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Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: WuZhuiQiu on March 19, 2020, 01:28:52 AM
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Although this may be a great time to work on some hobby projects, the thought of PC gaming has reared its ugly head after many years' absence, ha ha. What are some current historical PC games that have modest PC requirements? Is the TotalWar series still viable? What is there that is set in ancient times, or in ancient China or the late Roman Republic, to be more specific?
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Total War remains a strong series and worth your time. If your requirements are truly modest however they might be beyond your computer. If you buy them through Steam, Steam will allow you to refund it no questions asked if you play it for less than 2 hours. Something to keep in mind if you're unsure if the games will run.
Rome II TW will do you for ancients. Attila for late ancients and the lastest instalment: "3 Kingdoms" will do you for China. However, since it's new, it might require a more powerful PC then you have.
Other games to consider include "Field of Glory II" (a relation to the ancients game) which I believe does ancients at the least, not sure about China or late roman periods.
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Whilst Total War is fun it does have a habit of a lot of battles turning into a massacre/pyrrhic victory. Of the bunch I found the earlier games - Rome: Total War (https://store.steampowered.com/app/4760/Rome_Total_War__Collection/), Total War: Medieval II (https://store.steampowered.com/app/4700/Total_War_MEDIEVAL_II__Definitive_Edition/), and Shogun:Total War (https://store.steampowered.com/app/345240/SHOGUN_Total_War__Collection/)- to be a bit more fun than the newer entries. Plus with them being over 10 years old they usually work on 'potato' PCs.
I also recommend Field of Glory II (https://www.gog.com/game/field_of_glory_ii)if your PC can play it. There is a sister game to it, Field of Glory: Empires (https://www.gog.com/game/field_of_glory_empires), a grand strategy game that allows you to export battles into FoG II. (Empires has a more basic battle system built in but FoG II has a full one built around the tabletop rules)
Another game using the same engine, but lacking a grand strategy level, is Sengoku Jidai (https://www.gog.com/game/sengoku_jidai_gold)which covers Japan, Korea and some of China.
And if you think your PC may struggle with them then there are also the old Great Battles (https://www.gog.com/game/great_battles_collectors_edition)games which cover Hannibal Caesar, and Alexander.
There's a hundred more games to recommend but most are in the black powder and WW2 eras, if you are curious google "John Tiller games" and "Scourge of War".
P.S. I've tried to post the cheapest outlet for each game, GOG is having a sale right now so it may be worthwhile poking around the strategy section of their webpage.
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I've played Medieval Total War 2 for more hours than I would like to admit...
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I've played Medieval Total War 2 for more hours than I would like to admit...
Sadly me too!
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Sadly me too!
It's the best of the series.
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HEGEMONY GOLD is a must-have !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2paYpzV6L4&list=PL_1bPL5ZsFH0SCnNKGAa2SsBWlGv_rynh (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2paYpzV6L4&list=PL_1bPL5ZsFH0SCnNKGAa2SsBWlGv_rynh)
And the 2 (Caesar campaigns) and 3 (Pyrrhus campaigns) are OK too !
And the AGEOD wargames are really goods ! (RUS, Civil War 2, To end all wars, Etc ...)
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I know it's seriously old school, but Civ 3 has yet to be topped as far as I'm concerned, for sheer time-thievery.
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As games set in ancient china are concerned I have found Oriental Empires quite entertaining. Mind you nothing fancy as 3 Kingdoms Total Wars, but it works well. Also Three Kingdoms 13 from Koei.
Fields of Glory II has reasonable system requirements, pleasant graphics, massive amount of armies (with the expansions), and some good chap even added Chinese armies. Certainly it fully covers late roman republic! If you want to move a bit up on the time ladder, Sengoku Jidai (Fields of glory renaissance in asia).
PS: what you mean for viable?
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It's the best of the series.
And it runs on my Windows XP PC!
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Following on from the question about PC games, has anyone recommendations for iPad games? Especially (but not exclusively) free ones....!
Doug
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Chaps,
A little reminder that strictly-speaking, computer/video gaming is out-of-scope for this board except if at least tangentially related to the minis focus of LAF (e.g. as inspiration for a project).
Given the exceptional situation, though, I'm okay with having a thread on this for the time being, but merged the two.
