Avernum 5 Early, Early Notes
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Board Administrator
Member # 1
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written Thursday, December 7 2006 23:54
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Since there's a busy thread on Avernum 5 stuff, I thought I'd say what's on my mind. Kelandon found one of my older posts about Avernum 5 and put it in that thread, and everything I said there still holds. I've figured out a bunch of stuff I want to do, and I'll be posting more about it as time passes. A bunch of things people mentioned in this thread will be happening. Though I still feel no need for a major revamp of the engine. I am planning to add several heavily requested things. Keyboard shortcuts for as much as I can. Elevations. Candles and lamps making more light. I will be bringing into Avernum 4 many of the successful system changes of Geneforge 4 (like the new encumbrance and action point systems, both of which I am very happy with). There will be a much more satisfying plot (or, at least, satisfying to me). I will do what I did with Geneforge 4 and spend several days just staring at blank sheets of paper and doing plotting. It'll all be in the underworld, some in a certain part of Avernum, most in a new area. And your characters' background will be completely different from in every Avernum game. I'm actually starting to look forward to writing it. I'm coming up with a lot of neat ideas. It'll probably be started in 5-6 months, after the Nethergate 2.0 thing is under control. - Jeff Vogel -------------------- Official Board Admin spidweb@spiderwebsoftware.com Posts: 960 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Friday, December 8 2006 00:58
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quote:Now this is something to chew on. -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6785
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written Friday, December 8 2006 03:47
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We won't start out as worms? The lighting should either go back to what was in A1-3 or chose better contrasting colors for the area floor color versus monster color. No more black monster on dark color floor. Sounds good so far since the main objection to A4 was the plot. Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00 |
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Master
Member # 5977
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written Friday, December 8 2006 04:24
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quote:Thank you, oh lord. -------------------- Play and rate my scenarios: Where the rivers meet View my upcoming scenario: The Nephil Search: Escape. Give us your drek! Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 6821
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written Friday, December 8 2006 06:16
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quote:Ditto. :cool: What about boats? Posts: 363 | Registered: Wednesday, February 22 2006 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 6292
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written Friday, December 8 2006 07:25
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quote:Yay! quote:Hooray! quote:Brilliant! -S- -------------------- A4 Items • A4 Singleton • G4 Items • G4 Forging • G4 Infiltrator • NR Items • The Lonely Celt Posts: 2009 | Registered: Monday, September 12 2005 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Friday, December 8 2006 08:46
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To all that was said: Yay! I look forward to the continued speculation, and I'm glad to see that Jeff is excited about making it. That means it'll get finished that much faster. quote:I'm curious about this as well. -------------------- Thuryl: "Runescape: for people who are too stupid to save their games." Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 3442
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written Friday, December 8 2006 08:58
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I'm more excited about setting. We know it's not all in Avernum. But it's still the underworld. Does that mean Vahnatai caves? Or just somewhere old, but unexplored like west of Fort Remote? The fact that Jeff says "a new area" implies it's not the Vahnatai land we know.. Still, yay! I need to replay A4 sometime... -------------------- And when you want to Live How do you start? Where do you go? Who do you need to know? Posts: 2864 | Registered: Monday, September 8 2003 07:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Friday, December 8 2006 09:02
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Originally by Thuryl: quote:Definitely. It could be anything but newly recruited adventurers, really. Add to that new land to explore, elevation, and a better plot and the game sounds good already. Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 7472
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written Friday, December 8 2006 09:16
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Wow. Jeff has really hit his stride this year. -------------------- Scenarios need reviews! Please rate these scenarios at the CSR after playing them! Amnesia • Dilecia • The Empire's New Grove • Express Delivery Twilight Valley • Witch Hunt • Where the Rivers Meet • Foul Hordes Posts: 2686 | Registered: Friday, September 8 2006 07:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 4239
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written Friday, December 8 2006 09:46
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Yay!!!! -------------------- There are two kinds of game players...those who are newbies, and those who were. Posts: 322 | Registered: Monday, April 12 2004 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 1934
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written Friday, December 8 2006 10:03
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Grrr. Ubb ate my comment last night. But, yay! And I second the question about boats. This game should rock. -------------------- You acquire an item: Radio Free Foil Posts: 1169 | Registered: Monday, September 23 2002 07:00 |
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Board Administrator
Member # 1
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written Friday, December 8 2006 10:21
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There will be boats. - Jeff Vogel -------------------- Official Board Admin spidweb@spiderwebsoftware.com Posts: 960 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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Veteran*
Member # 5
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written Friday, December 8 2006 11:39
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Hey Jeff, will you put me in your next game? I'd love the recognition. The name is Ty. Posts: 455 | Registered: Tuesday, May 17 2005 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 6670
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written Friday, December 8 2006 11:47
