Empire at War, anyone else looking forward to this?

[bones58]

After the disappointments of Galactic Battlegrounds and to a lesser extent Rebellion, all signs point to this being the Star Wars game strategy we have been waiting a long time for. So the question is, will this live up to the hype?




http://www.lucasarts.com/games/swemp...ndexFlash.html

[lancelot]

I really want it to be but most things I have read seem to indicate already that it is a game that will be accessible to (excuse the term) 'soft-core' strategy fans...

Ie- it will not have some of the elements that more strategy oriented PC game fans will expect...experience for your troops for example...a virtual given for the most basic of todays strat games.

I also bet morale wont be in either, games where troops fight until they die, just doesnt cut it for me anymore...Likewise in this age, units should not fight at full capacity even when they have 10% life left, combat effectiveness should drop as health does (this should apply to all games by now really or have an organisation level like in HOI2)

Im also concerned about the troops available...Ive heard there will be no SSD's but Mon Cal cruisers will be in??? and the Death star will not be able to attack starships???

My trouble is Im a sucker for anything with a wars label on it...

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

We don't need no stinkin' SSD's!

I suspect ground combat will be lacking, while the space combat will have major SW canon-ignoring flaws.

One can still hope, though.

[bones58]

You have probably rounded of the concerns of most of the EAW community.
However, they demo should be out in the next couple of days, so I'll make my judgement

[Mongoose]

In the event that it's a failure, there's always the warlords mod for Homeworld 2. The Clone wars mod looked fun but my computer isn't strong rnough to run it, evne with only afew capital ships. Strange, because warlords runs great with fewer ships.


I just hope that there's a decent amount of strategy involved and it's not just a clicking contest. One thing that shouldn't bother me but does is the scale. the infantry are half as tall as AT-ST, and Darth Vader is almost as tall as one.......

[Zalmoxis]

Haven't seen enough of it to make up my mind.

[The_Doctor]

The demo comes out on wednesday.

[Androo]

I just hope that there's a decent amount of strategy involved and it's not just a clicking contest.

Amen! I have my doubts, now: I believe the people behind this did Command and Conquer(?), which I don't know anything about. But I believe C&C begat The Battle for Middle Earth, which, for me anyway, was a huge disappointment for just that reason. I really much prefer the TW model, ie turn-based strategy, real time tactical.

One thing that shouldn't bother me but does is the scale. the infantry are half as tall as AT-ST, and Darth Vader is almost as tall as one.......

Me too. Playing a PC game is all about immersion for me, and a huge part of that is graphics which are as realistic as possible. If not, why not just use a 2d top-down map with symbolic units like the little cardboard counters utilized by kitchen-table-top wargames and be done with it? And a fairly important part of realistic graphics is scale.

I was looking forward to this game, but the more I hear about it, the more pessimistic about it I become...

In the event that it's a failure, there's always the warlords mod for Homeworld 2.

Also the Operation Flashpoint Star Wars-mod-in-progress. Not strategic, just tactical of course. It has a long way to go, but to me most of what has been done so far already looks much cooler than Battlefront II. (If anybody is interested, some of the better screenshots at the above site are to be found in the "Addons Downloads" and "Addons" sections. Check out the Millennium Falcon!)

...games where troops fight until they die, just doesnt cut it for me anymore...

Yes, definitely. (That was one of the many things I couldn't take about Imperial Glory.)

[lars573]

I just hope that there's a decent amount of strategy involved and it's not just a clicking contest. One thing that shouldn't bother me but does is the scale. the infantry are half as tall as AT-ST, and Darth Vader is almost as tall as one.......

From the previews vids I've seen the infantry units aren't that big. A vid of the rebel missile troopers in action, they maybe came to the knee of an AT-ST. Heroes however seem to be head and shoulders above the infantry. Which in the case of Chewbacca and Lord Vader are fine but not so good for Bobba Fett, the Emperor, or Governor Tarkin. Some of the like 25 hero characters in the game.

[The_Doctor]

The demo is out.

Here is a load of mirrors I copied from another website:

GAMESPOT:
http://download2.gamespot.com/d3/gsc...eAtWarDemo.exe

3DGAMES:
http://www.3dgamers.com/dlselect/gam...rdemo.exe.html

DOWNLOAD.COM:
http://www.download.com/Star-Wars-Em...ml?tag=lst-0-1

FILEPLANET:
http://www.fileplanet.com/159774/dow...re-at-War-Demo

T-ONLINE.DE:
http://spiele.download.t-online.de/dladvert/31648

FILESHACK:
http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=8255

FILECLOUD:
http://www.filecloud.com/files/file.php?file_id=2753

TORRENT LINK:
http://rapidshare.de/files/11303407/...e.torrent.html

EAWHQ:
http://www.eawhq.de/index.php?go=downloads&dl_id=6

FILEFRONT:
http://files.filefront.com/Star+Wars.../fileinfo.html

[Monarch]

Thoughts? Cant be bothered to download. I've only just installed BI so I have that to play for now. I'll read reviews and decide whether or not to buy.

