Here there be dragons

Ok, what are some good PC games where you either get to be a dragon, or at least ride one?

Warcraft 3 sorta. After you kill a Dragon, they usually drop an item that allows you to summon one for an amount of time. Also, some tribes allow you to have Wyverns, and stuff in that nature.

Well, Drakan is definitely the best dragon riding game.. the controls are great and it's funny how everything that seemed big on the ground is so tiny in the air. Hm.. there was some RTS I played a demo of last year where you were a dragon.. can't remember the name of it though.

Panzer Dragoon ORTA

Used to be on some other console, but now is out for XBox.

You ride on the back of the dragon, and you blow the crap out of things with lazers and dragon abilities and stuff.

Dragonstrike. An old PC game. Produced by TSR I think.

Essentially you rise a dragon and duel other dragons in the air. Used to be very fun and chalenging if I remember right.

Also, I think there was a newer title released in which you could fly around on a dragon and occasionally land and do some rp/questing on the ground as well. No idea what that one is though.

Ok, has to be a PC game, I don't have PS2, XBox, whatever. Next question - where can I get a demo to try it out? Tried some searches, they seem too old to find.

I need a good game where I can be or ride a dragon! Horizons, hurry up!

Too many people are nuts about being a dragon in Horizons...

Horizons is Vaporware. This was pretty much confirmed by a friend in the business. They have been promising a game for the past ummm.....3+ years I think, but unlike Shadowbane, which actually has a product being Beta'd (Don't like the current build at all) Horizons still has nothing. I wouldn't hold my breath for it, its not coming out.

Nmok Soulblighter

Perhaps the folks behind Horizons are just putting a bit more into their game before their public beta starts.

From what I am hearing, it sounds like Shadowbane should have done the same. :p

Hey Nmok, a Hoss member (retired) is on the Horizons dev team, as far as I know. He claims it's still being worked on. Or at least he did 6 months or so ago when I made a similar comment on the private boards.

As far as a Dragon riding game, can't think of one for PC. They may have ported the original Panzer Dragoon game, I am not sure. I have Panzer Dragon Orta on my Xbox, and it is the best looking game on any system, ever made. Bar none. I have only played about the first 4 levels, but it's incredible. People walk by the TV and just stop and stare.

It's a pretty good game actually. For a rail shooter, there is a ton of depth. Basically it's a good game to sit down for 20 minutes, blow a ton of shit up and not think much. But with the different dragon modes and what not, it requires a fair amount of strategy and coordination to make sure you are in the right mode at the right time and what not.

If you have an Xbox, I would recommend picking it up.

Drakan isn't very old, you must not have searched very hard.. http://www.surreal.com/Drakan_1.htm

I was thinking about getting that one Eomer. Does it have an jitter, or are the frame rates really smooth? And if it looks better then DOA it must be really nice graphically.

uo

Looks like the folks at Artifact Entertainment finally got their graphics engine pinned, took like 3 tries I think hah. They've got 2 races up and running, and beta application has been posted for a month or so now. Honestly, it looks good graphically, I wanna see the gameplay though. And as far as I know, Dragons are still included in the playable race goals they've set, unlike a few others (Lamurians, the bug people I can't remember..)

Andaas-

You are correct about Shadowbane. I have been in the Beta for about 8months now and it has taken a huge step backward in the past 3 months or so. Its so bad that I am not even patching it anymore to try and keep current.

Rezz-

As far as Horizons not being Vaporware, excellent. Last I had heard it was not going anywhere and wasn't going to be made at all. I was very dissappointed when I heard this due to looking forward to the game. The concepts looked excellent, as did the graphics. Glad to hear that those issues have been resolved and that it is moving forward.

Nmok Soulblighter

Shadowbane has been in the works for far longer than horizons, actually. Were horizons to follow a similar development timeline, beta would probably start sometime around 2006. (the first version of the shadowbane webpage went up during early testing in UO, which was probably in the first quarter of 1996.)


-Exitilus, all gamed out.

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Originally posted by Obudan
Drakan isn't very old, you must not have searched very hard.. http://www.surreal.com/Drakan_1.htm

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I did eventually find that page, but most lf the links to demo download sites are all 401. Did finally get the demo, quite liked it, now have the full version, it's pretty good. I would have liked better combat with the dragon, especially on the ground, and I wish the dragon would follow you along the ground and fight, instead of having to be called for all the time. Needs a /pet follow me command!

As for Horizons, it's never been vaporware, but so many people are so quick to jump all over it, completely misinformed, talking like they are the authority on the subject, that it's never coming out. As for everyone wanting to play a dragon, it's my understanding they're going to make it either so hard that only the really devoted or insane will do it, or find some other way of limiting it. I for one don't care, I'll be a dragon whatever it takes. Unless it actually sucks, compared to just being really difficult.

Thanks to Crimsonbanshee for helping me track down Drakan. It's not quite like being a dragon, but close enough for now.

I think Horizons catches a lot of vaporware slack because it did come real close to being scrapped at least once, but that was a long time ago. They totally trashed the original concept that had the underwater race, and the bug race etc, and redesigned it for something they figured was more practical.

Their website has.. humans, fiends and dorfs listed, and they've mentioned many times Dragons will be in the initial release. At the very least, Dragons are fully "designed" in the game already, meaning their internal testers can create dragons and fly them about, and do various dragon... stuff. they've said Dragons will be more "difficult to play", due to not being able to wield weapons or armor etc, but it's not going to be ridiculously hard to play, like verant is doing with Jedi or anything.

There was also an article on Gamesomething or other that gave information for Dryads (they look more like pixies to me!), Elves and goblins as being playable races as well, but there's no info on the official site yet.

I've been following this one since it was first announced, I don't miss much :D