Good news!

[Randomizer]

I ran a shaping type with magic creations so I can say that they are no longer so overpowered as in previous games. Still since Jeff isn't finished tweaking the game I would have to go back and replay some of it to see how they have changed.

 

People may be suprised with some of the changes and the new creations are fun.

 

There is more balance between the 3 shaping types and it is easier to make powerful creations at the end of the game if you need them.

[Delicious Vlish]

Also, there is a BIG change in shaping too.

[Nioca]

You got to be kidding me! This is one of the few times the thought has even crossed my mind of getting a mac.

[Slawbug]

What's the BIG change?

[Delicious Vlish]

I don't think I am allowed to say it. Non disclosure.

 

For three games, how and what you shaped was the same. Now, it is very different.

[Nioca]

Quote:

Originally written by Delicious Vlish:
For three games, how and what you shaped was the same. Now, it is very different.

Must... keep... from... hyper... ventilating...

Literally, I'm now shaking, I'm so excited.

[Randomizer]

Shaping is different enough that you can't assume that things will work the way it does in GF3. Most of the changes will be liked and some won't if you liked some creations. More will be known in a few weeks.

[Ijuuin Enzan]

Quote:

Also, there is a BIG change in shaping too.

Quote:

I don't think I am allowed to say it. Non disclosure.

You tease.

Oi, Silb. Would you happen to be the same Silb from the Wolfire forums?

[Silb Aran]

Quote:

Originally written by Ijuuin Enzan:

Quote:

Also, there is a BIG change in shaping too.

Quote:

I don't think I am allowed to say it. Non disclosure.

You tease.

Yes, it's that damnable Hinted Disclosure Agreement from Hell.
Article 10b: you may drop very sparse info that should be both very vague and very exciting.
I believe you then sign with your blood and a puff of maniacal laughter.

(Yes, I'm the same Silb - hi! plug: Lugaru - The most surreal yet spiffy game in History.)

[Spidweb]

I'm actually not sure what the big change in Shaping is. :-)

 

There are many small changes. The most relevant, I thnk, is that the minimum skills needed to make creations has been drastically lowered. This makes is much, much easier for even Weak Shaping classes to have relevant creations late in the game.

 

Don't worry. Classes with Strong Shaping will be able to make much more powerful creations. But I want Shaping to stay relevant for everyone.

 

- Jeff Vogel

[Delicious Vlish]

I'll stick a tentacle out and mention what the big change was for me.

 

I was able to summon a Fyora, a cryoa, a vlish, a battle alpha, and a plated clawbug.

[Student of Trinity]

While we're on the topic of Good News: I finally finished the game, with one of my beta test parties. Jeff is about to receive a report on how some things are broken, but as far as I can tell the end of all the tweaking shouldn't be too far off now.

 

But I don't feel very finished with the game. Not because there's anything wrong with the ending, but because there seem to be so many interestingly and meaningfully different alternative paths that I still haven't explored.

 

Geneforge 4 is a game that has used many canisters.

[Randomizer]

I found in beta testing that you have to be pretty amoral and mercenary to get a chance to explore the whole game. I'm on my second time through the complete game in order to see all the areas I missed the first time. Picking one side limits you way more than in the earlier games. Jeff went out of his way to make your choices have definite limitations on you future actions.

[MagmaDragoon]

Good news, indeed. I will play it more than one time this time then.

 

Quote:

Originally written by Student of Trinity:

Geneforge 4 is a game that has used many canisters.

Hooray!

[Randomizer]

Actually I got through to the middle with using only one canister and I could have skipped it except that I wanted a better result with that spell. You can play a no canister game if you want. Using fewer canisters allows you a few more options since you don't always have to chose to fight. It seems to work the same as in the earlier games.

 

When the game is released I'll post the great quotes Jeff has about canister usage.

[Synergy]

So, that means you've got some spare canisters lying around here somewhere I could maybe use, right, right, RIGHT??? o_O

 

-S- is for Stimulant pSychosis.

[Randomizer]

You and your character where you ask that rebel leader in Chapter 4 when you get that dialog option. Go ahead knock your self out. In the last chapter I started using them to save money and get all the ones in the expert area that's the equivalent of GF1's Shapers crypt. By that point I no longered cared about canister madness.

 

The first time that I never got to finish I used everyone I could get. So I had to kill some worms. Big deal they were only worms.

[JadeWolf]

Quote:

Originally written by Delicious Vlish:
I'll stick a tentacle out and mention what the big change was for me.

I was able to summon a Fyora, a cryoa, a vlish, a battle alpha, and a plated clawbug.

Serious? That's good news, because I have more than 4 favorite types of creation. Fyora, Cryoa, Artila, Clawbug, and Drakon. All 5 can see a same fight now.
That is really good news.

