Men’s Rights Activism, summed up in a single comment

@Handsome Jack

Oh god. I didn’t realize the implication. That… definitely wasn’t my meaning. If anything, and for what it’s worth, I don’t believe Handsome Jack’s been used in screenshots at the Daily Stormer. Them’s too Very Serious People. A guy who names his horse Butt Stallion is WAY out of their league.

@Scildfreja

It’s distilled the game genre into its purest form, I think – very clean, quite simplified.

’tis my problem right there. “Simplified” isn’t the solution because I actually crave complexity, it’s just… well, “being many” – I don’t deal so well with that. If that’s even intelligible. It’s a sort of block, I guess ?
But hey, there’s a time and place for everything, I guess. For example, years ago I wouldn’t even go NEAR a stealth game because I found them too stressful. Now they’re one of my favorite genres ever and I will take the stealth option over any other in any game that leaves me a choice. I STILL feel that stress, but I enjoy it now. I enjoy inflicting it on the poor helpless NPCs I’m sneaking up on. I’m hoping one day I can do the same with horror games, especially since stealth being my specialty and an integral part of a lot of those games, I’m theoretically in my element, but I don’t deal so well with fear either. Okay, to be fair, it absolutely paralyses me. The latest Thief game ? It has a “scary” chapter. Well my then-girlfriend had to download my save and complete it for me. Also she tried to get me into Silent Hill and had to come fetch me from under her bed… after only MENTIONING Silent Hill. Not evening opening the damn box. Just mentioning it. I still hold the record for the number of “nope” she’s heard in one day.

Managing many things is just another kind of stress that I may ONE DAY manage to overcome but it’s one large block and I’m not good with blocks.

On the other hand, I’m interested in No Man’s Sky. Looks like a one-character 4X from what I could gather, and on paper it does sound like something I’d be very, very excited about. And who knows, maybe an introduction to other 4X games where my own self-centric butt isn’t the only one I have to manage.

I don’t even get the joke D:
(granted, I haven’t played The Pre-Sequel)

hi5 @numerobis! It’s really interesting how Populous set the tone for so much. If it had been a more peaceful game, would we see strategy games less focused on war and genocide? Or would it just have been less popular? Genocide is a disturbingly common theme in games. I imagine that’s a holdover from board games, where traditionally one side wins by getting rid of the other players’ pieces. Interesting to think about!

@dslucia, you can’t be literal Borg in Stellaris – you can’t be cybernetic or machines. You’re an evolved species. You can build robots and drones and whatnot, though, and they’re very useful. Robot friends for everyone!

@Sinkable John, fair enough. Then, I suggest Civilization V. It’s probably the best strategy game out there right now, has a huge fan base, and it isn’t going to wreck you if you don’t use the “right” play style. There are lots of systems to explore and lots of complexity, but nothing is too big to be unmanageable. You can quite happily play an entire epic-scale campaign from 4000 BC to 2200 AD without a single war; you can focus on building an enriching culture or pursuing knowledge or engaging in diplomacy. Even if you do go to war, the AI will only pursue you to destruction on the higher difficulty levels. It’s turn based so you have time to think about things, and the map is basically like a board game with simple rules for the pieces. Very much a worthwhile game. Also likely to go on sale for deep discounts this summer, since Civ VI was announced for the fall.

Having a non-dictatorship is going to involve taking control away from the player. But IMO that could be a good thing or make for a really neat game.

Ooh, and I would love to know of any RTS/strategy/build-an-army game that actually focuses on the ethics of your actions (and more than just a quick ‘good/bad ending’ like C&C 3).

Or alternatively, a strategy game where it’s established from the get-go that you’re basically god and that every building and unit you create must obey your command. Then, your choices as an omnipotent being end up shaping the civilization.

Someday I hope some RTS video game will be ballsy enough to have a Hero/Unique unit decide to simply disobey you. Like, you click to tell them to go attack this unit and they’re like “NOPE! That’s going too far; I don’t like your leadership”.

There’s already a Stellaris mod to start the game as a synthetic species where you need to build all your pops. Haven’t tried it out yet; it sounds like it would be problematic because the robot pops are a bit expensive and require energy to maintain.

The drawback to building advanced robots is that they start getting smart. Usually they just want equal rights and such, but occasionally it turns out that you have made a terrible error and they want to kill all organic life in the galaxy because it’s there. On the upside, when they’re smart they’re better at research than most organic species.

They also won’t revolt if you’ve previously torn a hole in the universe with jumpdrive tech.

Someday I hope some RTS video game will be ballsy enough to have a Hero/Unique unit decide to simply disobey you. Like, you click to tell them to go attack this unit and they’re like “NOPE! That’s going too far; I don’t like your leadership”.

Ah, man, that would be cool.

Just, like, have a dude go rogue on you and they rally people against you and then you wipe them all out. That would be cool. If there’s one thing I like is games that don’t cater to player based moralities, ya feel me?

CK2 has your council vote on law changes, with limited capacity for them to initiate votes on their own accord. The Crisis Of The Confederation mod has a Senate system but isn’t updated to Conclave yet, and the 2.4.5 Senate tends to be a bit funky. Characters keep demanding dictators create them then immediately start a vote to disband the Senate.

I’m always a sucker for a Tropico conversation! So, the whole “dictator simulator” aspect is simultaneously overblown and underblown… as it were. It’s perfectly possible to play with completely fair elections, an independent media, a high standard of personal liberty for your populace, etc. On the other hand, you still have total control of your nation’s infrastructure and economy, down to the last farm, and your rule can still last for decades if you convince people to keep voting for you.

Also, the first game was made by PopTop Software, and was light-hearted but not exactly comedy-centric. From the third game onwards, the series has been made by Haemimont Games, who hewed close to the original mechanics but took the writing in a hard wacky-random direction, and… well, it’s pretty bad, and super sexist. They’ve released three titles so far – 4 is pretty much 3 with some upgrades, and 5 took things in an experimental direction with randomly-generated dynasty members ruling across multiple eras that, in my opinion, doesn’t quite work. (2 was an outlier – a pirate-themed game with a plunder-and-slavery-based economy. Bit weird, honestly.)

In short, for a classic, charming 2.5D island builder, get the original with its expansion pack. For a broader, more modern version of same with considerably worse writing, get 4, and its expansion is worth looking at too.

Has anyone played the old Majesty game? It is a cross between a city building sim and a RTS. The twist is that while you are recruiting heroes to fight for your kingdom, you can’t actually give them orders. You can place bounties on monsters and enemy structures, but the only thing you have direct command over is the building process.

Oh yes, @Handsomest Jack. That is the perfect gif. CK2 is the sort of game that has you hoping someone will kill your first son so that he doesn’t split the kingdom… and then maybe surreptitiously slipping a bit of gold into the hands of someone to see it happen…

… only to have the assassin double cross you and tip off one of your Dukes, who rallies support for a faction to put your banished uncle on the throne.

It really is Game of Thrones in there, i tell you!

It’s a limitation in two ways. First, it’s a pretty significant AI challenge to make interesting behaviours in that situation. You want human-like behaviour, and that’s not easy.

Second problem is that, well, it turns out that players don’t really like good AI in their games. They want predictable AI that can be gamed – AI as a puzzle to solve. That conflicts with building an AI capable of making good decisions.

And the simple problem that you’re creating a game where the player doesn’t have that much to do, because lots of things are just outside their power.

Has anyone played the old Majesty game? It is a cross between a city building sim and a RTS. The twist is that while you are recruiting heroes to fight for your kingdom, you can’t actually give them orders. You can place bounties on monsters and enemy structures, but the only thing you have direct command over is the building process.

That sounds similar to Dwarf Fortress.

Oh yes, @Handsomest Jack.

I like you.