Avadon 14: FIGHT!

Oh freakin' wow. I have just survived a major dungeon fight--SOLO!


Yes, I got abandoned in the dungeon. Couldn't take my shadowwalker and shaman. Just me. That's the plot of the game. And then I went the wrong way--even though there was a perfectly good warning that I'd get swarmed if I went that way. I tried to follow the directions, I just got it backwards.


And so I ran straight into the whole damned camp of bandits--and got swarmed.


Fortunately, I like these "Circle of Fire" scrolls. I've been saving them up. They do lots of nice damage, all going out in a circle from my character. I was completely surrounded, and I set off about four of those, which pretty much took care of the swarm. Also I had a goodly amount of assault crystals and battle crystals, and quite a few recharging items. 


Also, I used a couple of the zombies I've been carting around in a little bag (you get this bag of chilled bones. You can use it to generate zombies who will fight for you, or you might use them in a cold drink--such is the humor in Jeff's games).


The really exciting stuff, though, was when I kept running into more and more enemies. I still didn't realize I'd gone the wrong way. I actually defeated most of the camp--SOLO! Once I ran into the evil wizard I was down to only a few more scrolls, potions and crystals--but I got him. Somehow. He drains your magical abilities. It's really bad.


However, I survived. 


Now then. Did I remember to save the game between the swarm of enemies and the wizard? Of course not. I would have had to do the whole thing again if he'd killed me.


I supposed that means that this game indeed is easier than Jeff's previous efforts. Really, I shouldn't have been able to do all of that. I would never have been able to do it in an Avernum game (although fanatics do beat those games as singletons on the torment setting).


Now, all this was after completing the Titan Keep quest--which was super easy because you get a swarm of fighters on your side for once. Even fighting the bosses in the basement wasn't all that tough. Fun, but not really worrying.


This fight, though, was worrying. I was sure I'd never get out of it. If not for those Circle of Fire scrolls, I wouldn't have. Also, I put some points into my own healing, and got some regneration when I needed it most.


But then I decided to further explore the dungeon (after saving!) and found both the route I should have taken and an old drake. I suspect that's where I can find the drake's egg for the drake's egg quest. But she (it) got me. 


At least I had saved the game after all my bandit battles.


Whew.


And that's what makes these games so much fun. You do get immersed in them.


Now of course, the problem here is that I used up all that stuff that I'm probably going to need later. I have a couple of saved games from my encounter with the Mindtaker drake. I both killed him and let him go just to see which reward was better. If you let him go you get a great shield. If you kill him you get a great weapon. I went with the kill option, because I've already got some great shields and I don't need another one. Also, my sorceress is much happier if we kill the guy, because that's what she set out to do. 


However, I saved that game just before my dungeon fight. I think it would be prudent to go back and replay the whole thing to avoid the swarm, and go the way I'm supposed to go. I hate to use all those great Circle of Fire scrolls on just one fight, when you just know things are going to get more difficult.


Yeah, I think I'll do that.


However, wow. It was an exciting battle!


Update: Well phooey. It turned out that I'd done a massive amount of stuff since killing the mindtaker drake. Yeah, I could do it all again, but I think I'll just let it all stand instead.


So, I wiped out the bandit den singlehanded. I'll let that stand.


Up-update: Aha! I did save a game just as I was starting that quest. So I redid the fight. Yup, indeed, I was supposed to go the other way. I even advanced the plot a bit by doing it correctly. Also, I had the added advantage of knowing a bit more about how to fight the mage, so I got him more easily this time.


Also, I decided to try to just steal the drake egg (I was quite right about that) and not kill the poor old "withered" drake. I hasted and ran to the nest, grabbed the egg and tried to outrun the drake. Alas, however, she chased me all the way until I had to fight her. This time I killed her, and I feel badly about it, but she was, after all, only a computer avatar and not a real drake with emotions and stuff.


So I'm now back on the true plot of the game with plenty of good stuff intact, including my Circle of Fire scrolls.


Still, I have to say that I am rather proud to have wiped out almost the whole camp singlehandedly. Not bad!


(Memo: Steve Jobs died yesterday. Mourn. It's because of him that I've enjoyed 27 years of Apple products, including this computer. He changed the world.


What a massive waste. RIP Mr. Jobs. You earned it.


Here is perhaps the most accurate obit I've seen.)


Next Post

Avadon 13: Got the Bad Guy

So, despite the fact that Redbeard pardoned him, I went ahead and slaughtered the slaughterer of my tank's patrol. Good thing, too. Got some of the best armor in the game offa that guy. If I'd followed my usual peaceful instincts, I would have missed that.


Still haven't started the major quest of the day--the Titan Keep. Am cleaning up some of the minor quests. Also, I bought the expensive blessings from the Incantor at the Kellendrian castle. I mean, what else am I gonna spend my money on? She has an expensive "wizard's bow" too, and I'm saving up for that.


But I did manage to find my blademaster, and, moody though he is, I did his quest for him, which resulted in the aforementioned armor.


When you finally find the bad guy who ambushed my guy years ago, he produces a paper showing that Redbeard pardoned him. For once, I didn't go along with it. Hah.


I did do a stupid thing, though. A poor peasant had saved up to pay me for slaughtering some salamanders, but I did it for free. 


Sap.


I mean, it violated my philosophy of always stealing everything from the computer people, including the starving peasant computer people.


Sap.


Anyway, I think I'm pretty much ready to start the quest. After doing all that stuff I went back to the Avadon castle and did my housekeeping. I sorted out the good armor and placed it on my d00ds. I enhanced stuff. I sold stuff that's been cluttering up the inventory and that I'm never gonna use (such as good, but lesser amour and weapons). 


One thing that I kinda don't like about this game is that you have to go back to the home base to do all of that. In the Avernum games when you found the good stuff, all your guys were there and you could just equip the stuff on the spot.


And plus, I think I've figured out what is a bit less compelling about this game than about the Avenum games. There is no definitive overriding goal for the game, other than just playing and advancing and finishing it. Fun, sure, but what are we doing in this game? OK, there are multiple hints that something somewhere is causing problems for Avadon, and we'll find out what that is sometime, but it's too vague to provide a real goal in the game.


In the Avernum games, you knew what you were fighting. Either it was the Empire trying to wipe us all out, or the Vahnatai were attacking us, or something like that. We had real goals: destroy the Vahanati barriers, find the Orb of Thralni, find Demonslayer--that sort of thing. These quests took up weeks of playtime. Even in Nethergate, you knew what you were doing from the start: get the magical people to the Nethergate if you're playing as the Celts, or stop them if you're playing as the Romans. There was a purpose to everything.


This time we just keep going back to the same three areas with expanded quests. No doubt it'll all come together in the end, but so far I don't see an overall reason to do all of this, other than that we're "Hands" of Avadon and this it's our job. The fact that Avadon is the preeminent, looming, unopposable power in this world actually lessens the game's sense of danger. In Avernum, you knew that you were the lesser power, fighting one that easily could overwhelm you. Even when you played as Empire soldiers in Avernum V, you spent the whole game in an isolated, remote area where you could be beaten. 


It just doesn't appear that Avadon could lose.


It's still plenty of fun, but not as compelling. There just isn't enough of a plot, at least in comparison to Jeff's earlier games. I do appreciate, though, that we get to know our individual d00ds in this game. There were teensy hints about Sschah and the others in the Avernum games, but this time they have real personalities. That's a great improvement and certainly does add interest, but it doesn't overcome the lack of a dominating plotline.


Anyhoo, I now know for certain that I'm more than 60% through the game. I looked at the forum, and saw an entry that said when you get the lockpick satchel you're about 60% finished, and I got that early last night.


Also, finally I'm getting some named weapons. The Rod of the Sun, the Ivy-Covered Rod. The Blademaster armor. That kind of thing. Makes your d00ds much more powerful.


And power I will need if I'm going to tackle Redbeard! Also, that blue dragon.


But, it was satisfying to make the right decision last night, and get the goodies.


Next Entry

Avadon 12: Re-start!

Oh dear, I took a week off to do nothing but my Kirkus books (I'm a full month ahead!) when I got a miserable cold. Luckily, Dad didn't get it. First time I've been sick in the eight years I've been doing this. 


However, as a result, I almost forgot how to fight in this game.


Went back to the wizard's lair to pick up a magical tome for the librarian. It was guarded by assorted demons. Got wiped out once and lost characters twice. At one point I was down to nobody but my sorceress, who's always vulnerable, but fortunately I'd already vanquished most of the demons I was fighting and the last one was almost dead. He kept fighting at two shots per round, though. Still, she got it with her trusty arrow. I had even forgotten to give her the "Wand of the Sun" that I won from the wizard. Luckily that's useless against demons (well, except for ice demons). So, silly me.


That just shows you that you need to keep momentum up in these games. Lots of what you do is almost muscle memory, even though this is all turn-based combat that can be left for hours between moves if necessary.


I went back to the dragon's lair in Kva and got that dungeon quest. Nope, it wasn't the crypt ghost, although I wiped him out rather easily this time, as I'm now at level 22. It really was the drake. Spiffy. I've got three drake skins now. One more and I can get two new pairs of pants.


So far I haven't started on my major quest for this segment of the game. I've still got some minor quests to clear up, so I think I'll do as many of those as possible. Then I have to go find my tank (blademaster). It seems that all of your friendly helpers go AWOL at some point in this game. I've retrieved the shaman, now my tank is missing.


I had contemplated going out with just my two vulnerable characters, my shaman and my sorceress, but I think they'd get wiped out. They've both got good range attacks, but they can't use them on every turn. You use up the spell energy and have to wait up to eight or so turns to use the spell again. That's a long time. I think you do need melee fighters hacking away in these fights. Heh. Maybe I should try it just for fun.


I wonder if you get all your fighters at once in the endgame. Apparently you get a choice to attack Redbeard or not. That would happen in the castle, where all of your characters live. So why not give us all of them! I betcha that's what happens.


Anyway, now I'm mostly healthy again, and I'm taking a few days off from Kirkus books. I do want to get the front room finally completely ready to paint--put down my dropcloths, finish taping and get the sockets off--but there will be time for Avadon!


Next Entry

Avadon 11: Off to See the Wizard

Well he was hard to find, but I have vanquished the evil wizard. So he wasn't the endgame. Something else will be tougher.


Actually he really isn't all that tough if you realize what to do. Get him away from his summoned demon assistant and you can attack him. Sometimes. The tough bit is getting through all the imps and various hellish enemies that the demon summons. (That demon is really a great guy. Good humor. Be sure to talk with him after the battle. Ask him to talk about himself. Ha.)


Fortunately, I was strong enough to do it. And it did it with my shaman, too. Not the sorceress. See? If you give her enough dexterity points, she becomes quite useful. Really, she's good.


The main fun of getting the wizard is all the stuff you have to go through to find him. He has three, count 'em, three towers. You have to gain entrance to that area. And there is a whole lotta great loot! I've got so many good enhancements now that I don't know what to do with them all.


Also got a nice spider, the Widow of Bones, who frankly wasn't that tough. Got numerous demons along the way. Plenty of ghosts and ghasts. Looted the shaman-in-the-woods' bedroom. Well, she charges too much for her stuff.


So that was a long quest, but quite a good one. Nifty.


And yup, I've been sent back to the Kva for the third time. Strange. Jeff normally doesn't re-use areas like this. I assume he had to get the game out in record time, and it's a from-the-ground-up brand new game. So he's become efficient. It'll be very interesting to see what the sequel looks like!


However, the game really is going to have to wait for a bit. I want to get a good head start on my Kirkus books. So, later for Avadon!


Next Entry

Avadon 10: Got 'Em!

Ok, the second time through wasn't that tough, and I even forgot to use my nifty assault crystal. Kept my sorceress back a bit so she could flee out of the entrance, just flinging spells from afar and she was mostly fine. She did get drawn into the room more than I would have liked, and got confused once when the pylons went off, but most of the time she fended even that off. Frankly, the confusion spell isn't much. Only lasts one turn.


There are some unfinished missions in that area as well, so it means we'll be going back there. 


Interesting that Jeff isn't using even close to the whole map. I'm now at level 20, which means that I'm more than halfway through the game. I've been to Kva twice already, with obviously at least one more mission there. I'm just being sent back to Kelvaria. I guess that Jeff just didn't have time to fill out the whole map with this from-the-ground-up new game. It's supposed to be the first of a trilogy. Apparently he'll be building on the thing with the next two games.


(I've read on the Spiderweb Forum that we max out at level 30 in this game, which is low. I've also read some complaints about that, saying that you hit level 30 quite a while before the end of the game, so maybe I'm only halfway finished. We'll see.)


I was able to grab another drake skin, and took that to the leatherworker in the Beraza Pits area. She made me a seriously nifty tunic. Found another skin later, went back and got the one I'd stored in my cabinet earlier and got another tunic for my second shadowwalker. Would love to get the leggings too, but we'll have to see just how many drake skins are in the game.


Wow, that cheat that adds sparkles to the hidden switches is wonderful. There is no way I would have found several switches without it. I would have been wandering around in the Beraza Pits forever without that cheat.


So I went back and found Jenell, my shaman. She had accumulated eight lovely points, and I shoved about half of them into dexterity for her. Now she's far more useful. She still misses, but not nearly as often, and she has a really nice ranged spell, earthquake, that takes a whole lot out of a lot of enemies. We had a battle against another shaman that wasn't too tough, but still was fun. Got some decent loot out of it.


So, now I'm back at the castle, ready for my next mission. I think I'll take my tank (blademaster) this time. He has some truly great bashing skills, and his missile attack is good too. I'm also building up to some decent skills with my main character.


Had to take a few days off for some rush Kirkus stuff (a rush book didn't arrive on time because of bad weather back east), but that's done. I do have to grind out a few more just to keep ahead of the game, and I have to start painting (finally!) my front room, so it may be a few days before I do much more with the game.


However, ya never know! Avadon calls!


Next Entry

Avadon 9: Waiting for the Big Battle

Waiting 'cause I've already lost once. This one is a serious boss.


However, losing can help one prepare for the second try.


I have killed the five basilisks required by the beastmaster, along with varied spiders, rats, bats and wolves, and pretty much scoured out the two areas before the boss battle. I've collected plenty 'o loot, and have descended into the pit of magic.


There's a drake there. He does magic. He isn't nice.


Now, I know I can't just step up and massacre a drake, especially one that uses magic. However, I have learned that by forcing it to replenish it's "pets" when I damage them, it loses power.  Clearly, I have to last long enough to do enough damage that it becomes so weakened that I can kill it.


I'm frankly amazed at how long I lasted. My sorceress went down fast, of course, and I'm not sure it's worth it to try to sustain her. I mean, she's good, but she's easily damaged, and I need the healing stuff for my two shadowwalkers.


Confounding the issue is that you have to keep running from one side of the room to the other, or you'll become confused for a turn or two. Jeff loves this kind of puzzle. He lets two pylons glow red on one side of the room. You have time to move. If you don't move, you get hit by the pylon. However, I think I can stay mostly in the middle and be OK.


I've noticed that it's a waste of time to fight the various ghouls the drake throws your way. I need to damage the fighters instead, because that's what weakens the drake.


However, I've learned this stuff, and it's kinda late. I had lots of fun making my way into this lair--had a really nice demon to fight who kept sending imps my way. The only way to get him was to make my way to a certain spot where I could hit him with razordiscs. Otherwise the fight would have gone on all night. After I got him and cleared out the remaining imps, I figured out the puzzle to get in the portcullis. Not difficult, actually, especially if you know Jeff's games.


So, I've lost one battle with the drake, but I learned what I have to do. If I can keep both shadowwalkers alive I think I can get it next time.


Until then, it'll have to wait.


Sleepy times now.


Till tomorrow!


Next Entry

Avadon 8: Boss Slaughtering

Even though I was rudely interrupted by the Great San Diego Blackout (which apparently, blacked out most of south Southern California and Baja), I managed to get a bad boss.


(I'm proud though. During the blackout, I cooked dinner for Dad over the gas fireplace, because we have an electric stove. Lightly sauteed salmon in butter. Also boiled up some peas. Worked great! One of the best dinners we've had in awhile, actually. Also shoved the milk into the freezer and saved that.)


First, I did try the game on "hard." Went upstairs in the library to dispatch some nasty skeletons and got slaughtered. OK. Turned it back down to "normal," which made a huge difference. I bagged the skeletons, and set off to the new area.


Traveled all over the castle, stole stuff, got the major quest set up, and off I went into the Beraza Woods. First, though, there are some nifty minor quests to complete. One of those turned out to be quite the quest!


In an abandoned farmhouse, we fight some rats. Easy peasy. Then, we go down. There we fight more rats. Then we go down again. More rats. Down again.


Once we get to the bottom layer we find the evil spirit that's infesting the area, and she is tricky. She got me twice before I wised up to her.


Problem is, she teleports anybody who directly attacks her far away down a twisty corridor and surrounds him with more ghosts to battle. I realized that I could get her with razordisks, fireballs, and a lovely wolf my sorceress conjured up. Wasn't easy, and I used up lotsa stuff to get her, but finally she expired. Whew!


And that was on normal. So I take it back about the game being too easy.


One thing I really like, and I've mentioned it before, is that your team members occasionally comment and we get lots of their personalities and backstories. This time I luckily decided to take my sorceress and my other shadowwalker. The sorceress is Kelendrian, and the shadowwalker is from an enemy land. He was quite nervous about being in this place.


Also, my shaman has disappeared, but I'm betting I'll meet up with her sometime soon. It'll be fun to see how many levels she's gained. Maybe I can up her dexterity so she won't miss so often.


Well, gotta publish this before the power gives up again!


Next Entry

Avadon 7: Castle Dungeon, Conquered!

After my successful ogre and salamander slaughter, I thought I'd try those lower dungeons in the castle again. Yup, I had gained a couple of levels and I was able to do it quite well. Only had a bitsy bit of trouble with some quickghasts, who are tougher than just your ordinary ghasts. The boss fight with the demon went very well. I was able to charm one of his augmented rats. Also used a battle crystal that was really good. Must find more of those!


A bit of a complaint though: this is by far the easiest Spiderweb game I've played. Now, that's great in one sense. You do get to move along smartly in the game, and there are some challenges. But, for example, once your fight is over, your characters regain all their health very easily, after taking just a few steps. Before, you'd have to use potions, or enter a town, or have your healer do her stuff (I used to just wander around building up spell energy when it was inconvenient to get to a town to heal up.) Plus, while they do lose "vitality" (the new term for spell energy), they don't lose it very quickly. I've only used one "vitality" potion so far.


There was a cave in the opening section of Avernum VI, for example, that was full of ghosts who ate me for breakfast over and over again. I had to find the lightening spray spell before I could beat 'em, and even then it was a near thing. It took blasted forever to get that spell. However, once I did beat 'em, it felt great!


Difficulty can be more fun, by overcoming those frustrations.


Well, Jeff has allowed us to turn up the difficulty in the game if we want to do that, and I think I indeed will try it on "hard." It will be the first time I've ever tried any setting other than "normal" in one of his games. We'll see how it goes.


Next Entry

Avadon 6: The Secret Dungeon (and Ogres)

Aha! In my latest wanderings, after dispatching the ogres, I bumped around the dragon's lair, followed a quest to the library, and the secret door cheat I added worked! I just happened, by luck, to stop at a certain point, and I noticed sparkles on the wall. Sure enough, there was a teensy red button embedded in the rock wall. No possibility of noticing that without the sparkles, or without being told where to look. No doubt that without the cheat we are told where to look, and I'll bet I know where the quest will come from too. (True, I've jumped the gun a bit, but nothing lost. I'll still get the quest and find out that I've already done it, or will go back and do it.)


I dispatched numerous fire-breathing salamanders (obviously without my fireball spell, which doesn't work on them) and other lizards from behind the dragon's walls, but I encountered several major bosses, and one which I suspect will be the object of the forthcoming quest. There's a specter watching over a hidden crypt. He doesn't do very good watching, because I robbed the crypt blind right under his nose.


Wake him up, though, and you get a battle I'm not ready for yet. And one of the officials says to come back later, if I gave you my quest now you'd get killed. And so I would, if that guy's the quest. In the meantime, I've cleared out all the lizards already. Got lotsa loot too. Also cleared out some more wretches hiding there, but that was easy, so that can't be the quest.


And I met a demon with the best humor in the game so far. He's on vacation. Tres droll. Also completely undefeatable. I tried. So he won't be the quest. There's also a drake that would be super tough. Both say they're there at the behest of the dragon, so I imagine that leaving them alone is the only real option.


There are intrepid players of these games who would find ways to take those guys out, as a singleton with the game set on "torment," but I'm not that fanatical.


The only things really interesting about the ogre fight was, first, finding them, which wasn't straightforward, and a couple of battles (well, and finding the "blue ore" in the blacksmith's quest--but I know that Jeff always wants the number six in these quests, so the five easy samples weren't enough--you get number six after a boss battle). In one, you have to fight your way out of a corridor as flood water advances on you. If you let the water touch your characters at all, they perish. It's very easy just to jump (three of my guys have that ability now--two shadowwalkers and my blademaster with a teleport scarab) or just to run ahead of the water. The first time I got lazy about that though, and died. Well that was fine. Got to see the death screen.


Also, I dispatched a titan and then a wizard. Forgot to save between those boss battles, (I'm usually really good about that, but sometimes you just get caught up in the momentum of the game and forget) but managed to get the lady wizard without too much trouble on the first try. After all of this, I got a quest for a weapon from a titan. I'm not going back to search that area though. That isn't how Jeff does these games. I'll meet another titan later, slaughter him, and he will have the requested weapon ("You find a steel-headed mace. You remember Berek wanted one. You take it."). It will be a "special item" and will work automatically.


So this has been fun, and I've gathered up some decent loot, finally.


I keep noticing how much Jeff has enhanced the graphics in this new game. We get nice drips from the ceiling down in tunnels, rather like the rain effect aboveground.


Also, at this point in the game it's very clear that we're going to get one of Jeff's famous choices: to stay with Redbeard or to join hidden rebels. This first time through I'll probably stay with Redbeard. I know you get a battle with him at the end, but whether that's optional or not, I don't yet know. Probably is.


Onward, through more secret doors, I hope!


Next Entry

Avadon 5: No Dungeon Today

Short entry for last night. Got slammed with Kirkus books (six in one shipment!), and even though I'm way ahead on the deadlines, I want to get a head start. The more I get in early, the more books I get, the more $$$ I make.


But, last night I tried to go down to the lower dungeon. Was able to do it, but only by using far too many potions and scrolls. Fortunately I always save at least two games. My major game, and a game for each new area. Plus, there are the "quicksave" moves that are really helpful. 


Anyway, I decided I didn't want to waste all that expensive stuff when I can just gain a few levels and go back later when I'll be able to do it easily. I mean, normally I do use the stuff, but not at that rate! I restored my major game at the beginning of that level, and willingly lost all the ghouls and augmented rats I'd killed, but I regained my stuff. (I did poke around and see what's in the area, first, however. Yup. It's a demon. It's making the augmented rats, so I'll have to get him. Later.)


Also, although I took my Shaman out to Kva the first time and liked her fine, this time she was almost useless except for healing. I mean, she has assault abilities, but she missed at least 75% of the time. The Sorceress is lots more useful. So, the Shaman can just go hang out in the castle gardens, gaining levels while the rest of us go and fight. Maybe there will be an area where she'll fit in later. We'll see. Pity I wasted an enhancement stone on her.


I did learn an interesting thing about the game in the dungeon, though. Your characters really don't die (unless the whole party is killed)--they just fall unconscious. They spring to life again as soon as the battle is over. That's much easier even than in Avernum VI, where you had to enter a town to revive your characters. And of course, in the earlier Avernum games, a character killed is a character actually killed. You had to find a high-level healer and play lots of coins to get your guy returned from the dead.


I do want to keep playing, despite the Kirkus books. If I stop I'll lose my momentum, which is the greatest thing about these games. I will cut down on internet surfing and keep the playing time down.


So tonight I'll go back to Kva, but with the sorceress and the other shadowwalker, I think. And I won't go far.


Next Entry

Avadon 4: Rain and Beasts . . . and Turtles

As I wandered around looking for the Shadow Beast, I noticed a really nice, new effect that Jeff has added to this new game: rain. OK, we've had rain before, but this is really convincing rain. If you're on a sandy surface it leaves little gray spots for just a moment that then dry up.


Very convincing graphic for a game that's supposed to be deficient on graphics. (I've never found Spiderweb games deficient on graphics--but that's the charge from people who like big-budget corporate games.)


This was a pretty bland area. Fights with spiders, wolves, a coupla giant rats, and the occasional charmed party of hostile humans. One egotistical, cannibalistic ogre. Normal stuff. I believe there were a couple of mature hellhounds in the mix, but I dispatched those very easily. They should have been more difficult.


The boss battle with the Shadow Beast was more challenging. I really liked that. Had to do it in two tries. Got my sorceress killed the first time because I didn't place my party properly. On the second try I backed her up against a wall. That was better.


Also, I must remember not to put all the group heal scrolls with one person. That person might be dazed or ensnared when I need it. (Proof that after all this time, I'm still a putz at these games)


At the end of the battle I was just making real progress with the Beast when the evil wizard intervened. I think we know who's behind all the evil magic in this area, don't we. Well, that's been obvious. Maybe Jeff will surprise us.


One thing I really did not like. After you win your boss battle, all the trapdoors in the neighborhood lock shut. You can't get down into the tunnels again. I missed one trapdoor before I found the Beast, and don't know if that made me miss more goodies underneath. Probably not, but normally you can get back into places once you're finished with them in these games. I don't like it when you can't. (In Nethergate, you can't get back into a major, major dungeon after you've escaped. Marvelous loot languishes behind a closed portcullis, tantalizingly close, never to be regained. You can loot the place and drop the loot outside the portcullis, but if you don't know that going in, you're going to miss out on all that loot. Not good.)


So now I'm back in Avadon, being sent to Kva lands again. I have to use some of these magical enhancements on my equipment before I go, though. In this game you find stones that can be combined with your choice of armor or weapon that will give you extra points in, say, dexterity, or whatever your stone supplies. Problem is that you're going to find much better equipment as you go along in the game, so you hate to enhance something this early. Of course, I'll find lots better enhancements too, so, I guess I'll go for it!


AND! Thanks to a poster called "The Turtle Moves" on the Spiderweb Forum, I was able to add a cheat to the game. You need lockpicks to get into lots of doors and chests. You have to find all these lockpicks. But alas, the lockpicks are a light gray color that almost perfectly matches the backgrounds you normally find them on. They are very easy to miss. So, a guy on the Forum added some lines to the game script that makes them glow! (Did the same with the teensy secret switches, too). I tried to add the lines by typing them in, but crashed the game. Restored my original backup copies and the game ran perfectly again. So, I went back and did a copy and paste job instead, and that worked!


So now I have glowing lockpicks! Hooray! Wheee!


I don't yet know about the switches, and I wonder if I should have done that one because those really ought be hard to find, as part of the game. However, my eyes are weaker than most, so I can justify it. Sort of.


But I really needed those glowing lockpicks. No apologies for that!


Next Entry

Avadon 3: Spiders and Bats, etc.

Lots of spiders. And bats. And basilisks. In caves.


Slaughtered.


I'm good.


Actually, at one point I had to look on the Spiderweb Forum because I was experiencing a serious stuckness, and a good thing I did, too. Would have been there all night. Turned out I had to re-visit a character I'd already talked to, and that opened up another area.


I am hunting the Shadow Beast. I've figured out that this is a poor enchanted soul who does not really have murder in his heart, but is frustrated, and so does commit the occasional massacre. Probably because he's misunderstood (literally, apparently).


I have met the beast once, and tried to communicate with it. The local shaman doesn't think it deserves to be killed. I'm betting the local evil wizard is responsible, but we may not find that out for awhile yet, as I think the inevitable mission to the wizard's tower is almost certainly somewhere down the road.


Speaking of the road, I am on it in Avadon, which is the point of the game anyway. I did go back to the Kva lands and settled a few things I'd missed. Also was able, rather easily, to find the prisoner in the dungeon and the room under the dining hall. So those are done.


Am beginning to collect some decent magical items, but no named weapons yet (such as the hallowed "Demonslayer" of the Avernum games). Well, I'm only at level 8 out of 30, so I'm still just a toddler in this game.


One thing that is easier about this game but I actually don't like much (and was the same in Avernum VI): you don't have to find arrows, or razordisks, or javelins. Once you've equipped your missile weapon, it has unlimited ammunition. OK, yes, it's easier. But I kinda liked the more real-world idea of hunting for ammo all the time. I rarely ran out even when I had to do it. But in this game, it's all simplified. 


That's probably good for sales, and I greatly hope this becomes a major hit and introduces many more folks to Spiderweb! The game is selling as an iPad App, and is on Steam, too, so Jeff should get many new fans.


Tomorrow: the main hunt for the Shadow Beast (and whatever else crawls out of the goo).


Next Entry

Avadon 2: Out into the Cruel World

Having completed the tutorial, I'm out into the World, taking two companions along with me. This time I took the tank (the blademaster) and the shaman. Here's something truly neat: all the characters, this time, have distinct personalities. The sorceress is vain and overly enthusiastic, the blademaster is a stoic guy from the desert, etc. In Nethergate and Avernum, your four characters were just your four characters, with different skills, but that's all. You traveled as a pack, always, and that was "you." Now, only the lead character is "you."


Also, as you always have to leave two characters behind, the ones left behind gain skill points to match those in the field. They're constantly "training." That only makes sense--otherwise the intrepid player would just travel with the same two companions always. That's an option, I would guess (although perhaps Jeff built something into the game to stop us from doing that?), but it's fun to meet these different folks.


And, a major innovation, the "junk bag." At last, we can just plop sellable items into the "junk bag," which appears, so far, to have infinite capacity, then you just sell all the contents all at once. Major timesaver. Keeps the inventory clean. Find an emerald, plop it into the junk bag, don't worry about clogging the inventory. That is really nice. 


Although at first, I didn't know what the junk bag was. It just sorta appeared somehow. I put stuff into it, not knowing it should all be sellable stuff. I wound up inadvertently selling some bows I'd picked up, and had to wait to get all my characters equipped with missile weapons. In fact, I went through most of the first mission with only my character having a missile weapon. Finally found the weapons the others could use.


What I don't like: we can still steal stuff, but we can't get caught doing it. Advice for newbies to Spiderweb games: always rip off everything that isn't nailed down--especially stuff labeled "NY," or, "not yours." Take the meal bags from the basement of the starving peasants (um, they are little computer animations; they are not real; take their stuff), grab the loot from the guy who just helped you. Take it all and sell it, sell it, sell it. But, in the previous games, you could get caught. When you got caught, the whole town would turn against you. I always just shut the door when I pilfered places so nobody could see me doing it. Now, the game won't let you steal if you'd be seen doing it.


Plus, and I suppose this makes sense if you think about it--you can't equip weapons and armor on characters unless they're the right type of character (the old mages-can't-wear-armor stuff), and until they've advanced enough in skill points to wear certain stuff. I found a good breastplate for my blademaster, but I couldn't equip it until he'd gained more points. Frustrating, at first. You've just got to cart the stuff around until you finally can use it.


Anyway! I met Redbeard, a pleasant enough fellow, but with menace. "You're allowed one mistake, and you just made it." (And I have a suspicion: I know Vogel got his inspiration for this game from "Bluebeard," the wife-murderer. Redbeard appears not to age, and nobody knows why. Three of his closest aides are called his "wives." Could he be consuming their life essences, once they're no longer useful to him? Just a speculation.)


Also, I have completed the first major mission, but with several minor quests so far undone. I traveled to the Kva lands, and wiped out a nest of "wretches," this game's upgrade of goblins. We always have some weak enemies to slaughter at the beginning in order to build up skill points. These, of course, have bosses, who also must be slaughtered. 


We get trapped in the wretchs' dungeon, and must battle our way out. At one point it looks as though we're really trapped, but I finally found the route out. It was pretty straightforward battle-your-way-out stuff. I vanquished the wolves, one "young hellhound" (no doubt we'll meet more mature hellhounds as the game progresses) and a "very bad bat." Along with, of course, assorted ogres and bad-guy shamans (take those out first or they will get ya). 


But this game is much easier than previous Spiderweb games. Even in the boss battle I was never in any real danger.  Yes, I had to gulp down a fairly good supply of health potions, but I never even came close to running out of "vitality." I used to just stockpile those potions and used them only when I really needed them. No matter how many games I played, I tried not to use them. Nonsense! You find them everywhere. You can buy them if you don't find them. Use 'em! You'll find more. (Well, obviously you don't gulp down a massive healing potion to cure you whenever you just get nicked, but watch the health meters on your characters and when they get low, gulp.) Vogel is very good about planting things like battle crystals and potions in areas leading up to big battles. If you don't have enough supplies going into a battle, then you deserve to lose.


I was able to finish some minor quests. Easy stuff for locals in the area. A couple more are still out there, and I suspect (actually, it's obvious) that I'll be returning to that area later.


After a couple of boss battles I had a couple of keys. These are just automatically picked up and become part of your "special items" inventory. You don't see the keys, they just work to let you into areas that previously were inaccessible. So, after the battle, you go back and clean out the loot. That task, with the junk bag, is much easier than before. In Avernum I'd often have to make several trips to town to sell the loot, then go back for more.


I started on the next major quest, but I think I'll go back and see if I can't do a couple of the minor quests in the castle. I need to find a guy in the dungeon, and a room "under" the dining room. It won't hurt to backtrack. I'm sure I missed stuff.


So far this is playing very much like a combo of Avernum and Geneforge. We travel to different loadable "areas" as in Geneforge (a concept Vogel got from Baldur's Gate), but the quests are more Avernum style. So far we don't "clear" areas, as in Geneforge, but we have to perform certain actions before new areas open up. And, I can jump from the entry point, across several areas, and into the one I want.


The major problem with Spiderweb games, is, of course, that you can't seem to stop playing them. I didn't fully waste the day yesterday, but I did spend most of it with Avadon. I must get a grip.


Next Entry

Avadon 1: Back to Spiderweb!

In my first post on this blog, I was just finishing up Avernum VI. At last, I have started Avadon, the first game in the new adventure series from my favorite RPG company, Spiderweb. Jeff Vogel has been making these games in his Seattle basement for about 15 years now, I believe. They all run on pretty much the same principles, and they're all massive fun.


Spiderweb's games are all downloadable from the Spiderweb site, all with the free demos usually comprising about a fifth of the whole game. Also, they're pretty cheap for what you get. It's a darned good business model. You can play the game for a week or more, get thoroughly hooked, and then just try to keep from buying it. But also, you certainly know what you're getting. I love the whole idea.


A warning to the curious: these are lowish budget independent games. So, you don't get massively gorgeous graphics--you get some decently rendered cartoons, addicting play, and massive gaming areas. You don't get music, but you do get some sound effects. You don't get to pay $50 for the game, but you get to pay half that and you actually get a real plot, done by a talented human instead of a committee. (Update: Avadon is now on Steam for $9.99, but will be $20 on the website. See this for the reasoning behind that. Personally, I'd still buy it from the website. We need Vogel to stay in business, and his customer service--Linda--is awesome.) You don't get voice acting. Instead, you'll be reading everything, including all the dialogue, but do you get actual imagination and quirky humor. Way worth it and way better than industrially designed games, in my humble opinion. Way more fun.


These games are not, strictly speaking, adventures, because they rely on combat. Combat isn't normally my scene, but I've been playing these Spiderweb games for a good decade now, starting with Nethergate, and I am fully addicted. The combat in these games is all turn-based, so it becomes a puzzle rather than a thumb-wrestling exercise. I leave those to my nephew, highly skilled at thumb-wrestling.


However, these really are adventures in the sense that they are puzzly (with the combat and sometimes with actual puzzles) and you wander around all over a huge world discovering things. We get plenty of loot, which we have to find in nearly the same way as in graphic adventures. RPGs are Adventure's sister category. If you find one you like, joy!


And I take joy in Vogel's games, even though I'm far from the most intrepid RPG fanatic out there. I could care less about the statistics for the characters. I just have fun. My skill level is better than a newbie, obviously, but really, I'm not very good. Fairly typical casual player. I was hesitant to start this right now because Bracken Tor is due out in less than a month, and I'll certainly want to grab that as soon as I can. These Spiderweb games easily take weeks to play, and that's when you devote most of your waking hours to them. Plus, I have Kirkus books coming, although I'm way ahead on those at the moment.


But I decided to wait for awhile after I bought Avadon because the typeface was too small for me to read comfortably. Fortunately, Vogel fixed that problem a good while back. I've just been too busy recently to commit myself to the game.


But it's been calling to me for a good week now, so I decided to just jump in!


I have completed the first task, clearing out the dungeon. In this game you choose to play one character--I chose the shadowwalker because he has the ability to open locks more easily than others, and I'm more than familiar with blademasters, thank you very much. 


In order to do our quests, we get to choose one or two other characters to go with us. We always have to leave one behind, but apparently we can switch the other characters fairly often. For the dungeon quest I chose the sorceress, just to get to know how she works. The other choice was the blademaster, and as I said, those are pretty straightforward. 


This is a new system to Spiderweb games. It's about halfway between the Avernum and the Geneforge games. (Avernum has a party of four--although you can go it alone if you want--and Geneforge is a party of one, but you can create your own little helpers as you go.)


This first dungeon quest was typical of these games. You have to do some easy-peasy combat to build strength. While there is some trash combat--against rats and spiders--in this quest most of it is plot based, which is very nice. Vogel normally does try to keep his plots bubbling. Also, I've picked up some nice armor and a good weapon for the sorceress.


Of course, in the beginnings of these games you are so weak, as Vogel once put it, that you can barely flush a toilet with both hands, but that is the nature of RPGs. You gain strength as you go until by the end of the game you are strong enough to face down dragons. Vogel keeps the enemies nicely balanced to your evolving strength, so most combat is a bit of a challenge all the way through the game.


Anyway, I have subdued one enemy and slaughtered two others. A fourth escaped (that's part of the plot). So far this is going just about as per normal. 


Tomorrow I will meet the infamous Redbeard, the master of Avadon. So we shall see . . .


Next Entry

Blue Madonna 5: REVIEW

Coming soon.

