Master of Magic remake from Thea developers and Slitherine

[mastroego]

I did have hopes for this remake.
Sad.

 

[Naraya]

Deus Vult and good riddance. Why is anyone surprised when nobody asked for this abomination, especially when Caster of Magic exists.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

I don't think these devs are bad or incompetent or anything. Thea was a good game.

I just think that you just can't recreate the magic of something. That's all there is to it.

 

[Lacrymas]

You can, they just went about doing it the worst way possible. 3D was a mistake, no gameplay changes was a mistake, the things they did change were the wrong ones, etc.

 

[mastroego]

I mean, just copy everything exactly as it is, update the graphics a bit and add modern QoL features to the UI.
BOOM.

But no, we can't have that.

 

[Lacrymas]

That's what they did, though. It has glaring balance problems, however, and the city spam is an issue as well. There were a lot of things they could've touched up in the gameplay department to make it better. I'm glad the fewer than 40 people who are playing this are enjoying it. On top of that, they've never had a decent sale, so good luck with the future of this game.

 

[mastroego]

I heard they changed a lot of things.
There have been comments in this very thread. And that robot DLC or whatever that is doesn't exactly feel like a faithful addition...

 

[Lacrymas]

They changed a couple of things that were deemed too hard to implement in the engine, like every hydra head being treated as a separate entity, but stuff like 11 death books into wraiths are still in.

 

[Average Manatee]

If you are going to make the game single player only (which was a mistake), why not leave in all of the fun things like that?

 

[Blake00]

MuHa & Slitherine have revealed another new wizard coming in their 'Rise of the Soultrapped' DLC. Grendel the Troll is very might over magic focused and thus able to command very powerful armies.

Unlike the previous update this one I don't hate lol.. As a warlord player who likes relying on buffed armies & heroes instead of summons I kinda like the idea of a uber warlord trait with army regen.. assuming they get the balancing right as that sounds pretty darn powerful lol.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1623070/announcements/detail/5442089818732493164

 

[Sarissofoi]

That's what they did, though.

Did you even played OG Mom in the last decade? Or maybe you are from alternate dimension? If so share that modern MoM game.
Because what we get on this old Earth is not that.

 

[Axioms]

Thea 3 would be amazing if they did it right. Which they obviously wouldn't.

 

[Zeriel]

I don't think these devs are bad or incompetent or anything. Thea was a good game.

I just think that you just can't recreate the magic of something. That's all there is to it.

I disagree. You absolutely can. You have to want to though. These devs didn't want to. There were a plethora of choices before release that boiled down to, "We don't want the old fans!". Unfortunately reboot/remakes tend to have this problem, a company wants the brand recognition of the franchise to move boxes, but they also want to capture the fabled new audience, so they end up pissing off everyone and releasing a mediocre product.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

You can make a killing by taking an old franchise and making it retarded (XCOM and Fallout are the two standout examples), but you need money and dedication. Projects like this one, where you simply end up with an inferior copy of the original, are completely pointless and I really have no idea how they get greenlit and what is the business plan. I assume they must somehow turn out a profit due to sheer cheapness of everything.

Still a wasted opportunity, with some actual effort and a bit of budget you could easily turn MoM into a game with respectable playerbase and fantasy-themed 4X strategy with proper mechanics is definitely a niche in need of a filling.

 

[Axioms]

You can make a killing by taking an old franchise and making it retarded (XCOM and Fallout are the two standout examples), but you need money and dedication. Projects like this one, where you simply end up with an inferior copy of the original, are completely pointless and I really have no idea how they get greenlit and what is the business plan. I assume they must somehow turn out a profit due to sheer cheapness of everything.

Still a wasted opportunity, with some actual effort and a bit of budget you could easily turn MoM into a game with respectable playerbase and fantasy-themed 4X strategy with proper mechanics is definitely a niche in need of a filling.

I think AoW4 came out way too soon for Slitherine and MuHa to have a chance. The game is also a bit mid. Half the users wanted CoM rather than pure MoM, others wanted a modern UI. For others the ripped off Thea icons are offputting. I don't understand why you'd halfass a remake like that. Either be totally pure, do CoM instead or be modern but don't blend.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I really don't think AoW4, or any other game, had impact on this remake's chances, there just weren't any chances to have impact on. It just can't stand on its own two legs, brings nothing to the table, looks/feels embarrassingly cheap (just look at the "art" posted on previous page) and is aggressively priced on top of that (slitherine...).

