Why do people think Dungeon Keeper 2 is the better game?

[relootz]

I don't understand this at all. I saw this in the best strategy thread

While DK2 is a fine game and has some improvements on the first, like picking up an infinite number of creatures, it also has some new flaws as well.

For example DK gives you an overview with small pictures so you can see the health of your creatures in a fight, DK2 doesn't.

Also the fact that the Horned Reaper is a special summoned creature is kind of lame, harnessing the power of the Horned Reaper in DK while keeping it happy is one of the challenges of the game.

I don't think the missions of DK2 are better either then the original DK, also keep in mind that DK has Deeper Dungeons which makes the game close to perfect because those missions bring the needed difficulty to the game.

So why are there people deluded??

 

[Konjad]

I dunno. I love Dungeon Keeper since I was 9/10 years old and it's still one of my favourite games ever. I couldn't get into DK2 due to changes that has been made... the game just plainly bored me and I never finished it while I replayed DK many times.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Ok then, I never tried part one, so...

Does it run on XP? If not, what does it run on?

Is there a pack anywhere with the original and the expansion for sale?

 

[Konjad]

It does run on XP 32 bit

 

[Jack]

So why are there people deluded??

They haven't played the first game.

 

[Excommunicator]

I haven't played the first so maybe we could have someone compare the flaws of each from a more pragmatic perspective.

DK2 is certainly up there in my fav. of all time though.

 

[Konjad]

I haven't played the first so maybe we could have someone compare the flaws of each from a more pragmatic perspective..

Yeah, it goes like that:


DK - no flaws, original, funny and great game
DK2 - dumbed down shit, not so original crap

It's seen even from the intro, just comparethis DK2 intro with OMG EPIC FIGHT with this failure of a greedy hero in DK

 

[markec]

Same here, I never understood why people think DK2 is a better game. I played to some fourth or fifth mission and uninstalled the game because of the boredom.

 

[space odyssey]

Because of the disco inferno baby!!!!

 

[Excommunicator]

You know I might actually believe you if you didn't turn it into an obvious mockery. Someone else with proper experience playing both games who is also interested in the serious discussion behind it, please speak up

 

[spekkio]

So why are there people deluded??

They haven't played the first game.

Most likely this.
I played DK1 ~10 times but was able to complete DK2 only once, after 2-3 unsuccesfull tries.
Sequel is inferior to the original in every way (graphics, sound, gameplay). But most importantly - it lacks the atmosphere of the 1st game.

Windows version works fine on WinXP 32 and Dos version can be run on everything using DosBox.

One of my all-time favourites for sho'.

 

[relootz]

Ok then, I never tried part one, so...

Does it run on XP? If not, what does it run on?

Is there a pack anywhere with the original and the expansion for sale?

You need DKGold. Thats Dungeon Keeper + Deeper Dungeons. Beware to finish DK first because the difficulty of DD is quite tasty.

It should run on XP 32 bit. It has a windows version. If you want to play it on a 64 bit version, then you need dosbox to use the Dos version.

 

[Dagon]

I think they like it more because their taste is shitty.
Dungeon Keeper GOLD is where the real fun is.

 

[Destroid]

The two are blurred together in my memory.

 

[Excommunicator]

If it is that obviously better then I might try to get my hands on it. Typically I have only heard the opposite though

 

[relootz]

If it is that obviously better then I might try to get my hands on it. Typically I have only heard the opposite though

DK 2 isn't a bad game and i wouldn't necessarely call it dumbed down, it was released in 99 after all, way before the .

It just lacks the atmosphere of DK like Konjad said.

 

[Konjad]

You know I might actually believe you if you didn't turn it into an obvious mockery. Someone else with proper experience playing both games who is also interested in the serious discussion behind it, please speak up

I can't really say exactly what's wrong with DK2 because I played it only once in 2002 and just a few missions. I didn't like MANA for spells - paying money for spells was better because it required more thinking (in late and mid-game missions, first missions are easy). Do you really want to loose money casting these spells? Or you'd better save it to build something, train monsters etc?

And Horned Reaper in DK2 is like... any other common creature, in DK he was something really special. He could destroy armies... on the other hand you'd better keep him away from your own creatures or there will be blood on walls of your dungeons.

Also the humour. In DK it was AWESOME, actually that's the most funny game I've ever played while DK2... I don't even remember any humour in it, either there was none or it was shit/mediocre.

Same with music, DK had very climatic tracks while I don't remember anything from DK2.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Very well, I will track down a copy and give it a whirl. Always refreshing to find an earlier game before the decline I have yet to play, especially one that seems to be garnering this much support.

