我最初的想法是你可以让这么一大群生物侍奉你,还可以随心情照料或是杀掉他们。我一直在考虑什么样的人才会获得创造生命的力量,而这股力量又会如何被这些人所运用。之后我又不忍畅想这些种族与自然是什么关系,最重要的是他们和他们手下的造物又会如何相处。这就是我创作的来龙去脉。
The basic idea was that I wanted a game where you could make this horde of creatures to serve you, and care for them or let them get slaughtered according to your whim. I had to think of what sort of people could gain this power, and how they would treat it. And then I thought about how they would interact with the world around them, and, more importantly, how they would interact with the creatures they make. And that's where the plot came from.
Jeff Vogel,
Spiderweb Software 创始人Jeff Vogel,
Founder of Spiderweb Software
这种自由度正是《基因制造》真正的闪光点。你的抉择,从角色构建到与 NPC 交流,最终都真正地影响到了游戏中的世界。一个角色的家乡可能会是另一个玩家的敌营。是想不惜一切代价获得力量还是只做你认为是对的事情?只要你想,你就能获得各种力量,前提是你足够强大或者足够狡猾。当你看着自己的造物逐渐成长,自己的魔法日益变强,自己的战技日渐精进,你一定会获得力量上的满足感。
玩家在游戏中做出的种种抉择都与结局息息相关。本作结局丰富多彩,同时区别于传统的“非黑既白”模式。结局时弹出的幻灯片会描述你的选择所造成的影响,而你在游戏中全程做出的选择都会带来不同的幻灯片。此外,游戏总会让人出乎意料:你认为的“明智”选择并不总是会带来你预想中的结果。
This, in my opinion, is where the game truly shines. Your choices, both in character build and NPC interaction, have tangible consequences in the game world. What is one player's hometown is another's enemy fortress. Do you consume power at all costs, or do you try to do what you think is right? All options are available, and power is yours for the taking if you are strong enough or cunning enough. The sense of power, as I mentioned earlier, is satisfying as your entourage of creatures grows, your magic gets more powerful, and your combat skills improve.
The choices continue to lead up to the ending of the game. There are several endings possible, and not just of the “last-minute good or evil” type. Your choices throughout the game lead up to a set of ending slides, which describe the impact of your choices. Again, the game does not disappoint: “good” choices do not always lead to the outcome that you might think.
对我而言,此作作为系列第一部作品只是一个伟大系列的起点。游戏制作者 Jeff Vogel 想要做的是横跨五部游戏的宏大故事。游戏的体验过程中既有高潮也有低谷,但总体而言《基因制造》带给了我一段绝佳的体验和一个发生在光怪陆离的世界中的绝妙故事。
回顾整个系列,这些选择仍在激发我关于对力量的约束、利用致命的力量或是终结不公但却必要的奴隶制等道德命题的思考。
《基因制造》像《辐射(Fallout)》和《奥秘(Arcanum)》一样给我留下了深刻印象。玩家不单可以探索整个世界,更能塑造整个世界。
重制版:
2020 年,Spiderweb 在 Kickstarter 上启动了 Geneforge 1 - Mutagen 众筹,这是第一个游戏的重制版。它筹集了 85,141 美元,于 2021 年发布,适用于 Windows、Mac 和 iPad。
For me, the first game was just a starting point of a wonderful series. What creator Jeff Vogel has done with this series is create a coherent story of the Shapers that spans all five games. There are highs and lows along the way, but taken in total they provided me with a wonderful experience, and a fantastic story of a strange world.
Throughout the series, the choices continued to provoke my thoughts about the morality involving the control of power, and whether ends of containing deadly power or ending unjust slavery justify whatever means necessary. By the end of the five-game series, I had become attached to the world of the Shapers, and sad to see the journey end.
The Geneforge games, like both Fallout and Arcanum, impress me as games where not only does the player explore the world, but the player shapes the world.
Remake:
In 2020 Spiderweb kickstarted Geneforge 1 - Mutagen, a remaster of the first game. It raised $85,141 USD and was released in 2021, for Windows, Mac and iPads.