Ok, dominions is such a great game it got me hooked on this new genre. I am looking at "Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic"...seems similar. How is it? How does it compare to Dominions? Is it deep and complex? If it sucks, are there other good ones that are relatively new (no 1999 games please)?
I did not care for Fallen Enchantress
I like Conquest of Elysium 3. It's made by the same developers as Dominions 3. And it's only $10 so if you hate it, there is little to be lost.
On my phone now so won't say much except that Shadow Magic is one of the greatest games of all time!
CoE3 is great too!
Come to Warlock Master of the Arcane. You'll not regret it.
Quote from: MetalDog on April 14, 2013, 07:02:55 PM
Come to Warlock Master of the Arcane. You'll not regret it.
How did I know you were going to say that. :)
I have to agree with MD especially if you want something combat heavy.
I don't really like Warlock...hard to explain but it seemed that I was just playing civ 5 with a fantasy mod. I don't want to be able to just build a bunch of improvements and buy units. I like Dominions because you use commanders that troops must be under. The commanders can get improvements like armour and weapons and the game allows you to role play with them.
Shadow magic seems to be getting great reviews. I'm still enjoying dominions but would like a little more flash in the graphics department. Not a big deal at all, but if I can get a similar "your wizard vs these bad guys" experience with better graphics i will give it a go
Masters of the Broken World will be released Friday, assuming it's not pushed back. That comes closest to what you're looking for, I think. The only caveat is that the last beta was very rough, and many people, myself included, are concerned about it being ready for prime time. Read some reviews and watch some play videos before jumping in.
OK I have time to say a bit more now.
Quote from: mikeck on April 14, 2013, 06:50:40 PM
I am looking at "Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic"...seems similar. How is it? How does it compare to Dominions? Is it deep and complex?
It's definitely comparable to Dom3 in terms of depth. Each nation has a distinctive feel and there are a lot of mages you can play as, as well as creating your own! There's a massive list of spells and skills, not as many as Dom3 but still plenty. The graphics aren't the most modern but the environments are beautifully drawn and accompanied by one the best in-game soundtracks I've heard. Being able to roam underground and in the shadow realm adds some options, too. I can't recommend Shadow Magic highly enough; it's a lovingly crafted and wonderfully complete game. I've never heard a bad word said about it, and with good reason.
Bought
Yay! When you're finally able to tear yourself away from it, don't forget to post here about how awesome you found it! ;)
whens the new one due?
Quote from: Huw the Poo on April 15, 2013, 01:15:53 AM
It's definitely comparable to Dom3 in terms of depth.
Naaa.. AOW doesn't have as much variety to it as Dom3. It still has more than most others, however.
I'm hoping the new Eador is serviceable at release. Been debating pre-ordering it but I'm willing to spend an extra $2 after release to be sure.
Geek, if I recall correctly AoW3 is due late this year! \o/
If you're brand new to the genre, I have a bunch of options to recommend:
- Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic: Has a huge cult following, but I never quite understood why (or maybe the basic Campaign game just sucked me in).
- Heroes of Might & Magic III: Best title in the whole HoMM series. Not a traditional 4x where you build new cities based on terrain, etc., but it's a rich, deep series and largely defined the Fantasy TBS genre for the latter half of the 90s.
- Conquest of Elysium: Think Dominions Lite.
- Eador: Masters of the Broken World: This one has the potential to be the innovative genre-buster for TBS Fantasy in 2013, but with a 4/19 launch and nobody having seen a smoothly functioning Beta yet, it might take a few months to whip this launch from small Russian indie developer Snowbird into shape. It's also not traditional 4x, if you want to be founding lots of cities, managing your own research tree, etc.
- If you have Civ IV w/the Beyond the Sword expansion, the Fall from Heaven mod is free and had great depth. There are a few exploits for a few factions there, but I think I spent more time playing FFH than the original Civ IV.
Warlock you've already commented on, and also
Fallen Enchantress, so I'll leave that one be--although I think it's a lot of fun.
So has anyone picked up Eador Masters of a Broken World?? Released today right??
I've already played it a bit.
So far looks like Eador Genesis with better graphics and requiring some massive patching :P
Dammit...can't someone release a game that isn't half finished
Quote from: mikeck on April 19, 2013, 01:15:56 PM
So has anyone picked up Eador Masters of a Broken World?? Released today right??
ghostryder posted his thoughts on the final beta build a couple days ago over at WG, and he strongly recommended waiting until the game was thoroughly patched. Granted, this is ghostie we're talking about, so one must take his criticisms with a grain of salt; however, unlike some of his previous comments regarding games, his critiques on this one sound pretty valid.
Between that and comments from our fellow Grogs (such as
Tpek), you may want to hold off for now.
No problem; as good as Eador looks, the last thing I need right now is yet another new game.
Quote from: Martok on April 19, 2013, 03:47:08 PM
Quote from: mikeck on April 19, 2013, 01:15:56 PM
So has anyone picked up Eador Masters of a Broken World?? Released today right??
ghostryder posted his thoughts on the final beta build a couple days ago over at WG, and he strongly recommended waiting until the game was thoroughly patched. Granted, this is ghostie we're talking about, so one must take his criticisms with a grain of salt; however, unlike some of his previous comments regarding games, his critiques on this one sound pretty valid.
Between that and comments from our fellow Grogs (such as Tpek), you may want to hold off for now.
A buncha other grogs talked about the game at its old thread. Apparently it was going terrible at the beta already.
Yeah. I have dominions and AoW to scratch my nerd itch and Stardrive for my 4x itch
In fairness, some of the problems with the beta have been corrected (turn times, combat sounds, the building interface, inability to exit shops). However, I've read that there are still people having crash issues or not being able to launch the game on Win7-64 systems. Since it's on Steam and GOG, and therefore will be going on sale before too long, I'm holding off until it does and has been patched a couple of times,
I pre-ordered and downloaded it this afternoon. Haven't played with it too much, but did already get one Access violation error when clicking on the 'wheel of quarters". Haven't noticed any other issue(s) yet. [I am running Windows 7 Pro (64-bit), 4GB RAM, nVidia GTS450 (1GB vRAM)]...
I pre-ordered Eador: Masters of the Broken World from GOG.com but don't know whether to install it now or wait a couple of weeks until it's been patched. I read somewhere that it works fine right now except for the multiplayer. I also read somewhere there was a minor graphics glitch of some kind.
One thing I really, really hate is having to uninstall/reinstall games, so I will probably wait until everyone says it's fixed.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on April 14, 2013, 06:58:13 PM
On my phone now so won't say much except that Shadow Magic is one of the greatest games of all time!
CoE3 is great too!
I'm tempted to pick up CoE3 at that price. I don't know if I have the bandwidth to play it though, Dom3 is ruling my life right now wrt computer games.
Quote from: W8taminute on April 19, 2013, 05:41:07 PM
I'm tempted to pick up CoE3 at that price. I don't know if I have the bandwidth to play it though, Dom3 is ruling my life right now wrt computer games.
You will likely find CoE3 a good little pasttime whiel waiting for Dom3 turns to come in. It'll keep you immersed in the same world and lore, too. :)
Quote from: mikeck on April 19, 2013, 04:20:48 PM
Yeah. I have dominions and AoW to scratch my nerd itch and Stardrive for my 4x itch
Been doin' some Dom3 singleplayer again lately, too. 8)