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[Fjordson]

I bought all five games last night. Very eager to get started. Always thought it was cool the type of stuff Vogel and co. make, but I haven't actually tried any of their output yet.

 

[The Technomancer]

I bought all five games last night. Very eager to get started. Always thought it was cool the type of stuff Vogel and co. make, but I haven't actually tried any of their output yet.

Ooh ooh, post impessions, I always love reading impressions of stuff I love. Definitly start with 1 if you can stand the graphics, or 5 otherwise, the others are a bit weak divorced from their surrounding context

 

[Fjordson]

Downloaded all five from GOG, went through the manuals a bit, and then fired up the first one. Had to fiddle around with the settings a bit and then get it running in windowed mode, but it was smooth sailing after that.

I loved the introduction to the world and the lore so far is really cool. This whole idea of Shapers with all of their ancient secrets and intense training, mysteriously abandoned islands, the different creations, serviles (

Spoiler

and the issue of "awakened" serviles)

. It's already piqued my interest for sure.

The graphics are certainly primitive by today's standards, but I honestly don't have a problem with them. They get the job done. Plus, Vogel's writing does a great job of conveying what the visuals might not with loads of wonderful flavour text for people, places, and items. I love when the text pops up, it does a great job of setting the mood.

Does anyone else play their own music in the background? Just the repeating ambient sound by itself was a little jarring, but I put on some sweet synth music and it worked perfectly, haha. Probably going to try a few different soundtracks going forward.

Unfortunately, some work caused me to start the game way later than I was hoping, so I had to save and quit once I was about to pass out from lack of sleep. I managed to explore the first village after the tutorial section and pick up a few quests. Can't wait to play more tomorrow, though.

Quick question regarding loot: I'm guessing there are vendors that you can sell junk to? Since I'm able to pick up random shit like spoons or "trash" and I doubt they have much use. Just wondering if this is one of those RPG's where grabbing everything you see is worthwhile or not.

 

[Mr Nash]

Finally getting around to playing these games. I'd picked them up ages ago, but kept getting distracted by other stuff. Starting on the first and going from there. Not sure if I'll systematically go through all of them. Playing the first, then taking a break before moving to the second seems more likely.

Anywho, only about an hour in, and just got through quarantine, and talked to Timo. Liking what I've seen so far. There's a nice atmosphere to the game the way it lays out the island and you know something must of happened to the island, and it wasn't pleasant, so it's fun to be slowly wade into the region, and soak in the ambiance while learning what I can about the place.

I could see myself really getting sucked into these games.

 

[Toma]

I love how this game offers you different approaches. They just told me "go to a if you are a mechanic and go to b if you want to fight". In the end I'll still do both, but I think the level design here really is quite magnificient.

Even though I noticed that I can deactivate turrets in the LAST room of the area I was in just now. Ah well, got a bit EXP at least.

 

[Lain]

Played a bit more of Geneforge 1 today. Experimented a bit on what I could steal without getting caught then left Vakkiri to complete some of the quests I had received aaaand... i wasn't expecting to die so much! I started getting ganged up pretty easily and having to play it more cautiously than I was expecting. Even with so many reloads the game is still fun.

I have been leveling up my battle magic skill as well as leadership and mechanic (I'm level 5 right now) and was wondering if I'm doing right (I'm playing an agent). I ask because going from 1 to 7 in battle magic hasn't made all that much difference in fights when I cast my firebolt.

 

[The Technomancer]

I don't think you need to increase Battle Magic quite that fast, you can divest a few points into other areas. Its two main benefits are increasing chance to hit and allowing you to cast more powerful battle spells you'll learn later on.

 

[Tess3ract]

So I'm playing Geneforge 1, and I've played spiderweb games before but, is there a way to steal from the first town and like, pay a fine to get them to not attack me?

Or should I talk to everyone, do my business then do some mass murder (since that spy said they'll hate me in the first town anyways afterwards.)?

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

So I'm playing Geneforge 1, and I've played spiderweb games before but, is there a way to steal from the first town and like, pay a fine to get them to not attack me?

Or should I talk to everyone, do my business then do some mass murder (since that spy said they'll hate me in the first town anyways afterwards.)?

You can steal without getting caught as long as there aren't any NPC's who see you. Most NPC's move around quite a bit, so it's just a matter of waiting until they all clear out. I stole a bunch of stuff from the first town without any repercussions. Some NPC's, like some of the named ones and the vendors, won't move, so you might be out of luck if you want to steal their stuff without getting caught.

I don't think there's any way to pay a fine or something like that if you've already been caught.

 

[Mr Nash]

Got to the point where I can have a couple of creatures at once helping out my shaper, and it's nice. Have a Thahd for a tank, and a Fyora helping out with ranged attacks. Only downside is that sometimes the Thahd panics in battle, and kills me. Will pouring in a little extra intellect help negate this, or is it something that sticks with the species regardless? I'm only putting in two spheres worth of intellect at the moment so that I can control the guy.

Also, really liking the story right now. I've mostly been telling people from the different factions what they want to here until I figure out what I want to do. The folks in and around Vakkari seem nice enough, but I have a nagging feeling I don't want to hitch my wagon to their cause.

 

[The Technomancer]

Got to the point where I can have a couple of creatures at once helping out my shaper, and it's nice. Have a Thahd for a tank, and a Fyora helping out with ranged attacks. Only downside is that sometimes the Thahd panics in battle, and kills me. Will pouring in a little extra intellect help negate this, or is it something that sticks with the species regardless? I'm only putting in two spheres worth of intellect at the moment so that I can control the guy.

Also, really liking the story right now. I've mostly been telling people from the different factions what they want to here until I figure out what I want to do. The folks in and around Vakkari seem nice enough, but I have a nagging feeling I don't want to hitch my wagon to their cause.

Is he panicing because he's low on health, or are you fighting creatures with the Charm ability? Intelligence definitely helps resist the latter, not sure about the former.

 

[Mr Nash]

Is he panicing because he's low on health, or are you fighting creatures with the Charm ability? Intelligence definitely helps resist the latter, not sure about the former.

Yeah, it's usually a health thing. Was hoping a little more intellect would keep him calm, cool, and collected when things get tough. I guess healing will have to suffice.

 

[Mr Nash]

A lack of living rods (or whatever those lock picking things are called) is becoming a bit of an issue. I've been leveling into mechanic skill quite a bit, but it's still coming up short for opening up doors, and I do so enjoy opening doors as there's often times fancy canisters behind them that will teach my shaper new things.

Also, not really feeling it with the Atilas. The poison is nice, but in a drawn out fight, their SP runs out too fast for my taste. I'd rather go with one thahd and a pair of fyoras instead. Been getting good results with that setup. Just learned how to make roamers, too, so I may fiddle around with them soon to see what they're like.

Don't really have much focus on what to do next. Vakkari's head honcho just said "Go east!" so I'm just wandering around, seeing what kind of trouble I can get into. Good times. =)

 

[Toma]

A lack of living rods (or whatever those lock picking things are called) is becoming a bit of an issue. I've been leveling into mechanic skill quite a bit, but it's still coming up short for opening up doors, and I do so enjoy opening doors as there's often times fancy canisters behind them that will teach my shaper new things.

Also, not really feeling it with the Atilas. The poison is nice, but in a drawn out fight, their SP runs out too fast for my taste. I'd rather go with one thahd and a pair of fyoras instead. Been getting good results with that setup. Just learned how to make roamers, too, so I may fiddle around with them soon to see what they're like.

Don't really have much focus on what to do next. Vakkari's head honcho just said "Go east!" so I'm just wandering around, seeing what kind of trouble I can get into. Good times. =)

There is a spell called "Unlock" that also uses your Mechanics ability. That helped me quite a bit. And I am using 5 projectile monsters (3 Fyoras and 2 Artilas) and no enemy group even comes close to beating me atm. Haha.

 

[Toma]

Is there any way to get the guys in Pentil to join the awakened? You get some weird options about how to react to their issues and whether they did good or not.

 

[Toma]

Additionally, is there any benefit to joining the Awakened if I already got their loot?

 

[The Technomancer]

Additionally, is there any benefit to joining the Awakened if I already got their loot?

