Majesty

[JamesP]

I just got Majesty Gold (after reading all of the enthusiastic posts that pop up in various threads about awesome games) and I am having the hardest time playing the durned thing due to the hyper-sensitive scrolling! Egads. Even the lightest touch of the edge of the screen fires my view past the thing I want to see.

I am reaching out to all the fans out there in desperation: Where are the settings I can change to make this thing playable?

[Odysseus]

I don't think there was ever a good workaround for the scrolling speed, except to use the mini-map instead. :(

[shang]

The hyper fast scrolling only affects edge scroll via the mouse. Keyboard scrolling with the arrow keys works fine.

[Crispus]

I saw a possible fix for the scrolling speed listed on OO awhile back, in this thread (http://www.octopusoverlords.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=31985&highlight=majesty).

Specifically:
There's a registry entry for the scroll speed that can be altered to make the game quite playable. In HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> CyberLore -> Majesty there will be an entry called "ScrollSpeed". By default it's set to 20. I changed mine to 4, and it's about perfect. (That's with Fast Scrolling turned off in the game options.)

Haven't tried it myself, so no idea if it'll actually work, but it might be worth a shot.

[triggercut]

That registry entry totally works. Fixed the game for me.

[azzl]

Is anyone else shocked that this more hands-off style of RTS hasn't been copied succesfully by another game studio? A DS game would be particularly nice...

[JamesP]

That registry info just completely made my weekend. Thanks C.

Is anyone else shocked that this more hands-off style of RTS hasn't been copied succesfully by another game studio? A DS game would be particularly nice...

Tell me about it. I was just checking out the YouTube footage of Settlers2 DS - it just reiterates in perfect illustration that the DS is completely well suited to (and completely underutilized for) RTS games.

[wildpokerman]

I saw a possible fix for the scrolling speed listed on OO awhile back, in this thread (http://www.octopusoverlords.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=31985&highlight=majesty).

Specifically:


Haven't tried it myself, so no idea if it'll actually work, but it might be worth a shot.


Awesome, you deserve a medal for pointing that out.

[Tyjenks]

One of the Top 10 games of all time.

Medieval Conquest tried a similar formula and to some extent succeeded, but where Majesty was simple and elegant, MC tried to throw too much in and did not flesh it all out. Still worth checking out for $4.99, IMO.

[EvilIdler]

Majesty is sort of in the same categori as Dungeon Keeper, mot a closer
equivalent would be Dominus:

http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?name=Dominus

I re-installed the Linux version of Majesty Gold yesterday, incidentally, and
haven't noticed any problems with it at all. LGP might have fixed some small
details while porting it :)

[Alan Au]

Tax collector!

- Alan

[Mark Asher]

Is anyone else shocked that this more hands-off style of RTS hasn't been copied succesfully by another game studio? A DS game would be particularly nice...

Yeah, Majesty was cool. Cyberlore was going to make a similar-styled game set in the Star Trek universe and featuring the Borg, but Activision cancelled it. I don't even know if Cyberlore is making games now. I think they may have gotten some kind of military contract.

[Tyjenks]

Now they do game-based corporate training and changed their name to <quick google> Minerva.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberlore_Studios

[Demon G Sides]

Wowz... Wonder what happened to my copy of this game. I liked it... Just spam built as many Rogues as possible, and had them attack the same things.

"Rogues do it from Behind"

[tiohn]

I'm having the hardest time with the advanced missions. The beginner levels were a joke, but i'm getting raped in advanced. Any tips?

[Ch. Hasslbauer]

Paladins all the way, tiohn. Don't even bother with Chaos Warriors. It's all about the paladins.

[Odysseus]

When in doubt, KROLM it out.

[Funkula]

Gnomes let you get your settlement running at a ridiculous speed. Are you building those?

I usually just build gnomes and rangers until I get to the second tier, at which point the monks and paladins come a-rollin out. Rogues guild is nice for the poisons and the occasional extort, but I find the heroes too fragile to bother keeping a full guild. Healers come out to support the paladins after I've got them going.

