priumcyaes

Those times when I played Geneforge 3 as a kid. I dunno. I got the theme song stuck in my head a lot. I remember playing the trial version over and over again after school ended and I'd done some of my homework. I remember relishing the companion banter and the feeling of having figured out how to navigate some of the harder areas on Harmony Isle. But yeah -- I've gotta agree about the flow -- I also loved the feel of the series. It was new to me and pretty different from any other games that I'd played then (and have played since then).

According to the text (or, rather, a side character's eyewitness account), the GF5 protagonist's face Canister abuse appeared to do different things to different people -- for Hoge, it did bad things to his skin/hair/general appearance. For Litalia, it made her cold and distant/detached and glowy... although her progression through canister stuff is interesting, to say the least. Extreme canister abuse or bad canisters... I don't think the text states what it does to aging, but it does seem to warp physical features and cause that unearthly glow, as well as change demeanor. The GF5 protagonist is an interesting case, especially since I'm pretty sure the game said they'd been shaped/altered at least once, if not more. Due to the eyewitness account, we can at least conclude If we take the GF5 art at absolute face value, though, it would appear that the character at least presents as a woman somewhere between the 20-40 range -- I'd guess closer to 20s, due to hands and what we can see that isn't covered by cloth, but I have no idea. Besides -- the art is just art, and probably doesn't parallel the game 100%.

There were several popular theories back a while ago, I remember. Namely, GF5 protag is GF4 protag, GF3 protag, Monarch, Shaila.... the list goes on. Some have even speculated the protagonist from GF1, although I, personally, consider that one a stretch. The last theory I'll list here is that the GF5 protag was just some random canister junkie, although it doesn't fully explain why some high-tier people would have brief flickers of recognition. I've personally latched onto the "GF5 protag is GF3 protag" theory, considering , mostly because I wanted closure to their story, though it's really, truly left open to interpretation, I think. It could literally be anyone (or almost anyone, at least), so many theories are viable in light of how mysterious the GF5 protag's backstory is and in light of how few contradictions to any of these possibilities are presented. Side note: there's a seer in the last section of GF5 that tells you things about yourself (Sage Lara, I believe her name is), but as everything else is in the game, she doesn't give you anything super exact. What she DID give us swayed my view, but it still doesn't narrow it down to any one particular person.

Utelektr is right -- beyond that, it's mostly speculation. Though granted, certain people seem to recognize you, which narrows down the speculation somewhat.

Confirmed about the minds; I think it was mentioned through several games that the shapers realized the dangers of highly intelligent creations... so they shaped servant minds to be both immobile and very obedient. As many of us could probably recall from battling rebellious/controlled minds, servant minds have very good self defense mechanisms and can control hordes of creations -- it's probably good that said minds were incapable of moving around. In Geneforge 2 or 3, it's also mentioned that serviles are specifically bred (and conditioned throughout most of their lives) to be simple and obedient creatures. One could question what this says about the abilities of Shapers, but I think it just means that through trial and error, they realized that creating creations that could easily overpower them in many areas was unadvisable. Which is probably why we have creations that do relatively specific jobs (ie, servile and menial work/basic stuff that humans are too lazy or busy to do, thahds and hitting things/acting as herd bodyguards, servant minds and thoughts/control/advice/companionship?, etc).

True about the leadership. Was trying to go for more special encounters/third options (which is GF1 luck, I suppose?). I'm kind of the opposite -- played Geneforge 3-5 to completion, 2 nearly to completion, and 1 barely a quarter through because it lagged something awful on my old computer (and gives me eye strain on the new one after a while). Don't know much about those special encounters you speak of. The choice to go stealth or fight your way through is always appreciated, though. And may I really emphasize playing the latter two in the series? I know you might've already been prepared to do that, but they have characters that carry over from 3 and lots of multiple ending choices/factions (well, not 4 so much as 5, but I was happy with the alternative in 4). Loved seeing Alwan and Greta again; was a nice continuity touch, imo (was it necessary? debatable. was it cool seeing your old travel companions throughout the last two games? probably, yeah).

Just post it in here. Maybe write something like "Discipline Brainstorming" at the top(s) of the post(s) and bold/underline it? I mean, it'd all go under features we'd want in the remakes anyways. Edit: very super nitpicky/wish-y, but I'd love to see more stealth and diplomacy options. Granted, I also liked fighting my way through stuff, so in the end it's not too high a priority for me, but it'd be nice to have leadership/luck/stealth/whatnot pay off more than it already does.

