Genernumlover

I'm a fan of the combat classes, particularly the Guardian and the Servile. With that in mind, I believe that melee combat was overpowered in the first two games and it was better balanced in the later Geneforge games. But now, in the remakes, most combat skills are pretty mediocre for the main character. A Shaper is much more powerful due to the new creation skills. Battle Creations can generally outperform melee characters and ranged creations can exceed most batons. Going forward, with the more powerful creation types still to come, and stun, slow, poison, and acid being present on most of the endgame enemies, the partially combat classes are going to continue to struggle to keep up with Shapers and Lifecrafters. I think Jeff should bring Avernum's Battle Disciplines into the Geneforge world for all classes that rely partially on combat skills. It will liven up the gameplay from "Shoot it, fireball it, or walk up to it and whack it" to a more strategic approach with weapon-based ranged and melee combat, and it would allow Guardians, Agents, Warriors, Shock Troopers, and Serviles to compete with Shapers and Lifecrafters without nerfing the creation skills or returning to the overpowered melee combat of Geneforge 1 and 2.

I don't trust File Sharing websites so I don't think I'm going to take you up on that. However, I appreciate that you were looking for a solution. Thank you for the offer.

Thanks for trying. Just in case it was data corruption I ran the Steam file verification and it says everything is clean. This sounds like it is a problem either with Steam, my copy of Avernum 2: Crystals Souls within Steam, or that this game is somehow incompatible with my Mac.

No, I just checked and my operating system is English.

They aren't. I've tried that a couple of times. The game worked fine on my old computer, and when I upgraded it went kaput. I've tried editing accessibility settings, permissions, security, all of that. My saved games from my old computer didn't transfer over either, so I'm thinking this is a flaw in the copy of the game Steam has. The Steam Cloud could be a possibility as well, but that should have only done something to my saved games. As I said, even when I start a new game, the boats are't there.

Yes, the message appears. I've tried it in the lower part of Formello and gone up the ramp to try it. Just checking around, it looks like some boats are missing from Fort Draco as well. Right now there is only one for purchase. Tess takes my money for an empty boat dock, and I have to pay her again in order to gain access to the sole boat at the docks. I tried the cheat there and in Fort Ganrick and got nothing.

Okay, I tried manually opening the application from a desktop shortcut. It didn't work. The cheat didn't work either.

Good point about the reputation versus faction system. For me, it would make the game easier if I could see the results of my choices numerically or with an in-game chart of some sort. I had a heck of a time figuring out the reputation system on my first go. In fact, I had the Kranas Woods attack me even though I spared all of their groves. With this guide, I found out where I messed up and how to fix it. Without it and its information on the reputation system, I would've been left repeating the game mostly trying to figure out where I went wrong. Also, as Mechalibur points out, there is dialogue that makes some interactions in QW trickier than they seem.

Yup, A2:CS it is. 1. Tried that cheat as one word, still no go. 2. Yes. 3. Nope. 4. No, I will try that shortly. Thank you!

Thanks! I will check that out. I'm having the infamous Formello boat issue in Avernum 2 as well. Do you think that is related to Steam's updates? I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling as well as the "reset boats" cheat recommend here on the forums, and that doesn't work.

You could switch sides midway through all of the games in Geneforge series, or have a change of heart late in the game. The endings weren't as good for such players, but the option was there. There were late-game chances that let you alter reputation, so your early mishaps were more easily fixed. Words were less important as there were options in the game to let you change your mind. Also, the conversations that mattered the most were the ones with the leaders of the factions. I will agree that Queen's Wish is more blatant with the impact of the reputation system though. That's why I'd like it to be made more obvious that we are changing our reputation and in what way we are doing it. Like I said, a more visible reputation counting system or something along those lines would be good.

Thank you for the advice. I added a desktop shortcut and it works fine when I launch it from there, but not from my Steam Archive. Fingers crossed that it remains working that way. As I said in my first post, I had it working for a little bit and it went kaput shortly thereafter. Was a shortcut what you meant? I want to make sure that I'm trying everything that could work in case this issue creeps up again. I'm on a Mac without any additional input devices besides the mouse and headphones. This computer is fairly new, and it only seems to be having problems with Steam and nothing else. With that in mind, I'm definitely thinking that this is a Steam issue. Come to think of it, the Steam version of Neverwinter Nights was having a similar problem with clicking. I wonder if the same solution will work there.

