As i am quite fond of all games Napoleonic good and bad, i am wondering whether Empires in Arms is a good game to play? Does it have a competent AI that can do surprising logical things?
Regards
Isn't that the Matrix game?
If so, I remember reading threads in there that suggested it was simply awful.
The developer was very active on the forum from what I remember...but players were not having it - I think (don't quote me!) it was a combination of two game rule sets and players were not happy.
I think the general impression I got was that the main gripes were that it was PBEM and that it did not mimic the board game which I think was reverred. I can't recall whether there were many bugs...but from what I recall fixes often seemed to cause other issues.
I didn't buy the game but was "intrigued" by it - and was watching the games progress though the forums. It didn't often make for happy reading.
I would definitely suggest you don't listen to the ramblings of this nutter and take a butchers over at Matrix. You'll get an update on how things are because I haven't looked at the game thread for a year or more now
Well, this made me look over there and one of the first threads I saw was this (posted in 7th June 2012) - entitled "So is this it?"
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3119489
The other threads see some action - but it seems sparse
Thanks, i went and checked that out too. I had been looking round other websites and never had a clear idea as to the status but now from teh Matrix Games forums i can see that the game is not worth buying.
I am feeling a little frustrated with Matrix Games of late - they put out some games at quite high prices yet dont give any support for them and some are in dire need of further patches :
Commander: Napoleon at War could do with another patch to improve the AI but it seems lost now - cast into black pits and forgotten, and even newer games like Rise of Prussia Gold have alot of technical glitches
I wonder where their emphasis is at the moment,
I really think though that something like Empires in Arms should be given way more support given its popularity as a board game and the price they are charging for it
Go to the Ageod forums for Rise of Prussia support. Ageod is very responsive and is continually improving games through developer and fan supported patches.
From what I have seen, the only way to really play it is multi-player and even that apparently has issues. My recollection was that there was a lot of disappointment when it was released. There is a napoleonics group online though that seems to play the game. http://www.thegeneralshq.org/ They might have the best idea of how playable it is.
Thanks, ah yes i went over to Ageod forums like suggested - thats a great place, good to see the activity and support there. I hope Ageod keep going - their new Civil War 2 game interests me but also i hope that Napoleons Campaigns 2 gets done!
I own the boxed copy of EIA, but I've never played it due to it needing to be constantly patched. On the other hand, several patches were released for it, so work was certainly attempted at fixing it. I don't know it's status, but I would kind-of recommend Crown of Glory: Empire Edition instead anyway. (It has its own problems but is overall a better simulator of the period.)
EIA is a mess. I'd say walk away, what you want just isn't here.
You CAN play it multiplayer, if you join a decent group who know the game and boardgame inside out. But theres a lot of effort and pain to get anything out of it. You'd be better off, like others suggest, just dabbling in an AGEOD Napoleonic game.
well EIA is on sale this week at Matrix - a big drop in price- and at that price and being my love of the period i picked it up.
I would be happy to play just a single player game for now with it. Its not bad so far though i am a bit confuse with how one actually buys and places reinforcements. I dont understand what the limitations are - i evetually found a screen that lets me buy reinforcements but then when i did attempt to place them, the game kept telling me to remove or add forces and so the turn wouldnt end until i did one or the other. I no idea what the problem was nor do i know how to add forces.
so for now these aspects dont make sense to me, but at least i have achieved an alliance with turkey and prussia, playing as France.
there is an appealing flavour to the game and indeed any game which plays the 1812 overture in its background is one after my own heart!
i think i own almost every napoleonic era pc game - still a few John tillers one to get but no rush there Leipzig, Bautzen, Austerlitz, Eckmuhl and Jena Auerstedt first
^ it's good that's you're hardcore Napoleonics - 'cos from what I gather you might need to be to get enjoyment out of it.
Though I have heard of others having enjoyment from it - they haven't actually been seen in person!
There's a group of folks over at The Generals HQ, who play a lot of Napoleonic stuff, and they play EiA. You might want to check that community out for help.
Front Page
http://www.thegeneralshq.org/
Forums
http://www.thegeneralshq.org/phpBBForum/index.php
I think I signed up there at one point, invited by gazfun, to explore EiA when I purchased it.
Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. The computer game is unplayable.
Michael
Man, I've been holding out for EiA for a couple of years now. Hard to pass up at this price.
I mean, is the game really broken, or is it just not quite the same as the board game? There's a difference.
I have never played the boardgame but the discussions on the matrix forums for the pc version of it were really interesting, there seems a lot more detail to the land combat than on the surface. Its true i think one has to have a particular fondness for the period to get into it. There seems to be ahelpful tutorial out for it now too. It does seem that there is a community for it albeit a small one.
I was going to avoid it but at the low price its worth getting. I have bought far worse games for more.
Its clearly not a casual play game but it seems playable so far. It had a major patch done for it last year
Actually something else i think i like with this game are the turn phases - for me there is always so much to do in a turn in some grand strategy games, that i am overwhelmed and end up forgetting to do things but with the phases well i can put my attention on each thing in turn - ie naval, land, diplomacy, economics etc. perhaps i am wrong to like this aspect, well not so much as like but rather that i don't mind this design. I feel the game is worthwhile so far.
So what's up with the reports of it being unfinished and bug-ridden that I've seen?
If it were a split crowd, it'd be one thing, but there seems to be a lot of disappointment with the game's status.
To be fair agathosdaimon has only just got the game and some complaints seem to be about how certain things could be done better - something he may discover as he goes through the game.
However, alot of the complaints I saw were from people who did not like how it differed from the boardgame - and even then I think it's was two boardgames morphed and both boardgame fans had their hardcore views on each - therefore magnifying the issues.
I'm not saying it plays well. For a start I'm pretty sure I only "heard" of one group of people finishing a campaign - partly because of patches (which I guess they might have stayed away from) and also because of the PBEM system and the fact the phases simply prolonged the PBEM process.
I'm not entirely sure it is inherently "broke"...I get the impression alot of people think alot of things can be done better or differently.
Thanks for the thoughts JD.
Yeah, it's hard to determine if it's broke, or if the boardgame fanboys are just disappointed.
Anyway, yet again I think I'm going to take a pass. I'm not going to play it any time soon, so I'm going to hold out for Xmas sale I think.
When i get some time to play it further among everything else, i will give some further thoughts. It should be known that i am somewhat merciful in my review of some war games that have been deemed bad by the community - i like to give them all a go - i even have attempted to give the woeful rts napoleon's battles that comes free with the squad assault a go, and also the napoleon game adapted from the 2003 miniseries - its like a poor mans cossacks2 crossed with risk - its bad but still better than many mobile app games today.
Anyhow thats off topic, i say the deal is worthwhile if you are like me and just enjoy all the games out there set in the napoleonic era
well just a small update - i have played about another 2 hours of Empires in Arms and i find it quite good so far.
The 1.08 update has made a big difference too and reading both the relatively concise murats tutorial and the in game help, i have figured out now how to use my counters and also more with diplomacy. There are now 2 scenario campaigns to play also - the grand 1805-1815 and the 1812 russian campaign.
Currently it is october 1805 and despite my initial plans to go to war against austria, Prussia has started attacking my conquered territories so i have declared war on Prussia now and Brunswicks army has attacked me in Hanover and though despite my pursuit attempt has successfully withdrawn.
I am finding this all quite playable at the present and so i must wonder that perhaps with the newest patch the game is perhaps alot better than all those old reviews floating around suggest.
I dont understand all the rules yet, but i am finding it no more difficult than say Lords of The Realm 1.
My opinion so far stands - get the game while its on sale, it seems worth it so far!
Stay away its terrible
well i must disagree as it still seems to be playing as well as any grand strategy game
and its review at wargamer
http://www.wargamer.com/article/2505/pc-game-review-empires-in-arms?page=8
may be helpful to some.
what i am finding helpful in playing the game, is just in reading through the logs of what the other countries do in their phases and if i hav emissed something critical there is a message that comes up before i can end the turn so i am actually enjoying this and am not hindered by the game design - i take though if anyone attempted to play it in its initial release state it would have been frustrating with all its bugs then.