: Actually, if the forum continues to be dead for a little bit longer, I'll
: finish a major real-life project and start posting a Volunteers series for
: RED. I realize not everyone will be willing or able to follow me through
: it, but I still feel RED is worth discussing, and there's nothing else
: going on :)
In terms of story, RED is definitely worth discussing. In terms of level design, it certainly has its moments, but there are times when it is virtually unplayable except on the 2 easiest settings. The altered physics model that was posted a few months back only marginally helps. For anyone here who wants to play along but who generally plays on anything less than TC, I would recommend playing it using AO and enabling the cheat codes. This will allow you to invoke invincibility when you just can't make it through a tough passage, if you have to, to recharge your shields at will and to save your game at any time (although this one is fickle and tends to fail when you need it most). You will also need to download the RED AO MML Script, which you'll need to extract from the resource file and place in the Scripts folder. You don't need to hack the application with ResEdit as suggested on the AO site - that approach is obsolete. For the cheat codes, simply add the cheat code enabling text to the MML script, or place it in a separate text file within the Scripts folder. That will get you up and running.
In general, I think that RED introduces some really unique tricks and interesting plot elements that are well worth discussing. My big gripe about RED is that it seems to have been designed from the ground up to show off Ian's skills as a player and to be as difficult as possible. By most anyone's standard, map layout and monster placement just aren't up to standards of playability. That aside, let's go to it!
BTW, I was working on the spoiler guide for Pfh'Joueur, which would have been a seed for a Volunteers series once done. All the map graphics have been captured, patched together and optimized for Web display. Adding indicators of terminals, pattern buffers, rechargers and switches, however, is incredibly time-consuming. Eventually it will be done.
