Fantasy Strategy Game Visuals

That pic from Master of Magic just made my day....  I ve try ed some of those games before with Disciples 3 been the greatest disappointment i had in years. 

Though I haven't played all of them (yet), but the ones I played were really awesome!

I really love the detailed 2D art in AoW:SM.

If Triumph studios are working on AoW3 it will be interesting to see how they handle the transition to 3D.

I, too, never bothered with Disciples 3.

Also, that unit in the conquest of elysium 3 pic, isn't that from dom3? Re-using the sprites?

Fantastic comparisons!

Disciples 3 really stands out visually among strategy games. Also the lore and factions are cool. Too bad the game itself is a bit on the shallow/simplistic side.

Gameplay is more important in a strategy game but.. will there ever be a fantasy strategy with deep gameplay and stunning visuals?

That said, it's cool that WoM / FE have their own visual identity. I just prefer less cartoony myself. FE will probably be forgiven for that if it's otherwise awesome.

Are there any clues that it is the case?

HF that indeed looks like a rip from Dominions 3 but seeing as they are both Illwinter games... perhaps it's like saying units in WoM look like units in FE?

A) I think FE has the best art direction, in my humble opinion. 

B ) How did you get Warlock screens? Are you IN the beta? (If so, tell me about it! If you can..)

I like the comparison, but I really feel like FE is the only one that *really* stands out.

Disciples 3: Renaissance dark art design is miles better than the WOW cartoony look of the rest.Shame the game was shit.

That would be great.  They really are great guys over there.

I took them from Paradox's page.  We're pretty close with Paradox, as they are kindred spirits.

I am still holding out hope that Disciples III will have an expansion that fixes the AI and tries to balance the game. It could blow these other games out of the water if they would only work on those two issues. But without them there is no point in playing. And since it is not moddable... 

Here are lots of screenshots (including one posted by Frogboy), scroll down a little.

Things i remember from Disciples games is the amazing music and dark design, trying to forget the rest...

I too would like to see an Age of Wonders 3. Its one of the few games that had, if memory serves well, High Elves kinda like in Warhammer world. Really dislike Wood Elve lore. 

Really nice compilation of images and styles.

FE is looking great and I'm also looking forward to Warlock.

Agree with Magog about how great the sprites from AoW still look today. I finally think that with FE and Warlock around the corner I'll be able to put AoW away for good. AoW has been my favourite game since release.

Conquest of Elysium 3 does use a lot of the same races and style as Dominions but I think the art would have been re-made. From memory Dominions had a really weird set-up with its sprites where magenta was used for transparency. I think they are now using an alpha channel for this (which is what they should have done in the first place). CoE3 is a very enjoyable game that plays very quickly.

Of all the games I think FE and Warlock will be the polished releases but somehow I think we'll still be talking and playing CoE3 for longer as that game gets more and more mod-friendly.

The clues that Aow 3 is in production are as follows:

They started hiring a bunch of people over a year ago for a strategy game.

http://twitter.com/#!/triumphnews/status/57425521759358976

(Creepy... april 11, 2011) 

They released all the old AOW games on Digital Distribution, potentially to renew interest

They only have 2 IP, Overlord and AoW 

Either they are making AoW3 or they are starting a new IP... maybe SciFi? Seems unlikely. 

Nothing wrong with 1 & 2.

Please add Kings Bounty

Was meaning D3 not the other 2 my bad  (was late when writing that...) Both of Disciples and Disciples 2 was amazing. 

"Warrior Kings: Battles" FTW!!!

Also Warlords (1 and 2)!

Some extremely vague clues. On their website they are looking for people who can do high fantasy art in 2D and 3D. Also, the original writer for AoW1 recently made an appearance on the forums, asking which AoW characters the fans liked the most.

And when you think of it, Triumph is a small studio with a very valuable IP. It would be silly of them to not make use of it.

I wouldn't expect to know anything for sure though until like one month before release. Triumph is the most secretive studio I have ever seen.

Are they?

Thanks guys. I'm officially excited!

Are these realtime ?

And who recommends which?