More "responsible" games on the up

ITV news just did a piece of the games industry taking more interest in games which are designed to actually “teach” the user for lack of a better word. Unfortunately democracy didn’t make the cut of games they showcased, - which included a game called “Series Policy” - playgen.com/home/index.php?o … &Itemid=96

Damn, a missed opportunity. I guess that game is 3D, so makes better footage, but I still dont see why 3D adds anything to games like these. I know… I worked on republic: the revolution :smiley:.

I don’t think 3d does add much to a game, my favourite game is Football Manager, which I guess is simply text and spreadsheets. The closes thing to “action” you get is 2d circles with feet passing a smaller circle about.

To be honest, while the piece made a good point, it wasn’t entirely serious, it was a slightly “puff” piece in the “lighter side of news” spot. They were boarding on mocking at times.

It looks like, as an English friend of mine might say, mind the gap. :unamused: These idiot directors with their ‘pretty’ games have yet to catch up to the depth of an independent simulator? Truly, that says a lot. The only game that comes close to beating Democracy in realism is Superpower 2, which is now badly outdated, sadly. :cry: Anyway, just ignore the list, it seems quite silly. Also, I’m overjoyed that the dawn of my return heralds DEMOCRACY 2! =D =D =D

Time to go download immediately, woo!

Coincidentally, wasn’t Republic that game that took place in a ‘sorta kinda’ Eastern European Republic? That game made me laugh, the way they always speak gibberish… :laughing: I’m sure that you tried though, Cliff. :slight_smile:

I tried that Serious Policy game, and it crashed my computer every time I tried to run it. Sent a message on their site about it but never heard anything back. Still, what do you expect from a game where Paris Hilton makes decisions on how to run the country?!

I tried it a week or two ago, it has very bad 3D graphics takes 10 minutes and you’ll stop because:

  1. it leaves you no choices
  2. it has very ugly graphics , so ugly that you wish it had none
  3. you’ve already reached the end of it
    Democracy (2) is the only game I know that has very deep government simulation.

(btw did I mention SP had horrible graphics?)

Guys, no offense, but it isn’t necessary to diss somebody else’s title just to show you like Democracy 2. Serious Policy looks like it has significant flaws, but it’s trying to do something different and it’s being done by an indie producer–both of which hold true for Positech, too.

If you’re looking for “deep” government simulators, ask first what you want that simulator to mirror. If it’s the issues of many factions that you try to resolve, try this:

mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/ … genda.html

…and install Hidden Agenda, from 1989. A remarkable simulation of Central American governments.

If you want to consider the way nations in the past engaged in diplomacy, war, and economic building, try:

paradoxplaza.com/index.php?o … Itemid=117

…and consider Europa Universalis III, for a really in depth experience playing as one historical nation among over 100.

Or, if you want to combine SimCity with being a merchant during the early Renaissance, consider:

ascaron.com/gb/gb_patrician3 … et_ie.html

…Patrician III. Buy and sell, raise your status among the Hansa, defeat rivals, engage in piracy, compete for town positions, get missions from the Hansa governing body and try to join it, deal with princes, build ships, etc. All in a day’s work.

In short, there are different games to suit different tastes. Personally, I like 'em all.


Cliff, you worked on R:TR? I thought that game suffered from a split personality. The 3D stuff frankly drove me up a wall, and it wasn’t at all well-integrated with anything else. Was the big hit one year at E3 in its early development, but when I asked how much game was behind the 3D stuff, the head honcho there bristled and told me it was better than anything else being shown, or likely to ever be shown. I told him “Of course,” and left. :unamused:

it was my first ‘proper’ industry job. I only did tools support and some collision detection code on it. I left before it shipped :smiley:.

Another good game in this genre is something I discovered last night called “Free Orion”, it’s open source, and it’s still in development really so the full isn’t there yet (but the core of the game is, and it’s incredibly stable for what is essentially an “alpha” version), but when done it’ll kind of be age of empires in space. freeorion.org/index.php/Main_Page

Did you try SP? The only thing i did was clicking a few sentences and fly that strange gray thing for a few sec, thats it. The games you talk about are real games (of which I tried most, especially paradox makes good games) SP isnt.

When I wrote, “Serious Policy looks like it has significant flaws, but it’s trying to do something different and it’s being done by an indie producer,” I meant that literally. I had looked at it. As on my desktop. Executable started. Played for a while.

Which wasn’t the point of my comment, thoughI agree that SP is a remarkably poor game to place out there for others to play. (Curiously, almost as though its developers had never played and analyzed another simulation, before.) But when one member noted that the only very deep government simulation they’d seen was Democracy 2, I respected that this shouldn’t be a case of praising one title and automatically dismissing all others. There are other good government simulation games out there, each with its own style.

I was talking about government simulation, I do not consider EU III and patrician as government simulations. I do consider them good games but they fall under another category to me (respectively being Grand strategy and business sim) and Hidden agenda just escaped my mind :blush:

HA’s easy to forget, because the company that published it went into bankruptcy soon after its release. The developer told me a couple of years ago that I tried at the time to sell the idea of an HA-like simulation set in the mid-East to other game publishers, only to be told “there was no market for games about the mid-East.” (!) At least HA is available for free, and remains wonderfully playable.

Nothing better for the blood than a minister leading a coup against ya 8)

I’ve still got HA on my computer. For all the ease of play, it’s a tough one to beat. :slight_smile: