With respect, that's not frequently the case. I know of one very interesting game by Frog City, for example, which actually got into the alpha stage, but has lain fallow for four years because companies were interested in other products. Basically, a developer has to move in the direction of the money to stay in business; even the best of them must do this. And Cyberlore abandoned Majesty before precisely because of this reason. Even Cyberlore's boards feature no info from the company, and the area is deserted save for some disgruntled members who have posted a spam thread to protest.
If we haven't heard anything abou Majesty 2, the chances are that's evidence it isn't moving along. at the moment. By contrast, the PS2 discussion of Cyberlore's Risk is thriving, and I suspect that's where a lot of this small company's time has gone. But only time will tell.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
I found my old Majesty review, published four years in PC Games or PC Gamer, or something like that. Here it is:
Final Verdict: 82%
Highs: Innovative concept. Endless replayability. Many distinctive hero and monster types, making for varied strategies. Good interface. Attractive graphics and animations. Stylish soundtrack. Multiple game speeds and levels of difficulty.
Lows: No linked scenarios. Not enough keyboard shortcuts.
Bottom Line: A challenging RTS/sim hybrid that’s obsessive and easy to play, but hard to beat at the top end. Well worth your bucks.
While some game producers are still spending money finding ways to market the same, tired RTS retread in a new package, others have chosen lately to investigate the promising RTS/sim genre. It weds RTS excitement with the fascination of a partially self-directed and evolving sim culture. And nowhere has this curious hybrid been better explored, to date, than in Cyberlore’s new Majesty.
In Majesty, you rule a medieval fantasy kingdom. You direct your peasants to assemble and upgrade more than twenty structures, including a wide range of hero dwellings (for different professions), blacksmith shops (for better weapons and armor), inns (for recuperation), fairgrounds (for increasing skills), etc. You create heroes at a set cost within their dwellings. Just as in RPGs, each hero type comes equipped with a host of statistics and, in the case of magic users, a few spells which can increase with leveling and residence upgrades.
You don’t order heroes about in Majesty. No; this is a simulation, and no self-respecting occupant would pay heed to an order. Instead, you encourage their exploratory and monster-killing tendencies through cold cash. Placing bounty flags on darkened, distant terrain or roaming invaders will draw heroes like idealism seldom does. (On the other hand, large, fearsome beasties also frighten away some of the more pacific hero types, like mages, who prefer shooting fireballs from a distance while your warrior do the hands-on carving.)
All of this is paid for by the gold in your treasury, augmented by your tax collectors from marketplaces and trading posts you erect. By researching healing potions, protection rings and the like, you make them prime spending zones for your heroes, who in turn earn money by further monster killing and (in the case of thief heroes) looting gravesites.
(Gravesite-looting thieves are only one example of Majesty’s welcome sense of humor. It’s equally amusing to hear a pint-sized, cowardly gnome hero live to level 15—they gain experience by building structures—and proudly screech, “I am a CHAMPION!”)
The game is played as a campaign in a series of roughly twenty scenarios. You can also create a randomized game, selecting your goals, starting facilities, and the monster types and difficulty you’ll face. In multiplayer mode, Majesty supports networked (TCP/IP), null modem, direct serial connection, or internet play on the MSN Gaming Zone. The campaign is unavailable, but you can create games with varying start conditions for up to four players.
Regrettably, the campaign doesn’t support scenario linking that allows you to carry across your best heroes into the next battle. Given the lack of additional levels for buildings and more powerful monsters, it’s apparent a brace of buffed veteran heroes would easily overbalance the game.
The problem I’ve encountered with other RTS/simulation games (1602 AD, Mob Rule) is that they run so swiftly even on the slowest realtime setting, that it’s nearly impossible to appreciate the sim community’s ongoing activities. Majesty allows you to slow things to a crawl, however. Better still, after finishing a scenario’s goals you can continue playing it, killing the straggling monsters that remain, and studying the effects of new buildings and upgrades. It was in this relaxed, post-coital mode that I discovered how a particularly pleased populace would spontaneously generate new buildings (like gazebos and fountains) I couldn’t manually add.
Exciting, pulse-pounding action? No, but plenty of delight, in a title filled with challenge, charm, humor, and distinctive gameplay. Majesty’s a winner. May it spawn other royalty, and soon.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
