Posts Thanked By User

21

Just for Fun / Miniature Painting

« on: March 29, 2011, 07:03:18 pm »

I made comments on Pibe's Farseer, so it only seems fair to open myself up to criticism, too.  A thread seems like a better place for potential conversation than the gallery, so here you go.

I finally got some new supplies a while back and stripped some minis for a repaint.  So far, I've completed six Space Marines:

These guys are from the old box set of thirty marines - this thing from the '80s.  This is the first time I've done the edge highlighting and I think it came out pretty well, though a closer look at the minis shows my hand isn't super steady.  That's part of why I stared with these guys.

Here's a closer look at a single guy:

You can see a little of what I mean about the highlights if you look at the outside of his right lower leg.  See how the highlight gets wider than along the front and inside of the lower leg?  I gotta work on that.

I'm really pleased with the eyes, though.  The 2D of the picture makes it look like those could be actual lenses; they are pits in his face in reality.  Here are some more:

I painted them with the gemstone technique I mentioned in the gallery.  The eye socket was painted black, then a deep green was painted over the front two thirds, and then a spot of brighter green on the foremost quarter or third.  Then a small, white dot is added on the black to look like a reflection.  That's also how I handled the bump on the flamer:

I don't know if it was supposed to be a gem, but it is now.  I painted it like the eyes, except with red.  It's pretty dark since I left so much black showing, but that's reasonable for these marines.  When I do the ones on the Eldar I'm painting, I'll add more color so they look brighter.  I have some just about ready for the gemming up, so I'm almost done.  I'll post the pictures sooner or later, since I paint in little spurts when I have a few minutes, and "almost done" could mean a week or more.

22

Layonara Server / Version 3.30.3 is online!

« on: March 16, 2011, 10:11:48 pm »

[SIZE=32]Version 3.30.3 is online![/SIZE]

As I posted earlier today, this update requires everyone to download an updated HAK file.  Download the new file here, and expand it into your "hak" subfolder

Changes/fixes:

• Removed Gaseous Form creature from Gloom Woods Castle spawns
• Rename Outskirts of Fort Gorge to Outskirts of Fort of Last Hope
• Rename the guard in the Fort of Last Hope appropriately
• Enable wandering of cat in 150 Krandor
• Added reflected scabbards as neck models
• Fix lighting in 224 Haft Lake
• Re-tie 224 Haft Lake to Dalanthar
• Tweak house door activation scripts slightly
• Pawn shops in Port Hempstead, Fort Vehl, Center and Hlint now come with level restrictions. Characters over a given level will not be able to use those pawn shops.
• Slight placeable tweak in Port Hempstead
• Closed an exploit involving ranged weapons and weapon enhancements (see here for details)

Thanks this time go to Script Wrecked and orth.

Enjoy!

23

Important Layonara Announcements / Periodic server downtime over next few days

« on: March 16, 2011, 02:57:35 pm »

Hello again folks,

We are reworking our server structure over the rest of the week to prepare for the coming excitement of the plot quests and to cut some costs.  One of our development repository and team collaboration servers (silkwood) is being transitioned to run on the same server as our forums and lore server (garent).  We don't expect this to cause any change in the performance you see from these sites but it will mean some occasional downtime for the forums and lore as we add some additional web server capabilities.

Once this transition is complete and silkwood goes offline we will be using the cost savings to temporarily support a second server for NWN to run quests when needed. Hat tip to Dorganath for offering to pay for the difference to support the windows server for this and for the idea in general.  To support this capability there will need to be a time for us to temporarily take down the nwn servers to properly mirror the database and the character files over both servers. We'll try to perform this late at night/early morning when things are quiet. Exact date and time is not known but I will follow up in this thread when we decide upon those details. We estimate it will occur some time in the next week.

Feel free to ask any questions should you have them.

-orth

24

General Discussion / Happy Birthday!

