Development Info Geneforge 2 website open

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Geneforge 2

<b>Kyote</b> of <a href="http://www.rpgplanet.com">RPG Planet</a> sends word that <A href="http://www.spidweb.com/geneforge2/index.html">Geneforge 2</a> now has a website open for it, which includes <a href="http://www.spidweb.com/geneforge2/shots.html">a screenshot page</a> as well as <a href="http://www.spidweb.com/geneforge2/creatures.html">a page of new creatures</a>.
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<blockquote>You are an apprentice Shaper. You are being given the power to create life and mold it to serve your own needs. The whole world fears and respects the Shapers. Your secrets are many, and your power is absolute. If you need a servant, you have but to create it, and it will gladly die for you.
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But when you and your teacher are sent on what seems to be a simple mission, things go horribly wrong. Monsters roam the countryside. Your allies turn on you. Your teacher disappears. And you find yourself in the middle of a conspiracy to use forbidden powers and overthrow Shaper rule.
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Many factions want your help. All have their own rewards to offer. Will you stay loyal to your people? Or will you fight to remake the world?</blockquote>
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I think this has to be one of the happiest news posts I've ever gotten to post on this site.
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[Azael]

w00t! This is great news indeed.

Judging from the screenshots, this will be the best looking Spiderweb game to date. Hopefully it will be the best game as well.

 

[Spazmo]

Yeehaw! Bring on the Battle Alphas!

 

[Psilon]

Summer 2003? Double yeeha!

I'm not sure you could call this the "best looking Spiderweb game to date," though. It seems to be Geneforge with a blue interface scheme. Maybe if we're lucky it'll have bigger sprites and run at 1024x768. Not that I'm dissing Geneforge, though. It looks a hell of a lot sweeter than vanilla Nethack, and I like both.

 

[Azael]

Well, the graphics are a bit more zoomed in and detailed than in Geneforge, aren't they? Not that graphics are all that important in a game like this, but they sure are a nice bonus.

 

[jvn3t]

Bestill, my raging boner...

 

[Psilon]

Well, the graphics are a bit more zoomed in and detailed than in Geneforge, aren't they?

Nope. At least the terrain isn't. All the tiles are still ~81 pixels wide, and the Shaper, shackle, and humanoid sprites shown seem to be the same from the first one. I remember Jeff said he was ready to discard the Nethergate engine (also seen in Avernum and Geneforge), but apparently he's going to finish Blades and GF2 first.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I didn't think Geneforge used the same engine as Avernum and Nethergate. After all, Geneforge has real time pathfinding, no height levels, sprite animations, and a few other things.

 

[Trash]

Wopee, and this time it seems set in a civilised area. Neat to finally get the chance to check out the culture and society of the shapers!

Trash drools

Heh heh , on this screenshot it looks like erh..wel, the charactor has got 2 dildo's or something in his inventory?
http://www.spidweb.com/images/geneforge2/townentry.jpg

 

[Azael]

I see that you choose an avatar that fits your personality...

Guess, I'm wrong about the graphics, could be because I've played too much Avernum 3 lately.

 

[Trash]

Dunno, it just felt kinda "right" for me. :D
Damn, I really can't wait to delve into all the sub plots, history and political intrigue. It was that which made GF1 a great game to me (after playing it for awhile) weel, that and the original game world.
Just hope Jeff will make a more open worldmap than in gf1, maybe something like he did with Avernum III. It was just great exploring every nook and crannie of that game.
Cya,

Trash

 

[Azael]

Personally, I'd prefer more of Fallout's style of world map travelling than Avernum's

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

That's one thing I'm interested in, how Jeff does a fully functional Shaper area versus Sucia, which had that post apocalyptic vibe to it.

I'm not sure how I feel about Shapers making wooden buildings though, since they seemed more advanced than wooden construction in the first game.

 

[Spazmo]

The creatures page features a peasant, which implies that the mainland is inhabited by some non-magical farmers and workers, who might be the builders and owners of those wooden structures.

 

[Rosh]

I liked the post-apocalyptic feel of Geneforge as well, but hopefully there will be another, just as strong flavor in the second.

As much as I don't care for Vogel praising games like BG2 erroniously, he does make good games.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

The creatures page features a peasant, which implies that the mainland is inhabited by some non-magical farmers and workers, who might be the builders and owners of those wooden structures.

Good point. I really just can't see Shapers making wooden buildings. Peasants doing it, though, I can see.

