So there's a new game on the site, Mega Miner. Seems like a good game, (I was bankrupt 5 minutes into the game). But does the game seem familier to anyone? Seems to be a rip-off of Motherload. Anyone else notice this? It is exactly the same, except Mega Miner has lower graphics/bugs in it. What do you think? Is it a rip-off of Motherload?
I actually see plenty of differences between Mega Miner and Motherload.
Mega Miner has lower graphics/bugs in it.
Yes, the graphics aren't that good, but I consider graphics to be low-priority when determining how good a game is. As for bugs, I saw none, but I did see some other problems, which I pointed out in my comment on the game:
I like how useful the upgrades are, which makes up for the high cost. I also think it's cool that overheating deals damage over time, which makes cooling upgrades necessary at certain points in the game. I do have a problem with a repair being needed after a chassis upgrade (the game spells it chasis, but that is wrong). I also see laziness in a couple of misspellings, which include "chasis" for chassis and "saphire" for sapphire. Finally, the game is pretty addicting, so I faved it and gave it an 8.5/10.
Apparently, the game's spelling isn't that good. When you see saphire, think sapphire. When you see chasis, think chassis. Both misspellings turned a double letter into a single letter, so I called them lazy.
Now for the differences between Mega Miner and Motherload (I played that game several years ago):
-Gravity has no game effect in Mega Miner. -There is no "engine" upgrade. -The graphics are not as good. -There is a cargo dial. -There is a temperature dial. -The fuel and health gauges are dials rather than cylinders. -Teleporters are available. -Sonar is available.
It's been several years since I played Motherload, so some of these might be wrong.
I do agree with most of the people on here. This game is a rip off of motherload with some modifications. I still like it though, as I added it to my favorites.
I also see laziness in a couple of misspellings, which include "chasis" for chassis and "saphire" for sapphire.
I think "chassis" is misspelled just for the word fit in the "Store" section it belongs. "Sapphire" was lazy, indeed: "Diamonds" is a larger word and fits the place where appears (the "sell" screen).
Anyway, I was surprised by the game's realism: the need of fuel, the need of places to carry the minerals (known as "units" in-game) and the need of a cooling system. Very good game: I faved it and rated 9.5/10
Obviously Motherload-inspired, although I think Motherload was a more compelling game and had a better soundtrack/environmental sound, in addition to better graphics. The music that is pumped into Mega Miner periodically is pretty lame. Motherload had a more rugged/ominous feel to it.
My one big question with Mega Miner, though, is: How do you win??? I got to the point where I was fully upgraded and had reached the bottom and completed all extra missions. No sign of any boss like in Motherload, so what next??? Very anticlimactic.
Motherload was FAR harder. The huge and important differences:
- no gravity in MM - which makes it far easier, especially through the combination with: - clear gird in MM - it was very likely in ML to scratch an edge just to well, die, because you fell endlessly to reach your open spot - no fuel is used if you don't move or are on the surface in MM - GREAT! I remember how I hated it, when you just don't make it to the tank station or that you have to buy fuel before and after every trip (to enlarge your time underneath) - ML features a story and strange as it is, it is one, you can't WIN MM (you don't even get a message once you fulfill every mission) - MM has missions which is cool, because you got a job but somehow sucks because you only get your money from them (except you already have the diamond drill and the übercooler to gather diamonds) - ML was first, so MM is the copy^^ - no earthquakes in MM (God, I hated them)
Alltogether MM is ML 2.0 - a lot of the annoying things have been changed, pulling a bit of the challenge, but making it nicer. Some things have changed for the worse, but it is a nice sequel and it ate a big chunk of my time.
I played MM only for the ending because I enjoyed Motherload so much. Everything about MM was/is a slightly inferior product (except for the teleporter), so when I reached the bottom point of the map and cleared all the missions, I kept looking around for an opening on the floor. Not finding one, I thought the makers wanted to avoid ripping off ML, so I traced the entire boarder, then cleared the map, looking for a wormhole. Eventually I felt robbed. I've already played motherload; I've had a lifetime's worth of dig-dugging for gems. I just wanted some kind of resolution, it didn't have to be much.
There were numerous things written in the game I misconstrued as foreshadowing:
-When you find the bones, the game tells you he was the king of a destroyed empire, the ruins of which you are excavating through. Isn't that interesting? Should I stock up on dynamite now to battle legion upon legion of zombie Atlantians? Or am I supposed to combine that with the disabling effects of a sonar pulse, slowing down the runners to deal a dense wallop of AOE? Lucky for you no such trouble shows up to distract you from your ultimate goal of systematically reducing the number of interesting things on the screen. You do, however, receive a small reward when you sell his bones to a museum. Huzzah.
-A bounty hunter is purported to have buried his treasure here, and you have been commissioned to recover the blood-soaked gelt so that museum goers can enjoy for all time. (PS: You never interact with the museum, you're just told that it's been sold to them when you find it).
-Scientists have been mystified by signals from a radioactive black box. As you approach you find that a strange rune is carved from it. Finally you make contact, and a chat box pops open to tell you that it's been sold to a museum.
-In the shop, the the best chassis is described as being able to "withstand a small bomb!" You buy it and find things to sell to museums.
But you have to givt MM credit too. I played ML just yesterday to get the direct comparison - I couldn't stand playing it, because of the aforementioned problems - I almost killed myself falling on an edge, and finally died when that AWESOME gas station just didn't recognise I wanted to buy some fuel. The UI is just to vague, it's far harder to find the right time to go back to the surface - sure, it's difficulty was part of ML, and killing you-know-who was incredibly rewarding, but if you want to play a game like that just for fun (and by "that" I mean one where you can't actually save as it was in ML - IIRC it was rogue-like) MM is a safe bet. It's not much for grinders and difficulty-junkies but it's nice and a couple of hours wasted without a heart attack.
I took the time to read everybody's post so I hope you read mine.
I've played Motherload for about a month but yet I never reached the bottom because I kept dying and forgetting to save my game. Anyways when I heard Armor Games has a game similar to it I immediately played. It was much less intense than Motherload. It kept my attention for quite a while until the left button jammed up on my computer. I finally gave up gaming on that computer and switched to this notebook computer. Anyways think of the two games as a spicy bag of chips. Mega Miner is like a single chip in that bag while Motherload is the powder left behind in the bottom of the bag. I'm not saying Motherload is inferior i'm saying it's far more intense. I've made a pros/cons list.
Pros -When you die you don't lose everything -You can only hurt yourself by digging through rocks or in heat -Your fuel and health are viewed better(in my opinion) -You can dig upwards -The minerals are real unlike "amazingum" and others. -There's no mystery of what's below which is better to some people
Cons -In Mega Miner the prices make no sense -When you upgrade your drill it doesn't make you drill faster -If you zoom out on your browser it makes the money and depth unreadable
I never played Motherload but I enjoyed Mega Miner just fine. I went to look up ML though and I'd like to disagree with people on the graphics issue, I think the MM graphics look better than those of ML.
