Game News Geneforge 1 - Mutagen gets trailer and Steam page, coming Q1 2021

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Part of the problem with Avadon is Jeff was trying to create a Bioware RPG clone.

"All the shallowness and none of the production value".
What an elevator pitch.

 

[Bony Hands]

The changes to Creation leveling and the new content are big changes, so it's worth hearing more about them and seeing how they impact the game. But the inventory changing from a vertical scrollbar to a grid is a definite change for the better.

 

[Farewell into the night]

Jeff is truly a Legend.

 

[JDR13]

Jeff is truly a Legend.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Did his writing get any better over the series?

 

[Hobo Elf]

This, along with ELEX 2, are the only RPGs I'm still looking forward to. It's too bad that the only way to get more cool settings from Jeff is via his Avernum and now Geneforge remakes. His new games are way too vanilla.

 

[Zeriel]

The Geneforge series is largely superb

Escape from the Pit & Geneforge are masterpieces of storytelling and should be treated as free lessons in video game design. A must-play before you die. Meanwhile I'm not a fan of stripped-down Avadon, it is a completely different approach - more linear, more story-focused and revolves around instanced "missions".

Jeff is a case study in how people create their best work when they are young. It's not an explanation that always holds true, but more often than not its a trend. He became convinced of worse and worse design ideas as he got older and his career continued. Look at Exile 1 to 3 and it's an upward spiral of creativity, culminating in Exile 3 which is probably his best game, or at the very least one of his most ambitious. Geneforge is interesting--it has a good story and some neat ideas, but also foreshadows what was to come in some ways. I think Nethergate was where he really got dispirited and started to formulate his idea that he should just put in the least amount of effort and make a tidy living. He put a lot of effort into it and got very little out of it in terms of profit.

His calculus (if I try really hard I get barely any more profit, no more, or even less profit) is understandable, but also depressing. Still, it's characteristic of someone who is getting older too.

As we like to say, he's just SO tired. Yaaawn.

 

[Tacgnol]

The Geneforge series is largely superb

Escape from the Pit & Geneforge are masterpieces of storytelling and should be treated as free lessons in video game design. A must-play before you die. Meanwhile I'm not a fan of stripped-down Avadon, it is a completely different approach - more linear, more story-focused and revolves around instanced "missions".

Jeff is a case study in how people create their best work when they are young. It's not an explanation that always holds true, but more often than not its a trend. He became convinced of worse and worse design ideas as he got older and his career continued. Look at Exile 1 to 3 and it's an upward spiral of creativity, culminating in Exile 3 which is probably his best game, or at the very least one of his most ambitious. Geneforge is interesting--it has a good story and some neat ideas, but also foreshadows what was to come in some ways. I think Nethergate was where he really got dispirited and started to formulate his idea that he should just put in the least amount of effort and make a tidy living. He put a lot of effort into it and got very little out of it in terms of profit.

His calculus (if I try really hard I get barely any more profit, no more, or even less profit) is understandable, but also depressing. Still, it's characteristic of someone who is getting older too.

As we like to say, he's just SO tired. Yaaawn.

Jeff's attitude is understandable, just disappointing.

Sad to think how many more interesting settings and games he could have created if he'd had the drive.

 

[luj1]

Jeff is a case study in how people create their best work when they are young.

There are countless examples. MCA, Fargo, etc. Everyone has his prime.

 

[Tacgnol]

Jeff is a case study in how people create their best work when they are young.

There are countless examples. MCA, Fargo, etc. Everyone has his prime.

Kickstarter has made that very evident.

The other takeaway is that a lot of these "diva" devs were the sum of their parts (obviously this doesn't apply to Jeff), the teams they worked with helped them realise their potential.

Makes you wonder about some of the talented devs that never got the e-fame, and how much they contributed to a lot of the golden age games.

 

[Hobo Elf]

The Geneforge series is largely superb

Escape from the Pit & Geneforge are masterpieces of storytelling and should be treated as free lessons in video game design. A must-play before you die. Meanwhile I'm not a fan of stripped-down Avadon, it is a completely different approach - more linear, more story-focused and revolves around instanced "missions".

Jeff is a case study in how people create their best work when they are young. It's not an explanation that always holds true, but more often than not its a trend. He became convinced of worse and worse design ideas as he got older and his career continued. Look at Exile 1 to 3 and it's an upward spiral of creativity, culminating in Exile 3 which is probably his best game, or at the very least one of his most ambitious. Geneforge is interesting--it has a good story and some neat ideas, but also foreshadows what was to come in some ways. I think Nethergate was where he really got dispirited and started to formulate his idea that he should just put in the least amount of effort and make a tidy living. He put a lot of effort into it and got very little out of it in terms of profit.

His calculus (if I try really hard I get barely any more profit, no more, or even less profit) is understandable, but also depressing. Still, it's characteristic of someone who is getting older too.

As we like to say, he's just SO tired. Yaaawn.

Having kids and a mortgage probably doesn't help much to inspire him to think too much outside the box, especially when you think you're always one flop away from financial trouble.

Still, with these things in mind, he could've just kept milking the Avernum and Geneforge settings for the rest of his years instead of trying to periodically reinvent the wheel like he did with Avadon and Queen's Wish. Neither IP brought anything worth discussing to the table with their settings, they're completely devoid of any kind of flavor.

 

[Tacgnol]

The Geneforge series is largely superb

Escape from the Pit & Geneforge are masterpieces of storytelling and should be treated as free lessons in video game design. A must-play before you die. Meanwhile I'm not a fan of stripped-down Avadon, it is a completely different approach - more linear, more story-focused and revolves around instanced "missions".

Jeff is a case study in how people create their best work when they are young. It's not an explanation that always holds true, but more often than not its a trend. He became convinced of worse and worse design ideas as he got older and his career continued. Look at Exile 1 to 3 and it's an upward spiral of creativity, culminating in Exile 3 which is probably his best game, or at the very least one of his most ambitious. Geneforge is interesting--it has a good story and some neat ideas, but also foreshadows what was to come in some ways. I think Nethergate was where he really got dispirited and started to formulate his idea that he should just put in the least amount of effort and make a tidy living. He put a lot of effort into it and got very little out of it in terms of profit.

His calculus (if I try really hard I get barely any more profit, no more, or even less profit) is understandable, but also depressing. Still, it's characteristic of someone who is getting older too.

As we like to say, he's just SO tired. Yaaawn.

Having kids and a mortgage probably doesn't help much to inspire him to think too much outside the box, especially when you think you're always one flop away from financial trouble.

Still, with these things in mind, he could've just kept milking the Avernum and Geneforge settings for the rest of his years instead of trying to periodically reinvent the wheel like he did with Avadon and Queen's Wish. Neither IP brought anything worth discussing to the table with their settings, they're completely devoid of any kind of flavor.

Queen's Wish was a good opportunity to make something deeper and "riskier" since he'd already got funding in advance via KS.

I was quite surprised (and very disappointed) when he decided to make something so dumbed down. Also showed he really didn't understand what people meant when they said they liked the exile style graphics/view.

 

[Jack_Deth]

I gave up on Geneforge near the end because it was a clunky pain in the ass. Might actually buy a remake for once.... once it's on sale in 5 years.

aren't the remakes exactly the same as the originals though?

 

[Catacombs]

I gave up on Geneforge near the end because it was a clunky pain in the ass. Might actually buy a remake for once.... once it's on sale in 5 years.

aren't the remakes exactly the same as the originals though?

Yes, but with updated graphics.

 

[FrancoTAU]

Updated graphics still pretty shitty, but more importantly updated UI/controls like the ones he just used on the Avernum remakes.