Is it really that hard to make something that is at minimum as good as pic rel and with about the same amount of soul, that nobody has managed to do it in over 20 years let alone improve on the formula? Is it lost technology already?I noticed that there seems to be a bunch of clones being made recently but I'm highly skeptical. Has here anyone tried any of the clones?
Wasn't there a fantasy kingdom sim released just a few days ago?
>>724254960That would be the one.I've read mixed opinions on it. Some people seem to like it, and I saw some anon say it doesnt hold up to the first Majesty.
>>724254960It's ok, but they just keep going with these shitty 3D artstyles instead of 2D. HoMM is the fucking same, everyone wants 2D back but instead they keep pushing this shitty cartoony 3D.
>>724254960There's a fuckton of AI art in that game.
>>724254153There seems to have been a few recent attempts at making a new Majesty-style game. Every one I've seen is taking after Majesty 2 for some inexplicable reason.Lessaria: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim just released. It adds RTS features like resource gathering and the ability to give direct commands through a new resource. You also manually build houses instead of them automatically appearing with population size. The maps are weirdly small and it as a very cartoony artstyle. Speaking of which, its absolutely dripping in AI art.There's also Crown of Greed which is aiming for a Q1 2026 release. It has a darker fantasy artstyle and bigger maps from the demo. It doesn't use AI art, though it looked like it was going to us AI voice acting up until the most recent update, where it looks like they got actual voice actors including the original announcer guy from majesty (Lessaria got him too). It seems to be going for a more Eastern European vibe too. The current demo has quite a few AI and animation bugs.So far, they both kind of take after Majesty 2, like I said. So in both, enemies kind of come at your village in regular intervals in waves, there isn't a whole lot in the way of "wanderer" enemies (though Crown of Greed has more) and basically none of the bandit enemies (trolls/ratmen) that you had in Majesty 1. Trading posts have to be made in designated areas. You have to research abilities for your heroes. The levels of your buildings are capped at the level of your castle. You can form parties at an upgraded inn, but you have to do it yourself, the heroes don't do it on their own. There are a larger number of flags, including the old attack and explore flags from Majesty 1, the defend flag from Majesty 2 and Lessaria has a "don't go here" flag while Crown of Greed has a coordinated attack flag.
>>724255939Crown of Greed is less cartoony, but its still 3D. For what its worth, it gives me stronger Majesty 1 vibes in the art direction than Lessaria, which is more like Majesty 2.
>>724254960I'm halfway through it. So far there are things I do like about it like the combat is more interesting, the ability upgrades do actually improve the heroes quite a bit and resource collecting is a factor. However it lack the soul of Majesty. There is less monster variety, the art feels like it was AI's take on warcraft 3, and I hate how the mission structure is linear instead of a giant map where you can do different missions as you see fit.
>>724254153Could never get into Majesty 2, and seems like Lessaria is more of Majesty 2 but with a ton of bugs and weird design choices.I just want my puzzle strategy with bullshit starting from Day 1>hey, a fucking dragon is up your ass to destroy half of your kingdom before he fucks off, try your best to actually save your building before he gets tired and fucks off (but then he comes to visit again and then he permanently visits you after you get the sword)>Fortress of Ixmill where the guy's RNG either kills you (by summoning three waves of rapedogs in a row) or lets you live for another day (by summoning a single wave of slow ass undead or minotaurs) only to start spawning fucking dragons and beholders if you're taking too much time with this mission>any mission where elves betray you and snipeshoot you from afar>The Siege being "in how many days can you bleed the enemy kingdom's money reserves until his castle explodes (hint: rush dwarves and start building ballista near the middle of the map, they'll keep killing Lv.1 enemy heroes and retard will waste all of his cash on revives)">Day of Reckoning in general>Legendary Heroes being the most bullshit map in the game (seriously, did anyone beat it the legit way and not through "map of Wizard Towers + slow game speed" strategy)>Freestyle Games being full of painful fun on Expert because high-level monsters and earthquakes annihilate you as early as Day 3
>>724260656> it gives me stronger Majesty 1 vibes in the art direction than LessariaBecause Majesty 1 had contrast, not (very) cartoony graphics. It's the difference between proper artists and shitty digital artists who only ever learned to draw WoWslop.This cheap, shitty cartoony art is everywhere and artists drawing it are cheap, often from the third-world (even cheaper).
>>724261728I kind of feel like Majesty 2's big mistake was trying to make the game more like a classic RTS, and Lessaria makes that mistake even harder, with shit like resource gathering and having to build houses.
>>724255487It feels more like Majesty 2 than Majesty 1.
>>724254960This shit has AI art and the UI makes it look like a mobile port.Pass.
>>724254153God we do need another good Majesty-like game. Fuck it, I'm doing another playthrough of this.Thank god for GoG, the number one online game store for your retro gaming needs, Majesty is currently with a HUGE discount of 75% right this moment, making it a measly $3!!!What are you waiting for??? GO GET IT NOW! *ad over*
>>724266292Why did you do a GoG ad?
>>724262006Only Samwise can do that artstyle right.
>>724254153Majesty is based
>>724262006>>724269818SOVL vs slop
>>724254153I bought this game when I was a kid and I had absolutely no fucking idea how to play it.
>>724270934Did you ever figure it out?
>>724270917I like Samewise's artwork. It just doesn't work when other people try to do it for some reason. It's always missing some je ne sais quoi.
>>724270934>build marketplace>build blacksmith>build rangers>build inn>upgrade market to max (but don't research amulets yet) and blacksmith to Lv.2 (don't bother maxing it out yet because nobody has gold for Lv.4 equipment yet)>upgrade castle to Lv.2>build whichever guild you need to dominate this map (paladins + monks if undead, necromancers if a lot of ranged enemies, barbarians if you want to rush)From that point it kinda depends if you're playing a vanilla or add-on map, but usually it depends on your current situation. In some maps you want to rush dwarves to build a kingdom of ballistas, in some maps you build elves to get casino and then win more money than you can lose (even without savescumming). Sometimes you need to build guardplaces ASAP just to survive the initial wave of monsters.
>>724270934It's not that hard. Except for 1-2 missions.
>>724255939In my opinion or you do a very good game with realistic grim 3d art. Or you stay 2D.
