The Miscellaneous PC & vidya Games Thread

[Syt]

You want Burntime: https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/burntime/screenshots

(Though it's a post-apocalyptic desert )

Wow. Looks like a proto fallout. And wasteland gets all that cred. Never heard of it before.

MaxDesign had some decent games back in the day. They were an Austrian studio. They didn't have many games before they shut down in 2004. The year before Burntime they made 1869, in which you run a shipping company during the transition from saling to steam ships in the mid to late 19th century. The game starts in the 1850s, and a profitable (but risky) option to make money early on is to try and run the blockade during the Crimean War.

Other then that they made The Clue!, a heist simulator.

But they're probably best remembered for making two little games called Anno 1602 and Anno 1503, which launched the franchise that exists till today.

[Syt]

Star Dynasties tried to be Crusader Kings 2 in space, but based on reviews they didn't quite achieve that: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1194590/Star_Dynasties/

That's a shame - sounds like a really interesting idea

FWIW, DasTactic is starting a Let's Play on YouTube, so you can have a look at the gameplay yourself:

[FunkMonk]

The 4X The Old World is finally available on Steam now, with a modest discount. Comes with new DLC as well.

[Habbaku]

I think I may end up paying near-full price for it, which is a big rarity for me.

[Solmyr]

Let us know if it's any good!

[Syt]

Let us know if it's any good!

I picked it up, started the tutorial, but then got distracted and shut it down after having it run on the first tutorial message for 3 hours.

I'll try to do better.

[garbon]

What's the Field of Glory schtick?

It's a well designed grand strategy game which allows the player to resolve combat by importing the Field of Glory tactical game - but that is not necessary.  I actually enjoyed the built in combat resolution system.

I recommend you try Empires if you get the chance.  If this new iteration is as good then I will be very happy.

I saw FOG: Empires is on 'sale' as part of a current humble bundle so I finally picked this up. Something to try this weekend.

[Syt]

I like FoG:E a lot, but it's far more board-gamey and less flavorful than Imperator: Rome or Total War. There's generally also not a huge variety of actions you can take in any given turn. It mostly comes down to managing your pops, maintaining your military and planning your wars, and build the buildings you need - it sounds fairly reductive, but balancing the numbers is where much of the engagement comes from, at least for me, and YMMV.

[garbon]

I like FoG:E a lot, but it's far more board-gamey and less flavorful than Imperator: Rome or Total War. There's generally also not a huge variety of actions you can take in any given turn. It mostly comes down to managing your pops, maintaining your military and planning your wars, and build the buildings you need - it sounds fairly reductive, but balancing the numbers is where much of the engagement comes from, at least for me, and YMMV.

Yeah, I'm familiar with the AGEOD limitations.

[Berkut]

What's the Field of Glory schtick?

It's a well designed grand strategy game which allows the player to resolve combat by importing the Field of Glory tactical game - but that is not necessary.  I actually enjoyed the built in combat resolution system.

I recommend you try Empires if you get the chance.  If this new iteration is as good then I will be very happy.

I saw FOG: Empires is on 'sale' as part of a current humble bundle so I finally picked this up. Something to try this weekend.

You have other obligations, viking!

[Sheilbh]

FWIW, DasTactic is starting a Let's Play on YouTube, so you can have a look at the gameplay yourself:

Cool thanks. Probably not my cup of tea - at least at this point.

[grumbler]

I like FoG:E a lot, but it's far more board-gamey and less flavorful than Imperator: Rome or Total War. There's generally also not a huge variety of actions you can take in any given turn. It mostly comes down to managing your pops, maintaining your military and planning your wars, and build the buildings you need - it sounds fairly reductive, but balancing the numbers is where much of the engagement comes from, at least for me, and YMMV.

Agree with this.  The problem with the game that I have is that movement allowances are much too small.  It takes something like ten years to move a legion from Rome to the English Channel.

[Syt]

I've played through the Learn To Play missions of Old World.

I'm not sure the game clicks for me yet. The 4X part is generally fine. Nothing revolutionary in that regard IMHO, but well done.

The character management - I don't know, it mostly makes me want to play CK2 or 3 instead, which clearly inspired A LOT of the events in this game. It's not that it's bad, but I also find I care a lot less about characters outside my immediate family circle than I should?

Warfare was a refreshing change from the slow slog fests of e.g. Civ's early game. Your units have a lot of mobility (if you have enough command points to make use of it), but same goes for enemies - so your opponent can pretty much constantly get behind your lines, doubly so if they can go via sea. Unless I overlooked something?

Finally, the theme. I'm totally for 4X games that focus on a shorter era than e.g. Civ does. But - and I acknowledge that's entirety me - this also makes it harder for me to ignore the silliness of ahistoric factions meeting each other, like Assyria v. Rome, or that one of the tribal states is the Vandals. On the scale of Civ games it's easier for me to overlook Peter the Great meeting Pericles and Robert the Bruce with battlemechs in the end game. But here, esp. with the focus on characters (and each faction starting with the same ruler every time), it feels off. But if they used generic or fantasy factions, I think it would be blander. As said - more a problem with me than the game itself.

[Syt]

For people who like 4X ancient civ games, check out Imperiums: Greek Wars (the successor to Aggressors: Rome). It has a fair amount of customization options and what not, but it also has ca. 2005 gfx and UI that I haven't been able to get beyond (and I feel the game needs more convenience functions). It's even still using a squares based map. It's very much focused on the Anicent Greeks, and you have many options to set up a new game (what level to start at, map settings etc.).

It felt a bit clunky when I tried it, but I see the devs keep updating it, though, 2 years after release, and have a new DLC coming up (Rome vs. Carthage ... which is odd for a game that was focused on Ancient Greece).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1183470/Imperiums_Greek_Wars/











The game is currently 45% off till end of the month. (€16.44 here.)

[Syt]

The Graviteam developers seem to be plucking away at their game, war or no. They're based in Kharkiv, though I don't know if that's from where they operate at the moment (probably not?). Just before the war started they released an Iran-Iraq War DLC for Mius Front, and this week, the released a DLC based on September 1943 operations in the Kharkiv region (where they base a lot of their WW2 content). September '43 is the latest date in their WW2 catalog (they have a few August 1943 scnearios); the devs have said previously they have no interest in any 1944/45 battles.