Ociporus

Since you mentioned that you replay the game(s), I decided to give A5 another go. Already finished off the rat lord again. Enough time has passed that I can't remember who gives the quest to negotiate with that giant in the cave (with all the goblin servants), since that's what his dialogue seems to suggest. All I know is that I can't sorta "take him out" yet. I would also like to see nicer graphics in the games, but that's not why I play them. It's the adventure. The surprise. Jeff's a really interesting writer, which I appreciate between sword hacks. It might be interesting if there was a bit more drama when, say, a boss says his last words. Maybe a little animation. But it's the imagination where SW games are played. Maybe with A6, and the enlarged windows it promises, the graphics might improve a bit. If anyone's good at graphics, maybe they could pass some samples on to SW. I know I'm not. I see Thuryl's got a neat little dragon as an avatar. Maybe that's a lead for a graphic artist. As a programmer myself, in an entirely different field than Jeff's, I can understand the inclination to include code one's made on one project into another that he's doing. Absolutely reasonable. When you're coding along it's so natural to say to yourself: "Self, you should really grab that code from Project X and plant it right here." If his two projects (A & G) benefit from each other, that's understandable. Even if ones complain about some similarities, there would be others that would bemoan: "If it works like such and such in this series, why not in this one?" For instance, the long-distance walking. I say let him make the best product he can. The premise of both series are different; in one you are a lone adventurer surrounding yourself with beings you make. In the other you are a tight-knit group trying to survive. The stories are different enough. I'm glad that Jeff's incorporated some improvements from Geneforge into Avernum's world.

I agree with some posts that A4 had a lot of annoying chitrachs (as have others in the series) and was hack,hack,hack. But the fact is, once all the hacking was done and the game was won, you kinda missed having something to hack at.

Okay. I know they'll still get charmed at times. But a little intelligence makes their minor priest skills actually provide some pop. I usually let them heal themselves after a battle rather than taxing the priest. During battle is not the time for a warrior to have to heal himself, of course. It's a small investment to give the warriors a little bit of self-healing. Besides, the dude's going to have a fun time playing even with what he's started with.

Very interesting choices. While one can beef up the mage spells ability and the priest spells ability right away, the fact is it takes time to find and purchase these spells, so there's no reason to be impatient. Intelligence is vital for serious spellsters. You'll have a fun time, and welcome to Avernum! Many adventures await.

I like having my priest and mage have some archery skill to cut down the SP usages, just like you have. As madrigan says, I like having someone (I actually use the first fighter) to have sword skill. You can also give the fighters a bit of intelligence (not too much... ;>) and one or two levels of priest spells and they can cast minor heal and cure. It doesn't take much for them to have at least 25 SP and that's lots of healing. You can bump up their priest ability pretty quickly. Since we all know they should have an intelligence of 3 to avoid getting controlled later why not give them some priest spells? Mage spells for a fighter don't seem to be as good just because of the armor and how it disables your ability to cast mage spells. But later in the game after my fighters were stronger I seem to remember being able to cast a fire bolt or to despite having lots of armor on. Casting a good old firebolt at someone you can't (or don't want to) reach right off is a good policy. Run up a few steps and let 'em have it! That smarts! The stuff I have above is more for developing characters. The 2nd guy can just get some melee skill and he'll be able to swing the sword just fine whenever he's not picking someone off with an arrow. The swords can inflict a lot more damage than a little arrow in this game. Get in there and hack... You should do just fine.

I would say that each game has been "the best" at some point. The old exile series was captivating. I liked the golems in E3. Getting the trogs & giants to war. Helping old Erica. The quick-fire egg that destroyed an entire building while we ran for our lives. I was initially disappointed when the exile series basically went through a re-write with Avernum. First disappointment: party size decreased from six to four. However it was fun to re-play the exile series via avernum and I enjoyed some of the improvements in gameplay. I haven't bothered with the Geneforge series; seemed a bit hokey on my first impression(s) and never got past that. Anyway, this is not the place to comment on that. I also liked the vast distances between cities, though I must admit getting lost at times. Especially before the notes, I used to have to map out dungeons. I used grid paper for that. Even though people on this forum don't like the head-banging of finding hidden doors, we all used to enjoy it at the time. In conclusion, each game as it has come out has compelled me to waste lots of time (invest it?) on the game until I got it done. Late nights. It's not often that I get so into something that I let it deprive me of sleep. I think that's been the experience of lots of you guys (and gals?). What better comment could we make than admitting that the games have been addictive. I've never played any of them twice through, but I have replayed certain parts via the saved games. The best game? Each one as it has come out!

So if the early games are converted, I guess the switches just need to be placed somewhere. I suppose that would add some new challenge for ones that played the old games enough so as to roughly remember where the hidden areas were -- they would need to find the switch that opened access to it. Or multiple switches... Also, given that movement tends to be by mouse now instead of the venerable old keyboard keys (which I find confusion now that NORTH is skewed to the top-right) bumping into walls to discover hidden doors is even more tough.

Since there has been so much debate about what people want to see in A6 and whether there will be re-writes of Exile & A1-3, it is a valid question. I thought it [invisible walls] added to the atmosphere of the old games. A little more tension. Maybe a little more reward for fastidiousness.

Avernum's filled with epic stories of its past heros. You occasionally come across some NPC's that tell you of them. What of being a "hero" that takes over the government instead of being just the lackey who does it for someone else? Of course, you could always refuse to do so. Read: Alexander the Great. Forged a great empire.

