TriRodent

Am about 20 pages away from finishing up Ian Toll's 2400ish page "Pacific War" trilogy. He does a really good job of examining both strategic & tactical actions from both sides (Japanese & American (& to a lesser extent, when appropriate, British, Dutch, Chinese, Russian, etc)) of most everything that went on in the Pacific theater/area from the scene setting actions of the early 1900s through the Japanese surrender/occupation in 1945-46. As a history geek I thought I had at least a good general understanding of the major events of the war in the Pacific... I was wrong. I knew the dates/locations of lots of things, but didn't really understand the thinking that went behind what was going on (based on the knowledge of the times & not looking back in hindsight). Probably way, way too much for someone who wants to know more about the Pacific portion of WW2. But for someone who wants to learn more of the nuts & bolts behind the scenes & how 'x' was important to be able to do 'y' later on (plus has a lot of time available to read 2400 pages...), the trilogy really was a well written set that was, admittedly massive, but tended not to get bogged down in either a dry recitation of facts or getting really deep into dull minutia.

Yes & no. You do need a reason for Chapters 2-5 which tend to only come about if the secret does make it off the island. True, the 'red goo' makes it off island no matter what ending you choose, so it probably doesn't matter in the long run. But I could relatively easily imagine a scenario where if you did decide to stay, that 'everyone' on the island decides to gang up on you (no matter the casualties taken) & end your iron fist rule (the shoreline of Sucia being just too big to completely defend all points at all times). Your Geneforge powers can only go so far. Like Stalin said, 'quantity has a quality all it's own...

There's also nothing, if you're bored on say a Wed evening, preventing you from digging around in the older pages of various forums & trying to find these well done stories of Avernum. If asked nicely, one of the Admins might sticky it for a while to see if it generates interest/discussion.

If these boards were really busy with dozens of new threads (not posts, threads) every day, then I could maybe see a need for such a thing. Here & now, it's not a bad idea per se, but there really isn't enough traffic that would bury those posts before people who only stop by every few months would see them if they wanted to scroll down the forum slightly.

Not at all, I mean I still have hopes of Scarlett Johansson & Gal Gadot showing up naked on my porch holding a case of beer... (even MrsTR would probably go along with that...) However I'll admit that your dream is probably more attainable than mine...sigh

Probably just a 'choose where you want it to go' option. Any new thread/post shows up on the 'recent posts' area (which is where I noticed this), so even if it's buried down in a relatively dead forum, people should notice it. I really don't see a need/desire to add another forum that probably wouldn't get 'that' much traffic overall. That said, your best bet for just general discussions is probably to put it into the most recent forum as that's where most people would stop by if they're looking for info on the more recent games.

You have to clear the western & central mines too to turn everything green ... get busy mining more of those light blue crystals...

First, welcome. The percentage is your 'to hit' percent. In this case you had a 97% chance of hitting said bat (actually, iirc, there is a max of 95% chance to hit in this game - the classic "you rolled a 1 on your d20..."). The percentages are a good thing to keep an eye on. Later on, if your frontline tank only has a 15% chance of hitting 'x' demon, a better strategy might be to have him dealing out the healing & buffs while your backline magic users beat on him with spells. There are six chapters in the Avernum story (the first three of which have been remade/updated), enjoy the journey...it's a hell of a ride.

Vlish may have telepathy capability. I don't think that it was ever done as such, but with all their mental ability it doesn't seem 'that' out of the question.

Sure, by the time you work your way through all six chapters of Avernum ... you'll probably have forgotten what a Shaper even was let alone the Loyalists/Rebellion early story... Part of the problem is (and this is NOT a knock against you), from what I've picked up, you still are in the middle of your first run through of GF. Most everyone responding has finished the game/discovered the secrets of the island/seen the effects of their various decisions in the end game wrap up. The game got you thinking and questioning what's going on (which is a good thing, Jeff does not make 'go kill everything that moves' hack & slash games), the problem is that, even if we try to restrict comments to be focused on/only use the information available at this time, it's hard not to spoil what's coming up in this game let along the next four chapters afterwards. Things are fairly murky until the final 10% or so of the game (which is wonderful from a story standpoint, but from a discussion standpoint...). I am also emphatically not telling you to just 'shut up until you finish the game' before you start talking about things. Your questions/observations have been really interesting/good/get to the heart of the matter ... but it's hard to temper my/our responses to your current level of knowledge of the GF universe (especially with many/most of us having played the entire series). If you do want to discuss 'x', perhaps a quick disclaimer at the start of your post that you are 'here' in the game and know 'this' about what's going on & to please not spoil things by discussing what you will find out later on. Now once you 'do' finish... that should be a fun thread.

Sure there is: Menu Main Menu Start new game...

Just that you're offset above your character who may be walking in a straight line for/from your perspective, but the map/ground is twisted 45 degrees to one side. Probably a leftover from the old hex mapping days.

Probably tied into the isometric viewpoint of the player

I didn't notice earlier that that was your initial post...reading further down though I've come to the conclusion that you'll fit in well with us reprobates... (hoists my rum & coke off in your general direction) Post 2 is helpful. Is it a specific save location that's the problem (can you save in a different save slot & it works or are 'all' saves corrupted?). As you got it from GOG, try downloading it again & reinstalling. Doing so 'shouldn't' overwrite your saved game files...but before doing so, copy that whole folder elsewhere/rename it so that you have a backup (with a Windows system it's in your 'Documents' folder under Spiderweb Software. Apple I'm not sure but a search in this subforum should find it)

If the game is still open from where you left it, can you leave the zone you're in? The game should auto save at that point. If not, can you load an earlier/auto save? Have you completely closed the game & restarted? Have you rebooted the computer? Thus ends the extent of any tech help I might give...alas. Thankfully though there are people much brighter about such things than me who will probably be along shortly.

You could just change it to torment right now & see if that's better. But iirc, you're just at that place in the game where things are going to plateau for a while. You aren't going to be strong enough to take on the trogolos or giants yet so you'll need to do lots of running around on the 'perimeter' (Golddale's problems, stuff along the southern coast, avoiding big fights while getting to Moon, Spineridge, Gale, etc). So go exploring, maybe go have a real nice sword made for your fighter, talk to the dragons, etc. Once you can clean out the trogolo temple without too much problem...then you're ready for the next 'step'

Not to threadjack too too much... I think all Avernums have some sort of meal quest. A1 (replaying at the moment so fresh in my mind) is delivered to Formello, A2 I can't think of off the top of my head, A3 the rich guys north of Sharimik, A5 Muck(?). It's funny the little things that Jeff keeps consistent on throughout all the games/universes - such as meal being really important to A's economy but common in G's.

As an aside... if one way is 'really' hard for you, look around. There tends to be both a combat way to 'x' & a stealth way to 'x'. In your case (after the fact) it may have been easier to go north & then east & enter Pentil from the west. (and of course nothing is preventing you from going that way now & gathering a little more gold & experience...)

Jeff's games do make you think at times, it isn't all hack & slash/kill everything that moves. (specifically thinking about the decision on the strategic value of wiping out a large batch of future slith warriors ... vs ... the tactical situation of 'you' wiping out a bunch of defenseless toddlers) Sometimes (in game situations) you gotta do what you gotta do ... in your case, telling the librarian she's done a good job, telling the farmer what she wants to hear, etc. To do otherwise risks having the town tear you apart for being a heretic (I wish those were some of the responses available to you - lying but telling them what they want to hear - give you a neutral or very slight reputation adjustment vs the larger adjustment with the given responses) In the end though I think the games are better for it as those situations do add to the background color/game immersiveness

No, not really. Unfortunately it's one of the more reliable way to gather money in most of Jeff's economies (I do like the QW model too). Also understand about Diablo. Grim Dawn is one of my favorites & ... good lord ... the sheer volume of loot that would be great for a different build (& not the one you're currently playing of course...) is overwhelming. Thankfully there are filters that will not show items that just aren't worth your time or trouble to schlep back into town (except at the very beginning where you do need every gold piece). I would offer an internet fist bump ... but we might break/sprain something...alas

It is also completely possible to go through the game unaligned. You'll miss out on the assorted quests/training, but I never found them to be 'that' compelling towards picking a side. (now Alhoon's suggestion in the 'new creature' thread where you could only unlock creation advances/buffs if you were aligned with 'x' faction & other buffs for 'y' would be interesting/cool - but for now it doesn't really matter)

? ... (wanders off to Strategy Central) ... ? .... Huh, whadda know ... "In all 'other' games there tends to be a "What to keep" thread..." (I understood what you were getting at in your initial post. I've just been around SW games since the Exile days (yes I'm old...sigh) & am used to gathering up/looting everything in sight to trade for cash. Building a fort isn't the first thing that springs to mind for me (although that would be cool in some of the longer games (where you're there for months of years of game time) if you could build a fort/castle somewhere & stock it with henchmen to guard your loot...of course that didn't work out so well for Kyass* so...)) *A1EFtP/A2CS reference if you haven't played those yet

While I absolutely & completely understand wanting to avoid spoilers... checking out the usual "What to keep" topic in Strategy Central is usually a good thing to do (of which Randomizer usually has up on the release date, major thanks for that & all the other hard work). Even if I'm coming back to a game after a few years I'll give it a quick look just to remind me that "Oh yeah, in 'this' game I need to gather up all the bottles of beer that the guards tend to have laying around but don't need to do anything with ... scientific equipment ... other than immediately sell it..." (you wouldn't believe all the piles of assorted cra...er...things I had piled up all around Vakkiri during my first beta playthrough ... "You never know, Jeff may have decided bleached bones or broken swords have value this time around....")

IIRC, there is an initial wiping out of all the remaining slimes when the Alien Slime is killed. However, if/when you come back later to get into that area up at the top of the map where you need a more powerful dispel barrier than a crystal gives, there may be a (very) few that have repopulated somewhat (much like there may be a couple of unicorns in the dungeon near Ft Emergence a few weeks after clearing it out the first time - monsters in dungeons will slightly repopulate over time). Again IIRC, you need to eliminate a minimum of three of the spawning pools before you can get to the Alien Slime. Eliminating all five provides for an easier final fight with it.

The gloves are the only things charged in the pools (I think). There's a sword that needs three charges to be fully charged, but that is done differently I don't think I ever bumped into the lance. Where did you find it?