TriRodent

Remember in The Graduate the advice 'Plastics'? For QW2 ... 'Mad Flurry'. It's great for thinning out crowds. And if they do start getting close to you, Ensnaring Vines is great for freezing the horde ... and then the others whack them with Mad Flurry. Distilleries tend to be a waste of Quicksilver. Intriguing bonuses, but man is quicksilver scarce. Combat/energy conservation is much like QW1. In many places you will be swarmed with waves of bad guys/monsters. If you kill a wave & no others are visible on the screen, end combat and hopefully you'll regenerate a point or two of energy. Then when the next wave arrives you can use those points on Mad Flurry or some such. Rinse lather repeat. With many dungeons I was able to reach the boss with energy levels up around 75-80% or more using those tactics. If you're near a fort, step inside there to recharge/heal rather than sleeping in a bed. Usually far less time will pass. When using fast movement, if the travel time says two hours, it's usually better for game time to just walk there. Three hours or more it won't matter as far as the game clock is concerned. In dungeons, when at a closed door, stack everyone right next to the door in a square (doors tend to be two spaces wide). Enter combat and have one of the front guys kick the door open (one movement point). Then if there are monsters visible, everyone gets generally one turn to shoot arrows or wand zaps at them before they notice that you're there. You can use entering combat as a scouting ability. Every monster is outlined with a red square one space out from them that is visible in combat mode. If there's a monster juuust out of sight, if you enter combat you can see their outline and decide how you want to proceed. Speed is great. Speed augments on each different item that can take them adds up fairly quickly. Getting everyone the ability to heal is a good way to spread energy usage around. Also, going up the support tree is a good way to improve evasion & speed (10% speed at level three (ability choice) and level four (automatic)) VERY IMPORTANT - do your healing 'before' ending combat. After combat ends is when energy is regenerated. If player 'x' has full energy but player 'y' needs healed, if 'x' heals 'y' and then ends combat, there's a good chance that 'x' will get that point back. Probably more later, those were just off the top of my head.

Again iirc, that was my followup argument. Perhaps allowing you to switch out party members 'after' doing some exploring/eliminating the slimes. However it pretty much came down to 'that would be too complicated' & 'it's my game & I want them to be included if people want them'. Well ok then (& I really can't fault either of those points. It would make the programing somewhat more difficult/extra time to produce & in the end it is one guys vision of what he wants it to be). Oh well, it's still a great game & one of my favorite SW offerings.

A few thoughts to go along with your random ones... By A3 the Avernumites had been down there for a few generations (at least 2-4), so they had time to figure out what worked & what didn't, had been through the war with the Empire, etc. They were pretty much in that sweet spot where things worked but not because they had to & not to the point where you will do 'x' followed by 'y' & then onto 'z' because that's how it's always been done/it's in the rules that that 'will' happen this way. Back in beta testing for the current A3 I argued/discussed with Jeff that both sliths & nephils should 'not' be allowed in the exploration party. My thinking/reasoning was that the Empire banished/tried to exterminate them. Showing up on the surface, both very pale, & with either or both of them in your party isn't exactly stealthy. His argument (iirc) was things were so bad up there that everyone quickly realizes that nobody cares or notices you (unless you give them a reason to do so). Yep, I've thought this many times over the decades that I've been running around in his worlds Hey, my word for the day. Agreed btw Ummm, yes there are. You can't do one of the big quests without meeting them... I finally had to hint book/Strategy Central that one... decent long term reward though I never had a problem spending money. There were always things I wanted to train everyone in or spells to buy. The job boards were great for providing income when I needed just a liiittttle bit more money I generally run a ranged damage party. Everyone gets mage spells up to at least the first AOE spell (Ice Spray?). They also get priest up to where (eventually) they get flamestrike. The first guy may be more of a meat shield but even he can toss out those flaming grenades to thin out the horde before they can close with everyone. It's been a couple of years since I've wandered through A3(RW). Once the QW2 fervor dies down I may have to revisit some of my old friends there.

