Armageddon Empires (2007) (PC) (Cryptic Comet)

Here's me trying to learn the basics of exploration and troop deployment in Cryptic Comet's critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic strategy game from 2007. A couple of points worth noting for newcomers:

* Initiative doesn't just decide who plays first; it also determines how many Action Points the player has at his or her disposal during the turn. Therefore, it's often important to invest resources in order to improve the player's chance of winning the initiative roll.

* Although it may not be readily apparent from the map window, there's a fog of war system in AE which requires the player to actively explore the terrain in search of resources and enemy bases.

* Supply is crucial in AE since troops perform miserably outside the supported zone (which is shown in green when the Supply button is pressed).

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Armageddon
• Empires
• Demo
• Cryptic
• Comet
• Turn-Based
• Strategy
• War
• Game
• Cards
• Magic
• Gathering
• Tabletop
• Post-Apocalyptic
• Fallout
• Wasteland
• Vic
• Davis
• Imperials
• Machine

[EvilMuppet1979]

I downloaded the demo for the 3rd time yesterday, and finally understood enough of it to win a game, lol. I don't know if its me, but the dice rolling seems faster than the last time I played, and the buttons less clunky. They could still do with cutting down the number of clicks involved in the combat menus.

The manual is just plain awful. Each section is a wall of text, and it expects you to memorize the information it throws at you. This game would benefit from a good tutorial mode.

[Demiath]

@EvilMuppet1979 Have you checked out Bill Harris' famous "Play Guide" to Armageddon Empires (posted as blog entries on his blog Dubios Quality)? It's still a lot of text to wade through, but at least it includes screenshots and goes through each of the gameplay mechanics with much more clarity and user-friendliness than that Manual From Hell...

[Bakutakamine]

I couldn't find pleasure in either of this companies games, i recall Pigggy once told me "You don't just PLAY a war game!". I got the exact vibe from this game.

[Demiath]

If this was actually a pure war game I probably wouldn't have been interested in it either. Thankfully tactical combat is only one part of AE, in which exploration, base building and resource management is just as important, if not more so.

By the way, did you read the manual and tutorials? There's no way of "finding pleasure" in AE or SI without first having done so. I for one couldn't even figure out how to end a turn properly before I checked out game blogger Bill Harris' tutorials...

[Karakta]

I no longer have time for these games... I just cannot find any fun any longer browsing tons of menus...

I used to be huge fan of overcomplicated strategy games though. But now I seem to resort to simpler games like Wesnoth or games I already know of like the HOMM series or Age of Wonder series.

[Demiath]

Normally I'm the kind of gamer who wouldn't dare touching anything more complicated than the "simpler" games you specifically mentioned (although I'd say Age of Wonder II can get pretty complex on large maps), and that I'm interested at all in Armageddon Empires is a testament to the game's originality and compelling structure.

Also, the really cool artwork on those in.game cards doesn't hurt...

[TheSUBGAMER]

that interface looks really bad,does somene play spectromaser?

[Renegen1]

Amazing game, but it somehow stalls in the late game for some reason. Too much going on? Presentation is amazing.

[EvilMuppet1979]

@Demiath No I haven't. Thanks, I'll check it out. :)

[RomaniaNArmY555]

suck

[Bakutakamine]

I think i missed the manuals entirely. I usually assume if a game wasn't made this century looking at the manual would be good otherwise i blow it off. I should rethink that thought.

[odin422]

cool game, but i couldnt get it to run on Vista =-(