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games like anno 1404,settlers 2-

Edwin

Scholar
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
395
Location
Athkatla
4,Caesars,Pharaoh.I just finished the campaign part of anno 1404 and I realised that these city/economy/civilization building strategy games are fun.I am looking for something similar(if its complex enough like anno 1404,combat is not important),I hate civilzations and europa universalis.

I played lots of strategy games but I am sure that there is something good I missed(as I am mainly rpg/mmo player)
 

spectre

Arcane
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
5,382
There are a few other games in the Anno and Settler series, although I would avoid settlers 3 to 5.
For the Ceasar series, you may have missed Zeus.

I definitely recommend that you tryKnights and Merchants.

Stronghold series is also kinda good (1 and 2, number 3 in 3d should come out soon-ish). There is also Tropico with a nice humorous twist.

If you're into city building in general, you may try the obvious classic: Simcity 3000 and its purtier spiritual sequel Cities XL. Unfortunately, other games in the city sim genre are shite.

Transport Tycoon is a great game, but you cannot build cities directly. If you're into that, there are many other types of Tycoon-games out there. Mostly oldies, but the cartoony graphics aged pretty well.

Finally, there is also Immortal Cities Children of the Nile, like Pharaoh but with more complex citizen interactions. I heard mixed opinions about it, but it's there.
 

Satan

Educated
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
635
MetalCraze said:
Which Anno is the best (or least dumbed down seeing how this is Ubisoft)?

1404 (the newest) > 1602 (the oldest) > 1503 > 1701
 

spectre

Arcane
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
5,382
I've only played the first part on the Amiga. What makes the latter games so bad?

It went to shit with S3 - they fucked with the transportation and soldiers management and managed to break it. I only tried S4 for a bit and saw they didn't learn their lesson. Never bothered with the series past that. but, I heard number 6 and 7 are actually playable.

Post Settlers 2, they ditched the entire route management mechanics (an impotant part of the original 1- 2 gameplay) and started to put rts selements in the game. You could now control soldiers directly and had multiple soldier types, like in a poor man's Age of Empires.

Not saying that the original military mechanics didn't need a bit more oomph, because battles in S1 were REALLY random, but it didn't turn out well. Knights and Merchants were so much better at this.
 

Eyeball

Arcane
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
2,541
Tropico is great, actually. I prefer Tropico 1, mainly because Tropico 2 casts you as a pirate king instead of a banana republic dictator and 3 was just really, really easy.
 

Paperclip

Liturgist
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
417
Location
Argo-Class Dropship
Try "village" building sims from German devs like the Cultures and The Nations series. You have far more control over your individual villagers if you fancy to micromanage.
 

Renegen

Arcane
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
4,062
I would strongly recommend Tropico as the game is just more fun and alive than the average city builder. Tropico 3 was good, and Tropico 4 is out and only improves on 3 apparently, so get that.
 

Quilty

Magister
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
2,406
I hate the Anno games. Tried to get into them multiple times, but they just feel so lifeless to me despite the nice graphics. They feel so bland, devoid of charm, and most of the time play out the same. You always need to fulfill the citizens' needs in the same order, so I really don't see the huge replayability factor in the game. On the other hand, I've been playing Tropico since the year it was released, at least for multiple weeks every year. The economic and political balance can be very tricky to attain, and that's what keeps me coming to it: I can always find new ways to deal with issues and tackle each island in a slightly different way, depending on my citizens' needs, wishes, political agendas etc.

EDIT: I am referring to Tropico 1 because it can be as brutal as you like it, and I like my islands to be very difficult. The sequels are, IMO, either too easy or just flat out charmless, but definitely a good start for a beginner. I adore 2D, though, so that's another reason why Tropico 1 always wins in my book.
 

