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Today's scented candle smells like t͏h̵̢͜e̶͏ f̴̨͢ate̵̢s͟ o̡͘f̨͢ ͠e̸͡nt̴͘͏i̴̢r̡̨e͟͞ ͘p҉e̢o̴̵͘ple̷͡s̀. How strange, though. I guess even the Obeyers don't want an enforcer mind to be that super-strong, since everyone has to choose for themselves how to obey the Shapers.
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Nov 21, 2016 04:22
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Geneforge is such a cool series, but its incredibly hard to go back and play them. I've only beaten 1 and 5 because of it.
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Nov 21, 2016 05:16
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Roobanguy posted:Geneforge is such a cool series, but its incredibly hard to go back and play them. I've only beaten 1 and 5 because of it. Yeah 4 is cool as poo poo too but even that is a little hard to play imo Love the narrative and all these updates btw. 
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Nov 21, 2016 05:19
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Some new names for when idhrendur needs replacement: hubior (dog-servant) or naurbior (fire-servant). The need to replace your critters is a sad thing. It ultimately forces you to be kinda heartless.
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Nov 21, 2016 05:23
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idhrendur posted:The need to replace your critters is a sad thing. It ultimately forces you to be kinda heartless. Yes. I think that this mechanic is actually a great meshing of gameplay and story. Pretty soon we will have to reach a decision about how we want to treat our loyal creations...
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Nov 21, 2016 05:27
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Also, I went and checked the script for the woods. While I see the line displayed for the ambush that wasn't, I see no indications that the ambush ever was in the code.
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Nov 21, 2016 06:06
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idhrendur posted:Also, I went and checked the script for the woods. While I see the line displayed for the ambush that wasn't, I see no indications that the ambush ever was in the code. Interesting. My guess is that it was just forgotten. I don't know if there are any other oddities like the Sear fight.
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Nov 21, 2016 06:12
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Can we actually feed/help Control Mind Four? I love what you are doing/writing for this game. Thank you for taking the time and effort to show us the game plus bring us deeper into it.
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Nov 21, 2016 06:22
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The only Geneforge game I really couldn't get myself to play through was 3, it just felt like such a big step back from the others, for some reason.
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Nov 21, 2016 11:34
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If I've missed any questions/comments that you guys want me to address, please feel free to poke me in here or PM me. Sometimes I just miss or forget things! (I also use the Awful App quite a bit, and it seems to bookmark the last page read, not the last post read...)Kacie posted:Can we actually feed/help Control Mind Four? We can definitely feed Control Mind Four. We also, of course, have the option to put it down. Because these choices are faction-related, Solution likely won't reach a resolution until after we've met the Takers of Kazg. I'll show you a what-if for the other option for completeness' sake. And thanks! Working on this LP has given me an even greater respect for what the storied narrative LPs of yore managed (I'm looking at you, NWN 2: Mask of the Betrayer!). If you haven't already checked them out, you'll probably enjoy TooMuchAbstraction's and berryjon's Avernum and Exile LPs, too. Long term, I'd like to LP the whole Geneforge series, but that's a hell of a commitment so I'm not making any promises. I gotta get us through 1 first.
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Nov 21, 2016 17:20
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Shapeless Days With a heavy heart, you venture into the Thorny Woods south of Pentil East. A nearby sign indicates that a place called the Tombs is further south -- the name gives you pause. Whose tombs?  The road here is mainly dirt now; the paving stones have largely vanished, perhaps claimed by the serviles for building walls and repairing buildings. A footpath leads you west, where you see something like civilization. You meet a servile warrior alone in the middle of a vast and hostile wilderness. Though you are a Shaper, she is still justifiably worried. Keeping her hand near her weapon, she says, "Welcome to my post, Shaper. I am Obeyer Demel. I wish you well, and I hope you extend the same to me." You notice that there are four fyoras behind her, tamely watching you and waiting for a command from their master. It is odd that these creations would follow a servile. These must be graduates from Learned Jaffee's obedience school. "Are these fyoras under your command?" "It is thanks to the wisdom and efforts of Learned Jaffee, in Pentil, who has struggled long and hard to bring about the true will of the Shapers. He cannot form fyoras like you can, but he has been able to tame rogues. These fyoras were once rogues. Now they are tame, and they serve us and you." "Why is there a guard post here? What are you guarding?" Mickall told you that there should be more than one guard here. Did he actually mean the fyoras as well? "Sad to say, Shaper, but in the woods to the west, there is an outpost of Takers. They came here to raid us, but we were able to box them up in these woods. We cannot reach them, though, for the woods are heavily trapped. So these fyoras and I keep them bottled up here, so that they can do no harm," Demel says. "There are traps?" That doesn't sound good. If you have to deal with more spore mines, you'll really need to find a better solution than detonating them with poor berryjon. "Yes. The Takers were able to place fungal traps. They either explode or spawn rogues. We do not know how they were able to make these things, but we know that they're dangerous." She sounds as though she has personal experience with them. "How could I pass the traps safely?" Traps that spawn rogues are new to you. Those sound a little less difficult to handle as long as they don't create anything more vicious than the rogues you've come across so far... "'Perhaps, being a Shaper, you could disarm them. When you get close to one, it takes a few seconds for it to activate. If you reached it in time, you might be able to do something to make it harmless." Demel shrugs. Standing watch out here alone seems to have demoralized her. You're having a hard time imagining how you might disable spore mines. Maybe with enough time and resources, you could solve that puzzle, but neither of those things are about to fall in your lap. Instead, it's probably best to focus on the source of the mines. "What can you tell me about these Takers?" "They are a rebellious sect from Kazg, to the east," she says. This is the same old story you've heard many times before from both the Awakened and the Obeyers. "They hate the Shapers, and want nothing more than to rebel against you. They are horrible. They deserve death. Why, they would like nothing more than if you turned on our kind, killed me, and let the rogues out of these woods." You sigh. That wasn't the kind of information you were hoping for. You try a different angle. "Mickall has asked me to destroy the rebels. Can you assist me?" "I wish you luck, Shaper. Doing so would make me glad. However, he has ordered me to stay here. I just obey." Demel refuses to meet your eyes and she hunches over more, crossing her arms as if to close herself off from you. "But I am a Shaper. Could you refuse to obey me?" The Obeyers are proving neither helpful nor obedient. Thus far, they've only obeyed you when it's been convenient for them, and they've only told you the truth when it's fit the story they want to tell. "I am sorry, Shaper, but, in this case, I must do what I am told." She is quite stubborn. She is also clearly terrified of going west.  