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SpellForce 3 Reforced + Soul Harvest & Fallen God standalone expansions

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
This 'new' UI was in both of the expansions already.
And nobody has complained that, oh I don't know, it's too big, there's info you don't need to see all the time, double portraits, and which ability belongs to which party member is very/too subtly conveyed?
 

Parabalus

Arcane
Joined
Mar 23, 2015
Messages
17,432
which ability belongs to which party member is very/too subtly conveyed?

This is a huge improvement over the base SF3, which had 4x3 split ability buttons.

By the time you care who casts what it'll be in your muscle memory already. Not really much splitting of the party in the campaign either.

double portraits

What is doubled?

Top left is heroes, bottom left is selected group, middle is selected unit.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
The old UI showed the same (mostly pointless) info already, but by using less screen real estate, so checkmate, Obama.
 

GloomFrost

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
993
Location
Northern wastes
Ok so Reforced FINALLY appeared in my GOG library. Its 50 GIGs but does that include expansions? CBA to download it and then install both expansions afterwards because I only want to play Soul Harvest and Fallen Gods .
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,865
Yep:
gncHGtJ.jpg
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
Ok so Reforced FINALLY appeared in my GOG library. Its 50 GIGs but does that include expansions? CBA to download it and then install both expansions afterwards because I only want to play Soul Harvest and Fallen Gods .
It doesn't include the expansions. Maybe? The original Spellforce 3 is only 14GB, so I don't know where the other 35 come from.
 

GloomFrost

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
993
Location
Northern wastes
Ok so Reforced FINALLY appeared in my GOG library. Its 50 GIGs but does that include expansions? CBA to download it and then install both expansions afterwards because I only want to play Soul Harvest and Fallen Gods .
It doesn't include the expansions. Maybe? The original Spellforce 3 is only 14GB, so I don't know where the other 35 come from.
Well actually its possible that Reforced includes all the campaigns BUT they are only become available to play IF they were bought. But like i said before I'm very confused atm.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
Yeah, I thought so too and it's probably the case. I joined the Spellforce discord and they told me it's a known and reported issue they are looking into.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
Very raw first impressions - the performance is way better, I don't get the weird 20-30 FPS drops when I position the camera on a high spot somewhere. You create only 1 unit at a time instead of a squad of 3. The basic arsonists have been replaced with much less cool crossbowmen for some reason. Some of the abilities have been reworked, most notably/radically in the archery tree, and many have been moved around. The basic healing spell in the white magic tree is now instant. All of this is probably the case in the expansions as well.
 
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Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
There are a few noticeable issues here and there. The animations of the patrolling soldiers in the ruined castle in the prologue were super janky and a few knights were running into a wall. Some ability names in German are the same (Hawkeye and Eagle Eye are both named Adlerauge). Scroll of the Berserker shows two versions of the same buff and it's not clear which one it actually gives.
 

ferratilis

Magister
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
2,224
I tried this for around 2 hours, didn't like it, refunded. By far the worst aspect of the game is the terrible UI and lack of clarity during gameplay. No matter how much you fiddle with the settings, it's always hard to tell what's going on in the heat of the battle. Everything also looks tiny and in combination with the overall dark presentation, it puts a strain on your eyes. Despite the game running smooth according to performance metrics, moving the camera around always feels sluggish in a way that's hard to describe, like they deliberately made it that way. It's a game that looks and sounds good, it might have an interesting story based on what I've seen in two hours of play, but just the act of interacting with it (controls, managing your inventory, building, recruiting, exploring) is such a chore that it made me tired. Shame, really, because it seemed so interesting based on screenshots and videos.

I might be in the minority here, but RTS and RPG are like oil and water, you can either focus on adventuring, collecting your items, talking to people, small scale combat OR base building, micro, macro economy management etc. When you combine the two, too much has to be sacrificed to make for a good game. I feel that in this game, they sacrificed too much of the RTS layer to the point they made the entire game tedious. Just my two cents.
 

ArchAngel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 16, 2015
Messages
19,885
I tried this for around 2 hours, didn't like it, refunded. By far the worst aspect of the game is the terrible UI and lack of clarity during gameplay. No matter how much you fiddle with the settings, it's always hard to tell what's going on in the heat of the battle. Everything also looks tiny and in combination with the overall dark presentation, it puts a strain on your eyes. Despite the game running smooth according to performance metrics, moving the camera around always feels sluggish in a way that's hard to describe, like they deliberately made it that way. It's a game that looks and sounds good, it might have an interesting story based on what I've seen in two hours of play, but just the act of interacting with it (controls, managing your inventory, building, recruiting, exploring) is such a chore that it made me tired. Shame, really, because it seemed so interesting based on screenshots and videos.

