The Miscellaneous PC & vidya Games Thread

[Josquius]

In theory I'm intruiged.
I'm practice I never get far with this kind of game. I'm bad at them and tend to have a perfectionist outlook on games...

[Tamas]

I am: intrigued.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2002570/SeaOrama_World_of_Shipping/

In Seaorama: World of Shipping, you'll have access to a fleet of over 17 types of ships and 90 port locations. But getting goods from one port to another is just the beginning...

Start Your Own Shipping Company

Embark on a thrilling entrepreneurial journey as you establish and nurture your very own shipping company in Seaorama: World of Shipping. Begin with a single vessel and transform it into a maritime empire. Strategize, invest wisely, and watch your company grow from humble beginnings to a dominant force in the global trade arena.

Plan Trade Routes Between 90 Port Locations

Create your own trade routes across an expansive world map featuring 90 port locations. Each destination offers unique challenges and opportunities. Analyze market trends, factor in geopolitical events, and master the art of logistics to optimize your routes for maximum profitability and efficiency.

Manage Your Ships & Contracts

Take control of a versatile fleet comprising 17 types of vessels. From cargo vessels to container ships, ensure that your fleet is well-maintained and equipped. Strike lucrative contracts with clients and meticulously oversee every aspect of your shipping operations. Adapt to unforeseen challenges and keep your cargo moving, no matter what obstacles arise.

[Syt]

I want a remake of 1869, where you ran a shipping business in the 19th century, during the transition from sailing to steam ships. You could make some quick (risky) bucks trying to run the blockade in the Black Sea and deliver goods to Sevastopol during the Crimean war.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/2068/1869/

(From the guys who made Anno 1602 a few years later.)

[Tamas]

Yeah would be great especially with a Ui that doesn't make me want to kill myself.

Also we need a High Seas Trader remake.

This ship game I linked feels like a letdown though, doesn't do anything to address the quick onset of dullness inherent to this type of a game, in fact seems to become more dull even faster. I will give it one more brief go then probably refund.

[Syt]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2707280/Wargame_Construction_Set_III_Age_of_Rifles_18461905/

One of the easiest to play and most comprehensive games of it's kind!

Master the art of war in a world where the rifle is the king! Age of Rifles puts you in command of troops from around the world, fighting the endless battles that raged between 1846 and 1905. Much more than a Civil War game, Age of Rifles includes the battles of Europe, Aisa, and South America. Every major conflict is yours to control! Beautiful, painstakingly rendered units and icons and an original period soundtrack will convince you that you have returned to a time when the rifle rules the land!

Key features:
- Easy-to-use game interface allows the novice player to take command immediately.
- Create your own scenarios and campaigns with the GAME EDITOR! Choose from over 1000 uniform combinations, 80+ weapons, and 28 nationalities to create your dream battle.
- Unique gunshot, explosion, and fire animations bring the battlefield to life as your troops advance.
- Unparalleled computer opponent AI.
- The Gazetteer encyclopedia contains complete historical background on individual encounters, wars, and weapons.

Includes 8 campaigns and 62 scenarios:
- American Civil War/East
- American Civil War/West
- American Civil War/Full
- Austro-Prussian: Six Weeks War
- Franco-Prussian War
- Mexican-American War
- Russo-Japanese War
- Soldier Queen

Includes bonus of 3 campaigns and 30 scenarios.
- British Colonial Indian Mutiny
- Wars of Italian Unification
- Hood's Drive North

I guess we're about to learn how well (or not) this has aged ....

Planned Release Date: 19 Dec, 2023

Wargame Construction Set 1&2 are also coming:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2707260/Wargame_Construction_Set/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2707270/Wargame_Construction_Set_II_Tanks/
(But tbh, AoR is the best of the bunch IIRC)

Additionally:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2702090/Star_Command/

STAR COMMAND gives you the exhilarating excitement that only the best science-fiction novels can deliver. And more. Because, in this multiple-character role-playing game, you don't read about the adventure — you live it!

You create a special force of eight star-troopers by selecting characters with different levels of strength, speed, courage, intelligence, psychic power and other skills.

Your first mission: Locate the infamous Blackbeard and destroy his band of intergalactic pirates — a monumental task given the thousands of planets that make up this game universe. With guidance from Armed Forces Headquarters, you'll search planets and explore dungeon-like hideouts for clues to Blackbeard's home base. Along the way, you'll battle his minions in hand-to-hand and ship-to-ship combat.

With each successful foray, your crew will gain fighting experience, rise in rank and carry more powerful weapons such as ion guns, bacterial-infestation grenades and thunderbolt rifles.

Upon completion of your first task (should you survive it at all!), you'll battle more than smugglers — you'll take on an entire alien, insectoid race! Your orders: Uncover enemy invasion plans and use them to destroy the insect's main battleships.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2702130/Renegade_Battle_for_Jacobs_Star/

You're the best they've got.