I don't remember, its been ages. I know other factions treat you differently based on if you've explicitly joined them, but I don't recall the specifics

 

[Toma]

I don't remember, its been ages. I know other factions treat you differently based on if you've explicitly joined them, but I don't recall the specifics

And the question above?

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

A lack of living rods (or whatever those lock picking things are called) is becoming a bit of an issue. I've been leveling into mechanic skill quite a bit, but it's still coming up short for opening up doors, and I do so enjoy opening doors as there's often times fancy canisters behind them that will teach my shaper new things.

Also, not really feeling it with the Atilas. The poison is nice, but in a drawn out fight, their SP runs out too fast for my taste. I'd rather go with one thahd and a pair of fyoras instead. Been getting good results with that setup. Just learned how to make roamers, too, so I may fiddle around with them soon to see what they're like.

Don't really have much focus on what to do next. Vakkari's head honcho just said "Go east!" so I'm just wandering around, seeing what kind of trouble I can get into. Good times. =)

I've actually found that I have more than enough living rods and I've been opening up everything as well. Like Toma said, the unlock spell really helps and you get it pretty soon after going East from Vakkari.

Also, I've found that it's good to explore a whole level before unlocking doors. Lots of times, there are alternate routes that don't require using living rods at all.

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

Do you ever get a player house or a place to store your stuff in the first game? As far as I can tell, you can't place stuff back into containers. I have a bunch of stuff that I don't necessarily want to get rid of yet, but it's weighing me down. It would be nice to have somewhere to store it.

 

[Mr Nash]

Guess I'll be using Unlock then. =) Been helping the Pentil a lot of late, driving away all of the threats around their village. Some interesting plot developments seem to be getting hinted at guessing by what some of Pentil's scouts have told me. Also, I always like stumbling across a servant mind. They may wind up being not all that useful, but they always have something interesting to say. =)

 

[The Technomancer]

Do you ever get a player house or a place to store your stuff in the first game? As far as I can tell, you can't place stuff back into containers. I have a bunch of stuff that I don't necessarily want to get rid of yet, but it's weighing me down. It would be nice to have somewhere to store it.

Nope, I usually just use the empty shaping hall from the tutorial area as my "base" and drop everything on the floor

 

[Clever Pun]

I'm about 4 hours into the game now and it gets so much better once it opens up, the quests start rolling in, and you get access to more creatures. I love how important and rewarding it is to explore thoroughly, and the freedom to take different paths or pursue a different quest.

I almost quit playing after the first hour, but I'm so glad I stuck with it now.

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

Nope, I usually just use the empty shaping hall from the tutorial area as my "base" and drop everything on the floor

Got it, thanks for the reply. I think I'll set up in Pentil somewhere for now.

 

[Toma]

Oh boy. I tried to venture a bit north and got my ass thoroughly beaten. Maybe I'll try my luck east first.

 

[Mr Nash]

I was exploring some of those tombs a little ways southeast of Pentil. For some of them it says the knowledge inside them is beyond me, and I can't make use of them. Does that always stay the case, or can I go back there later when my guy has leveled up so that he can get other skill ups?

 

[The Technomancer]

I was exploring some of those tombs a little ways southeast of Pentil. For some of them it says the knowledge inside them is beyond me, and I can't make use of them. Does that always stay the case, or can I go back there later when my guy has leveled up so that he can get other skill ups?

Almost positive you can return and gain the knowledge later, in fact I think its only a few levels later. By the same token, there are some caskets which, if you check them out at too high a level, you get no benefit from because "its too elementary to be of use to you"

 

[Mr Nash]

Almost positive you can return and gain the knowledge later, in fact I think its only a few levels later. By the same token, there are some caskets which, if you check them out at too high a level, you get no benefit from because "its too elementary to be of use to you"

Good stuff, thanks. =) Now I'll be paranoidily (why can't that be a real word?) returning there with each level up to see if I can help myself to some tasty, tasty knowledge.

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

Oh boy. I tried to venture a bit north and got my ass thoroughly beaten. Maybe I'll try my luck east first.

I tried the same thing yesterday. I was handling everything to the East pretty easily, so I thought I'd venture North. I made it past the first area, but in the second one all 6 of my creations were killed in the first encounter I had.

 

[Mr Nash]

I'm going to have to start pushing east pretty hard. Most of the stuff around Pentil is giving me hardly any experience points now. Granted I've been going out of my way to do side quests.

Spoiler

Started making my way across the south bridge, and came across some actual humans, so this should get interesting

.

How many points are you guys putting into various creations' attributes to get the big groups of five or six? Are you making relatively weak monsters and just zerging stuff?

 

[Toma]

I'm going to have to start pushing east pretty hard. Most of the stuff around Pentil is giving me hardly any experience points now. Granted I've been going out of my way to do side quests.

Spoiler

Started making my way across the south bridge, and came across some actual humans, so this should get interesting

.

How many points are you guys putting into various creations' attributes to get the big groups of five or six? Are you making relatively weak monsters and just zerging stuff?

Yep, just 2 INT for every monster and 1 str because I had enough. Other than that, just zerging it with ranged attacks. Might change that up at one point for strong bosses or something, but after 15 hrs that strategy worked pretty well so far.

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

I'm doing the same thing right now. I have 7 in my party: myself and 6 creations. I put a couple of points into intelligence, even though it's pretty expensive, but it gave me a pretty good sized mana pool. So I've been able to give my creations a little dexterity as well, which has helped a lot with their hit chance.

 

[Mr Nash]

Woo hoo, I can make clawbugs and vlish now. Really liking the clawbug as a tanking unit compared to the thahd. They seem to take much more of a beating. I'm guessing it has to do with their exoskeleton. Only downside is that they're really expensive at 20 points base, plus whatever extras you want to pour into them, so I usually wind up paying close to 50 points for one.

Running one clawbug and four fyora now. Should be fun with that setup for a bit. Tempted to swap out a fyora for an atila, but I want to leave a few points available for heals, unlock, etc. Anyway, almost to Kazg, and not able to venture too much further east. Quite liking this game still. =)

 

[Mr Nash]

Started getting bored wandering around Kagz. Sounds like there are some interesting things a little ways east of there, but I'll have to fight my way through some guards to get there. Also contemplating just wiping out the city. For now, though, I've headed north to see what all of the hubbub is about that region.

Got to Freeplace and was greeted by many, many battle alphas. Thankfully not all at once. I had to go through several creations, killing a few baddies, then hightailing it back to Pentil to make more creations before heading back to fight some more.

Also found a Dryak. Are those create-able later in the game?

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

I changed up my lineup and it's been working well as I try to fight my way north. I was running Fyoras and Cryoas, but I switched to 2 Terror Vlish, 2 Plated Artila, and 2 regular Artila. The combined acid damage is huge against some of the tougher enemies and the terror that the Vlish casts is really helpful when facing groups of enemies.

 

[The Technomancer]

Started getting bored wandering around Kagz. Sounds like there are some interesting things a little ways east of there, but I'll have to fight my way through some guards to get there. Also contemplating just wiping out the city. For now, though, I've headed north to see what all of the hubbub is about that region.

Congratulations, the game has now really started

 

[Mr Nash]

I'm officially on Kagz kha kha list. I decided to fight my way east past where the large contingent of guards were as I'd met that other servile north of Pentil who said

Spoiler

there was a group there that the Kagz feared

. It's pretty interesting, I met a group of

Spoiler

good Sholai, or at least I'm assuming they are, they give me that impression anyway

. Now I'm just trying to finish clearing out the southeastern docks. Learned how to make battle alphas there, which was nice, but I still need to nudge up my fyora skill once more to get the ice versions of those guys. Unfortunately I can't raid those tombs for knowledge anymore, as I wound up out leveling the stuff there, and that makes me sad.

 

[Atrophis]

Played Geneforge 1 for eight hours straight today. Oh man my brain is frazzled but I'm loving it

Explored about 25 or 30 areas so far, level 9, can only make 3 different creatures. I suspect I have missed a couple of canisters in some of the locked rooms I left. Tomorrow I will finish up a couple of Pentil quests and then see if I can get into Kagz. I have a perverse desire to join the Takers.

 

[The Technomancer]

Played Geneforge 1 for eight hours straight today. Oh man my brain is frazzled but I'm loving it

Explored about 25 or 30 areas so far, level 9, can only make 3 different creatures. I suspect I have missed a couple of canisters in some of the locked rooms I left. Tomorrow I will finish up a couple of Pentil quests and then see if I can get into Kagz. I have a perverse desire to join the Takers.

*sniff* it makes me so happy to see this thread grow

 

[Atrophis]

17 hours and no signs of stopping. Explored most of the bottom half of the map and finally joined the Takers. Its too easy to be the good guy in RPG's so I wanted a change (not that there's really a good faction in this series).

Dunno how you just do one screen a day Toma, the "one more area" addictiveness is hard to resist.

 

[cicero]

Hey Techno, in case you miss the thread because it doesnt even get the same amount of responses the OT gets:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=494755

Paywhatyouwant deal, starting $0,25 for all 5 games. Completely and utterly insane. Help me bump it a bit

aww. I totally missed this. GOG redeemable too....

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

So midterms and the Dota 2 Halloween event slowed my progress over the past couple of weeks :/. I'm nearing the end though, so I should finish up with the first game relatively soon. Here's a picture of my progress so far.

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

Well I finished up Geneforge 1 a couple days ago. I didn't end up exploring every area, but I cleared probably 90% of them. Overall, I thought it was a great game. I enjoyed the story and the politics of the different factions. I ended up

Spoiler

killing the main enemy and destroying the Geneforge without using it

. The game integrated the Deus Ex-inspired approach to choice really well into its design and I was constantly surprised by the different ways I was able to approach situations. The combat got a little tedious towards the end, but I liked how every area had something interesting in it and there were very few throwaway areas.

Now on to the second one!

 

[Atrophis]

I got 19 hours in with about 50 areas explored but I haven't touched it in a while.

 

[The Technomancer]

Well I finished up Geneforge 1 a couple days ago. I didn't end up exploring every area, but I cleared probably 90% of them. Overall, I thought it was a great game. I enjoyed the story and the politics of the different factions. I ended up

Spoiler

killing the main enemy and destroying the Geneforge without using it

. The game integrated the Deus Ex-inspired approach to choice really well into its design and I was constantly surprised by the different ways I was able to approach situations. The combat got a little tedious towards the end, but I liked how every area had something interesting in it and there were very few throwaway areas.

Now on to the second one!

The second one starts strong but kind of tapers off at the end. Then the third is the weakest entry in the series, mediocre overall, before four and five rapidly pick things back up to being great again

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

The second one starts strong but kind of tapers off at the end. Then the third is the weakest entry in the series, mediocre overall, before four and five rapidly pick things back up to being great again

Yeah so far I've enjoyed the first several areas. The story and setup seems good so far. I'm a little disappointed that it seems to be stuck on the same questions of freedom versus slavery and creation's rights that the first game dealt with. But maybe it will change as I get further in to it.

 

[electricpirate]

Started to get into this while I was sick. Fun times. I think the idea that creations eat your "Mana" kind of annoyed me, but while I"m playing it's actually well balanced. I'm digging it.

Currently running a thahd and 2 fyora's, though I may move to 2 artillas. I pumped up the endurance on my Thahd and it has like 180 HP, so very good.

 

[Cydonian__Knight]

Yeah I think that it's a great system in practice. It forces you to balance having lots of strong creations and still having enough mana to cast spells like heal and haste. It adds another layer of strategy to it.

Oh and the artilla's acid damage is so useful in long fights, I'd definitely recommend getting at least one of them.

 

[electricpirate]

Yeah I think that it's a great system in practice. It forces you to balance having lots of strong creations and still having enough mana to cast spells like heal and haste. It adds another layer of strategy to it.

Oh and the artilla's acid damage is so useful in long fights, I'd definitely recommend getting at least one of them.

Yea, now that my shaper has more essence, (been pumping int, and my belt is +1 Int) I can have 2 creations that I fully pump up, + 1 weak creation or I can hold on to extra mana.

I've moved away from teh Fyora to the roamer, and an atilla, you're right, acid is brtual, especially with two spitters, they can bring down a spawner with 3 spits and just waiting a bit, it's really nice.

 

[The Technomancer]

Yeah, I always have at least one acid spitting creation in my party, its so effective in long fights. I really want to try and make a Vlish work some time, I like their abilities but they're so fragile