Spiderweb Geneforge 2 - Infestation remake from Spiderweb Software

[Infinitron]

https://bottomfeeder.substack.com/p/we-released-geneforge-2-infestation

We Released Geneforge 2 - Infestation!​

Let me hawk to you my wares.​

Counting remasters, this is our 28th full-length RPG. Yikes.
We have just released Geneforge 2 - Infestation, our newest indie RPG, for Windows and Mac! (iPad version coming soon.) It's a remaster of Geneforge 2, one of our most popular games.

It's huge, it's full of cool story and unique design, and it's really cheap. You can get it on Steam, of course, and it's available on a lot of other stores. Hope you like it!

OK. That's the PR out of the way. This blog is free, and selling games is how we keep the lights on.



Original Geneforge 2, released 2003. It’s actually kind of cute.
Geneforge Saga Refurbishment Continues Apace

The five-part Geneforge Saga is one of my real achievements in this business. I started it in 1999. I was young, full of energy, had made some money, and was determined to create something innovative and unlike any other computer RPG out at the time. Even now, all these years later, these games still have qualities that are all their own (like being able to reach any ending with a pure pacifist route).

Our remaster of the first game, Geneforge 1 - Mutagen, came out in 2019, and it was a big success for us. It's still our biggest seller. This series has a fan base going back a long way, and it's been really satisfying to give them the new, polished versions they deserve. Because Geneforge 2 really needed the polish. The original version had a fixed 800x600 play area. This was entirely adequate in 2003, but it's a postage stamp now. When it runs at all. Just the new interface (plus launching without crashing) makes this a valuable upgrade.



Geneforge 2 - Infestation. Exploring a town with your two cute, fire-breathing velociraptors.
When We Remaster, We Really Remaster

We spend 18 months on each remaster, and we redo everything. Every location, encounter, and line of dialogue gets revised and polished. This takes a while.

There is also a ton of new material. Several new zones. Lots of new characters and quest lines. We added a whole new ability tree, Weapon Shaping abilities that augment your blade and missile attacks, that is entirely new to the series. Thus, if you were a Geneforge 2 fan, there's a whole new way to play through it.

We put in a lot of new content based on the feedback of Kickstarter backers. You will find that a lot of the emptier cracks in the game have been filled with lore and tangential stuff to do. This makes the world seem a lot more fleshed out. A lot more real. Again, I’m really happy with the result.

We put a ton of work into this game, atoning for the flaws of 20 years ago.

The Old Economics Of Our Business

We've been in business for 30 years now. We predated the indie game boom by a long time. Heck, we even predate the consumer internet and world wide web.

In the old days, to make the economics of the business work, we had to write games fast. Each all-new, full-length title got 18 months. This meant that sometimes corners were cut. Geneforge 2 was a beloved game, but it was full of threadbare dialogue and cut corners. The structure is there, but the bones were too bare.

(Other games suffered more. Before long, we will remaster Avernum 4, and that one will need and get a LOT of work.)

We have now spent 3 years total on Geneforge 2. We've come to find that this is about the right amount of time for us to put in one of our RPGs to get them about as good as we can get them (tiny company that we are).

This is the final Geneforge 2. I won’t live long enough to get around to remastering it again. And, as always, I have regrets. As I went to sleep last night, I thought about things I could have done. Motivations and dialogue I could have refined. This or that little tweak. But there comes a point where you have to say, “Enough.” I must force myself to be content.



I added a ton of material to the game. Including a lot of delightful surprises.
Looking To the Future

I am probably about 12 years from looking at retirement. In that time, we have six old games that are really cool but need a full remaster treatment to bring them into the present. We also have several other games that need a quick polish treatment (like art and rebalancing) to send them into posterity.

And we have ambitions to make new stuff too.

That said, I’m sort of transitioning into the Billy Joel phase of the career. My best, most creative period is behind me, but there is still a lot that should be done. I've written 18 all-new games. Eighteen! This has already been a hugely prolific career. Now I need to wrap everything up, tie up the loose ends, and take a bow with as many people satisfied as possible.

In a few months, I'll let our fans know what the next two years of Spiderweb will look like. We have some exciting plans!



