I actually assumed they really did break through glass and the black ruins were in fact a biosphere/dome containing an artificial ecosystem. If I remember correctly we gained access to the structure from underground and never actually fly into the area.
It doesn’t really look like they’re breaking in from above or anything though. The angle of the ‘surface’ is mostly perpendicular to the ground IIRC, and right next to the top of the structure that lets you into the underground ruins. Plus Atolm truly seems to materialize out of what had been thin air a moment before.
I wouldn’t say they appeared right next to the structure, they still had to dive down towards Edge after breaking through the glass. As for Atolm appearing out of nothing, I think the technical limitations of the Saturn could explain the black void.
As to the technical limitations of the Saturn, consider what is seen there: Atolm; the “glass shards”; the sky; and a black void. So why not just remove the black void and show Atolm breaking through from the sky, if that’s what was intended? Since the sky is already there as the background, the black void is itself an extra effect, and possibly additional masking to make Atom’s emergence look right. A particular effort went into making it look just so, it would have been much simpler to imply a mere transparent barrier.
And I could be wrong, since I haven’t seen it in a while, but my other point is only that it seems lower than the ‘ceiling’ of the area you could normally fly to, it’s near enough to the top of that structure. I can’t convince you that you’re wrong or anything, but these are the reasons I cannot myself believe that was the intention, especially since there’s nothing else to be found that would indicate the idea.
I’ve got a few more observations to trouble you lot with:
-
Anyone know what this room is used for? It’s by the bottom of the slope at the Stronghold.
http://urbanreflex.uriptical.com/seekerroom.png -
Just what IS the deal with Gash’s eye?
[quote=“Shadow”]I’ve got a few more observations to trouble you lot with:
-
Anyone know what this room is used for? It’s by the bottom of the slope at the Stronghold.
http://urbanreflex.uriptical.com/seekerroom.png -
Just what IS the deal with Gash’s eye?[/quote]
1- Wasn’t it a shrine of something to the souls of dead Seekers? If you inspect the poll or the walls I think there is a description of sorts.
2- Behind the mask you’ll find a big gash. I always wanted to read the japanese dialogue on that scene with Edge and Gash (the “Skiad Ops” one where Gash shows what’s behind his mask) though. But it’s not like Damad (from Orta) or Lundi had gashes where their eyes used to be 
I’ve just watched the scene with Atolm again (thanks for the effort Roushimsx 
) and I had forgot that Atolm actually does the trick after the fight with Edge again. Hmm it definitely seems like a means of teletransportation seeing as how we see Atolm “air limping” (:P) as if escaping Edge, who is still needs to fly quite a distance before he reaches Atolm again.
I definitely agree with Heretic on it probably not being a graphical limitation for the same reasons.
Nah. It just says things about how it’s made from monster shells and something else that I can’t remember but is equally dull.
A few more discussion points though:
A. The glyph monoliths in Uru that hold the records of the laboratory from the ancient age are rather interesting:
What institute? Could the Light Wing project be directly related to the Heresy program? A final form for the program to use to destroy the towers perhaps?
[quote]A week has passed since the attack. The drone has not been found. She
was probably stolen.[/quote]
This would contradict the above theory. Evidently Azel was stolen by the rebels to be “repurposed” to destroy the towers. So what was her original purpose? Or could she perhaps have been stolen from the rebels (doubtful, but it might help explain why they never deactivated the towers).
Drone F07 - Thought Index 98 Failure.
Drone F16 - Thought Index 94 Failure.
Drone F07 I remember is Azel (though I do not recall how we know this). But what is drone F16? Abadd (unlikely the developers thought this far ahead)? Or dare I say… THE SKY RIDER?!
B. Anyone know what the Japanese symbol on the doors to the Stronghold means? I’ll add a picture in a bit.
http://urbanreflex.uriptical.com/symbol.png
And some observations:
C. About Gash: He introduces himself as “Skiad-Ops-Gash” in Disc 1, and we know this is the title given to the leader of the Seekers. Yet, in Disc 4 her reveals that he has only just become the leader. DISCREPANCY AHOY!
D: Paet didn’t seem to care much about Bezer making like a canary in a coal mine. 
E: Kou asked me if I wanted to take Fei as a bride. WHAT THE HELL. I’ve played this game so many times, and spoken to them both at (what I thought was) length, and I’ve never had this happen before. It really impresses me that 10 years down the line, in what must be at least my eighth play through, there is still juicy new material to be found. Impressive.
C: How exactly does Gash word that? it’s not like your journey lasts that long, “just” could just mean maybe up to a few weeks before he met you or whatever. Unless the way he words it implies “just now” or something like that.
E: Did you say yes and travel the skies with her for your honeymoon?
C: "Gash: I am the seekers’ new leader. Surprised?"
I suppose in hindsight it could be as you suggest, but it just seems to me that he has become their new leader since they last spoke.
E: No “Hot Luminous Drinks” style nonsense here, thank you very much!
I don’t know, I remember getting the overall vibe that he’s been their leader but was keeping it a secret for various reasons, but then decided to finally let us know.
A. Well we have a number of reasons to think that Uru is Dragon/Tower/Sestren Central, the “fountain of the world” as one of Kimimi’s translations terms it. So I’d say it’s a lock that these scientists are part of the orthodox Ancient faction, the creators of the Towers and architects of Sestren’s dominion. And so I’d say the Light Wing is probably just what they describe, a project that was condemned, and then only preserved because they couldn’t bring themselves to destroy it.
I do also like the notion that it could have been somehow a part of the Heresy Phenomenon all along, maybe even the primary catalyst…,. however there’s no hint it was intentionally created as such, and as I don’t believe the PD story ever directly misleads, I would say it’s something these ‘creators’ could have never even known of themselves. But the possibilities there are very alluring…
I have wanted to believe the second drone was indeed the Sky Rider since… well basically always. But that was always also connected to a belief that Azel and Atolm were like a companion team to the Heresy Dragon and it’s drone, part of the same mission but with different roles. And since my beliefs have been pulled a lot further away from that notion for various reasons, it’s not something I can find much else in the way of recommendation for.
A. Yeah I think Light Wing was just a canceled project like many others (we get so see some of them when we visit Uru for the first time, with Azel). The Light Wing was certainly very special though. Like Heretic mentioned, it’s creators are probably part of the group responsible for most of the Ancient technology as a whole. Azel too.
B. I can’t say my knowledge of Japanese characters is that extensive but I think it’s not supposed to be kanji,katakana or hiragana. I always saw it as just a symbol. There are various (at least one more in the Caravan) other ones in the game.
C. Yeah, I interpret it as having recently been appointed as their leader as well.
D. I always saw Paet as being in a kind of pessimistic spot after Zoah. Like he didn’t care much anymore. But as far as Bezer is concerned I always saw it as his way of expressing (or not expressing) his pain. Paet felt like someone emotionally strong (or maybe just japanese-ly hypocritical about it) at the end of the day. I think I liked his character because it had the most depth in the whole story. You start by seeing him as someone mysterious (the man with [visual] access to the Tower), to someone who can’t be bothered with other people’s agenda and wants some profit (namely ship parts :P), to someone with a keen interest in the Ancient Age and dragons, to the son of the evil politician, to a man who lost everything, to a Seeker.
E. Now all you need to do is trigger the “Hot Coffee” scene. Fei has got some lovin’ for j00.
B. The closest translation I can find in my textbook is the kanji for “source, root, origin,” which might make some sense in this case. I can’t seem to find a decent image online other than this one:
http://www.kanjisite.com/images/kanji/3kb/gen_moto.gif
A bit more stylized than in my textbook, but it’s the closest that I can find.
the character for moto/gen (these are the most common japanese readings) might very ell be a coincidence. mot only has 4 strokes, so any image made up of 4 lines might be considered some chinese character…
I think it is closer to the symbols that can be seen on the big grey stones on the top of the walls in the first orta level. or the runic designs you can find in the Nausicaa manga.
I’ve been in japan for 3 months now and ai hardly had time for anything panzer or game related (well I’m working on a game, but consider it more to be a toy actually). hopefully that will change.
cyberstep.com/getamped2/ here is a teaser page for the game I’m working on. looks like a mixture of powerstone and virtua fighter kids to me…
That looks pretty decent? What platform?
Have you ever played Treasure’s arena fighting game for PS1?
It is insanely expensive these days… 