If you're talking about Avernum 1/Avernum EFtP, you should have been given the basic supplies during the tutorial/as an issue that everyone receives at Ft Emergence. There's really no reason to buy anything at first. I rarely actually buy equipment/food/potions as there's so much of it available while you're out & about adventuring. Anyway, minor point. To your main point. Personally I prefer the remakes over the original Exile. Exile (& 2-3) holds a special place in my heart, but so does my first high school 'love'. That doesn't mean I want to go back to either though. Through the years Jeff has streamlined his games tremendously while still giving the player a huge amount of control over how to build the party & how/where to go to gain experience (& the aforementioned loot...), it's just not as nitpicky at the earlier games. Most players 'don't' want to spend lots of time or thought to where to put their points. The new games' system of giving points in all the attributes on a rotating basis along with one that you can allocate is a tremendous idea. It means that you have a well balanced character/party that's really hard to screw up the build for. Skill points & traits are similarly directed based on what you want those characters to do. Lots & lots of build freedom, but behind the scenes maneuvering to keep casual players from getting really frustrated/doing dumb things. And as most of the sales/income comes from casual players, as a practical matter, this is a good thing. Also, the only time I can ever remember a "leave in peace" option is when I've stumbled into a situation that is FAR above my level and attempting a fight would quickly bring about the 'your entire party has died' screen. You may have to eventually go through 'x'/battle them, but the 'you can leave if you want to' (I'm assuming) discussion option should be a loud & clear warning that you don't want to go this way ... yet. As to the game recommendations - I'd give the Avernums another try. They really are customizable as far as character development goes (apart from only having a party of four max rather than six) and much of the tedium has been removed (such as now having a bottomless junk bag to store all your loot until you head back to town, not having to rest/eat all the time (just enter a friendly town), etc. If not, there's a new game coming out in about three weeks (Queen's Wish 2). That would give you time to play QW1 (not necessary as both can be stand alone games, but much like Avernum, it's a follow on chapter to the story) and see if you like 'that' universe. There's less character customization, but that's by design as your thoughts are supposed to be on a more strategic level rather than the tactical day to day whomping on bad guys fighting (plenty of tactical decisions though). Or Geneforge is always a fun romp. Shrug, if you liked Exile over the years, any of the others should be acceptable as they're all created by the same mind & build upon each other.

I just saw on FB an announcement from Spiderweb that 8/24 will be the release date Steam link with similar details

The mirrors on the upper level are down near the basilisk ... however that isn't the way that you get through the main 'zap you into a fine mist' series of laser beams. Those mirrors are just to direct/redirect the beams to get to some (decent) supplies. Regular mirrors from stores won't do anything. You need to figure out how to turn off the multiple beams elsewhere Welcome, I hope that helped (also, at the top of every game forum is a 'Strategy Central' for each game - lots of good info/answers up there if you get stuck again (and LOTS of spoilers...so...). Not that I mind trying to remember what to do/tell you, but you don't have to sit around waiting for someone to stop by & help/answer your question)

IIRC you're at the upper right(ish) section of your map area when you cut them loose. You need to look around in the upper left of the next map area to the right/east (after of course fighting your way up to that area...)

I hate to ask the dumb question, but did you look in the folder that the game is installed in? There might be a subfolder there labeled 'Hint Book' or some such (I don't know as that's where mine is ... but ... I was a beta tester & Jeff sent the unedited version along during testing and that's where I put it). If you can''t find it, you could email Jeff/Spiderweb (support@spiderwebsoftware.com) with proof of purchase from Steam & he would probably email you a copy. Until then, if you had a specific question, the Strategy Central area up at the top of this forum will probably have the answer (and LOTS of spoilers if that's a thing for you). Good luck & welcome

Oh I know & agree (and a mod/admin would have long been here with some wrist slapping if you weren't bringing anything to the discussion). I just found it amusing that if you totaled up all the dead/in between times before your post in all the threads, it almost equaled my somewhat advanced age. But again, I'm glad that you found the games & are enjoying yourself. Have you played any of the Avernum, Geneforge, or Queen's Wish series'? IMO they're better than the Avadon ones ('better' probably isn't the right word/impression, different & more old school RPGish). Big, expansive free demos for all of them are available at Spiderweb's site. I'd love to be able to see all of them for the first time once again.

It's been a while since I've gone through the Avadons, but those shoes would probably be best with a Shaman or the Sorceress. Shaman for the curses & Sorceress for the blessings (haste, etc). But at best I'd think that they'd only give you an extra round of curse/blessing and/or a slight percentage increase in whatever it was that that particular curse or blessing was supposed to do (make your to hit chance increase from say 35% to 40% for example). Certainly better than a 'normal' pair of footwear that does nothing (well, I suppose they keep your feet from getting poked by sharp objects...), but like Randomizer said, there are/will be better items out there.