I asked an AI for “Draw a screenshot from a new, unpublished Geneforge game.” This is really neat, though our graphics budget is far lower than ChatGPT thinks.
Your Support Is Greatly Appreciated

When I was a kid, I dreamed of making games when I grew up. I got to live my dream, and it's all thanks to the support of our fans. If you've enjoyed my blog, please consider picking up a copy of Geneforge 2. It's on sale for the first week on Steam. (Also, if you buy it through our web site, we get a slightly larger cut.)

Now back to work. Releasing a game brings on a frenzy of urgent tasks. If I'm going to keep doing this, I got to hustle.

Thank you so much for being here!

 

[Mauman]

Welp....got my ass kicked in Project Zomboid enough times. I think it's time to rev this up and see if it's still worthy of the praise I've given it.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Jack Slash]

I played for about 15 hours since the release, and here's my impressions so far.

Even though I was initially sceptical of the whole "Geneforge remake" motion after Queen's Wish, which was at best a mobile-tier game masquerading as an RPG, Geneforge 1 - Mutagen turned out to be a monumental effort on Jeff's part, so I was genuinely excited for Infestation. And so far, it not only lived up to my expectations, but easily exceeded them.

The graphics are practical as always, but this time, there is a whole new level of ornamental fluff that makes the game more presentable. It's mostly minor things - key characters got cool-ass portraits, the items within the pick-up range are now highlighted, some creatures like thahds got unique death animations, and there are special effects on melee attacks for different creatures that make them slightly stand out in combat. All of this looks cool, but not nearly as cool as the brand-new magical special effects. I started as a Guardian, and the first time I saw some NPC use Essence Lance, I was immediately convinced to give Shaper a try just to induce my own exploding laser-show every time I cast something. Forget the puny projectiles from the original games - now you're playing with (actual) power.

More importantly, for the first time in Geneforge history, melee classes got their own bona fide active abilities that at times eclipse magic. You ever wanted to have a protection + speed buff attached to your melee attack, or have a personal spammable stun spell? Cause now you've got them and more. Is there anything better than blasting chain-friggin-lightning at every swing and burning the noisy little scuttlebugs to a crisp? Did I also mention it looks cool with all those fresh new special effects? Culling dumb fyoras now brings not only exp points, but also much-needed satisfaction.

Content-wise, it might as well be an entirely new game. Granted, last time I played the original Geneforge 2 was over a decade ago, but I remember it reasonably well, and there's so much new content crammed into the remake that Jeff could have easily marketed it as Geneforge 6, for all it's worth. I'm not just talking about new locations - there are plenty of those, not sure how many, but a lot. The more important thing is a thorough rework of the old stuff - new buildings and new floors with goodies and monsters, new dialogues with associated quests - hell, whole new factions to join in on the action. Personally, I put a lot of stock into exploration in any RPG - just wandering around, trying to cheese my way to the best artifacts and skills as early as possible - and there's usually an NPC, a hidden object of power or a unique event in any corner of the map, wherever I go. Tiny rooms in hidden cellars, raving-mad hermits that trade resources, anomalous characters with unseen-before powers - the exploration of both old and reworked locations feels rewarding.

All of this content supports new playstyles - I know that there is a pacifist route possible even on the highest difficulty thanks to the new stealth skill, but to hell with pacifism. What's important is that there are awesome artifacts - both crafted and found from exploring - that help differentiate the gameplay significantly from previous games. Like, pretty early on you can get your hands on a blade that absorbs essence from mutagen canisters and grows in power to the point that it could be considered an endgame weapon by Geneforge 5 standards - so you've got a trade-off between using the canisters yourself or pouring them into a weapon. Then there are pieces of armour that grow stronger when you slay certain powerful bosses, or other artifacts that absorb energy while in your inventory and eventually obtain new effects. In short, there's a lot to uncover - stuff that has never been seen in previous Geneforge games, but fits like a glove within the context of remake.

There are some concepts that were introduced in the G1 remake and saw further development in Infestation, like a new servile faction of the inutiles and a bunch of dialogues, new locations, NPCs and book-lore associated with them, as well as the typical Shaper-related moral dilemmas that define the series. It's not anything groundbreaking - more like "more of the same" kind of additions, but Jeff's writing is competent enough that he makes all available choices look at least somewhat justified and reasonable.

Then there's quality of life changes (quality of life? in my Geneforge?!) - for instance, the exploding mines and traps on the ground now have different visual effects depending on whether you can disarm them with your current mechanics skill or not, and it feels much better than having to constantly quick-save and face-check them at the expense of dying all the time. Certain friendly NPCs can be convinced to join you for a while with a high leadership skill, and unlike previous games, where they were just dumb escort fodder, you gain full control over their active abilities and movement, so it feels extra rewarding to invest into speech checks. New types of creatures - both summonable and encountered in the wild - also bring value and new strategies to the game. It feels like Jeff wanted to make every location stand out in some ways, so whenever you meet monsters, even if they are familiar to you already, there's usually some weird new subtype that breathes fire or explodes on impact or whatever else, and it changes up the combat quite a bit.

All in all, if this is the way things are going at Spiderweb now, I am very much looking forward to yet another Geneforge 2 remake in 10 years or so - with even more content and radical changes. Good job.

 

[Mauman]

<snip>

I find it amusing that the original Geneforge 2 was the one Geneforge where melee/missile was decent due to parry, got gutted afterwards, and now the remake of 2 now finally added something in to make it useful again. It's particularly nice that weapon skills scale with both melee and missile. Even if you're focused on one it's still worthwhile to points into the other due to scaling costs.

I'm trying a Guardian with just enough fire shaping to make some decent cannon fodder/artillery support plus using the weapon skills. It seems to be doing well so far, but I wonder if it's as powerful as a standard shaper with decent support magic or if at least can compete with said build. I do admit it's nice to have 2 to 3 times as much hp as a shaper. Makes it less likely to suffer instant death if something so much as looks in my character's direction.

Time will tell I guess.

edit - also, great point about the joinable npcs. They were useless in the original. Maybe I'll try to get a few of them early on and use a few summons to tank hits for them. That'd be kinda cool....

2nd edit - though I just realized the removal of non-player leveling limits the usefulness of the npcs. One step forward, one step sideways off a bridge. Oh well. At least they'll be useful for a time before I have to put them out to pasture. Scout Zora in particular feels like a disc one nuke (I would kill to have her war cry ability on my Guardian).

I can hope at least that Jeff improves the long term viability of npc allies for Geneforge 3 as that game has story npcs that can stay with you for a LONG period of time. Give them level and skill up mechanics or something.

 

[Jack Slash]

Mauman, I find Vampiric Blade to be stupid OP, combined with how much starting health and endurance you get as a Guardian. The weapon selection and generous gear that you get almost from the beginning for essentially free also complement the playstyle, so stabbing things is just fun. A Shaped Breastplate in the second settlement, really? I suppose the optional bosses will warrant it all - can't wait to get deeper into the mountains.

 

[Jack Slash]

edit - also, great point about the joinable npcs. They were useless in the original. Maybe I'll try to get a few of them early on so I can get them leveled up and use a few summons to tank hits for them. That'd be kinda cool....

Sadly, I doubt it'll work - the ones I found so far only join you for the duration of certain quests. I don't think they even get exp from your kills, too. Maybe there will be a more permanent companion - I am still not very far from the beginning.

 

[Mauman]

edit - also, great point about the joinable npcs. They were useless in the original. Maybe I'll try to get a few of them early on so I can get them leveled up and use a few summons to tank hits for them. That'd be kinda cool....

Sadly, I doubt it'll work - the ones I found so far only join you for the duration of certain quests. I don't think they even get exp from your kills, too. Maybe there will be a more permanent companion - I am still not very far from the beginning.

Well, the wandering Thahd is permanent, but he's level 3 and that won't last long. He's still VERY helpful at the beginning of the game though.

Zora is kinda sorta quest dependent, but she'll stick with you till the secret cave. She's level 4, has about 120 hp, and a slew of REALLY powerful abilities so she's more than welcome to stick around.

