Another good game for Linux

A game I played and actually finished, it was relatively short, though it offered a lot of fun... and another version is in the works for 2009.

Eschalon: Book 1 is a classical turn-based roleplaying game. There are tense moments, but I didn't click myself to death. Another good thing is the openness of the world; you can go anywhere at any time, few parts are inaccessible (which doesn't mean it is safe). Worth trying out.


Things to do:
- generating of content is based on the characters level at the moment of opening of the container... note to self, if I play it another time, I should leave a couple of chests etc. unopened in the 'easy' parts, for massive profit later on
- one thing that seems to work well with all monsters is to walk in a line for some time, then change direction; they will lose a move and I will get a head start. Ideal for an archer if he has the space and needs to run around to avoid the nastier critters.
- setting off traps by shooting them with arrows is a great perk
- never really got into alchemy and making potions; but it got much easier with two rings of the right kind when enchanting items becomes possible

Monsters I really disliked:
- Acid Grubs - destroying equipment scares the pack rat out of you; and maybe it was just an illusion, but they always seemed to follow the character even if he ran half a map away. Nasty things, one nice location to dispose of them is the Giant Village.
- Raptors - they seemed a bit out of place; but a good combat challenge, just don't let them surround you. Separate and kill; there is one place where you can crush them in their gardens.
- overall bad: being attacked from several sides. Even the weakest critters gave me a hard time

Annoying/boring parts:
- picking a lock, and breaking your last lockpick, when you would have to travel far for another; this is where I save/loaded the most
- diseases are very ugly, not to mention of being cursed - are there any ways of overcoming them besides the expensive potions or spells? Perhaps food could give an increased chance of defeating a disease.
- getting entangled in trees while 'w'alking
- looking for a basic ingredient for a looong time... nobody had it, and even restocked shops just seemed to avoid it. Darn.

Misc:
- reuse of some characters once their quests are complete would be nice - for example the old man with a boat could take you somewhere
- how about bolt spells that would hit several monsters in a row
- I went through the 70 pound quest, but the guy kept offering it to me... bug?
- the carried weight was not recalculated after arrows were dropped from quiver (noticed it when overencumbered)
- poltergeists not able to pass through walls or doors - good for the game, allowing them to do that would do more for realism and make them scarier


In general, I have to commend the balanced play; once I learned the basics, I was rarely challenged for life, (mostly with important monsters or when I got reckless); but also rarely able to just breeze through a map and waltz through lesser opponents. I also never had huge amounts of money, that you ordinarily expect from these games. Great work done here.

It was relatively short, which is really good with my lack of time. :)

New Life on the Blog

Was it really a year without a single post?

Well, now I have a few things to post here, so I guess I will. Any updates to follow may be very irregular, beware.