What did/do you love and hate about the Myth games

[kithkanan]

Hi guys,

I doubt anyone here remembers me. I founded Ancrik back in the day, which some of you might remember...

Anyway, I'm now a partner of a small software development firm called Rubicite Interactive. We do web-development to support ourselves while (slowly) working on games. If all goes well, our first release should see the light of day sometime in 2013. I am pushing for our second release to be something in the style/genre of Myth.

I would like as much information as possible about what factors of Myth you loved the most. And what factors you liked the least. I will be using responses I get here in design decisions for a future game whose gameplay will be based on the style of gameplay found in Myth. This game will be developed by Rubicite Interactive, though likely not until 2014 or beyond.

Thanks,
Jeffrey "Kith-Kanan" Blake
VP, Rubicite Interactive
[e-mail]

[amino1]

that ineffable thing called atmosphere

tho lore, story, gameplay, everything cohered in a gestalt kind of way

plus the fact that one could tell a lot of effort had been put into the creation of the game, by a small cadre of unknown persons

can't say I hated much about it, except the fact that I spent so much time playing it! (I could have been talking with Grandma)

By the way, I remember Ancrik. Good bunch they were. Good luck on your venture!

[homer]

Is this a trick?

Plot/Narration made the foundation of the game interesting for single player and transferred over to multi. Medieval style Lore was definitely awesome. Units are all awesome, would maybe add cavalry or horses to the world of Myth for both evil and good sides and some good looking women villagers.

Always love the undead - zombie apocalypse theme.

Pretty much everything about it is awesome, especially multiplayer - 2 team.

In the spirit of keeping everything the same your probably going to want to keep the amount of people who are allowed to log into the server 200 or less.

Your going to want to get the same guy to narrate between levels and basically copy everything you possibly can about this awesome game without getting sued.

[switch]

The only thing that keeps this game interesting is the player base. Imagine if we had people like those who populate the Halo or CoD servers...

This kind of friendly MWC style play would be impossible.

[myrk]

How's it going kith, used to play with ancrik a bunch back in the day.
As for myth:

pros:

- unit trading instead of resource management
- balance between range, melee and anti-melee units
- many viable options for unit trades on good maps
- good variety in gametypes (fr, terries, lmoth)
- no bullshit xp system where people get in-game advantages based on how long they've played like in the Call of Duty games

cons:

- some maps lack strategic variety and got whored over and over for rank points back when anyone cared what their score was (raid, pg, kg)
- no way to mute idiots in-game or in pre-game chat
- pus could stand to get its damage nerfed a little
- underwater thrall fights can be pretty stupid

All I can think of atm

[blardtholomew]

Jun 24, 2012 2:42:18 GMT 2 switch said:

The only thing that keeps this game interesting is the player base. Imagine if we had people like those who populate the Halo or CoD servers...

This kind of friendly MWC style play would be impossible.

not quite sure what you mean here SWITCH.

myth didn't just stumble upon a really cool and unique random assortment of players that were awesome community builders or especially nice gamers, rather, we built a community around the awesome multiplayer experience and user interface of myth. we're not special little butterflies here if that's what you're suggesting.

except grim, he is the specialest of butterflies.

[pogue]

I for one can't believe there is a myth community to be honest. Most of us, including myself are assholes. It's like the cast of The Wire in a video game.

[homer]

It is a pretty amazing microcosm of personalities, the fun part being the sheer lack of choice in games forces us to talk to each other and interact even though most of us are just pricks.

[switch]

Jun 24, 2012 5:27:01 GMT 2 blardtholomew said:

myth didn't just stumble upon a really cool and unique random assortment of players that were awesome community builders or especially nice gamers, rather, we built a community around the awesome multiplayer experience and user interface of myth. we're not special little butterflies here if that's what you're suggesting.

except grim, he is the specialest of butterflies.

The user interface is a shitty chat interface from 14 years ago and the game was abandoned by it's creators and the franchise destroyed by Take Two Interactive and Renwood. See, the fact that I'm mentioning Renwood is what makes this post interesting. The fact that you talked about Grim is what made your post interesting. Community!

Also the modifications possible to the game physics and maps and units made the game expandable. Which is why it's sad there aren't more good plugins played these days.

Also the prevailing myth of liberal capitalism is that you are a special butterfly sovereign consumer.

[bone]

What got me hooked on TFL:

"FINALLY, a believable story where the good guys don't always win (or don't even really win at the end). Oh... what's this? There's multiplayer? Wait there's ranks and tournaments? That's it, I want to be the best at this shit."

What kept me going:

Game balance. No experience-crushing bugs (the archer walk bug was pretty obnoxious, but it never really distracted enough from the strategy to want to quit). It was challenging, and there was really no single way to win.


... and then eventually I got to know some of the 200 monkeys left around. I'm still not exactly sure what keeps me checking MWC forums and registering every year, but it's just damn fun to play in the tournament (and forum stuff can be good for a larf)



ps- and there aren't really many new myth players. I'd bet most remember who you represented, if not everyone knew you. (I remember Ancrik! And Ford Prefect! And Infect0r! And... And... shit)

[grim]

For me, it's quite many of the same things Myrk mentioned.

