OT: Recommendations?

[MythicalMino]

Originally posted by fahdiz:

I have and frequently play Warlords BC II. It's great! Unfortunately Warlords IV was a real letdown, coming off the greatness of Warlords III and then going years ahead to...IV. Hardly the update many thought it would be.

What happened to Warlords IV? At one time, the game looked so incredible, then all of a sudden, it totally changed....combat was looking like a fantasy type of Total War (just the screenshots...), then one day, it just all...changed....

I bought Gangland Last nite....really like that game....I also got my hands on Warlords 4, BUT, i only bought it cause it also came with Warlords Battlecry II.

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally posted by Arryn:
Actually, both you and Peter ignored this particular point. I've reduced the discussion to apples-vs.-apples, comparing two games using the same engine, to illustrate my point and help you to focus on the real issue. To reiterate, EU2 has a simpler "model" than HOI (therefore less work to do in each timeslice) and yet the EU2 AI plays as a much "dumber" opponent than the HOI AI.

I did not address this point, as it was not the main focus of your argument. The focus of your argument was EU2 vs. DOMII, or RTS vs TB, and in that situation time is the real issue.

HOI (or Victoria, for that matter) vs EU2 clearly shows that given enough development time, a better AI on the same game engine can be made [what a surprise], though it has to obey the same timing restrictions as the old AI, for which we are happy as players, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with the RTS-TB comparison and fundamental timing issues.

I fear we are talking past each other, here.

Basically, if you stop comparing turn-based and real-time-based strategy game AIs in a "which is better" fashion, I will stop bringing up timing issues.

[ March 10, 2004, 16:15: Message edited by: Peter Ebbesen ]

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by cpbeller:
What happened to Warlords IV? At one time, the game looked so incredible, then all of a sudden, it totally changed....combat was looking like a fantasy type of Total War (just the screenshots...), then one day, it just all...changed....

I don't know, but it made me sad.

The tactical one-on-one combat system is interesting, but marred in my opinion by the absolutely hideous, cartoony graphics. The map portion of the game and the other artwork looks OK, though...

And it must be said that I am not really a graphics buff, or at least not one who values graphics over gameplay. But...wow. Warlords IV threw out many of the things which made WIII great, and introduced other things which - in my opinion - didn't add a lot of value to the mix. I was really looking forward to it, too.

[Azlandius]

I am also new to Dom 2 and loving it! The (other) TBS I really love right now is Stardock's Galactic Civilizations. They have been making updates and adding enhancements to the game since it was released. They even have an expansion coming out in the next couple of months. It is purely SP, but the AI is very well done and can offer a challenge. Since they haven't been mentioned, I'd also point you to the first 2 Master of Orion games.

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Azlandius:
I am also new to Dom 2 and loving it! The (other) TBS I really love right now is Stardock's Galactic Civilizations. They have been making updates and adding enhancements to the game since it was released. They even have an expansion coming out in the next couple of months. It is purely SP, but the AI is very well done and can offer a challenge. Since they haven't been mentioned, I'd also point you to the first 2 Master of Orion games.

Thanks! I used to play MOO2 quite a bit.

Galactic Civilizations sounds interesting...I'll have to search around a bit. Is it shareware or retail?

[Arryn]

Originally posted by fahdiz:
Galactic Civilizations sounds interesting...I'll have to search around a bit. Is it shareware or retail?

GalCiv is retail. It's an interesting game, but it's replayability is, IMO, limited, compared to MOO3 or SE4. After a few games, all your games seem to play out pretty much the same. A large part of this problem is the fact that you can only play as humans, unlike MOO3 or SE4 with their great ability to create custom races.

[tinkthank]

Hello!
I'm no wargamer, nor experienced gamer at all, and have no clue about publishing houses and all, but I really really liked
Planescape Torment
Fallout (1&2)
Arcana
-- I think these were all by Bioware or Bioware related people.
I did not care for NWN at all, finding it totally superficial, and Morrowind bugged me for the same reasons.
I know none of these are the same genre as DomII, but I think you asked for that in your original post.