As much as I don't care for Vogel praising games like BG2 erroniously, he does make good games.

Yeah, that still puzzles me. Jeff Vogel makes some of the best old school CRPGs there are, and then praises BG2 and EverQuest. It's stunning.

 

[Walks with the Snails]

Maybe they just grow the buildings. It does follow their philosophy. Any wooden buildings on Sucia probably would have just succumbed to the elements/rogues, too.

 

[Mad_Dog]

The creatures page features a peasant, which implies that the mainland is inhabited by some non-magical farmers and workers, who might be the builders and owners of those wooden structures.

Good point. I really just can't see Shapers making wooden buildings. Peasants doing it, though, I can see.

Aesthetics?

Maybe they just grow the buildings. It does follow their philosophy. Any wooden buildings on Sucia probably would have just succumbed to the elements/rogues, too.

A wooden building will last a 75, 80 years easy (in northeast Ontario anyway), just make sure you paint it every 10 years or so.

 

[Spazmo]

Sucia was abandoned for 200 years, and there wasn't anyone to paint the bulldings. Serviles, yes, but they were too busy working and avoiding rogues to bother with slapping a coat of paint or two on every shed on the island every few years.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

There's only one part in Geneforge where wooden construction is mentioned, and that's in the Awakenned's fortress, where it mentions that the serviles there have done wonders recrafting the floors of that building.

As for buildings being in tact, I'm sure that wooden ones would have rotted away. However, I never got any clue that they used wood to begin with for anything other than the flooring.

As for growing buildings, that may be possible that they'd grow wooden ones. Of course, look at the boats they grow, they're living and organic. I can't see them just growing a plank-work fortress like that when they can grow a living building that can defend itself.

On that note, I'd love to see some Shaper tanks that were shaped like the boats they used.

 

[Peacedog]

Shapers aren't supposed to be a majority of the population to my knowledge. While they could grow buildings in the like, it is probably they spend their time doing far more "important" things (in their eyes). I'd expect shaper areas to have different structures than an isolated village as they create stuff to suit whatever their needs are.

I think the resolution thing is partly a function of a portion of spiderweb fans having very old machines.

Yeah, that still puzzles me. Jeff Vogel makes some of the best old school CRPGs there are, and then praises BG2 and EverQuest. It's stunning.

Given that his grumpy gamer columns are now availble for browsing online, people should probably read them to see why he has praised both games.

I find it odd people are shocked he would praise either, personally.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

The part that shocks me is that Vogel's games are just that much better than the games he praises. It's like Michelangelo praising a house painter. Sure, the house painter paints more stuff, but it's not the same calibur of work.

 

[Deathy]

I'm not all that enthusiastic about Geneforge 2. Sure, I am waiting for it, but one of the major reasons that I liked Geneforge to begin with was the unique setting. A sequel can't do the unique setting thing as well as the original title, so I'm afraid that Geneforge 2 just wont have the magic.
Besides, I think it's damn hard to top a game with that level of quality.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

Yay!
Just hope that thier next game's artwork is a bit more ambitious. They have a lot of great ideas, but the enigine is not great.
Imagine this game in the Harbringer engine though.............Yay.

 

[Peacedog]

The part that shocks me is that Vogel's games are just that much better than the games he praises. It's like Michelangelo praising a house painter. Sure, the house painter paints more stuff, but it's not the same calibur of work.

An interesting way to look at it. I think "worrying" (I use the term very loosely hear) that Vogel might priase BG2 or EQ sort of misses the point. For one, his games aren't really like BG2 (EQ is obviously not relevant). In fact, they share more in common with other games I think we would agree are superior to BG2. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

Secondly, his columns are interesting read but I highly doubt he was going to do a column one day and tee off on a another (for a variety of reasons). Rather, he simply picked games that had elements he thought worked well to use as examples, and probably deliberately picked popular games to do so. I'm not saying he is sitting in a room right now going "hahaha, I fooled them all, I really hate BG2", but his praising it (certainly the way it and other games were disucssed in the columns) does not indicate he doesn't have a lot of criticisms.

Besides, I think it's damn hard to top a game with that level of quality.

I think this is a clear cut case where extending certain design concepts, continuing a larger story arc (to a degree, see the Avernums), and fixing things that didn't work lead to an excellent sequel opportunity. Sometimes, sequel's are a good thing. His haven't ever failed to please, to be sure.

Also, I think part of his planning revolves around reusing an engine a few times, which is pretty smart when you think about it.