Clocknova

Has anyone else started checking the FTP server for that early download?

I love that the new portraits are essentially just new versions of the classic drawings, apparently also flipped vertically. They look great while retaining the flavor of the originals. Nicely done.

We love you, Jeff. I hope you keep rewriting your old games for as long as you continue to write new ones. It's such a wonderful thing to be able to replay newer, better versions the old adventures every few years. Some people may wonder why you spend so many resources rehashing old stuff, but not I, and probably not anyone else here. I wish more game companies would revisit their old classics and update them for modern operating systems and machines.

I hope that the next game will give us a world map that is fully explorable right from the start. The notion that I cannot explore an area until someone gives me a quest to go there drives me nuts.

Never could get into Geneforge, but I agree with you on Avernum 3, also my favorite for those reasons. I cannot wait to see it again in all its updated engine glory. Hopefully Jeff will make Avadon 2 a little more like Avernum 3. Nothing wrong with taking a sequel in a different direction (unless you're Dragon Age 2).

You'll find that kind of text used as placeholder in many of Apple's design programs, such as iWeb.

Actually, there's no rule that says that the expansion has to take place after the ending. Most expansions add optional middle content.

But then again, it seems that this whole game is about questioning my status as an unfeeling agent of an all-powerful institution. My comrades have each already acted in ways that a Hand of Avadon typically would not, and I have assisted them in doing so, meaning that my past behavior is already outside the norm for an agent in my position. Perhaps I am finally fed up with everything and have decided to take a stand right here. It could happen. It does happen. If I had been put through what my poor character has been put through, I might just snap and decide to go Rambo on these bad guys. You never know.

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES A remake is definitely not an expansion. I know it added (a tiny bit of) content; they are still two totally different things. True. True. But it seems to me that the design Jeff has chosen for Avadon lends itself better to expansions than that of Avernum (the later ones, especially). In the case of Avadon, Jeff can just design a whole new area map, have some NPC somewhere tell you to go there (which makes it pop up on your world map) and voila: a whole new adventure! The open, sandbox world of Avernum 6 would be harder to shoehorn new content into, though I definitely prefer that kind of world map and gameplay style to the multi-scale, you-can-only-go-there-if-someone-tells-you-it-exists style of Avadon.

Originally Posted By: madrigan Personally I just assume that since the characters don't know they are in a game, they have no way of knowing what is going to come out of that castle, so they would run until they know what is going on. At this point in Avadon, the characters don't really know who has framed them, or why. And from their perspective, combat isn't turn based, so there is no time to think about it. Better to flee until you can return in a somewhat more favorable tactical position. However, since I tend to place myself in the role that I am playing, I prefer to make in-game choices based on what I would do in that situation, not what I think some other person whose movements I am controlling would do. That Blademaster on the screen there is me. Would I run, or would I make my betrayer answer to my blade, no matter the consequences? Of course, in real life, if I were being hunted by an entire army of men and beasts, I'd run my ass off. But the idealized me that inhabits whatever RPG I happen to be playing would never, ever do so. Still, I understand that limits of technology, money, and manpower dictate certain design limitations, so I'm not mad, just irritated. I'll get over it, but the comments in my previous post stand; if you don't have any contingency planned for the story if I choose not to run, then design the game so that I can fight the good fight, die like a warrior, the reload and run like a coward.

I guess the whole thing would have seemed less awkward to me if, having fought my way into the first antechamber of the lower castle, I hadn't found myself standing in front of a closed gate in an empty room, with a couple of non-hostile people milling about on the other side as if nothing was wrong, only to have a small band of beasts materialize from nothing the moment I stepped outside. If Jeff really wanted me to go the other way, then perhaps he should have sent more bad guys. If I want to charge an army and nobly die in glorious battle like a fine Klingon warrior, then buy all means let me do so. It's no less a reasonable roleplaying choice than running for my life. But at least give me an army to dash myself against. Just sayin'.

I wonder if Jeff has ever considered expansions for his games. Even Basilisk got in on the action with the expansion for Eschalon Book II. Jeff could add some new areas, more side quests, and increase the level cap. Maybe an expansion could give the player some of the freedom I've been itching for. Overall, not a bad way to make a little more money off of an existing product and, as long as the quality and content are there, not a bad way for players to get more enjoyment from a game they already own.

Far more interesting to me is being able to advance the story the way I want to advance it. But then, I don't play RPGs to be told a story, I play them to explore and experience new worlds, and to play the roles that I choose.

I'm sure I'll finish it. But I'm too annoyed to finish it right now. If you ever played Deus Ex, you'll remember the part where you are forced to lose a fight to Gunther and be taken prisoner. I spent hours, even days, trying to figure out how not to lose that fight, only to give up in frustration and walk away from that game for months. I eventually went on to complete the game about half a dozen times, but I still hate that moment. It's lazy writing. I love Jeff's games, but I'll always hate that. It's why I loved Morrowind. Story? What story? I want to go fishing then go cave diving then go swimming then climb that mountain then kill that guy then be a pirate then join a guild then. . . You get the idea.

Dang it. I hate that kind of storytelling. I've gotten so used to playing games like the Elder Scrolls, where you get to do what you want, when you want. I really cannot justify having my characters flee. It really ruins the game for me. I guess my game ends here.

How the heck do I get back into Castle Vebeaux after being ambushed by the assassins. I decided that the appropriate response to my apparent betrayal would be to force my way back in and confront the Duke, rather than flee like a coward. Proper roleplaying of my character requires I do so, after all. The castle keeps sending parties of wolves and basilisks after me, which I easily dispatch, but every time I get to the gate, it refuses to open. If I step away from it for a second, more beasts come after me, so it must be opening. Logically I should be able to get in. What do I have to do? Because running is not an option.

Touché on the Naginata. But I still prefer a blade. I'm already level 30. Can't be much game left.

A shadowwalker's lance? Seriously? Wouldn't something like a katana be more appropriate? Now I have to give up those sweet skill bonuses because it makes no sense for a de facto ninja to run around with a big, clumsy polearm. There must be some way I can alter the data files to make this a sword.

Shame. I was hoping I wouldn't have to kill anyone else.

I also can't seem to get into the grove where Lord whatshisname is hiding. I've searched the whole castle for a switch or something, to no avail.

So I've returned to Dhorl Stead to arrest their evil, oppressive lord, and I decide to stop by to see Runner Faiga. Imagine my surprise to find that she for some reason considers me a murderer and threatens to kill me if I do not leave. Did I miss something? When I last saw her, this was not her response. Seems pretty illogical to me. Shaman Unni is also responding to some sort of disaster that clearly never happened. The whole town seems to have gone nuts.

Wait. What just happened there? Oh, I get it. Just a spam bot. Nothing to see here.

I see. I read what Jeff said about Apple's reasoning, but I still find it rather odious and heavy-handed. I really don't like the direction Apple is starting to take on these matters. Still, I'm sure it won't take hackers more skilled than I to find a way to circumvent these protections.

What exactly is it that stops one from altering the files in the App Store version? Can't you just click 'unlock' or something? It seems to me that if the file is on my computer then I can change it. I've never met any form of file protection that couldn't be circumvented relatively easily.

Wow. Then I'll be avoiding the App Store from now on. My money, my software; I'll do what I want with it.