Fate of the Dragon

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Apr 03, 2001 7:44 pm

I just wondered if anybody had tried this new Eidos game out, yet. It seems to be more RPG and strategy-oriented than most of their action-based, T&A releases.

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 9:24 am

I have downloaded the demo. But haven't had a chance to play it yet.

Here's a link to the download. [url="http://pc.ign.com/previews/14372.html"]http://pc.ign.com/previews/14372.html[/url]

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 8:35 pm

@fable...I played the demo tonight. My opinion will be biased...I have always liked ROTK.

As for the game it seems to be based on the same system AoE2 used , with some cool options added (ex. Hiring Hero's ) I really found it better than Aoe2. (ex. Farms don't have to be replanted...Walls are already built...You can assign officers to positions) I would say any one who liked Aoe2 should at least download the demo and give it a try.

(btw I will be buying it

)

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Apr 05, 2001 12:16 pm

Neat, Weasel. How do you find game balance, and AI? These are two major concerns I'd have on games like FotD that go into so many different areas (combat, economy, diplomacy).

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Thu Apr 05, 2001 4:47 pm

@fable....I have played it some more and have found some 'bugs'...(Might not be bugs just let downs)

1. Your people are given a gauge..(This varies..ex. 150% ) and the more you move around out side of a city it drops ,which hurts your fighting Stn. So using this I would wait for the enemy to attack and then run one man all around the screen (Out side of the city) till I tired the enemy out then, head back to the castle. The A.I never caught on to this.

2. All of the ones I have played so far have been defensive....The enemys city have not been on the map..(I hope the full game is not like this)

3. Pause...pause..A lot of pausing and swapping maps. I had to keep track of my city plus the one I was helping...Hero's appear in the inns in your city and I have not found out a way yet to keep up with them , except thur pausing and checking the inns every month for new ones.

4.Fog of war works different than any game I have ever played....once you explore an area and leave it goes back the same way...all black. If you have a good memory this isn't too bad. (It even happens in your own city.)

5.As for game balance the first 20 minutes seem to be economy , then all combat after that. No diplomacy in the demo..(there is a button...just nothing to do with it in the demo)

My new opinion...I still like the game , but will not pay over $20.00 US for it. Maybe if it had a scenario editor with it I would pay more. Replay seems to be lacking (Out of the 4 games I played)

I would recommend the download to anybody before they bought the game.

More to come........

KidD01 · Post by **KidD01** » Mon May 21, 2001 10:41 am

1. Your people are given a gauge..(This varies..ex. 150% ) and the more you move around out side of a city it drops ,which hurts your fighting Stn. So using this I would wait for the enemy to attack and then run one man all around the screen (Out side of the city) till I tired the enemy out then, head back to the castle. The A.I never caught on to this.

This is just a kind of stamina bar, which is why in the game they got unit to deploy tends. It was ment for the unit to rest there. BTW The tend were supplied with wine and food. If you camp your unit make sure the supply does not runs out - this is were the supply units come handy. The mian purpose of this thing is to make the game more realistic, i.e to siege a town you require constant flow of supply.

2. All of the ones I have played so far have been defensive....The enemys city have not been on the map..(I hope the full game is not like this)

In the scenarios you can see the enemy city, sometimes more than 1. Also there are some villages you might want to capture in order to boost your tax income.

[QUOTE[3. Pause...pause..A lot of pausing and swapping maps. I had to keep track of my city plus the one I was helping...Hero's appear in the inns in your city and I have not found out a way yet to keep up with them , except thur pausing and checking the inns every month for new ones.[/QUOTE]
Yes, the worst is to navigate with the terrain map and your city map. Not to mention if you have 3 or 4 towns to handle. This is when you reach the mid part of the game.

4.Fog of war works different than any game I have ever played....once you explore an area and leave it goes back the same way...all black. If you have a good memory this isn't too bad. (It even happens in your own city.)

This can be reduced after you reach certain tech level when you can upgrade building line of sight. And FYI upgrading tech require lots of resources, not to mention a highly resouceful Science officer. In my case, I assigned Zuge Liang or Liu Bei himself.

5.As for game balance the first 20 minutes seem to be economy , then all combat after that. No diplomacy in the demo..(there is a button...just nothing to do with it in the demo)

There's certain scenarios that don't require economy. I.e, a scenario when Zao Yun were asked to rescue Lie Bie's child, scenario when Liu Bei evacuate from Siang Yang and burned it down to trap Chao Chao troops.

It's a great game, but require constant loading since sometime you got stuck in a scenario. If you're not that kind of die hard player you can always try to cheat. But I don't find it enjoyable anymore with the cheats on.

P.S. : I've completed Liu Bei's quest