Do you think everything is okay?

[Painted Lady]

I've started worrying a little bit about Jeff lately. The home page says he is hoping for Avernum 2 screenshots before summer. Well, it's mid-July and nothing has happened. I hope he's busy either having some fun time off or is busy working on Avernum 2. Has anyone had any contact with him?

[Randomizer]

Avernum 2 is in beta testing. Depending upon when he is planning to release it he may take vacations during beta testing.

[Lilith]

He updated his Twitter just yesterday, so he's clearly still alive.

[Kelandon]

I got an email from him yesterday mentioning that he'd been away for the weekend, so I'm going to go with "having some time off" as part of the reason for the delay.

 

But my theory is that summer hasn't really started, because Nate Silver is also late.

[BMA]

I may actually play Avernum II to the end, I'm bored of massive aaa's and desperate for something spiderwebby.

[Necris Omega]

Avernum 2 is in beta testing. Depending upon when he is planning to release it he may take vacations during beta testing.

 

Good to know, but it's still a valid point - they really ought to update their front page.

[lukematt]

I'm guessing that each successive Avernum remake will be delayed longer and longer...if we ever see all of them.

[Earth]

we will see 1st trilogy remade.

[Necris Omega]

I'm guessing that each successive Avernum remake will be delayed longer and longer...if we ever see all of them.

 

Eh... I can't agree with this as each successive remake has fewer and fewer engine refinement to trip over.

 

Sure, doubtless Jeff will add more stuff each time, but in terms of the raw fundamentals, it should get quicker and easier each time, not slower.

 

When Jeff had to do A1:EftP, it was a new(ish) beast on a new engine. A2:CS is a new(ish) beast on an engine that's been used already. Makes a big difference.

[Kelandon]

A3 is also much larger than A2 (like, twice as large), so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes longer.

[Randomizer]

It seems to be less about engine refinement, there is some, and more about writing the new content. Jeff has added a lot more text to keep players on the right track instead of let us free range.

[Necris Omega]

Hrm. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. Probably just nostalgic change aversion talking, but the general openness of Avernum/Exile was one of its charms, especially vs. much of today's blithe hand holding hallway adventures.

 

Then again, having played through the games umteen times in two separate generations, it's also very easy for me to forget how utterly mindbogglingly huge and confusing the originals could be for a new Avernite. Eh... so long as the rest of the spirit is there, I shouldn't begrudge a few more directional nudges.

 

Come to think of it, the whole Portal Quest in Exile/Avernum 2 always felt like it needed a lot more solid underlining to put it on par with the other major plotlines.

[Jerakeen]

In AEFTP, at least, you get just as much freedom as in the original, just stronger hints about how to progress the plot. You can ignore them if you like.

[Earth]

All Avernums have freedom to go anywhere except in A5 where freedom was bit restricted.

[Randomizer]

A6 gave the illusion of freedom because the demo was the largest area, the Great Cave. Military checkpoints kept you out of the next area until you completed enough goals to proceed. A4 was a bit more suggestions on where to stop.

[Goldengirl]

All Avernums have freedom to go anywhere except in A5 where freedom was bit restricted.

 

Mmm, A2 had basic restrictions at first, until Chapter Three (?) when suddenly the whole world was pretty much wide open. A3 had some prerequisites required to do anything in certain provinces. A4-6 all had a lot of railroading, with key plot points required to unlock the next zone, although you could wander around in each zone once you got there to your heart's content.

[Necris Omega]

Eh, freedom felt painfully restricted, or rather, moot in the second trilogy simply because of the lack of an overworld.

 

Call me old fashioned, but that was the biggest weakness of the 4-6. An overworld provides a level of abstraction that allows a world to take on infinitely more space than any developer could ever hope to detail. Even the biggest games sans such abstractions feel tiny compared to the likes of the original Avernum for this reason. Sure, I love Skyrim as much as the next person, but it's still a mere county compared to what I imagine the nation of Avernum to be.

[Earth]

in A3 I went to alien beast area way before I was properly equipped (got my ass handed to me few times) and also wandered around empire lands.

 

sure A2 had restrictions early thx to Vahnatai's.

[adc.]

A3 is also much larger than A2 (like, twice as large), so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes longer.

 

A3 has always been the best (and my first) Avernum to me, it's so huge and surfacey