I Hate "Regenerating" Locks and Barriers

[Old Scratch]

This is something of a trivial topic, but one feature in the Avernum engine which I thoroughly despise is the fact that barriers and locked doors "regenerate" when you exit an area, even after you've dispelled/unlocked them.

 

This bit me in the arse in BoA, when I dispelled a barrier only to discover that I wasn't skilled enough to pick the lock on the door behind it yet. And when all you have to use to dispel barriers are Piercing Crystals -- which of course don't regenerate at all -- that really sucks.

 

Ideally, I could come back later and unlock the door after improving my Tool Use skill. As it is, I have to load the game or weep at the loss of a Piercing Crystal.

[John S]

Or you could give yourself another Piercing Crystal and call it even. If you don't think the rules are fair, there's no one to make you play by them.

[Fort]

Locked doors usually do not become relocked when you re-enter a town. I do not remember a single instance where it is absolutely necesary to dispel a barrier a second time, though. Just finish what you need to behind the barrier the first time.

 

If you have not tried Avernum 4, then you might like to know that the barriers stay dispelled in it.

[Old Scratch]

Quote:

Originally written by Garrison:
Locked doors usually do not become relocked when you re-enter a town.

As far as I've ever experienced, exiting and then re-entering a town (or a dungeon) in any Avernum-engine game causes all the doors to lock again -- no exceptions. I know I've seen barriers reappear, too, but only in Avenum 3 (as far as I know, anyway).

Quote:

Originally written by Garrison:
I do not remember a single instance where it is absolutely necesary to dispel a barrier a second time, though. Just finish what you need to behind the barrier the first time.

I just gave you an example of a time when I couldn't finish my business behind a barrier, silly.

Quote:

Originally written by Garrison:
If you have not tried Avernum 4, then you might like to know that the barriers stay dispelled in it.

I have noticed that (it's the same in Genforge, of course), but I'm not too sure about Avernum 4 yet. I played it for a number of hours at one point, and I'll try to play it again, but I don't think I was terribly impressed with it. It's not too bad, but I'm going to finish the other Avernums first.

[Dikiyoba]

Originally by Old Scratch:

 

Quote:

As far as I've ever experienced, exiting and then re-entering a town (or a dungeon) in any Avernum-engine game causes all the doors to lock again -- no exceptions.

As far as Dikiyoba knows, this holds true for A1 through A3 but is not true for BoA. In BoA, many doors have a Stuff Done Flag that remembers that they have been unlocked before.