Greetings fellow humans! I simply ran out of time to write anything this week. The non-stop litany of broken household appliances and cars hopefully choked out it’s last gasps of desperation this week as we transition into the better part of the year, in my opinion. (I’m in the southwest right now, so Fall and Winter are truly better than Spring and Summer.) Very few activities I have engaged in require more than a sentence or two, so I’m taking this week off. There are a few Star Wars: The Old Republic screenshots in the expanded post.
I’ve been working mostly on getting Sith Inquisitor Trada Visi leveled up, as previously shared. The Inquisitor in the game’s canon is the “Force Lightning” user. Althoug the classes have been opened up to use “non-class” fighting styles now, each class originally had a “default” weapon and fighting style. This would show up in cut-scenes if you had to draw your weapon or kill someone as part of the story. You would always be depicted using your “default” weapon and style. The Inquisitor defaults most of the time to Force Lightning. Conversations frequently show the Inquisitor using Lightning in some way.
![](http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/images/threateninglightning.png)
Lord Visi and her Acolyte Ashara share exasperation at Imperial Bureaucracy.
![](http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/images/deepbreaths.png)
Trada is only on the Republic Prison Planet Belsavis to find an ancient Rakata healing machine to rebuild her body (long story.) Volunteering to help Imperial efforts to disrupt the Republic operations has not been a rewarding experience.
![](http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/images/narrowyoureyes.png)
While the first several areas of Belsavis are fairly boring (Imperial and Republic using the same zones), the second half where you venture deep into the untouched Rakatan areas are pretty amazing.
![](http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/images/deepinbelsavis.png)
Kill by lightning, have your body rebuilt at the molecular level by lightning.
![](http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/images/killedbylightning.png)
New planet, new armor.
![](http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/images/newplanetnewarmor.png)
That’s it for now, see you next week!
Self-Balancing Gameplay
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There's a wonderful way to balance difficulty in RPGs, and designers try to prevent it. For some reason.
The Best of 2019
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I called 2019 "The Year of corporate Dystopia". Here is a list of the games I thought were interesting or worth talking about that year.
Seven Springs
![](/promo/images/thumb_seven_springs.jpg)
The true story of three strange days in 1989, when the last months of my adolescence ran out and the first few sparks of adulthood appeared.
Megatextures
![](/promo/images/thumb_rb_megatextures.jpg)
A video discussing Megatexture technology. Why we needed it, what it was supposed to do, and why it maybe didn't totally work.
Raytracing
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Raytracing is coming. Slowly. Eventually. What is it and what will it mean for game development?
Don’t worry about it. Everybody needs a day off from time to time to attend to unexpected emergencies or just to recharge. :)
Shoulderpads on a bikini is not “armour”.
And you can’t even see the elbow pads that aren’t physically connected to the rest of the armor.
I will point out that she has a Force amplifying shield generator, which is a thing in this game. Personal shields were introduced in Knights of the Old Republic as a new technology that anyone could equip. They came with a number of charges and could absorb up to a certain amount of damage. In Star Wars: The Old Republic that’s changed to an always on device that absorbes a percentage of damage every time damage is dealt, up to a certain amount. But there’s a further complication, because all classes are divided into two major categories: force users and “tech” users. Part of that, while I don’t think it’s necessary, means that tech users have access to shield generators, while force users have access to “force shields.”
Finally: this armor is newer, high-res armor, whereas I had been using some original dropped or crafted armor (which is much lower-res.) It’s always nice to get your characters into whatever higher-res stuff you can get.
New planet, new(ly rebuilt) body, new armor, nice.