Exile

[ddrakath]

Yeah I went to dinner with some of my oldschool buddies and they were all excited to hear about a remake of Exile. It was like a middle school flashback =-)

 

I downloaded the Avernum demo, but personally I think I'll stick with Exile. I like the updates, but I think I'll stick with the oldschool feel and interface. I still have my original copy of exile 3 registered on an old P1 in the corner (not sure if it has all the parts it needs though). I'm thinking about rebuying that game (still have my strategy guide buried away).

[ddrakath]

Sorry, should have placed this topic inside the "Avernum V.S. Exile?? fill me in... " topic.

 

Too late at night, should be sleeping not posting.

[Blaspheme]

I think Avernum is not for the Exile trilogy players, but for the people who can't play Exile, cause of the graphics and the interface.

I've try to tell my friends they have to give the spidweb's games a shot, but they just can't. Actually, some of them like Geneforge, cause the graphics look good, and it's not just a turn by turn game.

 

I was thinking about Avernum 4 with the Geneforge kind of graphics, it's not bad, what do you think ?

[bogus standard candidate]

Blaspheme, that may be the case.

 

I somehow doubt that Jeff will create a brand new engine for A4, if he does, it'll take for ever to be made, and it seems that he has been releasing two games a year for a while now (or I am completely off base here?)

 

I think it could actually work to have A4 with a GF engine.

 

I wonder, though, if for the sake of keeping the games looking similar, he will simply use a revamped version of the Avernum engine for A4.

[Alorael at Large]

He has made much of the sparkly new engine for A4, though. I thikn it's safe to say that it won't be the old Nethergate/Avernum engine, and having Avernum with a Geneforge engine would make me, for one, very unhappy.

 

I'm not sure the new engine means all new graphics, though, although Avernum's graphics leave a great deal to be desired. Assuming he doesn't completely overhaul the concepts behind the engine, it might actually look and play quite similarly to the old games. Compare Exile to Avernum and you'll see the same AP, same basic combat system, and many other similarities. There's no reason for all that to be thrown out the window. Jeff has always said he goes with what works, and Avernum clearly worked.

 

—Alorael, who actually isn't sure that a Geneforge-like engine for A4 would be such a bad thing. The combat would definitely have to be heavily altered, though, or he'd have to avoid playing A4 like he avoids Geneforge.

[bogus standard candidate]

Alo, you're right, I'd forgotten he had said that about the engine.

 

You raised an interesting point when you mentioned the shift between Exile and Avernum.

 

I'm wondering, if there is a similar shift now between Avernum and A4, what will it be like?

 

It needs to still be simply, graphics wise, since as he has pointed out he makes his game thinking of 56 modems.

 

What may we be looking at? A more refined isometric feeling?

 

If we take into consideration the GF engine, one of the major differences, for me, is the size of the characters.

 

Do you guys think that may be one of the changes?

 

I hope one thing: that movement between places is like Avernum, that is, the whole world is integrated.

 

I mean, you walk out of a city/dungeon and are in the outdoors from where you can directly enter other places.

 

No separate zones like GF where, even though when you play you get the feeling that everything is integrated, in the location map everything is separated and divided.

 

What do you guys think?

[Alorael at Large]

I at least hope he keeps outdoors. They aren't exactly my favorite part of a game, but there's something very nice in wandering around without knowing whether or not there's a cave to stumble into. On the same note, the disappearance of secret doors would be unpleasant.

 

—Alorael, who wouldn't mind having the prettier graphics and animations of Geneforge, though. They would make up for the drop in art quality from E3 to Nethergate/Avernum.

[bogus standard candidate]

I miss secret doors. It may seem like a very small detail to point out, but I miss them.

 

I remember when most CRPGs that came out had secret doors in them. They made careful exploring of a dungeon (after the satisfaction of having wiped it out of evil thingies) a nice experience. Take it easy for a while, be patient, and be rewarded for both the patience and the extermination of monsters.

 

Secret doors still pop-up in CRPGs here and there, but, for some reason, it feels to me like they just aren't as much of a fixture anymore.

Am I getting the wrong feeling about this?

[ef]

I share your feeling. I loved to explore all the niches and corners looking for a goodie or two.

[mistica]

I downloaded exile 3 demo after I played avernum, and to tell the truth, I did not like it. I prefer Avernum --- all its parts, just the way it is. Please Jeff, do not change the pattern in A4...(there is another reason too... my system cant handle stuffs heavier than A3, so...). And also, I like to play games with simple, clean graphics, & a lot of rpg puzzles to solve, so I guess my choice matches avernum series perfectly

[Toenail Returns]

I bought Exile III is less than a week after I got the demo.

 

When I tried playing Avernum III at my friend's house, I crashed and burned before even getting past the tutorial. Mind you, it wasn't because it was hard or anything like that, it was that I wasn't used to the interface.

 

After my fifth try of playing Avernum III, I finally got the demo and I'm thinking of regestering.