Has anyone else bought Titan Quest?

[Wyrm]

I want to try out the demo. I registered at file planet. There is a 31 minute queue before the download starts. I am not going to buy a file planet subscription. Where else can I go to download the demo?

Whenever I'm in line at File Planet I just let it open the window and then do something else. Unless you're on dial-up it's not biggie, imo. If you are on dial-up, then an extra half hour to download the thing probably won't make a difference anyway (500MB download).

[roguebanshee]

I want to try out the demo. I registered at file planet. There is a 31 minute queue before the download starts. I am not going to buy a file planet subscription. Where else can I go to download the demo?

If you haven't already grabbed the demo try http://www.gamershell.com/download_13703.shtml

And do take note that the demo is not a good representation of the full game, unless you're only looking at the basic game mechanics and interface. I was fairly unimpressed by the demo and only bought the full game because I had a weekend+ of no internet and I found it fairly cheap. The full game has seen more use than I expected though.

[Alram]

If you haven't already grabbed the demo try http://www.gamershell.com/download_13703.shtml

And do take note that the demo is not a good representation of the full game, unless you're only looking at the basic game mechanics and interface. I was fairly unimpressed by the demo and only bought the full game because I had a weekend+ of no internet and I found it fairly cheap. The full game has seen more use than I expected though.

Thanks.

[Thecla]

Somewhat against my better judgement, I picked up TQ recently and am about 2/3 (?) of the way through the normal difficulty game (in Memphis), with a -- so far -- pure hunting-mastery archer.

The game is more fun than I expected, even if it lacks a single piece of original DNA in its software genome. I can almost hear the developers saying: "Maybe this feature hasn't already been tested in another action RPG --- I think we better not include it in TQ."

Actually, one thing I haven't seen before is "mana reserving" skills --- these are buffs that take up a certain amount of your mana pool when active, but have unlimited time duration; as someone who detests continually having to recast buffs, I really like them. I'm sure someone else can say what game this idea was lifted from.

The graphics are really pretty, with swaying grass fields, extra arrows stuck in the ground, nice water, and so on, though the game seems to labor unnecessarily with shadow effects, especially when there are lots of fires around. The connections with Greek mythology are neat. I found it fun, for example, to run unexpectedly into the Caledonian boar, even if Medusa turned out to be rather a wimp. What were all those stone statues doing outside her cave if the worst she could do to me was stun me for a second or two with a little gaze attack? I suppose she arranged the statues there to unecessarily alarm novice heroes, and make them wonder if they should be carting with them into her lair non-existent mirrors or shiny shields.

TQ overall is definitely too easy, although not quite as easy as the demo suggests -- I have managed to die a few times. But it has always been for one basic reason: being too stingy in drinking a health potion. The one time this was unavoidable was in a boss fight against Alastor in the catacombs beneath the Parthenon. You get locked in the room with him (as with most of the other main bosses) and the minions he summons. I went in with 20 potions, which turned out not to be enough -- the main bosses have quite a bit of life and take a while to whittle down, at least for my archer. It was just a matter of returning to life (when you die, which carries a small xp penalty, or start a new game, you appear at the last activated "rebirth fountain" -- the basic mechanism in the game for saving your progress, though the monsters respawn in a new game), portaling to town (you have unlimited portals to any portal=waypoint you have already activated), stocking up on 50 health potions (just to be on the safe side, along with 10 mana, I mean energy, potions, which normally I never use, to cast the "study prey" debuff on Alastor, who had a mana draining attack), portaling back down to the rebirth fountain, and taking him out.

I would say TQ feels throughout like the first few levels of the Church in D1, and if anything gets easier as you increase in clvl and acquire better equipment. The harder difficulty levels, nightmare and hell, oops I mean legendary and epic, with their resistance penalties (wonder where they got that from?) and other stuff, may be different. I don't know. On the other hand, given the length of the countryside you have to go through, however pretty, I doubt that many people could stomach really having to work hard at killing stuff.

One particular gripe I have is that the monsters have a limited range of travel from where they spawn, as if they were bound by elastic rope. They only chase you so far and then turn around and start to run back. For normal monsters this is irrelevant, but if you're swarmed (doesn't happen too much) or face a boss with a lot of life, it is trivial to kill them by:

hit-retreat-(mobs run away)-advance-hit-(mobs run back)-hit-retreat-(mobs run away)-...

Pretty silly really. At least they lock you in a room with the main bosses.

There are many other little things too that suggest a lack of attention to detail --- for example, rotating traps that fire out missiles, but never actually change the direction of the missiles, so you simply stand in one place and take out the traps. I like the 3d-isometric view, but in TQ -- unlike most other similar games -- there seems to be no way to change the angle and perspective of what you see, unless (as is possible) I missed something. I keep holding down my right mouse button and trying to rotate the view, with no effect. Character creation options are really minimal. (You mean, all I get is this lousy T-shirt color? And my gender, of course.)

Item generation is definitely screwed up. While there is some overall progression, it's very spotty. It almost seems like I got more items with a clvl 8 requirement when I was clvl 2 than when I was clvl 10. Then there was the blacksmith out in the wilds of Greece who was supposed to offer great items, yet the standard merchants in the next town (Delphi, down the road, not far away) had better stuff...


Overall, TQ is a reasonably fun game (and definitely a cut above games like Divine Divinity or Sacred). In the long run, though, I think two critical elements are needed for replayability: randomized environments, and a strong multiplayer component. The multiplayer component exists in TQ but, as far as I can tell, is pretty weak and is more-or-less a single player add on, not even up to D1 b.net standards. As far as randomization is concerned, it's not enough to have random item drops -- I really believe you need randomization of the environments to succeed. I suppose the reason that TQ, or many other games, have these huge, mostly linear, pretermined environments, is because that' the only way they think they can provide enough content. (And maybe they can provide enough new stuff to keep people happy in MMORPGs -- I don't know.)


In fact, I would suggest a personality test for computer RPGs, based on the following categories:

1) Interesting/Boring gameplay
2) Single/Multiplayer support
3) Fancy/Ordinary graphics
4) Random/Deterministic environments

So, for example, the worst possible game would be a BSOD. Well, actually, the worst possible game is Dungeon Siege, which was a BSFD, but that just goes to show no classification scheme is perfect. I would put TQ as perhaps a marginal ISFD, though it could also be a BSFD. Diablo (1&2) would be an IMOR, KoTOR or Oblivion would be an ISFD, and Guild Wars an IMFD.

[Alram]

Overall, TQ is a reasonably fun game (and definitely a cut above games like Divine Divinity or Sacred).

I downloaded the demo, but found the game too stilted for my taste, and only played it up to the end of the very first quest--that is not too far. So I doubt that I'll ever buy it.
I did enjoy Sacred -- played it for a few months actually. And Divine Divinity was imo a great game.

[SwissMercenary]

Actually, one thing I haven't seen before is "mana reserving" skills --- these are buffs that take up a certain amount of your mana pool when active, but have unlimited time duration; as someone who detests continually having to recast buffs, I really like them. I'm sure someone else can say what game this idea was lifted from.

ToME, and possibly some other *Bands have a spell that does what you've outlined. :whistling:

[Thecla]

I downloaded the demo, but found the game too stilted for my taste, and only played it up to the end of the very first quest--that is not too far. So I doubt that I'll ever buy it.
I did enjoy Sacred -- played it for a few months actually. And Divine Divinity was imo a great game.

I also enjoyed both Divine Divinity and Sacred (a bit less than DD), so I wasn't putting those games down (unlike Dungeon Siege, which I hated, pttht!). But IMO Titan Quest is more polished than either of those games, and I don't find it stilted, even if it may be lacking in originality. If you liked DD or Sacred, you might also like TQ --- they seem to me in many ways to be the closest comparisons.

[roguebanshee]

Then there was the blacksmith out in the wilds of Greece who was supposed to offer great items, yet the standard merchants in the next town (Delphi, down the road, not far away) had better stuff...

If you did visit the right one then he can get base items you won't otherwise see until Egypt.

Divine Divinity was a decent game first time through, I just couldn't make it a second time. In TQ I've got a character in early Orient on Legendary and another in early Eqypt on Epic. To me the boss fights (not Typhon) are the really interesting parts, while the tactics are similar for the same boss in different difficulties the increased damage will require a bit more fleet of foot play and some thinking. The extra, optional, bosses in the higher difficulties add replay value to me.

