@doomtrader: Looks like I just found a bug. The "Ancient Ruins" are supposed to give you extra buildings when you build a city there. However, this doesn't work. When you "interact" with them with a Settler, nothing happens. When you build a city on that spot, a countdown starts (have seen 2 turns and 5 turns when testing). Once it reaches 0, it gets stuck at that value and nothing further happens. I play Darkelves in that game, and used a Darkelven Settler; just in case it's Race specific.
@doomtrader: excessive battery drain suggestion Loving the game! Can you please include an option to allow the user to turn off animations in both the overland / strategic map, and, the tactical map to help lower the battery usage from the app? Seeing the waves move, deer run around, etc. is cool, but, maybe that's draining my battery too. I'm playing on a 6S +, and it seems to really use the battery, quite quickly. I'm playing with animations set to fast, and all sounds off. Thanks!!
I've been reading this thread and am looking for a good 4X game. Do I need to pay the whole $33 to love this game or will I like the $13 version enough to pay the extra $20?
Good question. I think the BIGGEST aspect these IAPs add are 4 new races, each with a corresponding hero and mage. Even then I think the only unique aspect of the new mages is their avatar as I don't think these IAPs add new spells or perks to your customizeable mage (remember in this game your mage just hides in his tower, and is pretty much just an abstraction of your chosen perks and spell masteries). So without IAPs you just have humans, 2 flavors of elves (basically good and bad varieties), and undead. You won't see dwarves, orcs, dragon-men, or insects in your game.
In addition to what LordGek already stated, you also get 4 new Planes, allowing for more variety in the playing field and *much* bigger games/maps: A full map would have 7 Planes in total, where the base game gives you 3 max. That said, the base game alone can easily keep you busy for weeks. I bought the full pack already, and like the added variety. On top of having more different opponents and Race choices, you also get more Mercenaries from the additional Races' units. While it sounds like a small detail, the overall gameplay effect is pretty huge in my opinion. E.g. I got an Ogre Mage early on - who is very tanky compared to my squishy Darkelves - as Merc, significantly boosting my starting army's power.
Confirmed. Working on a fix Thanks for kind words. I just talked, and turning of the animations doesn't really makes the difference for the battery usage.
The base game comes with complete set of features, nothing has been cut off from the game in terms of gameplay. The addons are giving you new races (with hero and lord), new planes/worlds and new units. So if you would like a 4X game getting the base is enough. If you decide that game gives you fun and you would like to spend more time with it, then you can try the DLC.
@doomtrader: Seconding that big time. Given the choice between the - really good and detailed, by the way - animations and longer battery life, most of the time I prefer getting more battery out of things. And more suggestions for improving details: 1) Map markers. That's a big one, I know. But especially on larger maps it's a huge pain to remember where e.g. that Inn with the Hero you really want was. As a hopefully quicker help, seeing map coordinates would be an option too. Then I can write those down at least. 2) Magic Spirits autoscouting: In addition to skipping XP Chests, it would be nice if they'd a) grab anything else (except for other free XP resources) that is not defended. Most prominently the "Lost Caravans" and such that increase your city population. b) Stop when they encounter an Inn. That'd be luxury. But with the huge amount of details and the speed at which the Spirits move it's really easy to miss them. And combing the map for them is tiresome. 3) Heroes and Equipment: I have to guess/experiment which Hero can use what. E.g. I got a Spellsword that comes without armor equipped when hired. Can he use no armour at all? Only specific types? Same goes for weapons. An extra Hero info screen that shows which items a particular Hero can use would help immensely. 4) Hero Armour and Dexterity Bonus: Armours have a stat that says "max. X Dexterity bonus". a) What does that mean exactly? I couldn't find an explanation. b) Where can I see a Hero's Dexterity stat? As far as I can tell, it's not shown anywhere currently. 5) Spells, DC and Saving Throws: Spells only list the general Saving Throw value, but not what you need to save against. Can you add that? DC (Difficulty Class): no idea how that is calculated. Would be nice to see this stat somewhere.
Sorry if it's been brought up already, and I know this a subjective question, but would this be considered better than Starbase Orion? Also, it's clear that this is a 4x with a lot of depth, but how well is it actually balanced?
Not better or worse than Orion, just completely different. Both are excellent games in their own right. And don't forget that Orion is SF; while Planar Conquest is Fantasy, the only one of its kind on iOS. Where Orion is empty space between the Starsystems (Towns), here you have the overland map to explore as well. Spell Research is the equivalent of the Orion techtree. PQ armies translate to SO fleets, with the added extra of Heroes being actual combat units; this alone adds a huge extra layer of depth. Balance so far seems pretty well done. Sure, some Races/Units are stronger/weaker than others in certain areas. But overall I dare say everything is pretty well balanced; and things just play differently, allowing for a lot of variety in gameplay. E.g. Highmen have pretty good offensive units, but lack spellcasters. Elves can move really fast, and their Archers are cheap and deadly; but this is balanced by their units being more squishy when e.g. compared to the very tanky Orcs, who lack ranged/archery units completely in return. As I mentioned a few pages back: When you play a Summoner Sorcerer, you can crank out a lot of summoned units, which gives you a definite advantage in army size and variety. But all your mana goes into Summoning to make full use of it. You won't have much - if any - left to cast combat spells and permanent enchantments, or craft magical items. Another example: The Insects have really high population growth, supporting an aggressive expansion strategy where you build new cities as early and fast as you can. Darkelves multiply a lot slower, but have more magic power to compensate for that.
Hey are u the Dev? So when can we expect the first fix. At least let me go thru the tutorial to learn the mechanics of the game
It is of course a subjective question. After reading the 'Worlds of Magic manual' and about approximately 20 hours of game play I feel only now I have an inkling how the various mechanisms work together... So I can't make any comments concerning balance but I can say that I'm enjoying Planar Conquest as much if not more than Starbase Orion. Bear in mind however that Orion offers multiplayer and this game, as of yet, does not (but given that the Steam version does perhaps it will come).
Upthread the developer has stated the tutorial and SFX bug fixes have already been submitted to apple. Qua learning I'd suggest that you download and read the 'Worlds of Magic manual' which I have linked to above. Even though it is for an earlier version of this game I'm pretty sure it will answer more of your questions than the complete tutorial. Edit: for your convenience here again is the link to the manual.
@Rinoa: What exactly do you want to know? I'll try to help out where I can. With a game as insanely complex as Planar, I don't see even the full tutorial giving you more than basic UI training. On top of the manual funambulist mentions, I recommend to read the Master of Magic strategy guide here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/564960-master-of-magic/faqs/2059 While not all specifics and ideas therein carry over 1:1 from MoM to Planar, the two games are similar enough for it to teach both basic and advanced concepts & strategies.
Can there be an option to display units as multiple figures ala MoM? Looks like desktop version of the game had this but all units I have seen on iOS are represented as single units?
Beginner's Guide - any takers? I started making notes for a beginner's guide. Raise your hand if you want one It will take me a few days, because I not only want to give some steps to follow, but also want to explain my reasoning behind them. If noone's interested, I'll just skip on the effort.
