Age of Wonders II

[Anonymous]

Anyone got this yet? I know I sound like a Take 2 shill, but I'm really enjoying the game.

The game has also inched a bit closer to being like Master of Magic. It's now somewhere between HOMM and MOM. Playing as Merlin, you can have a dramatic effect with your spells, and extending the range in which you can cast them is vital.

The AI's pretty good too. It's aggressive and does a fair job of punishing the player for leaving cities undermanned or unprotected.

Anyway, it's fun to be playing a handsome turn-based fantasy game. It's different enough from HOMM4 and Disciples 2 that it feels fresh.

Time for some emoticons! :lol: :shock: :D

[Paxton]

I played through the tutorial last night and was quite impressed. While I can't testify about the gameplay yet, the presentation is incredible. At least I can be certain that this game will not cause a repeat of the humiltiating experience of my wife noticing those gay little HOMM4 leprechauns prancing around on my screen. Damn, that game left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Rob de los Reyes]

I also just got through the tutorial last night, but I too have a pretty favorable initial reaction. It feels like a winner, but, obviously, it's still early yet.

[Alan Au]

I'm hoping to log some quality time with it this weekend. On a side note, Mark got a mention in the "special thanks to" section of the credits.

- Alan

[mtkafka]

I like it, though I am still not sold on the tactical combat as much as say Hereos IV. Its still above and beyond any other tb fantasy game out though in terms of polish and playability overall. Still finishing up on the second mission.

etc

[Anonymous]

Really enjoying it so far, halfway through the second campaign scenario at this point. Personally, I like the tactical combat *much* more than that in the Heroes games... I find I'm a lot more invested in my units and whether they live or die, as opposed to lose 122 units from their total or whatever.

They've greatly imporoved the Attack vs. Defense equation from the first game, and by ganging up on a unit you can wear out its ability to act on its next turn, which is great. And I freaking love the combat feedback system; it not only tells you a unit's chance to hit, it breaks down the range, height, and obstacle modifiers as well. Only thing I wish was that the game allowed for a range of non-magical ruler types, so as to broaden the narrative canvas a bit; it would be cool to fight against or as a hardened general or conniving thieves' guild master, as opposed to wizard, wizard, wizard.

But listen to me... What am I compalining about? Fun game!

[Mark Asher]

I'm hoping to log some quality time with it this weekend. On a side note, Mark got a mention in the "special thanks to" section of the credits.

- Alan


Cool. I didn't know that. I did a light edit on some of the in-game text. The story and text is 99.5% Triumph and Raymond Bingham and 0.5% me, just so you keep my contribution in perspective.

[Qenan]

Without that feature it isn't really enough like MOM to interest me.

[Mark Asher]

Without that feature it isn't really enough like MOM to interest me.

I believe Take 2's coming out with a new demo for AOW 2. Wait and try that. You may find the game enjoyable enough otherwise.

[Murph]

The demo's out. At least, a demo is out. Maybe Mark's talking about a newer one...I got one with one of this month's issues of one of the magazines, though.

[Mark Asher]

There's a newer demo coming out. The beta demo doesn't really show the game the way it is now -- starting positions for combat have been adjusted, for one thing.

[Jaysun]

I liked the first demo, it did have some great similarities to Master of Magic, which is what I've really been looking for quite a while now. I do sort of wish they put more into the town management aspect of the game though, it seems a little... sterile? I'm not sure if that's a good way of describing it... it just seems to be too simple. I haven't picked up the full version yet, but I probably will once it starts showing up in stores around here.

[mtkafka]

Based on the 2nd mission, there is some town buildup strategies, a simplified version of civstyle city building. It does require some maintenance if you want to maximize mana/money, so its not completely 'simple'.

I have groswn to like the tactical combat alot more. It is more detailed than the first one, and having your wizard as generally a non combatant, makes it more engaging. In the first AoW, it was very easy to buildup your hero to powerful levels in the campaign and clean up easy on tactical. In this one, it seems you start off new with each new sphere color mission. At first I didn't like the not carrying over of the wizard spells from mission 2 to 3, but I think its for the best... it does make it more challenging and it makes the strategies of choosing a wizard sphere more important.

anyway, its a real solid game so far.

etc

[Anonymous]

So far, so good.

I really, REALLY wish it had a random map generator. If that wasn't feasible, than at least an open, non-story scenario on a giant map with unfixed opponents.

Still, it's a very pretty game, and the campaign seems well done so far. I'll put some serious time into it on the weekend.

