Impressions-Style City Builders?--(Morphed into the "BANISHED" Thread)

[Peregrine]

I actually started playing it again recently and still really enjoying it.

[flere-imsaho]

The developer released a mod kit a few weeks ago and a modding community of sorts is starting to get off the ground. I've played with a few of the new mods and enjoyed them, though they've mainly been quality of life things.

I will agree that it does have a limited lifespan, but that you definitely get your money's worth. It needs some sort of "2nd stage" to generate more replayability.

But for now after enjoying it a lot at first, it's still fun to dust off here and there to see how I can get my villagers to survive those first few winters.

[Blackadar]

Damn, I didn't know the mod kit had actually been released. That's awesome. I'm sure we'll see some very good mods come out since that's the same tool he used to create the game itself. I expect in 6 months there will be some total conversion update that really adds to the game.

Speaking of city builders, I just bought the Cities in Motion 2 Collection for $7.50 from GreenManGaming. I didn't like the first one because I found the interface obtuse, but the second has a much better interface and this is the kind of game I really enjoy. I won't get a chance to play it until this weekend, but for $7.50 it was worth the gamble.

[Abe Sargent]

In other news, some of these Banished mods look intriguing.


Here's one for ya:


Colonial Charter - Colonial Charter - Topic: CC: Maple Harpoon RELEASED (1/4)

In fact, their whole website is about enhancing Banished as a colonial game, and they have been incorporating a lot of other mods:

http://colonialcharter.com/

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

In other news, some of these Banished mods look intriguing.


Here's one for ya:


Colonial Charter - Colonial Charter - Topic: CC: Maple Harpoon RELEASED (1/4)

In fact, their whole website is about enhancing Banished as a colonial game, and they have been incorporating a lot of other mods:

Colonial Charter - Colonial Charter : A Banished Mod

Highly recommended - the game is still to easy in many ways but it makes it considerably more fun and gives you a lot more to build

[Abe Sargent]

New one just came out a few minutes ago!!!


Colonial Charter - Colonial Charter - Topic: Colonial Charter Iron Curtain Released (1/1)

[Abe Sargent]

Just finished year 11 in my reboot, and Ihave an apiary with bees, a glassworks, I've had two shore houses for a while, at first they were catching frogs and turtles, but now they are getting supplies. And I have the normal blacksmith, port, tailor, and so forth.

[Abe Sargent]

After building a Dairy in my town with the mods, I am making cheese, and it is, by far, the quickest eaten food stuff we make. My peops can;t get enough!

[Abe Sargent]

There have been a ton more mods hitting, and the main mod, has hit a another major milestone. All you have to do is download this one mod, and then get it to run on your PC and you have massively changed the game for the better.


Steam Workshop :: CC: New Frontier (1.55)


These are just the changes from 1.4 to 1.5. The changelist for each of these is incredibly staggering

Colonial Charter - Colonial Charter - Colonial Charter 1.5x: New Frontier (1/1)


As of today there are more than 1200 mods. But this one is enough!

[Dutch]

That mod implies some sort of warfare taking place. Is that correct?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Dutch

That mod implies some sort of warfare taking place. Is that correct?

I think that' a long term goal and they've added rifles and cannons and such like that to get them there. But it's really just backstory, there are no people to fight or anything.


Here's the 1.4 changelist image of everything new, from the 1.4 expansion, which brings you up to speed, somewhat, for the 1.5 one. Image si too big for this thread. Check it out here:

http://www.colonialcharter.com/index...lden-llama-1-4

[Dutch]

Gotcha. Thanks.

[Abe Sargent]

Sure thing!

One of my favorite changes is actually how many different starts there are, from Adam and Eve (one couple) to a Missionary outpost that begins with some religious buildings, there are some interesting spins on the starting situation

[Draft Dodger]

having fun with the Colonial Charter mod. thanks a bunch!

[bhlloy]

Yeah the CC mod is great, highly recommended for anyone who hasn't touched the game in a while. Looking forward to starting one of the more unique starts once I get bored with my current game.

[Abe Sargent]

Here's a little hint I found helpful. Now that the CC mod added ducks to the game, I find that killing waterfowl, taking their feathers, and meat makes a powerful adjunct to your Hunting Lodge, and the Lodge now brings in a lot more deer meat/leather or duck meat/feathers, and you get more reliable production from them as a result.

[Thomkal]

So I see Banished in the Daily sale on Steam-66% off. Since this thread is now 8 pages long, I take it the game is worth at that price?

[bhlloy]

Yes, an absolute steal at that price

Having said that, anyone play this with CC recently? Went back to it over Christmas and had the old bug with folks wandering all over map and freezing to death, not sure if it was the new version, the mod, the combination of both or something I was doing wrong

[vex]

For $6.80? Definitely worth it.

[Peregrine]

Banished and many other city-builders are on sale on GOG.com right now for seriously cheap. Tropico series, Caesar series, and many others.

https://www.gog.com/promo/20170209_s..._builders_sale

[Ramzavail]

I have a couple of copies of Tropico 5 with Steam codes that I'd trade for $5

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[mckerney]

Northgard on Steam

New city builder will be entering early access in 11 days.

