Wizardman468

Hi Goldengirl, That's a very interesting suggestion you listed! I like that idea. I was thinking how there are runes in the game (the runes on the ground in the Shaper Laboratories and other similar locations). I know only the most powerful shapers can craft those runes. However, what if the PC learned the runes and could eventually be able to utilize them? The runes could potentially be etched on the creations you create? Perhaps they would grant the creation a certain behavior, ability, or even appearance change? It's not like taming it; it's more like a perk, but flavored in a different way, as it's not an innate bonus, but an appearance bonus that gives the added effect of more behavior, ability and other capabilities. Again, I like the idea of having creations only wear one item specific to them. I like the idea of a battle alpha wearing brass knuckles. It also seems logical for battle alphas to be able to wear chitin armor or chainmail armor, a sturdy girdle and perhaps even a basic helmet? The possibilities are endless! Thanks to both Alhoon and Goldengirl for the constructive feedback! As for Sharon, I feel like she would have went into hiding? Or could she have met a different fate? I honestly don't know. But, thanks for bringing that up! I always wondered what happened to Sharon. I guess we can only imagine what happened to her and fashion our own tale. Thanks again!

Understood. I didn't see your feedback as negative at all. It was rather constructive feedback. It was nice hearing your opinion on my suggestions! Thank you!

I do agree that these suggestions are unbalanced and favor shapers more than agents and guardians. I guess when I was coming up with these suggestions, I didn't factor in that it would affect agents and guardians and other aspects of gameplay. Perhaps, bits and pieces of my suggestions could be implemented in some way, shape or form? I do apologize. These suggestions just popped up in my head and if I don't write them down, they just fade away. I haven't posted in a while, and I should have put more thought into this post, but I thought, what better opportunity than now to post, because the Geneforge 2 remaster is in the making. Thanks for your feedback, though!