[Anonymous]

... it seems you start off new with each new sphere color mission. At first I didn't like the not carrying over of the wizard spells from mission 2 to 3, but I think its for the best... it does make it more challenging and it makes the strategies of choosing a wizard sphere more important.


Yeah, I had the same feeling about starting over -- Disappointed at first, then realizing that it's for the best.

Did it take you long to finish up the second scenario? It definitely turned out to be more challenging than I expected, due I think to what appears to be a pretty solid strategic AI. The tactical AI seems so-so, but on the larger scale I'm impressed.

The enemy wizards were being really aggressive about going after cities and resources. I decided to get back at Artica, who was employing a Zephyr Bird as a fast resource snagger, by building an Icedrake Rider to do the same. I took a lot of her stuff for several turns, and killed the one bird she had, thinking I could then just zip around claiming things to my heart's content. Just when I was convinced I had the run of the place, a squad of three birds descended on my lone rider and, thanks to the "gang up" rule, swiftly dispatched him. I have no insight into the AI's reasoning, but it sure seemed to me like Artica built a task force to take out my troublemaker. The proof will be in further play, but right now it's lookin' pretty sharp.

[mtkafka]

Finished the second mission in about 2-3 hours play. Mainly the other red wizard will stay your friend if you dont anger her... so if you can build a defense from the NE against the ice mage lady you should be ok. Also the SW corner of the map is ripe for pioneers. I made something like 4 - 5 cities. There's 2 middle cities that are in ruins that you can rebuild too. After that, the red wizard will pretty much take out alot of the ice mage lady, I then attacked her north of the starting point of the mission. Slowly take out the ice towns in the underground and shouldnt be too hard. Main strategy so far is to not to expand too quickly... make sur eto have archers in a walled city for some early defense... so far that works for me.

On the hlafling mission the halflings arent as tough as the red wizard lady in mission 2, but its not too hard yet.

etc

[Jason Lutes]

Wow. Took me somewhat longer than that; I started a war with the fire wizard when I began to covet some of her resources, so I had a big war going with both of them at once. Also, I only built two cities in the SW. I can see I need to think more about the new features that weren't in the first game!

[Anonymous]

... Multiplayer issues. My roommate and I played the campaign a bit. Then tried multiplayer over our LAN. It's crashed twice, and at times got so laggy it wasn't playable. Also, we couldn't seem to load any of our saved games. Well, he was able to load, but I couldn't get "into" his game. I realize this isn't tech support, I was just wondering if any one else had these issues.

The single player campaign is really well done. Although I wish there were a random generator,as well. Still it'll be tough trying to turn my attention away from it next Tuesday, when Neverwinter comes out. Then of course there'll be Warcraft III, and later next month UT 2003. Geez, it's almost like last Christmas all over again!

[Tyjenks]

I could not get into the original. The battles sometimes lasted forever as did conquering a map. I tried to go back to it on 2 or 3 occasions and met the same fate. I suppose it could have been that I just did not hang around long enough to "get it" all, but by a 3rd or 4th mission I would simply be bored.

Are the overall mechanics of the game that much different from the original?

Has there been enough added to interest an impatient, jaded gamer like myself?

Thanks

[Alan Au]

I had a different experience playing AoW than the one you describe. I found that it was far more effective to use your hero as a specialized assassin unit and lead surgical strikes on the enemy leader. Blitz assaults also worked much better than the slow methodical trench warfare you describe.

AoW 2 doesn't let you do that at all. It does remind me a lot more of Master of Magic than the original game, but I don't know where your micromanagement threshold is when it comes to Turn Based Strategy.

Haven't tried multiplayer. If I recall, the original game also had massive MP issues. The SP campaign has me hooked though.

- Alan

[Mark Asher]

There's a new demo out. From Blues:

"Triumph Studios has released the final playable demo of Age of Wonders II: the Wizard's Throne, their newly available turn-based strategy game, available for download from Gigex (here's the direct link for firewall users). This demo weighs in at a hefty 104.8 MB and "features one scenario, playable from two sides as either a single player game against two AI opponents or as a multiplayer game against one human and one AI opponent. The demo offers select features, spells and units from the game," along with several multiplayer options."

http://gigex.com/gp/gp.asp?PackageId=0050900013&source=05

[Tyjenks]

Thanks Mark

I guess I will break down and try the demo. This damn cable modem is sitting here being wasted solely on message board posting.

[Alan Au]

Oh, to have such problems!

/me futilely attempts to coax 56k modem into running faster

- Alan

[Tyjenks]

It was horrible...I had to suffer through a near 11 minute wait for the 105MB or so download while I fed my 1 year old her morning jar 'o slop.

