Machinarium save games

Question

Does anybody know how Machinarium handles save states? I put about a half hour into it the other day, clicked 'Save,' and then quit.

Loaded it up today to continue and lo and behold, my save game was nowhere to be found.

One caveat is that I don't have internet access currently...is it possible that it syncs save states with the Steam cloud?

Answer

I may have found the answer. I didn't realize that it makes use of the Flash player data directory instead of somewhere more logical, like the Documents or Steam folder.

Machinarium forums

Long story short...if you are regularly using something like Ccleaner to clear out your temp files, then your save games will get blown away.

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Are Items safe lying around my house?

Question

I'm a bit of an untidy thief and often end up with a few things lying around the house. I've also left open a book next to my Alchemy lab in Whiterun for cosmetic and reference purposes. Obviously the proper way to keep all this stuff safe is to put it away in my chests etc which are safe containers.

My question is; is this stuff safe in my house without being stored in a container?

It so far for me seems to be so since a lot of random replaceable stuff hasn't disappeared however I have a few books that I'm pretty sure I can't replace (PS3 so no console :( ) and don't want to take the chance.

Answer

Yes they are absolutely safe, but with 1 caveat. Things tend to get redistributed when its inside your house. For instance, I had all the claws I've collected from random dungeons organized on a big table all facing down. But every once in a while I might find them all scattered or on the floor.

So you do risk a chance that an item might end up clipping under the floor so you can't find it anymore.

Also, the risk is higher for losing small things like gems and rings.

To be safe (and make things easier to locate), I would put the books onto a book shelf and try to sort the rest of your stuff into various containers.

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How many zeds does a mega zed count as?

Question

I've been playing a bit of Atom Zombie Smasher lately. I'm pretty sure that I'm losing, as the zeds have amassed enough points for mega zeds to start appearing (and I'm not exactly keeping up).

That aside, I was wondering how many kills are registered for a unit when it kills a mega zed, as I am pondering ways to get the "Destroy 50 Zed in one XXX explosion", where XXX is one of the available types of explosives.

If mega zeds register as several kills, they would provide a lucrative venue to getting said achievements.

Answer

I tested this in my copy just now, by adding a mod that caused them to spawn at the start of the game, and it doesn't seem like they count significantly more than regular zombies. I bombarded the mega zed with artillery until he died, and I got credit for 2 "regular zombie" kills.

I had a tough time with the game until I turned on a few of the options to make it easier. If you can pick your own squads, you can take barricades and the weaponry that you want to use for the achievements. You can still get the achievements even if the difficulty settings are turned down.

I found that it was possible with the barricades to funnel several zombie hordes into one "kill zone" which would make it easier to get them in one go. The mines are probably going to be the worst, as you can't control when they detonate.

Since your squads level up, you may want to wait a bit until you've got some larger infestations to deal with before you attempt these achievements. I heavily preferred the artillery, so I don't have most of the dynamite/mine achievements.

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How do I seal off a cavern in Dwarf Fortress?

Question

As I was digging up/down staircases straight down the Z-level, I hit upon a cavern. I'd like to seal it off now so I don't get attacked by the underground mobs. There's only one up/down staircase that I need to seal off. How do I seal it?

Answer

You can put a floor on the staircase, it will prevent anything from coming trough.

Floors are build with b-C-f.

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Can I restore Batman's health out of combat?

Question

Sometimes I screw up and lose health to an environmental hazard, but it seems like then the next time I get into a fight, I've still got missing health. This is something of a disadvantage.

I get my health restored when I finish a combat sequence, but is that the only way to get health back? Is there any way to restore lost health before entering combat?

Answer

You can restore it with anything that gives you experience, including things such as collecting Riddler trophies or completing side quests. You can also heal by dieing or reloading your game, but those will put you back to your last save point, and you'll lose anything you did afterwards. Personally, I find the easiest way to be just silently taking out a lone guard.

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How can I speak with Notch? [closed]

Question

I have some pretty good ideas about some things in Minecraft and I justed wanted to know if theres any way to share them with Notch. For example, I think you should be able to tag places on a map so you can remember where they are.

Answer

Have a look at http://www.minecraft.net/community, there's a link to Get Satisfaction where you can post your suggestions. But use their search first, duplicates are frowned upon much more than here!

With respect to your tag idea, have a look at Zan's minimap mod

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How to kill Blackthorn?

Question

Killing Blackthorn on the Gunship seems to be the most hectic and the most troublesome for everyone I have raided with this far. What are all the mechanics in detail and how do we deal with all these things to create the most stress-free and easy kill?

