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Dark Souls |OT3| This thread moves faster than the Blighttown framerate

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Is it sad that I can recognize the Japanese script for "Dark Souls" despite not being able to read a single character of Japanese, just from browsing through fanart? -_-
 

shiroryu

Member
So you want to go through New Lando ghosts without the ability to attack them, kill the old guy, drain the city, go through the Valley of Drakes, to Darkroot Basin to Ander and then to the Gargoyles... All that just to skip the Taurus demon and make the Burg "optional" ?

lol, might actually be fun in a twisted kinda of way but I wouldn't call the Burg optinal

Yeah, that's one of the worst 'optional' routes you could choose early on, lol. Certainly the worst one without the Master Key. Fun though, to 'break' the game in a manner of speaking.

I went Parish-Darkroot Basin-Valley of Drakes-Blighttown just to open up the shortcut between the Shrine and Blighttown, making the Lower Undead Burg, the Depths, and a major portion of Blighttown optional. Am going through them now anyway because of the items and the experience.
 
So, someone just updated the Dark Souls Tvtropes Character page with a bunch of references to cut content and dialogue, including an intro speech for Quelaag and cut quests for the Tutorial Knight (Oscar) and Shiva. My google-fu is failing me, so does anyone know where I can find this stuff?
 

one85x

Member
pretty sure I'm not because I blindly said yes to become a darkwraith when given the chance, am I boned?
No, you just have to rejoin the forest covenant. Although, if Shiva is hostile when you go to the forest, then you'll have to absolve your sins at the church if you want him as a merchant again.
 

shiroryu

Member
Is it sad that I can recognize the Japanese script for "Dark Souls" despite not being able to read a single character of Japanese, just from browsing through fanart? -_-

You'll need to post the link to said fanarts for a thorough psych evaluation.

Does anyone else feel disappointed by the scope of the Valley of Drakes? I saw it on the cloth map that's been seen online, and was like "that's where Hellkite goes to roost when he(she?) is not trolling hollows on the bridge. Probably a den of the meanest dragons in Lordran".

Then reach there and it's basically 5 drakes+undead dragon. More of a shortcut connector area. Wonder if it was cut back in development or something.
 

.GqueB.

Banned
Killed an invader last night and he sends me a message complaining about how I used Wrath of the Gods? Really? I keep hearing people bitch about this but what do they expect faith users to do? The lightning bolts take to long to materialize and so does emit force. I could melee you to death but youre wearing havels armor and swinging a claymore at me.

People I swear.
 

shiroryu

Member
Huh. Weird. I don't remember getting any invasion notices or anything. Ok then. Thanks!

Had the same experience in the Parish when human; the elevator door went grey, but there was no invasion notice or invasion; things returned to normal a minute afterward. No messages of any sort. It's a failed invasion.
 

EasyMode

Member
How do I get to new londo ruins from valley of the drakes? I want to farm some darkwraiths for titanite chunks.
The new londo entrance is at the opposite end of the valley from the darkroot basin entrance. You'll need a master key, or the key in blighttown from a chest just past the trolls (only takes a minute to get from the valley).
 

Brolic Gaoler

formerly Alienshogun
How long do I have to wait after I give the smith my special material before he's made the weapon?

I didn't even know I had special material, but he asked me to lend it to him. I'm guessing it was either the ember I got or the crap I got from that gem monster that tried to run from me.

Also, why all the sudden do I get to carry 10 flasks?

And how do I learn the rite to kindle the campfire?
 

Ourobolus

Banned
Had the same experience in the Parish when human; the elevator door went grey, but there was no invasion notice or invasion; things returned to normal a minute afterward. No messages of any sort. It's a failed invasion.
Heh, I can't believe it took me 4 playthroughs to actually finally experience a failed invasion. I mean, I've failed invading countless times, and I've been invaded quite a bit, but never was near a fog door I suppose.
 

shiroryu

Member
How long do I have to wait after I give the smith my special material before he's made the weapon?

I didn't even know I had special material, but he asked me to lend it to him. I'm guessing it was either the ember I got or the crap I got from that gem monster that tried to run from me.

Also, why all the sudden do I get to carry 10 flasks?

And how do I learn the rite to kindle the campfire?

None. Giving him the ember simply means he can now make those special weapons for you. It's on the spot.

If you kindle a bonfire by spending 1 humanity when human (there's an option to do this when you rest at a bonfire) you can carry 10 flasks instead of the normal 5 when you rest at that bonfire. You can kindle any bonfire in the game to 10 flasks by spending 1 humanity. Later on, you'll get the ability to kindle fires further to 15 and 20 flasks.

Keep in mind that a bonfire that's not been kindled only refreshes up to 5 flasks. So if you used up 4 of your flasks and recharged at a bonfire that hasn't been kindled, you'll still have 6 flasks after you rest, not 10.
 

Sullichin

Member
How long do I have to wait after I give the smith my special material before he's made the weapon?

I didn't even know I had special material, but he asked me to lend it to him. I'm guessing it was either the ember I got or the crap I got from that gem monster that tried to run from me.

Also, why all the sudden do I get to carry 10 flasks?

And how do I learn the rite to kindle the campfire?

Some bonfires are kindled already, like the one at Firelink I believe. You get 10 by default there. You can already kindle any bonfire once to get 10 flasks. If you're hollow, you'll need to pop two humanity. One to "reverse hollowing" and become human, one to kindle. You can kindle further once you beat Nito.

So you want to go through New Lando ghosts without the ability to attack them, kill the old guy, drain the city, go through the Valley of Drakes, to Darkroot Basin to Ander and then to the Gargoyles... All that just to skip the Taurus demon and make the Burg "optional" ?

lol, might actually be fun in a twisted kinda of way but I wouldn't call the Burg optinal

What old guy are you referring to? How does this let you skip Taurus?
 

shiroryu

Member
What old guy are you referring to? How does this let you skip Taurus?

I believe he's talking about Ingward in New Londo Ruins; killing him lets you open up the other path from New Londo Ruins to the Valley of Drakes by
draining the ruins
. From there it's Darkroot Basin to Undead Parish.
 
The new londo entrance is at the opposite end of the valley from the darkroot basin entrance. You'll need a master key, or the key in blighttown from a chest just past the trolls (only takes a minute to get from the valley).

Can you describe where the entrance is exactly? I went to the valley, killed the dragons, crossed the bridge, and ran into a gigantic gate that I have no idea to open. I'm guessing I'm in the wrong place?
 

one85x

Member
Can you describe where the entrance is exactly? I went to the valley, killed the dragons, crossed the bridge, and ran into a gigantic gate that I have no idea to open. I'm guessing I'm in the wrong place?
That's the right place, but that gate can only be opened from the other side. If you already have the
Lordvessel
, then head down to New Londo from Firelink and start exploring.
 

EasyMode

Member
Can you describe where the entrance is exactly? I went to the valley, killed the dragons, crossed the bridge, and ran into a gigantic gate that I have no idea to open. I'm guessing I'm in the wrong place?

You're in the right place.
When you enter the valley, instead of crossing that bridge take the path to the left of the bridge. You'll have to kill or run past a few drakes in the process. You'll eventually come to a sleeping dragon. If you pick up the goodies near him he'll wake up and attack. Past that dragon you'll come to a cave which leads into Blighttown. If you don't have the master key, you'll need to make a quick trip inside and past the trolls to a chest containing the key to New Londo. Once all that's in order you can leave the cave and nearby is a small gate to New Londo.
 

shiroryu

Member
Can you describe where the entrance is exactly? I went to the valley, killed the dragons, crossed the bridge, and ran into a gigantic gate that I have no idea to open. I'm guessing I'm in the wrong place?

Just to clear up any potential confusion, there's two entrances connecting New Londo and Valley of Drakes, and EasyMode and one85x have told you both of them. One connects to the upper section, the other the lower section.
 
Boorus like gelbooru are fine if you use Rating:safe, though as the site warns it's user-based, so is not foolproof.

Even that has NSFW ads, as I learned when I posted stuff from that site earlier in this thread. They weren't showing up on my browser (GAF and a few blogs and webcomics are the only sites I have excepted in Adblock) and a couple people got hit with ads for sex toys and porn comics.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
Yeah, from cross-referencing that TVTropes stuff with those raw dumps of text strings it looks like the cut stuff with Quelaag, Oscar, and Shiva is legit.
 

shiroryu

Member
Even that has NSFW ads, as I learned when I posted stuff from that site earlier in this thread. They weren't showing up on my browser (GAF and a few blogs and webcomics are the only sites I have excepted in Adblock, so I have no idea why I wasn't seeing them) and a couple people got hit with ads for sex toys and porn comics.

Oh wow. Yeah, Firefox blocks those for me.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
Quelaag's dialogue is kinda shit though. I'm glad they cut it.

Yeah, I don't think any of the stuff seems like any great loss, though it does at least explain the otherwise-incongruous relocation of Shiva to Blighttown. The Oscar stuff is pretty trite, though apparently he was supposed to help you travel through the forest covenant area which implies it wasn't always intended to be a PvP arena. It's kind of hard to tell anything about the data structure they used since it's just a raw dump of all the text strings, but it kind of looks like the knight in the Undead Asylum who gives you the Estus Flask and Oscar of Astora weren't necessarily supposed to be the same person.

Text dump also reveals the Altar of Sunlight was in Anor Londo at some point in development.

Seems like there's some interesting stuff to be gleaned from it in general, though it's pretty grueling to read through given the format.
 
Yeah, I don't think any of the stuff seems like any great loss, though it does at least explain the otherwise-incongruous relocation of Shiva to Blighttown. The Oscar stuff is pretty trite, though apparently he was supposed to help you travel through the forest covenant area which implies it wasn't always intended to be a PvP arena. It's kind of hard to tell anything about the data structure they used since it's just a raw dump of all the text strings, but it kind of looks like the knight in the Undead Asylum who gives you the Estus Flask and Oscar of Astora weren't necessarily supposed to be the same person.

Text dump also reveals the Altar of Sunlight was in Anor Londo at some point in development.

Seems like there's some interesting stuff to be gleaned from it in general, though it's pretty grueling to read through given the format.

It also explains why Oscar's armor is in Darkroot when he never goes anywhere near there in the finished game.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
Frampt was supposed to sell Humanity at one point, and it was apparently necessary to talk to him or
Kaathe
before traveling to Sen's at some point because both have dialogue about opening the gate for you. There's also a bit of reassurance from Frampt that
the four possessors of the Lord Souls
really do deserve a good killing that I don't think is actually accessible in the game, though it doesn't really communicate anything new.

Interesting stuff, but parsing it is starting to make me go cross-eyed.
 
do deserve a good killing that I don't think is actually accessible in the game, though it doesn't really communicate anything new.

.

Frampt saying that the Lord Soul owners have either gone evil (Seath, Kings, the Bed) or have "outlived their usefulness" was kinda odd. I mean, that line is like a villain cliche; you couldn't think of a better justification for killing Nito after a thousand years of doing nothing but chilling at the Lordvessel altar, Frampt?
 

jtrov

Member
So I finally started playing this game again and damn is it just amazing. I decided to start over; this time re-rolling as a Knight and choosing the Master Key as my gift. It's been a while since I last played, but I breezed by the first Bell and now I'm at a crossroad where I don't really remember what I should be doing next. I remember going to The Depths, but I feel like there are other areas I could explore for potential souls and or items. Right now I'm still using my starting armor, except I have the Boar Helmet equipped. I'm also equipped with the Drake Sword / Shield and Halberd / Shield.

Before I continue is there any armor sets or items I could potentially grab (excluding the graveyard items; already grabbed them)? Also, I'm trying to stay in level range so I can still co-op. As of right now I'm level 19 and I just cleared the shortcut up to the Capra Demon. Is this about right?
 

Sullichin

Member
I believe he's talking about Ingward in New Londo Ruins; killing him lets you open up the other path from New Londo Ruins to the Valley of Drakes by
draining the ruins
. From there it's Darkroot Basin to Undead Parish.

I'm confused as to why you need to kill him. You can't just drain the water and then get to Valley of Drakes?
 
I can't for the life of me find the unused text you guys are talking about. TVTropes just references that unused text has been found and that Gamefaqs thread hasn't seen any activity today. I want to read! :(
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
The game has a "No Lordvessel" error message string. I'm not sure in what context that could really make sense.

Frampt saying that the Lord Soul owners have either gone evil (Seath, Kings, the Bed) or have "outlived their usefulness" was kinda odd. I mean, that line is like a villain cliche; you couldn't think of a better justification for killing Nito after a thousand years of doing nothing but chilling at the Lordvessel altar, Frampt?

It's a little incongruous, really. Could be why it got cut. It doesn't seem like Kaathe has any meaningful cut dialogue other than the Sen's Fortress opening thing, which doesn't really shed any light on anything.

I can't for the life of me find the unused text you guys are talking about. TVTropes just references that unused text has been found and that Gamefaqs thread hasn't seen any activity today. I want to read! :(

It's the two links in a later post in that Pendant-obsessing thread. These:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ls6tw1mjjfj1wxr
http://www.mediafire.com/?fhojxnl3iigb4rv

One of them is a raw dump of item-related text strings, the other is a raw dump of subtitles and system message text strings.
 

Sullichin

Member
Ingwald won't give you the key unless you have the Lordvessel.
Ah. I thought he gave you the key that let you access Four Kings. or is it just for the lower level in general? I don't remember.

I still never became a Darkwraith. I'm afraid of FK with my sorcery character (who has been beasting every boss up to this point with ease) because I'm not packing ultra heavy armor this time.
 

elohel

Member
how does this whole grave lord thing work? I had all these red phantoms show up in undead burg but I can't find the sign of the guy that dropped it(how do I find it?) and when I originally invaded someone prior(grave lord) they were invaded after I invade his game

am I going crazy or.....can you invade a game of someone and they can be invaded as well?
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
So I finally started playing this game again and damn is it just amazing. I decided to start over; this time re-rolling as a Knight and choosing the Master Key as my gift. It's been a while since I last played, but I breezed by the first Bell and now I'm at a crossroad where I don't really remember what I should be doing next. I remember going to The Depths, but I feel like there are other areas I could explore for potential souls and or items. Right now I'm still using my starting armor, except I have the Boar Helmet equipped. I'm also equipped with the Drake Sword / Shield and Halberd / Shield.

Before I continue is there any armor sets or items I could potentially grab (excluding the graveyard items; already grabbed them)? Also, I'm trying to stay in level range so I can still co-op. As of right now I'm level 19 and I just cleared the shortcut up to the Capra Demon. Is this about right?

You should explore Darkroot Garden/Basin and grab all the armor sets there (Eastern, Elite Knight, and Stone IIRC). If you haven't killed Havel, do that so you can wear the armor you find without trouble. I think I did that and killed the Butterfly and Hydra before I went to the depths/blighttown. Though if you don't want to level up, I guess there's little point in killing those bosses now.
 

jtrov

Member
You should explore Darkroot Garden/Basin and grab all the armor sets there (Eastern, Elite Knight, and Stone IIRC). If you haven't killed Havel, do that so you can wear the armor you find without trouble. I think I did that and killed the Butterfly and Hydra before I went to the depths/blighttown. Though if you don't want to level up, I guess there's little point in killing those bosses now.

Thanks, I will give this a try. I just looked up some of those armor sets and I don't think I can pass them up. I'm just going to go in having fun and not worry about my level for now I guess lol.

Now time to go kill Havel.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
Ring of Condemnation, Ring of Blind Ghosts, and Ring of Displacement all exist within the item strings but not the game. They've got description text, too:

Ring of Condemnation:

This black diamond ring is granted to those
who enter a Covenant with Velka, the Goddess
of Sin. It automatically counterattacks when
its wearer inflicts sustained damage.

Velka the Goddess of Sin is an eccentric
witch versed in various secret rites, an

It just cuts off there, mid-sentence.

Ring of Blind Ghosts:

This ring belonged to the seal guardian
of New Londo. It prevents its wearer's
discovery by cursed ghosts.

There were once three guardians of the seal,
but two of them tired of their eternal task,
and left New Londo long ago.

I think this one belongs to the Ring of Displacement, but its placement in the description strings doesn't correspond perfectly to its placement in the item name strings:

The ring of a lost miracle of New Londo.
This ring takes damage in place of its
wearer, but has a fixed chance of breaking.

Oh boy new item descriptions! I sure hope everybody is as excited as I am at the prospect of reading even more of them.
 

140.85

Cognitive Dissonance, Distilled
Regarding the text dumps and rumors of people having looked at the game code. Has anyone actually hacked the game itself or is all this material from hacking the save files? I find it hard to believe someone has been able to view the source code from the disc.
 

sixghost

Member
The game has a "No Lordvessel" error message string. I'm not sure in what context that could really make sense.



It's a little incongruous, really. Could be why it got cut. It doesn't seem like Kaathe has any meaningful cut dialogue other than the Sen's Fortress opening thing, which doesn't really shed any light on anything.



It's the two links in a later post in that Pendant-obsessing thread. These:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ls6tw1mjjfj1wxr
http://www.mediafire.com/?fhojxnl3iigb4rv

One of them is a raw dump of item-related text strings, the other is a raw dump of subtitles and system message text strings.

Maybe at one point it was possible to kill/scare off Frampt before placing the lord vessel, so that you could jump down into the pit before having the lord vessel.

Currently Frampt is invincible before you have the lord vessel. Even if you hit him, he won't go away.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
The section that contains the strings of boss names has all the usual suspects, but also has an entry for "Gravelord Servant". Other than that there's nothing unexpected in terms of bosses or locations.

Regarding the text dumps and rumors of people having looked at the game code. Has anyone actually hacked the game itself or is all this material from hacking the save files? I find it hard to believe someone has been able to view the source code from the disc.

All we're looking at is the files that contain the game's text strings, it's nothing so elaborate as reverse-engineering the code. The guy on GameFAQs said he installed the game to a USB drive then used some application to extract the files. Not exactly an elaborate operation.

Maybe at one point it was possible to kill/scare off Frampt before placing the lord vessel, so that you could jump down into the pit before having the lord vessel.

Currently Frampt is invincible before you have the lord vessel. Even if you hit him, he won't go away.

That is probably the sanest explanation, though the error message would likely still elicit a "What's a Lordvessel?" from those who hadn't quite realized what was going on.
 
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