This vs foundation

[7thgalaxy]

I’d quite like to know how this stacks up against foundation, which I’ve already got and enjoyed. Both gridless medieval city builders. Obviously foundation looks a bit more cartoonish, and there is currently no combat side. I enjoy the large monuments part of foundation, currently just churches and monasteries but soon to be castles too. The religious part of medieval life is well represented- is that going to be the case in lords of the manor? Will castles be present? Is it different/better enough to make another investment in medieval city building worthwhile?

[Ragman205]

Check out Ostriv! It's an incredibly chill & beautiful city builder!

[DemonicSquid]

Foundation has been out for a few years now, and is a really fun, chilled game. It does have combat, just not in the way ML has it.

ML has a fantastic foundation (sic) for a future game, but it is not as polished yet, and is missing features, although it is a great game already with vast potential.

You're asking about a game that has just entered early access, with one that has been out for a while and had lots of development and improvement. It's not a fair question really.

[Scaristotle]

Manor Lords is honestly a bit more fleshed out than Foundation was at EA release. The combat is better, if a bit limited at the moment.
ML has Manors, which serve as mini castles, you can build out the walls and towers, as well as a few minor structures. The big difference, to me, is the way houses upgrade. In ML, houses can be upgraded to contain specialized businesses, such as blacksmiths and brewers. This is actually a fairly cool twist on the city building genre, as usually residential is just residential.
Of course, ML has combat somewhat similar to the TW series. but it really isn't the focus of the game.
In my opinion Manor Lords is the superior title, not only because of combat, but the direction the game is taking with its city building elements is (imo) more interesting than foundation. Of course, the realistic graphics are a plus.

Also yes, Churches are a thing in ML, they are upgradable and a tithe can be set through the Manors. There are also Shrines, but they are just cosmetic, for now.

[Nekho]

I LOVE FOUNDATION omg

but for me Manor Lords is like Foundation on steroids!! and i love them both oh yeah

[AdvancedFollower]

Both are great games. Foundation feels a bit more polished and fleshed out at this stage. I think 1.0 is supposed to release fairly soon so that's expected.

Manor Lords feels a bit more gritty and it's probably going to be a harder, less chill game overall. At least that's the direction it feels like it's going, though some things are a bit unbalanced at the moment so that might change. I'm currently playing on the easiest mode while I learn the mechanics and wait for a few things to get more balanced.

Both games do feel very similar, though. You can apply many things from Foundation directly in Manor Lords and it will work almost the same.

[7thgalaxy]

Originally posted by DemonicSquid:

Foundation has been out for a few years now, and is a really fun, chilled game. It does have combat, just not in the way ML has it.

ML has a fantastic foundation (sic) for a future game, but it is not as polished yet, and is missing features, although it is a great game already with vast potential.

You're asking about a game that has just entered early access, with one that has been out for a while and had lots of development and improvement. It's not a fair question really.

I'm not trying to be unfair, but I don't want to buy a clone of a game I already have: in order to be worth investing I'd like to know if it will scratch the same or a different itch once development has been finished. If the same, why would I buy this when I could buy something else?

They look like similar ideas, and I like the dual use buildings - the idea of home and work being separate like in foundation is an obvious anachronism. On the other hand, I like foundations simulation of religious life - I am religious and it's nice to see an attempt to explore that, and buildings like monasteries were a big part of the landscape. The creativity of the monument system and the ability to build unique buildings easily is a big pull. So will Manor Lords have that sort of thing too, and do it better/different?

[7thgalaxy]

Originally posted by Butcher:

Originally posted by 7thgalaxy:

Will castles be present?

Castles are already present
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3233452034
Manor building is base, you build towers and walls around it. Towers can host up to 10 archers.

I see a bailey but no motte - will there be ground editing?

[ShepherdOfCats]

It's personal taste, but Foundation is a little cartoony for my liking. Gameplay is fine and I love the building system but yeah, bug-eyed midget townspeople waddling around. Eh, just not my thing.

[Doc_Hotpants]

Originally posted by Ragman205:

Check out Ostriv! It's an incredibly chill & beautiful city builder!

I disagree.

[webdesign]

Foundation is in my view more like The Settlers, while Manor Lords is more like Ostriv - you can build Houses as large as you want (limited in Ostriv) and they have not a grid or a defined size. Ostriv is complete peaceful but start and city building is closer to Manor Lords, although the time (18. century) is a different one.

[Hucks]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1044720/Farthest_Frontier/

[Coffee]

This is a good base, but I'm hoping more building variety down the line. They probably will. Though the map seems kinda on the small side to me, but it is the alpha map.

I remember Ostriv early on barely had any variety. Song of Syx was extremely basic. And they both grew into amazing games.

[Doc_Hotpants]

Originally posted by Hucks:

Farthest Frontier is what hooked me.

Out of the three, I most prefer Farthest Frontier as well.

The big (negative-ish) issues in ML for me are:
- regions which you have to build up individually instead of expanding your existing town into them. This is not only awkward but unrealistic, considering how close they are
- Resources. I find it incredibly annoying that there are four or five resource splotches on ML maps' regions, and that's that. One berry bush? Really? Animals exist in just one tiny spot in a huge forest?
- Lack of control over market stall placement. As it is, they are haphazard and unpredictable. Some farms have three stalls, some just one -- why?
- No middle ground between having to conquer regions over AI when you do play with military and maybe just defending your town (but then I don't enjoy warfare all that much, which is why this is solved best in Foundation IMO)

So, in conclusion, the perfect city builder doesn't exist, but most offer hours of fun for the price of a movie theater visit.