I've also just checked and, as I suspected, AoW4's "popularity" was nothing but a comet. It's now at circa 500 concurrent players just like Planetfall was and I'm willing to take a bet it won't be recovering from that, some slight post-dlc spikes excluded. It also absolutely sucks as an actual 4X, so that niche is still as void as it has been.

 

[Lacrymas]

AoW4 has nothing to offer outside of 2-3 random maps and it's too unbalanced for PvP. MoM has a lot to offer and people still play it after almost 30 years. This remake, however, is just ugly and unnecessary in its current form, the original still looks better, lol.

 

[index.php]

Master of Magic: An expansive Free Update is coming on August 28th

Set to launch on August 28th, in conjunction with the release of the DLC Rise of the Soultrapped, a substantial free update will also be introduced.

Players can choose to play this free update


Below, you'll find all the key features of this update:

Steam Workshop: A comprehensive overhaul of the modding tools and the integration of modding into the Steam Workshop.

A list of Quality of Life improvements, including:

Management of memory for assets: As we and modders add more assets, memory demands increase.
Quick Load/Save option
Increased distance between towns to reduce city spam

Favorites in the spellbook and a repeat spell button
Display of current game settings available for viewing in-game


Hero recruitment: When recruiting a hero via a spell or trader, you will now have a choice between two random heroes.

Through the Myrror content update: The Wizard Trait 'I Need a Hero!' will now provide an additional hero choice when recruiting.

This update will be released for free to everyone on August 28th. Don't miss the chance to download it and embark on your new adventure

Buy Master of Magic now:

 

[zapotec]

40 euro lol

 

[Zeriel]

You can make a killing by taking an old franchise and making it retarded (XCOM and Fallout are the two standout examples), but you need money and dedication. Projects like this one, where you simply end up with an inferior copy of the original, are completely pointless and I really have no idea how they get greenlit and what is the business plan. I assume they must somehow turn out a profit due to sheer cheapness of everything.

Still a wasted opportunity, with some actual effort and a bit of budget you could easily turn MoM into a game with respectable playerbase and fantasy-themed 4X strategy with proper mechanics is definitely a niche in need of a filling.

The irony is a lot of the cheap, no-brand-name clones before this like the first Warlock did so on a budget. They weren't great, but at least they were okay fun. Age of Wonders comes to mind too.

I think how this happens is that eventually over the years the IP drifts from one owner to another until you get someone who sees no value in it whatsoever, who will sell it off to a chop-shop for actual pennies, and at that point even just a few thousand curiosity buyers out of nostalgia sake can turn a profit when you have sub-indie grade budget and effort invested. It's like The Asylum, but for video games, if The Asylum could somehow get its hands on the actual property and franchise names for the movies it badly copies.

 

[Lord of Riva]

I consider getting this, is it any good? I thought I could play it with the wife but was surprised it's SP only, which is why I have not bought it at release.
Is it at least good as an SP game?

I haven't played MoM back then.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Play the original, there's no point to the remake at all.

https://af.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic?as=1649904300

There's even a QoL update called Caster of Magic that makes it a lot easier to get into. The GoG version has it I think. It even has a Windows executable if you don't want to run Dosbox.

https://af.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_caster_of_magic_for_windows?as=1649904300

 

[Lord of Riva]

I will go with the old one then. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I consider getting this, is it any good? I thought I could play it with the wife but was surprised it's SP only, which is why I have not bought it at release.
Is it at least good as an SP game?

I haven't played MoM back then.

No. Ignoring all the gameplay changes and omissions, just playing the game itself feels like a chore. The pace of this iteration is glacial. The original is faster, snappier and has no load times. All of these elements contribute to a better player experience.

Also be aware that Caster of Magic is an overhaul mod that changes the game drastically. It's not a QoL update. Try both MoM and CoM first to see which one you prefer.

 

[Lord of Riva]

I consider getting this, is it any good? I thought I could play it with the wife but was surprised it's SP only, which is why I have not bought it at release.
Is it at least good as an SP game?

I haven't played MoM back then.

No. Ignoring all the gameplay changes and omissions, just playing the game itself feels like a chore. The pace of this iteration is glacial. The original is faster, snappier and has no load times. All of these elements contribute to a better player experience.

Also be aware that Caster of Magic is an overhaul mod that changes the game drastically. It's not a QoL update. Try both MoM and CoM first to see which one you prefer.

Yeah old game and CoM was cheap enough, it cost me 2 bucks, I will MoM standalone first.