[Lattan]

Quote:

Originally written by Delicious Vlish:
I'll stick a tentacle out and mention what the big change was for me.

I was able to summon a Fyora, a cryoa, a vlish, a battle alpha, and a plated clawbug.

w00t! That's really bugged me in playing through the first 3.

[Student of Trinity]

And now instead of just being able to absorb them, you can mix them all into an unbelievable gumbo.

[Nioca]

Quote:

Originally written by Student of Trinity:
And now instead of just being able to absorb them, you can mix them all into an unbelievable gumbo.

Really?

By the way, has Anatomy returned to Geneforge?

[Randomizer]

Jeff replaced anatomy with botany so you have an easier time find herbs for quests and item recipes.

 

You'll have fun figuring out which items to save for quests. By the time you're sure you'll have saved up enough to buy the last few spells and/or creations.

[Nioca]

Why do I get the feeling that you're not being serious?

[Delicious Vlish]

Way to give away the Gumbo Quest you dingbat. Didn't you sign a non disclosure agreement?

 

Now you have given away the central plot of the Drakons and their plans.

 

And yet, still no Delicious Vlish. We are spared from the Gumbo Plot because we engineered these events. Whoops, I speak to much.

[Randomizer]

At least I didn't give away the drakon plan to have the Shapers over for dinner *oops*. You just had to mention the Gumbo plot.

 

Of course I signed the non disclosure agreement using blue ink and a cheap fax machine so my signature might not have gone through. So technically I might not be violating the NDA.

[Delicious Vlish]

Having to travel through the Ur Vlish infested marshes to kill the ice cloud exploding rats to retrieve the vellum to make the dinner invitations was difficult.

 

Delivering the actual invitations was even harder. Sheesh. And getting the third faction to show up at the dinner on time.

 

Only to have the snot golem show up and crash the party. Yuck.

 

Has anybody managed to beat the snot golem yet and get the mucus infused puresteel shank? I keep having problems with all the little boogerlings that get chopped off and attack you. Nasty little wormy boogerlings. They sneeze acidic snot all over you.

[Randomizer]

You need to use mass madness to get them to fight amongst themselves. Unfortunately they them explode into more mindless worms that are immune to daze and madness spells. I'm still trying to get past that part. That ridiculous high resistance to magic attacks makes it like playing an Avernum singleton in Torment mode. You keep plinking away for a few points of damage each round.

[Delicious Vlish]

The magic immune monsters suck.

 

I don't like those at all. Or shielded magic immune monsters... The sorts where you stab them with a shaped blade and do 3 damage. And a second later they lash out with a ring of ice or a ring of fire or a ring of magic damage and blast you for 300 hit points worth of damage. Area of effect spells just blow shapers into meatballs.

[Randomizer]

I tried to do it a shaper type so I could hang back outside the blast radius and have my higher health creations do the fighting. I became a deadweight shaper that just hangs around to heal them.

 

I don't know about doing some of these encounters as a glass cannon agent type. You don't have a lot of health with 1 endurance.

 

I think Jeff is out to get us. Have you seen the new opening graphic for the new beta? Coming to dinner with the drakons takes on a whole new meaning.

[Andraste]

Where do I take the Xian Skull? I still can't figure that part out.

[Sudanna]

Why, either Jeff has gone insane, or some very naughty beta-testers are lying to the poor little unprivileged members. . .

[*i]

You can't believe 95% of what beta-testers tell you. I mean heck, some of them probably aren't even beta testers...

[Andraste]

Sorry. It had to be done.

[Swimmin' Salmon]

Was anyone able to get into the hidden crypt? I read som message dialogs in that script which seem to indicate that it was a vahantai. WTF? I thought Jeff had said that there was no mix between the two games. It must be a red herring.

[Synergy]

No, the red herring quest required getting through a door in the Gummy Golem Grove that required Living Tool Use of 32. Slartucker is working out the math right now how much Brain Dexterity affects Digit Coordination and Dumb Luck also required to open the door.

 

-S- is for Silly.

[Randomizer]

Quote:

Originally written by -X-:
Why, either Jeff has gone insane, or some very naughty beta-testers are lying to the poor little unprivileged members. . .

Now why would beta testers lie? Once the game is released it will all become much clearer. We are bound by the NDA in revealing certain information.

As for that 32 living tool door, it needs the Mechanic's tool chest to reduce the difficulty. You'll find it if you poke around in enough chests nearby. I can't disclose more since Jeff wants us to play independently.

[JadeWolf]

This topic must be a hallucination . At least I hope the words "snot golem" are.

 

Quote:

Originally written by Randomizer:

[As for that 32 living tool door, it needs the Mechanic's tool chest to reduce the difficulty. You'll find it if you poke around in enough chests nearby. I can't disclose more since Jeff wants us to play independently.

