More like to the mainstream users. Simcity Societies anyone?
Let us never speak that name again.
There is a very specific reason why I didn't even so much as mention that game in this thread.
It fucking sucks
Tropico on the other hand I thought about, but have never played it so I'm afraid I don;t know shit about it. If someone cares enough to write a blurb about it I'll throw it in the OP.
Has anyone ever figured out how to play simcity 4 deluxe on an ati card without it running horrible? I cant even play it, it gets like 1 frame per hour
Has anyone ever figured out how to play simcity 4 deluxe on an ati card without it running horrible? I cant even play it, it gets like 1 frame per hour
I used to play it on my Radeon X800 all the time. And my 9700. Maybe the newer drivers have killed it?
Has anyone ever figured out how to play simcity 4 deluxe on an ati card without it running horrible? I cant even play it, it gets like 1 frame per hour
I used to play it on my Radeon X800 all the time. And my 9700. Maybe the newer drivers have killed it?
48x0 series has the game run like dried up shit on a bad strech of summer baked highway.
I think new drivers did kill it, I used to play it on a 9800 Pro just fine but I can't get it to work on my sister's XT1950.
I can't get it to work on an i7 processor/GTX260, either. I set it to only one processor affinity, but it still crashes after a few minutes. Dear studio-formerly-known-as-Maxis: I'll pay 40 bucks for an updated version that supports multi-core processors and doesn't crash constantly.
Ceaser actually stands out the least out of the Impression games; Emperor - Rise of the Middle Kingdom > Zeus - Master of Olympus > Pharoh > Ceaser. Basically, the games just got better with each new release. There is a certainly some nostalgia for the first one of them I played though (Pharoh). One thing I always loved about those games was the background sounds "Ugh, bring a pyre to roast my friends upon!".
Also, couldn't Stronghold be considered a city-building game?
Caesar IV came after Emperor and is a very worthy addition to the series. If you jump straight from Caesar III to IV is seems way different but IV is really just an iteration on the systems in Emperor put back in a Roman setting (with no bullshit Feng Shui, thank Zeus).
I loved Caeser III and Pharoh. Never played Master of Olympus or Rise of the Middle Kingdom though, which do you guys think was better?
Same deal with Tropico, from the wiki article it sounds like the first game is the best from a city building view.
edit: Steam has a complete Tropico pack up so I guess that settles it.
I own all of these Impressions games, and I have to say that RotMK is more advanced in its content(well, it's newer), but when it comes to game mechanics and such, Zeus and RotMK are pretty much the same, except one is heavily geared towards Greek culture, while the other towards Chinese. There are differences in how the society works, and all that, so the experience is similar, but RotMK isn't a clone.
It all comes down to which culture you prefer, or ideally get both. Personally, I prefer RotMK a little over Zeus, which I prefer a little over Pharaoh, which I prefer a little over Caesar 3.
I think there is a huge difference in gameplay between Emperor and Zeus: the function of nobles and how you maintain a military. In Zeus the purpose of noble housing is to provide your army. The nobles are the hoplites and cavalry. Emperor uses the same system as Caesar and Pharoah in that they just have more demands and provide cash revenue. Soldiers are maintained in theor own Fort buildings.
Also the OP should add Children of the Nile. While at first glance it seems very much like Pharoah in practice it is a very different system and a different way of approaching city building. I am not sure which I like better but Children of the Nile is definetly worth a look
Yeah, it's a shame that the studio that consists of the Impressions people that then made Children of the Nile and Caesar 4 then went on to make Simcity Societies. I guess it's not really their fault though, whoever decided the core idea of the game is responsible for the suckitude.
Holy crap Afterlife is in the OP. I remember playing the demo over and over as a lad. When the demo times out, the Four Surfers of the Apocalypso ride waves of lava over the map and destroy everything, with some cool surf music accompanyment.
Also, it should be mentioned that Outpost (from the OP) wasn't just a little buggy. It was completely crippled to the point of being just about unplayable all the way through. Utterly broken.
