What does the rest of the year hold for "must buy"

[Thin_J]

My must-haves for the year are the Half-Life 2 Expansion, Battlefield 2, and F.E.A.R.

I'll be ecstatic when each of those becomes available.

[Goonch]

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
GTA:San Andreas
HL2 Aftermath
Civ 4
Age of Empires 3
Elder Scrolls 4:Oblivion

These are just off the tippy top of the cone on top of my head

[Kraken]

Civ4, and probably GalCiv2, if they ship this year.

Civ 4 for me would be a day one purchase.

Really? Civ3 took such a long time to come around that I am certainly waiting to hear how it plays out of the box (and don't get me started about multiplayer and PTW).

I never buy anything on Day One. That said, I've heard that the Civ4 (or CIV as the devs call it) engine was fundamentally complete and the game was playable by the end of last year, leaving nearly a full year for polish, content development, and tweaking. If true, that is exactly how games should be made to guarantee top quality.

Unfortunately, they've gone to a 3D engine, as has GalCiv. I hate when strategy devs add 3D just because the market expects it, with no effect on gameplay...since 2D games look better anyway, it seems particularly pointless. There is admittedly an element of sour grapes to this; I probably can't run any new games without a new vidgie card.

[The Preacher]

I never buy anything on Day One. That said, I've heard that the Civ4 (or CIV as the devs call it) engine was fundamentally complete and the game was playable by the end of last year, leaving nearly a full year for polish, content development, and tweaking. If true, that is exactly how games should be made to guarantee top quality.

First, "CIV" is M-O-O-N, that spells dumb.

Second, that development track is quite heartening to hear. Civ3 was obviously only half-baked when it came out of the oven.

Unfortunately, they've gone to a 3D engine, as has GalCiv. I hate when strategy devs add 3D just because the market expects it, with no effect on gameplay...since 2D games look better anyway, it seems particularly pointless. There is admittedly an element of sour grapes to this; I probably can't run any new games without a new vidgie card.

Couldn't agree more about 3D. Unless they make an intergral part of the game (like making defensive high ground valuable in battles), it seems simply wasteful. I usually end up zooming all the way out just get a larger view, thus eliminating most 3D effects.

[gellar]

I think I may actually bother to figure out how to use a headset when Battlefield 2 comes out.

I can't think of anything less appealing than playing a computer game while listening to a 13 year old in Topeka yell obscenities. Text only for me.

Yeah but nomorals plays with the #gg crew in a private teamspeak channel. So it's not a 13 year old in Topeka yelling obscenities, it's Ronin in Mississippi yelling obscenities. And a lot of them.

gellar

[Lee]

...it's Ronin in Mississippi yelling obscenities. And a lot of them.

I expect no less for a Marine.

[Hamsterball_Z]

I never buy anything on Day One. That said, I've heard that the Civ4 (or CIV as the devs call it) engine was fundamentally complete and the game was playable by the end of last year, leaving nearly a full year for polish, content development, and tweaking. If true, that is exactly how games should be made to guarantee top quality.

Unfortunately, they've gone to a 3D engine, as has GalCiv. I hate when strategy devs add 3D just because the market expects it, with no effect on gameplay...since 2D games look better anyway, it seems particularly pointless. There is admittedly an element of sour grapes to this; I probably can't run any new games without a new vidgie card.

I found something that says they're using the Gamebryo engine on Civ4 like they did on Pirates. 3D is already in the engine so it's essentially free and gives them another bullet point for the features list. I think they've improved 3D to the point where it's not that far off from the better 2D titles. And, you have the ability to zoom and rotate, most 2D's can't.

Not to derail too much but seems like a lot of companies are using Gamebryo: Freedom Force, Morrowind, ES: Oblivion, among others. We've got some developers here, right? Have you used this engine? What's the big draw? Seems like this is getting more licensing than the Source, Doom3 and Unreal engines combined.

[The Preacher]

And, you have the ability to zoom and rotate, most 2D's can't.