Answer

This is Normal Mode and LFR only. Heroic has the same abilities plus a few extra

The Warmaster Blackthorn encounter is a two phase fight. Phase one is all about add control. Phase two is dps race while watching your positioning so you don't make your healers job harder.

Phase 1:

There are four types of adds. (Three in LFR)

1. Twilight Assault Drakes
2. Twilight Elite Dreadblades
3. Twilight Elite Slayers
4. Twilight Sappers (Not in LFR)

During this phase Goriona(The drake that Blackthorn is riding) will cast Twilight Onslaught. When this ability is cast you will see a purple swirling void zone on the ship. This ability will be used roughly every 35 seconds. Once the projectile hits the ground it will cause a large amount of damage (1,500,000 in LFR, 800,000 in 10-man, and 2,000,000 in 25-man), which is split between all players (standing in the void zone) and the gunship. You will want most (if not all) of your raid members standing in this zone to make it healable and to protect the ship from extra damage.

The Twilight Assault Drakes will drop off the other adds and then they start firing Twilight Barrage (A similar ability to Goriona's attack but smaller and less harmful). These should be dealt with the same way as Goriona's attack. These drakes should be focused down by your ranged members.

The Twilight Elite Dreadblades and the Twilight Elite Slayers are melee adds and should be tanked. These should be focused on by your melee dps. These adds will charge random players dealing damage to every player in their path. The Dreadblades cast Degeneration, which is a frontal cone attack that deals a moderate amount of shadow damage, and places a DoT on the affected players (lasts for one minute and stacks). The Slayers cast Brutal Strike which is identical to Degeneration except it is physical damage instead of shadow damage. The abilities are cast every 7-20 secs. The only players that should be hit by these are the tanks and they should swap mobs to avoid stacking the debuff too high if you dps is too low.

Twilight Sappers (10 and 25 man normal NOT LFR) are adds that focus entirely on damaging the gunship. After they are dropped off they will go invisible and reappear a few seconds later. They will run to the back of the ship and cast Detonate if they reach it. This deals 20% of the ship's maximum health in damage, and also damages players within 8 yards of the explosion.

Phase 1 is all about add control. Survive 3 waves of adds and phase 2 starts. Tanks pick up Dreadblades and Slayers. Tanks face them away from the raid. Watch for Twilight Onslaught and Twilight Barrage. Whenever a sapper lands all DPS should focus them down. They can be slowed, stunned, and death gripped. You can possibly ignore the last sapper if you dps is high enough and the ship has enough health left to survive the explosion. When the Twilight Assault Drakes are within range of your ranged DPS they need to switch to them and kill them.

Priority for adds:

1. Twilight Assault Drakes (when they are close enough to be damaged)
2. Twilight Sappers (As soon as they land, unless you are ignoring them)
3. Dreadblades and Slayers (Focus on one first, then the other)

Phase 2:

Goriona and Warmaster Blackthorn.

Goriona has one ability during this phase: Twilight Flames. This launches a ball of flame at a random player, dealing massive damage at the location and leaves flames on that spot for a short time. Don't stand in that void zone. Ranged DPS must focus her down asap. At 25% health she will fly away leaving the encounter.

Warmaster Blackthorn has four abilities during phase 2.

1. Vengeance is an enrage that Blackthorn gains throughout the phase. He deals 1% increased damage for each 1% of his health that is missing.
2. Devastate is a sunder armor effect that lowers the tank's armor by 20% and deals damage with each application. The debuff lasts for 30 seconds and stacks (thus requiring a tank swap).
3. Disrupting Roar deals a moderate amount of damage to all raid members and silences all raid members within 10 yards of the boss for 8 seconds. The ability is cast roughly every 20 seconds so casters need to remain further than 10 yards away from the boss
4. Shockwave is a frontal cone attack that deals massive damage to anyone in front of him and stuns them for 4 seconds. This ability is used roughly every 25 seconds. It is cast at a random raid member so be sure you are not in the path.

Phase 2 is a lot less chaotic. Tank picks up Blackthorn and moves him to the center of the ship. Melee dps stay on Blackthorn the whole time and ranged dps brings Gariona to 25% health asap. Move out of Goriona's fire. Once Goriona leaves everyone focuses on Blackthorn. Spread out around him to help with avoiding shockwave (You can see the visible graphical effect on the ground). Melee can usually just step through the boss quickly and then get back behind him after he is done. Casters should stand further than 10 yards away from the boss at all times if possible. The tanks will take increased damage as the fight goes on. Healing can get intense toward the end of the fight.

Learning phase one is the hardest part of the fight. Practice makes perfect. Good communication from raid leaders in vent is a great help on the fight. Call out kill orders, void zones, and shockwaves and you should be downing him with no trouble soon!

Have fun!

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