Master of Magic license - Round 2

https://forums.stardock.com/476546/page/1/
from Stardock Forums

Hi guys,

 

The old thread below is locked presumably due to age so I thought I'd start a new one due to new information.

https://forums.stardock.com/476546/page/1/

 

I run the Master of Magic fans fb group and one of my members has informed me of some interesting activity. A month ago Atari put in application on the MoM trademark which can be seen here:

https://trademarks.justia.com/883/98/master-of-88398560.html

 

I don't get it.. Atari went bankrupt.. Frogboy & the Stardock gang go to the sale and get a few licenses but the MoM one was mysteriously missing form the sale.. then a year later Atari come out of bankrupcy and instead of returning to game publishing they go into rubbish casino games and developing the VCS console. So what's with this new application? They sat on that MoM license for like 15 years allowing MoM to rot into near oblivion so why would they want it again when they're not even involved in publishing these days.. or am I missing something here??

 

As a longtime diehard MoM fan the stories of failed MoM sequels and lost opportunities over the last 2 decades are so frustrating. Even in the fan community there's nothing solid eg Civilization has FreeCiv, Colonization has FreeCol, Master of Orion has FreeOrion and they all have official sequels too of course. MoM has no official sequels and the only fan made remake to come even close was the open source Master of Magic HD Implodes Multiplayer Edition remake which sadly appears to be abandoned by the one guy left working on it. :(

204,266 views 21 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

My bad apparently Atari are back involved in game publishing these days and were involved with the recent Blood re-release and appear to have their hands in the pots of a few other retro series. And it's been pointed out to me that their current CEO Fred Chesnais was once running the show at Mircropose..

 

Also looks like MoM had somehow been sitting with these extreme pro group mobile gaming guys since the Atari bankruptcy thing.. but they lost it in February this year and only 2 months later Atari have reacquired it..

https://trademark.trademarkia.com/master-of-magic-86488759.html

 

So what are Atari up to then I wonder..

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

After the mess with the Star Control, I wouldn't be surprised if Stardock just stays with self developed IP at this point.

The Political Machine 2024
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Sure enough he ignored me.. oh well it was worth a shot haha.

 

All we can do is hope I guess...

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top
OH MY GOD!!! :O
 
Looks like I don't have to worry about this unfinished fan remake anymore as it appears we've got an official Master of Magic sequel or Remake on way (courtesy of Slitherine who've bought the rights from Atari's IP dungeon and just made the announcement on their site)!!!
 
I'm such a super fan of this 25 year old game that I run a MoM fans facebook group so as you can image I'm SUPER EXCITED about this news lol. :)
 
Guess this explains the mysterious Atari activities I posted about above. Clearly they reacquired MoM so they could sell it to Slitherine for $$$.
 
I can't can't believe that after all these years a real sequel just might be happening now. Sadly most of the old MoM forums are long dead so if there's any fans here who know of a good old MoM2 wishlist/feature request list out there please let me know and I'll go post it over on the Slitherine forums (which I've just signed up to).
 
They've probably barely started the project yet so now is the time to get fan feature requests and wish list items in front of their faces. If the remaining fan base doesn't speak up now then god knows what sort of game we'll end up with. So now is the time to act!
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Forgot to say that as well as posting other peoples wish lists & suggestions I of course also gave them a copy of my own personal wish list below:
 
• BIG ONE - More than 4 enemy players. Implode's MoM HD Multiplayer Remake allowed EVERY wizard in one game for super 14 player games which would have bee EPIC and so much fun had he finished the project.
• Larger maps (Insectiside fan patch added huge map size to the original)
• Limited Spying (most fantasy rpgs have thieves/rogues so it fits and stealing spells would be fun)
• Time limit and bigger cost on time stop spell (if you're planning on having that annoying spell again)
• Demand or give cities in Diplomacy (most 4x games have this now and I like using it to play god/peacekeep and save bullied Civs and minor factions from deaths door)
• Expand Grey Neutral Faction into lots of minor factions with identities and race affiliations (eg a minor Elven race with a minor elf wizard that likes Elven main civs and makes trouble for others.. this is another thing done in modern 4x fantasy and space games)
• More worlds and/or an underground world (although this has already been done before in AoW, HoMM & Warlock series)
• More ocean content eg HoMM series filled oceans with shipwreck lairs and treasures (even Morrowind had underwater caves filled with creatures and treasure so this is not new to fantasy games). You could even have a Merfolk faction with cities in the ocean. The fun Fantasy and Midgard scenarios for Civilization 2 Test of Time had a good underwater Merfolk faction with lots of sea based units/creatures.
• Not essential but some cool weather effects would be a fun immersion factor (especially as you can tie spells into them for gameplay events such as huge storms and earthquakes etc). The Official Playstation remake of Master of Magic has clouds rolling over and some cool weather effects from spells. The new Civ6 addon Gathering Storm is another good example of world changing weather effects.
• Talk to Seravy, he's da man on all things MoM and the creator of the super popular MoM overhaul mod Caster of Magic
 
 
EDIT: BIG NEWS! Slitherine have indeed spoken to Seravy as they releasing his Caster of Magic as an official DLC to Master of Magic on Steam and GoG!!!
 
EDIT2: On top of that Slitherine have also now setup an official Master of Magic forum! And they've kindly moved my ever growing MoM2 wishlist thread into there too. :)
 
EDIT3:
And if all that isn't enough Seravy has hinted that he is working on a Caster of Magic 2! A full MoM rebuild in a new engine with all of CoM's changes built in and much more due to being free of the old games limitations. Eg full 14 wizard salughterfest games!!
 
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Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Big news! Looks like Seravy's Caster of Magic 2 (possibly renamed to 'Caster of Magic for Windows' now probably by Slitherine lol) is coming out of private beta and going public on steam soon.

What is also very interesting is that it says on the announcement that it supports custom resizable windows and presumably resolutions! I'll try to confirm that since that would be awesome news as Seravy had zero interest in higher viewing resolutions when I last talked to him about it (eg he was gonna keep it at 320x200 still lol). Maybe Slitherine or all his beta testers kept pestering him about it and he found a way to do it lol. Either way it's great news. Modern resolutions plus full 13 Wizard slaughterthon games are gonna be epic! Have wishlisted! Before anyone asks no it is not multiplayer lol (try Master of Magic - Implodes Multiplayer edition remake for that).

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1146370/announcements/detail/3055100754907446252

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Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Seravy's new Caster of Magic 2 (or Caster of Magic for Windows as Slitherine are calling it) has been officially released on Steam, GoG & Slitherine's own store a few days ago! Sadly my hopes for modern resolutions were dashed (it just stretches 320x200 in a window) so Implodes fan game above is still the only one that does true HD stuff, however CoM has so many other benefits eg a gazillion bug fixes & balance changes, super smart AI opponents, more spells, more buildings, more advanced game modes & options, and best of all NO MORE 5 PLAYER LIMIT!! So umm 14 Wizards going at it in one game? Yes please!
 
Feel free to drop by the Master of Magic fans Facebook and Discord groups to discuss. Seravy himself is kindly answering questions and bug reports on the discord too!
 
I know some people aren't huge fans of CoM's changes but maybe Slitherine will take Seravy's new engine source and do a 'MoM for Windows' one day too. Probably wishful thinking but you never know!
 
Familiar but not quite the same ;)
 
14 Wizard carnage incoming
 
Cool new options
 
Looks the same but apparently the new combat AI is naaaasty
Reply #9 from StarControl Forums Top

MOM is one of my favorite games but after Star Control, I'd never want to do a game that involves a hard-core established fanbase.  While most fans of these classic games (which I'm one of) are great people, experience has shown that there's enough dedicated crazies to make the experience miserable.

Someone recently pointed me to some of the Wikipedia articles involving the Star Control dispute and how the super-fans had effectively created a distorted narrative of what actually happened.

So yea, I would rather not have to deal with that kind of thing again.  Getting character assassinated for trying to revive a franchise that's been dormant for a quarter century is not really worth it. 

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9

MOM is one of my favorite games but after Star Control, I'd never want to do a game that involves a hard-core established fanbase.  While most fans of these classic games (which I'm one of) are great people, experience has shown that there's enough dedicated crazies to make the experience miserable.

Someone recently pointed me to some of the Wikipedia articles involving the Star Control dispute and how the super-fans had effectively created a distorted narrative of what actually happened.

So yea, I would rather not have to deal with that kind of thing again.  Getting character assassinated for trying to revive a franchise that's been dormant for a quarter century is not really worth it. 

You guys would have to make a deal with Slitherine to make a Master of Magic game now anyway as they bought the license off Atari back in 2019. We've been given some slight hints (they asked Seravy to ask the MoM community whether they'd want squares or hexes in a new MoM game) that they've already got a team working on a MoM sequel too (they mostly publish so I dunno if its their internal dev team or if they've got a separate developer studio working on it) but they haven't made any big announcements yet.

However yeah after what you guys went through with Star Control you'll no doubt sympathize with the challenge Slitherine face with trying a modern 3D remake of a early 90s classic with a hardcore fanbase haha.

Those wish lists threads I talked about earlier in this thread are a good example as some turned into huge not so friendly fan debates with massively differing opinions on what a MoM sequel/remake should be. And even these special Caster of Magic releases made by Seravy that are being released through Slitherine (they made a deal) that are effectively original MoM modded still manage to cause hostile reactions as some people hate the changes he made despite it still being the original game! So I can only imagine what a new 3D game with anything changed will do lol!

Reply #11 from Stardock.net Forums Top

Well, I don't blame you guys for not wanting to buy another game franchise and develop a modern sequel for it. I recall that some of the crazies for Star Control managed to convince online stores to stop selling your version for a short time. Ignoring the crazies at that point is hard to do.

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

A little late to the party with this news but OMG lol.. After 25 years of nothing it really is an amazing time for us diehard Master of Magic fans! There I was a few weeks ago getting excited about Seravy’s new Caster of Magic 2 for Windows release and then something even more amazing got officially announced, as we finally have confirmation of the Slitherine mystery MoM project I’ve posted about here before! Slitherine are working with Thea series creators MuHa games on a Official Master of Magic Remake!!! MuHa are a small indie studio so sure enough it's nothing AAA however the new remake already looks and sounds pretty good! I can already see people complaining about the hexes and lack of multiplayer but neither of those bother me. You can find the announcement videos (they've remade the old intro!), some nice pictures, and game info on their new Steam and GoG pages!

But I'll stick a few here too! :)

Trailer/Intro:

Dev Interview:


Image Image
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Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

fml, doesn't that look just like Elemental WoM/FE ??  Especially the spell book?  Actually, cancel that, pretty much everything does ..

I never played the original myself, but I'm assuming very little art/style is able to be brought forward from the sprite age of graphics to the current one, so was their inspiration from the original series, or is it de novo?

Reply #14 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

It does indeed look a lot like Elemental. I wonder if they're trying to be cheeky?

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top

Elemental was heavily inspired by Master of Magic back in the day (hence why Brad tried to get the rights), and MuHa are using their existing 3D fantasy strategy Thea 1 & 2 engine with a Master of Magic coat of paint thrown on top of it.. so yeah there's gonna be similarities when you make a Master of Magic themed 3D game.

Reply #16 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I would like to see a fantasy star remake.

pulling out call to power would be nice. 

Reply #17 from StarControl Forums Top

I have my fingers crossed for it!

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Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top

MuHa appear to be doing monthly (or at least trying to do monthly lol) developer diaries for the official Master of Magic remake... looks pretty good so far, but fans have had a few gripes with things.

 

First dev diary

http://muhagames.com/dev-diary-1-june-2021/

 

 

Second dev diary

http://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-2-august-2021/

 

 

Third dev diary

https://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-3-september-2021/

 

Reply #19 from Elemental Forums Top

Well, Thea  series was very good niche game. And since they said that they are doing a remake, and not some kind of modern style reinterpretation, there is a high chance to do things right.

I mean, I'm not THAT skeptical, it's just that there have been many attempts, some successful (Warlock MoA was a good attempt IMO), some not (Planar Conquest, aka WoM). Btw I was among the people who pre-ordered WoM and never said something "aww you've ruined my game" :)

And MoM is also a niche game with very specific target audience. One can fail to understand that and fail the game as well.

So yeah, right now there's hope, but only time will tell.

Reply #20 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9

MOM is one of my favorite games but after Star Control, I'd never want to do a game that involves a hard-core established fanbase.

That's always a challenge, and risky investment too.  But that was exactly my point. You have a very specific audience, and there's no way to avoid dealing with their expectations.

On the one hand, to be honest, I think it is better to leave most of the old IP as they are. On the other... there is always the lure of the dark side - to take some good title from the past and revive it with the modern technologies.

I mean... who can remember today something like Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance, or Fading Suns or even Star Trek BotF? I think there are a lot of people who do not even know about MoO despite the remake :)

Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top

Haven't updated this thread in a while with all the latest official Master of Magic remake dev diaries and I thought I'd better post about their latest 9th dev diary as that has a application link for people to apply to be involved in beta testing!!!

Ninth Dev diary:
http://muhagames.com/master-of-magic-dev-diary-9/

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For those who haven't seen all the previous dev diaries here they are...

Eight dev diary
http://muhagames.com/master-of-magic-dev-diary-8-february-2022/

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Seventh dev diary
http://muhagames.com/master-of-magic-dev-diary-7-january-2022/

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Sixth dev diary
http://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-6-december-2021/

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Fifth dev diary
http://muhagames.com/dev-diary-5-november-2021/

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Fourth dev diary
http://muhagames.com/mom-dev-diary-4-october-2021/

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Earlier dev diaries are in the thread posts above this one!

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