TheeRabbitt

15 hours ago, You can move now said:

Wow, that's crazy.  Maybe something got corrupted?  Will be curious to hear if it persists for you with a new party.

So I tried one last time on the original save file and noticed that every moment I was *not* clicking, it was saying "pause." So somehow my game was creating pauses as turns when I was not taking turns, which was pushing the game time very, very far ahead. There was nothing I could find that would undo it--I think my save file was corrupted. 

I stated a new save file and it functions 100% normally. 

Very, very strange. 

11 minutes ago, You can move now said:

You don't have to walk into town, you start out already in Fort Exile.  It sounds like you are leaving Fort Exile without getting the free food, and walking over to another town.

 

"2 minutes of play time" shouldn't be relevant because it's a turn-based game.  Time only passes when you move.  Unless you're doing something weird like holding down spacebar (which passes a turn repeatedly).

I start at the portal, talk to the greeter and walk to the building behind him, which takes about 6 clicks total, if that helps. The building I reach says "new arrivals welcome" or something similar. 

Maybe I will restart with a new party, because I don't remember this ever having happened on previous playthroughs (granted those were over a decade ago). 

My other thought was that my system is speeding up game-time, but that doesn't seem likely as--like you said--time passes in clicks. 

21 minutes ago, You can move now said:

It sounds like you are starving.

 

Did you talk to the NPCs in Fort Exile in order to get outfitted with basic provisions?

I t could be, but it is less than 2 minutes of play time. I literally start the game, walk into town and by the time I enter and exit the first building I can reach, my whole party gets wrecked by the sudden damage. 

I have just attempted starting Exile: Escape from the Pit and each time I attempt to play, within the first two minutes a random source of damage (looks like magic) nukes my whole aprty, without any way to avoid, generally killing at least one or two members and severely injuring the rest. 

What gives?