Enraged Slith

I've been playing Jeff's games for so long that I'm not sure why I'm surprised at the quality of the writing, but absently spurning every NPC I come across is far too narratively cohesive and tonally consistent.

For a game with cheeky dialogue across the board, it stands out as particularly blunt. It's not catty or posh, nor does it come across intentionally cruel. It's so much more than just rude, it's unabashedly dumb and self-centered. This prince doesn't want to be there, and can't be bothered to care. I'm playing as one of the most privileged and powerful people in the world, mucking around in a swamp and complaining to the local yokels about how much they smell. It's delightful.

13 hours ago, Kelandon said:

Maybe I'm being dense, but I don't understand what this means. What are you doing, and what is the problem?

 

I use relocate_character() all the time, mostly for cutscenes but not exclusively, and I've never noticed any problems.

Walking around town while relocate_character() is being called every turn, for example, makes it so that only the first member of your party moves anywhere. Everyone else just stands around frozen every time it’s called. It’s not an issue in cutscenes or in combat, it just makes it somewhat inflexible if you’re using it to move a creature around for another reason.

I tried to build a modular creature script that used it to move an invisible creature around (and change abilities while in attack range) to strike at enemies from random locations and teleport away when struck, and it breaks outside of combat for this reason. Just meant it isn’t portable and I had to work around it, but I was disappointed because it was pretty cool.

Couldn't find any documentation on this or related posts, but relocate_character() seems to interact with the source code in strange ways.

If used to jump a creature around, for instance, in combat, they'll occasionally just phase to some "random" location. I was able to mitigate this issue by setting their mobility to 0 when appropriate. I have no idea why this works, I just assumed the issue was tied to how do_attack() and movement interact with the API.

If called outside of combat, it will freeze every member of your party outside of the first, who follows input normally. The more it's called in short succession, the more pronounced the effect:

It functions similarly no matter what sort of script you call it from. I have not been able to find a fix.

The unfortunate consequence is the lack of flexibility. There are no other calls, to my knowledge, that teleport a creature to another space. I had been building a modular creature script that teleports the creature around and on top of the party, and it broke down outside of combat due to this issue.

I'm surprised the Thahd is so redesigned while the Clawbug looks fairly similar. Of all the creations, I always thought "giant scorpion" was a little bland, but maybe that's just me.

That said, I'm pleased to see that we finally have a creation with fur.

DM sent

Was a bartender. I've been furloughed until whenever all of this subsides, which, could mean a few months. Maybe more. Going from spending half of near every day on my feet and socializing for the past few years to sitting in my home with nothing to do is a weird transition. I'd been spending some time with my girlfriend and had planned on seeing friends here and there, but I've since decided that it would be better to put that all on hold.

I'd already played through GF4 after the GF1 Remaster announcement, and I'm plodding away through 5. Otherwise, it's been thinking of ways to get in proper exercise without access to the gym, continuing to pursue a cooking hobby without regular access to fresh ingredients or the sort of income I'd grown comfortable with, and enriching myself now that I have time to devote more than an hour here and there.

And sometimes feeling fortunate for the life I've been afforded. I almost lost a cat this past October. It cost me thousands in savings for vet bills, but perspective is the sound of her still pitter pattering around and purring on my chest. Staring down the looming threat of losing your income after a seasonal dry spell is similarly harrowing, but I'm not saddled with bills and I can comfortably ride this out. It's a similar feeling.

7 hours ago, alhoon said:

 

The Shapers are very bad in GF3 too... but you start as a Shaper. You have joined them, you're in the school (being routinely tortured and beaten) when the rebels kill your classmates. 

For me it was very similar to GF4. The Rebels are bad … but you start as a Rebel. You joined them, you're heading to Southforge (to be mutated and perhaps survive as an insta-shaper) when the Shapers show up with Tier-4 creations and kill the people you traveled with for months. 

I usually play GF4 as an opportunistic sociopath, so I’ve never had issues tagging along for those juicy Shaper perks before turning on them and unleashing armageddon. The worst mistake they ever made was carrying loot worth mugging them for.

1 hour ago, alhoon said:

While I would agree that GF3 is the weakest link, it is still good. IMO It is close to GF2 in enjoyment. Yes, island hopping is meh and there is no strong case to join the Rebellion other than "oh... those guys seem to be winning and got us Shapers with the pants down. Let's join them, I guess." 

I don't expect that to dramatically change though. In GF3 you start in the school. Your classmates are killed in their sleep. How the rebels can recover from that in the Main Character's eyes and convince him/her to join is beyond me. 

I believe that’s why Jeff included surrogates for the PC’s internal monologue. You start as a Shaper without there ever being any reason to question the institution you serve until you’re faced with the reality that someone hates it enough to murder your classmates. The rebels are crazy, but the Shapers aren’t great either. What I wound up enjoying about GF3 most was being pidgeon-holed into different extremes. It’s a perspective I missed in GF4, which doesn’t really pose any difficult questions to the player or face them with the harsh ramifications of the conflict (or their choices).

I'm very impressed with this kickstarter's second wind. Looks like we're getting some additional content on top of what Jeff already adds to these Remasters. I wonder if he'll be doing this for the rest of the Geneforge series, particularly considering he can reuse whatever new assets are created for this one. Which might mean a preliminary focus on sound design for the next installment, and maybe a retroactive change for this one?

