Tracer Bullet

Really? That's odd, and a bit counterintuitive. Are you sure that there is no fire resistance for fyoras in the later games?

Don't take offense. It's the traditional greeting. I got it in my turn, and I'm sure Beer and Motor Oil has as well.

Absolutely. I'm a huge Infocom fan, and I love the possibilities that IF (interactive fiction) holds - I just can't see why there's no market for it. For comparison, I consider this game to have absolutely stellar graphics...

Originally Posted By: Eamon Us really old gamers will say... Graphics, who needs graphics? At least half of the games I played as a kid did not have any graphics. I can play a modern game with top notch graphics and then go and play Exile II with no loss of fun. West of House You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here. >

For myself, I strongly believe that the rules must be tailored to the setting. My most recent ruleset was for a Night's Watch RP, where we had a Lord Commander (code for GM, played by me), a maester, a First Ranger, a First Builder, a Lord Steward, a master-at-arms, and a King-beyond-the-Wall, and there was little mechanic aside from coin-tosses. I just drew a huge map of Castle Black and the Haunted Forest, and we had a blast just moving little Risk pieces around to represent wights, rangers, giants, etc. The most structured part of the entire game was the Lord Steward's ledger, where we kept tabs on every turnip and arrowhead in the entire Night's Watch. Added hilarity was provided by our King-beyond-the-Wall, who brought out a guitar and gave an amateur rendition of 'The Rains of Castamere' for us. Combat, though sketchy in game-engine terms, really came alive for us. I attribute that to the lack of a grid on my map. We were free to move where we chose, measuring with a ruler to determine maximum movement range. I remember we fought an entire battle without a single die-roll or coin-toss, because everyone reached a consensus and built upon what everyone had said in a cooperative-story-telling sort of way. At the other end of the spectrum, we have games that need careful regulation in all things, like my Geneforge-based fanfic-ish campaign, the ruleset for which I threw together using a combination of the actual Geneforge engine and D&D v4.0 (I never liked v3.5). Exacting figures are important, and remembering every one of them can become a chore. (If you write them down, you end up erasing them so often that your paper smudges irreparably or tears.) Of the two of these games, I have to say I enjoyed the first one better. Probably because of the social attitude which accompanied it, but also because of the increased freedom. Ideally, though, something in between is reached, which brings me to the next point of the question: combat. Of all the battlegrounds between freedom and rulesets, this one is the fiercest fought. The... - Will update post again as soon as possible. It's still far from finished.

Maybe if you cold rack up XP killing Unbound, you might be powerful enough to get by, especially if you go to Sage Whats-his-name for your reward. Then again, Unbound are just as bad. It's been a while since I've tried that fight - can't you just shoot thorns at him from around a corner and stay out of range of the turrets? Magic creations are pretty much proof against stun, so vlish are of no avail. I have an idea. Toss in a heavily armored plated clawbug to entertain them, then smash him up with whatever ranged power you can throw at him. When the clawbug dies in one or two rounds, retreat around the corner and the gazer should follow you. Then send in the rest of your melee creations for the killing blow. Haven't tried this, so I don't know if it will work, but I will test it as soon as I can.

It's been too long since my last visit. I can only hope to start rebuilding a useful identity by being a helpful interlocutor - anyway. So I've always found the battles in Geneforge to be roughly balanced - the trick is to pick your battles and recognize when a foe has been deliberately buffed to keep you out for a few levels. Like in G1, if you just keep heading north, you can run straight into the Dry Wastes and still be something like level 3 - and those clawbugs can one-shot you every time. The way I've won my battles is be knowing the strengths and weaknesses of my foe and my resources, and planning ahead about three rounds. For example: I have me, a weak Shaper, a fyora and two artilas. I'm dealing with a thahd who can one-shot me or either of my artilas, but my fyora has a chance of living one round under his violence. So what do I do? I send the fyora out, hit the thahd, and wait. He runs up, hits my fyora, and them the other three members of my party lay it on him from a safe distance. And so on. You just need to know what you're doing, and everything becomes easy. Or if not easy, at least you'll know in advance when it's going to be danged hard. Thanks for reading!

A hint: try looking in the world of fictional weaponry.

I had a riddle and no one to ask it to, so I posted it here. Razors my edges, and trebled my steel - Tempered was I in the blood of warriors three One foe did I follow - Sought I the blood of one alone And never found it. What weapon is this?

Yup. All inaccessible.

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES 14. How many members can you name who spoke in the third person in every post, for some period of time? Calvin the Bold would be happy to oblige, if only to be commemorated the next time one of these quizzes is run.

Nice writing all the way through.

Change his name to Dwyre. (please?)

Originally Posted By: othersean (EDIT: What Randomizer said last week. Teach me not to read to the end of the thread...) Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity But really, where is left for Geneforge to go? Maybe, nowhere but back. What about Geneforge 0? Maybe way back, to the origins of shaping on Sucia Island. The stuff about creating diseases and warping your enemies as an attack, plus shaping being less of a well-developed science, could allow for new types of gameplay. Personally, I'm looking forward to the remakes of A1 and A2, since I've never been able to put up with A1's primitive interface -- especially the lack of a quest log -- long enough to even finish the demo. I just want to go back for the sake of going back, for the thrill of adventure (I've already tried Avernum, it didn't quite do it for me) and the vlish. But if I had to have some plot-based excuse for going back, I'd do one about the shutdown of Sucia, and the unrest it apparently caused.

Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba Of those three, I suggest G4. I've heard Avadon is a bit short, and I found G5 less fun to play than G4. (And if you might ever go back to the older Geneforge games, definitely avoid G5. Continuity errors suck.) Dikiyoba. My vote: G2. Continuity errors do suck, and unfortunately a clever person (me), with a scholarly approach to such things (me) found a heaping mountain of them strewn about the landscape and storyscape of Geneforge 5.

Correction: No game's perfect.

Originally Posted By: Lilith The Dark Chess AI doesn't actually seem to play very well: I beat it soundly and I'm pretty bad at chess. Advancing pawns aggressively in tandem to scout out where the opponent is while protecting your more valuable pieces seems to be a good strategy. I lost soundly and I'm pretty good at chess. I guess it's one of those things that it's easier to do if you're less preconditioned to do it a certain way.

First: Ick Then: Urg

Oh.

Hey, Randomizer, where did you get that quote?

Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba Originally Posted By: Sage of Numenor Geneforge 4 is studiously silent about the G3 PC's alignment The PC's fate is unknown, but it's reasonable to assume that the PC joined the rebels. Everything we learn about the Ashen Isles in G4 matches the rebel ending of G3, and the rebels would have needed the PC's help to pull it off. Dikiyoba. What we know implies that Greta filled that role.

Originally Posted By: Masquerade Originally Posted By: RCCCL Or you could just take my method, be a really, really big guy. Course, that kind of depends on genetics, so, genetically enhance yourself to become a really, really big guy. Why stop there though, how about some retractable claws! trust me bub, you don't wanna go there That's what the Strength canister on the patrolled road was for.

Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith The problem with things like knives and firearms is that if they don't end up getting you killed, you'll have a very difficult time of arguing why it was necessary to use them. Don't worry, I know Tiger, Crane, and Snake. (But left the school before I was taught Hawk) I'll be fine.

Geneforge 4 is studiously silent about the G3 PC's alignment The best (and the obvious) guess is that he (she?) was unaligned, egocentric, went bonkers on canisters, and then became Monarch. Of course this explanation is so obvious it leads one to suspect it's not the right one.

Originally Posted By: tHhGttG Share and Enjoy . . . Go stick your head in a pig.