Computer Games

John Tiller's Campaign Series (reissued by Matrix last year) has been occupying my time. Bit of a throwback, but a ridiculous number of scenarios means you can't get bored of it. And they're still making patches for it, which is impressive.

I've never seen a computer wargame with decent AI. Matrix has a lot of drool-inducing titles, but I'm so afraid the AI will be shit, I stay away. It's a pity because computer chess games, for example, have tremendous AI, even the very old titles using like 1M of RAM.

I am so bad at computer games that the level of the AI doesn't matter.

A lot of their games have PBEM / online play as far as I can tell.

milgate wrote:

Rliyen wrote:

mtlawson wrote:

I'd not mind Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, but I've poked around and can't find a copy anywhere. Has it hit abandonware already?

--Mike L.

Not that I know of, but if you do get it; be prepared to use the cheat codes to finish it. It starts off hard and just gets worse as you proceed. At the end game, I was wondering whether I was playing Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic or I was playing a fantasy version of the Kobayashi Maru test.

Seriously, it was that hard.

Matt, if you have any of the other versions of AOW and you're interested in a game, just let me know. I yank those puppies out of the closet and slap them on Bender.

I can't remember how I did against the AOW:Shadow Magic campaign, but it could be the reason I only play the random set-up games now.

The game tricks you at the endgame. Oh, look, I have a bunch of allies. They're united with me! HOORAY!

Then, the shadows start popping up. The game turns into the Alien overrun in the Aliens movie, with your hobbit ally being Hudson going down first.

vialiy wrote:

I've never seen a computer wargame with decent AI. Matrix has a lot of drool-inducing titles, but I'm so afraid the AI will be shit, I stay away. It's a pity because computer chess games, for example, have tremendous AI, even the very old titles using like 1M of RAM.

You should give Armageddon Empires a try. The free demo is very playable, except that sometimes you hit the 30-turn limit before winning decisively. Really good, non-cheating computer AI.

You should give Armageddon Empires a try. The free demo is very playable, except that sometimes you hit the 30-turn limit before winning decisively. Really good, non-cheating computer AI.

I downloaded the demo. I'm still learning, but so far all I can say is WOW! The 4X/Magic mix is brilliant, I would never have thought of that, yet when you look at it it's so self-evident it would work. Thanks for the tip!

Ha! I just beat MOO2 on "Impossible" with a 2206 score. Huzzah!

Now I can play boardgames again...

I'm playing Baldur's Gate II for about the 23rd time... found some new mods at Pocket Plane Group and had to try them out.

Speaking of old PC games, has anyone had any luck installing the old MicroProse Magic: the Gathering game on a Windows XP machine? I could get it to run on Windows 2000 or before but get an error on XP.

I think alot of games make up for the poor AI by cheating.

mikoyan wrote:

I think alot of games make up for the poor AI by cheating.

I was once talking to Sid Meier (I live in the same county where Firaxis Games is located), and asked him how the computer opponents in Civilization III were able to swamp my ships with wave after wave of cruise missiles despite the ships being far out to sea with no enemy units "spotting" them.

"The A.I. cheats," he replied.

Well, at least he didn't try to sugar-coat it.

Then I begged him to somehow get X-Com updated or remade. And Master of Magic.

jhuntin1 wrote:

Speaking of old PC games, has anyone had any luck installing the old MicroProse Magic: the Gathering game on a Windows XP machine? I could get it to run on Windows 2000 or before but get an error on XP.

I haven't played MtG on the PC, but I recommend that you try DosBox. It sets up a environment within your computer where you can run older games that won't run on XP. That's how I got Fallout to run on my XP computer.

milgate wrote:

mikoyan wrote:

I think alot of games make up for the poor AI by cheating.

I was once talking to Sid Meier (I live in the same county where Firaxis Games is located), and asked him how the computer opponents in Civilization III were able to swamp my ships with wave after wave of cruise missiles despite the ships being far out to sea with no enemy units "spotting" them.

"The A.I. cheats," he replied.

Well, at least he didn't try to sugar-coat it.

Then I begged him to somehow get X-Com updated or remade. And Master of Magic.

I don't mind it so much in Civ, although it does get frustrating as I lose units I shouldn't. Plus it doesn't seem like as much of a crutch in Civ as the AI is decent.

Axis and Allies on the other hand.

milgate wrote:

mikoyan wrote:

I think alot of games make up for the poor AI by cheating.

I was once talking to Sid Meier (I live in the same county where Firaxis Games is located), and asked him how the computer opponents in Civilization III were able to swamp my ships with wave after wave of cruise missiles despite the ships being far out to sea with no enemy units "spotting" them.

"The A.I. cheats," he replied.

Well, at least he didn't try to sugar-coat it.

Then I begged him to somehow get X-Com updated or remade. And Master of Magic.

Oooooooh. X-Com.... MOM...... *gurgle*


Playing on the higher levels of X-Com was tantamount to pulling your hair out, one follicle at a time. I played the game so much when it first came out, I learned a trick when your base was invaded. I coined it "The Corellian Corvette Defense" I would have my men line up in the hallways next to a doorway. Then, I'd have them sit and wait for the bugaboos to come to play. Once they did, my men would fire off a burst, then duck into the room. I'd have them set to react if any of the aliens would follow, but usually they never did. I'd end my turn with all the men in their respective rooms. Once the alien's turn was over, I'd bring them out again to see the lay of the land. Most often, the hallways would be clear. I'd set them up and do it all over again. Surprisingly effective.

DosBox won't work with MtG because its a Win95 game. Runs fine in Vista, other than the fact that it won't rescale to the screen when you start a new game so you have to save and restart.

Man, X-COM and Master of Magic both deserve a modern remake. I think a boardgame adaptation of either would be pretty sweet too, as long as they weren't Euroed to hell.

This looks like a remake of X-COM:
http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/