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Avernum series questions before buying


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Hello everybody,

 

I found Spiderweb after searching online for turn based RPG games and am considering going through the Avernum series of games. I have a few questions about the games:

 

I like games with a strong and interesting story, even if that means mostly linearity. Will the Avernum games be a good match for me?

 

Is the story and art style western or eastern (anime/manga)?

 

Is the combat system true turn based or pausable real time? (For the purpose of distinction I consider true turn based to mean no concurrent actions taking place)

 

Is the strategy guide a strategy guide or an expanded manual? Does it contain just tips and possibly a walkthrough or does it contain the actual combat system rules?

 

Thanks for any info

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1. yes

 

2. western

 

3. turn by turn

 

4. it contains walkthrough and tips to defeat special monsters sometimes and contains alot nice info about weaps etc. proper walkthrough's are available on net (links are at here) and if something bothers you can ask help from other players.

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There are demos, so you can download a game and play for a while to see whether you like it or not. Actually, you should download two games. A1-3 are very different from A4 and A5.

 

A2 has the best story with A1 not far behind. A3/A4 have weaker plots, so don't start with those.

 

Dikiyoba.

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I too think you should play at least one demo first. I suggest you start with A2.

 

The story behind SpidWeb games is always thrilling, and is mainly composed of adventure novel, fantasy and mythological figures, feels very natural and modern though (meaning, f.ex., that your characters are not born heroes, you and everybody you meet have realistic personalities). Moreover, it's always very fun. You will actually laugh, alot.

 

But yeah, Avernum has a very western style.

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Thanks for the fast and polite replies. It seems Spiderweb has a very active player community.

 

I will definitely be trying out a demo once I finish my current game.

 

I am too anal to start with anything else than A1 smile

 

Thanks again!

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That's why a lot of people say it is best to start with the first games. If you decide to go back and play the earlier ones later instead, the interface will be more difficult and annoying than it would have been if you had started with it. Moving forward though the games is smoother than going backwards, both from a story viewpoint and from a technological one.

 

And I think the word you were looking for was nonlinear. smile

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Did A1 have a journal that you could save dialogue and other messages to? Exile 1 doesn't have a quest log, but simply saving the dialogue message where the character tells me what to do was easy enough for me. Then I just opened TALKSAVE.TXT and looked at it when I needed reminding about what to do. I imagine A1 has something similar, only in-game instead of in a separate text file. I'm pretty sure E3 and A3 have this feature, so I don't see why anything in between would be otherwise.

 

I'll check, in fact.

 

EDIT: Indeed, it does have a perfectly good journal, therefore anyone who can't strain their dainty little index finger enough to click the Record button (the one that looks like an open book in the bottom-left of most text) now and then is a crybaby.

 

Also, Avernum 1's rewritten introduction sucks. Play Exile. tongue

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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.

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Originally Posted By: The Almighty Doer of Stuff

EDIT: Indeed, it does have a perfectly good journal, therefore anyone who can't strain their dainty little index finger enough to click the Record button (the one that looks like an open book in the bottom-left of most text) now and then is a crybaby.


Sure hit record button everytime some1 gives you quest, that's next book-brick. laugh
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Originally Posted By: ADoS
EDIT: Indeed, it does have a perfectly good journal, therefore anyone who can't strain their dainty little index finger enough to click the Record button (the one that looks like an open book in the bottom-left of most text) now and then is a crybaby.

It does have a journal, but Dikiyoba doesn't remember it being particularly good (at least compared to A2's journal). Deleting entries left a blank page behind which would become the newest entry which eventually lead to a very out-of-order journal.
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A piece of paper and a pen has got me through all the Avernum games. And the Geneforge ones. Really, it's not that much effort to make a note of where you are, who the quest-giver is, and what s/he wants.

 

Pen and paper is also good for noting down locked doors and the like. The journal cannot do that.

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