Aiee. The new "My SG" page is a graphic design nightmare. It's ugly and it's poorly laid out. I guess it's slightly more functional and more user customizable, but these things need to come in a package that works. But then I can't say as a lot of the post 4.0 changes have thrilled me. (Though I did like the original 4.0 design, unlike a lot of people.)
In more personal news, I am readdicted to the creative fruits of Spiderweb Software (which is, by and large, a one-man company. He has a couple of employees but they do grunt work where he does most of the design and, apparently, pretty much all the programming.). Back in the day they drew my attention as having spawned one of the few things Mac gamers could hold over their PC-using counterparts: the Exile series of roleplaying games. Really solid, story-and-puzzle-laden RPGs with big, sprawling worlds full of secret nooks and crannies. And they were shareware, letting you play a big chunk before having to register. And at the time, Mac only. Of course, when I picked up a PC the wealth of options suddenly available to me quickly pulled my attention elsewhere, but they're still grade-A games. You can pick all three up for what it used to cost to register one of them (download only, whereas now they come on CD): $25. Of course, they don't officially support OS X or Vista, so sooner or later they're going to fall by the wayside, which is sad.
These days they're still going strong, unlike most of the shareware companies that enlivened my youth. They've branched out to supporting Windows, as was probably inevitably required to survive, but they still develop the Mac version first by several months. Exile has been replaced by the Avernum games, expanded, redesigned versions thereof with a new isometric engine, a smaller party limit, fewer, but more balanced spells, and so on and so forth. You'll still find die-hard Exile loyalists, but the future of the setting is quite clearly in the Avernum games, which retell the original trilogy and its spinoff scenario editor/player title, Blades of Exile (and now, Blades of Avernum), but also continue, with Avernum 4 now available and Avernum 5 well underway. They've also produced a much more original series, the Geneforge games, about magic users who Shape creations from raw essence to serve them. Still fantasy, but overtones of science fiction, with organic tools and weaponry, and bioengineered servants. Similar engine, but very different focus. The Avernum titles are old-school Ultima-style fantasy with a small party of adventurers delving into caves and dungeons and undertaking the missions of the powerful. Geneforge is much less linear in its storytelling, with several factions you can align with, and multiple ending possibilities. You're also a lone adventurer, backed up (if at all) by your loyal creations.
I tend to prefer Geneforge so far, and so I purchased the Geneforge Trilogy CD, which brings me nearly up to date. Geneforge 4 is the most recent entry and being the fourth game is naturally not on a Trilogy cd. (Whatever Douglas Adams may have taught you about the size of trilogies.) Avernum I'm less convinced about...the Exile games were great and while I'm sure the expanded content is interesting, I'm not nearly as sure I like the changes to the basic gameplay. Plus I have Exile on CD and I don't have Avernum. Probably I'll wind up taking the plunge, but not yet.
And of course, there's the odd man out: Nethergate. The dual-scenario, historical fantasy RPG. Play as either the Romans or the Celts and work against the other faction in an elaborate interlocking storyline. It sounds really cool, but it came out towards the tail end of my original Spiderweb enthusiasm and these days it's quite dated. Which would be why they've recently released an updated version: Nethergate Resurrection. That I shall also probably pick up....but it hasn't made it to PC yet.
In more personal news, I am readdicted to the creative fruits of Spiderweb Software (which is, by and large, a one-man company. He has a couple of employees but they do grunt work where he does most of the design and, apparently, pretty much all the programming.). Back in the day they drew my attention as having spawned one of the few things Mac gamers could hold over their PC-using counterparts: the Exile series of roleplaying games. Really solid, story-and-puzzle-laden RPGs with big, sprawling worlds full of secret nooks and crannies. And they were shareware, letting you play a big chunk before having to register. And at the time, Mac only. Of course, when I picked up a PC the wealth of options suddenly available to me quickly pulled my attention elsewhere, but they're still grade-A games. You can pick all three up for what it used to cost to register one of them (download only, whereas now they come on CD): $25. Of course, they don't officially support OS X or Vista, so sooner or later they're going to fall by the wayside, which is sad.
These days they're still going strong, unlike most of the shareware companies that enlivened my youth. They've branched out to supporting Windows, as was probably inevitably required to survive, but they still develop the Mac version first by several months. Exile has been replaced by the Avernum games, expanded, redesigned versions thereof with a new isometric engine, a smaller party limit, fewer, but more balanced spells, and so on and so forth. You'll still find die-hard Exile loyalists, but the future of the setting is quite clearly in the Avernum games, which retell the original trilogy and its spinoff scenario editor/player title, Blades of Exile (and now, Blades of Avernum), but also continue, with Avernum 4 now available and Avernum 5 well underway. They've also produced a much more original series, the Geneforge games, about magic users who Shape creations from raw essence to serve them. Still fantasy, but overtones of science fiction, with organic tools and weaponry, and bioengineered servants. Similar engine, but very different focus. The Avernum titles are old-school Ultima-style fantasy with a small party of adventurers delving into caves and dungeons and undertaking the missions of the powerful. Geneforge is much less linear in its storytelling, with several factions you can align with, and multiple ending possibilities. You're also a lone adventurer, backed up (if at all) by your loyal creations.
I tend to prefer Geneforge so far, and so I purchased the Geneforge Trilogy CD, which brings me nearly up to date. Geneforge 4 is the most recent entry and being the fourth game is naturally not on a Trilogy cd. (Whatever Douglas Adams may have taught you about the size of trilogies.) Avernum I'm less convinced about...the Exile games were great and while I'm sure the expanded content is interesting, I'm not nearly as sure I like the changes to the basic gameplay. Plus I have Exile on CD and I don't have Avernum. Probably I'll wind up taking the plunge, but not yet.
And of course, there's the odd man out: Nethergate. The dual-scenario, historical fantasy RPG. Play as either the Romans or the Celts and work against the other faction in an elaborate interlocking storyline. It sounds really cool, but it came out towards the tail end of my original Spiderweb enthusiasm and these days it's quite dated. Which would be why they've recently released an updated version: Nethergate Resurrection. That I shall also probably pick up....but it hasn't made it to PC yet.
As with the "humorless" thing, I just write a blog about it when I start to get annoyed so that I can see how ridiculous it all is and not actually get annoyed. It's nothing to be concerned about.