whats the current status of Master of Magic

[lord of the mark]

ok, I'll DL the demo for AOW:SM then.

[mactbone]

Isn't Paradox trying to do MoM2 or some "inspired by" game?

[Main_Brain]

No, I think you mistook them with Stardock.
Stardock has put the Mom2/Inspired by Mom- Project on Hold.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Main_Brain
No, I think you mistook them with Stardock.
Stardock has put the Mom2/Inspired by Mom- Project on Hold.

Incorrect:

http://www.stardock.com/media/sdsmag/sdmag-aug2007.html

The Games of Stardock...There's so much going on that it's hard to keep up so here's a basic run-down on what's happening in Stardock's game studio:

Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor. New expansion pack coming out this November. Details will be up on Gamespot next week. Keep an eye on galciv2.com for updates. It will require Dark Avatar (or Gold Edition) to use.

Sins of a Solar Empire. Ironclad's 4X RTS goes into multiplayer beta in September. It will be released in February 2008.

The Political Machine 2008. The sequel to Stardock's popular 2004 political strategy game has a June/July 2008 release date.

The unannounced fantasy game. Stardock is working on a fantasy strategy game that could be described as a bit of Master of Magic (okay, a lot of Master of Magic), XCom for the tactical battles, and Populous for the scope of your spells. Release Date 2009.

It is being worked on.

ACK!

[Main_Brain]

Thus I stand corrected.

[lord of the mark]

afaict there is no demo for AOW:SM, so until Im ready to buy, I wont have more to say about it.


How does it compare to other recent Fantasy TBS, which IIUC include Dominions and Homm.

[Jon Miller]

I think there is a demo for AoW or AoW2 though... AoW:SM is what those games should have been.

It is way way better then Dominions.. which just isn't fun. HOMM was very good early, I am not sure about the most resent versions.

JM

[lord of the mark]

Yes, ive finished the brief demo for AOW2.

Im not eager to go all the way back to the beginning of the Homm series, as Id like to start playing games a little more current.

[DrSpike]

HoMM is a difficult one as the earlier games are a bit aged now but the later games just don't feel right. I appreciate that's a bit vague and it may well not be something someone new to series would pick up on.

I would say your sensible choices are play HoMM3, arguably the best game and most popular in the series, but some 8 years old now. Or play the most recent game, HoMM5. This had some problems on release (when I peeked at it) but apparently decent patch support and the expansion have fixed these.

[General Ludd]

I prefer HoMM2

[Gamecube64]

As a series all the HOMM games except 4 have something going for them. (Though I guess one could say that skipping the first for the second would be a good idea) I believe there is a pack that has all the pre-IV games, including HOMM 0, King's Bounty!

2 probably has the best soundtrack of all time, BTW.

And Dominions isn't boring.

[quantum_mechani]

Someone looking for a free and legal MoM like game could do worse than Conquest of Elysium II .

Be warned that getting accustomed to the game is more than a little challenging, but if you persevere it has a roguelike addictiveness. Actually, it can be looked at as a sort of strategy/roguelike hybrid in spirit: the fun is largely in exploring the map, the turns are short, and like roguelikes part of the fun is dieing frequently and trying a different angle.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by General Ludd
I prefer HoMM2

JM

[Main_Brain]

Originally posted by quantum_mechani
Conquest of Elysium II .

Thanks for the Heads-Up =)

[Gamecube64]

an analogy fits well here

Conquest of Elysium is to Dominions as King's Bounty is to Heroes of Might and Magic