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Upon Mars.

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    Direct Democracy

    in General

    Posted

    I do not and cannot not pretend to know what would happen if such a thing such as a "direct democracy" should function; Alex you need to define it first, before we get mixed up with such individual representations which are at their core myths, conjured up from thin air and fantasy.

    First game recommendation

    in General

    Posted

    Hi, welcome to Spiderwebsoftware forums! To Answer to your question I'd say: it really depends on what you whish for. Nethergate and Avernum are nice for a beginning. I don't know about Avadon and you can start with any game in the geneforge series without having to play the precedent one (although I tend to beleive that the first one was the best and the most compelling one.)

    What is Jeff working on now?

    in General

    Posted

    Oh, G1 is definitely still playable and still fun :)

     

    -springacres, who spent part of her weekend playing through the demo instead of working on her English paper :whistle:

     

    :) Ha! There I knew I wasn't the only one!

     

    It's worth stressing that the Geneforge remakes are very much on the horizon things, not anything actively being worked on. There are more Avernum remakes and more Avadon sequels to go, and possibly at a slower release rate. Then Jeff will look at the state of compatibility and his current graphics and game design principles and think about remakes.

     

    —Alorael, who definitely thinks G1 shows its age even now. But it's still playable and it's still fun. Will it need a remake? One day, but not today and not tomorrow either.

     

    I don't know really, the first reviews of geneforge talked about "bad graphics". I actually don't care that much. I'm more concerned about the epic plot and story-line. I feel there's just so much more you can do in a game like this one.

    Geneforge Writing

    in Geneforge Series - Originals

    Posted · Edited by Upon Mars.

    A little taste of things to come :

     

    "On the mainland, there is a story of a man who, because of his wife's want for a neckless which would make the wearer the fairest woman in the world, left for a far away kingdom, stole the neckless and came back. When the wife put the neckless on she immediately saw that it had no effect whatsoever on her beauty. She scolded her husband for calling her the most beautiful woman in the world when she asked how she looked like, and told him that he could go far away and die for all she cared. Something which he did, for the neckless you see, though it did not turn the wearer anymore fairer, it had the power to make men to do the will of it's wearer, future or present. Evrey day, the greiving wife with the neckless sits by the window calling out for her husband. "Come back." She cries, till the end of her days for something she will never have."

     

    -The tale of the woman and the neckless, from the Stone and the Hammer. Copywrigt webs.

     

    http://www.freewebs....3-eastern-docks

     

    Chapters have been re-edited and more will follow here:

     

    http://www.freewebs....neforgeremaker/

    http://www.freewebs....1-the-sentinels

    http://www.freewebs....ter-1-departure

    http://www.freewebs....hapter-17-tombs

    http://www.freewebs....3-eastern-docks

    http://www.freewebs....18-thorny-woods

    http://www.freewebs....-16-pentil-east

    http://members.webs....381843-epilogue

    http://members.webs....0178665-diazard :

     

    "And Faestasis was brought up upon a seat of stane: 'Sit here. Thou arte condemed as long as thee lives to have eyes plucked by the wind and feet made bare by mountain's rock, oh weih thing! Thee mocks me with thy presence for words by men turn the powers to shame. Thee call me a liar, when I say that man is a passerby from a distant land. As long as this kin lives they will be cursed with the crutches of tools; without them they will live no longer than a fly. You will sing in the feilds for fear of snakes, of the night's breeds and falling lost. Thee shall live in discomfort. If thee is wealthy then thee will make great things under the sun, but it will have bred crimes. Thee are condemned to see with my eyes and hear with my hears, so that thee shall see himself as one gazes over a pond. Clouds of doom shall follow man wherever thee goes. Whenever thee shall speak he will know no native toungue. In thy knowledge's thee be thrice ignorant. If one is known amongst his kin, some will turn against him. Thee will suffer emptiness, and inequity for the daily life is cheifest of man's crimes. The fire thee sought to tame, a brand is now placed in thy heart, so that what thee desire will never hold lest it burn. Thee will live cursing life and death. This is my prediction on to thee, man.'