« on: March 05, 2011, 11:41:59 am »

[SIZE=32]Happy Birthday to my favorite 11 year old halfling!

Happy Birthday Mateo (Teo)![/SIZE]

:p:):rolleyes::p:):rolleyes:

25

The Dragon Storm Campaign / State of play on the War

« on: February 25, 2011, 06:28:37 pm »

//Over the last few 10 months of the war the following has occured in sequential order. Some of course have taken more time than others to complete but this is the general state of play and order of events.


The Blackford War Council implodes then reforms without Moraken to continue the role it was formed for,

Sederra has negotiated an alliance with Rael and Sucession and now faces destruction or being saved by accumulated forces on Dreger,

the Cult fleet bears down on Audiria,

two dragons keep Sederra locked down,

allied forces are busy sailing to Alhon and then marching to battle lines drawn up by the Blackford council and those on the ground in Hilm itself including Sir Lance and Lord Alexander,

Nesar has thrown off the shackles of the Cult with the help of the Corathites and Pyrtechonites,

PC forces seek the location of the Broken One,

the Cult Army in Vilsa with Cyn Chen marches on Nith,

a small Cult force drawn from those that marched on Sundance march towards Fort Miritrix,

the Sederran navy that left Audiria are smashed before even reaching the Cult fleet,

Cult forces secure southern Hilm and move towards the Fort of Last Hope from Sundance and Briardusk,

A very large Cult army has reached the border with Hilm having marched from Swarm lake and rumours are that Molvaren has been seen in this army.

A secondary Cult Army being led by Commander of the Drachs, Jaedan Siphe have marched from Briardusk towards Hilm Castle slowly so they can secure the lands north of Fort of Last Hope. Running battles have been occuring constantly with forces deployed from Hilm Castle to slow these advancing forces down. Heavy casualties have been taken on both sides but the allies have steadily lost ground to this army as it advances north.

Hilm castle has been preparing for the inevitability that they will be under seige within a few months by Cult armies from Swarm lake and those advancing northwards from Sundance.

Fort of Last Hope has also been preparing for Seige as Cult armies form the south secure southern Hilm and armies form Briardusk begin to cut off supply from all avenues except through the moutains to the east. This avenue only possible due to agreements made with the Shindalerians to guide supply ships through the reefs to shore near this location.


At the end of ten months;

Fort of Last Hope is about to beseiged (within the week),
Nith about to be attacked (within two weeks),
Fort Miritrix about to be attacked (within the month),
Audiria about to be attacked by a Cult fleet (within two weeks)
Castle Hilm about to be advanced on (over next 2 months)
A PC led assault on a place within Kuhl will be undertaken (2-3 months away)


// Please note time on layo for all intents and purposes of the PLot has slowed somewhat and may be out of sync with different events. This post is to try and give you some perspective on the time lines as they are ongoing. Any questions or things you feel should be added please PM me. As we move into the final stages time will slow even more in an ooc sense otherwise things don't make a lot of sense in the overall scheme of the war going on, if you know what I mean!

26

Just for Fun / Refugees from Sundance

« on: January 30, 2011, 12:29:28 pm »

//blatently stolen but nonetheless a little atmosphere from an Ilsarian on the retreat from Sundance.
 
 
 
 Bent double, refugees of Sundance,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through forest,
Till on the following Drachs we turned our lance
And towards our distant Hilm hoped to rest.
 
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the woots  
Of mired, outstripped  Green Cult that chased behind.
 Drach! Drach! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Casting the warding spells just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime .
 
Dim, through the misty trees and thick green acid,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before me helpless Sid,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, screaming.
 
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, free of evil, sick of sin;
 
If you could hear, at every jolt, the pain
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene and corrupt, like the green Cult stain
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
 
My friend, you would not tell with such high sin  
To recruits ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; follow me and we will win
We will win, on to the end of this story

27

General Discussion / A Fond Farewell

« on: January 08, 2011, 11:39:05 am »

Hi everyone,

I have to say ... it's been a great run! That said, this post is to let the community know that I have just stepped down as a GM. The decision to retire was actually some months in the making, but I stayed on a little longer to make sure my work with Center rolled out smoothly, and to finish off my last commitments to CDQ requests.

