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RPG Vault has posted a lengthy interview with Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel about the recently released Avernum 5. The latest installment in the long running series takes a new direction with the story, allowing players to explore as a group of soldiers from the above ground world of the Empire who have descended into Avernum's depths to search for the murderer of their Empress.

Jonric: How substantial will the quest element be, including both the optional tasks and those that lie on the path of the main story?
Jeff Vogel: There are hundreds of quests in Avernum 5, from minor hunting side tasks to huge arcs that span the entire game. The most involved one has to do with hunting down a long series of unusual and dangerous monsters. Some of them are quite hard to find, and all of them have their own unique and nasty abilities. Not many players will be able to complete this entire quest.

Every town also has a job board. In addition to the various missions that the townsfolk will give you, if you feel the need for more equipment or experience, you can always go to it to get something new to do.

Jonric: What technological improvements are you making this time? And why do you develop the Mac versions of your games first?
Jeff Vogel: Avernum 5 has nicer graphics and sound than Avernum 4. We redid a lot of it to add a nice bit of flash. However, we're still a small indie company. If you need nice 3D graphics and full stereo sound, you probably won't be happy with our games. We focus on what we can do - provide a huge game with a cool story and lots of variety.

I write the game for Mac first because, simply, I get more work done faster when I use Macintoshes. I'm not trying to start an argument here. I know other people have their own preference. For me, it's just where I'm most productive.

RPG Vault: Jeff Vogel Talks Avernum 5

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