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[burningpet]

Just stumbled across this game while browsing /r/Gamedev screenshot saturday thread and it surprised me it didn't get too much attention there.



http://hearthlands.com/index.php?page=about

The Game

From the game website:

"Hearthlands is a real-time strategy game best described as a mixture of City Building Series games and Majesty. It is set in medieval fantasy world. In the game you will need/be able to:
— Build a medieval city
— Keep your people happy by providing them with necessary resources and services
— Gather resources and build industries
— See reports and tune up your economy
— Maintain relationships with AI rulers
— Trade with your allies
— Build an army and conquer your opponents
— Expand your kingdom by establishing colonies
— Explore the map, fight monsters, find artifacts and complete quest
— Hire powerful heroes and level them up
— Worship gods and get their blessings (or feel their wrath)
— Build mega-constructions
— Magic!

The game is very flexible: you can create a powerful empire and rule your vassals with an iron grip, or establish a humble fishermen's village. Or build an impressive temple complex. Or found a  small, bur well-defended outpost. Or be a host of a wizard's manor.

You can't control your subjects directly: all of them, from a hauler to a hero have their own minds and behavior patterns. If you like this kind of games you know how pleasant and interesting it is to watch them scurry about.

The world (maps, names, emplems, events etc.) is procedurally generated.

The game uses isometric 2D with most of the images made in prerendered 3D. This gives a perfect balance between clarity and appeal."

The studio behind it started development just 2 months ago but its already starting to look quite nice. (although there's a mix of art styles and quality) i believe the general vibe looks quite nice and from their about page which goes into further details, it looks to be a rather promising game.

Oh, and there's a video right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8auf_A-W1I

[Girlinhat]

Is it playable?

[Sergarr]

Is it playable?

The studio behind it started development just 2 months ago

It is save to say that no.

I'm getting pretty tired of games announcing their features years before actually implementing them. I want to actually get surprised by new games, and not in the bad way, too

[Xinvoker]

They are not kidding about their inspiration. The houses and their resupply mechanics are exactly like Zeus or Emperor:Rise of the Middle Kingdom.

So when they say you can't control the people, they actually mean the people are not real but just representations of a spreadsheet economy.

Now, the only feature these games didn't have that's on the list posted, was establishing a colony.
So maybe they can get some innovation going there.

[Sergarr]

They are not kidding about their inspiration. The houses and their resupply mechanics are exactly like Zeus or Emperor:Rise of the Middle Kingdom.

So when they say you can't control the people, they actually mean the people are not real but just representations of a spreadsheet economy.

Now, the only feature these games didn't have that's on the list posted, was establishing a colony.
So maybe they can get some innovation going there.

Now that you've said this, I immediately saw it.

The roads. Their pattern exactly matches the Caesar's ones.

[Sonlirain]

They are not kidding about their inspiration. The houses and their resupply mechanics are exactly like Zeus or Emperor:Rise of the Middle Kingdom.

So when they say you can't control the people, they actually mean the people are not real but just representations of a spreadsheet economy.

Now, the only feature these games didn't have that's on the list posted, was establishing a colony.
So maybe they can get some innovation going there.

Actually teh city builders from impressions like Zeus Cezar III, Pharaoh ETC had people walking down the streets taking random turns on crossroads while providing some service to buildings they pass by... meaning that in extreme circumstances a building might collapse or burn down even tho the firefighter/engineer building is nearby... he just didn't go that way because RNG sent him somewhere else.

[Glloyd]

I don't know about you, but that art style makes me nauseous.

[Folly]

Looks and sounds a lot like Towns.

[gomez]

They are not kidding about their inspiration. The houses and their resupply mechanics are exactly like Zeus or Emperor:Rise of the Middle Kingdom.

So when they say you can't control the people, they actually mean the people are not real but just representations of a spreadsheet economy.

Now, the only feature these games didn't have that's on the list posted, was establishing a colony.
So maybe they can get some innovation going there.

That was the main problem with Emperor:ROTK you had to design your road network in a massive closed loop and hope you made it big enough because you wouldn't be able to expand it later.

[Dwemeral]

edited

[burningpet]

They are not kidding about their inspiration. The houses and their resupply mechanics are exactly like Zeus or Emperor:Rise of the Middle Kingdom.

So when they say you can't control the people, they actually mean the people are not real but just representations of a spreadsheet economy.

Now, the only feature these games didn't have that's on the list posted, was establishing a colony.
So maybe they can get some innovation going there.

Are you certain about that? from what they describe it sounds like a system with individual entities.

[Dwemeral]

edited Wrong quote.

[hemmingjay]

I agree that the art looks a lot like Towns. I realize the art is different, but it appears that they lifted your color palette wholesale, BP.

[Ai Shizuka]

Basically a Pharaoh clone. See roadblocks, they didn't have those in Caesar I think.

So unless they add something innovative in the next century, I see no reason to play it over pharaoh, wich coincidentally I picked up again less than a week ago (available on gog, can be patched to be played wide-screen).
Once you understand the road/pathing system, it's a truly amazing game.

This one looks promising, if they deliver all those features.
But I'm getting completely sick of barely playable "pre-early-alpha", "super-early-prototype missing even basic graphic items" and so on, with a million promised features wich will be implemented in the next 12 years, but maybe not. For now, give me some money.
It's getting really old, really fast.

[ragnar119]

Interesting game. PTW