Time. If only we all could have enough! But with my university days over and my full time job becoming more full time by the day, I know in my heart that I don't have the time for the responsibilities of GMing anymore, and it is time to step aside.

My deepest thanks to the community. You are what makes GMing here worth the time we give up. So thanks, for your commitment and passion to the world, for your creativity on quests and during every day roleplay, and for all the support you give the GMs as we try our best to weave stories for you, puppeteer a dozen NPCs at once, and keep the monsters on a short enough leash that you can at least try to solve the world's problems in a non-combative fashion. Mine were always a little unruly, and apologies to whoever they took a swipe at accidentally during a quest. I do seem to recall a few strand refunds during my tenure ... ;-)

I can say with honesty, it has been my sincerest pleasure to eavesdrop on all your RP conversations, snoop through your character's backpacks and leave the occasional surprise, bash you on the head with the XP wand from time to time, and torture your characters through development quests!

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

~Carillon

28

Just for Fun / Funny Animals

« on: January 05, 2011, 01:27:06 pm »

A friend of mine sent me this and I though I'd share.  Enjoy:

Hilarious British animal voiceovers. [VIDEO]

29

Rumour Has It / A Quiet word passes by...

« on: December 21, 2010, 10:39:06 am »

[SIZE=18]An old DragonCalled, by name of Sallaron Tempest, who seemed to hold some reknown as a carpenter, has died of old age in his house in Haft Lake.
He left behind his wife, two sons and a small fortune in his will was given to various charities.

During the funeral, friends and neighbours were astounded to see a mass of people attend, many seeming to be Ex-slaves rescued from a terrible life, whilst others appeared to be those of great rank and standing from various organisations.

Neighbours were noted to have been amazed by the massive attendance to the funeral, stating " He seemed like such an ordinary man. "[/SIZE]

30

General Discussion / And thats it....

« on: December 21, 2010, 10:15:37 am »

Well, this might have been seen coming, but its time I hung up the GM gloves.

RealLife has took a wonderful turn in the form of two crazy, mad-cap spawns of Mini-Me's, whom continue to suck and drain every ounce of will to live that I have ( kidding of course!  )

Add to that various other things, and sadly I just don't have time for GMing anymore, so I'll put the GM Wand back on the self, and hope someone else will pick it up and have a wave.

But I do thank you for the opportunity I had to bring about some chaos, fun and laughs to this wonderful little world you've all created. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the MMO when it's released, and likely bring about some great ancestor of the Tempest's to see it.

I wish you all well, and of course a Happy Christmas!

31

General Discussion / Shiokara's Turn

« on: May 28, 2010, 10:09:40 am »

happy Escape From the Womb day.

32

General Discussion / To all the Special Women in our lives

« on: May 09, 2010, 09:28:47 am »

Happy Mothers Day!

I hope you all have a great one, we wouldn't be the same without you.

33

General Discussion / Tips for Bards: How to Avoid Typing Your Song

« on: May 02, 2010, 06:30:21 pm »

Having been asked about how I get my songs up so fast I thought I'd share what I do.

first - set NWN to windowed mode by doing the following.

Edit nwn.ini  (found in the NWN directory) to read thus:

[Display Options]
FullScreen=0
AllowWindowedMode=1

The desktop resolution should be greater than NWN's resolution (for example, desktop at 1024x768 and NWN at 800x600). Otherwise, NWN will ignore its resolution setting and run at 800x600 instead.

It is also possible to switch between full screen and windowed mode while the game is running, by using the Alt-Enter key combination.

second - type out all your songs, emotes, etc. into a word doc.  if you have a bunch (I have about sixty now) then follow these instructions for making a searchable table of contents:

Microsoft Word Help FAQ. How to create a table of contents in Microsoft Word

This will give you a table of contents that uses your song title as the subject line and you can control-click to the song.