Oh man Caesar III was fantastic. The graphics in that game had a really awesome appeal that wasn't too cartoony but gave great visual feedback on your city.
Also seconding the wish for a SimCity 4 that doesn't run like ass on modern computers.
Ceaser actually stands out the least out of the Impression games; Emperor - Rise of the Middle Kingdom > Zeus - Master of Olympus > Pharoh > Ceaser. Basically, the games just got better with each new release. There is a certainly some nostalgia for the first one of them I played though (Pharoh). One thing I always loved about those games was the background sounds "Ugh, bring a pyre to roast my friends upon!".
Also, couldn't Stronghold be considered a city-building game?
Caesar IV came after Emperor and is a very worthy addition to the series. If you jump straight from Caesar III to IV is seems way different but IV is really just an iteration on the systems in Emperor put back in a Roman setting (with no bullshit Feng Shui, thank Zeus).
Oh really? I was under the impression that Caesar 4 was more Children of the Nile-ish so I hadn't really paid much attention to it. Or is it a hybrid of the two?
I actually really liked Zeus and Poseidon, but felt that the block designs and industries were a bit too simplistic.
I wish some of these games would get put up on Steam or another DD service, especially afterlife and startopia, which I missed completely but would really like to play.
My favourite impressions game is still Pharaoh. Emperor did some interesting things but I think I just really liked the nile floodplain farming and some other differences.
Also did anyone else have this weird ocd thing while playing that ends up with massive swathes of your city taken up with warehouses?
"Hmm, I seem to be producing way more flax and pottery than I need. Perhaps I should turn off some of those industries for a while... NO! I'LL JUST BUILD 8 MORE WAREHOUSES!"
Ceaser actually stands out the least out of the Impression games; Emperor - Rise of the Middle Kingdom > Zeus - Master of Olympus > Pharoh > Ceaser. Basically, the games just got better with each new release. There is a certainly some nostalgia for the first one of them I played though (Pharoh). One thing I always loved about those games was the background sounds "Ugh, bring a pyre to roast my friends upon!".
Also, couldn't Stronghold be considered a city-building game?
Caesar IV came after Emperor and is a very worthy addition to the series. If you jump straight from Caesar III to IV is seems way different but IV is really just an iteration on the systems in Emperor put back in a Roman setting (with no bullshit Feng Shui, thank Zeus).
Oh really? I was under the impression that Caesar 4 was more Children of the Nile-ish so I hadn't really paid much attention to it. Or is it a hybrid of the two?
I actually really liked Zeus and Poseidon, but felt that the block designs and industries were a bit too simplistic.
I wish some of these games would get put up on Steam or another DD service, especially afterlife and startopia, which I missed completely but would really like to play.
Caesar IV is 100% Sierra City Building series. Didn't really notice any Children of the Nile influences. It is a lot different from Caesar III of course but is no more different from Emperor than that is from Zeus or that was from Pharoah (that was the big change in my mind - no more walkers to find available labor)
Startopia is an excellent game. The available missions are far too few for how awesome they are. I've probably played all the way though at least 3 times.
My favourite impressions game is still Pharaoh. Emperor did some interesting things but I think I just really liked the nile floodplain farming and some other differences.
Also did anyone else have this weird ocd thing while playing that ends up with massive swathes of your city taken up with warehouses?
"Hmm, I seem to be producing way more flax and pottery than I need. Perhaps I should turn off some of those industries for a while... NO! I'LL JUST BUILD 8 MORE WAREHOUSES!"
The downside of Pharoah was the culture requirements needed way more entertainment buildings (all of which had to be on intersections) than your people could use. Later missions I would have these ghettos way out in the desert with nothing but jugglers stands.
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My favourite impressions game is still Pharaoh. Emperor did some interesting things but I think I just really liked the nile floodplain farming and some other differences.
Also did anyone else have this weird ocd thing while playing that ends up with massive swathes of your city taken up with warehouses?
"Hmm, I seem to be producing way more flax and pottery than I need. Perhaps I should turn off some of those industries for a while... NO! I'LL JUST BUILD 8 MORE WAREHOUSES!"
