Junior Adventurer's Guild - October: Deus Ex + Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption SPOOKY HALLOWEEN DOUBLE FEATURE

[Lord of Riva]

I'd destroy the Internet right this second with 0 hesitation

Tongs Ending would be preferable if the idea was not so ********, blowing up the internet would lead to 2 years without it, it's completely pointless.

Without the weird interpretation in invisble war, Helios and illuminati are basically the same, tyrannical dictatorship one hidden, one not.

[Roderick]

Police Blockade in Canal Road is not despawning thus blocking the entrance.

>blockade is blocking the way
Seems like it's working as intended.

nvm I figured it out

[Kalarion]

I'd destroy the Internet right this second with 0 hesitation

Tongs Ending would be preferable if the idea was not so ********, blowing up the internet would lead to 2 years without it, it's completely pointless.

Without the weird interpretation in invisble war, Helios and illuminati are basically the same, tyrannical dictatorship one hidden, one not.

I wonder. If you blew up the internet in, say, the '90s or the very early '00s, I might have agreed with you. The people who administrated and built the internet were still around (Highly Competent White Men, in other words), and the internet itself wasn't nearly as complicated, obscured, and interdependent as it is today.

But blow it up now? So much of what the internet is now is based upon barely- or not-understood concepts. The people who understand the machines and systems are grumpy old men in a basement somewhere. In many cases they probably don't exist at all anymore, and everything is just running on maintenance. What happens when the people who actually knew how things worked are no longer around?

How many weird, one-off systems would be gone, never to be recovered? Who really knows how internet backbone structures work and are connected to each other? Who would be capable of troubleshooting the sometimes wizard-like problems that would inevitably pop up? How long would it take to re-manufacture and -build lines etc?

[boot]

We must collectively choose the tracer tong ending
-Axe Father

[DagothGeas5]

I wanted to ask, just yes or no, is there some way to keep the sword from the chinese woman's "basement"? I personally am not trusting none of these factions and I'd prefer to keep armed in some way just in case. This game is so interactive that I have faith every action will be reacted and counted whatever I do, but I played some games in the past that broke if I did one thing or the other that was too out of the script and, though I'd like to replay this game, I'd rather avoid making the story impossible to complete.

► Show Spoiler

Hong Kong has me in a spell with this track, no idea how long did I spend traversing the same hallways "exploring" just to hear it for longer XD
:weeb: :weeb:

:weeb: :weeb:

[J1M]

I don't recall any issue with keeping the dragon tooth sword.

[Tweed]

There's no issue with keeping the Dragon's Tooth, you'll always have it unless you drop it.

[DagothGeas5]

The game said to bring the sword to the Arrow guys as a peace offering between the triads, so I wasn't sure if I could still keep it if I did. Thank you both for the information!

[DagothGeas5]

Sorry for double post, though it has been some time since.

Is this game based off of something, a book or the likes? There are so many things that are a reflection of reality, especially for the happenings of these days, or is it just the nature of things? How it was an inevitability those that made the concepts in the game could concieve was going to happen?

[Tangerine]

Sorry for double post, though it has been some time since.

Is this game based off of something, a book or the likes? There are so many things that are a reflection of reality, especially for the happenings of these days, or is it just the nature of things? How it was an inevitability those that made the concepts in the game could concieve was going to happen?

The narrative premise for Deus Ex was "what if every conspiracy theory were true?" Seeing as Warren Spector is a liberal Jew, he thought he was being slick and making fun of the 90s equivalent of Alex Jones fans. Turns out the conspiracy theorists were closer to the mark than his idiot world view was comfortable with, which is why in 2021 he said he wouldn't make anything like Deus Ex today.

Deus Ex was originally released in 2000 but took place in an alternate 2052 where many of the real world conspiracy theories have come true. The plot included references to vaccinations, black helicopters, FEMA, and ECHELON amongst others, some of which have connotations to real-life events. Spector said, “Interestingly, I’m not sure I’d make Deus Ex today. The conspiracy theories we wrote about are now part of the real world. I don’t want to support that.”

Sorry Warren, those conspiracy theories were always part of the real world. You're just now seeing them come to fruition.

[DagothGeas5]

Sorry for double post, though it has been some time since.

Is this game based off of something, a book or the likes? There are so many things that are a reflection of reality, especially for the happenings of these days, or is it just the nature of things? How it was an inevitability those that made the concepts in the game could concieve was going to happen?

The narrative premise for Deus Ex was "what if every conspiracy theory were true?" Seeing as Warren Spector is a liberal Jew, he thought he was being slick and making fun of the 90s equivalent of Alex Jones fans. Turns out the conspiracy theorists were closer to the mark than his idiot world view was comfortable with, which is why in 2021 he said he wouldn't make anything like Deus Ex today.

Deus Ex was originally released in 2000 but took place in an alternate 2052 where many of the real world conspiracy theories have come true. The plot included references to vaccinations, black helicopters, FEMA, and ECHELON amongst others, some of which have connotations to real-life events. Spector said, “Interestingly, I’m not sure I’d make Deus Ex today. The conspiracy theories we wrote about are now part of the real world. I don’t want to support that.”

Sorry Warren, those conspiracy theories were always part of the real world. You're just now seeing them come to fruition.

Thank you for the information! He is quoted at being the director and producer that I can see, glad he was not more involved into the writing then. Sad to see how chicken he is.
I find it fascinating how people that want to poke fun at "crazies" are the first to go into hiding when **** is proven right, yet they were so full of zeal before. It is incredibly self-evident and ironic especially when they say their reason is to "remain neutral" or something like that, something also applied to the woke **** too. Slimy leeches.

[Finarfin]

Sorry for double post, though it has been some time since.

Is this game based off of something, a book or the likes? There are so many things that are a reflection of reality, especially for the happenings of these days, or is it just the nature of things? How it was an inevitability those that made the concepts in the game could concieve was going to happen?

The narrative premise for Deus Ex was "what if every conspiracy theory were true?" Seeing as Warren Spector is a liberal Jew, he thought he was being slick and making fun of the 90s equivalent of Alex Jones fans. Turns out the conspiracy theorists were closer to the mark than his idiot world view was comfortable with, which is why in 2021 he said he wouldn't make anything like Deus Ex today.

Deus Ex was originally released in 2000 but took place in an alternate 2052 where many of the real world conspiracy theories have come true. The plot included references to vaccinations, black helicopters, FEMA, and ECHELON amongst others, some of which have connotations to real-life events. Spector said, “Interestingly, I’m not sure I’d make Deus Ex today. The conspiracy theories we wrote about are now part of the real world. I don’t want to support that.”

Sorry Warren, those conspiracy theories were always part of the real world. You're just now seeing them come to fruition.

Yes Warren, now you make ****** DEI multiplayer slop that will hopefully go the way of Concord.

[J1M]

Difficult to make a game today about conspiracies because anyone who cares can dig a little to confirm most of the mainstream ones. And it's no longer a comfortable pastime to think about these things like in 90s when everyone was fat and happy in a home that they were able to purchase working a normal job.

These days it would be like: "how is this a conspiracy in a game, that's just a real fact", or "this is so tame compared to what the government is confirmed to be doing", or "the president issuing a pardon for his crack-addicted son that solicits underage prostitutes for a feet fetish after winning the office by rigging an election? I thought this was supposed to be fiction"

[DagothGeas5]

Difficult to make a game today about conspiracies because anyone who cares can dig a little to confirm most of the mainstream ones. And it's no longer a comfortable pastime to think about these things like in 90s when everyone was fat and happy in a home that they were able to purchase working a normal job.

These days it would be like: "how is this a conspiracy in a game, that's just a real fact", or "this is so tame compared to what the government is confirmed to be doing", or "the president issuing a pardon for his crack-addicted son that solicits underage prostitutes for a feet fetish after winning the office by rigging an election? I thought this was supposed to be fiction"

That is true, didn't think of it that way.
If the Warren guy we spoke of above is thinking of it this way, then I can understand how he would not want to make Deus Ex or another like it during these days as it would probably not be profitable, though I am biased to think he might just be making an excuse after meeting too many of the weasely type.

[J1M]

Difficult to make a game today about conspiracies because anyone who cares can dig a little to confirm most of the mainstream ones. And it's no longer a comfortable pastime to think about these things like in 90s when everyone was fat and happy in a home that they were able to purchase working a normal job.

These days it would be like: "how is this a conspiracy in a game, that's just a real fact", or "this is so tame compared to what the government is confirmed to be doing", or "the president issuing a pardon for his crack-addicted son that solicits underage prostitutes for a feet fetish after winning the office by rigging an election? I thought this was supposed to be fiction"

That is true, didn't think of it that way.
If the Warren guy we spoke of above is thinking of it this way, then I can understand how he would not want to make Deus Ex or another like it during these days as it would probably not be profitable, though I am biased to think he might just be making an excuse after meeting too many of the weasely type.

At this point Warren has to admit to even himself that his prior success was largely about being fortunate to work with two great teams sequentially. He hasn't managed to do anything worthwhile after leaving Ion Storm except for interviews about Deus Ex.

Harvey Smith, who was a very large part of Deus Ex's gameplay, was at least able to make Dishonored after leaving Ion Storm. The only thing Warren had a significant hand in in the 20 years since Thief: Deadly Shadows was Epic Mickey and Epic Mickey 2.

[logincrash]

Difficult to make a game today about conspiracies because anyone who cares can dig a little to confirm most of the mainstream ones. And it's no longer a comfortable pastime to think about these things like in 90s when everyone was fat and happy in a home that they were able to purchase working a normal job.

These days it would be like: "how is this a conspiracy in a game, that's just a real fact", or "this is so tame compared to what the government is confirmed to be doing", or "the president issuing a pardon for his crack-addicted son that solicits underage prostitutes for a feet fetish after winning the office by rigging an election? I thought this was supposed to be fiction"

That is true, didn't think of it that way.
If the Warren guy we spoke of above is thinking of it this way, then I can understand how he would not want to make Deus Ex or another like it during these days as it would probably not be profitable, though I am biased to think he might just be making an excuse after meeting too many of the weasely type.

At this point Warren has to admit to even himself that his prior success was largely about being fortunate to work with two great teams sequentially. He hasn't managed to do anything worthwhile after leaving Ion Storm except for interviews about Deus Ex.

Harvey Smith, who was a very large part of Deus Ex's gameplay, was at least able to make Dishonored after leaving Ion Storm. The only thing Warren had a significant hand in in the 20 years since Thief: Deadly Shadows was Epic Mickey and Epic Mickey 2.

Thief: Deadly Shadows was plagued with the same stupid problem of micro-levels. Like, in the first tutorial area there's a Dark Souls fog in the middle of an open hallway because the consoles couldn't handle any areas bigger than a shoebox. Thankfully, there was a mod on PC that stitched a lot of these tiny levels together into proper full-sized locations.

[J1M]

That is true, didn't think of it that way.
If the Warren guy we spoke of above is thinking of it this way, then I can understand how he would not want to make Deus Ex or another like it during these days as it would probably not be profitable, though I am biased to think he might just be making an excuse after meeting too many of the weasely type.

At this point Warren has to admit to even himself that his prior success was largely about being fortunate to work with two great teams sequentially. He hasn't managed to do anything worthwhile after leaving Ion Storm except for interviews about Deus Ex.

Harvey Smith, who was a very large part of Deus Ex's gameplay, was at least able to make Dishonored after leaving Ion Storm. The only thing Warren had a significant hand in in the 20 years since Thief: Deadly Shadows was Epic Mickey and Epic Mickey 2.

Thief: Deadly Shadows was plagued with the same stupid problem of micro-levels. Like, in the first tutorial area there's a Dark Souls fog in the middle of an open hallway because the consoles couldn't handle any areas bigger than a shoebox. Thankfully, there was a mod on PC that stitched a lot of these tiny levels together into proper full-sized locations.

Yes, along with Deus Ex 2, it serves as a great data point of what Warren Spector was able to do with the Deus Ex team once he became studio director.

Step 1: Break the team that made the greatest PC game in history in half.

Step 2: Make two of the most disappointing sequels of all time by insisting on using real-time lighting... when the lead SKU was a 64MB RAM Xbox.

[rusty_shackleford]

Much of Spector's success was seeing how successful Ultima Underworld was and applying the same formula elsewhere.
And despite being listed as a producer on UU, he didn't join the project until it was near completion. @Tweed may know more, but to the best of my knowledge he was mostly just handling the interactions between Origin & Paul Neurath's team.

[edit]
As more evidence for that claim, Arx Fatalis lists Neurath under 'Special Thanks', but not Spector.

[Tweed]

Much of Spector's success was seeing how successful Ultima Underworld was and applying the same formula elsewhere.
And despite being listed as a producer on UU, he didn't join the project until it was near completion. @Tweed may know more, but to the best of my knowledge he was mostly just handling the interactions between Origin & Paul Neurath's team.

[edit]
As more evidence for that claim, Arx Fatalis lists Neurath under 'Special Thanks', but not Spector.

I don't know much about Spector's involvement either, but that sounds accurate. As I recall they had those guys set up in some basement office or boiler room, but don't quote me, that's off the top of my head.

[DagothGeas5]

they had those guys set up in some basement office or boiler room

Been playing so much Deus Ex that I can only read this and picture a new mission objective or something XD

Always incredible how much lore of the real world is there to find here, thank you all for sharing all this information as usual

[Tangerine]

Here's another one done.

► Show Spoiler

Proof.

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20241224092915_1.jpg

Oh hey, it's me!

20241224085608_1.jpg

Found behind a restaurant in Hong Kong.

20241223105303_1.jpg

If gas only goes up this much in 30 years, that's an economic win.

20241223212318_1.jpg

I always knew you were a pinko, Paul.

20241224085418_1.jpg

Did you know Bob Page is the bad guy? Warren wasn't sure if you knew, so he drew a comparison to mid-century Germans to make sure you got the point.

20241224091201_1.jpg

[DagothGeas5]

I need help with something that might be a bug.
I am in Area 51 and, while exploring, found a hangar with some spinning fans inside. I tried to make the fans break by throwing in, using the Strength augmentation, big boxes, but they just started spinning in place above the fan blades, so then I tried to clutter them up and make them overheat by throwing in bodies, but they got stuck onto some invisible collision box. Fed up, I threw in a LAM, which worked in breaking the whole thing apart.

My issue is: JC dies when I jump in as if the fans are still active. Is it a bug, am I missing something? The chute is clear of everything, and the death cam shows JC falling into some water that seems to connect to some hallway, meaning the fall is not fatal. Is it a bug? Did I break something by bringing in the boxes? The low hum of the fans is still playing too.
Edit: sorry for the many edits, no idea what is wrong with my punctuation today, must have been focusing too much on these fans that it fried my brain somewhat XD

[J1M]

I need help with something that might be a bug.
I am in Area 51 and, while exploring, found a hangar with some spinning fans inside. I tried to make the fans break by throwing in, using the Strength augmentation, big boxes, but they just started spinning in place above the fan blades, so then I tried to clutter them up and make them overheat by throwing in bodies, but they got stuck onto some invisible collision box. Fed up, I threw in a LAM, which worked in breaking the whole thing apart.

My issue is: JC dies when I jump in as if the fans are still active. Is it a bug, am I missing something? The chute is clear of everything, and the death cam shows JC falling into some water that seems to connect to some hallway, meaning the fall is not fatal. Is it a bug? Did I break something by bringing in the boxes? The low hum of the fans is still playing too.
Edit: sorry for the many edits, no idea what is wrong with my punctuation today, must have been focusing too much on these fans that it fried my brain somewhat XD

Is there an alternate route? Most of the game has alternative routes. If not you may be able to sidestep the bug with defensive buffs like augs or body armor.

[DagothGeas5]

I need help with something that might be a bug.
I am in Area 51 and, while exploring, found a hangar with some spinning fans inside. I tried to make the fans break by throwing in, using the Strength augmentation, big boxes, but they just started spinning in place above the fan blades, so then I tried to clutter them up and make them overheat by throwing in bodies, but they got stuck onto some invisible collision box. Fed up, I threw in a LAM, which worked in breaking the whole thing apart.

My issue is: JC dies when I jump in as if the fans are still active. Is it a bug, am I missing something? The chute is clear of everything, and the death cam shows JC falling into some water that seems to connect to some hallway, meaning the fall is not fatal. Is it a bug? Did I break something by bringing in the boxes? The low hum of the fans is still playing too.
Edit: sorry for the many edits, no idea what is wrong with my punctuation today, must have been focusing too much on these fans that it fried my brain somewhat XD

Is there an alternate route? Most of the game has alternative routes. If not you may be able to sidestep the buy with defensive buffs like augs or body armor.

Absolutely, there is an alternative route, but I wanted to go this way that I discovered if I can. Was just wondering if there is a reason it still kills me, or if it's just bugged and I have to give up. Can post a screen too if needed, in short, it behaves as if the fan blades are still active and killing me on hit.

UPDATE: It seems the fans are bugged in some way. I ended up trying to make it all work by throwing an EMP grenade first, which did nothing but hurt me, and then threw a LAM which got stuck onto the fan. The fan, for some reason, could not hurt me while intact, letting me instead be stuck on the rotating blades, spinning in a circle like the boxes did like a fool while the LAM ticked away. I did my best to jump further while being brought back close to the LAM and when it detonated I somehow survived the explosion and fell down WITH the debris, thus bypassing the invisible instant-kill-zone.

Leaving this strange adventure here for anyone that might find it useful and will get the same bug as me for any reason. Going to find the save files and see if I can upload them also just for archive purposes as I have not found anyone with the same issue as me when I finally caved and started to look around for a solution. Thank you J1M for trying to help me I am meeting with a lot of bugs with this game, and though some are frustrating, it is still a game I am very much enjoying.

Edit: This is a 7zip archive with 5 save files inside for anyone wanting to see for themselves or just for archive purposes of the bug. I placed each file inside a folder with a name explaining what it is.

https://f.rpghq.org/B1HbwQvu2txy.7z?n=D ... e Saves.7z

For anyone having the same issue and reading this far, the solution for me was to blow a LAM and fall WITH the fan's debris. Risky, but the only solution I found that worked.

