xrtnt@bethe.gsfc.nasa.gov (Nigel Tzeng) (06/09/90)
In article <11455@hoptoad.uucp>, slc@hoptoad.uucp (Steve Costa) writes... ^>In article <11454@hoptoad.uucp>, slc@hoptoad.uucp I wrote... ^>^A friend and I have been playing "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and enjoying ^>^it immensely. The detail and strategy are fairly rich. ^>^ ^>^The most obvious drawback is that it is not at all "Amiga-ized". It doesn't ^>^use the mouse or menus at all, though there are many game functions which would ^>^have benefited. ^>^ ^>^A possible second drawback, depending on your point of view, is that it takes ^>^a long time to play a complete game; we played once or twice a week for ^>^weeks on our first engagement. ^>^ ^>^If you enjoyed Empire, I think that you will find the strategy of "Romance ^>^of the Three Kingdoms" more satisfying. The development of territories is ^>^more detailed. In addition, I think there is much more room for strategy ^>^and tactics in battle situations, a point where I found "Empire" lacking ^> ^>Er, I beg to differ. In general I thought the game to be too detailed and in ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ I can't argue with your point other than to say it's a matter ^ of taste. I enjoy the detail, but I can see that not everyone ^ would. Yep. ^>general unenjoyable. I for one have very little desire to keep track of 20-30 ^>generals and their statistics as well as 20+ provinces. You need a bloodly ^>spreadsheet to keep things in order and the damn game does not multitask (so ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ Actually, it does (on my 2000 and my friend's 1000). But it doesn't ^ close its screen when you finish so you have to reboot anyway. My mistake. I guess I didn't play with it enough. ^ ^>you can use a spread sheet ;-) ). ^ I wanted to be able to track things better, so I wrote some APL programs ^ to pull apart the SAVEDGAME file and print statistics on generals. ^ It was a fun exercise in reverse engineering. ^ ^> ^>You're right - it isn't amigized at all. Isn't the manual the IBM version wih ^>an extra Amiga sheet? I can't recall since I returned the game. ^> ^>A much better game IMHO is Nobunaga's Ambition (also from Koei) and I've heard ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^>that Bandit Kings Of China is also better. You might want to try the cinemaware ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^ Can you say more about these games? I've played Nobunaga's Ambiion on the IBM for a short time and enjoyed it a lot. The play is similar to Romance but the number of things to keep track of is less. For one there aren't any "generals" to keep track of except for yourself and the provincial governers. There tactical is slightly less complex also. A less polished game perhaps but the number of things to track is a lot less. I was actually trying to get this game when I saw Romance. Since they didn't have Nobunaga's Ambition I got Romance instead. I'm not entirely sure Ambition is out for the Amiga... Bandit Kings was recommended to me over Romance but at the time it wasn't out yet(for the amiga). Evidently it is an improved version of the game system with slightly changed scenarios. If you follow the progression of these games (Nobunaga-->Romance-->Bandit Kings) you can see where they refined certain concepts but the basic feels is the same. The person who bought Bandit Kings likes it a lot and says the play is closer to Romance than Nobunaga (which makes sense). All in all I find the Koei games to very good but I disagree with some of the design choices for the later games. Like you said it's all a matter of taste. Part of my problem is I don't have a printer hooked up to my Ami. Makes housekeeping even worse ;-). ^ ^>japanese game as well (Lords of the Rising Sun) even if it is more simplistic. ^> ^>For the 60+ bucks they are asking for Romance I'd check it out to make sure it ^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^ $40.76 from Abel Supply. Of course, since it's mail order you can't return ^ it if you don't like it. I was in the mood for a game and I think I picked it up for close to $70. Which wasn't horrible considering I'm kinda used to paying that much for IBM games (well...the MicroProse ones can get steep). I figured if no one bought Amiga stuff from these people they would eventually stop carrying Ami stuff. As one of the few places I can go to get the machine fixed I figured paying a little more was okay to keep them into amigas. Anybody know if MicroProse is ever giong to release Red Storm Rising for the amiga? I think it is my all time favorite of the "simulator" genre - even over Falcon. ^ ^>is the right game for you. I was lucky enough to be able to return mine. ^> ^>NT ^> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- // | Nigel Tzeng - STX Inc - NASA/GSFC COBE Project \X/ | xrtnt@amarna.gsfc.nasa.gov | Amiga | Standard Disclaimer Applies: The opinions expressed are my own.