    'Then I repent, cursing life, cursing death and thee as well' Said Faestasis shackled upon stane, 'for men will now live in vengence of life and in error!'"

     

    -The tragedy of Faestasis, kinslayer.

     

    http://www.freewebs....r-19-the-bridge

    http://www.freewebs....0-holding-cells

     

    Chapter 9 is finished:

    http://www.freewebs....9611350-control

     

    Extract:

     

    "Andras drank a blessing pod and moved quietly north, checking for roamers coming his way then south when the way was clear. Lights went on and off as he moved triggered by his presence; the whole place lit up as the guards went in and out the tunnels. Trip wires were everywhere. A breath could set them off. Andras moved between them. He nearly breathed too hard. One of the thread nearly broke. Fully concentrated, Andras's wiped his frown before a droplet could fall, breathing lightly, not thinking about the roamers always ready to pounce should they see him. Andras could manage to access the wide corridor without too much hindrance. Andras faced a door. The door was locked but Andras used a living and spells to open it. Beyond it were the bones and remains of serviles, their bones cracked, their amour shattered, their weaponry broken, their possessions laid on the ground. A display of pure power. He continued north into the main hall with artilas bags opened and four fyoras behind. Andras started to feel uncomfortable. Nervous. As if he was being watched, sensed, probed. Shuffling back and forth, nervously, trying to resist the urge to flee. Then Andras breathed. His mind clearing. Shapers are immune to such tricks. There was an intelligence nearby, twisted, strange, probing, attempting to influence him. The apprentice recognised the feeling. Creations sometimes emanate such vibrations. It is a sure sign of a dangerous rogue. The vibrations made Andras' head ache. Andras took out his discipline wand and began to tread deep into the dark main hall. The stink of death was all around him and so was the throughts of Warp of Spiral borrows. In the centre of the hall, the green well shaped creation appeared raising it's tentacle, killing a fyora from a distance. Its mind took over another Andras' fyora, enraging it. Andras fyoras bolted against Warp's charmed fyora. Andras shot two crystals at warp and raised the wand twice, four times missing it. Then something began to slash his back from behind, the fyora was covered with human blood. The fyora had killed one of it's kind, frightened one away with a savage swing of it's tale and moved against it's former master. The two artilas fell from the bag and retaliated. The foyra was struck dead in two blows. Warp fired at Andras missing him. Andras fired yet two other crystals, searing the ground with ice. He then advanced dangerously closer, tried hitting it with a crystal and fired his wand for the third time. On the third struck, the wand finally broke the skin of the vlish, blood oozing out of the skin. The artilas spat again, but Warp, stunned evaded the blows and fired at Andras's creations, seriously injuring an artila. Then Warp tried to turn and twist the mind of Andras, damaging the tissues with magical radiation. Andras fired the wand for the last time. It seared Warped which screamed. With one desperate lounge Andras jumped on Warp, pouring fire into it´s mouth. The creature tried feebley to use it´s stinger to kill Andras. Andras broke the ostentatious stinger, took a stone and began crushing the creature's skull with it. Andras rose up, his hand red with blood: Warp was no more. Andras checked for two more charges in the wand and kept it. He might have to use it against the servant mind. It was still alive and functioning, though it was clearly weak from lack of nutrients when the Shaper apprentice arrived."

     

    .

    These games need a time machine to be good..

    in General

    Posted

    Most people here find Jeff's games pretty easy on Easy/Casual, especially in the second half of the game; but I think Jeff knows that some people still have a lot of trouble with them. He sees this as a serious problem and tries hard to fix it, but it's not as easy as you'd think.

     

    RPGs are all about building up your character over many levels. There have to be a lot of options, or it's boring. But that means that, by the middle of the game, there are really a lot of different character builds and equipment sets. Jeff's biggest problem seems to be that quite a few of these possible builds are bad. Most people seem to avoid those bad branches of the build tree, but some people do get stuck in them. If this happens to you, then the games do indeed become really hard. You might not know it, but you're character is totally gimped. You're playing on Easy, but you're playing with both hands tied behind your back and your head in a bucket, because you've been making bad skill choices for ten levels or so.

