Great new game to play while waiting for 0AD

[RTS_Junky]

Hi all,

There is a new game probably flying under your radar called, Grand Ages: Rome.

It's a city builder game, but you get to build an army and attack other players in MP - no one is playing it online, but me and my friend starting playing multi-player recently and it's for sure an over looked RTS that any RTS fan should have...it's great fun - check it out!

[Mythos_Ruler]

Link us man! We need screenshots!

[feneur]

http://www.grandages.com/us/gr_screens.php Took a Google search to find them

[saxguy]

hmm looks like the kind of game that would be a hit.... is it by any chance free??

[Cassador_Chris]

You have to purchase it? LAME.

lol. Looks cool. Not going to be spending money on games anytime soon though....

[saxguy]

amen to that

[Biz]

there's a demo

i played it

seems that you just memorize some build combo's (i.e. ratios of what buildings you need to make) and the strategy doesn't go too much beyond that

the game's probably "dead" online anyways so even if there is actual depth to it, it won't be developed without a community of great players

the single player had potential, but it didn't seem like they were doing the story-telling well enough. a solid campaign could have made it worth $15 or something

Edited May 2, 2009 by Biz

[Sophokles]

I'm sorry for bumping this thread. Maybe this is better left dead.

So anyway, I got Grand Ages: Rome by Kalypso Media. It's a German studio that's coming out with Tropico 3 this October. The game is a unique city-builder/RTT hybrid. I think it has similarities to Caesar, the Roman city-builder equivalent of Zeus:Master of Olympus . It's forgettable, but worth doing a review.

Pros

• Good, non-intensive graphics in a fully 3D world
  
• Interesting storyline. Set in the fall of the Roman Republic, you pick a gens. You start out with one mission in which you help a family member in exile. Then you get requests from more well-known clients. Marcus Crassus helps you build up Genoa. Cicero shows you the Georgics and wants you to build a farming town. In the east, you fight Mithradates with a relative who soon gets bumped. Eventually, your friend Gaius Julius dies and you must choose between the optimates and the populares. Your patrons become the Second Triumvirate and Cleopatra. There's a free build, but the highlight here is the campaign.
  
• Slighly non-linear. You do them in order, but you usually have 4 or 5 missions available at a time.
  
• Realistic choice of units. No fictional uints like Arcani or Praetorian Cavalry.
  

Cons

• Awkward city building. It's great, but it feels like the only purpose of building a city is for battle (in combat missions). Still, it's much better than RTS's.
  
• Special powers? I like how in R:TW the traits and abilites were more subtle. It has a weird 'only in video games' feel that is hard to describe.
  
• Dead. Even though this is a sequel(to Impirivum Romanvm), there is no player base or news to speak of. Go to the website and you'll see what I mean.
  

Bottom line: Would I buy it again? If you are a hard core gamer or ultra-interested in this time period, go ahead. The only reason I am saying that is because i would go for a more popular game first.

So before you reply, answer these questions for me if you will

1. Does anyone here remember Zeus: Master of Olympus?

2. Hey, is anyone here old enough to remember when it was in a heyday? Did it even have a heyday?

3. Does anyone here own GA:R and would add something?

Edited September 23, 2009 by Sophokles

[plumo]

1. I remember Zeus and I have played it alot . It was a great game. Nice graphics. Addicting.

Heydey? 2001 ?

[Random_Freak]

Here is another free to play while you wait (all thought you can use real money to buy stuff) It's a multiplayer RTT in beta World Of Battles

Edited October 31, 2009 by Random_Freak

[buggy123]

world of battles looks pretty epic, I'm gonna give it a try

[Sophokles]

Looks too much like a Total War game.

[buggy123]

you dont like total war?

[Silver]

you dont like total war?

Total War is OK, but I don't like it as much as probably everyone else on this forum.

[buggy123]

hm, well I have to admit, vanilla total war may not be that amazing, but some of the Mods are fantastic. Plus there are quite a few of them, like the lord of the rings mod, so you don't get bored of them either.

[Sophokles]

This should be interesting. Can an RTT make a good multiplayer game? Like remember in RTW: you could not clearly see parts of the map that you did not occupy, but the computer did. In a multiplayer, now both players have the same restrictions.

Can't wait to see how this comes out. Let's hope they don't mishandle this project.

[buggy123]

actually in RTT multiplayers it's just the battles, no conquering (world map). ETW came out with a multiplyer campaign. not sure how its working out

WoB isn't that great. controls are too clunky and its pretty unbalanced. i'd gave it a 2.5/5

btw, anyone play battle forge?

Edited November 11, 2009 by buggy123

[Sophokles]

Check it out! There is actually activity on the Grand Ages site!

http://www.grandages.com/us/

Even though few people in America know about it (Italian series), there is actually an expansion pack soon to be released worldwide!

Didn't see that coming at all. Of course, I don't think anyone here actually cares.

Edited December 13, 2009 by Sophokles

[Mythos_Ruler]

I looked at the screenshots -- very nice! The authenticity is astounding.

[Sophokles]

Just a little note for those of you interested in Roman culture:

Like Caeasr IV, Grand Ages divides Roman society into 3 classes: plebs, equites, and patrices. Plebs and patricians, of course, are the traditional powers in the Roman class struggle, but the inclusion of Equites intrigues me. In the game, Equites are kind of like an upper-middle class military elite. They do not live in insulae or villae, but in small ornate houses. They are well- educated, pay taxes, and provide recruits for the army. They can do certain Plebian jobs with better efficiency, and there are some jobs just for Equites.

It is implied that this is the Equestrian order of Rome, slightly below the Senatorial order. Equite also means horseman, but in Grand Ages, this is rendered as Equestri and not Equites. So basically, we have two games that portray these super-wealthy knights as the middle class of Rome.Can somebody please clarify?

The bottom line is this: was there an official middle class in Rome, or is this just fictional?

[Mythos_Ruler]

Yeah, the Equestrian order was one step below the Senatorial class. They were men wealthy enough to field one or more horses for battle. Eventually more formalized wealth prerequisites were implemented (have X denarii so you are X class, etc.). Don't forget there were also slaves, which could be considered a class of their own. There was no "middle" class as we think of it today. Plebians and resident foreigners could become very rich, but still not be allowed into the higher classes, although to a great extent money talked and bullshit walked.

Edited December 13, 2009 by Mythos_Ruler