Dark Reign is out!
Mark
On 17 Sep 1997 16:37:41 GMT, johnw...@aol.com (JohnWoo122) wrote:
>Hi,
>
> Just wanted to let everyone know that Dark Reign is available, at least
>at Software Etc. in Tulsa OK. I just bought my copy for 54.99. I will let
>you know some initial impressions later.
>
>Don
Just picked up my copy also. The AI is defenitely better than
the other real time strategy games. In the 3rd mission , my field
medic was being attacked and he ran for cover behind a mercenary.
Finally, a game where the men act with some common sense. Well, on to
the 4th mission...later !
JohnWoo122
Lost Dragon
>Just wanted to let everyone know that Dark Reign is available, at least
>at Software Etc. in Tulsa OK. I just bought my copy for 54.99. I will let
>you know some initial impressions later.
The one at Woodland Hills mall? I just got my copy from there too.
Cool!
Micro "review" follows:
I haven't even installed it yet. Just now opened the box.
Nice looking manual. About a hundred pages, with a good table of
contents. Cover is black with some kind of logo on the front. It's
printed on nice paper. I notice that there is an option to "kick"
unruly players out of your multiplayer games (praise the gods!)
I haven't confirmed this yet, but players who are disappointed that
you can't "run over" infantry with your tanks can turn this option
"on" by using a switch in one of the config files. It's set to "off"
by default to make infantry a unit that people will actually use.
There's also "keyboard commands / menu layout" insert card that'll be
handy to look at when you first start to play..
There an "important notice" insert paper that says:
"Please note that the system requirements listed in the CD Manual and
Player's manual have been revised to 130mb of uncompressed hard disk
space and a 16 bit SVGA (640x480) video card. This product also uses
Microsoft's DirectX technology which requires your system to have the
latest Windows 95 drivers that fully support DirectX. Please refer to
the box for the complete minimum system requirements."
That's the only "notice" that I saw that might affect someone's buying
decision (although in this case, I'd think that most people would have
130 megs of HD space, a 16 bit SVGA card, and DirectX installed
anyway).
That's it for now.. I'm going to go play.
/| .oo__. .-----.------Lost Dragon Software------.-----. .__oo. |\
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`,_/,(_)\_ | | | http://www.cris.com/~lostdrgn/ | | | _/(_),\_,'
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Dave Henry
Lost Dragon <lost...@cris.com> wrote in article
<34213804...@news.concentric.net>...
> >Just wanted to let everyone know that Dark Reign is available, at least
> >at Software Etc. in Tulsa OK. I just bought my copy for 54.99. I will
let
> >you know some initial impressions later.
<<SNIP>>
> That's it for now.. I'm going to go play.
> /| .oo__. .-----.------Lost Dragon Software------.-----. .__oo. |\
> { \| ,-'' | _O_ | Member: UDIC lost...@cris.com | _O_ | ``-, |/ }
> `,_/,(_)\_ | | | http://www.cris.com/~lostdrgn/ | | | _/(_),\_,'
> <...{_)_)_''`-----`-Official Dungeon Bane Web Page-'-----'``_(_(_}...>
>
Well? Stop playing it and let us know more! The game isn't out up here.
(As Dave looks out the tunnel/door of his igloo on to the frozen tundra of
B.C. Will have to get in my Kayak and paddle down to the Trading Post
and order one.)
:)
--
David
(Sl...@bc.sympatico.ca)
Lost Dragon
>Just picked up my copy also. The AI is defenitely better than
>the other real time strategy games. In the 3rd mission , my field
No doubt. I'm only in the second mission (Imperium) and I've already
been beaten three times.
Here's a micro-review after about an hour or so of play (only on
second mission):
Warning: AI is aggressive! If you leave your game to go eat dinner
(like you could in C&C:RA) you'll come back to a destroyed base.
I let a group of guardians (infantry) hang out around my base and was
quite pleased to see that they had sense enough to attack the incoming
enemy without me having to click on them all the time.
The building queue is really useful. Lots of options in this game.
I think that to get the most out of it, most people are going to have
to at least skim the manual. There are lots of buttons and many
features.. You can pick up and play right away, but I get the feeling
that the best players will be the ones who use all the features
available to them.
I've had the AI come at me from three different directions now. The
way the line of sight is set up adds a lot to the game. The computer
massed a big force right outside my infantry's line of sight (it was
blocked by a cliff or something). I (unluckily) chose that particular
infantryman to do some scouting. He moved one step south, uncovered
the army, got killed, and then I watched as the newly discovered
computer-AI force ran up through my base blowing up stuff as it went.
At that point, I couldn't do very much, except curse.
I tried to win by cranking out huge numbers of a cheap unit. They
just got mowed down (but not run over - infantry is useful in this
game). It's hard to get a foothold sometimes. It's a struggle just
to get your base set up. And then more struggle to keep your
buildings standing tall.
My only "bad" comment so far is that the graphics really cry out for a
16 bit color depth. They don't look bad though. Just would have been
awesome if they'd had a 16 bit color palette. Maybe DR2 will have
that.. Also, sometimes I get a sort of "flicker" on my screen, like
the game is refreshing something (doesn't happen very much). It could
just be my video drivers or maybe I have some other program running
the background that's messing things up.
Impression after an hour of play: Might as well unlearn whatever you
learned from C&C or War2, because it doesn't really appear to apply
here. Take time to learn the interface (which is different from other
RTS games) and go ahead and read the manual.
Sound is ok. Graphics are pretty good.. AI seems to be *very* good.
Haven't tried multiplayer yet.. It's a solid (very solid) entry into
RTS from a new company, Auran..
Still to early to start waving the "It's the best RTS game of the
century" flag around. But it does seem to be a cool game.
Will have more in a few days, after some heavy-duty playing.
For now.. See ya :).
Lost Dragon
>Well? Stop playing it and let us know more! The game isn't out up here.
>(As Dave looks out the tunnel/door of his igloo on to the frozen tundra of
Well, ok.
I started up an internet game with one other person. I hadn't even
seen all the units yet, but what the heck, right? Learn as you go.
We played in a map called "Canyon". I was sort of in a bad spot. I'd
picked imperium, and the hover-tanks don't do so well on those canyon
cliffs. My opponent had apparently played more. He dropped some
neutron accelerators (which are slightly like tesla coils) around
important spots on the map (you can build wherever you want as long as
there is some flat ground and you can get a construction unit there in
one piece).
I took over one water well and I found one patch of crystals. I
didn't really know what to build so I started cranking out "bions".
They're sort of like cyborgs, but they shoot toxic gas. Well, by then
my enemy had found me and I had to run his light hover-tank off.
The game proceded. I noticed that when you got enough water, it was
traded in for money. And the crystals seemed to keep your power up a
little better. I kept forgetting to check on my freighter, so
sometimes I ran low on cash (the enemy would swoop in and attack my
freighter, which made it run away. Then after the attack I'd sometimes
forget to check on it and see where it was).
The game see-saw'd back and forth for a while. I built one of those
mind-wiper things.. Hostage taker. I ran it down to one of his bions
and turned it into a suicide bomber (basically). The bomber (which
the game calls appropriately enough "bait") ran straight back into the
enemy's base, but was unfortunately shot down before it could blow
anything up.
After that I decided that I was too behind in the game to use hostage
takers. So I built a transporter gate (whatever the game calls it).
It's kind of like the Chronosphere, but 300 times better. You can
transport up to 3 units (tank, hostage taker, infantry, whatever)
anywhere on the map (I think it has to be explored, but doesn't have
to be in your line of sight). Anyway, so I sent 3 guardians into his
base to whack on a power plant. I did lots of damage, but he
eventually cranked some bions out and snuffed my guardians.
Apparently he didn't like that attack, so he moved a huge mass of
hover-tanks in to blow up my transporter thing (uh, temporal gate)..
He had so many that they tore through parts of my defenses. But I
took out enough of his army that he decided to retreat..
The game continued to go back and forth until he finally was able to
take over my patch of crystals. By that time I didn't' have much
army.
I built 20 guardians (infantry) with my remaining funds. The enemy
tried to send in a hostage taker, but I blew it up. He tried to send
in a cyclone, but I had a leftover anti-aircraft weapon, so I blew
that up.
I finally built a scarab (artillery) and started to pound on his big
clump of hover-tanks. That made him angry, so he grouped everything
up and moved in. My army was puny, and my guardians were no match
for his big tanks. I was destroyed and then a nice stats screen was
displayed.
It was a cool game. If I'd known more about the units I would have
done better. Sometimes I'd build a unit and not even know what it
did. I think I'll try the Freedom Guard for a while and play some
more single player before I go try another multiplayer game (and look
at the manual too :).
Mark Asher
> Lost Dragon <lost...@cris.com> wrote in article
>
> I started up an internet game with one other person. I hadn't even
> seen all the units yet, but what the heck, right? Learn as you go.
snip
> It was a cool game. If I'd known more about the units I would have
> done better. Sometimes I'd build a unit and not even know what it
> did. I think I'll try the Freedom Guard for a while and play some
> more single player before I go try another multiplayer game (and look
> at the manual too :).
Nice description! Sounds like you had a good battle. How was the game as
far as lag goes? Any instability? What was your connection speed?
Mark Asher
Mark Asher
> Lost Dragon <lost...@cris.com> wrote in article
snip
> There an "important notice" insert paper that says:
>
> "Please note that the system requirements listed in the CD Manual and
> Player's manual have been revised to 130mb of uncompressed hard disk
> space and a 16 bit SVGA (640x480) video card. This product also uses
> Microsoft's DirectX technology which requires your system to have the
> latest Windows 95 drivers that fully support DirectX. Please refer to
> the box for the complete minimum system requirements."
>
> That's the only "notice" that I saw that might affect someone's buying
> decision (although in this case, I'd think that most people would have
> 130 megs of HD space, a 16 bit SVGA card, and DirectX installed
> anyway).
Ha! It's getting crazy. UO wants 261 megs and recommends that you do the
500 meg install. Those of us who have systems we've upgraded probably don't
have 3 gig hard drives, at least I don't.
I'll have to take off UO to install DR if I get that game.
Mark Asher
Bruce Rennie
No one has mentioned it, so I'm assuming the worst, but does the game come with
two cd's, a la C&C? Does it support direct modem connections or do you
have to go through a service?
My friend and I like to play head-to-head, but aren't overly interested
in Internet games. C&C (and RA) were perfect for us. I'd be dissapointed
if we both had to purchase DR to play (my money's set aside for EastFront).
/bruce
--
*******************************************************************************
* Bruce Rennie Q: Are We Not Men ? *
* bre...@interlog.com *
* *
* Suffering from Bloc Quebecois? Try new Seperation H! *
* Canada is like vichysoise: Cold, partly French, and difficult to stir. *
* *
*******************************************************************************
Geff
On 18 Sep 1997 15:21:01 GMT, Bruce Rennie <bre...@interlog.com>
wrote:
>No one has mentioned it, so I'm assuming the worst, but does the game come with
>two cd's, a la C&C? Does it support direct modem connections or do you
>have to go through a service?
It only comes with one cd : ( . For multiplayer games, it supports
IPX (e.g. over a LAN or Kali) , direct modem for two player games and
up to 4 players in Activision's Server (like Blizzard's Battle Net or
West Wood Chat's).
>My friend and I like to play head-to-head, but aren't overly interested
>in Internet games. C&C (and RA) were perfect for us. I'd be dissapointed
>if we both had to purchase DR to play (my money's set aside for EastFront).
>
>/bruce
>
>--
>*******************************************************************************
>* Bruce Rennie Q: Are We Not Men ? *
>* bre...@interlog.com *
>* *
>* Suffering from Bloc Quebecois? Try new Seperation H! *
>* Canada is like vichysoise: Cold, partly French, and difficult to stir. *
>* *
>*******************************************************************************
Regards,
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Geff
On 18 Sep 1997 13:08:48 GMT, "Mark Asher" <ma...@impacttech.com>
wrote:
>
>> Lost Dragon <lost...@cris.com> wrote in article
>>
I too tried a 2 vs 2 game at Activision's site and also a 3-way free
for all at Kali (on Dark Reign server). So far on my 28.8 modem,
both connections were fast and not much lag. The map we played on was
very huge. The game is terrific with all the options available.
With so much units available for your disposal you really have to
know their strengths and weaknesses so as to compete successfully
against another human being. I guess I won't be playing Red Alert for
the next month or so : )
Cmdr Krud
Geff <ge...@mars.superlink.netnospam> wrote in article
<34214edf...@news.superlink.net>...
>
> On 18 Sep 1997 15:21:01 GMT, Bruce Rennie <bre...@interlog.com>
> wrote:
>
> >No one has mentioned it, so I'm assuming the worst, but does the game
come with
> >two cd's, a la C&C? Does it support direct modem connections or do you
> >have to go through a service?
>
>
> It only comes with one cd : ( . For multiplayer games, it supports
> IPX (e.g. over a LAN or Kali) , direct modem for two player games and
> up to 4 players in Activision's Server (like Blizzard's Battle Net or
> West Wood Chat's).
>
>
> >My friend and I like to play head-to-head, but aren't overly interested
> >in Internet games. C&C (and RA) were perfect for us. I'd be dissapointed
> >if we both had to purchase DR to play (my money's set aside for
EastFront).
> >
> >/bruce
4 people can play over a LAN with just one CD but for Internet play
everyone needs a CD. You can also connect directly over the net without
using a game server. Very similar to Diablo.
-Krud
Lost Dragon
>two cd's, a la C&C? Does it support direct modem connections or do you
One Cd.
>have to go through a service?
There's Internet play, Manual IP, Modem/Serial play, and network
play.
You can play on Activnet (or whatever they call it). It's like
Battlenet for free if you already have an ISP.
Lost Dragon
>Nice description! Sounds like you had a good battle. How was the game as
>far as lag goes? Any instability? What was your connection speed?
I didn't really notice any lag. I'm connected at 28.8. There are
little dots beside the player's name. Red dot = bad ping. I think
there was less lag than there was when I played C&C:RA.