How do I get the achievement for Sector 3?

Question

In Q.U.B.E., how do I get the achievement "Sector 3, Completed"? I have completed all 7 sectors, and I got all of the corresponding achievements except the one for sector 3. I then played through sector 3 again and I still did not get the achievement. Do I have to do anything besides simply proceeding linearly as usual to get the achievement?

Answer

According to this thread posted by one of the developers on the Steam forums, the achievement for sector 3 is broken and will not unlock, along with

• Finale
• Find the Developers
• Tough Going Part 1
• Tough Going Part 2
• Fizzicks

EDIT: The achievements appear to be fixed. The achievement for Sector 3 can now be obtained simply by playing through the sector like with all of the other achievements.

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How to clear “Storm the Sheep” on extreme in Defender's Quest?

Question

I've tried a couple of strategies with little success so far.

So far my strategy consists of:

• 1 non-upgrade warrior to kill the normal sheeps
• 2 knights for knockback, stun and general damage (upgraded as much as possible)
• 1 ice mage for the slow and freeze (sometimes upgrade to lvl 3)
• 3-4 archers (as much as I can summon with the available "points")
• Using the push back and frenzy spells from time to time although the push back doesn't seem to work.

I swap all the characters as the sheep moves along the way.

I also tried using a Dragon to "now" the sheep when below 19% HP but it didn't work.

So am I on the good path or am I missing something completely obvious.

The battle selection screen for reference:

and the battle map:

Answer

The way I did it was with 6 archers and nothing else (except for one beserker to kill the normal sheep).

The magic sheep is immune to knock back, stun, freeze, etc., so all those kinds of units are useless. Instead, go with archers (highest DPS), and reposition them when the sheep is out of range. I did it with my archers all at level 40, but I killed the sheep at 2/3 or 3/4 of the way around the circuit, so I'm sure this is also a viable strategy at lower levels.

Also, I should clarify, summon as many archers as you can initially afford, and bring more online as you accumulate PSI, which should happen fairly quickly, because you won't need to reposition your archers very often.

Good luck!

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What are the effects of making my bitizens happy?

Question

Do they restock faster? Restock more? Get more customers? What about unhappy? Does that have any negative effects?

Answer

The happiness of your bitizens only helps you indicate if you've placed them in their dream job. An red unhhapy bitizen is just unemployed. A green happy bitizen is in his dream job. A yellow "meh" bitizen has a job but it isn't his dream job.

Placing bitizens with appropriate skills and dream jobs helps you in the following ways:

Placing a bitizen in his dream job: Placing on the same floor one, two or three bitizens with their dream jobs will give you double the stock when stocking the first, second and third item respectively. This effect stacks, meaning that if all three workers have their dream job, all items give double the stock.

The effect of job skill: Bitizen job skills gives a certain discount on stocking costs, the cost is equal to the total skill level of all workers in the relevant type, for exmample, if you place in a Retail floor three bitizens with 5, 7 and 9 retail skills, you'll get a 21% percent discount when stocking the floor.

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What exactly do the Market and other buildings increase?

Question

The effect of Market is given as "+25% coin". Does that mean before or after the division of commerce into science, gold and culture?

In other words, if I have a city bringing in 20 commerce, and the 'sliders' are set at 80% science and 20% gold, does adding a market affect only the gold (adding one gold) or the gold and the science (adding 4 science and one gold)?

Likewise for Bank and the similar buildings.

Answer

These buildings only effect the gold output, and not the science output. The science percentage-increasing counterparts are buildings such as the Library and University.

In your example, this would translate to +1 gold (and 0 additional science or culture) for building the Market.

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How do I get Cupid Snoopy to shoot people?

Question

I downloaded the Valentine's Day update, and Snoopy now has a Cupid costume and can shoot people with love arrows.

Problem is, I have no idea how to make that happen.

How can I get him to shoot people?

Answer

I zoomed in and I found a heart with an arrow through it. I pushed it and Snoopy shot a love arrow.

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Is there an easy way to figure out which DLCs have you bought already?

Question

Assume you bought a game on steam and 7 out of 10 DLCs that are available for that game. When you go (in the steam application) to "LIBRARY" -> "game XY" -> "DLC", you get a list of all DLCs that are available for the game XY but none of the DLCs are marked as bought or not... (?!) At least I don't see any marks. If you click on a specific DLC though, you get "You already own XY", or the "Buy XY" depending on having/not having the DLC.

Is there an easier way to find out which DLCs you are missing than clicking to each DLC? Perhaps a place (that I haven't found yet) with a list of all the DLCs available for that game and some small icons that would tell you if you have that DLC or not?

I am asking because if a game has lots of DLCs, it is a bit tiresome to click and check all of them.

Answer

I have found that the easiest way to do this is to do it as follows:

1. Go to the Steam Store page for the game in question. For the DLC, you should see a heading. If there are several items, click on the "See All" arrow in the lower right.

2. Click the "Add all DLC to cart" button in the lower right.

3. It will then automatically take you to the shopping cart checkout page. If you already own the piece of DLC in question, you will see "You already own this game" underneath the name of the DLC. In the example here, you can see that I own the Civilization and Scenario: Korea pack, but not the one underneath it, the Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario pack.

Unfortunately, there's no way to mass remove items from your shopping cart, so you'll then have to click on each "Remove" link in order to remove it from your list. However, it's the easiest way I've found to see at a glance what DLC you have and don't have.

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Do I need a premium account to play Minecraft offline?

Question

I'm trying to run the offline version of Minecraft (which I'm told doesn't need a premium account?) but the "play offline" button is greyed out, with the text underneath it reading "not downloaded".

Do you need a premium account to play offline?

Note: I've also tried using the assets.minecraft.net/1.8/minecraft.jar but I encounter this (fatal) error: java: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/jni/libjinput.so: undefined symbol: EVIOCGUSAGE

I'm also a bit worried that what I'm doing might not be allowed - is the minecraft.jar file from assets.minecraft.net legal?

Answer

Yes, you do need a premium account to play Minecraft offline.

The first time it is run the client requires you to log in with a premium account to download the necessary files from minecraft.net.

See the FAQ for Minecraft.

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How can I make a boatlock in Minecraft?

Question

How can I navigate a boat to a higher level in Minecraft?

Is there some form of a lock that I could use?

Maybe something using doors and watersource...

Inspired by this question: Any way to dig a navigable canal (Minecraft Alpha)?

Answer

This applies to versions before Beta 1.6.4

All you have to do is set up a waterfall. Boats, contrary to what one would expect, simply flow straight up waterfalls.

Alternatively, water cannot pass through doors. You can rig something with that if you're patient.

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What is the most effecient way to clear an area in Minecraft?

Question

I have an underground village all planned out on graph paper, and am ready to start building it. I have decided to have three block thick walls, with the middle being obsidian. Overall, I need a space 53 blocks long, 53 blocks wide, and 31 blocks high. What would be the most efficient way to do this?

Answer

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Is double tapping or bursting more effective?

Question

Since the Orange Box update and the updates after that, CSS has changed a lot with regards to hitboxes and recoil. Before the updates I played pro skill and most people would just burst and some would do the double tap (burst), which is tapping twice to get a smaller recoil than using the normal burst which uses 3 or 4 bullets. However, I started playing again and I noticed that the better players are using the double tap now.

Is it better to double tap?

Answer

Depends,

on how your style is...

I mean its a classic FPS which even these days people play it a lot even with the "hitboxes"

Double tap will bring more accuracy to your hits and most of the bullets will end at the target

Burst on the other hand need more movement on the mouse when you burst you need to move it to the opposite direction of the gun that burst.. :)

So close target i would say burst

far targets double tap!

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Clearing an Area Efficiently in MInecraft

Question

I have an underground village all planned out on graph paper, and am ready to start building it. I have decided to have three block thick walls, with the middle being obsidian. Overall, I need a space 53 blocks long, 53 blocks wide, and 31 blocks high. What would be the most efficient way to do this?

Answer

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How to protect yourself from exploding electric ice wall?

Question

Whenever I try to cast this spell (EQRQRAS) with shift (to surround myself with it), I get killed every single time. I've seen people on youtube cast it, and stay alive so I tried casting this with various types of shields, but nothing helped, I just get instant death. Is there a way to cast this without dying?

Answer

If you're inside that ring when the Arcane explosions go off, you're pretty much always dead.

It does more harm than good and will often end up instantly killing you, but I can confirm from memory that this wasn't always the case. It seems the spell casting system was revised so that spell combination has that unfortunate side effect. Maybe intentionally, it was pretty overpowered. In the video, you can clearly see that the Arcane explosion from the spikes does no damage to the player, which is no longer the case.

Some workarounds you could try:

• Use it to enchant your weapon, then do a swipe with it. This casts the spikes in a straight line away from you, so you'll take less damage, or none at all if you run away from it.

• Cast it normally and backtrack to avoid the explosion damage.

• Cast it as an area effect, then quickly teleport out of the ring using the Teleport Magick (ASA).

• Try casting it without Arcane, which makes it not explode (i.e., safe to stand in), but also, of course, weaker. You can add additional Lightnings to make it last longer.

As for your original question: It is actually possible to survive the full blast, but not reliably. If you use the Epic Robe, which has Arcane resistance and increased HP (Gamer Bundle DLC), have full health, cast a self shield at the right time and keep boosting that as the explosions go off, you can emerge from the ordeal, but very much scathed.

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How do I make part of my Minecraft skin transparent?

Question

I want my Minecraft skin's head to be transparent entirely. If I try this with a skin editor, it shows as black in multiplayer. Is there any way of doing this?

Answer

There is no way of doing this, other than replacing the model for Steve with your own custom model (that has 'holes' in the right places).

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What are all the secret achievements in Paradise Island?

Question

In the game Paradise Island (Paradise Island: Exotic on iOS), what are all the secret achievements?

Answer

Ok, I've found a decent list, here are the secret achievements. Note that all of the structures must be on the map at once to gain the award (you can't build 14, demolish one, then build another).

Hot Dogs Fan: Build 15 hot dog stands
Simple Solution fan: Build 15 cabins
Trifles Fan: Build 15 gift shops
Spa Salons Fan: Build 10 sunny centers
Mega Party Goer: Build 10 disco
Aristocrat: Build 3 golf clubs
Casinos Fan: Build 5 crystal casinos
Altitude Lover: Build 2 galaxy restaurants
We Remember about the Defender: Build 2 gold defenders
Amusement Park: Build 2 observation wheels
Great Pyramids: Build 3 pyramids
Lord of Excitement: Build 3 pearl casinos
Master of Bowling: Build 3 Bowling clubs
Following the Montgolfier Brothers: Build 3 Ballon launch platforms
The Sun Only: Have all power generated by solar stations, remove all windmills

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Do corpses disappear after a while?

Question

When I...

1. kill someone in a city, enter a house and leave a house OR
2. kill someone in a dungeon, leave the dungeon and enter the dungeon

... will the bodies of the dead people disappear or can I still come back to loot them?

Answer

If this is anything like other Bethesda titles (Oblivion and Fallout 3), then bodies are persistent and will always be there to loot. Unless you move them.

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Can you remove a weapon attachment?

Question

I recently put a scope on a 9mm pistol, but decided the scope was useless. Is there any way to take it off the gun? I would just find another pistol, but the pistol I have is currently in top condition.

Answer

According to The New Vegas Wiki:

Once a weapon mod is attached to a weapon it can not be removed and remains a permanent feature of that weapon, along with its added attribute. However, this could not always be a good thing. For example while an extended magazine is almost always beneficial, a scope on the other hand has pros and cons. It may increase maximum range, but makes it harder to use in close combat situations.

Sorry, it appears you're out of luck.

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Green Fret Button sometimes “lets go”

Question

This has been happening a while, and though I can handle the situation sometimes, I eventually forget that it is going to happen, and then it does...

What happens is that while holding down the green fret, it will sometimes behave like I have let go of the button. This is very annoying when playing chords. If I press really hard with my forefinger, then I can usually not make it happen, but even then, it is hit or miss.

None of the other frets behave this way. I have taken off the button and made sure that the switch looks okay, and to me it seems like the little rubbery knob inside is worn a little, so the button-bottom may not be pressing it down at all times onto the switch (or it slips out from under the bottom of the button, which is my guess).

So, in lieu of actually going and purchasing a new guitar controller somewhere online, can anyone think of a simple solution to make that knob like new? I really like this guitar....

Answer

You don't mention what model of guitar you have, but generally searching YouTube for videos of "(guitar type) repair fret button" will pull up a few videos of someone suggesting solutions and walking you through the repair. Unfortunately, many of these can be poor quality.

You mentioned that the rubber underside of the button looked worn. This part of the button is responsible for completing the circuit on the circuit board under the button. If this is particularly worn or damaged, it might have a tough time completing the circuit. If you can switch the rubber pad on your green fret with the pad on another fret (say, orange) you might be able to confirm that this is indeed the problem.

If this fixes the problem on your green fret, you might have a bad rubber pad. One solution to this is replacing the rubber pad, although finding a replacement part might be somewhat tricky depending on the model. I read an article recently detailing a solution that involved hole-punching a tiny piece of aluminum foil and using 2-sided tape to affix it to the bottom of the rubber pad, thereby providing a conductive replacement for the rubber pad itself. I don't know how much abuse this would stand up to, but considering you probably have all of the parts handy, it's probably cheaper to try before you go to purchase a replacement.

If the "swap green and orange button pads" test doesn't work, you might have dirty contacts on the board. Rubbing them with a soft eraser will sometimes help clean off any accumulated gunk and get them to conduct a bit better.

Whenever I start to take some electronic device apart, I always budget to replace it, however :) Sometimes I get lucky, and everything fits back together and works perfectly afterwards, but more often than not I snap some little plastic tab that was holding the whole thing together, thereby costing me the device.

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Can the Notched Pickaxe be used to enchant other items?

Question

I have the Notched Pickaxe with its smithing enchantment. I would like to disenchant this item and apply it to another weapon. I'm scared to try it as I don't want to lose my pickaxe. Can this enchantment be applied to another weapon when learned from disenchanting the pickaxe?

Answer

Yes, the Notched Pickaxe can be disenchanted and its effects applied to other weapons.

The Notched Pickaxe can be disenchanted to learn the "Notched Pickaxe Effect," which can be used to enchant to other weapons. Points towards Smithing are capped at 5. The shock damage varies as per standard Enchanting rules

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How to play Heroes of Might and Magic 2 on Windows 7 32 bit

Question

I wish to play Heroes 2 on my Windows 7 machine. My problem is that I have some difficulties starting the application. I know there is DosBOX, but I'm looking for some effective solution for this. Do you know about some helper applications like ScummVM which can be easily configured especially for Heroes 2?

If all else fails I might just install a Windows 98 on a VirtualBOX but before that I want to try out something simpler.

Answer

There's no specific emulator for the HOMM series, from what I can tell. Most people are using DOSBox, and if you have access to the DOS edition of the game, it's worth setting up and using. There are many older games that run under DOSBox, and it's pretty easy to set up and maintain compared to a virtual machine or similar solution. DOSBox rates this game as "playable" and you can use the user reports on that page to avoid any common errors and understand what might not work properly.

If you have the Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise editions of Windows 7, Microsoft Support suggests using Windows XP mode to run HOMM2. This is pretty similar to your VirtualBox solution, but if you've got it built into the OS, you might as well use this as a shortcut.

Sometimes editing the compatibility settings of an application can get it to run in newer Windows versions than the one it was designed for, but given that the game is so old, it's unlikely to work. Given its low time/effort investment, its still worth a shot, though.

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Where can I check which difficulty bracket I'm in?

Question

Supposedly DOTA 2 matchmaking is divided into brackets.

I want to know which difficulty bracket I'm in. How can I find this information?

Answer

According to sources, the way to do it is:

To check your current "ranking" you must first enable the console (which you should either know how to do or know how to google). Then then launch game, open console and type these commands

developer 1

dota_game_account_debug

i think that's the proper way to check your MMR atm. dont forget to disable developer after you check it, since the developer mode will make u see red text in-game

However, this has been patched out, apparently. Therefore it's no longer possible. :(

Follow up:

Rank = mmr If you picked veteran, you start at 3000 MMR. It seems if you picked something else you start lower. Rank uncertainty = some kind of K factor used in determining your new MMR's after games.

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Is it still possible to get Diner Dash on the PS3?

Question

The IGN page for Diner Dash says it was released for PS3 in November of 2009, but I can't find any information about it in the PlayStation Store or on the PlayStation website (US & UK). Is this game no longer available for some reason? Is there still anywhere to buy a code for it or anything?

I know that some games occasionally get removed from the store for legal reasons or whatever, but does anyone know why this game, specifically, got removed?

Answer

It is no longer available - both the PSN and XBLA versions were removed in April of 2011. No reason was ever given, although there were rumors about it having to do with Konami's takeover of Hudson (who produced the PSN and XBLA versions) and Konami not wanting to pay the license fees for Diner Dash.

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What apparel can I acquire to quickly close the alchemy/enchantment loop?

Question

My goal is to smith the strongest possible armor set I can, then enchant said armor to best fit the needs of my mage. I'm leaning towards dragon armor at this point as I have enough of the required components for myself and my NPC companion.

My character currently has 100 smithing, 75 enchantment and 30 alchemy. I am aware there is an alchemy/enchantment "feedback loop" (as utilized here) that can be leveraged to enchant "smithing armor" capable of pushing the smithing perk to +29% for refining my final set of armor.

Instead of grinding my alchemy/enchanting skills to 100 I'd like to know what the best apparel is in the world of Skyrim to boost these two skills? Hopefully this will give me the ability to craft my goal armor sooner than later.

For example: I know the Krosis Mask when equipped grants me a +20% alchemy. I'm assuming I don't need to forge/enchant a alchemy-boosting helmet and just use it instead, no?

What else is out there that can boost these two skills for me? Do I need to get my all of my "enchanting apparel" and "alchemy apparel" to +29%, or is that a waste of time?

Answer

The information you are looking for is currently at this location. I do believe it safe to call this thread the origin of all this madness as its now on its 7th incarnation and they are still working on the math of it all.

However, to sum it up: The max cap gear is pretty much based on maxing out those skills to 100 as well. The reason this is done is because it saves you perk points. Wasting perks when they could be put into other areas other than making your gear work better is pretty much the point of that thread... How few perks can you use so you can be whatever character you want to be and still have very effective gear. Its honestly not that hard to do in the long run and will always net you a surplus in cash when leveling them up.

Now, that being said. There is the Restoration Loop that, if done enough in a row can likely get you what you want... Though I honestly think it easier to get those skills to 100 rather then try to meet the timings of the restoration loop. (I do not even consider trying to do that loop until my skills are at 100 each).

My usual caution with the restoration loop, it is possible to make game breaking items by utilizing it, even though it is 100% through in-game mechanics.. Just take care not to ruin the game for yourself and use it where appropriate. For instance, I have a character who will only ever wear Fur Armor (I collect ever piece of it I can so I can improve my enchantments on it and so forth). I will eventually use the restoration loop to make a very nice set of armor for the character.. which is a mage... and let me tell you, not using those -cost +regen robes realllly makes for an interesting time :)

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What is the ideal location to go animal hunting for hides?

Question

Nidoru, a now level 22 sneaky archer, for some reason loves to hunt animals in the wild to obtain their hides.

What is the ideal location for Nidoru to do her hunting?

Answer

Alrighty, might as well give a full answer.

First, the game is just filled with wild life all over (I know this because I am an assassin and wild life is some of the hardest targets to sneak up on, but its fun to try anyways).

I have never seen more than 2-3 deer/elk next to each other so nothing like a large herd. But I can say I have seen more wild life in the green areas of the game. The plains outside of whiterun and then from there to the west have always been filled with elk/deer, packs of wolves, small dens of bears and those sneaky saber cats that I only ever seem to find when they are biting me.

I have not seen as much wild life in the snowy areas. This may be because they shift to 'snow' or 'ice' versions for things like foxes and wolves while the deer/elk do not have an equalivelent snowy version of themselves. To that end E and NE of Whiterun seem a bit more baren when it comes to this. Also, to the NW over the mountains to where the swamps are, there is not as much wild life (I run into spiders, bugs and crabs up there more than anything else).

Remember that once you clear out any area you will have to wait for it to respawn (which happens faster if you are not in that area).

Hope this helps.

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Are there any un-enchanted hoods that can be worn with other headgear?

Question

The Thieves Guild hood can be worn with additional headgear, and I've tested wearing it with the Archmage's Robes, Vokun/Morokei and an Ebony Helmet.

I couldn't understand why this only worked with the Thieves Guild Hood until I looked at my character: the Thieves Guild Hood resembles more a skullcap/coif and can be worn underneath any other headgear.

I'm looking for similar skullcap/coif headgear (un-enchanted) so I can place my own enchantments on it. Is there anything else like this in all of Skyrim?

My end-goal is to wear simultaneously two headgears with custom enchantments.

Answer

You can wear a falmer helmet and a circlet at the same time, with custom enchantments on both.

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How to avoid hostility during brawl in Markarth?

Question

After I went to the warrens in Markarth during the quest Forsworn Conspiracy, I have to brawl with Dryston when I get back out. In theory nothing bad should happen if I stick to a fist fight, but all the guards turn hostile almost right away. Is there a known bug concerning this or am I doing something wrong?

I already parked my follower inside the warrens to avoid aggression from him. I also have no active atronarch or similar support. There is currently no bounty on my head. What else could trigger such a reaction from the guards?

Answer

Thanks for all the help, but it was something totally different. I answer my own question because without knowing about my current equipment this is impossible to answer.

I forgot that I was wearing the ebony mail from a previous quest that had an enchantment that inflicts poison damage to nearby opponents. This triggered the hostility from the guards. Removing the ebony mail solved the problem and I could end the fist fight victorious.

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Do I need a Tree Nursery for a Sawmill if I already have a natural forest?

Question

In campaign mission 1-4, I need to supply wood for an item as one of my quests. In order to do this, I need to build a Sawmill. The production chain ingame recommends a Tree Nursery for a Sawmill, but I'm wondering how necessary it is to have a Tree Nursery if I'm placing the Sawmill in an area that is currently fully forested.

Will there be a negative effect on my Sawmill's productivity if I don't build a Tree Nursery for it? What bonuses will I get if I do choose to build a Tree Nursery?

Answer

Unlike Anno 1404, the sawmill doesn't replenish the trees it cuts down. The tree nursery replenishes trees. If you build your sawmill in a fully forested area, eventually it'll use all the trees it has in its surrounding and then will not be able to cut down any more trees, because there won't be any.

If you just want to build a sawmill, deforest the area, and then demolish it and move on, you don't need a tree nursery, if you want to create a supply chain that will continue to produce wood, you need to build a Tree Nursery.

Take notice that 1 Tree Nursery can support several sawmill, see layout here.