I might be in the minority here, but RTS and RPG are like oil and water, you can either focus on adventuring, collecting your items, talking to people, small scale combat OR base building, micro, macro economy management etc. When you combine the two, too much has to be sacrificed to make for a good game. I feel that in this game, they sacrificed too much of the RTS layer to the point they made the entire game tedious. Just my two cents.
If I remember well in singleplayer you can pause the game at any time (or at least slow it down) to help you with using hero abilities. That should also help with clarity in combat.
 

vazha

Arcane
Joined
Aug 24, 2013
Messages
2,063
I tried this for around 2 hours, didn't like it, refunded. By far the worst aspect of the game is the terrible UI and lack of clarity during gameplay. No matter how much you fiddle with the settings, it's always hard to tell what's going on in the heat of the battle. Everything also looks tiny and in combination with the overall dark presentation, it puts a strain on your eyes. Despite the game running smooth according to performance metrics, moving the camera around always feels sluggish in a way that's hard to describe, like they deliberately made it that way. It's a game that looks and sounds good, it might have an interesting story based on what I've seen in two hours of play, but just the act of interacting with it (controls, managing your inventory, building, recruiting, exploring) is such a chore that it made me tired. Shame, really, because it seemed so interesting based on screenshots and videos.

I might be in the minority here, but RTS and RPG are like oil and water, you can either focus on adventuring, collecting your items, talking to people, small scale combat OR base building, micro, macro economy management etc. When you combine the two, too much has to be sacrificed to make for a good game. I feel that in this game, they sacrificed too much of the RTS layer to the point they made the entire game tedious. Just my two cents.

While I find most of your criticisms valid, I'd still urge you to persevere and give it another try. In most cases, if you build / min max your party right, the rts part becomes obsolete unless scripted.
 

Suicidal

Arcane
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
Messages
2,208
I played on the hardest and it only becomes obsolete in the late game, but in the last 25% of the missions I did just run around with my 4 heroes and killed all the enemy armies with AoE spells.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
That happens in the other Spellforce games too, but much earlier. Kind of. It depends on the map and build.
 

vazha

Arcane
Joined
Aug 24, 2013
Messages
2,063
Which is a blessing in disguise because the rts part is lacklustre at best
 

ArchAngel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 16, 2015
Messages
19,885
Which is a blessing in disguise because the rts part is lacklustre at best
It is good enough. I played it in MP and it plays a lot like Warcraft 3. You harass enemy base and workers while leveling up your heroes and getting items. Only difference units die faster so you need to build new ones more often.
 

ArchAngel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 16, 2015
Messages
19,885
Which is a blessing in disguise because the rts part is lacklustre at best
It is good enough. I played it in MP and it plays a lot like Warcraft 3. You harass enemy base and workers while leveling up your heroes and getting items. Only difference units die faster so you need to build new ones more often.
I forgot to mention that you expand a lot more than in WC3, it is more like SC2 here so in midgame and later harass becomes even more effective. It is a type of RTS that rewards players with more skill instead of those that just build a bigger army and send them to attack without controlling them.
 

Acrux

Arcane
Joined
Jul 1, 2019
Messages
1,489
On a scale of RPG/RTS games from Majesty to Dragonshard, where does this game fall?
 

vazha

Arcane
Joined
Aug 24, 2013
Messages
2,063
Which is a blessing in disguise because the rts part is lacklustre at best
It is good enough. I played it in MP and it plays a lot like Warcraft 3. You harass enemy base and workers while leveling up your heroes and getting items. Only difference units die faster so you need to build new ones more often.
I forgot to mention that you expand a lot more than in WC3, it is more like SC2 here so in midgame and later harass becomes even more effective. It is a type of RTS that rewards players with more skill instead of those that just build a bigger army and send them to attack without controlling them.

Cant really be arsed to engage into a full-blown discussion and nitpicking, sorry, but I ll say this:

Its rts part is not just similar to warcraft, its basically a WC clone with a few quirks (which mostly dont work/ distract / annoy) here and there. Warcraft, as I recall, was almost 2 decades ago. Enough time to build upon the foundation, if the RTS part was that dear to them. Instead its as barebones as ever. If you find it enjoyable, godspeed, knock yourself out, but I found it very distracting, so finding out that in most missions you can completely ignore / avoid it was really a relief.

Said it before and the Reforced edition did little to change my mind: this game would be infinitely superior as a myth-like.
 
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Lacrymas

Arcane
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
17,948
Pathfinder: Wrath
I've been saying Spellforce 3 is a semi-bad WC3 clone for a while. The units are missing the strong characterization, mechanical utility, and diversity WC3 offers and the types of heroes you can make pale in comparison to WC3's 24 different and memorable ones.
 

GloomFrost

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
993
Location
Northern wastes
LOL am I missing something or what but since when SF3 was praised for gameplay?? It has nice and pretty graphics and above average story and lore. That's it It has never been anything but a storyfag game. RTS sections cant possibly compete with WC3 and for most players are a chore. RPG sections are much better but they are still not exactly BG2 or something. So yeah recent 75% discount was the best time to buy it with both expansions and enjoy it for the story.
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
28,237
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
LOL am I missing something or what but since when SF3 was praised for gameplay?? It has nice and pretty graphics and above average story and lore. That's it It has never been anything but a storyfag game. RTS sections cant possibly compete with WC3 and for most players are a chore. RPG sections are much better but they are still not exactly BG2 or something. So yeah recent 75% discount was the best time to buy it with both expansions and enjoy it for the story.
Music is also outstanding.
 

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