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How could it be determined when you enter a zone?  It's a random result for an arbitrary number of lockpick attempts, not just one.

I suppose you could set an RNG seed at that point, but... ugh.

Apparently random lockpicking rolls are coming back for the first time since Nethergate.

However, it was greatly mitigated there because you had the option to bash down doors or just cast Unlock instead.  So there was some RNG, but the RNG could simply consume renewable resources (HP or SP) rather than lockpicks.  This version appears to force you to consume a non-renewable resource (lockpicks, which ultimately means GP).

This just creates pointless savescumming, pointless reloading.  Please don't do this, Jeff.  It works on tabletop but not in single-player CRPGs for a reason.

12 minutes ago, nikki. said:

Counter offer: we continue to make life hard for Slarty sooooooo

54 minutes ago, nikki. said:

everything is exactly the same 👀

I feel like other things must have happened in between 2017 and 2024... lol.

Neither, see the thread.

A solution to the boat issue was finally posted, so you shouldn't stuck there at any rate.

This mod should be completely unaffected by v1.0.3.  (You'll have to reinstall the mod after the game updates, but that's always the case.)

I might update Overrun at some point but no, I don't plan to update this one.

I think Jeff is overstating things quite a bit there.  The AEFTP skill tree system actually was very well received.  But his last highly popular game using that system was 6 or 7 years ago, so right now his vocal customers are used to other things, particularly Geneforge's system.

But yeah, A4's was extremely similar to G3's.  The main addition was just the hidden skills, which players have always liked (though the hidden skills did almost zero to expand gameplay in any way, they were really just a adjoining closet of slight variations on crunch hidden behind a curtain).

Grimwing: is this a Transformers reference?  Looks suspiciously drayklike.  The Herringbone hatchet quest is obviously a Monty Python reference and we know that was a backer insertion; was Grimwing also?

100%, you got it.  Except you can generally stop caring about your own Intelligence once your party is full.  And you can get a few extra levels on your creations by leaving out the 2 points of Intelligence (at first), too.

In G2, G3, and G4, Magic Shaping is the way to go (for Vlish in the first two, and Wingbolts in the latter).  In G5, there are more options.

And in G1, levels creations gain from experience are only half as good as levels they gain when they are created, odd as that sounds, so freshly-shaped, disposable creations are the order of the day - but once again you want to invest in a single shaping type.  Fire and Magic are both good there.

2 hours ago, Rune Litch said:

Thank you very much for your answer Randomizer, although I think you might have misunderstood my question, I was not asking whether having many creations is worth it. I was asking if putting lots of skill points into a single shaping skill worth it since creatures level-up on their own anyway? My initial plan was to put just enough points into each skill so I can shape every type of creature and rely on them gaining levels of their own

It depends on the exact game, but it is optimal to put a bunch of points in initially to boost their starting level, and then later rely on them gaining levels on their own.

Importantly, creation XP scales according to the player's level, NOT the creation's level.  So if you boost a shaping skill by +10 before shaping, your creation will permanently be 10 levels higher than it would be otherwise.  And a creation that starts 10 levels lower will never actually catch up.  This makes a pretty huge difference.

One convenient thing about putting Mass Healing on multiple characters is that it also comes with Unshackle Mind, so mental effects shouldn't be too bad for this party.

It sounds like you're having a blast, which is awesome.  A few thoughts:

1. Ranged weapons are significantly stronger in the remix.  So in the remix, archery is definitely a legit option.

2. One thing I couldn't really change in this mod is the fact that hybrid characters are suboptimal.  Because Str/Dex/Int have such a significant impact on damage, any character who goes after more than one damage path (i.e., melee, ranged, or magic) will be significantly worse at it than a character who just picks one.  (You can hybridize OK with utility functions like healing spells, since they don't rely on stats.)  Even against heavy resistances or armor, the loss from stats is significant enough that having an auxiliary damage option won't generally help.  Warrior/archer is especially unfortunate -- warriors can go really deep into the skill tree still getting good mileage out of them.

3. 15 points in archery isn't actually required for AR -- trained points in the other 3 weapon skills can free up at least 6 points to go elsewhere.  And there are some items that give weapon skill, so even 9 isn't necessarily needed.  Where else might those points be more effective?  Well........

13 minutes ago, pixelpusher said:

Without dexterity, how can you act faster than the increasingly fast enemies? Being able to play first is always the key.

It sounds like you're running a sort of fragile approach -- you can't take a hit, so you have to act first; you can't kill things immediately, so you have to do some dodging after that.  (I think all of that will get harder as the game goes on, but def speak up if that's not the case by endgame.)  I'm willing to bet the missing element is Hardiness and Resistance (and Parry for front-row folks, especially in the remix).  Those skills are incredibly powerful at high levels.  You already mentioned Adrenaline Rush for casters, so you can generally nuke things before they can move.  Even without high initiative, it's often possible to do with this with thoughtful positioning; in the cases where you can't, Hardiness/Resistance mean you survive long enough to get there -- and without sacrificing your attack stat for more dodge, which means the nukes are more effective, too.

Thank you for saying so!  This was a very old project (and frankly I wish I had done a better job finishing it) but it's great to hear it's bringing someone happiness even now.  And some credit has to go to wackypanda, too!

2 minutes ago, pixelpusher said:

Since the game demands that you invest heavily in dexterity (at least at the Torment level)

This is definitely not a thing.  The standard advice is to ignore dexterity entirely.  (If you were an archer you wouldn't want to, but archery is not up to par in the vanilla game.)

If you're playing Torment and relying on Dex to avoid taking damage, you're going to be in for a rude awakening, as you won't be able to keep up with enemy hit rates, and by the end of the game all of that Dex will be useless (on non-archers).

Bump; made some miscellaneous updates.

More to add: I know there's a bunch in QW and probably QW2 that I haven't sorted through -- any suggestions from that?  Likewise feel free to call out any Kickstarter additions that are references.

Isn't Disarm Traps separate?

Hmm.  I may be wrong on that.  I guess Pick Locks is even worse than I thought it was...

I believe Magic Lockpicks allow you to open magically locked doors using regular lockpicking skill.

There are wands of fireballs in the Shayder sewers and Golddale mines.

I don't think there's a Move Mountains replacement.  I also don't think you 100% need it to complete the game successfully, though it's been a long time...

So, you've replicated the Nephar Archers appearing.  Which just confirms they are regular, expected enemies to find there.  Now, can you replicate them disappearing?  (Or appearing in the back of the fort at all?)

It might be helpful to use "showmeall" so you can easily see all the enemies on the map, in determining whether they disappear versus are simply offscreen.

5 hours ago, Genernumlover said:

My team snuck into the fort via the back and encountered the Nephar tracking me down in the dining hall...

 

I reloaded an earlier save, snuck in and around to the gate, and found them there..

How do you even know you're talking about the same exact enemy units in both of these cases?

Answer: you don't.  It's a pretty big assumption, but you're presenting it as simple fact.

5 hours ago, Genernumlover said:

So, I left and returned the stolen banner to Fort Draco. I leveled up from that, and returned after investing stat points in endurance and I increased my team's weapon skills. The enemy Nephar had vanished from the zone.

So literally all you did was return the banner and do one level up for your team?  No other fighting, you didn't visit any other zones, just Draco and back?

(Also, I assume you'd have mentioned if you were using any mods or doing any script editing.)

Look, there's two options here.

Option 1 is that you have experienced a bizarre but significant glitch -- improperly appearing and/or disappearing enemies -- that no other player in the just about ten years this game has been out, has ever reported.

Option 2 is that you are mistaken.  There's a lot of enemies in that dungeon, and they mostly look similar.  It wouldn't be hard for a few to get lost in the mix.

It's very possible, and it's not actually all that hard.  The canister boosts are nice, but they aren't generally game-breaking.

Still, you get achievements for each sect's victory; wouldn't be crazy to have a no-canister achievement too.  I say, request this for the G3 remake.

"Rely on Bless" can definitely work, if you layer it enough consistently enough.

Dex gives you +5% every so often, they come fairly often at first and are spread further apart as your Dex gets higher.  Weapon skills use a lookup table to determine your base hit rate.  The bonus is going to be greater than Dex until you get to a very high level, so you're right, it's more effective.

What Dex gets you instead that does matter is dodge rate.  (Although it probably doesn't matter at all if you just rely on Bless...)

Google suggests:

- you may have an antivirus program blocking Avernum 5 from saving its prefs file.