Jonric: What range and balance of gameplay can we expect to experience, and to what degree do you feel it will be replayable?

Jeff Vogel: As I said earlier, Avernum 4 is an old-school RPG, with tons of quests and dungeons and stuff to fight. You can have up to four people in your group, and the skill-based system lets you pick your mix of combat, magical and other skills.

The most important feature of Avernum 4 is its size. It's BIG, with piles of cities, hundreds of characters, almost 200 quests and the entire nation of Avernum laid out for you to explore. Even the most dedicated gamer will have to struggle to find all of the dungeons, foes and artifacts I'm piling in there.

And, of course, you can just plow through the main storyline and ignore most of the extras. It's a cool story, as you look for clues, discover who is assaulting Avernum and hunt them through the underworld. I've tried to leave a lot of freedom in the game. You can play a linear adventure, or you can just run around and go crazy.