Nick Ringer

You seem to be a good programmer - why don't you make your own game? I'm always trying to do that anyway. Remember Whack-the-Artila ? I'm up for MSN contact anytime.

Kill them. Better yet, if you took them with you, leveled them up a bit, then dismissed them and came back, couldn't you kill them for a bit of experience? And don't they respawn? Maybe you can harvest them for experience.

I always thought canisters should just give you skill points. That they should make you more powerful in general. But then again I never liked skill points in the first place. And eventually you wouldn't get as many skill points from canisters but you'd get more detrimental effects. But that's harder to implement. I've been a canister junkie for years. My palms are raw, my eyes are dull, and my skin radiates powerful miasma. Also, I have this unnerving tendency of slaughtering people.

I imagined it as Shaper Diwaniya, lost in the swamp. He turns crazed and feral and begins hunting and eating rogue Vlish. It's the barfing stump!! I'm taking requests. These take 15 minutes to make, and they're fun. I encourage you all to make your own!

The Council rules! They scare me.

WARNING. Major-ass spoilers. The whole Geneforge series is here. WARNING. I've thought a lot about exactly that! You could definitely go into lots of detail by researching the games, but it wouldn't REALLY be canon because one person (namely, Mr. Vogel) writes all the material and he may not have cared about specifics. There are enough minor continuity errors that it may not be worth going into a lot of detail. Still, it's interesting. Let's look at more specific events! Oh, and since you haven't played through all the games, beware of spoilers! The original Geneforge was built between 100 and 200 years before your arrival if I'm not mistaken. It can't be less than the oldest Servile's (Pinner's?) age, and that's about a century. Although the term "centuries ago" or "centuries old" is thrown around frequently, I think "centuries" may be defined as "more-than, one-century." So not necessarily 200 or more. Not my call. I guess Huestess would know. He's the only one who's been alive that whole time, apart from the Servant Minds, who were mostly ordered to forget stuff. Damn this vacuity! On Sucia Island, particularly, there are many events you can put in order, but not apply to specific years. It's been a long, long time since I went through Geneforge, so I'm probably not the right person to make that list. The other bits of Geneforge are closer together and some are even dated to the year. We can assume, by the way, that Shapers use their own calender, in which they have advanced to at least their fifth millennium (based on those notes shown for loading screens). Maybe their year zero is the year the Shaping arts began. The first game suggests that those, er, secret places are millennia old, right? Anyway, here's my list, annotated with years where they're relevant: People living on Sucia Island discover Shaping. {4-5 thousand years ago?} Some other people start a war with the early Shapers. {Who were they? Did they come from off the island? Why were they fighting?} Shaping becomes an implement of war. {Foreshadowing all the self-shaping to come.} The Shapers leave Sucia Island entirely. {They gave up the struggle, right?} The Shapers inhabit Terrestria and some other places. They somehow establish dominion over the other people living there. {I smell a prequel.} The Shapers eventually come back to Sucia Island {Several thousand years after their original abandonment?} Their research leads them to create the canisters and ultimately the Geneforge {How long exactly did that take?} The Shapers abandon the island, leaving a plethora of creations like the Serviles. {Can't be more than a decade after their arrival, based on the journal of that research leader one, what was her name?} The Serviles realize they must become self-sufficient, but split up into factions somewhere along the way. The Sholai arrive and stumble upon the Geneforge and the Takers. {Centuries after the Serviles were abandoned.} Trajkov realizes he needs a Shaper, so he attacks that other Shaper guy, the one who lives in the temple to the northeast. Damned if I can remember his name The Sholai split into two factions. Geneforge begins. You arrive. {A few weeks, maybe months after the last Shaper.} You do not help the Sholai. You don't use the Geneforge, and you destroy it. You return to the mainland, largely leaving the Serviles alone. Apparently the other Shaper guy remains in hiding, or you killed him. {Assumed from future games' stories.} Geneforge ends. Zakary and Barzahl come to the island seeking its mysteries. (Soon afterward, maybe a few years. It seems the Shapers didn't clean up before they got there.} They come back, smuggling serviles, equipment, and regrettably, Drayks. {Weren't there only, like, three to start with? Jeez!} They all go up to the Drypeak Mountains. Zakary (remaining relatively loyal) founds a small colony to cover for the ambitious Barzahl (not exceedingly loyal), who enters a violent megalomania and wants war with the Shapers. The Takers form their own colony deeper in the mountains, where they have forsaken humans altogether and they begin Shaping. The Drayks beget the Drakons. They build another Geneforge. Easss Shapes and hides Ghaldring. Geneforge 2 begins. You arrive. {About a decade since the last game. For some reason I keep thinking it was 50 years, but I don't think the Serviles aged much.} You and/or the Shapers from back home come and wipe out Zakary and Barzahl. Geneforge 2 ends. The Awakened die out. Some of them probably join the Takers. I'm too tired to finish the list... I'm sure someone nice will look into all these things in the near future and correct me if I'm wrong.

Delicious Vlish. Not something I spent a lot of time on, but the GF4 thread deserved some effort on my part.

Not Ben and Jerry? By the way, this thread is really up there in the history of the forum for distant segways. Quote: Originally written by TJC Shaper: What does the forgotten zone look like and what did it used to have in it? Quote: Originally written by Dikiyoba: There's no forgotten zone, just a numbering error. Quote: Originally written by Student of Trinity: Too bad, though. In G5, Jeff should put in a whole Easter egg zone. Quote: Originally written by Haakai-Tender Valcrist: How about a in-game minigame as another Easter Egg? Quote: Originally written by Nick Ringer: Play Whack-the-Artila now! Quote: Originally written by everyone: That was fun! Quote: Originally written by Dikiyoba: Clearly, the next game needs to involve talking ornks. And fan fiction ensued.

