It was the fifth game in the main storyline, not counting add-on packs as new games. WC1 and WC2 were released. Then WC:Academy, which was basically a crappy little limited mission generator using the WC2 engine. It's pretty well obsolite now that there's a WC2 mission editor. WC: Privateer rocked to no end, but won't run in XP no matter what you do. Same with Armada, which uses the same memory manager, JEMM. Armada was a turn-based strategy game, released before WC3. You have a carrier, the other guys have a carrier, you move your carrier from planet to planet mining resources, building fighters, stuff like that. Ultimately, your objective was to attack the undefended enemy carrier with bombers, and thereby destroy it. You could fly a fighter in combat yourself, or just let the computer handle things. The only multiplayer WC game. It also seemed to be the first to use a real 3-D engine, and the first to be released exclusively on CD-ROM. The idea was good, but it's been better executed in games like, oh, "Star Wars Rebellion". The jump lane concept was kinda unique in my experience with such games, but it needed more flexibility. The ability to build more capships, bigger sectors, better victory conditions, something more... Homeworldesque in options, if not in actual gameplay.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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Wow, all I knew of were I, II, III (my fav.),IV, and Prophecy.
I have the first one but everything is a blur cause the game is running 2 fast and I can barely read the subtitles. I tried playing with it but trhe only kill I got was when I crashed into one
IV and Prophecy sucked
Blair
-------------------- Graffiti decorations/under a sky of dust/a constant wave of tension/on top of broken trust/the lessons that you taught me/I learned were never true Now I find myself in question, Guilty by association,
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
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WC: Privateer rocked to no end, but won't run in XP no matter what you do
Oh, it will, just not unassisted. The XP unit has a bad motivator, or something. Privateer (like most pre-'95 titles) only works through DOSBox i/c/w/ VDMSound, but be warned... it hasn't stood the test of time as well as, say, TIE Fighter.
The idea was good, but it's been better executed in games like, oh, "Star Wars Rebellion"
"Better" as in "Rebellion was still utter shite, but at least it had a sound concept buried somewhere deep underneath all that dung", anyway.
[ August 29, 2003, 01:36 PM: Message edited by: Cartmaniac ]
Registered: Nov 1999
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I have the first one but everything is a blur cause the game is running 2 fast and I can barely read the subtitles.
There's a site out there called "Home of the Underdogs", don't have a link handy at the moment, but it has download links to abandonware. If you can't buy it legally any more, and it's not freaking huge, odds are you can find it on that site. They have the Kilrathi Saga versions of WC1 and WC2 up, which work in XP at a usable speed. They also have Freespace 2, which is infinitely superior to, like, everything.
(Before anyone asks, no, I have no problem with downloading software like that even if it's in contravention of the copyright. I'd buy it if I could, but I can't. The creators lose nothing, because I CAN'T pay 'em for it.)
Privateer (like most pre-'95 titles) only works through DOSBox i/c/w/ VDMSound
Emulators don't count.
"Better" as in "Rebellion was still utter shite, but at least it had a sound concept buried somewhere deep underneath all that dung", anyway.
Exactly. Armada, Birth of the Federation, Rebellion... all such good concepts that failed so miserably...
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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I wouldn't have said that "Birth of the Federation" failed miserably. Sure, it has lots of flaws, but it's MOO-based gameplay is infinetly superior to Rebellion (Or Supremacy, as it was called over here for no apparent reason, other than, I suppose, the fact that you could be the Rebellion OR the Empire).
Supremacy did have the plus point that the bloke who does Professor Utonium is doing the voice of Threepio. So that's good.
And I agree with you about downloading abandonware, but, er, Freespace II is a bit recent, isn't it? Plus it's not that hard to find online, legally, to buy. Besides, the poor sales are what have made it unlikely there will be a sequel, so anyone who copies it is very, very evil. Very.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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Actually, it's NOT that easy to find a copy. You can get 'em off eBay occasionally, but a copy that's not just the CD can cost a hundred dollars or more. Further the EULA apparently says you can make copies, and the source is now public domain. Odd, ain't it?
Under any circumstances, making a copy of FS2 isn't going to hurt Volition NOW. If they don't make any more, they can't make profit off the game no matter what I do.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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"Further the EULA apparently says you can make copies"
Which obviously = "Make lots of copies and then give them away"
You'll jump through these logical legal loops, but you won't say, "Y'know, maybe the bible was a bit OTT about gays after all."
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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I found it online for $64, but I admit to only looking for 5 minutes.
I don't care too much anyway, since I have a copy. In a box. With all the paraphenalia. For �20 from Game. I rule.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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I don't exactly own Freespace1 or 2 but I played it. I dunno whether it's my love for FPS or something but I personally didn't like it...
(plz don't hurt me...)
Blair
-------------------- Graffiti decorations/under a sky of dust/a constant wave of tension/on top of broken trust/the lessons that you taught me/I learned were never true Now I find myself in question, Guilty by association,
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
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You're thirteen. We won't hold it against you. Yet.
"Sure, it has lots of flaws, but it's MOO-based gameplay is infinetly superior to Rebellion..."
But infinitely inferior to that of MOO itself. MOO(2) is the second best 4X in the world, after SE(4), which is the first best 4X, and MOO(2) is the second best 4X, not as good as the first best 4X, but still better than the third best 4X, because MOO(2) is the second best 4X, and the only 4X better than MOO(2) is SE(4), which is the first best 4X, although MOO(2) is better than all other 4Xs, except SE(4), which rules the 4X genre.
Registered: Nov 1999
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Stop saying 4X, or you'll force me to ask you what on earth it actually means.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
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Never played MOO2, actually. Should. What's SE? And Alpha Centauri should probably be on that list somewhere...
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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-------------------- "That's the problem with nature. Something is always stinging you or oozing mucous on you. lets go watch tv." - Calvin & Hobbes
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
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SE stands for Space Empires, one of the oldest 4X families. The first three games ranged from "bleh" to "so-so" to "MOO contender", but the fourth is, well, really really really good. What's special about SE4 though, is how customizable it is. You can mess with game parameters, alter the rules, import scenarios, create ST or SW total conversions with new races and ships, replace menu fonts and UI graphics, EVERYTHING. SE4 is a 4X sandbox. B)
And I would have snuck AC and Civ into my MJ impression, if the forum had allowed that long a message to be posted. But it didn't. So there.
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