Avernum 3: Ruined World - Jeff Vogel Blog

Jeff Vogel talks about his second remake of Exile 3:

We Released Avernum 3: Ruined World.

In 1997, I wrote a hit game.

It was called Exile 3: Ruined World. It and its remasters are the most popular games I've ever written.

Bear in mind this game was a hit by 1997 shareware standards, not 2018 indie standards. It made enough to buy a modest 1997-priced house. It didn't make enough to buy a mega-mansion. But I'm certainly not complaining.

In 2002, I remastered the game into Avernum 3. It sold a lot of copies. Then, this week, twenty years after its first release, we shipped Avernum 3: Ruined World, the second remaster of this title. If my email is to be believed, a lot of people want it.

This is a brief story of writing a game that did really well and figuring out how to deal with it.

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After 16 months on Avernum 3, I'm really itching to do something new again. I hope I never have to remaster it again. Check in with me in 2033.

We are starting a whole new series. New world, new game engine, new system, maybe even a Kickstarter.

I hope you like Avernum 3. If you aren't sure about it, we have a demo. If you loved it as a kid, I hope that I kept the things you love alive.

On to the next.

It will be interesting to see if Jeff does a Kickstarter.

It's curious that he hasn't decided yet. He's been thinking about it for years. I hope he does, personally.

Originally Posted by Pongo
It's curious that he hasn't decided yet. He's been thinking about it for years. I hope he does, personally.

What do you think is stopping him? I think he is reluctant to commit to regular communication with backers and all the malarky that goes with Kickstarter. It can be a significant business cost investment but the potential payback is greater I think.

I suspect that you're right to be honest. Another possibility might be that he's decided to do it but doesn't want to take attention away from the recent release of Avernum III by "announcing" it.

Again a great read. Somewhat concerning that not having art for horses was enough to cancel hat feature instead of paying an artist a few bucks to create a few new sprites.

He has a pattern of strictly keeping things his way and on his terms. That’s my take on why he is hesitant to take money. I’m sure he has had dozens of opportunities to scale up over the years.

Yep, that also maeans that he wants to be as independent as possible, which limits the scope of any project quite a bit.

Something new from Jeff Vogel? Avadon didn't feel so new, and aside from that, Geneforge was the last time he did so. Looking forward to what he's going to 'steal' this time!

Originally Posted by Kordanor
paying an artist a few bugs

Not sure that'd work…

Waiting for the religiously regular Avernum 3 patch v1.0.1

After remaking games for so long, I have my doubts as to whether he could even follow through on an entirely new project. Complacency tends to ween out creativity.

Originally Posted by Moorkh
Not sure that'd work…

*cough* Yeah…probably not. Corrected.

It's always interesting to read what he has to say.

I trust in Vogel, I would happily throw some dollars his way. More dollars, I mean. Lots more!

Vogel has milked his recycled bletch for at least a decade now, I shudder to see what he has planned next.

I'm always excited to see anything new from Jeff. I'm sure I'll really enjoy whatever it is (and then enjoy each inevitable sequel less and less).

Jeff is currently doing an AMA on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comme…oftware_since/

Some info as take away: Sounds like the new engine is icon based 2d, but top down and not isometric anymore.

And Kickstarter is coming early summer! \o/

Top down? No thanks

"top down and not isometric anymore"

Well, as long as it doesn't end up looking like something knocked together in Visual Basic forms, like that more recent Knights of the Chalice game :/

Really depends on the definition of top down and isometric.
Knights of the Chalice for example I'd still call isometric (in it's ugliest form)
Top down is Heros of Steel RPG or FTL but also the term "icon" frightens me. Don't want to play with symbols.