Black and White

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Apr 23, 2001 1:25 pm

Clintanime, your best bet is to contact Interplay Customer Support, as the manual suggests. They'll want some proof of purchase, of course. Nobody likes slugs who try to play pirated software.

rapier · Post by **rapier** » Sat Apr 28, 2001 1:12 pm

Hmn, the game is cool, but the control is screwed. It's so difficult to readjust the view every minute, but it's definitely fun, especially if your cow keeps kicking around villagers, fences, trees...

TheHellion · Post by **TheHellion** » Tue May 01, 2001 5:01 pm

I'm seriously considering buying this game. I was determined to save my money, but constantly hearing about it is slowly chipping away at my willpower.

I've got just one question to pose to you fellas: flaws and all, is this game worth my $50? However innovative, intriguing, or pretty it may be, is it fun? Well, I guess that was more than one question.

I'm having the same predicament now that I had with TheSims. I finally did cave in, and bought the game, but it didn't last for me. Once the novelty wore off, there wasn't much game left. And the novelty wore off much quicker than it should have, mainly because they made the game too damned difficult. There's no time to just sit back and enjoy running your Sim's life, because you're frantically trying to keep pace with the game. Going to bathroom takes about fifteen minutes, taking a quick showever takes about thirty, and watching TV long enough to satisfy a stressed out Sim takes hours upon hours. A completely time-free mode would have been much appreciated, at least by me, and I guess I worry about the same thing with B&W. I'm not the kind of gamer that likes to be frustrated, and I've definitely heard some mixed feelings about the game's difficulty. So, what's the verdict?

[ 05-01-2001: Message edited by: TheHellion ]

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue May 01, 2001 7:54 pm

@Hellion, I can't tell what your tastes are. I can only suggest that you go to a store or friend's house and see it, first. IMO, it's not worth it. The villager AI is braindead, and too many activities just don't mirror what they're supposed to do in the manual. I suspect all the development was spent on the creatures, and the graphics engine. Just my two kopeks.

Krimmy · Post by **Krimmy** » Thu May 03, 2001 4:45 pm

I played the game for awhile and was enjoying it. What wore me down was the constant rebuilding process everytime you reach another chapter. And the the chapter that broke the cow's back was

spoiler

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The one where it opens and the rival god is pelting your village with fireballs every now and then(more now than then) also the comabt system was kinda screwed for me I had trouble clicking on the enemy giant because of machine lag. Very frustrating.

Anyway I liked my creature, but the constant starting from scratch killed me.

VoodooDali · Post by **VoodooDali** » Sat May 19, 2001 5:30 pm

I got this game when it came out, and have mixed feelings about it. Part of the problem is that BG2 has spoiled me.
It has the same look as Sacrifice does---wonder if it used the same game engine or something? Anyone know? I'm ignorant on that subject. If I had to compare it to Sacrifice, I would say that I definitely liked Sacrifice better--the gameplay was a little less linear, and the story line and battles were much more interesting.
However--I love the creature. I cannot overstate that--the creature in B&W is awesome. I LOVE MY CREATURE!!! Never have I felt so strongly about a computer-created character. I hope every game developer takes a look at this and tries to incorporate some of what B&W did with this creature. It really has AI--it can learn! For example, if you don't punish it for eating people, it will routinely pick them up and munch on them, which makes your villagers unhappy and causes you problems if you are a benevolent god. I wonder what BG would be like with some variation of this kind of AI???
The things that I didn't like about B&W:
The storyline is surprisingly boring. I didn't feel anything toward the other gods.
There is too much micro-management of resources involved in the game. The villagers bitch all the time in some parts of the story, no matter what you do. If I'm a god, I expect a lot more praise! I want to be worshipped! I don't know...there's some kind of humorous aspect of the game that doesn't get played up enough--but if you describe the game to other people, it sounds like it would be funnier.
If I had to categorize B&W, I would say that it's more of an adventure/RTS game. Role-playing doesn't figure into it too much, although it could.
I haven't tried it multi-player, and it seems as though it would be a lot more fun that way.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Fri May 25, 2001 8:19 pm

I just got the game.
Damn, i need more memory. Games are getting to big for this old computer.
Can you believe i only have a pentium 2 processor? And they've come out with no. 4.

Yshania · Post by **Yshania** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 10:37 am

I have had B&W for some time and been into BG series/IWD/planescape for years.

I think the trick with this game is not to compare it to BG - it is nothing like it. I do not consider B&W to be a RPG as such. If you need to compare the game then it is more like Settlers meets Tamagotchi!!

The graphics are fantastic and it has great AI, but I did find it more of a game you can pick up and put down, unlike true RPG where you have a storyline to remember....

In essence it is a great game (especially if you play online - seeing your creature kissing other friendly creatures and teaching them how to dance on the beach at sundown is SOOO funny!)

The funniest sight ever was seeing my Tiger teaching the village kids how to bodypop and telling them off for walking away, lining them up again, then have them all line-dance. I had stomach ache from laughing!!!

Yorick · Post by **Yorick** » Tue Jun 26, 2001 10:27 am

I've got to say I'm a bit disappointed. I was really into the whole concept, but the gameplay is quite irritating and unecessarily detailed, and I feel belittled by the dialogue and creature options. Stroking my creature makes it happy??!!

Scrolling around on the spot is nigh impossible and saving a game is an involved process... grab land until you get in temple, go in temple, go in room, pick slot. If there's a "quick save" I haven't found it yet.

Maybe it will get better. I hope so. However, there's always Planescape, Shogun and ToB on my list of things to do....

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Jun 26, 2001 11:23 pm

Originally posted by Yorick:
<STRONG><snip>Scrolling around on the spot is nigh impossible and saving a game is an involved process... grab land until you get in temple, go in temple, go in room, pick slot. If there's a "quick save" I haven't found it yet.
<snip></STRONG>

Clicking F4 will take you directly inside the temple from anywere - I can't rembmer if there is a shortcut to take you to the saveroom, if there is, it's most likely F5/F6.
Besides the game autosaves on it's own.

[ 06-27-2001: Message edited by: Xandax ]

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 4:20 am

SPOILER!!!!

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I got very bored of this game right about the time one has to face nemisis and you have to detroy all of those buildings so your creature stops getting smaller and more evil. The game had lost it's excitment. I also couldn't do anthing with my creature so i got bored

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 4:45 am

I got bored way before that

I haven't played it since I got Fallout Tactics.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 5:11 am

Whats that like, played a demo of it, not to sure yet.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 5:38 am

Fallout Tactics?? - I liked it a lot.
There were some bugs, but nothing serious with my game (I didn't patch it though, because I heard that that would casue some serious bugs)

There were some bad points though, like the inability to interact with the surrondings, like not being able to blow up walls and stuff.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Wed Jul 25, 2001 10:12 am

Its not really replayable. Its all the same. And the later lands are impossible to beat.