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Will items dropped on the ground ever disappear?

Question

With the thieves guild missions to steal X amount worth of items from Y I find myself with a lot of useless items that aren't even worth selling.

So usually I just stop and drop everything on the ground. Unfortunately this means that Riften now has random piles of plates and goblets and other random garbage everywhere. I guess they don't have sanitation workers in Skyrim.

Will these items eventually disappear or will I have to do a special theif "mission" to steal all the garbage off the ground and dump it in a container?

Answer

Eventually yes, it will disappear. Every once in a while a city resets. A (usually, and it worked for me) way to do this is to make a new character and then load the old one. This will cause the entire world loot to reset so if you have some bodies laying around they will disappear and if you have stored some things in an unsafe location it too will probably disappear.

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Is this Fireplace Safe?

Question

I built a wood house that I'm rather proud of. I've built a fireplace that seem safe, but I don't want to risk burning my house down. I've seen plenty of tutorials online for making safe fireplaces, but most of them are more than 1 year old, and possibly obsolete. I tried reading the Minecraft Wiki article on fire, but it gets pretty wordy and difficult to understand. Is the fireplace pictured below safe?

View from inside. (The wood planks in the fireplace will be the fuel, and eventually replaced with netherrack):

Up close view. (Fuel has been removed):

Outside view. (4 dirt blocks have been removed to show base of chimney):

Answer

To answer your question, I decided to experiment with your build. I tried to replicate your fireplace as accurately as I could, while limiting the size of the structure surrounding it:

I tried to keep the base structure of the fireplace as close to identical as I could.

I first attempted the fire with the wood planks shown in your pictures:

Unfortunately, the wood burned down to nothing, and the fire eventually died. I then tried it with Netherrack.

Everything seemed to be going well. I thought I'd successfully completed the experiment, when suddenly:

EVERYTHING QUICKLY WENT HORRIBLY WRONG!!

The end result to follow:

Alas, my structure (house) was destroyed. I feel I didn't even get to know my creation, for it died within minutes of me setting the fire.

Long story short, NO. The fire will spread to your house.

five wooden blocks were harmed in the making of this answer

EDIT It is worth noting, however, that out of the 4 times I've rebuilt/retested, every time the fire has started at the bushes along the outside of the fireplace.

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What item classes don't take up inventory space?

Question

In Kingdoms of Amalur, you've got a finite inventory. However, I've noticed that not every item (such as alchemical reagents) do not count against your limit.

What item classes are effectively "free", and don't take up space in your inventory?

Answer

Crafting ingredients/parts/reagents all go into special bags just for holding them, so they do not count against your inventory (I don't know the upper limit for those offhand, probably 100). I don't know if the craftables bags take up space. Everything else, from notes to swords of bludgeoning do count against the limit. You can have stacks of an item and it will only count as one slot in your inventory (e.g. potions).

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Are there alternate ways of opening the console in Oblivion

Question

I recently began playing Oblivion again, after a long hiatus. I'm doing so on my MacBook Pro, in a Parallels Windows Server 2008 VM (6 GB of RAM). The MacBook itself is the late 2011 17" Pro model, upgraded to 16 GB of RAM.

Everything in Oblivion, including the mods I've installed, works great -- except that I cannot bring up the console. The tilde (~) key is nonfunctional. That said, so far Oblivion is the only program on the Windows side to not recognize it. In Notepad, Visual Studio, Wordpad, etc., it works. Just Oblivion. (Admittedly, Oblivion is the only game I have on the Windows side here.)

Is there some way to open the console without the tilde, or failing that rebind the "open console" command via a configuration file, or failing that at least use a config file to display fps? (Which is actually the only reason I want the console right now.)

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Total aside: The obvious answer to most of us would be to run Oblivion (and Windows in general) in Boot Camp. Not an option. Long story.

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Update: I should have mentioned two things: 1) bAllowConsole is 1 and 2) I have no idea where to find the § symbol that everyone says is a workaround. (I have a US keyboard layout; that symbol is not on the face of any of my keys.) And again, the tilde works in every Windows app, just not -- I'm guessing -- games.

Answer

It's possible that your bAllowConsole setting in oblivion.ini has been disabled; it should be set to 1 to allow you to use the console.

Failing that, there are mods (of course) that add a spell that opens the console or let you change the console keybinding.

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What does the green diamond beneath the character mean?

Question

Sometimes they are lit, sometimes they aren't. What does that represent?

Answer

It's an indicator whether or not their ultimate is up.

League of Legends has something similar.

Apparently I need another sentence so I don't get this automatically converted to a comment, but that's really all there is to it.

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What happens when you conquer a city where is spaceship is under construction?

Question

What happens when you conquer a city where is spaceship is under construction? Can the conquered civilization continue construction in its new capital? Does the conquered civilization retain its already-constructed modules? Do you get to capture the already-constructed modules as your own?

I am talking about modules that have already been added to the spaceship, not ones who are still walking around as units.

Answer

The conquered civilization can continue constructing the spaceship in its new capital - an appropriate spaceship model will actually appear in the new capital as well.

The conquered civilization retains all its already-constructed modules, and does not need to build them again.

The conquering civilization does not get access to any of the constructed modules.

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Minecraft is sometimes misremembering my username

Question

Lately, when I open the Minecraft launcher my username (“kpreid”) is sometimes replaced with “O” (just the one letter). The password is remembered correctly — if I retype the username I can log in. If I retype the username, log in, quit, and relaunch, then it remembers correctly for a while. I have not found how to reproduce the problem.

Has anyone seen this problem and figured out how to avoid or fix it?

Mac OS X 10.7.2
“New” (shows mcupdate site) Minecraft launcher, patched for 64-bit Java
Launched through Steam

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Troubleshooting log:

2012-01-24: I launched MC through Steam and noticed the “O”. I immediately quit and relaunched it directly and saw “kpreid”, trying both several times to confirm the correlation. I then tried changing the Steam shortcut launch options to add a command-line argument, and that argument showed up as the login name (persistently), which suggests that perhaps Steam is generating a bogus “O” argument some of the time, or the way in which Steam launches MC results in it accessing files differently. The lastlogin file had identical contents before and after I logged in correctly.

2010-01-25: I saw a few occurrences of garbage including Steam-ish pathnames appearing in the login field.

Answer

Based on my observations (see log in question), I am reasonably confident that this is a Steam bug where it adds garbage to the arguments of the shortcut-launched program.

On Jan 26, I added my username explicitly to the arguments in the shortcut properties; this has prevented the problem from occurring so far as I've noticed, so it apparently only happens if no explicit arguments are provided.

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You have died from… 'Bad Luck'… What actually killed me?

Question

I have died from multiple opponents and near by explosions. Sometimes, these causes cannot be traced by the battlefield 3 system and, therefore, I get prompted 'Bad Luck'.

Usually, I am okay with this as environmental causes that I cannot control in the battlefield - but is DICE killing me because they think I am cheating? DICE recently released information that they are cracking down on cheaters. I am grateful for their crackdown - as cheaters can ruin games - but I have heard through the grapevine that DICE will kill you if they 'think' you are cheating ( some automated system built into BF3 to autokill you if you go on a massive kill streak). Example:

I was flying a jet, which just randomly exploded: Bad Luck.  
This was after a good, legit air dominance.  I confirmed with server admins
that they did not kill me (with any server administrative tools).  They told me
that DICE will just do that once in a while.

Can anyone confirm that this exists in battlefield 3 or not?

Answer

For example, if you are killed by a secondary explosion -- if you are standing next to a fuel truck that blows up -- that is a Bad Luck death.

Similarly getting killed by unmanned moving vehicles (say the driver hopped out while the vehicle is in motion) or flying debris is also Bad Luck.

