Avernum 3-6 Giants and Mirrors, Oh My!

More progress! Jeff Vogel, the game designer, likes to use mirror puzzles. There is one in this game. I hate mirror puzzles, but I decided that I am smart enough to figure it out.

But first, I had to get through the giant's lair, free their human prisoners and find the clue to the concealed tunnel that controls the unbreakable barrier that separates the troglodytes and giants. However, we will destroy the barrier! By doing that, the troglodytes and giants will spend all their time warring against each other and leave the humans alone. Clever, yes?

Had lots of fun with the giants last night. I have the old A3 hint book from the second version of the game (this is the third). It says you can go into the giant caves one way, but go by way of the forge instead. Yes, the fights are tougher, but I was able to beat all of 'em but one (there's a corner where you a pretty powerful demon and I decided to go back to do that one). But (mini-spoiler here) it's in the forge that you find the legendary weapon Smite, the magical pole weapon that does extra damage, lots of extra damage, to giants. It's really helpful to have that when you fight the rest of the giants. Fortunately, I did that.

Lots of lava!

That done, we can venture into the main Giant cave and eventually find the puzzle that leads us to the clue. This is a typical puzzle. No labeling. You just have to try stuff until something happens.

Control Panel doesn't tell us much

Really not that tough, if you just keep trying. But after that we have to find the tunnel, and that is not easy. The old A3 hint book doesn't help--it's in a different location this time. After some frustration, I looked around at the map and found it.

But then we're faced with that mirror puzzle. And not just one! We have two areas, and three if we went to open a gate to get into a tempting treasure chest. Eventually I figured it out. Yeah, I got zapped a few times, but the zaps don't actually kill you unless you don't heal and then get zapped again.

The zapping will commence

That done, I decided it was time to try to join the Anama, the anti-magic cult. Although you lose your mage spells, you supposedly get priest spells that are so good you can finish the game nicely with just those. So I saved the game, joined, got the spells (only one of which is unavailable elsewhere), and then unjoined. But after I unjoined, my mage spells did not come back! So, not worth it at all, I think.

There are fake Anama rings that you can buy somewhere, which allow you to go up and get that one level-3 spell, buy stuff from the merchant, and leave. I think I'll just do that when I find the fake rings. 

So having finished two of the main quests, I'm off to fight the golems in a whole new area that I have not yet explored! Fun!

Next Entry

Avernum 3-5: House Hunters

Still chugging along in the game! Having finished (mostly) the Troglodyte quest--although I suspect I'll be going back to clean out their castle--I decided to go back to the early areas of the game and look for stuff I missed. Found quite a few. Usually they were barriers that I couldn't dispel at the time but now can, and stones that I couldn't shatter but now can. 

But I also found the Dryad grove, which was a bit tough. After that I drifted up to the north and ran into the Ursag valley and a mine that had been taken over by hostile Sliths. After I did all of that I found the quests for those things, and very easily got the rewards for them. That's always fun.

The dryad in her grove

Confronting the Ursagi

Actually I'm strong enough now that none of these things were very challenging. I've also gone farther north than previously, opening up more of the map. I'm running into hostile giants, and finding that they easily succumb to range spells. 

But the fun part is that in this game, we get to buy a house! It's expensive, but I'd built up quite a large sum so I just bought it. It has a level 3 spell in it, so you have to buy it to get that. I'm also storing my skribbane herb, which is illegal in the area. Dunno how I'm going to get that out again--it'll just take some trials.

Our new luxury home

I still had quite a bit of cash left over after my purchase, so when I ran into a mage in one of the northern towns who had loads of spells to sell, I bought all but one. The good news: yes, after you have found a level 3 spell, but used it to teach you the spell, you can still buy two more levels from teachers. I found Blink for the first time in the Filth Factory, and I was able to buy two levels from the mage.

It's pretty clear that I'm going to have to join the Amana cult for awhile, just to get their priest spells. Also, their high priest apparently is the only one if the game who can remove a Dread Curse, which according to the Spiderweb Forum I will eventually acquire. Think I'll wait until I get it to apply for membership. I'm still looking for the mass healing spell, however. So far I'm doing fine without it, but that's one of the major goals to keep progressing.

I have run into a glitch. Our characters can get "battle disciplines," which allow us some extra power on occasion. My main character was doing very well with them, when I noticed that somehow he has lost a few. I've put in a question on the Forum to find out what might have happened and how to fix it. These games have had battle disciplines for a long time, and I've never lost any before. Weird. (Update: I had changed weapons. The original weapon had lots of added skills.)

But I think it's time to go after the giants, even though I don't have an actual quest for it yet. The quest will turn up, eventually.

Onward!

Next Entry.

Avernum 3-4: Completing Early Quests!

Had loads of fun playing yesterday, and completed some major stuff! 

Let's see. I've done the Slime Pit--a major quest. For that I got the Icy Rain level 3 spell. That's a major spell to have. I've also done the Bandits and the Goblins back in Upper Avernum. And yesterday I finished the Filth Factory quest to get rid of the cockroaches that have been plaguing the Isle of Bigail. Got another major reward for that, of course. 

I also found the GIFTS, Giant Intelligent Friendly Talking Spiders, a fun feature of the Nethergate and Avernum games. Well, it is Spiderweb Software after all! The sweet little spiders gave me a nice clue! 

A GIFT clue!

Inside the Filth Facory--a typical dungeon crawl

However, I had to consult the Spiderweb Forum to find the level 3 spell in the Filth Factory. Because we completely destroy the factory, we have to find it before we finish that quest. I didn't. Neither did lots of other folks it seems, because there was a topic about it on the Forum, including instructions and a nice photo. So I went back and re-did the thing, because one of my major goals in any Spiderweb game is to get all the Level 3 spells.

I used to make both my Mage and Priest into full wizards, both with all the mage and priest spells, but I don't think that's possible to do anymore. However, the forum does tell me that the character development is not completely capped at level 30 anymore. We don't gain more levels after 30, but we still can add points. Good. I found that to be truly unfair in the other games. I mean, we earned those points! Let us have 'em!

So I think the Troglodytes are next. In any case, I left the Isle of Bigail and camped myself in a decent inn in one of the towns on the mainland, Softport. From there I easily can get to the next quest. Actually I already got the quest, so it's just a matter of doing it. Mostly.

My party in the inn at Softport--a typical town

So, next up, the Trogoldytes! I've already wiped out a camp of them, so I know that at my current level, 18, I'm strong enough to do it.

Onward!

Next Entry.

Avernum 3-3: Going Forth into the World

I have emerged onto the surface world! I decided that although there were still a few areas left to conquer in Upper Avernum, I wasn't strong enough yet to do it (hmmm. I may be strong enough now). However, I wanted to solve a major problem. There is a quest to retrieve a Vanahatai statue from the local bandits. Now, I had already completely cleaned out the bandit lair, along with their allies, the goblins. First thing I did, actually. But I couldn't find that statue.

I found a reference to it, so I knew the bandits had the thing. Finally I peeked at the Spiderweb Forum and learned that I am not the only person who missed the little green Vanahatai chest sitting just to the left of the big blue bandit chest in the secret area. I'd been there many times. But, for those who want to avoid frustration, here's the little spoiler:

It's right next to the big blue chest.

So with that finally out of the way, I decided it was time to head out onto the surface world.

We emerge:

What's that green stuff?

I am just having a total blast playing this. I have virtually no memory of playing it a good decade ago, at least, so it's basically a new game for me. But it's Avernum! With humor! I didn't like the Avadon series nearly as well, even though it used the same engine as this and had pretty much the same mechanics. In that game it was hard to tell who were the heroes, if there were any at all. In Avernum, we are the heroes. It's just much more fun to play that way.

And Jeff includes his trademark ironic humor:

The inventory screen with a description of wine. Note the gremlins' attitude.

Church of the Divine Lucre. Yeah, all they are about is money.

It adds so much fun to the game to find these little barbs.

Anyway, I played almost all day yesterday, then started writing this post in the evening, but went back to the game before finishing my writing! This whole area is entirely new to me. Here's a surface town:

Graphics really are better!

I have completed my first major quest on the surface. I destroyed the slime pits, thereby putting an end to the plague of slimes that have been destroying the area. 

Plus, I think I made a mistake. In these games we have "job boards" in every major city, where we can accept side quests. I always do all of these. I do every teensy quest that I can find, because I want to experience the entire game, not just win it. However, this time there was a secondary job board with time-sensitive quests. I just grabbed 'em all as I normally do, but I think that was a mistake. How am I going to get to a city in the north when I'm far, far from there? Unless I've already missed the deadline, I'm going to try going by portal. I found a wizard who operates a portal that can take you to various cities. The next job is to see if my target city is one of those. (Thought I had a pic of the job board, but I can't find it.)

And wheee! I'm back in the Tower of Magi to get my reward for slaying the slimes. Turned out to be the Icy Rain spell, which shows you how early I am in this game. Yeah, I've reached level 10, but I'm betting that I'm only about one-tenth done. Great to be back in the real Avernum, but no doubt we won't be able to go outside. We might get to explore the entire Tower, however, which looks good!

It's like old home day!

Well, I'm gonna explore the tower and take the risk that my delivery, if I even can use the wizard's portals, might expire. 

I just can't tear myself away from this game! It's really like a brand new Avernum game to me--my fave of faves! Yeah!

Next Entry.

Avernum 3-2: Basic Exploring

Well, not too many enemies, just yet. However, I have managed to slaughter quite a few foes while still in the very beginning stages of the game. I've advanced just a few levels. I can see that I'll need to earn quite a few more before I can exit the caves and get to the surface, where the majority of the game will take place

I considered doing a double playthrough of the original Avernum 3 (actually a remake of the much earlier Exile 3), but this game is going to take long enough. I did get into the bandit lair in the original game and found it to be much easier than this one, although I'd bet that the boss fight was tougher. But that's good! Spiderweb games are never easy, which is one thing that makes them a bit addictive. When you finally slay the tough monster you feel nicely superior.

Also there is Vogel's writing, which has plenty of sly humor. I'll have to grab some examples of that. It adds just that special touch to his games that you can't find anywhere else.

I managed to meet the Vanahati, the magical, deep cave dwellers from the series.

A Vanahati outpost

Clearly once we get to the surface, we'll be coming back down to this area at least during the first parts of the game

Also, I managed to get my entire party slaughtered. Here's the new death screen:

At least it has walls

I ought to mention that this game has completely new music, and it's very nice! You only hear it when you load the title screen, but it's a good new touch. Plus, it's nice that in combat we can do protection and haste the entire party this soon already. Normally in Spiderweb games you have to work your way up to a full-party haste. Very nice. Of course, I still don't have group heal. That's another quest unto itself.

I managed to find a couple of fights that were too tough for me on the first go, but I've gained a couple of levels since then, so I think I'll be able to handle them next time. 

So! Till then!

Next Entry.

Avernum 3-1: Beginning the Adventure!

Time to get started with the latest production from Jeff Vogel at Spiderweb. This is the third edition of what started as his original Exile trilogy. He's finished his Avadon series, which is a new series. This is his bestselling series--the one that put him on the map and gave him his livelihood. As time passes he has to re-invent them to keep them running on new computers. Always he tweaks them a bit, adding new quests and dungeons.

I've only played the original once, and that was years ago. So this will be almost like a new experience for me, although I do remember this game more than the others, because this is the only one of the Avernum series that takes place on the surface instead of underground.

Although as I played the first dungeon today, I see that at first we do start out underground. I don't remember any of this at all. I managed to fire up the old game and actually this does seem to be pretty close to the original script. Below is a comparison of the graphics. The old game used most of the screen for the inventory, dialogue, map and description areas. This uses most of the screen for the game graphics. It's better. You can see more.

But so far, it's all new to me! The graphics are of course, far better than before, although they'll still look fairly primitive to gamers who like million-dollar games. Here we are in Fort Emergence, but we get out almost immediately into the caves of "Upper Avernum" to fight goblins and bandits.

At first, though, things are fairly similar, just with better graphics. Yes, these are better graphics! 

The story of Avernum, told in the opening screnes

Same shot in the old game

As in every Avernum game, we start out in our quarters, where we will pick up the most basic equipment:

Pretty Spartan stuff

Our quarters in the old game

One thing that may never change is the dialogue system. This is it. There are very few sound effects in Spiderweb games, and certainly no voice acting. You will read everything:

Typical dialogue

Dialogue in the old game

And here we are making our way through Fort Emergence, learning how to play.

Outside of our quarters there is the fort.

And then we get out into the world! Or at least, into the "upper caves."

Rather nice graphic for the forts and towns, I think!

Same shot in the old game

I got through the first dungeon, which was rather more extensive than I had thought it would be. I managed to gain a couple of levels, which is what these early dungeons are for. Had to beef up my tool use in order to get in some locked doors, and there are still one or two waiting for me back at the fort. 

I made my way to the Portal Fort, where I managed to steal some stuff, and completed one other rather simple quest, which gave me a nice boost. Now I've made it to New Cotra, and paused right outside the gate.

One interesting playing feature: In the latest Spiderweb games there is a feature called "Quicksave," which allows you to quickly save a game by hitting F3. However, the F1, F2 and F3 keys on this laptop control the audio, and I use those all the time. I went to the Spiderweb Forum to see if there was anything I could do about it, and stumbled upon how to fix it. On the menu screen there is an option for Special Keys. I was very easily able to map the "q" key for Quicksave, and the "r" key for loading the Quicksave (you have to press that one twice). Works perfectly, and frankly, is going to be lots easier than the F keys, I think!

So! Onward tomorrow!

Next Entry.

The Birdwatcher 3: Finding Birds, and Stuff, and Finishing

Finished! A lovely game. I had virtually the entire day free, and once you start playing one of these games, one screen just leads to another and to another and another and before you know it you've solved the game!

I did get a bit of stuck out in the wilderness when I wandered freely and couldn't find the starting point of the puzzle. Backtracking solved that problem for me and I zoomed along again. 

I confess that I did make some use of the hint system, but again, it never really gives you a solution. It just points you in the right direction so you can continue the game. That's better than a walkthrough and saves massive frustration. 

I did get some shots of a couple of puzzles this time:

Find the clue, solve the puzzle!

This one was a bit more cryptic, but it worked!

Of course we get to meet our standby characters in these games: Carol's boyfriend Jonas, still looking good!

Jonas always helps

This time Bigge is in a relationship!

We get to wander around quite a lot in the Swedish countryside, and it is a most pleasant thing to do. Mikael did manage to find a few more abandoned buildings to search, but I didn't take any shots of those. Fortunately I save a bit of time because when I find an item in one of these places I know that's the only reason we went there, in many cases. 

We also go to a quirky kids park:

Who put the traffic cone on the tower?

Also, this time when we were finished with locations, they mostly disappeared form the map. That also saves plenty of frustration. Good move.

When we find the icon of the game, it's pretty clear that we're getting near to the end. 

Very sweet!

Also, this time we get to see Carol's apartment at night:

Nah. Not spooky!

And we get some lovely night street scenes:

Street Scene

A sculpture that figures in the game

And sadly, it seems that the longtime friend of the Nyqvists and of these games has passed away. There's a screen in his memory at the end of the credits, so I'll include it here too.

Players of these games will remember him.

I really enjoyed this one a lot! I wish I could have met the murder victim in this one, because I think he would have been nice! But it was a completely typical Carol Reed game with some good improvements. 

Thanks!