Master of Magic remake, created by Thea devs, published by Slitherine

If you haven’t played Caster of Magic, absolutely you should. It’s really well done.

I wonder if this new official version has anything new over the latest mod release.

e: Yep, looks like this is the 6.0 release, which presumably has things, and it’s no longer downloadable in mod form.

Anyway, I just bought it. I may even post updated impressions to this very thread at some point!

It is not nostalgia indeed. As for Master of Orion, no recent game has come close. The main problem of Master of Magic was that the AI could not play the game correctly, but it has been solved by Seravy (and Kyrub before him) who solved a lot of AI bugs (both in the unofficial patch, that has been added to the Slitherine version, and the Caster of Magic mod).

Deity Empires is great, but it still feels “unfinished”, and works better as a mostly PvE game IMO. Patched Master of Magic is still the more elegant game for me (but I am still in love with Deity Empires btw).

Between Age of Wonder 3 MP, Age of Wonders Planetfall and Dominions 5 MP, I’ve got enough to keep me going and then some.

Dominions 5 especially, although a different type of game, just grabs me more. More magic, more factions, more units, more options. It’s just such a rich universe.

Now, Fall from Heaven 2, the Civilization 4 mod, probably is succeeded most for me as a Master of Magic Killer overall, but I don’t feel like messing with the mods to try to make it work any more.

I would never desecrate the memory of Master of Magic. It was one of the greats of its time.

I play it again once in a while, and still enjoy it. But for me, Deity Empires has totally surpassed it, particularly in its updates of the past few months. You have to play DE’s so-called beta branch to get these updates, but for me it is a superior game.

I dunno. I am not all the impressed with Deity Empires. There are too many schools of magic that have very little distinction unlike MoM where each school had a very definite flavor. As far as I know, there are no city buff spells, or world spells in DE. Also the game play in DE seems so slow. 100s of turns can go by and not much happens.

If MoM was updated with better graphics, had a more modern UI, and additional content like more races / spells / etc… I would be all over that.

Sheeeet. Master of Magic had a better UI.

I own it in the hopes this will happen for me one day, but when I bought it bounced right off it. Someone upthread mentioned a visual update mod/reskin that I may have to try. The game looks rough compared to even Master of Magic, imo.

Oh wow. The very first videos I ever put on my YouTube channel (10 years ago!) were Master of Magic after I’d bought it from GOG!

I first played it more than a year ago, and I saw things that way at the time. Lots of brilliance in gameplay ideas, lots of holes, poor UI and documentation.

But I’d suggest it is a worth a fresh look now, especially on their beta branch. For one thing, the AI is worlds beyond Master of Magic. At anything beyond basic difficulty levels, your rivals can be serious trouble. (But a few of them are helpless weaklings, esp if they start in poor locations. So avoid a game with just 1-2 opponents.)

DE’s is much improved, but still… Once you get the hang of it, it supports very, very deep gameplay, with an incredible array of strategic options. But if you don’t right click on everything, including stuff you’d never think to right click on, it’s the stuff of rage quitting. I know this from experience. A lot of things are explained in our Deity Empires thread.

Guess this never bothered me. But tastes vary, so yeah, if this is a priority, then nevermind DE.

I guess it depends on what you mean by not much happening. Option settings can change this, but you normally spend the early part of the game dealing with thick monster lairs. To clear room to settle, to level up units, and, above all, to obtain resources so that you can construct buildings and units at a competitive speed. Those lairs usually keep you separate from the AI opponents for a while, but the clock is ticking – do an inefficient job, and you will pay the price when you do meet AI opponents… And since the dungeon dives have become so much more tactical and lucrative, I never feel like this stage of the game is in the slightest bit boring. In fact, strategically, one of my ongoing goals is to keep things secure enough in my dealings with AI opponents that I can afford to continue to send a high level army to continue dungeon diving, because the gold and resources can turn the tide in my war. (Also to include one green but high level unit, so as to level him up quickly for front line duty.)

Sorry, getting carried away. /thread derailment :)

But Seravy’s patch and mod also improved the AI of MoM a lot. Have you tried the new unofficial patch (turned Slitherine official)?
The AI in DE is quite good indeed, but the one in MoM is also miles beyond what it used to be.

I understand the UI is functional and you eventually “get the hang of it” but it’s still bad. It’s unintuitive, hard to read, and frankly a bit ugly. I have no problem with the gameplay of DE. It’s great. But man, they gotta do something for future versions like hire an actual UI designer.

Thats me as well - I bought Deity Empires since people praised it as a new MoM, but it really wasnt (for me).

I’d love an updated version of MoM - a game I still play occasaionally. The UI is surprisingly good actually, for a game that old.

Never knew about Deity Empires before this thread.

That is one butt ugly game.

Says the guy in the Master of Magic thread.

Master of Magic looks pretty good for its time. Deity Empires looks good for a Spiderweb Software-style game. That is not a compliment.

Considering I have played a few games of MoM in the past year, Caster of Magic looks worthwhile. An improved AI is definitely something that would enhance playing MoM.

What you doing here, sir? Hmpf!

I was interested in the game, I just didn’t realize the base game was being sold for such a high price.

The games looks aren’t a key feature for me, but it seems to be to other people.

After it goes done to about a dollar, I will probably jump on it.

It’s only $6 on Steam.

Also, this and the new DLC are on Steam, which I thought was cool. I wishlisted it to pick it up for a few bucks at the next sale.

What are we talking about that’s expensive? Master of Magic for $6 on GOG and then $3 for the Caster update?