Master of Magic remake

[bbmike]

I'm certain I'll end up buying it.

[bob48]

Its a long wait until the release - just '2022'.

[bbmike]

Deity Empires until then!

[bob48]

Not to mention 'Dream Engines' and 'Punk Wars'

[Martok]

This is kinda cool...  A lot of folks have pointed out that the trailer for the remake is functionally identical to the intro for the original game, and one even fan went so far as to sync them up so you could compare/contrast. 

[Martok]

The first developer diary is up: 

http://muhagames.com/dev-diary-1-june-2021/



It gives a broad overview of what they're changing from the original game, and what will remain the same.  Obviously, everything is getting a visual & artistic upgrade, regardless of everything else.  There will be at least some other changes & improvements, however, such as the hex map and an improved AI (which the devs tacitly -- albeit humorously -- admit will be a low bar to clear). 

I'm looking forward to seeing more specifics further on, but it looks good so far.  I'm definitely digging the artwork in the screenshots. 

[bob48]

Yep, saw that. Looking good so far.

[Martok]

Dev Diary #2 is up!  This one talks about events, as well as showcasing the art upgrades for some of the wizards. 


http://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-2-august-2021/



I like that the player will now sometimes have options in responding to certain events, allowing you to manage them to at least some degree.  Simply having to accept a negative event with no way to mitigate the outcome/consequences is frustrating. 

I'm also interested that the devs are planning an "event pack", so as to add more content to the game.  I look forward to seeing what they come up with. 

[Undercovergeek]

Thanks for update

[bbmike]

Yeah, hopes set to probably too high. 

[Martok]

Yeah, I'm trying to keep my expectations to something approaching reasonable, but it's hard.  Muha is hitting all the right notes so far, and the game honestly looks very well done. 

[Martok]

Dev Diary #3 discusses Mercenaries and Artifacts: 


http://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-3-september-2021/




Mercenaries come in two types, Heroes and Champions.  Heroes are more common, while Champions are more unique, plus have higher stats and more abilities. 

One thing I like that Muha is doing with the remake is adding "extra", non-canon events, as some of these will unlock an extra choice/path if certain Mercenaries are present, while other events can result in certain Mercenaries joining you as a reward.  It strikes me as a nice touch. 


Artifacts can either be found or conjured, and your Mercenaries can be equipped with up to three of them at any given time.  At the moment, there are no restrictions for building artifacts, although the devs are considering implementing one forbidding you from applying a spell/skill that is not from your wizard's magic school.  (Which makes sense on paper, but I imagine time will tell whether this would be too restrictive or not.) 



(Attached:  Screenshots of a few of the Mercenaries from the original game, with their respective art upgrades.) 

[Martok]

Dev Diary #4 looks at some of the races -- specifically, the inhabitants of Arcanus and Myrror: 


http://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-4-october-2021/




The dev diary also shows off a few work-in-progress screens for customizing your Wizard.  It looks very good so far. 


If Muha Games has put even half as much effort into the rest of the project as they have into the visual aspects (artwork, map, UI, etc.), then the MOM remake is going to be fantastic. 

[Martok]

Dev Diary #5 is (apparently) a transcript of a community Q&A they did on Discord... 


https://www.matrixgames.com/news/master-of-magic-development-diary-5-december-2021-qanda-time




To be honest, i found this one a little disappointing.  Still, there were a few interesting/worthwhile nuggets of info dropped.  In no particular order: 

-  One change/improvement Muha is looking to make versus the original MoM is increase the player's ability to customize their games at start.  Two examples cited were customizable AI difficulty, as well as the ability to enable/disable two different event "packs". 

-  There are no plans for multiplayer at this time. 

-  Apparently, some of the artwork for the Wizards is deeply unpopular amongst a certain portion of the fanbase.  (I'd heard rumors about this before, but it's the first time I've seen it openly acknowledged.  I confess I don't see the big deal, but then I never played the original, either.) 

-  Diplomacy will (pretty much have to) be almost completely revamped. 

-  No release date yet.  Beta is tentatively planned to begin early next year, however. 

[Martok]

Dev Diary #6 is out: 


http://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-6-december-2021/







This entry wasn't super exciting, but it was good to see that the devs are responding to community feed back, and how.  Perhaps the most visually obvious changes are in the greater use of colors in the "revised" artwork for the wizards (see following screenshot for example).  I would say the changes are fairly subtle, yet definitely still an improvement. 





Personally, however, I'm especially looking forward to the race-specific names for towns.  I'd had no idea the original game used real-world city names -- a fact that apparently a lot of fans feel hurt immersion (an opinion I'm inclined to share).  The race-specific town names should also make it easier to guess at a glance who lives there, even if you're not close enough to actually "see" the inhabitants yet. 








Obviously, these changes in & of themselves are "only" visual and don't mean that much to gameplay.  However, they can make a great deal of difference when it comes to immersing you into the game's universe.  Fingers crossed this theme continues throughout development!