Spidweb

In my regular, everyday life, I read a lot of non-fiction. Since so many of my games deal with wars, I try to read a lot of military history, to try to keep things grounded in something resembling a recognizable reality.

What I see, again and again, is the agony of decision-making. Life sometimes sticks us with tough choices and no easy outs, difficult, painful, non-hypothetical decisions that people still argue about decades (centuries, millenia) after they happen.

So I have a series of games where I put that in. I believe that it is possible to reflect this reality in games and still have them be compelling.

(Those who are familiar with them won't be surprised that The Wire and Deadwood are two of my favorite TV shows.)

Geneforge 4 will have the rebel and Shaper paths, but, farther in, another path appears. It's hard to find and takes sacrifice, but there is an out to the whole situation. But it is not painless.

- Jeff Vogel

There is a reason why I engage in these discussions relatively early in the design of the game. Reading what you wrote, it is starting to occur to me that entirely removing the conversation options was a mistake.

I still want most of the faction/proving yourself process to be determin ed by what you do, not what you say. But there does need to be a way for your to express yourself in the conversations, as that is where so much of the story takes place.

- Jeff Vogel

I think that the dialogue option choices worked reasonably well, but I have removed them entirely from Geneforge 4. Now everything faction-wise is determined by what quests you decide to complete or how you complete them.

I have my worries about the new system, but I think it'll be a bit more interesting overall.

- Jeff Vogel

The flamewar grows tiresome.

Of course, anyone has the right to have an opinion on my games. You don't have to be a designer to have an entirely valid opinion.

But I write a wide variety of different rpgs, for a variety of tastes. Avernum 4 has more action and combat. I wrote that because some people like it and, more importantly, because that was the sort of game I was enjoying most at the time.

So what so say I'm writing games for idiots or 10 year olds, you should bear in mind that you referring to me directly. Just because someone has different tastes than you sometimes doesn't make them a juveline.

And, by the way, insulting fans of my games is one of the few behaviors I find intolerable around here. Constructive criticism is fine. But the main purpose of these boards is to make a home for people who like my games. I will not allow people to make them feel ashamed in what should be their safe haven.

- Jeff Vogel

I found this thread to be very interesting. Especially after reading in the Avernum 4 forum a long rant how I just make thoughtless games for 10 year olds now. I didn't have anything to say to that, because it didn't really seem congruent to reality for me. But this, I can respond to.

In my games, I try, to some extent or another, to tell a story. I create a world. I create events in the world. I figure out what are reasonable reactions to those events. And I program them into the game.

My resources are very limited, so I can only really script a certain number of responses for the player. I know this is a flaw, but it is one I can't avoid.

In Geneforge 3, you start with a young character who has made certain choices and is in a certain situation. I figured out what I thought were to most viable responses to those situations.

I agree with you that none of the options are entirely, perfectly moral. But this is how computer games can, I feel, be an artistic expression. The Geneforge games are an expression of how I see life works. Sometimes, you have to tease out the least ugly options of the choices you are offered.

Clearly, you do not want to spend time in the world as I philosophically see it. I can understand that. And I don't think Geneforge 4 is going to be much to your liking either. But I am trying to do something different, something innovative with these games, and I know it isn't going to be to everyone's taste. The problem isn't you, it's me. :-)

Now maybe I'll go back to the Avernum 4 forum and read how I'm just like all the big, soulless ... on second thought, maybe I won't.

- Jeff Vogel

P.S. I wrote this very carefully, because I know some people would happily get their giggles by taking my quotes out of context to make me look bad. I don't like having to be so guarded when writing on these forums. Please be assured that attempts to piss me off will succeed.

"The main issue for me was that Solberg was chucked into a minor, unimportant role, and that Cheeseball wasn't present."

This particular thing was quite intentional. Solberg was basically put on ice for a game. I intend for him to be back in a notable role in Avernum 5.

I seriously doubt, by the way, that there will be any spawners in Avernum 5. Heck, at this point, I'm not sure there will be spawners in Geneforge 4.

