GAMES with ENDLESS gameplay like for example in The Sims series.

[laclongquan]

Railroad Tycoon, Transport Tycoon and the likes have endless gameplay. You just build throughout the age. RT also has the issue of train engine has age, and new engine going out all the time so you have to meddle with the existing trains all the time.

Startopia can have endless gameplay if you install the mod of endless missions, as in you have to solve the mission in the time required, and the mission generator is nonstop.

 

[unfairlight]

I would have mentioned Minecraft but someone already did it.
Arma is definitely one of those games because of how open ended it is and how it opens up even more once you start making your own campaigns and missions.
Racing games with a higher skill cap like Dirt Rally could also be considered that, because once you get good enough to beat the AI you start focusing on improving your own times and learning the tracks better, over and over again.
Garry's Mod is much like Arma and Minecraft too.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Arma is definitely one of those games because of how open ended it is and how it opens up even more once you start making your own campaigns and missions.

In addition to the types of games I specified in my previous post (i.e. sandbox, procedural generation to recreate the gameworld, procedural generation to create a single enormous gameworld), I suppose we could also add games with handcrafted content where fans have the capability to create new missions/adventures and have over the years have generated such a vast amount that it is effectively endless. This could perhaps include the Gold Box series via Unlimited Adventures, Heroes of Might & Magic III, the Thief series, and Arma, among others.

The quality of the fan-generated content can vary dramatically, though.

 

[Goliath]

Skyrim has infinite quests

And so does Fallout 4:

You can do these quests until you are ready to put the shotgun to your own head and pull the trigger.

Amazingly enough many people do. In every Fallout 4 thread people pop up talking about which perks are still relevant when the roads are full of level 200 Supermutant Warlords and Alpha Deathclaws because of level scaling.

I don't think Fallout 4 actually has a level cap. Again, the practical level cap is you realizing that suicide is the better option.

 

[DraQ]

Are there any very good games that have ENDLESS gameplay

Yes.

like for example in The Sims series?

No.

 

[moleman]

X-series. But avoid X4 (for now).

 

[HoboForEternity]

crusader kings 2

 

[Serus]

The game doesn't force you to finish it after this screen so those are technically speaking just the ending slides for the "main" quest not the whole game. The game continues if you choose so afaik. As to your comparison - in this case you can grind AFTER the final quest not only BEFORE.

Yeah, there is no practical difference between the two. If you freeze a game at certain stage, you can play it "endlessly". Especially in open world RPGs with random encounters/randomly generated quests. You will never experience any new content, but you can repeat the existing content ad infinitum. In that sense a game like Darklands that does not end at the end game screen and a game that has an ending are not different at all.

An autistic person that enjoys grinding the same content 1000+ hours will find equal "enjoyment" from both.

I think You are missing the point. The question was about games with "endless gameplay" "like Sims". Everything you said can apply to Sims as well, only autistic person would enjoy doing the same thing over and over again in this game. Granted, it's a shit content but it's there and it's technically providing "endless gameplay". I might agree that Darklands randomization is not that great which means there is little point to it but it's not like most CRPG games in that regard, where you only have pre-made quests and the game forces you to end it at some point. All you can do to prolong such game is at most grind some random encounters if they're in game. However that's not how Darklands work. Most content in Darklands is randomly generated in the first place (exceptions are a few major quests, the "main" one, some of the mines, the dragon and that's about it IIRC). So in short, you're incorrect, Darklands is different from most games that have ending. It was made as a mix of procedurally generated content with some pre-made one thrown in. Still, playing it "endlessly" doesn't make much sense. But then it usually doesn't, the only exceptions being games with very elaborate procedural generation and even then it gets old sooner or later.

 

[Haba]

Please do tell how the "procedurally generated" content in Darklands is different from the "procedurally generated combat encounters" in other RPGs. I'm not disputing the fact that it is well made and functions as an integral part of the game. But like the combat encounters, the pool of quests and random encounters it draws from IS limited.

Frontier: Elite II is an endless game. But no sane person plays it "endlessly".

In comparison, the Sims game world is simulated and can and will change permanently. Sims can even die.

My stance is that being able to endlessly repeat the same content (with or without minor variations) shouldn't be considered as "endless gameplay". Something with a living world that changes as you play would be closer to that. Dwarf Fortress is probably the only one that really approaches this.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Realms of Arkania HD.

 

[Serus]

Please do tell how the "procedurally generated" content in Darklands is different from the "procedurally generated combat encounters" in other RPGs. I'm not disputing the fact that it is well made and functions as an integral part of the game. But like the combat encounters, the pool of quests and random encounters it draws from IS limited.

Frontier: Elite II is an endless game. But no sane person plays it "endlessly".

In comparison, the Sims game world is simulated and can and will change permanently. Sims can even die.

My stance is that being able to endlessly repeat the same content (with or without minor variations) shouldn't be considered as "endless gameplay". Something with a living world that changes as you play would be closer to that. Dwarf Fortress is probably the only one that really approaches this.

You contradict yourself in your post. Playing Sims is repeating "the same content" just the same. And so is Frontier: Elite II. The only difference is how elaborate is the generation of procedural content. Why? Because there cannot be any REALLY "new" content that is endless or infinite in a game for obvious reasons. The only way to provide any "endless" content is procedural generation. Which Darklands has for not just random encounters but also for quests afaik which are endlessly procedurally generated (except for the ~5 unique ones).
In what Darklands is different from other CRPGs is that the randomized and procedural generation part goes deeper than only random combat encounters. It's a matter of scale. The game was supposed to be a "simulation" in a manner of speaking. It was made with that in mindset, unlike most other CRPGs. Granted this aspect is relatively weakly developed but the approach is there and it's different than most standard CRPGs are in that regard. You are mixing poorly done "endless gameplay" with lack of it or lack of design for it. I'm not arguing about quality here. I wouldn't propose Darklands for anyone looking for "endless gameplay" but that doesn't change the fact that elements of such design are present in that game. Unlike in most CRPGs.

That reminded me (because of "MicroProse" being the developer of both games): "Pirates!" (1980s version), a game made solely of procedurally generated content, 100%. It's not endless by design in the strict sense because your character eventually gets old and in theory is supposed to be forced to retire but IIRC there was a way to circumvent that by never disbanding your crew past certain point. Not much point doing so in the long run, but it's worth mentioning.

Edit:
Fagment from Darklands' manual to prove that the intent was clearly there on the part of developers (emphasis mine):

It is possible to continue adventuring almost
indefinitely. There are always new problems, new areas of
unrest, where one can earn fame and hone skills. Your
adventures could last years, if you have the stamina (...)

 

[Mustawd]

Seeing Haba put together coherent posts instead of drunk shitposting is unnerving.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Seeing Haba put together coherent posts instead of drunk shitposting is unnerving.

Nah, all his posts are coherent.

 

[Mustawd]

Seeing Haba put together coherent posts instead of drunk shitposting is unnerving.

Nah, all his posts are coherent.

Maybe I waa the one who was drunk while reading then....

 

[Scruffy]

does patrician 3 count?

 

[laclongquan]

Patrician 3 and Port Royale 2. Yeah, it has endless gameplay.

Building up one city is gigantuan task. Building ALL cities is the effort of autism. Which one P3 player, a Turk tour guide if I remember, tried to do back in the day.