Geneforge
Encyclopedia
Geneforge is the first video game in the Geneforge series of role-playing games
created by Spiderweb Software
. It was released as demoware for the Macintosh
on December 12, 2001 and Windows
on March 19, 2002.
Players assume the role of an apprentice Shaper, a sect of mages
who can create living creatures through force of will. The apprentice is cast away on an island abandoned by the sect 200 years prior. The island contains groups of the Shapers' creations, who have formed their own ideologies regarding the sect. The player must escape after dealing with the forces at work to steal the Shaper secrets abandoned on Sucia Isle. Geneforge is played in a 45° axonometric
perspective, featuring 77 different areas including towns and dungeons. The game's world map is used to bypass previously explored areas.
The game's setting stemmed from the idea of players being able to create and control a group of obedient creatures. The Shapers and the world of Geneforge were the result of Vogel imagining who would possess such power and how they would use it. The game's setting, a mixture of science fiction
and fantasy
, differs from the pure science fiction setting the game had been envisioned as. Vogel had difficulties balancing gameplay with the powerful directed-energy weapon
s players would expect to use in a science fiction game. Sales exceeded the developer's expectations, despite fears that the departure from Spiderweb's Avernum series would deter players. Geneforge received a positive reception from reviewers, despite the quality of the graphics being rated as poor and the game containing one piece of music, the title theme. The plot and setting were praised by reviewers for uniqueness and detail.
's sect. Whilst searching for a way off the island, the game's ultimate goal, players can form alliances with the island's inhabitants and complete quests through combat or other means. Geneforge is played in 45° axonometric
perspective, movement through the game's environs is real-time but switches to turn-based combat in the game's playing field. The game world is divided up into 77 areas accessible through a world map. The first two areas serve as the game's tutorial; introducing players to navigation, controls and shaping creations. Clearing areas by defeating guardians or successfully traversing the terrain allows players to bypass those areas via the world map, reducing travelling time. The game has an always-visible auto-map, which begins each area completely darkened, and is revealed as the player explores. As the player's party performs tasks or defeats enemies they receive experience, leading to increased levels and additional skill points. The player character's skill points can be used to increase their statistics or to improve their aptitude in one of the fifteen available skills. Canisters which increase skills or add new abilities are scattered throughout the game.
Before starting the game, players choose from three basic character classes, each of which has a particular playing style. Guardians are fighters who excel in standard combat skills, especially hand-to-hand fighting. They are capable of shaping creations, but have little affinity for magic. Agents excel in spell casting and are capable of hand-to-hand combat, but have poor shaping skills. The Shaper is a summoner, capable of creating living creatures by using their own life essence. Shapers rely on their creations for protection. Every character class is referred to as "Shaper" in-game. Most objectives in the game must be completed via combat or diplomacy, but players can also use subterfuge to pass obstacles. All three character classes can use different methods, depending on which skills they are adept in. Some areas are difficult to pass, and some tasks are difficult to complete, unless the player character is a certain class. Each character class has a different combat style, the combat skills they are associated with cost fewer skill points to increase.
Essence is used for both creating creatures and casting spells; the number, type and strength of creations is limited by the player's essence capacity. For instance, if a character with 70 maximum essence summons a creature which costs 20 essence, their maximum essence is reduced to 50 until the creation is destroyed, either through combat or being absorbed by the Shaper to regain essence. A total of 18 different creations are featured in the game, with larger and more powerful creatures costing more essence to create. The types and strengths of creations can be altered depending on the player's combat style. Creations accompanying the player receive a percentage of the experience points received for completing quests or defeating foes, levelling up and receiving skill points in the same manner as the player character. These skill points can be spent to increase creations' statistics, but every statistic increase costs more essence and reduces the amount of essence available to summon other creations or cast spells. Essence and health are regained from Shaper-designed pools or by entering a friendly town.
Combat is turn-based, with each character in the player's party receiving action point
s at the beginning of the player's turn. The number received is dependent on the items the player character has equipped and the skills the character or creations possess. Each action uses a specific number of points, for example, moving one square takes a single point and attacks or spells take five. Attacking or spellcasting with fewer than ten action points immediately ends the character's turn, otherwise a character can continue to act until they run out of points. Most enemies will attack the player on sight, retreating in terror if they reach a certain threshold of damage without being killed. Other specialized behaviors are also present, including creatures which call for help, or creatures which act as sentries and retreat to an ambush location when threatened. Creations made by the player character can also be controlled by a similar artificial intelligence
, or the player can invest more essence in the creation's intelligence and control them manually.