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Youpi! Elevation will add the aesthetic kick the new engine needs, and a new setting is great. Not that Avernum Proper is a bad setting, just that after wandering around the same turf for three games, ennui sets in. --------------------  Posts: 1509 | Registered: Tuesday, January 10 2006 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Friday, December 8 2006 11:52
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All good things. Elevation and boats are essential Avernalia. Now all that's missing is secret passages. Wall bumping plz! For the record, Jeff has eliminated being random adventurers (A1, but really all of them), army grunts with lax discipline (A2), members of Unspecified Services/Covert Ops (A3), or whatever you are in A4. Surface-dwellers is possible, but so is playing as Darkside Loyalists. That would be different. —Alorael, who never had all that many lighting problems in A4. With contrast problem fixed, though, there shouldn't be any need for lanterns. Do you really want to have to lug them around? Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 7699
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written Friday, December 8 2006 12:06
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quote:Oh, praise be. :D Posts: 2 | Registered: Saturday, November 25 2006 08:00 |
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Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
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written Friday, December 8 2006 12:31
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Wow. I'm actually excited about Spidweb games again. I was mostly sticking around for BoA, but GF4 has gotten such good comments on the boards, and Nethergate 2.0 sounds like enough of a good thing, and A5 sounds so promising, that I'm genuinely looking forward to playing these games. It was getting kinda depressing in there around GF3 and A4, but I like the way things are turning now. One thing: I hope that this "new area of Avernum" will have a reasonable justification for it and will fit within the sense of the Avernum world. Here I'm thinking of ZKR and how difficult it was to make sense of the geography of the scenario in relation to what we knew of Avernum — it was just some new place that we'd never heard of before, without any explanation why we'd never heard of it or really even where it was. A2 did a really good job of opening up a new area of the caves: of course we didn't know about the route to vahnatai lands, because it was opened via a cavequake. I hope that some similarly reasonable explanation will be included in A5. [ Friday, December 08, 2006 12:36: Message edited by: Kelandon ] -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Smoo: Get ready to face the walls! Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 7420
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written Friday, December 8 2006 12:45
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quote:Would I be terribly out of line to wonder if we will be able to play as Vahnatai? You guys often complained that we never knew enough about them. It could be almost as great as Geneforge 1 was as far as being thrown into a totally alien world goes. I also know many people hate the Vahnatai, and this could give people a refreshing new outlook on them as a whole. You could deal with Avernum, or laugh at them as they get attacked by Darkside Loyalists. Then there is Rentar, whom I hope will still be alive. Poor reformed Rentar could even be a quest giver! -------------------- You lose. Posts: 2156 | Registered: Thursday, August 24 2006 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 5754
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written Friday, December 8 2006 12:54
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I'd like the Geneforge walking system. I didn't like the whole square thing with the annoying sound. It bugged me seeing my characters magically move from place to place without any of their body moving. I'd also like to see the new encumbrence system slighty better than in Geneforge 4, so it's not impossible for melee to do anything useful. Posts: 626 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Board Administrator
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written Friday, December 8 2006 12:57
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"Now all that's missing is secret passages. Wall bumping plz!" Nope. The new area is up a certain remote river (visited in early games but not Avernum 4). The obstructions in it were cleared by workers sent by the king to reach new areas for Avernum's growing population. There are predictable problems arising from this, but they aren't the main focus of the plot. One of the nice things about setting a game is the underworld is, dude, there are always more caves. :-) - Jeff Vogel -------------------- Official Board Admin spidweb@spiderwebsoftware.com Posts: 960 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Friday, December 8 2006 13:38
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Originally by Emperor Tullegolar: quote:Not really. That question comes up a lot. Jeff said no somewhere (probably multiple somewheres), so we're stuck with that answer unless he changes his mind. For the record, Jeff also said no more Rentar. Originally by Kelandon: quote:Here's something Dikiyoba is wondering. Dark Waters of A2 and Exodus both follow a river full of waterfalls downstream. How do people ever travel upstream? Edit: Typo. [ Friday, December 08, 2006 13:40: Message edited by: Dikiyoba ] Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 7420
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written Friday, December 8 2006 13:57
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quote:Say it isn't so! Did he mean no Rentar as a main villain, or no Rentar at all? Is she dead? At this point, Avernum without Rentar would be like Starwars without Darth Vader (meaning it's possible but somehow incomplete). I would like for her to be in there somewhere, even if she only makes a small Vyannvas-Bok style cameo or something. -------------------- You lose. Posts: 2156 | Registered: Thursday, August 24 2006 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 7472
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written Friday, December 8 2006 14:10
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quote:You killed her in A4. Well, not you specifically, but your party. Somehow, I suspect that A4 may have been purposely designed for that, to clear up loose ends an open up the possibilities for new enemies. -------------------- Scenarios need reviews! Please rate these scenarios at the CSR after playing them! Amnesia • Dilecia • The Empire's New Grove • Express Delivery Twilight Valley • Witch Hunt • Where the Rivers Meet • Foul Hordes Posts: 2686 | Registered: Friday, September 8 2006 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 6670
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written Friday, December 8 2006 14:12
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By E.T. quote:By J.V.: quote:No means no. -------------------- He's not useless, he's... use-impaired. - Haley (OotS #17) Posts: 1509 | Registered: Tuesday, January 10 2006 08:00 |