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PaulDenton
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 29 Nov 2001
Posts: 116
Location: Hong Kong, PRC |
Here are the games I love:
Baldur's Gate 2 (Cool story, complex spells)
Planescape: Torment (Alignment system)
Deus Ex (Guns, great story, environment)
Gothic (Sword battles, environment)
Final Fantasy VIII (love story, coolness)
Here are the games I hate:
M&M 8: Blood and Honor (too much fighting)
Pool of Radiance: RoM (boring turn-based)
I love the first-person mode, complexity and character development. I am wary of turn-based combat. I hate monster respawning and non-stop combat.
BTW, is Ultima IX any good? In its fully-patched version.
[ This Message was edited by: PaulDenton on 2001-12-12 20:06 ] |
Thu Dec 13, 2001 2:06 am |
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Michael C
Black Dragon
Joined: 09 Jul 2001
Posts: 1595
Location: Aarhus, Denmark |
First of all if you find M&M8 have too much figthing, then be glad you didn't try the previous versions especially MM6. Wizardry 8 also have a majority in fighting, and some respawning of monsters. If you are one of these novel reading Torment fans, I guess you will be disappointed with W8 too. In W8 you mostly have to put your sentence together yourself, and there is further between the people who wants to talk to you.
There is Scifi elements in Wizardry, but not in the scale as Deux Ex. You can buy/find and upgrade a big gun multiple times if you want. W8 is a traditional fantasy with a 1. person view, and you have control of up to 8 team-members at a time. So there is a lot of character management, if you are in for that.
The graphic IMHO is very good, many shooter games today can't beat it!
FF8 is turnbased. BG2 and Torment is also kind of turnbased most of the time, or you will get your ass kicked. W8 is turnbased, with a lot of complexity, more than the other games mentioned here! You can set it to "auto battle", to hurry easy fights.
Nonstop combat is not true in W8, you can avoid most combats, by staying free of the monsters awareness area, your radar will warn you in good time if you use it right, and if you have to go this way the monsters are sighted, then just wait a little while, because most creatures walks around, and the road could get clear in a few moments. Of course, if you want to power build your characters, there is a lot of posibilities to get into fights also thanks to the respawn system.
Many complain about the fights beeing to tough in W8. They are mostly tough, but thats only making the game much more interesting, you just don't walk out in the free nature, and let everything come to you and crush it with one stroke, no you really sneak out in the areas, using your radar, and stay mosly close to walls and bushes, so you can your back free when you get into a fight with 10-16 enemies. A fight with so many creatures in the open area will mostly be your doom because of their ability to surround you and backstab your party to death. I find it very interesting that you have to consider almost every move you make!
Ultima IX, is IMHO very good too when you use patch 1.18f. The close overhead view makes a good alternative to 1. person view. You control only the Avatar, and use realtime combat, but there is a lot of good gameplay in it.
My opinion short:
Ultima IX : 8/10, Very good
Wizardry 8: 9½/10, Excellent. |
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Thu Dec 13, 2001 9:42 am |
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PaulDenton
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 29 Nov 2001
Posts: 116
Location: Hong Kong, PRC |
I will go get Ultima IX first then, it is only 20 bucks, so not much to lose.  Thanks! |
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Thu Dec 13, 2001 6:53 pm |
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Avatar
Village Dweller
Joined: 05 Dec 2001
Posts: 5
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Beware that you need a very powerful system to run Ultima IX.
Mininum specs would be:
1Ghz Athlon or P4
256mb RAM
GeForce2
Even with all that, the performance is poor, but tolerable. |
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Thu Dec 13, 2001 11:02 pm |
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PaulDenton
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 29 Nov 2001
Posts: 116
Location: Hong Kong, PRC |
Well, the EB store near me doesn't have Ultima 9, so I bough Wizardry 8 instead.
Any tips Michael? How come there isn't a tutorial! |
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Thu Dec 13, 2001 11:39 pm |
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Hawkwind
Head Merchant
Joined: 10 Oct 2001
Posts: 54
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quote:
On 2001-12-12 20:06, PaulDenton wrote:
Here are the games I hate:
M&M 8: Blood and Honor (too much fighting)
Pool of Radiance: RoM (boring turn-based)
Just reading your message, I immediately knew that you would hate Whiz 8 (not a typo) It has more fighting in it than you have ever dreamed possible. If you thought M&M 6,7 & 8 had too much fighting - then DO NOT play Whiz 8.
And if you dislike turn-based combat, well this game IS all that and more. But, unlike M&M, you can't cancel turn-based combat when you want to, and run away in real-time.
quote:
I love the first-person mode, complexity and character development. I am wary of turn-based combat. I hate monster respawning and non-stop combat.
Monster respawning? Look up respawn in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of Whiz 8 next to the definition. That's all this game DOES - is respawn monsters in a continuous, never-ending stream. Unlike M&M, where you could "clean out" areas, and monsters would only re-spawn over a month or 2 of game time.
==Hawkwind== |
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Fri Dec 14, 2001 3:31 am |
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Michael C
Black Dragon
Joined: 09 Jul 2001
Posts: 1595
Location: Aarhus, Denmark |
Poul: Hehe, You don't really need a tutorial, the interface for this game is very easy and intuitive. Besides the manual describe it very good anyway. Just start the game with a good team, the game will be easy on you in the beginning, and you will very soon get the hang of it (15min).
But to start with first things first. Create yourself a good party. Ex 2 warriors, 2 different mages, a healer, and a lock picker is not a bad choise. Be aware of the Race/profession combinations giving you very different ekstra attribute point to spend.
In your case I would also in the option menu select Novice in difficulty. It's only regarding battles not puzzles etc. Believe me, you will get challenged enough on your way with this setting. You also don't get penalties in experience points for using the easy setting.
Also remember to set the "Auto weapon switch" in the options menu. Makes your characters use the best weapon anytime regarding distance to enemy. (Saves some time in combat management).
I can also recommend to set the monsters moving time to maximum, making the monster moves faster, also saving battle time, and nothing else.
Customize the keyboard/mouse. Use mouse to look around, and turn party, use ex. arrow keys to move party forward/backward/sitestep. The sitestep is not that important in W8, but can sometimes be used to sneak look around corners.
Other tips:
1. Take everything with you, that is not nailed to the ground.
2. Don't be afraid to use potions during battle.
3. Always go around in search mode, when you discover the world.
4. Be aware to make a good party formation. The 2-3 toughest characters in the front row. Mages/spellcasters in the middle. And semi tough fighters on the sides is a way do do it.
5. Don't get surrounded by enemies, the backstab can be deadly in W8.
In fights with many enemies get your party over to a wall/corner, and make sure your party is facing out from the wall. Beware that in combat, the screen view and the party facing is not necessary the same.
6. The closer the enemy the more likely you will hit them with your ranged weapon, and the more damage.
7. If you in a combat round want to make the monsters make all their moves first, maybe to have them approach you, to get better hits, then select party move and walk. Allmost everytime the monsters will move first, and when it's your turn you just cancel the movement and your team will attack instead. Note: if you walk during fights, you may still be able to attack in the same round if you don't walk too far (approx. max 1/4 of the meter).
8. I recommend to boost each characters 2 main attributes to 100 as fast as possible, giving them expert skills.
9. Each spellcaster should only master max 1-2 realms (fire, water, earth, air , divine, mental). It's crucial to make them powerfull in 1 or 2 realms instead of medicore in 3 or more realms. Choose the spells related to the realms you are good at. Much later in the game you can go for more realms, but in the beginning you need experts the sooner the better.
10. For non magic users, boost their weapon skills (Dual weapon, close combat, sword, axe etc.) Don't use skill points on non combat skills besides, the lockpicking and expert skills, because they will boost them self overtime in a rate you need them.
11. Be aware of the special pool of equipment your characters can share. Try to avoid overload of your characters, or they will slow down in combat speed considerable. Put special heavy things into your strong characters personal backpack instead of the party pool.
12. Read the manual, for many small hints to make gameplay easier, its not that big a manual.
13. Some puzzles can't be solved right away, you have to visit other places first, and come back later with the right things.
14. Don't leave the monestary too early, explore it thoroughly, and get the hang of the battle system first. Get your characters to level 5-6. Remember to fill your supplies with ranged combat ammunition, and potions at the local dealer, before leaving the monestary.
15. Get a ranged weapon for every single charakter, but let the magic users boost their skills during combat, not by using level up skill points.
Enjoy |
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Fri Dec 14, 2001 10:42 am |
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DABhand
Noble Knight
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 211
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I was also stuck about which to get..
Maybe ill get both  |
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Sun Dec 16, 2001 12:38 am |
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Michael C
Black Dragon
Joined: 09 Jul 2001
Posts: 1595
Location: Aarhus, Denmark |
BTW Wizardry 8 is a 100+ hours of gameplay. How much over 100 hours i can't tell yet, I guess I still have to go a long way to finish it, and I have found the world teleport system.  |
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Mon Dec 17, 2001 9:17 am |
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Raldor
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 27 Sep 2001
Posts: 107
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Michael, I have quite a bit of time invested in it too and I'm still not done. I'm wondering, is there an in-game feature that tracks how long you've been playing, or do you keep track of it yourself? |
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Tue Dec 18, 2001 3:50 pm |
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Incindium
Captain of the Guard
Joined: 17 Oct 2001
Posts: 187
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I've been logging my hours into a text file to keep track of it myself... I don't know of any game feature to log this for you... |
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Tue Dec 18, 2001 4:58 pm |
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Raldor
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 27 Sep 2001
Posts: 107
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Ah ok. I didn't think so but wanted to make sure. It just seems like I'm always the only one that has no idea how many hours I've put into a game. |
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Tue Dec 18, 2001 7:24 pm |
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Michael C
Black Dragon
Joined: 09 Jul 2001
Posts: 1595
Location: Aarhus, Denmark |
Hehe Raldor I no what you mean, time does go by unnoticed. Wizardry 8 seems only to have an in game timeline, not a realtime, so I'm also keeping track of my time spend in a little file.
My realtime used of time is current 105 Hours. I think I could have ended the game a few hours ago, hench I've got a pretty good clue how to solve the main quest by now and got all the required items, but their are still many unsolved places I want to go. |
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Wed Dec 19, 2001 9:32 am |
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