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G1 canisters


Acky

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  • 1 month later...

Did G2, G3 without canisters and G4 almost without - I didn't think it can possibly matter after using the Geneforge, so took some in the early stage. [bTW, the Geneforge seems to have weakened a lot since G1 - there leaving it open created hordes of near-almighty mages, and in G4 it gives just as much as a shaper apprentice powers.]

At "Tricky" difficulty, with no S/L part quitting and a couple cases when I got unexpectedly slaughtered at first turn [i'm used to ADoM].

No problem. It isn't even any harder than with canisters. Any noticeably harder, at least.

 

Wanted to do that in G1 on the second run, but after realizing you can't learn anything at all that way, wonder if I'd better switch to just minimal use. No-canister playthrough seems not even hardist, it's more like stripping yourself of all fun the combat part of the game is about.

Seems to be no way to learn any shaping. Or is there? I've played G1 a *long* time ago, but I vaguely remember some kind of crypt complex filled with books. Don't remember if any of them give actual creations and spells, though.

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Originally by V12:

 

Quote:
Seems to be no way to learn any shaping. Or is there? I've played G1 a *long* time ago, but I vaguely remember some kind of crypt complex filled with books. Don't remember if any of them give actual creations and spells, though.
There are two large crypts that you can learn stuff from. However, the one in the early game contains all stat-raising books and the second one might have a very few but isn't until the very end of the game.

 

Dikiyoba.

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Oh dang them. I guess I have to use the canisters, the game just doesn't seem to leave a choice. What's the threshold, by the way? Less than 5 canisters, like in GF4, i.e. I can use 4 without ill effects?

 

OTOH I'm also thinking about playing this one time without any creations... without that responsibility to keep them alive. I doubt Guardian is the best class for that, though. Agents need essence for spells, which makes sense for creationless approach (besides, agents have spells of mass destruction), Guardians just waste it then.

 

.

 

P.S. BTW, the only thing I hated about G4 is that there seems to be no way to enable creature AI once you give them 2 Int. Why, just why is there no "on/off" button as before?

Sometimes I just prefer to have the creature act on its own and me not waste my time pointing every move of seven creatures. Yet sometimes I want to keep the creations from rushing ahead into a deadly fight. Kyshakk and Wingbolt are strong enough that they don't need absolutely any control in most locations, but sometimes it becomes like keeping the dog alive through Mutant Base in Fallout. I really want that switch back in G5, if not even a patch for G4.

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I've played G1, G2, and G3 all the way through as a major canister fiend, and in G3, cheated to bring my canister usage total to different amounts to see a few different conversation options and game endings.

 

I can't repeat this experiment, since I've subsequently misplaced all such cheat codes for all three games. I haven't tried G4 yet.

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Originally by V12:

 

Quote:
Oh dang them. I guess I have to use the canisters, the game just doesn't seem to leave a choice. What's the threshold, by the way? Less than 5 canisters, like in GF4, i.e. I can use 4 without ill effects?
The threshold is zero. Canisters are so important (and the negative effects as yet unknown) that the game doesn't check to see whether you've been using them or not; it assumes that you have been.

 

Dikiyoba.

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Quote:
the game doesn't check to see whether you've been using them or not; it assumes that you have been.
Is that for sure? I've seen in the walkthrough that
"...There's no penalty for doing so (at least, not intrinsically. There are a few encounters which are different if you haven't used many)."

Quote:
I can't repeat this experiment, since I've subsequently misplaced all such cheat codes for all three games. I haven't tried G4 yet.
Well, I can tell that in G4 the two most common thresholds are less than 5 and less than 10. At 5 cans, you start to get uncontrolled rage, so 4 are mostly clean, and 10 is wasted.
Not sure which works in the endgame, but these decide what one Shaper tells after analyzing you. Some times very late in the game it asks for 12 and even 15 in the final location, but these are about being totally changed or very crazy. Might check, but I guess someone's already done that.

It can be quicker done via scripts, the flag to seek is 100,4. Works easier that way if you understand basic pascal-like programming.

Actually, G3 and especially G4 really seriously "crack down" on canisters, with ill effects often prominent and workarounds present. You lose just a little bit of power by abstaining. I've never found these "L3" creation versions useful, by the time you can make it there are better general designs. And a good increase in quantity is simply better than tiny increase in quality, there's no better creature than a Wingbolt by cost-efficiency.
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Quote:
Originally written by V12:
Quote:
the game doesn't check to see whether you've been using them or not; it assumes that you have been.
Is that for sure? I've seen in the walkthrough that
"...There's no penalty for doing so (at least, not intrinsically. There are a few encounters which are different if you haven't used many)."
Learned Darian notices something different about you if you've used a lot of canisters, and the Quiet Marshes has somewhat different text if you've used a lot of canisters compared to if you've only used a few. That's about it. It doesn't have any real gameplay effects.
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