SAGA: this thread is for anyone who intends to play the game

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SAGA: this thread is for anyone who intends to play the game

(121 posts) (27 voices)

Started 16 years ago by Whiterabbit-uk
Latest reply from bluhoteyes

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Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Hi, I thought I'd set up a thread specifically for those who are interested in actually playing this game. I've set up two accounts so far. One for myself and one for my son. Astrielar is my nation and my sons is Celenterix. If anyone wants to link up on the social network attached to this game I'd be honored to be part of that, though there is so much to learn about this game that it's going to take some time for me to get really into it, but what I've seen of it so far, it looks like it's going to be worth the effort.

So far I've redeemed all of my booster packs, there are tn booster packs each giving you a random selection of 10 different units, some of these may comprise of up to 25 archers, pikemen, cavelry etc, others may give you fewer units per set. There are 100 units being given with the free client. Once you're in game you can select which units you want to add to your standing army, though there are far too many to use in the early stages of your nation as you have to allow it to grow before you can increase the size of your army (because these need feeding and supporting financially, which you can't do till you've build farms to produce food, and mines to get your gold etc). At the start you have 10 peasants that you can assign to specific tasks such as policing your nation as well as worship and building. Most of the tasks such as mining for gold, stone and wood or farming for food are not available at the start of the game because you have to build the farms, mines and houses to be able to carry out these tasks. I set my first city up yesterday and although I hadn't set it up to actually build anything (as I hadn't worked that out at the time) I now have 13 peasants in that city (celenterix). With the new nation I created today I worked out how to start building (just click on the icon at the top of the screen that looks like a wall, though you can only build a few things at first due to limited resources you start with (these increase as the days go by). So far I'm able to build a farm (for food) and a house, to enable more peasants to be housed.

I think the actual building of the nation will take several weeks before you will be able to support your standing army, the basic army comprises of 200 units which you select from the packs you were given free. There is the potential to build any type odf army you wish with the different units at your disposal. You can also trade some of the items you have been given despite the full trading rights not being available in the free client (I think this is the case, hopefully one of the SAGA admins will be able to confirm this)

I will continue to add information bit by bit to this thread, and I hope that those interested in playing will also add their own observations and info about game play.

See you in the Saga world.

Oh yeah, if you have a decent computer you can improve the look of the graphics in game. The default settings are on medium settings; you are able to increase the number of trees, the view distances as well as a few other attributes that all make the game world look a lot nicer. I'll have to report back on exactly how to do it as I've forgotten already, lol. The server isn't responding at the moment so I can't get into my nation. :( I'll do that in my next post.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You know, I think I'll be paying out the $19.99 some time soon as I'm really impressed with this. You don't have to spend hours at a time with the game. Even a few minutes can be utilized to re assign duties to your peasants, plan new building projects as and when resources become available or when you start building up your standing army to assign training tasks etc. When you leave the game, unlike games such as Total War which I've mentioned previously as a good r.t.s. game, the world carries on and your nation develops according to what you've selected. When you return all the building work you have started will be updated and any gains you have made will be added to your inventory. The following is the post I made in the comments section yesterday. Do check out the links I've posted as they will give you an insight into the game:

To be added in a few moments. The review is on another computer. :)

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

Thanks Whiterabbit. I believe this thread will be much used. I'm looking forward to learning and playinmg this game along with you and everyone else.

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Here's the post I made over in the comments section yesterday.

Today’s game was a big surprise and is rather different to your normal game giveaway because it’s an online game as opposed to a stand alone arcade game. For those who prefer to play alone you can play solo campaigns with this game, but they are still played online. One of the great advantages of playing this game is that playing with or against other humans you’ll get a totally unpredictable gaming experience every time you play. The client installer is 379Mb in size. The good news is that this giveaway is going to be run over a two day period, so those on dial up can still get the chance to download the client. (There will be another game as well tomorrow) Once you’ve completed the registration form which does entail giving personal information such as your full name, address, age, and an Email you should then be able to register and create your own online persona, which will follow you through the persistent online world. Once you have the client, the game is totally free to play though you can purchase additional booster packs to enhance your gaming experience. These booster packs add new armies and spells which can be traded with other players in game, though they are not necessary to experience the main aspect of the game. (see the link below for some details of these booster packs)

The following is the original official press release about the game:

The official press release for the title lists off some of the features of the game:
“Saga brings persistency to RTS gaming. You build cities and armies to defend and manage a persistent online kingdom in a persistent fantasy world. When you’re offline, your kingdom continues to function; your guild wars progress as your friends and teammates play, your resources continue collecting, your kingdom continues to defend against enemy assassins and espionage missions…
“Saga’s features include military questing, an auction house for trading troops and spells, guild wars, espionage, and more. Kingdoms and armies gain permanent experience that carries forward perpetually for a more realistic and more exciting RTS experience.
“Additionally, Saga brings the excitement of collectible gaming to the online environment. Rather than pay subscription fees, in Saga you pay as little or as much as you decide. Just as in collectible card or miniatures games, players can buy ‘booster packs’ of random troops and spells, which are traded and customized to create the strategic army of choice for each player.”

