Shaper Mateus

Thanks, I'll see what I can do with those abilities.

Shame G5 only accepts two new items though... I was thinking about creating entire sets of items (good but not great, and certainly not that good by the endgame) and trying to stick with them throughout the entire game. Might do that to Geneforge 2 or something though.

Regular attack, plus temporal field. I know I can give its normal attack an ability (not sure if it can work like temporal field), but what I really wanted was to give the sword a "use" ability, like the one you find in crystals, but I also wanted the sword to retain its normal attack. That would give it two possible purposes, and would probably increase gameplay versatility.

 

I also find it a shame that you can't have more than one attack ability on a weapon without upgrading it ingame on a forge (slow/curse/acid/cold/fire sword FTW)

From best to worst imo:

 

G1: Best of them all, hands down. Even with its atrocious gameplay (compared to G4 and beyond) and lack of spells, I still can't resist it. Plus the geneforge, the big secret and the final boss of the inner crypt make it even better.

Did I also mention that you have complete freedom when playing the game? Heck, you don't even have to join a faction to get that factions ending!

 

G5: I like G2 as much as G5, but G5's gameplay give it the edge. All around awesome, but the fact that you can't use an Uber Geneforge like the one in 1 spoils the experience a tidbit for me (I know it is hinted that the PC had used one at some point or the other, but even so...). I also don't like the fact that you can't have a satisfying "you blow everyone up and eventually everything starts over" unaligned ending. I also really don't find any of the factions particularly likeable except Alwan's, and that makes multiple playthroughs a bit hard for me.

 

G2: Runner-up for second spot, even though there is no human-compatible geneforge here, the factions are probably the most interesting of the 5 games. There is the guilt ridden shaper, the cool (mostly) peaceful Awakened, the takers (I don't really like them, but I can kill them so that's a plus), and of course the greatest faction that has ever existed in any geneforge game: the Barzites. God help whoever tries to defy the Barzites.

 

G4: Nice new interface, but the lack of different factions made it grow old too fast. Still pretty good, and worthy of a few playthroughs.

 

G3: I didn't find it BAD, but it certainly wasn't as good as all the other geneforges. The lack of different factions and the island system were it's worst flaws, but even so I really enjoyed playing as a canister addicted shaper whose sole purpose in life was to destroy ALL rebels.

I've recently started to modify the scripts for all geneforge games to add some extra fun and replay value, but now I've run out of ideas for new script changes. I also have some questions:

 

Question 1:

Is creature decay in the scripts? I'd like to remove that feature but I can't seem to find it (I currently believe it is not, but I would like a second opinion if possible);

 

Question 2:

Other than running out of numbers, is there a limit to how many items/creatures/etc I can create in a given game? I seem to recall reading about how there was a maximum of two new items for geneforge 5;

 

Question 3:

Without removing/adding charges, is it possible to create an item (like a sword) with a "use" ability similiar to that of a crystal (for example, a sword that could be "used" to create a temporal field)?;

 

Also, please send me new ideas for script changes;

 

This is what I've currently accomplished:

 

- Modified some existing creatures (My favorite modification so far was a "coloradj = 64" (Unbound Color) plated clawbug with a poison sting);

 

- Created new weapons and charms, with new abilities, weight, damage, and color (nothing too fancy);

 

- Removed weight from items in previous Geneforge games, since I really hated the old encumbrance system;

 

- Removed ammo requirement from batons, and charges from other items;

 

- Changed the shaper and guardian models to the old geneforge 1/2 models (Those looked much better imo)

 

- Other minor stuff;

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions you make

It's very easy to have your own fortress/house/domain in any geneforge. I have done it ever since geneforge 1, and here's how you do it:

 

- explore the map, and find a nice place you like, preferably a small town

- if you just want a house, choose one in that town and claim it for yourself (hopefully no one inside that house will mind to be thrown out)

-if you want an entire town, go into battle mode and strip it clean of all life

 

if this has been made correctly, you now have a functional house/shelter/town/city/fortress to call your own

 

PS: Killing everything in some cities, especially in G1 and G2 will make you an enemy of that city's faction forever so make sure you hate that faction enough before proceeding with the slaughter

yea canisters do have some side effects, but who knows? if development continues maybe canisters will become perfect, inducing no madness whatsoever (of course since the leading researchers of canisters have been presumably slain, then that won't happen )

1- Alwan

 

2- a dead rebel is a nice rebel

 

3- Barzites (embrace the power of evolution you fools!). Regular shapers are nice too.

