Unlike the previous reviewer, my copy of the game is rock solid. I have had zero technical issues..no CTD's, stuttering, or other graphics glitches. The game play is excellent, and it appears to be very complete and polished. I recommend this game very highly.
Open TTD, short for Transportation Tycoon Deluxe, is both free, and a HUGELY better game. Also, do even a bit of research, and you can find a mod that adds dozens of different industries, and industry chains. There is absolutely no reason to purchase this game, even at the low price.
I looked on YouTube for video replays, and those I saw convinced me to purchase this game.To this point, I am VERY happy with my decision. Turn-based strategy, with 47 different enemy 'bots. Your side has four bots, of six basic types. You are free to have one, two, three, or four of whatever type you want. You want four snipers? Go for it. You want one Assault mech, and the rest support mechs? Go for it. There are thousands of different combinations on your team..in addition to the six different commander types, that play completely differently. As you play each mission, you pick up money, and loot. Loot ranges in level from 1 to 25, and is highly randomized. It may be for weapons, computers, shields, reactors, or propulsion units, and may have a vast amount of upgrades. The mission selection system is very well done, with different objectives per each mission type. There is a counter of sorts, as you have a maximum of 50 missions to meet the victory conditions. After each mission, you can upgrade each of your four mechs, and sell any equipment you don't want, and buy NEW equipment from the store. Very involved, very complex, and very enjoyable..do you go for slightly more damage, or do you enhance your reactor's ability to pump out more energy, and upgrade your shields? A near endless variety of important decisions to be made. All things considered, one of the best $5 purchases I have made in quite awhile!
I hardly know where to start. OK..here's a start. Buy this game. This game is in the top three of all PC games I have ever played. For this game, specifically, it has the whole package. The graphics are certainly early 90's..but the game play...the GAME PLAY, is marvelous. The suspense of flying along at 40% power, at 198 knots, and at 500 feet, skirting all known air defenses is just ... remarkable. I have never seen this level of suspense captured, before or since, by ANY game. The mission generation system is excellent. The flight dynamics are excellent. The manual and documentation is excellent. The ability to control the plane using the keyboard is excellent. The weapons loadout and flight preparation is excellent. The after mission review, with possible medal award is done beautifully. In short, there is NOTHING that I don't remember fondly about this game. Please note that at the time of this writing, 34 out of 34 people gave this a rating of 5. THIS is the one I have been waiting for..just like I waited for Darklands, and Master of Magic. Please drop the (modest) amount of money, you will not regret it. I tell you, in complete seriousness, that there is no real upper limit that I would have paid to purchase this, this out of the box DOSBOX friendly, flying by the seat of your pants friendly, best-ever flight sim ever produced! Truly the best GoG moment ever to see this on sale today!!!!!!!
If I could give this game six starts, I would. Where to start, where to start. Economics. For each randomly generated world, you will have a number of farms, ranges, hardwoods, scrubland, barren hills, mountains, fertile hills, swamps, and horse ranches. Each provides a specific economic benefit when harvested/developed. You will have from none to 20, truly random, of each. I have spent hours generating random worlds, over and over, until I get a starting nation that is juuuust right. If you don't have farmland, you can't get food. No food? No laborers. No timber? No ships. No mountains or hills? No prospecting for iron...and not much of anything without iron. Yes, you can purchase iron..but if you're France, do you want to purchase your strategic materials from a possible enemy? Throw in the New World, with many, MANY different raw materials, with exploration, diplomacy, and combat all playing a major roll. This is a surprisingly deep game, yet extremely accessible. I LOVED this game, and played it for years. I have been searching for this for a very, very long time..and I busted out the card the very instant it was on sale. An utter no brainer, with just the right amount of complexity. I am all about the gameplay, and this game is truly exceptional. I cannot recommend this too highly. Seriously. If you're reading this...just buy the game!
I picked this up yesterday, and I have pretty much played this non-stop since. Here's why this is such a good game. 1) The decisions you make, with personnel and strategy, MATTER. 2) Upgrading your ship is a blast. 3) Deciding what path to use to maneuver through the cosmos is infinitely better than a path chosen for you. 4) Randomly generated universes..every game is different. 5) Permadeath ... hard as hell to win (I am 0-15), but I LIKE it this way! 6) For the money, I see endless re-playabilitity. To paraphrase Martha Stewart, this is a GOOD thing!
This game will remain on my hard driver forever, now that I have finally gotten it back on there. Where to start, where to start. Let's start with the atmosphere of the game. Medieval Germany, in the 15th century, is a unique setting for this game. The "magic" system is prayer. That's right, your Priest, over time, will learn about all the Saints in the game, with each Saint's buff useful in different situations. One Saint may provide a stamina buff, another may help you to fight demons, another still may help you or your party to regain health. This alone makes the game just terrific. What other game, EVER, has this as a game mechanic? It the context of this game, it works perfectly. Character generation is robust, and thorough. Your starting background can be rich, poor, noble, or somewhere in between. Each provides you with advantages. Your first profession is crucial..each profession adds five years to your starting age..you start at age 15, and must choose one. If, for example, you choose "Recruit", your military skills, strength and stamina will go up, as well as limiting your options to gain skills in other parts of the game..such as healing, prayer, or lock picking. The second profession may build on the first, and so on..to the point that you may choose, for your religious party member, to go Novice Monk, Monk, Priest, and then Abbott. Your party leader (you DID give him a high Speak Common, and Charisma skill, right?) may be a pure soldier, with Recruit, Soldier, Veteran, and then Captain. This makes him 35 years old at the start...or you could start him as a 25 year old Soldier. Your call. Combat is real time, pausable to give orders, or to throw/drink potions, or other actions. Graphics are 1992, and the ENTIRE game is a 27 meg download..but don't let that fool you. The complexity, immersion, and playability of this game are better than other RPG's that are a HUNDRED times larger. Character progress is slow. You have to think about what actions your party will do next. It is entirely possible to get killed, and have to go to a save game. This has happened to me many, many times. The slow, steady pace of character development also results in more attachment to your party..they really do seem alive, as you carefully plot their training and advancements. I just cannot recommend this game enough. My daughter, back in the day, played this game so much that she memorized what all of the Saint's buffs are...and we are talking about well over a hundred here. This is the best $5.99 you will ever spend on a computer game. Just buy it.
You look at your planet, you decide what to build next. You do the same with research. You hit next turn, and you find that your research and build order have been changed by the computer. What the f*ck? You look for the setting that takes control BACK from the computer, for YOUR human-controlled empire. There isn't a setting that do this....your decisions are ALWAYS, and FOREVER subject to being overridden by the AI. It took me ten minutes to install, play, and then delete this game. I have been ANGRY for years over this piece of sh!t. I purchased the strategy guide several months before the game came out, and I can sincerely state that THIS was the one...the ONE game I have looked forward to the most. For that reason, it was, and REMAINS, the biggest disappointment, ever. Caveat emptor...do not purchase this game.
Bust out your credit cards, folks....THIS is the game you have been waiting for. I have been playing computer games since Tombstone, on my Texas Instruments TI-99-4A. Processors have been Commodore 128D, 8088, 286, 486, and five different Pentium-based computers. I cannot tell you how many PC games I have purchased...it truly is in the hundreds. Out of ALL the games I have ever play, across all platforms, across all genres, THIS IS THE ONE! What makes it so good? Hmmm...where to start. One part civilization builder. Settling towns is a blast. There is an excellent tool that tells you EXACTLY what your max population will be over a given square, along with the production, and gold bonuses. This eliminates the guesswork, while also educating you on what to look for in determining where to settle. The monsters running around the countryside force you to make difficult decisions on when and how to build more military units...each may also require food and or gold to sustain. You just cannot send a settler out...it will be chewed up in a hurry! So. Guns or Butter. Develop that Farmer's Market, and get more food per turn, or build that Sawmill, and create Longbowmen! You can't develop just one or two towns, as they just won't generate the revenue to pay for the upkeep for various facilities. It is a delicate balance between expansion, and military conquest. The title of the game has "Magic" in it, for a reason. Magic is a resource, to be managed...the amount, your skill, research, and use in combat. The use of magic is both strategic, and tactical. Developing your initial skills is quite a minigame in itself!!! Determining what schools of magic you want, in addition to the other skills you have provide a near limitless number of permutations. In closing, I have invested as much time in this game as any other game I have ever played...followed by World of Warcraft, Sim City 3000, X-Com, Civilization IV, and Railroad Tycoon 2. Throw in Master of Orion, and a few others. I have NEVER looked forward to repurchasing a game more than this title. Buy it. Now.
