TFL 1.5 or Magma - The Fallen Levels?

[Borsook]

After finding this site I decided to replay Myth. It's been many years since I last played Myth 1 or 2, I do not remember the differences that clearly so I don't really know should I play TFL 1.5 or its conversion to Myth 2. Hence a few questions if I may:

1. How faithful its this conversion (both in term of gameplay and e.g. unit look)?
2. Are there any bugs/balance issues?
3. What exactly do I gain playing on Myth 2 engine?

Thank you for your time.

[Death's Avatar]

1) Like whoa. It is excellent. The levels themselves are accurate to nearly every rock, tree, and small fly. Iron is teh leet for that, so no worries about them being sloppy, missing anything, or being anything but spot on. Same with unit look. As for gameplay, the modern Myth 2 engine features "vTFL" mode. vTFL mode emulates TFL gameplay (way bouncy duff bottles, fir-bolg, all that jazz). Again, vTFL emulation is near perfect. Only TFL purists who know the exact intricacies of duff bouncing (and I mean exact), can even tell a difference. Point being vTFL is excellent and is a far far more than satisfactory option for playing TFL.

2) Not that I am aware of as far as vTFL goes

3) It's Myth 2. More people play it (very few still play TFL, and almost none regularly), more people make things for it (it's much easier than it was with TFL, so if wanted to try a hand at plugin making, your certainly could). So if you want to play online Myth 2 is the way to go (and certainly a fair amount play vTFL).

More in general, if you have Myth 2, you can play through the ported TFL campaign, and then the Myth 2 campaign, as well as all the other fun solo/coop levels people have made for it. In addition, Myth 2 is being actively improved (1.7 on the horizon), where TFL is not.

That being said, no harm in having both. I certainly get nostalgic for the full TFL feel, and want to play a round of ACTUAL TFL. So if both is an option (might I suggest the Total Codex?), I'd go with that. But if it is one or the other, go with Myth 2.

Also, if you start playing online, it may seem like the community is rather unfriendly towards new players. But don't let it get to you! There are certainly some very friendly players around that are much more about having fun than ranked play or winning (Certainly if you are on and see me, Death's Avatar µDog, I'd be glad to play some relaxed, n00b friendly stuff).

Anyway, hope that helps with your deciding! Hope to see you online sometime.

-DA

[lank]

edit: damn you, DA, for getting in first! ah well, i'm not deleting my post anyway, even though we said much the same thing.

for pure authenticity, i must recommend tfl 1.5, though do get the fallen levels for m2 if you are interested.

with the new updates available, myth 2 comes with a plugin called "Patch 1.5 Unity", which, when in your plugins folder, enables a checkbox for "vTFL" or "virtual TFL" mode, which enables TFL-style pathfinding, physics and units. (if you look closely, some cosmetic details will be different between real TFL and vTFL, but the gameplay is essentially identical.)

the fallen levels is an almost exact port of TFL, ironduke having written a mesh porter from TFL to m2 tags, thus scenery placement, monster placement, etc. are identical, as is much of the scripting, to within the limits possible. there are a few bugs, enough that you might care about them if you are a purist, but playing vTFL fallen levels should give you an authentic TFL experience, as the basic balance is the same.

by playing in the myth 2 engine you will mainly gain the benefit of m2's interface enhancements (both intrinsic and new) and a greater likelihood of getting an online game with it, if that should take your interest.

hope to see you around - welcome back to myth.

[Borsook]

Thank you for the detailed answer. I own both games, so it's just a matter of decision of which to play.

I remember it very vaguely, but weren't giants removed in Myth2? If so are they to be found in the conversion of TFL?

with the new updates available, myth 2 comes with a plugin called "Patch 1.5 Unity", which, when in your plugins folder, enables a checkbox for "vTFL" or "virtual TFL" mode, which enables TFL-style pathfinding, physics and units. (if you look closely, some cosmetic details will be different between real TFL and vTFL, but the gameplay is essentially identical.)

Does it mean all the Myth 2 improvements to pathfinding are nullified?

Oh, and thanks for the greetings.

[rifthead]

Forest Giants are in the magma levels. They come in original myth and myth 2 flavors (though I'm not sure what the difference is, maybe just a darker shade of wood for the myth 2 version)

[Borsook]

Forest Giants are in the magma levels. They come in original myth and myth 2 flavors (though I'm not sure what the difference is, maybe just a darker shade of wood for the myth 2 version)

Thaanx.

[Dio]

Even though I am inclined to go against anything DA posts
He nailed it. I still have classic TFL installed though, cause I can't let it go. My therapist is helping me with that. I remember being the only person on Marius.net playing TFL for almost a year after playmyth went live (refused to be a follower and sell out)..I tend to get attached.
Remember Classic TFL still has one of the best coop plugs out there! Mauriac Tales! (when ones of yous port'n dis?)
vTFL runs great and they did a great job with it, it is soo close to the original, I rarely miss classic TFL (miss the players more).
I am rambling due to someone mentioning TFL and it makes me giddie!
TFL..wha...TFL!