Among the tamed fyoras is a sign that reads, "Beware! Rogues and traps!" The fyoras regard you with great curiosity, but your own creations are quite possessive of you. Before any unfortunate event can ruin these tamed rogues' conditioning, you head back to the main road.  In a clearing just east of the forest's end is another, larger ruin. This one seems abandoned. Potsherds are heaped up against the front. Perhaps this was another warehouse. You try to charm the chains open, but the aged lock is durable and finely made. You try to fix this place in your mind for later. Maybe there's a canister inside.  North of that ruin, you find the tumbledown remains of a small Shaping outpost. The essence pools have long since dried up, but you do find a thorn bush nearby. There aren't really as many brambles out here as you'd expect from a place named the Thorny Woods.  You return to the lonely guard post and pass the softly chittering fyoras. Just beyond them are bones, evidence of raids past. There you find a strange, red orb standing on a low tripod. These must be the fungus mines. The orb looks crystalline -- perhaps it's a strange rearrangement of chitin. At your command, your creations draw back to a safe distance. This gives you space to breathe and concentrate. You approach the mine quickly. Decisive action is what the situation demands. The mine clicks and gas hisses from the orb. The gas has a pungent, solvent fragrance just at the edge of your ability to sense. The orb is actually more like a cluster of petals, all faintly quivering -- you suspect that when they pop open, you'll find out whether this is an exploding mine or a spawning mine. You're not interested in figuring that out the hard way. Beneath the orb is a tiny bulb almost entirely concealed by the mine's own shadow. You pluck it out easily even though the heat penetrates your gauntlets. The orb pops open harmlessly. You relax a touch, just in time for a rogue fyora to appear. Placid saviour quickly exterminates it. The bulb you're holding keeps getting hotter, so you toss it to the side, where it ignites a dry patch of grass and then dies away. It was the mine's detonator. These box mines are probably going to prove quite troublesome. Our mechanics score is nothing special, but we can disarm almost every mine here with a score of 5. Our unlock spell and living tools are useless on all mines! It's very sad.  You find more hissing, spitting fyora rogues in the woods. These twisting paths are studded with rubble and bones, which prove almost as dangerous in their own way as the mines. You are forced to walk very slowly to avoid fouling your footing at a bad time.   The rogue serviles have littered these woods with box mines. You have to stop and disarm them every few paces. If they're not directly underfoot, they're tucked into the brush or at blind angles behind tree trunks. You've seen two kinds so far--the brilliant red orb kind and a deep emerald kind.   Only extreme caution keeps you from being ambushed by fyoras while disarming the mines. Each time you spot a mine, your creations creep out to form a wide circle around you, all their senses focused on detecting rogues. This system keeps rogues from getting the jump on you as you approach a mine. The rogues know these woods well, but better coordination gives you the edge.  You disarm two side-by-side mines back to back, sweating away the seconds as both begin their priming sequences. It turns out to be a dead end with an equally dead servile. This is probably what remains of the other guard. No wonder Demel is terrified to come back here.  This little glade has a clear pool of water and a couple more thorn bushes. You take the opportunity to gather some thorns for your baton, only to detect the rustle of brush back the way you came. The movements don't sound like your creations made them. You've traveled together long enough to be as familiar with the sounds they make as you are with your own.   A rogue servile stands behind two smoking fyoras. As soon as he realizes you've noticed him, he tries to flee. He doesn't make it very far. Though the rogues put up a fight and manage to score some hits, you ultimately overcome them through superior firepower.    That murderous servile is not the only one you meet in the bloody gauntlet back here. Others, well-armed and armored beneath their ratty robes, ambush you from the shadows. You must be closing in on their hideout. It's harder to disarm mines without interference back here. The tight spaces and extensive tree cover prevent your creations from spotting the serviles until they've already popped up at the edges of your formation. Berryjon easily outmatches any individual servile, but your fyoras struggle in these close quarters. The serviles' swords and javelins land vicious blows again and again, forcing you to expend essence to heal your creations during combat. GreatEvilKing staggers after a particularly brutal hit that leaves ichor spurting from a deep gash in its neck. Fortunately, it doesn't flee before you can lay hands on it. When the skirmish ends, you're all covered in dirt and gore, and three serviles lay bleeding out in the undergrowth. You have berryjon hide their corpses out of sight among some bushes.  I should have held off on this extra point of leadership, but the point of intelligence is quite useful! You might've noticed that we have 3 points of strength. The 3rd point actually comes from the belt of strength we're wearing, which we received as a quest reward some time back and I forgot to remark on it. This belt grants an extra point of strength to all your creations as well, which makes it more useful to us than the Student's Belt most of the time. Strength determines the power of our creations' attacks, both melee and missile, despite what the tooltips seem to suggest about the relationship between dexterity and missile attacks. That extra point of strength also gives us a little bonus utility in that it increases our carry weight capacity. We can carry more poo poo around without suffering AP penalties!   A pair of rogue fyoras catches you at the rear of your own formation. Placid saviour and GreatEvilKing wheel around and manage to take out one.   The second backs off when it hears berryjon coming, but it's too late. Placid saviour kills it with a single well-aimed shot. Game Text posted:You hear angry servile voices ahead. You stop and listen.  All the stiff resistance and complex mines have not kept you from finding the serviles' base. They've holed up in a small network of caves back in these cliffs. The first servile to see you calls out a warning, drawing four others. Three manage to bottle your forces up at the entry, but it costs them severely. You bless your creations as they spray acid and fire. Berryjon is a solid wall of flesh whose massive build intimidates the warrior serviles trying to reach you with their swords. Javelins flash; many drive home in GreatEvilKing, who cries out.  Though berryjon managed to ward off many blows, a lucky javelin throw opens its throat. Your thahd collapses before you can finish a healing spell. No matter how much power you pour out, you cannot bring berryjon back to its feet. The thahd dies even as your fyoras finish off most of the remaining servile forces.  Idhrendur incinerates the rogue servile who murdered berryjon. There's no end more fitting for a thahd than falling in battle, yet... This wasn't what you wanted for your creation. It's just too futile.  