What are the system requirments?

[The_Doctor]

Thoughts? Cant be bothered to download.

It takes ages to download. I will try again tomorrow.

What are the system requirments?

Suprisingly low.

[scotchedpommes]

Really haven't seen much about the game up to now, but I agree with some here
about what would be negative points. [Fighting without additional effects of
morale and hitpoint loss, in particular.]

Started downloading, but it's going to take an age.

{On another note, have never tried Supremacy / Rebellion, though from what I'd
heard about it I imagine it would stay favourite in terms of Star Wars strategy
games despite the release of this newer game.}

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Jeez! It's almost a gig!

Well guys, I'm going to wait for your reviews.

[Mongoose]

I've played the training missions for about 30 minutes. Here are the things I've noticed.

-VERY fast paced.

-Lars is probably right about the scale. Most of the units look reasonable.

-Playing the space battles, I've noticed that you can't move the ships like you can in Homeworld 2. It's like you're moving on a table...



Summary: The campaign was interesting, but the tactical part seemed a little too limited. I think it was worth the download though

[Mongoose]

Edit: Double post.

[David]

Summary: The campaign was interesting, but the tactical part seemed a little too limited. I think it was worth the download though

I agree. Its a reasonably good game (master of orion meets homeworld meets ground control) but land battles are bad. Frentic click fest. No, not my cup of tea.

[Mongoose]

"Also the Operation Flashpoint Star Wars-mod-in-progress. Not strategic, just tactical of course. It has a long way to go, but to me most of what has been done so far already looks much cooler than Battlefront II. (If anybody is interested, some of the better screenshots at the above site are to be found in the "Addons Downloads" and "Addons" sections. Check out the Millennium Falcon!)"

That does look impressive. I do have to wonder how they'll get things like the AT-TE into the game. I wouldn't really miss it that much: Dealing with it online in battlefront was painful.



"I agree. Its a reasonably good game (master of orion meets homeworld meets ground control) but land battles are bad. Frentic click fest. No, not my cup of tea."


But I think that the space combat lacked some of the finesse that HW2 has. alot faster paced and with fewer options. The "Special commands" Seemed out of place.

[Androo]

...land battles are bad. Frentic click fest. No, not my cup of tea.

Rats, just what I was afraid of. Not my cuppa either.

I do have to wonder how they'll get things like the AT-TE into the game. I wouldn't really miss it that much: Dealing with it online in battlefront was painful.

Hmm, hadn't thought about that... I wouldn't miss it much either. Perhaps for major slug-fests, BF will still be the best. But someone (you, mongoose?) pointed out in the SW BF II thread that the game doesn't really feel like Star Wars. It is that feeling which I hope this mod might embody. Just that screen shot of the captured Clone Trooper with his hands on his head had more emotion in it and was more evocative of Star wars than anything I have seen in SW BF II so far. Judging by what has been said in this thread, the engagements in the mod would have to be better, that is much less click-dependent and more demanding tactically, than the battle phase of Empire At War.

[lancelot]

Has anyone else been DL this demo for almost a day now? or is my DL speed even more pathetic than I originally thought it to be?

[lars573]

I've got 15 minutes left to go. It's been going for about 2-3 hours, I'll know for sure how long it took after it's done natch. But all of the other places are getting 20kbps download speed. The one I have now is 100kbps.

[lars573]

Double post due to mouse being buggered.

[doc_bean]

I just downloaded and played the first two tutorial missions. A couple of quick remarks:

-Graphics certainly aren't great
-the cinematic option in the land battles is a great idea but isn't executed well
-moving spaceships to slots may get tiresome fast

[Bob the Insane]

I have tried the demo out a couple of times and it is growing on me...

I think the end game will have far more depth than the demo shows us...

While the graphic aren't overly amazing they are atmosphere and pretty nice and would allow for huge fleet battles runing smoothly I think...

I am still getting to grips with the land battles which seem to be a alot like Ground Control 2...

Personally I think I will be getting this in the end as halfway decent Star Wars games aren't that common (and it is in the "right" time period too)...

[Lehesu]

Anybody who thought Star Wars Rebellion really sucked didn't spend enough time with it. The main flaw in that game was the laughably easy A.I. and the rather weak tactical fighting. The strategic system, while certainly not the most concise system, is more of what I imagine in a Star Wars grand strategy game.

[Snowhobbit]

Another flaw in Rebellion was how hyperspace worked, Interdictors their major purposes when space lanes weren't included .
OTOH it's probably the best game of it's kind that you'll get.
Edit: Anyone noticed the mods that allow you to play the full game using the demo?