who likes it? and getting started

[ttomm99]

8)

hi

i bought the full game....how does everyone like it?

i usually get killed by bandits early in the game so any getting started hints appreciated..

still hasn't drawn me in like the avernum games

tom

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

i usually get killed by bandits early in the game so any getting started hints appreciated..

What's your party like? What backgrounds and skills do they have?

Without knowing that, I would suggest doing the barmaid quest. It's a fairly lengthy quest, with good reward, and experience. I'm so conditionned to the game, whenever I get a twitch to start a new party, that's what I do. With the money you get from the quest, and the 500 coins if you haven't spent it, buy up some stuff from the blacksmith or woodcutter.

There is also an additional party member in the bar you should be able to pick up after you do that quest, if you do the full thing the nicer way. If not, you'll have to do a few more quests.

Be sure to right-click on things you're going to buy and things you're going to replace with that new item. In the case of armor, you may not want that breastplate because you have to give up speed in combat just for that extra protection.

Make use of the Inn! For 10 drach, you can heal your party and get back willpower in 8 hours.

Don't stray too far from Kellen at first. There are things outside Kellen that are very, very nasty.

If you want to beef up your party, go just outside Kellen and rest. Leave one person as a guard while you rest. This should give you some encounters that you can handle. One or two wimpy thugs shouldn't be able to wipe out your whole party. They also provide a good source of money, weapons, and armor.

 

[Munky]

I found that getting started is a lot easier if you avoid combat until youve got the extra skill points and equipment from the quests.

On the whole I really like it, my party is fairly well balanced so combat is never a problem, my main guy often gets one hit kills with his greatsword.

One thing i find annoying is my guys always get trapped in walls in sewers, though if you press center on party on any of the characters, all the other ones magically teleport there.

 

[crpgnut]

Avernum vs. Prelude

One thing to remember when comparing Prelude and Avernum. Avernum is the 7th
or 8th game made by Jeff Vogel/Spiderweb so he's an experienced developer. If you
compare Prelude to Exile 1, then the games are pretty even. Jeff's game is a LOT
larger than Prelude, which is great in my book, but might be not so great to others.
Avernum has a much better spell system, but I like both games' combat system.
Jeff chose not to incorporate music into his game, and I think that might be a good
idea for 0= too. Just kidding! I hate the music, but some of you may like it. Prelude
has much better graphics and character models than Avernum, even than Avernum 3
and Geneforge. Avernum suffers from too many "go to dungeon x and kill the biggest,
baddest monster and report back" quests. Jeff has several fun quests in his games,
but combat by the buckets is his mantra. I haven't played a whole lot of Prelude, but
Kellen doesn't have a single quest that's all about combat. Just my 2¢.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Re: Avernum vs. Prelude

One thing to remember when comparing Prelude and Avernum. Avernum is the 7th or 8th game made by Jeff Vogel/Spiderweb so he's an experienced developer. If you compare Prelude to Exile 1, then the games are pretty even. Jeff's game is a LOT larger than Prelude, which is great in my book, but might be not so great to others.

Well, Prelude does a lot of things Avernum doesn't do. Avernum is mostly about dungeon crawling. Sure, there's other aspects, but most areas involve delving down in the depths of some dungeon to solve an issue. Admittedly, the dungeons are highly unique and very well done, with things like the Filth Factory in Avernum 3, but you can still call them "dungeons".

That's not to knock Jeff's games. I think they're great. However, Prelude tries to be more of an actual roleplaying game than most of Jeff's games. The main reason I dug the hell out of Geneforge was that it was more of a role playing game than a dungeon crawler.

Of course, you mentioned this, I just wanted to state that I think Jeff's dungeon ideas and designs are typically top notch.

Jeff has several fun quests in his games, but combat by the buckets is his mantra. I haven't played a whole lot of Prelude, but Kellen doesn't have a single quest that's all about combat. Just my 2¢.

No, most quests don't involve killing lots of things, which I really like. It makes the game world seem more "real" as opposed to commercial CRPGs where most people you talk to seem to need a monster or dozen killed. I really get annoyed with games like that these days.