One of the admins should change your name to "The Necromancer"... (or "Conjurerofdeadthreads") (this is not to denigrate your enjoyment of the games. I'm glad that you seem to be having a good time & getting deeply into them/catching strategy nuances/etc, but still. Ah well, any board activity is better than the seemingly default 'almost none' you keep doing you & I'll try to keep my inner curmudgeon in check 🙂 )

You should be able to copy the message that "You're unable to open 'x' (or whatever)" into your journal. That's usually how I remind myself that I need to go back to a certain area as it will describe both the area that you're in & also what you're trying to do. However having some actual paper & pen near the computer isn't a bad idea either...

I think some/many of the descriptions/conversations/etc are hard coded into the game so that might be difficult to change. All the assorted text files shouldn't be 'that' difficult to translate as such (whether the concepts described translate very well ... who knows, that depends on the language I suppose). Your best bet is probably to email Jeff (support@spiderwebsoftware.com) and discuss your ideas with him as he would know if it could easily be done/if it's worth even trying. ... However, his/Spiderweb's next game (Queen's Wish 2) is coming out next month/in a few weeks, so his mind is probably completely on that at the moment. You might want to wait until later (Sept or Oct) before asking/talking to him about your idea. Regardless, I think that it's a cool idea, one which may expose the game to a whole new set of people if it can be worked out. That's never a bad thing. Welcome to the boards.

I wouldn't expect that. It's already on it's third go around (Exile, A1, A1EFtP) & Jeff has indicated here & there that he wants to work on remaking the Geneforge saga and finishing off the Queen's Wish trilogy & then probably call it a career (as you're new here you may not realize that Spiderweb is just one guy up in Seattle...). So the Avernum saga has probably reached it's end (although there are constant rumors of a prequel with the Empire discovering it & exploring therein - if anything is ever done in that universe again, that may be it (or a remake of A4 & 5, that would be cool)). He's also over the years tried to make things easier for the casual gamer which is probably where the idea of quest locations came from. So that probably won't change. However a toggle switch to turn that ability off (or have it completely disabled on the higher difficulties) is a pretty good idea & easy to implement if/when it ever comes up again

Right, but I was talking about hauling around non stackable items with a value of three or less. You can't sell them so there's really no reason to haul them around (unlimited space or not - perhaps if you were trying to remove every item from an area) either in your inventory (which you seem to think I was implying) or in the junk bag (where I put everything that 'can' be sold)

it can't? then it's a waste then.. is it like that with the other games? Have 'you' tried downloading the game and then seeing if there's a problem? Because as of now it seems like there's one (maybe two) people who are having a problem saving the game - which could very well be an incompatibility problem of some kind on their end. Those that downloaded the game & everything is running fine/as expected generally don't run to the internet to report that nothing unexpected is happening... just saying. And as GF1M has been out for quite a while, one would think that this problem would have come up sometime in the discussions over the past couple of years. For those having problems, have you emailed Jeff (support@spiderwebsoftware.com) about it? Because if there 'is' a serious problem with his game, especially with it being displayed at Epic, he'd want to know about it (maybe Epic did something that is corrupting things?)

You won't need a boat to get to it (although getting a boat to do a few things before going down the other river isn't a horrible idea). Go west of Ft Draco across the river & then south of the spiders. Just keep poking around & eventually you'll get a way to keep going south & will find it (it's roughly straight over from the ruined fortress that's generating the undead (you can't get there directly from there but it's about that far south/near the barriers)).

As Randomizer said, they may open/unlock a door in the general vicinity but not right next to you. Also, if there's a door that seems like it 'should' open, look around really closely. Jeff likes to stick levers so that they're mostly hidden behind a post or something similar. Iirc prices are 25% of an item's stated 'value'. So unless it has a value of 4 or more (or stacks into multiple units), it's not worth picking up & hauling around until you can sell it. Have fun

Now it would be better for Jeff if you have the entertainment dollars available to purchase the games through SW's site ... but if you don't, it looks like GOG has the full series available through Sunday (6/5) if you want all the original (remakes). $3.59 or roughly ONE CENT PER HOUR OF GAME PLAY... (even if you already own the games from elsewhere, tossing $3.50 at GOG would show interest in SW's games & can't hurt his placement of QW2 when it comes out later this summer (I think, I really have no idea how the whole thing works but it probably wouldn't hurt))

I'm not going back through six pages to check for the nods to her, but at least in A3 the Shirley is in the area of the world with a few other Laverne & Shirley characters. But Shirley's elsewhere/in other games are probably the ex

Iirc it was even easier in the early beta testing (such as my front line fighters (with speed burst/adrenaline rush)could get to the panel within 1-2 turns). Jeff/SW added some more bodies to run interference. Even with them, I can still get there in 2-4 turns But yes, when you set up everything 'right', it is a fairly easy fight & can seem anticlimactic. As far as actually killing R-I, I don't think so. Her actions are an important plot point off in the future Enjoy the new to you games. Avadon's an interesting place/games. Some people love the trilogy, some hate them. But as with all SW games there's lots of reading/setting the scene in your imagination & a unique world to explore/interact with. Have fun (up in the Strategy Central part of the Avadon sub forum, for Avadon #1 there is a link to a way to change the graphics of the game slightly (make sure to have a backup before messing with the game files...). They makes lockpicks & secret door switches more visible (the switches are essentially invisible without it). Not needed for a successful playthrough, but it will ease the frustration & eye strain levels a bit)

Hungry...

You need to purchase the other levels through the various trainers scattered around. In the Strategy Central for A1EFTP (top of the subforum) there should be a link to who sells what (priest spells work the same way - you can buy two levels from trainers & then need to find the 3rd level while out & about (generally in cleared out dungeons)) Edit: Here you go. Apropos of nothing in particular, you really should wander over to Ft Dranlon...

Welcome, a solid/quality first post... Also thank you for putting the TL:DR at the top of the post. You wouldn't believe the number of people who think that it's perfectly fine to make you read a huge block of text & then at the end of it all ... put the TL:DR ... grrr (one of those thing that will be fixed once I become Earth Czar. That & people who camp out in the left lane are pretty high on the "Fix this now" ilst) Anyway, enough digressing. Asking such a question 'here', you're going to get a lot of conformation bias. But even taking that into account I do think that yes, Geneforge is solid enough to stand up with most any other cRPG of it's era. It won't compete graphically with those with budgets in the tens of millions, but apart from that (& it is generally well known that if you play a Spiderweb game, graphics aren't going to be cutting edge) the game/s are very well done/enjoyable to play. One of the things that's been a big positive to me over the years is the lack of voice actors. I can read far faster than they can speak & don't get bored listening to a long monologue. Yes it was done for budgetary reasons, but that actually works out better for me and my immersion in the game. By being forced to read everything rather than listening, I generate my own 'voices' for the various characters that you run into. That & the lack of high quality graphics force my imagination to fill in all the blanks ... which, in my opinion really draws you deeper into the game as you've personalized it for 'you' rather than what some big game company's view of what things should be. I'm sure that I played many/most of the assorted RPGs back in the day, but the ones that hooked me so deeply that I'm still (re)playing them 20+ years later 'and' hanging out on a tiny board in a tiny corner of the internet are the ones that allowed such personal interaction (both in the freedom to develop your character however you wanted, & the mental immersion of being forced to use your imagination to fill in all the details after reading about 'x'). So a clearly biased opinion, but yes, they can hold their own with their contemporaries.

The Avadon series probably has the fewest choices/you are pushed along a more or less linear path (there's lots of different things to do wherever you wind up, but once you've done what you are supposed to, your next destination is already decided for you (fwiw, that series is probably my least favorite of the SW games)), Queen's Wish has you make a lot of decisions ... but ... that's the purpose of the game. You are a royal offspring being sent to the far reaches of your mother's lands to bring things back to where they should be (according to her). So you are making a lot of decision but they are more on a strategic level rather than the day to day tactical. I'd suggest trying that (you can get expansive demos of all the games, so if you want to flitter around and see how each one feels...), both because I think you might like it based on your suggested requirements but also because QW2, the next in the trilogy is coming out later this year if you want to keep the story going. The two BIG series' Avernum, & Geneforge (six & five chapters/games respectively) are my favorites, but they will take a lot of time (each game more or less 60 hours). They also have big, well designed, intriguing, & unique worlds to explore. You will have to make some decisions (what quests to do & when, where to explore, how to build your party, things like that). They are incredible games but I don't know how well you would take to them if you're only playing around 1-2 lunch hours/week. But again, all the games are available as demos where you generally can play the first third of the game without buying it (& if you do buy it, it just unlocks the game you're playing so you can continue on from where you are & not have to start over). All of his games are very story driven so be prepared for lots of reading. There are no voice actors giving soliloquies, just blocks of text imparting the same information. If you're expecting a modern game designed by committee & actions driven by what the marketing dept thinks will sell best, well you won't find that at Spiderweb. What you will find are well developed, unique universes for you to explore & go play in, thoroughly explained to you by a good writer with a very dry sense of humor. It's a fun journey, enjoy it wherever it takes you.