Geneforge' s dialogue is delivered through on-screen text. Encounters with intelligent creations or humans result in the player being given a series of pre-determined questions or responses. Conversation options and the outcome of those conversations change according to the player's previous interactions. as well as which quests have been completed; which items the player has; which group the player belongs to and the player's leadership skill. The player can collect items from defeated enemies and the game environments to improve their own equipment. Non-player character
s can trade with the player, buying most items regardless of type. The shopkeeper has a fixed amount of gold at the start of the game which does not replenish itself. It is possible for the player to drain all shopkeepers of their gold reserves, making it impossible to sell further items.
The player begins as an initiate of a powerful sect of magicians, the Shapers. Members of the sect create living beings from the magical essence within themselves. Apprentices are sent to academies to learn the art of shaping and the player's character has been accepted to do so. The player departs on a voyage to the academy aboard a specially modified Drayk, a Shaper Creation. During the journey, the Shaper passes a group of islands, one of which is recognized as the Barred Sucia Island. Locations Barred by the Shapers are closed to both the sect and outsiders alike, meaning a catastrophe has occurred or something very valuable is located there. As the Shaper examines Sucia, lost in thought, the craft is attacked by an unidentified sailing ship. The Shaped craft, a modified version of the dragon-like Drayk, is mortally wounded during the attack. After igniting the vessel's sails with a fireball, the creature deposits the Shaper on an abandoned dockside before dying. The player is now stranded on Sucia Island and must find a way to escape.
Exploration of the docks reveals a strange canister filled with swirling liquid. Thinking the canister contains healing or energizing properties, the Shaper breaks the seal and absorbs the contents. Instead the contents absorb into the Shaper's body, strengthening and changing it. The changes become visibly apparent, the player character's skin smoothens and glows slightly. The canisters also affect the user's mental state, causing a more violent and arrogant temperament. Serviles remain on the island, having been abandoned when the island was Barred. They are intelligent creations of Shapers, designed to serve them without question or hesitation. These Serviles have had no contact with Shapers for two centuries, and have separated into three groups with differing philosophies regarding their creators. The Obeyers are still faithful to the Shapers, the Awakened believe that they should be treated as equals. The Takers have rejected Shapers completely and view the sect as oppressors to be fought.
After encountering the three servile groups, the player begins to learn of a group of foreigners known as Sholai, explorers who have been shipwrecked on the island. It was the Sholai, led by a man named Trajkov, who attacked the player with their last remaining ship. Trajkov controls a device called the Geneforge, created by the Shapers, which can rewrite the user's DNA and make them incredibly powerful. This is the cause of the island's Barred status, the device was deemed too dangerous in the wrong hands. Trajkov and his followers have allied themselves with the Takers, absorbing the contents of canisters and trying to claim Shaper powers as their own. The group have been unable to activate the Geneforge itself due to a Shaper being needed to activate the device. A Shaper named Goettsch was kidnapped for this purpose, in the same manner as the player-character. Goettsch fled and stole the shaping gloves needed to safely use the Geneforge, causing Trajkov to attempt to kidnap the player as a replacement. During these events, some Sholai have escaped from their increasingly violent and unpredictable leader.
The player is free to join any one of the servile groups and share common goals, or remain unaligned. Geneforge can be completed without joining any group. Trajkov can be killed through combat or tricked into killing himself by using the Geneforge. He can also be aided in activating the device, if the player steals the shaper gloves from Goettsch. Goettsch offers the player fake shaper gauntlets, which do not protect Trajkov from the Geneforge's energy should he be convinced they are genuine shaping gloves. The player can complete the game by using the last boat on Sucia Island. The small vessel is moored in a guarded dock on the far side of the island. Finishing the game unlocks one of more than a dozen game endings, dependent on the player's actions during the game.
and revealed that a new game engine was being implemented. The project had initially been intended as pure science fiction but this was soon abandoned in favor of a mixed fantasy and science fiction setting. In an interview published on website RPG Codex, Vogel stated this was due difficulties maintaining game balance with futuristic weaponry which "should be devastating". He added "I found it to be too difficult to model the weapons in a way that simultaneously felt sensible and maintained balance."
