Master Of Magic Total War

[Foz]

Heck yeah I remember it. I've even played it within the past year sometime! It's hard to place, but the game just had (has) something intangible going for it. Like you said, addicting beyond belief. When I was playing recently, I found myself not even caring about the pixelated graphics. What's happened to games like that? It seems like the more we move toward games with fantastic eye candy, the less anyone focuses on making a game that PLAYS like a million bucks instead of just looking like it. Looks help games a lot, but gameplay is what MAKES games. Some of my favorites have been titles like Command & Conquer, Starcraft, Grand Theft Auto III, and Half-life (counter-strike included). These titles are nothing spectacular by today's graphical standards, yet I still find that playing them is far more satisfying than playing most games coming out at the moment. The titles that really captivate players are the ones that are intuitive, unpredictable, and bring a new and exciting gaming experience. All of those games I mentioned had cutting edge gameplay concepts, and I think that's the thing a game really needs to make it big with fans. I remember the first time AI soldiers in Half-life worked together to pin me down and flank me, and how they'd run away from grenades too! It honestly freaked me out a little... and you still don't see AI that feels that good from a lot of games (I loved Far Cry in this respect, BTW). It's things like that that make games memorable, make us talk them up to friends, and keep us coming back for more - not some flashy models and textures. We can get those anywhere!

Anyway I went on that tirade because A. MoM rocked, and B. I think M2TW could do the same. Even through the haze of bugs and broken mechanics, you can see some of the genius behind it. The nuances of the gameplay, the many different ways to approach the same situation... the ideas have that same cutting edge feel, they're just not there yet. I think they will be after the next patch, and then I think we'll really have something to write home about.

As for a MoM mod... heck yeah!!! I'd love to see it. I'm sure you couldn't get it done just yet without the model tools and stuff we're hoping to get from CA, but it's a sweet idea none-the-less, and I'll be keeping an eye out for it

[Ciaran]

Ah, Master of Magic, the memories (as is obvious, this´ll put me into the "old" category).

Well, basically Foz said all there is to say to that (Who´s your favourite wizard, by the way? Or which magic lore and race do you prefer?). I still play it at times, the only thing that always bugs me are the tactical battles when the other side has an all-wizards or all-shaman´s army, zapping my troops with their magic bolts.

And yes, I could very well imagine a Master of Magic Total War as well. A bit more balance in the units and spells, a bit improvement on the tactical maps ( say, something akin to the land battles in Sid Meier´s Pirates!) and I´d get it again. Even without real-time battles.

[hoccalugee]

I only learned of this game from a mate in his late forties and played for the first time earlier this year on dosbox. It's awesomely addictive. It's a fantasy forerunner of Civ.