Support NeoGAF

[Toma]

First of all the most important information:
The cheap sale for these games is ONLY until tomorrow, until the end of the steam holiday sale. So get them cheap while you can and thank us later for introducing you to them.
I needed to keep out Children of the Nile of the title because its too long. So this thread focusses on the ROME games (surprise: common theme) and gives honorable mentions to Children of the Nile and any other City builder game, which can also be discussed here.

SteamStore Links:
CivCity: Rome
Imperium Romanum Gold Edition
Grand Ages: Rome
Grand Ages: Rome - Reign of Augustus
Children of the Nile: Enhanced Edition
Children of the Nile: Alexandria

Below some regional Steam prices while on sale and the normal prices after tomorrow (No comment on the situation in Australia) :

                                       US              UK             EURO         AUS

CivCity                              1$ / 10$     0,59£ / 6£        1€ / 10€       N/A 

Imperium Romanum Gold                5$ / 10$        5£ / 10£       5€ / 10€     5$ / 10$

Grand Ages                           2$ / 10$        2£ / 10£       2€ / 10€     4$ / 20$
Grand Ages Addon                     3$ / 15$        3£ / 15£       3€ / 15€     3$ / 15$

Additionally:

Children of the Nile               2,5$ / 10$     1,74£ / 7£      2,5€ / 10€   2,5$ / 10$ 
Children of the Nile Addon        0,62$ / 2,5$    0,24£ / 1£      0,5€ / 2€   0,62$ / 2,5$

Quick buying recommendation:

CivCity if...
...you are new to the genre and really just want to dip your toe into what this could be like or if you cant resist a 1$ game purchase. Nothing wrong to start with this title. Runs on anything. No widescreen, doesnt bother me though.

Imperium Romanum if...
...you want more complex systems in your simulation games and a way more complex military fighting system than in CivCity. This is only a good choice if you think you cannot run Grand Ages: Rome as GA improves the game in every aspect and is, atm, even cheaper.

Grand Ages if...
...you want a pretty game from this genre and if you want to invest a bit more to get the game with more depth and complexity. Also seems to have a stronger focus on combat than the other 2 games. Not really for older hardware. POSSIBLY COMPATIBILITY ISSUES, check out the DEMO before you buy

Children of the Nile if...
...you cant stand the Rome setting, want to appease the egyptian gods, want huge settlers-like supply chains and arent offended by a bit ugly graphics. Also runs on anything. More complex than CivCity.

What are these games about?

This:

Build up a flourishing city and make your citizens happy. These games are neither Sims, nor SimCity. You dont need to take care of every little day routine your citizens are doing. They can mostly handle themselves, but you still need to give them the opportunity to do what they want. They want work? Build them some workplaces. They want certain goods? Build the corresponding shops and, if necessary, supply chains.
Due to the different setting, (Imagine building a military camp in SimCity as New York and defending against Miami or something... hm. We might be onto something.) you also need to take care of certain military aspects. In most of the games these are very tame as your job is to provide the corresponding infrastructure to sustain and supply your military, rather than leading them into battle. I cant speak for that part in Grand Ages yet because I havent seen it up to now but someone in the thread said you could imagine it as "Total War-lite". In CivCity you only build a fort, get them weapons and have them ready when enemies come. It basically functions as any other part of the game without having too much emphasis on it.

Individual Games:

CivCity: Rome

This is definitely the easiest of the games available. If you never played any of these games I suggest starting with this game as it slowly introduces you to manage your supply chains (which gets way trickier in Children of the Nile) and some basic military aspects (which seem to be of grander scale in Grand Ages). Me and lots of Gaffers already play this game and quite like it. For 1$ during the sale, there is not much to go wrong here. One Gaffer also told me that this game ran on the 6 year old notebook of his friend. I would also recommend this game to anyone who never could get into Simulation games as its really newcomer friendly and still quite a lot of fun. You need to read a lot to get all the aspects.

Grand Ages: Rome COMPATIBILITY ISSUES, check out the DEMO before you buy

The only game with a stronger emphasis on military. This game seems to be way more complex than CivCity and probably also Children of the Nile. However, if this is your first game of this genre you might feel a bit lost with all the elements the game throws at you. You also might need quite a good PC to have this game running in high settings. I havent gotten to the point of having a complete city yet, but I assume my notebook wont be able to handle it anymore at this point. (I can run Crysis easily on mid settings, and servicably on high). Has a tutorial that explains everything.

Imperium Romanum

Since I havent played it yet, I need to resort to "Basically the same as Grand Ages: Rome", just a bit worse since GA: Rome is a sequel that improves on every aspect, even though its still supposed to be a very good game. You really might want to consider Imperium Romanum instead of Grand Ages when you think your PC might not up to the task, though.


Children of the Nile

I played this game ages ago and forgot most of it, which is why I dont feel confident enough to write up a small text about game elements. I still know that the supply chains are quite intricate (Think of the older settler titles) and that its generally a bit more complex than CivCity. Doesnt look too nice anymore though. I still know that I had lots of fun with it. I'd be grateful if anyone could help me out with a small text for this part.

Honorable (not available on steam) mentions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Building_Series
These games are considered the peak, the best of the genre. Unfortunately they are rather hard to come by and also a bit more expensive since not on sale anywhere (If they can be found at all)
I havent played all of them, and from people who did I was recommended to check out Zeus (plus Poseidon Addon) what they consider to be their favourite.

Caesar III on GOG

Caesar IV on D2D

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If anyone wants to write up a small text for Children of the Nile, C3 or C4, I'd very much appreciate it. I'd also collect stuff as gameplay hints and Gaffer opinions in the 2nd post if I can grab it.

So please state your opinion on any of these games, share your tricks for others to follow or your general gaming experience.

At the moment, me and my girlfriend are playing through CivCity. So I'd happily provide info and help regarding this game as there are some things that arent too well explained and which might get you thinking of a bugged or bad system. Its relatively simple, but not "bad". Everything works well together as one game.

 

[Toma]

Impressions:

CivCity:

The impressions that started it all

I only got in about 30 mins of CivCity yesterday, but liked what I played so far. I can already tell that OCD is going to take over when it comes to facing buildings the proper way and road buidling :lol

CivCity is okay, but I have to say Caesar IV is so much better.

CivCity is awesome.
That is all.

BTW, Civcity is great and im just starting. I can feel how good its going to be from playing this little. Or maybe is that I really love this type of games.
The encyclopedia is very fun, reminds me of those books about ancient rome for kids. :lol

Imperium Romanum:

Yeah, I tried it out - Grand Ages: Rome is the direct sequel to Imperium Romanum, so obviously it improves on the original quite a bit. Imperium seems like good fun though, and like Grand Ages, is more combat heavy than other city-builders. The graphics are a touch on the ugly side though, and the interface seems a bit cluttered. I'd say that if you're looking for a city-builder with a fair amount of focus on combat, there's not much advantage to getting Imperium Romanum over Grand Ages: Rome, other than a slight difference in price.

Grand Ages:

I've now spent 30 minutes in both Grand Ages: Rome and CivCity:Rome. Which completely

Spoiler

in no way

qualifies me to tell YOU what you need to do...
If you only got a buck, get CivCity: Rome.
If you're rolling in the dough and can afford a $2 game, get Grand Ages: Rome instead.
Do it. Buy Grand Ages: Rome now. Caesar will be pleased.

Ah, very cool to see Grand Ages: Rome getting some namedropping action. What a great and underappreciated game. Or maybe not underappreciated, just completely overlooked.

Children of the Nile:

Children of the Nile is awesome fun if you want something like the old Pharaoh games. It's essentially the unofficial follow-up from mostly the same devs.

Hints:

CivCity:

You can click on the "lock" in the lower right corner, next to the minimap to unlock your view and zoom farther out.

You can turn of the "advisor" in the sound option screen. He is a bit annoying after a while but very helpful in some cases. If you turn it off, be sure to check your granaries regularly for food.

You can change the CivCity resolution directly in the Documents\CivCity Rome\CivCityRome.GraphicsSettings.xml file. That gives you more options than the launcher, though 2d and such still gets stretched if you set a 16:10 or :9 resolution.