You pull back to Pentil to let your creations lick their wounds. After some meditation, you decide to try creating a roamer. Unlike other fire creations, roamers spit acid. They're more like a tougher, more mobile version of the artila than they are an upgrade over the fyora. For all that, your creation is still fragile. You haven't forgotten how easy to kill the rogue roamers of the Thorny Fen and spiral burrow were. You will have to do a better job of protecting this creation than you have your thahds. You name it PurpleXVI.  The roamer doesn't cost you much essence, so you also shape an additional fyora and name it. It's still a little weaker than GreatEvilKing and idhrendur, but you sense that its potential is even greater.  You return to the Thorny Woods once you've rested. The wretched serviles back here have already begun replacing the mines you disarmed before. But, one by one,  you disarm their mines,  expose their crimes,  and hunt them down.   Your new roamer isn't as durable as berryjon was, but it's gutsy and tenacious, even when its soft hide is scored and bloody. The rogue serviles quickly fall before the combined acid sprays of PurpleXVI and placid saviour.  When you return to the rogues' den, you find another survivor.  He falls before he can even scream. As it turns out, he was guarding another servile hiding in the rear of the caves. He doesn't stand a chance against your creations. He dies silently. You'll never know what his goals were here.  He must have been important, though. You search his belongings and find a stash of coins and pods. Game Text posted:A servile has hidden a rusty iron key in this jar. You take it.   The rebels' key unlocks the lever here. Beyond the automatic door is a pair of very dark green orbs. You try to disarm the first as you have all the previous mines, but they don't respond to your increasingly frantic attempts. You give up and flee, but are caught at the fringe of a cloud of flame and superheated gas that blister and scorch your back. When you've healed the worst of the burns, you examine the room the mines were set to protect. Within is your prize -- a canister that improves your fyora shaping ability. You feel a little regret that you shaped Charmander before finding this canister, because you could've made the fyora even stronger... But when you look at your team, battered though they are, you can't help but feel satisfaction and even happiness.  You return to Demel to let her know that she no longer has to fear raiders or rogues from the west. She looks surprised and pleased. "I thank you, Shaper. Soon, my fyoras and I can return to Pentil and continue our fight against the Taker scum. I shall spread word of your kind deeds." You rest in the guard outpost. It's not very comfortable, but it's not awful, either. Everything smells a bit like unwashed servile and fyora musk.  The lush forests around Pentil fade to dusty barrens as you walk the southeastern road. It winds through a long, narrow canyon. You're uneasy; this place would be a fine spot for an ambush. There's no way to escape if rogues or worse manage a blockade. Little dust devils swirl along the canyon floor, occasionally kicking grit into your eyes and mouth. The dust tastes oddly sour and salty. If the soil here is too acidic, no wonder almost nothing grows out here. Game Text posted:You enter these narrow valleys. It looks like a river carved these gullies out long ago. The land is dead, and there is a bitter stink in the air. Shortly after you read the obelisk, you see a brilliant magenta roamer. That hue gives you pause. The colors given to creations are generally meaningful. Bright colors, ones that obviously stick out in any terrain, indicate unusual hazards. PurpleXVI bristles and puffs out its chest before it challenges the magenta roamer. The rogue skitters closer. In a flash of dust and ammonia stink, PurpleXVI grabs the rogue by the neck and throws it to the ground. The rogue gushes out its life's blood before it even gets a single claw into your creation. Then the rogue explodes. PurpleXVI whines, but the sound is odd. You realize its jaw is dislocated and the powerful muscles there are now driving the bone away from its sockets. The blood on your roamer's mouth isn't entirely its own, either. It takes you some time and work, but you manage to relocate PurpleXVI's jaw and heal most of the damage. Fortunately, the lacerations were mostly superficial and only cost your roamer a few teeth. You don't let the next unstable roamers get anywhere near your creations. They explode at the slightest provocation, leaving behind a splash of foul-smelling guts.   If these weren't living beings, you'd almost find it funny the way you can cause an explosion cascade among them. If the unstable roamers stand too close together, killing one causes a chain reaction. It's actually quite efficient. Placid saviour quickly figures out what to do without much prompting from you.   These rogues are definitely patrolling these valleys. The place is rotten with old bones and scraps of cloth, probably victims of the roamers. Occasionally, one tries to sneak up on you from behind, but they are unable to come too close before either placid saviour or one of your fyoras blow it up.  You find two doors to the northeast, but they don't respond to your presence. There are no levers, and a cursory inspection reveals no secret buttons--not that you really expected to find any. Unable to go further, you head back south.  Along the road you find another automatic door. This one hisses open when you come near, welcoming you into another ruin. You step inside, leaving behind the distant sounds of the surf and sea birds.  This place has gone untended for a long time, but thanks to the automatic door, no rogues got in. You admire the statues sheltered inside the antechamber. The artisans who carved them were true masters. Some of the tapestries on the wall are mostly intact. The abstract designs call to mind the universal elements you were forced to memorize years ago. You pull the lever by the next door.  Game Text posted:This is where the bodies of the dead Shapers were brought to be embalmed. You can still smell the stink of chemicals in the air. Dead Shapers are generally embalmed with a combination of wax, formaldehyde, and the excretions of shaped fungi.  The semi-transparent thahd seems to shiver and warp as it moves. Somehow it is able to skate past your defenders. Worse, a second one of these shades arrives. They seem ghost-like, which confuses your creations and horrifies you. What kind of terrible monsters are these? Why would Shapers use them as defenders? These shades see you as an intruder. Without any way to satisfactorily identify yourself, you must kill the thahd shades or flee. The thahd shades are even more durable than the usual meaty thahds. Somehow most blows seem to just slip past, striking at some point where the thahds used to be. It takes all of your creations working together to take the shades down one at a time. When it's over, you're drenched in sweat. You can't recall a single time you've seen a real Shaper perspire or even appear short of breath.  Game Text posted:The book lists all of the Shaper dead embalmed in these halls. The most valued Shapers were given private tombs in this valley. Others were taken elsewhere. None of the names are familiar. Hmm... Corata again. You wonder what their role was on this island.  As it turns out, the Shapers left one more thahd shade to guard the mortuary. It's a short but vicious fight to put the shade down. GreatEvilKing and idhrendur don't make it out unscathed.  This room must have belonged to the mortician. The ruined bed was once a fine piece of furniture cut from stone, with a hollow in the side for hot coals. The warmth would have emanated through the stone and into the mattress and blankets on top. No one uses these antiques anymore; it took a while, but the Shapers realized a hundred or so years ago that there was no satisfactory way to ventilate such beds, and the risks of untended fire didn't outweigh convenient heating. The same thing happened with under floor heating. It's a shame, but still, not worth choking to death on foul vapors while one sleeps... The scrolls are barely holding together. You decide not to even try to read them. You're sure that Learned Dayna would pay dearly for such a collection, but they're too fragile to move. [img]The garments in this cabinet disintegrated some years ago. The clothes crumble at your touch. Underneath the rubbish, you find a small, iron amulet. It has several symbols on it, but you only recognize one. It means 'Caretaker'. You take it.[/img]  The door to the south opens for you. You're not certain if it's because of the amulet or if the door was already open. Inside, though, you find a worthy treasure -- a canister! -- and an empty sarcophagus. There's also a pile of potsherds, but you can't imagine that anyone managed to get in here and rob a grave. This is the mortuary; the tombs are elsewhere. The effects of the canister are hard to place at first, but then you realize that you now understand the basic footwork and stances you need to battle an opponent face to face. You don't think you'll ever need to know how to sword fight, but if you do, you're a little better off than you were before.  You head south from the mortuary. The canyon opens up here, showing you a long, lifeless strand. Game Text posted:From this vantage point, you get a good view of the sea south of Sucia Island. Far to the south, you can see the mainland, close enough to be barely visible, but much too far to swim.  If only one of the canisters would let you make a drayk craft... But drayks are notoriously difficult to control. Even if you could shape one, there's no guarantee it wouldn't turn on you. You sigh, backed by the explosions of several unstable roamers.  Game Text posted:To the south, you can see a ship. It is the same strange ship you saw a few days ago, just before it slew your craft and left you stranded on this horrible island. That was the ship Pixley saw. Frustrated, you turn back; the outsiders' ship was just a false trail.  The eastern valley is pocked with doors that lead into Shaper tombs. Each one has a dark green box mine in front of it; you recognize these as the mines that release rogues. Unfortunately, these mines are far too complex for your tinkering skills. When you set off the first mine, a shade thahd emerges, immediately ready to kill. You back off and let your creations handle it. Fortunately, now you understand the shades a little better. The war blessing grants your creations the extra edge they need to strike the shade more often than not, and just like any other creation, these shades are vulnerable to acid. Game Text posted:Less advanced races place valuable physical objects with the bodies of their dead. Not the Shapers. The memorials to great Shapers contain no gold or other crude items. Instead, at the base of the sarcophagus of any great Shaper, you will find a book. We're going to improve several skills at the Tombs. This is an awesome area for all character classes. You need at least one rank in the skill a given tomb raises, but skills from equipped items count toward this requirement. I believe, however, that you won't receive any benefit if the stat the tomb would raise is already over 4 ranks. This long ago Shaper researched mental magic extensively and was personally responsible for many developments that you recall from your basic studies of magical theory. Unfortunately, none of those texts ever mentioned this researcher's name. Perhaps it's because she was interred in a Barred land.    Some of these tombs have been desecrated and the books destroyed. Oddly, none of the mines were set off... Maybe the mines were placed after the looting, and not by the old Shapers at all. Perhaps the original defenses were already overcome. Anyone who would ruin the books is lower than the vilest rogue. Desecrating graves is bad enough, but destroying knowledge is rank evil. Those books were the bequest left by the deceased, gifts offered to all Shapers. They are not for outsiders and most especially not for plunderers.    Not all of the books are useful to you. Some of them are just beyond your ability to understand, at least for now. Some of them, though, you're already beyond. The combination of earlier studies plus the innate knowledge shaped into you by the canisters means those books have nothing new to offer.   Studying here proves deeply satisfying. An anxiety you didn't even realize you were enduring slowly sloughs off and you find yourself standing a little taller. Most of your strength may have been imparted by using the canisters, but your own mind is strong and flexible enough for you to learn magic and shaping through reading and contemplation. You can stand on your own two feet.  If you think you've gotten rid of all of the rogues, though, you're terribly wrong. As you make your pilgrimage among the tombs, you find still more unstable roamers. Placid saviour obliterates them before they can close ranks against you.   Some of the tombs are larger than others; these are dedicated not to individuals, but to duos and even small teams. The entries are still mined, though, and the struggle to destroy the shade thahds that spawn each time you trigger a mine is slowly but inexorably wearing your creations down.  The last tomb you visit has evidence of the outsiders that violated this place. The corpse is in awful shape, so disfigured now that you can't make out its features. This outsider must have been cornered by something -- perhaps one of the rogue roamers. You strip the body of its fine iron armor with detached efficiency and stow the goods. If the outsiders wish to loot your culture, you feel no hesitation in stealing from their dead, either. By the time you've investigated the last of the tombs, you're utterly exhausted, and your creations aren't in much better shape. Idhrendur croons softly to itself, perhaps engaged in some form of self-comforting; it and GreatEvilKing have been with you the longest, and have had time to develop personalities and coping skills, as basic as they are. You pat their finely scaled heads and head back to the west. Though your body aches and your eyes burn, you feel like you've finally accomplished something not tied to rogue serviles and mysterious canisters. The skills you learned here are well and truly yours, earned not by the expedient means of unknown Shaping technology, but through your own intellectual effort. You fought for that knowledge and acquired it honestly, the way you wish you could have gained all the spells and Shaping abilities you've acquired on Sucia Island. But you are not ungrateful to those ancient Shapers. The tools they left behind have given you the strength to survive in this forgotten land. Without them, you would have surely stalled in Vakkiri, and eventually, you don't doubt, the Awakened there would have detected the depths of your weakness and ignorance and they would have disposed of you. The serviles here are nothing if not ruthless. They have an instinct for survival that you realize far surpasses your own -- while their sects took shape amid abandonment and deprivation, you have rarely wanted for anything but knowledge until you landed here. You have been prepared all your life to take your place among the Shapers. Everything you needed to succeed at the tests set before you was handed to you. All you had to do to prove your worth was pass. You didn't have to fight. Your struggles were entirely of the mind and of morale. They were not life-and-death battles. Next time: Which Bridge to Cross and Which to Burn
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Nov 21, 2016 23:44
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It's funny that I got named as literally the only type of Creation I never found much use for.  May you have better luck with Roamers than I did!
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Nov 22, 2016 00:30
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PurpleXVI posted:It's funny that I got named as literally the only type of Creation I never found much use for. Usually I don't bother with them, but they're not awful, and I figured I should show them off. They just amount to kinda better artila if your gross skills for both creations are roughly equal. I still have no idea why they exist, but no one asked me  The LP should catch up to my in-game stopping point in another 2 - 3 updates. Once we're caught up, we'll have a  vote and I'll start prioritizing suggested names over usernames for our creations. The vote won't be about servile sects this time!
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Nov 22, 2016 00:39
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PurpleXVI posted:It's funny that I got named as literally the only type of Creation I never found much use for. They're puppies. What's not to like about puppies 
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Nov 22, 2016 00:49
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Our creations develop personalities and the ability to be happy as we keep them around? You put that in solely to make it hurt more that we might have to reabsorb and rebuild them, didn't you?
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Nov 22, 2016 00:53
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Long term, I'd like to LP the whole Geneforge series, but that's a hell of a commitment so I'm not making any promises. I gotta get us through 1 first. If you do - PACE YOURSELF. I'm in the middle of a multi-week hiatus, and I've been working on the Trilogy for over three years now.
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Nov 22, 2016 01:37
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Chocolate Chunk posted:They're puppies. What's not to like about puppies I've always seen the fyoras as the puppiest creation. Pupperest? Pupperoni? Night10194 posted:Our creations develop personalities and the ability to be happy as we keep them around? mmmayyyybe berryjon posted:If you do - PACE YOURSELF. I'm in the middle of a multi-week hiatus, and I've been working on the Trilogy for over three years now. Exile is like torment mode! You're coming up on it being a month since the last update, right? e. that's not a criticism at all btw, LPing those is probably the everest of RPGs
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Nov 22, 2016 02:04
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Exile is like torment mode! You're coming up on it being a month since the last update, right? Yep. About that. Picked up a new job, and a couple other projects to help my time. But I have made progress on the next update, and once that's out the door, I should be back in the game. And I wouldn't call them the 'Everest'. Maybe the K2?
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Nov 22, 2016 02:19
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Been very entertaining so far (Been lurking up to this point), and the second person narration has grown on me. As has the detached attachment (If that makes sense) to your creations. Anyhoo, thought I'd play along, since it's been a long time since I played Geneforge, and was both amused and horrified to discover that I actually owned the games from, er... Indie Royale. So I technically don't have them anymore.
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Nov 22, 2016 02:30
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Fyora are by far the most adorable murderbeasts. I just wish they didn't feel so gimped in GF2. 
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Nov 22, 2016 02:32
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JamieTheD posted:Been very entertaining so far (Been lurking up to this point), and the second person narration has grown on me. As has the detached attachment (If that makes sense) to your creations. Oh, that sucks! I thought you could download the Indie Royale stuff through Steam? Or was that sale exclusive of Steam? I'm not a betting woman, but if you have some proof of purchase, I suspect Vogel would make good on getting another copy to you.
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Nov 22, 2016 02:38
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It's neat that you can also learn by... y'know, learning.
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Nov 23, 2016 03:12
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Glazius posted:It's neat that you can also learn by... y'know, learning. The whole bit about a book being the grave-good of every Shaper is really cool.
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Nov 23, 2016 03:54
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Glazius posted:It's neat that you can also learn by... y'know, learning. There's actually very little of that in this game. Instead, we mostly learn magic through IV drug use. Or I suppose it's just subcutaneous, since the canisters jab us in the hand. The Shapers probably decided to idiot-proof the things in case someone tried to literally eyeball it.
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Nov 23, 2016 04:10
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:There's actually very little of that in this game. Instead, we mostly learn magic through IV drug use. Or I suppose it's just subcutaneous, since the canisters jab us in the hand. The Shapers probably decided to idiot-proof the things in case someone tried to literally eyeball it. "I wonder what I can learn from a canister by butt-chugging it" --some poor dumb Shaper's last words This is a great Let's Play, and if you ever want to name a creation Satan's Onion, well, I wouldn't mind at all 
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Nov 23, 2016 06:55
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This LP is excellent and I am ecstatic that it exists. The Exile games were a big part of my childhood but Geneforge was a bit much for lil' me, and I doubt I could surmount the dated mechanics now. I love the worlds Jeff Vogel creates so I'm really pumped to be able to finally see this one 
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Nov 23, 2016 08:04
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Just how many of the various "come attack those rogues with me, servile" "no.  " conversations could have had a positive outcome if our Leadership / relationship with the faction was better?
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Nov 23, 2016 09:58
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Glazius posted:It's neat that you can also learn by... y'know, learning. Xander77 posted:Just how many of the various "come attack those rogues with me, servile" "no.
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Nov 23, 2016 12:19
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MagusofStars posted:Remember all the way back in the first update when Solution was surprised by the canisters? The common way of learning actually is typical learning/training. The reason it's rare in the game is because we're on a Barred island where nobody is supposed to ever visit. Can't really say much about the canisters due to spoilers, but I will say that one should consider how an organization that we already know prefers to jealously guard its secrets should feel about knowledge that doesn't really have to be earned through effort or wrapped in philosophy about the hows, whens, and why's of its use.