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Help identify a real time strategic game taking place on flying islands

Question

I'm trying to find a particular game I used to play years ago, probably way before Y2K. It was sort of a realtime strategy, where you had to build structures on flying islands, connect them with roads (even bridges between islands, those could crumble and fall if built wrong). I think there was some sort of gods/elements. I think there was air and fire, probably more elements. I even remember there were altars and sacrifices probably and you had to get the enemy altar i believe, but i'm not sure.

The game was for PC, i have no idea if it was ported to consoles but i think not.

Answer

So after four hours of googling and going through a ton of old games sites, i finally managed to find the game!

It is called NetStorm - Islands at War, and can be downloaded here: (cool page btw) http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/216/NetStorm+-+Islands+at+War.html

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What rewards do you get for skill points?

Question

Skill points and the acquisition of such are basically the ingame achievement system in Resistance: Fall of Man. According to the ingame system, I unlock Rewards at 10, 20, 40, 70, 100, and 126 points. However, I can't see what they are, as they're all behind strings of question marks.

Are there any gameplay advantages in the rewards, such as new weapons, or are they just extra like concept art or something?

Answer

I found several lists of the unlocks, but few details on what they all do. Some of them are fairly clear, though:

• 10 points: Concept Art Pack 1
• 20 points: Concept Art Pack 2
• 40 points: Unlock Wrench for Allies
• 70 points: Flip levels
• 100 points: Clank Backpacks
• 126 points: Multiplayer Mechanic Skin

"Clank" likely refers to Clank from Ratchet & Clank, since it's the same studio's game. (They appear to be for decoration only.) The "Wrench" is also likely a R&C nod, as that's Ratchet's primary weapon in the series. (This page has a picture of someone with the wrench on, although it's the multiplayer unlock version)

Flip levels is the real mystery here, the only info I could find was that the levels are "mirrored," which seems like a simple graphical change rather than anything significant that would extend the life of the game.

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All the contents of my shelter exploded, killing me and leaving my shelter virtually unscathed. How could this happen?

Question

I finally gave in to my curiosity this weekend and bought Minecraft 1.1. I had largely avoided learning too much about it because I wanted to play through it myself and discover things without the help of guides and FAQs. However, I had a very disturbing situation happen last night. I am reluctant to look through any FAQs to hunt down an explanation because I may come across too many spoilers, so if someone could give me a direct explanation without much spoilerage I'd appreciate it.

My shelter:

To start, here was what the main part of my shelter looked like:

The shelter was constructed of native (i.e. un-mined) stone and cobblestone. I had one 1-block chest and two 2-block chests with signs above them, a furnace/oven, a crafting bench, a couple torches, and a step up to a doorway leading outside. The top right chest contained various stone and iron material, along with coal, flint, charcoal, and gunpowder. The top left chest contained wood and glass material. The smaller bottom left chest contained tools, armor, and assorted bits. Not sure if it matters, but the floor of my shelter was actually the ceiling of an overhanging cliff that was around 40 blocks high off the ground.

The incident:

I had just finished remodeling my shelter, having just filled my new chests and placed the signs above them to help me remember what I put in them. I was in the process of crafting some new iron objects at my bench when BLAM!!! There was an explosion, my screen went red, and my precious treasures went flying. Unfortunately, I didn't have my sound on (since my wife was sleeping on the couch) and don't know if there was any noise going on beforehand to warn me of the impending disaster.

Luckily, my respawn point was close, and I managed to frantically make my way back. To my surprise, it appeared that nearly all my objects were still there. Most were sitting in the same spot that their chest was in. As best I can tell, I was able to recover nearly everything, with the exception of the signs and 2 of the 5 chest blocks. Oddly, the door and torches outside were gone, but the structure itself was untouched save for two holes in the floor (marked "Gone" in the above picture).

What happened?

I'm baffled by what could have happened. I can't imagine a creeper snuck up on me, since at the time there was no way in (I took away the bricks leading up to the door). I've tangled with them before and their explosions have never outright killed me, just wounded me. They also tend to leave big craters, and there seemed to be too little structural damage in this case.

The only explanation I can come up with is that I organized my possessions badly. Should furnaces not be placed next to chests containing combustibles? Should certain materials not be stored together in the same chest, like flint and gunpowder?

Answer

As Ben Blank said, the only thing that will spontaneously cause an explosion, if you haven't made any TNT, is a creeper that got into your house. I see three possible directions for the creeper to enter from:

1. The caves

   Most likely, either you have an insufficiently lit patch of floor in the connected caves (walls and ceilings don't matter), or there is a dark branch that you haven't found. I strongly recommend always installing doors at connections between caves and living space.

2. The front door

   The damage you described seems to be focused around the doorward side of you. You say you removed "the bricks leading up to the door", but if there is still a one-block-jump path it is possible a creeper got in anyway. Next time, don't worry about removing the path, just close the door!

3. The ceiling

   You haven't said anything about your ceiling design. Is it possible that your ceiling had a hole in it through which a creeper entered? There are [minimal spoilers] ways for dirt/grass blocks to go away, so if you had a dirt roof perhaps a creeper fell in.

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Miscellany

To my surprise, it appeared that nearly all my objects were still there. Most were sitting in the same spot that their chest was in. As best I can tell, I was able to recover nearly everything, with the exception of the signs and 2 of the 5 chest blocks.

Chests drop their contents when destroyed, as you saw. If there had been two explosions, then the second one would have destroyed all of your resources, as they have almost no “health”.

They also tend to leave big craters, and there seemed to be too little structural damage in this case.

The size of an explosion crater depends on the strength of the materials. If you meet a creeper outside, then it will leave a large hole in the dirt, but the same explosion will do much less damage to stone.

Oddly, the door and torches outside were gone, but the structure itself was untouched save for two holes in the floor (marked "Gone" in the above picture).

Wooden objects are generally weaker against explosions, and torches have no blast resistance at all.

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Will I get trophies for clearing lower difficulties if I play on a higher difficulty?

Question

On the PSN version of Space Invaders Infinity Gene, there are 5 difficulty trophies, one each for Easy, Normal, Hard, Insane, and Nightmare.

If I clear the game on Nightmare, do I automatically get the trophies for Easy/Normal/Hard/Insane, or would I have to go through and do a full playthrough of each difficulty?

Answer

No, they don't appear to stack. You'll have to clear each difficulty level in order to unlock the corresponding trophy.

According to this trophy guide, on your successive playthroughs you can skip most of the levels - once you've beaten the game on any difficulty, you can change the difficulty level and replay just the last level in order to get credit for clearing each additional difficulty.

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Can Ionic Spark proc more than once with area on-hit attacks?

Question

I specifically refer to Twitch's Spray and Pray, and Shyvana's Twin Bite while in Dragon Form. These both apply on-hit effects to everything caught in them, which had already been a source of monstrous hilarity with Tiamat.

Now that Ionic Spark has been brought to Summoner's Rift, I've been pondering its usage, and it made me curious. Unlike the Storm Shield buff in Dominion, Ionic Spark doesn't have an explicit 4 second cooldown, as it is limited to just auto-attacks. Does this mean that, if I use an attack that hits at least 8 times (a lot easier with a double-hitting Twin Fang, as it were), would two or more chain lightning effects proc simultaneously?

It doesn't feel quite as practical as Tiamat in terms of focusing on the splash on-hit, since the targets of the chain lightning are going to be random when you hit a large enough cluster to take major advantage of the splash. Nevertheless, I'm still curious.

Answer

From what I have done and seen, and from what I have read, it does indeed proc multple times when striking multiple enemies with AoE attacks that proc on-hit effects. So Shyvana's Twin Bite in her dragon form would instantly proc twice if you strike four targets with it, four times if you manage to hit eight. Same with Spray and Pray.

(P.S. The chain lightning effect also appears to cause spellvamp.)

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Wake up an Xbox 360 with a TV remote

Question

As I understand it, HDMI is capable of sending "control" signals that can force a device at least into standby mode. I've also heard it can reset devices and even control certain models of bluray/dvd player.

My question is, can this be used with the Xbox 360 in order to power up the device using a TV remote instead of one of the wireless controllers?

My reason for asking is that my wireless controller won't turn the device on if it's plugged in (charging), only if it's unplugged - and since the charge pack has now died, it's always plugged in (charging) so I can't turn the xbox on remotely.

I realise this is virtually the epitome of laziness, but I'm asking more out of curiosity than anything (no, really...).

Answer

With a normal TV remote control, it's unlikely. Those remotes are only meant to control the TV they come with, and are programmed with a special control code to ensure only the TV responds to the IR commands. This is why you need to program universal remotes to work with your TV if you lose its remote.

It's possible with programmable remotes like the Logitech Harmony series. My friend has his entire entertainment center (TV, receiver, and Xbox) all turn on with the press of a single button. The remotes are expensive, but doing what you're asking is definitely possible.

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How exactly does the statistics mechanic gather its information?

Question

How exactly does the statistics mechanic gather its information?

• Does it matter if I'm actually 'logged in' or 'playing offline'?
• Does it matter if I'm playing in any one particular world I've created?

My stats seem to be all over the place, and sometimes I know for a FACT their wrong, as annotated in this question.

So... what gives?

Answer

The statistics are stored in your Minecraft data folder under stats, and Minecraft Wiki has some details on the format. We can see from the filenames (e.g. stats_kpreid_unsent.dat) that they are stored per-user. It does matter whether you are playing offline, because if you are offline it is as if you are playing the default username “Player” and so those statistics will be kept separately.

The statistics are collected across all worlds.

I agree that the statistics are screwy in some cases, but I don't have any specific info. Besides various obvious general flaws (e.g. counting all dyes as Ink Sacs), Minecraft thinks I've crafted more sugar than torches...

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Amiga emulator for Mac?

Question

Does anybody know of a working Amiga emulator for Mac... and how to set it up?

Also, are there any good sources for games for it?

I'm getting nostalgic!!

Answer

The UAE Amiga emulator for MacOSX:
http://stran.yssimo.com/index.php/siti-strani/e-uae-tutorial.html

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When to visit the College of Winterhold

Question

I bought Skyrim a few days ago and have only been playing it for a short while. I am playing a high elf mage and one thing has been bothering me.

I am only level 3 and following the main quest but have got a quest to visit the College of Winterhold. as far as I can understand, the College of Winterhold will teach me new spells and it is advised to visit them as early as possible. It seems such a long travel but should I just visit them by now already?

Answer

The game can be played any way you want, but some of the advantages of visiting the College of Winterhold are:

• Access to spells: spells from all schools of magic can be bought there
• Mage-friendly quest rewards: you'll get quite a few nice mage-centered quest rewards, like the Archmage robes and the Morokei mask
• Access to trainers: if you feel like paying for training, the high level mage trainers are mostly (all?) in the College of Winterhold

It is a long way, but you can easily travel there using a wagon. If you're following the main quest line, once you get to Whiterun you can take a wagon from in front of the stables.

So, I would recommend traveling there shortly after you reach Whiterun. After getting Lydia or after visiting the Throat of the World seem like good times to peel off and do the mage quests.

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Will followers recharge their own weapons?

Question

Related: Does my follower's enchanted weapon need to be refilled?

If a follower is given some charged Soul Gems, and an enchanted weapon, will they use the Soul Gems to re-charge the weapon when it is depleted?

Answer

The linked question may imply no, but it doesn't answer what happens if a follower has soul gems.

The answer is still nothing. Now, followers can make it way easier to fill soul gems (unless this has been patched) by filling an entire stack when they capture a soul, but they won't recharge depleted weapons. In other words, Soul Trap-enchanted weapons will let followers trap souls, but the followers won't use those soul gems to recharge.

Source:
Aranea depleting every staff I gave her in my first game while possessing boatloads of soul gems. I also needed to periodically recharge Aela's Bow of Really Fiery Souls (fire + fiery soul trap) manually.

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Is there a limit for tamed wolfs?

Question

I want to know if I can tame an infinite amount of wolves so I have a giant army of them.

Do they despawn if there are too many of them in one spot, or do they stay forever?

Answer

According to the code, no. You can have as many wolves (theoretically) as you want. In practice, however, like with any mob, if you spawn too many of them Java will crash, and you will not have any dogs. I would say at maximum spawn 100.

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How can I fix the Batsuit?

Question

As I played through the campaign, Batman started looking a bit rough around the edges. His cape is torn, and he's got tons of damage to his Batsuit. I realize this is all cosmetic, but now that I've finished the campaign I'd kind of like to get him back to "mint condition NRFB Batman A++++" condition.

I know there are some "alternate Bataman" skins floating around as well (mostly through pre-order and DLC bonuses, I assume) that I could switch to, so I assume there's got to be some sort of "skin menu" I'm missing here.

Besides calling Alfred and asking for the world's toughest sewing kit, how do I "fix" Batman's outfit?

Answer

Short of switching into another suit (gotten through a preorder bonus, or through DLC), there is no way to repair the suit.

Beating the game unlocks the option to change into other suits, however, you can only change costumes before you start playing. When you choose either "Continue Story" or "Continue New Game +" you get the option to change your suit. You will also get the option to change suits in the challenge modes.

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What sort of DRM does Kingdoms of Amalur have on the PS3?

Question

I've just given the Kingdoms of Amalur demo a spin on my PS3 and I have to say I found it most enjoyable (with the horrible facial animations, or lack thereof, serving only as a mild distraction).

However, I couldn't help noticing that once I fired up the demo, it performed all sorts of suspicious things like authenticating with EA servers. I also had to agree to two massive end user license agreements, and was heartily encouraged to create an Origin account.

This is a new and daunting experience for me on the PS3, as I thought this sort of nonsense only happened on the PC. And that got me wondering what sort of DRM restrictions does the game impose on me when played on the PS3. Of specific concern are the two following points:

• Does the game require an active online connection to function? What happens if it can't get in touch with its mysterious EA servers?
• What is it that I am agreeing to in those massive agreements? Anything related to Origin is notoriously devious. Am I allowing some sort of information to be collected?

Any other information on the matter would also be greatly appreciated.

Answer

As with most EA games, Amalur does contain some online component through an EA account. As far as I know, it isn't some sort of DRM but rather a way for EA to unlock content for you between games without the need of save files, in the case of Amalur, it unlocks objects for you in the full game and in the upcoming Mass Effect 3.

A similar thing was with Dragon Age 2, where playing the demo, compelting some actions on Dragon Age's website and the Facebook game, Dragon Age Legends, unlocked stuff on your EA account which was available in the full game.

EA/38 studios did confirm there will be day one DLC (which I believe isn't included on disk) and will be free for purchasers of new copies of the game. I'm not sure if the DLC will be tied to your EA account or will be like in most cases a code redeem in the PSN store/XBLM/Origin.

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Will Sabre Cat ever respawn for Aela's quest?

Question

I have been completing Aela's quests having completed the main Companion questline in order to obtain the Totems of Hircine.

She gave me the Animal Extermination task of clearing Greenspring Hollow in Whiterun of a Sabre Cat, which I had already done for her earlier. When I arrived the previously defeated Sabre Cat was there. What I ended up doing next was casting Raise Zombie on it before it died and turned to ash. Now everytime I return (it's been over 30 in-game days now, I just used wait in Breezehome) the pile of ash remains and the quest pointer points to it as if I should defeat this.

My question is will the Sabre Cat ever respawn so I can complete the quest?

I'm playing on a PS3, so unfortunately cannot use mods to fix this.

Answer

It seems that the Sabre Cat will never respawn, at least on the current version of Skyrim (1.3), due to a bug. The current changelog for version 1.4 states, under the bug fix section:

• Fixed issue with ash piles not cleaning up properly

I had previously waited over 31 days in multiple locations away from the Sabre Cat's ash pile to no avail, hopefully when 1.4 lands I'll be able to complete the quest.

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How many star coins are there in Super mario 3D land?

Question

How many star coins are there in super mario 3D land? It's easy to know how many there are in the regular levels, but with the bonus boxes it's much harder!

Answer

There are 285 Star Coins in the levels and potentially an infinite amount of star coins in the bonus levels, however you can only accomulate up to 999 star coins, although you'll need only 290 to unlock every level.

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Dota 2 Barracks, Which is better to focus and why?

Question

When attacking the barracks on DotA2, which is the better to focus/destroy first, Melee or Ranged, and why?

I ask as during games I get conflicting views with people I am playing with.

Answer

Here are the stats and bonuses provided by each barracks:

Melee Barracks:

• 1500 HP
• 2.5 HP/sec regen
• 15 armor
• 352-370 Gold

When destroyed (boosts opposing creep in that lane by):

• Increases Melee Creep damage by 21 points and growth by +1
• Increases Melee Creep armor by 1 point
• Increases Melee Creep health by 150 points and growth by +9
• Reduces gold and experience for your Melee Creeps (unknown amount).

Ranged Barracks:

• 1500 HP
• 2.5 HP/sec regen
• 5 armor
• 352-370 Gold

When Destroyed:

• Increases Ranged Creep damage by 20 points and growth by +2
• Increases Ranged Creep armor by 1 point
• Increases Ranged Creep health by 175 points and growth by +8
• Reduces gold and experience for your Ranged Creeps (unknown amount).

At face value, since you typically have way more melee than ranged creeps per lane, killing the melee building provides more benefit for future pushes. However, the ranged barracks has 10 less armor and will die faster.

When push comes to shove, often you don't really have a choice in which one to take down if most of your creeps are focused on one building over the other you will want to focus fire to take it down faster before the opposing heroes rush to defend. If you do have a choice, you should take out the melee barracks first to put more pressure on that lane with your creeps.

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Dual wielding daggers with numeric shortcuts?

Question

I've assigned num 5 for to my Daedric Dagger and num 2 to my Blade of Woe. When I tap 2 or 5, the weapon in my sword-hand gets replaced. in order to actually dual wield, I need to open up the favorites menu, and left click/right click to make it happen.

Is there a known way, by which I can change the controls to dual wield upon tapping?

Answer

Currently the only way to dual wield weapons with a hotkey is if you have two of the exact same items. Otherwise, the behavior is exactly what you experience (you replace the right hand with a new weapon).

There have been numerous mod requests of this on the modding forums for the PC, I'm sure something will come out for it eventually.

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Is there any use for Top Secret Files?

Question

When I destroy enemy buildings with my ships they drop in the water. The tooltip implies that they might be useless, but in that case why are they implemented? It feels like they should be good for something.

Answer

First of all, they are good for something, they can be sold to npc traiders for licences. Beyond that they are worthless. While I have no proof for that fact I have came to that conclusion through deduction:

1. Items are eather usefull by themselves, or as parts of a scematic at the academy (or both). And since those items aren't usable by themselves (i.e you can't put them in an open slot of a viechale, setelment or the arc and activate) If they have a fanction (beyond to sell them) it would be as a needed part for a schematic.
2. I have descovered most of the scematics at the acedemy, and didn't encounter one that needs them.
3. Beyond 2, since those things are only available by sinking enemy ships, If you play a game withput enemies, or that you have already destroied all your rivals and the npc enemies (the baracuda and the merceneries), you have no way of getting said items, which means that if there was a schematic requiering them, you couln't creat in that game, which is just not fair or nice.
4. since it's not fair to and frastraiting to the player to get a schematic which he has no option or chance to complite, I believe that the developers didn't put them as requierments even for the schematic which I haven't unlocked and checked yet.

Just sell them to an NPC near you for the licences, they can acumilate for quite a lot. Should be said, that some of the items droped by enemy ships are white flags, shield, clocking devices and etc. and are usable for a single time aboard a ship.

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How many times can you “prestige” in CoD:Black Ops?

Question

I have "prestiged" only once. And then realised, that you can do it again, and again, for no additional abilities apart from more fitout slots, and a gucci logo that indicates you're a "bada$$" (or a masochist in my case).

So, how many times can you prestige ?

Answer

There are 15 prestige levels in Black Ops. A full list of what you keep and lose can be seen at the Call of Duty Wikia

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Do you take damage if you stay underwater for too long?

Question

My character seems to always be gasping for air when I resurface but I have never taken any damage. Is there a certain amount of time that you can stay underwater without taking any damage?

Answer

TL;DR: Yes, you can die of suffocation from staying underwater too long. Waterbreathing equipment/potions can help avoid this, and Argonians are immune. All races will gasp for air when they emerge from the water - even Argonians. Stamina does not affect how long you can safely stay underwater.

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Without special equipment, all races except for Argonians will begin to suffocate if they stay underwater for too long. Suffocation leads to a gradual loss of Health, which can eventually lead to death.

The only way to avoid this is to play as an Argonian, or wear equipment enchanted with Waterbreathing. Suffocation can be delayed by taking a Waterbreathing potion immediately prior to entering the water.

Regardless of race, or time spent under, your character will still gasp for air when they come out of the water. I've tested this myself with Altmer, Imperial, Nord, and even Argonian characters. This continues to occur even if you are using Waterbreathing equipment or potions.

While it would make sense, the amount of time you can hold your breath does not appear to be tied to your Stamina. This can be presumed due to the fact that your Stamina bar is not depleted while you are underwater. However, I did test this to be sure.

To test it, I started with a Level 81 Imperial who had a base Stamina of 350. I took her underwater, and timed the duration with a Stopwatch app on my phone. It took about 20 seconds for her to begin suffocating.

I then created a full set of Fortify Stamina equipment - Armor, Boots, Ring, and Necklace, all with +62 to maximum Stamina. This gave her a new maximum of 598 Stamina - a difference of 248, or a little over 58.5%.

I had her put on the new gear, verified the effects were applied, and took another dunk. She still began suffocating at around 20 seconds.

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Is Ulfric Stormcloak capable of a Dragon Shout?

Question

How did Ulfric Stormcloak kill High King Torygg?

Most NPCs including guards keep telling me Ulfric Stormcloak killed High King Torygg by shouting at him. When I came to Solitude, I found that Roggvir is executed because he let Ulfric leave in a fair and square duel according to the rules of the day.

But when I speak with Elisif, she says Ulfric shouted in a voice and her husband was no more.

Many NPCs also say something similar.

I went to High Hrothgar, and found it takes years to master one single shout. I can not talk to the others besides Arngeir because their voice would kill me instantly.

Is Ulfric capable of Dova/Dragon shouts? If yes then is he also a potential Dragonborn? Or he has just studied the Way of the Voice?

If so is there a shout that can disintegrate people like that?

Answer

Ulfric is capable of shouting because he studied with the Greybeards but couldn't stand being away from the events of the war and as such left to join the Empire. He is not Dragonborn though, I think the idea is that almost anyone can learn a shout if they are super dedicated (since it takes a lot of time for non-Dovahkiin)

He also states that he Fus'd him to the floor and finished him off with melee, an axe I believe.

And no, there isn't a shout available to the Dovahkiin in-game that is powerful enough to disintegrate an enemy. That's not to say there isn't a possibility of one in the world of Skyrim, just that you can't learn it in the game.

