Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[Frau Bishop]

Was it luck or endurance?

Endurance.

Anyway one of the black potions also breaks the pattern by IIRC raising one of the stats by 15 then lowering all the others by 1 or something similar.

Jep, I gave one set of black potions to a char some hours ago and it did 9+ for all stats besides endurance (+15).

Every month the oracle in Ironfist will tell you about an altar somewhere in the world, you then go to the altar and clicking it will raise everyone's stat by... a value I can't remember.

+10 for the first visit of a shrine and +3 for any further pilgrimage to already used ones.

Damn, I'm having a blast replaying MM6. Godly Sunday indeed.


edit: Endurance indeed.. lol.

 

[thekdawg21]

What's the average difficulty of World of Xeen? I played through it and beat it when I was about 12, which leads me to believe that it's far too easy for my adult powergaming self now.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

I found it harder than MM3 (maybe because I stumbled across a godly cache of Obsidian gear early in 3), but it's not a particularly tough game. That said, there are two difficulty modes, maybe you played it on the easier?

Also dear god Castle Alamos what a clusterfuck

 

[Canus]

Castle Alamos is far less clusterfucky than Castle Darkmoor.
The map is bloody useless due to multiple overlapping floors, the monsters hit you with status effect after status effect, there's metric shit tons of monsters.

It's actually a really fun dungeon.

 

[Sceptic]

This makes him somewhat inaccessible.

Leaving a dungeon then immediately reentering resets the position of all enemies still living to their initial location. When I did Supreme Temple lots of priests fell into the lava, I just reset them and proceeded to slaughter them.

the only real source of artifacts is the dragon's corpses.

There are a whole bunch of chests marked as "contains an artifact" and these will IIRC always have a random artifact/relic in them.

Also dear god Castle Alamos what a clusterfuck

Alamos isn't too hard once you figure out the layout of the place and what you're supposed to do (gather clues for the password to get into the room with the crystal). You need to figure out the password yourself by the way; none of that "I've got all the clues now the right answer magically appears."

 

[Admiral jimbob]

WHY CAN THEY DEBUFF ME THROUGH THE WALLS

 

[kmonster]

What's the average difficulty of World of Xeen? I played through it and beat it when I was about 12, which leads me to believe that it's far too easy for my adult powergaming self now.

WoX has two difficulty settings, adventurer mode is very easy, warrior difficulty is slightly easier than MM3, if you are very skilled you can succeed with an unspoiled "no reload" run.
You can also try a "MM5 only" (without the XP and loot from MM4) game for an additional challenge.

 

[Serious_Business]

I'm playing this too bros, I might just finish it this time. Up to lvl 50 now in Blackshire, clearing one map at the time. Fuck this game is addictive. I don't know what makes this game so good. In theory, it should be shit. It's a terrible grindfest with simplistic combat. But I don't know bros, it's actually p. good. Maybe it's just a sense of progression done well, which is actually something rare in rpgs. When you find new shit or get new abilities, you get excited. It makes a difference. Getting the masteries in skills, new spells, etc, all alters your gameplay in some form. Master Lloyd's Beacon - warping back and forth - hell yeah. More gold? Yes please. Fly? Oh yes. It's a well balanced game.

In a modern game like say Dragon Age, everything is convenient and boring. If you think about it, DA, while being a shit game, still holds on to the basics of a game like M&M. But it does it badly. It's still the same crap, beside the banal shit boring story that you have to endure : fight monsters, simplistic combat. On paper it's the same thing. But it just doesn't work that way. They wouldn't dare, for example, making health regeneration an actual ability that you'd need to pick to make a difference in the game. Health regen is there because it's convenient. What's the fun of not healing to fightan as quickly as possible? That's not fun right? I don't know, maybe so, but that breaks the idea of progression.

I'm not sure if I'm going to say a good rpg needs bad gameplay that turns into fun to have a good sense of progression, because that's MMO mentality. If you think about it, having to walk all around at the beggining in M&M is a chore compared to being able to teleport and fly at will later in the game. Where's the fun in that? I have no idea. But I can teleport now, motherfuckers!

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Have to say, I actually found Darkmoor pretty straightforward. There was a fair amount of town portalling back to heal, but as for the castle itself... the "confusing" area with multiple floors was too short to be that difficult to navigate, and was mostly free of flying eyes/liches to complicate matters. When you get into the big main room and work out how to unlock the gate, it's all very obvious from there.

Was still a great dungeon, though, don't get me wrong. Bracing myself, leaping off the balcony and making a mad dash for the crystal/book of liches at the end was good fun.

Think I might take a couple of days' break before attempting the Tomb of VARN

 

[Canus]

I think the harsh difficulty adds something to the game. It gives that real sense of actually growing more powerful and skills making a massive difference. I'm not sure if it's that or a combination of the rest of the game that stops me from thinking of it as a never-ending grind.

Aye mastering the skills is massively useful.I remember trying to clear Castle Alamos without Lloyd's Beacon and then with it at master level. Massive difference to the game based purely upon one skill.

 

[Storyfag]

I'm playing this too bros, I might just finish it this time. Up to lvl 50 now in Blackshire, clearing one map at the time. Fuck this game is addictive. I don't know what makes this game so good. In theory, it should be shit. It's a terrible grindfest with simplistic combat. But I don't know bros, it's actually p. good. Maybe it's just a sense of progression done well, which is actually something rare in rpgs. When you find new shit or get new abilities, you get excited. It makes a difference. Getting the masteries in skills, new spells, etc, all alters your gameplay in some form. Master Lloyd's Beacon - warping back and forth - hell yeah. More gold? Yes please. Fly? Oh yes. It's a well balanced game.

In a modern game like say Dragon Age, everything is convenient and boring. If you think about it, DA, while being a shit game, still holds on to the basics of a game like M&M. But it does it badly. It's still the same crap, beside the banal shit boring story that you have to endure : fight monsters, simplistic combat. On paper it's the same thing. But it just doesn't work that way. They wouldn't dare, for example, making health regeneration an actual ability that you'd need to pick to make a difference in the game. Health regen is there because it's convenient. What's the fun of not healing to fightan as quickly as possible? That's not fun right? I don't know, maybe so, but that breaks the idea of progression.

I'm not sure if I'm going to say a good rpg needs bad gameplay that turns into fun to have a good sense of progression, because that's MMO mentality. If you think about it, having to walk all around at the beggining in M&M is a chore compared to being able to teleport and fly at will later in the game. Where's the fun in that? I have no idea. But I can teleport now, motherfuckers!

This

 

[Sceptic]

Think I might take a couple of days' break before attempting the Tomb of VARN

Not a bad idea. VARN is more complex to navigate than Darkmoor (also bigger, I think it's the largest dungeon in the game), though I found enemies to be easier. Then again I usually clear most of Dragonsand between crystals and control cube quests, so I end up with a few more levels and items.
Glad you enjoyed Darkmoor

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Also, is there a way to clear up any slight misunderstandings with the law? I might have this problem where I'm sort of getting sent to jail for a year every time I visit a castle, something to do with me maybe kind of causing a bit of a holocaust in New Sorpigal. Not that a year of age will make any difference, it's just a matter of principle.

 

[Canus]

As far as I've found the only way to avoid the jail time is to get your reputation up above a certain level. On the plus side every time you're jailed your reputation moves back to neutral. It's also a great way to farm certain areas that respawn every 6 months or year.

 

[Storyfag]

I might have this problem where I'm sort of getting sent to jail for a year every time I visit a castle, something to do with me maybe kind of causing a bit of a holocaust in New Sorpigal.

Tried casting Armageddon, have we? Now go donate to a temple (a regular one, not one of Baa!) several times before visiting a castle. That should fix things, at least temporarily.

 

[Canus]

Is it that a temple will temporarily raise your reputation to accepted or does it simple move your reputation up one rank?

If it's the latter I'm not sure how much it will help. Blissful memories of chain casting 9 Armageddons.

