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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 12:32 pm
by Heapso
Hi, I recently buy a new computer who let me finally come back in the world of computer gaming (ya ma last comp suck horribly). Anyway I was wondering which game should I try. The kind of game I play is RPG and strategie. The game a prefer at this time is Kotor, WarCraft III, Morrowind, Final Fantasy (I didn't try the XII). So any game who come close to this should be good.

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 2:22 pm
by Ideal Maxima
if u like RTS ( warcraft ) try Command & Conquer: Generals and the expansion pack Command & Conquer: Generals: Zero Hour. or if your into old fashon ther's command and conquer: tiberian sun same type as generals RTS except the graphics are more low tech u can try the demo if u want

ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/tiberiansun/ ... S_DEMO.EXE

and if u like RPG's (morrowind) try command & conquer: Renegade here's the demo

ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/renegade/pre ... MO1019.EXE

and then ther's age of empires same game as the other two RTS's the graphix r like tiberian sun here's the demo

http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... /MSAoE.exe

if u want more demos try this site

http://www.game-revolution.com/download/pc/pc.htm

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 7:07 pm
by Noober
If you actually want to play a balanced game that is still supported don't play Generals. You'd be better of with Frozen Throne or something. There have not been any really outstanding RPGs released lately.

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 7:35 pm
by fable
I'm not to go into my usual King of Dragon Pass harrangue, but I have to mention that it's a remarkable synthesis of RPG and strategy. You can read more about it here.

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 8:14 am
by Ideal Maxima
[QUOTE=Noober]If you actually want to play a balanced game that is still supported don't play Generals. You'd be better of with Frozen Throne or something. There have not been any really outstanding RPGs released lately.[/QUOTE]


well... i don no... but i havent played generals in a few monthes cuz i lended it to my friend... but when i DID play it was the BEST i mean wot's not to like about a war between a few nations?

anyway most people may not like generals but personnaly it's a favorite :)

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 11:38 am
by Heapso
How about City of Heros ?

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2004 2:46 pm
by Luis Antonio
[QUOTE=fable]I'm not to go into my usual King of Dragon Pass harrangue, but I have to mention that it's a remarkable synthesis of RPG and strategy. You can read more about it here.[/QUOTE]

<Edit here>As usual... :D

Now, on topic...

Try Neverwinternights, Doom3 (splendid night slayer), Baldurs Gate (default). You'll like, for ancient games speaking, Mechwarrior or perhaps one of Command & Conquer first games.

Good luck with your new machinna! :D

Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2004 3:02 pm
by fable
[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]You'll not? thanks god :D
[/QUOTE]

You know, some people understand when they shouldn't push things. You're obviously not one of 'em.

I'll write a *lot* more in here about why King of Dragon Pass is such a good game, later tonight. Certainly on topic, certainly relevant, and a lot less discourteous than some folks. :rolleyes:

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 4:32 am
by Noober
[QUOTE=Darc_Elv_Nyte]well... i don no... but i havent played generals in a few monthes cuz i lended it to my friend... but when i DID play it was the BEST i mean wot's not to like about a war between a few nations?

anyway most people may not like generals but personnaly it's a favorite :) [/QUOTE]

Generals was alright in terms of balance (China was still prolly the best), but Zero Hour is crazy.

Allow me to brief you on the current online state of the game (Zero Hour):
- Almost every online player thats not a tourny player is either a noob (not newb) and/or a cheater.
- One generals completely dominates all other sides except one. For that one side to beat this overpowered side however, the players skill must literally be 10x that of the cheapo side.
- Despite the amount of exploits and balance issues, EA has announced that it will no longer provide patches for the game

Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:59 am
by fable
I found an old review that I'd done of King of Dragon Pass for a magazine. As the magazine has long ago ceased operation, I have no problem in placing it, here:

Summary:

A true RPG isn’t simply one guy with three statistics hammering at demons. An RPG is meant to give you a detailed but fun experience in a novel environment—and that’s exactly what King of Dragon Pass offers. You are a barbarian clan leader in the fantasy world of Glorantha, derived from the Runequest pen-and-paper RPG. Each season you explore the surrounding lands, engage in diplomacy with your neighbors, launch raids, worship for blessings, build defenses, undertake heroquests, and deal with an unruly group of seven distinctive nobles that you select for your clan ring. You’ll need their very forthright opinions, because there are also more than four hundred plots, large and small, one of which usually triggers per season. Doing something decidedly different and doing it very well, KoDP is a must for the strategy/RPG fan who wants an immersive experience.

Review:

In a business that’s obsessed with “niche,” here’s a game that defies easy categorization: a turn-based strategy title with an extra-heavy dose of RPG, and a menu-driven simulation that puts you in detailed charge of a barbarian clan.

King of Dragon Pass takes place on the world of Glorantha, in the Runequest pen-and-paper RPG. Its clans pursue typical barbarian activities: herding, farming, exploring, trading, feuding, building different defenses, worshipping gods, forming alliances and raiding neighbors. You’re not physically represented in the game, but you manage a clan ring that is, filling its seven positions with disputatious nobles (each rated for seven unique skills, like Magic, Combat and Leadership) who willingly contribute their contrasting viewpoints and advice at every opportunity.

Like any good, turn-based resource management game, KoDP supplies dozens of activity options and forces you to make choices: two activities per season, in a five-season year. Even the simpler choices may contain a subset of selections that force you to think. Perhaps you need more farmers. Do you lower numbers in your other clan professions, buy the services of farmers away from other clans, offer land to passing vagabonds, or seek farmers from the land of your origins, far away? And do you offer incentives, like land, or land and cattle? Action fans who prefer vikings endlessly hitting one another over their horned helmets will blanch, but this spin on Celtic cultural history is fun, varied, and attractively presented.

It’s also set in a fantasy universe inhabited by dragons, ghosts, trolls and other potential health hazards, which means swords can do only so much; magic is essential. KoDP allows you to worship more than a dozen gods, who offer a range of more than fifty blessings (and curses) for an appropriate sacrifice. One of the most interesting activity choices you have involves sending your most powerful nobles on heroquests. In good, authentically shamanistic tradition, these quests are trance-state attempts to recreate powerful legends, with the hero cast in the central role of a particular god. The gods don’t die in the legends, but if your hero strays from the appropriate responses or luck is against you, the quest may turn sour. Success conveys a range of specific but powerful magical benefits upon the clan, while failure can mean anything from earth-scorching famine to your neighbors’ hatred to the quester’s death.

But the single most interesting feature in KoDP is the way it effectively becomes a different game every time its you play it. Yes, I know you’ve heard it before, but it’s never been attempted on this scale; for KoDP tracks hundreds of clan variables and more than four hundred potential plots, at least one of which is randomly generated nearly every season of your clan’s existence.

Some plots are one-shot situations with immediate, shortterm effects, like a proposed marriage between members of your clan and another’s. Others create story threads that hibernate for long periods, only to burst into view many years later—like one noble I had on a ring, whose occasional, whimsically silly, non sequitur advice about the evil of Elves suddenly turned deadly serious after more than twenty years of excellent service, when he deliberately maimed three Elves in the clan woodlands, victims of his desire to force a war.

You are always given a range of four-to-six options in every plot situation that go far beyond the usual good/evil stereotypes of so-called “interactive” gaming. Most choices offer equally effective solutions to the same problems, though with different attendant benefits and dangers. The apparently poorest reply to a given situation in one game could well provide the best results in the next, depending upon what gods you’ve worship regularly, who’s on your clan ring, your clan’s wellbeing, military might and diplomatic relations.

The interface is simplicity itself, a series of screens whose activities are grouped by subject. There’s a help mode that explains each screen, a very good in-game tutorial, and a hardcover manual that provides a great deal of highly readable detail in a well-organized format.

KoDP isn’t without its flaws. The game’s visuals feature colorful, attractive menus, but no animation—even combat is handled this way. And while the other clans follow the same rules you do, it’s easy to regard them as passive spectators, because you seldom see the effects of their actions unless you’re on the receiving end. There are few spies among Gloranthan barbarians.

You also expect to move to a new level of difficulty when your clan leads others in forming a tribe—after all, you’ve bargained away tribal ring seats to reach this point, and it seems reasonable to expect at least a periodic tribal meet to challenge your burgeoning diplomatic skills. But nothing of the sort occurs. At best, when one of your nobles is elected tribal chieftain, a few new plots affecting the tribe appear; still, it’s not much.

But I’ll gladly raise a drinking horn to toast the creators of such an original and rich game as KoDP. With variety, depth, and a Celtic folk soundtrack to die for, this game’s a solid keeper.

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 10:24 am
by fable
Here are some screens from King of Dragon Pass:

Image
This is a start of what can be one of the 600+ plots in KoDP, depending upon how you treat the priestess' remarks. Note the response by one of your council members. You choose who's on the council, selecting the best of several dozen in a variety of different skills. They'll voice distinct and often contrasting opinions, but the ultimate choice on any of these matters is yours.

Image
Your basic combat screen. No action, but at least you can select from a range of targets, sacrifice possibilities, tactics and magic.

Image
This is the screen where you select council members from your best available citizens. There are more stat categories than offered, but these are the best for the highlighted potential. Over time, as they stay on the council, their stats will improve. You can also perform magic quests that can force these improvements.

Image
From this screen, you can select the number of people to send on a raid, including footman, weaponsthanes, and auxilliaries. You can one ally or tribe that owes you a favor to come along, too.

Image
The game tracks your activities each season as though it were a logbook. You can check entries for any given year of your reign.

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 11:13 am
by dragon wench
Fable,
I have been looking at the website and the links where the game can be bought, but it no longer seems available online, do you know if the company itself is still in operation, and whether or not they are still producing the game?
There is an option to send a cheque in USD, but I'd rather know the company still exists before I do that.


EDIT
Oh, never mind, I just figured it out :o ;)

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 12:25 pm
by fable
I just went to this link from the A-Sharp website, and found it possible to buy the item. I know the company is still around, too, if that helps.

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 12:44 pm
by Luis Antonio
[QUOTE=fable]You know, some people understand when they shouldn't push things. You're obviously not one of 'em.

I'll write a *lot* more in here about why King of Dragon Pass is such a good game, later tonight. Certainly on topic, certainly relevant, and a lot less discourteous than some folks. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE]

Nah fable, be sure I just wanted you to make your other post explaining it... Never meant to offend you or something, sorry.

Dont be mad with me, cause I know how it feels. My friends know nothing about Baldurs Gate, and when I started theyr education they just couldnt handle my enthusiasm...

BTW, I'm considering buying KODP. Seems a game based on strategy and sequencial decisions, in a very deep atmosphere.

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 7:17 am
by fable
Not a problem, Luis. KODP shouldn't be that expensive: $19.95, which is roughly 15-16 Euros. It comes with a good manual, too, not one of those flimsy 4-page quick start guides that often poses as a manual, these days.

I only wish the game had done better for A-Sharp, the developers. But they chose to market it themselves, and without any advanced publicity--simply using the Web. Of course, most of the magazines ignored it, and most potential players were unaware of it. I can see why A-Sharp decided not to pursue a second game, despite having a ready-made engine.

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 9:41 am
by Luis Antonio
[QUOTE=fable]Not a problem, Luis. KODP shouldn't be that expensive: $19.95, which is roughly 15-16 Euros. It comes with a good manual, too, not one of those flimsy 4-page quick start guides that often poses as a manual, these days.

I only wish the game had done better for A-Sharp, the developers. But they chose to market it themselves, and without any advanced publicity--simply using the Web. Of course, most of the magazines ignored it, and most potential players were unaware of it. I can see why A-Sharp decided not to pursue a second game, despite having a ready-made engine.[/QUOTE]

You like manuals too? One of the reasons for me to like Baldurs Gate series was the manual, the story... I hated Unreal The awakening manual, for example, a four page book... if you can call that a book :rolleyes: . And I dont like manuals in PDF format, even though they make games cheaper.

Yeah, I havent played it, but it seems to me that the game could have become a classic. They needed to have some extra marketing work over it to work, though, IMO. Similar to what they did to Blair's witch. The movie itself was good, low budget, and was heavily hyped (is this the word?) over. Sold like water in the desert...

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 10:36 am
by fable
[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]You like manuals too? One of the reasons for me to like Baldurs Gate series was the manual, the story... I hated Unreal The awakening manual, for example, a four page book... if you can call that a book :rolleyes: . And I dont like manuals in PDF format, even though they make games cheaper.[/quote]

Complete agreement. If you check back at some of the classic CRPGs of yore--the Wizardry series, the Might and Magic series, the KOEI series--they made the manual in effect a part of the game. It not only gave you material about the product, it gave you a taste of the world, and raised your expectations. It prepared you to go adventuring in your emotions, as well as your head.

Yeah, I havent played it, but it seems to me that the game could have become a classic. They needed to have some extra marketing work over it to work, though, IMO. Similar to what they did to Blair's witch. The movie itself was good, low budget, and was heavily hyped (is this the word?) over. Sold like water in the desert...

At the time, everybody was deep into the "Internet sales boom," and A-Sharp came to the (wrong) conclusion that they could do well simply by word of mouth and putting up the product for sale on the Web. That way, they thought they could get around the exorbitant prices for shelf display charged by the couple of game store chains that know they have a distribution monopoly. They saved money, alright--but they made very little in return. The Internet market simply isn't at that level of sophistication, yet.

KODP has already been inducted into Home of the Underdogs' Hall of Fame, and they typically don't enter many from recent years. It's definitely one of a kind. (Whereas can you maintain a tribal council and watch them age and eventually die, awaiting your choice of replacements?) A shame the market didn't permit it to become anything more.

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:27 pm
by giles337
that game looks ridiculously awesome. is there anyway to get in in the uk, other than foreign shipping? As for a good rts, did any of you ever play knights and merchants? or Seven kingdoms?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:48 pm
by fable
These UK sites are listed on this page:

Caliver Books, Essex
Cardiff Games, Cardiff
Highlander Games, Scotland
Leisure Games, London
Not Just Stamps, High Wycombe
Orcs Nest, London
Patriot Comics, Sheffield
Playin' Games, London
Spirit Games, Staffordshire
Static, Glasgow
Travelling Man, Leeds
Wayland's Forge, Birmingham

As for Kings and Merchants and Seven Kingdoms, yes, I played 'em both. Each was pretty good, as I recall. You might also want to try Patrician III, if you liked the frist. Exceptionally good, open-ended Renaissance trading game combined with aspects of SimCity.

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 8:00 pm
by Bloodthroe
Lords of the Realm 3 is a real-time-strategy game like warcraft.
Diablo 2 is a good game, also.
I have more suggestions, but I do most of my gaming on the console, not the PC.