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

[Excommunicator]

Yeah, it does. Crashes to desktop whenever it tries to get into it for me. I haven't really found/looked for a fix yet though

 

[MetalCraze]

DK2 works reasonably well under WinXP. You'll need to tweak it a bit though. The menu will be laggy and some other stuff too, but other than that it will work.

 

[spekkio]

Yeah, it does. Crashes to desktop whenever it tries to get into it for me. I haven't really found/looked for a fix yet though

Try 800x600 resolution. It's weird but switching to this res stopped crashes for me.

 

[Grunker]

It seems to be random. I play DK2 almost once a year on different systems, and sometimes it's excrutiating to set up, some times it just works.

 

[Bluebottle]

It was the missions, and the way the map was revealed to you in parts that kind of killed the second DK, for me. I only ever got as far as the mission where you first get dark elves (maybe the 4th or 5th), but it was still telling me 'dig over here' or 'possess a creature and send it over here'. Maybe I was still technically in the tutorial section of the game, but then I hate overlong tutorials.

By that time in DKI, I was being dropped in a map, told there was an enemy keeper, and basically left to my devices. There'd be a little text description if you got a new room or creature, but that was it.

Other things like atmosphere, graphics and better creatures also contributed to DKI being the better game, but it was the mission and map design that really did it.

 

[zeitgeist]

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.

DK2 is in fact one of the rare examples of good sprite->low poly 3D conversions, the 3D "sprites" retained almost all the charm of the originals, and they were remarkably well animated too.

Yeah, it does. Crashes to desktop whenever it tries to get into it for me. I haven't really found/looked for a fix yet though

I had to do the Windows Application Compatibility Kit thing from this guide and after that everything worked just fine.

 

[Grunker]

I'm more surprised with the people that actually DISLIKE DK2, than I am with the fact that some rate DK2 higher. There is a difference, true, but anyone claiming to love DK1 and dislike DK2 is straight out ridicoulous.

They're both really great games. AND, the best part of DK2 is easily its campaign.

 

[relootz]

Yeah, it does. Crashes to desktop whenever it tries to get into it for me. I haven't really found/looked for a fix yet though

Try 800x600 resolution. It's weird but switching to this res stopped crashes for me.

DK2 is very unstable, thats why i had to stop my LP. However i am currently testing it with 800x600 res and that MIGHT fix the crashing issues.

Still needs some thorough tests though, because the game appears to multiply it's crash rate after the 4th or 5th mission.


Also i don't agree at all with the graphics assessment. If DK2 does anything well, then it is the graphics. They look excellent for a game of 1999 if you play in high resolution.

 

[Elwro]

People really believe DK2 is better? First time I heard this.

 

[relootz]

People really believe DK2 is better? First time I heard this.

Check out the Best Strategy thread. A lot of mentions of DK2 there.

 

[Excommunicator]

Yeah I always loved the DK2 visuals.
The lighting was great; just look closely where the mouse pointer is and move it around in a room with torches and darkness and watch the movement of lights and shadows. Fantastic. I still prefer its visuals over all sorts of newer games like DA and Oblivion. It just worked for me.

I was always disappointed with the lack of maps in DK2 though. I remember essentially all of the custom maps being put into a single file that became basically the only maps anywhere on the net. Half of them were buggy as hell and didn't work, which made it even more disappointing knowing that they were basically the only maps around. I wanted more.

If a game was made today that reused all the same DK/DK2 ideas and mechanics with the same graphics as DK2, - same setting or not - I would be very eager to play it.

 

[Bluebottle]

If a game was made today that reused all the same DK/DK2 ideas and mechanics with the same graphics as DK2, - same setting or not - I would be very eager to play it.

Kalypso are doing an unofficial remake, called Dungeons. Hopefully it'll be better than all those mediocre X-Com tributes, but I'm sceptical. Can't think of a direct homage to a classic game, that has managed to be any good.

 

[1eyedking]

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.

Either a troll or a fucktard.

Probably both.

 

[Destroid]

If a game was made today that reused all the same DK/DK2 ideas and mechanics with the same graphics as DK2, - same setting or not - I would be very eager to play it.

Kalypso are doing an unofficial remake, called Dungeons. Hopefully it'll be better than all those mediocre X-Com tributes, but I'm sceptical. Can't think of a direct homage to a classic game, that has managed to be any good.

Probably because there is little point to a direct homage unless you are a graphics whore.

 

[mpxd]

Anyone try keeperFX? I got it running on win7 x64 but didn't have time to play any -- apparently it's basically an incremental update of DK1 for modern systems.

 

[Excommunicator]

If a game was made today that reused all the same DK/DK2 ideas and mechanics with the same graphics as DK2, - same setting or not - I would be very eager to play it.

Kalypso are doing an unofficial remake, called Dungeons. Hopefully it'll be better than all those mediocre X-Com tributes, but I'm sceptical. Can't think of a direct homage to a classic game, that has managed to be any good.

Probably because there is little point to a direct homage unless you are a graphics whore.

Sounds right, and I would add that anyone with the ability to recognise the strengths (the most common failure point of homages/remakes) and recreate the mechanics of a previously successful game in the correct way is more likely to work on an original game, and so they should.

 

[relootz]

Anyone try keeperFX? I got it running on win7 x64 but didn't have time to play any -- apparently it's basically an incremental update of DK1 for modern systems.

Will try this tonight and report on it.

 

[ZbojLamignat]

I actually love DK. In a gay way. It's my third most bestest game ever.

I couldn't even be bothered to finish DK2. It's a nice game, I even liked some of the gameplay changes. Especially the fact that you kept the research from previous realms, cause researching all the basic rooms and spells over and over in DK got a tad irritating.

But the game got so sucky atmosphere-wise. Most of the abominations got replaced by generic humanoid shit like elves, goblins, thieves, dark knights. The ultimate creature was a fallen angel, wtf is this shit? The design sucked balls. Cannons for traps, fucking casino with jackpot wins, heroes looking like some generic jrpg shite. None of the humour from DK1.

DK was made with such an insane attention to details that no sane person would think about. Different viewpoints for every creature, different eating animation for every creature, every creature had a blood group ffs! The secret level that appeared only during a real life full moon! DK2 had none of that, only some copy-paste recycling of ideas at best.

Oh, and the campaign in DK2 sucked ass. The map where you choose next realm was a fucking insult to first DK and all the missions tried to be somehow original (oh, use that ability of that creature!, oh, no gold!, oh, no place to build! oh, fuck off!) which got old extremely quickly and I fucking longed for those huge maps of DK1 where you build a gigantic dungeon full of traps and treasure and fight high level heroes and dig for secrets.

I also give bonus points to DK for the best Polish version ever. It's the only game which had Polish localization not only equalling, but even surpassing the English original. To this day it remains the only game I replay in Polish. As you probably guess DK2 sucked as much as your average game in this regard.

 

[Excommunicator]

Your arguments are shit you raging fanboy. You are a disgrace for the rest of your team arguing in favour of DK1.

Quick comments

- Animations. How the hell else are they going to eat? DK2 has animations

- Imps had blood groups in DK2 but it meant as much as it did in DK1. Fuck all.

- DK2 had a secret level that was available only on the full moon. But who cares really?

According to Wikia:
Dungeon Keeper
Bile Demon / Beetle / Dark Mistress / Demon Spawn / Dragon / Fly / Ghost / Hellhound / Horned Reaper / Imp / Orc / Skeleton / Spider / Tentacle / Troll / Vampire / Warlock
Dungeon Keeper 2
Bile Demon / Black Knight / Dark Angel / Dark Elf / Dark Mistress / Firefly / Goblin / Horned Reaper / Imp / Maiden / Rogue / Salamander / Skeleton / Troll / Vampire / Warlock

Oh yeah, totally original abominations of DK1.


Yeah I see what you did there you troll.

 

[Grunker]

^P. much.

 

[ZbojLamignat]

Your arguments are shit you raging fanboy. You are a disgrace for the rest of your team arguing in favour of DK1.

So you basically took a few things from my post, confirmed them and got all butthurt. Yeah, that makes much sense.

Animations. How the hell else are they going to eat? DK2 has animations

Wtf are you on about you numpty, I don't even. Did I say that DK2 doesn't have animations or something?

DK2 had a secret level that was available only on the full moon. But who cares really?

Never too late for reading lessons - "only some copy-paste recycling of ideas at best." And who cares? I care. And probably all the people who can appreciate effort put into making games unique. But hurrr-duurrr, moar levels and new graphigz, who needs things like original secrets in games, amrite?

According to Wikia:
Dungeon Keeper
Bile Demon / Beetle / Dark Mistress / Demon Spawn / Dragon / Fly / Ghost / Hellhound / Horned Reaper / Imp / Orc / Skeleton / Spider / Tentacle / Troll / Vampire / Warlock
Dungeon Keeper 2
Bile Demon / Black Knight / Dark Angel / Dark Elf / Dark Mistress / Firefly / Goblin / Horned Reaper / Imp / Maiden / Rogue / Salamander / Skeleton / Troll / Vampire / Warlock

Yeah I see what you did there you troll.

Quick comments:

-derp

 

[Excommunicator]

I was going to respond properly to any proper arguments you had but when your comments are littered with things that wrong or exaggerated it either means you didn't think them through or you are trolling.

Someone else might like to engage you but it wasn't the mature comparison I was looking for

 

[denizsi]

The worst thing of DK2 is the graphics. Just like the other sequel-turned-3d games at that era (Hexen II etc)

Hexen II is one of the few games that handled polygonisation well. The game had a style.

 

[relootz]

First test of the KeeperFx program : It works and start Dungeon Keeper in Win7 64 bit.

 

[Konjad]

Does the installer work as well?

 

[relootz]

Does the installer work as well?

No need to install, the full version just demands you run the exe.