Ref: http://pc.gamezone.com/news/06_29_07_12_03PM.htm 5th April 08

After watching several You tube videos, I was impressed, though I’m still struggling to start my own personal rts games such as the Total War series and World in Conflict because they do take up much more time with respect to preparation.
The following links take you to several videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWrvokWQLdk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23C9vXzZnk8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw4Ym0dea3Y&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GDvOs396Mw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFe8ED5au3M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBU9tk8fP3Y&feature=related

The above will give you a much better idea as to what the game entails and whether or not you’re going to like it.

It’s not the kind of game you can jump into and start playing straight off. You need to set up your game by choosing a faction, build your kingdom and defend it with armies, some of the features of the game include military questing, an auction house for trading troops and spells, guild wars and espionage. There are several ways you can progress in this game. You’ll also need to familiarize yourself with the key bindings and change those to suit your own preferences before you start the game. It will require some thought, lots of strategy and time to become successful in such a game, but once you get the hang of everything the experience can be outstanding. The following is an interview with one of the developers that gives a really good insight into the game and I would highly recommend you read. You’ll find a scattering of in game images as well:

http://pc.gamezone.com/news/06_29_07_12_03PM.htm

You can also read about the various aspects of the game such as the five different factions (The factions include the Machine faction that embraces the Dwarves, the Magic faction, the light faction the War faction and the nature faction). and the army units for each of the factions of which there are over 30 units for each faction, by following the link to the Saga home page and then clicking on the various buttons. You’ll find details of every different unit that’s available in the basic game as well as a description of each faction.

https://www.playsaga.com/saga_index.php

I’ve got to give this 7 out of 10 though I doubt that it will appeal to everyone. (I’d give it a higher rating, but I do think it has a limited audience hence a lower than normal score for what I’d personally give a 9 out of 10 for) I used to play rts games a lot several years ago, and have only just got back into playing them, though the massive online playing still daunts me a little. I only hope there aren’t too many cheaters and hackers out there.

Thank you to the Giveaway Project team and Jason Faller the developer of Saga.

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Hi Buckleysmom, it definitely looks like a very involved game. I think those that persevere with the learning curve will really enjoy this one. I've really enjoyed setting up my nation and am eager for the first few days to pass so that I can start increasing the size of my population and get some buildings up.

Sorry I haven't emailed you recently. I've been out of commission over the 2 week Easter break that the kids have.

Posted 16 years ago #
nicodemuss
Member

Whiterabbit, my RL name is Jim. I would be glad to add you to my friends list on SAGA. My nations name is Von Huesen. I see from above yours. I DL'd the SAGA installer on Saturday morning froom GAOTD and got my free boosters. I am now level 7 with 25 peasants 2 farms 4 houses gold mine and stone quarry. This game is a lot of fun, and a lot like Total War and Stronghold. I think this is going to be a great way for ppl to be able to play on the game and have fun. I too will be buying the full version in the next few days and will be paying the 2.95 per booster pack on occassion so what I get.
I hope that this game will be around for a long time. I got tired of paying a fortune to play WoW every month and the long down times was even more frustrating.

I have had the occassional hiccup so far with the game but I posted my issues on the SAGA forums and Monk has been excellent on replying to the forums and letting me know of the progress they are making on fixing this. Well hope to see you in game, and will definately add you to my friends list.

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Hi nicodemuss, thanks. I've not worked out how to contact others on the social network. I've actually only spent a short time online so far, but will be dedicating a short time each day to building up the resources of my families nations. I've just set up a third account for my daughter, but haven't actually created a nation for her yet. It will be called Bethemany (my daughter and her best friends names combined, lol) Wow level 7 already. Seems like you can progress quite quickly. I'll be checking on my buildings in the morning.

regards

Stephen

Posted 16 years ago #
CreamyPretzel
Member

WhiteRabbit......I will be playing the game at some future date, probably after I move. But I will tell you now that my nation is called "Pretzelton". LOL

Posted 16 years ago #
funkymom
Member

i will be trying to play. it is very confusing for me, i've never played these kind of games before, and the instructions/tutorials suck. they assume you know more than i do.

