Olympia vs Atlantis (was: New To PBeM Gaming)

From: Geoff Dunbar <atlantis@rahul.net>

Date: Sat, 18 Mar 1995 23:27:20 +0000

In article <3kfk3t$567@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com>,
Robert Lamb <rhdlamb@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
<chop>
>  But if you like sword and sorcery fantasy type games I'd recommend
>Olympia over Atlantis.  Cost is only $2.50/turn and the gameplay is much
>better IMHO.
>

This is a thread that I have some interest in. Of course, Olympia
as a long running commercial game is much more polished than
Atlantis at this point; this alone makes it worth the $2.50.
It runs a turn checker on your orders, acknowledges that they have
been received, has few remaining bugs.

Atlantis on the other hand, has a silly system where you have to
specify your faction number twice just to get it to accept your
orders, and does so silently. (I'm trying to get rid of this soon).
There are new and exciting bugs each week, and the magic system is
unfinished. Only once have I successfully run the turn without
having to re-run it due to a crash or other major bug.

But, putting aside these small differences, and pretending that
Atlantis is a well-oiled game (or that Olympia is a bug-riddled
playtest), lets consider the 'gameplay' of the two. Despite the
apparent similarities, they play fairly differently. The biggest
difference is the control of units; in Atlantis, controlling a
single unit is easy, and you have many. In Olympia, you control
many fewer units, but can do more with a single unit. Also, in
Olympia, it is sometimes more difficult to gain a skill or make
an object, requiring a specific location or item for the unit.
Atlantis tends to make this much easier.

As for which is better, it may be a matter of preference. I have
had a better time of it in Atlantis (version 1, obviously), but
this may just be because I was in that from the beginning, and I
lucked into some better allies.

In any case, there is huge demand for these types of games at this
point; almost 200 playing Olympia, and somewhere around 400 in
Atlantis 2. I see no reason why both won't continue to grow as fast
as the gms are willing.

Geoff

--
Geoff Dunbar <atlantis@rahul.net>

References

Re: New To PBeM Gaming
rhdlamb@ix.netcom.com (Robert Lamb)
Sat, 18 Mar 1995 21:42:21 +0000
New To PBeM Gaming
Ben@sharkey.demon.co.uk (Ben Robinson)
Sat, 18 Mar 1995 14:32:13 +0000

Referenced By

Re: New To PBeM Gaming
rhdlamb@ix.netcom.com (Robert Lamb)
Sat, 18 Mar 1995 21:42:21 +0000
New To PBeM Gaming
Ben@sharkey.demon.co.uk (Ben Robinson)
Sat, 18 Mar 1995 14:32:13 +0000