I'm sad that this is your last new game. I played Nethergate and Avernum as a teenager, way back in the 1990s.
I'll be honest, the Avernum series remains by far my favorite among your creations. It felt vast, gritty, and open-ended. There was something deliciously old-school and pulp-y about it. It was humorous, but not outright farcical (unlike, say, Zork).
30 years later, the appeal hasn't faded. I feel deep affection towards the series, and probably will as long as I live. It meant something, unlike the vast majority of over-produced AAA games.
Looks promising - the one design decision I didn't like with the first one was the relative lack of distinct artifacts (always part of the charm of the other spiderweb games and a motivation to explore) and looks like this has been changed in the second one. I did like some other design points, particularly the pressure to do a dungeon all in one go.
I've been around since the very first version of Exile, the 1.0 one where the automaps weren't remembered when you left an area. I downloaded the demo from (I think) usenet over my newfangled modem in...was it 1994? You were the first what's now called developer I ever sent brief fan mail to on this new strange thing called email and I was tickled when you replied. It feels pretty strange, nearly three decades later, to be nearing the end of the run on different levels. Not there yet by any means, but you can kind of see it from here. Heartfelt thanks for an insanely great body of work.
I wasn't a big fan of QW1, but I'm still going to buy the sequel, because even my least favourite Spiderweb Software game is still something to look forward to (unlike some high-budget AAA almost-MMOs I can name). Er, that is, if I could find a way to pay you, sanctions and all. I don't think you accept direct international transfers?
It is sad to hear this is you last new game series, but I guess this is the way of bottom feeders - there is no institution to carry on. Would you consider open-sourcing your games someday, if only on your deathbed (hopefully some long time away!), so that future generations can keep them running on the newer hardware? A big-budget game is likely to get a remake or remaster, but small indie games like yours could be lost forever, and I think it would make the world a little poorer.
Why are you going to hang it up? Sad to hear, been playing your games since I was 9, Exile III was my first real RPG. Now I'm 35 and beat Queen's Wish last year, take my money damn it!
We'll be writing 1 more Queen's Wish game and doing remasters for a long time. However, I'm getting old and have written a LOT of RPGs. At some point, you just get tired. I'm putting everything I have into this new series. After that, I dunno.
Glad to hear that at least. Who knows, maybe you could consult on world building and story making? I try to get into other CRPGs but the mediocre writing always puts me off.
Have you written anywhere about why you’ve stayed so indie and not collaborated on larger budget projects to provide writing/design work? Or have you and I missed it? I know that contract work is one way that folks try to insulate themselves from the risk of low sales, so I’m curious to hear why you decided that’s not for you.
Basically I decided that it's not the life I wanted. I like working in solitude. I knew I was giving up a lot of success with that decision but I've been a happier person.
I'm sad that this is your last new game. I played Nethergate and Avernum as a teenager, way back in the 1990s.
I'll be honest, the Avernum series remains by far my favorite among your creations. It felt vast, gritty, and open-ended. There was something deliciously old-school and pulp-y about it. It was humorous, but not outright farcical (unlike, say, Zork).
30 years later, the appeal hasn't faded. I feel deep affection towards the series, and probably will as long as I live. It meant something, unlike the vast majority of over-produced AAA games.
We'll be doing remasters for a long time, and that's a good thing. All of our early games would benefit a lot from another year or two of work.
Also, this is only part 2, so this isn't the last new game quite yet!
Looks promising - the one design decision I didn't like with the first one was the relative lack of distinct artifacts (always part of the charm of the other spiderweb games and a motivation to explore) and looks like this has been changed in the second one. I did like some other design points, particularly the pressure to do a dungeon all in one go.
I've been around since the very first version of Exile, the 1.0 one where the automaps weren't remembered when you left an area. I downloaded the demo from (I think) usenet over my newfangled modem in...was it 1994? You were the first what's now called developer I ever sent brief fan mail to on this new strange thing called email and I was tickled when you replied. It feels pretty strange, nearly three decades later, to be nearing the end of the run on different levels. Not there yet by any means, but you can kind of see it from here. Heartfelt thanks for an insanely great body of work.
I loved Queen's Wish 1, and I'm enjoying QW2 so far! But, um, are you aware of the resolution problems in full-screen mode?
(I'm not sure where we're supposed to go to report a bug.)
I'm afraid I'm not aware of that. Bugs are best reported with emails to support@spiderwebsoftware.com. I'd love to know what the problem is!
I wasn't a big fan of QW1, but I'm still going to buy the sequel, because even my least favourite Spiderweb Software game is still something to look forward to (unlike some high-budget AAA almost-MMOs I can name). Er, that is, if I could find a way to pay you, sanctions and all. I don't think you accept direct international transfers?
It is sad to hear this is you last new game series, but I guess this is the way of bottom feeders - there is no institution to carry on. Would you consider open-sourcing your games someday, if only on your deathbed (hopefully some long time away!), so that future generations can keep them running on the newer hardware? A big-budget game is likely to get a remake or remaster, but small indie games like yours could be lost forever, and I think it would make the world a little poorer.
Open sourcing is likely some time in the FAR future. It would be a deathbed thing, but it would be nice.
Why are you going to hang it up? Sad to hear, been playing your games since I was 9, Exile III was my first real RPG. Now I'm 35 and beat Queen's Wish last year, take my money damn it!
We'll be writing 1 more Queen's Wish game and doing remasters for a long time. However, I'm getting old and have written a LOT of RPGs. At some point, you just get tired. I'm putting everything I have into this new series. After that, I dunno.
Glad to hear that at least. Who knows, maybe you could consult on world building and story making? I try to get into other CRPGs but the mediocre writing always puts me off.
Have you written anywhere about why you’ve stayed so indie and not collaborated on larger budget projects to provide writing/design work? Or have you and I missed it? I know that contract work is one way that folks try to insulate themselves from the risk of low sales, so I’m curious to hear why you decided that’s not for you.
Basically I decided that it's not the life I wanted. I like working in solitude. I knew I was giving up a lot of success with that decision but I've been a happier person.