Hi,

What's a good difficulty level to start my first game? I'm fairly experienced at TBS (from the same era as MoM I played amongst others: Warlords 2 Deluxe, Lords of the Realm, HoMM, Imperialism, Civilization 2).

I'm thinking Easy or Normal. I wouldn't mind a small advantage over AI, but I don't want the game to be a pushover.

Also, what's a good starting no. of opponents (I'm thinking the max 4) and landmass (medium?)

Thanks.

Ooo, now you're getting into my favorite game. Did you finish MM8?

I'll get into answering your questions later; there is a lot of subjectivity involved.

Not yet, it's going ok though. I generally have 4 games started simultaneously:
_RPG
_Action
_Strategy
_Adventure/Puzzle/Other

I just finished Tzar:
http://www.gog.com/forum/tzar_the_burden_of_the_crown/how_easy_is_easy/post3
which freed up my Strategy slot, and the fact that there Normal was difficult prompted me to ask about difficulty here.

Based on your previous TBS experience, I'd suggest playing the vanilla game at least once on Normal, then possibly again on either Hard or Impossible. Then download Insecticide v1.40n (not o; it's still too buggy); with all its bugfixes and modifications, it's almost like playing a whole new game.

I'd also say to start with Medium (as opposed to Large) land masses, especially if you have multiple opponents; otherwise you may find yourself overwhelmed or on the defensive before you're ready. (Small gives you more time to develop, but less room and a lower likelihood of special terrain features; it is, however, a significant advantage to races which can fly or swim.)

On that note, I wouldn't start with four opponents on a first playthrough. Three will give you just that little more time to establish multiple outposts and conquer any nearby neutral cities.

Also, node strength. High gives you (or your opponents) more magic and often better treasure, but will take a lot longer to conquer because of how tough their guardians are. This can even work to your advantage, since discouraging your opponents from opening nodes means that you can potentially garner All The Treasure starting around mid-game, when your own forces are finally strong enough. But it means doing without their mana in the early game, when resources are still very limited and every little extra bit helps.

As far as your starting race goes, pick any of them except the Klackons; those xenophobic little buggers are designed to be extra annoy— I mean, challenging.

Last but not least, customize your wizard right off; don't bother with any of the stock ones. But if there's one you'd rather avoid, using their likeness assures you won't meet them in the game. (I usually wear Tauron's face for this very reason. Also, dat goatee. ;)

Alrighty.

One of the first questions to answer would be "Are you going to use Insecticide"? If yes, then the recommendation I've seen is to lower the difficulty you might otherwise select by one step (ex. pick Easy instead of Normal).

I don't use insecticide, so factor that in when considering my answers.

-This is a 4x, much more like Civ 2 than Warlords 2, HoMM, or Lords of the Realm. If you're pretty decent at other 4x games, then Normal is probably fine; you are unfamiliar with the mechanics then you might consider Easy for your first game. On Normal, you'll be on roughly even footing, stat-wise, compared to opponents (same number of spell picks, no big production bonus/penalty).

-I like playing with 4 opponents. Fewer oppponents means you won't run into anyone as soon (probably), and also there is more elbow room for each player (probably) so you and opponents will be stronger when you meet (hopefully). I have noticed that sometimes the opponents will all suddenly declare war on me, one after another, over the course of 2-3 turns. I generally find this survivable, provided they can't all actually pile onto me in game play.

-I favor large land masses, because it mostly (not entirely) removes having to deal with crossing water. Note that the computer is mostly pretty bad about dealing with water. If their race's units are naturally equipped to deal with water, then it isn't such an issue. If their magic is equipped to deal well with water, that helps (but is no guarantee). Also note that the size of the map does not change, just the size of land masses.

-Magic level mostly controls how strong nodes are (and thus how strong the guardians and how good the treasure is). I favor Strong, just because I like the good rewards.

-Be advised that there isn't really a tech tree like Civ 2 has. Not every race can build every building in their cities (though the building pre-reqs are always the same, regardless of race). Also, each kind of magic has its own feel and focus.

-Lastly: this link provides an amusing description of the game if you haven't read it before.

This is an important point. The size of the map is fixed and never changes. The landmass setting simply lets you choose between a big continent or islands (some of which may still be pretty big). I prefer Small, myself, but that's because I like some naval in my game, and also because Small makes things more unpredictable.

Let us know how your game goes.

Thanks all. I'm busy this weekend, and the manual takes longer to read than I thought, but I hope to get started soon.

OK, sorry for the delay, but I had no time to play at all in the past 3 weeks, so all my games were put on hold (but I'm not complaining; they were great 3 weeks ;)).

I have just finished reading the manual (and still have the spell book to plough through) and wow! this game is more complex than I initially thought (I was expecting something along the lines of Warlords 2). Since it is a 4x, I might have to rethink this. I played Civ 2 once or twice, but my biggest experience with 4x comes from Alpha Centauri which I played a lot for a few years after it came out, but not for the last 10 years.

Anyway, since this is a game to be played many times (as opposed to be played and "finished"), I think what I'll do is play my first game on Introductory (!) and just treat it as a tutorial. This will allow me to learn the mechanics of the game quietly without worrying about having my ass kicked. Once I finish all that, I'll play again on normal difficulties (probably start on Normal, then move up; I'll start Insecticide after playing few times without it).

For my "tutorial" game, I'll go with Tauron, since I like the sound of Chaos magic, and Halflings as my race.

That said, it might be some time before I start the game, since I'm still a bit busy, and I would rather this game gets my full attention. Hopefully by mid September latest.

IIIRC the Tutorial level is supposed to be used together with the tutorial in the manual. Just follow along.

?? There is no description of any tutorial level in the manual, nor any tutorial level in game? Are you sure you're not confusing games, or am I missing something?

You have the right of it ZFR. There is no actual tutorial level.

I remember there is at least one round-by-round combat example in the manual (one unit of Elven Lords against one basilisk), but it isn't a tutorial game.

Yup, which is why I'll do a first Introductory game. As I said, it will allow me to learn the basics without worrying about losing.

I applaud you for taking the time to read the included material. That's old-school.

Yes, the rules are complex, but they play easy. The complexity just adds depth to what is, at the core, a very straightforward game.

Keep us informed on the progress of your first game if you like. We'll be happy to give you feedback.

Personally I like to think of Master of Magic as the continuing career of a wizard character you played in a P-n-P RPG - a wizard character who attained such a high level that you retired him. MoM is what happens next.

While we're kicking around ideas in this thread, I'd like to toss this link out there: http://mrgg.azurewebsites.net/?alg=2

It is a random wizard generator. I've taken to using it for new games, to help shake things up a bit since I can't just keep picking the same abilities and/or spells.

Algorithm 1 might be useful to you after you've played a few times, ZFR. I think having more focus in a few schools tends to be stronger than a smattering in a lot of areas.

Started. Finally.