Warehouses, graineries, anything that I could to hold excess.
Did anyone play SimTown? The game was aimed at kids, like in elementary school. I played it when I was like 14 I think. I didn't care as a teenager that was a kids game, it was fucking awesome.
Also, does Majesty count? You kinda build a little town, a little bit, maybe?
I got DoD from steam when it first came out, really nice little game, manage your resourcwes and trading route right and you can do anything, i just need a lil practice. but there are so many other games out there worth mentioning also in the same genre, i am sure somone can think of a few newer games.
Bah, voted out after 40 years. That's the thanks you get for providing free and fair elections and not having an army half the size of your population monitering their every move.
Back to the impressions games though, do Zeus and Middle Kingdom have really long build times for super projects like Pharoh did? One of the things I really loved about Pharoh was that it took years to build pyramids and stuff, really gave the impression you had accomplished something.
Bah, voted out after 40 years. That's the thanks you get for providing free and fair elections and not having an army half the size of your population monitering their every move.
Back to the impressions games though, do Zeus and Middle Kingdom have really long build times for super projects like Pharoh did? One of the things I really loved about Pharoh was that it took years to build pyramids and stuff, really gave the impression you had accomplished something.
Zeus has a lot more military levels (a byproduct of it just having a much better military system that the others). There are quite a few building levels comparable to Pharaoh in Emperor. But not as many in either case.
Tropico 3 demo is apparently out. There seems to be some weirdness with the mirrors, though, so who knows if it actually works. I guess I'll find out when my download completes in a few hours.
My favourite impressions game is still Pharaoh. Emperor did some interesting things but I think I just really liked the nile floodplain farming and some other differences.
Also did anyone else have this weird ocd thing while playing that ends up with massive swathes of your city taken up with warehouses?
"Hmm, I seem to be producing way more flax and pottery than I need. Perhaps I should turn off some of those industries for a while... NO! I'LL JUST BUILD 8 MORE WAREHOUSES!"
I do that too. But to be fair, I usually overbuild any industry structures (especially pottery) so if I dared turn them off unemployment would skyrocket and my entire city would come crashing down.
Did anyone ever play Stronghold 2?
It wasn't very good, buggy and lagged like anything on my old laptop, but I do remember it having a fun economic side, and building the castles was quite fun too. Anything else that's quite like this around?
Did anyone play SimTown? The game was aimed at kids, like in elementary school. I played it when I was like 14 I think. I didn't care as a teenager that was a kids game, it was fucking awesome.
Also, does Majesty count? You kinda build a little town, a little bit, maybe?
I totally played the shit out of that back in the day.
That and that Magic Schoolbus game where you go inside the kids body. Yeaah. Memories.
I had Outpost back in the day. It was a terrible game that was both buggy and broken.
I also had a game before that, that was a SimCity style game where you tried to establish a colony on the moon. Anyone know which one that was? I remember failing repeatedly because I could never find water. I wonder if it was a joke the developers played on the buyers: there was no water on the moon, so you were doomed to fail.
e: It was Moonbase, which later became Lunar Command.
CASTLES 2!
Man that was one demo that inexplicably appeared on my computer one day when I was just a wee boy.. I think my dad borrowed it from a friend at work or something. Never got anywhere in that freakin game, but building castles was totally sick. I don't think I ever even successfully conquered shit in that game, since I had no idea whatsoever about how to play it.
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Let us never speak that name again.
There is a very specific reason why I didn't even so much as mention that game in this thread.
Tropico on the other hand I thought about, but have never played it so I'm afraid I don;t know shit about it. If someone cares enough to write a blurb about it I'll throw it in the OP.
I used to play it on my Radeon X800 all the time. And my 9700. Maybe the newer drivers have killed it?
48x0 series has the game run like dried up shit on a bad strech of summer baked highway.
I can't get it to work on an i7 processor/GTX260, either. I set it to only one processor affinity, but it still crashes after a few minutes. Dear studio-formerly-known-as-Maxis: I'll pay 40 bucks for an updated version that supports multi-core processors and doesn't crash constantly.
