The best way I can describe it, is a comparison with a really horrible car, which looks fine on the outside, has a very complex and complicated equipment and interior, yet still manages to leave you senseless, quite literally, making you incapable of feeling anything about this mess of a game. When playing an AgeOD game, you have a feeling you're there, with your men and in the specific time period. Sure, some things are less complex but the spark of enthusiasm and "fun" is there.
The eternal genius which is our gaming overlord, Phillippe Thibaut (Do not worry Monsieur Malacher, we love you too :thumbsup
when making the EU engine can still be seen in the Age engine. I won't say I dislike Paradox games, yet somehow, For the Glory, a modification of EU 2, which itself was an upgrade of EU 1, does it for me, while EU III and by extension Victoria 2, does not. My experience playing the demo was looking in the air, letting the time pass me by, waiting for things to be built and research to be done. And even that, the thing that struck my geek-acord the most, the research in a time of steam and steel, was made so tedious and incomprehensible, it took all the fun out of it. Plus the fact that you can only research one thing at a time and that trading knowledge is impossible (as far as I know), makes the whole point moot, as you have to decide either to become a military, or an industrial nation, or be forever cursed to stay in limbo, forever behind you enemies and allies, trying to keep the flimsy house of cards together, while the slightest wind of technological progress can destroy it.
Let's not speak of the POP screen, which is what my metaphor was alluding to. You have so much information that numbers just role in front of you. It's not that I don't like micromanaging, I do, yet to a certain extent. I grew up with the Impression building series games (which I would still recommend), so waiting for things to happen and looking at numbers is something I am still able to do. Complexity yes, but not at the cost of being overwhelmed by the data. Victoria 2 looks more like a complex 19th century social simulator than a game. Of course, the demo is limited and there are things still unseen which probably make the game only better. Yet what is a fancy façade and good an exquisite interior, if you can't enjoy the house you're living in?
I could go on about the military and combat system, which I newer liked in Paradox games, yet have come to accept it; or running a stable economy, while your capitalists decide to invest in a failing industry, that can barely be kept alive when subsidised, or the countless other little things that make a game tick.
As such, I raise my goblet to the Lords of Gaming and Grand Simulation, the AgeOD team, may you future be as prosperous as before, may all your projects be finished to your satisfaction and to that of your loyal fans and may you remain the jolly team we have all come to love for years (dare I say decades) to come.
Here's to you lads! You're our only hope now for a Victorian era game which will have the right atmosphere and give the vibe we are looking for in such games.
