Blxz

Yeah, I pop in occasionally but the forum always forgets me and having to go and log back in takes time and effort. So sometimes I just read and check the status of G1-Mutagen. And yeehaw, it is finally out.

Just going through old notifications now actually and turns out some guy was mean to me on April 21st 2020 and I never got the chance for a mean retort back at them. I'm devastated.

Good job. I wish after a game completion it would reveal all the unachieved achievement goals.

Do creations still steal some of the player experience as per the original game? If yes then having fewer but stronger creations is more powerful than swarms of low level creation zerglings.

A generic shaper then only gains 2 skills, from what I recall. (although perhaps there was also a missile weapon skill too?)

Everything else has at least 1 level in it from what I remember. Maybe the other classes have more options for gain, but this seems a bit weak given the challenge inherent to the area for early game characters.

Jeff is clearly happy with the balance but what did the beta testers have to say about that kind of setup? It seems silly to require 0 when most characters start with a smattering of 1's.

I found the Tombs to be spectacularly unhelpful. It kept saying I had too much training in each field despite having virtually no training and it being relatively early game. Did I misread and it meant I had 'insufficient' training which I think happened in the original game or is there a text typo? Or has something else happened?

I think I got a single point of evasion and perhaps a single point of quick action. Thoroughly disappointing.

2 hours ago, alhoon said:

3 essence eh? I see what you mean now. If I use dominate 5 times (15 essence) I am practically having another creation, for 15 essence. With mind magic 3 and dominate at 1, how long does dominate last? 5 turns? 6? 

15 Essence for a single creation is not going to cut it mid-game onwards. I have 3 fairly basic acid artila and that leaves me with about a third of my essence remaining. For reference to quests, I have not completed 'Meet the Takers' so I am still in the late earlygame/early midgame. The spell utility is far more effective than 1 more artila or something dumped into a melee creation. Dropping heals, cures, buffs as required, etc. is invaluable in bigger fights to anything that an extra ~20 damage a turn could do.

As time goes on I think you will naturally save a few chunks of essence. Although you do appear to have found the midgame difficulty bump. Those vlish are monsters when you first meet them.

7 hours ago, alhoon said:

 

 

To be fair, finding canisters abandoned in many zones simply feels wrong... they are too valuable to just be left in a random room or ruined building in the open. Once or twice, perhaps. Found locked and guarded after the Lifecrafter died/forced to flee, perhaps. But finding them by the dozen feels a bit too gamey. 

Yeah, I'm doing Geneforge 2 again since it has always been my favourite but I've also never completed it with many of the paths - I think there are at least 5 plus variations based on canister usage. But the first canister you find is relatively late in the game (compared to the other games). But it's right in the middle of a thoroughfare that is described as having had a lot of foot traffic through including carts. I get that Jeff wanted the player to find it but given the canister madness of the people who must have left it behind, coupled with the fact that one other person for sure walked past in the moments before you were there AND the fact that there was a fight just north of that which implies at least one more person, the canister is just sitting there surrounded by other broken ones.

Still, it's a damn good story. I think the canisters and their allure is a huge part of why I like the games. The temptation is so strong and if you play from Geneforge 1 you really have it ingrained in you that these things are life since you are so isolated and alone in the first game. It's good game design.

On 4/5/2020 at 9:17 AM, Unbound Servile said:

Avadon 1 for Android apparently didn't make alot of money and had issues. 

 

The biggest issue seems to be that it's not on the play store. Might have made more money if it were there.

To be fair, it might have been there in the past and been removed due to the assorted issues raised by the others above. None of that changes my feeling that it's pretty crappy distribution. He keeps hinting at android ports but that isn't worth much to the vast array of android users and it is a self fulfilling prophecy at this stage where the less porting android receives the fewer people are even going to consider looking for the games on that platform.

Also "buy an ipad" for spiderweb games. They are good games, don't get me wrong, but they aren't even close to being THAT good. In fact, after buying all of them I'm beginning to realise I really only like the Geneforge series and certainly not for the mechanics of the game. Man, the longer I type the more I seem to be convincing myself I don't like these games as much as my nostalgia makes me think I do. I should stop typing now.

So no Android port? Disappointing. I'm always looking for something interesting to play on my tablet and Jeff's games would do it perfectly. Sadly they are not on there which is pretty lazy distribution to be perfectly frank.

Interesting that you went to the Vol first. The poll in the other thread showed the vast majority of people go Ukat first. Will be interesting to see what differences come out here.

Same as everyone else, I went to the Ukat first. Not for any real reason. The names at that point in te game had zero meaning for me. But I ended up finishing the haven bandit quest line and that left me in that end of the map. I'm sort of a completionist in the sense that I like to commit to a region. I've had to force myself to move out to the Vol now before taking over the Gannelspan. It feels like the right way to play the game and having more than 2 forts is probably useful.

Ahh, I should have known ol' Chessrook would pull through for us. Need to sit down amd watch this series. Good job.

I will freely admit that I was disgusted when I saw the preproduction stuff for queens wish. The graphical changes were enough to make woozy.

BUT

I will also admit that I have turned around. The gameplay feels engaging on a level that I have never felt with Avernum and in a far less repetitive (and different) way than Geneforge. There are still things I dislike (instant fort builds and workshop builds for example) but the game fixes some of the glaring issues I have had with other rpg type games - such as the 'kill everyone in the first fort' mindset in Divinity 2.

Storywise, actually being in command feels good. No longer some ragabond traveller, I have the ability to effect real change on the world and my equipment is the best that the colony is able to produce.

Jeff, you've done a masterful job. Aside from the graphics that still make me want to vomit (but to be fair they are growing on me too).

I hate to be a downer, and it certainly seems like everyone is onboard with the graphics so I feel like the odd one out here...but from my perspective it looks truly appalling. As in, I'm blown away and thought to myself when looking at the various updates that "eww, those placeholder graphics are ugly". Turns out those are the actual graphics and graphical style and not placeholders. Maybe it is my aversion to the Avernum style of things and due to my introduction to Spiderweb through Geneforge. I still think that the Geneforge series has vastly better graphical style. In fact, everything bar original Avernum 1/2/3 is better.

Anyway, I don't want to be 'that guy' but I just felt the need to throw in my two cents. I have no doubt I could be eviscerated in the replies and I probably deserve that. Couldn't pass it by though.

Ewww.

Interesting: that the more conservative leaning people rated geneforge higher and also that those who did so appear to like to keep the serviles in their place. The whole story is almost about how the poor oppressed peoples of the world won their independence. But then again maybe it's some kind of self justification that order is the right way of things? Interesting for me either way.

Oh and a big thanks for doing this Slarty. The stats nerd hiding within me is quivering in glee right now after reading all of these posts.

Good survey concept. Like some of the others above, I felt some of the answers weren't quite the perfect fit for me. Still, did the best I can and every answer is technically 'correct' even if it probably doesn't represent me exactly. Also, your 'coffee privilege' offends my keen tea drinker sensibilities. No option for me to express myself and my classy caffeine habit

Good stuff. I enjoy using some of these mods for subsequent playthroughs to create various custom characters to suit my purposes. Finding the old files can be pretty difficult sometimes though.

I may well one day. I've struggled getting back into Geneforge though. I feel like I've ticked it off the list so to speak. I have smashed out the first act of G4 though. Enjoying it more than I did the previous time.

Great idea, artifact weapons are nice and batons do need a bit of love. I wonder what else can be done with mods?

And there are demos for all the games if I recall correctly. Play the demo and see if you like the game. Nothing we can suggest on this forum is likely to be a substitute for actual game experience.

Yep, between Robert Jordan dying and the old fat guy who writes the sing of ice and fire novels, I've almost given up reading any in-progress series.

On the other hand I am part way through the book that got Salman Rushdie his fatwa - The Satanic Verses. Not quite all it was cracked up to be. (Me getting disappointed over famous books seems to be a recurring theme).

On the otherhand, I'm in the process of re-reading Catch-22. A fabulous story and one I would recommend to anyone looking for a 'classic' that is actually living up to its reputation.

I don't mean it that way. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I just found it odd that you wrote what appears to be the same information after such a (relatively) long gap from the last post.

I'm not saying what people should and shouldn't be discussing in the forum.

Geneforge 1, there isn't really an exact match, but I'd guess destroying the Geneforge with noone using it, and killing the leader of the Obeyers. GF2 states that "the Obeyers were wiped out", but in the closest ending of 1, they aren't. So the only thing I can think of is that the player is the one who killed them off.

 

Geneforge 2, either the unaligned or Zakary ending is canon. They both mostly fit with GF3's mentions of what happened in 2.

 

Geneforge 3 is by far the hardest to figure out; but if I had to guess, the player played Shaper until the Isle of Spears (so Khyryk is alive) and then killed Rahul. I haven't tested if this ending is even possible, but it's the only way I can think of for Khyryk to live in a mostly Rebel canon.

 

Geneforge 4, probably the stalemate ending, though the Rebel ending is close.

Bearfax, I have no idea why you've basically repeated virtually the exact content in the exact order of the post above yours and done it 2 weeks after the fact.

 

—Alorael, who enjoyed I Am Legend and is disappointed by the profusion of adaptations that never even attempt to capture the plot or spirit of the original.

I was considerably disappointed in the original book of I am Legend. I expected so very much more going in and was left with a lingering disappointment at the big reveal being so (in my view) poorly executed.

Also, to give you an idea on the character I was working on implementing: It is a character that you meet very early on in GF4. You (the player) had to deal with this character early on in the game. It is also a character that some people think could've been the GF5 protagonist.

Is this the damaged shaper chick that can be freed, killed or handed to the shapers by any chance? An interesting party member to be sure.