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Spiderweb Software

jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
edited December 2014 in Off-Topic
Will all the hype over "Pillars of Eternity" and "Divinity: Original Sin", I have just discovered and wanted to give a shout-out to this one man studio, who has been making "lo-fi" though very high quality games for over a decade. I've been trying out the demos for the Avernum, Geneforge, and Avadon series. And though they vary in regards to sophistication, every single one of them is smooth, polished, and above-all content rich and jam-packed with detail. 13 full-fleshed games that are quite honestly the closet thing to the BG/IWD-style of play I have encountered. And all available on GOG for pocket change. Has anyone extensively played these games/series?? It seems like a minor miracle this guy has been able to produce this amount of quality content over such a long period of time.

Comments

  • kcwisekcwise Member Posts: 2,287
    I've played several of his games. The Geneforge series is a fantasy game which makes use of concepts like DNA and modifying creatures for your own use, but in a completely magical way. As the series progresses you have the option to pick just about any side you could imagine, and for those who want to be the traditional hero type it can sometimes be hard to figure out if there really are any good guys at all.

    Avernum is his oldest series (originally called Exile), and he has remade them for modern machines at least a couple of times. They are the closest to a traditional fantasy RPG, and have a lot of fun elements like an underground empire filled with exiles from the world above. The worlds are big and filled with a variety of optional side quests and treasures to find. Fun stuff.

    The Avadon series is his latest and in mechanics is closer to modern RPGs, but it retains the unique plot and "gray area" moral choices of his other titles. As a Hand of Avadon, the tyrannical group in charge of keeping the peace, you often have to decide if safety outweighs freedom.

    The first Spiderweb game I ever played was Nethergate. In the first few minutes of the game I encountered a race of friendly talking giant spiders. I was sold! The plot involves a clash between Romans and Celts as magic fades from the world. You can choose to play as either side, with both approaching the ending from a unique viewpoint. It was really a lot of fun.

    Jeff Vogel, Spiderweb's owner, has been focusing on making games for his fans for over 20 years now. He knows he's in a niche and he caters to those who like an old school turn-based RPG with more story than effects. The main drawback players seem to encounter is the bare bones graphical style. It doesn't bother me, but for those raised on Dragon Age and the like I can see how it might be a bit of a shock.
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    It seems to me that he sacrificed in the one area he couldn't afford to compete in (graphics) and loaded everything else to to the hilt. There is a distinct choose-your-own adventure quality to much of the dialog. The cut scenes have nicely drawn hand-made art. And he doesn't even seem to be dealing in common fantasy tropes for the most part.
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    The Avernum series is very good. Avernum 3 in particular is epic. In fact Avernum is what got me into RPGs in general, and Baldur's Gate in particular. :)
  • QbertQbert Member Posts: 195
    I played Avernum: Escape From the Pit and enjoyed it very much. i found the story entertaining, knowing which skills to upgrade was a bit of a guessing game though. i think i started out trying to build an archer and found out halfway through the game that ranged weapons were def. not the way to go! also i remember running out of money trying to train the highest level skills and spells in the game. i got quite a bit of fun gameplay out of it. well worth the price.

    i just looked at the webpage and i see a new game Avernum 2 should be out soon!
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    @Qbert‌
    Oh I didn't realise that they had rebooted the series again. This would be the second reboot of the series actually. The original series was called Exile, and originally you could actually control six-man parties like in Baldur's Gate. I also recall the original being harder, though I was pretty young at the time, so it might have been an ability thing.
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