I am finally posting some long overdue information about Avernum 6. I was hoping to release screenshots and more detailed plot information next month, but here is a bit of what's been going on.

Avernum 6 is in full development, and the demo section is almost done. I still hope to have the Mac version out for Christmas. It will be the last Avernum game.

(OK, I think it'd be really neat to do a game about the first days of Avernum, like Avernum: Origins, but not until the far future.)

The storyline is the most detailed and twisty of any Avernum game. I think it's really cool. It's definitely very apocalyptic. Much of Avernum is going to be trashed. (Or trashed again.)

Many characters will return, and some of them will get the dramatic ends to their stories they deserve. Much of the future of Avernum and its place in the world will be settled. (And, of course, the player will make a real difference in this.)

Other things of note:

* Every graphic has been redone. All of the icons will be anti-aliased and have shadows, which makes the game look much nicer. It's the prettiest game we've ever done.

* I will use and expand upon all interface improvements from Geneforge 5. Being able to play in a window, play at any resolution, etc.

* The buffing system will be very similar to Geneforge 5. Haste is weaker now, and you can have fewer buffs overall. Haste potions will be full double actions, though, the sort from the older games.

* A bunch of game and system improvements. Dual-wielding weapons is back. The world map will be much more useful, as will quest destination marks on your map. You can see full information about items by mousing over them. (Finally!)

* My favorite trio of wizards, Solberg, Lark, and Gladwell, return. As does X. And many other familiar faces.

* The game takes place in Avernum. The old Avernum. But, for the first time, you start in the Great Cave.

* The final fate of Avernum, it turns out, is something I've been foreshadowing since Exile 2.

* Anama, no. Skribbane, yes. And yes, the first hit is free.

Hope this information is of interest.

- Jeff Vogel

Holy Moses, this is either going to be very good or very bad.

Whoa, lots of improvements and changes. Dual weapons will be interesting compared to pole weapons.



Tor is sitting in the Great Cave yelling at the party to get off his lawn and grumbling about getting no respect anymore for being the guy that used to hand out stone daggers to the new Exiles back at Fort Avernum.

I agree, that would be very cool. To see how the wizards drove back the monsters and created the moss. Maybe see the Castle under construction?


Dual wielding would be cool, interested to see how that works. I love the added functionality of the map, so useful. And mousing over items to see information? That is great!


Wait, Exile 2 and not Avernum 2? Did something happen in Exile that didn't happen in the remake? I wonder if this points to war between the Empire and the Avernites....

This game sounds awesome, and I can't wait to see screenshots. If Spiderweb Software had a pre-ordering system, I would have ordered it already.

i've always thought that an avernum: origins would be nice.
and i'm sure he meant that it wasn't anything that happened in exile that didn't happen in avernum, but he just said exile because it was released long before avernum.\

edit: fixed a grammar error that i just found.

Exile 2 was made earlier than Avernum 2. If you were advertising Coca-Cola, you wouldn't say it's been made since 2001 when you could say it's been made since 1886, would you?

The haste idea is very clever. It makes potions useful and valuable, and it keeps that overpowered haste for when you absolutely need to be overpowered.

—Alorael, who sees no need for sad faces. Jeff is enthusiastic about his game, and it will end things with a bang. It will be pretty. It will be nifty. It could conceivably be terrible, but it sure sounds like Jeff is working very hard at making it awesome instead. His track record is fairly good at pulling this sort of thing off.

Great, just great! It really sounds like A6 is going the way I'm hoping for. I'm particularly happy to hear about the apocalyptic climax and some of the back-to-the-roots-stuff. I wonder what dual-weilding will do to Battle Disciplines?

I just hope all the cool new improvements are friendly to old machines running Windows (like mine) and that we do not need to wait for patches or versions 1.0.2 to run it properly :s

So, as Elohi-Bok said, competition for resources in the caves leads to some kind of ultimate power struggle. IIRC that was the only apocalyptic lead given in Exile 2, that wasn't given in Exile 1. The Olgai tribe is supposedly asleep, so either we have more Rentar followers (NO.) or another Vahnatai tribe. (Presumably the Darkside Loyalists get in on the fun as well.)

Demons, mages, dragons, sliths, nephils, and the Empire are all out -- I don't think there were any real additions on those fronts, as far as apocalyptics go, in Exile 2.

<3s.

I suppose at this point it's too much to ask for an outdoors, too, right?

Looking forward to it. Although Avernum 3 called, and it wants the phrase "last Avernum game" back.

Maybe the portals all become unstable like the "Destroy the Empire Portal" situation in E2. They are all going crazy and you have tho first take the Onyx Scepter to all of them as your first main mission. Bad things come through. Mayhem ensues. Any way one slices it, I am REALLY glad to know that duals are back. I was never sure if it would get another go round. I hope the selection of shields and the almost certain -to hit% makes the choice to double up a difficult one. Can't wait to sink my teeth into the demo.

I hope the traveling system isn't like G5. It was okay, but I always prefered Avernum 5 portals.

The Geneforge traveling system and the new Avernum traveling system have always been different. Dikiyoba doubts it would change now.

*Every* graphic was redone? Did Jeff hire a graphics designer? 'Cause man, that's a lot of work...

If there was a pre-ordering system, there would be one more copy sold already. As it is, I'm having trouble trying not to buy A1-3 and making myself broke. >_>

I was wondering about upgrading graphics since this is that last of the series. Maybe Jeff plans an upgrade of the older Avernum games to the new graphics and game engine.

I think it's sort of obvious that Avernum 6 will likely revolve around open conflict over resources in Avernum. Not only was this a touchy issue in Avernum 5, it's inevitable that people are going to have to eventually fight over the finite amount of space and resources in the underworld.

It just raises the question: Who would the Empire support if Avernum was attacked? Obviously the Vahnatai are out, but Dorikas (if he lives) might not want to support traitors to the Empire either. He'd probably just sit back and enjoy the show. On the other hand, the Vahnatai don't exactly have a rosy history with the Empire, so allowing them to gain more power might not be a good idea.

Doesn't Avernum get trashed in pretty much every Avernum game?



I've been dying to know if X finally got his anvil spell finished...

I have no trouble with people still following Rentar, as long as their role is no more prominent than the Mad Monks' from Exile/Avernum 3. But it's a pretty safe bet to assume, that the Vahnatai are fed up with humans and the lot intruding on their homeland and farming their mushroom. From all we've seen in Avernum 5 the caves just aren't big enough for everybody. It's gonna be so much fun - I just know it.

Sweet


I'm waiting on that anvil spell.



Nice change of pace.


Yeah for Skribbane!

I'm actually a little surprised the Anama will not be returning in this game. I had gotten the feeling that they were forshadowing to become a major influence in the next game. Oh well.

So, what about the cave cows? You promised in the Avernum 5 hype thread that they'd return.

The Last Archon

Gladwell returns? As a some sorta undead (like Garzahd or what it was) or "normal" living person? If latter then either killing him wasn't canon or he is way better mage than we knew.

So the lower cave's inhabitants are gonna finally kick out the squatters hmm.

From the instructions for Avernum 6:

X's Falling Anvil (Min. Mage Spells skill 17, Costs 25 spell energy) - The most powerful attack spell available to mages. It strikes foes in a circular area with an intense physical blow. As you gain more skill with this spell, the damage increases. Effect: Does 30 damage plus 1-6 points per point of spell strength to all foes in the circle.

Edit: I'm sorry

The Last Archon

Ackrovan, please watch your language. That is inappropriate.

Do we get any new playable races?

Although when I was young I used to have a Vahnatai PC, I don't think there should be anymore new races. I prefer the Human, Nephil, and Slith trifecta.

From Jeff's blog in the comments section:

Yes. I will finally address X's magical ambitions.

OK, OK, I'll admit. I haven't read all of the responses, but the thing I would like to see is a new and better engine. No offence, but the new engine has too stiff animations, I simply don't like it. The best engine, in my opinion, is the one from Avernum 3, so I think it'll be either that or a brand new one. And AFTER Avernum 6, I belive Avernum Online is the way to go. I would join the SECOND it would be out. I don't think It's just me, I bet other people would be thrilled to get in.

@lampsahde
I don't think a new playable race would hurt us. HINT: Vahnahtai