Geneforge 3
Encyclopedia
Geneforge 3 is the third video game in the Geneforge series of role-playing games
created by Spiderweb Software
. It was released as demoware for the Macintosh
and Windows
platforms.
view and feature turn-based combat. The lands are split up into small areas, which can be traveled through using a world map. During combat, each warrior gets a certain amount of action points, which are spent moving, attacking, casting spells, and using items. At the beginning of the game, the player chooses a type of Shaper to be. The three types are Shapers, Guardians, and Agents. When the player gains a level, he or she gains an amount of skill points, which can be spent on improving one or more of the character's abilities.
The Geneforge game engine has been revamped in this sequel, debatably improving gameplay in some instances and making others more cumbersome to deal with. No new creations or spells
are available to players in Geneforge 3, however a number of different features have been added. For instance, there are two NPCs
who will join the party, interject comments upon situations, and possibly leave if the player does something they disagree with. Their names are Alwan and Greta. There has also been a new forging
system added, allowing players to create powerful artifacts or enhance existing items.
Unlike the previous two games, Geneforge 3 offers only two sides to choose from in the ensuing conflict. Players cannot get very far before being forced to choose a side, although they can change sides with some success fairly late in the game if they so desire, whereas the previous games were possible to complete without ever actually taking sides.
Alwan is a loyal Shaper Guardian who has only one skill, that of using his iron sword. He is trained as a Guardian, to obey without questioning. Due to there not being anyone he is able to obey, at first he is disoriented by the attack and does not know what to do. The player can get him to join him/her group after, and only after, obtaining permission from the servant mind in the school.
Greta is a castout from the school because she started to sympathise with the Shapers' creations. She was an Agent, skilled in magic (at first only Firebolt but the player can get teachers to teach her other spells later in the game) and battle arts (also a sword).
She is living in the village, outside the school, that is aptly named South End. She consents to joining the player's group without any conditions.
It is discovered that a traitor Shaper named Litalia has orchestrated this and other strikes against Shaper communities. She and others, including a former teacher at your school, believe that the Shapers are tyrannical rulers who make the lives of their creations miserable, and should be stopped by whatever means possible. The rebellion has been creating rogue spawners throughout the Ashen Isles; these are summoning creations that are causing chaos and attacking the Shapers and those who serve them. The player can choose between fighting for Litalia and her comrades, or allying with Lord Rahul and the Shapers and stifling the insurgency.
It is found that either Alwan or Greta will leave the player's group depending on which faction the player joins. Greta will leave if the player joins the Shapers due to her thinking that the player is inhumane and Alwan will leave if the player join the rebellion because he will think the player is disloyal.
Three major differences in the plot emerge here: first, and most obviously, there are only two factions, Shapers and rebels. Second, two additional characters can join the player's party, who occasionally engage the player in conversations that ground the plot and the questions and ethics behind it more firmly. Finally, and most minor, the drawn images at the beginning and end portray the user character in the artistic style of a female Agent, as opposed to an androgynous Shaper.
The two NPCs who accompany the player return as faction leaders in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
. This portrays the set of moral values that they follow in their lives.
Role-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
created by Spiderweb Software
Spiderweb Software
Spiderweb Software is a small indie video game developer founded in 1994 by Jeff Vogel in Seattle, Washington. Its primary focus is on creating demoware games for the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows operating systems. The company is unusual in that it first develops games for Macintosh...
. It was released as demoware for the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
platforms.
Gameplay
The games are played in a 45° axonometricAxonometric projection
Axonometric projection is a type of parallel projection, more specifically a type of orthographic projection, used to create a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated along one or more of its axes relative to the plane of projection....
view and feature turn-based combat. The lands are split up into small areas, which can be traveled through using a world map. During combat, each warrior gets a certain amount of action points, which are spent moving, attacking, casting spells, and using items. At the beginning of the game, the player chooses a type of Shaper to be. The three types are Shapers, Guardians, and Agents. When the player gains a level, he or she gains an amount of skill points, which can be spent on improving one or more of the character's abilities.
The Geneforge game engine has been revamped in this sequel, debatably improving gameplay in some instances and making others more cumbersome to deal with. No new creations or spells
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
are available to players in Geneforge 3, however a number of different features have been added. For instance, there are two NPCs
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
who will join the party, interject comments upon situations, and possibly leave if the player does something they disagree with. Their names are Alwan and Greta. There has also been a new forging
Forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...
system added, allowing players to create powerful artifacts or enhance existing items.
Unlike the previous two games, Geneforge 3 offers only two sides to choose from in the ensuing conflict. Players cannot get very far before being forced to choose a side, although they can change sides with some success fairly late in the game if they so desire, whereas the previous games were possible to complete without ever actually taking sides.
Plot
The player begins as an apprentice learning the arts of Shaping. While attending school on Greenwood Isle the player character is awoken when the school is attacked. Luckily, two Shapers are ready to join his/her group and help him/her survive in the world outside.Alwan is a loyal Shaper Guardian who has only one skill, that of using his iron sword. He is trained as a Guardian, to obey without questioning. Due to there not being anyone he is able to obey, at first he is disoriented by the attack and does not know what to do. The player can get him to join him/her group after, and only after, obtaining permission from the servant mind in the school.
Greta is a castout from the school because she started to sympathise with the Shapers' creations. She was an Agent, skilled in magic (at first only Firebolt but the player can get teachers to teach her other spells later in the game) and battle arts (also a sword).
She is living in the village, outside the school, that is aptly named South End. She consents to joining the player's group without any conditions.
It is discovered that a traitor Shaper named Litalia has orchestrated this and other strikes against Shaper communities. She and others, including a former teacher at your school, believe that the Shapers are tyrannical rulers who make the lives of their creations miserable, and should be stopped by whatever means possible. The rebellion has been creating rogue spawners throughout the Ashen Isles; these are summoning creations that are causing chaos and attacking the Shapers and those who serve them. The player can choose between fighting for Litalia and her comrades, or allying with Lord Rahul and the Shapers and stifling the insurgency.
It is found that either Alwan or Greta will leave the player's group depending on which faction the player joins. Greta will leave if the player joins the Shapers due to her thinking that the player is inhumane and Alwan will leave if the player join the rebellion because he will think the player is disloyal.
Three major differences in the plot emerge here: first, and most obviously, there are only two factions, Shapers and rebels. Second, two additional characters can join the player's party, who occasionally engage the player in conversations that ground the plot and the questions and ethics behind it more firmly. Finally, and most minor, the drawn images at the beginning and end portray the user character in the artistic style of a female Agent, as opposed to an androgynous Shaper.
The two NPCs who accompany the player return as faction leaders in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Geneforge 4: Rebellion is the fourth video game in the Geneforge series of role-playing games created by Spiderweb Software. It was released as demoware for the Macintosh and Windows platforms.-Features:...
. This portrays the set of moral values that they follow in their lives.