     

    Maybe what Jeff's games most lack is some kind of ongoing tutorial or hint system to advise novice players on character building.

     

    That's partly why you have forums and for those who don't have access or whish to access internet pages there are some indications, for example in GI, where a player should invest, although I must admit this is sometimes not enough.

     

    These games have some potential with storytelling but lack so many other areas its sad. I bought and played Avernum/Exile 1 years ago and enjoyed the game until I got farther. Once you get further in these games they become pointlessly frustrating as the creator simply edits it be to impossible on easy. I came back now to try the next thing on the list-nothing's changed. Same good story, NO literal polish to mechanics. 2nd game I tried was Geneforge 2. I read the forums and gave it a shot seeing as its the most popular game in the series. It started out nice and then like other game become one dead baby after another.

     

    1#The story is good so I will just him that.

    2#The worlds he creates are excellent too.

    3#The creator needs a class in common sense class with game balancing. He has enemies which are blue and they hit me for damage. Sometimes with swords and sometimes with thrown. The damage is never even close to the same which makes the game frustrating, unpredictable and unbalanced.

    4#The creator has no common sense with power in his games. He claims shapers are all powerful yet creations middle in the game can kill me with 1 shot with full armor and magic equips. That shouldn't happen. When my character is this all-powerful good or bad guy, that would mean each of the characters are hacks.

    5#This guy makes some rooms have impossible outcomes. He would send plants to get like 3 attacks each, each with 2 attacks per round, only fight or flight to get through it. There are 10 plants in the room. Get the hell outta here. This guy is not with all of us if he thinks that is realistic. He claims there are multiple ways around each puzzle.

    6#Combat tactics are nonexistent. You basically will be switching your tactics for every enemy which is more than confusing. You got to remember if someone is red and their sword is darkish red then they prefer melee and don't go with missiles.

    To top this off, I did most of each games on easy and still had a terribly frustrating time.

    These games are good if your a sado-masochist and enjoy pain and frustration.

     

    I did a little spelunking on a few forums where the new games are hosted. After all these years, his new games still suffer from ALL of the same balancing issues and abnormal issues. So this guy is writing cheap games, never making them feasible for general public and the only gamers that can play it is that fat, turkey-gobbler-neck loser from the simpsons.

     

    Umm.... yeah. Pretty [censored]ing sad.

     

    He should get a time-machine and resurrect Gary Gygax. He's a nerd but was an ACTUAL human being. The others are just wasted, disused experiments that no one cares about. Gygax might set this guy straight. Bet the first friggin thing he does when he sees this is put his hands to his face.

     

    So check your neck and make sure you don't have one and check your arms to make sure you don't get bat wings either. They suck too.

     

    Plotwise, in G2 you stand up against creatures designed to battle against Shapers and Shaper forces. A few apprentices are doomed to have their behinds bleached. I am not surprised at all that things are getting hard because frankly this game is hard. It's not a walk in the park. Yes it's unpredictable, yes there are flaws, but if you feel that the game is being too rough, then try stealthing your way, picking on casual rogues and so on. Become Batman! :)

     

    Also, if you feel so frustrated, angry and bitter, here's a word of advice: go write a book. Or a journal about your life. I write and it makes me feel better, but a journal is even more private.

     

    Cordially,

     

    Upon mars.

     

    P.S: Welcome to spiderweb software. Please leave your sanity on the coat hanger and follow us where one is never the master of his own house.

    Will Jeff consider adding Romance Options in Geneforge Remakes

    in Geneforge Series - Originals

    Posted

    "Romantics" have been a minor aspect of G1, be it the serviles and perhaps Masha. In G1, the only information develloped about the serviles is that to have "bonding rituals" and are seen as monogamous, and capable of love as human beings, be it on Sucia Isle or the mainland. The serviles, are according to Freud´s terms, like "normal" people; they both have a job and are capable of love.

     

    After that I am largley ignorant of why and how romance is used in later games.

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