From: warren@apple.com (Chris Warren)
Subject: Re: W7 vs MM4 ?
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Organization: Taligent.com
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 16:52:22 GMT

In article <dkennett.718570127@sfu.ca>, dkennett@fraser.sfu.ca (Daniel
Kennett) wrote:
> 
>    Has anyone, who owns both W7 and MM4 or has at least played both long enough to get anywhere significant tell me which of the two is better, plot, graphics, and complexity wise.  Is W7 really that small (2disks)?  If anyone can answer this question could you post it here.

So far MM4 seems to be better in the special effects department but 
it doesn't appear to offer that much new.  A lot of the mechanisms
and conventions in MM3(MM2, and MM1 too) seem to work the same way.
the ways in which you travel rapidly among towns is similar, the way
you acquire spells is similar, the way the quests and encounters are
organized is similar.  In MM1 it was fun.  In MM2 it was a bit repetive.
In MM3 they added the cool VGA graphics, sound, and interface,
but is was still a bit repetive, and now MM4 provides marginally better
graphics, sound, and interface, and it feels like deja vu (no
reference to Icom simulations intended)  On the other hand there
are some changes for the better.  The interface seems faster and
less buggy than MM3 (although I have word of an automapping/Save As
bug :()  Some of the new special effects and speach are cool.
Also so far, the puzzles in MM4 seem to be more interesting and
the plot seems a bit more cohesive than in MM3.

W7 does respectablly in the special effects, although I turned off the
music so I just heard the dungeon effects (more creepy that way).
One of the things I like is the fact that there are background
effects such as the sun and moon moving in the sky, birds are flying
in the forest, small rodents are scurrying arround in the dungeon, etc.
These effects add greatly to the feeling of realism, so while the
graphics are not as refined as in MM4, they do draw me more into
the situation-- as they convey a feeling of being in a world.
One of the things I really liked about W6 was an unfolding developing
plot line that gave me a sense of disvovery as new info was uncovered.
I haven't played enough of W7 to determine for sure if this will be the
case again.  One thing that sounds good from reading the manual is that
the different characters that you meet are not just merchants that
sell you stuff or people to send you on quests-- instead they
seem to have alliances and rivalries with different groups and they
remember who you have made friends with and this affects their reaction.
Also these NPCs (Non Player Characters) don't just automatically give you
info just by talking with them.  You have to earn their friendship
through various methods.  So it sounds like there should be more
oppertunity to do roleplaying in W7.  I'll let people know after
I've played more this weekend.  Interfacewise I have some complaints,
with all of the great improvments to the mouse interface why didn't
they allow me to be able use full the keyboard interface at the same
time.  In mouse mode, in particular during combat, the keyboard mode
is much easier to use.  The problem is that doing general exploration
from the keyboard is a real pain.  The answer should have been to 
support both modes at the same time.  *sigh*  Maybe they will get
the interface right in W8. (I played bane in spite of its interface)
A point in its favor is that it is pretty fast.

So in sum.  MM4 is an incremental improvement over MM3.  If you liked
MM3 and want more of the same, it will be fun (I enjoyed MM3 BTW).
If you want something that seems like it is covering more new
ground than its predecessor, and has a richer plot, try W7

I hope this helps
--Chris

PS:  Some of this info is preliminary since I just started playing 
W7 last night (although I tend to play fast-- I finished MM3 in
30 hours and I seem to be on track to finish MM4 in about the same
time or less).  I have played W7 for 3 hours and MM4 for 8 hours.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games