Yes, but in the older games, it was easier to switch sides and your words weren't quite as important. If I was a rebel in Geneforge I'd still have the option to join the Shapers towards the end of the game. Here in Queen's Wish, more weight is given to words, and it isn't always obvious that each particular bit of dialogue is going to be that important for the end of the game. For example, you can go Ro by replacing the governors and still have the Raasas turn on you. I think that, if what we say matters as much as what we do, it would make the game a little smoother if we could see our dialogue consequences more readily.

It occurred to me that what Queen's Wish could use for its last game is a lore codex. In an earlier forum, I remarked that we are missing a map of the world, information on Haven and its allies and enemies, and quite a bit of background information. Avadon answers those questions very neatly via a lore codex that the player could expand by reading information or meeting crucial characters. Geneforge Mutagen is also using something similar. A codex with character profiles, nation information, maps, species characteristics, and things like that would do nicely to answer quite a few unanswered questions in Queen's Wish.

I'm having problems with Geneforge Mutagen in Steam. It seems to only be responding to double clicks. Once, I got it to work normally by switching from fullscreen to window mode, but that seems to have stopped working. Any ideas?

I'm thinking out loud, but if the reputation system continues in the next game, we need to be able to see it. I mean that we need to be able to see a warning by the dialogue that influences our reputation or we need to have a counting system that is visible without cheats. That may break RPG immersion but it would make the game smoother if could see and count the changes our words and actions are making. Still not sure why the Low Dhaga thought the Wolf was heroic even if they didn't support the rebels in the end. From the silence, I'm guessing no one else does either. Maybe it has to do with how you deal with the pockets of "peaceful" raiders you encounter?

I'm somewhat bemused. I used the guide to max out my Ro and Queen rep as best as I was able and got a good ending. However, the ending says my words and actions convinced many in the Low Dhaga that the Wolf was fighting for a good cause. I got that text when I replaced Aato and had the Low Dhaga Raasa side with me. Is that bit of the ending linked to the violence score? The Queen's score? Or is that a permanent bit of the Ro being the Ro?

True. The Nisse seem to be a fairly mixed bag, extreme cruelty mixed with extreme mischievousness is a trademark of a lot of the Fae races in fantasy, and that makes them hard to predict. Human morality doesn't matter to them, as they perceive the world in entirely different terms. Though that's due to elixir dosing in this case, instead of the Nisse being a different race entirely. The Nisse feel like, besides Haven, the common thread uniting the series. Each game is self-contained but is also part of a larger work, so there has to be a recurring villain to help give the series plot cohesion. For me, it feels like I'm fighting for an Empire that isn't really defined. I want to know what kind of world I'm fighting in. Setting the last game in Haven would be overkill, but I would really like to learn more about the world the games are set in. Darmal's clan was referenced as leaving the Low Dhaga, but it feels like they've been kind of shuffled off of the map for future use. That they left for greener pastures feels like a bit of a cop out unless we see more of them in the last installment. Delia seems to be what she says she is, but there is the potential for conflict with her storyline. Especially since Sutter has already been shown to be angry and jealous of the player for getting the queen's approval. If a group of Haven nobles actually put Delia forward as a contender for the throne in light of her more reasonable personality and seeming political skill, then Sutter would likely turn on her. That scenario could occur while Delia is openly supporting Sutter. That's all speculation about a potential conflict, of course.

