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14 January 2010
11 Comments
Posted by
Cybergoth 
Hi there!
Interplaying Warcraft - Orcs & Humans (1994):
Okay, featuring this one within Interplaying is debatable, but Interplay did publish this one in Germany
After a series of SNES games (Lost Vikings, Rock'n'Roll Racing, ...), Blizzards first totally PC centric development helped establishing the RTS genre which was kickstarted by Herzog 2 and further advanced by Dune 2 before.
Laying foundation to the fantasy universe that should evolve into "World of Warcraft" a decade down the road, this was the first game playing in the world Azeroth, with players taking part in an epic battle between humans and orcs.
It already shares a lot of features with later installments of the series: The game is divided into a human and an orc campaign, you're building settlements in order to feed & train troops and to forge & upgrade weapons, all powered by harvested wood and gold. Even the magic users and their spells are already in the game.
I never played this one back in the day, entering the series straight with Warcraft 2, so it's really surprising to see how much of it is already there in Orcs & Humans and how familiar it looks and feels. Mostly the movies are missing and the story is told with plain text briefings between missions.
This time I did all technical homework first. I had the game already setup and running when starting tonight, so it's not too surprising that I managed to play the first 5 missions of the Orc campaign in a single session. Four of them were regular base building missions, the other was some kind of vendetta, where I had to locate and kill the rogue daughter of an orc leader.
Looking forward to carry on tomorrow!
Version Played: Abandonware, from "Abandonia".
How to Run: I'm using DOSBox (max speed), for convenience and soundcard support.
IP Status: Wholly owned by Blizzard certainly.
Greetings,
Manuel
Interplaying Warcraft - Orcs & Humans (1994):
Okay, featuring this one within Interplaying is debatable, but Interplay did publish this one in Germany
After a series of SNES games (Lost Vikings, Rock'n'Roll Racing, ...), Blizzards first totally PC centric development helped establishing the RTS genre which was kickstarted by Herzog 2 and further advanced by Dune 2 before.
Laying foundation to the fantasy universe that should evolve into "World of Warcraft" a decade down the road, this was the first game playing in the world Azeroth, with players taking part in an epic battle between humans and orcs.
It already shares a lot of features with later installments of the series: The game is divided into a human and an orc campaign, you're building settlements in order to feed & train troops and to forge & upgrade weapons, all powered by harvested wood and gold. Even the magic users and their spells are already in the game.
I never played this one back in the day, entering the series straight with Warcraft 2, so it's really surprising to see how much of it is already there in Orcs & Humans and how familiar it looks and feels. Mostly the movies are missing and the story is told with plain text briefings between missions.
This time I did all technical homework first. I had the game already setup and running when starting tonight, so it's not too surprising that I managed to play the first 5 missions of the Orc campaign in a single session. Four of them were regular base building missions, the other was some kind of vendetta, where I had to locate and kill the rogue daughter of an orc leader.
Looking forward to carry on tomorrow!
Version Played: Abandonware, from "Abandonia".
How to Run: I'm using DOSBox (max speed), for convenience and soundcard support.
IP Status: Wholly owned by Blizzard certainly.
Greetings,
Manuel
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11 Comments On This Entry
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Cybergoth
Fri Jan 15, 2010 4:03 PM
Oha, that sixth orc mission sure is a tough one. I've been playing it for three hours straight tonight, not succeeding thus far. But tomorrow I will, for sure! 
vdub_bobby
Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:52 PM
I came to Warcraft after Warcraft II also (and after Dune 2 and Command & Conquer, though before Starcraft, I think). I agree that it is surprisingly good, though each newer RTS that I've played has better and better controls (and enemy AI) that make it harder and harder to go back to the older games.
Cybergoth
Sat Jan 16, 2010 4:15 PM
SpiceWare, on Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:19 PM, said:
I've been replaying Starcraft
Strange enough, I have Starcraft and Warcraft 3 originals, but never played them. I think my computer was too slow when I bought Starcraft and then I just forgot about it. And I don't even remember buying Warcraft 3. Maybe I picked it up on a flea market...
vdub_bobby, on Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:52 AM, said:
I agree that it is surprisingly good, though each newer RTS that I've played has better and better controls (and enemy AI) that make it harder and harder to go back to the older games.
I must admit that I'm missing a couple of features from later RTS games, like double clicking on a unit to select all of that type or assigning groups to keys. Even just having groups larger than 4 units would actually help it
But well, it's not that big a game and I quickly loose control in these games anyways. And RTS games will never get as good as turn based strategy games anyway
==========
Okay, of course after a good nights sleep the sixth orc mission was quickly done. Already knowing the map, esp. the mine and bridge locations sure helps a lot
The 7th was more of the same and I beat it on my first try, so I guess It's either me improving or an easier mission
Mission 8 was yet another one without a base. I don't like those 'special' missions too much, but well, they definitely inject some variety into a campaign. Occasionally some of them are really good, e.g. who doesn't remember the Tanya missions from Red Alert? Well this one was okay. I failed the first try, but then made it through
Hornpipe2
Sun Jan 17, 2010 2:47 AM
My review of the game, from back when I finally took the time to beat it a year or two ago: http://greg-kennedy....679.html#cutid1
Cybergoth
Sun Jan 17, 2010 4:05 PM
Hornpipe2, on Sun Jan 17, 2010 8:47 AM, said:
My review of the game, from back when I finally took the time to beat it a year or two ago: http://greg-kennedy....679.html#cutid1
That review is spot on, I can pretty much confirm everything you wrote there!
