If you enjoyed MOM, what did you also enjoy?

[MattyBoy]

I am playing MOM again and it is great fun.

Do any of you MOM lovers know of similar games that are equally enjoyable?

I used to love Heroes of Might and Magic III.

I also enjoyed a game called Warlords 2, which had a great AI. Has anybody played recent releases of this? (Warlords III, Warlords Battlecry for e.g)

www.theunderdogs.org suggests "Lords of Magic: Special Edition" and quotes a review. Has anybody tried this?

One of the best strategy games ever made, Lords of Magic: Special Edition is an
excellent fantasy strategy game that, much more so than G.O.D.’s overhyped Age of
Wonder, deserves to be considered the true spiritual sequel to SimTex’ acclaimed
Master of Magic. Unfortunately, the first incarnation of the game suffered the same
fate as infamous Battlecruiser 3000 A.D.: a wonderful concept bogged down by a
frustrating amount of bugs and unfulfilled promises. Not until several patches later did
the game become stable. Special Edition is essentially the latest patched version of
Lords of Magic, beefed up with “Quest” feature, a revised map editor, and a few extra
scenarios. But unfortunately by then, it was already too late to please gamers annoyed
at paying for a buggy release. Make no mistake the second time around: LOM:SE is a
true underdog worthy of every strategy gamer’s library.

[Ecthy]

Heroes of Might and Magic
Heroes of Might and Magic II
Heroes of Might and Magic III

Age of Wonders

Fantasy scenarios for Civ2

Often tried to get my hands on strategic simulations in the middle ages, but never got a decent one. Lords of the Realm I play now and again

Apart from that, Imperialism, Age of Empires etc. But I suppose you're on about fantasy games, so Heroes and AOW it is.

Just joined an AOW board yesterday

BTW, I also play Ascendancy and Thief (I+II), but that's something else... but then again, Ascendancy...

[Urban Ranger]

Warlords, Warlords II, Warlords III: Darklords Rising, Age of Wonders.

Don't like HoMM much.

[Ecthy]

What are those Warlords games like then? Genre? Years of publishing? Links?

How is Lords of Magic?

[Rex Little]

The Warlords games are about resource management and conquest. A city generates income and produces fighting units; units take over more cities. Money is used to pay for units, and to generate city improvements (mostly the ability to produce stronger units). There are leader units which improve the effectiveness of ordinary troops they're stacked with, and which improve with experience. There are special quests which pay off in money or extra troops.

IIRC, Warlords I came out in the late 80's, II in the early 90's, and III about 3-4 years ago. IMO, II was the best. It added a lot of choices to the gameplay, and some of them were removed again in III. (Then again, I haven't played Darklords Rising , just its predecessor. I forget what it was called, Age of Heroes or some such.)

I just picked up Lords of Magic after reading the review quoted in this thread. (At $10 it's worth the money unless it really, really sucks.) I'll comment after I've played it.

[MattyBoy]

Rex,
Please do let us know how the game pans out. I hope I didn't prompt you to spend time on a dud.

Ecthelion,
I take it that Age of Empires is a better game than Age of Wonders?
I haven't tried any "Age of" games.

I don't really mind whether the game is set in space or Fantasy or whatever. I guess I care more about the mechanics, game balance, interface and AI. Actually, I'll admit to preferring fantasy & magic to realism and realism to scifi, but that didn't stop me from playing SMAC more than Civ II.

What's this about Ascendancy? How do you think it compares to your favourite TBS games?

[General Ludd]

Age of Wonders is basically a "Master of Magic Lite" only a newer game with nice graphics.

And there is a sequel coming out sometime in the near future.

[Rex Little]

What's this about Ascendancy? How do you think it compares to your favourite TBS games?

Ascendancy was a "Civ in space" type of game that was (especially for its time) graphically beautiful and replete with interesting ideas--and a mongrel dog to play. The AI is brain-dead (a patch improved it to the drooling moron level) and the micromanagement is tiresome (you build the same facilities over and over and over on world after world).

[MattyBoy]

I think I should have read a few other threads before starting this.
Here is one for those who love Civ2.

I don't think I will bother with Ascendancy (or The Tone Rebellion).
However, in case anybody is interested...

The underdogs includes a 41M download of Ascendancy (presumably patched) at Ascendancy Review and Download


Its summary of Ascendancy mirrors Rex's comments - basically don't play without the patch. Interestingly, they like the successor game more:

Note: The Logic Factory's second game, Tone Rebellion, is a much better game than
Ascendancy, although the AI could still use some improvement. Definitely worth a look
at the company's website.

Finally, they include a full write up of Tone Rebellion here, which sums up as follows...

With all the strengths and unique character, The Tone Rebellion is still best considered
a “light” game. The AI, although stronger than the one in Ascendancy, is still not very
bright. If you are die-hard MOO fan who craves an equal challenge, play Space Empire
IV instead. If, on the other hand, you enjoy story-based space games that are not too
tough to beat, The Tone Rebellion is well worth your time. Thumbs up!

[Ecthy]

I have nothing to add

If you have further questions to the master, don't hesitate asking him. The answers of his subjects are have been sufficient though

[Rex Little]

Well, the initial verdict on Lords of Magic is. . . it doesn't run! I get a system error when I try to start it. We'll see if Sierra tech support is any help.

[aaglo]

MOM is a great game, I love it! and I still like to play it quite often. Sometimes the AI can be impossible: on harder levels the wandering hordes can be unstoppable (imagine 5 phantom beasts and a couple of air elementals attacking your relatively new town without a decent defence - arrgh).
Here is a pretty decent MOM-site for those who do not know it...

Warlords II is a great game, an easy one too. There are only those castles to conquer, and no resource management! You can only build fighting units, heroes can search hidden treasure from ruins (usually gold, special units or special items). Great stuff - grrrreat!

[Ecthy]

I downloaded Warlords II but still haven't played it

[Rex Little]

Lords of Magic update: the Sierra website and automated tech support were no help getting it to run, but the live tech support guy nailed it in seconds. Runs fine now.

The game was worth it for $10, but I'd have been disappointed if I'd bought it new for $40 or $50. Compared to MOM or HOMM or Civ, there are fewer interesting features, the interface is clunky (I had to re-read the manual twice before I understood how to split a party), it's hard to make initial progress without being killed (playing on Medium difficulty; don't want to think about Hard) and the computer turns seem to move slowly for the amount it has to do. The AI seems decent, though; slowness may be the price that has to be paid for that.

[MattyBoy]

Rex,
What sort of a machine are you running on?
Is it better than the minimum specs required on the game box?