I am not sure what I am looking for exactly. Well, I want something like Battles of Norghan, which I have been playing off and on again for the last several weeks. Draft fantasy characters for your team and battle up through 8 Divisions to win top honors. All the while, you upgrade equipment, level skills and build your squad. I am digging it all over again, crazy UI, simple graphics, and all.
However, I would also like any sort of fantasy simulator. Stronghold was close, but the combat was weak. Majesty was great, but the sequel is forever away. Fantasy Wars and King’s Bounty have helped with the TBS fix, but I want something a little more management-y/simulation-y. Something like the AD series (1503, 1602, 1704…or whatever the numbers are), but in a fantasy setting. Or maybe, fantasy The Guild.
I know Stormcloud Creations made A gladiator simulator, Coliseum, but it I did not really dig that and he is merging with some other indie company now.
Maybe what I want now is a game like Hinterland (which I think we all know I am having a child with in a few more months), but with the fleshed out town management. (Again, HL was great and I do not fault TM for not fleshing that out. I do not think that was their goal.)
I am pretty sure I have scoured the internet and come up empty. Thought I would take one last stab here in the hopes that some indie title had slipped past me. I think I am really asking for two different types of games, but am hoping for one in either category. Chances are you will all fail me, but in that case, we can reminisce over some of the titles that are in these niche genres and hold special nostalgic places for us.
Yeah, I think the problem is I have a very specific vision of what I would like to play, but zero skills or relation to the gaming industry in order to get it done. I would be happy to do accounting for free for someone that wants to develop it for me.
Really counting on Elemental to come through and fill a portion of this sucking void, but we just have to wait and see on that one don’t we?
Dwarf Fortress is similar to what I would like, but everytime I get away from it, it is quite the chore to get back into. There is almost too much going on for my limited brain power and time availability to undertake.
Unless you are averse to consoles or portables, Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea might fit the bill. They pretty much revolve around turn based tactical combat and squad building.
Ya know what I would settle for…copies of one of the first couple of Settlers games (even the 10th anniversary of S2, which never made it to the US) or one of the Cultures/Northland titles, which I cannot find anywhere. Someone put those on Impulse or GoG or Somewheres.
I also can’t think from the top of my head of anything for PC that you haven’t named yet. Have you tried King of the Dragon Path? (it is an awesome fantasy tribe management game. It is TBS but no tactical combat) However there are few games that might fit your bill on consoles if you would be willing to go there.
Game called Gladius (PS2/XBOX) is one example. It is a fantasy gladiator managment simulator/tactical TBS game. The whole bunch of team management SRPGs is another option. (For example I am playing FFT:War of Lions (PSP game, playing it on HDTV) at this moment and having a blast. I am going to try older game “Tactics Ogre” after that, which is supposed to be superior to FFT in many areas, based upon reviews I’ve seen )
It’s super ancient but the old “Sword of Aragon” game might fit the bill somewhat.
You really might want to try pulling down XNA Express sometime and giving your hand at building a simple game to build what’s in your head. Programming isn’t rocket science, it’s just a skill like anything else and the best way to learn is by trying it out.
I do have each of those titles. FFT was one of my absolute favorite console titles of all time. I almost grabbed it for my PSP today. Disagea was just too JRPG-y for me.
What I want is a title like that with some Dark CLoud-esque town building management maybe. Ya know, the original PSOne Suikoden had some cool character management. Then the sequels with the cut scenes, cinematics, and story swooped in and screwed up teh fun.
KoDP: I tried to find my KoDP copy when Kalle did the AAR, but my wife must have done ate it.
Gladius: I have Gladius, great fun, but the linearity made it get tedious before I think I had rung all the fun out of it. THat is a good one. May need to fire that up again.
Ogre Battle: Wasn’t there an SNES Ogre Battle, played the hell outta that.
Sword of Aragon: Check. WIll look for that one.
XNA Express: I have never thought of even attempting such a thing. My only hobby right now seems to be searching for games I want to play and drinking to much while seeing local bands. Neither are really giving me any long term satisfaction. Thanks for the Suggestion Xemu.
DO any of these posts make it seem as if I am describing a moving target?
KInda weird that they have not done that, but magic throws stuff all outta whack.
ALright, I am going to bed. The entire Qt3 population has approx. 8 hours to come up with 3 good suggestions each.
EDIT: Downloading XNA Express. Very intimidated and just the tiniest bit excited. Forecast: 10% chance of success. 90% chance of severe thunderstorms with strong winds and frequent cloud to ground lightning.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms X (PS2) - Not precisely fantasy, though there is some magic involved, but definitely a RPG/city/kingdom simulator with heroes, battles, equippable items and alot more.
King of Dragon Pass (PC) - Man up and buy a new copy. A-Sharp deserves the cash.
Majesty (PC) - It wasn’t my cup of tea but plenty of folks here really loved it.
Yes, I need to break down and re-buy. I am sooo cheap, I know that thing has to be here somewhere.
Totally forgot about RotTK. I think I last played those on my NES and SNES. Never pulled the trigger after that as I kept having flashbacks of incessant Rice management.
EDIT:Oooh, I remember another one I can prolly find online for cheap that is not really but sorta kinda what I am looking for and I only played the demo…Diggles.
Damn, what is all this Visual C# stuff I have to DL to go with XNA. I need sleep and gotta work in the a.m.
EDIT II: ANyone know if there is any management features to Empire of Magic?
Not sure if you have a Wii, but there was a game on WiiWare, called Final Fantasy: My Life as a King which had the whole town simulation thing going on (I hear it was like Majesty, but have not played either). There is also Dark Cloud or its sequel on PS2. In those games, you find in random dungeons, Zelda style, and find pieces of the town which let you rebuild it. Or, on the SNES, there’s Actraiser, which is like a combination city building sim and side scrolling action game (the sequel omits the city building part).
Cough, well Dwarven fortress surely fits the bill, if it had any gfx to speak of, I think a mod to it, adds some but still.
Imho, the best candidate to come, is the insanly fun Bloodbowl, if they make it properly turn based, online mayhem with ladders/cups the lot, it will be a riot.
If they however make it an rts, I will scream at them.
What about the city builder Master of Olympus - Zeus?
And the Anno series you mentioned has the numbers in the name always adding up to 9. So it is 1503, 1602, 1701, and 1404 is coming out sometime this year.