Fuck wizards. 4 hp at first level? Seriously, fuck wizards.

[Nathan Phoenix]

But if they reach like...level 6? Then they are gods among men. Also remember that the little gnome builders keep certain hero types away if I recall.

[shang]

You can only have one non-human race, so getting gnomes in the beginning excludes you from elves and dwarves. Gnomes are real life savers in the harder missions, though, because as well as building fast, they are very good at keeping buildings repaired in the midst of a battle.

If you can afford a slower start, the elves will really increase your money flow, though.

[Xemu]

It's all about the $$... as I recall the primary trick is just being in survival mode long enough to get up at least 4-5 marketplaces, fully upgraded.

[wonderpug]

You folks aware that Paradox bought the rights Majesty (http://www.gamershell.com/companies/paradox_interactive/357192.html) early this month and seem to have intentions of renewing the franchise?

[Tyjenks]

You folks aware that Paradox bought the rights Majesty (http://www.gamershell.com/companies/paradox_interactive/357192.html) early this month and seem to have intentions of renewing the franchise?

Yeah, there is another thread where people, in turns, wring their hands about Paradox taking the reins or simply rejoice that someone, anyone is working on it. Too lazy to search, but I bet yu can find it. : )

[ron_debry]

A lot of the advanced missions throw specific challenges at you, so generic advice like "make gnomes" or "make 5 marketplaces" will not always work. [btw - lots of Inns usually gives a better return than 5 marketplaces].

There is a walkthrough floating around the internet somewhere with specific approaches for each scenario, if you want to go that route.

[AaronSofaer]

The basic strategy is tech up -hard- to either Krypta and Priestesses (the Skeletons are godly against dragons, for example) or Paladins.

If you go Solarus, don't get any guard towers. Lunord is my preference because of that, but YMMV.

One fully upgraded marketplace is always enough to win, and there's only one truly hard mission in both sets combined.

[Jay Adan]

Now they do game-based corporate training and changed their name to <quick google> Minerva.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberlore_Studios

There's really nobody left at Minerva that was originally from Cyberlore. The biggest single group of Cyberlore people now only exists at GameTable Online. The rest have scattered to Firaxis, The Collective, Reflexive, First Playable, and various teaching positions.

[Tyjenks]

There's really nobody left at Minerva that was originally from Cyberlore. The biggest single group of Cyberlore people now only exists at GameTable Online. The rest have scattered to Firaxis, The Collective, Reflexive, First Playable, and various teaching positions.

Cool. Thanks for the update Jay. Hope all is well at GTO.

[DeepT]

I played the demo of this and it never impressed me, but over the years so many people have raved about it I guess Ill look for it in the discount bin somewhere.

[unbongwah]

I played the demo of this and it never impressed me, but over the years so many people have raved about it I guess Ill look for it in the discount bin somewhere.
The ol' Geryk (http://www.quartertothree.com/columns/geryk_analysis/majesty_1.shtml) vs Wolpaw (http://www.quartertothree.com/columns/geryk_analysis/majesty_a_1.shtml) reviews did a pretty good job of getting across whether or not Majesty is for you, I think.

[Tyjenks]

The ol' Geryk (http://www.quartertothree.com/columns/geryk_analysis/majesty_1.shtml) vs Wolpaw (http://www.quartertothree.com/columns/geryk_analysis/majesty_a_1.shtml) reviews did a pretty good job of getting across whether or not Majesty is for you, I think.

Haha. I had forgotten about those. Excellent, excellent, excellent support for both sides of the fence.

[McCrank]

In anticipation for Hinterlands, was thinking of purchasing Majesty Gold off Gamersgate. Anyone know if it works in Vista 64?

-Chris

[Damien Neil]

I don't know about Vista, but it appears to have problems with recent nVidia drivers and some cards--it doesn't work with my 8800GTS. Or didn't when I tried it a few months back, at least.

[Dave Markell]

I have Vista, and have no problems running Majesty Gold.

[Jason McCullough]

So I finally got around to playing my copy and.....it sucks. It's fun for a while, but once it gets complicated and hard the low resolution and crap interface make it not fun at all.

You know those really hard trick scenarios in Warcraft 2 that required tons of playing at slow speeds to figure out? Imagine doing that, except with terrible graphics and bad control over your units.

[Squee]

As much as "lern2playnoob roflrofl" posts irritate me, you might be playing it wrong. For most maps in Majesty, it's usually less about how you manage your heroes and more about where you place their guilds and when you build them. Most maps require very little in the way of placing bounties if you go about it the right way. Pretty vague advice but since most maps limit what heroes you have access to, it's hard to give more specific advice on what to aim for.

But if the graphics and interface irritate you, then by all means skip it. I can't really stomach NWN2 for the same reasons, even though I like RPGs. Just every time I try firing it up it annoys the piss out of me.

[Janster]

Majesty has lots and lots of nice difficulty setting tho, but ofcoz its old.

As for NW2, yes the camera system is just too hard to bear, I mean Dungeon Siege had just the right camera type, but since it basically played itself I felt no need to play it myself hehe.

[Chris Nahr]

Jason, not controlling your units is the whole point of the game. I don't recall the interface being particularly bad, either, though of course it's been a while and interfaces have improved since then.

[Alan Au]

As much as I love Majesty, the interface really hasn't aged well. There are only two zoom levels, and the harder missions require a lot of "divine intervention" (i.e. player spells) to keep heroes alive. Plus, you can't build while paused, so you have to settle for slowing the speed way down while you try to place your buildings before auto-placed houses/sewers interrupt your layout.

- Alan

[Gordon Cameron]

I join... the wild spirits.

[Jason McCullough]

Jason, not controlling your units is the whole point of the game. I don't recall the interface being particularly bad, either, though of course it's been a while and interfaces have improved since then.

Expanding on what Alan said, the harder missions turn the game into a shitty-interface version of your standard RTS, except instead of moving and ordering around you cast spells all over the place. Otherwise the little bastards die off in the wilderness somewhere.

It's an interesting idea, and an implementation that had oh, I don't know, your heroes for mixed class parties, or a bunch of obvious things like that which aren't in there, might be a little more fun. As is the Wizards just die, for example.

[Dave Markell]

As is the Wizards just die, for example.

There are many steps you can take to make wizards more robust. Put a library and training grounds on the far side of town, for example, so they have to walk a fair ways through your city to get to locations they love. This gives them a good chance of fighting against rat men and trolls from the sewers, and leveling up in the process. Majesty requires a different type of thinking than any other RTS ever made.

[MarinusWA]

Yeah, the heroes really need to be smarter about the dangers they are walking into and the teaming up they do. I hope the new Majesty will fix this.

[Quitch]

The interface is pretty bad, the lack of hotkeys is a pain, however the real failing is that early on it's way too easy (90% of the game) and later on it's obvious the game has no depth. You need to get some markets for income, then you sit permanently on the thieves guild so you know when to stab the EXTORT key. Beyond that there is little to do except post the odd reward.

The only plus I can give the game is the varied scenarios, they take the base rules and mix them up nicely. Other than that it's a shallow experience which will only find favour with those who are tired of seeing the same old thing. Beyond originality I don't see much to recommend it.

[Alan Au]

the real failing is that early on it's way too easy (90% of the game) and later on it's obvious the game has no depth.Well, sort of. The game is charming and I really adore the idea of only indirectly influencing your heroes. The difficulty curve is really odd; scenarios all start out at various levels of "challenging" until you hit a certain threshold of a dozen or so mid-level heroes who can collectively take care of themselves, at which point each scenario becomes easy. Well, except for a couple of the end-game scenarios, which are just punishingly difficult.

- Alan

[malkav11]

And you want to nurture the wizards, because (as is only appropriate) the high level wizards are absolutely devastating.

