I've been all atizzy (is that even a word...?) about the similarities to Startopia, but has anyone made the connection to Evil Genius yet?
I've been playing EG recently and it just occured to me how similar some of the concepts are between these games. In EG, you have a base (colony) filled with minions (colonists) that you do not directly control. Worker minions (IMP bots) carry out your orders, mining new rooms out of rock and placing items and furniture, etc. There is a tech tree allowing you to research more advanced rooms and items, as well as advanced minions; you can unlock scientists, engineers, soldiers, spindoctors, biochemists, etc, and each type has a specific role they carry out within the base (and on missions in 'the world', which happens outside of the playable game area).
In fact, Maia is sounding more and more like EG and less like Startopia, the more I think about it. And that actually makes me
more excited about it than before. EG is immensely fun due to the player's position as 'Overseer', rather than someone who can directly control all his units as in other strategy games; it allows the AI to shine through, where situations arise that you must rely on your intelligent base layout and minion types, instead of your micromanaging skills.
Yup... This is a Day-1 purchase for me. WORK FASTER.