[GrantDawg]

This is funny, because I just started playing banished again this weekend. I hadn't played in forever. I got the Colonial Charter mod and the Mega mod of Steam workshop, which adds a bunch of choices (really maybe too much). This first city, I was trying to settle on a theme, and failed dramatically. Almost every set of homes are different than the next. Playing again also reminded me how frustrating trying to find the correct buildings in the button menu.

Still a fun game, but I am so rusty. Every time my population hit above 120, I would hit a starvation death spiral. I'm obviously doing something wrong, most likely with my crop fields. I'm probably going to start over this afternoon, after looking at more tips and hints to refresh my memory.

[Abe Sargent]

I am going to try the supposedly really hard Shipwrekced satrte from the latest 1.7 CC and see how it works.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

This is funny, because I just started playing banished again this weekend. I hadn't played in forever. I got the Colonial Charter mod and the Mega mod of Steam workshop, which adds a bunch of choices (really maybe too much). This first city, I was trying to settle on a theme, and failed dramatically. Almost every set of homes are different than the next. Playing again also reminded me how frustrating trying to find the correct buildings in the button menu.

Still a fun game, but I am so rusty. Every time my population hit above 120, I would hit a starvation death spiral. I'm obviously doing something wrong, most likely with my crop fields. I'm probably going to start over this afternoon, after looking at more tips and hints to refresh my memory.

I'd always keep a Gatherers Hut in each forestry circle, and toggle that amount of workers as needed. Trying to get cute early with the food supply risked a supply interruption, and it's not like the game requires a varied diet for health - always good to have those nuts & berries in reserve! The more annoying part for me was to remember to bring housing supply online slowly & consistently... never fun when you realize that you have a glut of people who went through childbearing age without making babies because they were still living with the parents.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

I am going to try the supposedly really hard Shipwrekced satrte from the latest 1.7 CC and see how it works.

Do any of these present continual challenges? I had a lot of fun with challenging starts (like Harsh winters, Mountainous, 2? family start), but once (if!) you get past those first few challenging winters it kinda just turns back in to a regular game.

[Abe Sargent]

Here's a pic of my starting space.

Options are here for starting the game:

http://blackliquidsoftware.com/index...ng-conditions/

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I'd always keep a Gatherers Hut in each forestry circle, and toggle that amount of workers as needed. Trying to get cute early with the food supply risked a supply interruption, and it's not like the game requires a varied diet for health - always good to have those nuts & berries in reserve! The more annoying part for me was to remember to bring housing supply online slowly & consistently... never fun when you realize that you have a glut of people who went through childbearing age without making babies because they were still living with the parents.

I was doing that as well. I had a huge food supply system and couldn't figure out why I would get into those spirals. I read up and figured out what I was doing wrong: markets. You need markets to evenly distribute food, and had never even built one. So, people where hoarding food in their houses, and when I had a population jump people would starve. Simple mistake from not playing for too long.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Northgard on Steam

New city builder will be entering early access in 11 days.

I picked this up on release. The game is currently missing a lot of features (multi-player, campaign, diplomacy) but what's there is definitely fun. It's a game to keep an eye on.

[Abe Sargent]

I just finished full textile industry in the last few years I got white mulberry, and flax, and cotton, plus I have a couple of sheep pastures, so I have everything made from 3 silkworm huts to all sorts of weaving the best clothes, rug making, rope making, oil making, and so forth. I'm basically set.

[Abe Sargent]

I'm thinking about starting up a Desert start or native start.

[Abe Sargent]

Here's a sample Desert start I'm considering. I chose Desert, Arid, and Antilles, sparse resources to set up the map. Note the palpable lack of pretty much any resources, from lakes to wood. This is also a hard start with just 4 families and no seeds, livestock or anything built.

[Brian Swartz]

I'm currently doing the opposite thing(Very Harsh + Bleak Mountains), and also the Adam & Eve beginning(two people at the start). When it's freezing or below more than half of the year productivity is unimpressive. Still mostly just a challenge to get everything going of course, get enough people and things start taking off, but I think Banished is quite interesting still.

[Abe Sargent]

Totally agree, and I love the idea of an A&E start, haven't gotten to it yet though

[Critch]

I'm sorely tempted by Life is Feudal:Forest Village. It looks enough like Banished to almost be a ripoff, but it's so pretty and it has castles so I can forgive the ripoff.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Critch

I'm sorely tempted by Life is Feudal:Forest Village. It looks enough like Banished to almost be a ripoff, but it's so pretty and it has castles so I can forgive the ripoff.

Please tell me if you like it. Looks interesting.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Please tell me if you like it. Looks interesting.

I held off buying until it went on sale. 40% off in the Steam Xmas sale, so finally pulled the trigger.

It's very like Banished. It's what Banished II would have been like if it was made, much the same game but with better graphics and more options. It's a ripped off idea, really.