[DagothGeas5]

(Double post yet again, I am sorry about this)

I wanted to ask what does the "auto cast healing/buff/special" setting affect in Vampire the Masquerade Redemption? Does it affect the main player character or is it speaking of the party members only?

[SpellSword]

(Double post yet again, I am sorry about this)

I wanted to ask what does the "auto cast healing/buff/special" setting affect in Vampire the Masquerade Redemption? Does it affect the main player character or is it speaking of the party members only?

If I remember correctly, it will effect your main character but only while he isn't the currently selected character as the AI will be in control of him then.

[DagothGeas5]

Posting this that I had written prior now that December is over

Deus Ex below.

► Show Spoiler

Writing this now while it's still fresh.

For Deus Ex, I got the "merge with the AI" ending.



I really loved this game. It was so much more than what I had thought it would be, and my expectations were already high from seeing the game reacting while a friend played, nothing was like what I experienced, and it was an incredible experience. I really love how there are so many ways to do, and go to, the same thing, and the game even reacting to your behavior, your choices, how you play, with even the damage making sense (was playing on realistic difficulty if I remember correctly). Loved how animals reacted, people reacted, the armor, the environments, the gas from grenades and mines, everything was seemingly thought of, and I love that about a game. I have a habit of moving with the character (character dodges, peeks to the side, looks up, or jumps down after a chase into a tunnel that I just opened with haste, and I catch myself moving as if by recoil, or if I could actually see more if I also moved to "peek" to the side like he does), but this all only happens with games I am invested in that are first person. I usually dislike first person because of how it is usually implemented, but there are some rare cases that it, instead, makes me do the above. This was one such a case, and it had not happened in years. I am, once again, terribly grateful for having had the oportunity and drive to play yet another recommended game, and there are so many more already! To say I am ecstatic would be an understatement.

For something more specific about my own playthrough: I decided to stand my ground and fight with Paul. That the game recognized that, and Paul survived through to the end in my game, was beautifully unexpected. Reminds me when Cyberpunk told me to leave Goro to die and I refused and went back through the flames instead, ending up, indeed, to be able to save him. I am so used to games locking things off that when I try, as I always do, and it finally works, it is incredible.
As for why I chose the AI, I figured humanity should try something new.

Will add below when I finish Vampire the Masquerade Redemption, which is my next game (alongside Dragon Age Origins) that I am playing. Will update the text if I finish it by the time I will post this, otherwise, I will make a different post for it.
Will be making a different post once I finish the others, loving Redemption too thus far. Reminds me of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Thank you again for making these Oyster!

[Statesman]

Clearly this isn't Invisible War. The story actually makes sense, worldbuilding is interesting and even minor NPCs get some characterization. Honestly, I'm surprised how much I remembered (locations, item/enemy placements, mission approaches, etc.) from a game I last played 10 years ago.

Originally, I wanted to do a Revision-run, but couldn't get used to the area changes (to the point I restarted my playthrough just to do a Vanilla-run instead). The increased map size, extra detailing and openness slowed down gameplay by adding a lot of prettified areas with no exploration payoff; at least the "upgraded" models/textures could be turned off. Easy way to get Deus Ex running on modern systems without much fuss though.

The gameplay (Vanilla) is still great, but it is starting to show its age, jumping has always been janky anyway. The atmosphere is still on point. Player choices barely affect gameflow (wish they mattered more to spice up replayability) and the endings are still underwhelming (pick-a-cutscene usually are).

Overall, the whole experience ended up feeling like trip to memory lane (in a good way). I rate Deus Ex a .

► Show Spoiler

Manufacturing an epidemic to control nations? Unbelievable...


Quite a thing to say out of the blue to a complete stranger.

And then she despawned shortly afterwards to become a disembodied voice whispering tips during the mission.


Stairs: My Nemesis


Picked the Helios Ending since it made the most sense for my Post-IW run.

[Tweed]

Originally, I wanted to do a Revision-run, but couldn't get used to the area changes (to the point I restarted my playthrough just to do a Vanilla-run instead).

Revision is complete **** anyway. Install RSD's fork of GMDX instead.

[Statesman]

Originally, I wanted to do a Revision-run, but couldn't get used to the area changes (to the point I restarted my playthrough just to do a Vanilla-run instead).

Revision is complete **** anyway. Install RSD's fork of GMDX instead.

My previous playthroughs had been Vanilla/older versions of GMDX. Are total conversions like the Nameless Mod worth a try?