anyway, i would love to socialize with you all. my nation is rivanna, look me up.
:D

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Hi folks. The following are worthwhile links to check out. I got the first link from ironforge who posted the link in the chat box while in game. It's basically his fan site which he set up to help newbies (like us) with the game. You'll also find a link (second one) to a walkthrough of the first 10 to 15 levels to help you understand the game mechanics. The last link is to the official SAGA guide.

http://www.freewebs.com/sagaironforge/

http://www.freewebs.com/sagaironforge/newplayerwalkthrough.htm

https://www.playsaga.com/manual/sagamanual.html

To Funkymom, just try by clicking on the icons and see what happens. Also click on the buildings as these also may bring up active icons that allow you do manage your city. There's also a basic tutorial once you've created your nation that may help.

Any thing you're not sure about just post here and I'm sure someone will try to help. I don't profess to be an expert, though I've played several r.t.s games in the past, my first being Cossacks then American Conquest; I've only just returned to r.t.s. games via the total war series. I bought a collectors boxed set that included Shogun, Rom and Medieval together with all the expansions and it only cost $30. There was a beautiful set of postcards included and an art book. I then went on to buy the second medieval game an its expansion, which is brilliant. If anyone wants a more contemporary game though try World in Conflict, which is a fantasy scenario where the Russians attack America. It's a brilliant game that I'm treally into at the moment. But none are like this game due to the persistence even when you're not playing it.

You don't have to start with all out war with this game as it's also about creating a sucessful nation which can be done in other ways, though to expand your nation you will at some point have to fight.

I look forwards to meeting you all in this world sometime in the future, though I'm taking it real slow to start with and will be spending much of my first few weeks trying to build up my resources so that I can support the standing army.

I actually created an army using all the CP which is 200 at the start and was amazed that I hardly scratched the surface with respect to using the units given to us via the booster packs. I had to disband the army though as the resources were all massively in the negative, lol.

I think I need to read the guide and walk throughs a few times now before I do something wrong. :) lol

later

Stephen

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

I've added Von Huesen, Pretzelton and rivanna to the network of friends so far. My third family accounts nation (for my daughter) has been changed to Bethemellion instead of Bethemany. My own nation is Astrielar and my sons is Celenterix.

I've only just worked out that you can zoom in on your city using the mouse wheel, lol. This definitely puts it on par with the graphics of Medieval Total War II. Once the graphics are set to maximum it makes a difference to the aesthetics of the game. I'm lucky enough to have a three decent rigs to run this game on. I'm hoping my kids will get into it so that we can play together; though at the moment they seem to be more interested in their DS's or the Wii. I snapped five of them playing Pokemon yesterday, lol.

Posted 16 years ago #
clobermier
Member

Hi, Steven (Whiterabbit),

I downloaded this, thinking my kids, who LOVE LOVE LOVE the free Knight Online game, would like it. My 16 year old son tried it out yesterday, and finally said, "I'm going to stop for awhile. This is hard to figure out." I am so glad you spent the time to figure out some of the things to do with this, and I'll pass the word on to him. My daughter's been ill with some sort of creeping crud going around, so she hasn't had a chance to try it yet, but she'll be glad of the help, too. I have trouble with games that aren't like, you know, the first Mario games for Nintendo, so I wasn't much assistance to the kids. It really looks like an awesome game, though, so thank you for posting the tips. Shoot, if my son doesn't like it, then maybe I can figure it out from all the help here in the forums. Whee!

Cindy

Posted 16 years ago #
clobermier
Member

Er, I mean, Stephen. (Sorry!)

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

Stephen....My nation is "Justified". Like Funky this is my first RTS game and I'm anxious to get it working. Do you know why I don't see your nation when I look at the list of nations? I'm wondering if you have to reach a certain level before your nation shows on the list.....or at least be farther than the tutorial....lol

PS That's cool on the email, no need to appologize, I know you have a life - ha ha ;)

Posted 16 years ago #
delenn13
Minbari Ambassador

Well I won't be playing as of yet. But I got everything set up to play when I can. See comment #178 for explanation. I will just read up on things and familiarize myself through the Saga forum/documention available 'til then. I am like Funky and BK..never played this type of game before.

Posted 16 years ago #
bluhoteyes
Member

Well wanted to let you all know i have joined in the game of saga and my is SagaCity Society i believe:) lol I am in the light group of humans what all are you on?

Posted 16 years ago #
Fatman
Member

I'm up for a game... just as soon as I can work out this patch server timeout error.

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

blu......cool, glad you joined! My faction is also Light. Not sure what all this means yet but I guess I'll learn ;)

Stephen....I posted a message on the forums at Saga re: the booster pack issue. Hopefully I'll get a reply soon.

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

I joined the nature factiio. As for not showing on the list of nations; you are probably right about having to pass the 15th level, but I'm only guessing. I've been testing out the different units that you can use yo build up your armies. So far I've found the light infantry and archers the most useful. Because I've been running my childrens nations as well I've only got as far as level three yet. I'm trying to save enought resources to build the store house and the gold mine.

When you click on the chalice at the top of the game field to get your quests, it's a good idea to try out all the units you have (up to the maximum you can support) The bronze tasks are easy, but the silver and gold may require you have your full entitelment of units in reserve when you start a quest otherwise you will lose the battles (I did after fielding some useless units (light cavelry gets wasted by enemy bowmen). Before you start a quest you need to build up your standing army by clicking on the fortress and selecting the third ico that allows you to see what units you have. Click on the create unit (or something like that I can't remember exactly as I'm working from memory, which has been getting worse of late, lol) As you carry out these quests you can earn the resources you need to build the essential buildings that are needed for creating the resourses that you'll need to sustain your nation, though in the early stages I suggest you disband your standing armies before you log off as they cost valuable resources to keep. Once you get established and join the main list of nations it will probably be a good idea to keep your standing army - please excuse me, I'm rambling at the moment, I need to go to bed, lol

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

Stephen....Thanks for the details.....even if you were sleepy at the time :).
I'm still working on this booster pack issue. On the Saga forum someone asked if I used the promo code.....but there was none was there? Did you have to use one? If so where did you get it?

Thanks
Rox

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

You are right, there was no promo code. I think the link we used from the day took us to a special giveaway page, which is why it looked slightly different (with respect to getting three free boosters and having no free boosters as opposed to 10 packs from the giveaway promo') I do hope you resolve the issue, but if not the offer I mentioned in my Email is open to you anytime, though the longer you leave it, the more work I will have done building the nation up. The first levels are important as they give you a feeling for the controls, though you can always use the free account with only three boosters to get that experience before taking on the nation that I'm developing. :)

later

Stephen

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

Stephen.....Thank you so much for the offer but for now I think I'll hold off because I'd really like to take the whole thing from the beginning so I know what I'm doing. I really do appreciate the offer though. You are such a generous person! :))) Hopefully Saga will still make good on the 10 packs. I don't understand why I got a different page, I got my first pack on Saturday which was the first day of the giveaway. Oh well, maybe Bubby will add some feedback.

Posted 16 years ago #
BuBBy
Teh adnim

No feedback from me at the moment - I'm having some offline issues. But I am following the topics with interest.

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

Just glad to know you're there Bubby. Hey wait! Do you mean to tell me you're not spending every waking moment working on MY issue???? I am crushed! :p

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

So far the game has been enjoyable though I have had some reoccurring issues with it. About 50% of the time I've taken a quest, after completing the battle, but before I’ve got to the portal to complete the mission, the connection with the game server has been lost, which is really frustrating. I know that the administrators have reported that this was a problem previously, but apparently the last patch, which should have loaded when you first installed the game, should have fixed this problem. I think until they have fixed it properly I won’t consider buying the full client, which I said previously I thought I would do. If this problem does continue to plague the game I think it will destroy its chances of becoming a success. I don’t know whether it's related to specific quests, but for me it seems to have happened repeatedly when I've tried to complete the lumber raid quest; which I'm keen to complete as I need lumber before I can expand. I've only just hit level 4 on one of my Nations ones at level 3 and the third is still level 1. The latter level 1 nation has been unavailable since Monday morning despite trying to log onto it at least twice a day. Every time I try to log on I get that dreaded unable to connect to the server message.

Has anyone else been having this problem? I don't know where the servers are located. If they are all based in the US then that may be the problem for me as the ping may be a little high.

Anyway, I'm not giving up yet, but I do have a lot of other games that I could be spending my time playing. (Assassins Creed should arrive via the postman later today (Thursday) so I'll probably spend the next few days playing that game. I specifically want to play SAGA though due to the possibility of eventually meeting up with other GAOTD community members online as well as the persistent nature of the game, which none of the rts games I own have. I like the idea of being able to leave the game and come back to it after living in the real world to find that my miners have increased my gold reserves by X and my building capabilities have increased because I have gained Y amount of lumber and stone. I recently purchased another rts game called Empire Earth III (the first one was superb), which looks really interesting. I’ve had it about a month, but have only just got around to checking out the booklet that comes with the DVD. It covers all the ages of man from stone age to the future. The graphics look slightly better than SAGA, but that’s looking at videos of the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szgGG8H03xg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSD_x6zd40&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B6BaLe1CYs&feature=related

or try another present day alternative future game called World in Conflict:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kma679-WvVc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fEWD7lhGo4&feature=related

both the above games were released mid to late 2007 and have already been massively reduced in price, (I got empire earth III a third of the release price and World in Conflict about half price, though both have dropped even more since I bought them. If you’re looking even better bargains, and don't mind having older games, the following come highly recommended:

Cossacks, American Conquest, the first Empire Earth or Age of Empires

All can be found for less than $10 each. My local games shop was actually selling the complete set of American Conflict that comprised of three separate games for the equivalent of less than $4 and the same for the three Cossacks games. If you download a lot of games, patches and demos from the net, an account with one of the well known games sites called File planet will give you hit points that can be redeemed for older ‘big’ games. Empire Earth Gold and Age of Empires are available from File planet for the cost of a year’s subscription plus more games.

Here’s the link to their free games:

http://www.fileplanet.com/free_games.shtml

You don’t need a subscription though you do get better download speeds and you can download more than one file at a time. You can check out what games you can get through the hit points you get when paying for a subscription. I got 3000 hit points when I first paid for a two year subscription and got several games using those points. (Marine Park Empire, Hitman: Blood Money, The Chronicles of Riddick, Rollercoaster Tycoon plus Wacky worlds Expansion, Empire Earth Gold, and Commando’s 3: Destination Berlin) I renewed my subscription in January and received
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighters II totally free, which virtually paid for my subscription. A six months sub would give you Rainbow 6 Vegas; (though they are always updating the offers to other games. Both are superb fps games. The following link is to the games you can get using the hit point’s you earn by buying a subscription.

http://hitpoints.fileplanet.com/games.aspx

Anyway, it’s way past my bed time, lol

Goodnight

Regards

Stephen

Posted 16 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

There’s two more massive multiplayer games on the horizon with SAGA’s gameplay and both, from what I’ve seen of them look like they are going to take the gaming community by storm. The first one is a fantasy game based on Robert Howards well known character Conan and amazingly is called Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, though beware as in this game you can actually chop off limbs and blood abounds. Then there’s a game from Tom Clancy called End War and is a present day war MMO. What’s more with this game you can command your troops using voice command. If you preorder Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 (a fps) you will get a further $10 off end war, which means it will cost less than $40. I’ve got all three of the above games on pr-order. Vegas 2 is out next week, Conan at the end of May and End War in 5 months. (You get a really cool figure with the Conan game of a warrior on a mammoth).

Oh yeah I took delivery of Assassins Creed this morning and so far it’s amazing. I’ll post some screen captures when I have time :)

Posted 16 years ago #
Ambrosia
Member

Anyone...

I downloaded SAGA and followed the link and created the account. I tried to read the instructions but it was clear as mud and incomplete. I have played many role playing games on my computer (never online) as well as having been a DM and gamer with D&D since the early days, so following instructions and coming up to speed has never been a problem before. But I can not for the life of me figure out the first initial step of creating a nation. How does one do this?

I haven't gone back to it cause I haven't had any spare time to beat my head against a wall. Anyone know where the door is? ;-)

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

Ambrosia......you have to open the game client from your desktop....not online.
Once the game is open you'll see on the left "Create New Nation", click that and you first have to choose a faction from Order or Brotherhood, then choose your banner, crest, colors, etc. finally choose a city layout, then give your nation a name.....and there you are. Hope I didn't miss anything b/c I'm going from memory here....and my memory is so bad I........uh........what was I saying?
Hope this helps :)
BK

Posted 16 years ago #
Bobby
Member

I've given up on this game. I cannot get it to work past the patching stage or get rid of the 'timeout' error message. I also cannot get the company's tech support to answer queries for assistance, even though I purchased the game. Bah.

Posted 16 years ago #
Buckleysmom
Member

Bobby......I'm thinking maybe the tech support people are really backed up right now with all the new people joining. I know that's no comfort especially since you purchased the game, but maybe you should hang in there a bit longer. What I've seen of the game which hasn't been a whole lot yet becasue I've been doing taxes all week) really looks good and it would be a shame for you to miss out on a great game. Of course, you gotta do what you gotta do, but thought I'd give you MHO. :)

Posted 16 years ago #
Bobby
Member

Thanks, Buckleysmom .. I do appreciate your input. Maybe I'll hang in there a little longer. I bought the game for the grandkids (I'm still stuck on Azangara's last level!). They really wanted to play it but their frustration level is outweighing their interest.. 'Tis a shame. I buy a _lot_ of games for them after the games have been showcased here. First time we've encountered unresponsive tech support.

Posted 16 years ago #

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