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Nov 23, 2016 17:57
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The canisters kill serviles that try to use them. The big question is if the canisters kill non-shaper humans that try to use them (since I think PoolClosed implied Shapers apprentices are themselves somewhat modified from baseline humans by shaper magic)
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Nov 23, 2016 18:19
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Shaper apprentices are not themselves Shaped in any way, as I recall. They're just people who fit whatever the criteria for acceptance into the Fantasy Illuminati is.
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Nov 24, 2016 01:11
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You've been an updating machine thus far, Pool is Closed; do take care not to burn out. (You did prompt me to buy the Geneforge collection, albeit at full price since I just missed the sale, but I'd prefer to play alongside the LP rather than in lieu of it.) Still, loving the work thus far, especially the weaving of Solution's inner voice with the game text. As Solution's collective subconscious, it would behoove us to take stock soon. Perhaps not yet - as both the Awakened and the Obeyers have surprised us, so too will the Takers, in the balance of probability. Given their presently tenuous position (as the Obeyers, to whom they are more diametrically opposed, are the most powerful and entrenched faction) and the willingness of the sole Taker representative we've met to parley, it is possible we may build a relationship with them just as we have with the other two servile factions. Given our general preference to play the factions as our advantage dictates, however, it strikes me as unlikely that we will build a relationship with them in good faith. Solution's indignation on the part of 'her people' seems a mite strong to ally ourselves wholly with a faction dedicated to the violent overthrow of the same. And yet... Now that we've come to that thought, it seems only fair to play the little voice in the back of Solution's head that asks, 'why, though?' Why the fierce indignation on the behalf of an order to whom we only nominally belong and under whose auspices we've received next to no training? We've spent no time being tutored, no time in the company of our putative peers - we have built no relationship with these people that I know of. Yes, we were chosen, and a great honour it was, but Solution/the game's narrative was very clear - we mean very little to them. If our drayk fails to arrive, as of course it will, nobody will come looking for us, and even if they did, they would not breach Sucia to find us. Every assumption we've made based on whatever association with the Shapers we had prior to our arrival has been proved wrong. The serviles are vastly more than we expected, even the faction that one might have expected to hobble themselves by their slavish devotion to their makers. Fully two-thirds of them intend to break their compact of servitude, and our control over them appears to have been inculcated at a cultural level rather than a genetic one - we cannot compel their servitude, save by force or threat of force. (And come to that, our servitude could be compelled the same way.) The servant minds we've found here have capacities beyond what we expected; the secrets of Shaping appear to have been leaked to those not even worthy of being called 'apprentice' - true outsiders. Put bluntly, how right do we think we are, here? On a more practical level, consider that we ourselves have breached Sucia's seal - what is our endgame plan here? Should we find a viable means of escape, are we to simply turn ourselves over to the Shapers with a 'so sorry, bit sidetracked there, somebody attacked my drayk and it was a devil of a time to get back here, lucky for me somebody left these lovely canisters lying about'? What are we to suppose their reaction will be? DA RULES posted:However, none of those secrets have been shared with you yet. First, you must complete your apprenticeship. You must spend five years out in a Shaper colony on a remote island, watching their work and aiding their research. quote:The Shapers guard the secrets of their power very closely. To learn their techniques without permission is to court a speedy death, whether at the hands of a Guardian by day, or an Agent by night. ...when - or if - we escape from Sucia, will anywhere be safe for us while the Shapers still hold sway in that land? And if death for our overreach and our intrusion are not unreasonable expectations, why are we so wholly devoted to the Shapers?
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Nov 24, 2016 03:03
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Don't worry about me! Tomorrow will see a holiday update, and if I get particularly overambitious, a vote. Feel free to rabble rouse about factions and creations!
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Nov 24, 2016 03:36
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vdate posted:...when - or if - we escape from Sucia, will anywhere be safe for us while the Shapers still hold sway in that land? And if death for our overreach and our intrusion are not unreasonable expectations, why are we so wholly devoted to the Shapers? Without going too far into it, Shapers tend to play things obsessively safe and their security measures bring a new meaning to "redundancy." Just being on a Barred island like this has a good chance of getting you put to death, because it was probably Barred for a really good reason.
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Nov 24, 2016 06:18
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wiegieman posted:Without going too far into it, Shapers tend to play things obsessively safe and their security measures bring a new meaning to "redundancy." Just being on a Barred island like this has a good chance of getting you put to death, because it was probably Barred for a really good reason. My point precisely. With that in mind, 'gently caress the Shapers' becomes a more attractive option, is all I'm saying.
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Nov 24, 2016 15:12
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vdate posted:My point precisely. With that in mind, 'gently caress the Shapers' becomes a more attractive option, is all I'm saying. I'm fairly sure caution is actually a good trait in people who shape life and death and who could easily make a crazy pandemic if they wished.