- Jeff Vogel

"I'm picturing an upset parent, who probably thinks Avernum is against their religion."

I've gotten that one too. But I brought that on myself, by having a summon demon spell in the Exile games. I removed it when I put Avernum together, just because the spell didn't justify the hassle. (And because what business do the supposedly good characters have summoning demons in the first place?)

- Jeff Vogel

"I am not sure what sort of business wants its customers to go away and leave it alone."

Depends on the customer. I've gotten some really nasty pieces of work over the years. Here's a hot tip for gaming fans on a budget. If you scream obscenities at me on the phone for long enough, I will refund your money to get you to leave me alone.

- Jeff Vogel

If you have weird problems E-mail me.

If you have weird issues with WIndows and Macintosh, take it elsewhere.

- Jeff Vogel

"I had imagined the PC's of previous games being NPC's of subsequent games. I was disappointed twice."

This will never happen. It just feels weird to me. And your characters are your characters ... I don't want to take control of them, beyond referring vaguely to what they did in the past.

- Jeff Vogel

Did you actually redownload and reinstall the drivers and the game (uninstalling the game first)? This is generally necessary to fix any damaged files.

Also, do you have multiple monitors?

- Jeff Vogel

A helpful bit of text will soon be on all of the Exile support pages. I found this page

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/16bit.htm

to be extremely helpful. I will also have the repaired files available for download.

Apparently, the damage is caused by a Trojan horse. Anyone who has had this problem may want to get some appropriately powerful Antivirus software in the near future.

- Jeff Vogel

- Jeff Vogel

I'll look into this and see if I can find an official link to send people to.

- Jeff Vogel

"Serviles can't shape. Period. If there was a canister or something that allowed serviles to shape, I would be very angry."

How about if the rebels found a way to remove the block the Shapers made and enable serviles to shape, but they're really bad at it. Would you then be just somewhat irked?

As time has progressed, creations have attained the ability to edit themselves (starting with drakons) to build on/undo what the Shapers started with. This is both part of the solution and part of the problem.

- Jeff Vogel

Follow the directions you see when you enter the tech support forum, at the top. This fixes the vast majority of these sorts of problems.

- Jeff Vogel

Follow the directions you see when you enter the tech support forum, at the top. This fixes the vast majority of these sorts of problems.

- Jeff Vogel

"Baldur's Gate I - II is crap compared to Planescape Torment."

While I am a huge fan of Planescape: Torment, I feel that Baldur's Gate II is one of the all-time great RPGs. I felt just as caught up in the story, but there was more game there. Torment was beautifully written, but I spent a lot of time going, "Oh, will you shut up? I want to hit something!"

As for the weight limit, that is a major part of game balance in the Geneforge system. It's how I keep the more fragile, magic-based character builds from wrapping themselves in 5 inches of steel plate.

- Jeff Vogel

i. Back up your save folders.

ii. Do a full uninstall.

iii. Redownload a fresh copy. Reinstall. (just reinstalling is not enough, you have to do it clean)

iv. Replace your saved games.

v. Load one of them. Hit Shift-D. Enter "backtostart"

You should be fine.

- Jeff Vogel

"Seriously, this is awesome. No need to play a pacifist just so I can stomach it anymore! Random creations related to the plot! NO MORE HACKING AND SLASHING!"

Oh, I wouldn't want to overstate that case. There are plenty of zones swarming with monsters in need of ass-kicking. There is a war going on after all.

It's just that the ratio of story to fight is higher.

Once change I did forget to mention, though. I am making an effort to replace swarms of individual monsters with groups. I want to reduce the "walk 10 feet, tiny fight, walk 10 feet, tiny fight" syndrome.

This change should extend to all future games.

- Jeff Vogel

One more thing that I think I should throw out here is that I do not think that the Sholai will have a major part to play in the rest of the Geneforge saga.

This is why. The rest of the games will focus with the full, sickening unleashing of the powers of the Shapers, and everyone, human and creation, dealing with the aftermath.

That is why I don't really want the Sholai to be involved. They are staying well back from the crazy people. The Shapers and rebels are going to have to fix their problems on their own.

- Jeff Vogel

Despite a new infant, food poisoning, and general inertia, I've now completed the first 5 areas of Geneforge 4. I have a lot better idea of the shape the game is going to take. I hope to have actual screen shots and PR available in a month or two.

The game will be smaller in size than Geneforge 3, but with a much higher plot density. I've tried to make the game have a more intricate plot and more involved quest chains, battles, and characters. I have some concern that the amount of talky interaction in the game will cost me hack-n-slash gamer money, and this bums me out, but it ended up being the sort of game I wanted to write, so here we are.

Avernum 4's relative success bought me some extra time, and, when I wasn't spending that time parenting, I spent it polishing Geneforge 4 and reworking a lot of stuff that was overdue for it. I added a lot of polish to the graphics, to the item system, and to the creations for starters.

There will be some weather effects. They have no effect on gameplay whatsoever. They're just pretty.

There are five basic rebel character types. Four of them are human. As said before, their are 3 new creations and eight new spells. I am also making some major changes to the alternate creation types to make them more interesting.

The game still tracks your allegiance to one side or the other, but the system is now based far more on actions and less on conversation. A lot of encounters have a pro-rebel and a pro-shaper resolution.

Still hope to have it out for the Mac by Christmas.

- Jeff Vogel

No picking flame wars about Avernum 4 please. It makes me sad. Some people like it and some people don't, like every other game I've ever written, better or worse.

- Jeff Vogel

Ancalagonthe Black asked a question in another thread that I though deserved its own topic.

"Jeff-why did you go from the exile system where 50% reduction + 50% reduction = 75% reduction to the more recent system of being 100% reduction? (This applies to traits as well)."

I think you have this backwards ... it's the new system that has 50% + 50% = 75%. (i.e. the first piece blocks half of the damage and the second blocks half of the remaining damage)

The reason for the new system (which I am VERY happy with and will stick with indefinitely) is that it makes the game much easier to balance, while continuing to have additional armor make a difference.

With the new system, you can never entirely block out damage. The foes can always hit you. But new pieces of armor will always help out more. In the older games, it was possible to stack up pieces of armor to make yourself immune to damage. This is a very very bad thing for a game.

Of course, some people still find Avernum 4 too easy. But then, I've never played an RPG that I wasn't able to make too easy with care. But I have to balance the games so that more casual gamers have a chance. If the hardcore Avernum fans find the game hard, it's too tough.

- Jeff Vogel

Ancalagonthe Black asked a question in another thread that I though deserved its own topic.

"Jeff-why did you go from the exile system where 50% reduction + 50% reduction = 75% reduction to the more recent system of being 100% reduction? (This applies to traits as well)."

I think you have this backwards ... it's the new system that has 50% + 50% = 75%. (i.e. the first piece blocks half of the damage and the second blocks half of the remaining damage)

The reason for the new system (which I am VERY happy with and will stick with indefinitely) is that it makes the game much easier to balance, while continuing to have additional armor make a difference.

With the new system, you can never entirely block out damage. The foes can always hit you. But new pieces of armor will always help out more. In the older games, it was possible to stack up pieces of armor to make yourself immune to damage. This is a very very bad thing for a game.

Of course, some people still find Avernum 4 too easy. But then, I've never played an RPG that I wasn't able to make too easy with care. But I have to balance the games so that more casual gamers have a chance. If the hardcore Avernum fans find the game hard, it's too tough.

- Jeff Vogel

"And I’m a LOT less optimistic when you come on these boards and tell us that legions of people love your new action RPG and compare those of us who don’t like it to crazy luddites who hate all change and will never be happy anyway."

I think this may be overstating the case a wee bit.

In my mind, Avernum and Avernum 4 are a pair. To me, these two games feel very similar. In my mind, Avernum is a pretty plotless affair. You may see it differently.

And, in my mind, Avernum 2 and Avernum 5 will be a pair too. Avernum 5 will use the same engine and much of the same graphics as Avernum 4, but it will be a very different game. No question.

- Jeff Vogel