As of now we are two thirds of the way through the series, and there are a couple of plot threads that I see as being critical to the last game. The Queen's Illness. Was it the fault of the player and the Nisse? The Queen's legacy. The games hint that she actually wasn't a good queen. She was certainly powerful, but she lost a vassal state and let another fall into utter disrepair. The potential revenge of the Nisse. The royal succession of Haven. There are three candidates for the crown, the player, Sutter, and Delia. The player has been making a name by pacifying vassal states, Sutter has been running around being the queen's enforcer, and Delia has been basically running the Empire. Each character is in a position to make a play for the throne. If not the ruler, what? The player's developing place in the Empire has been hinted at repeatedly. If Sutter or Delia take the throne, and the player doesn't contest that, what role will the player have? I'd be pretty annoyed if I were the player character and I did all of this fieldwork and I got sidelined as an advisor without a new title or a place to call my own. How big the Empire of Haven actually is. For me, this is a critical issue. In Avernum most of the games are set in a self-contained nation, barring Avernum III which gave us a sense of how massive the Empire actually is by the size of Valorim. Geneforge slowly reveals a lot of the Shaper Empire, and Avadon flat-out shows you how big the Pact is at the start of the games. For Queen's Wish, the player has been running around in other lands that are referred to as being small or nearly inconsequential compared to Haven. A map showing the Empire of Haven and the entirety of the known world would do nicely to give a sense of proportionality to the player's actions across the series. Right now, the player just knows that Haven is big and powerful, not how big and powerful it actually is, or what Haven's neighbors are. As of right now, the Empire of Haven is something of an amorphous entity represented by Sutter, Delia, and Sharyn contacting the player through the mirrors. While that makes the idea of the Empire personal to the player as the Empire is represented by family, it also leaves a lot missing. Haven, the player's family, rules a full eight of the known world. What world? What we have seen so far is the queen's palace and a pair of vassal states, so the player is left without quite a bit of context. What happened to the Consort's clan? This ties into the idea of proportionality. Just what did Sharyn give up by marrying the player's father, a warlord from a small nation? How powerful was this family and where are they now?

Awesome, thank you!

In my replay I've reached the oasis and I have to decide what to do about Isabella. Does this choice have an impact on the ending?

Ah, thank you. That's actually the ending I'm aiming for. We know there is another game, so our heroic prince or princess isn't finished yet even if you got sidelined. You got a code, you're good. Spoiler for a partial Haven ending is below:

Hmmm, how high is high? I mean, I dedicated 4-5 forts to the Ro, donated all the things I could with the Erudico, and saved all the groves, and Kranas still turned on me. This was after I made the royal family royally furious by dumping their corrupt governor. Sadly, I guessed from the dialogue in my crappy ending that the rebellion was going to occur no matter what. I'm trying to figure out how to get the best ending possible for Haven and the Ro. I realize that I'll have to go around being a sucker for the Ro in my current playthrough, but I'm wondering if it is possible to make the morally decent choice about the druid that leaves children to die and about women in Dhaga and still get Kranas and Dhaga to side with you. Also, if I have to dedicate all of my forts to the Ro I'd have to restart, as I have one dedicated to Industry already... Still, I'd rather do that than play the whole game and figure out that 1-2 forts cost me a better ending.

I tried to take a middle-of-the-road position that put an emphasis on sympathetically fixing problems while making it clear that, at the end of the day, Ro was still going to be a vassal. I dedicated forts to the Ro, gave them tribute at the Erudico Tower, cleared up the druid groves while sparing them, appointed a new governor in Kranas, allied with the Low Dhagans as much as I could while leaving the same crappy governor in place until Haven could find a legal replacement, killed the rebel witch at the oasis, and more. I was quite displeased with the ending I got though. For reference, in Queen's Wish: The Conquerer, I allied with the Brokk, Owen, and Trench Towns, while crushing the Nisse and not offending Sutter. Haven got most of what it wanted, while the lives of the majority of the poorer people Haven was reconquering were bettered as well. Can I get the Kranas Wood and Low Dhaga as allies at the final battle as a Pro Ro character if I: Killed or flogged the druid taking children to die. Banned human sacrifice. Might this be more acceptable if I let the druid go? Told the Low Dhaga Raasa that I am planning on giving women rights. Did everything else Pro Ro. Made it clear that Haven will treat its vassals well, appointed new governors, built a reputation as a Ro sympathizer that does more for the Ro than for Haven, and all that. I realize that a truly happy ending isn't likely, but I'm looking for the best possible ending for Ro and for Haven, which seems to be a Ro advocate. Yet, I can't tolerate leaving sick children in the woods to die or keeping women down like that.

I loved the original Geneforge series, and I can't wait to play the new ones. Something I'd like to see in the new series is the ability to pick the sex of your character. For the whole original series I was wondering what a female Servile player looked like, or a male Agent, a female Guardian, or a male Shock Trooper.