I am most interested to see what he does for Geneforge 3, which, if I remember correctly, is generally considered the most milquetoast of the series. Or maybe it's Geneforge 2 now that we have a complete saga, with how little it departed from the original experience. Very excited to see how it's all touched up with the perspective of hindsight.

On 2/29/2020 at 8:08 AM, googoogjoob said:

The QW Kickstarter ended with 2151 backers, and an average pledge of $46. Thus far, Geneforge has 1412 backers with an average pledge of $42. QW saw a few bumps in support as it neared its end, and I expect Geneforge will too; that said I'm a little surprised that it's been sort of underperforming compared to QW. Geneforge is pretty well-known among CRPG initiates, and pretty well-liked, and the basic hook of the game (stranded on an island filled with ruins and lost knowledge, shape monsters) is, I think, more attractive than the hook of QW (serve as viceroy of your mother's empire, manage vassals and forts) to newcomers. Maybe it's just the time of year it was launched (winter vs summer).

I’m not particularly surprised. This will be a comparatively small update compared to what larger developers churn out when revitalizing an old game or ip. The goal has been handily hit and surpassed due to Jeff’s reputation, but it’s probably not going to generate the level of excitement you could otherwise anticipate for the exact same reason.

That said, I’m looking forward to it. Geneforge is fantastic.

That's really cool, Kel, looking forward to it.

Unless you're including them in the broad scope of social media, aggregate forums like Reddit have also steered traffic away from little communities. Our longtime members grew up and moved on and there hasn't been much new blood to take their place. When I first joined the forums over 20 years ago, now, there was a lot more personality thrown around and this place felt more like a village than a sort of niche news hub.

It's not a bad thing, just a sign of the times. I'll occasionally lurk through every couple of months and check out who's still active. You were a part of my upbringing and I love you all. ❤️

To put it succinctly, the game was clearly designed for tablets and phones, and despite Jeff's wonderful blog post explaining the changes, there is a level of immersion that is lost with those means of interaction with the environment. I enjoy the plot angle, though, and the writing is top notch. Maybe more than any of his other games, I'm getting a sense that my character's demeanor and choices have far reaching consequences. Not sure if it's enough to push me beyond the demo, though.

Mostly, it's making me nostalgic for the older games. Especially the Exile series. When I first booted up and dropped into the world, oh my goodness did it look familiar.

I still dust it off here and there and tinker around with the editor. I doubt the game will ever truly “die” as a lot of old fans remain fans, but it’s never going to be like it was when it was new. It even lends itself to a certain old school charm even harder than it did before

I’m not sure entirely what it does. I know it reduces your effectiveness, but I don’t know how significant that is until you start losing AP.

Found a simple formula that equated to 2 defense needed per 5% encumbrance.

With Strong Back, it works out to 1.5 defense per 5% encumbrance.

What I’m wondering is whether raising your defense to 10+ is worth it to use armor like Platemail with no ill effect

I’m really impressed that you’re still at this. Feels like this game never really got its due, save for the work you and a few others put in.

4 hours ago, Ora et Alorael said:

The right sdf codes could fix that.  No, I don't know what they are.

 

I guess this is a lesson that when the most powerful wizard in Avernum gives you a warning, you take her seriously.

...Cheeseball?

2 hours ago, Minion said:

If I recall correctly, you were rewarded the Lava-Fired Spear for defeating the source of the slime plague. A Crude Halberd is pretty much on the same level, actually, just without the magical bonuses.

It’s a spear for magic users and lacks splash damage. That was awfully deflating. The game seems to throw a lot of minor trinkets and spells at you instead of outfitting your meat heads. I just want some feedback here so that I can feel like a good little boy for investing in polearms when the skill tree doesn’t even support it.

I need to dual-wield halberds, Jeff. What else are Slithzerikai good for?

Yo, where’s all my neato swag at? Two plagues down, I shouldn’t still be rolling with base level gear; it wasn’t like this in the old days

Miss my 6 man parties and bless stacking. Not feeling like #3 translated as well to the more streamlined experience

Seems like their bonuses are marginal compared to more traits, but I could be wrong

Dead Are Revolting

Some bits of it still feel punchy and amazing and make me wish I could've maintained that momentum the whole way through. But there are some glaring issues, and, even without the immature crap that led to it being blacklisted in the first place, there's some genuinely (though unintentionally) sexist writing in there that made me put it down when I was giving it a playthrough.

It's actually kind of interesting looking at the humor I attempted with fresh eyes. There are quite a few gags that fall short because they really just feel like space fillers to keep things zany. The stuff that really works relies heavily on set up and timing. The first five minutes of the scenario are my favorite for that reason. Gives me an appreciation for how much involvement needs to go into writing to make it work.

That's it, just sharing a recent experience

Try the Slith mage in the south building.

I have, repeatedly. He's who I gave Pyrog's papers to.

I am aware that there are three people searching for Drath's Spellbook, however, only Thantria has given me the quest. I haven't spoken to Rita, because her rewards don't interest me. I would like to improve my standing with the Freehold of Kyass, but I can't seem to find whoever wants the darn thing. Either it's hidden behind the main Kyass questline, I've encountered a bug, or the relevant person is very adept at hiding.

Lord, I don't remember.

Tabard Inn, Echoes: Renegade, Canopy, Frostbite, and Adrift all spring to mind first, so I guess they win. Also, The Magic. I remember there being a lot of nice scenarios from quite a few different designers, so that's hardly a complete list.

As far as my own work goes, I really liked most of The Dead Are Revolting, though I'm not particularly proud of how I released that one.

me:

and my baby: