ErikH2000
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Thanks to advice from the Oneiromancer, I have been greatly enjoying Avernum. After maybe 20 hours or so, I'm just now getting to the end of the demo. Going back to old areas to look for secrets and baddies left behind. Hurry up paycheck and get here so I can register!

The world is frighteningly huge. I'm amazed that there is so much in just the demo. It's encouraging to know that after I finish Avernum, there are two more complete games in the trilogy and then the latest game--Blades of Avernum. So lots of RPG goodness ahead. I think my entire RPG needs will be fulfilled by these games for at least a year.

Don't worry I am still working on DROD. You get off my back! I need a few distractions now and then.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

Oneiromancer
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I hear that while Avernum 2 is a pretty standard sequel, Avernum 3 is an evolution in many ways. Both in plot and in gameplay--for example, you are timed, and if you don't do things quickly enough then cities will fall, more monsters will appear, etc. Kind of like the Magic Candle games, if I remember correctly. (I know the first one had the timer, and the third one had this "Blight" that steadily spread as the days went on.)

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

ErikH2000
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Ugh. I don't know if I like the idea of being timed. I like to go about playing in a relaxed and inefficient way.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

eytanz
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Yeah, that's pretty much why I never played any of the Avernum games - time limits of this sort are a major turnoff to me, and the knowledge that I'll have to face one in Avernum 3 is enough to make me wary about committing myself to Avernum 1 or 2.

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I got my avatar back! Yay!

Oneiromancer
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From what I understand, in Avernum 3 you can't lose because time is counting down...it just makes thing change, and perhaps become a bit more difficult. Supposedly it's only really an issue if you force it to be one...that a normal player would probably not really notice it happening. I think they wanted to show that there's an impact on the world if you decide to spend too much time fooling around. Kind of like wondering how the heroes had the time to breed Chocobos in FF7 or something like that.

I think it's kind of a silly reason not to play the first two games in the series though...if you have fun playing them then you're getting your money's worth for them regardless.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

eytanz
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I don't like leaving things incomplete; if I know something is part of a series, I either commit to the whole series or not at all. It's not exactly like I'm short of other things to do and games to play.

Also, I didn't like Geneforge (or, more accurately, I didn't like the Geneforge demo) - it was clunky and interesting concepts were lost in a clumsy interface and cliched plot. It didn't exactly make me enthusiastic to pick up another Spiderweb Design game.

As for the timing - the thing is, I play computer games to relax. I don't relax if I think I need to do things particularly quickly. And while the game still being winnable is a plus, if I set my goal to protect the cities (which I would, given the enviornment and the kind of characters I tend to roleplay) and I fail at that, that's bad enough. If I want deadlines, my real life provides enough of those.

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I got my avatar back! Yay!

Krishh
Level: Master Delver
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I tried the demo, but it was just too old for me. I don't consider myself much of a graphics freak. (not that I could be one with a Geforce 2 Mx) I still do play a game of Nethack every now and then, but if I am to buy a game I would like it to have animation and have most (90%+) of the important stuff happen in the game window, not in a textbox.

Besides, right now I am having my RPG fix with Wizardry 8, which I just recently got my hands on. It certainly has the best combat of all the RPGs I have played, although it happens a bit too much.

SKWERLL
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 77
Registered: 02-22-2004
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I remember posting something about Exile III: Ruined World in my old RPGs thread. It's pretty much what Avernum III is based on, except it's 90 degrees overhead view (Like Ultima III), has like 50 different spells instead of the 12 or so spells with 3 different levels, isn't as big, and some other minor stuff. I just beat Geneforge 2 yesterday night. I really like it, and can't wait 'till Geneforge 3 comes out, but I still have a problem with it's damn combat interface (I walk up to attack something, and I am left with 4 action points so I can't attack, then I get killed the next turn). I just played through the whole game on Easy mode, though. I still think that's hard for some reason (I'm just a stupid N00b, aren't I?).
As for Exile, I beat that quite a while ago. It's actually possible to kill the dragons, but I edited the hell out of my parties to accomplish that.

I liked the Exile demo a bit better, though. The Avernum III demo is cut off at some pretty weird places. I'm still eager to waste $25 on it, though.
I love all these games though, and they can run on pretty old computers, and they cost about $25 each.

If you want to see my old RPG's thread, here's the link: http://www.drod.net/forum/viewtopic.php?TopicID=2516&page=0
If you want to go to Spiderweb's home page, here it is: http://www.spidweb.com



[Edited by SKWERLL at Local Time:12-19-2004 at 03:42 AM: EDIT: Added last bit, links.]

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SKWERLL? MORE LIKE THE DORK CHEESE!

The best hold in the world!

SKWERLL
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 77
Registered: 02-22-2004
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Exile III spoilers here



[Edited by SKWERLL at Local Time:12-20-2004 at 05:36 AM: Mrimer gave me a heads-up and told me to show what's in the secret text.]

____________________________
SKWERLL? MORE LIKE THE DORK CHEESE!

The best hold in the world!

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Reviews are cool, but what's the point of having your whole post as secret text? No one knows what's in the post at all, so everyone has no choice but to open the secret text and read it to find out if it should be a secret to them or not. Maybe starting with something like "Exile III spoilers here" would make it clear.

[Edited by mrimer at Local Time:12-19-2004 at 07:14 AM]

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

ErikH2000
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2794
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Got my registration code for Avernum yesterday. Yay! There is so much to explore. But I have to get my work done. I mean in the real world, not in Avernum.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Cool! I remember I reinstalled Avernum on a new computer and I didn't have my registration code anymore, so I e-mailed Spiderweb and Jeff Vogel himself e-mailed me back with the code. I thought that was pretty cool service.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

ErikH2000
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2794
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Well, I have completed the three main quests for Avernum 1. Now I'm just walking around picking up the remaining scraps. Now that I'm at the tail end of this very cool game, here are miscellaneous thoughts and musings:

* My style of play is kind of pathetic and cowardly. I hate attacking any group of monsters that is a legitimate threat. I'd rather buff myself up so I can stomp all over them with ease.

* Because I had to wait for a paycheck to get the registered version, I spent a really long time in the easy areas included with the shareware demo before I proceeded onward. I think because I spent so much time in this part finding any monsters I could attack to get more experience, it made me overprepared and the rest of the game was a cakewalk. But that's okay because my style of play is pathetic and cowardly.

* Mung demons really unhinge me. It justs seems unfair that they can make my spellcasting characters almost completely worthless. I will now make baby crying noises about it.

* Over the last, I dunno, 10 years or so, I remember downloading this game twice before and deciding not to continue playing it both times. And this third time I tried it again and bought it. Reading the accounts of people who got into DROD, I see a lot of evidence for this kind of pattern where years can go by with multiple casual plays before you really give a game a chance. Interesting.

* I got tired of the bleak graphics. I know that everything is supposed to be underground in a cave and the aesthetics are consistent with that, but the graphics had this cumulative effect at times of being depressing. I look forward to trying out Blades of Avernum, which seems to have more variety in graphical style.

* I have yet to see a more impressive fan-created reference for one game than this thing that Silver Harloe put together. It freaks me out.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2936
Registered: 03-29-2003
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ErikH2000 wrote:
* I got tired of the bleak graphics. I know that everything is supposed to be underground in a cave and the aesthetics are consistent with that, but the graphics had this cumulative effect at times of being depressing. I look forward to trying out Blades of Avernum, which seems to have more variety in graphical style.

Avernum 2 is also completely set underground, I believe, but Avernum 3 goes above ground. It does have that time limit thing that was discussed earlier though.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams