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Geneforge and the Case of the Absent Items


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I have for some time been making my own item lists for the Geneforge series, sorted by item type for ease of reference (they're basically props for my spotty memory) and comparison. I've drawn from my own encounters, Matt P's guides, and in some cases from the scripts. I've also searched the forums when all those failed. It's possible some of these items simply can't be obtained normally, but I'm not one to give up hope easily, so here's what I'm having trouble with.

 

In Geneforge, I'm missing Vlish Skin Tunic, Clawbug Carapace, Girdle of Insight, and Stunning Blade - I haven't found them, no mention of them anywhere, gforscen.txt doesn't list them as drops. In further item weirdness, Rawbone (100% Student's Belt drop) shouldn't drop anything that a regular Thahd doesn't. An "Ancient Artila", which I can't recall ever seeing, does list a Student's Belt drop, at 100% chance, and the Searing Artila inherits this. According to Matt P's FAQ, Searing Artilas drop Artila Skin Tunics, but the script doesn't show this. Charged Artila also has a chance (1%) to drop a Student's Belt; I'm almost certain that's meant to be something else (Artila Skin Tunic?), and much less certain that it actually can drop.

 

Geneforge 2 holds a Drakon Skin Cloak, if you trust the script file. I trust it less with each day that passes. (And why are there two Tek's Spectral Dirks? Spooky!)

 

Geneforge 3 has a Demon Fang Talisman. A thread here mentions that it's found in Monastery Caves, but not the exact location (I would assume a drop?). I know I cleared the Monastery once, but that was some time ago. (I also couldn't find the Shaper Robe, which I've discovered is basically overwritten by the Specter Robe. :( I suspect that it was meant to be in the tomb in the Acidic Valley, which is one of the two locations I have for a Specter Robe.)

 

There's a Thorny Chitin in Geneforge 4, scriptwise. I've never found it, though.

 

The Girdle of Endurance seems to be absent from Geneforge 5. Well, it had a long run.

 

I would greatly appreciate any assistance in fixing up my files. :)

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Posts on the forums are often...imprecise...in referring to items. Sometimes it's just carelessness or faulty memory. Sometimes items lists are made during playtesting but changes occur after the lists are made. If the only evidence of an item's existence you can find is on the forums, then it may not exist, or it may be some other kind of item.

 

I'm almost certain there are items in the scripts that are never available in the games. For example, I'm pretty the spore battons used in G1 are found in the scripts of some later games despite not being used.

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I'm almost certain there are items in the scripts that are never available in the games. For example, I'm pretty the spore battons used in G1 are found in the scripts of some later games despite not being used.

I do recall seeing that in at least one game, and it makes sense in a copy-paste-edit sort of way, but that can't explain items that don't show up in what should be their first appearance. I believe the latter is the case for every missing item except G5's Girdle of Endurance.

 

I'm not looking for pixel-perfect coordinates, just something more than 'somewhere in this zone' (although even that wouldn't be so bad... if Monastery Caves wasn't the second and harder of G3's challenge zones). I'm also not really expecting much to come of this, since I know that dummied items are fairly common. At least if no one comes forward with more info, I can apply the dummied label more confidently. Something like "Probably dummied", I suppose, instead of "dummied???".

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Yeah, it's probably what Kel (above) suggested. ALL the games contain definitions of stuff that hasn't been used since the previous game, and often, for longer.

 

There are also several ways that a game can award an item that you won't be able to find in a script. There have been a few cases of hardcoded rewards, and a few older games have handled unique creature drops in hardcoded ways as well. And, of course, items in containers or just lying around on the map, do not show up in scripts.

 

All the items you mention are items I know I've possessed at some point -- but that could be in a different game. I haven't played G1-3 in the better part of a decade.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't like to double-post or revive old topics, but a more in-depth examination has resulted in more weirdness and the discovery of more missing items. Uh... well, you know.

 

Most amazingly, I think, is that G1 was supposed to have a Roamertooth Band. You know, that amazing ring that boosts Fire Shaping by two points in G2? In G1 it would raise Battle Shaping by three points. It was to be a 75% chance drop from a roamer called Benttooth, which provides a bit of context missing from the G2 version.

 

A minor typo makes G2's Omnicharm penalize your Endurance instead of boost it. Other probable (but beneficial) bugs include the G3 Symbiotic Cloak (mentioned here) and G5 Fyorascale Shield (same issue as Symbiotic Cloak). Specter Robe suddenly gains Magic Shaping +1 in G4 - strange, but seems to be deliberate. Full list of items not yet found:

 

G1

Vlish Skin Tunic

Clawbug Carapace

Girdle of Insight

Stunning Blade

Roamertooth Band

 

G2

Quicksilver Plate

Shaper True Chitin

Fyoraskin Cloak

Drakon Skin Cloak

Symbiotic Cloak

Ornkskin Gauntlets

Quicksilver Bulwark

Arcane Band

Armor Band

Girdle of Nimbleness

Girdle of Health

 

G3

Drakon Skin Cloak

Stasis Shield

Blasted Vambraces

Fyora Fang Charm

 

G4

Quicksilver Plate

Ratskin Shawl

Fyorascale Shield

Tribal Fetish

Empathy Blade

Spectral Rapier

Rod of Defenses

 

G5

Living Knife

Girdle of Endurance

 

I suspect that at least a few of these are hidden away in shops, in which equipment is easy to overlook (who buys equipment?), especially if the shop is faction-specific. I suppose the truth of that will come out if I ever get around to writing up shop information files. Stranger things have happened.

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  • 4 weeks later...

G2

Quicksilver Plate Inner Gazaki-Uss, in a chest south of the entry area.

Fyoraskin Cloak Drypeak Fields Fyora (random drop ?)

Drakon Skin Cloak Inner Gazaki-Uss, on a random (?) Ur-Drakon.

Symbiotic Cloak Gheth, Gareth.

Ornkskin Gauntlets Inner Gazaki-Uss, bloated Ornk

Arcane Band Beneri-Uss Shaping, Rakkus.

Armor Band Kss-Urg's valley, Kss-Urg.

Girdle of Nimbleness Complex Core, sold by Learned Jaffee.

Girdle of Health Shade Patrol, reward for helping Jeek.

 

G4

Ratskin Shawl SW Fens on Body near pylons NW

Spectral Rapier Reward from Koerner for killing Litalia

Edited by Nim
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  • 9 months later...

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