Game looks great

Blisterz · November 4, 2002, 14:39

http://www.the-guild.com/

In the forum the programer is complaining about the publisher 'JoWood' for not getting the game any publisity. So I say its out duty (if the game is good) to get the word around about this game. If this games has half the stuff the site says about it, it should be great.

FrustratedPoet · November 4, 2002, 14:49

The game concept from their site:

Quote:

The Middle Ages - The Real Experience
The PC game "Europa 1400 - The Guild" takes players into the fascinating world of the Middle Ages after 1400: A world full of luxury and wealth conspiracy and intrigue. In one of five european cities up to 500 virtual inhabitants pursue their daily business- trading and competing for titles and offices each of which bestows reputation and influence. All this is presented in a wealth of detail.

From the 3D view of the whole town players can zoom to a selected building enter that building and interact with ist contents and inhabitants. For example entering a herb shop allows the player to examine the sales room and the lab where they can even see the distilling flask! There are also over 200 building extensions each of which serves ist own unique purpose.

At the start of the game players can generate their own characters. They can even select their parents from a number of workmen merchants poets or even thieves. Every player can therefore inherit helpful talents on the path to glory and wealth. Then players can select professions and set the points for their further career. Eight different groups of professions are available at the beginning of the game which include such varied roles as blacksmith tincture mixer landlord preacher or even thief.

Depending on the chosen path players may find themselves at the searing heat of the forge behind the counter of a herb shop or waiting in the forest for the cover of night. The objective of the game depends on the different game modes: from the focused play of the mission mode to the infinite possibilities of the endless game where players build a family dynasty.

The missions include several different objectives such as "Become mayor" "Obtain a monopoly over the surrounding quarries" or "Raise 15 000 ducats through raids" A multiplayer mode for up to 8 players is included as well. To ease casual gamers into the medieval world of "The Guild - Europa 1400" the gameplay and navigation have been designed to be as easy as possible.

The different difficulty levels will make expert building and strategy game players addicted to "Europa 1400 - The Guild" as well. Orientation within the colourfully realised towns is pleasingly easy: By clicking an area on screen over the town the camera will softly pan in that direction.

A mouse click on any building moves the camera directly to the desired destination. Another mouse click enters the building. Each building contains a different situation: The tavern for instance is populated by different shady characters. As well as offering gambling and mead the tavern also lets you obtain useful information on opponents and competitors. But take care: If you are caught committing a crime you may expect to be taken to the town prison the pillory or be tortured. If you want to avoid such unpleasant surprises keep your proceedings legal as you maintain and expand your empire.

You can also visit one of the local churches; these visits will often end with your purse being lighter and the priest smiling happily as he hands you a letter of indulgence. Glancing into the law books at the town council's office could also help inspire one to stay within the law… most of the time.

Numerous positions are just waiting to be filled. Guilds churches and councils tempt players with the influence they offer. Changing alliances offering privileges or the well-considered employment of underhand measures can lead you to the heights of your career - or if carelessly used to rot in a dungeon. If all else fails there is still the option of a duel at dawn.

You should check out the screenshots in their 'Making Of...' section.

Blisterz · November 4, 2002, 15:44

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet
The game concept from their site:

You should check out the screenshots in their 'Making Of...' section.

Oh I did, I think I am in love

General Ludd · December 30, 2002, 10:27

Great game, and one of the more original games I've played in a long time.

First, a disclaimer: I do not write good reviews, especially this early in the morning, so bare with me.

You start the game with a small shop and home, and have to work your way up from there - potentially owning the entire city and being able to decide the laws.

There's a very nice political part of the game, where you can work your way up the structure of the town and eventual gain the power to decide laws and taxes - of course, it's not easy geting to such a position, since you have to win favor with all the current officials, and there are many others competing for the same positions (both "common people" and rival dynasties). There is also alot of things you can do to help your political standing, you can build an impressive house, buy jewelery and other sorts of items, or you can also bribe people, spy on them, blackmail, take them to court, ect...

There are many different careers, which all seem to be quite unique - I played my first game as a perfumer, your employees must look for herbs in the wilderness, and then turn them into perfumes and potions back in the shop. Then you can take them to market and sell them, or let people come straight to your shop and buy them for a cheaper price. All of the thigns you make have practical purposes, as a perfumer I could make perfumes that would cause two people to hate each other, musks that can make you attractive to the opposite sex, or even poisons for puting on blades.

I've also started a game as a thief, where your thieves can do everything from pickpocketing to kidnappings, and none of it is abstracted - if you want to rob a building or kidnap someone, you chose who the victim is.

Then there is your family - if you want to continue the game past your death, you need to get married and have children, and the dynasty passed on to them when you die. It is unlikely that you will have achieved that much in a single life time, maybe having two shops and a small civic office, but for your dynasty to really have an impact on the city it will probably take a few generations.

General Ludd · December 30, 2002, 10:28

It almost makes me wish I spoke german... there's alot of really interesting games coming out of there these days. (I hear there's already an expansion for the german version)

Lemmy · December 30, 2002, 10:42

*drool*
Very good conept

And nice graphics also...but the concept

This would be an excellent belated christmas present to me.

Thrawn05 · December 30, 2002, 13:18

I just hope that the programmers don't start thinking that "awsome graphics" will be the selling point, and make gameplay the sacrifical lamb. I've been noticing this trend for the past year or so, and I just hope that a game with this great story line don't follows this route.

Sarxis · December 30, 2002, 15:58

Hmm.. this game is a surprise. I may need to buy it.

CapTVK · December 30, 2002, 16:41

Hmmmm, sadly no demo, not even on the german site.

John-SJ · December 31, 2002, 21:02

I just got E1.4K

this afternoon. I have played through the tutorial and am now involved in my first game.

From what I've seen so far its very detailed and seems quite deep. I think I'll be enjoying this one a lot!

John-SJ

Bkeela · January 1, 2003, 23:15

Wow, I am impressed with the concept of this game. I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.

Bkeela.

Sarxis · January 2, 2003, 18:53

Really it sounds to me like a Middle Ages simulator. Am I correct in this assessment?

pg · January 3, 2003, 14:02

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...907732,00.html

pretty good review too. if anyone plays it i'd really like to know what you guys think of it. it looks interesting but i'm not going to run out and get it yet.

Lemmy · January 7, 2003, 07:07

i got it! i got it! i got it! i got it! i got it! i got it! i got it! i got it!

And i like it!

Very replayable (i think, i'm just in my first game, and there are uhm...20 or 16 professions you can do), the AI is pretty good...or i just suck...i wasn't really winning (actually losing the game) on very easy difficulty at first!!
I don't know how i'm doing now, i forgot where to look at the scores

But i got into public office, and became a Bishop (higher then any of my competitors), which is about 4 steps below Soevereign, there are 9 steps, in 6 different areas.
I got married pretty fast, got 3 children, the last one is the smartest, i gave her some toys to improve her skills, later on you can put the kids in university, where to learn 2 out of 5 skills.
My wife died recently, so i tried courting the soeverieng, that didn't work, she dissapearred somehow, so now i'm courting the richest woman i could find.

Skanky Burns · January 7, 2003, 07:54

You gold-digger, you.

Lemmy · January 7, 2003, 10:44

aaaw...My first character died before i could get married

I had to choose an heir, and now i'm playing as a my 2 child she had the highest skills of those 3, i kept all my possesions and my grades.
Now i'm trying to get into a public office again..those jobs really pay well

And i'm courting the richest man available..which will still take a few years.
The different profesions are quite interesting really..so far i've been a smith, pastor, and guardsman. The smith profession is the simplest of those, it's just gathering raw materials and making good to sell at the market.
Pastor is interesting, because you can get random cash, from people buying Indulgence, and action points. Then the pastor also has a church, where at the first lvl you can make talent scroll/books , which you can read one of per day, and it will increase your skill in a random area, and poems. So what you can do is just take one scroll/day from your stock and improve your skill, the rest you can sell for cash, you gain skills twice as fast as normal then.
The guardsman is...ehm..i'm still figuring that out, you can hire guards, then you can send these guards out to do several things, they can patrol an area, patrol around a specific building, scout certain thief-related buildings, and raid thief-related bulidings, i haven't succeeded in raiding yet, somehow my guardsmen can't find the entrance

.
You earn cash by patrolling, but the cash you get is a bit random, i have only got cash for it once. I haven't succeeded in raiding yet..i hope that brings a steady income, because now my Guardhouse is only costing me money.

