Thoughts on the Solium Infernum remaster? afaik theres free demo but im too lazy to learn new 4X game unless i know its already good.
Thoughts on the Solium Infernum remaster?
Thoughts on the Solium Infernum remaster? afaik theres free demo but im too lazy to learn new 4X game unless i know its already good.
The original was fantastic but only if you could find a couple of equally invested people to play with. I wonder if the remake adds anything to make singleplayer worthwhile. It's not just a matter of adding good AI, most of the fun in this game comes from outwitting your opponent and that's just not as enjoyable when playing against an AI.
I haven't played the demo, but if they just take the original and add some graphics and a better UI it'll be fun in multiplayer, but unless they make drastic changes I can't see how it's going to be much fun in singleplayer.
Considering how AI usually goes for strategy games, I'd expect this game will be dogshit for singeplayer but pretty good for multiplayer.
looks basically just like a remaster with better UI
played through the tutorial but didn't even bother to finish the rest of the game, might be interesting with other people but will be difficult to find people for it
maybe there will be a discord server or something
The artwork is pretty decent but the models and animations themselves looks pretty silly. I do like that there is a diplomacy screen where you can see the leaders and reactions though. I love stuff like that in the civilization games. I hope it's mod friendly so you can add your own Archfiends.
Not sure if it does have it, but I would like to see the praetors get unique models and animations with duels. Would be even cooler with the armies. Probably not feasible but would be cool anyway.
The original game had a good spooky atmosphere. If it made into a real life game I could see a horror movie coming out of it like Jumanji, and getting a pretty decent following.
I playtested it a bit and the demo didn't really go far from it (just fixing the really bad obvious fist release stuff).
I think it's a very faithful adaptation overall, which is great. The only things that are really needed from them are modernization (pretty good, especially considering how bad Adobe Illustrator original was built on is), artwork (great) and multiplayer matching (considering Armello was also a multiplayer only board game and was a big success for them, it should be a no brainer).
Modding is doubtful, again if we take Armello as an example.
Never played the original but have played the demo a fair amount over the weekend. It's pretty fun but limited due to the 20 turn restriction and a number of buggy/nonfunctional features.
AI behaves as it always seems to in strategy games - with nowhere near the competence of a human. I spent one game doing nothing but trying to grow my economy and was never bothered to the point that I had to deviate from my "strategy". So, that needs work, but I've no idea how much the devs will be able to improve it by release.
Once there's an available build where we can play out a full game we'll be able to really test for balance, but from what I see it's quite asymmetrical, which makes sense given the themes of the game. I missed out on earlier playtesting; I've read a few things mostly on their discord that indicated the games went longer, or at least players had access to more advanced capabilities. Perhaps someone who's played it will be willing to write about it, but so far there's very little discussion that I've found online.
The art style is gorgeous, the aesthetics/ambiance are great. 3d models are limited but good for what is essentially a glorified, limited public beta test.
I have high hopes for the game. You may as well at least try it out; it's a free, short demo after all. Doesn't take too much time to go through the tutorial, and the 20-turn-limit scenario you can play always has a random map.
>AI behaves as it always seems to in strategy games - with nowhere near the competence of a human. I spent one game doing nothing but trying to grow my economy and was never bothered to the point that I had to deviate from my "strategy". So, that needs work, but I've no idea how much the devs will be able to improve it by release.
In the initial playtest every single AI would demand/insult you on like turn 3 so they had to tune it down. It's very tricky building an AI for this game. I actually don't know why shouldn't the meta be to talk to every player but one and just spam demands on them. This is true even for the original.
During initial playtestint 20 turn limit was not working, but they patched it.
>quoting Milton in the opening cinematic
A bit trite, but fitting. Kinda wish they'd used the full quote though, it's a good part.
>Farewell, happy fields, where joy for ever dwells! Hail, horrors! Hail, Infernal World! And thou, profoundest Hell, receive thy new possessor--one who brings a mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself can make Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. What matters where, if I still be the same? And what I should be, all but less than he whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least we shall be free; the Almighty hath not built here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice, to reign is worth ambition, though in Hell. Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.
