Not what I expected

[Lucius Caesar]

I realize I am to blame for not doing any research, but I decided for that price, I'll just buy it based on the main page description for it. (building a world while having to cater to the needs of people with free will while not letting them kill eachother? sounds awesome!)

I really tried to enjoy the game and give it a fair chance, but i just can't help but feel bored. I can't shake the feeling that I'm playing a turn based strategy game, only I'm playing both sides and aiming for a stalemate... which isn't exactly the most fun part of any startegy game...

I'm not saying the game is terrible, but definetly make sure you know what you are getting into, this is not the next Populous, Black and White ect... (again, I admit it's not trying or pretending to be, but it's easy to assume as much if you don't do any research as I didnt)

[Misery]

Note, that you have to actually play into it far enough for things to start happening. In the early turns, particularly on easier difficulty levels, not much is going to happen. On Medium or Hard or higher, things get.... interesting. Particularly if the "woe" difficulty is also set to hard or higher.

The idea isnt JUST the two sides against each other.... that would be fairly easy. The challenge comes from having to keep both sides alive and fighting.... while the game throws random stuff at you. Some of which can be devastating. And the tools you have to use can and will solve problems while at the same time creating new imbalances.

That's the basic idea behind the game.... it was never meant to be something like Populous (which is typically your guys VS the computer guys). I know it's listed as a "god game", but.... that one's a vague label, honestly. Heck, Populous and Black & White play absolutely nothing like each other yet are both listed as such.

[profane]

Is there any populous "clone" with modern graphics out ? Damn i would play that.

[Drakeer]

There is one populous "clone" in the making: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/22cans/project-godus

[BE4R]

Yeah I got incredibly bored also OP. It was really neat for the first 20 minutes. But the music first was just annoying and that had to be shut off. And the "animations" also got rather bland after a while. I expected to see a bit more work and detail in the game which is my own fault for not checking out. I found myself just skipping combat phases and and build phases just to watch what would happen. I mean.. it's 4$ so i'm not sure what we expected lol.
The game just needs some actual work put into it :P

[Misery]

Originally posted by Bear:

Yeah I got incredibly bored also OP. It was really neat for the first 20 minutes. But the music first was just annoying and that had to be shut off. And the "animations" also got rather bland after a while. I expected to see a bit more work and detail in the game which is my own fault for not checking out. I found myself just skipping combat phases and and build phases just to watch what would happen. I mean.. it's 4$ so i'm not sure what we expected lol.
The game just needs some actual work put into it :P

Believe me, the game had alot of work put into it.

But it's NOT designed to be a game that focuses heavily on things like graphics. Alot of the core audience for this type of game actually tends to turn OFF things like animation and special effects, because they tend to take forever in some games and dont provide any actual functionality; they're just shiny, and as such are unimportant to most players.

If you're the type of player that needs high production values and animations and lightning bolts going off everywhere.... then yeah, this isnt the game for you. Had the devs focused on that, the actual gameplay would have suffered (which is the case with MANY games that focus on that... it's why I stick with indie titles myself).


As for the music.... frankly, I'm baffled that anyone could dislike the music in this game.

[caeldan]

I'll say from the description on the main page - I almost thought this was a Populous style game, just with trying to keep two civilizations alive simultaneously... I haven't bought it yet, and since the replies under seem to concede the OPs point - sounds like one to pass on for now if that's what you're looking for?

[dirkdjently]

I don't agree with the OP at all. I really like this game. It is slow in the beginning, but once things start moving, it gets incredibly difficult. The entire idea of having 2 sides that are trying to kill each other BUT must be kept in balance is not only unique, it's very hard once the game starts throwing random things like frost giants and bandit strongholds into the mix. I barely survived my first game, didn't survive my second game past 20 minutes, and am not sure what the heck is gonna happen with my newest game. The problem with this game, if it can be called a problem, is that the concept is unique enough that you're not going to grasp the depth and strategy available to the player without investing some time into it. It SEEMS like a simple game that doesn't have much to offer, but that's only shows on the surface. Underneath is the rest of the iceberg, if you will.

[Misery]

Originally posted by OobleckTheGreen:

I don't agree with the OP at all. I really like this game. It is slow in the beginning, but once things start moving, it gets incredibly difficult. The entire idea of having 2 sides that are trying to kill each other BUT must be kept in balance is not only unique, it's very hard once the game starts throwing random things like frost giants and bandit strongholds into the mix. I barely survived my first game, didn't survive my second game past 20 minutes, and am not sure what the heck is gonna happen with my newest game. The problem with this game, if it can be called a problem, is that the concept is unique enough that you're not going to grasp the depth and strategy available to the player without investing some time into it. It SEEMS like a simple game that doesn't have much to offer, but that's only shows on the surface. Underneath is the rest of the iceberg, if you will.

Yep. I think it's pretty easy with this one for players to get the wrong idea of just what it's like as well as all of the options available to the player, and more importantly, the many ways in which you can use them.

Doesnt help that the tutorial and the lower difficulties are so slow paced. Play on Hard, and the chaos sets in very quickly. Medium is a bit more of a moderate pace, and easy is downright slow.

[Lucius Caesar]

Originally posted by OobleckTheGreen:

I don't agree with the OP at all. I really like this game. It is slow in the beginning, but once things start moving, it gets incredibly difficult. The entire idea of having 2 sides that are trying to kill each other BUT must be kept in balance is not only unique, it's very hard once the game starts throwing random things like frost giants and bandit strongholds into the mix. I barely survived my first game, didn't survive my second game past 20 minutes, and am not sure what the heck is gonna happen with my newest game. The problem with this game, if it can be called a problem, is that the concept is unique enough that you're not going to grasp the depth and strategy available to the player without investing some time into it. It SEEMS like a simple game that doesn't have much to offer, but that's only shows on the surface. Underneath is the rest of the iceberg, if you will.

I'm not saying it's a bad game or overly simple one, just that I'd jumped to the wrong conclusion based on the limited information given on the store page. I take full responsibility for not doing any research on the item and have no issues with the game itself or the developer. I however, did not enjoy the game, as it simply is not what I wanted when I bought it.

[theren]

Well, it was exactly what i thought it was gonna be and i had my information tzoo only from the store page and the video on it... But it could be quite misleading if you want to believe its something like the games youve mentioned.

[Arson]

Originally posted by theren:

Well, it was exactly what i thought it was gonna be and i had my information tzoo only from the store page and the video on it... But it could be quite misleading if you want to believe its something like the games youve mentioned.

OP isn't saying he was misled. In fact, he has said more than once that he takes full responsibility for not knowing enough of the game to understand what he was getting into.

It's pretty clear to me that he's having just a bit of buyer's remorse and has decided to vent it here. Pat the poor guy on the back, and let him on his way. He didn't come here to wreck the game. No need to let loose the dogs on the guy.

[Kiama]

Originally posted by theren:

Well, it was exactly what i thought it was gonna be and i had my information tzoo only from the store page and the video on it... But it could be quite misleading if you want to believe its something like the games youve mentioned.

This game was exactly what I was expecting too and I knew immediately that I would be crazy about it. And obviously the music is incredible. I actually love the graphics too for how much effort was put into them and feel that the kind of people who would enjoy this game don't care about 3D or animations to the extent that they would want more effort put into that at the expense of gameplay. It also means that it plays well on terrible laptops.

[Lucius Caesar]

Originally posted by Arson:

Originally posted by theren:

Well, it was exactly what i thought it was gonna be and i had my information tzoo only from the store page and the video on it... But it could be quite misleading if you want to believe its something like the games youve mentioned.

OP isn't saying he was misled. In fact, he has said more than once that he takes full responsibility for not knowing enough of the game to understand what he was getting into.

It's pretty clear to me that he's having just a bit of buyer's remorse and has decided to vent it here. Pat the poor guy on the back, and let him on his way. He didn't come here to wreck the game. No need to let loose the dogs on the guy.

hehe, pretty much got me down to a T