To start off, I am a long time fan of Spiderweb Software games, and started out playing Geneforge 2. It was only after playing Geneforge 2 that I played Geneforge and then played the other installments in the saga sequentially. I have tons of suggestions to offer for the Geneforge 2 remaster and will list them below. *Suggestions: 1. In-combat shaping: During playing some sessions of Geneforge, I noticed some enemy shapers can shape and absorb creations at will in the middle of combat; perhaps this trait could be used tactically by the PC shaper in certain scenarios? Perhaps, say, you're being surrounded by a mob of rogue creations that aren't yours, you could absorb all your creations and then cast a really strong daze spell and aura of flames and boom, you're well on your way to victory; or, you could create creations in the middle of combat; this could help give you the extra firepower you need to finish off a fight 2. Creations that can heal others: Now I know this suggestion may be a bit overpowered, but I feel like it is necessary in cases where the PC shaper is low on essence and spell energy and is low health; in this scenario, the creation with the healing ability can heal surrounding allied creations and the PC 3. Floating Over Water and Stepping Over Low Shrubbery: For some creations, it would be really neat for them to be able to hover over difficult terrain; for example, Vlish could hover over water, because they are floating creatures; Battle Alphas can step over low shrubbery as they are giant and bulky, etc etc. 4. Different types of damaging terrain: I feel like aside from areas that are contagious, like some areas in Geneforge (contagious as in acidic and poisonous), I feel like maybe Artila spits could form pools of acid? Wingbolt beams could leave traces of lightning that deal damage over time; Rotgroths could leave behind traces of poisonous decay and clouds, etc etc. 5. Tertiary Creations: By tertiary creations, I mean like the Battle Gamma. I always wondered if you could create them, and it would be a really nice addition to have that ability. My logic is that if you learn to create a Battle Alpha enough times, you could potentially upgrade it to a Battle Gamma. Now, you can still create Battle Beta, but the Battle Gamma would just cost more essence and be harder to control. The same goes for the Fyora. I always thought that Charged Fyoras were cool and it would be really nice if they were a tier above Cryoas, but you would need to learn to create Fyora enough times to be able to create it. The other creations would follow the same path; so the third tier of the Vlish could be a Terror Vlish or even a Vlish that can charm (I forgot the name of this particular Vlish) 6. Restocking Traders: Although I do like the idea that traders are running on limited resources in selling their products, I feel like if the PC runs out of resources, then they have little else they can do in fights (like running out of healing pods, healing spores, curing pods, etc); to remedy this, I was thinking that the PC could potentially have their own thorn garden, where they can grow thorns and other products, and perhaps even craft healing pods, granted they have the right materials to do so; this way, the PC can also restock on thorns for their thorn batons and perhaps apply enhancements to their armor (the PC can install a forge or something like that if they want to make armor enhancements or weapon enhancements) 7. A Scouting Creation: I feel like a scouting creation would be really nice; I don't have a specific preference, but maybe a bird-like creation that could scan an area for the best path forward (with certain limitations so it's not too broken or overpowered), so the PC can weigh which path they should best take proceeding forward; perhaps this creation is not adept at fighting but is used more for its scouting abilities; perhaps, this creation is also a skilled tinkerer? So while it can't defuse a mine, it could trigger it really quickly and then run away; or it could attract mobs and lure them towards the PC? Perhaps it could give clues to certain puzzles that may arise in the game (this could come in handy if the PC ever gets lost or confused/doesn't know what to do)? 8. Multipurpose Items: For this suggestion, I feel like some items could be multipurpose; perhaps, there's a type of spores that can cure many types of ailments? For example, the spore could cure acid, poison, slowed condition, stun condition, etc etc. Perhaps a living tool that can do the unconventional, like repairing the aforementioned garden or crafting house I mentioned in Point 6. Perhaps thorn batons that can be used in melee, except they'd be weaker than traditional melee weapons and could potentially break? 9. Having Creations Be Pack Mules: I feel like some creations would be great at carrying the PC's items; for example, the Roamer, Clawbug, Drayk, Battle Alpha, Glaahk are all great creations that could potentially shoulder the burden; only, implementing this feature is not easy and I understand if it's not doable; it would be interesting, though. 10. A Starter Creation: I noticed in the opening slides for Geneforge 2 that the PC has a companion Fyora? Perhaps the PC can choose at the start of the game what type of starter creation they were traveling with, be it a starter Artila, Thahd, or Fyora. The limitation being that they have to be starter creations, not the higher tier creations, which is obvious. Okay, I hope you like my suggestions and feel free to offer anything you guys think of! Thank you!

Hey everyone! I don’t want to get us off topic here. However, when I absorb my creations, I imagine their essence(and hence all their personality, intelligence, mindset) being sucked into the creator. Which means the creator has all the genetic information and he can choose what genetic info goes into his creations at will. If he wants an identical mind from a lower-tier creation to go into a higher-tier creation, sure. If it’s a matter of whether the “old” creation is gone forever, in this aspect, I don’t think so. The “old” creation is still very much alive, except its DNA is deeply embedded into the creator’s being. I don’t know if my thinking makes sense, but I just wanted to add a little personal perspective.

Ir’s so astonishing reading everyone’s posts! I get lost in the conversation about absorbing the rest of the creation and “keeping” the brain, then transferring it over to the more advanced, or developed creation. I have no doubt that it is possible, but it would take a prestigious, top-of-the-line shaper, in my opinion. Congrats to Ess for bringing this up! It should really be looked into, probably for future Geneforge remakes...

Vinlie, I find it so interesting that you rename your characters based on rank. Do you do the same thing with your creations? I like the name you gave for Greta in chapter 1 of G3, which was “Private Greta.” I don’t know about you, but renaming the characters can also give the game comical relief, so it’s not so serious all the time.

Hi Vinlie! That’s awesome! I never thought about “evolving” my fyoras or any other creation for that matter. Yharon and Yharim are such interesting names. I haven’t played Terraria or the Calamity expansion either, so I don’t have too much background knowledge on those characters, but the way you named them is so cool. Thanks for sharing!

Thriceborn, I second, IBeast is so clever, and funny at the same time. Hz So Good is a good fit for a Kyshakk! I also absolutely enjoy your Vlish trio!

