Eador: Masters of the Broken World (Play Through)

[LongBlade]

^ Brant doesn't PC game (he has a Mac) so he doesn't haunt these threads very often.

I'll toss a link back here in the Grog Store thread.

[steve58]

Space Sector has a preview up...

[Arctic Blast]

Well, this made the latest batch of games to pass through Greenlight :

The latest games

    Akaneiro: Demon Hunters
    Asylum
    DLC Quest
    Eador. Masters of the Broken World
    La-Mulana
    Leisure Suit Larry
    MaK
    The Age of Decadence
    Unepic
    War For The Overworld

So once it's done it will be getting much wider distribution than Eador : Genesis.

[airboy]

Game looks very interesting.  But with my job and the good games I have not even started playing I doubt I will buy it quickly upon release.

[Tpek]

When is it actually finally coming out?
Are they waiting 'till they can fully bring it into Steam?

[tgb]

When is it actually finally coming out?
Are they waiting 'till they can fully bring it into Steam?

They say first quarter.  It's still in Beta, and their testing process is a little......unusual.  But not such that will affect the quality of the final product,  I think.

[Arctic Blast]

When is it actually finally coming out?
Are they waiting 'till they can fully bring it into Steam?

It's still in Beta. With it passing Greenlight, it's already a lock for Steam release whenever it's done.

[FarAway Sooner]

I think (I hope) that it makes development easier that this is as much a port as it is a new game.  They're basically taking almost all the game play from Eador: Gensesis and moving it to slicker graphics, an improved UI, and adding a few features (e.g., greater customization of map types for individual Shards).

This is based on everything I've been able to gather from 30+ hours playing Genesis and browsing through commentary beta testers on the MotBW web site.  I'd be lying if I said it was the best game ever.  But it's one of the most innovative TBS games I've seen in a long time, and the fact that it's based on a well-functioning indie game that's been out since 2010 (if only in Russian until a few months ago) suggests that the development and game design won't be quite as difficult as they might be otherwise.

[Nefaro]

I keep firing up Eador: Genesis regularly, but don't end up playing very long.

My problem is that I'm still stuck in the first 'shard' (or whatever) in the tutorial, grinding away at the explorable locations for XP & Levels, because the one AI opponent on that map has a much more powerful army.

So it's feeling like I'm just grinding away atm.  And this in the tutorial!  I hope regular games aren't like this.. or I did something wrong.

[Greybriar]

I keep firing up Eador: Genesis regularly, but don't end up playing very long.

My problem is that I'm still stuck in the first 'shard' (or whatever) in the tutorial, grinding away at the explorable locations for XP & Levels, because the one AI opponent on that map has a much more powerful army.

So it's feeling like I'm just grinding away atm.  And this in the tutorial!  I hope regular games aren't like this.. or I did something wrong.

You are not alone. I am doing exactly the same thing you are.

[Huw the Poo]

Same here.  I might just bite the bullet and start a real (sandbox) game and learn as I go.  Not much longer until Masters of the Broken World comes out anyway and we'll all be switching! 8)

[Nefaro]

I'm glad that I didn't screw something up, then.  ;)

[FarAway Sooner]

There's a learning curve.  Heroes are MUCH more powerful than the other units, so do all you can to level them up and beef them up.  Once I realized that, and concentrated on funneling as many kills as possible his way, the first shard got MUCH easier.

Warriors are the easiest to progress with, and Rangers are the 2nd easiest (so long as you remember to buy some shops that give you better missile weapons).  Mages are OK, but when you only have access to Tier 1 spells, the only thing that puts them on vaguely the same level as Warriors or Rangers are the Summon Undead spells, which steer your alignment/karma towards Evil (if you care).  I hope they play-balance that in the sequel so that good Mages are as easy to play as bad mages.

Similarly, Commanders are good, but get much better once you can afford more powerful units (even using just Tier 1 creature dwellings, Commanders require a lot of gold and do best with upscale units--3 (Tier 1) Swordsmen with +2 Defense from their Commander will do just fine against 6 or 7 (Tier 1) Peasants).

You don't have to clean out, much less explore, every territory.  The game rewards players who strike a balance between ample harvesting/buildup of the core provinces versus a timely expansion beyond that first ring of provinces adjacent to your desmense.

Once you finish the first shard, you start to get more building options (in terms of better buildings in the provinces, more buildings in your desmense/capital), sentries start to matter more as you face opposing local lords who aren't sleeping, and more unit options (primarily through access to better mercenaries--even 2nd level creature dwellings don't come into play for another 3-5 shards, depending on which you attack when), so you're limited to mercenaries, creature dwellings you find in the wild, or allies you can befriend by completing quests, etc.

The 1st scenario very much has you on rails, which is why it feels so much like grinding until you have the hang of how different heroes play.  Once you make it through that, the pace quickens up nicely (although it's still slower-paced than most North American titles are). 

Just don't keep your heroes out of the fight--in most battles I have, my hero kills 50% of the enemy creatures, but it took me a little while to figure that out.  The other units matter, but more as support & attrition units than as main battle units (this is less true for the Commander, who relies on legions of soldiers, but that's the sort of wrinkle that enhances the replay value of the game).

[Nefaro]

My Mage turns out regular kills with his PEW PEW spells, and is slowly levelling.  Hell.. I have to since my command limit is five units at level 11 (?).   Still, I'm just spamming the Explore command and then fighting the 3 different groups over & over for XP.  Feels like taking forever.  I'm  hoping things start progressing, and the game opens up much more quickly, after this first tutorial shard.

I'm not usually impatient with these things, but it feels like I've been spinning my wheels with little progress thus far.

[FarAway Sooner]

Yeah.  I had that same sense.  Try using the "Raise Undead" spell.  Makes your PEW PEW spells a lot more effective when the enemy is chewing on Zombies and Skeletons raised from among their own fallen ranks.

The only high-level units that will have anywhere near a full host of units are Commanders.  It's actually game-balanced that way.  The trial-and-error when you figure out what provinces you can conquer when is a bit painful, but doable. 

A Lvl 11 Mage with Raise Undead ought to be able to win the final fight, but not without Raise Undead and only if you have decent Level 1 Troops of some sort (better than Slingers and Peasants, anyways).  Without the use of that one spell, Mages are the most underpowered of any characters (at least so long as they're limited to Tier 1 spells).

Exploring too much with non-Ranger heroes is a drag.  Rangers, on the other hand, get all sorts of exploration bonuses, which make it much easier to pick things out.  Lastly, exploring Plains goes faster than exploring Hills or Forests, which goes faster than exploring Swamps.  All of which is, again, built into the play-balancing.

I found the tutorial a bit frustrating as well, but once you get past the first one, you start to get a much better appreciation for the depth of game play and trade-offs you have to manage.  The biggest thing going against Genesis is the lack of documentation to help you start to unwrap these different playing styles on their own.