KickStarter Geneforge 1 - Mutagen - remake from Spiderweb Software

[KeighnMcDeath]

And then he had this also sold on GOG! Lordy $$$$$

 

[Abu Antar]

Possibly last update before release.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geneforge1/geneforge-1-mutagen/posts/3083323

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen January Update!

This should be the last update for Geneforge 1 - Mutagen!


The next time you hear from us, Geneforge 1 - Mutagen should be out for Windows and Mac, with the iPad version coming soon after. We plan to ship in late February, though the exact date might slip by a day or two in either direction. We'll try to give an exact date in the next 2-3 weeks.

Lately, we started setting up the game on online stores (which is quite a bit of work) and doing the last bits of balancing in beta testing. We’re looking for specific encounters that are too hard or creation abilities that are too strong or weak. Geneforge has many endings that need to be tested, and we need to make sure there aren’t mistakes. The game is meant to be winnable without ever attacking a foe, and we have been tweaking a lot of key areas to make sure it’s not unfairly difficult.

At last, everything seems clean enough for a v1.0 release. We have made release candidates to get final testing. (And, of course, there are still bugs. We’ll keep patching the game until it’s solid.)

If you want to get an advance taste of the game, we will be taking part in the Steam Game Festival in early February. You will be able to play the Geneforge demo a few weeks early. Watch our Twitter to see when it is available.


Closed Beta

If you backed Geneforge at a level that gets you into the closed beta, you should have gotten a message from Kickstarter a week ago. If not, check your spam filter. We’re getting great feedback from the Kickstarter backers, and they’re getting to find their contributions in the game.

Finally, here are a couple bonus screenshots to hold you over. Thank you again for your support, and your patience will be rewarded soon!

- Jeff Vogel

Exploring a spooky mine. Creations have turned out to be very versatile, and player have found a wide variety of ways to use them. Some focus on just one specific type, while others make a wide mix.

Deep in a dungeon, using an ability. All spells and magic items are now accessed through one handy tab.

 

[Hobo Elf]

While I kind of miss the sharp pink shaper robe of the original sprites in G1-2, I look forward to revisiting the game in a new engine with updated rules and stats.

 

[Luzur]

High hopes for this. Queen's Wish was a bit of a disappointment.

Yeah i had hoped for a more intriguing plot and settlement building, but alas..

 

[Tacgnol]

While I kind of miss the sharp pink shaper robe of the original sprites in G1-2, I look forward to revisiting the game in a new engine with updated rules and stats.

I've said it before, but I just hope he doesn't rebalance combat encounters and give everything HP bloat.

The original Geneforge has pretty fast combats with enemies dying pretty quickly and hitting hard, but in more recent years Jeff tends to design things in the opposite way.

 

[Hobo Elf]

While I kind of miss the sharp pink shaper robe of the original sprites in G1-2, I look forward to revisiting the game in a new engine with updated rules and stats.

I've said it before, but I just hope he doesn't rebalance combat encounters and give everything HP bloat.

The original Geneforge has pretty fast combats with enemies dying pretty quickly and hitting hard, but in more recent years Jeff tends to design things in the opposite way.

I hope so too, but HP bloat is deeply rooted in Vogel's design philosophy. Playing the original G1 through 5 is an interesting journey as you see how the game goes from enjoyable and fast combat to supreme HP bloat to the point where the game is unplayable (G5). He's toned things down since then, luckily, but we'll see. The G1 remake has been in beta for a while now so maybe someone who has played it can comment. I don't remember Queen's Wish being too bad with the HP bloat, apart from the Vogel flavor super boss which is nothing but an inane endurance run with a high HP monster and endless supply of trash mobs.

 

[Tacgnol]

Playing the original G1 through 5 is an interesting journey as you see how the game goes from enjoyable and fast combat to supreme HP bloat to the point where the game is unplayable (G5).

Yeah, it's really noticeable if you play the series back to back. I think it starts to become evident in G3 and gets worse till it hits peak in G5.

Actually the same pattern you see in Avernum 4-6 as well (and the remakes, though slightly toned down).

 

[Varnaan]

I want to beat Jeff up.

 

[Butter]

I want to beat Jeff up.

Good luck. I heard he can bench 400.

 

[Varnaan]

Good luck. I heard he can bench 400.

Then I'll finger his anus until he starts making good games again, gym bros seem to overwhelmingly enjoy anal stimulation.

 

[Abu Antar]

I can confirm that you feel the HP bloat increase with each Geneforge. I beat 1-4 last year, and I am playing 5, right now. From the beginning of the game, HP bloat is already noticeable. Combat is longer, you have to hit enemies a lot more than previous games, yet the game itself isn't more challenging. G5 is still more fun than G3 and G4 from what I have played (9h).

 

[xuerebx]

I played G1 and G2 concurrently, and then started playing G3 as soon as I finished G2. I never finished G3 (might have been burnt out at that time) but the HP bloat rationale could be the reason why.

Still looking forward to the remake, I was the 14th backer :D Hope I'm not disappointed as I was with Queen's Wish.

 

[Abu Antar]

I played G1 and G2 concurrently, and then started playing G3 as soon as I finished G2. I never finished G3 (might have been burnt out at that time) but the HP bloat rationale could be the reason why.

