Kings Bounty

[El_Cid]

Can'y say I have and I had been quite concerened as I'd just installed a fanless 9600GT so I have been monitoring the temperature as I was worried about ventilation generally. The recommended spec is pretty high for a TBS so maybe it's just it pushes machines far more than the normal fare at Qt3?

Well the main concerns was from laptop users - it was running a few of those hotter than any other game, to the point one guy could only do 30mins of the game before problems. But i think one or two were also noticing it on desktops, possibly more a CPU drain than the GPU i think they were saying: (oh screw here is the thread)

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=51295

Hey your fanless 9600GT - which one did you get and from where? I've been looking at one to replace my silent 7600GT, i quite like the look of the Asus one, but the gigabytes seem good too - what did you get and how much

[Standup]

Went for the Asus from

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_5332.html

Bit more pricey than some places but very good customer service. Very pleased with it so far.

[El_Cid]

Yeah i think that is the one i'll end up with - it was that or this 1GB Gigabyte model for a few quid more:

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=5D04&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11137,418420000&InMerch=1

I think the reviews for the Asus model were slightly in it's favour compared to the other passive 9600GT's out there. Still an extra 512MB of memmory is probably worth an extra £20. difficult - but good dilema.

[Standup]

I looked at the MSI Zilent as well which had 1GB of ram and looks very similar to the Gigabyte card. The 1GB didn't really seem worth the extra money. Not sure you actually get any extra performance because of limits elsewhere in the card. I wondered if it would handle larger textures better but then its still essentially mid range hardware so there may be bottlenecks elsewhere.

The Asus does need the extra power connector - not sure about the others? Also it does need good cooling. I moved up from a 7600GT fanless and it does generate a lot more heat.

[El_Cid]

...........

The Asus does need the extra power connector - not sure about the others? Also it does need good cooling. I moved up from a 7600GT fanless and it does generate a lot more heat.

Not just an issue when playing Kings Bounty? Although i'm sure the figures given in tests have most passive cooled 9600GT's running hotter than passive 7600GT's.

I agree on the lack of use of the extra 512MB, I doubt many games need that much and the bottlenecks vs may be an issue also. The Asus is still my priority for now i think, i do like gigabyte hardware though - never had a problem with it before, but that Asus looks cool(and works well by all accounts).

Is Kings Bounty still getting played?

[Ben Kenobi]

Not as good as Homm. Played this for awhile, I'm not fond of the 3d graphics.

[Standup]

Less so. It's starting to get a bit repetative. Also the ability to do part of an area then head back to base and top up on troops means the challenge is less and lots of running back and forth. The plot does help keep it moving but really, really needs an auto resolve for the easy combats.

Thinking of trying Drakensang next. Reasonable reviews but the main selling point for me is its based on the same PnP rules as Realms of Arkania - some of my favourite games.

[El_Cid]

Yeah Drakensang did catch my attention, i'm also a big fan of the Arkania games and pnp system it uses. From what i understand you can only get a german version(and dont get the older versions that come with starforce - i think 'reloded' is the best version, but check on that) but you can use a fan made translation that puts most of it in english? Seems like one of those games, could have been great straight out the box, but needs plenty of unsupported(by publisher) fixes to be really playable? I'm still trying to find out more on it

Kings Bounty seems a near-miss for me, i liked the sound of it initialy, but a few things have put me off getting it(possible heat issues/3D graphics/not as good as HoMM). So maybe later sometime.

[Ben Kenobi]

It would do well as a MMORPG on the lines of World of Warcraft.

This is basically World of Warcraft meets Heroes of Might and Magic.

[Standup]

From what i understand you can only get a german version(

There is an English language demo available. Got mine of the PC Format DVD but it is on the Drakensang website as well. No manual and even though I've played the earlier games its a system that really needs manual. Looks ok though in a purely superficial way

[Standup]

Finished Kings Bounty. Bit of a disappointment and unexpected - not quite Fallout 3 though! Almost as if they ran out of time/effort/money as the Demon and Orc lands were quite brief. Just as well though as by that point I was getting bored. Far too easy on 'Easy'.

Probably still give it a 7/10 as got a lot of play from it. I will probably play it again (although not for a while)as there seems to be enough replay in going as a different class and possibly as an evil character. Will also play on Hard or whatever the hardest difficulty is.

Drakensang arrived today from Game. English language version and suitably solid manual.

[El_Cid]

Finished Kings Bounty.....snip......

Probably still give it a 7/10 as got a lot of play from it.........snip.......

Drakensang arrived today from Game. English language version and suitably solid manual.

I'll keep it(Kings Bounty) on my 'to get' list for now. So I look forward to your post about Drakensang.....probaly not for a while though i guess, it seems like a big solid rpg game