Deadhold - early access on 26th August

[iron]

I mention this game because in many ways its a spiritual successor to Myth - it shares the small squad gameplay with different types of units working together, with no base building or farming. Clever use of terrain, of elevation, formations and attack/retreat is as essential to winning in Deadhold the same as it is in Myth.

However its by no means an unofficial Myth IV - Deadhold is very much its own creation. As its early access (which seems to be the model for game development these days) its not complete, but its definitely playable & a lot of fun.

If you'd like to check it out, the steam page is http://store.steampowered.com/app/346930/Deadhold/ and it'll cost USD $20 to buy an early access version. You can find alpha tester youtube videos giving you an idea of the gameplay easily enough, but here's one I put together myself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9zhZzOtdvQ

[Myrd]

Really cool!

Does really look and feel like Myth. From the video, it reminds me of Myth 3 with better graphics and better UI, but hopefully will actually feel much nicer when played. Looking forward to trying it out.

[erileykc]

Demo I saw today actually looked worse than Myth. No idea if it has other merits but I wouldn't pay for the game in the demo.

[iron]

Demo I saw today actually looked worse than Myth. No idea if it has other merits but I wouldn't pay for the game in the demo.

I'll be very honest here - would I rather this game was Myth IV, with thrall, wights, zerks and fetch? Absolutely. Would I prefer surly dwarfs with satchel charges instead of crazy goblin sappers? Would I rather have cheeky ghols with their ability to pick up & hurl small objects? No doubt about it, of course I would.

However, the rights to Myth are still in the doldrums thanks to Take Two, so the guys behind Deadhold _had_ to create something new while still going for a small-squad-based tactical RTS with a fantasy theme. The new creatures are taking some getting used to, I can't help but compare it to the old Bungie game. But that's because I played Myth so comparisons are unavoidable for me.

By making this a new game rather than a Myth successor, they've been free to add in all sorts of other interesting aspects, such as collecting the soul essences of units you've slain which, when you have enough, will allow you to resurrect one or more of your own fallen units. Such as occasional "gem drops" that level up your units in a variety of ways & which can be traded with other players over steam. Such as an overlay of Deities who provide spells (with long cooldown periods) which can be used tactically to slow down or weaken enemies - or buff up your own units in specific ways - or counter an opposing spell.

Most people who see Deadhold will never have played Myth, probably never have heard of it, for them this is a new type of gameplay altogether. Deadhold isn't really trying to grab the remaining dregs of the long-departed Myth playerbase, its going for a whole new community.

Also remember that its far from complete, there's a lot of content in development that will be added over time, and inevitably tweaks will be made to the gameplay in response to feedback from early adopters. However the core of the game is very well designed, it runs incredibly smoothly & feels like Myth III should have. Even if you're not interested now, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on it.

[juliocpaes]

Iron wrote : " ... would I rather this game was Myth IV, with thrall, wights, zerks and fetch? Absolutely. Would I prefer surly dwarfs with satchel charges instead of crazy goblin sappers? Would I rather have cheeky ghols with their ability to pick up & hurl small objects? No doubt about it, of course I would..."

Why not the "project magma" would make a myth 4 based on Souly's units 3D model and new textures ? A modest job, but well done ... A campaign, perhaps with five or six acts. With some untold storyline ... I'm not going to change myth for DeadHold.

what you tell me ?

julio

[iron]

Nobody can make and sell a new "Myth IV" game unless Take Two Interactive give them the right to do so. Alternately, anyone could make a plugin for Myth 2 (or 3) and call it "Myth IV", and maybe a handful of people will download it - what would be the point?

I'm not asking anyone to give up Myth for Deadhold - lots of people play more than one game at the same time.

[juliocpaes]

Nobody can make and sell a new "Myth IV" game unless Take Two Interactive give them the right to do so. Alternately, anyone could make a plugin for Myth 2 (or 3) and call it "Myth IV", and maybe a handful of people will download it - what would be the point?

I'm not asking anyone to give up Myth for Deadhold - lots of people play more than one game at the same time.

"... Alternately, anyone could make a plugin for Myth 2 (or 3) and call it "Myth IV"... "

Yes, I meant this: an alternative plugin (on myth 2) named "Myth 4" with an untold story and with units Souly's 3D model and also new units of Graydon.

[iron]

That's an easy thing to type - just make a Myth 4 plugin. Takes barely any effort to tap those words on the screen.

But for it to be truly worthy of the title "Myth IV" it'd have to be very very good. A compelling story, new units, a singleplayer campaign thats engrossing & replayable with a variety of map styles ... there'd be a need for at least one good texture artist, a 3D artist/animator for new units and building models, a level designer & scripter, someone specializing in sfx, narrators & voice actors ... and of course a ton of playtesting.

Its the scale of plugin that was made in the early 2000s when there were still thousands of players. Its unthinkable now, there aren't the talented people anymore. And even if there were, they wouldn't devote months & months, possibly years, of effort to just make another quickly-forgotten plugin for a long-dead game. No, people devote that kind of energy to new games which can attract new communities, something none of the Myth titles can ever do unless Take Two agree to a re-release on Steam (which they won't).

Sorry Julio, I know you love Myth, but your vision of a Myth IV plugin just isn't going to happen, and unless there's a change of ownership, the Myth franchise will slowly be forgotten like many other games which preceded it. As I said in my previous post, anyone could in theory make a plugin for Myth 2 (or 3) and call it "Myth IV", and maybe a handful of people will download it - what would be the point? If it ever happened, it'd be a sad joke.

[foxlinked]

today is the day

glhfa

[Buck Mild]

Bought it a couple days ago and have been playing it. I agree with almost everything Iron said. The player spells (group heal on cool down, resurrection, etc.) isn't my cup of tea. If these commands were tied to certain units, I think it would make it a whole lot better.

But I have really high hopes for this game. I hope they release mod support for this because oh boy, the potential would be huge.

If $20 isn't a big deal for ya I highly recommend giving this a go. Even if you only play it a couple hours the first launch, you could come back to it every few weeks/months and check out the updates.

PS Is anyone from Project Magma (or older mod clan like Creation) working on Deadhold?

[iron]

PS Is anyone from Project Magma (or older mod clan like Creation) working on Deadhold?

I believe the answer to that is yes, the dev team includes people from a variety of old mod groups - though I can't say who they are. There are also people on the team who never played Myth but still are veteran game developers & know what they're doing, and that's a good thing. If DH was created exclusively by Mythers, chances are it'd be a second-rate Myth wannabe trying to re-create the past, rather than incorporating new ideas.

[JonathanNemo]

I recognize a fair number of Vista Cartel (Jinn, Fetchball, so many mod tools). Replaying it, Jinn is probably my favorite Myth II mod.

PM's Jon God is there, too!