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Author Topic: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games  (Read 2994 times)

Rabek Jeris

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(Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« on: September 27, 2013, 06:03:39 am »

Been a while since I posted here.

So I have (what I assume are) rather weird tastes. I love god games. I love city-builders, but... I don't enjoy the level of control I'm given in most of them. It feels like the people whose lives I have control over are just mindless automatons without lives of their own.

So I'm wondering if anyone knows of any games that are mostly hands-off, where you spend your time guiding rather than dictating.

Some examples:
Majesty 1&2- Pretty good example. I love these games. The only downside is there is a definite 'win' condition. I'd prefer a more sandbox game that you can essentially play for hours upon hours without starting a new map. It still gives you a bit more control than I'd prefer, but they're solid anyway.

OpenTTD/TTD- While you have complete control over your company, cities grow only with your influence (not your demand), and they decide where to build rather than you dictating it. I'd prefer more details on the citizen's lives, and it's clearly not the main focus of the game, but I love that little touch, and it scratches the itch to a degree.

Distant Worlds-Your empire will grow without you, and the private sector is perfect. The only problem is you can be a total dictator over every aspect of your empire (except the private sector), and having the possibility of that control makes me feel like I'm doing it wrong if I let the AI take over.

Various Artificial Life sims- Probably where I got a taste for this style of "game"play. Needless to say, these are very rarely actually "games", but they do meet the criteria.

Dwarf Fortress- Mostly qualifies for the same reasons Majesty does, though I'd rather if the people would do some building on their own, without you demanding it. Come to think of it, that's another thing that makes the Majesty series not a perfect fit.
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ragnar119

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2013, 06:08:33 am »

You can try gnomoria (more similar to DF but with better graphic)and towns (combination of simple DF and majesty). Both games have demos to download so why not try them.

http://www.townsgame.com/index.php?&id=4
http://gnomoria.com/downloads/
« Last Edit: September 27, 2013, 06:10:09 am by ragnar119 »
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Chattox

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2013, 06:51:50 am »

Creatures series
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vaaern

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2013, 09:05:02 am »

Godville, While you cannot do much, it's certainly a God game :)
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MadMalkavian

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2013, 09:37:32 am »

Godville, While you cannot do much, it's certainly a God game :)

I second Godville and can offer invites to up to six people if anyone is interested.
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Haspen

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2013, 09:40:15 am »

Majesty 1
The only downside is there is a definite 'win' condition. I'd prefer a more sandbox game that you can essentially play for hours upon hours without starting a new map.

Sandbox + Respawning lairs + High-difficulty monsters = Infinite fun.

I had golems and dragons and other Yetis respawning and wandering into the map all the time, it was pretty difficult I woul say :P
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Chaoswizkid

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2013, 10:03:27 am »

The Tropico series, of which 5 is coming out shortly. I would recommend 4, then 3, then 1 (a classic, you may want to start out with this one actually) and then 2 only if you can appreciate the series (because 2 was seen as... not very well-designed). It's not really a "God" game, but it has all that indirectness you're looking for.

You build buildings, you enact edicts, you set wages, but you don't do anything else. All of the people do their own thing and you can only influence what direction they go toward. A recently-constructed farm is understaffed? Increase wages at that building to encourage them to work there. That sort of thing.

In fact, I think there's a game bundle going on right now that includes one of the Tropico games. Either that or a big sale.
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Aklyon

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2013, 11:20:32 am »

You cannot actually build buildings in tropico, at least the recent 2. You designate building spots and wait for your useless lazy jerks well-paid useful builders to build them for you in sometimes seemingly random order.
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Zangi

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2013, 11:31:07 am »

You cannot actually build buildings in tropico, at least the recent 2. You designate building spots and wait for your useless lazy jerks well-paid useful builders to build them for you in sometimes seemingly random order.
Its the same deal in the the first, the third and fourth takes after that.  I don't remember much about the fourthsecond.
edit: derped
« Last Edit: September 27, 2013, 05:14:09 pm by Zangi »
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Shakerag

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2013, 11:44:58 am »

PTW.  Looking for ideas myself.

CognitiveDissonance

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #10 on: September 27, 2013, 11:46:31 am »

PTW.  Looking for ideas myself.

PTW. There aren't nearly enough not-terrible games in this genre.
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Mephansteras

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #11 on: September 27, 2013, 12:31:39 pm »

Yeah.

I've had an idea for an interesting AI simulation where you play a spirit who does very subtle 'pushes' on the people in a village to direct them in ways you want. Make them happier doing certain things, unhappier doing others. But mostly just watching what they do and how they interact. I came up with it as a way of testing an AI concept I have. Now if only I'd get around to programming all of it...
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CognitiveDissonance

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #12 on: September 27, 2013, 12:36:59 pm »

Yeah.

I've had an idea for an interesting AI simulation where you play a spirit who does very subtle 'pushes' on the people in a village to direct them in ways you want. Make them happier doing certain things, unhappier doing others. But mostly just watching what they do and how they interact. I came up with it as a way of testing an AI concept I have. Now if only I'd get around to programming all of it...

If you do end up doing that, this sounds like a King of Dragon's Pass kind of game. Regular events and responses, with a set march of time that you can't really affect.
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kcwong

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #13 on: September 27, 2013, 12:38:42 pm »

Try Reus. It's available on Steam.
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xaritscin

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Re: (Mostly) Hands-off God Games
« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2013, 01:46:43 pm »

the Cultures series (Cultures and Cultures 2)
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