KickStarter Geneforge 1 - Mutagen - remake from Spiderweb Software

[Terra]

I'm sure the next 4 Geneforge kickstarters will have identical stretch goals, with some nebulous references to new assets that never actually seem to materialise. And we'll still be reusing Avadon assets of course.

Toss us a Geneforge 0 KS in the future or something that fleshes out Sucia Isle or something before the events of G1, that might actually be worth backing.

The ipad & android ports aren't for backers, they're for Jeff, he was going to go down that route anyway.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

We still have a few Queen's greatest wishes to get through.

 

[Curratum]

Wait, wait, walk me through on that one... He's selling more or less his entire catalog on Steam, but the 20-dollar KS pledge is just DRM-free, no Steam key?

 

[Infinitron]

Wait, wait, walk me through on that one... He's selling more or less his entire catalog on Steam, but the 20-dollar KS pledge is just DRM-free, no Steam key?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geneforge1/geneforge-1-mutagen/faqs

Will We Be Able to Get a DRM-Free Copy? A Steam Key?
That is the plan! We will definitely make DRM-free copies available. It is very, very likely the game will be out on Steam, and they currently allow us to send keys to our backers.

I think the "DRM-free" thing on the tier descriptions is just a buzzword. He's sending out Steam keys like everybody else.

 

[Curratum]

I took a closer look at the "remade" graphics that cost 20 bucks. Yeah, no. Bought Avernum 2 and 3 for 3 dollars instead.

Thanks for clearing up Vogel's mumbo-jumbo anyway, though! <3

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Mutagen..... seems like ninja turtles are getting into everything.

Avernum has the cat people though....

at least catgirls are female.(albeit these are amazons...) I don't want to be looking at rat and turtle dudes. Yeah, SPANC that cat-gal ass.

 

[Infinitron]

Project funds successfully
2,111 backers pledged $85,141

 

[Bigg Boss]

Which Geneforge should I play? I have all of them.

 

[fantadomat]

Which Geneforge should I play? I have all of them.

all of them

 

[Abu Antar]

Which Geneforge should I play? I have all of them.

I'm on 2 and plan to beat all of them this year. Just play them in order.

 

[Terra]

Which Geneforge should I play? I have all of them.

Play them all, in order. Don't be tempted to just skip to a later entry because someone told you it was better. After 2-3 false starts (things start becoming interesting when you reach the first village), I ended up getting really into the first game and played it and the 2nd (my favourite) back to back. I would recommend spacing out each entry between other games to avoid potential burnout issues though.

 

[Bigg Boss]

I think there were a few interface issues with the first one due to it's age. I'll have to look at it again. I recall something not working right.

 

[Terra]

I'd recommend the following to alleviate the stuttering/laggy mouse cursor that can be present with the earlier entries: https://steamcommunity.com/app/200960/discussions/0/412446890561091874/
It's probably the most common issue people have with the games on modern systems.

 

[Beastro]

Just play them in order.

Be prepared to give up on 3.

I tried forcing myself, got near to the end and burned out. Never got back to 4 & 5 since.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geneforge1/geneforge-1-mutagen/posts/2784469

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen Funded

Our Geneforge 1 - Mutagen Kickstarter has funded, and it was a huge success! It easily funded, reached two stretch goals, and was far more successful than we expected. We are enormously grateful. While I should take a day off, I'm really fired up. I'm coding, sending art direction to freelancers, and doing all kinds of design.

Thank you all so much! This is going to be a fun project!

As promised, we will be providing monthly updates on Geneforge 1 - Mutagen as it works its way toward a February, 2021 release. We will talk about what we're doing, what we're changing, and what we're leaving alone.

In a month or so, we will also start to contact backers. Watch your email for Kickstarter messages. We will be asking you for your names, email addresses, and other information we will need (like street addresses if you ordered a physical product). For backers who are contributing designs to the game, we will make up bundles of information about the Geneforge story and world and letting you know how to contact us with your ideas.

We will also find a way for you to submit ideas for the new creation. We'll let you know about this in a future monthly update.

So thank you again, stay safe, and you'll hear from us soon!

- Jeff Vogel

PS Here is the new full size character art for the Guardian. Karen Petrasko is doing great work for us!

 

[almondblight]

Be prepared to give up on 3.

I tried forcing myself, got near to the end and burned out. Never got back to 4 & 5 since.

Yep. I recently tried to play through 3 and gave up after a few maps. Having to go through maps mowing down endless hordes of Thahds and Fyroa for the third time is just mind numbing. It's one thing to have a game that's 90% subpar combat, but having it be the exact same waves of subpar combat encounters as the previous games really wears you out. I can predict what will probably come next - some map full of Vlishes, some map full of roamers, a non-combat map full of mines, etc. Also the "Are you loyal or disloyal to the shapers?" question random people keep asking you is starting to just feel silly at this point. It was a novel idea in the first game, but by the third it feels tired.

