13-06-2002 19:40									#1
	The I wanna talk about AoW II threadiii (Suomi) Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

Well not in Finnish anyway.

Anybody pick up Age of Wonders II? I'd be interested in hearing from my fellow 'Polytons as I value your opinions deeply.

Let me know if this is a game worthy of picking up or not.

Thanks in advance

	13-06-2002 20:52									#2
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I'd like to know the same thing, I enjoy HoMM4 quite a bit, how is AoW2 in comparison to it?

Are there any reviews out yet?

BTW is the game out in the US allready, AFAIK it cannot be found on German store shelves yet.

	13-06-2002 21:02									#3
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quote: Originally posted by chronocrator I'd like to know the same thing, I enjoy HoMM4 quite a bit, how is AoW2 in comparison to it? Are there any reviews out yet? BTW is the game out in the US allready, AFAIK it cannot be found on German store shelves yet.

AoW is a mix of HoMM, Warlords, MoM and good old Civ.
More of half of those innovations you saw in HoMM4 were already done in the first AoW.
In the second one you got wizards, heroes, 12 different races, you can now build towns and loads of improvements to the game...there's a beta demo on Fileplanet I think, about 100mb...if you're on cable or higher go check it out...I believe the regular demo will be out very soon.

	13-06-2002 22:13									#4
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quote: Originally posted by chronocrator Are there any reviews out yet? BTW is the game out in the US allready, AFAIK it cannot be found on German store shelves yet.

There are no reviews out yet but the game is in stores here in the US. I'm waiting for both official and unofficial reviews before I pick this one up.

da_jaymz description of AoW hit the nail right on the head. I have the first AoW and enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully AoW II will be just as fun to play. We shall see.................

	13-06-2002 23:13									#5
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You damn fraud.

	13-06-2002 23:40									#6
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I didn't enjoy either AoW or HOMMIII as much as HOMMII. That game is so refined.

	14-06-2002 00:09									#7
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JohnIII: I agree that HOMM3 is not the "perfect" game that Heroes II was in terms of refinement. It did however add a lot of features that I liked (especially map editor style things for story maps), even if it backpedaled in some areas (making you have heroes farm creature dwellings every week so you don't lose them, stupid and annoying), and thus I respect it for that reason.

I got my copy of AOW2 yesterday (had it pre-ordered), but I've been way too busy to play it much. I did play the demo a lot though (which is why I bought it), and I was highly, highly impressed. Unless the campaign sucks, I expect to be impressed with the full game too.

More soon!

	15-06-2002 00:47									#8
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So whats new or supposed to be new about AoW 2?

	15-06-2002 02:29									#9
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quote: Originally posted by Pythagoras So whats new or supposed to be new about AoW 2?

get the beta demo and see it for yourself.. http://aow2.godgames.com/demo_download.html

just scroll down...

	15-06-2002 09:42									#10
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It's AOW with lots of play balance issues corrected and lots of new strategic things to think about. In other words, better.

My one complaint is still that combat can be a bit random. Take 3 catapults, with attacks of 14 and damage of 16 against a target with reasonably good defense... if they get lucky, they can shell out unstoppably painful amounts of punishment. Or you can be almost totally unscathed for 3 rounds of firing.

And oh yes, the plot isn't as good as AOW1 so far. I'm hoping that more will be revealed as I advance.

	15-06-2002 10:09									#11
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What about replayability? I had a beef with not being able to do much after the campaign was over. I was hoping to be able to make campaigns (not jsut maps) and/or generate random scenarios/maps?

	15-06-2002 10:24									#12
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Well, there were no less than 4 endings to the campaign in AOW. But I don't think you can create campaigns as it stands (Except by hand with a series of maps and pre-set carry overs), although I'm told that AOW2Ed was used to create the game.

	15-06-2002 13:04									#13
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I am downing the demo now.

	15-06-2002 13:59									#14
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Final Demo is out now...will be downloading soon
http://gigex.com/gp/gp.asp?PackageI...00013&source=05

http://www.shacknews.com/fileshack/...nalDemo_RC1.exe

http://games.tiscali.cz/clanek/demo.asp?id=3264

	16-06-2002 05:11									#15
	Well, I've gotten a chance to play it now.... Suffering from ads?

Good game

It basically improves upon the first in every way, and none of the changes are a step backward in my opinion (atleast, not that I have seen so far)

The magic and research part of the game, town managment, andas the combat engine have all been greatly improved, and the races/units have been cleaned up a bit, but no drastic changes. (Although, I haven't gotten a chance to play them all yet)

My only complaints are that it still takes ages for the computer to take their turns on classical mode, and it goes a bit sluggish for me on the larger maps. The new graphics are nice... but I don't think it was enough of an improvement to warrant the higher system requirements.

	16-06-2002 21:32									#16
	Re: Well, I've gotten a chance to play it now.... Suffering from ads?

quote: Originally posted by Osweld Good game It basically improves upon the first in every way, and none of the changes are a step backward in my opinion (atleast, not that I have seen so far) The magic and research part of the game, town managment, andas the combat engine have all been greatly improved, and the races/units have been cleaned up a bit, but no drastic changes. (Although, I haven't gotten a chance to play them all yet) My only complaints are that it still takes ages for the computer to take their turns on classical mode, and it goes a bit sluggish for me on the larger maps. The new graphics are nice... but I don't think it was enough of an improvement to warrant the higher system requirements.

Sounds like no improved replayability though, its main flaw.
Ill probably wait till it gets down to 20 bucks, which it will soon since it wont catch on like civ3 which has tons of replayability.

	17-06-2002 00:00									#17
	Re: Re: Well, I've gotten a chance to play it now.... Support Apolyton

quote: Originally posted by Pythagoras Sounds like no improved replayability though, its main flaw. Ill probably wait till it gets down to 20 bucks, which it will soon since it wont catch on like civ3 which has tons of replayability.

I have yet to see a random map generator that can make maps worth playing on - especially when they are as detailed as in AoW.


I don't have any problem playing on premade maps, and they don't neccisarily have to mean poor replayability. Take EU2 for instance - the map is always the same, but to me, it is still the most replayable game that I've ever seen.

	17-06-2002 00:56									#18
	Re: Re: Well, I've gotten a chance to play it now.... Get a bigger avatar today!

quote: Originally posted by Pythagoras Sounds like no improved replayability though, its main flaw. Ill probably wait till it gets down to 20 bucks, which it will soon since it wont catch on like civ3 which has tons of replayability.

Check the demo out, click on the links I posted above.
Game features multiplayer also so try that out too.

	17-06-2002 04:34									#19
	Re: Re: Re: Well, I've gotten a chance to play it now.... Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Originally posted by Osweld I have yet to see a random map generator that can make maps worth playing on - especially when they are as detailed as in AoW. I don't have any problem playing on premade maps, and they don't neccisarily have to mean poor replayability. Take EU2 for instance - the map is always the same, but to me, it is still the most replayable game that I've ever seen.

I agree that the random map generator would be hard to do in AoW. However, I would like to see the ability to make campaigns, and even better multiplayer campaigns. That would be an awesome game.

	17-06-2002 06:48									#20
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As far as I'm concerned, the problem with AOW's replayability was simply that the map editor wasn't complex enough, limiting the style of downloadable maps. Heroes games have always allowed you to do crazy story maps and other fun things, not to mention more fun with difficulty levels. (and by the way, AOW1's original maps were actually not that detailed. It still doesn't mean that a random map generator wouldn't suck, because for a game like that, a map generator fundamentally does not know how a map will play. It certainly won't create good maps.)

From what I've seen so far, AOW2 improves on that. And just in terms of sheer messages, I'm really impressed at the first scenario- the actual amount of map you need to conquer is fairly small, but there's massive massive side areas to explore if you want, all with neat little messages and signs filling you in. I'm talking massive- it feels like this area existed first, and there happened to be a war fought on it later, and it just happened to be balanced for it.

	17-06-2002 07:30									#21
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I think what I would like is the ability to craft (and play) my own story line. Imagine a Lord of Rings campaign, or a Wheel of Time campaign. The posibilities would be endless. Throw in the ability to play these story lines multiplayer, and wow I couldnt stop playing.

	17-06-2002 08:31									#22
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I say it advertised recently, and was wondering about it myself. I will have to check it out when I get a free minute.

	22-06-2002 23:15									#23
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Gamespot's review. Im very interested. I wish I had money though

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/storie...2871030,00.html

	23-06-2002 00:00									#24
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

I don't trust any gaming magazine review. There is too much incentive for them to be pro game, esp. if you see the game in question company has bought much advertising. It is too biased, can be pro or negative; but rarely objective. I have seen too many comment about how a game review encouraged them to buy the game, only to find out the article was misleading at best.

I go with word of mouth and filter out the obviously biased ones. You can usually get a better review this way; esp. if you know the people talking about it. I have found this to be a much better way to learn about a game, and have purchased some good games (the kind I would like to play, and managed to steer away from some that wouldn't interest me, even though the gaming mag made it sound like it would.

	23-06-2002 02:38									#25
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Well I tend to agree with the critics. Some are better than others, and gamespot is up there for me.

	23-06-2002 09:25									#26
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Nothing on Games Domain yet, that's the site with which I agree with most.

	23-06-2002 09:52									#27
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I have been playing AoW2 for two days straight now.

Its fun, but then again, I only have Lords of Magic SE to compare it with since I am not a big fan of these style games.

I can't wait for the patch though, as it seems a few tweaks are in order.

	24-06-2002 17:22									#28
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Well since my fellow 'Polytoners are not really raving about AoW2 or shooting it down I've decided to wait for bargain bin prices before giving this one a try.

	24-06-2002 23:29									#29
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Hey, don't get the wrong idea from my complaints. AOW2 really is a fantastic game, it's just not quite perfect.

If you're concerned about economy, grab your time-machine and pre-order it. I got it for 30 bucks that way.

	25-06-2002 14:15									#30
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Games Domain's hot off the press review

It got a silver star, which means it's quite good