Game-dooming mistakes in Exile 1

[aliennefatale]

Hi all! I first played Exile a number of years ago and I loved it. Now my dad is playing it through, on my recommendation. When I told him there were a few game-dooming mistakes, he got really nervous about screwing up his game. So I'd like to give him a list of game-dooming mistakes. I'm not talking about completely obvious ones like attacking King Micah, or flying into a pit and dying instantly. I'm talking about the ones that will screw up your game and you won't know until hours (or days) later.

 

Can anyone add to this list?

 

--Killing a dragon (before you get whatever useful thing it has). Obviously Pyrog is an exception.

--Dropping the flying orb somewhere in the wild (can you do this?)

--Using Word of Recall and stranding all your boats on the other side of the river (is Word of Recall even in Exile 1, or is it in later games?)

 

Thanks all.

[Randomizer]

Any item can be dropped in wilderness and lost forever if you hit "yes." The Orb is classed as a special item in Exile so it should be safe. Now Avernum is a different story where it takes up an inventory slot, but at least can't be sold.

 

Using Word of Recall spell to go back to start and leaving a boat behind can happen in some games. The editor will return boats to start so it isn't a fatal error.

 

I think the worst problem is killing off a non player character before he, she, or it helps you with something you need much later in the game. Killing dragons is the best example, but some people kill off whole towns. Making towns hostile by blatant thievery is a similar problem.

[Aran]

Joining and stealing from the Anama before finishing the Roach plague? The editor might solve that, though...

[Tonweya]

It's not that I'm a 'do-gooder', it's simply my 'playing stratagy', in that I don't attack anything.

When I enter an area, I wait for 'whatever' to make the first move, then I respond to what they've done. It's how I respond to situations. I try to evaluate, then act accordingly.

Although it seems that the majority of the games are written with fighting in mind, not all NPC's are out to hurt you.

As in real life, the destruction of everything around you will invariably have negative consequences.

Consider people you may have known who act without thinking.

me

[aliennefatale]

I'm specifically asking for help with Exile 1 right now. So, attacking friendly NPCs goes on the list. Anything else?

 

Which items can be dropped and lost that would ruin a game?

[The Mystic]

Quote:

Originally written by Randomizer:
Any item can be dropped in wilderness and lost forever if you hit "yes." The Orb is classed as a special item in Exile so it should be safe. Now Avernum is a different story where it takes up an inventory slot, but at least can't be sold.

Actually, in E1, it's a regular item, but it can't be sold. And in Avernum (at least in A1), you can sell it, for a small fortune.

The Orb of Thralni is the only item I know of in E1 that you can drop to make the game unwinnable.

[Dan Davis]

Well, I flew across the water once (up near the Arianna city) using the orb. Problem was, I only had one landing space there and the game decided at just that instant to pop in a random monster at that space. So I couldn't land. So I fell into the water and drowned.

 

Moral of the story: always have at least 2 landing spaces before flying around with the orb.

[Alorael at Large]

I don't think Word of Recall was in E1. In E3 making Bigail mad isn't disastrous because the roaches aren't essential as long as you finish the slimes, which you can do as long as you don't start killing folks in Krizsan.

 

—Alorael, who really thinks mass murder is the easiest way to screw up any Spiderweb game. Instant death nodes will not always save you.

[aliennefatale]

Okay, so dropping the flying orb is on the list. Anything else I should warn my dad about? I think he'll relax and enjoy the game more if he isn't so worried about screwing it up.

[Randomizer]

There a few places where you can get trapped by overwhelming enemies if you run out of potions for energy and healing, but that can happen anywhere. The worst are Grah-Hoth's old fort, the return trip after freeing him, and of course his current fortress. But having a saved file from before entering any dungeon will prevent the worst of these from happening.

[Sarachim]

Actually, if I remember E1 correctly, attacking friendly NPCs is not a problem at all. The only ones who stay dead permanently are the dragons, and they can be restored by the editor. The rest will either grow back or trigger an insta-kill when they die.

[aliennefatale]

Thanks, everyone!

[Sullust]

Having only 4 of the 5 brooches. This by itself isn't that bad, unless you save after you use them to teleport...

[The Mystic]

It's a good thing I get all 5 then. Just out of curiosity, what happens if you don't get all 5?

 

Here's another way to get stuck: not thoroughly exploring an area before giving up. This happened the first time I explored the Abyss, and I thought I could get back through Fort Spire without checking in first. After restarting from the beginning, I searched the area again, and found several other places to exit the Abyss.

[Alorael at Large]

Four brooches are enough to get you in, but you need the fifth to get back out. Having four results in your inevitable death.

 

—Alorael, who thinks Jeff has been fairly good at not creating inescapable traps. Aside from the brooches and certain plot-related bugs in A4 it's not easy to get yourself stuck.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Actually, losing the Orb of Thralni won't doom you either. You can give yourself the Orb with the character editor.

 

EDIT: Same goes for the brooches, actually.

[Enraged Slith]

My favorite is saving in flight mode over a chasm, but not having enough turns of flight left to make it to either side. Can be fixed by the character editor, but always worth a good chuckle.