OT: Heroes of Annihilated Empires open beta!

[shovah]

but as you go out and at tack some thigns are alot tougher, some are actually tough enough to kill some of my units (the werewolf looking ugys and the 3 big red guys come to mind)

[DominionsFan]

Yeah those zombies can hit hard also, but they are very slow. Its a shame that the comp only using skeletons to attack in the beta. However this part is really good already, since it is sending them in masses.

[OG_Gleep]

DominionsFAN said:
Well basically calculate.
+50% firing speed. That means you fire 15 arrows and not 10 in the same amount of time. The attack power of the char is like 20-25, that is 20-25 damage on a single monster - their defense value against this damage type. [I think this is piercing damage]

Yes I know what it does. But this is one of the few games where mitigating damage is actually more useful then dishing out damage.

1. Fear - Can get in free shots at the entire group for x amount of seconds.
2. Summon Allies - Basically meat shield + Damage dealers. You won't get hit at all, and your overall dps when factoring in the dmg done by the allies goes through the roof.
3. Arrow thing - Useful AE attack.

Those 3 spells can turn the tide of a battle you couldn't have won without them. Attacking 3 times vs 2 times won't.

I'm not saying it doesn't help, of course it does. But if you don't concentrate on buffing your magic, you have to kite constantly which is annoying. Plus, your dps is negligable once you start pumping out units. Tree of life and fear become much more important.

[Agrajag]

I tried the "beta" and didn't like it much.
The gameplay doesn't flow really well, and the graphics look pretty lousy.
And I'm no graphic whore, I still play HoMM 2 and all sorts of classics (from the late The-Underdogs). And they all look better to me then this game.

Hopefuly, they'll fix the gameplay 'till release. I can ignore crappy graphics for the sake of good gameplay and lots of content (I just gotta get my hands around any Strategy title with skeletons )

[WraithLord]

I must say that I was not impressed with the game.

I don't have much liking to RTS to begin with, because I hate micro management, but this game that is aims to be large scale doesn't make managing them convenient.
I found myself endlessly clicking the mouse for about one hour of playing the beta, at least until then I clicked start->ctl panel->uninstall

[DominionsFan]

I think that the gfx is pretty good already. IT surely not worse then WC3, HoMM IV. etc, it is just different. I like the gameplay also, but I guess this is a subjective thing that what we do like. The game got a big potential, I hope that the devs can polish this game for the final perfectly.
Also the idea of these mass units is just fantastic, I've never seen it in any RTS so far. Basically you can lead thousands of units in the final version, epic battles here we go.

[Agrajag]

WC3 and HoMMIV are your examples? :/
WC3 looks pretty bad, but how every model is comically stylized it makes it hard to notice that the game isn't really graphically atractive (low poly count, low detail textures etc.)
HoMMIV also looks pretty bad, the units look like plastic dolls more than actual units, the animations are bad (have you looked at a vampire walk as if he has a dirty diaper on?) and the game feels bland overall.
Good looking game (imo) are Earth2160 in the 3d department, and Warlords:Battlecry 3 in the 2d department.

[DominionsFan]

Well those are popular games, so I mentioned those. I dont know, I really like the gfx of HoAE. The terrain/buildings are looking great, the units are ok as well. Dont forget in the final game you will be able to make thousands of units. If the unit's detail would be insane good looking, the game would be unplayable. This is gonna be the first strategy RTS, where you gonna play with huge amount of units.

[NTJedi]

Agrajag said:
WC3 and HoMMIV are your examples? :/

Personally I didn't like either of these games.
WC3 maps were way too small

HoMMIV I'm not sure what the expansions did... but the problems I recall were:
Serious unbalanced units
Heroes frequently dying early game
Heroes no longer unique
Fewer monsters than previous game
Weaker map editor than previous game

...that's just what I remember.

[Graeme Dice]

Agrajag said:
WC3 looks pretty bad, but how every model is comically stylized it makes it hard to notice that the game isn't really graphically atractive (low poly count, low detail textures etc.)

I much prefer good art over good technology myself. WC3 has good art, which in my opinion more than makes up for a moderate deficit in technology.