If you make sure you get better offense (improve attack skills and weapons) then you won't take much (if at all) longer to kill non-boss stuff in Epic or Legendary, you'll just die faster due to increased monster damage and lower resists. Since most bosses require dodging you'll likely take longer than on normal.

[Maitre]

To me the boss fights (not Typhon) are the really interesting parts, while the tactics are similar for the same boss in different difficulties the increased damage will require a bit more fleet of foot play and some thinking. The extra, optional, bosses in the higher difficulties add replay value to me.

Regarding boss fights, I've found my self doing so much more running around than fighting, but that's my character (Ranger=hunting+nature). The new optional hero type enemies in epic are making things much more interesting (and deadly), especially the giant mechanical man at the entrance to the labarynth (sp?) in Crete. That fiery-hand-spray/stun attack followed by the charged stomp sent me back to the fountain about 6 times.

[roguebanshee]

That fiery-hand-spray/stun attack followed by the charged stomp sent me back to the fountain about 6 times.

Talos will only use the flame wave if it isn't fighting in melee.

[Maitre]

Talos will only use the flame wave if it isn't fighting in melee.

Yeah, the problem is that my wolves dropped like flies to the 1000 crit flail attack that he uses, and that left me standing alone with a bow, and under 250 armor. Not exactly a toe-to-toe situation that would come out well. There was a lot of running round through the cleared sections of the palace, and a lot of dying (not to mention the 75% of a level worth of experience loss<_<). Sometimes, I just don't know when to give up...

[roguebanshee]

Yeah, the problem is that my wolves dropped like flies to the 1000 crit flail attack that he uses,

How high skill in that? And Heart of Oak?

My Druid's wolves could take the big melee hit and a couple of lightning stomps. Then again, I had level 19 wolves (max +4), Refresh and level 16 Heart of Oak (also max +4), or ~2k +12x% Health. I specced out of the wolves a bit later because they finished the normal fights too fast for me to do anything useful or fun. They'll probably make it back in during Legendary.

[Maitre]

How high skill in that? And Heart of Oak?

My Druid's wolves could take the big melee hit and a couple of lightning stomps. Then again, I had level 19 wolves (max +4), Refresh and level 16 Heart of Oak (also max +4), or ~2k +12x% Health. I specced out of the wolves a bit later because they finished the normal fights too fast for me to do anything useful or fun. They'll probably make it back in during Legendary.

Yeah, that would be why. The wolves were at 14 and Heart of Oak at slvl 2. I spent most of my points in hunting to push up my own dmg. I want to flip over to my +nature skills amulet, but the +10% experience on my other necklace is working more for me at the moment. Do you also have points in the +resist add-on for heart of oak? That could also have contributed to their survival. What clvl were you at for that fight? I think I was around 32...

[roguebanshee]

Do you also have points in the +resist add-on for heart of oak? That could also have contributed to their survival. What clvl were you at for that fight? I think I was around 32...

Only plain Heart of Oak, I do have a Nymph with Overgrowth (absorbs phys damage, similar to Heat Shield and Energy Shield) but that only absorbs 100-200 damage before dissipating. I was probably around 36 or so when I did it and I did mess up badly the first time I charged Talos with that character. Probably because my Conjurer (Earth/Spirit) more or less walked over that thing as if it was a slightly higher HP hero, Core Dweller is an amazing tank.

Do you have Strength of the Pack yet? Or are you missing points to get Nature that high?

Edit:
New patch comming.

- Implemented the ability to turn shadows on and off. Shadows are currently on by default.

That should be very helpful to increase performance:)

[DeeBye]

Edit:
New patch comming.
That should be very helpful to increase performance:)

Awesome :)

[Sebine]

I got the game to play with friends in England (USA here). I agree DeeBye's original post.

Multi-play on LAN worked fine. However, crossing the Pond created a number of problems.

Managing inventory is always frustrating... no exception here.

I love all the different combinations of skill you can have. Never the same character twice! But running the same scenarios is a little tough on the psyche.

[roguebanshee]

The new patch is now live, 5.4MB for the 1.11->1.15 version.