Callie

Mine hasn't changed since the last time.

Spiderweb Software recently changed its policy in regards to discounts. You will not receive a discount for Avernum: Crystal Souls, unfortunately. You can get the hint book for free, though.

1. Yes, use the call species_in_party(short which_species). If it works the way it did in BoA, species 0 is human, 2 is Nephil, and 3 is Slithzerikai. The call will return 1 if there is a live member of that species in the party, 0 otherwise. I've only seen this call used in the dialog text for Gnass, usually the nephil_present or slith_present call is used. 2. Remove the call party_has_item(328) from t70door.txt and t70Fort Ganrick.txt. You should also remove the ok_dlg calls so that the messages don't pop up. For t70door.txt edit the conditional containing party_has_item(328) in the USE_STATE to this: if (gf(3,24) == 0) end(); For t70Fort Ganrick.txt change this: if ((gf(70,16) == 0) && (party_has_item_equip(328)) ) { sf(70,16,1); ok_dlog(47,1); } to this: if (gf(70,16) == 0) sf(70,16,1); 3. All of the doors work with set memory cells that are hardcoded. It's possible to make the door open to begin with by either using the which_town() == 82 call or set_terrain, or some combination thereof. I don't know what the terrain number for an open door is (it's not in a2floorster.txt!), though, so I'd tackle it by conditionally forcing all the doors open in town 82 by editing door.txt. Edit: doors are defined as objects, so the set_terrain call would be useless. The requisite calls are object_type and set_object_icon 4. The states which actually call the message boxes are hard coded. You can edit the dialog by looking at t12Agierachtxt.txt

Twenty-seven unused wisdom crystals. *twitches*

Exile II was my first RPG, and now, I've just finished its second reincarnation. I had fun, but there are some issues I'd like to point out. I first started the game with a Tank/Archer/Mage/Priest setup because that's what I like best for the purpose of actually playing the role of adventurers. I was disappointed to find that Bows is a useless skill: archery has an inferior damage output, and the skills unlocked by melee/pole are superior to those unlocked by bows/thrown. I had a Slith and Nephil, but found that humans are superior because of the extra traits. I restarted the game with a tank, priest/mage, mage, and priest (all human). At first, the tank was useful because it soaked up damage from incoming attackers; however, its damage output was extremely outmatched by that of my spellcasters. By the time I unlocked adrenaline rush for my spellcasters, I could merely wipe out mobs in the first turn—my tank became useless. I estimate that my tank inflicted 2% of the total damage, seriously. Combat in Crystal Souls is woefully imbalanced. Adrenaline Rush is laughably overpowered; there is no need to use the other disciplines once you unlock it. I was disappointed to find that the NPCs/monsters never use Adrenaline Rush. As I've pointed out, ranged weapons are useless and melee/pole is underpowered. Spells not only inflict damage to multiple foes simultaneously, they also do far more damage per target than weapons. The spells themselves were also imbalanced. Haste sometimes gives the party battle frenzy at level 3, but NPCs don't seem to have level 3 haste. Once you unlock a spell with a higher damage output, there's no need to use the lower leveled ones. Unless the monsters were immune to energy damage, I mostly used Divine Retribution and Arcane Blow. Divine retribution also slows enemies once you buy the second level, what more could you ask for? I loved having more slots in the spirit prism, but I didn't really need them. All you need is a lich or a haakai; they make combat trivial by granting 20+ turns of battle frenzy. The other summoning spells are useless, and the priest's shade summoning spells are particularly pointless. I used Daze early on, but didn't need it once I entered the Dark Waters. I never used Slow, Howl of Terror, Spray Acid, Cloak of Bolts, Cloak of Blades, Domination, Return Life (I just used scrolls), Divine Restoration, or any of the summoning spells besides Simulacrum. Cloak of the Arcane is the only cloak you need. Move Mountains and Ritual of Sanctification have combat abilities, but there's no reason to use them. Since I cleared most mobs in the first turn, I rarely used healing spells. I only used Curing a few times in the first chapter. I never needed Divine Restoration: Heal and Mass Healing were always adequate. There is too much money in the game. I could buy everything I wanted and then some. I never put skill points in Cave Lore because the rewards just aren't worth it. I also didn't use Luck or First Aid. Luck didn't seem as useful as Hardiness or Parry, and First Aid does the same thing as running back to town. I did like the wide variety of items in the game, but I usually didn't have to think about my choices. Wands weren't useful because my spellcasters could do more damage anyway. I didn't use potions or scrolls once I captured a lich in my sprit prism. Monsters have a wide variety of abilities, but I killed them rapidly. Jeff added many new groupthink creature scripts, which is great, except that they didn't seem to be used very often. I loved the variety of terrain and floor graphics. Monster graphics, on the other hand, needed more variety. Dervishes look like Elite Warriors. Efreets look like Shamblers. Chitrachs look horrendous. It was disappointing to see the removal of hydras, that was something I used to love about the Dark Waters and vahnatai lands. Instead, we have hellhounds, which I think were the most common non-humanoid monster in the game. Another problem with monsters: their immunities and resistances don't make any sense. Demons are somehow vulnerable to fire, as are Ruby Skeletons. Null bugs should be immune to magic because I could easily kill them immediately. There were some buggy things, too. If I positioned my tank in a doorway, a lot of monsters would just stand there. Mahdavi's dialog tree was confusing, and I had to go through lots of precursory nodes to finally get information or complete quests. Monsters that could use Battle Frenzy would use the ability even when they were already frenzied. When I got near the blue crystals in the Portal Fortress, a message dialog popped up twice every time I made a step, even in combat. I'm surprised that the beta testers seemingly didn't notice this stuff, especially the Mahdavi issue. Another thing: the Garzahd fight was underwhelming. Overall, the tale of the crystal souls is my favorite Spiderweb Software story, and it still is. This remake is disappointing, though, because it's imbalanced and combat is either trivial on Normal, pointlessly long on Hard, or tedious on Torment. I'd rate Avernum: Crystal Souls 6/10. In case anyone wants to know, this is what my party looked like:

I obliterated the doomguards in the second guardpost before they could even split.

There is a group heal scroll in the northwest corner of the Empire Archives that is, for some reason, set to property. Needless to say, I stole it like a proper adventurer.

You can buy two levels of move mountains from Caius in Formello. The third level of the spell can be learned from a tome in the bottom floor of the serpent cult, but you need some way to dispel the barrier.

There is a hidden switch a few spaces east of the door.

Mother Clarisse says she cures Dread Curse for a mandrake root and 1000 coins… but the script only deducts a mandrake root and 500 coins. begintalknode; state = 82; nextstate = 87; condition = dread_curse(0) > 0; question = "_Do you know how to heal people who are suffering a terrible curse?_"; text1 = "_Yes, I can. Even when it is deserved, I strongly dislike curses. I think they are unjust, and too easy to misuse._ She looks at you closely, sighs, and shakes her head. _I see that you have such a curse. I hope you are guilty of no wrongdoing._"; text2 = "_The ritual is very involved. It requires rare, expensive components. I will need 1000 coins and a mandrake root._"; begintalknode; state = 87; nextstate = 82; condition = party_has_item(293) && coins_amount() >= 500; question = "_All right._ Give root and money."; text1 = "She takes the components and begins to cast a very long, powerful, draining spell."; text2 = "You feel faint. You almost fall over. Then, sweat beading on her face, she completes the spell. You feel the weight of the curse lifted from you, but you feel very drained."; code = dread_curse(1); take_item(293); change_coins(-500); break;

Wow, I didn't know he could even cast Arcane Blow because he never used it on me. He often couldn't act because my divine retribution slowed him, and even when he did have a turn he mostly cast a summoning spell. Also, he only used the banishment trick on my Haakais, which didn't matter because they had already given me 20+ turns of battle frenzy.

