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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:AMIGA NOTES
Notice:Join us in the *NEW* conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:HYDRA::MOORE
Created:Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5378
Total number of notes:38326

4341.0. "PowerMonger Review" by COMICS::HOGGAN (No, I am not kidding !!!) Mon Dec 10 1990 05:00

    
    I finally got to see PowerMonger this weekend - it's fantastic!
    There are similarities to Populous, being the sequel, visually and in
    game control. I'll give my impressions for those interested.
    
    Coming in the usual E-Arts glossy box at a hefty 30 pounds you find a
    single disk, palm-sized manual and loading instructions. The manual
    states that the disk is not copy-protected but it appears to be.
    Anyway, I finally made the backup and loaded the game. Phew! the
    loading sequence certainly is fairly impressive. Nice music, colourful
    graphics. 
    
    The game itself is massive. You start off on a tiny piece of land from
    a huge map - daunting and maybe toward the end it could get a bit
    tedious. This is where the 'Populous feeling' comes in. You stand round
    a table studying a map portrayed in the Populous fashion with game
    controls likewise. A copule of nice touches have been added - zoom
    in/out on the map and the subtle changes between the seasons,
    accompanied by pretty realistic sound. It's great to see the birds
    migrate in autumn, the snow fall, the wind howl, the sound of the anvil
    in a workshop. These all add to the game and it's not hard to find
    yourself becoming engrossed. 
    
    Gameplay is sufficiently different to Populous to keep people happy.
    You don't raise/lower land, flood or whatever. Instead you instruct
    your people to invade, invent, counsel etc. Your orders are greeted
    with anything from a 'Yeah!' through to a 'Uggh' indicating how much
    your people agree.  You have to keep up food, morale, health etc. You
    can follow the lives of individuals as each has a name and profession. 
    
    The question is "How have they squeezed ALL of it into 512K?" The
    amount of detail and sampled sound and sheer physical size of the
    gaming area would suggest much more memory.
    
    So, if you liked Populous, you'll love this. If you didn't like
    Populous, chances are you'll still like this. With most games these
    days hitting the 25 - 30 quid mark you have to be careful what you buy;
    one thing is certain PowerMonger is worth the asking price.
    
    Dave
     
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4341.1SIEVAX::JAMIEUse me, Use me... Ooops! Excuse me!Thu Dec 13 1990 06:2110
    Has anyone managed to recruit a subordinate captain yet ? How do you do
    this ? Maybe it's just because I haven't played it enough for this to
    happen yet (got it last night and only on my 3rd conquest)...
    
    Brilliant game though... and the detail when you zoom in is great!
    
    
    
    
    				Jamie.
4341.2LAVETA::J_PARSONSGeorge Stark: Not A Very Nice GuyThu Dec 13 1990 11:255
    Does anyone in the US have this game yet? I have searched far and wide
    among the popular mail order places, as well as the local dealers, and
    no one has it yet. 
    
    I am *really* anxious to get this game.
4341.3Some help, maybe...EEMELI::LINDENFri Dec 14 1990 00:3518
    re: .1
    >Has anyone managed to recruit a subordinate captain yet ?
    So far I haven't been able to do that, but the other captains have similar
    castles(looks like tower) that you have(you can see it when you start
    your quest) and if I have understood correctly you have to defeat the
    captain or buy him(using food/weapons/other goods) to join your
    forces... so far when I have been playing those cities having a castle
    are far too big to defeat... Altough you can end the current map(use
    retire option) when your balance scale is over 50% gain to you.
    
    Hope this helps!
    
    Has anyone succeeded transfering troops from previously conquered map
    to a new map??? To me it seems that every map that you want conquer
    will start with approximately 20 men... 
    
    -Kari-
                                                       
4341.4Possible help...EEMELI::LINDENFri Dec 14 1990 00:396
    re: .2
    If I remember correctly Electronic Arts is distributing the game in US,
    so you should contact a retailer that sells other EA's games.
    
    -Kari-
    
4341.5LAVETA::J_PARSONSGeorge Stark: Not A Very Nice GuyFri Dec 14 1990 01:505
re .4

Thanks for the reply, but I've called Electronic Arts themselves, and they still
won't admit to a specific release date here (other than "sometime before the end
of the month"). 
4341.6SIEVAX::JAMIEUse me, Use me... Ooops! Excuse me!Fri Dec 14 1990 04:3511
    I managed to recruit someone last night. Having someone else commanding
    a bunch of men gives you some insight into the complex strategies that
    could be used in the game! Imagine commanding six captains into an
    attack on a large city... could be fun!
    
    You can't move men or supplies from one island to another. The
    instructions state that most of the men and all of the supplies are
    needed to continue to control your conquered island! Also, I think the
    balance has to be 2/3 in your favour.
    
    Anyone seen the stork yet ?!!! Waterfalls ?
4341.7it's on the shelves nowCRISTA::LEIMBERGERI have my marbles now I want yoursMon Dec 17 1990 07:254
	It,s on the shelf as System Eyes. I toyed with picking it up but
have been to busy to play it. I may add it to my game collection for a rainy
day.
								bill
4341.8Won't work on my 2000LAVETA::J_PARSONSGeorge Stark: Not A Very Nice GuyMon Dec 17 1990 11:517
    I picked it up Friday myself, and will be returning it today. It is
    probably in incredible game, with a richness of detail that is truly
    amazing. However it will only boot on my 2000 about 1 out of every 10
    times. It has no on-disk copy protection, but the disk has a custom DOS
    which my 2000 (3 meg, 2 floppy, 80 meg HD) just doesn't seem to get
    along with. I am incredibly disappointed by this, since I've been
    looking forward to this games' arrival for months.
4341.9Any usefull allliances? SHIPS::NEAL_DWed Jan 02 1991 06:5931

   The stork just looks like a fat seagull but havent managed to zoom in on it.
 
   The manual says that after you have formed an alliance you have access to the
 resources of the other half of the alliance. Has anyone managed to do anything
 along this line. I have formed a few alliance's but I cant seem to control the
 troops or do invent in their villages.

   I only seem to recruit another captain if I attack another settlement with
 minimum agression. I have managed to have myself and four captains this way.
 I normally use them as spies as this can show you on the map where the roving
 bands of men are if you click the overhead map to people. Using them to 
 control armies from a distance is awkward because the carrier pidgeon takes so
 long to get to them.
 Overall the game is very good. Brillant sound effects and good graphics but 
 there are some things which annoy me totally!
 The information windows move very slowly and if I click on a captain's medal
 I normally get two windows of the same information back instead of one. So 
 the next thing I have to do is cancel one.
 I have an Amiga 500 1meg with 3 floppies and to do any saving, loading and
 formatting of data disks I have to keep another floppy in df1: 
 When loading from cold I have to fully load start new conquest, do the 
 protection check from the manual and then load the data A,B,C etc or I dont
 always find myself in the right place.

  Unfortunately the weather over Christmas was terrible so instead of rushing 
 out with the kids all the time I was forced to play some games on the Amiga
 and this was the most popular.
  
   Dave 
4341.10Scottish ConqurerBHUNA::GAITKENHEADOnly Meeeeeeee!!!!!!Fri Jan 04 1991 17:3319
    
    Just a quick note to ask what sort of Equipment you guys have been
    inventing ??? My troops seem to constantly invent either boats or
    pikes, I did manage to capture a vilage once which had a mineshaft and
    my troops set about building cannons which were put to good use later
    on in the game !!!
    So far I have conqured 4 grids of the map but It's proving to be very
    difficult to make anymore progress. 
    
    Re -1,
    I've tried for an alliance a couple of times and have been told
    quite bluntly "NO". Due to this I now only use hack'n'slash tactics
    with maximum aggression. I only lower my aggression setting to recruit
    more cannon fodder, maybe this is why I'm not getting very far ;-)
    
    All in all it's a brilliant game which I'm looking forward to exploring
    over the coming Winter months.
    
    						Geo.
4341.11SED750::PARKERThis town needs an enemy!Wed Jan 09 1991 05:3214
    Re. -1,
    
    The rules say something like:
    
    What is invented has a lot to do with the aggression of the captain
    that you order to invent and the situation of the settlement that you
    are working with. For example, if you invent with a passive captain in
    a settlement that is next to water, then you will invent boats or
    pikes.
    
    There's a table somewhere in the rules that explain what will be
    invented depending on aggression and situation.
    
    Ady
4341.12Bzzzzzt. Gronkkkk. Whirrrzzzp. :-(RAVEN1::HEFFELFINGERTut, tut. It looks like rain.Wed Jan 09 1991 22:5616
    Re A2000 loading problems:
    
    I'm using a 2000 myself and it seems to load every time but the d*mned
    non-standard format really beats my drive to death.  I intend to keep
    the game since it appears to be a terrific one, but I also intend to
    draft a letter to Electronic Arts to tell them what I think of their
    use of such things.  Admittedly, it was probably Bullfrog who did the
    deed, and they may even think they're doing us a favor by "speeding up"
    game loading, but this kind of thing is inexcusable in a marketplace
    that has an increasing number of hard disk users.  Since the game has
    no on disk copy protection, it SHOULD be installable on my hard drive.
    
    Interesting game, though.
    
    
    -Gary
4341.13BOMBE::MOOREAmiga: Real computing on a PC budgetThu Jan 10 1991 15:486
    Well, I think they are actually stepping the heads at a slower than
    normal rate, which is why you hear it.  If you listen, you can *count*
    the tracks.  I got the impression that they are using simple busy loops
    for the stepping delays and made them r-e-a-l-l-y l-o-n-g to "support"
    accellerated machines.  Yet another classic case of brain-dead
    programming!
4341.14the water...it fallsCOMICS::HAWLEYI dont want to go on the cart!Tue Sep 03 1991 08:125
    i have done a quarter of the game and i havent seen any waterfalls yet.
    except on the back of the package :-)
    anyone seen any?
    Ian.
    
4341.15Row 2 Column 7,bottom right,turnEEMELI::HEISKANENTSS/PTG/FinlandThu Sep 05 1991 07:021
    
4341.16Rotate the screen.KBOMFG::MRAMIREZThu Sep 05 1991 07:474
    Try using the rotation icons (bottom left).
    
    Regs,
              Miguel