"Hey, I here you need help because your farm isn't producing food like it should."

"Yup, go kill that kobold camp in the woods!"

It just seems fairly silly to me when games do that.

 

[Mistress]

Re: Avernum vs. Prelude

No, most quests don't involve killing lots of things, which I really like. It makes the game world seem more "real" as opposed to commercial CRPGs where most people you talk to seem to need a monster or dozen killed. I really get annoyed with games like that these days.

"Hey, I here you need help because your farm isn't producing food like it should."

"Yup, go kill that kobold camp in the woods!"

It just seems fairly silly to me when games do that.

This is one thing I really like about Prelude. It's refreshing to play a game where every other person doesn't ask you to go bring them the head of the evil orc that kidnapped their favourite child.... :wink: There's a touch of "normality" that's nice, it doesn't just feel like you're the intrepid hero come to save the day, dadadah!

 

[Harts990]

Help...

Is Lionheart released yet?? what is darkness? please explain

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Prelude to Darkness:

http://www.zero-sum.com

 

[JJ86]

I played around with the demo yesterday. Its alot different interface than I've been used to so it will take awhile until I get familiar with the controls and playing style. I wandered around and my group finally ended up getting killed by the headless chicken-looking critters.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I don't think there's anyone that'd played the game that hasn't had their butts kicked by pengers in the beginning. :D

The best thing you can do when starting out is to stick close to Kellen. The Barmaid Quest is probably the best one to do. If you solve it the "good way", then you should be able to get another NPC.

 

[Mistress]

I don't think there's anyone that'd played the game that hasn't had their butts kicked by pengers in the beginning. :D

Yeah - the first time I started the game, I made the mistake of straying too far from the security of Kellen! Never again! :shock:

The best thing you can do when starting out is to stick close to Kellen. The Barmaid Quest is probably the best one to do. If you solve it the "good way", then you should be able to get another NPC.

It's a nice quest too.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Yeah - the first time I started the game, I made the mistake of straying too far from the security of Kellen! Never again! :shock:

I got severely splatted after moving far from Kellen as well. I remember the first time I barely survived those road bandits, with my party all really low on health. I was gathering up the loot, when pennigers showed up and wiped the floor with my battle damaged party.

It's definitely best to stick around Kellen until you've outfitted yourself and got a little bit of combat skill under your belt.

 

[Mistress]

I got severely splatted after moving far from Kellen as well. I remember the first time I barely survived those road bandits, with my party all really low on health. I was gathering up the loot, when pennigers showed up and wiped the floor with my battle damaged party.

That is almost exactly what happened to me! My poor, poor battered and bruised party....

 

[CP]

8)

i usually get killed by bandits early in the game so any getting started hints appreciated..

tom

Hints, hints... hmmm. I don't want to spoil anything for you. So far the advice everyone has given you is really on point -- i.e. stay close to Kellen for a while. There are a bunch of quests other than the bar maid stuff there that will get you beefed enough to face the world though.

Prelude is not like Fallout in the sense that you cannot avoid battle. It helps if all of your party members are capable at some form of combat. Vague party suggestion: some missile people who double as magic users + some bruisers = good combo.

One peice of advice that goes a bit against the ethic we tried to build the game with... once you're strong enough to fight a few thugs without getting wiped, look for random encounters. You will get good loot, improve your combat skills, and occasionally other bonuses (like a npc joining your party). I know it's a bit Final Fantasyish but it just ended up working out that way. Plus, once you have the money to equip your party a bit you'll be in a much better position to fight baddies.

Another suggestion: Ironwood. If you can make it there this place has a lot of nice low level quests. Some great items and NPCs too.

One last thing: pickpocketing. If it works for your parties ethics, you can make a bundle in the cities. Small towns are pretty slim pickins. Farmers and cobblers usually don't have too much weighing their pockets down. But if you make it to the Citadel and/or Barrier with a decent pickpocket there are plenty of rich folk to rob.


CP

 

[thathmew]

and if all else fails, in 1.4 you can lower the difficulty to easy. :D

-mat