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Author: the.gray.fox (the [dot] gray [dot] fox [at] hotmail [dot] com) | |||
| Date: 21-Sep-10, 16:03:11 | ||||
| My Drakensang experience is really improving. The more I see of this game, the stronger becomes my belief that it is a very rare gem. On the plus side, I started to mod it a little. The only flaw I see in it is the massive use of acronims in spell descriptions. And that is easily fixed -- in fact I am doing it. No true modding of the game is possible unless you have the SDK for the Nebula 2.0 engine. While the engine itself is freeware, its SDK is not -- haha. And I am not going to buy a license. But in any case, as much as I care for perfection, Drakensang is in no need of modding. It only needs a rewrite of its spell descriptions, and the occasional grammar correction in item descriptions or conversations. If I had to write a review for this game, I would give it an 8.75. Based on a 1 to 10 scale, wherein my maximum vote is 9 anyway. -fox |
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Author: the.gray.fox (the [dot] gray [dot] fox [at] hotmail [dot] com) | |||
| Date: 15-Sep-10, 18:48:38 | ||||
| Errata corrige. The major differences between D&D and TDE are 3. 3) In D&D you can improve traits of your character only at specific moments, occurring at the so-called LevelUp. In TDE you can improve traits of your character as soon as you can do it. There is no Level Up breakdown to wait for in TDE. If you can afford an improvement -> you can improve, right there, and right at that moment. Character levels have a tiny role in TDE, and they only pertain to Spells. If your character casts no spell, you have no reason to care about your character level. -fox |
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Author: the.gray.fox (the [dot] gray [dot] fox [at] hotmail [dot] com) | |||
| Date: 15-Sep-10, 18:36:19 | ||||
| Playing Drakensang, I am being most pleased of it. My first impression remains unchanged: the game is a rare gem. It has not even need of a patch. That point should speak for itself... There is 1 flaw I move to the game: lack of informations. Some of the critical and must-have informations are not given. Not all details of TDE mechanics are explained in game. It is no gap a FAQ can not fill, but it would have been better if those info were accessible in game directly. TDE is fundamentally different from D&D. In some aspects TDE is more complex than D&D. In other aspects it is simpler. But two major differences I notice: 1) D&D is suitable for creating high-magic environments. Whereas TDE is for the opposite: low-magic environments. This does not mean there is no magic in TDE. It just means there are much less magic items than in D&D, and those available can be quite expensive. 2) D&D puts many constraints on your character development. Your characters end up being specialized in something. Or in the long run they are a failure. In TDE the distinction between classes is much less felt. A character can be born as a Fighter (so to speak), and it can be easily reshaped into an Archer. There is no multiclassing in TDE. And there is no need for it, by virtue of the possibilities to reshape a character almost however you want. As for the Drakensang game, I have read many an online review. I am surprised at the amount of complains they raised about the game. In all my honesty, I find ALL those complains without reason to exist. They further strengthen the theory of cospiracy behind the online magazines and reviewers. The theory says that they are plainly paid by the major publishers (EA, is one example) in order to have their games score higher -- so they sell better. Dragon Age should come to mind. It scored stellar votes. They praised it to no end. But once you install and play the game (spending 60 Euros for it), you realize that things are quite different from what was advertized. Oh, these are facts. No Dragon Age fan feel offended. Haha. The more I read, the more I find this theory to have solid foundation. Drakensang is way _better_ than they made it sound. A class on its own, I say. Far superior to many other (and more advertized) games of the genre. This game is the perfect example of: try it and believe your own eyes. -fox |
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Author: the.gray.fox (the [dot] gray [dot] fox [at] hotmail [dot] com) | |||
| Date: 08-Sep-10, 19:57:23 | ||||
| I am __extremely__ selective about my games. In order of priority, they have to be: - innovative - entertaining - polished - stable All games in my collection share these attributes. I do not look at their graphics at all. Cute graphics is a nice bonus. But never mandatory. NWN is a sad exception. It is not polished. And it is not even stable. I can crash it with just 1 script, on any computer. Had I known before of its flaws... Drakensang has passed all my tests instead. It even has very cute graphics. Yet its system requiremts are fairly low. You do not make a game with such graphics and those low system requirements without a team of Real Professionals at work. That is the number 1 sign of quality. Finally, I look at its price. Such a recent game (February 2009), and that costs you only 20 Euros. Yet exudes quality from every little thing in it. Sign that the programmers team had a low budget to make the game. Yet... look at the outcome. Number 2 sign of quality. They put heart in the game. And it shows. Drakensang will enter my collection, and that is it. -fox |
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Author: Albadaran (simondekker [at] hotmail [dot] com) | |||
| Date: 07-Sep-10, 22:43:49 | ||||
| The game is known here in the Netherlands. Its made by Germans hehe. Not very spectacular, but decent gameplay. Yet I wonder what you want with it. If its for AD&D you could try the -free- version of AD&D online. If its for adventuring or roleplaying there are better games like Oblivion orTwo Worlds. But than you need a high end pc of course :) | ||||
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Author: the.gray.fox (the [dot] gray [dot] fox [at] hotmail [dot] com) | |||
| Date: 07-Sep-10, 19:23:45 | ||||
| This TDE ruleset rivals in complexity to that of D&D. I can not find a good explanation for TDE in general, nor a good explanation for the TDE used in game. All I know is Drakensang uses TDE version 4. Too much info needed to make an educated guess. I will try the demo (500 MB) and taste the game itself. -fox |
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Author: the.gray.fox (the [dot] gray [dot] fox [at] hotmail [dot] com) | |||
| Date: 07-Sep-10, 18:36:44 | ||||
| Hello. Looking for a valid alternative to NWN, but that is not a NWN-clone (nor the overrated DAO), I have found this title: Drakensang. It has similarities with NWN. It just is not NWN. It is not based on "Dungeons & Dragons" rules. It is based on "The Dark Eye" rules. But I can not find more exhaustive informations. Anyone can tell more? So far what I know: - real-time combat - can be paused (just like NWN) - 3D - party play - classes are present - avatar customization is present (just not as deep as with NWN) - World editor? Modding? No idea at all. - It is a 2008 game. - Its price is set to 20 Euro - developer: NOT bioware. This last point I intend as "feature", yes. BioWare is a well known mammoth of a developer. And look what kind of games she does. Quality and Mammothness do NOT necessarily go hand in hand. BioWare taught me this much, and so well that I will make sure every future game I try shall have nothing to do with BioWare. -fox |
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