Spellforce - what's the good word?

[Saxman_72]

Well, I just noticed that the demo is out for this one. I'll be downloading it once I get home from work. Haven't seen much talk on this one - anyone else try this one out yet? I think it's already been released in Europe for a bit.

http://spellforce.jowood.com/?rid=906&lang=en

Whoops, no link to a demo from there. Try http://www.avault.com/pcrl/demo_temp...ame=spellforce

[Tyjenks]

This is one I have been watching for over a year. Unfortunately, it seems the system requirements have outdistanced my hardware during its long development cycle. I have heard complaints that the 1 gig min. is too low. I think the recommended is 1.8. While I realize I am woefully over due for an upgrade, this one seems to be quite the hog.

I have read EuroReviews and many seem to think they finally got the RPG/RTS mix down. OTOH, Europeans are nuts and continue to buy Settlers games, so who knows.

[JD]

OTOH, Europeans are nuts and continue to buy Settlers games, so who knows.

Interesting that you mention that. Volker Wertich, creator of the Settlers series, is behind Spellforce. ;)

[Tim Partlett]

I'm playing it at the moment. It's very slow paced and complicated, and I'm not sure whether I like it or not yet. It's not your standard RTS, and it seems that they have taken the standard RTS interface and looked at how they can do it differently, with mixed results. You can't double-click and select all units of the same type, which is a pain in the ass, although their may be a way around this that I haven't figured out yet, as the interface offers a lot of non-standard options. You have a lot to deal with in any one game, lots of workers to micromanage, lots of spells to fiddle with, and lots of RPG upgrades to worry about. That works well in single player, when you can mess about with that stuff while walking from one quest to the next, but in multiplayer it might prove a headache. The graphics are above average, and run fine on my XP2400, but the voice acting is occasionally atrocious, and occasionally average.

[Peter Olafson]

I have read EuroReviews and many seem to think they finally got the RPG/RTS mix down. OTOH, Europeans are nuts and continue to buy Settlers games, so who knows.

Anyone tried out Once A Upon A Knight from Atari? It seems to be up to something similar (an RTS/RPG hybrid), though my early experiences in the game suggest it's more juvenile than SpellForce.

Peter

[Tyjenks]

I have read EuroReviews and many seem to think they finally got the RPG/RTS mix down. OTOH, Europeans are nuts and continue to buy Settlers games, so who knows.

Anyone tried out Once A Upon A Knight from Atari? It seems to be up to something similar (an RTS/RPG hybrid), though my early experiences in the game suggest it's more juvenile than SpellForce.

Peter

I did some Beta testing of the RPG side of the game way back when it was called Knightshift. It was basically divided into two parts: an RTS w/ RPG elements on one side and then a Diabloesque RPG mode. IT looked nice and was fun for a while, but wore thin after, I dunno, 10-15 hours of going on treasure hunt/kill the dickhead missions. Can't speak for the RTS side.

Quote:
OTOH, Europeans are nuts and continue to buy Settlers games, so who knows.


Interesting that you mention that. Volker Wertich, creator of the Settlers series, is behind Spellforce.

JD - As I clearly stated I had been following its development, I would love to say I knew that and meant my statement as a joke, but once the development began to drag some 6 or 9 months ago, I began to purge my brain of any hope for it. I am sure that nugget was recalled from my subconscious and that is why I chose Settlers as my reference for titles those crazy Germans like. :oops:

[MikeSofaer]

Wow, playnig that was like being brutally nibbled.

So many little annnoyances that add up to a miserable demo.

The voice acting was unbearably bad, and you can't skip the cutscenes. You can't save in the middle of the missions, which probably take hours. The game isn't stable enough to alt-tab out of it. You main character is annoyingly named "Demo" It unswaps my mouse buttons (ok, only lefties care) and the inventory screen is incredibly annoying. You have one unsorted inventory screen for your entire cast of characters.

It might be a good game otherwise, but I haven't much desire to try it again after it crashed out half an hour into the first mission.

[Tim Partlett]

You can save mid-mission in the full version, in fact it auto-saves every few minutes.