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Nov 24, 2016 15:23
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wiegieman posted:Without going too far into it, Shapers tend to play things obsessively safe and their security measures bring a new meaning to "redundancy." Just being on a Barred island like this has a good chance of getting you put to death, because it was probably Barred for a really good reason. MagusofStars fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Nov 24, 2016 |
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Nov 24, 2016 15:40
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"You know, if I allow these specially sculpted killing machines to breed and give them enough intelligence to be autonomous, I can totally slack off of guard duty and just let them take over." -Apprentice Shaper, Deceased
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Nov 24, 2016 16:34
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Which Bridge to Cross and Which to Burn You venture north out of Pentil and into a wide, peaceful mountain pass, where the road is broken by green hillocks and the skeletons of trees. The only clue that this place is not as quiet as it seems is the sign you find near a patch of pavement -- "Beware! Rogues!" But unless the ornks grazing here are rogues, nothing seems amiss. Any other creations dwelling here must be shy.  By locating the north and south exits of the Wooded Valley, we can now cross this place freely. There isn't very much here. You cross to the other side without seeing so much as a feral fyora. But for now there's no reason go head further north; you're only trying to get the lay of the land. You decide to indulge your curiosity and check out the fissures leading east and west.  There's a boneyard in one, though all the fragments are dry and brittle from age. You toe at them, but the remains are unidentifiable now.  In one of the fissures you find a surprise -- another Shaper ruin. There is a servile hiding back in this remote cave. However, instead of being some crazy, scrawny hermit, she looks reasonably calm and well fed. She looks up at you as if she has been expecting you. "Greetings, Shaper," she says. "I am Sniff." "What are you doing out here?" you ask. Hidden by the shadow of the collapsed pillar, Sniff is almost invisible. PurpleXVI sniffs curiously in her direction, no doubt wondering if this servile will be its next snack. "I am waiting for help, Shaper." You wait, but Sniff says nothing else. "What sort of help?" you finally ask. "I cannot say. But, if you have some sort of message, or if you're looking for someone, I can help you. Otherwise, I cannot." Sniff stares at you, waiting for you to produce the message. It looks like you won't be able to lie your way into here. She's being too coy for your tastes. You consider trying to deceive or threaten her, but instead, you try to pump her for more information. "Well, can you at least give me a hint of where I should look to get the message you need?" Sniff thinks. "That is a good question. There are people trapped east of Kazg. Look to them. They serve the interests of the Shapers." "Everything comes back to Kazg," you say, then sigh. Sniff doesn't respond to this. Eventually, you leave.  Maybe the rogues just needed some time to get used to your presence, because you spot a roamer peeking out from a fissure to the east. More shards of bone poke out of the soft soil here. These roamers are nothing special -- PurpleXVI is more than a match for the scout, and manages to crush its throat before the rogue can cry for help.  The rest of the rogue pack has established a den of sorts here. Your creations make short work of the first few roamers, but they  just  keep  coming.    But even a horde of worms are still, in the end, mere worms. The rogues can't overcome your combat-tested creations. These rogues, whose prey consists of dim ornks and lone serviles, aren't prepared to be preyed upon themselves.  With the rogues destroyed and their nests scattered, you've put a stop to raids from this direction for a little while. Now there's only the mystery of Sniff and whatever waits beyond that door.  Southbridge seems quiet enough when you arrive. The terrain here is as dead as it was in the Tombs. Not a speck of grass greets you here. Only bleached bones and a surprisingly intact road remain.  Just off the south curve of the road is a natural cavern. When you peer inside, an automatic light flares up in greeting. Someone placed the shaped lamps in here ages ago and they still function even now. Game Text posted:These chambers were burrowed out of the soft stone of the valley walls. It looks like they were dug with pincers or claws or some sort of other hard body part. From the shadows scuttles a clawbug, hungry and curious. It shakes its long, barbed tail in anticipation of a feast.  Clawbugs are tough. Their exoskeletons put them a rung above thahds in terms of defenses, and their speed is second to none. But their minds are simple, just like the arachnids upon which the design is based. Though it's tough work, your creations pick the rogue apart. Only Charmander is unlucky enough to meet the clawbug in face-to-barb combat.  You find a nest and furiously start stomping clawbug eggs. The clawbugs are why most creations are shaped to be sterile, but perhaps a couple hundred years ago, no one thought to take such precautions. It's surprising that there were enough strains of clawbugs here that they didn't go sterile from in-breeding. Then again, perhaps that's not really a problem with fertile clawbugs. Your heredity studies were brief. Clicking from the north draws your attention. More clawbugs have noticed you, and they're not pleased that you and your creations have invaded their territory.    Fighting several clawbugs at once is a completely different kind of encounter than a solo battle. Keeping your creations in the fight pushes your limits, but PurpleXVI and placid saviour are exceptional. The fyoras are forced to gradually pull back and cluster, but with three of them attacking one clawbug in concert, it's only a matter of time before the rogue is completely dismembered. Before you leave, you ensure that no more clawbugs will hatch in this warren.  Game Text posted:Not far ahead, you can see a bridge. It's clearly very old. The stone is worn and covered with moss. However, fortunately, it has not yet started to crumble. Good servile workmanship, guided by Shaper engineering. Old bones are mounded up on the river banks, perhaps evidence of what befalls creatures foolish enough to drink here. They're too old to be victims of the turrets, though.  The turrets are arrayed in a cunning formation which makes destroying one without exposing yourself to several others rather challenging. Your creations pick the turrets off with concentrated fire, sustaining a few wounds in the process.  The dark coloration of the turrets on the far end of the bridge means venom. You spend a moment and patch up your creations, wondering if you should turn back and rest before pushing on... But if you leave the bridge half-cleared, it'll be all too simple of a matter for whoever did this to return and repair the defenses. If you destroy all the turrets, though, you'll cost your unseen foes more time and resources. You also don't want to have to fight turrets in this same position twice if you can avoid it.  You plan to have your creations stay on the far shore and take potshots at the nearest venom turrets. Unfortunately for you, the turrets are not only faster than you expected, but stronger too. Charmander spits fire across the river and misses the mark. The venom turret, though, doesn't miss, and Charmander dies with a thorn half a hand long buried in its heart -- though these turrets are badly misshapen, they're still capable of precision fire. Charmander's loss only makes you more determined to destroy the turrets and punish their creator. For the moment, though, you withdraw. Maybe there's a better way to take out the turrets, or maybe you just need to indulge in some easier to achieve revenge in Charmander's name.  You follow the riverbank north and find another clawbug warren.    This warren is absolutely rotten with clawbugs. They crawl through the tunnels like maggots in a dead bull. Though your forces are weaker now, you still crush the rogues. Without a superior intelligence to direct them, their shells aren't enough to save them from what your creations have in store. You feel a little better when the last rogue falls.  