Linux Port of Disciples 2 Announced

bobz writes "Happypenguin is reporting that Linux Game Publishing has announced the next game they'll port to Linux will be Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy a turn-based strategy game that was well-reviewed but not terribly successful commercially. /me breathes a sigh of relief that it's not another first-person shooter."

Comments

Re:Re-tar-ded!

[Jonny Ringo]

Well the game is very simalar to "Hero's of Might and Magic". And I believe that did pretty well on Linux. I know I bought a copy.

TBS, FPS....Linux

[greymond]

not to be a buggaboo or anything - but when will a really good RPG or Action adventure come to Linux (and don't tell me Nethack or Wyvern) - granted Neverwinter Nights is going to come out for linux and that's great - but I want to see a (IMHO) FUN RPG (like FF, DW, Septerra core, Chrono Cross, Skys of Arcadia) come out or be ported to Linux - i'd even be willing to helpout with a project like that....

but of course I guess most nix people really like TBS and FPS types....since thats most of the game's i've seen for it...

It's a great game, but the replay value is limited

[Kjella]

I've played it through, all four campaigns, and the game itself is great. However, the computer is too easy to fool (even on Very Hard), though I felt the same in HOMM3 (haven't played HOMM4), so I guess that's not just this game.

Playing it multiplayer is a whole different beast, but I really don't like it. All too much depends on who sees who first and can beef up/spellblast to make the actual fight completely uneven.

Personally I feel it was well worth the money, but once you finish the campaigns it's not much more to do, the scenarios aren't that interesting. It's a game to play once, win, and find the next good one in the bin. But that's fine with me, I got bored with Morrowind because it was *too* big - I had to get a solve to actually get anywhere with the main quest - I was winning every battle, but didn't find the right battles to fight....

Kjella

Re:Re-tar-ded!

[StarTux]

How many games on Windows are actually profitable? Its a saturated market, with even good games being neglected as they do not get any "airtime".

Also, I was surprised how many of the developers, especially in the simulation market, are no longer around. the makers of Flying Corps, Mig Alley and Battle of Britain are no longer with us in any real sense.

Why are Tuxgames still going if there is no profit?

StarTux

Disciples 2 Review

[sputnik73]

I remember playing the demo of the original Disciples, a game that emerged as a sleeper hit in a genre that had been dominated by the Heroes of Might & Magic series. I found Disciples easier to get into than HOMM, and thus I thought it had great potential. So when the Disciples II demo was released, I immediately downloaded it and began playing. I wasn't disappointed. I played and experimented for hours on end. Suddenly forgotten were all of the other games I'd been playing for weeks: Battle Realms, Galactic Battlegrounds, Throne of Darkness.

Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is a fine, addictive turn-based strategy game that will have you up all hours of the night, unable to tear yourself away from the computer.

After immersing myself in the demo for two weeks and alienating myself from my family, I was compelled to purchase the game. Unfortunately, CompUSA did not have the collector's edition on the shelf, so I settled for the regular edition.

I haven't been able to stop playing since I bought it.

The oddest part is, I've never been a fan of turn-based strategy. I could just never get into it. Disciples II has opened my eyes to a whole new world of gaming. It's that rare game that offers a thoroughly satisfying experience.

The Disciples series has been and will continue to be compared to HOMM (which is readying for a release of its fourth installment). One of the things that jumps out as a striking difference is the graphics. While both games boast some very attractive images, Disciples is a decidedly darker game and more grounded, it seems, in the fantasy setting. And while HOMM's combat screen is moving to a more isometric and zoomed-out perspective, Disciples II adheres to a combat interface that displays large images of the units, which makes for more detailed characters and interesting animations.

The units in the game are quite varied and boast some intriguing--and even amusing--abilities. In one battle, for example, I put my Undead Hordes army, consisting of a Death Knight, Doomdrake and Fighter, up against a neutral army that included two magic-using units that could transform my units. My Doomdrake was transformed into a huge blubbery Jabba-the-Hut figure for a number of rounds and, when attempting to attack in this state, would simply fall over backwards. It was a frustrating battle, but I somehow prevailed. And beware of armies with Ghouls and Ghosts or Specters. These units can paralyze your units. You'll spend round after round watching your units be paralyzed and pummeled.

One of the great features of the game is RPG-like development of your units. Some of the most important decisions you make will be the upgrade paths you choose. The upgrade paths determine the abilities, strengths and weaknesses of your advanced units.

One of the things you'll quickly discover is that you have to build balanced parties in order to survive your battles. Units have various immunities, so if you assemble an army of units with the same kind of attack, you'll likely encounter an enemy with an immunity to it and find yourself getting thrashed. Elements like this add a lot of tactical decision making to the gameplay.

The only real complaint I can lodge about the game at this point is that the retreat feature seems to me to be rather flawed. Retreating from combat usually means death to your party. I'd really like to see a patch to improve this feature so that you can bow gracefully out of a battle when you find yourself overmatched. In a game where economy is important and resources are contested, it's just too expensive to lose a whole group of units, which occurs more often than not when you attempt to retreat.

All in all, Disciples II is a very satisfying and challenging game. I can only hope that Strategy First will continue to release add-ons and sequels to the series, because I am thoroughly hooked.

Not yet another...

[nule.org]

Not yet another *insert overdone gametype here*

It seems that no matter what kind of game this is, it deserves the comment "Oh, not yet another *blank*". Not yet another FPS. Not yet another RTS. Not yet another MMORPG. I'm not just talking about Linux here, there just isn't a whole lot of variety out there *period*.

Don't get me wrong - I'm a Linux gamer and I'm pleased to see more coming out. I really love UT2K3 and my copy of NWN is pre-ordered. I hate TBS, so I'll pass on this one probably, unless I find it on the cheap somewhere. I bought a bunch of Loki games just to support them and look where that got me (crickey - Postal is a crappy game).

But back to my off-topic - are there any unique ideas out there about game-types? We have our FPS and our strategy games (TBS and RTS). We have RPGs including MMORPGS, real-time, turn-based, hybrid, 3d and isomorphic. There are card games and economic sims (I *heart* gazillionaire), empire builders and even bridge builders. But when was the last time you saw something new? The Sims? Boy are we in trouble.

Does anybody have a really cool and unique idea you could let us in on?

Re:whats wrong with first person shooters?

[grub]

May I suggest giving Thief and Thief 2 a whirl? Described as first person sneakers, they require you to listen well, move with stealth and plan your actions. By far my favourite "FPS" series.

LGP and ports.

[AnonymousCowheard]

I am always frequenting Linuxgames.com for information, help new users run their applications on Linux, and to then throw a cape on my back and post as the Alpha Troll. I was contacted by a representative of the Linux Game Publishing group about their interest in porting their current project "Majesty" to the clean 64bit Alpha platform. LGP's main office, from what I understand, is somewhere in London and they have a small workforce in Tustin-California. I have not received word from them for about 1 month on whether they would like for me to schedule a drop-off of a good Alpha Linux|netBSD computer. For those of you that say Alhpa is dead...you are dead wrong. Also of use to commercial developers, the Alpha platform offers benefit of a clean code-path to port software to other 64bit platforms in the future.

LGP is quite a promising group of people. They're working alongside Tuxgames to sell their software. If you support Linux, you should purchase all your software from Tuxgames. As for Happypenguin, this news is 24 hours old and Linuxgames.com posted an article before they did :-) . Happypenguin.org covers more home-brew games than Linuxgames.com, but when it comes to commercial games they both offer competitivly insightful forums. For the greatest source of gaming news in europe, HOLARSE is the place to go (PS: use babelfish).

In fact, just now, Linuxgames.com has an article about how LGP is taking over the porting effort of Mindrover: Eruopa Project. And one last thought, Linuxgames.com doesn't censor their forums, unlike Happypenguin.org