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[RF]

What I'm looking for are games that allow you to build up "civilizations" and interact with other "civilizations" etc without the constant war effort / pushing to win sort of thing.

Imagine Civilization without victory conditions and you get the basic idea.

Some examples of what I'm looking for:-
- Pretty much all Paradox Interactive games. Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Victoria are perfect examples. You don't constantly rush to win since it's all about building your nation / family up rather than "winning".
- Distant Worlds is another example. Sure, it has win conditions but they're usually so far away that they're very unimportant. And you can switch them off and there is not really a massive difference in playstyle.
- Sid Meier's Pirates. DO WHAT YOU WANT BECAUSE A PIRATE IS FREE. YOU ARE A PIRATE. YARR HARR DIDDLY DEE. etc.

What I am not looking for:-
- Total War games. These are the exact opposite. As much as I love them, the games are still, ultimately, "wait fifteen turns, start a war, win a war, wait fifteen turns, start another war, win that war" ad infinitum. Diplomacy is only in game to get breathers between wars.
- Civilization. Sort of, anyway. I like Civilization's mechanics (yes, all the series), but the game is ultimately about pushing for a win. Without that win, the gameplay is meaningless. Also, I have to set the difficulty to Deity in order for the AI to expand properly and that results is rapage.

Notes:-
- It doesn't have to be a civilization. It can be a family, a noble house, hell, even a single person's livelihood. I just want something that results in me playing along with a bunch of AI.

So, ladies and gents, got any game suggestions for me?

[BigD145]

The Guild 2

[Hugehead]

Shores of Hazeron sounds exactly like what you want, it's a 4X where you control just one person in your empire, it's pretty hard to explain but there's a topic here that has a bit of info.

[RF]

Shores of Hazeron sounds exactly like what you want, it's a 4X where you control just one person in your empire, it's pretty hard to explain but there's a topic here that has a bit of info.

I'd love to play it but whenever I start it up all it is is pure intense lagtasticness. Low FPS for whatever reason.

[MonkeyHead]

Posting to follow and see what suggestions people make...

[Supercharazad]

Anno 1404

[Lightning4]

Hmm. This will be a tough one... games like that with no win conditions are pretty rare. But here's some I could think of:

Mount & Blade - Closest match is Pirates!... you ride a horse instead of a boat and stab people instead of shoot them. Ride around the countryside doing odd jobs or pledge allegiance to one of the nations. Raise up (or hire) a small army or band of marauders to pillage the enemy. Or traders if you feel like being a bandit. Warbands adds more stuff to M&B including a new nation.

Tropico - Fits nation building exactly, but there is no real competition with other nations (barring special events). Hence little AI interaction unless you are including civilians and whatnot. But you get to rule an island nation as you see fit, either as a tyrant who bleeds them dry or a benevolent dictator who seeks to cater to their every need.

Spore - Less of a match. There are clear "win conditions" for the early phases, but space phase is relatively open even if there isn't too much to do. I think there was an expansion pack that added more to space phase, though.


This isn't easy.

[Deadmeat1471]

Tropico. Doit.

[Samio]

Sword of the Samurai.

[shaihulud]

^ sword of the samurai could easily tune into a really fun roguelike rpg sim

[Majestic7]

King of Dragon Pass.

Emperor of the Fading Suns.

Imperialism I & II.

I presume you are familiar with the classics, like Master of Orions etc.

[Chandos]

I have the same longing for the kind of strategy game OP has described. EU and Victoria series are pretty much it, though. I was kinda hoping Majesty would be like that too.

[Deadmeat1471]

Imperialism is also good. One of my faves.

[RF]

I've played pretty much all these.

[Sowelu]

I wonder if you would like Machiavelli.  Good-old-days Microprose game.

Not quite what you're after but it's unique enough and vauely in the same style, so...Hey maybe it'll turn someone here onto a new game they wouldn't have otherwise found and loved.