Worlds of Magic 1.0 released

[Rayfer]

Ouch....this Gamespot review tears WoM to shreds....I haven't played the game but I'm curious as to the replies by those who have.  http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/worlds-of-magic-review/1900-6416080/

[doomtrader]

You are right Rayfer, but honestly I do find a lot of bad will and this particular review as very unprofessional.
If a reviewer can't find any pros in such huge game  (somehow others were able) and is focusing on bugs and describing which features are not in the game, then this means that he doesn't do his job right.

[Nefaro]

The GOG version will be released after we will implement greater zoom out, which is scheduled for next week, so I would expect GOG version within two weeks. Sorry it tooks so long but we just can't afford another bad "start".

Oooh, that's a nice one. Thanks!  O0

Agreed.

When I tried it awhile back, the close-up zoom restriction was really in your face (literally).  Will be nice to zoom out a bit further.  O0

[Greybriar]

Ouch....this Gamespot review tears WoM to shreds....I haven't played the game but I'm curious as to the replies by those who have.  http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/worlds-of-magic-review/1900-6416080/

That's a very negative review. Since my DRM-Free version of Worlds of Magic is not yet available and I haven't played it, I can neither confirm nor deny what the author, Daniel Starkey, has written. Certain sections of the review, however, seem to indicate to me that he has never played Master of Magic. Perhaps that would explain part of his negativity.

[Swatter]

You are right Rayfer, but honestly I do find a lot of bad will and this particular review as very unprofessional.
If a reviewer can't find any pros in such huge game  (somehow others were able) and is focusing on bugs and describing which features are not in the game, then this means that he doesn't do his job right.

I have read several reviews that say pretty much the same things are far as pros and cons, but this review does strike me as unprofessional and unduly harsh. At the same time, I don't trust any one source, especially the big sites like GameSpot. You never know if the reviewer is going easy on a game released by a big publisher who provides them with access to other things. Its not really fair that some guy, whom the game obviously rubbed wrong, can wield so much power to hurt the game.

If its any consultation, whenever I buy a steam game I read all of the steam reviews, with particular emphasis on the recent ones.

[Rayfer]

I sometimes wish companies would just stop with the 'spiritual successor to Master of Magic' claims. Personally, I don't want one. That game was awesome when it was released in 1994, but that was 21 years ago. Come up with something new, different, better, creative, imaginative and innovative. The past is gone....let it go.

[Swatter]

I don't agree with that. There is nothing wrong with emulating a classic, Pillars of Eternity did it brilliantly. Obsidian didn't re-invent the wheel, they simply ripped off every good thing about Baldur's Gate and brought it up to modern design standards. They are raking it in with an old, but good formula.

The design of Master of Magic is a timeless blend of options and detail. Certainly by today's standard the UI would be clunky and unreasonable, but put within a modern context it would still be brilliant. WoM sounds like its having teething troubles, though.

[tgb]

I don't agree with that. There is nothing wrong with emulating a classic, Pillars of Eternity did it brilliantly. Obsidian didn't re-invent the wheel, they simply ripped off every good thing about Baldur's Gate and brought it up to modern design standards. They are raking it in with an old, but good formula.

There's nothing wrong with updating classic formulae.  In fact, I'm loving Pillars at the moment, and played the crap out of XCOM,  Given my druthers, I'd still prefer it if developers came up with fresher ideas.  I'd like to see more guys out there like Vic Davis or Rod Humble who aren't afraid to break new ground, even if their games aren't 100% successful.

[Rayfer]

I don't agree with that. There is nothing wrong with emulating a classic, Pillars of Eternity did it brilliantly. Obsidian didn't re-invent the wheel, they simply ripped off every good thing about Baldur's Gate and brought it up to modern design standards. They are raking it in with an old, but good formula.

The design of Master of Magic is a timeless blend of options and detail. Certainly by today's standard the UI would be clunky and unreasonable, but put within a modern context it would still be brilliant. WoM sounds like its having teething troubles, though.

I get what you're saying swatter and part of me agrees with you....I too am loving Pillars of Eternity, which is deeply rooted in the old Baldur's Gate games. I guess what I am trying to say is we too often criticize a new fantasy 4X game for what it isn't rather than enjoying it for what it is. We too often let the past prevent us from enjoying the present.

[FarAway Sooner]

I don't disagree with either of you.  There's a blend between innovation and taking what works best.  Innovation is higher risk, but when done right, the rewards are greater.  My own sense is that, while there's a certain amount of innovation in the PC gaming industry today, it's modest at best.  For every Endless Legend, there are 4 or 5 games like Warlock, Warlock 2, of Age of Wonders 3 that all have their selling points but not as much innovation.  (and even Endless Legend only features mechanical innovations on the basic premise of city building and expansion)

10 years go, I preferred games that offered great execution around proven principles and a new wrinkle or two in game play.  These days, I find myself getting tired of solid execution and wanting titles that take more risks even if they don't always work out.  The most innovative fantasy title in recent years has been, I think, the Eador series, but Genesis had too crude a UI (as one might expect from a one-man effort) and Masters of the Broken World had a buggy implementation that the dev team never has been able to fix.

I'm very intrigued by this title, but I'd like to see more glowing reviews for it before I take the plunge.  Too many other titles and not nearly enough time for me these days...

[Huw the Poo]

Aaaahhhhh......fuck it.  As Jarhead would say, I broke down.  The updates are coming thick and fast (one a day I gather) and it looks/sounds amazing so....I bought it.

Will post impressions later. :)

[undercovergeek]

Aaaahhhhh......fuck it.  As Jarhead would say, I broke down.  The updates are coming thick and fast (one a day I gather) and it looks/sounds amazing so....I bought it.

Will post impressions later. :)

come on  man - post, its this or the piddling about in space one

[Huw the Poo]

Well I still highly recommend the piddling about in space one!  This does look bloody good at first glance though.  I was too tired to get into it last night but I'll be dipping in and out today.  One observation I made straight away is that it isn't very forgiving when it comes to hardware requirements!  I had my case fans on full blast and my GPU was still hitting nearly 70 degrees.  I might try lowering the graphics quality.

But it is a beautiful game to look at.  Some of the menu elements are a bit basic but in general it's gorgeous...I found myself just sitting and staring at the map.  It's a world I could quite happily live in, if not for the rampaging hordes of monsters.  Loads and loads of options to start the game as well, I was like a kid in a sweet shop choosing from all the different spells.  I absolutely love having all those different planes to play in too.

Oh, one other thing that struck me as well was that sending out a single unit to explore is not enough!  Every interactive site I found was very well defended.

Looking forward to playing more!

[bbmike]

Wow, I'm glad I'm not alone. I think the game looks good too. A lot of people (and reviews) are complaining about how bad it looks.

[Huw the Poo]

Really?  I understand there are some remaining issues with the game but I can hardly see why anyone would complain about the graphics - the game is really pretty in my opinion.  Although I was also one of the few who didn't complain about the graphics of A Valley Without Wind, too. ;)