OT: Stardocks Fantasy TBS

[Arcturas]

Llamabeast: SO TRUE! That is exactly what I think about nearly all the Stardock games I've played. Gal Civ was a great game, and actually lots of fun, but I just ran out of steam on it, where I'm still playing Civ 4. Gal Civ just...had too little character. Sins was even worse. I suppose it's an excellent multiplayer game, but singleplayer it had no life. Cool and all, but I just couldn't play it for long. No soul is perhaps the best way I've heard to describe it.

Is demigod worth it, Baalz? I'd like to give it a try but haven't heard a lot about it.

[Baalz]

I'm enjoying Demigod, but it's not for everyone. I'm not usually a big fan of RTS games, but marketing hype aside this really does have a lot more RPG elements than RTS. Imagine Diablo, only the whole game is scaled so you level all the way up from level 1 in a 30-45 minute game, spit everybody into two teams and try to kill each other's base. You don't build buildings or recruit units (though some heroes have minions they can summon) or collect resources other than exp and gold (mostly from killing stuff). I think it's pretty interesting the differences you can build into a demigod design - there are so many different options when you consider all the different types of items and skills you can buy that you kinda have to have a build in mind before you start the faster paced game (you have to know roughly which item you plan on buying first, etc. You don't have time to sit and consider the cost effectiveness of things durring a game). What I find really fun is playing the meta-game and building my demigods to go against how the other players expect. For instance taking the big lumbering living castle dude and getting a bunch of speed buffs and slow debuffs. People expect to run up, whack me, then retreat and heal to slowly wear me down and instead get "OH GOD HE'S RUNNING ME DOWN!!!" Ah, good times. Anyway, I find it a lot less "memorize the optimal build order and practice over and over again to shave a couple seconds off of it" that annoys me in most RTS games.

[DonCorazon]

Originally Posted by llamabeast

his games just somehow lack a bit of soul.

Exactly!

[Calahan]

Originally Posted by DonCorazon

Exactly!

I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to force myself to like Gal Civ 2. Bought all the expansions, fully updated it etc. but there is just nothing about the game to like for me I must have played Masters of Orion 1+2 until the image of the screen had burnt itself into my eyes. I wanted so much to enjoy Gal Civ 2, but this so called spiritual successor to the MoO series just feels like a very hollow shell to me.

Stardock seems to be a promising outfit, but they have yet to produce a game that grips my attention for more than a few minutes. Pretty certain I'll pass on Demigod, and will certainly want to play a demo of Elemental before they get any more of my hard earned cash.

[NiknudStunod]

I had high hopes for the new fantasy tbs game but when I heard that there wouldn't be any actual fantasy races I lost interest. I have always avoided playing the human races in any fantasy game so this one sound just plain bland to me. I think I will stick with dominions 3 and fall from heaven 2 mod for civ iv.

[Makinus]

Of the games that Stardock sells, i think the best one today is Sins of Solar Empire, it is a really good strategy game, but the best think in it is the community mods... They really bring the game to life...

I also didn´t got involved in Galciv (both I and II) and think MOO2 is still a better game...

[Baalz]

Originally Posted by Calahan

I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to force myself to like Gal Civ 2. Bought all the expansions, fully updated it etc. but there is just nothing about the game to like for me I must have played Masters of Orion 1+2 until the image of the screen had burnt itself into my eyes. I wanted so much to enjoy Gal Civ 2, but this so called spiritual successor to the MoO series just feels like a very hollow shell to me.

Stardock seems to be a promising outfit, but they have yet to produce a game that grips my attention for more than a few minutes. Pretty certain I'll pass on Demigod, and will certainly want to play a demo of Elemental before they get any more of my hard earned cash.

Lol, I thought I was the only one. I thought everyone loved that game but it just felt so bland to me. I tried so hard to like it, it seemed in theory like a game I should really like but it felt like playing a spreadsheet.

[Calahan]

Originally Posted by Baalz

Lol, I thought I was the only one. I thought everyone loved that game but it just felt so bland to me. I tried so hard to like it, it seemed in theory like a game I should really like but it felt like playing a spreadsheet.

I can safely say that I've had far more fun playing around with spreadsheets than I ever have from playing Gal Civ 2

[DonCorazon]

Funny, I did the same - threw good money after bad by buying expansions thinking that would liven the GalCiv games up. Never could get it into it - missing all the charm and soul of MOO2. Now I see the kingdom names, lack of fantasy races, etc in Elemental and it sounds like another big platter of rice cakes...unfilling and no flavor.

[Meglobob]

Well looks like I am an exception in this thread, in that I loved GalCiv2. There's nothing quite like playing on suicidal level on a gigantic map being attacked by 4 other races at once, desperately trying to survive in a very hostile universe.

Personally, many times playing the game its given me the, 'star wars' or 'Babylon 5' feeling of a truely epic space conflict.

Perhaps its the interface that gives the impression of no soul? But I would say its polished, slick, user friendly and very funtional. So functional and easy to use, you can run a 100+ planet empire before the game starts to drag. Running a 100+ province empire in Dom3 is certainly considerably alot more micromangement.

The tech tree contains alot of humour, the races have different, 'personalities' (different AI scripts), do you really not have any fun designing and redesigning your ships from fighters to mainline battleships? Then orgainising them into fleets, deploying those fleets for a first strike on a enemy empire? Or building up a massive economic and trade empire?

Surprised so many people don't like it!

I suspect Elemental will be equally polished, slick and user friendly with decent AI. I have not really been paying much attention to its development but have high hopes and I will be buying it once its officially released, personally not keen on playing alpha and beta versions.