Spoiler

If it bothers you that you have -5 to housing situation consistently, try to build some "Ghetto" housings a bit outside of town. That way you wont waste important inner-city space and still can get happiness higher.

Mods:

CivCity:
1. A mod that changes the shop symbols to be actually identifiable.

Download Link, tested by me before and then uploaded

2. And secondly and even more awesome:
A mod that rebalances the game so that technology gets more useful. Now you actually NEED to research before you can buy stuff and better technologies will get more expensive so that you wont end every game with 60.000 Denarii. But I especially like the fact that you need to use the technologies to get acces to every building structure and dont have everything from the start. The author said its not tested to 100% perfectness but should do it.
Download Link, tested by me before and afterwards uploaded

Be sure to back up the files you overwrite though!

 

[markot]

How is Grand Ages: Rome for single player only? Looks pretty awesome >.<

 

[Toma]

How is Grand Ages: Rome for single player only? Looks pretty awesome >.<

MP is not the focus in any of these games. If you want a good SP experience, you'll get it. Be sure to read my warning regarding the system requirements though.
But yeah its easily the prettiest of all games and quite a bit grander on scale and more complex than CivCity for example.
If you find official system requirements, I'd appreciate if you could post them here. Cant search for it now.

And: If you are new to the genre, consider picking up CivCity before. I am not advising it per se if you have experience with simulation games. But if you are totally new to the genre it might be good to get your feet wet first.

 

[Dynoro]

For those interested I think Children of the Nile also has Steam achievements for completing each of the scenarios. But I've grabbed CivCity after the excellent job in the Steam sales thread :lol

 

[Baloonatic]

Tried the Children of the Nile demo but unfortunately it's capped at 24fps for me when v-sync is on D: Third game that's done it, along with Crysis and Prototype.

Edit: Just want to make clear that this is some sort of issue with my computer, not with the game itself.

I have purchased Grand Ages: Rome after trying the demo though. Seems like it could be great fun.

 

[markot]

MP is not the focus in any of these games. If you want a good SP experience, you'll get it. Be sure to read my warning regarding the system requirements though.
But yeah its easily the prettiest of all games and quite a bit grander on scale and more complex than CivCity for example.
If you find official system requirements, I'd appreciate if you could post them here. Cant search for it now.

And: If you are new to the genre, consider picking up CivCity before. I am not advising it per se if you have experience with simulation games. But if you are totally new to the genre it might be good to get your feet wet first.

System Requirements

Operating system: Windows® XP & Vista
Processor: 2.5 GHz Single Core Processor
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Hard disk space: 4 GB
Video: 128 MB 3d Video Card (GeForce® 6600/Radeon® 9600 or better)
DirectX® Version: 9c

 

[bestami]

Shit. It is not available on my country.

 

[Lumine]

Grand Ages: Rome looks neat. I'm tempted.

 

[Catshade]

Any comments on Imperium Romanum Gold? It's slightly cheaper than Grand Ages Rome, and from the same developer...

 

[nny]

I got CivCity because of your "promotion work" on the Steam sale thread, Toma; I won't be able to play it in the short term but it seems a good game (and at this price it almost feels like it's free).

 

[British Monsoon]

Any comments on Imperium Romanum Gold? It's slightly cheaper than Grand Ages Rome, and from the same developer...

Yeah, I tried it out - Grand Ages: Rome is the direct sequel to Imperium Romanum, so obviously it improves on the original quite a bit. Imperium seems like good fun though, and like Grand Ages, is more combat heavy than other city-builders. The graphics are a touch on the ugly side though, and the interface seems a bit cluttered. I'd say that if you're looking for a city-builder with a fair amount of focus on combat, there's not much advantage to getting Imperium Romanum over Grand Ages: Rome, other than a slight difference in price.

 

[Bonfires Down]

How is City Life 2008 compared to Sim City 4 and Cities XL?

 

[Toma]

System Requirements

Operating system: Windows® XP & Vista
Processor: 2.5 GHz Single Core Processor
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Hard disk space: 4 GB
Video: 128 MB 3d Video Card (GeForce® 6600/Radeon® 9600 or better)
DirectX® Version: 9c

Thanks
Just searched around a bit. Be aware of the fact that these are only the MINIMUM system requirements. There is nothing about recommended requirements to be found. I can imagine this game getting pretty nasty when your town is starting to get bigger.

Any comments on Imperium Romanum Gold? It's slightly cheaper than Grand Ages Rome, and from the same developer...

I was excluding it for the very fact that from every source I could find, Grand Ages came out to be the better game. Will include it in a few minutes though for people looking for more military combat, who dont have a PC to run Grand Ages.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

BTW CivCity Rome has awesome music that turns more epic as your city gets bigger.

Yeah, I tried it out - Grand Ages: Rome is the direct sequel to Imperium Romanum, so obviously it improves on the original quite a bit. Imperium seems like good fun though, and like Grand Ages, is more combat heavy than other city-builders. The graphics are a touch on the ugly side though, and the interface seems a bit cluttered. I'd say that if you're looking for a city-builder with a fair amount of focus on combat, there's not much advantage to getting Imperium Romanum over Grand Ages: Rome, other than a slight difference in price.

You know, I have though always the Imprivm games were done by a spanish studio (because of the publisher they worked here, that only works with spanish studios), but now I discovered thet are a Bulgarian studio. Thats why it felt strange that the game is only in english, german and french.

 

[brain_stew]

Tried the Children of the Nile demo but unfortunately it's capped at 24fps for me when v-sync is on D: Third game that's done it, along with Crysis and Prototype.

Edit: Just want to make clear that this is some sort of issue with my computer, not with the game itself.

I have purchased Grand Ages: Rome after trying the demo though. Seems like it could be great fun.

ATI?

Select a lower resolution from the control panel, and then select hardware scaling. Then move back to your normal resolution as normal.

 

[Toma]

Added Imperium Romanum to the OP.
However there is not much reason to get it right now since its more expensive than Grand Ages atm, except when you know that your PC might not be able to handle GA.

Shit. It is not available on my country.

If you want to you can ask here or in the other thread (equal global distribution) whether someone could help you out with it. Most gaffers are really helpful when it comes to that.

Grand Ages: Rome looks neat. I'm tempted.

It IS pretty and a very good choice if you want something that will make you busy for a while with lots and lots of complex systems.

 

[Lumine]

I like my games deep and complex, but I also like them accessible. I also bought Sim City 4 this sale which might scratch that city-building itch more than enough. I will probably pick it up if I'm not buying anything else anymore on the last sales.

 

[Toma]

I like my games deep and complex, but I also like them accessible. I also bought Sim City 4 this sale which might scratch that city-building itch more than enough. I will probably pick it up if I'm not buying anything else anymore on the last sales.

It is definitely accessible enough. Of course you get more stuff to consider when there is more stuff to do. SimCity and the games mentioned in this thread are 2 entirely different beasts to me though. I'd say SimCity is more about Macro Managing your city while the scenario for the "impressions" style city builder always came out more emotional to me. Hard to describe. Anyway, just to tell you that these game types are not exactly the same

 

[alanias]

Shit. It is not available on my country.

What's your steam name? I'll gift CivCity to you.

 

[Catshade]

Oh shit...so Grand Ages: Rome is gridless? Now I must resist my OCD-ness in making a perfectly-lined city.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Grabbed Grand Ages and the expansion. I was *this* close to getting through the Steam holiday sales without buying anything too. At least this is cheap :lol

 

[Toma]

Oh shit...so Grand Ages: Rome is gridless? Now I must resist my OCD-ness in making a perfectly-lined city.

If it bothers you this much, you could still go with Imperium Romanum. Very similar and seems to be easier to get everything lined up.

 

[speedpop]

For what it's worth, Caeser III and IV consumed me back in the day.

 

[Toma]

For what it's worth, Caeser III and IV consumed me back in the day.

Same. Glad to hear that they are available online to buy. On the other hand its sad that all the other titles arent >:-(

Anyway, updated second post with impressions I found in the Steam Holiday thread and pushed the "hints" section into the second post. Everything spoilered is gaming related. Feel free to post impressions, game descriptions, questions and whatever.

