Game News Avernum 4 (Mac) is released

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Avernum 4; Spiderweb Software

If you are one of the Macintosh enthusiasts, <a href=http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com>Spiderweb</a> has a nice holiday present for you - <a href=http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/avernum/avernum4/index.html>Avernum 4</a>:
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<blockquote>Avernum 4 is an enormous fantasy role-playing adventure. Wander a gigantic world, full of multitudes of characters, hundreds of side quests, and traps, tricks, and treasure in every corner. Experience the life of an adventurer: the fame, the wealth, the hapless townsfolk begging you for help at every turn! This epic tale is guaranteed to give you weeks of entertainment, with an impossibly huge world that dares you to uncover all of its secrets.</blockquote>Don't forget to post your impressions here
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[LlamaGod]

oh shit


cant wait for this to come out for Real Computers (PCs), i'll probably be gone for a month or some shit

 

[Deacdo]

They need to update their tech just a bit. It does not meet my fairly reasonable "minimum requirements".

 

[almondblight]

A lackluster storyline, with most quests being of the "go here, kill something, come back" types. Recycled Geneforge graphics (artillas become spitting worms, roamers become hellhounds, chitrahs become clawbugs). All the options for peace in dialogue seem to be met with "hahaha, peace? Die!". Still, it's a decent hack 'n slash, but it doesn't seem to be a whole lot more.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

That's all Avernum is, dummy. A dungeon crawler. Nothing more, nothing less.

Damn good dungeon crawlers.

 

[almondblight]

REALLY?! :shock:

 

[FrancoTAU]

I'll give this a whirl when it comes out on PC since Avernum 2 was one of my favorite RPGs. I've always dug the plots of the trilogy even if the dialogue is just mediocre.

I'm not a graphics whore at all, but christ does he need to come up with a new game engine. 7 games with the same engine??? He can keep popping SVGA like graphics and i'll be fine but the engine needs to be put to rest.

 

[almondblight]

I'll give this a whirl when it comes out on PC since Avernum 2 was one of my favorite RPGs. I've always dug the plots of the trilogy even if the dialogue is just mediocre.

Well, the plot's generally considered to be the worst of the group, and quite obvious if you've played the third one (which is depressing, since Jeff has hade several years to think of something interesting). Actually, the general consensus (and I would more or less agree) is that the combat is better, and everything else is worse.

I'm not a graphics whore at all, but christ does he need to come up with a new game engine. 7 games with the same engine??? He can keep popping SVGA like graphics and i'll be fine but the engine needs to be put to rest.

The worst part about it for me was that I still think the Exile graphics are better...they at least feel more complete. The graphics from Geneforge popping up everywhere feels really cheap to me, especially after Jeff said they were only placeholders in the early screenshots.

Anyways, if you can stand the poor interface, I hear Blades of Exile is your best bet. Mor cride in some ways, but much more entertaining in others (and I like how the mountains look like mountains and not walls). Also, many of the scenarios are supposed to be better than Jeff's. If I were to buy any Spiderweb game, it would most likely be that.

 

[Davaris]

I'm not a graphics whore at all, but christ does he need to come up with a new game engine. 7 games with the same engine??? He can keep popping SVGA like graphics and i'll be fine but the engine needs to be put to rest.

Its pretty obvious he has tight budgetary constraints.

The problem with people expecting better graphics all the time, is its killing RPGs. How long have we been waiting for Fallout 3 now? Is it almost 8 years? Now I'm hearing rumours that it isn't going to be what the fans want. Its going to be dumbed down so it will appeal to the masses and make more money. This is what high graphics expectations get you folks. I'd rather see 3 or 4 Fallouts made with the same engine in 8 years than vapourware.

 

[obediah]

I'd love to see some serious collaboration between indie game designers. I'm not sure it's viable because of the cowboy nature of single person or small development teams. The key would be completely open sharing between developers, basically completely open source and open art within the clique. Since most indie games have modest technical requirements they could take the performance hit in using reusable design in stride.

I'm just into drunk rambling now - but a group using a common game engine scaffolding where anyone can come in and use or contribute any sort of subsystem would be great. I feel like drawing some aliens so bam. Or I need a dialogue system, so look at the 10 available. With all the work in enterprise computing with OO and patterns it's all possible - at a performance cost - but I'd much rather have 20 indie rpgs requring an 2Ghz cpu than 2 indie rpgs requring a 400 mhz cpu.

 

[Davaris]

The biggest problem is getting the art. The programming has never been easier because there are 3D engines you can buy for $100. The problem with the art is if an artist is good enough to create it, they will be working freelance and charging an arm and a leg. On the other hand, if you buy model packs with premade models they usually don't allow you to distribute files containing the models with your game. So that means 3D engines are out.

 

[Second Chance]

I'm not a graphics whore at all, but christ does he need to come up with a new game engine. 7 games with the same engine??? He can keep popping SVGA like graphics and i'll be fine but the engine needs to be put to rest.

The worst part of all is that he used to make games with a better engine

Exile engine > Avernum engine IMHO

 

[almondblight]

Interestingly enough, Spiderweb and Fantasoft (the makers of Realmz) used to have a shared art library. Now, it seems the only places where that's happening is in the open source movement...hopefully some of the RPG makers from there will turn out to be decent.

The worst part of all is that he used to make games with a better engine

Exile engine > Avernum engine IMHO

Yeah, Jeff is starting to seem like a one trick (two trick?) pony. After playing too many of his games you get that "going through the motions" feeling. Though i guess that's true for a lot of games now a days.

 

[FrancoTAU]

I'm not a graphics whore at all, but christ does he need to come up with a new game engine. 7 games with the same engine??? He can keep popping SVGA like graphics and i'll be fine but the engine needs to be put to rest.

Its pretty obvious he has tight budgetary constraints.

The problem with people expecting better graphics all the time, is its killing RPGs. How long have we been waiting for Fallout 3 now? Is it almost 8 years? Now I'm hearing rumours that it isn't going to be what the fans want. Its going to be dumbed down so it will appeal to the masses and make more money. This is what high graphics expectations get you folks. I'd rather see 3 or 4 Fallouts made with the same engine in 8 years than vapourware.

When i asked for a new engine, i didn't mean i wanted fancy graphics. I just don't want to feel like i'm playing the same game for the upteenth time. If his budget constraints mean cutting out some fancy art and what not, than i have no problems.

Also, man.... Avernum 4 is taking a beating on the Spidersoft forums. Seems like the consensus is that the combat has been tweaked to perfection but everything else sucks.

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

Oh man, no one gives a shit about Jeff Vogel anymore.

Exiles > Avernums in terms of engine and graphics. And they're obviously equal in terms of story and mechanics.

Geneforge (1) was good, had a Fallout-y feel to it. Unfortunately it got bogged down in the middle. 2 was solidly bogged down and just vapid. Was there a 3? Oh, there was? That's cute.