Why would I want to rotate in Civ? So that I can see the units that are now obstructed by the 3D hills?

[Torfish]

Day One - I don't need reviews for these games.

Halo 2 - PC (hopefully it comes out this year!)
GTA SA - PC
Advance Wars - Cube
Fire Emblem - Cube
Animal Crossing 2 - Cube/DS
Oblivion - PC
WoW expansion - PC
Heroes of Might and Magic 5 - PC
Half-Life 2 expansion - PC
Sims 2 NightLife - PC (I hated Sims 1, but Sims2 is so much better and has tons of stuff to do. I love it)

[ChrisGwinn]

Unfortunately, they've gone to a 3D engine, as has GalCiv. I hate when strategy devs add 3D just because the market expects it, with no effect on gameplay...since 2D games look better anyway, it seems particularly pointless. There is admittedly an element of sour grapes to this; I probably can't run any new games without a new vidgie card.

Going 3D makes it easier to have a variety of animation, customization in unit/building appearance, and an open level of zooming. While none of those have a direct impact on gameplay, they make it a lot easier to visually present information to the player. It's a lot easier to visually indicte damaged buildings, for example.

Have you seen screenshots for Empire Earth 2? I think we're past the point where you could do more detailed 2D graphics than 3D ones, even when talking about strategy games that take place on a flat surface.

Edit! Oh, and 3D art assets tend to be smaller. There's a reason that BG was on four CDs and modern games aren't on more than that.

[ChrisGwinn]

And, you have the ability to zoom and rotate, most 2D's can't.

Why would I want to rotate in Civ? So that I can see the units that are now obstructed by the 3D hills?

Rotating is silly in Civ. Zooming is handy.

[Hamsterball_Z]

And, you have the ability to zoom and rotate, most 2D's can't.

Why would I want to rotate in Civ? So that I can see the units that are now obstructed by the 3D hills?

I didn't mean Civ in particular, just that that's what a 3D engine adds. Yeah, at a world map level it's pretty worthless but if they drop you down to city level for management tasks there might be a use there.

Zoom should help the problem of scaling with resolution. 2D graphics always seem to be either too big or too small.

[Kraken]

And, you have the ability to zoom and rotate, most 2D's can't.

Why would I want to rotate in Civ? So that I can see the units that are now obstructed by the 3D hills?

Exactly! Nonetheless, developing a new 2D engine would be foolish. Even if 3D graphics contribute nothing to Civ4, the studio needs that capability for future projects. And it is a bullet-point for the box, as Hamsterball said. Marketers love that sort of thing.

3D seems even more pointless in GalCiv2, without ship-to-ship combat. If they're sticking to a 2D galaxy, and "terrain" is a nonfactor, who cares if you can swoop around the ship and planet graphics? I will probably never depart from a top-down, zoomed-out viewpoint.

Edit! Oh, and 3D art assets tend to be smaller. There's a reason that BG was on four CDs and modern games aren't on more than that.

Yeah, I know that graphics tools all assume 3D now. Not only would creating a 2D graphics engine be limiting...the devs would also have to depart from the current industry standards. I do resent having to buy a new vidgie card to play strategy games, but I knew when I chose a low-end card for my new machine two years ago that I would eventually be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 3D universe.

at a world map level it's pretty worthless but if they drop you down to city level for management tasks there might be a use there.

Now that you mention it, I did hear that the world will be continuous in Civ4. That is, to manage a city you'll zoom down into it, and move people around from job to job on a stylized landscape (as in Lords of the Realm 2). Maybe the zoom isn't so useless after all. I don't have a real good sense of how that's supposed to work...if city management is a preset zoom level, it's really no different from having a separate screen, is it?

[Kelric]

Things I'm looking forward to (some of which will probably be a 2006 release) just echoes the rest of this thread.

Age of Empires 3
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Black & White 2 (though I'll be sure to wait a while for reviews)
Civilization 4
Out Of The Park Baseball 7 (day one purchase)
GTA: San Andreas
Half-Life 2 expansion

I can't really think of anything else. I'm sure there will be one or two more for me.

[CeeKay]

Must Buys
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Battlefield 2
Battlefront 2
Rainbow Six 4
GTA: San Andreas
Dungeon Lords
Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend
F.E.A.R.
Neverwinter Nights 2

Depending on the reviews
Call of Cthulhu
Advent Rising
Boiling Point
Pariah
Dungeon Siege 2
HL2: Aftermath
Fable
The Movies
Call of Duty 2
Star Wars: Empires at War

[hitbyambulance]

from my post in CG in January:

all of these are ones i'm excited to play:

STALKER (can't wait to see how this is going to turn out)
Serious Sam 2 (it's got to be excellent, right?)
The Movies (not too excited about the concept, but it's a Molyneaux game and that's enough for me)
GTA:SA (these games are always fun)

and i'm watching for reviews on:
Bard's Tale
FEAR

there may be many more good ones next year, but i don't know enough about them yet.

Bard's Tale i'm quite a bit un-excited about, now, after having played the demo.

would like to add:

Black and White 2
Rag Doll Kung-Fu
Fable
Halo 2
Bioshock
Domination

a few other low-profile games i've forgotten the name of but look really cool

dunno what i'll end up getting, tho. i've got a backlog to deal with! STALKER and Serious Sam 2 are the only GOTTA.GET.THIS purchases.

[Greg Wak]

It's good to see so many waiting for Stalker which is my most anticipated game as well but is anyone concerned it might ship somewhat broken after all the delays? I think I'm gonna wait a couple weeks for the reaction here first.

[ChrisGwinn]

Ohhh.. Bioshock - good call! That might end up on my list.

And I will buy Darwinia sometime this year, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[dbt1949]

Altho I'm sure I'll buy a bunch of games by the end of the year and there are a few of interest too me,nothing is a "must buy".

[Greg Wak]

Is Bioshock gonna make this year!? That would definatly make my list too.

[Grifman]

Is Bioshock gonna make this year!? That would definatly make my list too.

I don't think so, but I'd love to be surprised.

[Carpet_pissr]

Silent Storm 2 - "Hummer" (sic) and Sickle

[dbemont]

OOTP7 due this fall is a sure buy for me.

If Civ 4 really comes out this year, that would be a definite buy, too, although I wonder whether it will be as good as the Rise and Rule mod for 3.

[Grifman]

Is Bioshock gonna make this year!? That would definatly make my list too.

FYI, they're not showing the game at E3 so that pretty much seals it for this year.

[Greg Wak]

I thought it was too soon but after reading hit by an ambukances and ChrisGwinns posts I thought maybe I had missed something. No biggie, Stalker should make it and if Oblivion does as well I will have more than enough to keep me busy. And the HL2 expansion.

[Kraken]

OOTP7 due this fall is a sure buy for me.

If Civ 4 really comes out this year, that would be a definite buy, too, although I wonder whether it will be as good as the Rise and Rule mod for 3.

No, it definitely won't have that level of complexity -- that would kill the game for casual players. One of the R&R creators (Isak) is on the Civ4 beta team, though. Since Civ4 is being developed with mod tools in mind, I'll bet that an R&R-type mod won't be far behind release.

Instructions for making Civ4 mods are already here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=97183

[dbemont]

No, it (Civ4)definitely won't have that level of complexity -- that would kill the game for casual players.

Agreed, although I was referring more to the fun factor than to the complexity level.

In my opinion, Civ 3 added a huge amount to Civ 2 -- the use of resources and the culture really added to my enjoyment. So I would have played the basic Civ 3 before I would have played Civ 2 with a lot of added techs and city improvements.

I am hoping that the same is true about Civ 4 -- that they make good decisions in how they improve the basic game, not just adding 3D graphics which will undoubtedly detract from the game after the first few hours.

[ioticus]

Dominions 3 by far is my most anticipated game. I'll try to hold off buying it before a few patches are released though.

[Texian]

The only game on the radar that will pull me away from CoH and GW is ES4Oblivion.