Incline Colony Ship RELEASE THREAD

[Jaedar]

It's really one of the most remarkable books in the genre, it's a must for any fan, just like Dune, Foundation, 2001, Hyperion and all those greats. The only problem could be the Chink names, I got used to them p. quickly but some people report they struggled with them. Only way to find out.

I read the first book and found it to be very mixed. The parts about the chinese cultural revolution was at least mildly interesting, but I found the sci concepts to be stupid, like the author had no concept of scale and just threw cool ideas at a wall (making a computer out of people running around! ai drones made out of single protons!). Is the rest of the trilogy better?

 

[Rincewind]

What eased me into the names was to learn in China the first name is a surname and the second is a given name. So the main char Ye Wen-jie is like Johnson Mary or some such.

My native language is Hungarian, and yeah, we have the same system.

 

[cvv]

I found the sci concepts to be stupid, like the author had no concept of scale and just threw cool ideas at a wall

Well it's not supposed to be popular science but science-fiction. Literally fictional science. Throwing cool ideas at the wall is kindda the point.

I for one found the ideas extremely interesting and stimulating, a product of a genuinely brilliant brain. (As opposed to various midwits and frauds that often write SF, especially nowadays with all the diversiteh).

 

[Serus]

Ok, so the book is worth checking. I'll add it to my list of books to read. That list is reasonably shorter than the game list, probably because i read a few dozens books yearly but play only a few new games yearly.

 

[Jaedar]

I found the sci concepts to be stupid, like the author had no concept of scale and just threw cool ideas at a wall

Well it's not supposed to be popular science but science-fiction. Literally fictional science. Throwing cool ideas at the wall is kindda the point.

I for one found the ideas extremely interesting and stimulating, a product of a genuinely brilliant brain. (As opposed to various midwits and frauds that often write SF, especially nowadays with all the diversiteh).

I prefer it to be grounded in truth and sense, not just magic with technobabble stapled on. But to each their own.

 

[cvv]

I found the sci concepts to be stupid, like the author had no concept of scale and just threw cool ideas at a wall

Well it's not supposed to be popular science but science-fiction. Literally fictional science. Throwing cool ideas at the wall is kindda the point.

I for one found the ideas extremely interesting and stimulating, a product of a genuinely brilliant brain. (As opposed to various midwits and frauds that often write SF, especially nowadays with all the diversiteh).

I prefer it to be grounded in truth and sense, not just magic with technobabble stapled on. But to each their own.

P. much all of it is grounded in hard theoretical physics but if you don't have at least basic understanding of quantum theory, particle physics, general relativity, dimensional cosmology etc. you might think it's all just magical babble.

The line between hard SF and technobabble can be thin but Three Bodies is definitely not "redirect energy from frontal deryllium shields into lateral unobtainium torpedoes" Star Trek, it's all imaginative games with real science.

 

[Jaedar]

The line between hard SF and technobabble can be thin but Three Bodies is definitely not "redirect energy from frontal deryllium shields into lateral unobtainium torpedoes" Star Trek, it's all imaginative games with real science.

Mhmh... folding a proton into an ai with a reactionless light-speed drive and infinite energy sure is an imaginative game with real science, and so is building a computer out of flags and dudes with horses. Just because the technobabble is more competent than recalibrating the forward deflector to reverse the tachyon flow doesn't make it less technobabble.

 

[cvv]

The line between hard SF and technobabble can be thin but Three Bodies is definitely not "redirect energy from frontal deryllium shields into lateral unobtainium torpedoes" Star Trek, it's all imaginative games with real science.

and so is building a computer out of flags and dudes with horses

If you didn't understand the computer wasn't real I'm wondering what else got past you.

 

[Rincewind]

Based on the Chinese series, to me this is a story very much grounded in science. Well, if there is no fictional element, it stops being sci-FI, doesn't it?

I guess the individual preference for the sci/fi ratio might differ. Personally, I find the books that go overly deep into accurate science territory where you get long paragraphs of explanations of chemical reactions and physics and such just tiring to read and dry. Stanislaw Lem did that in a few of his stories; well, I just skipped those parts.

I read for relaxation and for the story and concepts to capture my imagination for the most part. Asimov was quite good at establishing a healthy sci/fi ratio, but I also love Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin whose "sci" part is converging to zero. But, honestly, I don't care; I just enjoy their ideas.

 

[Serus]

I can enjoy stuff like, as exemple, "Blindsight"* or the author of "Ringworld"** series writing a book to correct a scientific error made in a previous one. However I prefer SF that concentrates more on exploring various ideas tied to human reactions to technology, space, inexplicable... The concepts themselves don't need to be 100% grounded in science or explained in excruciating details as long as they are not outright nonsensical - although authors like Dick can work even with nonsensical. It's the consequences that must be interesting or thought provoking. I suppose that makes me similar to Rincewind in that regard, preferring "softer" kinds of SF.

*Vampires part o the book is not hard sf though - despite an interesting explanation - as far as i'm concerned.
**Good series, Codexers could enjoy author's vision of earth in the far future where all races have merged, every one has light brown(-ish) skin and is slightly slant-eyed.

 

[Sinder Velvin]

You guys need to hop in here and write a mini-review for this game.

 

[Supermedo]

I've been playing for about 10 hours, and I'm not sure if I missed the option or if it doesn't exist in the game, but how do I send Faythe to sneak into places instead of my main character? The game only allows me to select a character in potential combat encounters, but when I'm sneaking into a room to steal items from a locker, I can't choose Faythe. There's a room I'm trying to enter that has a camera pointing to the locker that I can steal from but can't reach the locker without stepping into the red tiles, and Faythe has several stealth feats that could be useful (I think as I have prowler and ghost feat).

EDIT: NVM it's from Party Specialization menu.

 

[Tavar]

You guys need to hop in here and write a mini-review for this game.

Done.

 

[Supermedo]

I got to say that the sneaking system is the worst aspect of this game, even If you have every sneaking feat and fully decked out sneaking character, is still hard with instant failure system, and you can't hide behind a desk. the worst part is multi part sneaking missions where you can't save in middle.

 

[deama]

I got to say that the sneaking system is the worst aspect of this game, even If you have every sneaking feat and fully decked out sneaking character, is still hard with instant failure system, the worth part is multi part sneaking missions where you can't save in middle.

I actually quite liked sneaking in this.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

Same here. Had to try the biggest sneak mission multiple times on an unoptimized build. Still was fun and possible to reach main objectives. On an optimized build sneaking is a piece of cake.

 

[deama]

Sneaking I think is the most fun in this game, wish there was even more options to do it.

 

[PlanHex]

biggest sneak mission

Which one do you mean?

 

[jagged-jimmy]

There is only one - in the hub.
Random woman gives the quest. Top left corner on the mission faction map?

 

[Tavar]

biggest sneak mission

Which one do you mean?

It's the "To Stop The War!" quest. Personally, I had the most fun while sneaking when clearing the Black Hand fort.

 

[PlanHex]

Ah yeah ok, I was wondering if I had missed an even bigger one somehow

 

[Supermedo]

There is only one - in the hub.
Random woman gives the quest. Top left corner on the mission faction map?

That the one that got me complaining XD

 

[Jaedar]

I got to say that the sneaking system is the worst aspect of this game, even If you have every sneaking feat and fully decked out sneaking character, is still hard with instant failure system, the worth part is multi part sneaking missions where you can't save in middle.

I actually quite liked sneaking in this.

Same. I wish there were more sneaking games like this. I know of this and the incredibly good invisible inc, but can't think of anything else.

 

[Alphons]

but can't think of anything else.

I'd recommend Underrail.
Stealth is real time though, so it might not exactly scratch that itch, but it's very satisfying to successfully pull off a mission without anyone seeing you.

 

[thesecret1]

Stealth is real time though

You can do it turn based too