Disciples 3 - Q & A @ Gry.o2.pl

magerette

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A developer Q & A is up at Gry.o2.pl with Dmitry Demyanovsky, project lead for .dat and Akella's fantasy strategy sequel in Strategy First's Disciples series, Disciples III:Renaissance. The interview is posted in Polish, with the English translation available in the sidebar. Several screenshots are also on display.
Some snips:
Andrzej "Klecha" Klimczuk (Gry.o2.pl): Let's start with the obvious question. What's different about Disciples III compared to previous editions?

Dmitry Demyanovsky (.dat/Akella): Hi, my name is Dmitry Demyanovsky, I'm a project leader. The Disciples III: Renaissance has the following features to tell it from the previous sequels:
- the world of Disciples was transferred into a stunning 3D environment;
- we have improved the battle system, which now requires more tactical decisions (more about it later:));
- level-up system has been greatly improved, now you have an opportunity to develop characteristics of your leaders as you like (or use predefined scheme of development);
- leaders now have customizable armor and equipment. Wearing different types of armor changes appearance of the character;
- we have a deep character-based storyline.
On the length of the game:
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How big will be the world of Disciples III for the players in the game and what sorts of locations and settings they will be able to explore?

Dmitry Demyanovsky (.dat/Akella): Disciples III: Renaissance is a strategy game, so it's better to use term "mission" rather than "location". The game is divided into 3 campaigns, each contains 6 missions. Plus a big final battle. So there are totally 19 single player missions, which take place in different regions of the Disciples world. In each mission you'll have a plethora of things to do, besides a key objective. You can complete additional quests, find hidden treasures and explore dungeons, which now have multiple floors full of nasty creatures and artifacts.
On the status of the game:
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): At the moment, what is the current status of the game's progress and when do you expect it to be completed?

Dmitry Demyanovsky (.dat/Akella): We plan to finish the Disciples III: Renaissance project in early 2008.
More information.
 
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Um, magerette? You may want to check your spelling of screenshots...

:blush:
 
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harhar!
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Not that Disciples 3 deserves it. The game looked pretty good at the GC.
 
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Sorry guys, must have been that sixth cup of coffee.:blush::blush::blush:

ScreenSHOTs are on display--and they looked pretty slick. :)
 
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Harr Harr shot happens.

Seems to be a nice game (I love the graphic style) although I was never a big fan of it's predecessors. I played Disciples 2 for a bit and it seemed to be exactly the same as HoMM although I preferred the latter.
 
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Are you sure you played enough of Disciples 2? While it sports basically the same elements - heroes, units, cities, resources, battles, etc, they have very little in common. Except probably being turn based.

This is probably the first really informative article on Disciples 3. And the first time I actually like what I see on the screens. Slick indeed.
 
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I recently tried Disciples I, and I didn't like it at all - except the fights, which were kind of fun.

The only thing about it I *really* like is the artwork on the cover of the box - that golden figure.
It looks intriguing to me.
 
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Disciples is definitely strongly influenced by HoMM, but has its own approach to the same mechanics. The artwork alone gives the game a different feel, and the unit set-up is a little different, with 3 distinct hero types and the land conversion aspect playing a part in resource management. The magic system is set up so each faction has a different spellbook, and a different emphasis.

Like HoMM, it's very combat oriented, and sometimes frustratingly hard until you learn what playstyle works for you. For instance, playing a thief lord instead of warrior means you lose the regeneration ability on your troops, but gain the ability to sabotage combat order(put the archers and mages in the front row where you can nullify their skills, etc) As a mage lord, you can cast more spells per day and they cost less to cast and learn. The game gives you quite a few options, and is a lot of fun to play hot seat or lan because of the diplomacy factor.

Add to that a huge number of campaign and individual scenarios replayable by multiple factions, and hero and unit development that can be quite rpg-ish at times, and you get a game that stands on its own feet and isn't just a copy of HoMM.

If you don't enjoy lots of turn based, chess-like battles, however, the game is not for you. :)

This interview really makes the next episode look faithful to the series, if maybe not quite as much bang for your buck as the old days, but I'm happy if it even comes close.
 
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Well, what I actually didn't like was the "overland map", so to say.
Looked far too colourful to me ... weird in a way, for my own taste.
 
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Very weird for you, Alrik. ;) You might try playing the Disciples 2 versions--they are a bit more smooth visually.
 
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I plan to buy it one day when I see it cheap somewhere.

The fights were both turn-based and ... different than what I had seen, so I quite liked them.
 
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Hmm i can hardly remember Disciples 2. I must have it somewhere.. just have to dig a bit deeper ;)
If I remember correctly what I liked much more in HoMM was the fights. I think unlike in HoMM you couldn't move your troops in combat which made the game feel a bit less dynamic. I really have to give it another try one day - visually the game ist still nice.
 
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Looks great!!

Cant wait to see how it plays tho. And yes, troop positions are static during the fights in Disciples 2
 
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I still have Disciples 2 on my hard drive. It was a great game that I enjoyed playing until the end. One thing I enjoyed, was the challenge of beating an enemy castle defender. The castle defenders were super tough and could only be beaten with very experienced troops of the right type.
Disciples 2 differs from HoMM in that Disciples 2 has a dark fantasy theme to it(including the music and artwork). Some of the music for Disciples 2 is so good, I actually took the mp3's from the game and listen to them in my car along with music from other computer games like Fantasy General, Betrayal at Krondor(CD version), Dark Sun 2, Morrowind, Realms of Arkania: Shadows over Riva, and too many others to remember off the top of my head.
I'm really looking forward to Disciples 3 now, and am hoping the music is as good or better than the music in Disciples 2. I know that is a tall order indeed, its difficult to imagine Disciples 3 having music even better than the music in Disciples 2, but one can always hope.
 
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