Micawber

Do you think Rentar really has a heart of gold? How improbable.

Well in GF3, when whatsisname uses the geneforge, he does become an ur-drakon and the game is fairly explicit that that is is the purpose of the geneforge. Having said that in GF2 of course the PC could shape ur-drakons with canister use. I suspect a certain amount of judicious re-writing of history went on between GF2 & GF3.

I guess in that case I would be allowed a fish? Hooray for nudity! Not too keen on giving up spells, though. That would make the game impossible, wouldn't it?

Well that is how many company boards actually operate. The shareholders (could be a single majority shareholder, e.g. the founder of the company) appoint the chair & other directors and the company is run for their benefit but they have no executive role. The chair chairs board meetings and has overall responsibility for governance but doesn't run the company day to day. The chief exec is in charge of operational decisions. In the business world it is best practice for the chair and the chief exec to be different people because it avoids too much power being concentrated in one person's hands, which can lead to abuses of power. The same model can, theoretically, be applied to nations. The king/queen in a sense 'is' the nation, the country is run for their benefit. The president chairs the government in a non-executive capacity. The prime minister makes the day-to-day decisions. As I say this is all theoretical and I don't think there are any countries where this really happens. But I'd still rather live there than in Tullegolania.

Quote: Originally written by Emperor Tullegolar: Micawber: Why would ambassadors want to meet with someone with no political influence whatsoever? Who said the King would have no influence? They would if they had the power to appoint the President and Prime Minister. Besides, even in the other case, ambassadors queue up to meet the Queen of England, who has no influence whatsoever.

Unshackling crystals are also good for removing dumbfounding, and the spell "Unshackle Mind" (once you have restored your priest).

I imagine he reads spidweb@spiderwebsoftware.com. My experience of running Exile games under Windows XP indicates that installing the latest version of sound/video drivers (from the manufacturers), and also direct X (from microsoft), works wonders. No, really.

The French President has more than a ceremonial role. The King could take over the receiving ambassadors side of things, while the President carries on making appointments, signing laws and so on. Of course I accept that this is fantasy as a specific example, but the principle of a three way split -- exec, non-exec and stakeholder -- has some merit.

In many governments the position of 'head of government' is shared somehow. For instance the French PM is a chief executive role but also the French president has some executive powers. Conceivably one could restore the French monarchy for purely ceremonial functions as 'head of state', (admittedly an unlikely example). Similarly, one can envisage a corporation with three heads, i.e. CEO, non-exec chairman and majority-shareholder. I can't think of any particular where this really happens in the world today, however. For a historical example of sharing power three ways: Caesar-Crassus-Pompey. Crassus provided the money, Caesar led the foreign campaigns and Pompey ruled the city. It didn't end well, though...

I really like the geologist idea. Not so keen on the gynaecology idea, though I forget, does Avernum 4 also have anything else collectible, other than stones, steel & herbs?

I'm looking for reasons to replay it. Please provide suggestions...

The trouble with the Tullegolite philosophy is that it recognises no criteria for fitness for power other than the ability to obtain it. Your strong ruler could very well be a lunatic. This is a particular problem with hereditary rulers who may be kept in power by the strong loyalty of their followers. Quite simply, there is no infallible way to identify who is best suited to exercise absolute power. It's much better to share out power equally which limits the damage that can be done by any one individual.

Heal yourself, from time to time. There's no way to stop the cold, it will continually eat away at you. The only place you are safe is in the cave (or in the village, if you are a rebel). You have to go fully inside the inner room in order to heal up.

I think his posts in this thread provide abdundant grounds for a ban.

What about mmmm and kerching?

Oh no, but that's no fun. You've got to have uh-eek and chug-a-chug sound effects or it's just not Exile.

Maybe he got eaten by a slime? I don't suppose it helps much but he's still there in my copy of A3, although it drives me crazy sometimes trying to find him. Maybe you were unlucky with your choice of day. I believe he is in Krizsan 1/3 of the time and Delan 1/3 of the time and nowhere at all the remaining 1/3 of the time.

Unenthusiastic though I am about US foreign policy, I am still many orders of magnitude more comfortable with the US having nuclear weapons than, say, Zimbabwe.

OK, since the link seems not to be working (odd since I can still use by bookmark to the site, but there you go): the formula is 1=> 15/16 15/20 2=> 14/16 14/20 3=> 13/16 13/20 4=> 12/16 12/20 5=> 11/16 11/20 6=> 10/16 10/20 7=> 9/16 9/20 That is, with 1 creation, your PC gets 15/16 of the total experience and your creations get 15/20 of the total experience. And with 2 creations, your PC gets 14/16 of the total experience and your creations get 14/20 of the total experience. So it doesn't taper off quite as fast as all that.

1/ It's actually green and it's your spell energy (as opposed to essence, which is blue). You need both energy and essence in order to cast spells. I suggest you read the online help file which explains the basics of Geneforge. 2/ Yes. The formula is given in Schrodinger's FAQ - see here . 3/ It is possible, but I wouldn't advise it. Mechanics makes your unlock spells better, and it helps to disarm traps, crystals, mines and machinery. There are lots of crystals, mines and machinery in Geneforge. If you don't have mechanics you will have a lot more fights on your hand.

There are several demons in patrick's basement. Go back, kill another one and try again.

Tullegolite bah. Machiavellian bah. Don't dignify this philosophy with a fancy name. This is pure aggression. 'Winning is all that matters', 'we must have this in case the others get it', 'my nuclear weapon is bigger than yours'. Ever watch Dr Strangelove?

I think A3 is more fun the first time (it's so huge!) but Geneforge has more replay value. Get both.

Except in A4 they're a useless form of defense, since they have a shorter attack range than the player does.

I agree, the avernum 1-3 monster graphics were a bit of step backwards from the exile ones. Only in Avernum 4 did the monsters start looking a bit more distinctive, with the increased screen resolution. I particularly like the eyebeast graphic, it's one of my favourites from the geneforge series. I have no problem with recycling successful graphics from one series to the next.