Hahaha, it looks like I will have to re-learn some lost skills like keeping notes, or at least remember to click the 'keep notes' button. I don't mind that, I am an old school RPGer on and off the screen.
And true enough the reason I want to start with A1 is that I would not like the technological downgrade of going backwards.
As for Exile, I definitely do not feel the need for spiffy graphics, but Exile seems a bit too primitive on the graphical side even for me.