Spiderweb games.

A

Autoduel76

Look, Ma! Two Heads!
Finally got around to trying one out. Got Avernum 5 this week. You guys were right. Its excellent.

I haven't seen an Indie RPG developed game with a quarter of the quality of this one before.
 
Heh, Avernum V isn't even one of the better ones :D

I've been playing Geneforge V but had to interrupt it for another game, but I'm seriously impressed by it so far. I dig the Geneforge series more than the Avernum series, anyway.
 
Yeah, after I finish this one, I'll be going back to play the entire collection of games. Nethergate sounds interesting too.

I think I just had too many bad, and underwhelming, experiences with Indie games in the past, that I was wary of giving these ones a shot and being disappointed. But I'm honestly blown away by how enthralled (and dare I say "immersed") I am with this one so far.
 
Just curious, how long does it take you guys to finish their games? For me it takes years, still havent managed to finish Exile 3, now reached same point in Avernum 3. And yes Nethergate is good game, I still play it on and off.
 
Geneforge series are practically textbook CRPGs. The amount of choices and consequences in those games is staggering and it's pretty amazing how Jeff Vogel manages to consistently pull off that kind of complexity with his limited resources. When I've played through the entire series (hopefully before the end of this year), I'll probably write some kind of an analysis/retrospective and hopefully encourage others to give Geneforge a try.
 
Autoduel76 said:
Yeah, after I finish this one, I'll be going back to play the entire collection of games. Nethergate sounds interesting too.
Click to expand...
I've always liked Nethergate, but it's sort of the black sheep of the family. Romans vs. Celts in fantasy ancient Britain is a great RPG setting, but I don't think it sold nearly as well as the Avernums and the Geneforges.

By the way, here's a link to Jeff Vogel's recent interview in Reason magazine, which is the big libertarian mag in the US:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/129997.html
 
Bumpety-bump.

I've been looking for a new, good single-player RPG. Either along the lines of Fallout, Baldur's Gate 2 or Planescape: Torment. Hell, I could do with something like KotoR 2 or The Witcher.

In any case, my eye fell on the Spiderweb games. I know there's a demo of all the games which I can just try out.

However, I'd like some thoughts on which series to try first, and whether going through the first games in each series is worth it.
 
I would recommend Geneforge, as it's the most similar to Fallout in terms of design (though more combat-oriented). I have only played the first two games so far, and in both games the setting is sci-fi fantasy with post-apocalyptic overtones.

However, I'd like some thoughts on which series to try first, and whether going through the first games in each series is worth it.
Click to expand...
By all means, start with the first game. Both Geneforge 1 and 2 are excellent, and I hear 4 and 5 are even better. 3 is supposedly the weakest in the series, but still ought to warrant a playthrough.

Word of advice: play the games as a Shaper rather than Agent or Guardian. Their shaping abilities are one of the things that makes Geneforge fun and unique. It's quite satisfying to plow through hordes of enemies with your personal legion of Cryodrayks and Terror Vlish.
 
Avernum probably has a lower Point of Entry, it's easier to get into and less challenging to play, in some ways.

Geneforge is "better", in that it's more unique and complex. Setting's more interesting, too.

Both series are fine to start with 1 in. I don't think the quality level goes up and down all that much over the series.
 
Wasn't Geneforge 1 the most combat heavy? The combat's pretty boring, if you want to keep it somewhat engaging, don't use Daze since that's basically godmode. The only Geneforge games I finished were 2 and 3. Both were awesome, but also kind of the same. My suggestion would be to play either one from 2 to 4, and 5 'cause it seems to be a breath of fresh air.
 
Okay, Geneforge it is.
I've downloaded the demo, played through the tutorial and explored the first time.
Enjoyed it enough to order the full thing, in any case.

The only annoyance is the total lack of support for windowed mode, which means I can't normally play this game and watch something on my second monitor at the same time without going through a hassle everytime I play the game(due to the resolution change). Luckily, D3DWindower does work pretty well.
 
Well, I finished Avernum 5 a few months ago and then tried Nethergate. I like the setting and a lot of things about that one, but the interface is outdated, in comparison to the newer titles, and I found it a bit too cumbersome for me to be nearly as enjoyable as Avernum 5. So, after playing the Nethergate demo, instead I went and finished Avernum 4. its Pretty much on par with 5. Another great dungeon crawl.

While I have Geneforge still on my list, I took a break from Spiderweb and have begun playing Basilisk Games' Eschalon Book I. Its quite good as well.
 
Autoduel76 said:
While I have Geneforge still on my list, I took a break from Spiderweb and have begun playing Basilisk Games' Eschalon Book I. Its quite good as well.
Click to expand...
Thank god for indie RPGs, eh?
 
I've never heard of these games... I'm downloading the demo's now for Avernum 1, Geneforge 1 and Nethergate.
 
rcorporon said:
I've never heard of these games... I'm downloading the demo's now for Avernum 1, Geneforge 1 and Nethergate.
Click to expand...
As I'm sure you've gathered from this thread, Spiderweb games are very solid cRPGs despite being pretty bare-bones in the graphics department. I haven't played one for quite a long time, but I've been running through the Avernum 6 demo on my mac and I suddenly remember why they're so engrossing. They're good where it counts.
 
I played the demo for Avernum 1 and rather enjoyed it, although it did take some getting used to the graphics and whatnot.

Once you get used to the graphics though, the story and mechanics of the game are awesome. I've purchased the full version, and plan on really sinking my teeth into it tonight.
 
rcorporon said:
Once you get used to the graphics though, the story and mechanics of the game are awesome. I've purchased the full version, and plan on really sinking my teeth into it tonight.
Click to expand...
I always feel that way with Spiderweb games too. They make a bad first impression with graphics and controls, but after twenty minutes you forget about all it.
 
I just started with demo of avernum 5 and seems quite fun game. I need to spend more time with this before i can say anything deeper about the game.

I actually think it looks rather fine. Its easy to grasp so to speak, propably because of playing lots of adom back in the day i can appreciate this level of graphical output. Not that i dont like game with content AND great looks but i do prefer content over looks.

One thing that does bother me are the awfully ugly party-avatars. Its not even because of their somewhat animeish look as ive got nothing inheretly against that, (even if its not really my preferred choise of style for most games) but rather the fact that they look rather bad animeish fanmade stuff if you catch my meaning.

Its propably pretty shallow to whine about something as small as this but i couldnt resist the cringe forming in my face when i first saw them in some screenshots and wouldnt mind i they were changed in future titles.

Otherwise i quite like it, and as i said the actual gameplay is visually at satisfying levels.[/u]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top