Gotta agree with the whole "no full OST, please". Regarding old memories I have of playing the earlier games (a while back, really), one of the things I remembered was how the minimal sound did a good job setting the mood. Take, for example, the almost eerie background noise in the marshes of Harmony Island (GF3). The sound there did a good job of indicating the desolation of the marsh, the abandon to rogues, and the fact that something was very wrong with the island itself. Then again, people seem to be divided on the "music or no music" thing. Pretty much agree with Hyena of Ice's list.

I've always waved it away with "magic is just science's weird cousin who lives in the basement". Thought of essence more as energy than a physical matter, but I dunno. Handwaveium and suspension of disbelief has been helpful. I mean, you could consider shaping a science, of sorts. A chemist with the ability to use magic would probably be able to replicate acid shower or searer (with some effort). In comparing Shaping with modern science, there might be some similarities (plus, it's always been said that Shaping school is brutal and only the best become shapers. Complex stuff they were learning; maybe some of it was anatomy and chemistry by another name). Canisters alter genetics and ability, I think (don't quote me on this; it's been a while since I've played any Geneforge games). They were described as a sort of "mini-geneforge". The geneforge itself rewrites you (and in the case of the GF5 protag it restores you), and the GF4 protag was supposedly horrified by the DNA spirals seen inside of some machine/scope near the end of the game. I don't think that they knew what germs, were, though? Or that this knowledge was just coming into effect around GF5.

Can confirm that vlish are the best things to drag around, at least with your shaper (and probably with your guardian). Matter of opinion here, but battle creatures were only really worth lugging around (as opposed to the other types) during Geneforge 5. GF3, though -- if you're going on a Guardian run, a vlish might be able to hit/damage what you can't. The ranged attack will really help for those "don't want to get too close" battles. Plus, a Guardian will be dealing physical damage, so the nature of the vlish's attack will help counter anything that's weak to magic. Admittedly, vlish don't seem like the ideal punching bag that an early-game Thahd would be, but they were more useful over the long run than a lot of other creation types.* Fyoras and Thahds are useful for a while, but they don't seem to hold up past a certain point. Vlish are 100% (or 90%, at least) the way to go. *I don't claim to be an expert. Take everyone else's advice into consideration before mine. It's been a while since I've played the Geneforge games. Have been going through my own little replay ever since I bought them all off Steam. Side note, I have my own replay question. Any class recommendations for a GF4 run? Still need to play through the game as a fence-sitting trakovite, can't decide which class/build would be worth playing this time around.

Hrm. Could've sworn that it mentioned in one of the games that chitin armor was flimsy and made out of animal carapace -- it didn't specify which animal. Though I might not remember correctly. Need to go back and play the games again. Though built-in armor does sound like something that would have happened over time. Though come to think of it, I do remember battle betas in the fifth game that threw some kind of weapon at the PC. Spears? Javelins? Something like that. I'll have to go back and check that. It's not a stretch to imagine that they could wear armor (although I can't imagine trying to get that to work out), but I don't think it's gonna be implemented in any of the remakes. Managing creation inventories could get tedious -- plus there's the fact that we could just use them as walking backpacks to store less favored armor and weapons. Naw, I don't think the creations we make out of essence will get armor, weapons, or inventories. The companions (human/servile) we pick up through the games are another matter, but in light of the fact that the game treats them as creations, it could really go any way for them in the remakes.

The ability to hide certain quests from the quest log. Or at least the ability to organize them. When prioritizing quests, I've found that I've often had to write down which ones I was going to do first, etc.... on a separate piece of paper. Not as horrible as I sometimes make it out to be, but sorting through the quest log looking for a specific one can get aggravating (especially if you're like me, and you take on too many side quests and let them pile up). Updated graphics (but that goes without saying, doesn't it?), if 1-3 are going to be remade. Speaking of the remakes -- which ones will be remade? I was assuming 1 through 3 would eventually be tackled, or at least 1 through 2. Probably not 4 and 5, but I don't know. I'm a recent arrival. Hoping that we do get to 3, but that's probably because of my personal bias for it (it was the first Spiderweb game I'd even encountered, hence some sentimentality for it). Junk bag. Junk bag. Definitely a junk bag. I'll echo a sentiment previously stated in the threads and say that our companions in GF3 should be treated more as people and less as creations (but that's just me being sad that I couldn't give them all the extra armor and junk I found in the game). No creation romancing. Please. Unpopular opinion (?) time -- I actually wouldn't like the stat tree from Avadon/A:EFTP being included in the Geneforge games. But that's also mostly personal bias against it (I've always found stat trees difficult).