Geneforge stemmed from the idea of creating a horde of creatures and the ability to care for those creatures or send them to their deaths. The choice was to be made by the player. From this point, Vogel considered who would be able to gain such powers, how they would control them and how these creatures would be treated. The game was developed with the intention of giving players choices; which factions to side with, how non-Shaper human outsiders are treated and whether to pursue goals through combat or diplomacy. Unlike most role playing games, Geneforge was designed so that it would be possible to complete the game without using violence. Vogel cited Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
, Planescape: Torment
, Deus Ex
and EverQuest
as influences.
The game marked a departure from the Avernum series and its predecessor the Exile series, Vogel expressed a need to work on other projects - "every few years, I need to do something cool and weird. It keeps me interested." He stated that the differences in Geneforge meant the game might struggle to find an audience, however sales exceeded his expectations.
' Christopher Morin suggested that players interested in a "strong storyline and a unique take on magic" would be impressed, but not those who sought high quality graphics and sound. The game's setting has been described as unique and fresh, the level of detail in Geneforge' s fictional world was praised by reviewers.
The quality of the game's graphics was rated poorly by most reviewers, reviewers noted that the overall quality of the game made up for this deficiency. GameSpy
's Carla Harker described the graphics as "...dated by about seven years" and the game as a "technological pariah", despite calling it one of the best role playing games released in the past year. Website Just RPG's Eric Arevalo described them as simplistic but noted the game's story and the ability to control "fascinating mutant creatures" made up for this. The Entertainment Depot's Nick Stewart differed, praising the graphics as "Simplistic without being plain, lavish without being overdone" as well as the fluidity of character animation and detail of character designs.
The almost total lack of music, except for the title screen theme song, and complete lack of voice acting was noted by reviewers. This highlighted the game's sound effects and environmental sounds, such as weapons clashing and the background noise of towns. Nick Stewart found "a fairly decent variety of effects and noises scattered throughout", that they "added somewhat to the experience", but became irritated by the amount of hissing and popping in the environmental sounds after extended play. Carla Harker described the sound as "Almost non-existent" and Eric Arevalo found that there weren't enough sound effects. RPGDot's Val Sucher noted that the music player Winamp
could be played in the background, due to the game's small memory requirements.
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...
on December 12, 2001 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...
on March 19, 2002.
Players assume the role of an apprentice Shaper, a sect of mages
Magi
Magi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BC, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which...
who can create living creatures through force of will. The apprentice is cast away on an island abandoned by the sect 200 years prior. The island contains groups of the Shapers' creations, who have formed their own ideologies regarding the sect. The player must escape after dealing with the forces at work to steal the Shaper secrets abandoned on Sucia Isle. Geneforge is played in a 45° axonometric
Axonometric 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....
perspective, featuring 77 different areas including towns and dungeons. The game's world map is used to bypass previously explored areas.
The game's setting stemmed from the idea of players being able to create and control a group of obedient creatures. The Shapers and the world of Geneforge were the result of Vogel imagining who would possess such power and how they would use it. The game's setting, a mixture of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, differs from the pure science fiction setting the game had been envisioned as. Vogel had difficulties balancing gameplay with the powerful directed-energy weapon
Directed-energy weapon
A directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...
s players would expect to use in a science fiction game. Sales exceeded the developer's expectations, despite fears that the departure from Spiderweb's Avernum series would deter players. Geneforge received a positive reception from reviewers, despite the quality of the graphics being rated as poor and the game containing one piece of music, the title theme. The plot and setting were praised by reviewers for uniqueness and detail.
Gameplay
Players create a character and travel around Sucia Island, a location Barred to the members of the player characterPlayer character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
's sect. Whilst searching for a way off the island, the game's ultimate goal, players can form alliances with the island's inhabitants and complete quests through combat or other means. Geneforge is played in 45° axonometric
Axonometric 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....
perspective, movement through the game's environs is real-time but switches to turn-based combat in the game's playing field. The game world is divided up into 77 areas accessible through a world map. The first two areas serve as the game's tutorial; introducing players to navigation, controls and shaping creations. Clearing areas by defeating guardians or successfully traversing the terrain allows players to bypass those areas via the world map, reducing travelling time. The game has an always-visible auto-map, which begins each area completely darkened, and is revealed as the player explores. As the player's party performs tasks or defeats enemies they receive experience, leading to increased levels and additional skill points. The player character's skill points can be used to increase their statistics or to improve their aptitude in one of the fifteen available skills. Canisters which increase skills or add new abilities are scattered throughout the game.
