alhoon

Yeah, their secret plan seems well enough to defend them from the Takers and the Barzites... if they had their drakons ready already and were making more. But both the Takers and the Barzites have many of the non-flying Drakon variety, Rots, Gazers + ,much more (canisters \ geneforge). So while the flying Drakons would be well enough to "defend the narrow valleys", normal drakons and Gazers would also work. It's just that flying Drakons could move faster to "hot spots" but the Takers and the Barzites still have number superiority.

As for Spawners... worked for the Monarch. Remember that. And for the early Rebellion. I am not saying "more spawners is a good idea" (it kinda is...) I am saying "better spawners is a good idea". They are so good that by GF5, Alwan uses them. And the ones Alwan uses start creating creatures on command, not constantly. That kind of Spawner would be a very good idea.

Frankly, the Awakened have very few Shapers.

But all in all, I can't wait to see the Awakened Ending. Could it be that we won? We will see.

Poor Tuldaric... He did so much for the Serviles before he lost his mind. The best Shaper I've never met. Not that the Tuldaric I met ranks as a bad Shaper, mind you, but I really would love to meet the sane, Awakened Tuldaric that removed the magic barriers from the Serviles, gave them golems to help them build the flying drakons etc.

As for the Barrier of the winds...
Unless I miss something, while useful, this will certainly not be enough to stop the Shaper council. And the first mission being "one went rogue, we can't control it, please help" doesn't seem promising* on the new drakons sanity either.
The Shapers will simply overwhelm the Awakened with seer numbers as they have way more Shapers in their ranks.

At least so far, it seems that the Awakened are unprepared for what is coming; both by the other two factions that have several powerful creations and extremely powerful individuals and by the Shaper Council.

Why is nobody investing in Spawners? That I don't understand. A Spawner is a Shaper. The only spawners I've seen have been made from the Takers to troll their enemies. Sure, the creations are rogues but those rogues don't harm Drayks in GF2. And it seems the GF3 variants weren't harming Litalia (although she could have put them up and left quickly).

* I led the poor creature out. Of course, leaving a confused drakon alone in the wilds is not the safest thing to do, but it has a good chance to go to the Takers.

In Shath's Wastes I found a very interesting "toy" that can make creations unreliable. The text tells me that it won't be enough to stop Litalia et al and that it's not the first time people try to use such magic. It did a number on me, I can tell you that.
Later on, I found more trolling by the game creator: Opening a vat in a small building. Vlish I could take down with 2 hits. Next vat? A Rotdhizon. Killed me before I even realized what was happening.

Hmm... Learned Shath tells me the Taker serviles are not aware on how the Drayks and the Drakons make their experiments Shaper-like...
And then I found the first ever Eyebeast I encountered in Geneforge games... No description at all except "The Eyebeast moves towards you menacingly". Not the greatest introduction about these guys that I've heard about in several games and just now met.

********

Awakened. At last. Doomed or not, these people are the closest to my beliefs. If they were a bit more Taker-ish and a bit more power-hungry, perhaps they could have made it. We'll see.

I was Tuldaforged! And then I loaded cause aaaaaall being transformed gave me was the ability to learn spells that I don't have the skill to cast. It could at least give me some blessing magic or something. I can't cast those spells and most of them are not useful to me anyway.
After that much hype, the transformation was "meh". Simply unlocking abilities. Poor Awakened. No wonder they didn't survive as an ideology despite Pinar's small dock. Canisters are much better than Tuldaric's "transformation" that just unlocks abilities. Canisters give abilities.

Regardless, I'm not abandoning them to run to Takers. At least not yet. I was told about the "Barrier of the Winds" or something similar. Probably a super-weapon or super-defense to stop Litalia. Would I be able to change history and save my friends? Time will tell.
If it's another "meh, buddies that can't save you from the Litapocalypse" I may decide to jump ship and join the Takers after all. We'll see. From what I've seen in this place, Takers (having a geneforge from what I saw in the map) have by far the best chance. The Barzites can barely control their creations and can barely control their Shapers. Thinking of it, after sabotaging the pylons to fail under strain, it's a matter of time before the place descents into chaos.
The Barzites seem to have bought more than they can chew. They were too reckless with the canisters, too ambitious with the Creation armies.

As a note, Golems are completely underwhelming in this game compared to GF4-5 that they had waaay more health. They're more or less like good alphas.

Thanks.

I'm slowly working on another Geneforge 5 mod, but this one will take a couple of years.

If you encounter other problems with the mod (like inability to see the new zone) please inform us.

9 hours ago, DudeDockett said:

Hello!

 

Thanks to everyone who put in hours to get us more Geneforge content!  I am really enjoying playing though the mod!  I have encountered a bug however in the Foundry Core East.  When I try to unlock the door in the core, I am given a choice to make a creation.  However, no matter which option I pick the game bugs out.  I get the message "z5westfoundlg.txt Error: Unmatched right bracket in line 1463" followed by "Talking Error; Dialogue Script broken or absent."  If someone could help me out with this issue, I would appreciate it!  I very much would like to finish this amazing mod!

Found the bug and fixed it. Download and install the newest version and load your game. It should be fixed. You had really high mechanics to hit that bug... the bugged option is available only at mechanics 12+  

Hmm... thanks for that. I'll get to it and correct it.

And thanks for the kind words for the mod.

It would help if you told me what choices do you see, whether you have Phyllida in the party, if you have got the Key from Guardian Volgon (or something, I'm bad with names) etc. Oh, and if you can create Gazers.

I don't use the console, I didn't even know we had one, so... am I good?

Mac or PC?

That's serious, I-rage-quit-for-a-month serious stuff.

18 minutes ago, Nim said:

There is also the dreaded empty container bug whose source is still unknown I think ? That's another reason not to pile of loot too much just in case there is a connection.

Oh, no... should I stop everything I'm doing and rush back to empty my adopted containers?

What is that very ominously sounding bug? You open a container and it's empty? Your loot is lost for good?

I just kept dropping things in a room until I couldn't anymore, and then I moved to another room and started dropping things there.

 

I wouldn't mind if it all disappeared, as long as it didn't later turn out I desperately needed one of those items. Trouble is, I can't be sure. So, when I've got more stuff than I can sell, and much more than I can carry, what else can I do but drop it? Anyhow, inventory management is one of my least favorite aspects of any RPG.

GF2's inventory system is the reason I didn't play it so far and the reason I'm rushing through the game like a forest fire. And the reason I don't pick up stuff to sell and I am poor. For example "More stuff than I can sell" sounds weird for me since I have emptied perhaps 2 merchants in the whole game.

GF3 is more "professional" than GF2 in that aspect (and I would say some others). GF4-5 are a clear step above.

Going backwards is a real pain in that regard.

Thanks.

14 minutes ago, Nim said:

 

 

And just a warning, don't get too extreme with the item dumping, afaik that can lead to problems.

Wait, what? Could you be a bit more specific please? I have kinda filled a small room with thrown stuff and I dump artifact materials there. Will I be in trouble?

Oh, that area is probably the poorest designed area I have seen in the Geneforge games I've played.

Still, I would 100% suggest you continue with the games. Among the best stories in games (aside of some frustrating story-light zones) I've seen. Very original.

If I may ask, which other Geneforge games have you played? I've played GF4-5 to completion, part of GF3 and part of GF2.

Have you seen the Barzites? I consider them the worst (from a moral standpoint) faction I've seen.

PS. I heartily suggest you avoid reading spoilers; it's the story that counts. When you have trouble, I believe it would be better for you to ask here, like you did, than use a walkthrough or cheat.

True, true...

but I assumed our friend was in similar shoes with me. I have been very frustrated in the Taker lands so I decided to go for the Awakened ending without breaking my face on each of those places.

I haven't considered that the other player could have missed the Barzite parts but still found his or her way to the Takers.

Dead pass and infected crossroads are in the Takers side though. Experimental valley our friend says he has mostly cleared, or that's what I got.

And good grief, from that map it seems I have like 25+ areas that I haven't cleared and at least 10 that I haven't seen.  At least I saw where the Barrier of Winds is... that's where I am heading now.

Regardless, p55caroll, have you been to the Bazrite lands? Which areas are you trying to access and find it hard?

Hello... I'm in the midsts of GF2 myself. All the places you mention are in the Takers area. So... you've cleared up most of the game. I can't pass dead pass either, I haven't cleared the Infected Pass or crossroads (I doubt I went more than a couple of steps), or actually the Shade patrol and I still work towards my endgame with the Awakened without any problems so far. I got a token from the Icy Breeding pit that lets me cross 1-2 more areas.

All in all, I think you have seen what you can see without joining the Takers or getting powerful enough to crush through them. I would say work towards the endgame but I am no expert.

OK, I know the answer to this is a 99.5% a "lol no!"...

But for that 0.5% I have to ask: Is there any mod that makes Gazak-Uss more plot-worthy? I was stunned that it's the Samman's Isle of GF2 while it is so hyped up and even carries to GF5. Or at the very least a mod that makes it less choke-full of monsters or easier?

I think I went there through a heavily trapped area. And I think it has some nice loot.

Whaa... ?!

Isn't it the big-showdown area? Where everything comes to head? I thought that's where the geneforge would be.

Why the Drakons called Gazaki-Uss after that place if it's indeed, as some NPCs say just a wasteland that Drakons and Shapers threw their most powerful rogues and locked the door?

Thank you for the warning though. I will probably avoid it. I can't believe that I was caught in the hype...

Awakened: It was not an easy choice. I don't agree 100% with the Awakened, mind you. They are right next to the entrance and have just a few tuldaforged mages. Litalia et Co would wipe the floor with them if they come in numbers. The "I ran away" ending told me that 12 Guardians are in the first wave. Well, 12 Guardians could take down Medab.

OK, I take it back... I found a token in the icy pit that allows me to explore further the Taker lands so I still haven't joined. In any case, here's the important part:

Gazak-Uss: There's a servile. A hermit. He told me a wild story about Gazak-Uss. About mad creations made by the Barzites and the Takers and dumped there, sealed. Something about the key shattered. About a "door" the "that is where world lies entombed". Some mumblings and half-words about getting in there only if the others thought I would kill -?-

And there's the GF5 capital called Gazaki-Uss in loving memory of the Litalia'd Gazak-Uss.

I bet that's where Ghaldring is. I will totally go there. I'm not leaving this accursed valley till I check that place that learned Thani hyped so much.

Another thing, Question about build: At the time I'm with 5 Vlish, my 26th level Cryora and Heust Blade (one of my most reliable "creations" so to speak, that hits with 75% when others hit with 25%) I am also at 18 intel thanks to a couple of charms and I sit on ~300 excess essence.

One of my Vlish is "expendable"; I can make and remake it. Sacrifice it if needed to transfer people.

However, there's a Tulda-forged servile I could get to join me once I join the Awakened.

Should I ditch the Cryora that by that time would be like 27-28 lvl? Should I ditch one of my 5 vlish?

Should I start thinking on other creations other than the Vlish army? (A newly shaped Vlish costs hilariously little essence and is 21st lvl. Since it's expendable and I can very easily afford 9 essence, I could enhance the expendable)

Perhaps exchanging Icerim (27 lvl Cryora, have him for 16 levels) with a 26 lvl Drayk? If I manage to betray my poor cryora that is.

75 essence (Drayk with 2 int) vs 39 essence (Cryora) when I have ~300 essence to spare.

EDIT: Nevermind, my problem was solved. I can now make Drakons 8)

Well worth it. Sorry Icerim... it was not meant to be. Litalia would have killed you anyway.

I would love to see Barzahl dying by the 4 Drayks he keeps in pain, and thinking of it, the Gorilla is gone, so I think it would be me and the Drayks if I attack him.

I will "officially" join he Awakened; that would be my "main" ending.

The rest I would do for completion and to see more of the material. But I am exploring still a few of the zones. I figured that I am too low in level yet. Sure, with my leadership and mechanics I should be able to find the non-combat routes. But they are often hard to find so I prefer to level up a bit and some of the zones are interesting (while some are boring and some are frustrating; I am in an icy place where I am swarmed by a dozen high level Fyoras and later on, several drayks).

And I want to See Barzahl's face when the Drayks turn against him. And since I can't see his face, I want to read the text.

And I want to see lying Zakary the deceiver's tears as he begs for his useless life. And since I can't see them, I want to read the text of him... well, dying since I doubt I'll get much out of him.

I joined the Awakened to see what they ask once I join... but they didn't ask me to kill anyone. They want me to sabotage the radiant college so that they can't make canisters. Or, failing that, kill the leaders but they don't care if they survive. I don't know why they didn't ask me to kill Barzahl. Then I loaded. I am still unaligned. I will soon join the Awakened, cause to explore the Takers lands I need to be way tougher than I am it seems.

Clockwork maze:
Drakon cyborg. Lol.
Oh Come on! I wandered through this clockwork maze and I found the anticlimatic ending... the brilliant, Taygen-level brilliant, shaper was dead. From old age.
And the whole complex is nice and empty and the golems are now damaged (because I deactivated their sensors) meaning the Bazrites can move in.

Question: There's a nice (incomplete) golem there. Is it one of the creatures I could take with me? Cause I don't see any dialogue for fixing it. I have high mechanics and read Kari's notes but there's not an option.

Sharon's ring: For all that's holy! That's among the three best artifact I've seen in 4 games!
I have now (if I don my specialized equipment) 15 leadership and 16 mechanics. I don't need to worry about raising them any more right? 12 or so was the top needed in he previous games except veeery few things.

It's official: Sharon is my favorite GF2 Shaper. Perhaps favorite Shaper.

Toll road:
If found my first Drakon-that-talks. Dryss. He doesn't draw s' always. Strange. He shook me for 500 coins though. I had a ton of leadership and couldn't avoid it.
A pity Drakon doesn't share Dryss' view of "That we're stronger than Serviles doesn't mean we get to bully them!"
And afterwords the $%^#! creature told me there are Drayks there that they will attack me, he just won't ask them to attack me...

My 23 lvl creations have like 5% to 10% chance to hit the Drayks without bless. Why Drayks that I could make are nowhere that close?
Beyond that place is an infested roads that I have real trouble crossing, so I'll leave it for the time.

Talked with the awakened about joining. Two sensible, easy quests that I can totally avoid with leadership. Since I have killed the Drayk already, I am more than easily accepted if I want to join...
Talked with the Takers about joining. Quest to join? Go kill Barzahl by freeing the creations. Good one Takers, good one.  I have sabotaged the controls which deactivates the option to break them. They may still join me, but I don't think that I can take Barzahl out already.

Welcome to the forums.

Awesome question.

If I could expand it... how long till Shaped Serviles are ready to handle tools? Some Serviles seem to be Shaped with technical information like an instinct or something. But are they able to go repairing things like 10 minutes after they're created?

Same with batons, mines and living tools that are Shaped and not Bred like usual. Can they actually be used immediately or they require training like the bred varieties?

Most games (if not all) explain that the Outsiders can use them, that's not the issue. I just wonder how they use them. They would probably be more puzzled on how I use a computer I guess. It's not like I'm not giving the computer very complex instructions.

Some of the GF2 factions have living tools where the Shapers tell them to multiply. Probably they multiply like worms.

However, my hesitation with the "press the stem that way and it moves tentacle that way" is that we're talking three tentacles, 3D movement. Aside of being kind of hard to train the living tool, it would take hell of a lot of practice of an outsider engineer to work them properly and still slower than a Shaper.

Meaning, usual tools (The ones we see around shaper bases) would be perhaps better to use by outsiders.

Welcome to the Arena modification for Geneforge 5. As the name of the mod implies, this is a mod where you pit your character against an assortment of enemies.

The Arena mod, while fun, is not a full gameplay mod. There are no quests, there are no deep NPCs etc. It started as an effort to test the various changes I make as I work on the "Total Conversion Mod". However, new battle scripts and changes in items and creations give this mod an air of freshness.

The premise of this mod, is that your character is in a dream. It requires you to start a new game.

You start at 18th level, in a large room. A Drakon Lifecrafter nearby can boost your level, abilities, spells etc. A Shaper can create enemies and allies for you. There are 4 chests with equipment of different tiers for you to choose.
Once ready and you have told the Shaper to bring in the enemies, proceed to the next room. There's a signpost there. Read it and start the fight.

DOWNLOAD LINKS:

Link 1: http://www.mediafire.com/file/km52qxbj3pvq1gy/ArenaGF5.rar

INSTALLATION:

To install:
- Backup your "Geneforge 5" folder.
- Copy and paste the folder "Geneforge 5" to your Geneforge folder (where all the Geneforge games are). You should be prompted that some files will be overwritten. Accept and the mod will be installed.

To uninstall:
Simply overwrite the Geneforge 5 folder with the original from your back up.

The mod is tested and works with a clean installation of Geneforge 5 on Windows 10. It has not been tested for MAC.

This mod is not compatible with your GF5 saves! Don't try to use it with your normal GF5.

There is no wrong way to use this mod. If you want to make a character with 30 intelligence at 18th lvl so you can have a bazillion of top creations at full modifications, all the power to you. If you want to give your character Battle Shaping 15 and Shape Clawbug 15 to make 45 lvl clawbugs, so be it. If on the other hand want something more reasonable, like a lvl 23 character with mid-early equipment and 3-4 tier 2 creations and see how you fare against moderate enemies, so much the better. And of course, if you want to see how a pair of Battle Alphas fares against a rotgroth, all you have to do is Shape those Alphas and have them fight the Rotgroth without you interfering.
As said, no wrong way to use this mod.

Changes from the normal combat gameplay of GF5:
- The levels of most creations is different with a larger gap in power between the various creations.
- Some items have changed
- There are new NPC types (Batoneers, conscripts, Shocktroopers, Lifecrafters, Prospectives etc)

- There are a couple new Creations
- Some enemies have more complicated scripts

What you should be aware of:
- Not all creation types are available for the Player to Shape; I have put in only the creations that would be present in the total conversion mod.
- The scope of the total conversion mod is to be from levels 18-35 or so. However the intention is to make the world of the total conversion as such, that a level 35 character doesn't have immense power able to stomp everything underfoot.
- The chests are in "tiers". Beginning, mid-early, mid-late, end-game.
- There is an option to activate a "Healing field". This may periodically heal a few of your enemies every turn.
- In one of the chests are "sanity crystals". Having them in your equipment would be a great boon when fighting a Dementor.

- Therions are slightly overpowered compared to their essence cost compared to other Tier 2 creations. This is intentional because in the actual game learning to Shape them will require more effort.