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You did it! You did it! You broke the Geneforge LP curse despite illness, the slog of the game, and the temptation of strawberry jam! POOL IS CLOSED, congratulations, and thank you so much. This is a pleasure to read, and I finally got to see how this game ends. Thank you!
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Jun 18, 2017 00:32
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| # ? May 10, 2024 00:45 |
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:I'm going to (try to) post all the endings I know of for G1, since there are so many. For the endings, I can think of at least six different ones off the top of my head, though there might even be 1-2 more than that.
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Jun 18, 2017 01:00
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:You should've seen the rough draft for real ultimate murder! I hope you move onto G2, it's such an improvement in so many ways to the first one. A little harder to brute force, too!
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Jun 18, 2017 01:19
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Thank you for the wonderful LP.
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Jun 18, 2017 01:27
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That was a great LP. Thanks for showing off the game.
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Jun 18, 2017 03:07
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this little world of surprisingly deep and nuanced RPGs written by some particular guy that you and other LPers have introduced me to is one of my favorite things to come out of this subforum for me. i hope you keep going with this story as far as its been written  thanks for doing an LP
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Jun 18, 2017 03:09
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idonotlikepeas posted:After Gene-Reforging (with apologies to Robert Frost) This was near the end of the last page and people oughtta see it!
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Jun 18, 2017 03:12
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vdate posted:For whatever reason, it elevated the ending sequence to just about my favourite in gaming, and I'll always remember the last line - 'You can not unring a bell.' That's worth noticing. A lot of RPGs either end with "yep, everything's back to normal, nothing to see here" or "well, we blew up like 90% of the world at the end of Act 2 but the survivors aren't completely screwed, and more importantly, our viewpoint characters had some personal growth". This isn't about saving the world. The main character is a cipher. If the PC fails, the result is a vicious and terrible war, but not a pointless one. But the PC's intervention is what lets her shape the future. And given what was hidden there, that cannot remain static. This isn't the Monomyth. Balance is not restored. The whole point is that it can't be. --- Also, thinking about it, much of this game is about botched first contacts. Between Solution and the servile villages; between the various factions of the Sholai and the Shapers' civilization; between the Sholai and individual Shapers. In that light, Solution being selected as the first formal envoy of Shaper civilization to the Sholai is her greatest vindication.
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Jun 18, 2017 04:00
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Thanks for this amazing LP and one of the deepest RPg's I have ever seen. Great to bea part of it! And SOlution has her destiny. For better or worse, she chose it and made her own path.
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Jun 18, 2017 04:45
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The only Geneforge game that didn't catch me was 3, personally. And I haven't dove into 5 yet, because I marathoned through 1 and 2, got about halfway through 3 before giving it up, then marathoned 4, so I was a bit burnt out by the time I got to 5.
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Jun 18, 2017 05:47
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ManxomeBromide posted:That's worth noticing. A lot of RPGs either end with "yep, everything's back to normal, nothing to see here" or "well, we blew up like 90% of the world at the end of Act 2 but the survivors aren't completely screwed, and more importantly, our viewpoint characters had some personal growth". Yeah, this is... a story where you don't have to matter, but you do. And a pretty big part of that is down to the wrapup. If what you did was going to have lasting consequences they'd play out over a much longer period than the game you could see. A good wrapup will sell you on the consequences far down the line. The Awakened... I don't know if Shapers could accept them, honestly. Sucia is never going to be a friendly place and it may or may not get worse depending on how the wastes and pollution spread, or if Solution managed to stick enough apocalypse-shaped corks in their corresponding apocalypse-shaped holes. But their freedom was the most important thing to them, and they kept it. Perhaps they also have some things worth hoping for. I hate to say it but I think the Obeyers were the most revolutionary thing the Shapers could accept - servitude which was only technically not unconditional, in that they were aware other options existed. On balance I think the world is a little kinder because of them. And the Sholai got a second chance to meet the Shapers and made it count this time. We don't hear a lot about what mistrusts and derisions there may be, or how easy the peace is, but they accept Solution without a lot of resentment, and it seems like Solution might feel more at home there. The only Sholai who know much about the Geneforge are fellow veterans without a lot of the Shaper background. But overall, yeah, the ending does a great job of selling all the consequences you can see and setting up the idea there will be more coming.
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Jun 18, 2017 05:58
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:The Shapers who went after us to clean things up took care of them! My Little Artilla helped Solution get home. That's good enough for me.
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Jun 18, 2017 06:18
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Congrats on finishing the main part of the LP, POOL IS CLOSED.  It was an awesome ride.
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Jun 18, 2017 07:05
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Thank you for an excellent LP, POOL IS CLOSED. I really think your writing helped make the setting come to life. Granted, Geneforge has more writing to it than the Exile series, but your effort Solution a character rather than a cipher. A character who is both relatable and plausible for the setting, no less.