Hi Vinlie, That’s so funny! I impulse-quick-save because I feel like that will prevent me from being killed often and will give me the best progress. Not so in Shaila’s cavern, unless you know where everything is in the map already. I don’t know why. I knew there was an electrical field there but one mistake and I walk right into my death. Good thing that I fixed it! Yes, TheKian brought up a good tip in one of his posts. If you spam the escape key while walking through an electric field, you’ll stay alive. However, if you are surrounded by rogues, survival would be very low even if you spammed the escape key to walk through an electric field.

Hi alhoon! I will do that. I will verify it first. Thanks for letting me know!

Thanks, alhoon! I will give your give your mini-mod a try! Your efforts are very much appreciated.

I have a question: Is it possible to mod creations so that they don't decay or is that not possible? For example, I'm trying to make the "Elemental-Rune Thahd," which I made from the "Unstable Thahd" not decay unless it's killed. I can't find anything in the gf4itemschars text file that allows you to let a creation live indefinitely until it gets killed by someone or something. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you!

Hi alhoon, Here are the edits I made to the Moseh's bunker dialogue text file as you've suggested. I'm pretty sure it's right, but you can always correct me if I'm wrong. Here it is: http://m.uploadedit.com/busd/1593981367592.txt Thanks, Andrew

Hi alhoon, I plan on giving this mod a try. I am still going to apply the edits, like pressing enter after the “;”. I’ve actually not attempted killing Moseh yet, because like I said, I felt bad that Khur died in the process. However, I enjoy how you added this script to have another servile join my team. I will give it a try and let you know if it works. Thank you, alhoon!

Oops, I think I misread your post, alhoon. Sorry. I will press “enter” after the semicolon, which is between the “;” and “text4” instead of a couple of presses on the spacebar. I was kind of in a rush, so I hope you understand. Thanks.

Okay, alhoon, thanks. I received your update where you said to add a space after the semicolon, otherwise the code wouldn’t be recognized. I will add those changes in tonight. Thank you again!

Hi alhoon, Just to play it safe, could you upload the original file of Moseh's Bunker dialogue text file? I believe I might have messed it up a bit. Thanks! I'll work on reformatting the text file as you suggested to add the new servile character tonight. Thanks!

Okay, alhoon, I'll format the text file accordingly. Do you mean add a space after the semicolon? So instead ";text4" it should be "; text4"? Anyways, thanks for bringing it up!

Also, in regards to the Elemental-Rune Thahd(a made-up creation that I made from the Unstable Thahd), it still slowly dissipates until death. Is there any way to disable this dissipation so the thahd always stays alive? Thanks! It's looking to be very promising for a creation. Thanks everyone and to alhoon and Randomizer! Best, Andrew

Oops, here's the correct file now. I didn't have permission to save it. Didn't notice it the first time. Here it is: http://m.uploadedit.com/busd/1593893597147.txt

All done! I copy and paste your modifications into the z39mosehbdlg.txt file. I selected talknode 150, then pasted over your lines, so I replaced the talknode 150 with your script. I'll send you an image of the text file so you can see the edit. Thank you so much, alhoon! I will get back to you tomorrow morning. Also, don't worry, I backed up my file in my documents folder, so it's safe. http://m.uploadedit.com/busd/1593893268711.txt

Okay, thanks so much, alhoon! Did you compose this just today? That’s amazing! I’d like to learn to script like you! Thank you very much again! I currently have an assignment from class so I’ll get back to you maybe tomorrow morning. Thanks!

Hi alhoon, I just gave TheKian's modding suite for G5 a try. It turns out it doesn't work . I run the .bat file and I enter the file directory for G4 and it doesn't recognize it. I did message TheKian, so I am looking forward to hearing from him. Thank you for bringing up this suggestion, though, alhoon!

Thank you so much, Randomizer and alhoon! I will consider doing some quests for the Shapers. Yes, Khur’s death was very climatic and cathartic. Only, he ended up dying so the outcome was not good but at least he died an honorable death. Thanks for your posts, guys!