A.C. Flory's Blog, page 137

FFXIV – the Chrysalis

Okay, first up, I did get through this trial, and I even managed to get a commendation, so this is not sour grapes but… the Chrysalis was nasty. Part of the reason for that was social and part was due to the mechanics of the actual trial.

Mechanics

This is not a walkthrough so I won’t go into every skill Nabriales [the Boss] uses. Instead I want to talk about the two major mechanics – orbs and meteors. And I want to show you what all the important things look like because recognizing what’s what is often the difference between a successful run and a disaster.

Orbs

In the first phase of the trial, Nabriales will call forth two kinds of orbs to buff himself. One is physical, the other magical and they look like this:

Screenshot taken from MrHappy’s video guide

The orbs start at the outer perimeter of the arena and slowly drift into the centre where Nabriales waits. Your job is to stop the orbs from reaching him. Every orb that does reach him applies a buff that will increase the damage of the big AOE he unleashes at the end of this stage. Nabriales will call the orbs twice.

How to stop the orbs

To stop an orb you have to run through it. When you do, the orb explodes and is gone. Unfortunately getting it to explode is not as easy as it sounds. Whether it was a glitch or some odd lag effect, I found that I could not seem to ‘connect’ with some of the orbs. In fact there was one that I ran through about 4 times before it finally exploded.That was not fun.

Alternating orbs

To make dealing with the orbs harder, you will have to alternate red and black orbs because connecting with 2 or god forbid 3 of the same kind would be bad, very bad.

The glitch and the alternating requirement meant that 8 people were running around, not doing a very good job of stopping these orbs from reaching Nabriales. And when he did his AOE we wiped.

At our next attempt, we survived the first round of orbs only to be felled by the second round.

I think it was about this time that someone from the group ranted about ‘stupid people’. I became a little heated and said we were not stupid, just new. When we had a show of hands, 3 of the 8 admitted to being new to the trial.

Anyway, we kept going which was good as some of the group would have preferred to rage quit.

Then, after 2 lots of orbs and Quake, Nabriales cast Blight and disappeared, leaving a portal in the middle of the arena.

Blight and the portal

Blight is a DoT AOE [damage over time area of effect] that lasts for quite some time and reduces your health the whole time.Blight cannot be avoided and neither can the portal.The problem is they happen at the same time.

If you get sucked into the portal while Blight is still active, the effect will last X amount of time longer so you do NOT want to get sucked in straight away. But how do you avoid getting sucked in too soon?

Simple – you run towards the outer perimeter of the arena, and you watch this little icon count down to zero:

Screenshot taken from MrHappy’s video clip.

All the guides say to keep running until Blight wears off then pop your buffs just before being sucked into the portal. The reason for popping the buffs is that they are extended on the other side of the portal as well.

I happened to be right next to the portal when it opened the first time and couldn’t even take a step before I was sucked in. Lesson: stay away from the centre. :(

The next time we faced Blight, I managed to run towards the outer edge of the arena long enough for it to wear off but I could not run and pop my buffs at the same time. You see that pull is damn strong.

This is what the portal looks like:

Screenshot taken from MrHappy’s video guide

Meteors

Once on the other side of the portal, you will see a series of circles on the ground:

Screenshot taken from MrHappy’s video guide

These circles show where the meteors will land. The landing spot of the BIG meteor is circled in red while the smaller ones are circled in yellow. The small meteors come down fast, and if they hit the ground they turn into a ‘tear’.

The way to stop the tears from forming in the first place is to put a tank underneath each small meteor. Of course you will get more small meteors than tanks so eventually a ‘tear’ will form:

Screenshot taken from MrHappy’s video guide

This ‘tear’ has to be destroyed before the big meteor strikes or it’s an instant wipe. If at all possible, save the level 3 Limit Break for the tear.

We also had trouble with this bit because at least one of the tanks had no idea what to do. Instant wipe.

Sadly it was not the experienced players who explained what needed to be done but someone who had only studied the video guides. Any way you look at it, that’s a ridiculous situation, yet it happens time and time again. Information is not gold. You don’t lose anything by giving it away.

The one positive thing I can say is that I got to practise my Swiftcast-Resurrection about five times. :(

If anyone is interested in seeing MrHappy’s complete video guide, you can find it here:

cheers

Meeks

p.s. For my non-gamer friends – just one more to go. :)

Filed under: Games for big kids Tagged: Blight, Chrysalis, Limit-Break, meteors, Orbs, portal, tear

Mutawintji National Park

acflory:

If you’ve ever wanted to see photos of Australia off-the-beaten-track then you’ll find some lovely ones in Anne Lawson’s post. You’ve also discover some interesting history about the place and botanical drawing. Win/win!

Originally posted on Anne Lawson:

I have just come back to Menindee after spending a few days in Mutawintji National Park. It is a couple of hours north east of Broken Hill.

Have you ever seen the movie “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”? It was filmed in Broken Hill. So if you have seen it you can visualise the landscape we were travelling through. If you haven’t seen it, make sure you do, as it is a fabulous film!

We were following in the footsteps of Burke and Wills. Our guide was Garry, a member of the Burke and Wills Society who had been this way a few years ago. He was so knowledgeable about the area, even arranging for us to go onto private land to see where some of the paintings from the expedition were painted.

I have mentioned that I am up here, with other botanic artists to paint the plants collected…

View original 282 more words

Filed under: Uncategorized

Neural ‘cap’ and computer helps a man walk again

I just saw this on TV and  almost fell over as I honestly thought this technology would not be available for decades yet.

This technology offers real hope for thousands of paraplegics all around the world. Go the Naked Ape! For all our faults, we produce some wonderful, dedicated, compassionate human beings as well.

cheers

Meeka

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Interface, neural-cap, paralysis, walk-again

Publishing – is the Big Five cabal really so…inept?

My most recent article on the writing game just went up on Indies Unlimited:

http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2015/09/22/is-big-five-publishing-positioning-themselves-for-large-ebook-profits/#comments

I intended it to spark a discussion, and its happening. Come join the fun. :)

cheers

Meeks

p.s. sorry for the flurry of posts. I’ve had a bit of a rest and my brain has woken up again. :D

Filed under: My soap box Tagged: agency-pricinng, amazon, Big-Five, Indies-Unlimited, publishing

CGI Silly Putty

Technophile or technophobe, everyone should have a look at this video clip!

It shows computer generated shapes squidging up and splaying out, and generally behaving like real world ‘wet’ things.

The animation is great fun to watch, but what really blew my mind was that none of it is real. Every last bend, twist and splodge is created by a computer graphics program simulating the real world… and doing it well.

And because more is better than less, here are some more fluid simulations:

Final Fantasy XIV has some amazing looking ‘water’ but still nothing that looks and acts like real water.

The following 3 pics were taken at a game location called ‘Mist’ and show the waves coming in and going out. [note to self – really must download a video capture app again].

Look at the waves….

The waves don’t ‘interact’ with objects terribly well, but one day they will. One day, the simulated world will look as real as the real one. And from there, Innerscape is just a hop, skip and a jump away.

cheers

Meeks

Filed under: Games for big kids Tagged: CGI, ffxiv, fluid-simulation, Freiburg, video, viscous, water-effects

Aussie rock, then and then

A few posts back, I went down memory lane with John Farnham and The Voice. Today I give you Iva Davies and Icehouse in Great Southern Land!

[My thanks to David Prosser for reminding me that Australia really has produced some great rock bands].

Once started, of course, I couldn’t stop. Here are some more of my favourites, starting with a very young Jimmy Barnes fronting Cold Chisel and singing ‘Cheap Wine’.

Next up is Solid Rock by Goanna. Not the best voice but I love the song.

And then the classic of classics – Down Under by Men at Work. This song won us the America’s Cup, forget about incidental things like yachts and sails and things. :D

In stark contrast to the tongue-in-cheek lyrics of Down Under is Treaty, by Yothu Yindi.  Listen to the lyrics and you realise this is an anthem for justice. Sadly we’re not there yet.

This next song is pure nostalgia. I was 18 or 19 when I saw Eagle Rock performed live outside the Union Building of Melbourne Uni. And yes, we all wore teeny, tiny hot pants with boots. :D

Then there’s this, a song written by Bruce Woodley of The Seekers and Dobe Newton of The Bushwackers, sung by Lo-tel, produced as an advert for Telstra and featuring us.:D

This post has meandered from straight rock to something approaching patriotism so I’m going to end with a promotional video for the Barossa Valley in South Australia. The campaign is called ‘Barossa. Be Consumed’, and it features some of the most sensuous scenes of Australia I’ve ever seen. Oh and the song ‘Red Right Hand’ by Nick Cave is wonderful too.

Enjoy!

Meeks

 

Filed under: Music Tagged: Australia, Barossa-Be-Consumed, Cold-Chisel, Eagle-Rock, Goanna, Icehouse, Men-at-Work, Nice-Cave, rock-music, Yothu-Yindi

Otherland update, September 2015

I’ve posted about Otherland  online before, and the steady interest shown by readers confirms that I’m not the only person waiting for this unusual MMO. Sadly development has been very stop-and-go. Now, however, I’m pleased to say there is progress!

You can read the full release on Tad Williams’ website:

http://www.tadwilliams.com/2015/09/otherland-launches-on-steam-early-access/

cheers

Meeks

Filed under: Uncategorized

Yay! PM-elect, Malcolm Turnbull

For those who don’t follow politics, Malcolm Turnbull has just been elected the new Liberal Prime Minister by a vote of 54 to 44. Abbott is out and Julie Bishop is again Deputy with a vote of 70 to 30.

I’m actually a Labor voter, but I have a great deal of respect for Malcolm Turnbull, and I refuse to vote for Bill Shorten, so this is a huge relief.

The Daughter and I are celebrating!

Goodnight Australia,

Meeks

Filed under: Uncategorized

Podcast interview with D.V.Berkom

I’ve been enjoying the adventures of Leine Basso for a couple of years now, but it was not until I listened to D.V.’s interview this morning that I realised Leine is supposed to be pronounced as ‘Lane’. In my head I always heard Leine as ‘Laney’. Well, Laney no more! But I still really like the character. :D

If you’re interested in some more tit-bits from and about D.V.Berkom, click on the URL below and then listen to the podcast of her interview.

http://crimefiction.fm/d-v-berkom/

cheers

Meeks

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: assassin, Cargo, crime, D.V.Berkom, heroine, Interview, podcast, slavery, strong

An apology to my Goodreads friends

After months of neglect, I finally logged into my Goodreads account today and found a heap of friend requests I knew nothing about. 78 of them…

I’ve now approved each and every one, but I still feel dreadful because I hate being rude, and ignoring people is rude in the extreme. Plus I have no idea how long those requests have been pending. So to all my wonderful new friends – I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to respond. :(

I know it’s no excuse, but I’m terrible at social media in all its forms, except perhaps for my blog, which I love. Hand-on-heart I will attempt to do better in the future.

Thank you Goodreads friends. Big hugs to you all!

cheers

Meeks

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: apology, friend-requests, Goodreads, thank-you