Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness demo steamkeys

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@porcozaur; Thanks! I've taken advantage of your info post too.
 
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So, I played the first area and it gave me NWN vibes or BG1 at Candlekeep. I made a mage and a cleric and played through the first map with each. At this point, it keeps my interest to see the next bit, so I'd say that's a decent start at least.
 
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Thank you as well! If anyone else is still interested, there are still demo keys available at that Intel access link. I just downloaded one (all you have to do is give an email address) and got a demo key.
 
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I bit since it seems legit and installing the demo now to try out this weekend, thanks for the share!
 
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I think you'll like it Grim. Your first companion has a voice actor that I think you'll enjoy, but it takes a few maps to get him.

Hmm, an update from me. I've finished 3 maps and have arrived at a 4th location. The only thing I really don't like is the greed-based system. I'm a looter and will take a horrible ending if I get all the good stuff :)

Only one bug so far. I did something that had my character doing massive damage on each hit but a reload fixed it. I was level 2 and hitting for over 100 damage. No idea what caused that to happen or I would have reported it.
 
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I just finished the third map. Overall, I think it's ok, but it's not really grabbing me.

The greed system is kind of dumb. I shouldn't get hit with greed points just for looting a battle I won. I also don't like the alchemy/brewing system. It makes creating those items feel like busy work. The enemies so far are very unimaginative.
 
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Heck, I just started the demo and I have to complaint about the text font size used. Why don't game developers put a slide bar to increase/decrease font sizes?

EDIT: I'm not referring to this developer in particular, but game devs in general.
 
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So, there is a lot of game here. I think I've unlocked about 8 maps now and I'm not sure I'm done with the unlocking. Is it worth playing? Well…it is a poor man's BG1 or NWN. I find it just interesting enough to keep going. There are a few dumb decisions on the base gameplay that makes the game a little tedious. Brewing and Drying are just stupid as is the greed system. Gamers like loot so tying your plot into not giving out loot is an idiotic idea ;) I've played through several maps and haven't found a way to be generous to offset the greedy actions either. You'll find beggars and such, but there is no option to give handouts or anything. I'll keep folks apprised as I go along.
 
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I finished the demo with a 2 spell weavers (my main PC + 1 I found), fighter, cleric and rogue (the rogue didn't seem that useful ;-)

I agree with the comments - greed is a bit too easy to accumulate, and like crpgnut I tried to give coins to beggars (not possible) and also took the 'no rewards' option for quests etc - nothing seemed to decreases my greed. The story is actually OK, I think, and the areas are nicely rendered. The font issue seems to be mainly related to zooming in/out - they are moving the camera back when you zoom out, but not keeping the font size fixed. When zoomed in close the font was easy enough to read.

I quite liked the idea of drying and different kinds of heat, but only every saw one type. I also think having to rest is not reasonable. Maybe just have a 'time passing' screen when you craft something? The one thing that was definitely missing was ready access to receipes for powders/potions (unless I missed it). I had to flip back to he the compendium (slow!) and try and memorize which ingredients are required. This should be in the brewing/drying interface.

The class powers seemed OK. I suspect there is quite a bit that I'm missing though - like elevated spells (huh?)

Not sure why there are 5 party slots rather than 6?

A lot of NPCs have the same placeholder (I hope) text options, so the world seems less dynamic.

All in all, I thought it was OK and looking forward to the final game
 
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I agree with everything you said. I keep starting over, because that's my thing, or I would have been done ages ago. The thief is kinda useless but I'm going to have him focus as a ranger for the most part as my own character (this time) is a ftr/thief. You can multiclass and fighter/thief doesn't require massive xp compared to solo classes. You can take three classes total but you might not get very high level that way.

I've mentioned it before but there is a ton of content for a "test". Over a dozen maps that I've found now and I'm guessing you can get to level 6 or 7 if you have a solo class. I'm not sure because I keep restarting :)
@booboo; There are lanterns that can be bought at one or more of the traders. These are drying items too I think. They're kinda expensive, so you may have forgotten/not noticed them.

As far as companions go, everyone gets full experience from fights, so there is no reason to wait before grabbing the npcs. Basically this is right after the 2nd map. The game opens up at that point and the 4 companions are all near the main city of Isilbright.

BTW, you can murder citizens, but this will cause every faction to become hostile and send endless encounters until you die. I had two fighters when I tested this and I actually won two rounds against elite guards before fleeing and running into more on the next map. I wiped soon after ;)
 
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Finished it a little while ago. I think you summed it up perfectly when you called it a poor man's BG1. Unless someone has already played all the decent party-based RTwP games out there, there's really no reason to play Black Geyser. It's very derivative of the games that came before while also being inferior at the same time.

I've mentioned it before but there is a ton of content for a "test". Over a dozen maps that I've found now and I'm guessing you can get to level 6 or 7 if you have a solo class. I'm not sure because I keep restarting :)

It didn't seem like that many maps to me, but I didn't count them. Fwiw, I finished at level 4 with a solo-classed Ranger. You can keep playing when you're done with the main quest, but I'm not sure what else I would have done. I finished all the sidequests I had and visited almost every building on all the maps.

As far as companions go, everyone gets full experience from fights, so there is no reason to wait before grabbing the npcs. Basically this is right after the 2nd map. The game opens up at that point and the 4 companions are all near the main city of Isilbright.

You might want to check that again. My party was splitting XP between members.
 
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Finished it a little while ago. I think you summed it up perfectly when you called it a poor man's BG1. Unless someone has already played all the decent party-based RTwP games out there, there's really no reason to play Black Geyser. It's very derivative of the games that came before while also being inferior at the same time.



It didn't seem like that many maps to me, but I didn't count them. Fwiw, I finished at level 4 with a solo-classed Ranger. You can keep playing when you're done with the main quest, but I'm not sure what else I would have done. I finished all the sidequests I had and visited almost every building on all the maps.



You might want to check that again. My party was splitting XP between members.

Yep, you're right. You do split the XP. The wording from the quest givers was confusing me. It said your party receives 4000 XP or whatever but they split it. I'm enjoying the game more than you are, which is a switch. I enjoy messing with the builds quite a bit. The story is meh, but that's the least interesting thing to me anyway. The crafting is also meh, but I like the combat so far.
@booboo; The lanterns are drying items and they can be used multiple times before failing. Still only 3 items at a time to dry, which is just moronic.
 
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The story is meh, but that's the least interesting thing to me anyway. The crafting is also meh, but I like the combat so far.

Agree about the story and crafting, but I didn't care much for the combat either. The monsters are all generic fantasy creatures and don't look or animate particularly well. The only exception was the manticore in the Espen estate which I thought was pretty cool.

Also, the pathfinding is terrible. People who complain about the pathfinding in Baldur's Gate or Pillars of Eternity are really going to hate it in this game because it's much worse. My party was constantly getting stuck together and grinding to a halt. It happens a lot particularly when trying to enter or exit buildings.

Oh... and the load times. Sheesh.
 
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I totally agree on the load times. For such a simplistic looking game it runs like molasses in the Antarctic. I don't get it. I never had any trouble with pathfinding really. I did set up a custom formation where the main character is two ranks in front of the rest. I then alternate the formation as needed.
 
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better post these things on the steam hub, since it will launch in early access, they will probably listen to feedback
 
I have already whined online ;) I'm not shy about stating my unsolicited opinion. I need to buy a copy of the game as well once it hits EA. I've already gotten dozens of hours out of it, so I'll pony up the cash; unless they're greedy. I can't fork out too much for something that looks like a NWN or BG module.
 
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I'd like to check it out. Waiting for the full release anyway.
 
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