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Chaps,
A little reminder that strictly-speaking, computer/video gaming is out-of-scope for this board except if at least tangentially related to the minis focus of LAF (e.g. as inspiration for a project).
Given the exceptional situation, though, I'm okay with having a thread on this for the time being, but merged the two.
Quite right and thank you.... :D
Doug
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For a zoomed out Tactical experience the Paradox games are great. They look like CIV games but play very differently.
Crusader Kings 2- Dynasty simulator set in the Dark Ages-medieval period. Great fun when your heir turns out to be a Damien like spawn of Satan.
Victoria 2- 19th century Colony building
Hearts of Iron 4- Grand Strategy WW2
Europa Universalis- Picks up from where Crusader Kings leaves off.
Stellaris- Space EMpires
Also I second the suggestion to search GOG.com, particularly if more modern games may tax your PC. The CIV 3 complete collection (which I agree was a great game) is currently £1.19! also worth a look are the old Warhammer games (shadow of the horned rat and Dark Omen)
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Age of Empires 2 on Steam is as good as it was 25 years ago
What type of ipad game do you want:
Puzzle: Patchwork (3 quid?), Friday (3 quid), Tusro
Board:
Dice: Elder Sign (4 quid?)
Wargame: Warbands Bushido, Civil War Battles by John Tiller (he has loads)
Not game, but just to let you know that in France the cable channel Canal+ and OCS are free, perhaps Sky might do the same?
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Good Old Games has a sale on at the moment. Which aught to be the first place to look for low system requirement games.
Currently my laptop's broken, so I'm stuck with a rather poor tablet (1.4 ghz / 2gb of memory). Lately I've been raiding my GoG account for some gems.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magicka Obscura.
- Made by ex-Black Isle staff (the makers of the original Fallout games). Its a fantasy RPG set in a world going through an industrial revolution. Where you have all the usual fantasy tropes, but with steampunk thrown in. Magic and technology are opposing forces, so as a player you need to eventually pick a side as far as your stats go - or micromanage an uneasy balance. Spells may fail when cast on sufficiently technologically disposed characters, as will powerful mages be denied services like using steam trains. It plays similarly to the original Fallout games, so if you liked that style of engine, and either want more, or to see it in a Sword and Sorcery setting, I'd highly recommend this one.
Fallout 2 Mods.
- Fallout 2 in the past few years has had some major non-English language mods translated. With another total overhaul - Fallout: Sonora, due to be translated in future. The main pair are: Fallout 1.5 and Fallout: Nevada.
Fallout 1.5 takes places between the 1 and 2nd game. The game starts with you as an asmnesiac, setting out to find out your identity as your doggedly pursued by a strange band of ghouls who want you dead. Gameplay wise it feels more like the 1st game in terms of quests and tone. I'd say that the side content is more engaging than the main quest. If you want more Fallout give it a look, though it comes second place to Nevada.
Fallout: Nevada is a prequel to the first game. It begins with you surveying the outside of your Vault a few years after the war, before jumping decades into the future. With you (again) having no memory apart from those moments, before you're promptly told to go retreive an item stolen by a mysterious biker, and sent off into the wastes. In terms of content this one's on par, if not better in places, than Fallout 2. Locations are expansive with plenty of quests, and there seems to be a fair number of branching paths available. This mod has had a number of releases. There's the main branch, but also a "Crazy" edition which adds more locations and seemingly rewrites the main quest. I'd highly recommend this one for any fans of Fallout 2.
There's also: Fallout: et tu. A remake of the original Fallout in the Fallout 2 engine. Bringing in the 2nd game's gameplay and UI features, along with fixing a tonne of bugs, and adding in the second game's new items to the loot lists.
Underrail -
A spiritual sucessor to the Fallout series. The game takes place in a massive underground rail and cave network. As a setting I'd discribe it as a mix between Fallout, Metro 2034, and Stalker. Where for the initial story it feels like a grounded post-apocalyptic setting, but as you progress more supernatural elements are introduced ...and things go from there. Quests have branches, however they tend to be linear. Rather its down to the player to choose which quest to take, rather than their outcome at times (i.e. which gang do I side with, or do I spy on this organisation or not). The explorable world is massive, and often you'll run into encounters you can't win till you're a higher level (or in a few cases potentially not at all). Those looking for another game like Fallout, or an isometric version of the Metro series with more RPG elements won't go wrong with this one.
