Jump to content

MHaensel

Member
  • Posts

    17
  • Joined

  • Last visited

MHaensel's Achievements

Curious Artila

Curious Artila (3/17)

  1. I've replayed A3 several times. I agree that it's lower-stress than some of the others, and really enjoy the graphics on the surface world.
  2. The Avernum games practically encourage this kind of experimentation; what happens if characters use X or Y, instead of the standard approaches? I'm glad you're having fun with it too.
  3. For whatever reason, Jeff's games have more replayability for me than most RPGs. When I load up Avernum again, I feel like I'm re-reading a favorite old book. I try different things with characters, like: what if everybody learned both priest and mage spells?* What if I had a party of only priests who never learned tool use and avoided magic?** And when I see the same characters reappear between games, it's a little like seeing an old friend again. Have others found the same thing? What was your favorite moment to re-experience? Spoilers: * It's usually a good way to go. ** In A2, it's fun up through mid-game, but gets frustrating when you try to complete big quests.
  4. I'm roughly 3/4 of the way through Geneforge 5, but something bugged me about Travan's crypt. I killed everything in the area - it's registered green and clear on the big map. I've gotten all the loot listed in the walkthrough. However... Click to reveal.. There's a sarcophagus in the room that had his wife's shade that stays shut. The text says something to the effect of, "the lid is held tightly shut by something very, very cold. Touching the lid almost gives you frostbite." Is there something I'm missing, or do I have to leave powerful undead lurking for future adventurers to stumble upon?
  5. The problem with background music in an RPG is how long the game is. How long does it take to go through an Avernum game? 100 hours? More? ANY fixed background music would get horribly repetitive in that time. Even if Jeff went nuts and created an hour of background music, you'd hear it a hundred times before the end of the game. That's just too much. The no-background-music decision is fundamentally right. I like to put on podcasts while I play Geneforge: there's zero repetition and I can pause/resume as desired. P.S. What music Jeff makes is good; I do wish he made more. If we wanted to, I'm sure he could create a good CD/set of downloadable tracks.
  6. Yet more thanks to Polaran. B.J.: You're right. I have no idea how that happened; the zip file is fine on my computer. http://www.filedropper.com/beechfordv13_1 I re-uploaded, and tested the download this time. Also editing original post with the fixed link. Thanks for the bug report!
  7. Thanks! I'm pursuing The Blades Forge. In the meantime, my scenario is available from http://www.filedropper.com/beechfordv13_1 for anyone who'd like to play it. It's meant to be a modest diversion. Have fun! :-)
  8. Thanks to all of you who played, and even more to those who gave feedback! Knowing that someone else would try this was a big motivator for me to finish it. For the public, the final version of Beechford can be downloaded at http://www.filedropper.com/beechfordv13_1 . It's meant to be a modest diversion. Have fun! :-) [Edit: link updated. The original upload didn't work. This one does.]
  9. I want to release my first Blades of Avernum scenario, "Beechford", today. How do I do this? I have the folder compressed into a .zip file. I thought I might be able to attach it to the board - it's only 74K - but no go.
  10. Hello all - Thanks for volunteering! I'll forward the scenario to you four. I don't plan to enter the scenario in the contest; it's really not at that level. If it proves a fun diversion, and the logic works for everyone, I'll count it a success. :-) Michael
  11. Hi - I've completed a small BoA scenario, "Beechford". It's a modest thirty-minute diversion for new parties where you retrieve a magic book from a quiet empire island. Of course, things don't stay quiet. The scenario works for me, but that's what every programmer everywhere says. Would someone be interested in play-testing it? I will include your name in the credits on the scenario. Please reply on the board or via PM. Thanks - Michael
  12. After playing Avernum 4-6, I bought the original trilogy CD. I am now officially done with, in order: Avernum 2, 3, and 1! I chose not to kill Emperor Hawthorne at the end of 1, knowing Click to reveal.. it would start a war between Avernum and the Empire. There is a poll on the Spiderweb Software boards about which Avernum is your favorite. I now understand why 2 and 1 rate so highly! The stories are really, really good. In A1, you're experiencing a new world, and it feels like it. In A2, you're off in an unknown part of the caves, and it really feels like it. Avernum 4-6 feel much less wild in retrospect; you're mostly going to known cities and settled caves, with a little exploring around the edges. I don't understand the relative hating on Avernum 3, however. I found the changing environment to be frightening and stimuating at the same time. I couldn't waste time running (for example) courier errands - monsters were destroying people and cities! There was a bit of a disconnect: Click to reveal.. the party was sent to investigate and disrupt the empire, but ended up helping empire citizens survive. The graphics on the surface are, for the engine used, gorgeous. Jeff really worked to make the contrast between Avernum and the surface stand out. The colors are almost blinding the first time you step out of the caves! The subversion of the unicorn myth was hysterical. Buying a house was oddly satisfying for me. Note to purchasers: try out the curse on the property! The hint books continue to be well worth the purchase. There is a spell that shows you parts of the map you haven't explored, but it's no substitute for "go to B and move the mirror to C" and good world maps. Jeff has discussed doing a refresh of the original series with the new engine. If he decides to, the stories can certainly carry newer graphics. If you enjoyed A4-A6, download a demo of A2 and play it to see if you like it. If so, I highly recommend buying the A1-A3 trilogy CD and hint books!
  13. Reflections on Avernum 2 from someone who played Avernum 4, 5, and 6 first: Initial thoughts: The graphics are rough. It took me about fifteen minutes to get used to finding my characters on-screen. It took about an hour to reliably locate the active character in a fight. Jeff has mentioned updating these games to the new engine: if he decides to do that, it will probably be well received. The game really, really wants to be run from the keyboard. The mouse is frighteningly inefficient without pathfinding. Once you start using the keyboard for motion, it becomes awkward reaching for the mouse to activate priest spells and such. I only use the mouse to select inventory items, and only then when I forget I can press the keys. The game just runs more smoothly if you do everything from the keyboard. Avernum feels bigger with separate indoor and outdoor areas. I didn't like this the first few times it happened. After about 8 hours playing the Avernum 2 demo, I'm a convert. Progress is slower than Avernum 4-6. Reaching level 2 takes a fair amount of time, unlike later games where killing a few goblins gets you your first batch of skill points. On the flip side, you get a lot more skill points in Avernum 2. One of my characters is a fighter/tool user. I realized quickly he would be much more useful with some priest and mage spells added. I've been able to do this without losing too much of the other things I wanted. In later games, that would have all but nerfed the character. You really need a walkthrough to get the most out of this game! I skipped the vast majority of the demo on my first playthrough. My characters hadn't even used their skill points before I sent them off down-river and into the Vahnatai lands. Hidden areas are all over the place. You need a walkthrough and/or persistence to find them. I had no idea you could circle outside a city and still be in the "indoor" area. My expectation was that you just walk outside the gates until the screen switched to "outdoors". I missed so, so much because of this. Having to get items identified is a pain. My first party grabbed two cursed waveblades before I even knew such a thing was possible! Cognitive dissonance does make it more rewarding once you know what things are, however. This game has a lot of "save...fight...die...reload", even on Easy. The Avernum 4-6 games are much easier to play in terms of not dying on early fights. Fights in Avernum 2 have a strong tendency to either go really well or really badly. One lucky sword strike can make the difference between the two, especially when fighting Arenae. My party has become more reliably survivable as they level up, but I still have to save after every fight, because once in a while the next fight surprises you. Things I wish I had known starting Avernum 2 the first time: Start one mage off with a LOT of points in Mage spells. Having Unlock Doors available at the beginning of the game avoids a lot of hassles. The same is true for Ice Lances. You're going to have to go through a lot of fights to reach your first few levels. Ice Lances makes those fights easier. Start your fighter off with a point in mage and a point in priest spells. Having your fighter able to self-heal and firebolt frees your powerful mages/priests to do more important things. Repel Spirit level 2 can have multiple targets. This makes it worth getting for all priests and possibly all characters. Now that I've finished Avernum 2: Overall, it's an enjoyable game. All of my comments from the beginning apply at the end. Even near the end of the game, the next fight can still surprise you. (My characters were all above level 35, and a random encounter with a Rakasha and a wizard proved surprisingly difficult.) I like that you can keep playing as long as you want. I tried playing a big section of the game without a walkthrough. Eventually I reached the point where I'd been basically everywhere and killed everything, with no idea where to go next. I had missed a tiny accessible area in the northwest corner of my explorations, but without the hint book maps and walkthrough I'd have never found where I missed. It would have been a shame, because the last third of the game is great! The story is good; possibly better than Avernum 4 and Avernum 5, because there's more to it. I found the "you just finished a quest!!!" splash screens jarring, but in retrospect they were nice punctuation marks breaking up a long adventure. Finally, if you get the games, buy the hint books. Even with walkthroughs available on-line, the information in them is worth the purchase. That wraps up Avernum 2! I'm gearing up to start Avernum 3 (with walkthrough and hint book) in the next few days.
  14. Quick correction - game files are NOT compatible between operating systems. Mac save files won't load on Windows, nor vice-versa. (I've tested with one of the Avernums personally.)
  15. I've only played 4-6, but I agree Avernum 6 was the best-balanced of the series. My mage and priest finally got to wear decent armor, which meant I didn't have to constantly protect them from every rock they might stub their toe on. The battle disciplines were interesting, but I'd personally rather just have my fighter characters hack and slash their way forward. Avernum 5 had the player making a lot of exclusive choices - side with this city or that one, this faction or that. I prefer the A4 and A6 style of "This is your adventure. Go play it!" rather than "Choose which of two morally-gray sides you'll align yourself with, and live with it. You can't make everyone happy." I _loved_ how a few choices in A6 affected the ending. I wouldn't try to expand it past what was done, but I like how the player had a voice in how our favorite land fared!
×
×
  • Create New...