Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[Kippershy]

OFU-
I'm an alicorn now.


I DUNN WANNA BE DUNKED.

Or, as I like to call them, Alcoholicorns.

[Ketchup]

Actually, the word is in the DeviantArt description of that picture.

[O. Hinds]

I have made progress with getting Fallout 3 to run! I discovered a new tweak to the ini, and now, instead of crashing on the new game loading screen, it plays the intro movie and then crashes! Hooray!

Why the fuck didn't you come to me sooner? give me two seconds.

-------------

Download http://adf.ly/6N3wg this DLL file. Now, you normally have to insert it to (C:// -> users -> [you] -> documents -> games -> FO3) -- NOT the C:// -> program files -> steam -> steamapps and so on.

Anyway... once you've downloaded & added the DLL file, continue onto your ini file change if you haven't already.
I don't know what you changed, but...

find this line:

bUseThreadedAI=0 (you might have changed it to 1 already).

If you're using dual core or more, then add this line too, straight after that previous one:

iNumHWThreads=2



(optional)
Also, might be worth looking for a FOSE 4gig enabler (NV will me the NVSE 4gig enabler) seeing as I'm going to presume you're running a 64bit OS with 6 - 8+ gig of RAM.
(optional)

fixed.

Put d3d9 in the Fallout 3 folder under Documents, not Program Files? I haven't tried that yet. Let's see...

[Kippershy]

Put d3d9 in the Fallout 3 folder under Documents, not Program Files? I haven't tried that yet. Let's see...

Yup, in the documents part of it all. Same for if you ever use the G.E.C.K.
I know it doesn't seem like it would make sense, but that's where the ini file is also kept so I'm guessing it's something to do with the data to load being in the program files but the files that tell it specific pieces being in the games folder... for whatever reason that is.

Worked for me.


Also, I'd recommend the use of the FOMM rather than NMM -- it tends to work a tiny bit better, from what I hear.
(if you're using mods, that is.)

[O. Hinds]

I have made progress with getting Fallout 3 to run! I discovered a new tweak to the ini, and now, instead of crashing on the new game loading screen, it plays the intro movie and then crashes! Hooray!

Why the fuck didn't you come to me sooner? give me two seconds.

-------------

Download http://adf.ly/6N3wg this DLL file. Now, you normally have to insert it to (C:// -> users -> [you] -> documents -> games -> FO3) -- NOT the C:// -> program files -> steam -> steamapps and so on.

Anyway... once you've downloaded & added the DLL file, continue onto your ini file change if you haven't already.
I don't know what you changed, but...

find this line:

bUseThreadedAI=0 (you might have changed it to 1 already).

If you're using dual core or more, then add this line too, straight after that previous one:

iNumHWThreads=2



(optional)
Also, might be worth looking for a FOSE 4gig enabler (NV will me the NVSE 4gig enabler) seeing as I'm going to presume you're running a 64bit OS with 6 - 8+ gig of RAM.
(optional)

fixed.

Put d3d9 in the Fallout 3 folder under Documents, not Program Files? I haven't tried that yet. Let's see...

No improvement. Thanks for trying, though.

If you (or anyone else) wants to keep helping, the change that finally got the intro to play was the "use facegen heads false" thing. My system specs are:
OS: 10.6.8
processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
memory: 4 GB
graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
I'm attempting to use this wrapper.

And yes, I know that, with this computer, I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I didn't let that stop me with Fo1, Fo2, and NV.

[OneMoreDaySK]

@Getting Fallout 3 to work
Well, at least that's some progress. I'd suggest finding a way to bypass the movies. Possibly tweaking the .ini files and removing or making inaccessible the .bik intro movie files.

[O. Hinds]

@Getting Fallout 3 to work
Well, at least that's some progress. I'd suggest finding a way to bypass the movies. Possibly tweaking the .ini files and removing or making inaccessible the .bik intro movie files.

I already tried disabling the movies. Though... I've not yet tried disabling movies and heads at the same time...

[O. Hinds]

@Getting Fallout 3 to work
Well, at least that's some progress. I'd suggest finding a way to bypass the movies. Possibly tweaking the .ini files and removing or making inaccessible the .bik intro movie files.

