And now GOG wants to get in on the act too with another Free Game!
This time we get:

Master of Magic
https://www.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic

I assume most people here are familiar with this old classic. It's a
DOS-based (DOSBox, now) strategy game from Microprose; basically, it's
"Civilization" with wizards. Well, it's a bit more than that - it has
tactical combat and spell collecting! - but that's the heart of it.
And that's not a bad combination. "Master of Magic" is not my favorite
of the Microprose strategy games, but that's only because so many
other games of theirs - Civ, XCom, Master of Magic 1 & 2 - are so
good, that even an excellent game like MOM has a hard time standing
out amongst that crowd. But, despite its aging graphics and interface,
it's definitely a game worth playing.

(sadly, I get no benefit from this offer since - of course - I already
own the game on GOG. Where were these freebies ten years ago? ;-)

On Thu, 29 Sep 2022 13:49:00 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>(sadly, I get no benefit from this offer since - of course - I already
>own the game on GOG. Where were these freebies ten years ago? ;-)

I already own this one as well. I have it always installed and ready
to go in my DOSBOX directory.

I prefer Master of Orion for various reasons but MOM is a lot of fun
if you can look past the very dated visuals.

I claimed it, but will I play it? I have never played this game before.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> And now GOG wants to get in on the act too with another Free Game!
> This time we get:

> Master of Magic
> https://www.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic

> I assume most people here are familiar with this old classic. It's a
> DOS-based (DOSBox, now) strategy game from Microprose; basically, it's
> "Civilization" with wizards. Well, it's a bit more than that - it has
> tactical combat and spell collecting! - but that's the heart of it.
> And that's not a bad combination. "Master of Magic" is not my favorite
> of the Microprose strategy games, but that's only because so many
> other games of theirs - Civ, XCom, Master of Magic 1 & 2 - are so
> good, that even an excellent game like MOM has a hard time standing
> out amongst that crowd. But, despite its aging graphics and interface,
> it's definitely a game worth playing.

> (sadly, I get no benefit from this offer since - of course - I already
> own the game on GOG. Where were these freebies ten years ago? ;-)

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On Thu, 29 Sep 2022 23:01:53 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>I claimed it, but will I play it? I have never played this game before.

I can't blame you.

Look, I love classic DOS games. I /play/ classic DOS games. But even I
have a problem getting through some of them, and I have a nostalgic
connection to that era that lets me ignore a lot of the rougher spots
of these games..

"Master of Magic" is a great game. It's not Microprose's best, but
it's a solid title that takes a lot of their ideas from other games -
Civilization, Colonization, Master of Orion - then adds a dash of
fantasy and mixes well. It's a solid title and its core gameplay holds
up well against even modern 4X-strategy games.

But that 30-year technology gap is a hard one to overcome. I don't
think the game looks ugly, but it's visuals are - generously - very
limited. Reading text at 32xx240 is painful. Its interface feels
sluggish, lacking the snappy immediacy we demand from modern programs.
And forget any 'modern' features like online multiplay. As good as the
gameplay might be, wanting to play something that looks and feel so
dated is a challenge.

So, while I encourage people to give the game a chance - and the first
step to do that is grab it when it's free - I can't blame anybody if
they can't make that next step. It's a big one.

On 29/09/2022 18:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> And now GOG wants to get in on the act too with another Free Game!
> This time we get:
>
> Master of Magic
> https://www.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic
>
> I assume most people here are familiar with this old classic. It's a
> DOS-based (DOSBox, now) strategy game from Microprose; basically, it's
> "Civilization" with wizards. Well, it's a bit more than that - it has
> tactical combat and spell collecting! - but that's the heart of it.
> And that's not a bad combination. "Master of Magic" is not my favorite
> of the Microprose strategy games, but that's only because so many
> other games of theirs - Civ, XCom, Master of Magic 1 & 2 - are so
> good, that even an excellent game like MOM has a hard time standing
> out amongst that crowd. But, despite its aging graphics and interface,
> it's definitely a game worth playing.
>
> (sadly, I get no benefit from this offer since - of course - I already
> own the game on GOG. Where were these freebies ten years ago? ;-)

I bought this game when it was new and then got a German version of the
game for my missus (she is German). This was about 25 years ago and I
paid about DM60 (in those days, that was around £20).

She still plays it. I think it is the best investment I have ever made :)

Cheers

Geoff

On 9/30/2022 12:31 PM, Geoff May wrote:
> On 29/09/2022 18:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>> And now GOG wants to get in on the act too with another Free Game!
>> This time we get:
>>
>> Master of Magic
>> https://www.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic
>>
>> I assume most people here are familiar with this old classic. It's a
>> DOS-based (DOSBox, now) strategy game from Microprose; basically, it's
>> "Civilization" with wizards. Well, it's a bit more than that - it has
>> tactical combat and spell collecting! - but that's the heart of it.
>> And that's not a bad combination. "Master of Magic" is not my favorite
>> of the Microprose strategy games, but that's only because so many
>> other games of theirs - Civ, XCom, Master of Magic 1 & 2 - are so
>> good, that even an excellent game like MOM has a hard time standing
>> out amongst that crowd. But, despite its aging graphics and interface,
>> it's definitely a game worth playing.
>>
>> (sadly, I get no benefit from this offer since - of course - I already
>> own the game on GOG. Where were these freebies ten years ago? ;-)
>
> I bought this game when it was new and then got a German version of the
> game for my missus (she is German). This was about 25 years ago and I
> paid about DM60 (in those days, that was around £20).
>
> She still plays it. I think it is the best investment I have ever made :)
>
The game or the missus?

