Junior Adventurer's Guild: November - Geneforge

[Tweed]

Leap is almost entirely worthless because you can't move after attacking and the knockback pushes enemies too far away. It's only useful for enemies, melee should be closing the gap and trying to keep things from moving. It's really ******** design.

Yes, inability to move after an action is annoying. What's the differences in playing with melee creatures in OG and Mutagen?

As I recall haste adds to your AP instead of giving you a chance to act again and attacks cost a certain amount of points. You can move after attacking. So a hasted battle beta can close, pummel something, and move onto the next target. My top team usually has two cryodraks and a single beta to act as a buffer when I have enough essence. Whereas in Mutagen the only thing really worth a **** is a full team of drayks on overload.

Also, as a shaper, you'll be encumbered with gear so you'll have all of 2 or 3 APs for yourself. The creatures do all the work, you just buff.

[Tadeusz]

As I recall haste adds to your AP instead of giving you a chance to act again and attacks cost a certain amount of points. You can move after attacking.

Sounds more straightforward and logical than what's in Mutagen. Using 9 AP spell when you have 8 AP max is counterintuitive.

[Rand]

I'm only going to play this once. Should I track down the remaster or go with the OG?

OG with Tweed's prettifying mod, definitely.
@Tweed where did you link that? I can't find it.

Hidden Content

This board requires you to be registered and logged-in to view hidden content.

[Tadeusz]

Completed.

► Show Spoiler

Geneforge_Mutagen_Screenshot_14.jpg

Geneforge_Mutagen_Screenshot_8.jpg

Geneforge_Mutagen_Screenshot_9.jpg

Geneforge_Mutagen_Screenshot_10.jpg

Tried different endings but went with the Shaper loyalist one. I'm just glad that my boys Obeyers got what they wanted
Trajkov turned out to be a decent person (he keeps his words at least) but I find his character unrealistic - why would a foreigner want to throw his lot with a different species that he sees for the first time?

Played the Mutagen version and can say that it's a nice game. Combat is not as deep as in Underrail but still decent. Really liked the ability to create your own party. The concept of the Shapers and the biology-themed magical craft is great.

[J1M]

Don't know if I'll have time to finish Geneforge this month, but I'll float the idea of less conventional themes/settings. For example, Golf Story is a sports RPG that's really good.

[Tangerine]

Nominating Two Worlds II again.

[Tweed]

Nomming Jagged Alliance 2.

[Tadeusz]

Nominating Darksiders, let's give it one more chance.

[Tangerine]

Nominating Darksiders, let's give it one more chance.

I did put some time into that already...

[Finarfin]

I rushed and got the bad ending, I guess I am done in Order to vote but I'd say gimme the badge later when I get the actual ending.

► Show Spoiler

I'd nominate Of Ash and Steel.
No, being a new game does not disqualify it because

Hidden Content

This board requires you to be registered and logged-in to view hidden content.

[Barntar who Plows]

****, wished I could have finished the game before the month was over but I could barely get any time for myself lately, hopefully I can finished it by the end of the year.

[J1M]

Run Geneforge 1 in windowed mode (latest version of DxWnd also works): https://spiderwebforums.ipbhost.com/top ... asy-steps/
(Consider setting the resolution to double the default (1600x1200) to make it easier to play on a high resolution display.)

Mouse lag fix: https://www.gog.com/forum/geneforge_ser ... indows_710

Graphics mod Tweed suggested: https://www.moddb.com/mods/geneforge-1- ... nhancement

[J1M]

Any advice for crossing these lava floors? I only have 39 hitpoints and there doesn't appear to be a "fire resist store".

[Tadeusz]

Any advice for crossing these lava floors?

There should usually be some levers somewhere to turn them off. What's your level and where are these lava floors?

[J1M]

Any advice for crossing these lava floors?

There should usually be some levers somewhere to turn them off. What's your level and where are these lava floors?

Inner Crypt. Doesn't appear to be any levers for these ones. Level 18.

[Tweed]

Any advice for crossing these lava floors?

There should usually be some levers somewhere to turn them off. What's your level and where are these lava floors?

Inner Crypt. Doesn't appear to be any levers for these ones. Level 18.

Been too long since I played, but there may not be any. Inner Crypt is the optional super hard dungeon.

[J1M]

There should usually be some levers somewhere to turn them off. What's your level and where are these lava floors?

Inner Crypt. Doesn't appear to be any levers for these ones. Level 18.

Been too long since I played, but there may not be any. Inner Crypt is the optional super hard dungeon.

Hence the question about fire resistance.

[Tadeusz]

Hence the question about fire resistance.

I don't remember any items with resistances though some summoned creatures may have them innately. I think your best bet is to raise endurance.

[J1M]

Hence the question about fire resistance.

I don't remember any items with resistances though some summoned creatures may have them innately. I think your best bet is to raise endurance.

They definitely exist. I've got 90%+ stun and mind resist, but it has been harder to find energy and fire resist.

[Tadeusz]

They definitely exist

Loaded the save with my item hoard to check. There's a fyoraskin shield with +10% for fire resistance. I don't remember where I found it though. Couldn't find anything else with this exact bonus. Fire resistance also falls under hostile effects resistance I assume and this stat is more widespread (different robes give it). Your best strategy would be to wear endurance and hostile effect resistance items for lava floors.

[J1M]

They definitely exist

Loaded the save with my item hoard to check. There's a fyoraskin shield with +10% for fire resistance. I don't remember where I found it though. Couldn't find anything else with this exact bonus. Fire resistance also falls under hostile effects resistance I assume and this stat is more widespread (different robes give it). Your best strategy would be to wear endurance and hostile effect resistance items for lava floors.

Reading the wiki, I think energy resistance is what's actually in play for the lava floors. There's a few items in the power core that have this. Combined with the "all effects" modifier, I was able to get up to 60% energy resist. I also spent thousands of gold raising luck to 20 by the bridge, which I assume helps too.

[J1M]

I've had Geneforge for a long time, but have always been put off by the aesthetic when I think about playing it. So it's nice that it was nominated.

The initial hook is very strong: solve the mystery about why the island was abandoned by the magic guild. I liked that quite a bit. Unfortunately, the game trips itself shortly after the introduction by making it really clear you are largely expected to join one of the three factions and explaining exactly what the factions are about. I would have liked to see this drawn out a bit more. Perhaps after a dungeon exploration or being required to visit all three villages. I also don't like that my dialog options are all either "YES I AGREE, EQUALITY" or "NO, I WANT TO ENSLAVE YOU". Feels like there might have been room for a response along the lines of collecting information and deciding later.

Making the canisters unlock abilities is a cool idea that makes me want to explore. So much that I've mostly invested in mechanics (lockpicking) so far. I really hope that I don't get burned later by finding the unlock spell makes all of those points wasted. (Update: I don't regret the points in mechanics, but I did put a few points elsewhere that I wish I had funneled into one type of creature due to the way the scaling works. Skill points also dried up completely about when I knew what would be best for me due to the way XP works. This could have been solved either by capping skills or allowing for redistributing some skills that were wasted.)

I really liked that for most of the game I didn't need to input actions for the creatures. Controlling all of their turns would have made the game twice as long and half as interesting.

Negatives: The mouse input is uncomfortable. It feels tied to framerate or something. Game has more combat than it needs. Would have preferred if the humanoid summons were some kind of animal or insect. Spawning unlimited waves of 16 enemies in the Shapers Tomb was pretty absurd and the Inner Tomb beyond that was even worse.

Overall, I liked the game even though I didn't like any of the characters I met in it.

EDIT: This would have done a lot better in my relative rankings if it had been part of AGC instead of JAG.

► Show Spoiler

@Oyster Sauce

[Tweed]

I've had Geneforge for a long time, but have always been put off by the aesthetic when I think about playing it. So it's nice that it was nominated.

The initial hook is very strong: solve the mystery about why the island was abandoned by the magic guild. I liked that quite a bit. Unfortunately, the game trips itself shortly after the introduction by making it really clear you are largely expected to join one of the three factions and explaining exactly what the factions are about. I would have liked to see this drawn out a bit more. Perhaps after a dungeon exploration or being required to visit all three villages. I also don't like that my dialog options are all either "YES I AGREE, EQUALITY" or "NO, I WANT TO ENSLAVE YOU". Feels like there might have been room for a response along the lines of collecting information and deciding later.

Making the canisters unlock abilities is a cool idea that makes me want to explore. So much that I've mostly invested in mechanics (lockpicking) so far. I really hope that I don't get burned later by finding the unlock spell makes all of those points wasted. (Update: I don't regret the points in mechanics, but I did put a few points elsewhere that I wish I had funneled into one type of creature due to the way the scaling works. Skill points also dried up completely about when I knew what would be best for me due to the way XP works. This could have been solved either by capping skills or allowing for redistributing some skills that were wasted.

Negatives: The mouse input is uncomfortable. It feels tied to framerate or something. Game has more combat than it needs. Would have preferred if the humanoid summons were some kind of animal or insect. Spawning unlimited waves of 16 enemies in the Shapers Tomb was pretty absurd and the Inner Tomb beyond that was even worse.

Overall, I liked the game even though I didn't like any of the characters I met in it.

► Show Spoiler

@Oyster Sauce

The writing takes a backseat to the exploration and dungeon designs, which is where Vogel really exceeds anyhow. The factions were always on the head and that didn't really get cleaned up at all in the remake. In fact, overall I was pretty disappointed in the remake because it turned combat into a long, hideous slog. It seems like he tried to "balance" the game against the kind of stuff people were doing in the original, which makes it a lot less entertaining. I don't expect Geneforge 2 to have faired much better. 1 and 2 are the best in the series and extremely good games and the OG second game has a beautification mod like the first one as well.

Although remakes of the later games will probably be a bit better mostly because he was always changing the systems a bit and 3-5 are a lot rougher around the edges.

The optional dungeons are always anal rape with no lube, the optional one in the second game is even worse, but the rewards are very nice.

[J1M]

I've had Geneforge for a long time, but have always been put off by the aesthetic when I think about playing it. So it's nice that it was nominated.

The initial hook is very strong: solve the mystery about why the island was abandoned by the magic guild. I liked that quite a bit. Unfortunately, the game trips itself shortly after the introduction by making it really clear you are largely expected to join one of the three factions and explaining exactly what the factions are about. I would have liked to see this drawn out a bit more. Perhaps after a dungeon exploration or being required to visit all three villages. I also don't like that my dialog options are all either "YES I AGREE, EQUALITY" or "NO, I WANT TO ENSLAVE YOU". Feels like there might have been room for a response along the lines of collecting information and deciding later.

Making the canisters unlock abilities is a cool idea that makes me want to explore. So much that I've mostly invested in mechanics (lockpicking) so far. I really hope that I don't get burned later by finding the unlock spell makes all of those points wasted. (Update: I don't regret the points in mechanics, but I did put a few points elsewhere that I wish I had funneled into one type of creature due to the way the scaling works. Skill points also dried up completely about when I knew what would be best for me due to the way XP works. This could have been solved either by capping skills or allowing for redistributing some skills that were wasted.

Negatives: The mouse input is uncomfortable. It feels tied to framerate or something. Game has more combat than it needs. Would have preferred if the humanoid summons were some kind of animal or insect. Spawning unlimited waves of 16 enemies in the Shapers Tomb was pretty absurd and the Inner Tomb beyond that was even worse.

Overall, I liked the game even though I didn't like any of the characters I met in it.

► Show Spoiler

@Oyster Sauce

The writing takes a backseat to the exploration and dungeon designs, which is where Vogel really exceeds anyhow. The factions were always on the head and that didn't really get cleaned up at all in the remake. In fact, overall I was pretty disappointed in the remake because it turned combat into a long, hideous slog. It seems like he tried to "balance" the game against the kind of stuff people were doing in the original, which makes it a lot less entertaining. I don't expect Geneforge 2 to have faired much better. 1 and 2 are the best in the series and extremely good games and the OG second game has a beautification mod like the first one as well.

Although remakes of the later games will probably be a bit better mostly because he was always changing the systems a bit and 3-5 are a lot rougher around the edges.

The optional dungeons are always anal rape with no lube, the optional one in the second game is even worse, but the rewards are very nice.

My main objection is the difference in how punishing they are between combat and non-combat mode. The real-time tick rate is really fast, instead of based on a similar number of steps. This makes them tedious to play because you have to control 8 characters individually.