🚀 go-pugleaf

"Bob Perez" <b...@planetperez.com> wrote in message news:<a5gi4v$777ci$1...@ID-109358.news.dfncis.de>...
> "Logiman" <jn...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
> news:bc1269ba.0202260157.38874be6@posting.google.com...
> 
> Based on my current obsession, I'd have to agree. ;-) One of the things that
> probably limits its market potential is one of the things that I also like
> about it: games are epic in scope and even at the Easy level take many hours
> (days) to play. It's incredible how well the game develops without bogging
> down into excessive micromanagement. Most aspects of the game are dealt with
> on a sufficiently global basis so that you're easily able to focus on the
> big picture. But it takes a real committment to play this game.

Add to this the fact that the AI is so damned good you don't need
multiplayer in order to make the game fly. I think
people--particularly developers--forget how necessary good AI is for a
strategy game, since not everyone (perhaps not even very many) wants
to play with other humans. I look at games like Deadlock II, which was
a gem in so many ways, but had braindead AI that turned it into one of
those games you load up hopefully from time to time praying that it
somehow improved while sitting on the shelf. Anyway, Frog City should
have bottled Imp II's AI and sold it separately; they would have
gotten rich.

> I hear you. I don't think of either X-COM or Imp II as "wargames" yet both
> involve combat in a greater context. Both are outstanding turn based games
> that have managed to weave a grand strategic campaign with a fun tactical
> engine and a backstory that contributes successfully to the mix. Although I
> think X-COM was far more accessible, I put Imperialism II in the same
> category of gaming goodness. ;-)

I agree. I just meant that somehow, even though they're at heart the
same general kind of game, it's hard to think of them that way :)

> > At the risk of getting flamed, last time I looked Imp II was available
> > for free download on Underdogs.
> 
> I bought my copy from a fellow usenet member for $5, and I feel like I've
> cheated someone.

An update. I went and checked Underdogs after I posted this, and the
game's been taken down. They now have a link to some UK online store
where people can buy it.