 

[bestami]

What's your steam name? I'll gift CivCity to you.

It's enginar. Thanks a lot i appreciate it. And thanks to Toma aswell for reminding me to check the thread .

 

[Ranger X]

What a piece of shit.
When I press "create an account" I receive the message "creating account failed, try again later".

Then when I try to do it again, it says my username is now taken! WTFFFFFFFF

 

[storafötter]

I have always failed when trying Sim City games, but if CivCity is more simple and more beginner friendly (less intimidating!). I think ill try it . Can't go wrong with 1 euro.

 

[gotee12]

You quoted my little comparison ditty. Does this make me a published reviewer now?

Spoiler

lol!

 

[Toma]

What a piece of shit.
When I press "create an account" I receive the message "creating account failed, try again later".

Then when I try to do it again, it says my username is now taken! WTFFFFFFFF

What? I mean.. What? :lol
Sorry didnt quite get what you are referring to. Want to create a steam account? Works perfectly fine for me. I could create a new one for you. Send me your steam wish name (with alternative) and your email adress via pm. I set up a dummy PW and you can change the password immediately after you logged in.

You quoted my little comparison ditty. Does this make me a published reviewer now?

Spoiler

lol!

You were the only one stating something which i would categorize as "review-like" in the most minimal possible way. I just was happy to have something for Grand Ages :lol
If you want to have it changed to a different opinion just post something in this thread and I'll update it.

 

[Oakcliff]

Cool man. Bought CivCity Rome.

 

[Toma]

Regarding the longevity of CivCity: Rome

My GF has 24 hours ingame playtime now and this is her map:

Still quite a bit to go I assume.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

One thing for the people that want to get Grand Ages: Rome. It seems that if you get the expansion of the game there is a sandbox mode that the game alone does not contain.

So if you want to play building a city in a free mode, its better to get the game with the expansion.

However, this is based of what I have read in the game description in steam, so maybe theres some kind of sandbox mode also in the normal game.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Children of the Nile is awesome fun if you want something like the old Pharaoh games. It's essentially the unofficial follow-up from mostly the same devs.

 

[Ranger X]

What? I mean.. What? :lol
Sorry didnt quite get what you are referring to. Want to create a steam account? Works perfectly fine for me. I could create a new one for you. Send me your steam wish name (with alternative) and your email adress via pm. I set up a dummy PW and you can change the password immediately after you logged in.

Wow, looks like it fails when I try to sign up from the website but after installing steam on my computer and sighing up from there, it works! :lol

 

[Toma]

Children of the Nile is awesome fun if you want something like the old Pharaoh games. It's essentially the unofficial follow-up from mostly the same devs.

Finally a CotN impression Thanks!

Wow, looks like it fails when I try to sign up from the website but after installing steam on my computer and sighing up from there, it works! :lol

Glad to hear. Just out of interest: What exactly made you sign up? One particular game?

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Bought CivCity when the sale started. Fun game!

Which one of them is the best of them all?

 

[gotee12]

One thing for the people that want to get Grand Ages: Rome. It seems that if you get the expansion of the game there is a sandbox mode that the game alone does not contain.

So if you want to play building a city in a free mode, its better to get the game with the expansion.

However, this is based of what I have read in the game description in steam, so maybe theres some kind of sandbox mode also in the normal game.

I can attest that there is a "free mode" in GA: Rome. I spent around 40 minutes in it earlier today. Didn't see any rival nations/barbarians though so it may simply be a sandbox. One of my mines did catch on fire so I wouldn't classify it as a "god mode" type of sandbox.

 

[mantidor]

Children of the Nile is awesome fun if you want something like the old Pharaoh games. It's essentially the unofficial follow-up from mostly the same devs.

Its sad that neither Pharaoh or the expansion are available for download anywhere, amazing games.

I can't wait to check out all these other games, the roman scenario puts me off a little bit, but only because the egyptian scenario is more appealing (and much more grand, nothing beats making a giant piramid, it takes a lot of work!), but when you start the games just consume you, no matter what.

