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Re: Eternally Perplexing Questions
Posted By: Forrest of B.orgDate: 3/12/08 10:34 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Eternally Perplexing Questions (rampancy)

: So then, would it be safe to guess that the Wr'kncacntr have their own
: ships/outposts/stations then?

Not really. A lot of them basically *are* starships, inasmuch as they have a corporeal form at all. But they are entirely asocial, so they have no cities, no factories, no nothing. (Though their more-physical predecessors of course did). They are just themselves; beings of immense power, each with its own personal agenda.

: Heh. Dugg for the Pratchett reference.

Actually it's Asimov, who Pratchett also referenced.

: Huh? So the dreadnought we were on was actually much, much, much older than
: the sphere then? I assumed it was from about the same period as the
: Sphere. I mean, how could it? Otherwise, how could the technology be
: miniaturized by the Jjaro if the Jjaro were all gone?

The Junction did not exist at the time of the Sphere; that's why Hathor couldn't flee. It was invented by the later cybernetic Jjaro like Yrro and Pthia, who survived after the fall of the biological Jjaro. (IIRC WMaiD tells some of the story of how such technology was first invented). The Dreadnaught is very old, but still younger than the Sphere.

: Oh, okay, that makes sense now. I was really confused about it because when
: we get inside the sphere I'm not entirely sure if we get inside the sphere
: immediate after the W'rk breach it at the climax of the Jjaro-W'rk war, or
: if we get inside it in the "present" (i.e. at the height of the
: Pfhor Empire) time. If it's the former, that would mean that Hathor would
: have gotten to the sphere millions of years before we did, travelling in
: time as she left the Dreadnought. Is that accurate?

Hathor left the dreadnaught and went back in time 65 million years to the Sphere and prevented its activation. We followed after her, killed her, and let it activate, though too late for the poor inhabitants inside the Sphere. Time froze inside, and unfroze 65 million years later (instantly to those inside the Sphere) at the height of the Pfhor war, when Leela found and unlocked the Sphere. The Pfhor met the W'rk dreams, freaked, deployed a trih xeem and blew up most of the galaxy. We don't want that to happen, so we go Outside, back in time, to make things right... somehow...

: Wait - so the Jjaro weren't all inside the Sphere?

The Jjaro had a galaxy-spanning empire. The Sphere was their Ark - not all of them could get to it in time. Just as many as they could save, them activate it and knock out the waking W'rkncacnter from a distance with history's greatest area-of-effect weapon.

: This, and the paragraph below is an example of why I feel less enthused than
: I should about Eternal - maybe I really am an idiot, but I just didn't get
: any of that at all from the terminals - and that's a shame, because it
: truly adds so much depth to an already rich storyline universe. Maybe it
: was further fleshed out in the dream terminals, and I didn't notice - I
: don't know. I'll have to play it all again to see (urgh). God, I wished
: someone could make an OS X version of Durandal Terminal Browser.

Yeah, it's a confusing, complex story. All the info you need is in there, but it might take some effort to truly grok it all.

: I sort of wish you could flesh that out more blatantly in an ending chapter
: screen (like the Trilogy and all of the other major scenarios). I think I
: remember mentioning you having troubles implementing something special
: with that, which is why you left it out - still, I think it would be a
: nice touch, a pleasant cap-off to such an epic scenario...

Did the version you played have a credits screen at the end or no? There was a bit of a bug with that that I fixed in 1.0.3 I think (related to the chapter screens bug that 1.0.1 fixed).

: Huh!? How could the Sphere still exist when it was completely blown up by the
: trih xeem? (And I thought it was Hathor who did it, not the Pfhor, when
: she took off in the Pfhor ship that landed on the Sphere. Didn't The
: Monitor mention that?) How did Hathor even survive in the first place, and
: how did we---how...ohhhhhh...

The sphere got blown up in an alternate future - one you've now gone back in time to prevent.

: Man, my head hurts...

Ah, my work here is done ;-)

: OH, and one more thing. What's the purpose of the inactive switch and locked
: door at the end of Where Giants Have Fallen? (And what about the other
: outer Jjaro door which is also locked?)

Gameplay-wise, nothing. Story-wise, to indicate that there is more to this structure than just the parts you're visiting. You've only seen one side of this mountain, after all.

: fans (I was seriously thinking about offering to write up a little short
: story for you to provide something of a mini-prologue for people new to
: Eternal, but then again, maybe it was by design).

I would be interested in seeing such a thing. Email me about it.

: I mean, maybe some extra terminals like the ones in Halo 3, giving the final
: days of the Jjaro a personal touch; or perhaps some Pfhor terminals
: further outlining the chaos ensuing from the Drinniol rebellion...if
: you're up for it, I'd be glad to help you in some capacity with it.

Hmm... I just might take you up on that offer.

: Anyway, I want to say that in many ways, I liken this scenario to Marathon
: RED: an incredible, exhilarating roller-coaster ride of a game which grabs
: you and refuses to let go - in the process you still noticed the very
: apparent flaws (I was very close to giving up on the game at Where Giants
: Have Fallen and on Run, Coward) and while you can't ignore them, you're
: almost having too much fun to notice. It's a really innovative scenario
: which almost has too many ideas to use. (And I mean that in a really good
: way, too.)

Thanks! :-D

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Eternally Perplexing Questionsrampancy 3/11/08 12:34 p.m.
     Re: Eternally Perplexing QuestionsForrest of B.org 3/11/08 3:54 p.m.
           Re: Eternally Perplexing Questionsrampancy 3/11/08 5:31 p.m.
                 Re: Eternally Perplexing QuestionsForrest of B.org 3/12/08 7:56 a.m.
                       Re: Eternally Perplexing Questionsrampancy 3/12/08 9:06 a.m.
                             Re: Eternally Perplexing QuestionsForrest of B.org 3/12/08 10:34 a.m.
                                   Re: Eternally Perplexing QuestionsForrest of B.org 3/12/08 2:20 p.m.
                                   Re: Eternally Perplexing Questionsrampancy 3/12/08 4:33 p.m.
                                         Re: Eternally Perplexing QuestionsForrest of B.org 3/13/08 7:54 a.m.
     Re: Eternally Perplexing QuestionsForrest of B.org 3/12/08 11:19 a.m.
           Re: Eternally Perplexing Questionsrampancy 3/12/08 4:37 p.m.
                 Re: Eternally Perplexing QuestionsForrest of B.org 3/13/08 8:25 a.m.

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Pre-2004 Posts

 

 

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