[Abe Sargent]

Quick thoughts:

I'm trying it right now. Not a super big fan of the UI.


It has a lot of the same gaming conventions. From how to send people to work to how to cut and grab items. You need to build more houses for them to spawn. Even a snowflake over the house to tell you it needs firewood. Gatherer's huts? Sure. With a limited range? Sure. Forester's lodge? Sure. Hunters? Fishers? Sure. A few minor changes. Need water to farm crops, for example. It's more 3d so you have to worry about raising and lowering land as well. Different food has different calorie counts that reflect their value in eating and feeding your people. There's a bear right outside my camp, not sure if it is distrubing it or not though. Looks like people assigned to work a site aren;t gathering supplies to make it from your storage, so you have to have laborers open too.

I don;t like that my zoomed out function isn't zoomy enough if that makes sense. Rain looks prettier. So far I feel like the options and such are a little more robust thatn the inital Banished game, but nowhere near the amount of it modded.

I do like the idea of getting more seeds and such, not with trading posts, but instead by sending out expeditions. We've all had to wait for the right trader for years.

Like Banished I'm never not playing on teh fastest speed, and it still feels slow. Have to wait like 90 seconds for some buildings to finish on the fastest speed.

One change is you can click on a person, take control of them, and then in 3d do the tasks they are supposed to do, faster and better if that's your thing.


You have to do some tasks manually that were automatic in Banished.


It looks like Hunters have defensive capabilities and aren't jsut bringing down deer but also help to protect your cattle and such from wild animals and reduce your chance fo getting rabies, which is rpetty cool

Different crops have different requirements, such as temperature and moisture.I'm currently growing taters.

You'll need to grow the right food for your animals. Oats for pigs, hay for cattle, etc. You can turn off your people eating a certain good just by simply double clicking that food item.

Fisherman can outfish their area and need to relocate.

Bigger buildings take a ton more resources than Banished ones do, and the game sort of plays slower as a result. Also, fewer time in a year, I have been playing the same game for 45 mintues, still in year 2.

Don't sleep on making fences


My quick summative comment


If you are looking for another Banished, Tropico, and city builder, than this game isn't detailed enough, has the right UI, and so forth. It's also way too slow. You could put hours and hours and hours into one island, and still not have it really fleshed out yet.


However, if you are looking for a 3d builder that you can explore, see the places you built, build it up over time, sort of really live with in in major ways, then it's better.


It's design elements are good if you want to build walls, battlements, enclosures, and more. It's more build-y and design-y than it is manage-y if that makes sense.


I'm more of a zoomed out, play Tropico or Banished or SimCity over this. But it has a lot of value for those looking for something more about building up and growing. It reminds me of this one scenario I once made for RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 that took up the entire map, had everything unlocked, and I spent like 75 hours making the perfect park. That's how this game feels to me.



Now there are some things I'm not a fan of (terraforming the ground in order to build on it if it's not straight) but the design does have some interesting options, and you can see the benefits of it in some options out there, and I hope the mods will make it a little more robust.

[Abe Sargent]

Oh, and all of my villagers are wearing Santa hats too, btw



And I've had three crashes to desktop today while playing it as well

[PilotMan]

8 years on guys and I finally put my first 10 game hours into Banished! I feel like I should get a cookie or something. I had struggled to get into it back in the day. Happy I finally got some time to get back to it this week. Made it though year 6 in my first go around so far.

[Lathum]

It’s such a great game.

[BishopMVP]

Picked up this one that's still in early access. Kingdoms Reborn on Steam

It's got a deckbuilding mechanic to it, and AI opponents, so depending on where you decide to start relative to their positions (and the level you choose) you could have a peaceful buildup until the late game or a cutthroat one from the start for territory to expand into.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Picked up this one that's still in early access. Kingdoms Reborn on Steam

It's got a deckbuilding mechanic to it, and AI opponents, so depending on where you decide to start relative to their positions (and the level you choose) you could have a peaceful buildup until the late game or a cutthroat one from the start for territory to expand into.

How is the learning curve? I struggle with games that take a long time to learn the mechanics. Is it super micro managy or pretty easy to work through turns?

[BishopMVP]

If you've played a Banished or anything like that it's super intuitive. You get a 3 minute? timer countdown which gives you a selection of cards to choose from, but whenever you research a technology you also have the option to buy the card outright so it's never a huge hindrance. If you're near other opponents early there's time pressure to expand before they do, but if you're not you can play at a very relaxed pace with no worries.

Like Banished I'd say it's only difficult if you put yourself in a tough starting position, but this at least adds some mid-late game options instead of feeling very much like once you get over the initial hump it turns into the same experience every time.

[BishopMVP]

Still EA and in active development too, so hopefully the AI does continue improving or more is added in. Has a multiplayer mode too, that might be a fun challenge but not something I've ever tried.

[Lathum]

Can you pause the timer?

[BishopMVP]

Yes you can pause the game and select building sites etc.