If it makes you feel any better, it is costing me a small chunk of money I really should not be spending on entertainment each month.

[Anonymous]

The thing I disliked about AOW1 was the ridiculously small size of the combat units.Has this been changed??

[Anonymous]

The thing I disliked about AOW1 was the ridiculously small size of the combat units.Has this been changed??

I haven't played the original, so they may be larger. However, you can zoom in by using the scroll wheel 'till the units are downright HUGE. However this is at the expense of resolution (they get a bit blurry) and of course you can't see around as far. But at the default setting they don't look too small to me. So they may be larger than before.

:?

[Jason Lutes]

The units are indeed larger than in the first game, possessing more detail and frames of animation. And the zoom feature is really nice; it applies to both the tactical and strategic maps.

Sidebar: I've been fiddling with the editor, and it's great. As playing the game has already proven, the editor allows you to create the most nuanced and visually beautiful maps of this genre to date. HoMM IV looks downright ugly next to AoW2.

[Ben Sones]

I rarely use the zoom feature to zoom in--I find that the units are larger and less likely to get lost in the terrain this time around, even at higher resolutions (I play at 1280x960), so it's not really necessary. I zoom out often, however, particularly on the strategic map. It's a great way to pull back and get an overview of a large area.

[mtkafka]

The zoom feature really is just for show. Though when you get a close up of some of the dragons... I can see why! the animations / sprites or whatever.. are really good looking, and fluid, in AoW2. It was kind of jarring to play some HoMMIV over the weekend to get some jarring animations compared to AoW2.

I like this game! Though I miss some of the hero development from the first AoW, still a very solid strategy title.

etc

[Anonymous]

how do you make money exactly? It seems like the computer player can outfinance armies over me every time. Still stuck on the first map, can't seem to find a winning strategy. Also has anyone else had some strange bugs? I've had entire armies disappear, and occasionally the screen will start doing funky things with the graphics.

[Paxton]

You earn money based on the size of you towns. You can increase a town's income by 20% by producing merchandise (which is the default production if you don't choose anything). You also gain money from controling certain resources like mines or windmills.

If you are having money problems it is likely because you have too many armies (each unit has a upkeep cost), or because you are building too many structures (every building costs money as well as productivity). Stop building things you don't need. Try bolstering your armies with summoned creatures like efreets, since their upkeep cost is paid in mana rather than gold.

I really like the resource management in this game. On the hard difficulty level, I rarely find myself just "going through the motions". most every decision requires some consideration and planning.

there is a bit of tedium in finishing off your opponent once you've turned the corner, but it's not as bad as most other TBS games.

[Anonymous]

if you beat a scenario, is there a way to restart the next one without saving it on the first turn? For instance, I have beaten the first two fire ones, which gives me access to the third fire or the first water, if i try the third fire one and save it at turn one, is there any way to go back without finishing the fire one and try the water one. Why don't the maps open up on campaign mode, or am I missing something?

[Paxton]

I agree, this is annoying as hell. Seems like they should have a resign feature to jump you back to that screen, but I've not been able to find one. The best solution I've found is to save the game at the scenario selection screen. Just hit exit or cancel from that screen and it will ask you to save your game.

The biggest complaint I have with the game so far is that I have to check the appendices in the manual much too often to find out the stats of a particular ability or improvement. I really wish they could squeeze more of this info into the user interface, at least in the status bar tips. Also, it seems some info is just missing; city population for instance. Why can't I vector new units, as in warlords? I wouldn't play the first aow for that reason alone, but this game is much too good to pass on.

[Anonymous]

My main complaint thus far is that they *really* need to do something about the length of time it takes the AI to do turns. I'm playing with Simultaneous turn-mode on, and it's gotten to the point where it is literally taking between a minute or two for the computer to move. This is annoying if you're in the middle third of a game, which is the build-up phase when you're not doing anything.

They gotta do code optimization or something, cause it's just weird. I'll be in a game with 2 AI opponents, or 7, and it still takes the same amount of time. Hell, even on a map where there were 3 AI opponents (with 2 allied together, and the other allied with me), there wasn't much going on.... no one was attacking anyone, but it took one of the AI guys forever just to move his guys around his territory.

Thankfully, NWN has got me busy, but I'm hoping the first AOW2 patch will be out by the time I wrap up NWN, and hopefully they address this.

[Alan Au]

I agree that the AI turns take a bit too long for my liking, although it at least tells you which AI turn it is. You might want to turn off the autosave feature, since that just adds to the delay. I believe you can also turn off the "show computer moves" thing, but I haven't tried that one yet.

- Alan