Read Kobra's post on the bottom:

http://www.octopusoverlords.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12641

I know Stardock is planning on making a turn-based fantasy game regardless of whether they get the MoM2 license. My question is if they don't get the MoM2 license, how "MoM-like" can they make the game without getting into legal trouble? In other words, is the license in question merely whether they can call it "MoM2," or does it determine whether they can copy the basic game concept?

thanks!

damn. so we gotta wait another 5 years?

MoM2! MoM2! MoM2! MoM2! MoM2! MoM2!

A little more info I found in a Usenet post:

> As a game industry veteran, do you have any idea what-so-ever why no
> one has actually been able to make a successor to MOM? Why hasn't this
> happened? Isn't the cult following alone enough to justify publication?



Well, Atari asked us to create one a little over a year ago. And then their
lawyers have stalled it (long story for another time).

But having spent a lot of time looking at Master of Magic, I can tell you
why:


Doing Master of Magic today would be very expensive. A lot of the coolest
parts of MOM came from our own imagination. They could represent something
on the board as a primitive graphic and our imagination would expand on it.


Nowadays, a game can't really get away with a few pixels to represent
something cool. In the age of 3D engines, games are expected to "show" a
lot more.


I don't think this is a permanent problem though. HOMM V is, IMO, a very
very big deal for the strategy game community because they are going to
attempt to show us fantasy monsters fighting it out in a reasonably
realistic way with a 3D engine. I think once it gets inexpensive enough to
visually show a lot of the cool stuff that was in MOM then you'll see
someone (heh) either make MOM II itself or make a MOM-like game.


We have a game design called Elemental that is similar to Master of Magic
that we'd like to do once we can afford to (likely use the Society engine
(www.societygame.com) to create it when it's done).


Brad

I would pre order it ! Hope ya get the licence from Atari. I love the turn based strategy genre like Gal Civ, Civ series, MoO and the like. I somehow missed out on MoM, the closest I ever came to turn based strategy in a fantasy setting were not very involved games(stuff like Warlords or Lords of the Realm). Magic is the best meets strategy sounds fantastic ! I even went and downloaded the old MoM manual.

PS. and off topic Speaking of dead but fantastic game licences is anyone doing anything RPG related with Fallout ?

>Speaking of dead but fantastic game licences is anyone
>doing anything RPG related with Fallout ?

Have I got some news for you! (grin)

http://www.bethsoft.com/news/pressrelease_071204.htm

Yep, Bethesda Softworks has the rights for Fallout 3... tho folks who brought you Morrowind and (soon) Oblivion. They may take the franchise in a slightly different direction, but they sure do know RPGs. I'd trust them with the Fallout license if it was my choice too.

I definatly would be willing to pre-order.

~SDC~

For battles an engine similiar to LotR Battle for Middle Earth would be cool. The battles between 2 small armies which generally last less than a few minutes would fit nicely into a tbs game

So, any news on how the negotiations are proceeding?

Boomtown asked, and Wardell wrote:
Q: What about Master of-

A: Don’t say it! We don’t know yet. Still in negotiations. We have an agreement on the money. There’s just a lot of contract issues that have to be resolved still.

http://pc.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=9951

Maybe there is hope yet?

Yes i would pre - order. I hope if something will be known for sure about the issue there will be a big annoucement. I am too tired of finding another mom clone in progress, watching it die in some time or finding out that another rumour of mom2 is just only a rumour.

I still play MOM to this day. A few years back I specifically went to the trouble of building a custom pc (486 p133) to run msdos 6.1 or .2 (I can't remember which now) from scratch including the soundcard etc., just to play this game due to the fact that it is all but impossible to run on Win. Even with my custom pc, I still had a hell of a time running this game due to the whole XMS issue, but fortunately I remembered about the memmaker utility with that version of dos.

Anyway, currently I have 4 or so games going at the moment (call it ADD), but would much rather play an updated version that would run on Win... As long as it has the replayability of the original.