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Jun 18, 2017 08:02
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Agreed -- congratulations on breaking the curse on one of my all-time favourite games, and on doing it in such an impressive way! I absolutely love the Geneforge series, and will recommend it to my friends 'till I'm blue in the face: it takes the moral choices that other CRPGs throw at you and makes them less about maximising a Good or Evil meter and more about genuine moral dilemmas.
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Jun 18, 2017 08:45
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Good LP, looking forward to Geoforge 2, mostly because that's the only Spiderweb game I haven't played / seen LP'd. (Well, maybe Nethergate and the original Avernums, but I understand those were forgotten for a reason)
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Jun 18, 2017 11:22
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Xander77 posted:Good LP, looking forward to Geoforge 2, mostly because that's the only Spiderweb game I haven't played / seen LP'd. Nethergate just was kinda awkward all over. It was a standalone game, so it didn't get nearly the usual build-out in terms of story. It let you see the entire game/story from either side of the conflict, which was cool, but resulted in the game being notably shorter than usual spidweb games so it's kinda short on truly memorable moments. The game itself is fairly engaging and fun to play, so I'd definitely recommend checking it out (the remade "Resurrection" version, more specifically), it's just not very memorable. Solid-but-unspectacular is probably the best description I can give you.
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Jun 18, 2017 12:11
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Aww crap, I missed the vote! And I was totally going to vote power murder! I would love to see how the ending would've played out if we had gone down that path, assuming you had it written out. Regardless, thank you for the read. I didn't pick up Geneforge until a few years back, but I remember playing Exile 3 since I was 14. These games are something special, and they scratch a very real itch. Having some proper characterization for our protagonist helps patch up one of the few big problems with the game. It's one thing to make moral choices, but it's another to have a character live those choices. That's what you did, you brought Solution to life.
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Jun 18, 2017 13:03
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I enjoyed this LP, and am looking forward to your next, POOL IS CLOSED, whichever it might be.
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Jun 18, 2017 13:07
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Xander77 posted:(Well, maybe Nethergate and the original Avernums, but I understand those were forgotten for a reason) In addition to what MagusOfStars said, the first Avernums were also pretty awkward from an engine standpoint. They were Vogel's first isomorphic 3D games, and it's clear he hadn't figured out stuff like how to make combat engaging with bigger arenas (for example, all AoE spells got replaced by simple multitargeted bolt spells, like the Death Arrows spell in Exile), how to handle hills (which were constantly making it hard to tell which tiles were adjacent to which), how to handle line-of-sight, etc. There were some odd choices in the skill system as well: you could find "hidden" skills which, once found, could be trained in like any other skill. These included one skill that made literally all of your spells better, and another that gave melee attacks against humanoid targets a huge damage boost. If you knew the skills existed, you'd want to hoard skillpoints for them; if you didn't, you'd be kicking yourself when you unlocked them. Basically, it's a degraded copy of Exile with prototypes of some functionality that would get refined in the Geneforge series and later reremakes. If you want the Exile experience, play Exile. If you want the smoother UI, play the reremakes.
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Jun 18, 2017 15:00
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Huh, three Spiderweb Software games have their LPs finished already this year. Not bad at all! I suppose it also goes to show just how popular these games really are that people will make multiple attempts at them, despite previous failures. Vogel should be proud of his fanbase.
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Jun 18, 2017 15:16
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Basically, it's a degraded copy of Exile with prototypes of some functionality that would get refined in the Geneforge series and later reremakes. If you want the Exile experience, play Exile. If you want the smoother UI, play the reremakes.
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Jun 18, 2017 16:08
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Congrats on making it all the way through this monster of a game to LP! Looking forward to the other endings.
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Jun 18, 2017 17:45
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I have to admit, I was just skimming your posts after a while, not paying attention to the images, which just blurred together for me. The writing, however, both yours and the game's, was fun to read!
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Jun 18, 2017 18:52
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Man, what a great LP this has been. And somehow we landed on the upbeat, happy ending first time around? How nice.
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Jun 19, 2017 00:54
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I enjoyed this LP, hope you do the sequel! We never did see any drayks though. Can I ask about the hint you dropped about my little fyora coming back?
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Jun 19, 2017 06:05
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Man, what a great LP this has been. And somehow we landed on the upbeat, happy ending first time around? How nice. iirc most of the endings are surprisingly upbeat, for given values of 'upbeat'. I think you only get a so-called 'bad ending' if you do the fairly obvious stupid thing (which in this case is 'gently caress this, I'm outta here', fight your way through the Sholai at the dock, and just bail before resolving anything at all)?
