Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[KeighnMcDeath]

MM3 was fun. I can't recall what my endgame stats were. I do know the bank hated me. Interest eh? CHA-Ching-a-ding-ding!

 

[Darth Canoli]

no blood and gore

If you didn't notice the blood splash while hitting everything that moves, it means your damage is still very low, the splash size keeps on increasing with your damage...

And yes, white liquid, thrones and fountains are your friends, among other things.

 

[Hag]

no blood and gore

If you didn't notice the blood splash while hitting everything that moves, it means your damage is still very low, the splash size keeps on increasing with your damage...

And yes, white liquid, thrones and fountains are your friends, among other things.

Yes, noticed yesterday after a few buffs the blood splat got much bigger (and that my knight hit much harder than my barbarian). As for the stats, the arachnoid cave's cristals did the trick, my ninja got her much needed luck boost. I also solved without hints the puzzle there. Feels really good, and the reward was up to the time I spent trying to decipher that shit.

 

[Hag]

I'm still enjoying my adventures in Terra. After some tedious moments exploring those swamps and getting stuck around level 14, I went for the colored dungeons and started to collect power orbs. Thus the XP shower began, two dungeon later my party rocketed to level 30, I two-shoot cyclops that use to be formidable opponents, and I wonder what the hell is happening. Also, I remember reading that money in M&M 3 was a bit scarce, but it is not - I lost twice all my money and managed to pocket over a million less than one hour afterwards.

Strange also how end-game is hidden from the beginning, before revealing itself in a talkative fashion via a few hermits and some friendly skulls. I would say story and goal presentation is the weakest part of the game so far, even if the lingering sci-fi background is a clever way to make for incoherence.

I guess I'm nearing the end. Four last islands to go, I kind of dread some tedious dungeon crawling, but now with pyramids access the way to the finish line is kind of up to me.

 

[Hag]

WTH of the day : half of my party suddenly have stats below 10 with the assorted HP. Of course I saved before seeing that so now I'm stuck with a level 100 barbarian with 3 strength. My cleric no longer have enough SP to cast a single buff.
Oh well, I'm about to finish this shit so I'm bound for the final dungeon anyway, but I would have done without that kind of icing on the cake.

 

[EruDaan]

In MM 3,4 & 5 there is a kinda tedious way to make infinite amounts of money... in 3 just invade the treasure chest of Castle Bloodreign again and again by inserting the password but not openeing them. Battle 6 Mages in "gropus" of 1 which results in 12.000Gold / 600Gems. Tedious, as I said.

In 5 you can invade the gem mines, get gem rocks, let them made into armour, sell that shit for moniez, pay the Mountain King, get the gem vains back, rinse and repeat.

Oh and in 4 you can invade Asp again and again... if you have nothing better to do or are listening to some podcast.

In MM3 there is also a way to (re-) gain Accuracy until 25 by training with Sir Poleman in the woods south of Baywatch. Also, also in MM3 you can get Personality, Accuracy, Luck and Intelligence up to the max. of 255 in the Arachnid Caverns. Just bring a lot of gems. A LOT. And some time.

The Speed stat is crucial. Get it as high as possible on at least your main damage dealer, give him/her a obsidian weapon and watch dangerous foes like Liches go "Splat!" The game would be far, far more difficult if these would appear in gropus of 3+. Against Termiantors use Implosion.

Hag - where in the game were you and what did you do to lose all your stats?!

 

[octavius]

Sounds like premature aging due to being exposed to radioactivity.

 

[Sinatar]

Sounds like premature aging due to being exposed to radioactivity.

Yea probably touched those crystals in the pyramid.

 

[Hag]

Well, I did explore the engine sectors and their aging crystals but I then drank from the fountain of youth and did not notice any effect for some time (long enough to finish at least two dungeons). I decided to get a Seashell of Serenity, went to the remote island and slept there for a few days waiting for the right moment. I then went straight to the Nymph and afterwards to Princess Trueberry. That's when I realized the stats were off.

It angered me, but luckily it did not matter in the end. I had already cleared most of the pyramids, so when I entered for the final time I only had to fight a few Terminator and voila, off to the next adventure. So yeah, a rather disappointing ending for the game.