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 30/09/2022 20:43, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> On 9/30/2022 12:31 PM, Geoff May wrote:
>> On 29/09/2022 18:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>> And now GOG wants to get in on the act too with another Free Game!
>>> This time we get:
>>>
>>> Master of Magic
>>> https://www.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic
>>>
>>> I assume most people here are familiar with this old classic. It's a
>>> DOS-based (DOSBox, now) strategy game from Microprose; basically, it's
>>> "Civilization" with wizards. Well, it's a bit more than that - it has
>>> tactical combat and spell collecting! - but that's the heart of it.
>>> And that's not a bad combination. "Master of Magic" is not my favorite
>>> of the Microprose strategy games, but that's only because so many
>>> other games of theirs - Civ, XCom, Master of Magic 1 & 2 - are so
>>> good, that even an excellent game like MOM has a hard time standing
>>> out amongst that crowd. But, despite its aging graphics and interface,
>>> it's definitely a game worth playing.
>>>
>>> (sadly, I get no benefit from this offer since - of course - I already
>>> own the game on GOG. Where were these freebies ten years ago? ;-)
>>
>> I bought this game when it was new and then got a German version of
>> the game for my missus (she is German). This was about 25 years ago
>> and I paid about DM60 (in those days, that was around £20).
>>
>> She still plays it. I think it is the best investment I have ever made :)
>>
> The game or the missus?

Both ... :D

Cheers

Geoff

On Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 10:49:16 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> And now GOG wants to get in on the act too with another Free Game!
> This time we get:
>
> Master of Magic
> https://www.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic
>
> I assume most people here are familiar with this old classic. It's a
> DOS-based (DOSBox, now) strategy game from Microprose; basically, it's
> "Civilization" with wizards. Well, it's a bit more than that - it has
> tactical combat and spell collecting! - but that's the heart of it.
> And that's not a bad combination. "Master of Magic" is not my favorite
> of the Microprose strategy games, but that's only because so many
> other games of theirs - Civ, XCom, Master of Magic 1 & 2 - are so
> good, that even an excellent game like MOM has a hard time standing
> out amongst that crowd. But, despite its aging graphics and interface,
> it's definitely a game worth playing.

I disagree violently. It's the best game Microprose ever made, easily
my #1 game... at the time I played it (it's probably top 10 all time now,
surpassed by DS3, Fallout2 etc.) Others have tried to capture it's genius,
but nothing ever came close.

It's sadly rather dated the last time I played it, and still had a number of
bugs, even to the point you couldn't progress past a certain point on
the hardest difficulty as the game would crash out, it didn't matter with
a new game or reloading an arbitrarily older save point, you'd reach a point
it would crash, and therefore I never completed it on the hardest difficulty.

I've more recently heard of some mods that may fix some of that, and
some effort to entirely rewrite it for modern computers, but haven't
had the heart to try it again.

I do (or did) own it, not sure if I still have the floppies anymore. But
didn't own it on GOG and am glad to have it now.

- Justisaur

On Fri, 30 Sep 2022 14:52:37 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 10:49:16 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

....
>> "Master of Magic" is not my favorite
>> of the Microprose strategy games, but that's only because so many
>> other games of theirs - Civ, XCom, Master of Magic 1 & 2 - are so
>> good, that even an excellent game like MOM has a hard time standing
>> out amongst that crowd
....

>I disagree violently.

No need for violence. I'm willing to listen to your opinions without
resorting to bloodshed ;-)

>It's the best game Microprose ever made, easily
>my #1 game... at the time I played it (it's probably top 10 all time now,
>surpassed by DS3, Fallout2 etc.) Others have tried to capture it's genius,
>but nothing ever came close.

Well, we'll agree to disagree on that. However, you'll probably be
thrilled to hear that - and this is probably the reason for the
give-away which prompted this thread - there is going to be a
remake/reboot released soon.
(see a video of it here to get an idea what that will be like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luvd5rgQs0E)

In fact, watching that video prompted me to fire up the original
(I wanted to see if the soundtracks were similar) and I ended up
playing an entire campaign...

.... which only reminded me why I'm not allowed to play Microprose
4X-strategy games without first laying out a clearly defined exit
plan. God, those things are addictive...

Personally, I'm not crazy about the remake, less because of anything
in the remake itself than my general distaste with companies
constantly resorting to plundering old IPs rather than creating new
ones. Still, this reboot seems to be adding enough new stuff that will
allow the game to stand on its own. Whether that "new stuff" is as fun
and balanced as the original is debatable, but I'm not willing to
entirely write the game off just because it's a remake.

>I do (or did) own it, not sure if I still have the floppies anymore. But
>didn't own it on GOG and am glad to have it now.

It's always good to have a GOG version for easy access to classic
games.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>[...] Wether that "new stuff" is as fun
>and balanced as the original is debatable, but I'm not willing to
>entirely write the game off just because it's a remake.

My problem with the original game (aside from the bugs and the difficulty
getting it to run on a computer of the time) was with how unbalanced
the game was. Your starting position makes a big difference, whether
there are easy or hard nodes and neutral towns to capture nearby.
Early raiders and rampaging monsters can be randomly more powerful than
you can possibly deal with.

The biggest problem with the game in terms of balance though is with how
the system of picks for customizing your wizard is broken and easily leads
to player wizards that are much more powerful than what the AI picks.
Honestly, I think this is where most of the appeal of this game came from.
An easy start combined with an overpowered build that lets you cast an
overpowered combination of spells lets you feel like a badass quickly.

--
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[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //