I always play with it off, so I have no idea if the city spam has improved or not.
So I bought the base game and the halfling expansion on Steam, and then I read more and realized I want the entire bundle. Alas, Steam would double-charge me if I bought the bundle now, so I’ve requested a refund so that I can start over and purchase the entire shebang. Anyone know how long the refund request will take to process? The sale lasts another 44 hours, but if it takes longer than that to refund, I’m not sure what I’ll do. Perhaps purchase the bundle as a gift, then give it to myself once the refund is processed?
That’s the best way to do it.
Thanks!
Usually doesn’t take long at all. I don’t think I’ve ever had a refund take as long as the sale timeframe, it’s usually pretty quick.
I play both ways, depending on my mood. I don’t have much of a value judgement either way, tbh.
I say play with it, and see how you feel.
You don’t think Triumph would do an Alpha Centauri type game who you? That’s the only thing I can think of, outside of AoW4 that would have me super excited as they say fans of AoW will be happy about. Unless they got a license for Tolkein?
I agree with everything you say except “personality”. This is where AOW3 fails for me.
AOW 3 is a wonderfully crafted game. It is technically sound, beautiful, has nice music, great tactical battles, many different races, different classes and has wonderful interface. Yet for some reason it does not grab me. I always feel that the objective in every game is the same as the last and that I should just spam and constantly fighting battles. The maps are visually interesting but I fail to find any tactical choices on them. The combat is done wonderfully except I find myself auto resolving through battles because there are just so damn many of them and they are all the same.
I do not get a sense of building a horde more than I am building an empire. That is why I have not purchased the final DLC. It seems to be just adding more hordes to build. I certainly do not knock anyone who likes this game because I agree it is well crafted. It just does not grab me the way a game like Civilization does. It is more of a wargame than a 4x. Capture a base, spam units, repeat.
I have more hours in the latest MOO than I do AOW 3 because at least there is a purpose to exploring. I never uncover a spot in AOW3 and say, “oooh, I have to build here”. If I find a new planet in MOO I am drooling to get it colonized. If I find a juicy spot in Civ I want to create a specialized city. In AOW3 it just is another node to build more units. Maybe that has to do with my turtling/building style or that I play on random maps. Perhaps there is an aspect to the game that has avoided me for 50 hours.
I am almost looking for someone to tell me that I have been doing this wrong and why, with the latter being more important than the former. Or maybe it is just not quite my thing. It would not be the first time (I still do not get the love for Chaos Reborn or Massive Chalice as they are both rather mediocre titles that this board seems to go gaga over).
Insightful post. I do like AOW3 or at least my memory of it is good. But I know what you are saying. Your other two games obvervations also have merit. I am not sure I would go the “full Granath” on them but I would go some distance with you.
New player here. I bought the whole bundle on Steam. (Steam did quickly refund my mistaken purchase of part of the game, allowing me to repurchase the whole bundle).
I played a bit of the tutorial campaign and was very impressed. The strategic map is neat; much more interesting than the map I remember from the earlier AoW game I played (don’t recall if it was AoW1 or 2). The tactical combat is pretty neat. I imagine people auto-skip through it after a while, but I liked it. I look forward to playing more.
Should I link my Steam account to my new AoW account? I’m not really interested in multiplayer, at least not now.
Your reasoning seems sound, but I will try to explain myself better. English is not my first language, so I hope that some nuances won’t be lost in that explanation.
Firstly, there is nothing wrong with being a wargame. It looks like many people have wrong expectations before playing AoW. They expect city building and engaging in diplomacy. But AoW is really much closer to Total War, especially Warhammer, except it is turn-based. And it should be that way. If someone wants to play a pure fantasy 4X, there is Endless Legend for that purpose. But that game, as the others have said, has a very simplistic combat in comparison to AoW. And it should be that way. Jack of all trades is by default master of none.
When I have said ‘personality’, the meaning was not related to narrative or overall structure, but to small details in worldbuilding that make units behave very differently in battles from each other. An evangelist is not the same as an assassin, regardless of race. You don’t have to memorize his abilities by heart, or to look into Tome of Wonders or unit info panel every time when you encounter them. We all know that evangelists can heal others, give a blessing to the faithful, or try to convert the unfaithful. Those are all features of their archetype. And that understanding will become the player’s second nature after some time spent with the game. And that’s what I meant by ‘personality’. All units have their flavour, which makes them unique in battle, if you use them correctly.
The world of AoW is very standard fantasy fare, somewhat similar to Warhammer, and the story is a stereotypical, (almost) bland fantasy, but that doesn’t distract from wonderfully imaginative little details used to create creatures and units. Even the fact that black knights are not what they used to be in fantasy gaming is refreshing.
I’ve not much experience with Total War or Age of Wonders but this is exactly how I view the game.
After Endless Legend the bland fantasy of Age of Wonders is somewhat disappointing but the depth of the combat and breadth of units, spells and abilities makes me want to return to it. Hell, playing Endless Legend’s combat makes me want to return to it! :-)
Did you ever play it multiplayer with us @Granath? I’ve sunk well over 120 hours into it and I hardly touched any single-player (probably less than a couple of hours). Classic Chaos multiplayer is a thing of beauty when you’re up against other minds. You’re always welcome to hop in with us. It’s got turn notifications and everything now.
Damn it. I avoid this thread because every time i end up reading it, I get sucked back into AoW3 for a while. And now I see a new content patch is out. For Pete’s sake, I’ve got other games in the queue!
Anyway, I just caught up on six months of posts, so here are those “best starting class/race combos” responses for anyone new or returning to the fold.
The AOW3 and Total War series comparison is probably a good one. I had not thought about this before but I think ridiculus is entirely correct because I feel the same way about TW as I do about AOW3. They are both well crafted games that do not seem to fill up the corners for me.
I appreciate the offer on Chaos but I am so conditioned to expect horrible experiences in MP that I now avoid it at all costs.That is no way reflects anyone here as I am sure the experience with this crowd would be much better. I truly believe that I have been so conditioned that even thinking about it puts me in a sour mood. At least Pavlov’s Dog got fed. I feel like I got the wrong end of a cattle prod.
I play a lot of turn based strategy games, I mean a lot. AOW3 is right near the top for me. Solid AI, great tactical combat, varied factions, classes, and spells, and a hard as nails campaign if you want it. So if you’re reading this and are just waiting for one more guy to push you over the edge to buy it, there ya go.
That’s a shame but the offer’s always there. May the conditioning one day crack!
Still enjoying the High Elf tutorial campaign. There’s a nice mix of strategic and tactical stuff, plus more city-building than I expected.
What campaign or skirmish should I play after I finish this intro campaign?
I always recommend just skirmishing on random maps vs. the AI, and I further recommend leaning into the war gaming aspect by setting each player on their own team, to prevent the option of alliances - it’s more fun as a throw down free for all! :)
Inspired by a playthrough Das did on his channel a while ago, I’ve since shifted the way I play the game to having myself vs two teams of AI - 1 v 3 v 3. No diplomacy, only war. City building is off, the focus is on cities for map control, and underground was off too because otherwise the game would drag on endlessly I expect. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun playing that style. Also, because there was no city building, I decided it was easier to have the map revealed (fog enabled) to at least identify where all the city sites are.
I do like that team thing, that’s a particularly useful way to get around one of the things that’s often not all that great in games in general, namely diplomacy. With the teams set up you can give it a proper go at just good old fashion war.
It won’t take too many more posts in this thread before I break down and start a campaign myself.