 

4- Mass Madness

 

5- Artila

 

6- 9

this was in another thread already.

 

Favorite character? myself (the player)

edit talk scripts of a city, so that someone there will give whatever you want when you ask them for "the god items". That's what i've done.

just delete the "nº of charges"

also, delete the nº of charges of crystals as well and... well you know what will happen (3 attacks unhastened, resulting in catastrophic damage every turn, especially with madness and torrent gems)

meh ended up without ammo before i got to moseh, probably due to bad management, so i decided to edit scripts (i love doing that). Now batons didn't need ammo, but i was still bored so i decided to make a living tool that acts as a weapon and shoots reapers out of fun, needless to say that made me get bored even quicker oh well... better edit more scripts to check the possibilities, thanks a lot Jeff for giving me the opportunity to wreak havoc among the people of terrestia

well I'm off to rocky point then, thanks (I probably shouldn't go near Eliza for the time being, with all the pro rebel stuff and all...)

in case anyone cares (which i doubt), my baton servile has reached illya by now. He can deal around 55 damage with venom batons with 8 in missile weapons. Using 2 icy crystals and one regular attack in a turn can be quite devastating (i dealt ~110 damage to Shaila with the crystals and ~50 with the baton, therefore killing her in 1 turn) The servile's endurance and daze also helps a lot. It's going better than i thought.

 

EDIT: does anyone know where the first acid baton appears?

i was just thinking, what type of damage do batons deal? thorn baton is obviously physical, while the acid and venom batons are probably 50% magical/50% physical. I'm not sure about the submission baton, i thought that maybe it had a bit of magic too, and I'm blank with the reapers.

 

Forget about mass madness I've seen all endings except the canister free pro-rebel, so unless anyone tells me how that ending goes, I'm not gonna use a single canister.

Hi i was thinking about making a servile singleton that can only use a baton (crystals are acceptable too). For that i would put most points into missile weapons (maybe up to 20 or something). As anyone ever tried to do something like this? is it effective? What kind of spells should i use to support myself? (battle magic is out of question, blessing is a must, and healing craft too to some degree, will mental magic help me?)

 

I've just finished the game with a pro-shaper, canister free infiltrator with 25 in battle magic and 15 in spellcraft, so I'm kind of a magic dependent freak right now

i like most of your idea, however the customization idea seems too complex for Jeff to put it in the game, but who knows?

 

About the ruins and other people i agree completely. It's about time our curiosity is sated once and for all about the other inhabitants (or ex inhabitants) who live(d) around here.

G5- Shaper ending:

The only rebel outpost left was in the ashen isles, which was later destroyed by a small shaper army.

However it is then discovered that in an island near the ashen isles there are a few rogue creations and human rebels still hiding. The shapers don't wan't to take any chances, so they send you and a small scout party to investigate and measure the enemy forces

 

Your mission: check out the isle, probably destroy a geneforge or some uber powerful weapon or something and return home to give your report on the size of the enemy forces.

 

Who you are: probably an ex-rebel, infiltrator or even creation meant not to arouse suspicion. If you played as a human shapers wouldn't give you such a hard time, but it would be harder to gain the trust of the rebels and vice versa

 

Shaper support: a small camp at the start of the game and a few infiltrators hiding everywhere

 

Rebel support: Almost everything, since this is the last bastion of the rebels, you will find them desperate and needing help. even if they find out that you're a shaper infiltrator, some of them will try to recruit you into the rebel cause first, and kill you if you don't agree.

 

As for being a creation, you would probably be a servile like in g4 (you couldn't be much more, since most of the creations are too dumb to perform such a complex mission, and those who aren't are forbidden to be made), or some new creation made or whatever

i see we have another indy fan here

Oh and about spirit shaping:

 

It would basically be like magic shaping or battle shaping or whatever, giving you the power to shape creatures,but this time combining the power to raise the dead with the ability to use essence to augment them and make them resilient enough for combat.

 

Examples would be:

 

Shape Shade (shades are immune to poison)

 

Shades are ghosts brought back using special rituals, and in this case, strengthened by using essence. They are hard to hit and have a slowing cold touch, but have low hitpoints

 

Shape lvl 3 Shade - Wraith

Wraiths are an improved version of shades, much more essence is used in augmenting them, making them easier to be hit, but giving them a much more powerful attack and more hitpoints

 

Shape Golem

 

A golem is a shaper creation, an empty shell which can be used to bind a spirit. Golems host a powerful shade within them, giving them more power and intelligence than the normal golem. Golems can take a lot of punishment before they die and their fists can hit hard making them powerful creations.

 

Shape lvl 3 golem - Oozing golem

 

Unlike the normal golems, these golems have been infused with special essence to spread acid against attackers through wounds. These golems have immunity to acid and poison and spread acid to all nearby attackers when damaged.

 

etc etc. you know my point make 3 more creations that are connected with the spirit world and voila a new kind of shaping that can only be acquired by "regular" learning, and not by canisters, used by the sects of old is created.

 

Also the character choices could be:

 

Ritualist -

shaping: strong

magic: average

combat: weak

 

Channeler -

shaping: average

magic: strong

combat: weak

 

Eremite -

shaping: weak

magic: strong

combat: average

 

Paladin (yea i know the name isn't the best, but i can't come up with anything better)

shaping: weak

magic: average

combat:strong

 

meh just some ideas hope you like them

My idea is based on the trakovite ending:

Both factions are struggling for victory, and both the shapers and rebels are getting desperate to win this war.

 

On the mountainsides of western terrestia however, an old and forgotten sect still lives. They bellonged to the primitive people who once inhabited all of terrestia, but got wiped out by the shapers and were (supposedly) extinct. These people had a very strong connection with death and the spirit world and had the power to summon powerful spirits and bind them to their will.

 

The shapers and rebels, upon discovery of this long forgotten tribe journey to the mountains to take their power for their own. What else could be better than summoning the dead as new (recruits) for the war?

 

Both sides tried to obtain that power for their own using different methods:

 

- The shapers tried to trade knowledge with them, teaching them how to shape the most basic creations, inevitably causing a great number of rogue creations roaming the lands;

 

- The serviles and human part of the rebel faction used canisters to bribe them, causing many of them to become mad and aggressive, even to their own people, while the arrogant drakons threatened them into giving up their secrets, eventually findind out that creations didn't have the power to "spiritbind" (the ability to create spirits and bind them into this world"). Unfortunately for the drakons both the mad and still sane part of the sect had a large number of spirits which trapped the drakons in the mountains. The drakons tried to resist at first, destroying many spirits and their masters, but their forces weren't very large and they were forced to scatter and hide in the mountains.

 

Right, heres were the story begins:

 

These mountains are now filled with rogue creations made by rebels, shapers and the sect members trying to use their newfound powers, sect members maddened by the power of the cannisters, who became aggressive against everyone, even their own, and also confused spirits who lost the connection to their former masters and now attack anything they see.

 

You are not a shaper or a rebel, instead you are part of this sect.

 

Your small village is attacked by a horde of fleeing drakons and you must escape. You find a cannister and you learn how to shape. A new addition is that you can also "spiritbind" or "spirit shape" or whatever, giving you necromantic powers (raising spirits, maybe half creation, half dead abominations too) adding many more options to the gameplay.

