Worlds of Magic

Wastelands Interactive, the people who brought you War in Europe are working on a new game called Worlds of Magic which they say...

Worlds of Magic is a turn based 4X strategy game set in a fantasy universe. Like all 4X games it is set on the foundation of: Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate. Worlds of Magic contains all the elements you would expect. City founding and management, unit construction and army management as well as turn based battles. The Worlds of Magic universe is procedurally generated and no two games have to be the same. The universe itself is composes of a number of different “planes” that can all be explored and conquered. In additional to the basic 4X elements Worlds of Magic also includes a deep magic system including spells, summoned creatures and magical artifacts, hero units with specialized talents, capable of wielding magical items and combat mechanics based on the popular D20 system. Players attempt to conquer the universe using a combination of magical, military, economic and even political power. Worlds of Magic is meant to be a true spiritual successor to the PC classic Master of Magic.

Master of Magic? One of my favorite games ever?

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY MANA!

Ahhh! That's a nice surprise. I still have my original manual/spell manual for the game. Definitely my favorite 4x game (with master of Orion II being a close second).

Cautious optimism: Will the AI be worth a damn? Warlock, Master of the Arcane, it can make a credible claim to being 'a true spiritual successor to the PC classic Master of Magic'. Sadly, where its lacking is its AI. It can't fight or negotiate worth a damn. Solid game, other than that, but that's like a car minus an engine. What's the AI like in War in Europe?

I'm not sold on using the D20 system. It's OK for manual dice-rolling but I prefer a little more "meat" for a computer game system. Especially one that is going to be at the heart of a 4X.

Hi,

You might read a little bit more about D20 system here:
http://forum.wastelands-interactive....

Hello there! Here we go again with some Worlds of Magic updates.

1.- Custom races

"What about a custom faction? You start with a blank slate and a number of points. You spend those points to give the race some benefits. Maybe you take some negative effects to get more points and spend those points on something you really want. The results can be truly awesome. You can put together different races for different play styles. It provides another level of replayability (in a game that already has an almost insane number of possible permutations). Given time you will probably find the one race combination you love above all others."

Of course this model also brings questions. What sprites are we supposed to use in a custom race? Hoy to keep balance? Among others.

More info:

http://forum.wastelands-interactive....

2.- AI

"We plan to go beyond the basic “Make the AI play like we would” and attempt to quantify certain strategic concepts like “Expansionist”. The idea is to boil down certain elements of strategy and use them like legos to build a completely new and unique AI that has a solid play style pieced together out of a number of viable play strategies. Now, that is going to be the real trick. It's relatively easy to hand craft a sorcerer with a certain set of skills to play a certain way. It's another thing entirely to be given a set of skills and strategic “methods” and try to dynamically make something that can actually offer a challenge. However, it's something we're aiming for.

We want the AI in WoM to feel like artificial intelligence not artificial intelligence. It's going to take a lot of work to make it happen, but it's work we're going to love. As with all things WoM related, play testing is going to be a big element. In fact, it's going to matter more with the AI than with any other single element."

http://forum.wastelands-interactive....

3.- Elven units

What do you think about these units?

Settlers
Engineers
Archers
Swordsmen
Druids
Dire Bears
Rangers
Sorcerers
Arcane Archers
Ballista
Wolf Riders
Giant Eagles

Feel free to add suggestions, it's not written in stone.

http://forum.wastelands-interactive....

Aaaaand that's all for now! Well, appart from this environmental wallpaper :D. Thank you, see ya!

IMAGE(http://screen.bitterglory.com/in/13-02/oftcbqhtq.png)
large version: http://screen.bitterglory.com/in/13-...

Can the dire bears man the Bastilla? Ultimate fantasy.

dibs wrote:

Can the dire bears man the Bastilla? Ultimate fantasy.

I think Homer had it right..

Homer: [Attempting to get Bart out of Burns' Mansion] Or what? Are you gonna release the Hounds, or the Bees, or the hounds with bees in their mouths so everytime they bark at you they shoot bees at you? Go ahead, do your worst.

This will all depend on the AI to me, between Eador and Warlock I've had enough turn based fantasy lately to hold me over. If reports come in that the AI is actually competent without needing stupidly large "unfair" boosts to compete I'll be all over this at release; otherwise it'll join my seemingly infinitely long list of games that I'll buy if it's under $5 or $10. I'm tired of games like Civ V where in order to have a challenging game I have to turn it up to such a level that the AI gets just ridiculous amounts of gold and troops that it doesn't have to pay for (and then still manages to lose except on the highest level). I hate slogging through all those troops so rarely finish a game any more. I long for a decent AI in strategy games more than anything else in gaming.

Outlandish wrote:

I long for a decent AI in strategy games more than anything else in gaming.

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Hello everybody.

I would like to take the advantage that I'm here and share you with the links to our newly created website.
You can find there all the most crucial info about the game and links to places where you can seek for more detailed knowledge.
http://myworldsofmagic.com/

Also we have launched a Kickstarter campaign for Worlds of Magic, so please spread the word and back us if you like what we are doing.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Hi again,

We have just released a short gameplay video

http://youtu.be/pBI90P0RO_s

Hi

The Worlds of Magic is moving forward, and at the beginning of the next week we should have some new nice images of the world map.

Now just some concept and a developers video about the evolution of the battleboard.
IMAGE(http://myworldsofmagic.com/images/updates/DraconianMage_colour.png)

http://youtu.be/BqojQT8M4Kw

Here you can read more about the progress and ideas:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

I’m hoping that you will help us bringing the old good times of PC gaming back.

Looking good so far.

Hey there, people! How is it going?

Finally we can show progresses on the World Map. Some elements have been added, and of course water has changed a lot since your last visit, lol. Hope you like it.

IMAGE(http://www2.wastelands-interactive.com/shared/Worlds_of_Magic/WOM_pre_alpha_world_2013042301.png)

IMAGE(http://www2.wastelands-interactive.com/shared/Worlds_of_Magic/WOM_pre_alpha_world_2013042302.png)

IMAGE(http://www2.wastelands-interactive.com/shared/Worlds_of_Magic/WOM_pre_alpha_world_2013042305.png)

IMAGE(http://www2.wastelands-interactive.com/shared/Worlds_of_Magic/WOM_pre_alpha_world_2013042306.png)

IMAGE(http://www2.wastelands-interactive.com/shared/Worlds_of_Magic/WOM_pre_alpha_world_2013042309.png)

95% at the moment!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Impressive work so far! I like the way those trees are working. A question:
1) What are the white things floating in the water near the boats? Or.. hmm, maybe those are birds.

I like the work you've done and I've backed your project! Keep up the great work!

...I'm also a good beta tester

I just backed as well. My second KS and so close to funding! Only 139 funny L's left to get!

I backed it a while ago. Of course I was the OP here too so that was presumably a given.

This looks like a thing I would want to play. I have backed it and decreased the amount of funny L's needed!

In at Spearman and by the way, the game appears to have met it's goal today. Congrats guys!

Congratulations on capturing all the funny L things you needed, guys! Now to get some funny L things you want!

So what kind if PC distribution methods is this going to use? Would it be direct or use one of the existing services?

Tamren,

We are planning to use multiple distribution methods, for sure the game will be available in DRM free version.

Today we can say we surpassed the 35K GBP stretch goal! So the seven faction is a reality too, soon we will ask the community (aka YOU) about what faction will be the next . Also, now it is possible to pledge via PayPal. Of course paypal pledges will count for the new stretch goals!

http://store.esellerate.net/s.aspx?s...

Bah, willpower where have you gone? I'm in for the $20; nothing on my Steam wishlist looked any better so what the heck. One of these days I'm going to be drowning in all the games I've backed, at least one of 'em has to be good, right?

Outlandish, we are planning to make this game a real gem.

Also it's worth to mention that we have broke the 40k stretch goal tonight, and with 29 hours left we can try to hit the 45k, which is additional race and Linux and Mac version available at the release date.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Thanks for your support, spreading the word and for backing us.
You can still give us a hand, and help making this game greater.

I see that they just added a new "Just Seer" tier with all of the digital add-on stuff rolled in. That's mighty tempting... Though they should have pushed that bit of news as hard as they could seeing as it's not mentioned anywhere, even on the KS page itself. I only noticed because I was checking the rewards spreadsheet.

Also in retrospect it may have been better to make the digital stuff pledge tier rewards and kept the physical goods as add-on purchases. The KS page is a little dense to navigate with a zillion different pledge tiers.

Tamren wrote:

Also in retrospect it may have been better to make the digital stuff pledge tier rewards and kept the physical goods as add-on purchases. The KS page is a little dense to navigate with a zillion different pledge tiers.

Agree with that. Added to my personal confusion was the use of pounds for currency, which added a level of complexity to my poor tired brain. Too many options + different currency = I just skimmed until I found "digital version of the game" and clicked that.

Not saying it is bad or wrong, was just hard for me personally to dig through.

That being said, I am really looking forward to playing this!

Hello All!

You can still help us by backing our game
Come and see what we are doing there and if you like it, just back us and spread the word

http://tinyurl.com/ck5yftd

IMAGE(http://screen.bitterglory.com/in/13-05/dggycwnnq.png)

Just pledged at the Just Seer tier for 49 pounds. Still waiting on that true MoM successor, hopefully this will be it. If you are still on the fence about the game, pledges are open for another 6 hours. The total is approaching 45k, just $320 away from the next stretch goal when you count the paypal pledges plus mine.

Word of warning though, the kickstarter payment page does NOT like NoScript. I had to fiddle with it many times before it would allow my payment to go through. The last 3 kickstarters I backed just went through Amazon where I already have an account. Not sure why it's different now, maybe because this one is using pounds instead of USD?

In any case, good luck with the production.

And congrats everyone; funded at 45k. Looks like they just hit the Mac/Linux stretch goal.

Now looking forward to seeing it. Based on the number of Kickstarters I've backed now I think my gaming time for 2014 is filling up.