 

[jj984jj]

CivCity is fun and although I already had it I purchased it again during this sale to have it on Steam, as for Grand Ages I'll put more time into it when I get the chance. I passed on CotN since I didn't like it when I spent a bit of time on the demo, aside from the graphics I didn't really like the interface.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

CivCity is fun and although I already had it I purchased it again during this sale to have it on Steam, as for Grand Ages I'll put more time into it when I get the chance. I passed on CotN since I didn't like it when I spent a bit of time on the demo, aside from the graphics I didn't really like the interface.

CotN has a bit more of a learning curve, but it's an awesome awesome game once you get used to it. Especially once you see a pyramid start taking shape.

Since Pharaoh's not available anywhere on a DD service, this is the best we're going to get.

 

[jj984jj]

CotN has a bit more of a learning curve, but it's an awesome awesome game once you get used to it. Especially once you see a pyramid start taking shape.

Since Pharaoh's not available anywhere on a DD service, this is the best we're going to get.

I don't mind a learning curve, Grand Ages looks like it has a lot to sink my teeth into. But the interface in CotN seems a bit sloppy which ruins the fun for me.

 

[username12]

Thanks for this. Wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

Already have CivCity on Steam and both Imperium Romanum and Children of the Nile, but not the expansion packs for either of them. Don't have Grand Ages, so I'll be getting that as well.

I see both Hinterland and Mosby's Confederacy in my recommended titles list (both from Tilted Mill) when adding to cart, for $2.50 each. I guess I'll bite.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

BTW Toma, I did a banner for the thread to thank you for the gift. I now its not much but I hope you like it

 

[Horns]

I grabbed Civcity. Besides the occasional Civilization game I haven't had any interest in an RTS type game for a while even though I tried a few recently. I figured for a buck I couldn't go wrong and maybe it will turn me back on to the genre.

 

[Huevos de Oro]

Sup guys. OMG I love the banner. And I'm in the OT! My sage words of wisdom must have driven throngs of people in here.

I picked up CotN and got gifted CivCity Rome on the sale, so here's hoping this thread will last at least as much as the Roman Empire.

 

[Toma]

Bought CivCity when the sale started. Fun game!

Which one of them is the best of them all?

Difficult.
The best (overall, including graphics and interface) on steam if your PC can handle it: Grand Ages: Rome

The best, available for a digital purchase: I'd go with Caesar III

The best overall: Seems to be Zeus (+ Poseidon expansion)

BTW Toma, I did a banner for the thread to thank you for the gift. I now its not much but I hope you like it

Taken :lol
Looks really awesome btw.

 

[Datwheezy]

Gf got around to playing CivCity last night...she is hooked :lol

Picking up CotN complete, and GA Rome. Do you consider the GA expansion a must buy?

 

[Retro]

My girlfriend and I are both huge City-building fans and we both really enjoyed Caesar IV most recently. That said, the game has a lot of little things in it that piss me off, so hopefully these other games allow for a little more freedom.

Great thread, caught it at just the right time. We're picking up Grand Ages and CivCity.

 

[Toma]

Picking up CotN complete, and GA Rome. Do you consider the GA expansion a must buy?

No one played up until that part yet. From what I can gather online:

The expansion pack adds 12 new missions to the original title along with six new multiplayer maps, four new buildings, new talents for each family, the ability to connect your city to the main Roman roads, a new God Mode with unlimited resources and lots more.
Additionally, posted by SPR

One thing for the people that want to get Grand Ages: Rome. It seems that if you get the expansion of the game there is a sandbox mode that the game alone does not contain.
So if you want to play building a city in a free mode, its better to get the game with the expansion.
However, this is based of what I have read in the game description in steam, so maybe theres some kind of sandbox mode also in the normal game.

Seems to be not "vital" to enjoy the main game but quality content. I'd strongly vote for "Buy". I know I'd hate to miss it only to realize in 3 weeks that I want it because I played through the campaign.

Gf got around to playing CivCity last night...she is hooked :lol

Yeah.. My gf is already 24 hours in. After 3 days. And this is the first game of this type she ever played :lol. The only similar thing she played before would be the old settlers game. But she isnt much of a gamer anyway.