alhoon

Agents were overpowered? Huh... can you explain please? I struggle playing an agent. I often abandon the effort after a couple of zones.

But you can be a melee guardian AND have creations. Just a bit less powerful creations.

It was a horrible choice for me too.

Just reading that, made me laugh. Shaila is not as powerful as a drunken Sholai recruit. Comparison with the big ones is beyond hilarious. I would put her about the same difficulty as a good Vlish. That said, what I was trying to convey was that Shaila is more powerful than the PC once he uses the GF4 geneforge. I.e. you need to buff up with other quests before taking on Shaila.

Geneforge 2, out of memory, has you becoming a cold butthole after a certain number of canisters. You walk into a town and see the living as non-important. Then, you go over another ratio and again in a town you see them as living clay for you to play with. I.e. you go bad-$$$$ crazy.

Well, true, but I DO like the positioning and trying different combos etc. And I like picking off enemies one at a time. I was doing that in the Pylons levels in GF1:M and also in the Kyshaak zone in GF5. Or the Unbound Castle in GF5. All in all, I just thought that reaching Pentil should be easier. As for the geneforge in GF4... yeah, I remember that. Also, that GF didn't need special gloves if I recall correctly. However Shaila was powerful. Perhaps she was the exception and not the rule.

The Western Wastes? This was manageable. At the time in the Woods there was a feeling of impeding doom, of one #$@# vlish screeeeeetching the alarm and obliteration. Other difficult parts were avoidable or I felt I had a good chance. If things turned bad, I would load. I remember a couple of areas (probably Western Wastes) where I could save every 10 steps to be ready for the next encounter. But by that time, I had blessing magic and creations to do blessings etc. There were things to do and things to try. Different strategies, different items to use. In the woods it was "Run like crazy and pray you kill the Vlish you see before the End rides on tentacles." as my tactical options were few. That stupid bridge with the Solai, was a similar case of #$@#$-cy. I remember saving so I could juuuust go to right location for my plan. Took me like 20 tries to get that bridge cleared without significant losses. And then I found out I had to load as I needed those Sholai there (Takers). I guess it was supposed to be as hard, with the thrice-bedamned Solai, but then you have to wonder why the Geneforge in Southern-something in GF4 that was mass-producing rebels didn't turn the war. If the Sholai turned to such monsters (and the Barzites after them in GF2), then GF4 rebellion should be unstoppable. But in any case I get what you mean: Those areas were supposed to be hard.

Well, you don't expect me, a SHAPER and actually a cannister-junkied one to take seriously the warnings of a lowly servile about the dangers that mere creations could pose to a shaper, did you?! The previous zone with the roamers was OK IMO. And honestly, I didn't hug the edge. I eventually had to do that after several load-and-repeat finding the path of least resistance. Another area I had problems with was in GF5, that area that has an Unbound and a thrice-bedamned rotdhizon. The first Unbound you encounter that sneaks around and is not always in the same place. I couldn't properly investigate that area till I was several levels above. Not that I could face an Unbound until I got like level 25, but at least I could run away with most/all my creations and I could leave an expendable one away to warn me if the Unbound showed up. Warn me with its horrible death that is. Short, but horrible death. Before I could afford an extra creation as Unbound-snack, it was a very stressful zone.

Now that you mention it, to be honest I didn't find GF:M too difficult except of a few instances. The combo of the creations and their powers perhaps threw me off a bit.

Sooo... was it reported that it was hard to get to Pentil through the Vlish hordes, even in normal difficulty? I found the experience frustrating, not just hard. Well, we have people, a lot of people, that do solo runs in nightmare difficulty and manage to finish the game. That's what I mean by "pro". I.e. not actual professional beta-tester, but people so experienced in the game and its mechanics that can pass what is a modest challenge for us less optimized people like a breeze. Or, and I accept that's a possibility even if it pains me to say it, it can be that it's not those people are just so good but that I am a bad player. Considering I didn't have any severe issues except in a couple of battles in GF4-5 though (Moseh, Monarch, a couple of Unbound and a %$#$#@$ random gazer in a pass) I don't think I am a bad player. Or not too bad at least.

Time to tell my godchild that she's not getting anything expensive for Christmas or her birthday. I need the money. PS. All of you beta-testers! Remember that not everyone is a pro. GF-Mutagen was torturous at the first levels. I never hated Vlish so much as I did by the time I crawled, half-dead in Pentil- at normal difficulty.

Any news on the subject now that Queen's Vlish wish 2 is made for ipads?

EHhh... is that artilla spawning even after you clear that area? I want that Jerkin.

Ohh, so you want to know Lorewise whether Vlish are supposed to attack with those big tentacles or the other ones. Honestly, I think you would have better luck if you asked that directly instead of mentioning the dat files and attack sequences. I don't know the answer but someone here probably does.

And as explained earlier in this thread, if you put your character's resistance to 100, most NPCs will have mental resistance 100. Also, some monsters MAY be taking that template into account (shades come to mind although I am not sure they load that or just use the sprites). You could give it to the main character through script or by editing an item to do it. There are things that give you their bonuses in inventory. So, you could make it so that if you have apples in your inventory, you have 100 mental resistance.

I am not sure what you look for, the animation thing of the Vlish attack, is in the dat files. Also, I am 95% sure, the animation of attack is the same whether the vlish attacks with the tentacles or magic. You can check the sprites to see the attack sequence of a vlish.

I have noticed the spectral priest and those blasted clawbugs alright....

To be honest, I am not SURE there's a key. I thought it was similar to that locked door in GF2.

Chinese scientists successfully create world’s first mammal with fully reprogrammed genes (nextshark.com) Gather your pitchforks people. It is time to plan saving the Serviles from the Shapers, the Drakons (to a lesser extend) and of course, mutated Mice that the Chinese scientists Shaped.

Hmmm? I don't remember those pylons. Where are they?

Thank you, that is informative.

Never heard of it being done...

It would probably be hardcoded... but if that limit can be surpassed I would be very happy.

I agree with TriRodent. Better email Jeff. Also, be aware that there are some limits you should be aware of. For example, a paragraph can't be more that 256 characters, etc.

@Morpheusit is a dilemma. I went with sub-optimization putting many points in Fire, and a few in Magic and Battle. It is not optimally optimal BUT as a Shaper, for me those points were cheap-ish. Also, unlike earlier games, the control you have on your creations is based on the TOTAL you have on shaping skills! Considering that I use many creations, it helps a lot to have a few points in the other two trees. Regardless because I liked to have a "full party" that included a Vlish for blessings etc I spread the points a bit more. To be honest, it is not about optimization for me, but about fun.