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Author Topic: Minotaurs, diseases  (Read 2864 times)

Varjo

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Minotaurs, diseases
« on: October 22, 2010, 07:13:05 am »

From development log:
Quote
They don't bathe yet apparently, although I have no idea if minotaurs should ever clean themselves or not.

I think Minotaurs should not wash themselves actively, instead they could carry diseases and their lair and presence could infect unlucky adventurer. More unclean they and their lair is, more possibility to get infections (and more serious infektions). Minotaurs themselves should be immune to normal diseases.
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Funk

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2010, 11:45:57 am »

well as thy can speak,  use items and doors washing is not beyond there mental powers.
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Agree, plus that's about the LAST thing *I* want to see from this kind of game - author spending valuable development time on useless graphics.

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Neonivek

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2010, 07:55:36 pm »

I think Toady meant more in the "active washing" sort of way.

I am sure Minotaurs clean themselves as much as most animals.
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killswitch

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2010, 12:51:18 pm »

but minotaurs, in as much as they represent the dark, abominable parts of the personality that are banished to the labyrinthine depths of the subconscious so that they will never be seen by society, would I think tend to accrue grime, gore and unwanted debris on their body and in their lair.  They may 'clean' themselves in their own estimation, and yet smell like rotting beast to your average dwarf-folk. 
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Argembarger

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2010, 01:21:45 pm »

I think it should depend on the minotaur's personality.

I could see some minotaurs being even somewhat civilized, even going to the point of welcoming the adventurer for a nice chat before killing him. Those kinds of minotaurs would groom themselves to an extent, I would expect, and keep their lairs clean, or at least organized. i.e. pile of skulls in the NW corner, blood and waste to the SW, sleeping area, etc.

Other minotaurs could be beast-like or even completely insane from being in the labyrinth for so long. They would certainly be covered in matted, gory fur with bone fragments and chunks of brain or some such stuck to the grime.

Minotaurs and other night creatures are sentient, right? Surely they aren't all alike.

I could see personality playing a role in the design and upkeep of night creature lairs simply because there are fewer of them; they are special cases. It wouldn't be like giving goblins personalities and forcing the game to calculate the exact tendencies of hundreds or thousands of goblins.
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Rowanas

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2010, 03:57:33 pm »

Killswitch, put down Freud's diary.

Argembarger, I completely agree. This whole "creatures are evil" thing has gone quite far enough. Toady (armok be with him) has explicitly stated that good and evil is going away, so to assume that all minotaurs are ravenous beasts with the mind of Hitler if he were a child-abusing uber-rapist, is utterly wrong. Hey, there could be minotaurs in polite society, even as captain of the guard or General or somesuch. Maybe they aren't even taking advantage of their enormous physical strength and have become a herbalist, or cook.

The LOCS need your help!

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I agree with Urist. Steampunk is like Darth Vader winning Holland's Next Top Model. It would be awesome but not something I'd like in this game.
Unfortunately dying involves the amputation of the entire body from the dwarf.

killswitch

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2010, 05:44:57 pm »

> put down Freud's diary

dismissive much?

and it's not freud, it's joseph campbell.  while you may not appreciate it, it is the subconscious implications of these things that give them their power.  that's why when george lucas followed joseph campbell's hero cycle in star wars it resonated, while the later films sucked ass.  but this shit ain't star wars, thankfully.  it is however heavy on the story-telling tip, and draws heavily from mythology.  So, like, dismiss joseph at your, like, peril, man.

but fine, if minotaurs are not beasts that must be contended with, there is no need for them to be beast-like, but we are discussing this in regards to the minotaurs that were just added as night-creature-related enemies.  Toady got his face ate twice by them.  I do like Argembarger's description of pseudo-civil minotaurs, and I love minotaurs as villains.  If we want to have fully civilized minotaurs in addition to the villains, then fine fine fine.

As far as good/evil, no one here mentioned that.  It's just that when someone is trying to eat your face, you tend to make an enemy out of them.
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Rowanas

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2010, 05:58:24 pm »

Killswitch, fair enough. I do tend to be extremely dismissive of anything that sounds like it's airy-fairy psychological nonsense. Mainly because most of it is and there are some horrific examples of poor methodology attributed to the greatest of psychologists.

As you say, for now they are beasts and nothing more, but one day, the LOCS will have their way.

Barkeep? Minotaur!
Jewellery vendor? Troll!
Sherpa? Crundle!
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I agree with Urist. Steampunk is like Darth Vader winning Holland's Next Top Model. It would be awesome but not something I'd like in this game.
Unfortunately dying involves the amputation of the entire body from the dwarf.

GaxkangtheUnbound

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2010, 06:06:34 pm »

Professional Duet Singer? Ettin!
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therahedwig

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2010, 06:29:14 pm »

> put down Freud's diary

dismissive much?

and it's not freud, it's joseph campbell.  while you may not appreciate it, it is the subconscious implications of these things that give them their power.  that's why when george lucas followed joseph campbell's hero cycle in star wars it resonated, while the later films sucked ass.  but this shit ain't star wars, thankfully.  it is however heavy on the story-telling tip, and draws heavily from mythology.  So, like, dismiss joseph at your, like, peril, man.
Actually, I'm a bit of a mythology freak, and TBH, I think only, like 2% of all myths and saga's I've ever read actually resonated with Joseph Cambells Hero Cycle... And I don't think semiotics works that way anyway.

Also, if anything the Minotaur was to represent the scandals of royal families, not so much the dark parts of human psyche. Hell, that paper-thin allergory could easily be turned into mysteries of the psyche, and then the minotaur could be a benevolent or evil being that is highly spiritual and mysterious in nature, similar to the sphinx.
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Neonivek

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2010, 06:52:33 pm »

Well more that Overt Good and Evil are going away

As for Minotaurs I think it would be better for them to be rather clean creatures then dirty ones. That way they can sneak up on you more effectively within their mazes.
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killswitch

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2010, 07:37:09 pm »

alright, I'm wearing my LOCS bracelet then

therahedwig: fair enough if you don't like campbell.  the minotaur was put in the maze out of shame and guilt though, so that's where i get the dark side of the human psyche.  people bury the parts of themselves they are ashamed of all the time, so I relate to it as a human thing, not necessarily a societal thing. 

But that's the great part about myths - they have such depth, they can be related to on many levels.  i think joseph campell provides a pretty awesome framework for looking at much of hero myth.  I have been able relate almost any hero myth to his cycle.  Non-hero myths, not so much.  Both king minos and theseus have their hero arcs in this one.

as the adventurer in this situation you are certainly going through the hero cycle.

It would be pretty cool if villagers could send sacrifices to the minotaur to keep it away, as in the myth
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Rowanas

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2010, 05:10:38 am »

I think you take the heroic cycle too broadly (as many psychologists are prone to do, it's why they're not real scientists for the most part :D). The Heroic cycle is a fairly well laid out story of development for a heroic character, and neither the minotaur nor Theseus go through it. Sure, they may touch upon it at points, but it would be a pretty dull story that didn't.
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I agree with Urist. Steampunk is like Darth Vader winning Holland's Next Top Model. It would be awesome but not something I'd like in this game.
Unfortunately dying involves the amputation of the entire body from the dwarf.

Draco18s

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2010, 09:38:28 am »

Hey, there could be minotaurs in polite society, even as captain of the guard or General or somesuch. Maybe they aren't even taking advantage of their enormous physical strength and have become a herbalist, or cook.

The run fine porcelain stores.
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Rowanas

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Re: Minotaurs, diseases
« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2010, 01:17:22 pm »

Thank you so much, Draco. That was a fantastic waste of precious minutes of my life. I only wish I could fill all my minutes with such pointless amusement :D
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I agree with Urist. Steampunk is like Darth Vader winning Holland's Next Top Model. It would be awesome but not something I'd like in this game.
Unfortunately dying involves the amputation of the entire body from the dwarf.
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