can this be ?

[skyhawk]

can it be that this game is actually being released ?

i have not seen such bad graphics, mind numbingly boring storyline and outdated gameplay since i burried my commodore 64 - 12 years ago !

RPGs are 99% for the story line and the progression of the PC throught it, it should capture the player ! after watching the 30 secdong intro, i was not even interested in finding out about the revolution.

character creation ? oh my god what a joke ! way too limited, a bit more details in skills and attributes would be have been much better.

Sound - ummm what sound ? what do i need an audigy 2 and 6.1 speakers for - my PC speaker is plenty for the few beeps and hacks the game seems to emmit.

Graphic - haha my favourite. i played an RPG once, called "Das schwarze Auge" (yeah i am fluent in german hhee), that was about hrmmm 8 years ago ? ran on a 386 with a 4MB grafic card and ran hella fast - the graphic in this game was 10x better then what PtD can offer. damn the grafics on my game boy advanced beat this game.
I know it's not all about grafics, but with engines available today, i wonder if it would have been sooooo hard to do a little bit for the eye - specialy since the sound effects and story line are not very good either.

all in all this game is about 10 years too late i would say - 10 years ago, graphics, sounds and story line like this would have sold. now i have to say it's not even worth the disk space it takes up.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

can it be that this game is actually being released ?

Yup, you betcha.

i have not seen such bad graphics, mind numbingly boring storyline and outdated gameplay since i burried my commodore 64 - 12 years ago !

Obviously you haven't played it.

RPGs are 99% for the story line and the progression of the PC throught it, it should capture the player ! after watching the 30 secdong intro, i was not even interested in finding out about the revolution.

No, those would be ADVENTURE GAMES WITH STATS that are 99% story and 1% PC advancement. CRPGs should be more about what you can do in the world, then how you pick up on what's going on in it. If it's 99% story, you don't have a choice about what's going on.

character creation ? oh my god what a joke ! way too limited, a bit more details in skills and attributes would be have been much better.

Too limited? You're kidding, right? There's 17 backgrounds in the game, which are basically "classes", and 20 skils. That's way more character options than most CRPGs have.

Sound - ummm what sound ? what do i need an audigy 2 and 6.1 speakers for - my PC speaker is plenty for the few beeps and hacks the game seems to emmit.

Fluff.

Graphic - haha my favourite. i played an RPG once, called "Das schwarze Auge" (yeah i am fluent in german hhee), that was about hrmmm 8 years ago ? ran on a 386 with a 4MB grafic card and ran hella fast - the graphic in this game was 10x better then what PtD can offer. damn the grafics on my game boy advanced beat this game.

I know it's not all about grafics, but with engines available today, i wonder if it would have been sooooo hard to do a little bit for the eye - specialy since the sound effects and story line are not very good either.

all in all this game is about 10 years too late i would say - 10 years ago, graphics, sounds and story line like this would have sold. now i have to say it's not even worth the disk space it takes up.

10 years ago, most PCs had either CGA or EGA graphics, which were 4 COLOR and 16 COLOR respectively. CGA was limited to 320x200 and EGA was 640x320, but not too many games actually used 640x480 then.

Of course, the ones with VGA were treated to things like Wolfenstien 3D, which was a whopping 256 colors and 320x200 resolution.

3D accelleration didn't even exist until the upper 1990s, when 3Dfx released the Voodoo card.

 

[crpgnut]

SP, why did you respond to a moronic troll? Well, it's your site so you do what you want to This guy couldn't even buy a clue if you gave him money. I haven't got back into Prelude yet, I'm reading a book by David Eddings called "The Redemption of Athalus."
Pretty good read, although it's kinda light. I keep wanting to call Athalus, Belgarath,
for some reason.

 

[Jed]

I think our friend Skyhawk is probably just biding his or her time until KoTOR is released. Have fun with your quad-lightsaber +6 vs Imperials.

J

 

[Vault Dweller]

have not seen such bad graphics, mind numbingly boring storyline and outdated gameplay

The problem, my friend, is not seemingly outdated gameplay. The real problem is that you are a moron. Here is why.

1. You have a right to dislike any game for any reason or lack thereof. You have no right to be disrespectful to others, in this case, Zero Sum and many members who are enjoying the game.

2. If you have an opinion, argue and support it. "omg, it sucks, why is it being released" is nothing but trolling and bitching.

3. You implied that you played C64 games. That should make you more then 12 years old, so stop behaving like one.

4. This one is my personal opinion. Any person who plays and enjoys games should recognize, support, and respect games made by independant developers unless he/she wants to play another IE game (called BG3: quest for more money).

5. I can see how some people can dislike the graphics, I now that there is a whole generation raised on real-time fast-paced pause-button combat, but to bitch about character creation???? Care to give me an example of a game with a better system?

 

[Momotaca]

While I consider the original remark very close to a flame and normally don't respond to flames, there are several things that need to be said. The original author has standards which obviously don't agree with Prelude and I'll let it go at that.

Too many "helping" people try to turn a developing game into their favorite game and sometimes the suggestions and the game style are just not compatible for one reason or another. When making suggestions, I ask myself:
(1) Does the suggestion fit the style of the game?
(2) Does the suggestion improve the game?

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER do I evaluate a game on State of the Art. There's a shareware comapny called Spiderweb Software (to which I have absolutely no affiliation). Their graphics and sound are generally behind the times yet over the years I have bought practically every one of their PC games. What they lack in bells and whistles, they make up for with their immense playability. Their author has really been a good quest and mini quest scripter. Even though Prelude is still being "polished", I put it in this category.

I read too many reviews where the main comment is that the graphics engine is outdated. My main standard is simple: Did I or do I enjoy playing the game? Most of the rest is immaterial.

 

[crpgnut]

Monotaco? This is not right, but close....

I agree with you 100%. Jeff Vogel's games are the Kings of the shareware genre. I really think that Zero Sum could give Jeff a run for his money IF they decided to do
shareware full-time. They're not going to do that. AFAIK Jeff is the only shareware author to make his living by developing shareware. The reason for this is that he is extremely good at what he does. Jeff uses a Fallout-type character creation system,
which is quite fun. The graphics are pretty outdated, but the quests, exploration,
and magic systems are all top notch. I think Zero Sum did an excellent job in their first game. Although I eventually got bored before finishing Prelude, the game gave me several hours of enjoyment. Well worth the measly $25. It's a game that I plan on playing again because Mat keeps making changes that improve it.