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Geneforge Mutagen (basic speculation wrt gameplay)


Owenmoz

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Hi all, happy new year and i hope we're all good and i didn't miss much. I'm not sure if this in the right board but since it's not yet out im guessing here is fine? 

So i was having a look at the prototype screen shots of the new geneforge, and while you can't see much from them, the one for the players level up was really interesting if also a bit daunting.

Basic findings;

Intelligence is split into two new skills:

-Essence Mastery

-Intellect

Class Strength is no longer measured by the relative cheapness of certain areas of the skill distribution. (we see a shaper character, that says "strong" in shaping skills but the skill pint cost of those is actually high while weapon skills are the cheapest and it appears with a "weak" on top)

Shaping skills seem to be the most expensive after the basic ones.

Combat and Magic skills seem to be similarly priced. 

General skills are the cheapest.

This along with the partition of the intelligence skill, makes me feel like the shaper class will be at a disadvantage? But also that it will be harder to generalise. In previous geneforges, if you were smart you could get a guardian with two solid creations that could cast semi advanced spells. Here i think it might end up being significantly harder to achieve the same. I think most of all due to the prices of the basic skills, and the partition of the intelligence skill.

I wonder if the abilities tab will be different from the original one and link you to a skill tree type of thing like the most recent games? Which would further separate the classes and hopefully/possibly better balance.

Wrt changes on the creation skill line im not entirely sure i understand it, but it seems they get unlockable abilities? which is honestly a great improvement from the original in my opinion. But i hope it doesn't over-complicate stuff. I wonder if it would reward older creations over new ones and to which extent? iirc G3 had a relative "issue"regarding that in that i.e. if you got a vlish by the second island it would be significantly powerful at around endgame rather than behave in a tiered manner. 

Anyway. Im really happy to see it get a remake and i really hope it reaches its final stretch goal because i love a remaster with a bit of expansion. But I wish they gave the kickstarter a looser deadline. most of us only get paid once a month. So having a 30 day kickstarter doesnt allow much room for much tbh.
Either way. Im psyched.

 

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21 hours ago, Randomizer said:

I'm holding off speculation because once Jeff starts beta testing he makes changes in response to how players play in ways he hasn't considered. Whether he makes it closer to the original game or Geneforge 5 makes a big difference.

 

Im confused bc i don't think the original and geneforge 5 had that many differences in gameplay. I think the main one was, action points, the lack of encumbrance, and unlimited money in store.  It has a few more spells and creations and I guess more classes? But the gameplay felt essentially the same. I don't think we'll go back to encumbrance and limited moneys. Lore wise it wouldn't make too much sense to have g5 creations and spells unless he retcons the entire story. I think of the newer gen creations only gazers may have been made at a prior time bc drakons and rotgoths are fruits of the g2 shenenigans and the rest came after directly as a result of the rebellion. Classes likewise bc unless there is once again a retcon, shapers had/have very clear segments that were also culturally relevant to their rule. But then again this is sucia island a place of mistakes and misfits. Anyway i really don't see how different those two are.

WRT beta testing, im not an expert on these things but at least regarding the split of intelligence i don't see him back tracking. The skill point pricing probably will change according to how players use them, but i remember jeff once saying he isn't too pressed about class balancing unless its too glaring. Also I think during beta testing speculation falls kinda moot since you already have access to it so no time as good as now im supposing.

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Slarty has better discussions of this in various topics where he points out key differences from each game:

1 - How much bonus you get for increasing levels in a skill and whether it's linear or decreases after every 10 levels.

2 - Damage per level and reductions in the value for spells and weapons. GF1 had more damage and it's much less by GF5.

3 - Whether it's better to keep a creation or replace it whenever you get more skilled with that class.

 

Then there was a GF1 exploit when hasted for extra action points you could move up or around a corner, attack, and then move back to safety. Repeat each round without ever taking damage until the target was dead.

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Oh yeah I remember end game G5 was a mess, esp wrt to high health and high resistance of enemies and i feel it got into a trend which was later carried to avadon where torment difficulty meant this meatbag has a lot of health and you'll stay here hours trying to kill it. I'd rather avoid that, but yeah i miss interpreted your meaning of gameplay.

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