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This is one of my favourite games, though getting it running on modern systems can be a bit of a hassle at times (it works, it's just... buggy). I always got stuck on one of the later levels until the last Let's Play of this got me to retry the campaign, when I finally managed to outwit the AI and win. There's a few levels that are just plain fun once you have certain spells and units.
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Mar 20, 2014 00:38
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 01:10 |
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Swamp is easily one of the best spells in the game. It makes it possible to turtle in the game, since the AI is really simplistic and will only attack via scripted routes. I usually wall myself in with swamps and then build a massive settlement before attacking all out. Or I use the Shaman to rain destruction once you start getting more offensive spells.ChaosSamusX posted:So, can almost any level be won conventionally then? Assuming "conventionally" means "build huts, build army, beat level", then sort of. Without spoiling anything, there's three levels that are basically "puzzle" levels, including level 5, where you're on a timer and you have to beat the level fairly quick, and there's basically an ideal strategy for doing it. There's also likely some alternate methods for each level as well.
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Mar 23, 2014 04:02
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Koboje posted:Also Fire in the Mist, one of my now favorite and used to be most hated levels. Fire in the Mist is still one of my more hated levels. Mostly because it's possible to get quite screwed if you let the enemy shaman in. One comment on Erode, it actually has a good usage range, but you're not meant to cast it right next to water. If you cast it a bit further back from the shore, it'll sink that land down to sea level. It's still a fairly slow spell, but it's one of my favourites. I use it a lot in later levels to wipe out portions of the enemy's settlements.
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Mar 25, 2014 14:29
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gently caress that volcano spell. As you mentioned, if you don't plan for it and watch for it, then your entire settlement can get wiped out when the shaman comes in and volcanoes your area. And it's going to happen the first time through a level. The good news is that it can only happen once (as far as I know), and it does basically generate a ton of free land to build on if you're willing to wait for it to return to normal (land gets "damaged" when a building is destroyed on it or something like Volcano or Earthquake get cast). There's another level involving volcanos much much later on that I got stuck on for a very long time. Hopefully you'll get a chance to show it off.
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Mar 26, 2014 03:33
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liquidypoo posted:A bit of a minor complaint, but could you start editing out the options menu stuff in every video? Agreed, editing out the options menu stuff would be a good idea. Flatten land is... not that great of a spell. Its effective range is fairly low, and its casting range is small. Erode is a better spell for causing the enemy settlements to sink into water, and land bridge is a lot better at creating new land or even flattening existing land to expand your own settlement area.
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Mar 28, 2014 18:44
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100percentjesusfree posted:I also seem to remember there being one particularly fun use of that spell that levels out the ground - if you cast it on a really high spot in such a way that it would force about half of an enemy building up into the new height area, it just gets instantly destroyed. I THINK that was the case, anyway, it's been a very long time since I played. You can do this with any land altering spell. If the height different of the four corners of a building gets too large, then the building just explodes into rubble. It's fun, but there's usually better/quicker spells that are more effective, not to mention your own warriors. Cardiovorax posted:Disconnecting the reincarnation site from the surrounding terrain has a nearly 100% chance of locking the shaman up in there forever, though, because the AI is kinda dumb. The AI is kind of dumb is a pretty good theme for this game. Actually it's mostly just heavily scripted. It'll focus a lot of attention on certain areas of land and will send wave after wave of units to specific points, which is one of the reasons swamp is such a useful and powerful spell. They don't change up their patrol patterns at all, so you can drop a swamp in the middle of their patrol and kill off their current army easily. Or you just drop a swamp on the enemy shaman's favourite hangout and keep getting free mana. The levels are getting longer, but more fun. This is the point where you have a decent assortment of destruction spells and the AI is fairly weak that you can use the shaman almost exclusively to bring down the enemy settlements (though that takes a while)
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Mar 31, 2014 18:59
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Balloons are fun! They make it really easy to move your shaman around and get into the enemy settlements without risking as much from your own spells. The next level is absolutely horrible unless you rush one of the enemy tribes. If you do that, though, it's fairly easy. And they let you have swamp back.
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Apr 1, 2014 15:59
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Crosspeice posted:Possibly, I don't really remember getting a free use before when playing the level, since I don't pray at the Stone Head. Like, ever. If I got it from the Stone Head, then getting two different spells from one head is something I've never come across. I also don't think I got it after the Matak shaman used Flatten, but I dunno. Apparently the landbridge spell does come from the earthquake stone head. I'm pretty sure it's the only time in the entire game that you get two spells from one stone head. This level is actually one of my favourites. If you rush the Matak early on, you can effectively build an easily defended, massive settlement on the plateau they're on. Then just build balloons and you can fly around the world with your shaman killing the rest of the enemies with your awesome spells.
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Apr 6, 2014 03:07
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I've never tried the alternate method on From the Depths before, but it looks kind of fun. The alternate method for Attacked From All Sides is pretty much the only way I've beaten the level. I tend to go all out with the settlement building (there's a ton of land up there), and spend a few hours on the level, killing the enemies with spells.
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Apr 7, 2014 14:26
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For me, this is one of the more annoying levels. Mostly because the chance of failure is pretty high. There's not as much time as the other limited levels, and it's possible to fail while you're attacking the prison. Though casting Volcano at the end is a nice bit of catharsis.
