Disciples III - Preview & Screens @ GamingTrend

magerette

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Akella's official website posts a link to a preview at GamingTrend of their entry in the turn-based strategy/rpgish Disciples series originated by Strategy First, Disciples III: Renaissance. They also have some screens up here.
Here's a brief snip from the preview:
The core of the gameplay remains largely unchanged; At the beginning of the campaign you choose your class which still consists of the warrior, mage, and guildmaster. From this point, you begin building up your Capital City through the exploits of your hero-led squad of warriors who will acquire resources and battle enemies. For Disciples III, Akella is leaning more towards RPG-style gameplay with the implementation of an upgrade system for your hero which will allow the player to apply different attributes as well as customize the hero's equipment. Battles will now also play out in a multifarious fashion as, with the move to 3D, the battlefields are placed on a 3D map which requires more strategy in unit placement, positioning, and movement. What it all boils down to, as promised by Akella, is a more fluid and streamlined gameplay experience compared to the past games.

More information.
 
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I really like the art direction of the Disciple serie and Disciple III seems to be well on the path. It’s dark & gritty, just like the old games but with much improved graphics.

Seems they made it more rpg-like which sounds pretty good to me, too.
 
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Disciples III looks sweeeet! :)
I love the art direction, all the changes in the gameplay also sound pretty good so far. And of course Disciples II rocked!
 
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Disciples III looks sweeeet! :)
I love the art direction, all the changes in the gameplay also sound pretty good so far. And of course Disciples II rocked!

I didn't specially like Disciples 1 or 2. I played them, just because they were turn based, but the gameplay was sort of restrictive: 6 possible positions (less if a unit was 'big'), no movement, almost fixed initiative order, etc. Now I'm more interested in this 3rd installment as it seems it is much more flexible.
 
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I'll be interested to see how taking it 3D plays out. That was one of the things about HoMM5 that I felt could have been done better, especially the camera,though I got used to it eventually.

Was glad to hear from the article above that the gameplay was pretty much unchanged, as I enjoyed it--even if it was one of the more static combat modes I've seen. Apparently they've tackled that, though, so we'll see. The art is still exceptional and the prospects look good for a decent experience.
 
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I didn't specially like Disciples 1 or 2. I played them, just because they were turn based, but the gameplay was sort of restrictive: 6 possible positions (less if a unit was 'big'), no movement, almost fixed initiative order, etc. Now I'm more interested in this 3rd installment as it seems it is much more flexible.

Yep combat system was the weakest part of Disciples, very simple without much of tactics. But I love the mood and the story of previous games, it was dark fantasy done right unlike Dragon Age.

I'll be interested to see how taking it 3D plays out. That was one of the things about HoMM5 that I felt could have been done better, especially the camera,though I got used to it eventually.

In Tribes of The East in settings menu there is option to play the game with classical heroes fixed camera, it looks, feels and plays much better than standard one. I don't know if this option is also available in previous parts of Heroes V but I'm pretty sure it is.
 
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I'm a big fan of tactical/turn-based, and looking forward to Disciples 3, but tell me: how does the combat compare to King's Bounty? Did someone say your units don't move?
 
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I'm a big fan of tactical/turn-based, and looking forward to Disciples 3, but tell me: how does the combat compare to King's Bounty? Did someone say your units don't move?

They didn't in Disciples 1 and 2. Basically, you had 6 'squares' to position your 1-6 units. Some units take two spaces. See http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/4015/62080_full.jpg
Each unit had a speed rating, and random didn't change this too much, so pretty much in all fights you knew that your 'archer' would act first, then the 'meleer' and last your 'caster' (same with the enemy units). Damage done was also fixed, although chance of hitting was random depending on the unit's accuracy.
Tactics were very shallow and repetitive for the most part.
But again, D3 as I understand it has a more 'free movement' feeling so hopefully it'll be better in that aspect than its predecessors.
 
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I'm a big fan of tactical/turn-based, and looking forward to Disciples 3, but tell me: how does the combat compare to King's Bounty? Did someone say your units don't move?

I think they've added more unit animations for Disciples3, but yes, in the originals, your units had actions they could take, obviously, like their attacks, but their positions and your opponents' positions were a static faceoff. I know this doesn't sound like it could hold much strategy, but believe me, it is very demanding gameplay.

The games are ultra cheap right now if you want to check it out for yourself--you can pick up Disciples 2: Gold at GOG for ten bucks or GamersHell has some old demos.
 
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Although I like the new kind art style, it is far too dark for my taste.

I think I would've liked the same art style with more colourful graphics much more.
 
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I can't believe four paragraphs (one of which is a rehash of common facts we all know) can pass for a preview nowadays.
 
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I can't believe four paragraphs (one of which is a rehash of common facts we all know) can pass for a preview nowadays.

It kind of had a 'solicited by the publisher' look to me, but maybe I'm being cynical. Still, I was glad to see any press on it since they've not done much promotion and it's supposed to be coming out relatively soon.
 
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