I didn't want it to end that way! Poor Bacon. So I was thinking everyone should take one sprite map from the game and convert it to whatever silly, candy-cane infested version they like. Then, we compile them, replace our data folders, and try to play the new ridiculous Geneforge.

I'm glad you like it. You guessed the exact reason I can't put in a scoreboard (although if I could I probably wouldn't bother to). The snarling and hissing noises are actually recordings of me snarling and hissing (respectively). The zap noise and explosion, I nicked off some royalty-free SFX sites. And the explosion is how Shapers should die!

The rate at which they appear speeds up to every 15 frames. The frequency with which they spit acid is random (I think it's a 1% chance for each Artila at any given frame), but no Artila will spit acid until it has been idle 5 frames, plus its creation animation, maybe 15 frames. So assuming you click each Artila within 20 frames of its creation, it's impossible to get hit. The minimum delay between zaps is 16 frames, I think, but you can still use all 20 frames to aim. Provided you don't miss, the game never becomes impossible. But it's pretty damned hard after 100! Quote: Wading through the meadow, you notice one ornk seems different from the others. As you get close, you realize it has been watching you and is only pretending to graze. It approaches you, making full eye contact, and rises to stand on its hind legs. Then, it speaks. "Hello, Shaper. My name is Bruce. Welcome to my pasture." 1. How can you talk? 2. You say this is your pasture? 3. Are there others like you?

Funny your high score should be 110. Mine is 111! Of course, swf files have lower framerates when run in a browser. It's supposed to be 30 and when I run it in firefox it seems like 25. Think I should make my own Ornk graphic, or game or something. I've always liked them, although I was really turned off by the monotonous phrase, "This particular piece of livestock seems friendly enough, but has neither the ability nor the inclination to have a conversation with you." (Did I get that right?)

What makes me wonder is why he couldn't open it himself... I guess they all see things from the 3/4 isometric perspective.

Woah, that was quite a resurrection. I did enjoy this thread for what it's worth. Probably worth bringing back up! I always play that type of character! I just don't powergame quite as heavily. Still, my first run through Geneforge 4 left me at level 39 or 40 and I didn't bother with cleaning out towns. Hoo-haa: Leadership, Mechanics, and magic. That's where it's at.

There was an error with restarting (it being, you explode as soon as you try). I fixed it and uploaded the new version: play it here if you feel the need. Listen, you're zapping the Artila, but the game will regardless be called "Whack the Artila." It's what Haakai-Tender Valcrist wanted! (He just spelled "whack" as "wack" which is unacceptable to me). Anyway, I was going to make variations with Ornk (because they look particularly silly when killed) but I was so whacked out after making this (in one sitting) I decided against it. I have this nasty habit (of using too many parentheses).

Quote: Originally written by Haakai-Tender Valcrist: How about a in-game minigame as another Easter Egg.. "Wack the Artila!" Ask, and ye shall receive. Play Whack-the-Artila now!

It's actually like Groundhog Day. As soon as you die, you reawaken at the last point you pressed F3. On a side note, there should be a Load Game button on the death dialog. This is an easy implementation. More importantly, F4 should load the Quicksave file from that screen as well. It would save swing-and-miss players like me hours.

I was not, and now I'm entertained. I think the squished graphics were to fit in the interface, and not how they originally looked. Don't suppose you want a Fyora with a cannon on its back? I'm less into just images then I am into animation. I mean, The iPods crack me up, but I'd rather give a Roamer a wagging tail or make a Mage do the Moonwalk.

...huh? 15 gig, you mean? I think there's been some misunderstanding. Did you think I suggested we replace the sprites or something? I was just comparing them for the sake of the forum. The dancing Shaper, the zombiesque Shade, and the heavy metal Battle Alpha are there mostly because they are fun to watch. In fact, they were easy to make. Someone else should give it a try, and we can make a contest. Maybe someone wants a dancing Vlish, or Ornk... EDIT Vlish are totally unsuitable for dancing. Ornk aren't too limber, but look really funny when killed. Golems and Serviles off duty.

This thread is for discussion of graphics. This includes sprites, backgrounds, interfaces, and drawings. It is also a vessel for silliness. The first topic is the Shaper sprite. Others defending the pre-Geneforge 3 graphic won me over. Take a look:

After firing it up to get that screen shot at Mario's first level-up, I decided to play the ole game through.

I gotta admit, I thought that one was stiff and thin but looking back I do like it better. However I've never liked playing as a Shaper (the class, not the affiliation). This calls for a new thread on graphics, just because I want to.

Not very useful in battle, but other Creations run up and try to kill it impulsively.

Parry does have a sound effect. It's pretty slight, like a blade scraping another. Quote: Originally written by Randomizer: Your way would result in powergaming where most people would concentrate on what is usally perceived as the more powerful skills that are currently separated. You're probably right about that ... I just finished reading that month-old "Insidious Infiltrator" thread for Geneforge 4, and realize that powergamers aren't above downright raping a game. Say the skills shouldn't be clumped together. As is, does it bother anyone that there are skills you can't spend Skill Points on (Vampiric Touch, Stealth)?

I'd like to get my hands on the 3-D sprite for the old Shaper graphic. I bet it's just the robe colored black inside.