 

[Raapys]

Been quite some time since I played the first game, but I seem to remember the second being better in quite a few ways too.

Granted, Grim Reaper and Atmosphere goes to DK1. Probably also map design, and there was more unit abilities from what I remember( i.e. tons of warlock spells vs like only 4 in DK2). But you did have new buildings in the second game, like the Temple(sacrificing creatures to gain others) and Arena( for training above level 4 or 6) which I can't recall from DK1. Did DK1 even have the torture champer?

 

[Brotherman Bill]

But you did have new buildings in the second game, like the Temple(sacrificing creatures to gain others) and Arena( for training above level 4 or 6) which I can't recall from DK1. Did DK1 even have the torture champer?

You had temples in DK1. In fact sacrificing at temples were the only way to get the horned reaper. You also had torture chambers. It did not have arena but to be honest I think it was better that way - arena lets you train for free if I recall correctly which is suck.

Edit: Also, if you torture one of your minions in the torture chambers, the others of that race will gain 25% more efficiency

 

[markec]

Did DK1 even have the torture chamber?

Yes and my favorite part was turning female mages to the dark side, those bitches were unstoppable on lvl 10.

 

[Gragt]

I think that DK has troubles running on x64 because the installer is 16 bits, but if I reckon correctly the game itself is 32 bits. I wonder if there isn't another way to install game …

 

[Konjad]

Someone should install it and pack into .zip/.rar/whatever and then share the link with fellow codexers. I own the game but can't play it since I've bought Win7 64 :<

 

[zeitgeist]

I think that DK has troubles running on x64 because the installer is 16 bits, but if I reckon correctly the game itself is 32 bits. I wonder if there isn't another way to install game …

Depends on what it actually does when it installs the game, in other words whether it messes with the registry or just extracts the game files into a folder. I "installed" a couple of games with a troublesome installer that just wouldn't work by booting into a win98 virtual machine in vmware, and then just copying the installed folder outside of the virtual machine. You could probably do it by looking up the registry entries it needs and copying them to your actual OS too, if you have the patience for that.

 

[Raapys]

Hmm, guess its time a for a replay. I too seem to remember having trouble installing it though. And though I did manage to get the gold version to work in Vista a couple of years ago, I also remember it crashing like every 5 minutes, which is why I couldn't be bothered playing it again.

Is there actually a dos executable for the Gold version of the game? Seem to remember only finding a win version, which is why I couldn't use Dosbox.

 

[MetalCraze]

Just use DosBox and filters. It will look just as good as DX version

Tested

 

[Grunker]

But you did have new buildings in the second game, like the Temple(sacrificing creatures to gain others) and Arena( for training above level 4 or 6) which I can't recall from DK1. Did DK1 even have the torture champer?

You had temples in DK1. In fact sacrificing at temples were the only way to get the horned reaper. You also had torture chambers. It did not have arena but to be honest I think it was better that way - arena lets you train for free if I recall correctly which is suck.

Edit: Also, if you torture one of your minions in the torture chambers, the others of that race will gain 25% more efficiency

Not exactly. Training in a pit left your creatures without HP, making you vulnerable to a quick backdoor.

 

[Heresiarch]

The worst thing of DK2 is the graphics. Just like the other sequel-turned-3d games at that era (Hexen II etc), it dropped the perfectly workable sprites of 1 and used primitive, FUGLY polygons. Can you imagine how hard it's to play it, when you can't distinguish dark elves from goblins? And can you imagine how horrible the unmovable eyes of the creatures are, which is made by a simple orb polygon? Also, the game looked too crispy and clean and colourful compared to 1, it's like playing in a disney wonderland compared to 1 which is a reel mans dungeon.

 

[Excommunicator]

I thought the primitive models of DK2 gave it a lot of character. Especially with the animations which were really well done at the time, it had a strangely cartoony end result I found. They always made me smile, watching them do their thing.

So far I am not hearing much that goes beyond what is probably a personal preference. One room or creature here and there probably wouldn't sway anyone with an opinion already.

While playing DK2 I did always want horny to be more powerful, rare and dangerous. I always found once you had the mana it was a bit of a cheat using him. Kind of a get out of trouble free card.

In regards to mana, I thought it worked well. You would have money for rooms, wages and training, while mana would go to spells and traps. Run out of mana and all your traps would be unable to function, which meant you were in trouble from rushes. Although I always thought there should have been more restrictions on certain spells, instead of allowing you to spam them.

Oh and I enjoyed the DK2 music (and cutscenes for that matter), and the sound (especially the acoustics) are still some of the best that I have experienced

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

I haven't even tried DK2 on xp 32 you know.

Didn't that have problems? I will have to try loading it up and find out.