4X Old World - historical 4X strategy by Civ 4 designer (formerly 10 Crowns)

[3 others]

Soren and his wife (who is a writer on the game) were interviewed about Old World release in Soren's own podcast. It's an alright listen, maybe more fruitful for people who have already played the game. Lots of reflections on Crusader Kings 2, games vs. simulations, design, focus areas, balancing, historical vs. ahistorical game features.

Soren himself is a good interviewer and I can highly recommend his podcast on game design as long as you have interest in the guests or their games. I recall the Andy Schatz, David Dunham, Lucas Pope, Sid Meier, Jamie Cheng & Chris Avellone episodes being particularly good.

 

[catfood]

Is this any good?

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/en/game/old_world?as=1649904300

 

[DakaSha]

Jenkem has been playing it since steam release hour one, loving every second of it, and is incredibly frustrated that he cant tell you how amazing it is because that would mean agreeing with great-taste-daka

 

[Comte_II]

Is this any good?

Runs like dog shit on my rig. Check the engine its fucking Unity. Better off jusy playing civ 4.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I think I've asked this before, but did not get an answer: what differentiates this game from nu-civ? Cause taking a peek at the surface, it sure looks like one. Not asking about the CK-layer btw, just the actual 4X part.

 

[covr]

Orders as a new resource that limits your actions. Different economy, closer to old CIVs. Every turn matters. Smaller impact on religion.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I think I've asked this before, but did not get an answer: what differentiates this game from nu-civ? Cause taking a peek at the surface, it sure looks like one. Not asking about the CK-layer btw, just the actual 4X part.

I've been curious about this too. I think this guy goes through things fairly well, I've been half ass listening to it just now.

 

[Starwars]

I've been playing this since early access and it's been a blast following the game since. It was fun back then and it's better now, have a lot of hours played. It's up there with Civ IV for me, though I also think that it's difficult to compare the Civ series to this directly. There are definitely a lot of similarities but there are also differences that make the whole experience feel fairly unique.

The "CK2 layer" will likely be what makes or breaks the game for many people.

 

[Jenkem]

Jenkem has been playing it since steam release hour one, loving every second of it, and is incredibly frustrated that he cant tell you how amazing it is because that would mean agreeing with great-taste-daka

cope. I was looking at reviews and even the most positive seem to be rather middling, and apparently it is filled with woke shit infesting various parts of the game like even loading screen tips will tell you about how X historical person really liked it up the ass and/or wore women's clothing.

seems about on par for a game recommended by your ilk.

 

[covr]

Jenkem has been playing it since steam release hour one, loving every second of it, and is incredibly frustrated that he cant tell you how amazing it is because that would mean agreeing with great-taste-daka

cope. I was looking at reviews and even the most positive seem to be rather middling, and apparently it is filled with woke shit infesting various parts of the game like even loading screen tips will tell you about how X historical person really liked it up the ass and/or wore women's clothing.

seems about on par for a game recommended by your ilk.

Lol, game is opposite of woke. If you don't like some of the characters you can just kill them. Or imprison. Game might even reward you for doing that.

And everyone knows that Greeks liked to take it in the ass from time to time, it is called historical correctness.

 

[Axioms]

I've been playing this since early access and it's been a blast following the game since. It was fun back then and it's better now, have a lot of hours played. It's up there with Civ IV for me, though I also think that it's difficult to compare the Civ series to this directly. There are definitely a lot of similarities but there are also differences that make the whole experience feel fairly unique.

The "CK2 layer" will likely be what makes or breaks the game for many people.

Old World moves back towards board games from recent Civ releases. Which is great if you like board games and sucks if you don't.

 

[ADL]

Playing through tutorial
suddenly Philip Glass out of nowhere
10/10 game


Also I asked the devs about their plans for further post-launch support.

Mohawk intends to support Old World for a long time. Since initial Epic release in July 2021, we've added over 500 events to the base game and a new nation. We've also added a 6 scenario campaign (Greeks) which includes well over 100 events and new factions itself. We intend to keep improving and expanding Old World into the future.

 

[Seigneur Locklear]

Fiddled around with Rome for a bit, learning the ropes and stuff. It seems fun so far, a good respite at the moment since Civ 6 became too easy and repetitive for me.
I do have one question - why the flying FUCK can women be generals and how can I turn this shit off, if at all possible. It's ruining my immersion, Romans would fucking laugh at that shit.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

Who needs women when we have our bare hands . . .