>A bit trite, but fitting
I've never heard someone that wasn't an obnoxious, prancing, limp-wristed catamite use that word
Poor little NPC, scared of using a word that isn't approved by the midwit council.
it fits, immediately had a "oh boy here we go" reaction when I watched the trailer
its so often used that it has become a cliche, boring, uninspired or in other words, trite
Just tried out the demo, seems to be designed like a boardgame, for better or worse. But it isnt anywhere near 4x genre like what i expected
its not an 4x game
its more like a conquest/diplomacy/intrigue board game
Is this running like ass for anyone else? It's framy as frick, and there's no reason for that considering how the game looks. I have to assume it's the game trying to render every individual piece of ash from the sky. Maybe it's the legions? But my computer runs Total War and Elden Ring with no such issues.
looking at min requirements and i can already say its unoptimized piece of shit probably made in unity too lmao
I figured that when the demo of a remake of game that was 130ish meg was almost 6gig
Finished the demo in first place by doing nothing but demanding tribute for all my actions for the first five or six turns since I started out playing Lucifer and his army wasn't capable of seizing anything near me. So instead I just hoarded money and raised my charisma, which gave me access to extra stuff to buy in the bazaar, which let me buy an army that was just better than anyone else's and an artifact that made said army capable of killing enemy bases in a single turn.
Seems like they're trying to make the kind of board game where everyone is given access to a bunch of different powerful things randomly and you have to figure out how to use them, but because of how combat works you're just adding up numbers and whoever has the better army will win every time. Might make for an uninteresting game in the long run, very much relying on the 'gotcha' element of casting different rituals.
This is how combat works in the original too. Raw military strength is only one of a few different ways to succeed, though.
Also, your army is very limited by the requirements of vendetta, and getting around that will usually entail making yourself a gigantic target for everyone else.
having a strong army is one of the ways to play the game, but not the only one
and the point is to have diplomacy in multiplayer
so if someone is too strong, its balanced by the rest of the players doing something to combat that
>because of how combat works you're just adding up numbers and whoever has the better army will win every time.
Even from just what I saw in the demo this doesn't seem true. E.g. consider the following armies (melee-ranged-magic)
>6hp, 1-11-3, melee phase resolves twice
>12hp, 3-5-8, no abilities
>6hp, 0-0-17, magic phase resolves first
Each army beats one of the others and loses to one of the others
Of course if you get ahead by enough no amount of trickery will save an enemy. But it seems like there are enough gamechanging abilities to give a fighting chance to someone with less resources but a smart plan.
Having fully customizable leaders sounds fun. I hope that's something coming in the full game and the premade leaders are just defaults. Knowing what tools your opponents are likely focusing on seems likely to remove a lot of the diplomatic complexity that was showcased in that AAR.
I'm concerned they're going to stick to only premade leaders just so they have something to shove DLC out for, which would be a massive shame.
>(melee-ranged-magic)
Meant this to be (ranged-melee-magic), to match the order of combat ingame.
>I'm concerned they're going to stick to only premade leaders just so they have something to shove DLC out for, which would be a massive shame.
There's relics you can swap out to mix up a leader's playstyle. The economy relics seem to be the most powerful though, as is common for any strategy game.
The +1 order crown seemed extremely good, though it probably falls off as people reach level 4 in skills and unlock order slots.
Regarding the relics, I just don't see why you'd try and mix up your leader's playstyle over just making your strengths stronger. If you're aiming to go for a deceit game, playing Astaroth (the conquest-focused leader) then spending relic slots to enable diplomacy seems way worse than taking Belial and taking relics to boost your diplomacy.
Yeah, there's a surprise factor there, but how much is that really worth? You'd need 2 out of your 3 relic slots just to come up to par with what Belial starts with, is that worth a bit of confusion among your enemies?
Technically you can get to the same power level regardless of your start, it just takes more resources and time. But not following your leader's strengths seems likely to be suboptimal enough that few people do it.
didn't one of the main characteristics (scrying or whatever) give you the ability to look at other players attributes?
if you are railroaded to a certain strategy due to the character having bonuses towards one, that would take away a lot
started up the demo right now and all i've done is look through its encyclopedia
all i can say is how good the art style and music is
>mfw thought that sounded familiar so dug through my dedicated purchasing email and found a CD key from 2012
Guess I know what I'm playing tonight.
Zoomers that haven't even played the original should at least read the rockpapershotgun playthrough. It's pretty good at illustrating why the original is hella fun.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-complete-gameboys-from-hell
But will the AI eventually be capable or its just MP autism game?
Rushing to upgrade a power to level 4 is very strong since it gives you another order per turn. I don't think occupying Pandemonium in 20 turns is possible but taking out one of the AI probably is
Nevermind, I managed to take pandemonium within the turn limit. You have to give the order to take it on turn 13 if you want to win within the turn limit though.
>open strategy game
>see this featureless, smurry style of digital "art" with lazy "brush" strokes and gradients
>close game
Every single fricking time.
I honestly think the original looks better if only the AI wasn't braindead in that one
this
I liked it, somewhere between Twilight Imperium and Diplomacy. I think I read it has asynchronous play so a decent one for long running games.
i like the setting, it's fricking metal
kinda wish they had a wiki with everything written down so i can pick through it for my own things.
i don't mind the new look, and the animated lords are nice though it might discourage casual modders and the optimization is practically zero. the demo feels as needy as warhammer total war.
tactically the AI will do it's utmost to block you off and cut the movement of your legions.
on my first playthrough i tried to go for as many cantons as i could, but they feel basically worthless.
the only territorial thing that matters are places of power and the strongholds, in fact "building tall" by spamming tribute and getting stuff from the bazaar seems better than wasting orders by tramping around.
and i am wary of trying to stack stuff on a single army as i had an event just simply deleting my army because frick you. wasn't even an enemy ritual or anything.
it looks like a cutthroat game where nothing is for granted and you need to shove and claw your way to the top like a tabletop boardgame with friends, which is where the multiplayer angle will make this game amazing if you have a group to play with.
It's certainly a very promising game. I hope they add more art, especially more sprites for the different armies and praetors. Seeing "cavalry" that have the same models as a starting legion is disappointing.
The codex within the game is very unfinished and some of the information is inaccurate, but by the time the game releases it should be good. That said, I've seen my number of 'finished' games with an incomplete/incorrect in-game encyclopedia, so...
Apparently in the original game you got prestige at the end of the game based off of how many cantons you owned, so it was worthwhile to paint the map in your colors. I don't know if they're intending to do the same with this game, but it wouldn't be a bad idea, because otherwise canton ownership is of limited use. What I expected when I started playing was to get prestige every turn based on the number of cantons you owned, sort o like Risk with reinforcement numbers, but that might detract from how important and scarce prestige is as a resource while you're playing the game.
Right now the AI seems exceptionally bad at using rituals against you, but maybe that's because they're just perpetually poor? I am sure though that once you play against humans the level of frickery that goes on will be absolutely absurd. Looking forward to it!
frankly i hope they authorize modding so someone can put in some really fricked up art.
if i see a depiction of hell and it doesn't shit my brain like a memetic hazard is it even worth playing?
the hieronymus bosch stuff is funny but i want some serious metal in this.
I have just discovered both versions of the game and im fricking delighted, its the kind of autism/aesthetics combo i could play for quite a while
overall i really liked the demo both in gameplay and setting, it isnt a real 4x game but it plays rather more like a board game in many of it basic mechanics. the whole military part is reallt great, tho im not sure about all the bidding stuff, i think you should at least get the option to hire another of your own legions even if its just a weaker version of your base unit. same goes with praetors; the system is good but bidding for them and actually getting some of the most expensive units is a bit exasperating, and you should get the option of hiring at least 1 praetor by a fixed price even if its a shitty one
the limited action per round system is tough but fair, and adds to the game in a tactical sense, and i understand you can get more actions so its fine by me
magic is fine so far and having to pay for it adds to all the mental 4d chess feel of the game, and combined with the diplomacy system it could be really challenging in harder game modes. so far the 20 turns duration and locked actions make it difficult to tell if both systems are actually well implemented
the whole music,art and design department is where the game really shines, they're all impressive and immersive the event splash images are fricking metal just like the landscape, with hell being this infinite desert of ash with some fricked up buildings here and there. i hope the final game gets more terrain and more places of power but what we got is already great
the characer design comes apart as a bit silly (specially Lilith) and they could benefit from a bit more realism, but i get they wanted to appeal to a wider audience and not just metalheads and edgelords. that said the game should get a character editor in the future, though i don't know if the devs would add the option to edit the character models so you can make your own