[Tyjenks]

My favorite part of the game, which has not been mentioned enough, is that it was fun. You may respond with the query, "What was fun about it?" To which I would be forced to respond, "The part where I sat down, played the game, and then got up a couple hours later thinking, 'Man, that was fun'".

That is all.

[Gordon Cameron]

Tom, ban that man!

[Warren]

Tyjenks, you're ma hero.

<places a bounty>

[AaronSofaer]

You need to get some markets for income, then you sit permanently on the thieves guild so you know when to stab the EXTORT key. Beyond that there is little to do except post the odd reward.


Whaaat?

I never hit the extort button unless my Marketplace is about to get blown up. :)

And the only map I've ever found at all hard was Legendary Heroes, and that kicked me ass completely.

[hong]

What's really hard? A small random map with minotaurs as wandering monsters. I never managed to get a city sustainably going with that as the starting setup.

[Quitch]

I never hit the extort button unless my Marketplace is about to get blown up. :)

Then you're mad. I never found any negative consequences from doing so, and there was nothing better for me to do since the game requires about one action a minute at most.

[garin]

Then you're mad. I never found any negative consequences from doing so, and there was nothing better for me to do since the game requires about one action a minute at most.
The thieves' guild takes a cut. If you wait for your tax collectors to round up the gold you end up with significantly higher income.

[AaronSofaer]

Then you're mad. I never found any negative consequences from doing so, and there was nothing better for me to do since the game requires about one action a minute at most.


Thieves' Guild takes a large cut.

[Tyjenks]

Yep, I rarely used the Extort option. I found it more profitable to manage the tax assessors a bit and make sure Marketplaces were near Guardposts for quick delivery of the funds they collected. IIRC, the thieves' cut was considerable, like 50% maybe?

[Quitch]

Thieves' Guild takes a large cut.

Ah, my copy had no manual.

So, less than one action per minute then.

[Dave Markell]

Ah, my copy had no manual.

So, less than one action per minute then.

With more cash, you can take more actions. Cast spells, build, recruit, upgrade, assign bounties, etc. I generally play at the slowest speed in any scenario, except at the very beginning, and take 10 or more actions per minute once I'm up and running. You clearly need a better economy. Do you build multiple markets (2 minimum, but 3 or 4 are even better)? If not, do so. Do you upgrade them? If not, do so. Etc. Etc.

[Tyjenks]

With more cash, you can take more actions. Cast spells, build, recruit, upgrade, assign bounties, etc. I generally play at the slowest speed in any scenario, except at the very beginning, and take 10 or more actions per minute once I'm up and running. You clearly need a better economy. Do you build multiple markets (2 minimum, but 3 or 4 are even better)? If not, do so. Do you upgrade them? If not, do so. Etc. Etc.
Yeah, 2 or 3 upgraded markets, not even to the max (Teleport ring I think) can churn out a ton of funds.

[Aeon221]

You know what would have made Majesty really great? Extramap progression in the form of an avatar that you got to control. So, like, gear and levels awarded based on map completion, with all sorts of different directions (magic, ranged, stealth, and close combat) that it could be developed.

And to top it off, give him a limited ability to summon forth the Palace Guards to support him in combat, and a "To me!" ability that could call up nearby heroes (with a bounty paid to each one, of course).



Also, would anyone like to go for some multiplayer Majesty this weekend? It could be fun!

[Dave Markell]

Yeah, 2 or 3 upgraded markets, not even to the max (Teleport ring I think) can churn out a ton of funds.

Yup. Take 3 upgraded markets, add some tax collector tweaks (change their minimum pickup and return values), build a few-well positioned guardhouses, construct a palace upgrade or two, and add an upgraded blacksmith and a training grounds, and you'll be chucking 1000 gold bounties all over the map, rezzing every hero that dies, and blasting enemies at will. And that's without the cash producing buildings from the expansion pack!

[Quitch]

And here is the flaw in Majesty. I didn't do any of that and the entire game, bar two missions, was a cakewalk. It didn't encourage this kind of behaviour in the slightest. I'd build three upgraded markets, hit extort, and twenty minutes later victory was mine.