I already tried disabling the movies. Though... I've not yet tried disabling movies and heads at the same time...

Nope.

[Kippershy]

Damn, sorry to say this... but I think I know your problem now.

...you're using a windows emulator, no doubt, yes?
...exactly.

Fallout is notoriously bad as it is on true windows machines, running it on an emulator is just... outstanding if it works at all.

[Vergil]

I'm not so sure. LP's ultimate end was to have a purpose and importance and personally, to be appreciated. Blackjack sort of already has most of those but what she's lacking is confidence in herself, self esteem, "humanity" and a reason to live. Basically alllllmost opposite of Littlepip. BJ being able to live for herself, to love herself and to accept what friends mean to her (to love her for her heart) would be the most positive end.

She's died enough times mostly due to going above and beyond for others. In the end she needs to be able to live for and love herself. Really, her best end would be to live and find some sense of normalcy.

This is one of the things I find endearing about PH. Everyone knows about the hero's sacrifice and finding confidence to rise above for others, but PH is mostly an inner journey about self worth.

Look at it this way.

BJ thinks she's incapable of making friends: she's given friends after accepting them for who they are.

BJ thinks she's incapable of love: she finds a lover who will (mostly) stay with her through thick and thin

BJ thinks she's too weak to help: she's given nigh invincibility after dying

The ultimate unseen forces are helping her in every way she makes excuses for in not having self confidence except for her recognizing that she's worth loving herself. When there's nothing left for her to question her own ability, she'll come to find she's worth living as the pony she is. All of her whining has a point and it's not just angst!

Wordy as shit but I hope it's understandable. The lesson is of it all is basically to be proud of who you are.

Just popping in to say this is nearly exactly the way I view the story. Not sure how you read my mind like that.

Granted I also frigging love BJ at this point and really hope she gets more than 5 minutes of happiness for all this- but when it comes to fiction, I'm an eternal optimist and a sucker for a happy ending.

[O. Hinds]

Damn, sorry to say this... but I think I know your problem now.

...you're using a windows emulator, no doubt, yes?
...exactly.

Fallout is notoriously bad as it is on true windows machines, running it on an emulator is just... outstanding if it works at all.

Well, Wine Is Not an Emulator (I love that acronym...), but, yeah, effectively. Quite a few people have gotten Fo3 working on various versions of Wine, though, and New Vegas runs pretty much fine (for a Bethesda game) on my computer.

[Stringtheory]

I have made progress with getting Fallout 3 to run! I discovered a new tweak to the ini, and now, instead of crashing on the new game loading screen, it plays the intro movie and then crashes! Hooray!

*snip*

Put d3d9 in the Fallout 3 folder under Documents, not Program Files? I haven't tried that yet. Let's see...

interesting...when I put the d3d9.dll file in my GAME folder, it lets me run it for maybe 5-ish minutes before crashing (and have to control-alt-delete out) with my computer's fans running at full speed the entire time, so I will have to try this documents fix

[RoboRed]

In any case, leave founding a school to the smart ponies... I'm not sure Blackjack's gonna survive this story. She's nobly sacrificed herself so many times the only real way to end the story, in my opinion, if for her to finally, permanently pass over.

I mean, look at her. There's almost nothing left of her. Everyone she once knew is dead and she's an immortal killing machine. There's definitely going to be some sort of sacrifice to be made, if only a permanent isolation and a shortened life like Littlepip got. This fight has ruined her and nothing less than that really suits her.

Hate to say it, but I kinda feel the same way. A part of me really doesn't see Blackjack making it out of this alive in the end.

[Caoimhe]

I BELIEVE IN SECURITY!

[Icy Shake]

Exactly why she's got to die at the end, as much as it pains me to say.
She's going to find her reason to live, find her confidence and her courage to fight it all no matter what. she's going to do everything she can.... and then it'll all be taken from her in one horrible, unfair swipe.
There'll be no other way, just as she accepts herself for who she is and what she can and can't do, just as she is ready to settle down and just live... it'll go away.

I can honestly bet you money that's how it'll end. Nothing else would fit, as much as I would love it to.
I want Blackjack to get better, for her to be stronger, tougher and harder both physically and emotionally/mentally, I want her to live happily... but I can't see that ever happening, not for a happily ever after.