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Jun 19, 2017 06:20
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vdate posted:iirc most of the endings are surprisingly upbeat, for given values of 'upbeat'. I think you only get a so-called 'bad ending' if you do the fairly obvious stupid thing (which in this case is 'gently caress this, I'm outta here', fight your way through the Sholai at the dock, and just bail before resolving anything at all)? No, you also get bad endings if you do the other stupid things of letting Goettsch use the GF or using the GF, then leaving it intact for others to use. edit: But yeah, 'surprisingly upbeat' describes most of the endings in GF1. Of the other GF game endings I know of, I'd say only one ending in 5 qualifies. The rest tend to have various fitting/plausible bad parts included. Caustic Soda fucked around with this message at 08:58 on Jun 19, 2017 |
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Jun 19, 2017 08:56
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:In addition to what MagusOfStars said, the first Avernums were also pretty awkward from an engine standpoint. They were Vogel's first isomorphic 3D games, and it's clear he hadn't figured out stuff like how to make combat engaging with bigger arenas (for example, all AoE spells got replaced by simple multitargeted bolt spells, like the Death Arrows spell in Exile), how to handle hills (which were constantly making it hard to tell which tiles were adjacent to which), how to handle line-of-sight, etc. There were some odd choices in the skill system as well: you could find "hidden" skills which, once found, could be trained in like any other skill. These included one skill that made literally all of your spells better, and another that gave melee attacks against humanoid targets a huge damage boost. If you knew the skills existed, you'd want to hoard skillpoints for them; if you didn't, you'd be kicking yourself when you unlocked them. Oh, I just remembered that I also played SubTerra, a Boulder Dash inspired puzzle game that Spiderweb made. You can get it for free now.
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Jun 19, 2017 09:06
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:I enjoyed this LP, hope you do the sequel! You'll have to jog my memory! I did add drayks to the party for the extra content, so we will probably have a look at that in a day or two.
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Jun 19, 2017 09:58
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Thanks a bunch for the LP, Pool. It was a fascinating read and ended on a compelling ending.
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Jun 19, 2017 21:22
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Found this LP a few days ago and read through the whole thing. Great job POOL IS CLOSED! The second-person narration works really well for this game. Honestly the Shapers seem pretty benign from how they act in the end towards Solution! I was expecting them to execute her for tresspassing/Knowing That Which Should Not Be Known/killing Goettsch/because they're evil but they pretty much just made her swear not to tell anybody and then let her live her life. For all the "Oh no, look at what the terrible Shaper arts have wrought!" on that island, the modern Shapers seem pretty laid back. MuffiTuffiWuffi fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Jun 20, 2017 |
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Jun 20, 2017 05:46
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That's one of the interesting things about the Shapers: they actually learn from past mistakes and improve their treatment of creations over time. A more conventional CRPG might've made them into obvious villains, but things aren't quite so clear-cut. Now as later GF games will show, they don't exactly stop having careless and/or over-ambitious Shapers causing problems, but they actually have protocols in place for minimizing and dealing with gently caress-ups. Those protocols don't work all the time, but the Shapers have a fairly good success rate with "seal away the problem, and have it actually *stop* being a problem that way". Which also serves the doylist purpose of providing optional dungeons that are dangerous to venture into, but not a problem for the surrounding countryside.
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Jun 20, 2017 07:17
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In general, pretty much every group you meet in Geneforge seems to have plenty of texture to them.
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Jun 20, 2017 21:21
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So yeah.... Good job everyone, by not using the Geneforge we got a bad ending for our Awakened buddies. Hope yer happy  Best ending is hilariously enough siding with Trajkov, YMMV. And yes, the Geneforge ending would have actually been a good ending for the Awakened. Though to be fair the ending we picked IS the cannon ending (or as close to cannon as one can get, since no G1 ending entirely matches up with the sequels), which means we should dive straight into G2  A fun bit about the Geneforge ending - You get some interesting reactions going back to the various important npcs. The Obeyers' in particular is VERY interesting. The talk in question made me respect the Obeyers, even if I don't entirely agree with their philosophy. mauman fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Jun 21, 2017 |
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Jun 21, 2017 02:18
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We will definitely see all that and more.  Just taking a brief break while I kick work back into shape.
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Jun 21, 2017 02:29
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:We will definitely see all that and more. Oh, you want me to remove my post? eh, I'll edit it just in case if you want it to be a surprise.
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Jun 21, 2017 02:30
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mauman posted:Oh, you want me to remove my post? Nah don't worry about it!
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Jun 21, 2017 02:33
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mauman posted:Oh, you want me to remove my post? POOL IS CLOSED posted:Nah don't worry about it! I don't know what the outcome you're talking about is, but to be fair, I think that "respected but kinda scary Shaper" makes for more interesting future story anyway.
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Jun 21, 2017 03:36
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Epsilon Moonshade posted:I don't know what the outcome you're talking about is, but to be fair, I think that "respected but kinda scary Shaper" makes for more interesting future story anyway. Then prepare to be disappointed if Pool ever starts a G2 LP. Unless SHE radically changes the story I suppose. Edit - Whoops. mauman fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Jun 21, 2017 |
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Jun 21, 2017 04:09
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