As a matter of fact, MOM2 has been a dream of mine since forever (I had near a 10 year drought without MOM before I got the idea to build the pc), and thought at that time that MOM2 would be my only option. It seems like ages ago that I placed my name on the original petition (I think I'm #46 or so), but until recently when I found the forum over at masterofmagic2.com I had given up hope. How many different software companies have bought/sold the rights to Simtex's stuff so far, like 50?

Anyway to cut to the chase, If a MOM2 was done right and made available, I would be pre-ordering at least 3 copies; and I probably wouldn't see the sun for 6 months after I received them...

For those of you who cant get it to work on XP I found a great way on the net! I tried everything and this was the only thing that worked for me. What a great game! Cant wait for Stardock to remake this one! Id rather them make their own game and spend the money on building a super game rather than on buying a name and having less resources to improve it. If they can update and top Master of Magic then I am sold!!!

To get MoM to work on XP:

1) Get VDMSound and install it. Yeah, yeah... XP has a built in SB emulator. However, XP's built in SB emulator is garbage. VDMSound is much, much better.

2) Modify the VDMSrun shortcut (not the .bat file!) in your VDMSound folder for the following:
a) Conventional Memory: total 600 (or higher)
Expanded (EMS) memory: 3072 (or higher)
c) Extended (XMS) memory: whatever you want. MoM doesn't use XMS memory.
d) MS-DOS protected mode (DPMI) memory: whatever you want. MoM isn't a protected mode game.
e) Compatibility mode can remain unchecked. MoM is a DOS game, not a Windows 95 game. Windows 95 compatibility mode does nothing here.
f) Under Misc tab, I like to uncheck allow screen saver, and check exclusive mode.
g) Check full screen mode under the screen tab.


3) Modify Autoexec.vdms... make sure "REM" is at the beginning of every line. You won't need CD extensions or DPMI support, but you will need the conventional memory space that is provided by REMming out those lines!

4) Modify VDMS.ini for the following:
a) Under [DMA Transfer Manager.config], modify both minDMAPeriod and maxDMAPeriod to be 0. I know that it is not normally recommended by the VDMSound's authors, but do it anyways. Settings lower than 0 will make the game hang, and settings of 1 or higher will cause long pauses during unit movement in tactical combat.
Under [SB Wave Player.config], modify the buffer to 1000. I suspect this number may have to be different depending on the speed of your computer. I have an Athlon XP 2100+ with a Sound Blaster Live, but I have not had the chance to try this on a different machine. So, I recommend you start at 1000, and see how it works.
- If the game stutters during unit movement... increase the number.
- If the sound crackles anytime (and its not your speaker's fault)... increase the number.
- If the game's sound effects are not synched right with the animation, then decrease the number.
- You can also try decreasing the number if the music tempo seems painfully slow during unit movement.
- 1000 is a really good happy medium for me.
- Don't be afraid to change the value by a couple hundred at a time.
- Slower computers may not have a happy medium, but be patient and try different values.

5) Make sure that MoM's configuration (a la install.exe) matches the settings for VDMSound. I highly recommend using General Midi for music instead of Sound Blaster, but select Sound Blaster Pro for digital sound.

6) Right click on Magic.exe, and click "Run with VDMS".

7) You'll get a black screen for about 10 - 15 seconds while the music is initializing. You may notice your scroll lock LED on your keyboard is flickering. That's a good thing. That's VDMSound showing you that the music system is working (albeit silent at the moment) and the game has not hung. Be patient, the game will come up. It also does this delay when played in true DOS and configured with General Midi music... so there is no way around it.

8) Have fun. MoM is among the greatest of turn based strategy games ever!

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"Yep, Bethesda Softworks has the rights for Fallout 3... tho folks who brought you Morrowind and (soon) Oblivion. They may take the franchise in a slightly different direction, but they sure do know RPGs. I'd trust them with the Fallout license if it was my choice too."