She'll die, she may have her five minutes of happiness and acceptance just as she's dying, where she lets go and gives in, but I don't see her being able to survive the end of it.

I think there is a shot at a happy ending, and I'm not at all sure that it will end like you suggest; here's why: the scenario you describe is a beautiful, appropriate ending to Blackjack's story...that already happened in chapter 32. The storyline could wind back around, ending the same way, but I think that the fact that it happened once means that that point, which does feel necessary to any story for Blackjack, doesn't need to come again at the end.

Going back to the earlier Sonic Rainboom discussion, did we ever get a real list of who could pull one off? We know RD and Ditzy, but I can't remember any others. I know it was Enclave policy to track anyone who could do one, but was it a policy ever actually used? Calamity said there were none alive capable of pulling one off in chapter thirty (iIncidentally, I didn't realize Kkat anticipated the ease with which RD would ultimately be able to do Rainbooms). It occurred to me that maybe the Rainboom can only be achieved by potential Element Bearers. No real reason to think so, but...

Anyway, 'maybe someday' has arrived. Have some editing. (And my computer crashed again while going through this; I think it doesn't like it when I use search repeatedly in Google Docs or something, because at the time Firefox was using far more memory than it normally does, or had any right to.)

Chapter 50 edits:

[Vergil]

I BELIEVE IN SECURITY!

In this base.

Of course, this is Somber writing her story. The end will likely be something few (if any) of us see coming.

[Caoimhe]

Whatever it is, it'll be appropriate and have very little to do with what any of us have to say. And it will be great. :D

[Cptadder]

Super massive response post go!
O.Hinds I'll come back to our plane discussion later

http://pregnantscootaloo.tumblr.com/page/14 (the start)

I like the (intentional or not) allegories to single parent low income families struggling to get by, too. The author handles this quite well.

I'll give this a look, aside from Ask Vinyl and Octavia and Moonstuck I've found way to many pony tumbler blogs being very hit or miss.

Not exactly. Terrible things happen to relatively innocent ponies all the time in these fics, and we're basically looking at each other, trying to determine if we're particularly jaded because we can't dredge up more than a shrug and, "Well, that's a pity."

Medley appeared in several scenes and had a few speaking lines, but she doesn't mean much to BJ -- or the audience -- beyond that. Compare that to the filly who got disintegrated in FOE; she never got a name and never appeared before that (specifically, that is -- she was clearly present under Velvet's shield at Arbu, but not singled out,) but we feel Littlepip's pain over that because it's an unintended consequence of her own actions.

I'll agree with Silent Cartos reasoning and add the nameless filly that died in Friendship city died as a direct result of Littlepips actions even if they were unintentional. Not only that but we had a few pages set with the scene being described, set up and them zap filly dust in a coke bottle.

Eh, I have the same problem with that as I did with Red Eye. You can't base a society on evil tactics and expect it to turn out anything but evil.

You can, you just need three generations, but it tends to suck for those three generations. America has it's own host of dark periods in our history when great things were made by the sweat and tears of people who would not be beaten for refusing to work just arrested. Then you have places like Dubai which are constructed almost totally by immigrants who are treated like slaves even if they will simply be kicked out of the country with not a dime of their contract payed if they refuse to work not whipped for failing to work. Great things can come from terrible places but not without cost.

More to the point, Bolos are giant tanks, and tanks are incapable of holding terrain. They're fantastic for destroying enemy forces in a stand-up fight, but when that fight is done, you need a low level of power projection spread across a vast area instead of immense power at a point. Boots on the ground is the only way to accomplish that.

And we even know the Ratio, you need one soldier for every thirty natives, it's one soldier for every twenty natives if the country has significant cultural differences so established during the successful occupations throughout history

@Swicked
One by one the places that used to be brighter in Hoofington are extinguished. But to what ends? Brimstone Falls had a chance, and they got crushed. Flank got a chance, but they're pretty much holed up and dealing drugs again. Chapel was bright, but with the loss of both Priest and now Medley, how will it shine again?

Maybe when Blackjack stops the core she can starts a school of some sort. Finally talk to Octavia maybe?