Guess I'll find out how the other joinables stack up as I find them.

edit - Actually, he's not

Never got him far enough to find that out. now i know.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Finished infestation. Good game and has some nice mechanical tweaks like Leadership affecting creature loyalty. I think some of the new Infestation specific content and backer created items aren't as good as they were Mutagen, and overall this game was way easier than Mutagen as well which, you know, isn't ideal. But nevertheless I had a lot of fun with it and the new tier of spells and creations add more variety to gameplay. There are also the new melee/baton specific skills that Guardians (mainly) can make use of that seem to be pretty interesting and, again, add more depth and variety to the gameplay. I was expecting less bold additions to game mechanics, I thought we were only getting one new unique creature to shape per game, but seems like Vogel is willing to put more than just that. I'll be curious to see if he keeps this up for future games.

 

[Jack Slash]

Finally finished the game, so to give a bit of extra info on the impressions I posted above:

The completionist playthrough (doing all the quests in the game, exploring all locations and earning all Steam achievements) took me 50 hours, without the pacifist playthrough, which I imagine could easily take another 10-15 hours.

I agree with Hobo Elf that Infestation is easier than Mutagen and, to me, felt like the easiest Geneforge game so far. The location size seemed smaller than what I got used to in G4 and G5, and the tools given to the player are too powerful and plentiful and distributed too early. Still, there are some optional ultimate bosses in remote areas that you can test your OP build against.

The backer content is goofy for sure - I do not remember previous games in the series featuring a lot of humour, but Infestation introduced some quests and characters purely for the laugh factor, and while they are rare, they still detract from the atmosphere somewhat.

All in all, my initial impressions hold, and the game was a tremendous effort on Spiderweb's part.

 

[Mauman]

The removal of the ability to level up joinables really did kill them*. It's a shame.

I really, REALLY hope Jeff adds some sort of improvement system for the Joinables in G3. Especially considering the joinables in that game can be heavily part of the plot.

*With the exception of the Awakened servile mage if you're willing to join the Awakened IMMEDIATELY. Though even he will become useless very quickly.

edit - I never got around to checking out the Taker Drayk. Maybe that one is the exception, don't know.

 

[Cryomancer]

About the game being much easier, I don't think so. Sure, you have more skill points per level up, and getting more money is easier but in OG G2, you could join a faction easier. And quickly get battle alphas and battle betas. In thi game, I'm lv 12, talked with every single major faction leader and still can't join any faction and am stuck with my Cryoa, I wanna high level creations.

 

[Mauman]

I think it's easier (almost entirely due to the mutagen summon abilities/new summons and weapon shaping mechanics*), but I also think it's still more than challenging enough. Especially if you want to unleash your masochistic side and play above normal.

Plenty of fights I lost and had to reload and change my strategy on.

*Maybe magic is better too. Barely touched magic outside of basic heal craft (no higher than 2 for group heal), mostly used items. Considering magic could be pretty damn good in the original G2, I'm sure it's fine.

 

[Cryomancer]

How I get summon Drakon?

 

[Mauman]

How I get summon Drakon?

There's the canister that exists somewhere in taker lands if I recall correctly.

For teachers, Phariston will teach you if you're not aligned with any faction. I think the Barzites will teach you if you're a Barzite and the Takers will teach you if you're a Taker. I think there's one other teacher in taker lands that will teach anyone but that might be my memory playing tricks on me.

Awakened and Servants are (as far as I'm aware) out of luck.

edit - Awakened can get it evidently.

 

[Cryomancer]

I"m following Barzites, talked with every teacher and could't learn it.

 

[Mauman]

I"m following Barzites, talked with every teacher and could't learn it.

Burham in the Radiant college is supposed to teach you.

 

[Cryomancer]

Thanks a lot. He talks about standing in a platform to "change" me but I can't find this platform. First time playing as Barzite

edit : Found. 10200 to improve a Drakon and almost 3k to learn...

 

[Mauman]

Thanks a lot. He talks about standing in a platform to "change" me but I can't find this platform. First time playing as Barzite

edit : Found. 10200 to improve a Drakon and almost 3k to learn...

I paid like 13,000 from Phariston for the second level

 

[sebas]

Finished this today playing on Torment as a Loyalist Shaper and it was just great from start to finish. It has a lot of what made BG1 amazing with roaming the wilderness and scouring every nook and cranny but also a lot of Underrail's chessboard map where you're just tiptoeing all the different areas carefully prodding them to look for an opening towards progress.

Now the combat system works well enough, the items are interesting enough and visually it's actually gorgeous if you ask me but where this game shines and is just pure incline is the organical progression. I didn't join any faction not because the game told me it was an option but because I just thought they were all idiots. And yet even without quest entries and directions I still forged a path forward, through curiosity and exploration. I didn't really want to nuke the island either but after finding out what happened to Shanti I definitely wanted to get revenge. Which then spilled over into a fight with the Takers who now unopposed couldn't just be left to grow their fiefdom.

And you know what's even better? I could now do another playthrough of a codex autist and just whore my ass to every faction in order to get all the quests and artifacts. Or I could play a tiktok agent bimbo, join the Barzites and get my powers and lips shaped until the skin glitters like a tin foil in the sun.

Best game I've played since Underrail, have at it!

 

[sebas]

edit - I never got around to checking out the Taker Drayk. Maybe that one is the exception, don't know.

Nah, since actual creature level is BY FAR the most important stat in the combat system all of the possible companions are usless unless you get them before your leveling curve which is not going to happen unless you heavily abuse stealth.

 

[sebas]

About the game being much easier, I don't think so. Sure, you have more skill points per level up, and getting more money is easier but in OG G2, you could join a faction easier. And quickly get battle alphas and battle betas. In thi game, I'm lv 12, talked with every single major faction leader and still can't join any faction and am stuck with my Cryoa, I wanna high level creations.

Servants are the only faction you can join without any requirements. The others are limited by your views as either pro-rebel or pro-shapers. Though Awakened can be sweetened through a leadership check. There's a servile in the middle of the Barzite lands that can change your rebel/shaper reputation though only once.

 

[Mauman]

About the game being much easier, I don't think so. Sure, you have more skill points per level up, and getting more money is easier but in OG G2, you could join a faction easier. And quickly get battle alphas and battle betas. In thi game, I'm lv 12, talked with every single major faction leader and still can't join any faction and am stuck with my Cryoa, I wanna high level creations.

Servants are the only faction you can join without any requirements. The others are limited by your views as either pro-rebel or pro-shapers. Though Awakened can be sweetened through a leadership check. There's a servile in the middle of the Barzite lands that can change your rebel/shaper reputation though only once.

Small note - there is a reputation check for servants (must be pro-shaper), but it can be bypassed with leadership.

 

[coldcrow]

For the past few days I have played this. up to the Taker initiation and Benerii-Uss, but then I decided to restart as a Barzite. The Takers are fucking idiots, they ditch the shapers and quickly replace them with Drakons.
I really enjoy this game, I never played anything of the Geneforge series before 5 and a little bit of 4.

 

[Dayyālu]

For the past few days I have played this. up to the Taker initiation and Benerii-Uss, but then I decided to restart as a Barzite.

Barzites are fun as canister fiends, but they're probably the least moral faction of... probably all Geneforges. Trajkov in GF1 was quite moral, and even Taygen in 5 had some pseudo-justification. I personally consider the closest thing to a real "villain" we ever got in Geneforge, even if Ghaldring comes close.

The Takers are fucking idiots, they ditch the shapers and quickly replace them with Drakons.

That's the fun part! The Drayk "plotline" is quite amusing: from Barred creations (the Shapers nuked them because they were too smart and too powerful, and killed/stopped making them/let the other die of old age) and the ones you meet in Sucia or elsewhere are insanely arrogant, they want revenge and improve themselves to the point of creating Drakons. The Drakons are better Drayks (and let's not discuss the Ur-Drakons) and suddenly the Drayks end up being reduced as disposable shock-troops and enslaved, because they created something far too smart and powerful to properly control, and ended up becoming a sad slave race subjugated by their own creations.

The Takers aren't really idiots: they're fanatics, fanatics exploited by very smart and powerful creations that feed on their misery and use them to further their own goals. Their position is understandable considering the amount of misery they went through (or they believe they went through) but it's deeply ironic that their new masters are significantly worse than the Shapers, all in service of "Taking their Free".