Still looking forward to the remake, I was the 14th backer :D Hope I'm not disappointed as I was with Queen's Wish.

3 and 4 were less enjoyable in general, compared to 1 and 2.

 

[almondblight]

The thing that really stopped me from getting further in Geneforge 3 was growing tired of mindlessly slaughtering Fyora and Thahd for the third time. The worst was knowing exactly what was going to come next - mass slaughtering artila, then roamers, then vlish, etc. It felt like he copy and pasted the same game over and over again and merely changed the writing.

 

[Dayyālu]

3 and 4 were less enjoyable in general, compared to 1 and 2.

3 was a half-failed experiment in "hub"-based gameplay, that he refined afterwards. I enjoyed 4 a lot not for the combat (Vogel has never been particularly good in encounter design and he got only worse as the years went by) but by the writing. And not the quality of it, the variety.

The Swamps of Monarch still stand in my mind as a triumphant example in which you can double-double cross everyone and come out on top (of course, you're forced to pick a side, but you can balance it so well).

And then he had this also sold on GOG! Lordy $$$$$

Lol. Did he nuke the GameFAQ about the old Geneforges too to resell them?

Background music is a waste of budget. If you can't stand the silence, just put on your own playlist.

The magic of free music on the Internet (or as I call it, MacLeoding it) would require effort. Effort. Vogel is so old and tired. So old.


I'd wonder what would be his reaction if we asked for a review copy.

 

[Hobo Elf]

There's a demo out now for Mutagen that everyone can download. It's on Steam. I'll give it a whirl when I get home.

 

[samuraigaiden]

"Remake"

 

[Infinitron]

Oh, there's a release date too. February 24th.

 

[V_K]

Gave the demo a tiny spin (just the first tutorial area) just to see what changed. The UI is absolutely atrocious. Having the inventory button right in the opposite diagonal corner from the character sheet button is the dumbest thing ever. How did it make it through testing - if there was any testing - is beyond me.
There are now slightly more spells, but not to the level of later Geneforges - 4 per skill instead of 3. "Open" spell is gone which makes mechanics and living tools more important. Not necessarily a bad thing.
No nominal character creation beyond the class selection, but the first level-up comes right at the end of tutorial area, before any battles, so it's not that bad. Still doesn't make too much sense.

 

[Terra]

Initial demo impressions, only played up to the first town so there could be things I've missed/overlooked:
-New content is present even in the first initial area
-you now assign creations abilities instead of stats, different abilities also boost relevant stats. Doesn't seem to be a way to directly pump up their stats.
-You now seem to move as one group, can't see a way to move a creation individually outside of combat
-there's now a "get all useful items" button when examining items on the ground/containers
-seems to be using new sounds for a lot of things, from Ornk sounds to ambience, I'm hearing quite a bit of new stuff, outside of UI SFX, which are copied from Avadon/Avernum
-no music except for the title screen
-no preset keybind for journal, but it can be bound in relevant menu
-inconsistent ability to open and close various UI interfaces with the same keybind - 'I' will open and close the inventory, likewise, 'm' will open the world map but won't close it. This shit should have been ironed out after so many games on the same engine, it's a common gripe.
-Graphics are ok, I still feel like the original had more charm/soul but it looks a bit better in motion than in screens
-you can now attach a "symbol" icon onto creations; eg: skull/shield etc that is shown on the party bar for that creation.
-important NPCs now seem to have portraits

Overall, I'd say it's intriguing. I'll probably pick it up, but you can immediately pick out some quick-fix areas for improvement from the demo.

Has Jeff ever talked about "how" he goes about making his remakes, like is he pulling out all the conversation/event data from his old builds/tools and rejigging it or is it a completely completely manual process where it's possible he misses something?

 

[Rafidur]

Initial demo impressions:

 

[Rafidur]

That feline-ish Thaad would be interesting as its own thing, like a creation focused on melee and speed.

In terms of gameplay they have abilities like leap, riposte, or more crit, so that seems to be what they're going for. I too saw them as slow, dumb meatshields.

So far the best strategy seems to be 3 basic thads acting first then 2 leapy thads acting afterwards. But the demo is really short, and there's maybe 2 noteworthy encounters, and none of them have AOE, so it's hard to tell.

Fioras have abilities to fire in an aoe, perma haste, or take a fatal dot for double damage over the next few turns. But they're squishy and way worse than thads. Cryoras seem a bit weird, you can spec them as either ranged/aoe or leaping tanks that damage things around themselves.

Artillas have poison/acid, aoe poison/acid, and a crappy shield.

Volatile thads damage things when hit, explode on death. Probably not worth the price.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Quite liked the demo. The skill balancing is what I felt was needed and the new creation shaping mechanic is great. At first I felt a bit disappointed that there'd be no new creations, but this makes up for it as it gives the old creatures new utility and power. The increased repertoire of abilities hopefully means that that the enemies will also have more tactics available to them as well. This should get increasingly more interesting as we go further along the series and get some of the higher tier creations like Drakon and Gazers. While it can be said that the Avernum reremakes were simplified from their original games, I think Mutagen adds a bit more depth to the original Geneforge formula.

 

[Jinn]

Looks like they confirmed that demo saves will carry over to the full game if you get it. Now that's what I'm talking about.

 

[zapotec]

Hmm i guess they UI is still annoying?