I remember the old days of exile and early avernum -- bumping head first into walls to see if there was an invisible one. I'd wait until I'd cleared the dungeon of all nasties, then systematically bump along until I found the special treasure I just knew had to be there. I remember the sudden rush I felt when my careful probing found a previously-invisible access! I'd momentarily pause, because either treasure and/or a powerful foe was awaiting me. Sometimes one invisible door led to another! Sometimes I'd rest for a bit in that secret spot. Then upon exit, there were tons more enemies waiting for me! (A3??). Then there was also the farsight spell to spot particularly difficult invisible areas. A labor-intensive process you say? Too hard? So what's your opinion? Do you prefer the invisible doors or the obvious light-switches? (I call them "light-switches" because of their appearance).

Even if you could get to Gladwell at the point in the game where you are at right now, you'd be clobbered into pellets, burnt to a crisp --- in short, dead meat. Actually, that would happen before you even got sight of him -- he's got servants, you know...

You can choose to be the "Man with No Name." But I thought the whole thing about Avernum's history of heros is that they MAKE a name. It's been that way since A1 (and Exile). And we are not talking about a western... :>

First off, just checked the info about Geneforge 5 and saw that the game window will be RESIZEABLE! That was my number one desire for A6, so I'm getting my hopes up. Jeff does a great job, so no doubt it will be well worth playing. Even more so with more vision of the "board". I was kinda ticked that other guys took advantage of my efforts in A5 and took the Empire's throne. Typical Avernum ending. I'd like to get the chance to get that for myself. Either that, or knock off the Empire and start my own "dynasty". Even better, it would be great to battle it out against some armies on my own "side" in mortal combat at the initial "conclusion" to the epic. In A5, that would have meant taking out a few general's armies to assert my own power. The ending in A5 was just servitude to a dude who did not do anything to merit the throne. I'd like to see the opportunity to get it for myself.

XP Points.

Well, this is a "wish list" sort of discussion...and I wish A6 has a larger screen target. Being a computer programmer myself I understand that there are some issues Jeff may not want to worry about. But I wish... Quote: Originally written by Randomizer: Eschalon's problems come from the way the program that generates the lower level programming makes graphics calls. There are inefficiencies that Jeff avoids by his direct writing in C++ that weren't addressed in Eschalon. They hope to get these fixed in the next game. Window size occurs because Jeff reuses code and took most from games written for older systems.

What do you guys think about using more of the screen for either visual information or showing more area? Who really uses the small screen size for which the game has been made?

The ability to play the game on a higher resolution. It's been the same for ages. Why not be able to play at, say, 1280x1024 or 1680x1050? See more of the area, etc. I also wish you could get the "ultimate spells" and actually use them for more of the game. Just when you hit your peak, you retire? I don't think so! But that's what happens now.

I recall it being quite easy. I think I took the guard out instead of sneaking, then checked out the spellbooks and got the item for you-know-who. Then it's easy to leave from there. Afterward I got betrayed by the Anama, I went in and blasted everyone in their city, collecting lots of goodies. It's not hard to blitz the city.

I've tended to like one human sword fighter, one slith pole fighter (there tends to be "ultimate" weapons of both varieties), one mage/archer, and one priest/archer that tends to pick locks. I get both mage & priest some skill with bows so they don't need to use offensive spells all the time. Over time, the mage gets some priest skill (healing) and the priest gets some mage skill (fireball). I recall that in one of the avernum games I had significant cross-over of mage & priests. Very significant. High levels of both in each character. But can't recall which one it was for sure (A3?). I like the torment level, too.

Regarding Food; It should be a given that adventurers are sort of collecting/killing and devouring food as they travel along. Just like it is assumed they are camping out when tired. I personally like not having to worry about getting "hunting skill" and so on. If an able-bodied adventurer can't catch something to eat... It is kinda funny, though, that eating restores HP. Right in the middle of a fight, eat an apple and be healed! Not practical later in the game with more damage, but sure helpful during the first couple dozen hours.

Anyone do the game as Anama without creatively "NOT" doing it? The work-arounds seem interesting and it is fun to outsmart the game. However, just wondering about ones who did it as "genuine" Anama. {Not to criticize the ones who got the cheese without getting trapped.}

Just wondering what comments you have about having played A5 as an Anama. Not really fishing for comments about NOT wanting to do so (I know there's lots of that feeling around :>) But from those who actually did it, even if just to do the game differently. I did A3 as an Anama once. Still completed the game. The offensive priest spells were very powerful by the time I "converted".

Thanks, guys. I'd seen those "fake" buttons, but missed that obvious first one; obvious once it's pointed out to me. I also never would have seen that mage's body with the tip; thanks.

I got at one of the spellbooks-behind the locked door. However, on the lower (?) level there is one you can see on a ledge but can't easily get at. Any clues on how to reach it? Portal travel has done nothing and I can't seem to see any buttons for concealed doors.

Talking to Sorengard in the Sentinel Workshop, it seems that he may not be truly "guilty" of conspiracy. There are a number of possibilities. 1) Kill, as Solberg wants. 2) Tell him that Solberg thinks he is a traitor 3) Don't mention Solberg's opinion and let him free. He isn't hard to do in. However, what have you guys done and how did it seem to impact the game? I did (3) and Solberg's pretty ticked off. Does it turn out that he's aligned with the Darkside Loyalists? Any other interesting ramifications?