 

[octavius]

Just explored Sorpigal and some of the caves beneath in MM1. Very similar to MM2, except that MM2 had much better graphics and sound since I played it on my Amiga.

It's rather nail biting sometimes since you can't save anywhere, but have to go to an Inn to save.

 

[SmileWithStyle]

Hello everybody!

Since I recently got my hands on the MaM games (1-7) I started playing them, and I was reading this thread while I was at it. I sank a few hours into Isles of Terra and Mandate of Heaven, liking both, but having trouble decide which one to play and finish first. (I can never make up my mind)

So, my question is: is it worth it playing the series from the start? Is MM1 worth playing? Most people dont like it from what I read here and elsewhere, because of the map making(dont mind it), graphics and some gameplay issues (saving at inn only etc). It is simply too old for todays standards, but I am thinking I might give it a try if I hear that it is at least somewhat worth it. And if I can get in savestates like posted a while ago through dosbox, the main annoying (but challenging) feature would be gone, so..... yeah.

Should I play it?

 

[kmonster]

There's no need to play the series from the start. The first two games don't have anything to do story-wise and gameplay-wise with the later ones so start with part 3, you can play the older games later, just like I did.

 

[DaveO]

I started with MM3 and I've yet to attempt the earlier ones. I may eventually attempt MM2, but I'm leery of how hardcore the game is since I've seen videos of a decent default party getting their asses handed to them by cripples.

 

[octavius]

Hello everybody!

Since I recently got my hands on the MaM games (1-7) I started playing them, and I was reading this thread while I was at it. I sank a few hours into Isles of Terra and Mandate of Heaven, liking both, but having trouble decide which one to play and finish first. (I can never make up my mind)

So, my question is: is it worth it playing the series from the start? Is MM1 worth playing? Most people dont like it from what I read here and elsewhere, because of the map making(dont mind it), graphics and some gameplay issues (saving at inn only etc). It is simply too old for todays standards, but I am thinking I might give it a try if I hear that it is at least somewhat worth it. And if I can get in savestates like posted a while ago through dosbox, the main annoying (but challenging) feature would be gone, so..... yeah.

Should I play it?

Yes, I think you should at least try it if you don't mind the mapping. I'm playing and enjoying it myself so far. Even though the two first MM games may not have anything storywise to do with later games, they offer a more hard core traditional CRPG experience with a different combat and item system. Personally I really don't care about the overall story; the MM games are about exploring, combat and character building, not story.

If you really are able to save the game state, that should greatly cut down on any frustration.
How do you save the game state, anway?

 

[Calem Ravenna]

How do you save the game state, anway?

If you use the modified dosbox linked by Sceptic earlier in this thread, there are keyboard shortcuts to save the game state, all stated in the documentation. Alt + F5 for 'quick saving' of sorts and alt + F9 for a 'quick load'. There's also support for more than one save state at once, accessible in the drop down menus if you play windowed.

 

[Jaesun]

Saving a game state? You fucking faggots!

 

[Sceptic]

Is MM1 worth playing?

Yes. If you can put up with the graphics (no reason why not) and the lack of automap, it's worth it. The exploration element is shockingly good for its age, the quests are fun and there is a good progression within each questline (keeping in mind that, in many of the earlier quests in a chain, you do NOT have to kill everyone to complete the quest; Ironfist's quest in Portsmith is a good example) and there is great synergy between quests and exploration, as trying to do all the quests will eventually send you all over the world. The game's quite challenging, sometimes unfairly, but if you're using save states there's no excuse. You don't need to play it first to enjoy the later games, but it's enjoyable enough in its own right to make it worth playing.

Saving a game state? You fucking faggots!

no u

While I may have agreed with you some years ago, at this point I'm happy for people to use the save states if it means they'll actually try and play MM1.

 

[Jaesun]

Saving a game state? You fucking faggots!

no u

While I may have agreed with you some years ago, at this point I'm happy for people to use the save states if it means they'll actually try and play MM1.

No then you are a gigantic faggot. :mondblut: