KickStarter Geneforge 1 - Mutagen - remake from Spiderweb Software

[Rafidur]

> which blesses your characters

Oh hey, that's new! I don't recall creations being able to buff your team in any way before?

 

[xuerebx]

I think only you can cast spells to buff the whole team.

 

[baud]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geneforge1/geneforge-1-mutagen/posts/2900258

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen July Update!
July 21, 2020


Greetings from Spiderweb Software! We are managing solid, consistent work on Geneforge 1 - Mutagen. Day by day, we are churning through all of the old towns and dungeons and adding new ones, giving everything the full remaster treatment.

We have completed 27 out of 81 sections. This includes the three main cities and the factions they rule. This was a lot of dialogue, quests, and lore to go through, and we’re relieved to have finally waded through it all.

What is involved in remastering? Original Geneforge had very few terrain types and we weren’t used to creating huge quest lines and complicated game environments. A lot of the sections were really plain, and a lot of storylines were patchy and incomplete.

We are going through every location, every item, and every bit of dialogue. Editing. Rebalancing. We are reworking the text to make it read better (which mainly involves removing a lot of unnecessary words). All quest and faction dialogue has been expanded, adding more lore and useful information.

For example, the angry, rebellious Taker faction from the original game has had its dialogue doubled. They are a really interesting, rage-filled bunch, but I didn’t originally do a good job of having them explain themselves, and they needed more quests to help define who they are and how they worked. They have had their roles and activities expanded, and they’re a lot cooler now.

We are still hoping for Geneforge to be ready by the end of January, 2021.

Backer Update

We sent out Kickstarter surveys to people who bought physical objects, and we’re going to start making those soon. The Certificates of Absolution have new art that looks terrific.

We will send surveys out to everyone else in the next 2-3 months. The longer we wait, the fewer problems we have with dead email addresses.

As for the kind Backers who are contributing material to the game, I think we have heard from everyone we are going to hear from. The world has been fully designed and a third of it implemented. If you haven’t submitted your idea yet, you really should let us know. We’ll try to fit your stuff in as best we can.

More creature art, of two of the toughest creations you can make, is below! Soon, we will be able to expand to providing screenshots, views of the interface, and other such meaty details. We may even make a Steam page soon! See you next month!

- Jeff Vogel

Battle alphas are the shock troops of battle. Tough, fearless, and slightly cunning, they are made to crash into enemy defensive lines and break things for as long as they can.

Glaahks are terrifying magical creations. From a distance, they support their allies with magical fields that bless and curse. Up close, they paralyze their foes, leaving them helpless. Beware.

 

[BING XI LAO]

So are these remakes actually going to IMPROVE the game and have MORE net content? That would be a first for Vogel, IIRC?

 

[GandGolf]

So are these remakes actually going to IMPROVE the game and have MORE net content? That would be a first for Vogel, IIRC?

Didn't the Avernum 1 remake feature a new town in the Abyss?

 

[overly excitable young man]

LOL When you walk over lava in Geneforge 1 you get almost none damage in tb mode cause it's only one turn.
That really cracked me up tbh.

 

[EldarEldrad]

LOL When you walk over lava in Geneforge 1 you get almost none damage in tb mode cause it's only one turn.
That really cracked me up tbh.

You could also use combat mode for stealth, because enemy able to spot you only during their turn. Combat mode is useful in Geneforge series for a lot of things.

 

[Rafidur]

LOL When you walk over lava in Geneforge 1 you get almost none damage in tb mode cause it's only one turn.
That really cracked me up tbh.

There was a trial in exile 2 with a skeleton firing at you while you make your way through a labyrinth, you could just enter combat mode and walk past it in one turn.

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Lol not even screenshots just a picture of a bird and some old Jewish looking broad.

So much for feb 2020, amirite?

Also, piss on that #blacklivesmatter at the top of the page. I hate Kickstarter even more now.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geneforge1/geneforge-1-mutagen/posts/2935741

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen August Update!

Progress on Geneforge 1 - Mutagen is continuing at a healthy rate. The world is almost halfway done, which means it’s time to think about starting beta testing. This is a big step, though, and we’re working on doing a bit more in-house testing first. We want to make sure the game feels right.

We are also getting together the resources to make a Steam page and announce the game officially. This takes a lot of work. Screenshots and descriptions need to be made. A trailer needs to be generated. We must navigate the labyrinth of Steam. It’ll take a few days, but announcing the game is always exciting. It makes things feel a lot more real. This will happen soon.

Also, we have been putting in the magic items, characters, and quests made by our Kickstarter backers. As with Queen’s Wish, we’re having a lot of fun doing this. Your ideas have been really good, and they’re doing a lot to flesh out the world. People who already played the original Geneforge will find a bunch of surprises.

