OT: Recommendations? - Page 10

E. Albright · #91 March 13th, 2004, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fahdiz:
I guess what I'm looking for (and I suppose I should have been clearer, since I've gotten a lot of these types of responses) is not so much old classics (as I've been a computer/board/pen-and-paper gamer for a long time) but more the "relatively recently-released, unknown/unsung, unjustly ignored" types of games.

H'm. What do you mean by recent? I feel compelled to put in a good word for Emperor of the Fading Suns, but it's about eight (?) years old now. This seems recent to me, but my standards may be warped. Anyway, it's a lovely little Machevellian sci-fi TBS. The AI leaves a great deal to be desired (it's probably best for PBEM), and the game feels slightly unfinished (some of the intended functionality looks so wonderful that I want to cry), but what it does deliver is very, very solid. I've never found another game (well, except Merchant Prince) that allows for as much conniving political interaction. Which of course only makes me all the more mournful that it wasn't adequetely supported and/or finished. Oh, and the combat model is almost perfect. Routed units aren't quite handled right (IMO), but combined arms are done nicely.

Anyway, shortcomings aside, I'll finish my (qualified) gushing endorsement by pointing out that, despite all of its shortcomings, it's been continuously installed since I bought it...

[ March 13, 2004, 21:33: Message edited by: E. Albright ]

fahdiz · #92 March 14th, 2004, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Endoperez:
As opposed to Nethack, ADOM! It's a hard game, though, and not an easy one to get hold of.

Bah, if not for Nethack there'd have been no ADOM.

Quote:

BTW, in ADOM you can't choose to play Ironman. It is the norm, and the only possibility programmed in the game...

Same with Nethack. You die, game over.

Quote:

Wonderful game, anyway. BTW, Illwinter links to ADOM, Dungeon Crawl AND Slash'em. I have thought I should try Crawl too. Has anyone here tried it? How it compares to ADOM?

I've played Dungeon Crawl, and think it stacks up quite favorably to ADOM. The way it handles line-of-sight is quite brilliant, actually.

moodgiesanta · #93 March 14th, 2004, 07:51 PM

I missed the Black Isle/Interplay bashing.

Anyhow, Geneforge 1 and 2 are very good, from the dude who made Exile. Also see Avernum 3, a nice game much in the same vein of Exile.

Arcanum is very hit-or-miss. Not really an indy game, though. Arcana, on the other hand, which is as indy of a game as you can get for a console, is one of the underrated gems of the Super Nintendo.

3D dungeon romp with neat graphics and a fairly good soundtrack, for a 16-bit game. And lots of nostalgia from long ago . . .

[ June 06, 2004, 18:52: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Truper · #94 March 14th, 2004, 08:27 PM

Hit the ol' edit post button too soon...

[ March 14, 2004, 18:31: Message edited by: Truper ]

Truper · #95 March 14th, 2004, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by E. Albright:

quote:
Originally posted by fahdiz:
I guess what I'm looking for (and I suppose I should have been clearer, since I've gotten a lot of these types of responses) is not so much old classics (as I've been a computer/board/pen-and-paper gamer for a long time) but more the "relatively recently-released, unknown/unsung, unjustly ignored" types of games.

H'm. What do you mean by recent? I feel compelled to put in a good word for Emperor of the Fading Suns, but it's about eight (?) years old now. This seems recent to me, but my standards may be warped. Anyway, it's a lovely little Machevellian sci-fi TBS. The AI leaves a great deal to be desired (it's probably best for PBEM), and the game feels slightly unfinished (some of the intended functionality looks so wonderful that I want to cry), but what it does deliver is very, very solid. I've never found another game (well, except Merchant Prince) that allows for as much conniving political interaction. Which of course only makes me all the more mournful that it wasn't adequetely supported and/or finished. Oh, and the combat model is almost perfect. Routed units aren't quite handled right (IMO), but combined arms are done nicely.

Anyway, shortcomings aside, I'll finish my (qualified) gushing endorsement by pointing out that, despite all of its shortcomings, it's been continuously installed since I bought it...

Are you aware of the fan-made mods? They went a long way toward fixing some of the problems in the original EFS. If you're interested, I can probably locate the site again - it been quite a few years since I was invilved with EFS - but it sure was a great game...

fahdiz · #96 March 15th, 2004, 04:48 PM

Well, this weekend I broke down and ordered EU2 (found it for $11 Online, couldn't find it in the bargain bins of the usual game stores I frequent)...so that'll be arriving soon. One quick question about EU2 - is it possible to mold the state religion of your nation of choice, or do you pretty much have to tow the line of recorded history?

For example: if I wanted a Catholic China or a Buddhist British Empire, could I do so in EU2?

Peter Ebbesen · #97 March 15th, 2004, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fahdiz:
Well, this weekend I broke down and ordered EU2 (found it for $11 Online, couldn't find it in the bargain bins of the usual game stores I frequent)...so that'll be arriving soon. One quick question about EU2 - is it possible to mold the state religion of your nation of choice, or do you pretty much have to tow the line of recorded history?

For example: if I wanted a Catholic China or a Buddhist British Empire, could I do so in EU2?

No - not without modding (which is easy as all event and all save files are plain text format for easy editing).

You can change between Catholic-Protestant-Reformed Protestant at will (though you suffer a bit of turmoil when doing so), but all other religion changes have to be either scripted (e.g. all Indian nations have a chance to become Sunni muslim through events) or forced. Sunni/Shia's can force-convert each other as can Catholics-Protestants-Reformed, and everybody can force-convert the pagans... (Though it is much more profitable to conquer them and send out the missionaries)

It is possible to create weird-religion vassal states, however, by conquering a country, converting its provinces, and releasing the country as a vassal. This is not cost-effective, but can be quite fun. [A few nations have hard-coded religion when you release them, but in general a new country gets the starting religion of its capital province]

E. Albright · #98 March 15th, 2004, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Truper:
Are you aware of the fan-made mods? They went a long way toward fixing some of the problems in the original EFS. If you're interested, I can probably locate the site again - it been quite a few years since I was invilved with EFS - but it sure was a great game...

I'm quite aware of them, but thanks for the offer. And yes, they did do a lot for balance (I for one prefered Hyperion). Tho' in that vain, I could have done (and did do) a lot for balance in a few minutes with a text editor...

fahdiz · #99 March 15th, 2004, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peter Ebbesen:

quote:
Originally posted by fahdiz:
Well, this weekend I broke down and ordered EU2 (found it for $11 Online, couldn't find it in the bargain bins of the usual game stores I frequent)...so that'll be arriving soon. One quick question about EU2 - is it possible to mold the state religion of your nation of choice, or do you pretty much have to tow the line of recorded history?

For example: if I wanted a Catholic China or a Buddhist British Empire, could I do so in EU2?

No - not without modding (which is easy as all event and all save files are plain text format for easy editing).

You can change between Catholic-Protestant-Reformed Protestant at will (though you suffer a bit of turmoil when doing so), but all other religion changes have to be either scripted (e.g. all Indian nations have a chance to become Sunni muslim through events) or forced. Sunni/Shia's can force-convert each other as can Catholics-Protestants-Reformed, and everybody can force-convert the pagans... (Though it is much more profitable to conquer them and send out the missionaries)

It is possible to create weird-religion vassal states, however, by conquering a country, converting its provinces, and releasing the country as a vassal. This is not cost-effective, but can be quite fun. [A few nations have hard-coded religion when you release them, but in general a new country gets the starting religion of its capital province]

Excellent. Thank you, Peter, for the valuable information. I'm also glad to hear that the game is so easily moddable...that's outstanding!

Mostly I was thinking about in-game religion changes as opposed to starting with that particular religion...(i.e. China would start out Confuscianist/Buddhist, and I would eventually turn them Catholic), so I'm glad to know it's possible to do that as well, through various in-game means.

I'm excited! In the space of just a couple of months, I've found several new (well, new to me

) games, all because of one fantastic game (Dom II).

I'm thinking the upcoming Crusader Kings is my next target.

[ March 15, 2004, 16:41: Message edited by: fahdiz ]

Peter Ebbesen · #**100** March 15th, 2004, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fahdiz:
Excellent. Thank you, Peter, for the valuable information. I'm also glad to hear that the game is so easily moddable...that's outstanding!

I cannot but agree.

The first thing you should do when you get EU2 is to download the latest official patch (1.07) and then the latest public beta patch (March 2nd, 2004, available from the Paradox EU2 forum) - and be prepared to treat the manual as a work of fiction - as the game has evolved considerably over the years since its release.

There are FAQs covering most of the important topics and a friendly user community to help you when you run into problems anyhow.