'The Runners' by Cthulhu

[Christian Knudsen]

Download

Description: This quest was inspired by a Sci-Fi movie (look at the title, and no, it's not "The Running Man"), and it has a good deal of references to other science fiction books, movies, and computer games. It will take you across the galaxy in a deadly hunt for the Runners. I've made it so it won't necessarily add anything to your criminal record, if you are careful.

Difficulty: Average

(The difficulty is based on completing the quest in a well-equipped Centurion.)
 

[Quaker2k9]

It's the movie I hoped it would be! Sweet!

But I think I got stuck somewhere... I've retired numbers three and four from my list and went back to the mining base to meet my client, but I can't find him! What am I doing wrong?
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Retros tick me off!
 

[Christian Knudsen]

I know that Cthulhu experienced this a few times when programming the quest, but I wasn't getting it and he didn't get it the last couple of times he tested. Can you send me a save game, so I can take a look at what's going on?
 

[Cthulhu]

Damn!
I thought that problem was gone. That scene loads when you kill Zhora, so save a game just before you talk to J.F. (or before Zhora jumps you) and try again (sorry about this). I haven't been able to recreate this strange behavior the last few times I played the quest, but I know what your talking about.

Don't know if Christian wants a saved game before or after that scene has loaded though?

EDIT: grammar.
 

[Quaker2k9]

I've already sent Christian a Save, unfortunately I only have one where the scene in question is already loaded (Zhora and Rachael retired). I'll later re-start the whole quest and make sure to save at the right time, then see if I can avoid the problem

Don't worry, I'm sure the problem will be identified and retired, too

Something I spontaneously searched for one minute after reading your quest's description, to put me into the right mood:

YouTube Video
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Retros tick me off!
 

[Christian Knudsen]

Thanks. I'll check out the status of the quest variables to see if the correct scene has been loaded at all.
 

[Christian Knudsen]

Hmmm... Commander Jameson's character's template value is 2. That's why he isn't loaded when landing at the base. I'm trying to figure out why this is. His character's template value must not be reset correctly somewhere...

Anyway, a temporary fix will probably be to set his template value to 0 in the scene where he isn't loaded.
 

[Christian Knudsen]

I've found the bug. It causes a quest character's template value to not always be set to zero. It's fixed for the next release, but in the meantime it's probably a good idea to always set your quest character's template values to 0 to make sure.
 

[Cthulhu]

You still have my source code right? Could you set Cmdr. J:s value to 0 in the scene "Briefing", that would make my quest playable on this version as well, right?
 

[Christian Knudsen]

Yes, that should work. I'll do it for all characters that haven't got a template value different from 0 just to make sure. Quaker will still have to continue the game from a scene before this scene is loaded, though.
 

[Christian Knudsen]

I've updated the quest file available for download. It now resets all quest character's values to 0 (except for Rachael and Zhora). As Zhora has a template value of 2, I'm pretty sure the bug was transferring her template value over to Jameson's - that's why it didn't happen until after Zhora's scene.
 

[Quaker2k9]

Cool, I'll check it out as soon as I'm done fixing that monster scene I'm currently working on.
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Retros tick me off!
 

[Quaker2k9]

Oh-oh!

"Unable to load quest! You need at least v0.6 to load this quest....."
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Retros tick me off!
 

[Christian Knudsen]

D'oh! I compiled with my dev version, which is 0.6. Try it again now.
 

[Quaker2k9]

Alright, I've finished it! My review:

You've done a man's job there, Cthulhu! This definitely sets the benchmark for sheer awesomeness very high.

I'm not going to comment on the story too much, the implications are well known to anyone familiar with the SF genre... It doesn't get much better than Blade Runner. There is one thing that intrigues me, though:

In the beginning, the Commander says there are six (6) runaways. Let's make a quick count: Leon (1); Nomad/Clovis (2); Rachael (3), Zhora (4); Pris (5), "Mad Man" Hauer (6), Roy (7)..... Something to think about. Is this an error or have I just retired someone who was actually a real human being? I love this. Wasn't there a similar kind of "error" in the movie, with one replicant more declared than counted?
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Retros tick me off!
 

[Quaker2k9]

Does anyone of you have the new, expensive 5-disc release of Blade Runner? It's worth getting for this alternate ending alone:

Scene : In Deckard's car, driving on the old mountain road up north.

Rachael: "Are you and I lovers?"
Deckard: "Yes."
Rachael smiles.
Rachael: "Did you know your wife a long time?"
Deckard grins.
Deckard: "I thought I did... What's a long time?"
Rachael: "Forever."
Rachael: "You know what I think? I think today has been the best day of my life..."
Rachael: "You know what else I think? That you and I were made for eachother."
Deckard freezes for a second, looks at Rachael, shocked.
Rachael leans back, smiles.

Fade to End Theme.
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Retros tick me off!
 

[Cthulhu]

Rutger Hauer is not a Nexus-6.
As you can tell, all the runners have a "(Nexus-6)" in their last names (Except the Nomad/Gully Foyle). I needed two guys in the final scene to keep you from shoot Ray Batty before he gives his speech, and to give him something to shoot at.

I've taken some liberties, like, in the movie the Blade Runners were the cops right?

(By the way, the book (Do androids dream of electric sheep) is nothing like the movie, if I remember correctly, I read it a few years ago, and it was mostly about Deckard wanting to buy a pet, a real pet, not an android one. But I don't really remember it at all.)

I just came to a great realization, in just a few years time there will be people out there, that's never seen the original Blade runner, just the DVD -Directors cut, without Harrison Fords narrating voice!

And whats even worse, the same people will think that the original star wars is with those horrendously atrocious poorly made digital special effects that George Lucas added during the late 90's. It's like Cartman says in South Park: "What ever, I do what ever I want, I digitally added Jabba the Hut to the original Star Wars movies"
 

[Quaker2k9]

Computer effects are really horrible... The guys producing these movies so inflationary really aren't thinking.

Look at the great models in Blade Runner, these scenes really pass the test of time and will always look good.

Have you watched Jurassic Park 1 recently? When it came out, the animations were praised very much. Today, as the quality of CGI has improved and the audience has gotten used to looking at animated stuff, the dinos in JP1 look awful. Pixels everywhere, don't feel natural at all, you can easily tell where they put together live-film and effects even if you want to believe the illusion.
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Retros tick me off!
 

[WorkerDrone]

Well. I must say, this was one lengthy quest, but I finished it, and I enjoyed it to the fullest extent that I could. I loved the...well, I really liked the great job you did here, and it really brings life to the game when you get absorbed in quests like this. I EAGERLY await the next installment.
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The bugle sounds as the charge begins!
But on this battlefield no one wins.
The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath,
As you plunge into a certain death!
 

[Cthulhu]

Thank you very much for your kind words Quaker2k9 and WorkerDrone. They mean a lot to me, as I spent a lot of time writing this quest. I would never have finished it if it wasn’t for Christian who helped me finding the final errors, causing the ‘Victory’ to be lost in space, so big thanks!

[Quaker2k9]

[Flyboy]

Here's my critique of the quest. The storyline was pretty good, the fights were well done, and all but one of the dialogues were good. The only reason I gave this quest a 2 was because of the profanity. If you recall, I subtracted points from the rating of Quaker2k9's "A lady in trouble" because of language. This quest had only a couple of profanities, in only one dialogue, yet I felt that the profanity was far worse than the profanities used in "A lady in trouble". The fourth of the Ten Commandments says "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain...". Please recall that the Ten Commandments were God's direct commands to humanity. I believe that everyone would agree that the player's response to Roy Batty was in blatant violation of this commandment. As I said in the beginning of my post, the only reason I gave this quest a low rating was because of the profanity. You obviously put a lot of hard work into this quest, and you are to be commended for that. My only objection is the profanity.

Please understand that I am not in anyway attacking you personally, as before I am only posting a critique of the quest, not a personal attack.
 

[Christian Knudsen]

Please don't bring religion into this or any other thread. I understand if you don't like profanity. Fair enough. It doesn't bother me, but we're all different. What does bother me is using religion as an argument.
 

[Cthulhu]

That line you're referring to is from another movie.
I'm sorry if it upset you, but since the player in this quest kills a few people I guess the fifth commandment is violated as well.
 

[Flyboy]

Christian: Sorry to upset you, I did not think that my reply would be offensive, or I would not have posted it. I meant to use that not as an argument, but as a basis for my objection. I will not do so in the future.

Cthulhu: Thank you for being understanding. I don't think the player commits murder, because the player is employed by the authorities to neutralize a threat. Christian has just asked not to bring religion into the discussion, so if you want to discuss the murder versus not topic further, I would be happy to do so but not as part of the discussion here.