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Looking for a good "city builder" type game

Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
382
Project: Eternity
Hey Hivemind,

I am looking for a good "city-builder" type game for my sig other.

I realise that I probably need look no further than the new SimCity, but I figure I'd ask for alternatives :troll:


I am looking for something with decent graphics and not too high on the difficulty. This is for someone who enjoyed watching the money go up and building a base on Warcraft III (single easy computer), but did not like the micro involved in sending the units into battle, but thought that sending a giant wall in to crush the foe was not too bad.

Any suggestions?

thanks
 

BlackAdderBG

Arcane
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Little Vienna
Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex USB, 2014 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Tropico 4-easy and funny
Cities XL-Simcity vibe
any Anno -great resource-production chains
All of them have good graphics and are somewhat easy.
More difficult is Caesar IV,but the missions are designed pretty one-dimensional.
 

KoolNoodles

Arcane
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Messages
3,545
Modern: Can't go wrong with Tropico 4, which has one of the best atmospheres you'll find in any builder and is a good game to boot. Also Anno 1404(2070 is basically the same, but FUTURE), really slow builder, not much of a challenge(as in it's really hard to lose), but nice to look at and fun to work out the system. Does trade nicely, and campaign is not too shabby.

Oldies: The Caesars, the Pharaohs, etc. etc. All pretty fun and challenging, though bugs and quirkiness might annoy you more than they are worth after a while. Some people like the Settlers games, probably okay too.
 

Mraston

Learned
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Messages
254
Dwarf Fortress (with a tile set).

Yeah, Dwarf Fortress is definitely one of the most engrossing game's I've ever played; once you get over the initial hurdles of working out what the hell to do.

Towns is decent riff on a Dwarf Fortress-like, not as much depth or craziness but some fun to be had none the less (plus it has a proper GUI).

Both of these are fantasy-world city builders though, and sit on the lower end of the production value's scale.
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
382
Project: Eternity
Sorry for the redundant thread. I was tired and did not feel like trying to search the forums for old threads :/

Thank you for the awesome suggestions. Tropico and Cities XL sound like winners.

I am looking for something with decent graphics and not too high on the difficulty. ....
Any suggestions?

Really, I write this and I get back dwarf fortress? I suppose I deserve it after not doing my homework by searching other threads or writing more.

While I enjoy DF, I don't think you can ever call it "decent graphics" with a straight face, and if I recommended it to my Sig Other, I would get a blank stare, followed by an "oh, you're serious" and then an awkward silence.
 

circ

Arcane
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
11,470
Location
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Rise of Nations. Yes it's a RTS, but you can make something resembling a city. Also not much micro either. Graphics aren't amazing maybe, looks fine to me.

Anno uuh 1640? Whatever the one before 2070 is. Massive cities, but gameplay is extremely repetitive and it's a micro nightmare. But hey. Horrible land based combat mechanics, simplistic naval combat but it works.

Civilization 2 or the free alternative, FreeCiv is it? Civ 4 with Dune mod, which I still haven't played uugh. Just threw that out there because everyone likes Dune.
 

Misconnected

Savant
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
587
Tropico 4.

It looks and sounds fantastic.
It's piss easy.
It has plenty of depth.

Basically, it's exactly what you asked for.
 

:Flash:

Arcane
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
6,453
Settlers 2 10th anniversary edition
It is Settlers 2 (still the best builder by far) with updated 3d graphics.
 

20 Eyes

Liturgist
Joined
Nov 23, 2010
Messages
1,395
SimCity 4 still hasn't been beat as far as pure city-builders.

Tropico 4 is fun. Like others have said, the atmosphere is great. One thing I'd recommend is don't play with 'Modern Times' enabled. It gives access to some way overpowered buildings that solve all your challenges in the game almost instantly. It really takes away from the Caribbean dictator feel that the series is built on. Either way, the game lacks the staying power of SimCity.
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
Patron
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
18,646
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
1. Stop using faggot terms like "micro" when it's not meant as something very small. Surfers get their own lingo, not Strarcrap kids.

2. Try Simcity 4. It's still the best in the series and has been around forever so there are plenty of mods etc.

Also the Anno series is pretty good and has almost no combat, although it's quite complex.
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
Any of the Impressions Games in the Caesar 3 era (Caesar 3, Pharaoh, Zeus, Emperor). Pharaoh's probably the best starting point.

Graphically speaking, the games have aged quite well and, at least for the first two, the campaigns are fantastic from a gameplay perspective and have a decent storyline to boot. Caesar 3 was the first of the generation and so lacks the gameplay tweaks that were introduced later on that improved the formula dramatically (Most of which are in by the second game, Pharaoh, which is why I suggest that as the starting point), but I've got a soft spot for it as it was the only one of the group I picked up at release.

All four releases should also have various forms of free-build regions where you can just do whatever with no set objectives (At least, I know C3 and Pharaoh do).
 

laclongquan

Arcane
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
1,870,144
Location
Searching for my kidnapped sister
Zeus is the starting point. It's piss easy compare to the earlier game. After Zeus is Caesar 3. Pharaoh should be last because it's pretty tricky. Then Children of the Nile for a different feel in the same vein. And all of them are pretty light in modern machines.
 

Misconnected

Savant
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
587
How was Caesar 4? Never got around to giving it a try but I'd love an updated Caesar game.

Kind of like smearing lard all over your screen & playing Virtual Fireplace.

- I'm joking. It's an OK game, though IMO Pharao, Caesar 3, Zeus and especially CoTN are better. But the bloom in Caesar 4... There's kind of a lot of it.
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
How was Caesar 4? Never got around to giving it a try but I'd love an updated Caesar game.

Kind of like smearing lard all over your screen & playing Virtual Fireplace.

- I'm joking. It's an OK game, though IMO Pharao, Caesar 3, Zeus and especially CoTN are better. But the bloom in Caesar 4... There's kind of a lot of it.

Pretty sure the bloom could be disabled, but it's been many years since I played C4.

It's also a good bit different from C3/Pharaoh/etc. It's not as lore-rapey as FO3, but the game definitely plays a bit differently. With that being said, I definitely enjoyed C4 enough for a full playthrough.

I actually found C4 better than CotN, but I never fully got into the latter and so I'm probably not aware of some of the nuances present.
 

Misconnected

Savant
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
587
I actually found C4 better than CotN, but I never fully got into the latter and so I'm probably not aware of some of the nuances present.

More likely personal preference. I'm increasingly of the impression that CoTN only appeals to a small'ish sub-section of people who like builders.
 

Lorica

Educated
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
Messages
302
Could any of you who've played both Pharoah and Children of the Nile describe a little the differences between them? I've never picked up CotN before because I've always been happy with Pharoah, but I'm always on the look out for new, recommended citybuilders.
 

LynkS

Novice
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
46
Zeus is the starting point. It's piss easy compare to the earlier game. After Zeus is Caesar 3. Pharaoh should be last because it's pretty tricky. Then Children of the Nile for a different feel in the same vein. And all of them are pretty light in modern machines.

What about Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom?
 

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