Then, with NWN in windowed mode and your song document open and in your task bar, copy/paste to your heart's content.

TIPS:

-lock your document between edits so you don't accidentally type over your song and are then stuck desperately retyping from memory while your Layo audience grows bored waiting for the next line.  Voice of Experience, here.

-something I learned from the Willie the Bard concert; give a little time if you stack your stanzas as I do (line / line / line / line).  The temptation when you are free from typing is to go faster but allow at least five seconds between; people are going to be reading your unfamiliar material as well as everything else in the chat window. (thanks to those who gave me that feedback)

Hope this helps, my fellow Bards!

34

Roleplaying / GM challenge

« on: May 01, 2010, 05:26:42 pm »

I want to test myself as a GM and gather some inspirational ideas from the general population. This is my challenge.

I would like for you to make up a NPC character profile that I have to use in an adventure. All the NPCs that get PM'd to me will have an active part in the same adventure, as long as they meet lore standards. If I have a problem with your character I'll let you know so you can edit it.

RULES
-I ask that you send no more then two NPC character submissions from any single person.

-I reserve the right to rename the NPC. That way you do not know who it is if you are apart of the adventure.

-Do not post the profile in this thread. PM it to me.

-Same rules for PC generation should apply to these NPCs


MJ

P.S. if any GMs want to help collaborate on making this adventure just let me know.

35

Just for Fun / The Beefing!

« on: May 01, 2010, 12:41:28 pm »

Here's proof of my victory over the Ultimate Fat  Challenge!  $15.99 for 4 lbs of beef, 2 lbs of pork, 8 strips of bacon, and a 1lb side of fries!  Eat it all in one sitting and you eat for free.  Not only did I beat the challenge, but I get the new record for 36 minutes, giving me 24 more to spare!  I spent that time drinking some pints, in true dwarven fashion!



The arterial clogger is served!  Pray for your digestive system...




Yeeeargh!!!




Nyum Nyum Nyum Nyum!




Sweet cheesy pork fries of goodness!




Hey!  Git me some beer, wench!  Oh, and another sammich!

36

Rumour Has It / A report to the Rofirenites

« on: February 11, 2010, 11:06:39 am »

*Keppli is seen dashing up two steps at a time into the temple at Vehl... looking scruffy and out of place with twigs and such in her hair, muddy cheeks and boots, and she skids to a stop looking around for someone of high position to talk to gritting her teeth angrily*

"I saw this guy past Wayfare right... said he was one of you Rofies. Load of rubbish if ya ask me. Ya might want ta know he was scamming travelers and merchants by making 'em pay coin to go past the gates! I just rode past him myself, freedom shouldn't cost a  thing.

Oh, right right... he was sort of big-ish, wore plain-looking leathers and had a huMOUNgous moustache. Kinda guy I just wanted ta punch in the face.

So erm... I say ya should have a word with that guy, or... something. Cause there's definitely something up here"

37

NWN Ideas, Suggestions, Requests / Couple more ideas, Lockout timer & teleport

« on: February 07, 2010, 10:47:00 am »

Hey all

I wanted to toss a couple more ideas out and see if they were possible for here. The two ideas kind of go together.

1. Teleportation (for all characters). I had this idea after my second all nighter going after things in The Deep. And the impending "LOOKS" i keot gettig throughout the following days by my wife.
In EQ2 everyone had the ability to use a spell called "Call to(your home city)". It was useable once evey 45 RL minutes. Would something like that be possible here? But probably on a much longer re-use timer? Or perhaps teleport locations in the world you can go to rather than spend hours and hours retracing your steps.... the in game teleporters ties directly into #2

2. Zone Lock Out timer. A zone lock out timer would be for say places in the deep or dungeons etc. What it would do is once you have been to said zone. Once you leave you cannot return for "X" amount of time. That would depend on what the zone was all about. Say anywhere from 8 hours to up to 24 hours or more if the team saw fit lockout.