I'm not solely relying on archers in my playing style, but I use them a lot as well now, mostly ignoring the magician units.
==========
I only managed playing the 9th orc mission tonight. This was the first one with two enemy outposts, so in the beginning I was being attacked from two sides, which required adusting my strategies a bit. Actually it was almost like defending from three sides, as I regularly had humans teleporting into my settlement, which felt a bit like an unfair element and caught me off guard the first time it happened.
vdub_bobby
Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:59 AM
I also have Warcraft 3, and I was kind of disappointed. It's rendered in 3D (polygons) and IMO it doesn't look nearly as good as Starcraft. And while Starcraft was revolutionary compared to Warcraft II, Warcraft III just plays like a reskinned, fantasy version of Starcraft.
...
Just realized that you mentioned never playing Starcraft
That's worth investing a little time into; it is a beautiful, beautiful game.
...
Just realized that you mentioned never playing Starcraft
That's worth investing a little time into; it is a beautiful, beautiful game.
Cybergoth
Mon Jan 18, 2010 4:07 PM
vdub_bobby, on Mon Jan 18, 2010 4:59 PM, said:
Just realized that you mentioned never playing Starcraft
I think I played ~5 PC games during the past decade, if it even were that many. Actually I think it mostly comes down to Aquanox, Tachyon and Dungeon Siege
vdub_bobby, on Mon Jan 18, 2010 4:59 PM, said:
That's worth investing a little time into; it is a beautiful, beautiful game.
Starcraft 64 as well?
==========
The 10th mission was another no-base mission, but also very easy, especially considering they give you 4 catapults to wreck havoc there
The 11th was a lot tougher again. The humans have some air (or water?) elementals there, which are tough to beat and their magicians can do a spell that's like a meteor shower going down on the base. It was kind of an arms race and took a while until I gained superiority on this map.
So, I almost made it through the orc campaign in the 5 days of Interplaying this one. Based on my calculations I'd need another ~7 days to finish it completey
Instead I'm ending this issue with another random info bit, telling you that three Interplay games are currently in the works for WiiWare: Earthworm Jim, Clayfighter and Stonekeep
Watch this space for "Dungeon Master 2", the next game I'll be Interplaying!
SpiceWare
Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:56 AM
Cybergoth, on Mon Jan 18, 2010 4:07 PM, said:
Starcraft 64 as well?
Looking at these fuzzy screenshots, I'd have to say no. The wiki entry also has this to say as well:
Quote
StarCraft 64 featured a lower resolution than the PC version, and a redesigned interface for the gamepad.
StarCraft 64 was not as popular as the PC version, and lacked the online multiplayer capabilities and speech in mission briefings. In addition, cut scenes were shortened.
StarCraft 64 was not as popular as the PC version, and lacked the online multiplayer capabilities and speech in mission briefings. In addition, cut scenes were shortened.
The story* is quite interesting and losing the speech would impact that. There was quite a ruckus when it was first announced that 2 of the main characters would be voiced by different people. Since then 1 of them has been reinstated.
One thing that's really impressed me with Blizzard is that they're still updating Starcraft. The Mac version was released in 99 and it's been updated so it will run under OS X. They also released an update that removed the "Insert CD" requirement.
* there's been a number of novels and manga released, possible to build up interest in Starcraft 2. I've read them all and even gave my nephew a complete set for his birthday last month. We play Starcraft online and he's gotten to be quite good at it. We're both eagerly awaiting Starcraft 2.
vdub_bobby
Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:55 AM
I've never played an RTS on a console, with a gamepad...I can't imagine it being very fun. 
And honestly, I've never found the story for any RTSes to be very compelling; I can't really remember anything beyond a few details from the stories of Warcraft, Warcraft II, Warcraft III, Starcraft, Command & Conquer, and Dune II.
And honestly, I've never found the story for any RTSes to be very compelling; I can't really remember anything beyond a few details from the stories of Warcraft, Warcraft II, Warcraft III, Starcraft, Command & Conquer, and Dune II.
Mezrabad
Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:57 PM
I don't think this applies to Warcraft or Diablo, but with Diablo II and Starcraft, games I purchased long ago for my PC, I was able to go to Blizzard's site, enter the codes for those games, and was then allowed to download the most recent versions for my 10.6.2 Mac OS X. I can't begin to say how much that impressed me. These games are close to 10 years old or more and not only are they still updating them for newer machines, but they're letting me use my codes from the first time I bought so that I can play it again on my new iMac.
How cool is that? Blizzard rocks. I didn't know they did the Lost Vikings, now I have to play that...
... hmm, I wonder if Warcraft would run in Boxer (DosBox for Mac with a pretty cool front end.) now I have to find Warcraft to find out...
How cool is that? Blizzard rocks. I didn't know they did the Lost Vikings, now I have to play that...
... hmm, I wonder if Warcraft would run in Boxer (DosBox for Mac with a pretty cool front end.) now I have to find Warcraft to find out...
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