Warlock Released

[Bison]

^ what he said.  And get it on steam!

[Martok]

It's only sandbox mode.

The "missions" you get are just some semi-random ones in those sandbox games.  Very similar to those little missions given in the Total War games for some rewards.   I'm often bottoming out my gold after building some of the more pricey advanced units, so every little bit helps if it's something I was gonna do anyway.  So taking a nearby neutral undead city is just fine with me if I'm given some extra gold as a bonus. 

People complain about these little side missions, but they're okay as long as the conditions are tweaked.  Such as not getting the "build a shipyard" thing, after you already have one.  It's not like the game has diplo or victory conditions of hardcore grand strategy games, so there's no place for some intricate ones here that I can see.

Aha.  Thanks for clarifying that Nefaro!  (I guess I should start paying more attention to the articles & previews...) 

And get it on steam!

Any particular reason (*other* than wanting to see me publicly display my shame... :P )? 

I suppose I should ask:  There isn't a non-Steam version, is there?  My impression has been there's not, but I shouldn't assume. 

[Gusington]

^You publicly shamed is enough of a reason :)

Nefaro I got that 'build a harbor' mission like 7 times in 2 hours! I thought it was just me.

The caravel unit is kewl though...love blasting away at the hordes on the coast from the safety of my ship.

I have also grown to love the fireball and lightning spells. Makes me feel godly.

Warlock seems to be pretty simple yet kinda deep at the same time. Just enough so it is not too simple and then uninteresting. For me I think it will be one of those games that I can whip out when I don't know what else to play.

It also has a sense of humor. Yes it can be cheesy sometimes but at least there is an attempt at humor there, something that I don't realize I miss until it's not there.

[LongBlade]

Nefaro I got that 'build a harbor' mission like 7 times in 2 hours! I thought it was just me.

I'm not sure, but I think the game hints like that if you need stuff. A harbor can help with food production.

Or maybe it's just a kooky random mission. Generally stuff like that is low hanging fruit. The hard ones are "Build a Temple to XYZ" and you have no fething clue where to find it. Those annoy me, but (at least in the Normal difficulty mode) the penalty isn't a killer.

[Gusington]

I'm playing in Normal mode now and I'm finding it just challenging enough, I won't switch it.

The harbor mission keeps popping up even though I have a harbor at my only coastal city. The other three cities are landlocked!

[Marty Ward]

I'm not at all familiar with Steam, it seems like a service, so I'm a little leary of buying the game through it. On the Paradox website they say you can buy the game from Amazon. Do you need to be connected to the internet to play the game or when you download it, is it yours?

[Gusington]

^That's the crux of the entire Steam/DRM melodrama. When you say 'buy from Amazon' do you mean through their digital download service or physical copy?

[tgb]

The game unlocks through Steam no matter where you get it.  I bought it from Amazon to save a couple of bucks, and registered it on Steam.

[Marty Ward]

The game unlocks through Steam no matter where you get it.  I bought it from Amazon to save a couple of bucks, and registered it on Steam.

But do you own it once you unlock it? I mean do you have to be connected to the internet to play the game?

[meadbelly]

^I played it via offline steam.

It seemed very much like a service. One that enables me to play a game that I want to.

Fwiw, I've sat and stared at my trunk of games that I own. It's not nearly as fun as actually playing, regardless of whether I've rented, owned, borrowed, transmogrified, or otherwise temporally repositioned a game to a more solipsistically convenient location in the space time continuum.

[LongBlade]

The game unlocks through Steam no matter where you get it.  I bought it from Amazon to save a couple of bucks, and registered it on Steam.

But do you own it once you unlock it? I mean do you have to be connected to the internet to play the game?

Steam is part digital distribution service, cloud storage device, patching mechanism, and DRM.

The DRM will verify the game's serial isn't stolen. Woe to those who share their game keys on Steam! Steam has been known to delete accounts of people stealing games. If they do so inadvertently, an appeals process (while somewhat painful) can be made and if you make a good case I think there's a good chance they'll restore your game(s).

The great thing about Steam is you can keep as many copies of the game as you want on as many computers as you want so long as you only play on one PC at a time.

Steam is also capable of verifying the integrity of a game's files. This is common where cheaters try to modify their FPS games and install cheats (wall hacks, for example). Steam can verify and stop cheating in this way, too.

Games can be played offline, but in the age of always-on internet connections there's really no reason to worry.

I have heard Ghostrider claim that Steam is a security risk, but the truth is a talented and determined hacker can get into your PC anyway. I've never heard anyone claim they got hacked through Steam though I suppose anything is possible. I certainly haven't gone hunting for evidence that Steam is a security risk, but if you're super paranoid about it, some research is probably in order before you bite.

[Gusington]

Just played another couple of hours, including some turns with vampire and ghost combat troops. I have died and gone to gaming heaven. Question: are combat vampires and ghosts recruitable with a faction other than human? I happened to get mine from capturing a map hex. Also, how do I find out how close I am to dominating/winning the game? Where is the campaign progress tab?

As an aside my favorite unit all around right now are the magisters. Magical arse-kickers they are. And I have about 15 spells in my inventory.

I really love it when a game comes out of absolutely nowhere and just rocks. Been a long time since that happened.

[tgb]

There is no progress screen.  There's also no summary screen to view all your cities.  Both are sorely needed.

[Marty Ward]

I'm gonna have to try this sucker.

[Gusington]

Definitely agree with you tgb...seems obvious to include status and progress tabs...hopefully a patch will add them. Marty I am not sure of your gaming tastes but I am finding little to dislike about it. It is scratching many itches I didn't even know were itchin'.