Why add these ideas? I dont believe every player has 4 to 8 in a row to spend at their PC and make an attempt at getting Mithril, or Emeralds, or say some really awesome dungeon way off someplace. These ideas would allow them to get there but esentially taking the round trip time and cutting it in half. And because it is now so much shorter... adding a lock out timer would keep things in check I beleive.

I believe both of these ideas are possible with NwN. Certain classes in the game can teleport already. And we have zone lockouts that are tied to level, or if you have an item in your inventory. So I dont think it would be too tettible difficult to make a working lockout system (lol yeah I say that from the outside looking in)


Thanks

G-452

38

Layonara Server / Version 3.21.6 is online

« on: January 27, 2010, 05:52:52 pm »

[SIZE=24]Version 3.21.6 is online![/SIZE]
 
 This is another small one, consisting mostly of quick fixes.

• Tile fixes to recent remodel to 237 Haft Lake District
• Angels Guild hall remodel
• Fix facing directions on transitions into Prantz from adjacent areas
• Fix descriptions on several beverages and other items to fix typos and lore issues
• Fix typo in Marrent Aylomen's conversation
• Fix seating in the Mithril Anvil
• Horse speed selection works again
• Staff in The Jhemina Inn in Sadinia no longer say "Unicorn"
• Remove Stoneskin visual from Creekskipper's Defense
• Adjust spawn points in a few Great Forest areas
• Rename Near Fort Laer to Near Fort Rael
• Some adjustments to the loot drop tables
• Fix area tagging for 250 Prantz - Haft Lake District
• Remove some too-happy music from the Deep
• Area update for plot reasons
• Fix some missing respawn timers
• Adjustment of spawns in Sharawood
• Rename West of Corax Lake to East of Corax Lake...because it is
• Fix facing of Lor bank exit
• Added some new plot-relevant creatures

There it is!  Thanks to those who supplied input to this, and also to Minerva for her plot areas and to Alatriel for her help with remodels.

There are no downloads required for this update.
 
Enjoy!

39

Rumour Has It / Increadsed patrols out of North Fort

« on: January 23, 2010, 03:44:43 am »

Word of increased patrols heading out of North Fort has reached Audira, apparently based on rumors of Dragon Stealers stalking the Wandering Dunes for some purpose, perhaps even the dragon that inhabits those sands.

40

Rumour Has It / An ornate carriage (2) ...

« on: January 09, 2010, 11:18:49 pm »

[SIZE=13]An open carriage rolls slowly across the cobbled streets of Vehl's dock district. The driver, a lean man of middling years, his iron grey hair pulled back into a short, neat pony tail. A man not seen in public for many years.The flash and sparkle of diamond and emerald can be seen on a multitude of rings, necklace, armbands, belt, brooch, earring and more. The showy jewellery is in stark contrast to the two entirely plain and unadorned shortswords sheathed at his hip. Whispers first, then growing crowds follow the carriage's passing.

From the rear of the carriage, four maidens (fair of face and form) reach into a large chest and draw forth handfuls of shining gold. What is brighter, their gay laughter or the shimmer and shine of the Queen's true into outstretched arms, who can say?

A child, thin with hunger and despair is lifted up towards the man in the carriage. The child's small body is covered with bruises and open sores, the harsh signs of neglect and disease. The driver, his beneficent smile beaming forth, reaches down a hand towards the child and strokes his cheek. At his soft touch, miraculously the child's body glows with new health and vitality. The driver of the carriage presses a large gold coin into the boy's hand as the carriage rolls on and the boy is carried away in the arms of the gathered crowd.

"Arkolio has returned! Arkolio has returned!"

[/SIZE]



[SIZE=10]// 5,000 true taken from Arkolio by GM Dezza //[/SIZE]