Nah, you have to make this more interesting. From now on, all sentences must contain the ablative or vocative case.

Long have I traveled through the dim warrens of Avernum. I have wrested the Blessed Athame from Empire hands. I have consorted with many a friend: with the plebeians Ostoth, Enla, and Thompson, but more importantly, with the mighty mages Erika and Rentar-Ihrno. The king himself has bestowed upon me the mighty demonslayer. I have slain many an Empire foe, but now I seek only the Burning Reaches. Garzahd's fort is ominous. I rush in, blade in hand, and dispatch the warded infernals. Um… did I just kill them with divine fire? Hath hell frozen over? Is the mighty Garzahd taunting me with weaklings? Oh hey! A portal… and eye beasts! Meh. Can you handle six divine fires and three fireblasts? Losers. Oh noes! This Empire dude stole my soul! Six divine retributions! Three arcane blows! Empire dude takes a dirt nap. I regain my soul, kthxbai. Uh-oh, there's a bunch of lava and some gremli… er, I mean imps. 'sokay, I'll just read this book and make them go away. I'm finally here! *plays O Fortuna* I'd better buff up. Oh, and I'll bring along two haakais, they're totally rad. I am totes ready now. I meet Garzahd. He's all like, "Come at me bro. I am teh 1337 wizard!" What happened to your face, brah? Let's do spells together and stuff, 'mkay? Woosh! Quib! Kazam! Whoa bro, that is one gnarly cave widow you just summoned, I am totally shakin' in my pants. Uh… is that a cow patty you summoned? Nvm, it's a hortah thingamujiggit. Then Garzahd's all like, "I am teh ubergeneral. You can haz pointy sword?! Oh noes! My beautiful face!" Cool story bro, don't tell it again. Slow! Daze! Um… I have 10 resistance, and you're like, using spells I learned in high school. Oh hey, lightning. Whatevs, I'll just mass heal. Six divine retributions! Three arcane blows! Poof! Now he's a bunch of pipe ash. Wait, srsly? Man, it took me longer to kill that eye beast in Cotra. Then Rentar-Ihrno's all like, "Yo! Here's a portal, bai." Garzahd is a noob.

Thanks! I didn't even know you could press the space bar to wait. Also, this molten halberd is clearly better than Smite, but it's one quarter the value. It's disappointing that Smite got demoted.

By using the Orb of Thralni, one can access a small island north of Shaynee's shop. There is a group of what appears to be null bugs, and according to Randomizer's item list, the party is awarded a molten halberd upon killing them. The problem is that I can't actually trigger the fight: when I fly next to them I can't move. I also can't fly to the east of them. I've tried flying back and forth to no avail. How do I trigger the fight?

I haven't finished the game, but so far none of the battles are interesting. I have three spellcasters and a tank with adrenaline rush that almost always win the battle in the first turn. Sometimes I even get battle frenzy from a haste spell on top of that, which is just ridiculous.

One would think that the limit could be seen in Fort Dranlon's dialog text, but nooooo… the code just taunts me with run_hardcode(29);

This is why I miss the True Sight and Far Sight spells in the game's predecessors.

It's only the faction following Rentar-Ihrno that releases the plagues upon the Empire. It's revenge for stealing the crystal souls.

There's another one in the Northern Isles and also one in the Empire lands west of Fort Remote, per the item list.

I would venture a guess that the vahnatai's Resting began before the Avernite sliths were exiled from Bahssikava. In other words, although the vahnatai had once occupied Avernite lands, they would have never met the slithzerikai. Even if the vahnatai are forgetful, you'd think they'd remember encountering a whole other intelligent species.

I believe you need to find a drake tooth for Vincent to access that tome.

I'd be willing to beta test, if that's part of what you're asking.

There is actually no arcane lore trainer.

Honestly, I don't bother to conserve mana at all and just use the imdrained cheat. It's not any different from running back into town, and it saves a lot of time.