 

[Axioms]

Fiddled around with Rome for a bit, learning the ropes and stuff. It seems fun so far, a good respite at the moment since Civ 6 became too easy and repetitive for me.
I do have one question - why the flying FUCK can women be generals and how can I turn this shit off, if at all possible. It's ruining my immersion, Romans would fucking laugh at that shit.

Boy you definitely don't wanna listen to Leyla Johnson's comments on this then. Lebanonese women coming for your historical gender dynamics.

 

[Gamezor]

I think I've asked this before, but did not get an answer: what differentiates this game from nu-civ? Cause taking a peek at the surface, it sure looks like one. Not asking about the CK-layer btw, just the actual 4X part.

Biggest thing I noticed is good fix for infinite city sprawl because city sites are preset and limited. Also unit movement is a limited resource.

Whoever said its not woke is incorrect. Wiman generals, leaders, etc. I guess it didnt go out of its way to rub your face in it last I played other than letting women do anything men can do. Which is bad enough.

 

[Eyestabber]

Just finished the long tutorial as Philip/Alexander, I'm enjoying it so far. Will post my impressions later on, but fuck fixed city sites, that shit is gay cancer . And for those wondering, the POZ is limited to wahmen generals, which is bad enough, sure, but there aren't any dangerhairs, niggers, trannies or whatever. This isn't Peoplekind.

 

[pakoito]

I think I've asked this before, but did not get an answer: what differentiates this game from nu-civ? Cause taking a peek at the surface, it sure looks like one. Not asking about the CK-layer btw, just the actual 4X part.

Just go read Soren's design journals on the topic: http://www.designer-notes.com/?p=1679

It feels like he tried to tackle a bunch of fundamental CIV problems. Whether that's successful it's another topic. CIV6 didn't even try.

 

[Jaedar]

If I buy this on gog, can I multiplayer with people who own it on steam?

And more importantly, is the game good?

Is the ai capable of some level of strategy and planning or does it just get massive bonuses to compensate?

 

[DakaSha]

If I buy this on gog, can I multiplayer with people who own it on steam?

And more importantly, is the game good?

Is the ai capable of some level of strategy and planning or does it just get massive bonuses to compensate?

One of the reason I like it is because the ai makes for a believable opponent.

After you've played a bit you will definetly become aware of the ais flaws, but where old world succeeds, is that is manages to offer you an immersive experience regardless of the ais shortcomings. This is just due to the games design. The game is in some sense asymmetric, as the ai doesn't play through events the same way the player does.

You are the focus, the ai is there to entertain you.

Having said that I'd still rate the ai as a bit above average in the areas where it does have to perform like a human. Not great, but pretty good. It only receives bonuses if you explicitly check the option. You won't be facing opponents that are way ahead of you with much larger armies, breaking immersion (if that's what you care about)




BTW another thing old world does that basically no 4x does is to make losing fun. Unlike civ where losing a city is just unfun(takes away options that you spent time to open up), old worlds event system gives you something to look forward too because even bad things drive the narrative

 

[Eyestabber]

In the previous game I got screwed over by RNG and my Romulus died very early on, resulting in low legitimacy and low Order count. In this game, my Romulus just straight up refuses to die, like wtf:

81 years old young, well over 50 years of rule. I kinda wanna play as his college ditching, non-political-marrying, Scholar grandson now, but the old man fucking refuses to die. He is not even sick! Outlived his wife by more than two decades and his SON had a case of "murdered by butthurt barbarian wife".

Anyway, game looks pretty good.

 

[DakaSha]

You can start with randomized starting leaders btw (not that everybody would want to do so)

 

[mediocrepoet]

In this game, my Romulus just straight up refuses to die, like wtf:

Like Queen Elizabeth II.

 

[DakaSha]

Something that hasnt been mentioned much here is the ability to undo every single action (all to the way to the beginning of the turn). Its something you get used too, and really miss in other titles once youve played this. Also the ability to middle-mouse-click highlighted things in the ui and work through an info tree is pretty nice.

Both fairly minor/meaningless as far as actual mechanics go, but nice nonetheless