Deep Sky Derelicts -
A 2D RPG game, with the player taking control of a band of scavengers raiding the remains of old spacecraft. You're tasked with finding the coordinates to a famed lost spacecraft on behalf of the government with the reward of full citizenship so you can retire to the Core Worlds. Your characters are picked from define classes with their own skills, and as the game progress they can pick further specialisations to gain access to more powers. Most of the gameplay is exploration and combat - with the story coming through intermittent dialogue. Its more about levelling up your crew and moving onto further challenges, as you overcome difficulty spikes, wipe the floor with encounters for a while, before again finding things becomming harder again. It could do with further polish, and gameplay can become repetative after a while, so its not for everyone.
Daggerfall: Unity -
A port of the original The Elder Scrolls; Daggerfall to a new engine. Allowing or better modding and new features. This is still a work in progress, but if you liked the original game and want to replay it on a newer system its worth a look in. Current mods improve the graphic, add new encounters and quests, though for the moment its just more Daggerfall.
Darkest Dungeon -
A sidescrolling dungeon crawler. Enter the ruins of your family's abandoned estate - fighting off its new inhabitants as your party diminishes physically and mentally. Its expected that you'll have to retire many of your adventurers along the way as they become too infirm to go on. The game has Lovecraftian vibes mixed in with a bit of Dark Souls in terms of setting. Where you start off fighting vagnabonds in the woods around the estate, and eventually are facing off with tentacled horrors which cause your party to go mad at the sight of them. You can get invested in individual party members, just don't expect them to be wholly sane by the end of the adventure (there's an achievement for completing the game with your original party actually).
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Chaps,
A little reminder that strictly-speaking, computer/video gaming is out-of-scope for this board except if at least tangentially related to the minis focus of LAF (e.g. as inspiration for a project).
Given the exceptional situation, though, I'm okay with having a thread on this for the time being, but merged the two.
Thank you! It could well become inspiration for a project, and should also help to sustain interest in ongoing, long-term projects, because it's not as though in-person gaming is going to be an option for the next while...
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Chaps,
A little reminder that strictly-speaking, computer/video gaming is out-of-scope for this board except if at least tangentially related to the minis focus of LAF (e.g. as inspiration for a project).
Given the exceptional situation, though, I'm okay with having a thread on this for the time being, but merged the two.
How about this one then: Table Top Simulator. A PC "game" that imports board and miniature games onto PC. The screen literally looks like a gaming table. I have played Osprey's Fighting Sail using it and have seen games on Bolt Action being played. So for anyone in quarantine or unable to go to the game club maybe there is a module for your miniatures game and everyone can stay at home and still have the club game!
https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/
On the Steam page you can view some of the game modules available.
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How about this one then: Table Top Simulator. A PC "game" that imports board and miniature games onto PC. The screen literally looks like a gaming table. I have played Osprey's Fighting Sail using it and have seen games on Bolt Action being played. So for anyone in quarantine or unable to go to the game club maybe there is a module for your miniatures game and everyone can stay at home and still have the club game!
https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/
On the Steam page you can view some of the game modules available.
Cool! This game looks interesting...
https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/games/three-kingdoms-redux
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Roll through the ages is half price on play, at least in France
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Tomb Raider 2013 is currently free on Steam due to the lockdown.
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My friends and I have been playing Battle Brother quite a lot for over a year.
Turn based skirmish game - build a mercenary company and try to keep it alive physically and financially while hoping morale doesn't fall too low. It doesn't require a PC with too much grunt, but the graphics may not be to everyone's liking.
Has some fantasy elements, orcs & goblins, undead & monsters - But there is no magic or other supernatural stuff for players. I play the basic game, but the mods / DLC allow for a viking or middle eastern themed game. Weapons and armour are all easily recognised by a wargamer.
VERY hard game, brutal even, with permanent injuries for men - typically the ones you have nurtured who then suffer a punctured lung and lose a finger. :-[
Also has good narrative / RPG elements determined by the nature of your company and background of the men you have recruited.
Good fun, just don't get too attached to your men.
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Labyrinth:War on Terror is currently on early access on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/931950/Labyrinth_The_War_on_Terror/?beta=0
This is a digital version of the GMT board game of the same name. Playdek previously did the digital version of Twilight Struggle and I believe are going to be making digital versions of some of GMTs COIN games (which I am very excited about)