 

[EldarEldrad]

I played through whole Geneforge series twice and 5 was tedious af on Torment difficulty. Despite changing from open-world to act-based structure I think 3 is not so bad as it portrayed sometimes.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geneforge1/geneforge-1-mutagen/posts/2814851

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen April Update!

Greetings from Spiderweb Software! We hope you are well in this difficult time. We have the good fortune to be able to work from home, making toys which make being stuck at home more tolerable. Of course, we’ve beena working hard on Geneforge 1- Mutagen. One month has passed since the Kickstarter ended, and we’ve made some progress.

We have put the first three sections (out of around 80) into the game. That is the tutorial plus the first city. Completing these sections has forced us to finish all the the chunks of the engine we were putting off, like shops and selling and big chunks of training. The base version of the game engine is pretty much done.

We are working on graphics now. We’re going through our own graphics libraries and working with four freelancers to come up with interesting art with a more unified style.

Now we are slowly gearing up to full section production. This will involve a lot of polish. Mechanics from the old game, like stealth and mines, are being reworked to make them clearer and more interesting.

Now comes the fun stuff … How you can contribute to the game!

The New Creation

The core of Geneforge 1 - Mutagen is making powerful mutant monsters to fight for you. Thanks to our generous backers we are adding a new creation to the game for you to make. Something strange and powerful and cool. And we want to use our ideas to create it.

The first step for this will be the creations’s look. A little dragon? A slime monster? An ant who stands on human legs? What sort of a mutant horror would you think it in cool to control? Send your ideas to geneforgegame@gmail.com. I will spend the next month going over your suggestions and seeing what seems neat or what a lot of people like the idea of.

Once the look is selected, we can talk about its purpose in the game and what sort of abilities it will have. (Of course, you can suggest abilities and purpose when you send your appearance ideas.)

Contributing To Design

Finally, we have written the guide to contributing the game. If you backed Geneforge at a level where you can contribute something to the game, you should have gotten a message from us. It will tell you how to get the design guide to help you help make the game. If you haven’t gotten it, check your spam filter. It that doesn’t help, contact us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com.

Thank you all again for your generous support, and you’ll hear from us again in a month.

- Jeff Vogel

PS We’re already getting some cool full color art for the game. We’ve attached some below.

The cunning drayks. Very powerful for a creation, but also worryingly intelligent.

The roamer, a mid-power fire creation. Some varieties explode when killed, damaging all nearby.

 

[Farewell into the night]

I'm so excited

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Be prepared to give up on 3.

I tried forcing myself, got near to the end and burned out. Never got back to 4 & 5 since.

I gave up on 3 too, burned out due tp cash/crafting autism. That, and I have no idea where my old savegame has gone

Enviado de meu moto e5 play usando o Tapatalk

 

[e-mailio estevez]

I played through the first and loved it. The Fallout soundtrack actually felt pretty fitting to have playing in the background.

 

[fantadomat]

Just play them in order.

Be prepared to give up on 3.

I tried forcing myself, got near to the end and burned out. Never got back to 4 & 5 since.

Why do you assume that everyone else dislike the games like you?

 

[Brozef]

Now comes the fun stuff … How you can contribute to the game!

The New Creation

The first step for this will be the creations’s look. A little dragon? A slime monster? An ant who stands on human legs? What sort of a mutant horror would you think it in cool to control? Send your ideas to geneforgegame@gmail.com. I will spend the next month going over your suggestions and seeing what seems neat or what a lot of people like the idea of.


Contributing To Design

Finally, we have written the guide to contributing the game. If you backed Geneforge at a level where you can contribute something to the game, you should have gotten a message from us. It will tell you how to get the design guide to help you help make the game. If you haven’t gotten it, check your spam filter. It that doesn’t help, contact us at support@spiderwebsoftware.com.

Thank you all again for your generous support, and you’ll hear from us again in a month.

- Jeff Vogel

Say what you will but you have to admire Jeff's dedication to not making meaningfully contributions to his own games ever again. Now he is even outsourcing design and the hint books to his backers.



But at least it seems he got some artists. Even if the first artworks seem generic as hell.

 

[MRY]

"I wish Jeff would update his art..."

One claw on the monkey paw bends down...

Spoiler

Incidentally, the comment by Jcolosio surely has to be in jest, right...? "If you've ever been attacked by..."

EDIT: Actually, I'd initially thought that Jcolosio's comment pertained to the new creation, but now I wonder whether he was inspired by the Thahd redesign...

 

[flushfire]

I don't understand why he can't hire a proper sprite/pixel artist with the money he got from KS. A third of that is enough to make the game at least look significantly different from G6/avadon, if not for a complete overhaul. Those portraits do little to change the 'recycled' feel.