 

Your mission is too reach the main city of (dunno the name), the last bastion for the still sane part of your sect, and until then you are contacted by the shapers, who scorn you at first for using forbidden magic (necromancy) and having used a canister too, but also know that you can be of use to them, by the human and servile part of the rebellion, who offer you cannisters and power if you help them destroy the shapers in the mountains, and even the maddened sect members (who are similar to the barzites, making huge armies of rogue creations and using every canister they find) giving you the opportunity to join them and embrace true power. The drakons play a minor role in this story as they are hated by the sect, by the shapers and by the rebels who have no love for them, giving you freedom to kill them (it will be hard to help them in any way as their arrogance is too great).

 

In the end you would discover a geneforge made by the maddened sect who were aided by the leader of the drakon expedition, [insert name here], giving you the possibility to use it, destroy it, etc

 

Possible endings could be:

 

Shaper: You destroy the geneforge, you don't use it and you kill mad sect members and rebels - The shapers are indebted with your help and with the knowledge you gave them. With it, they summoned armies of dead and rallied them against the unbound. No matter how powerful they were, the unbound couldn't stand against every single "casualty" the war had until now. In the end the rebels were destroyed, but the cruel shapers, considering necromancy a forbidden art, destroyed your people and every evidence they could find that it ever existed including you (if you took canisters) or they spared you because of your service to the shapers as long as you promised to never use necromancy ever again (if you took almost no canisters).

 

Rebels: You help the human part of the rebellion rally an immensely powerful army of creations and spirits, that was taken into shaper territory. However the rebels knew best and eradicated drakons and the unbound too, as they had become too dangerous. You and your people were well compensated for you service and you became know to everyone, however the canisters and the power they represented was to great for someone like you, and in the end you became mad and obsessed with power, striking fear into everyone who crossed your ways. In the end you were sent into exile so that you caused no further damage (using canisters), or you achieved a great position of influence in the rebel society. you acquired a great deal of wealth and power and you were remembered as one of the great saviors of the rebellion.

 

Madness: You joined the mad part of the sect and used the geneforge. Soon after information started to escape of your doings and both rebel and shaper factions tried to stop you and your new faction from gaining power, however by the time they got there you and many others had already bathed in the awesome power of the geneforge. The war didn't last long as you side came victorious. The next years were marked by the fall of the shapers and rebels. The earth was scorched and all that remained were blasted landscapes and horrid abominations roaming the earth. You and your brethren however were too powerful to care. No rogue dared to get near any of you, and even if any new faction could arise from the ashes, it stood no chance against an army of gods. In time you became immune to disease, to weapons and even to age itself, at the cost of sanity. Petty struggles within your own sects started to arise and in the end nothing was left, except for a small band of outcasts who had spent the last years hiding from your tyranny, who now had to rebuild an entire world and avoid extinction.

 

geneforge: You used the geneforge and destroyed it, along with all the other sects, and escaped by yourself out the mountains - You became the most powerful being in the world, capable of summoning dead and creating living servants, making you almost a god. information of your deeds ran across the land and both the shapers and rebels tried to use you for your purposes, but you prefered to erect your own kingdom and destroy all other factions. In the end you were able to shape yourself so profoundly using both shaping and necromantic magic that you were able to evade even death. You kingdom lasted for countless centuries, as nothing could oppose you. You lived shrouded by your own ego and insanity forever, ruling a kingdom of slaves bound to your demented will, and you lived for a very, very long time.

 

I didn't specify names for the sect or anything else cause im not good at making them up.

 

I´m portuguese and i didn't check my spelling, so im sorry for any grammar errors

 

I think this would be a good change of plot for geneforge as you would be seeing the war from another perspective, also you could explore more into the old sects and their powerful magic, and it would also give a good ending for the story (of course if jeff wanted the war to continue, he could just write: BUT others from your sect survived and joined with the shapers and rebels, also giving their knowledge to them and bla bla bla long war....

 

I really don't wanna read my post as it is VERY long, so i apologize of something's unclear, or anything.