I hated Morrowind so I really hope they don't go anywhere near that direction since the fallouts were some of my favorite games. I just hope they make it true to fallout, and not try to reinvent the games. Sequels should try to improve on their predecessors weaknesses, not reinvent the series. Master of Orion 3 proved that.

Fallout 3 needs the following for me to consider it a true fallout sequel:

1)Turnbased combat option. Doesn't need to be the only option, Fallout Tactics handled it pretty decent.

2)3rd person perspective. Similar view to Fallout 1 and 2. Though with a rotatable camera.

3)50s sci-fi mixed with gritty mature post apocalyptic atmosphere. Like Fallout 1 and 2.

4)Well written NPCs.

5)Adhere to fallout Canon. Meaning, don't rewrite history. Fallout Tactics failed at that. Set before Fallout 2, yet the Brotherhood of Steel had flight capability, something they didn't have in Fallout 2. Chris Avellone wrote that whole fallout bible that I expect them to refer to when writing the game.

Thats all I ask. I'd even accept a setting more like Fallout Tactics for #3. Which was just a gritty mature post apocalyptic atmosphere without the 50's sci fi.

I would preorder Master of Magic 2 with no hesitation even if the only improvement is a Windows XP version or multiplayer version, Master of Magic 1 is my favorite computer game, i still play it and since that game no other game has been close to equal this incredible fantasy strategic turn based game

And i have many friends who would buy it too, and i have no doubt that new players would be happy to discover that diamond game

Please all of you keep giving us news about a possible MOM2, i would be so happy if it comes to life ...

Just found this link although been a member of Stardock etc. for a few years.
I definitely would pre-order, even if the old game was improved.
My son and I really enjoyed the original!
Hope something occurs at some stage.

Yes, still hoping for something to occur...

I played fantasy strategy games for a long time, starting King's Bounty, Lords of Chaos, Celtic Legends and so on all of them on Amiga.
On PC when i first played Master of Magic it was a total eclipse for me.
I played for day and night for more then 8 months.
I like the game so much that i would order it and pay in front even if the game wouldn't be finished in 2-3 years as long as they are going to make it.
So you have my support on creating magic spells, suggestions and any type of help that would make the Master of Magic 2 reality.
The most important thing is not to waste time, energy and money on graphics just to impress a mid range population with stunning effects from directx 9.0c on GeForce7900 and graphics cards costing more than 400€.
This impression would last for 20-30 days, and the would start to complain how the game isn't so deep in alchemy of magic, complexity of the game, too little magic spells, heroes logic changed e.t.c .
The same thing happend in Heroes of Might and Magic V.
Superb graphics, mega effects, city screen on home projector look awesome, but all of this is total crap for me.
My guild of 5 players returned to HOMM3 In the wake of Gods after 7 days of playing HOMM5.
Let this be a lesson to learn from another's mistake.
Uh, i got an inspiration to write, sorry for the long post.

Best regards to all Master of Magic Players,
Uros
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i'm french and one of the first player of mom.
Yes i sign immediately for a mom2.
Do not spend too much time on graphism, but keep the spirit of the game.
good sounds, a kind of story line, some rpg sequence, etc...
Make this game!!! i'll buy it (and some of my friends too, it's sure!)

dont know who has seen this already but stardock *IS* developing a 4x (tbs?) fantasy game but can't call it mom 2 because they could not obtain the rights from atari:
per Yarlin from stardock "We currently have no plans to work on a Master of Magic 2, sorry."

per frogboy from stardock "It's not likely we're going to do a MOM2 due to the licensing issues with Atari at this stage.

But we are working on an unnamed fantasy 4X strategy game."

link:

http://forums.stardock.com/?forumid=349&aid=113769

I'm working on remaking Master of Magic for web browser based play. http://www.kongregate.com/forums/8-collaborations/topics/214287-web-master-of-magic-new-collab

I know this is an ancient necro, but it is one of the most appropriate "on topic" places that I could find.