Quilty

Magister
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
2,406
Tropico 4 is way too easy in my opinion, just like 3. Tropico 2 is just goofy and simplistic, though it would be right up codex's alley since it features slavery. Tropico 1 is where it's at. Though it eventually starts to feel like you've seen everything the game has to offer after one or two islands, the joyous feeling of freshness that comes from the design, the music and the atmosphere ultimately overcomes the limited number of structures and edicts you can choose from.

The Patrician games do not exactly fit the formula of the games OP is looking for, but they're pretty engaging and can be pretty lengthy if you have the time and stamina to play all the way until you become Mayor and get a city of your own to manage.
 

Phelot

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
17,908
Medieval Lords is pretty fun for a little bit. It's basically that Cities XL game except... well, guess.

I got it because I was hoping for a game that would allow me to build and maintain a small village without having to grow into a massive metropolis in order to unlock stuff. Sadly, if you aren't growing and expanding then there isn't much point to playing. Even if you wait around too long, your citizens start to not pay you as much taxes if they don't upgrade... why?

Anyway, worth a try since I assume my complaints are probably a minority.
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
Patron
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
18,651
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Startopia. I liked it but it's not for everyone. Sort of a mix between the Anno series and Dungeon Keeper/Theme Hospital type gameplay, IN SPAAAAAACE. Some people are put off by the cartoony, light-hearted style and sci-fi in-jokes, I guess, but it's just a fun game to play and a great example of the long lost mythical art of "originality".

You build on space stations, shaped like donuts, where you take over segment by segment. There are 3 decks, the bottom is where the aliens live and produce things, ships dock and the resource stores, the middle is entertainment etc and the top (middle of the torus) is a biosphere used for growing plants and tourism. You balance your economy, happiness of your citizens (different for each alien species) and mission objectives which can be economic, military, social etc. Actually, I might play it again myself...
 

Lord Chambers

Erudite
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
Messages
1,018
Berekän said:
Anno 2070 launches the 17th of November :D
I've been looking for a place people are talking about the game. Anno fans seems to be the place, and it's pretty devoid of conversation at the moment.
 

made

Arcane
Joined
Dec 18, 2006
Messages
5,130
Location
Germany
Anno 2070
Last I checked there were hints that the SP experience would be compromised in favor of online-only features. That has curbed my enthusiasm somewhat.
 

Berekän

A life wasted
Patron
Joined
Sep 2, 2009
Messages
3,097
I don't know, from what I've read it seems that it's going to have the same options as Anno 1404, that's it, a 3 part campaign and the endless mode + challenges. You can read the interview from RPS here.
 

curry

Arcane
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
4,010
Location
Cooking in the lab
Tropic 4 was fucking boring. It's fun when you build your first real town but then it gets old real fast when you know what to build in the right order :decline:
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
2
Anno 1404 seemed fun.

Tried playing it for a while but ten quit. Mu biggest fucking gripe with it is the fact that you can only build 90 degrees roads... so everything looks like some sort of Renaissance Suburbia (TM)...

I mean come on.. can’t they at least do 45 degree angle streets or something? That really made me look the other way, so I did not have the chance to juggle with the underlying mechanics.
 

convivialist

Educated
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
52
That's because the Anno series are economic sims, not city builders. I tried to play one of them as a city-builder (because frankly I enjoy city-builders more than I do economic sims), and was dismayed when I finished the first chapter of the campaign and, when the new chapter started, the nice little village I had built with the houses all spread out in the woods was automatically reshaped into a tight little grid in the middle of town. Obviously they don't expect the player to care about the aesthetics of the city, the city-building aspect is just an afterthought.
 

Satan

Educated
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
635
don't play campaigns, just play continuous game, it's much more fun
 

gunman

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Jan 4, 2008
Messages
1,050
About Anno games, I have played them up to (including) 1701 and I'd say 1503 is the best overall : economy, battles, graphics. With 1701 they switched to the 3D environment, but I still prefer the 2D isometric landscape of 1503 and 1602.

In 1503 the battles are really tough and if your economy cannot sustain a large and up to date army the AI can wipe you from the map unexpectedly.
 

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