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Apr 10, 2014 16:32
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Crosspeice posted:Now at the moment I'm editing the monster that is Level 16 and in quite a few instances, I just dither and watch the enemy tribes attacking each other, because watching two AI players butt heads is always hilarious, but how much do you guys care about that kinda thing? There are some fairly "the fuuuuuuck?" moments that I'll be keeping in, I'm just curious as to what extent people will be interested in. I think keeping some of it in is a good idea, because we really haven't seen much/any of the AI vs AI fights that can happen. But I think the biggest thing would be to keep the videos around 20-30 minutes long, and editing the level so that the people watching can see what you're doing over the course of it. If there's extra time for showing off the AI fights, then all the better.
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Apr 10, 2014 18:15
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Crosspeice posted:At least I can still edit and stuff, so I'm quite far ahead in that aspect. That helps at least.
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Apr 15, 2014 02:09
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The enemy fighting the enemy is a lot of fun. Mostly because it results in both sides becoming weaker, and also because it means they're not attacking you. Also the AI is pretty terrible, so it just ends up resulting in a round of spells and a few deaths. Congrats on an effective use of erode this time around. These are the levels that are fun. Fighting all three tribes does take longer, but the music is so wonderful and the game is honestly pretty beautiful that it's fun to just zoom around the world looking at everything.
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Apr 17, 2014 02:56
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Crosspeice posted:Oh yeah, here's a video, whilst I'm here. This is potentially a pretty easy level, you kind of got screwed with the AI deciding to focus it's attacks on you. My usual strategy is to block myself off with swamps and just build a massive force, then take out each tribe one by one. I don't even bother with Armageddon. The AI will fight amongst itself fairly well over the centre stone head, and it's rare that one of them will actually get the spell. One of the later levels will always end up with a casting of Armageddon though.
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Apr 19, 2014 16:01
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For what it's worth, Populous (with the expansion) is on sale this weekend on gog.com I ended up buying it because I don't know where my disk version is, and I haven't played any of the expansion. I managed to rush through the first 10 levels quite quickly, including doing an "alternate" method for From the Depths. Beat it in 10 minutes. Mostly due to rushing with the starting priests and converting the fairly small set of enemy forces on the "first" island, and charging into the rest. I also managed to cast Earthquake then fall into the water when the earth opened up. That was even more fun.
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Apr 20, 2014 03:57
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Crosspeice posted:And was that just heading straight for the Matak settlement right at the start? I could see how that would work, I'll have to try it. Yeah, basically. Still have to make some firewarriors to kill the enemy shaman, but it was actually pretty quick and easy.
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Apr 20, 2014 15:09
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Crosspeice posted:For now, let's keep on trucking, to a cold, lifeless world. This level. This level is painful. The Dakini have a massive, huge giant base and force (that's hidden entirely by the fog of war), and unless you specifically plan for it and rush, they will get the Armageddon spell. The other tribes, meanwhile, will try to attack the Dakini (sort of) and will run into your tribe first, and decide "gently caress it, I'll just attack here and save myself the walk back". You're effectively surrounded and under siege. My strategy the first time I won was to just raise as much land as possible, build up a massive force of my own, and wait for the Dakini to cast Armageddon. I'm pretty sure one of my more recent runs I played this level straight though. Getting Armageddon and just not casting it in favour of taking out the tribes one by one.
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Apr 22, 2014 00:00
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I barely remember playing or beating level 20. The next level is the one that stopped me for quite a while, because gently caress enemy volcanoes.
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Apr 26, 2014 13:49
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I had to learn to rush to be able to win that level. The first time I played I was all about turtling, and could never manage to stop the most annoying environmental volcanoes from going off in time. In hindsight, this is a pretty easy level (they all kind of are), but I still dislike this level for stopping me so long ago.
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Apr 29, 2014 00:30
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That red flashing bar! Honestly though the last few levels are pretty fun. Solo is a good puzzle level that's not that hard, and Inferno gives you plenty of space and all the spells.
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May 14, 2014 04:49
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The last level is a whole lot of fun. Actually the last two levels are fun. There's a lot of infighting in level 24 which makes it easier than one might think, and you've got all the spells to use. And infinite spell range is a huge bit of opening up the game and just being able to play with the spells. As long as you survive the initial rush, then you're safe and on easy street.
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May 17, 2014 18:46
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I've never seen the expansion levels. So far they seem fairly good, outside of Soul Survivor being painfully slow.
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May 21, 2014 01:17
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Zore posted:This has been a great LP, and its a bit of a shame it hasn't been a more active thread. Part of the problem is that the game doesn't really have much to discuss. It's a fun game, but there's no plot to speak of, and each level plays out pretty much the same as all the other levels. Also the human shield in the last level has a use: getting to watch them get utterly destroyed by the combined force of two tribes working together. It's fun!
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May 24, 2014 14:39
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That's a whole lot of braves. The Prisons level is pretty cool, preventing both sides from using their Shamans without having any sort of annoying timer or anything.
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May 31, 2014 15:06
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 01:10 |
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Thanks for showing off the game and the expansion. It's been a good run.
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Jun 7, 2014 13:20
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