I want to see ...

[Nick Ringer]

The "Advance Notes on Geneforge 4" thread has been relentlessly bombarded by crappy ideas. As a 7-page thread tends to scare people off or discourage them from reading it, let's start anew. Yet, this will not be a thread for reasonable suggestions or conservative critique of the prequels. Oh no. This is for your (my) most degenerated thoughts and pathetic, obscure issues on Geneforge. How would YOU change the next game in the Geneforge series? (I_Am_A_Minotaur, try not to defecate in your britches with sheer glee at this.)

 

I have, at this point, such a frighteningly vast array of editions (scribbled in a notebook through boring functions) that I have largely remade the game. I'm certainly not giving that amalgam of, without a doubt, enlightened, literature to the first post of this ill-fated thread. Although, if posterity demands it, I will include my personal Geneforge thoughts.

 

I'll give you inspiring concepts to change (which will invariably turn into a list of every one of the series's attributes): skills, creations, classes, plot, characters, zones, spells, items, quests. Altogether new concepts. As crafting and trapdoors were new in GF3. Modes of travel. Special effects. Minigames. Shaper telekinesis. Encoded puzzles.

 

Enlighten us.

[Nick Ringer]

Oh, not the cold shoulder!

 

Well, in my spare time (which I do not well spend) I made a new boat. Because I can no longer withstand the scaled, blurry craft from Avernum or something.

 

And now I'm going to post it here.

 

[Inthrall]

I can't see it...

[Socane]

A little, I dunno... Cartoony considering how the rest of the games looks? Meh, Regardless it's better than the crappy enlargement of the one from Avernum.

 

As to something new in the line of a creation/transportation.

 

What about a creation, either a fire or magic line creation, that provides it's shaper with transportation, either through sea, like the drayk ship in GF1, or some flying one.

 

Both mainly used to basically move to another zone (within reason) without actually getting there by walking (Meaning that the zone you end up at has no lines leading towards somewhere you've already been to) You'd have to limit it of course, and while letting the creation move around in the zone a little bit, not let it have much in the lines of health or attack power, considering how it's made as a form of transportation, not attack. I'm pretty sure it's been discussed before, but it's my thoughts on it.

 

Maybe even, perhaps, have those creations high end costing lots of essence, and used mainly to get to bonus zones for either lots of monsters to kill for experience, or a hard trap/bomb area to get through to get either a canister storage area, or for the purist canister haters (got nothing against yuns) some other form of stat-increasing, or even just a big plotline bonus or item, making the amount of difficulty to get to them equal to how good whatever the prize is.

 

And, just to throw it out there. Being able to plant and/or just grow your own thorns?

[John S]

Quote:

Originally written by Socane:
A little, I dunno... Cartoony considering how the rest of the games looks? Meh, Regardless it's better than the crappy enlargement of the one from Avernum.

I think that's how all things look when you use black lines to define the graphics. For another example, see the Warped Creator.

I want to see a creation which does something new and different, not just something that does the same thing in a different way.

[Dikiyoba]

Well, A4 has different boats finally, right? Hopefully, it will carry over to G4.

 

Dikiyoba.

[Nick Ringer]

My boat was meant to stand out. I tried making the little pinkish-colored posts (there's one in my picture) cartoony, but they appear so often it doesn't look good. Here's what I considered: usable objects could be outlined to stand out more. Like the boat, which seldom appears. So it's tasteful, or something. But it's also less visually realistic. Besides, the white mouseOver outline helps users distinguish. So it's just a question of style.

 

And speaking of style, look how I placed that rope all perfectly and stood next to it! Dhonal's Fort Wilton docks did not have that kind of class before I got there.

 

Yep, thorns were always too few and far between to make the batons convenient. Although it's mentioned that Shapers wouldn't stoop to making their own lowly weapons, "a Shaper is nothing if not resourceful."

 

Transportation via Creation. Hmmm. Create Sea Drayk? That'd be incredible. Zone-to-Zone is well and good, but why not take it into battle? It could have a basic fiery projectile attack (remember how yours takes down the Sholai ship), and you could cast spells and projectiles from its back. Enemies may attack from the water. So you could have water-based enemies. Aquatic Roamer and Ur-Salmon and such. But can it carry other creations? Maybe you'd have to invest more essence in it, or something ... of course, you'd have to be limited to where you can do this. otherwise you'd say, "screw this water hazard," Shape your way across it, reabsorb the craft, and go on your merry way. Something like, "Sorry, this river is too rough for a Sea Drayk." Of course, it always bothered me that you can't swim. I mean, medieval folk were so afraid of the water they never tried, but we're talking about Shapers here.

 

The Warped Creator is crazy. Then again, it's supposed to be.

 

Shaper Telekenisis. Oh yes. Wouldn't you love a spell that blows open a door or clears away rubble?

 

The Shaper Council. I want to see them in the next game. I mean, the Shaper Capital or something. Of course, that can't work. Geneforge 4 is very set up to take place in Terrestria - the less-populated Shaper continent, so the capital is going to be in the other continent. Whichever that is.