*runs of and falls into a pond*

 

Now seriously, Jeff wouldn't put the Xian Skull in GF4. I'm convinced it must be a hallucination.

[Micawber]

irony : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.

[MagmaDragoon]

Ironycentral Style! V_V

[Slawbug]

Quote:

Originally written by S is for Synergy:
Slartucker is working out the math right now how much Brain Dexterity affects Digit Coordination and Dumb Luck also required to open the door.

For the last time Synergy, Dumb Luck doesn't affect opening doors unless the doors were not given 2 points of Intelligence. And Brain Dexterity is always a worse value than Digit Coordination -- by the time the math is about to favor Brain Dexterity, the 10-cap kicks in. The bonus from the Gazerskin Knickers is still useful, although I prefer the Quicksilver Thong in general.

[Delicious Vlish]

Bah, the Mercury Codpiece OWNZORS all.

 

The Puresteel Pantaloons aint bad either.

 

Anybody experimented with the Animal Husbandry skill yet? I was able to get my Artillas to do the nasty, and secured an area with a collection of nests for them, but nothing ever happened. Why? Anybody figured this out yet? I'd really love to have a chance at things like augmented and charged creations, but I can not seem to get them to breed. The Fireburst Fyoras would be awesome to have if somebody could just make the little buggers do what comes natural.

[Slawbug]

You need at least 4 points in Animal Husbandry AND several extra points in the appropriate shaping skill at the time you shape a creation you want to use in breeding. Otherwise, they won't be made capable of it.

 

I recommend breeding Ornks so you can get an Oozebeast or a Nine-Headed Ornk!

 

Note however that breeding is in violation of Shaper law and will change your dialogue options in a few places. You can get around this by using Learned Darian.

[Alorael at Large]

Breeding doesn't do you much good if you don't have Nutritious Goo with Calcium to feed the little ones. They might be dying before you realize that they're born. You'll get some in a few of the Shaper clubs, but it helps to have Botany.

 

—Alorael, who is currently playing the Shaper side and finding that inviting the drakons to dinner is just as hard. Ur-ornks are surprisingly resilient.

[Silb Aran]

[Drakefyre]

The endgame is considerably more difficult when playing as a servile cultist. Since you didn't use the geneforge, you can only gain skills through self-flagellation, which isn't too bad in the early game but gets extremely bad when you need to augment shields with steel spines facing inwards instead just to get that third level of Mass Energize.

[Delicious Vlish]

Quote:

Originally written by Drakefyre:
The endgame is considerably more difficult when playing as a servile cultist. Since you didn't use the geneforge, you can only gain skills through self-flagellation, which isn't too bad in the early game but gets extremely bad when you need to augment shields with steel spines facing inwards instead just to get that third level of Mass Energize.

This is true. Jeff was nice enough to put in the Servile as a playable character, but the constant flagellation is a chore, as is the constant loss of health. Also, the loss of leadership for the Servile stinks. All you have is the Groveling skill, which makes you sound like a total tard in every conversation you enter with something that is not either a creation or a servile. And then there is the whole "every shaper you meet has a small chance to absorb you" thing. At least that can be offset with extreme canister use.

At least the Infiltrator gets sex appeal.

[Silb Aran]

I hear the best part about playing as an augmented servile is deciding to join the shapers.

[Alorael at Large]

The dynamics of playing as a servile are pretty different, though. The part where you have the other serviles accompanying you is considerably more awkward when you have to heap abuse upon them before they're willing to hurl themselves into certain death because you say so.

 

—Alorael, who likes the grains of truth mixed in with the chunks of lies, damn lies, and statistics. Won't you be surprised when you find out the role that Sex Appeal plays. Or maybe flagellation. Or maybe sending serviles into certain death. Or maybe vahnatai.

[Randomizer]

Anyone figure out how to get the other vlish creations? I wanted the one that heals allies so I can fight instead of wasting time healing. I keep getting the terror vlish and then have to spend my time chasing after the experience.

[Delicious Vlish]

You need access to the Central Shaping Vat, a bar of essence infused puresteel, and demon bile. Then you need a lot of luck and a means to generate electricity. A charged orb or an electrical creation should stand on the charging platform.

 

Repair the vat with the infused puresteel and the demon bile. Activate the vat with electricity and pulling the lever hidden behind the pillar just a bit southwest. Click on the vat to see your creation options.

 

Remember to have high shaping skills, otherwise, the resulting explosion will kill you. If you can, get the Pacification Vlish. No enemy in the game can resist the effects of that kind of Vlish.

 

To bad you can't access the Central Shaping Vat till after you deal with the Shaper Council.