Blue Madonna 4: Endgame

Yup, I was pretty close to the end. Opening the unopenable box was a cinch. I remembered that I'd encountered an inventory item that I wasn't allowed to keep in my inventory. But why was it there? Perfect for opening unopenable boxes.


Then we have the death mystery to solve. Carol is confronted by a bad guy. I remember that in one of the earlier games it was possible for Carol to die. Not any longer. In this game and the last one, Mikael allows you to stand there being threatened, for hours apparently, until you figure out the necessary steps to vanquish your foe.


This particular vanquishing doesn't really make much sense, requiring the bad guy really to stand there until you do something, but hey, these games are for old broads like me who don't like mayhem. (Although my plan is to start a game full of mayhem this very night!) I think he must have got some bad comments from the older game, even though it gave you infinite chances to go back and do it right.


And after we vanquish the bad guy, we still have a bit of mystery to solve. Very satisfying.


I never used a couple of inventory items, as I recall: a pool cue and a pencil. Either I missed a couple of non-essential puzzles, or Mikael planned some things that didn't make it into the final cut, but left the items in the inventory. Happens sometimes.


Also, the handless clocks theme continues. I wonder if that ever will be explained? (Perhaps because Mikael doesn't know where the player will go next, he needs to keep the time a mystery? If you went to one place and it was 10:00, then in the next place it was 9:00, that might be a bit disorienting. Is that why?)


This one is, I think, the best so far in the series. In the last three games Mikael finally has allowed the player to finish, rather than just ending the game abruptly, as he did the first few. Much, much more satisfying. So I'll dash off a little review soon.


I really should replay the first four games and blog them, just to have the set.


Well now, as he appears to do one per year, I wonder when the next one will come out? I certainly hope he keeps making these games. They are short, but always enjoyable.


And except for the derelict buildings, gad, they have great scenery!


Next Entry

Blue Madonna 3: Workin' it Out

Wow. I am truly zooming along. Have had great success and much fun as I figured out puzzles and matched inventory items to their hotspots. Lots of 'em. Yay!


"Bigge" showed up--the comic relief in most of the games. I think he came in pretty early, and has been somewhere in every game. A couple of times, including in this one, he's sent us out on a multi-layered puzzle in order to get information out of him.


Most of the puzzles are easy. As long as you accept the fact that these games are mostly about the scenery and that you're going to go places and look all over the place just to find one item that will be useful somewhere else, it's fine. Otherwise many intrepid adventurers would become a bit peeved. Not me. I enjoy success, and I enjoy the scenery.


Finding major clues is great--but picking up a blowtorch from somebody's garage? At least I figured out right away just where to use it--but only because I'd recently visited that location. Otherwise I indeed would have been stumped.


However, I got through the musical puzzle with no worries. Apparently there is a help area you can access if you need to do it, but I was fine.


The in-game hint system can be quite useful as along as you don't go for the actual hints. Often you just don't know where to go next, and Carol's diary can steer you in the right direction.


I know I'm closing in on the endgame, because I've just about filled up the locations map, I've solved some major puzzles and have acquired the "unopenable box." But it's late and I just don't want to finish tonight.


So. Till the morrow.


Next Entry

Blue Madonna 2: History Lessons

Yes, a typical Carol Reed mystery! I'm traveling all around Norrköping and environs. Gosh, Mikael likes that Industrial Park. I think it's been in every one of the games. I marvel at all the new points of interest he finds, though.


I also marvel that he keeps finding derelict buildings. At least one of those, normally more, are in every game too.


Nice in this one, there appears to be more of an emphasis on history. Just toured a historic settlement, filled with handmade wooden furniture and implements. Very interesting. I love that kinda stuff.


But as usual, all the inventory items that you need will be in a completely different location from the place where you need to use the thing. So, we just travel, poke around, look at stuff, and find the occasional item that goes into the inventory. Sometimes you know just where to use the things you find. Sometimes you just have to try stuff. So far I've been able to make connections with several items and remembered where to go to use them.


For example, I figured out how to open the puzzle chest in the art studio. Not straightforward--you need to really look at the clue--but certainly not all that difficult. 


It's pretty clear now that the theme of this game will be finding and opening all the puzzle boxes, and learning about the dead client's life.


Actually, I'm quite sure, going by past experience, that I'm at least halfway done, if not more. One fun thing about these games is that you can really zoom along in them. 


So, tomorrow I will do more zooming! 


Next Entry

Blue Madonna 1: Let's Go!

So here we go with the latest Carol Reed Mystery! 


As usual, we have abundant places to go tromping about in. Lots of those are indoors and extremely cluttered, also as usual.


The game starts with Carol's new client committing suicide, but we don't believe that for an instant, do we? Of course, we can't immediately just assume that she was murdered, but right now it seems a good bet.


So, I took off to the client's house. These places are fairly easy to find, because the options are so limited that you're bound to stumble across the clue fairly soon, which makes these games fun. Also, I've already found several puzzle boxes to unlock. The clues to these aren't always obvious, but again, options are few. I have managed to unlock one of the boxes, and have found a couple of clues that I suspect will help me with others, but so far they haven't.


I've been to the ruins of the monastery. Nice place, and clearly it's going to take at least one more visit, as there are a couple of things I haven't found the inventory items for yet.


So far this is a completely typical Carol Reed mystery, which is what I enjoy. These games tend to be pretty easy, with just a few mega-frustrating areas. The scenery, as always, is lovely. Damn I'd like to visit Norrköping someday.


But in the meantime I'm having fun just wandering around. I've made it to an old factory for which I must somewhere find a key. Hmmm. Bet it's in one of those puzzle boxes. Bet I know which one (or not).


Started the game late, though, and now it's time for beddie-bye.


Till tomorrow!


Next Entry