G4 Preview

[VCH]

There are Spoilers:

 

G4

[Pyro]

I think it gives too much away..but i havn't really been paying attention to the other posts..soo it may not be news to anyone else...

[John S]

Yes, it gives away much more than was previously common knowledge. So if you haven't read the article yet, consider yourself spoiler-warned.

[Archaeolagent]

Sweet.

[Kelandon]

The stuff it gives away only involves the beginning, though.

[Ash Lael]

I'm pleasantly suprised, and cautiously optimistic.

[Igor]

Wow. The Fyroa looks like a Velociraptor or something now.

 

Click to reveal..

 

Using the Geneforge so early in the game is perplexing. Perhaps it is not so uber as it was in GF 1?

 

[Ash Lael]

Or the whole scale of combat is dramatically ramped up. Intead of starting off fighting Fyoras, you start fighting Drayks.

[Dikiyoba]

Originally by Anasurimbor Moenghus:

 

Quote:

Wow. The Fyroa looks like a Velociraptor or something now.

Dikiyoba agrees. The new graphic looks great.

[Alorael at Large]

I think I'm not giving anything away if I mention that you get to use the Geneforge in the middle of the tutorial. No, it's not your GF1 Shaper's Geneforge.

 

—Alorael, who decided, with very little knowledge of Geneforges or how they work, that the one in the beginning is both plausible and appropriately handled. Then he tried to flip out and kill everyone with superior magical power, but at level 1 it's hard to do that even with enhanced genes.

[Randomizer]

The review is accurate except for misspelling fyora. The details about the AP system aren't complete. There is one major difference that isn't mentioned in that you can get killed in the very first section of the tutorial. Most people won't be that careless, but I explored the area and found at least 2 ways to die.

 

It still doesn't give away that much more than Jeff has already revealed in posts and screenshots. The third way is hinted at in the tutorial, but you don't really get to it until chapter 2.

 

The new fyora graphic is better than the old one. There is one new creation that is really nice, but you don't see it until chapter 2 when it kills you for going where you shouldn't.

[Andraste]

I think the new Fyora looks kinda goofy. I always thought that they would look like Velociraptor, but I don't know. The old ones were so cute.

They'll grow on me eventually I guess.

 

This priview made me even more excited. Can't wait.

[Student of Trinity]

At least as far as I'm concerned, the game lives up to its early promise right through. I had the same enthusiastic reaction to the demo area as this reviewer. After playing the rest of the game, the demo area still seems good, but pretty tame.

[Swimmin' Salmon]

Looks interesting. I'll give it a whirl in 2007.

[Archaeolagent]

Did you say chapter 2?

 

That, too, makes me happy. Having chapter divisions has been as good an indicator of a great Spiderweb game as anything else. (See: Exile 2, Nethergate)

[Student of Trinity]

I don't know what the chapter divisions were like before. There are no 'title pages' or anything in G4, but as I think Jeff has said, it is structured as a series of regions separated by barriers that are, for one reason or another, impenetrable, until certain major quests have been accomplished, in one way or another. So the plot does end up having a definite chapter structure. Each chapter is more tightly unified than in previous games, with most zones and most quests fitting somehow into the chapter's major plot.

 

There's still nearly total freedom in how you want to go about things, and quite a few optional quests or places. But I think most players will be conscious of where the story is going most of the time, rather than just wandering around the landscape looking for trouble.

[Dintiradan]

(Looks at G4's weather effects.)

(Looks at scenario's puny efforts to create fog.)

(Weeps.)

 

Really, the hype for this game has made me actually consider playing through the first three, just to get to the point where I can play it. I have yet to hear a bad thing about the beta.

 

--------------------

IF I EVER BECOME AN EVIL OVERLORD:

I reserve the right to execute any henchmen who appear to be a little too intelligent, powerful, or devious. However if I do so, I will not at some subsequent point shout "Why am I surrounded by these incompetent fools?!"

(T-10)

[Alorael at Large]

You don't need much background to play. Having only played demos and only GF1's demo extensively, I can still follow the plot without trouble. I'm missing a few references and returning characters, of course, but it all works.

 

—Alorael, who thinks Geneforge's chapter system is more like the beginning few chapters of Nethergate than like E/A2. You can go anywhere you've been, for the most part, and you can explore a fair amount where you are. Getting to the next area means advancing the plot.

[MagmaDragoon]

It seems really good! All is improved, but the basic are the same.

[Pyro]

man, it almost makes me want to buy a mac just to play it asooner

[Lattan]

So I'm noticing the FPS counter in the upper-left land area seems to be ~10 -- does anybody know what the other games normally run at? That seems painfully low.

[Nioca]

30. Though I had one game which had an FPS of 50.

[JadeWolf]

Charlie (always my first creation) the Fyora's trip to the graphics designing program has turned out quite badly and he's going to lose his job as first creation unless the fyora turns out to be nicer looking from other angles. Not that much can be done about his portrait in the party menu though...

 

The review's screenshot gallery proves that Charlie's got a repaint in colour as well... will probably hack into that image file and replace it with the old cuter fyora image. Or call him Bob and act as if nothing ever happened.

 

Quote:

Originally written by Ash Lael:

Or the whole scale of combat is dramatically ramped up. Intead of starting off fighting Fyoras, you start fighting Drayks.

Err. I'm going to get killed more often now. But then what do we fight at the end? Killer rabbits?

[Student of Trinity]

Fortunately, with the new forging system you are able combine an eyebeast eye, a perfect drakon eyelash, and a rotdhizon spleen ... into the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

[Archaeolagent]

I guess that means I'm going to have to name my character Tim.

[Randomizer]

Jeff looked at the early beta reports about the expert area at the end (think GF1's Shapers Crypt) and a few other areas and decided we were having too easy a time. Just create a few vorpal bunnies and you'll do fine.

[Shiboito]

this is gonna be y

[Nioca]

Quote:

Originally written by Shiboito:
this is gonna be y

Excuse me, but what does y mean?

Looking at the screenshots... The graphics are so good that I almost thought this was a big budget title. Wow. And yes, I like the new fyora graphic. Although when it's facing NW, it tends to look like a fire lizard from Avernum.

[Student of Trinity]

Uh, G4 is no Oblivion. But yes, as those screenshots indicate, the graphics are souped up some compared to previous Spiderweb games. At this point there are still a few bits that I'm really hoping are placeholders. And there are quite a few decent-looking things. The spell effects are indeed, as the review says, quite good for a shareware game.

[Randomizer]

The spell effects and new combat engine are two things from Geneforge that I wouldn't mind going over to Avernum this time.

 

I'm still wondering what will replace the placeholder graphics.

[Archaeolagent]

As long as the clawbugs don't look like chitrachs

[JadeWolf]

In this earlier screenshot , the fyora hasn't got the new graphic. Also, in the bottom left corner, there's a sort of ogre. Perhaps that is the new Battle Creation?

[MagmaDragoon]

Maybe the "Reptile Fyora" is a new Fire Creation.

[Major]

Quote:

Also, in the bottom left corner, there's a sort of ogre. Perhaps that is the new Battle Creation?

Maybe, or is it an updated golem graphics?

[Alorael at Large]

Perhaps it is a new battle creation.

 

—Alorael, who has made no definite statements. None whatsoever!

[Randomizer]

Jeff is still playing with the graphics. I think the Vahnatai addition was a mistake. This may change by the next beta.

[MagmaDragoon]

Quote:

Originally written by Allkind:
Perhaps it is a new battle creation.

—Alorael, who has made no definite statements. None whatsoever!

Perhaps. Perhaps.

[Synergy]

There *might* be something else you haven't seen before in the lower right corner if you look closely. Or not.

 

-S-

[Major]

That's a Kyshakk. But, unfortunately I've already seen it.

[Silver Shadow]

I do note with some joy that there are little bag icons next to some of the creations.