Lastly, we’ve put in a lot of new graphics. A bunch of the old Geneforge item and creature art has been entirely redone. The world of Geneforge has a lot of weird, organic, alien stuff, and our artists have done a great job of keeping it weird.

Kickstarter Backers

All of the map souvenirs have been sent out. We are working on sending out the Certificates of Absolution now. We won’t be surveying the first 3 backer tiers until we’re a bit closer to release.

Short update this month. Just letting you know that everything is going well. Enjoy a bit of new art below. See you next month!

- Jeff Vogel

The new backer-created creation, the cockatrice, is being built. It is unlike anything we’ve had in the Geneforge games before. It’s a powerful creation, but you will have to earn it.

We are making new portrait art too. This is the first detailed drawing of the face of a servile. Serviles are at the center of the Geneforge storyline, and we'll be fleshing them out a lot more in the remasters.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Every. Time.

 

[Nim]

And here I thought serviles = niggers. Oh well, you learn something new every day.

 

[Rafidur]

What a dickhead!

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Dun wanna get face-fucked? Stay away from them things. He's not horny..... yet.

 

[baud]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geneforge1/geneforge-1-mutagen/posts/2962524

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen September Update!

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen work continues. The world is now well over half done, which means it is entirely due for beta testing. Our crew of skilled, awesome, volunteer testers is all set up, and we’re only waiting to resolve some in-house technical difficulties before the game is in their hands. Then they can totally break it.

We’ve played it a lot in-house already, and it is still feeling quite fun. We did have to make a bunch of big balance changes (wizards were as sturdy as armored fighters, everyone was dying too quickly), but that is to be expected in what is basically a new game engine. Now our baby game is ready to go into beta testing to be really torn apart.

Another milestone: We have our first official screenshots! The Steam page and our web pages for Geneforge 1 - Mutagen are being set up, which meant making a trailer and gathering all sorts of marketing materials. This is mostly done, and Geneforge should be announced to the world before our next update.

The backer-designed creation, the cockatrice, is in the game. The art for it looks great, and we will make sure it gets balanced to be simultaneously very useful and very aggravating.

Over the next few months, as game systems get tested and finalized, we'll start talking about how Geneforge 1 - Mutagen will work. There are many changes between the original series and the remaster, and it will be fun to finally reveal some secrets.

And that is all for September. Hope you are all keeping well, and enjoy the screenshots below. Many more are to follow!

- Jeff Vogel

Visiting the great hall of the Obeyers, one of the many factions in Geneforge. Some factions are benevolent, some are violent. Join one, or ignore (or destroy) them all.

There are many different creations to make, each with its own special abilities to unlock. Not all of the available creations are shown here. Some are secret!

 

[V_K]

Game still looking great

Oh Jeff...

 

[bec de corbin]

Game still looking great

Oh Jeff...

Geneforge 1 might have the ugliest interface ever created, so it's at least an improvement.

 

[Infinitron]

Geneforge 1 - Mutagen is a truly unique, open-ended fantasy role-playing adventure from Spiderweb Software! Choose between a host of rival factions. Use magic or your deadly pets to crush your enemies. Or, use trickery, diplomacy, and stealth to win the game without ever attacking a foe. Destroy the final boss, or switch sides and join him. Fight alone or create your own army of custom-made mutant monsters.

 

[LESS T_T]

 

[Rafidur]

I just can't take the servile dick-nose seriously...

 

[Tacgnol]

I hope Jeff hasn't given all the enemies massive HP bloat. The first Geneforge gave enemies pretty reasonable amounts of HP and instead made encounters harder with damage and numbers.

His later games tend to make encounters harder (or rather longer) by making enemies extremely hard to kill.

 

[zapotec]

I wonder if i can finally close the inventory by pressing "I" a second time.

 

[V_K]

I'm fine with serviles but that opening cinematic...

 

[Terra]

On the positive side of things, I'm seeing much more variety in terrain tiles in this trailer - we actually have grass and trees instead of reusing Avadon's desert tiles and cacti inappropriately, so that's definitely improved since the last time we saw the game.

On the decline side of things, the Shaper robes concealing a shadowy figure underneath- as seen in prior Geneforge titles- definitely looked better than the edgy boy dressed all in black we see in this trailer. Although I do appreciate the effort to recreate the title image, even if it wasn't 100% successful. Likewise, the attempt to subtly colourise the original drawn artwork from the originals is interesting...

My interest has been piqued a little more than from past updates. Hell, I might even go so far to say that the aesthetic shown in the trailer is a bit more cohesive this time and doesn't feel as soulless as what's been shown previously.