Geneforge 1: Mutagen Update #5

This month’s progress report for Spiderweb Software’s Geneforge 1: Mutagen remaster lets us know that 8 out of the game’s total 80 sections are now finished and playable, and feature various improvements when it comes to quests, lore, and conversations. The update also mentions the new creation, talks about backer contributions, and shows off some character art. Here are the text parts:

It’s time for the Geneforge 1 – Mutagen progress report for May! Happily, we’ve gotten a lot done in the last month. Being under quarantine has made it difficult to concentrate, but we’ve managed. We know we absolutely owe you a game, and that helps us not be too distracted.

Here is what we’ve done, and we have more ways you can help to shape the game!

Progress Report

We have now finished a tenth of the game world, or 8 out of 80 sections. Now we are playing through the early sections as all three character classes. It’s a new game system, and we need to make sure the balance is fair, the game plays properly, and things are fun. We are getting lots of great art from our freelancers and programming in big chunks of the game engine. Having the game be playable by humans is a big step forward, and it’s really exciting.

We have spent a lot of time improving the original game text and then adding to it. We’re adding lore, quests, and bits of conversation that round out the story. People who already played Geneforge will find a lot to surprise them.

We are getting closer to the full-on world-building grind, where the engine is done and we are focused purely on making the game world, a section a day.

The New Creation!

We got many cool suggestions for the new creation. The second most popular suggestion was sort of virus, which, well, we decided not to do that. The most popular suggestion was some sort of bird, and that is indeed something missing.

The new creation is going to be a cockatrice. It is a large bird,with brightly-colored rainbow plumage. It is a powerful, volatile creation. It has both magical attacks and attacks that daze or stun foes, but its abilities might have a chance of rebounding on nearby allies.

That is where we currently are. We would love suggestions for the sort of actual abilities the cockatrice would have. If you’d like a chance for your suggestion to get into the game, send it to geneforgegame[at]gmail.com before June 16.

Backers Who Contribute To the Game

A little over a month ago, we sent our information packs to backers who get to contribute names, items, characters, etc. to the game. We’ve gotten a ton of great responses and ideas. Thank you for that! A lot of really exciting stuff!

If you haven’t made contact with us yet, it is a great idea to consider doing that. We haven’t heard anything from most of the backers who are contributing names or quests. If you never received the info packet we sent out, send us a Kickstarter message and we’ll resend it.

And now it is back to game balancing! Below is more of the great character art we’ve been getting. Hope you like it, and you’ll hear from us soon!

– Jeff Vogel