Hinterland: orc lands?

[Gamerlord]

So I was surfing amazon today, and I noticed this game (http://www.amazon.com/Hinterland-Orc-Lords-Pc/dp/B001LW033U/ref=pd_sim_sw_18) . anyone played it? what exactly are the tech requirements, could a Radeon x600 run it?

[ObadiahtheSlim]

If that has hardware Directx9 support then probably.

[Gamerlord]

Well it does, but is the game any good?

[warty goblin]

The game's OK. Not stellar, but not bad either. The graphics are a unique combination of good looking and complete eye poison. The envioronments looks good for the most part, but character models...don't.

Gameplay is sort of a cross between Diablo and Majesty, if both had way, way fewer options. Basically you take a hero onto a randomly generated, but eerily familiar map, then try to kill all the monsters. Most heroes need food though, so you need to build some farms, and (shockingly) there's more money in commerce and production of goods than shanking monsters once you get enough production buildings going. Your hero is the only person you control directly, but you can build buildings for followers of various professions- hunter, farmer, craftsmen, fortune teller and so forth, and equip your citizenry as you see fit. Some items give bonuses to certain professions.

Don't mistake this for a real city builder though. Setting up an economy is really very simple, just build some food producers, then some goods producers and so on. There's a very basic resource model at play, but that's about it.

Monster stabbing is very Diablo, although you don't get any special attacks or anything. On the flipside you can get people from your town to go adventuring with you, which can be very useful against the tougher monsters later in the game. Like the city building, it's there, but not an entire game on its own by any means.

The combination works pretty well though, since you actually have a stake in the town having built it, and monster slaying has more motivation than "I want an axe that does fire damage now!"

[Gamerlord]

I hear you can be a villain, what exactly does that entail?

[warty goblin]

I hear you can be a villain, what exactly does that entail?

I have very little idea what they mean by that. I mean at the very top of the building tree, a point you will only reach on a large map or else crazy econ-grinding (meaning sitting and waiting) on a smaller one, you can build a Temple of Good or a Temple of Evil or something like that. I'm not sure how it really matters though. I suppose it means you have access to a different sort of follower, but I never found casters to be that effective anyway. They can only do magic with a staff. Since all the staffs I found had attack speeds of Slow or Very Slow most of the time they'd get off about one shot before everything was dead anyway.

I should also warn you that Hinterland has a vast quantity of randomized elements. Maps are randomized, as are their monsterous inhabitants and the locations or even existance of resources thereupon, although one may configure the game so that every resource occurs somewhere. That somewhere might be surrounded by level 6 orcs, so this is by no means a straight shot to dominating the market. Even the followers who show up to be recruited at any given time are randomized, although I've never run into problems with not having access to food producers at the beginning of a game.

The game's equivilent of quests, requests that is, from the King, are also randomized. He either asks for Food, Gold or for you to go gain access to some resource or other. Succeed, you get Fame. Fail, and you lose Fame. Some followers require certain amounts of Fame to recruit, and if your Fame falls too low, you lose the game.

[Gamerlord]

Hmmmmm, I dunno, Is there a similear game on the market that is better?

[warty goblin]

Hmmmmm, I dunno, Is there a similear game on the market that is better?

To my knowledge, not really. If you want hack'n'slash, I suggest Sacred/Sacred 2, the first of which will run on almost anything, the second of which you'll have to look at. I'm less well versed in modern city builders, but Tilted Mill also did Children of the Nile, which features a similar 'every citizen is an individual' concept.

The only other real fusion of base building and RPGs that I know of is the castle management portion of Neverwinter Nights 2. That however would require playing NWN 2, which I would only recommend under threat of physical violence, or if you enjoy your own suffering.

[Gamerlord]

Well I read some reviews, and I guess it is worth a try.

[warty goblin]

Well I read some reviews, and I guess it is worth a try.

You can also get the frankly brilliant Majesty Gold for $10 from a variety of outlets, ranging from Amazon to the digital distribution platform of your choice. The still really good but less brilliant Majesty 2 will run you somewhere between $40 and $50, and is also available online, and possibly even in actual meatspace stores. You don't directly control anything in these games since you aren't the hero, but the King who offers monetary incentives for heroes to solve monster related problems.

[Gamerlord]

You can also get the frankly brilliant Majesty Gold for $10 from a variety of outlets, ranging from Amazon to the digital distribution platform of your choice. The still really good but less brilliant Majesty 2 will run you somewhere between $40 and $50, and is also available online, and possibly even in actual meatspace stores. You don't directly control anything in these games since you aren't the hero, but the King who offers monetary incentives for heroes to solve monster related problems.

I tried the majesty 1 demo, the heros didn't seem to care whatever I offered them, it all seemed rather confusing to me.

[warty goblin]

I tried the majesty 1 demo, the heros didn't seem to care whatever I offered them, it all seemed rather confusing to me.

You're a government. If throwing money at the problem didn't solve it, throw more money at the problem. For big bad lairs I usually rachet the attack flags up to a thousand or so, the same goes for tough monsters.

Alternatively you can convert your money to lightening through the AMM (Automatic Magic Machine) that is the Wizard's Guild, and then throw that at the problem.

Remember, your heroes want to stay alive, and act like PCs in RPGs- greedy, selfish bastards whose idea of a 'good deed' is 'one with a better than 50% rate of return after the cost of healing potions.' About the only thing they'll do out of the 'goodness' of their hearts is keep their personal abodes from being torched, and then yours if they are bothered. So basically be prepared to pay through the nose to get them to do anything they don't want to. In the end though, they're playing a sucker's game, because all they can do with money is use it to buy stuff. Since your kingdom has a marginal tax rate of 100%, you'll get it all back eventually. Well, sans what is lost when the ratmen murder your tax collectors.

[Gamerlord]

But if I paid anymore then I offered I would go bankrupt!