Well, that's good to hear. I had no idea there was a beta going, which I had gotten on that.
Caesar IV came after Emperor and is a very worthy addition to the series. If you jump straight from Caesar III to IV is seems way different but IV is really just an iteration on the systems in Emperor put back in a Roman setting (with no bullshit Feng Shui, thank Zeus).
I think there is a huge difference in gameplay between Emperor and Zeus: the function of nobles and how you maintain a military. In Zeus the purpose of noble housing is to provide your army. The nobles are the hoplites and cavalry. Emperor uses the same system as Caesar and Pharoah in that they just have more demands and provide cash revenue. Soldiers are maintained in theor own Fort buildings.
Also the OP should add Children of the Nile. While at first glance it seems very much like Pharoah in practice it is a very different system and a different way of approaching city building. I am not sure which I like better but Children of the Nile is definetly worth a look
Also seconding the wish for a SimCity 4 that doesn't run like ass on modern computers.
Oh really? I was under the impression that Caesar 4 was more Children of the Nile-ish so I hadn't really paid much attention to it. Or is it a hybrid of the two?
I actually really liked Zeus and Poseidon, but felt that the block designs and industries were a bit too simplistic.
I wish some of these games would get put up on Steam or another DD service, especially afterlife and startopia, which I missed completely but would really like to play.
Also did anyone else have this weird ocd thing while playing that ends up with massive swathes of your city taken up with warehouses?
"Hmm, I seem to be producing way more flax and pottery than I need. Perhaps I should turn off some of those industries for a while... NO! I'LL JUST BUILD 8 MORE WAREHOUSES!"
Caesar IV is 100% Sierra City Building series. Didn't really notice any Children of the Nile influences. It is a lot different from Caesar III of course but is no more different from Emperor than that is from Zeus or that was from Pharoah (that was the big change in my mind - no more walkers to find available labor)
Startopia is an excellent game. The available missions are far too few for how awesome they are. I've probably played all the way though at least 3 times.
The downside of Pharoah was the culture requirements needed way more entertainment buildings (all of which had to be on intersections) than your people could use. Later missions I would have these ghettos way out in the desert with nothing but jugglers stands.
Warehouses, graineries, anything that I could to hold excess.
Also, does Majesty count? You kinda build a little town, a little bit, maybe?
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edit : just found it on steam, guess that settles it. might have to get that one on pay day.
Just because it's on Steam doesn't mean it will work in Vista. Or even that fucking Valve will warn you it doesn't work. See: Railroad Tycoon 3.
Yep, it does. I've been playing it for the last few days on Vista.
Back to the impressions games though, do Zeus and Middle Kingdom have really long build times for super projects like Pharoh did? One of the things I really loved about Pharoh was that it took years to build pyramids and stuff, really gave the impression you had accomplished something.
Zeus has a lot more military levels (a byproduct of it just having a much better military system that the others). There are quite a few building levels comparable to Pharaoh in Emperor. But not as many in either case.
Only played a bit of it, but so far it seems to be Tropico++, which is a-ok with me.
Edit: Seriously, it's quite good, everyone should download it.
It wasn't very good, buggy and lagged like anything on my old laptop, but I do remember it having a fun economic side, and building the castles was quite fun too. Anything else that's quite like this around?
And thanks for letting us know about Tropic3, I'll give that a shot.
I totally played the shit out of that back in the day.
That and that Magic Schoolbus game where you go inside the kids body. Yeaah. Memories.
I also had a game before that, that was a SimCity style game where you tried to establish a colony on the moon. Anyone know which one that was? I remember failing repeatedly because I could never find water. I wonder if it was a joke the developers played on the buyers: there was no water on the moon, so you were doomed to fail.
e: It was Moonbase, which later became Lunar Command.
Man that was one demo that inexplicably appeared on my computer one day when I was just a wee boy.. I think my dad borrowed it from a friend at work or something. Never got anywhere in that freakin game, but building castles was totally sick. I don't think I ever even successfully conquered shit in that game, since I had no idea whatsoever about how to play it.