General Ludd · January 7, 2003, 15:39

The first game I played was with Jack, a thief. He did quite well and made a good living out of it, and got married to a duchess (her fortune was almost 200,000 ducats - probably the richest woman in the town at the time) and had three children. When he started to get older he opened up a tavern and handed over the thief's hideout to a hired master - who did an amazing job of mis-management, geting Jack into trouble with the town guard and even kidnapping his own wife! (fortunetely the ransom came out of her own estate, though

) At the age of 43, he'd upgraded his tavern to an Inn and was about to close down the thieves hideout so he could live his last years in peace, but he died the morning he was going to do that.

Out of the three kids he had, the old was already in his mid 20s, the middlechild was 17, and the youngest only 10. I went on playing as the middlechild, Monty. When Jack's wife died her fortune went to the youngest (I forget his name... I think Edward) who hadn't gotten the chance to go to university or anything - he bought a palace and lived off of the fortune doing nothing else, he never got a job or a political office or anything. Lucky bastard.

When Monty took over the estate, he gave the Inn to a hired master and took full control of the thief's hideout. He agressively pursued money, doing lots of kidnaping, break-ins, ect.. and got quite rich. He eventually saved up enough to buy a palace, but there was no room left in the town, and he had a very difficult time finding people who would sell their property for a reasonable price. (He offered as much as 140,000 ducats to his brother Edward for the palace he lived in - the stupid bastard wouldn't sell, though

) He eventually had to settle for buying a villa from a rival dynasty at three times the face value, and later upgraded it to a palace - coincedentally, it was right next door to his brother's palace. He then began a career in politics, and worked his way up the ladder very quickly, buying all the finest jewelry to impress people with, and bribing anyone who still didn't like him. Towards the end of his life he had become the first Count in Madrid, and was easily the richest person in the city, at the age of 46 he became Sovereign, and died the same day.

Must be a family curse!

I haven't played much further in this Dynasty yet, but I continued playing as his son Kent (the oldest of three) and he is pursuing the career of a robber(which is different then that of a thief), but is not having much luck - all of his attempts at raiding a robber's hideout have failed, and most of the thieves where as old as his father and are dying off now, which means he has to spend alot of time and money hiring new ones and training them.

FrustratedPoet · January 7, 2003, 16:43

This sounds like an amazing game. They should also put "Like The Sims, only not crap" on the box.

General Ludd · January 7, 2003, 18:04

I think it could get a bit old after a while, though... but roleplaying it makes it much more enjoyable, and you can always set your own goals and limits. (ie. play as an honest merchant, who'd never dream of doing anything underhanded or ilegal) I guess that it's one of those games that is as fun as you make it.

There is also a multiplayer player option, but unfortunetly only on LAN - I imagine it would be great fun, though.

Lemmy · January 7, 2003, 18:12

It is amazing, but do have some interface issues though..

You can't for example select a person, and then decide if you want to blackmail, accuse, spy, whatever him, you have to go to different places, which is annoying, since i usually first pick a target, and then decide what to do.

Because of the different professions, each with their own building, you also have different building layouts, and the options of each building, are spread throughout the building. For example to hire more staff, you need to click on the "Staff registry", which looks like a book, and always is somewhere in the building, whenever i'm in a new buildings, i have to search for these things.

The stability is great though, it never crashed with me, but i can't seem to alt-tab back into the game with a working mouse.

Even with these little annoyances, it still is a great and very original game, i can't wait to try out other professions in other games, i definitely want to try the Thief, Trader and Moneylender sometime, and start out as Preacher, that seems to be the best option to improve skills fast, and gain money with relative little effort, unlike the Thief.

Lemmy · January 7, 2003, 19:25

The graphics also aren't as good as they seem, the person models/textures are ugly, the buildings look nice, but i've never seen an ugly building in a game, so that can't be hard.

Standup · January 16, 2003, 21:21

Just bought it today - already being discounted in Game which is sometimes a bad sign. Sometimes though it just means i completely out of step with people half my age. And isn't the music in these shops a bit loud ?

Time to read the manual - nearly always the most tedious part.

Sarxis · January 17, 2003, 11:01

A-vault just released a review. Looks like they like it:

http://www.avault.com/reviews/review...p?game=eur1400