Passed the hardcore portion - took a bit of experimentation. Lost just ~100 units killing 8,000+.

PLAYING SUGGESTIONS:
1. AI is pretty weak, if you've played Homeworld before you can do that to most of the mobs.
Think of the mobs as zerglings, don't get surrounded. just kite - u'll be ok ^^
2. You can also use the special power that drops 5 melee guys to divert incoming waves if you're not ready yet. just lead the wave away from your base.
3. Utilize SPACEBAR or pause as much as possible ^^
4. berries come back, so you can rotate your gatherers
5. when there is an incoming wave, save AS SOON AS SUNRISE of the DAY BEFORE (just before the timer comes out) - if the starting point of wave is hard to defend, just reload your save file. (no need to thank me - i don't like it much tho but can save you a lot in endless mode)

The challenge really is just the sheer number of mobs, beyond that, the city building is ok - not much you can do here though.

SOME ASKS FOR THE DEVELOPERS:
1. i'd like a multiplayer mode with like 3-4 people
2. "guard" feature for units of follow
3. public highscore table per difficulty
4. management feature for where builders are - they sometimes stop building
5. a mode where there is a randomized labyrinth I need to pass with very limited people that I can just upgrade
6. make melee or any warriors be able to help out with gathering trees or fishing/berries.. they should at least be able to do that much
7. obelisk power that makes you have like stimpacks
8. automated market
9. since there's not much magic, maybe just get some oil based fire or something for archers.. maybe poison tipped weapons? you can give poison to the royalty and fire/oil to the people so that you can have separate experience for each track.
10. moats? if that's not possible, maybe some trenches? walls are too bland
11. traps or possibly oil or rocks from the walls
12. burning the forest, or fire damage to buildings and war machines
13. let me put dead bodies in front of the waves so i get them sick - lol (yes i want this so bad)

will add more if i think of any.

This was a tough game. I had to play it on the easiest difficulty, and still it felt like hard mode. Several of the missions I had to repeat multiple times, with each attempt learning more and getting better. Reloading saves was necessary at times, and on certain scenarios I would realize by mid/late game I was in an untenable situation and would reluctantly have to restart and play more optimal. Time in always against you in this game, you can't be slow and have everything perfect in your town. On one particular mission I thought to myself after trying if half a dozen times that they simply made the mission too difficult and it was not going to be possible to win it. This game is very good. It has a addictive element that had me thinking about how I could improve when I wasn't playing. I would take a half a day break, abandoning the mission in disgust, thinking it is impossible, only to ruminate on it and try again later and ultimately beat the mission.

castle broke before my spearmen did

I will recommend this game with the caveat that I absolutely abhor and loathe a specific gameplay feature...

---------Cemeteries-----------
Problem: This is one of the most rage fueling features of this game, not because it exists, but because of HOW it exists. You have to have cemeteries for any large settlement so that gravekeepers can collect the bodies of the dead around your settlement. What you may not realize is, if even a fly touches your cemetery every single body that you buried there becomes a zombie that then destroys everything around it. If you are like me with a large settlement, that could be 200+ zombies animated instantly in the heart of your settlement. The idea I have to keep a tower with archers erected near every cemetery is not only an aesthetic nightmare, it is a complete APM trench that makes trying to get caught back up feel pointless and frustrating as you are being pummeled by constant waves of enemies. I do not believe you should be punished for doing the 'right' thing with the cemetery feature.

Possible Solutions:
1. Give the cemeteries more base HP or allow them to be upgraded to include cemetery walls/fencing that gives them more base HP. They are far too soft as is.
2. Make gravekeepers able to repair and/or protect cemeteries.
3. Once they are buried, they can no longer be zombified. (Sanctified Burial) Or zombies become controllable by the player and can be used as fodder. (Necromancy) This would reward the player for being diligent about burials, instead of punishing them for it.

As it currently is, you may as well just ignore dead bodies and not build a cemetery and let archers clean up random zombies rather than collecting them all in a cemetery to then be gathered as a group and weaponized against the player later. They are far more dangerous gathered together en mass than as small zombie groups roaming your settlement. Instead of punishment for using the intended buildings for their intended purposes, I believe some of the solutions I have offered would make the game feel much more rewarding for doing things right and still just as punishing for doing them wrong.

This is a great game with Age of Empires and They Are Billions vibes. I would love to see this game grow and expand to a larger audience, so I hope the feedback I have offered will help get it there! Cheers!

Even if diplomacy was an option, I’d still choose violence every time.


🟩 Pros:

+ Unique research & spells
+ Fast forward and pause options
+ Multiple game modes (campaign, challenges, endless & sandbox)
+ Customisable working radius & statistics panel showing building output provide simple yet focused economy management
+ QOL such as attack move, automated market, building priority, control groups, displaying units through obstacles, health bars when damaged

🟥 Cons:

- Little depth
- Weak, easily exploitable AI
- Why does the market require two clicks to open?

🏷️ Suggestions:

~ Co-op & Multiplayer
~ Options for more waves for a faster pace of play
~ Workshop content to increase longevity (look at Company of Heroes 2)
~ An expanded and voiced tutorial, adding explanations on how to upgrade buildings (e.g. Town Hall II)


More a city builder with tower defence elements than a traditional real time strategy (RTS) game, Diplomacy is Not an Option (DNO) is a turtlers paradise. Focusing on wave survival opposed to build orders and economy management, it plays like a simplified RTS - Dare I say ‘RTS for dummies’? It’s a perfect introduction to the genre and an ideal game for fans and first timers.

While unlikely to have the same longevity of Age of Empires 2, it provides enough variety to keep you entertained for hours without being overburdening like many other RTS games. I loved designing my city, its defences, and how easy it all was to understand, without the stress of juggling my villagers and economy. What I didn’t enjoy was how weak the AI was, how easy it was to manipulate, and how simplistic battles felt - They were large, but there wasn't much to them.

Ultimately, DNO is a fun RTS ‘lite’, introducing all the elements of the genre without the complexity or depth found in other titles. With a longer campaign (coming in 1.0), co-op, and workshop content, my enjoyment and the replayability of the game will increase. For now, I suggest waiting for a sale (or even 1.0), or using it as a stepping stone before moving on to more involved RTS games.

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Diplomacy Is Not an Option is not the game for me.

There’s a lot I love here – the combat is satisfying, the strategy is engaging, and the base building is genuinely enjoyable. However, the difficulty is on another level, and for me, it crosses the line into being deeply frustrating.

Even playing on Easy, I’ve sunk countless hours into a single map, constantly reloading after failures, only to eventually hit a point where it’s clear I cannot possibly win. There’s no recovery – if you didn’t build fast enough at the start, you’ve effectively lost, even if it takes you hours to realise it.

Some players will enjoy sinking time into mastering every aspect of this challenge. But personally, I found it too unforgiving and ultimately discouraging. Yes, I am salty – but I wanted to provide an honest review so you know what you’re getting into.

Ever enjoyed turtling up in age of empires or command and conquer, and watch coldly from your throne in cathartic megalomania as endless legions of the pathetic vermin that once dared oppose you now crashes in impotent violence against the cold, merciless might of your carefully crafted dominions, protected by the most talented artisans in the art of bloodshed and slaughter?

No? just me?..... Aaaaanyway, it seems to me that the devs are going for something like that, and did pretty good at it too, so far. It's quite similar to the games i mentioned earlier but without the clutter and micromanaging of having to balance several diferent factions, tech trees and the like. There's still some of that, enought to make a difference but not that time consuming or annoying. There's also several attacking factions with different aspects to them to keep in mind when defending, etc.

All in all, an excellent primary gamplay loop with a lot of versatility but without much depth, and cathartic action that even at its most complacent moments manages to keep you engaged and on your toes. The only real con is that there's not that much variety in general and a few qualities of life improvement can be seen missing here and there, but hey, that's what early access is for. Bottom line: having a lot of fun with it and looking foward to see what the devs cook up for the next update. Also, it's ok if it isn't for you.

Pros:
+Humorous campaign cut scenes
+Diverse enemy types
+Content that has been released is highly polished
+Significant depth in city and defense planning
+High Quality voice acting
+Multiple game modes to keep you engaged

Cons:
-Game is not finished yet
-Not a significant need to use melee troops when towers and archers are easier to keep alive
-Updates come out slowly
-Only 2 playable missions in campaign
-Lack of variety to units in each enemy type
-No research queue

Personal Opinion:
Diplomacy is Not an Option (DNO) offers thrilling real time strategy that also happens to be a tower defense and city management game. The more I learn about the game the more I want to play. It can be easy to overlook the complexity and depth of city and defense layout, but it all starts by realizing how building storage next to production increases the rate of materials harvested, and how water fountains increase the population of nearby houses, or how builder houses need to be dispersed throughout the city in order to reduce the time it takes a builder to get to a construction site, and so on. There are quite a few different enemy types like undead, peasants, royal army, but there are not a large variety of units in each type, hopefully more will be added in the future. Campaign cut scenes are very amusing and I found myself looking forward to each one, which made learning the campaign isn't complete all that much more disappointing. As it currently is DNO is a great little game, and with more features to be added it should be worth looking forward to what comes next!

It's like Age of Empires, but you aren't playing against another player. Instead you defend your city against waves of enemies, usually while having some other objective that requires you to move troops across the map (eg. fight a boss).

I will still give this a recommend because the game IS fun and there's a sandbox mode outside of the campaign. The campaign itself is quite nice design-wise. It has branching storylines offering replay-ability with different endings.

But be warned it is VERY difficult. This is my one real critique with the game and im sure plenty of negative reviews are because of this very point. The easiest difficulty of the game is already unbeatable for like 98% of the playerbase and this is shown through the global achievement percentages. I don't understand why the "walk in the park" difficulty is scaled to be still so difficult and there are even 4 difficulty tiers above that. To beat this game you will have to:

• Micromanage your resources the entire game. If you miss some timings you will lose out big time.
  
• Be very mindful about where you build all your buildings
  
• Micromanage your troops
  
• Sometimes even need to re-roll your map so that you get optimal resource node or base position spawns

It just shouldn't be like this on the easiest difficulty and it's not a hard fix either. Simply just increase the number days before waves hit on lower difficulties.

This game just runs too fast. I think I would really enjoy it if you weren't under such constant, intense time pressure. I'm kind of old now, and I don't think that fast, and even the easiest mode doesn't seem to slow things down at all. I can never finish getting things built before getting overwhelmed by enemies.

The easiest difficulty mode in *any* game should be Baby's First RTS, set so easy that the dev thinks it's dumb. But here, it just reduces the number of units that come at you, instead of slowing them down. So if you aren't skilled enough to build very, very quickly, you're going to lose.

Please, let old people enjoy games, too.