Now that I have finished it, walked the dog, lit the stove and opened a beer, on to a few remarks :

The bad (gonna be long but I need to vent) :
- I greatly enjoyed most of the game, before getting bored by the end. Too much width and not enough depth. Apart from the big main island, all places are empty and boring to explore. Special award for the swamps and their quicksands actively punishing moving around an already tedious place. Dungeons are of a nice variety of layout, fauna and puzzles, but after a dozen or so the lookalike visuals and repetitive fighting started to get old.
- Problem is the second part of the game stops being rewarding. You know what to do, what dungeons are looking like and what kind of challenge you can expect, you can go anywhere but slowly it is getting repetitive. First issue I found is that leveling loses its meaning when you start to collect the orbs of power. One moment you fight each mob for the XP to get to a new level, next moment you deliver orbs by the truck and literally get a new level every five minutes. And while it did matter once whether you were level 5 or level 6, there is no difference between level 68 or 117. Both are sufficient to finish the game without any challenge and one-round kill 95% of monsters.
- Second issue is the terrible horrible fucking awful inventory and item system. Really. In the beginning it is a minor annoyance, having to order items around a lot. By the end, when inventories become crowded with high-level armor and quest objects, it becomes a real pain. Not only because this UI part sucks, but because the game showers you all the time in items. 90% of which are trash, like the leather rings in the beginning that actually lower your AC, the other 10% being armor and magic items only useful for a no-magic party, plus the chance finding of some actually useful stuff.
- Both the XP and items shower ultimately make exploration moot. Why would I want to explore a new place if it only means more objects to discard and more levels that won't make a difference ? There are some good ideas, such are the heads you pay to be remembered, that fall flat because the reward is more objects.

The meh :
- The stat system does not explain the ability of a character. Level does. A 3 everywhere level 50 knight will be way stronger that a 100 everywhere level 20. I never understood why my ninja was so bad at fighting compared to my knight, while she had superior stats and level all around. Holy Bonus buff greatly improves accuracy but does not improve any stat.
- Fighters are overpowered, wizards play supports. Druids are useful early and mid game as backup healer and to have access to the full catalog of spells. But its slot is not wasted anyway since by late-game my injured ninja could solo the Tomb of Terror so yeah, so much for teamwork.

The good :
- The UI is great (except for the inventory). Shortcuts are plentiful, coherent and easy, game is fluid and clicks well. Information is well presented, you have all data on your party, buffs, the world and dangers at one glance. Most modern software could learn a thing or two from this game.
- I like the visuals. Colorful, fresh, reminder of a time when fantasy art wasn't limited to "Lord of the Rings the movie with the saturation slider slightly off". It is quite charming, evoking the worlds we create when we are younger, where coherency and seriousness are less important than fun and imagination. Brown hairy orcs ! A princess cursed to be sad ! The Queen of the pirates ! Giant granite heads ! Ninjas in the swamps ! Witches with iridescent broths ! Spaceships ! yeah really, I must said I enjoyed it.
- As I said, I had a blast until late-game. It is always sad to finish on a bitter taste, but most of the game was great and challenging. It holds very well today. I do not regret the experience and will probably play World of Xeen later.

Bonus : my end-game party

Spoiler

 

[octavius]

Now if you want a M&M game with more challenge, try 1 or, if you haven't played it before, 6. World of Xeen is sadly a watered down 3.

 

[Hag]

Ok, might give the 6 a try then. This, or Wizardry 7, to taste the other side of the blob.

 

[octavius]

I'd try Wiz 6 before 7. It's shorter and somewhat easier, and you can transfer characters from 6 to 7.

 

[Eisen]

do MM3,4 and 5 clones exists? Aside from Legends of Amberlands

 

[Adenocaulon]

do MM3,4 and 5 clones exists? Aside from Legends of Amberlands

Apparently Yendorian Tales, but I have not played it.

 

[Dorateen]

Not an exact clone, but The Definitive Edition of Swords & Sorcery Underworld moved closer to MM3 with the inclusion of character portraits and visible enemies in combat. Retains the same tile-based, step/grid movement of those classic Might & Magic.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

do MM3,4 and 5 clones exists? Aside from Legends of Amberlands

Starfire, that game made by the people who did the Japanese versions of those games. Got translated not too long ago.

 

[Eisen]

do MM3,4 and 5 clones exists? Aside from Legends of Amberlands

Starfire, that game made by the people who did the Japanese versions of those games. Got translated not too long ago.

This one looks interesting, never heard it before

 

[Sinatar]

do MM3,4 and 5 clones exists? Aside from Legends of Amberlands

Starfire, that game made by the people who did the Japanese versions of those games. Got translated not too long ago.

That's a stretch and a half. Starfire doesn't play like Might and Magic at all.

Yendorian Tales 2 and 3 however do and are a lot of fun.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

do MM3,4 and 5 clones exists? Aside from Legends of Amberlands

Starfire, that game made by the people who did the Japanese versions of those games. Got translated not too long ago.

That's a stretch and a half. Starfire doesn't play like Might and Magic at all.

Yendorian Tales 2 and 3 however do and are a lot of fun.

It doesn't? Isn't it in the same engine? I would think it would play at least somewhat like MM3. (haven't gotten to it yet, so I'm just going off rumors)

 

[Sinatar]

do MM3,4 and 5 clones exists? Aside from Legends of Amberlands

Starfire, that game made by the people who did the Japanese versions of those games. Got translated not too long ago.

That's a stretch and a half. Starfire doesn't play like Might and Magic at all.

Yendorian Tales 2 and 3 however do and are a lot of fun.

It doesn't? Isn't it in the same engine? I would think it would play at least somewhat like MM3. (haven't gotten to it yet, so I'm just going off rumors)

No it's definitely not the same engine.

Starfire is missing:
- A party. Starfire is a single character game.
- Turn based combat. Starfire is real time.
- Character development. Starfire, while playing on a grid like dungeon crawler, is more of an action game like Terminator 2049 then an RPG.
- An open world to explore. Starfire is a linear sequence of missions, all of which are little dungeons full of mobs and nothing else.

It's very very *very* different from any might and magic game.

 

[Mauman]

I've been thinking of picking up Legends of Amberland.

I'm guessing it's good. Is that the general consensus?

 

[Strange Fellow]

I've been thinking of picking up Legends of Amberland.

I'm guessing it's good. Is that the general consensus?

I didn't like it very much. Too simplistic. Imagine MM 3-5, but with less thinking required.

 

[Eisen]

After acessing the Oracle in MM6, i can't stand it anymore, killing 50 monster of the same type. Such a shame, i thought i would like the game.

 

[Gaznak]

i thought i would like the game

I quit for the same reason. Constant meaningless slaughter of hordes of identical mobs while switching turn-based/real-time frantically. And I still think that class system in MM6 made a big step back comparing with earlier games.

I do understand the reasons of MM6 fans, it has much to love it for, but for me the negatives outweigh nonetheless.

 

[TheGameSquid]

Has anyone managed to get the Where Are We tool running with a non-standard version of DOSBox? I tend to use DOSBox-Staging these days because it has integrated support for Munt and Fluidsynth, pixel-perfect renderers and has upgraded to SDL2. However, I cannot get Where Are We to detect any game when it's running in something that's not DOSBox 0.74. I was unable to find any contact information about the guy who made WAW, and like so many tools like this, it's completely closed-source.

Another option was to use Grid Cartographer but that one has the same annoying issue: you have to use hiddenasbestos' DOSBox fork that has gamelink support. Now, I considered merging the gamelink features into a dosbox-staging fork, but that's pretty damn difficult considering that there is some significant divergence between the two. Also Grid Cartographer only runs on Windows . And who the fuck even knows how to compile software on Windows? (Although to be fair dosbox-staging doesn't use autotools anymore at least)

Again, I could use an older build of DOSBox which ARE supported by WAW and GC, but from my own experience neither FluidSynth nor Timidity run well or at all on Windows (which I'm forced to use due to WAW and GC being Windows-only), so that would mean General MIDI support is out, and running Munt on Windows is a pain in the dick as well, so even MT-32 support would be difficult.

Any advice from a seasoned neckbeard here?