Descent and heretic, let's talk about them
Dongxiao Yue
I sleaked in this group last night and saw two rising new stars
being discussed, Descent and heretic. So, I ftped heretic right
away, and wrote a piece of script that eventually ftped Descent
from ftp.wustl.edu, which could not be reached within the timeout limit
last night(at 2 AM, should be this morning).
So I tried both games, I did not read the manuals, I just let it go and
try to play around for a few minutes. I would say heretic is just something
like doom,
or even less interesting. I just saw a few bats try to attack me, and I just
used my magic hand (with a magic stone) to shoot them down, then I found I
was done, no clue if there is a door that could lead me to more adventure.
As for descent, it seemed to be more fun, since I can rotate in 3D, also
the graphics is much faster than doom. But what
I don't like is , if I can fly why not make a game in free space, instead of
wander around in tunnels(just like doom)?
Just my first minute impression, please share your experience, so we can
enjoy more of them.
D. Yue
Sean Clark
D>Happy new years, folks!
D>I sleaked in this group last night and saw two rising new stars
>being discussed, Descent and heretic. So, I ftped heretic right
>away, and wrote a piece of script that eventually ftped Descent
>from ftp.wustl.edu, which could not be reached within the timeout limit
>last night(at 2 AM, should be this morning).
D>So I tried both games, I did not read the manuals, I just let it go and
>try to play around for a few minutes. I would say heretic is just something
>like doom,
>or even less interesting. I just saw a few bats try to attack me, and I just
>used my magic hand (with a magic stone) to shoot them down, then I found I
>was done, no clue if there is a door that could lead me to more
adventure.
You must not have played for very long! You walk around the the stairs
in the "water room" (straight ahead from where you start) and there's
the yellow key that opens the yellow-key-door (the colored sphere on top
of the statues next to the doors indicates you need that color key to
open it.) You haven't seen the gauntlets or crossbow yet, then...and
don't forget to try the "tome of power" and see what happens to all the
weapons...
My only complaint about Heretic (at least, the shareware version) is the
lack of different enemies. It seemed that there were about 8 different
"main enemies" (I'm not counting the unique ones on the last level), but
only 4 different graphics (i.e. you had the red imps and the red imps
with fireballs, then the hulking zombies and the invisible hulking
zombies and the screaming-skull-throwing hulking zombies, then the axe
throwers and the invisible axe-throwers, then finally the
wizard-priest-things. 8 monsters, 4 graphic representations.) A little
more variety would be nice.
D>As for descent, it seemed to be more fun, since I can rotate in 3D,
also
>the graphics is much faster than doom. But what
>I don't like is , if I can fly why not make a game in free space, instead of
>wander around in tunnels(just like doom)?
I found the graphics SLOWER - unless I let the system reduce the detail
to annoyingly low levels. Also, the backgrounds were rather bland, even
in high detail. It IS a good game, but the hardware requirements
seem notably higher than Heretic, though, and there's just not as much
to DO. In Heretic you have all kinds of things to pick up that you can
use on your opponents or yourself, in Descent, you get 3 weapons and 3
"missiles" (one of which is a mine, kind of cool), and that's about it.
(the full version has, I think, two more weapons and two more missiles -
but I read somewhere that the full version isn't even available yet -
two more weeks...)
P.S. there IS a version in open space - it's called "Wing Commander
Armada" - and from playing it (only a few times, I must confess) it's
rather BORING, comparatively speaking. With nothing to dodge around,
duck behind, hide in, or charge out from, each combat is basically just
a series of "space jousts". Descent's environment is a lot more
interesting.
D>Just my first minute impression, please share your experience, so we can
>enjoy more of them.
One final comment - being an iD related product, Heretic will soon have
a plethora of editors, additional .WAD files, sound, graphics, etc.
add-ons, many of which will be absolutely free. The customizability
adds a lot to the value of the game.
* QMPro 1.52 * We hired you to baby sit. You cooked and ate them both?