ubik
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Joined: 10/13/2005
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quote:
ubik:
Dang! I just printed out the 177 page manual for MMP1! In 2-3 months I will have to print the MMP2 manual now. I am one of the 400,000 downloads and this MOD is incredible! I had stopped playing EU3, then I stumbled upon the MOD and thought I would give it a try. I sure am glad I did as now EU3 is what it should be. Great job ubik. 
How do you find the time with it being free?! 
To be blunt:
Quality atracts quality. Talent atracts talent.
Back in 2007, after two months and three very successful versions, we had the fortune of getting people like Alvaro, David and Lars - to name them in alphabetical order - on board and my success is as much as theirs.
Today Magna Mundi involves the work of a spanish, an american, a german, a canadian, a russian, a chinese, a polish, a serb, a british, a portuguese, an israeli, a colombian, as heavily involved team members.
More than anything, Magna Mundi is a work of love.
Speaking of passion and to broaden the horizons of this post, passion is exactly what is lacking ever more in the games' industry.
Eventualy this leads to nine out of ten games being so uninspired that it seems to this outside observer they are designed using some kind of assembly line from start to finish. There is a cardinal rule: What is important is they shine when they leave the factory. So, Shiny Graphix Are a Must!
As for the remaining parts, well those are the "details". "Details" like gameplay that most of the time seems to be decided by a bunch of guys with the creativity of accountants lead by a marketing "guru" that is great at cherry picking parts of other designs which seem to stick with the "target market".
No wonder developing games is a risky business. With so many coasters around only the ones getting better media coverage -which is very different from being, per se, better - will strive.
Gameplay core elements that stemm from the philosophical question "Why do we play?", elements like challenge, risk, punishment, tangible and intangible rewards, time as a balancing factor and many more are present in most of the titles on the market in random ways, forms and combinations.
Its a bit like a guy claiming to be a master cook and dropping random ingredients into a cooking pan, after burning through a million dollars in "the project", upon the presentation of the final meal, he expects to show the public the finest example of haute cuisine.
Fortunately for the "true connaisseurs", some fringe companies like Matrix, Paradox or Shrapnelgames to name a few, invest in true "Master cooks" and are able to present really creative games that will last for long in our hardrives.
...And while delving on these companies and their games, it is also interesting to note the following rule of thumb: The quality of a game tends to be inversely proportional to the level of intrusiveness of its copy protection. 
Thus, to finally write something on topic  , CoG:EE is an example of an excellent game, ready to be experienced by people who enjoy to play strategy games.
Pertaining CoG:EE and as an example of a great design decision, even if I am a huge fan of the complex economy - not so complex once you understand 3 or 4 concepts each turn- I think the option of adding a simple economy is the perfect example of broadening the game target audience without taking quality from it.
Finally and again risking the wrath of moderators and admins as i'll deviate from the topic again, allow me to point to my fellow gamers another gem of gameplay called "Mount & Blade".
Google for it, download the demo and be advised there are mods that add immensely to that great and untapped engine. Predictably, it got an unremarkable "6.0 out of 10" in one of the biggest review sites around.
.
< Message edited by ubik -- 3/24/2009 4:51:34 PM >
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