It's obvious where the bright place in Hoofington will be once this is all said and done. That's the city of Hoofington itself, with BJ at the controls of the cities defenses with a host of pre-war battle robots that even Hellhounds step wide around and armed with giant air defenses lasers. All of those little settlements will be abandon once the city itself is secured.

Assuming Blackjack does not destroy it taking down the Eater of Souls, something tells me she's going to hit it with a hammer made of moonstone and half of Equestria is going to explode.

If you (or anyone else) wants to keep helping, the change that finally got the intro to play was the "use facegen heads false" thing. My system specs are:
OS: 10.6.8
processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
memory: 4 GB
graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
I'm attempting to use this wrapper.

And yes, I know that, with this computer, I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I didn't let that stop me with Fo1, Fo2, and NV.

By Celestia's Beard, an Apple and it's a Intel HD card? Please tell me this is a laptop because if it's not I'll start a paypal on your behalf right now to raise the five dollars it will take to buy you a better video card.

[Caoimhe]

Well that's..

um...

...huh. How about that.

I'm no fan of anime so I can't pinpoint it but... hmmm, dunno what to think. Sounds like a "best not dwell on it" situation.

[Cptadder]

Now onto my crazy Security theory.
The story is going one of two ways and I think I'll know which way things will go the instant the Goddess is dead. Because I have two competing theories about Blackjack's constant taint and radiation exposures and a lot depends on exactly how the Goddess death affects her directly. Saying she will have a happy ending or a sad ending or a sappy ending does not much matter if that goes long term wrong for her.

The obvious ending is that Blackjack runs out of enemies to fight after the big climatic battle that's going against her until the Dealer turns the defenses of the Core to her aid and zappy lasers ends her problems with lots of zapping. The less obvious ending is that Blackjack fights the Eater through it's five forms (Gotta have at least five forms if it's the end boss) along with her other two party members and they beat it down and beating it (Along with many psychedelic explosions) shuts down the choir of the discordant note.

The third option of course I won't speak about because depending on how the story ends depends a lot in my mind to the Fallout from the death of the Goddess. To Littlepip she's a foe on the way to the end boss, to Blackjack she's a literal cancer growing in her mind that threatens to take from her everything she holds dear.

Someone, sometime, for some reason, posted that they had heard, or Somber had implied, or... I'm just going to stop using qualifiers, here. The point is I heard this at least third hand or so.
Anyway, the ending is going to be reminiscent of some anime. I think a popular one.
So... there's that, for a hint.

Somber directly said three thousand comments that the ending would be an anime style ending and implied that it would be of the giant battle where everyone pulls together variety to fight a big boss which we all guess is the Eater of Souls.

[Vergil]

I BELIEVE IN SECURITY!

In this base.

Of course, this is Somber writing her story. The end will likely be something few (if any) of us see coming.

Someone, sometime, for some reason, posted that they had heard, or Somber had implied, or... I'm just going to stop using qualifiers, here. The point is I heard this at least third hand or so.
Anyway, the ending is going to be reminiscent of some anime. I think a popular one.
So... there's that, for a hint.

Well that's vaguely specific.

...specifically vague?

Eh, it's a thing.

[Icy Shake]

If you (or anyone else) wants to keep helping, the change that finally got the intro to play was the "use facegen heads false" thing. My system specs are:
OS: 10.6.8
processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
memory: 4 GB
graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
I'm attempting to use this wrapper.

And yes, I know that, with this computer, I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I didn't let that stop me with Fo1, Fo2, and NV.

By Celestia's Beard, an Apple and it's a Intel HD card? Please tell me this is a laptop because if it's not I'll start a paypal on your behalf right now to raise the five dollars it will take to buy you a better video card.

Makes me think of this:

Not that you're being condescending. I just love the comic. (And really, I do agree on the Intel GPU. Their integrated graphics is improving, but I don't think I'd ever want to game on one. And I just don't see the point in not going Nvidia (or maybe AMD) for independent graphics.)

[Caoimhe]

I'm still voting for existisitential Twin Peaks-esque mindgame climax, of course I of course like to think of the story behind the words and the setting but oh well!

I'm high as fuck on allergy medicine so we'll see if I go nuts over theories tonight.