Before starting the game, players choose from three basic character classes, each of which has a particular playing style. Guardians are fighters who excel in standard combat skills, especially hand-to-hand fighting. They are capable of shaping creations, but have little affinity for magic. Agents excel in spell casting and are capable of hand-to-hand combat, but have poor shaping skills. The Shaper is a summoner, capable of creating living creatures by using their own life essence. Shapers rely on their creations for protection. Every character class is referred to as "Shaper" in-game. Most objectives in the game must be completed via combat or diplomacy, but players can also use subterfuge to pass obstacles. All three character classes can use different methods, depending on which skills they are adept in. Some areas are difficult to pass, and some tasks are difficult to complete, unless the player character is a certain class. Each character class has a different combat style, the combat skills they are associated with cost fewer skill points to increase.
Essence is used for both creating creatures and casting spells; the number, type and strength of creations is limited by the player's essence capacity. For instance, if a character with 70 maximum essence summons a creature which costs 20 essence, their maximum essence is reduced to 50 until the creation is destroyed, either through combat or being absorbed by the Shaper to regain essence. A total of 18 different creations are featured in the game, with larger and more powerful creatures costing more essence to create. The types and strengths of creations can be altered depending on the player's combat style. Creations accompanying the player receive a percentage of the experience points received for completing quests or defeating foes, levelling up and receiving skill points in the same manner as the player character. These skill points can be spent to increase creations' statistics, but every statistic increase costs more essence and reduces the amount of essence available to summon other creations or cast spells. Essence and health are regained from Shaper-designed pools or by entering a friendly town.
Combat is turn-based, with each character in the player's party receiving action point
Action point
An action point, commonly abbreviated AP, is a point in games to determine how much action a player, unit, or video game character can do in a single turn.Within computer and video games they are predominantly used in the turn-based tactics genre...
s at the beginning of the player's turn. The number received is dependent on the items the player character has equipped and the skills the character or creations possess. Each action uses a specific number of points, for example, moving one square takes a single point and attacks or spells take five. Attacking or spellcasting with fewer than ten action points immediately ends the character's turn, otherwise a character can continue to act until they run out of points. Most enemies will attack the player on sight, retreating in terror if they reach a certain threshold of damage without being killed. Other specialized behaviors are also present, including creatures which call for help, or creatures which act as sentries and retreat to an ambush location when threatened. Creations made by the player character can also be controlled by a similar artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, or the player can invest more essence in the creation's intelligence and control them manually.
Geneforge
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...
s can trade with the player, buying most items regardless of type. The shopkeeper has a fixed amount of gold at the start of the game which does not replenish itself. It is possible for the player to drain all shopkeepers of their gold reserves, making it impossible to sell further items.
Plot
Exploration of the docks reveals a strange canister filled with swirling liquid. Thinking the canister contains healing or energizing properties, the Shaper breaks the seal and absorbs the contents. Instead the contents absorb into the Shaper's body, strengthening and changing it. The changes become visibly apparent, the player character's skin smoothens and glows slightly. The canisters also affect the user's mental state, causing a more violent and arrogant temperament. Serviles remain on the island, having been abandoned when the island was Barred. They are intelligent creations of Shapers, designed to serve them without question or hesitation. These Serviles have had no contact with Shapers for two centuries, and have separated into three groups with differing philosophies regarding their creators. The Obeyers are still faithful to the Shapers, the Awakened believe that they should be treated as equals. The Takers have rejected Shapers completely and view the sect as oppressors to be fought.
After encountering the three servile groups, the player begins to learn of a group of foreigners known as Sholai, explorers who have been shipwrecked on the island. It was the Sholai, led by a man named Trajkov, who attacked the player with their last remaining ship. Trajkov controls a device called the Geneforge, created by the Shapers, which can rewrite the user's DNA and make them incredibly powerful. This is the cause of the island's Barred status, the device was deemed too dangerous in the wrong hands. Trajkov and his followers have allied themselves with the Takers, absorbing the contents of canisters and trying to claim Shaper powers as their own. The group have been unable to activate the Geneforge itself due to a Shaper being needed to activate the device. A Shaper named Goettsch was kidnapped for this purpose, in the same manner as the player-character. Goettsch fled and stole the shaping gloves needed to safely use the Geneforge, causing Trajkov to attempt to kidnap the player as a replacement. During these events, some Sholai have escaped from their increasingly violent and unpredictable leader.
The player is free to join any one of the servile groups and share common goals, or remain unaligned. Geneforge can be completed without joining any group. Trajkov can be killed through combat or tricked into killing himself by using the Geneforge. He can also be aided in activating the device, if the player steals the shaper gloves from Goettsch. Goettsch offers the player fake shaper gauntlets, which do not protect Trajkov from the Geneforge's energy should he be convinced they are genuine shaping gloves. The player can complete the game by using the last boat on Sucia Island. The small vessel is moored in a guarded dock on the far side of the island. Finishing the game unlocks one of more than a dozen game endings, dependent on the player's actions during the game.
Development
Work on Geneforge began during the development of Avernum 2, initially little information was revealed. In an interview published by RPGDot Vogel compared the game's movement system to FalloutFallout (computer game)
Fallout is a computer role-playing game produced by Tim Cain, developed and published by Interplay in 1997. The game has a post-apocalyptic and retro-futuristic setting in the mid-22nd century, featuring an alternate history which deviates some time after World War II, where technology, politics...
and revealed that a new game engine was being implemented. The project had initially been intended as pure science fiction but this was soon abandoned in favor of a mixed fantasy and science fiction setting. In an interview published on website RPG Codex, Vogel stated this was due difficulties maintaining game balance with futuristic weaponry which "should be devastating". He added "I found it to be too difficult to model the weapons in a way that simultaneously felt sensible and maintained balance."
Geneforge stemmed from the idea of creating a horde of creatures and the ability to care for those creatures or send them to their deaths. The choice was to be made by the player. From this point, Vogel considered who would be able to gain such powers, how they would control them and how these creatures would be treated. The game was developed with the intention of giving players choices; which factions to side with, how non-Shaper human outsiders are treated and whether to pursue goals through combat or diplomacy. Unlike most role playing games, Geneforge was designed so that it would be possible to complete the game without using violence. Vogel cited Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a computer role-playing game developed by BioWare and released on September 26, 2000. The game is the sequel to Baldur's Gate, and, opening only a few months after the events of the earlier game, continues the story of the player character, whose unique heritage...
, Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game developed for Windows by Black Isle Studios and released on December 12, 1999 by Interplay Entertainment. It takes place in Planescape, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy campaign setting...
, Deus Ex
Deus Ex
Deus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...
and EverQuest
EverQuest
EverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
as influences.
The game marked a departure from the Avernum series and its predecessor the Exile series, Vogel expressed a need to work on other projects - "every few years, I need to do something cool and weird. It keeps me interested." He stated that the differences in Geneforge meant the game might struggle to find an audience, however sales exceeded his expectations.
Reception
Geneforge received positive reviews, the game's story and lack of bugs received praise in particular. InsideMacGamesInsideMacGames
Inside Mac Games, or IMG for short, is a website dedicated to Apple Macintosh computer gaming. Founded in 1993, Inside Mac Games has transitioned from an electronic magazine into a web-only publication...
The quality of the game's graphics was rated poorly by most reviewers, reviewers noted that the overall quality of the game made up for this deficiency. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's Carla Harker described the graphics as "...dated by about seven years" and the game as a "technological pariah", despite calling it one of the best role playing games released in the past year. Website Just RPG's Eric Arevalo described them as simplistic but noted the game's story and the ability to control "fascinating mutant creatures" made up for this. The Entertainment Depot's Nick Stewart differed, praising the graphics as "Simplistic without being plain, lavish without being overdone" as well as the fluidity of character animation and detail of character designs.
The almost total lack of music, except for the title screen theme song, and complete lack of voice acting was noted by reviewers. This highlighted the game's sound effects and environmental sounds, such as weapons clashing and the background noise of towns. Nick Stewart found "a fairly decent variety of effects and noises scattered throughout", that they "added somewhat to the experience", but became irritated by the amount of hissing and popping in the environmental sounds after extended play. Carla Harker described the sound as "Almost non-existent" and Eric Arevalo found that there weren't enough sound effects. RPGDot's Val Sucher noted that the music player Winamp
Winamp
Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...
could be played in the background, due to the game's small memory requirements.