There's a demo: https://www.gog.com/en/game/against_the_storm_demo
I purchased this on Steam ages ago. It runs fine on modest hardware. Last year I was running it on a desktop with a 4.2 GHz AMD quad core FX-4350 CPU from 2015 or so. The desktop had 16 GB of memory and a Radeon R9 380X video card with 4MB of VRAM also circa 2015 and maybe roughly equivalent to a GTX 1050 Ti. I use a *lot* of mods. I had 408 mods with 334 plugins. That included the quite excellent SimSettlements mod, better looking player and NPC stuff, some overhauls, and some lots of other stuff. Some of those mods were for reducing VRAM, reducing crashes, improving stability, bug fixing, etc. I also used customized settings that were way less than maximums. In particular, for my hardware, greatly reducing shadow features made a big difference. That said, IIRC, I think I was getting 40 FPS in many places, but that didn't affect combat or gameplay for me. (Not to start a war, but note that many TV shows and movies are only 24 FPS; games tend to need more than that for various reasons, but 60 or 120 isn't a magic number). The problem with Bethesda games is they're often buggy out of the box. There's usually community patches for fixing game engine bugs, fixing quest bugs, and improving performance. And, improving the UI. If you're at all up to it, look into mods. I'm sure there must be a bunch of guides available to get started with a minimal set of bugfix and quality-of-life mods. Use ModOrganizer 2 or Vortex as mod managers.
There's a demo. Get it on GOG at https://www.gog.com/game/terraformers_first_steps_on_mars
I'm not sure why this store page exists. The "caster of magic" variant is already included in GOG's base game, "Master of Magic - Classic"! I have GOG's base game, and the launcher has four buttons: 1) Original 2) Original with community patch 3) Original with Caster of Magic patch 4) An ad for the 2022 remake. Image of the launcher here: http://static.wikia.nocookie.net/masterofmagic/images/6/66/MoM_Launcher.png More info on the community patch and the Caster of Magic variant can be found on the MOM wiki: http://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/Community_Patch]Community Patch http://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/Caster_of_Magic]Caster of Magic
I have GOG's [url=http://www.gog.com/en/game/master_of_magic_classic]Master of Magic[/url] version. It includes Slitherine's launcher that comes up with a launcher window containing only four huge buttons (image [url=http://static.wikia.nocookie.net/masterofmagic/images/6/66/MoM_Launcher.png]here[/url]). One button is a ad for the new 2022 remake of the game. The other three buttons are for three versions of classic: Original Original with community patch Original with Caster of Magic patch More info on the community patch and the Caster of Magic variant can be found on the MOM wiki: [url=http://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/Community_Patch]Community Patch[/url] [url=http://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/Caster_of_Magic]Caster of Magic[/url]
It's early access, but it doesn't feel like EA. The UI, features, and gameplay are all solid. Upcoming updates seem to be more about providing for progressing terraforming further, not about reworking existing features. The building and crafting style are reminiscent of Subnautica. Exploration feels different and there's no horror or hostile creatures elements. Early on the map feels huge. But, as you get better oxygen tanks it feels like terraforming has increased your view distance and it's easier to travel longer distances. You'll want to create a few very tiny outposts where you can leave mining equipment running. So, you've read a few reviews and this game seems like it might be interesting. The best way to find out more is to play the demo! The demo is available on the steam store page. The demo is a full copy of the game but with a cutoff after a reaching a certain level of progress. The demo has a few hours of gameplay before you hit the cutoff! I thought that was maybe a bit too generous ... but it did lead me to buy the game. Your demo save game can be continued in the full version of the game. It turns out there are many many more hours of gameplay and things to do past the demo cutoff point.
There's a demo available, but it's ancient - from 2016. The demo used to be available on the publisher's website and on steam, but it's been pulled from both. I imagine that's because the demo is no longer very representative of the finished game? That said, I'm not a big fan of let's play videos, so I'll probably be taking a look at the demo before the sale ends. Available from the wayback machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20160612153203/http://download.imagineearth.info/ImagineEarthDemo-Setup_0_18_1_2550.exe
See the reviews by BoojieBoy and others for an overview of the game-play. In short, vaguely a MOO2 style game, but with more depth, more asymmetrical and varied races, more variation in tactics, but no race customization. The only thing I want to add to the other reviews is that this is one of those few games that I keep coming back to. I wore it out when I got it years ago, but every half year or so I'm compelled to play again. "Still playing years later" might be the highest endorsement that can be given.
I bought this through Origin years ago. One of the best RPGs! Very under-appreciated. I think maybe it came out at about the same time as a bunch of big name games. The lack of notice was a big factor in [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38_Studios#Bankruptcy]38 Studios[/url] going bankrupt and the game being owned by the state of Rhode Island. Anyway, the reason you may have never heard of this isn't because it wasn't good at release - it was just drowned out by other titles and the noise about the bankruptcy. The noted author, R.A. Salvatore (Forgotten Realms and Drizzt Do'Urden author) created the lore and background story. The game includes an unusual ranged weapon that's a lot of fun - the Chakram, which IIRC was sort of a magical cross between a boomerang and a really huge Shuriken. So, get this game! But the price seems a bit high, so maybe wait or get it elsewhere at 1/5 the price. Those lower prices might not include the upcoming expansion though.
Website balking at something I've typed. Google for details re 8.1 and Radeon.