I consider myth to be first and foremost a multiplayer game. Back in the days the multiple game choise options and ranked system was great. The gametypes still are obviously. Myth is a game that just keeps on giving. Later I discovered tournaments which are great. The unique camera control in this game is also nifty. The chat interface is simply the best also. The idea of lobby and separate rooms is just way more attractive than separate chat channels.

However, the question is not really what got me/you/people in general hooked on this game, it's what kept us hooked all this time. This is still quite unique game in many ways. Camera, game types and the gameplay in general. There's just nothing like this out there. Non-turn based RTS game with no resource management.

There's also the notion that this game is extremely well balanced. It's not perfect, but it's about as close to perfection as it can get. The only things I would change is maybe decrease the pus explosion radius and remove duds from non winter/rain maps. We also like to think that myth takes a lot of skill to play, moreso than most games out there. I don't know if this is true, but myth is a game that's hard to learn and even harder to master. The strategic as well as the unit handling elements in this game last through the ages. This game just functions extremely well as a team game.

But the biggest attraction we have is really the community. I consider the lasting tournament tradition we have here a very important factor in that. When you play with the same people for 10+ years they kinda grow on you and you want to come back to see what's up with everyone every summer. This of course is something you can't really replicate in your game, but it's important!

If you are seriously aiming to make a similar game to myth (praise you!), you really shouldn't give up on asking Take2 for the franchise rights. We have extremely ambiguous information in regards to what they are asking for the rights as they have done nothing with the franchise for 11 years. However, a game that functions just like myth would be good too. I doubt anyone cares if a trow is called a giant or a trow if it works the same way.

I hope you keep us updated on your progress, Kith!

[milkman]

Sure I remember you. You'd be surprised how many old hands are lurking about. I was good buds with Pred back in the day. I'm not much of a gamer except for myth, so don't have too much to go by, but I'll give this a shot.

I like that games don't last more than 15 minutes, keeps you from getting bored or stuck on a losing side for too long. As other's have mentioned, I like that it doesn't have too many RPG elements, i.e. XP and whatnot, that favors obsessive players over skilled ones. The realistic physics engine is just awesome, and how it interacts with gore is the icing on the thrallcake. People hate on duds and bounces and whatnot but the element of chance, and the comedy it provides for, taps into the gambler within. We all love to hate duds! I'd like to see melee somewhere between TFL's and Myth 2s. While I initially hated Myth 2 arty I've come to like how much finesse, dodging, and spatial intelligence it requires. But I really miss how much tactics came into play in TFL melee. Was more of a war of position, whereas in Myth 2 you end up just trying to trick the AI into attacking better, though the moonwalking in TFL got a little excessive at times. Providing Fear and Loathing with the game is definitely related to the game's longevity too.

As for single player, I used to be an avid asylum poster on bungie.org so obviously I love the myth universe. Its such a perfect mishmash of world mythologies and cultures, classic fantasy (particularly the Black Company), and zombie camp. But, careful, the vibe is very difficult to replicate as the Myth III debacle illustrates. In fact, it might be illustrative to look into why Myth III never caught on.

And wighting people feels sooo good.

[waywardone]

Hello, Kith.

Gameplay. There's nothing like it. Squad-level tactics with the ability to actually micromanage individual units. Units that are, for the most part, balanced for each other and the terrain types available. Keeping this many units balanced within an essentially 10-point scale is a good feat.

Customization. Modders have the ability to keep a game fresh, compatible, and fun. Poll the current community of their top 5 favorite maps to play and I'd wager no more than 2 are original bungie creations. Being able to easily install and configure this game across multiple hardware generations and OSs is very important, too, something even moddable games can struggle with. Modders can also balance the gameplay elements much more precisely to the community's wishes. I've seen egotistical devs and clueless suits hamstring otherwise great games more times than I care to remember.

Community. I have a hard time saying this game is still alive. Another game I mod is also about 12 years old and also considered a classic. I put up one of my mods for download in the sig of one post, and within a month it had 200+ hits; this from a forum with less than 10 active users. I don't think myth is unusual in its "invisible" but niche popularity.

Have more qualified playtesters than coders, and more coders than writers. Story is important for one SP playthrough; after that it's just background hum.

[enculator]

something that makes this game unusuall is the randomness of.. everything.

You never know if your dwarf is gonna hit or fail miserably, and it provides great post excuses !
And maybe a conquest mode for big 2 teams game would add some variety. Duno !

What REALLY sucks in this game :
You can't go backwards when watching a film, so it's really annoying to make a good video.

Oh and what would be totally awesome, and probably easily doable in a modern game : being able to spectate in FPS view, a bit like in dungeon keeper, but without the ability to control the unit !

[switch]

Make the myth camera more free form. Also make this MWC like a MMOG that does my laundry and is exactly the same as total war.

except when you casualty in the game... the game kills you.