My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

After purchasing and playing dominions 2 for the first time a few months ago and realizing that it was exactly what i'd been waiting for without knowing it for quite some time, i've gone on a bit of a glut buying shrapnel games. Maybe its just me, but i actually appreciate, even prefer the spartan graphics of Dominions. Once games get drawn into the graphics craze it inevitably leads to less depth in preference to graphical glitz. But i digress; Since buying dominions i've bought SE4, SE4: Starfury, and i recently purchased TWE but it hasnt arrived yet. I personally have had more fun or see more potential in these 4 games than i have in any of the half dozen decent but high powered games i've bought over the Last several years. I Beat Starfury, which was lacking a little depth, but i still found quite fun when i was looking for less intellectual gameplay. I tested the waters of SE4 but after playing it a few times I quickly realized that in order to do it justice i'd have to jump in, full immersion. Something i just couldnt do to my dominions addiction quite yet. Anyway, i ordered TWE hoping for a fun tactical game that doesnt require the balance of my faculties to learn and have fun with, but ready to take whatever i get. I think the Last time i had this level of satisfaction with the games i've bought was probably Halo. If dominions had half the publicity of some of these other games i firmly believe it would do extremely well, i think far more people than these big gaming companies realize put the stock of depth at least equal to graphics. Are there any other like-minded independant publishers/games out there that i might not have heard of?

[ July 22, 2004, 20:22: Message edited by: Cheezeninja ]

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">What genre(s), please?

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

Spiderweb Software (www.spiderwebsoftware.com) is a very well regarded indie - about 10 games, I think mostly turn-based, multi characters RPGs. One great thing about them is that you can download demos for any / all of the games, and the demos tend to allow about 1/3 of the game to be played through.

There's also a Bards Tale remake out there now called Devil Whiskey, and the Angband variants can be a lot of fun.

And, mmm, you might be able to find a nifty text-based SF 4X game called Anacreon. Which, wow! Doing a quick search via Google reveals that after 15 years, it's been rewritten for Windows, with graphics and a GUI and improvements.

Hmm - maybe I have a diVersion from Dominions for a while now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

Might also look at HPS Simulations, Ambrosia software, Matrix games, and the free text-based Dungeon Crawl.

Oh and I second Spiderweb Software - good RPG's with tactical combat offering depth and options generally not found in most others.

PvK

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Matrix is a great indie publisher, but be wary of some of the titles. Especially any games that Gary Grigsby's been involved with. They're obtuse, buggy as hell, and their forums are full of fanboys. (For example, Uncommon Valor.)

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">What genre(s), please? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Any except puzzle games i suppose.

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

I would propose battle for wesnoth, it's totally free, and still in developement, has a fast learn curves but is still quite complicated and has some depth.

Skolem

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Matrix is a great indie publisher, but be wary of some of the titles. Especially any games that Gary Grigsby's been involved with. They're obtuse, buggy as hell, and their forums are full of fanboys. (For example, Uncommon Valor.) </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Ya I would look for external opinions of their specific titles, but they have some interesting ones. I think they tend to shun demos, though, which can make it hard to judge. There was one RTS about the normandy invasion developed by a Mexican team that was pretty terrible, but some others are quite good in their niche, such as Korsun Pocket (that specific niche being operational-level wargame about one battle with lots of detail and complexity). I'm currently interested in their most recent Pacific War and Starshatter games, but am waiting for the full reviews to appear at The Wargamer and elsewhere.

PvK

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Korsun Pocket is good. Be warned that Pacific War is by the same developer as Uncommon Valor, and appears to use the same engine. (The engine's okay; the developer isn't. IMO.)

Re: My recent addiction to shrapnel games.
 

Shrapnel has other "retro" feel games. Space HoRSE (a remake of M.U.L.E.) and Dungeon Oddyssey and Interstellar trader are all games I enjoy. None of them are as deep as Dom2 or SEIV, nor as wide-open potential as TWE, but they still live on my computer (longer than any recent "shelfware" game).