Why such a high price?

[PvK]

Originally posted by Potatoman:
Shadow Magic may lack an "epic" feel, but it has quite a bit going for it. A decent user interface, a minimum of micromanagement, and easily decipherable game mechanics readily come to mind. I've played the Dominions demo for quite some time now (I didn't buy the full Version because my friends weren't interested in playing hotseat) and I myself still don't know exactly the effect of, for instance, a weapon reach of 3 compared to a similiar weapon of reach 2. Does it give you an attack bonus? A defense penalty? Just the ability to stay beyond the range of Abysian/summoned heat/cold auras? It's frustrating because there are dozens of small game mechanics that are not explained (or even hinted at) in any manual, fansite or in-game help bar. AGRh.

The upshot is that, of course, with so many mechanics the game itself is quite complex and strategically deep. There is more stuff in Dom I (sheer volume of units and spells)than any other tbs that I have ever played; it may not look pretty, or be useful, or you may not even know what it does, but it's still there and you may use it if you want to. That's what makes it an outstanding, though imperfect, game IMO.

Right-click a unit ability to see a long description of how it works.

The manual (I think is where I saw it) does mention that reach is used to attack from further away, and also gives a defensive attack as an enemy closes in from outside your reach.

Personally, I much prefer Dom I to AOW2. AOW2 was fun for a bit, but it only took half a game for me to figure out all the systems and realize they were almost all rather generic and simple and that they didn't appeal much at all to my tastes. The AI didn't seem to be very interesting or challenging. I didn't like the combat mechanics. Or the stacking limits. Or the economics. Or the research. I got bored with those kinds of simplified systems back in Master of Magic. I'm sure there are players who will enjoy AOW2 and not appreciate Dominions, but that's the way all games are - everyone likes and dislikes different things about each game. To me though, Doms is worth the $35 for Dom I and $45 for Dom II even within a few months of each other. To me, AOW2 is worth maybe $5-10, and then only really to help a novice get into the genre.

PvK