened fire and then declared the intent to annex Earth into their empire. Humanity fighting back and having a much larger army than anyone else expected almost triggered a galactic war.
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Feb 1, 2022 17:23
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Cythereal posted:Oh. Oh. I just now got what y'all are referencing by Cortana's line about keeping what she steals. I think that's an entirely valid interpretation.
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Feb 2, 2022 05:18
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 10 - Cortana We've put this off for too long. It's time to rescue Cortana from the Gravemind's clutches. FoolyCharged posted:Weren't the flood attacking earth already? Half jaw glasses a continent trying to stop them, I think. That wasn't exactly a Flood attack. That ship was actually sent by Cortana in order to convey her message, although if I'm remembering correctly, the Gravemind lets her do it since that's how it finds out where Earth is. You're not supposed to think too hard about how Cortana herself bombed the planet with Flood. Ablative posted:As for why it retreated, who knows? Maybe it saw the ring coming too and got spooked. Maybe some Sentinels got off their asses and gave it a good zappin'. The true answer is, of course, that it was included in the cutscene because it looked hella cool, but wouldn't have really worked in gameplay. Cythereal posted:Oh. Oh. I just now got what y'all are referencing by Cortana's line about keeping what she steals. Yeah this is a pretty neat interpretation. Earlier in the game when the Master Chief disagrees with Lord Hood so he can go after Cortana is a bit of break in character. FrenzyTheKillbot fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Feb 4, 2022 |
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Feb 4, 2022 20:40
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The Flood are in fact in Halo Wars, including pure forms. To meet the constraints of an RTS, the Flood have some new forms in the Halo Wars games. They're a regular part of Halo Wars 1, and appear in the expansion for Halo Wars 2.
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Feb 4, 2022 21:31
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If you're really stupid (definitely not speaking from experience, no sir) you can produce an almost endless amount of flood by being a bad shot and popping the pustules constantly. That hallway that gave you trouble at the 17 minute mark prompted a reload on my recent playthrough because I literally ran out of bullets and couldn't deal with the sniper forms. It made me an absolute convert for the brute weapon melee attacks. The spiker isn't a particularly exciting gun but it sure does gently caress up any flood dumb enough to get within arms reach.
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Feb 4, 2022 21:33
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Wait. Did you just say they tested the children to see if they were 'lucky'? People who are genetically 'lucky' is a very important part of the plot of Larry Niven's Ringworld. That's got to be a subtle reference. No way that's a coincidence.
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Feb 4, 2022 22:18
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Nice callout to the three stages of rampancy.
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Feb 4, 2022 22:38
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Carbon dioxide posted:Wait. What kind of tests? Guess the dice roll, pick a card from a deck? Win the lottery? EDIT: Oh, it was a coin toss Outpost22 fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Feb 5, 2022 |
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Feb 5, 2022 01:24
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The sphincter doors are their own level of  . The fact they still hold up 15 years later with outdated graphics is a testament to the effort put into making them as disturbing as gently caress.
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Feb 5, 2022 02:13
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Outpost22 posted:What kind of tests? Guess the dice roll, pick a card from a deck? Win the lottery? There was also one kid they didn't get because he was too lucky (or a precog). He kept evading their snatcher teams so they gave up.
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Feb 5, 2022 02:27
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AradoBalanga posted:The sphincter doors are their own level of And think, 4 years later Duke Nukem Forever had sphincter doors and, like everything DNF, it was way worse.
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Feb 5, 2022 03:03
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Outpost22 posted:What kind of tests? Guess the dice roll, pick a card from a deck? Win the lottery? The Spartans' orange face visors were inspired by one kid's sweet sunglasses that he wore when he just dominated the 
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Feb 5, 2022 04:33
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I have no idea how Frenzy knew where they were going on the way back out of the High Charity. I've always hated levels where you're crawling around inside something alive, it's always a nightmare. System Shock 2 came out in 1999 and had sphincter doors. I think it might have been the earliest game like that, not counting 2-D sidescrollers. Here's one of the doors, with a cool tidbit on how they got the textures for the Many: 
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Feb 5, 2022 11:31
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If you made a joke every time a butthole door appeared in Prey 2006 you'd run out of jokes.
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Feb 6, 2022 08:57
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Megillah Gorilla posted:I have no idea how Frenzy knew where they were going on the way back out of the High Charity. that is one of the biggest TMI dev notes I've seen in all of video games TwoPair fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Feb 6, 2022 |
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Feb 6, 2022 09:09
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I respect the commitment to the art form.
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Feb 6, 2022 09:40
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I miss Looking Glass Studios. Too pure for this world.
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Feb 6, 2022 15:52
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Carbon dioxide posted:Wait. They probably just totally ripped it off when The Fall of Reach was being written. The book was being written during development and Eric Nyland actually helped them out with some of the characterization stuff for the game. They still had no idea how big it was going to be. CzarChasm posted:And think, 4 years later Duke Nukem Forever had sphincter doors and, like everything DNF, it was way worse. Man, I watched an LP of DNF years ago and I couldn't tell you a single thing about that game. Just completely forgettable. Megillah Gorilla posted:I've always hated levels where you're crawling around inside something alive, it's always a nightmare. I had no idea there were this many examples of sphincter doors, but that "fun" fact definitely puts it above the rest.
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Feb 8, 2022 00:29
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FrenzyTheKillbot posted:Man, I watched an LP of DNF years ago and I couldn't tell you a single thing about that game. Just completely forgettable. I remember you get shrunk and drive an rc car or something and that you boosted your health by looking at yourself in the mirror n poo poo.
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Feb 8, 2022 01:40
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there are things from DNF I can't forget, because they're really loving gross  and they weren't the sphincter doors (though I think happened in the same area)
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Feb 8, 2022 06:09
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Megillah Gorilla posted:System Shock 2 came out in 1999 and had sphincter doors. I think it might have been the earliest game like that, not counting 2-D sidescrollers. 1998, Inside Lord Jabu Jabu.
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Feb 8, 2022 17:04
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Had completely forgotten about those https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZTdh75rBdg&t=708s
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Feb 8, 2022 17:11
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Oh poo poo, Jabu Jabu did totally have sphincter doors. Wait, what about the ones inside the Great Deku Tree? Can trees have sphincters?
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Feb 8, 2022 17:47
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This is one of those things where gaming technology can suddenly do a particular effect, and so we get a rush of games that incorporate it. Like giant tripod enemies, or gravity guns, or escort missions with young girls. Just, y'know. Giant arsehole doors.
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Feb 8, 2022 18:07
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FrenzyTheKillbot posted:Man, I watched an LP of DNF years ago and I couldn't tell you a single thing about that game. Just completely forgettable. The fact the Games thread on it was totally removed was a crime.
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Feb 9, 2022 12:10
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 11 - Halo It's finally time to finish this fight.
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Feb 11, 2022 21:09
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I remember one time playing two-player with a friend during that driving session (at that section there are two Warthogs available when it's not single-player) - at the very last jump my hog flipped over and I fell out... And managed to jump into the gunner seat of the other hog. It was stupidly over-the-top.
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Feb 11, 2022 22:18
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This warthog run is another of my favorite Halo bits, even if I'm meh on the rest of the level. Halo Wars 2 info, assuming no one plays it: The Ark is still intact, and can still manufacture Halos. This capability is one of the reasons why the humans and the not-Covenant are fighting over it, whoever controls the Ark has the capability to build and launch Halos. Moreover, the Flood and the Gravemind are still around: High Charity wasn't completely destroyed, and the Sentinels erected a containment field around the hulk and eradicated the Flood outside containment. Then the Brutes decide to blast a hole in the field and have a look. Remember, Halos don't kill the Flood... I'm also a lunatic who's read the Forerunner Trilogy, which explains more of the Gravemind's attitude at the end.
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Feb 12, 2022 03:30
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Very convenient for Master Chief that apparently his chunk of the Forward Unto Dawn contained cryo-pods and a console for Cortana that apparently have independent power sources
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Feb 12, 2022 05:33
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TwoPair posted:Very convenient for Master Chief that apparently his chunk of the Forward Unto Dawn contained cryo-pods and a console for Cortana that apparently have independent power sources It's the aft section of a ship whose fore section is mostly gun. They probably have the main power source for the thing.
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Feb 12, 2022 16:31
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So "It's over, we won" says Admiral Stonyface. Except now the Gravemind has access to the most powerful weapon in the history of the galaxy - the Ark? Also, what's to stop him from having captured a human during all the fuss, not assimilated them, and then mashing their face against the "Kill all life in the galaxy" button?
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Feb 12, 2022 17:19
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One setting detail from Halo Wars 2, incidentally, that I find interesting: much of the post-Covenant believe that the Flood are a myth, just more Prophet propaganda to justify their failures and losses at the Halos, High Charity, and the Ark. Apparently, the Prophets lied about the existence of the Flood concerning the events of Halo 1 and 2, and only admitted the truth after Halo 3 - but by that point much of the increasingly-former Covenant weren't prepared to believe anything the Prophets said, even when they told the truth.
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Feb 12, 2022 17:27
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Megillah Gorilla posted:So "It's over, we won" says Admiral Stonyface. Except now the Gravemind has access to the most powerful weapon in the history of the galaxy - the Ark? Well, one, the Gravemind was trying to rebuild itself on the Halo, which is now in several billion itty-bitty pieces because it couldn't handle a firing sequence. The Gravemind is, for all intents and purposes, dead. For two, even if it could do that, it wouldn't. It doesn't want to destroy life, it wants to consume it.
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Feb 12, 2022 17:34
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I'm not really sure what they even accomplished. If the Flood are a hive mind, who's to say there's not several Grave Minds? There being multiple would mesh with the line about defeat only adding time to the sentence. Or is the idea that it'd survive the firing of the ring right in its face? And if so, why bother firing it?
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Feb 12, 2022 17:55
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Geemer posted:Or is the idea that it'd survive the firing of the ring right in its face? And if so, why bother firing it? Remember that it was established right back in Halo 1 that the Halos don't kill the Flood, they kill the Flood's food. Honestly, I think the writers of Halo 3 just plain forgot that because this plan makes no loving sense unless you assume the Flood would be left stranded on the Ark, never again a threat to the galaxy. Given that the Flood are sentient and can repurpose and sabotage Forerunner technology (see Halo 2), this is... probably not the best idea. As for the Gravemind(s), if you take the Forerunner trilogy as canon, there is only ever one Gravemind, and all its memories are encoded into the DNA of every single Flood spore. Unless you wipe out every last Flood spore in existence, everywhere, the Gravemind will remain. And according to the same books, we never do see a real Gravemind in the games, this one's just a larval version.
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Feb 12, 2022 18:03
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The plan was to fire the ring and just have everything explode and do it that way.
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Feb 12, 2022 21:29
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Cythereal posted:Remember that it was established right back in Halo 1 that the Halos don't kill the Flood, they kill the Flood's food. Yeah, I always just figured there weren't any dark templars around to stop the overlord from reincarnating in the Halo world.
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Feb 12, 2022 21:55
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