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[Gordon108]

I've searched and searched and never found a gladiator game worth playing. The few I have seen are just executed terribly. I'm wondering if any of you have found decent gladiator games?

Because I couldn't find anything, and I REALLY want to play something with gladiators, I decided to try to make something myself. Problem is I'm just beginning to learn programming (java, learned a bit of C++ but then stopped) and to be honest, I think im rather poo at it. By god ill try though.

Anyways I have the idea laid out pretty good. You are the owner of a gladiator school. You hire slaves, take on citizens with debts, and occasionally get hold of prisoners. You train these men with a gladiator trainer (likely your best gladiator or a hired mercenary or something), he teaches them various attacks, parry's, dodges, things like that. The gladiators also teach each other these things as they spar, but much slower. Occasionally one of them will come up with a new move on his own and slowly teach his sparring partners.

You'll have your estate, along with servants, food, wine, furniture and decorations. The servants add to a cleanliness value which will help prevent gladiators from getting infections from medical treatments. The rest (food wine etc.) will add quality to your estate. A higher quality means that the nobles you invite over are more likely to use you in any hosted gladiator event (of course gladiator skill will add into this).

Combat will include bleeding, balance, stances (holding your arm out in front of you means its more likely to get chopped to bits, unless you have a shield on that arm), locational damage, armor coverage, and the various attacks, parries, dodges, and counter attacks.

To be honest I don't expect to finish this or even get far into it, but damnit I really want to play a gladiator game.

So far I have a mind map for the gui:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And a little bit already built, though not much.

[ductape]

YOU CAN DOO EEET!

Use the LIBTOCD, you can start with the Doryen Arena, an arena comat test for the LIBTOCD:

http://doryen.eptalys.net/arena/

[Grishnak]

While not exactly a gladiator game, you could try out the skirmish mode of Die By The Sword.  And even if its not exactly what you are looking for, its still an awesome game. *Picks up a severed Kobold arm and proceeds to beat the kobold to death with its own arm*

[cartmann]

Shadow Of Rome (PS2)

It is half Gladiator, Half shitty sneaking around. Get halfway through the game to unlock a load of games and its ok.

The Swords And Sandals flash games aren't bad, but doesn't have much variety in games, its usually just 'swing swing swing, first to die loses' and weapon/luck determines it all.

Can't think of any other atm.

[Virtz]

Probably closest thing I've played was an action/RPG/sim(?) game called Colosseum for the PS2 (emulator works well with this).

I think there was also some turn-based strategy thing with gladiators for the PS2, but I never got around to playing it nor do I remember what it's called.

One thing I've probably never seen in a gladiator game, though, is most fights actually NOT ending in a fatality. Seriously guys, shit didn't look like Spartacus, most fights were non-fatal, make a game that actually reflects that.

[Akura]

Gladius on the PS2 was pretty good. The plot wasn't perfect, especially the ending, but the game was pretty good. For battles in the arenas(about 95% of the entire game), you could get the crowd on your side and your characters would get bonuses from that. That's for almost every battle, except the relatively rare random encounter in the overworld map as well as when serious shit happens at the end.

[jnecros]

Both Gladius and Coloseusm: Road to Rome were wicked. I played the shit out of both, and regret not keeping both of those systems just to replay the games now, but space was an issue.

We need a new, good gladiator game damn it! I had hoped that Spartacus: Blood and Sand (on Starz) would motivate gamemakers.

[Gordon108]

When I was little I remember playing a demo for a gladiator game that let you control the sword with the mouse. I'm almost certain it wasn't die by the sword though. I have NO idea what it was, had to be mid 90's that I played it though.

EDIT: Wow Road to Rome actually looks like fun. I might have to get that.

[Josephus]

One thing I've probably never seen in a gladiator game, though, is most fights actually NOT ending in a fatality. Seriously guys, shit didn't look like Spartacus, most fights were non-fatal, make a game that actually reflects that.

Yeah, but it's like Westerns. Imagine if the real Old West were portrayed in a video game.

Pretty boring. Unless you're into kickass things like being a frontiersman, panning for gold, hunting buffalo, and drinking until you pass out.

So gladiator games stick with the popular entrenched image. Otherwise people think it's just Pro Wrestling.

[Gordon108]

One thing I've probably never seen in a gladiator game, though, is most fights actually NOT ending in a fatality. Seriously guys, shit didn't look like Spartacus, most fights were non-fatal, make a game that actually reflects that.

Yeah, but it's like Westerns. Imagine if the real Old West were portrayed in a video game.

Pretty boring. Unless you're into kickass things like being a frontiersman, panning for gold, hunting buffalo, and drinking until you pass out.

So gladiator games stick with the popular entrenched image. Otherwise people think it's just Pro Wrestling.

Maybe if we threw those sentenced to death into the pro wrestling ring as a way of execution. Yes though, I don't think anyone would want to actually lose their gladiators. Still doesn't mean they were likely to survive their 3-5 years in the arena.

[Akura]

One thing I've probably never seen in a gladiator game, though, is most fights actually NOT ending in a fatality. Seriously guys, shit didn't look like Spartacus, most fights were non-fatal, make a game that actually reflects that.

Yeah, but it's like Westerns. Imagine if the real Old West were portrayed in a video game.

Pretty boring. Unless you're into kickass things like being a frontiersman, panning for gold, hunting buffalo, and drinking until you pass out.

So gladiator games stick with the popular entrenched image. Otherwise people think it's just Pro Wrestling.

Maybe if we threw those sentenced to death into the pro wrestling ring as a way of execution. Yes though, I don't think anyone would want to actually lose their gladiators. Still doesn't mean they were likely to survive their 3-5 years in the arena.

Well, the "nobody dies" thing was justified in Gladius, since according to some of what you can hear in that game, the arena used to be fatalities, but it got so bloody that they instituted non-lethal combat with healers to make sure nobody died(must be some really good healers, given what takes people down).

Spoiler: One of the uses for the games was to settle international disputes (click to show/hide)

 because a previous war had resulted in a giant fucking dragon of darkness being born from all the hatred(remember what I said about shit going down at the end?).

Your characters can die, in fact, in battles in the overworld, and other situations. But in the arena, no.

[Cthulhu]

Shrapnel Games published a gladiator management sim, but it was mediocre at best.  Decent for satisfying a craving if you've got one, although the game's out of print and the demo appears to have been removed from the site, so it may be difficult to find.

Most combats were non-lethal, although there was a chance of death.

[Desdichado]

Most fights actually were fatal. The writings of Seneca on this subject make clear the lethality of the sport. Those coming to the arena via the courts system were especially likely to die. Seneca describes a situation in which only one side was given a weapon, to easily dispatch his opponent, then the weapon given to the other side next, and so on till all prisoners had killed each other.

There were fights with blunted weapons, venationes in which animals were hunted, boxing matches with cesti, etc. But the crowd pleaser was guts on the sandy floor. This is one of those things that really is as extreme as popular conception holds it.

[Paul]

It's not really a gladiator game like you describe, but the combat demo for Age of Decadence is pretty cool if you like turn based tactical stuff. You play a gladiator in the arena and fight increasingly difficult opponents, gaining equipment by looting your opponents and trading with merchants. It's not overly long (it IS just a demo, after all) but I had fun with it and wound up playing it through quite a few times with different character types.

[Tellemurius]

there is suppose to be a gladiator game coming out for the wii made by the same guys that made The conduit.