[Cptadder]

If you (or anyone else) wants to keep helping, the change that finally got the intro to play was the "use facegen heads false" thing. My system specs are:
OS: 10.6.8
processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
memory: 4 GB
graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
I'm attempting to use this wrapper.

And yes, I know that, with this computer, I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I didn't let that stop me with Fo1, Fo2, and NV.

By Celestia's Beard, an Apple and it's a Intel HD card? Please tell me this is a laptop because if it's not I'll start a paypal on your behalf right now to raise the five dollars it will take to buy you a better video card.

Makes me think of this:

Not that you're being condescending. I just love the comic. (And really, I do agree on the Intel GPU. Their integrated graphics is improving, but I don't think I'd ever want to game on one. And I just don't see the point in not going Nvidia (or maybe AMD) for independent graphics.)

Guilty as charged, but in this case I'm serious as it literally does cost five dollars to buy a better graphics card than an Intel HD 3000. The Intel HD 4000 is 56% better pound for pound than the Intel HD 3000 and it literally costs 4$ more on the chips where you get a choice. If not then you need 20$ for a decent discrete video card from a generation back that walks all over a HD 3000.

[O. Hinds]

Chapter 50 edits:

Ah, thank you.

"Every bit the" is, as far as I know, a valid and relatively common phrase, so it appears that there's a dialect difference here.

"My whole head felt like it’d been ripped open too."
This was, if I remember correctly, one of those sentences the wording of which we argued about, and I think that it might be better if I don't alter it now.

If you (or anyone else) wants to keep helping, the change that finally got the intro to play was the "use facegen heads false" thing. My system specs are:
OS: 10.6.8
processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
memory: 4 GB
graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
I'm attempting to use this wrapper.

And yes, I know that, with this computer, I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I didn't let that stop me with Fo1, Fo2, and NV.

By Celestia's Beard, an Apple and it's a Intel HD card? Please tell me this is a laptop because if it's not I'll start a paypal on your behalf right now to raise the five dollars it will take to buy you a better video card.

Yeah, laptop. Annoyingly, my old computer (a 13 inch MacBook, as opposed to my current 13 inch MacBook Pro) had a NVidia card, and in some ways buying a newer and ostensibly higher-quality computer was a downgrade.

[Caoimhe]

You should just dual boot or try to use Parallels for it.

My Macbook air from last year had the same card and the performance was pretty poor (but usable on low settings for the one game a year I play) but the 2012 Macbook Air I use now has the Intel HD 4000 and I can run just about any game.

[Ironmonger]

the choir of the discordant note.

Sounds like a band name or a really ominous term for artillery bombardment.

What discordant note anyway?

[O. Hinds]

Also, my computer's a model 8,1, which predates the Intel HD Graphics 4000.

[Caoimhe]

Yeah you should really just dual boot. I tried running Mass Effect back in the day through OS X using wrappers or whatever and it was a pain in the butt (espically since I don't know much about computers). I'd definitely just dual boot for it. Install Mountain Lion while you're at it!

[Downloaded Skill]

Wow with all this talk of aircraft and computer parts it feels like I joined just to lurk again. No amount of Google fu will allow me to contribute to those discussions.

Anyways my two theories for the endings since its something I can actually talk / speculate about.

1) Complete Downer ending. If it does end with the "Blackjack's army vs the Harbingers / Core denizens" that Adder talked about I have a feeling it will be built up as an inspiring story of an unlikely hero getting groups together that people considered irreconcilable and taking the fight to the core. Everyone will be hopeful and Glory / Blackjack will probably have a passionate pre-climax climax. Then the fateful day rolls around and it turns out the Core has secret defenses that wipe out Blackjack's team before the fight even begins. Somber does seem to enjoy torturing characters, what better way to cap off the story than by stamping out any hope of success at the last moment?

2) Victory at great cost. I feel that Blackjack will survive. She is the leader and she has all the unnatural augmentations that give her the edge over any opponent and continue despite injuries. She is physically strong, not mentally strong. Given the nature of the setting a clean, happy ending is unlikely. People Blackjack cares about will probably die. Glory and Lacunae are the most likely choices. This ending will probably stress how Blackjack can't do everything herself and has to sacrifice things other than herself to achieve goals. Outlook for the ending will be hopeful, but traumatic for Blackjack.

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