Unfortunately, your latest hot-dog stunt did not impress the base commander. No sense of humor. So here you are, patrolling a backwater outpost where the only real danger is the food.

Bored to death, you notice that the stars around you are moving. And then it hits you like a bucket of ice water - those are definitely not stars, they're TOG fighters! Maybe you shouldn't have wished so hard for some action...

Get ready for the dogfight of your life! Command a squadron of Renegade fighters against an overwhelming Terran Overlord Government invasion force. Fly your choice of futuristic ships - from the speedy Cheetah and elusive Space Gull to the exotic Fluttering Petal and the massive Pegasus. It's so intensely real, you'll be sweating bullets!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2702110/Prophecy_of_the_Shadow/

"The dreaded Prophecy long foretold is nearly upon us! The rise of the Shadow Lord will surely mark the fall of civilization as we know it. Brave adventurer, you must not let this come to pass!"

With these haunting words, the Magic Council sends you off on a quest filled with danger, magic and puzzles in a land replete with untamed wilderness, quaint hamlets, majestic castles, labyrinthine catacombs and dark dungeons.

Prophecy of the Shadow is a classic single-character role-playing game in a mystical fantasy.

90s cinematics with over fifty digitized art and animation sequences, including characters in full costume.

Simple point-and-click interface with icon-based commands and graphical inventories makes the game fast and easy to play. Learn words and converse from an icon bar by clicking on the word.

Three perspective viewpoints: an adventure view allows you to explore this exciting world and engage in combat; an up-close-and-personal mode lets you converse with NPC Characters; and through the use of magic, an eagle's view of the world.

A large, complex world - both above and below ground - that you must save!

[Syt]

P.S.: They'll also release all Great Naval Battles titles in a bundle.

Unsure if they'll show up on GOG as well (all other titles from the publisher are on GOG ASAICT).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2702080/Great_Naval_Battles_The_Final_Fury/

EDIT: Never mind, they are all coming to GOG:

https://www.gog.com/en/games?releaseStatuses=upcoming&publishers=sneg

[Tamas]

Age of Rifles 

I think it's aged pretty well. I mean, it has better UI and graphics than (post-)Tiller games released the last couple of years.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

heh, Renegade... Never thought I'd see that one again. Had quite some fun with it back in the day, but the game could have been so much more. And that music, oh my. Don't know who's idea that was 

[Syt]

I saw a while ago that Wargame Design Studio had released a Thirty Years War game. Now they've released a free demo for their Musket & Pike series (so far: Renaissance, Seven Years War, Great Northern War, Thirty Years War): Vienna 1683.  


https://wargameds.com/collections/new-products/products/vienna-1683

[The Minsky Moment]

Looks rather nice, at least in 2d (counter) mode.

[Syt]

Looks rather nice, at least in 2d (counter) mode.

Yeah, but it's a WDS game, so the AI will be bad.

Age of Rifles is live on GOG:
https://www.gog.com/game/wargame_construction_set_iii_age_of_rifles_18461905_campaigns

There's also a bundle of all three Wargame Construction Sets, though I feel the other two have better alternatives these days: https://www.gog.com/en/game/wargame_construction_set_pack (e.g. WCS2: Tanks is probably not as good as the recent patches of the Steel Panthers games). The publisher's games on GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/games?publishers=sneg

(Note that other SSI titles are here: https://www.gog.com/en/games?publishers=ssi and also Panzer General II is here: https://www.gog.com/en/game/panzer_general_2 ... bit all over the place)

[Syt]

Forgot Great Naval Battles bundle: https://www.gog.com/en/game/great_naval_battles_the_final_fury

[crazy canuck]

I don't think we have a Age of Wonders 4 thread, so I will put this here.  I am having fun with it, but I always get hammered in the mid game.  I think my problem is I keep waiting for the better units to unlock before build a sizeable military, and I guess I should be spamming out low tier units from the start.

[Syt]

I don't think we have a Age of Wonders 4 thread, so I will put this here.  I am having fun with it, but I always get hammered in the mid game.  I think my problem is I keep waiting for the better units to unlock before build a sizeable military, and I guess I should be spamming out low tier units from the start.

Keep in mind that unlocking race/unit enchants (plus leveling units up via XP) can keep early game units quite competitive until much later in the game.

[crazy canuck]

I don't think we have a Age of Wonders 4 thread, so I will put this here.  I am having fun with it, but I always get hammered in the mid game.  I think my problem is I keep waiting for the better units to unlock before build a sizeable military, and I guess I should be spamming out low tier units from the start.

Keep in mind that unlocking race/unit enchants (plus leveling units up via XP) can keep early game units quite competitive until much later in the game.

Thanks