Further north, you spy a dock on the far side of the river. Unfortunately, you're not the only one doing spying. A turret fires at PurpleXVI when it strays into range. The turret doesn't survive PurpleXVI's counter-fire.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, you find a few more tombs in the canyon. The Shapers occupied Sucia Island long enough to not only irrevocably poison part of it, but also to need to expand their funerary complex.  These tombs are victims of looting, too. The mine inside looks fresh.  The thahd shade that pops out is no longer a match for your creations, though.  You find yourself struggling with the writings left here. You try to make a note of this place so that you can return later, but all the places you wanted to revisit are starting to blur together. You ask yourself why it's so important to come back, anyway... You're trying to leave this island, not fully exploit it.  While springing this mine, you stumble and turn your ankle. Ordinarily such an injury wouldn't be very meaningful -- a little rest, a little healing craft, and you'd be good as new. But the pain slows you enough that you can't escape the chamber before the shade springs out of the box mine. The shade swipes at your chest. You feel something like pins and needles spread through your lungs. It's an awful sensation, like something has been stolen from you. You struggle to breathe.  In the confusion, your creations manage to slay the guard shade even though you can't manage to direct them. You require several minutes to catch your breath and heal the strange damage the shade left behind. A huge patch of skin from your left to right armpit is red and bubbled, like an exotic rash or burn. You don't have to be able to see the inflammation in your chest cavity to know it's there. You're just lucky that you're able to heal yourself now. Once you can breathe easily again, you examine the tome left behind here.  It discusses command and charisma. This Shaper appears to have been quite the philosopher. Instead of discussing the mechanisms by which Shapers control creations, the author speaks of how to work with other Shapers and even outsiders under one's command. He pays special attention to resolving conflicts. One of the central points of advice he gives is to always leave a person a way to save face. We won't be putting any more points into leadership during level ups!  You've put this off long enough. There are no more clawbugs or shades to vent your spleen on. Your creations grow anxious from the smell of Charmander's blood, but they cross Southbridge with you.  The venomous turrets go down quickly with you backing your team. You use a spore bag to heal everyone, and then close with the strange, bright green turret at the end of the bridge. It turns out to be a fragile turret, and PurpleXVI melts it before you see a demonstration. Destroying all the turrets allows Solution to freely cross Southbridge from now on.  Game Text posted:You come face to face with one of the outsiders. These humans have violated a forbidden Shaper area, flouted your laws, even taken your secrets and tried to make them their own. Finally, one of them, unfamiliar with your language, says, "Me of Sholai. Sholai land! You go. Back! No go here." You frown. You won't be chased away from any part of this island by these repulsive outsiders, but you also don't want to fight. Without knowing their capabilities, engaging them seems unwise. You've already lost Charmander today. You don't want to lose more creations, or worse. "Greetings," you say slowly. "I want to know who you are and what you're doing on this island. Don't you know that it is Barred?" The scouts clearly don't understand what you are saying. But they keep their hands near their swords and watch you. If you keep going, you may have problems. Frustrated by their ignorance, you decide to try the path of least resistance and lie. "I've been sent by Trajkov. Let me pass." As soon as they hear the word Trajkov, they begin talking animatedly. The name Trajkov must mean something to them. They look at you and smile. Then they nod and begin to walk off. You are free to move on. The game isn't kidding when it says the scouts walk off. They leave the map entirely.   Instead of following them, you head north into another gap. A turret has been placed in front of this cave, so there must be something important inside.  As it turns out, there's an entire camp set up in here. There are more beds than there were scouts who met you. You wonder where the other outsiders are -- probably up to no good, wherever they are. Stronger turrets guard the eastern caves. When you catch a glimpse, you understand why -- there's a canister here. But your creations are flagging. You decide to leave the turrets alone in hopes that the canister will still be there when you return.  Back in Pentil, you decide to shape another addition to your team. Your ability to create artilas has vastly improved since you made placid saviour, so you decide to make it a companion. Even though you now know how to make a cryoa, you abstain; too many different kinds of creations will be too hard for you to control. You can only have three different creation types in your party, so I can't have a roamer, fyora, cryoa, and an artila at one time.   The combination of ManxomeBromide, PurpleXVI, and placid saviour proves extremely effective against the new turret varieties here.   With the advantages of all your new learning and canister powers, ManxomeBromide is even stronger than you hoped. Turrets it fails to kill outright are easy enough prey for the rest of your creations, so clearing the rest of these outsiders' caves is a simple task. Afterwards, you have the fyoras burn the turrets' remains away. It's cathartic.  The canister imparts knowledge of how to shape a clawbug. To your disgust, the clawbugs are parthenogenic and even primitively eusocial. Why would a Shaper make a combat creation with traits like that? You vow to yourself that you'll keep any clawbugs you Shape under close control. You absolutely won't let a clawbug of yours go feral. Game Text posted:This box is almost empty. There were probably supplies here, but the humans outside used them up. There is also a letter. You try to read it. You decide to take the letter along. You've already used the canister here, so there's no point in trying to conceal that you were in the camp. Perhaps you'll find a way to decipher the outsider writings later. That's one bridge down. You turn your thoughts to Northbridge and all the mines the Obeyers warned you of... If it can't be crossed, then it must be burned. A bridge in control of the outsiders is a bridge in the control of the enemy.   No rogues or outsiders greet you when you set foot on the road west of Northbridge. You had to backtrack to get here, but the journey was blessedly free of rogues and the alien Sholai. A sign nearby cuts to the point: "Watch out for mines!" Next time: A Landmine Is an Eternal Sentry, or How I Came to Love Spores Rest in peace, Charmander. All hail ManxomeBromide! We might have a double update today. No promises, though! POOL IS CLOSED fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Nov 24, 2016 |
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Nov 24, 2016 20:40
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Dirk the Average posted:"You know, if I allow these specially sculpted killing machines to breed and give them enough intelligence to be autonomous, I can totally slack off of guard duty and just let them take over." MagusofStars posted:That's because even a well-meaning-but-incompetent Shaper could wreak havoc - by losing control of a Shaped virus, by Shaping new species that don't belong and wrecking an ecosystem, even by not knowing his limits and creating too many creations so they all go rogue. Hell, look at Pentil/Vakkiri, where the only trade route between the cities was completely shut down by like, twenty Roamers. Night10194 posted:I'm fairly sure caution is actually a good trait in people who shape life and death and who could easily make a crazy pandemic if they wished. Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp The Tombs region and the clawbugs are very good examples of the consequences of Shaping run amok.
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Nov 24, 2016 20:42
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