Just for reference you can find some more information about Ulfrics past here.

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Why is it snowing in a forest?

Question

I started building in a forest biome, no snow at all. Then, after awhile into the build, it starts snowing and the water in the area starts freezing. I am wondering how or why an area would change temperatures.

I would also like to note that occasionally the server likes to take a 16x16 area and revert it back to the way it was before I started building. It's made for some frustrating fixes of large structures.

Answer

The biome generator has changed between different game updates, and the server is assigning a biome based on the seed, but not generating new terrain.

I have several desert areas discovered during alpha that are now considered tundra or arctic, and are as such covered with snow.

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Why are my trees in Minecraft not growing?

Question

I'm trying to grow trees underground, and they are not growing?? I have other underground spawning locations, and they grow fine. The depth here is 17. Could that matter? Ceiling is 8 blocks up. Very confused.

Note: narrowness of the area is not the problem, see photo below.

Answer

I'm not sure why you decided to use a hoe and pour water. Trees don't need those conditions and... actually don't grow on farmland! Only plain dirt works.

One more problem could be that there's not enough space. Other kinds of trees require a 5x5 space.
I just tried to grow an oak close to a wall. It succeeded, but required about 10 bonemeals, and that's probably not good.

One more thing. I would remove those torches on the walls. As they are "transparent" trees will replace them anyway. Torches near saplings should be enough.

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Green coloured items menu items in Dead Island, sell or keep?

Question

In dead Island the items you pick up in the game like flares that are green coloured in your item menu, are they just high end items to sell or are they used for anything special?

Answer

Some will be used for mods, most you can sell. I played this for PS3 and had TONS of blue and violet weapons. I sold almost every green weapon or item I came across being I had either found or made enough weapons that were way more powerful than any of the green stuff I was getting.

Also, side note, I had at least 3-4 orange, only liked one of them.

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What's the best way to win a police pursuit?

Question

I am often arrested by the police in Midnight Club: Los Angeles. I try multiple of way to get. I tried several ways to save myself but I can't. Is there one or more ways to escape?

Answer

The only way that works fine for me is to take the highway and to accelerate and go the furthest I can. My car is faster than the police.

From a distance, they're losing my car and they started looking for me. At this point, simply avoid police vehicles using radar / map. After a while they drop and the pursuit ends!

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Can I do anything with the dead men sending Morse code messages?

Question

Once in a while, I've come across a dead soldier ingame whose backpack is sending out a message in Morse code. Is there anything that I can do ingame regarding decoding or interpreting these messages? I'm currently in Manchester, and I haven't found anything that would let me decode the Morse code ingame so far.

Answer

In addition to the dead soldiers, there's usually a morse code message playing on the pause screen that changes on each level.

There doesn't seem to be any way in-game to decode these messages. They are just a tiny bit of extra story/plot color to the game, and don't really give you any gameplay hints or tips.

There's a complete list of the codes and their decoded messages on the Resistance Wikia.

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AC:R Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack DLC broken?

Question

I recently downloaded the Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack, but it appears to be broken: I have no new MP maps and can't even choose the maps in a new custom game.

I've already tried downloading the content again.

Any ideas how I can fix it? Is this broken for anyone else?

Answer

(This answer is based on my experience with the trial of the pack. It probably isn't any different than the official release.)

The maps found in the Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack will not be found in the normal game type categories. There is a separate category in which you can find when trying to play a Custom Match. Here, all the "extended maps" (current and possibly future) will be in the playlist for all the game types.

In the Custom Match menu, change the Simulation Category from the default categories ("Simple Deathmatch", "Free For All", "Team Objectives", and "Private") to one of the two new categories. There's one for "Extended Maps" and "Private Game using Extended Maps" (I don't remember the exact wording, I didn't purchase the DLC yet). Then you'll be able to create and join these games using the new maps. It will only play these maps exclusively and not include the regular maps in the rotation. (They do this probably because they don't want to mix people that don't have the DLC with these players so there's no confusion about what maps get played).

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What's the difference between Bilinear, Trilinear, and Anisotropic texture filtering?

Question

A lot of games offer the setting of texture filtering. Which should I chose if I want best quality even if it means slower performance?

1. Bilinear
2. Trilinear
3. Anisotropic

Answer

The way you have them listed (Bilinear -> Trilinear -> Anisotropic) is the proper order from least to best image quality, and in increasing order with respect to processing power.

In the simplest terms, moving from bilinear to trilinear will avoid issues where texture size changes (ie, while walking towards a wall, the texture won't seem to abruptly change at certain intervals when you approach it). Moving from trilinear to anisotropic will make textures on objects that stretch away from you look sharper than they would be otherwise.

A bit more detailed explanation follows, but note that this is a very technical topic, and a full treatment is probably beyond the scope of Gaming.StackExchange.

The core problem is that artists working on 3D textures create a set of 2D pictures of fixed sizes. These pictures are then "painted" onto 3D objects. However, once that texture is applied to a 3D object, it can be rotated and viewed from many different angles and distances. Texture filtering attempts to map the discrete steps of the art available to the continuous domain of how you can view it.

For instance, an artist might create a 64x64 image to be used as the texture for a simple object. However, when you view that object in the game world, you get really close to it, and it fills your entire screen, which might be several thousand pixels wide. Now the engine has to take a simple, low-res 2D picture and make it much, much larger without sacrificing quality.

Bilinear and Trilinear are "isotropic" filtering techniques for mipmapping, in contrast to "anisotropic." Wikipedia has a decent article on this subject, but I'll attempt to summarize.

Essentially, as you zoom in on a texture (ie, by getting the player/camera close to it), the pixels of the texture need to be mapped onto multiple pixels of the output image. Bilinear mapping is one way of computing or interpolating the output pixel color value based on the size of the output polygon, and the pixels from the input texture.

Trilinear mapping takes into account the fact that textures often have several sizes depending on the distance you are from the textured object. Our artist from earlier might make several different texture sizes, so that the objects that are close to the camera can have higher-resolution textures applied to them, thus making them look better. In addition to interpolating the pixels of the current texture size, trilinear filtering is capable of interpolating between different texture sizes as well.

(A "mipmap" or multi-resolution copy of an image, see this Wikipedia article)

Anisotropic filtering takes into account that due to the camera orientation, the output polygon may not be rectangular. This filter method does some additional math to compute the effect the camera angle has on the dimensions of the output texture.

Again, Wikipedia has a good example of this as part of the anisotropic filtering article. You can also experience the difference yourself by playing with the graphics settings in Google Earth, which is where the screenshot was taken from.

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Is there a god mode for Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

Question

I just finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It was awesome. Is there a god mode for this game? I would love to play this game and be able to explore around without getting killed all the time but I can't find a way to turn on any "cheats".

I found something called "trainers" but they seem like Trojan horses to me. Don't game companies enable "cheat" modes for their games anymore?

Answer

There aren't any cheat codes that I could find for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. With some exceptions (Saints Row: The Third comes to mind), cheat codes aren't as popular these days.

With the rise of the achievement, people are more interested in playing the game legitimately to get the achievements than cheating. The two systems don't tend to coexist well, as cheat codes would nullify the "value" of achievements. Most games that allow you to cheat disable achievements when you do, for that reason.

The two systems do tend to have the same effect, by extending the length of the time you'd spend playing the game. Which is "better" is completely dependent on what you like, so it's not really a question we can discuss or hope to answer here.

Trainers can sometimes be a bit suspect. They modify memory locations used by the game, which means they need pretty thorough access to your system in order to work properly. Whether allowing that is worth the risk is a call you're going to have to make yourself, I'd say. Since it sounds like you're on a PC, there might also be save file modification tools around, which might effectively allow you to cheat in the game. These are a bit safer, but not totally without risk.

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