Going Medieval - A 3D Voxel Colony Sim, now in Early Access.

[Jenkem]

Just came across this as it came out recently on Steam and seems to be getting good reviews and a decent player base. Seems to be a Dwarf Fortress / Rimworld clone with a bit of Stronghold thrown in. Set in the medieval era, no fantasy, no sci/fi. The game uses voxels and allows you to build vertically, establishing walls, towers or underground areas like dungeons. It looks fun and it's always nice to have more medieval games that aren't fantasy imo.

Steam reviews seem generally pretty positive but most note that it's still pretty early on, the devs have released a roadmap and expect the game to be finished in a year but reserve the right to add or change things as community requests grow. Really hopes it all comes together, looks like something special here.

 

[DDZ]

Im intersted

 

[Galdred]

I saw players compare it to early versions of Rimworld, but in 3D and medieval. It definitely looks interesting.

 

[vibehunter]

Won't replace Rimworld for me but will definitely be keeping an eye on this.

 

[Gerrard]

I just saw an ad for this on Youtube, what the fuck? Is it really an indie game?

 

[JarlFrank]

It's like Rimworld meets Stronghold's castlebuilding.

 

[Hace El Oso]

Anyone who plays this, please report back your impressions.

 

[Mazisky]

Anyone who plays this, please report back your impressions.

TLDR: Good game, little content=wait 1 year when more content is added

 

[razvedchiki]

rimjob: medieval.

 

[deama]

Anymore reports on whether this is a good game?

 

[JarlFrank]

Anyone who plays this, please report back your impressions.

As I said, it's basically Rimworld meets Stronghold in a fully 3D environment where you can build high walls, bridges, etc. It's pretty cool but doesn't have half of Rimworld's content yet, especially if you factor in the mods. It has no Steam Workshop support yet either so idk about what its modding scene is gonna look like, if there's going to be any.

The main difference between this and Rimworld is the fully 3D environments and constructions. You can build high walls and position your settlers on the walls like in Stronghold, and enemies have siege weapons like catapults and walls crumble to rubble when destroyed. So if you're desperately looking for a game with good siege battles, this one is worth it.

 

[Jenkem]

The game has only been out two weeks and hasn't even had its first update yet so I think comparing it directly to Rimworld post-launch w/ mods is kind of weird.

as for modding, this is from their FAQ on the steam forums:

Will modding be a thing?
.json files within the game (that contain 99% of gameplay information) can be used by everyone and can be tinkered, changed, and edited to your desire. Things like Steam Workshop, total conversion mods, and graphical mods (adding new art to the game) will be available later in development. HOWEVER: If you are to edit these files, you are editing them at your own risk because there will be a chance that you might break the game.

edit: seems there was just an update but it's mostly bug fixes

 

[DDZ]

Yeah I am also waiting to see what their update frequency is.

 

[Galdred]

I just tried it, and 3D proto-rimworld is accurate:
The game really lacks content indeed (I am 20 hours in, and I unlocked almost everything I need), and there are not that many events.
Making your 3D castle is really cool though, and my elder daughter loves it. It feels much more "oganic" than Stronghold to me (I never really liked the pace of Stronghold), so it is definitely the castle building game I was looking for. It even has merlons/machicolations.
Also, it would be a perfect setup to have your own knight avatar order your peasants to work :D

One issue is that the AI doesn't have any way to deal with walls until it gets trebuchets, and these appear pretty late, so the first (10 or so) raids are massacres if you can wall all access points but one (in which you put a series of gates).

 

[whydoibother]

The marketing screenshots are very flattering

how the game actually looks

Also, 3D means more sophisticated, means fewer mods. And Rimworld lives by its mods.
And also also, when did we go from calling these Dwarf Fortress clones, to Rimworld clones? Did the rimjobs win the colony sim wars?

 

[Trans-Financial-Man]

The marketing screenshots are very flattering

how the game actually looks

Also, 3D means more sophisticated, means fewer mods. And Rimworld lives by its mods.
And also also, when did we go from calling these Dwarf Fortress clones, to Rimworld clones? Did the rimjobs win the colony sim wars?

"Dwarf Fortress is just too hard man, only weirdos play that game it doesn't even have graphics like Rimworld. Rimworld is such a heckin good story generator!"


The crown will be reclaimed when the steam version finally launches with proper mouse support and uber epic grafiks.

 

[JarlFrank]

Also, 3D means more sophisticated, means fewer mods.

Not really, no.

 

[StrongBelwas]

And also also, when did we go from calling these Dwarf Fortress clones, to Rimworld clones? Did the rimjobs win the colony sim wars?

Most of these games either completely ignore the world simulation aspect of Dwarf Fortress or neuter them to service the colony management aspect.

 

[Tosiek363]

From the outside they may seem similar but inside they are quite different games. Rimworld focuses much more on individuals, you could say its scale is much smaller than Dwarf Fortress. Anyone who has played Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress will tell you that Going Medieval is Rimworld in 3d, medieval times and verticality. It's like saying Paradox and Total War are the same thing, they both have you running a country and conquering others but the devil is in the details.

As for modding it may even be easier in many cases. After all it is easier to make a simple block in 3d than draw something nicer in 2d.

 

[Burning Bridges]

I did see it too and found it interesting but when I saw it has tiny maps it means I'm not motivated to even begin.

A game of this type in 2021 should be openworld, like Valheim, Kenshi or such.

 

[Zombra]

Just picked this up. I wanted a new RimWorld like experience but I can't bear to start a new game of RW.

First few hours are very promising.

I'll just say it - this is a huge ripoff of RimWorld, right down to the job priorities, skill list, learn by doing system etc. Base game is three settlers trying to build a colony. It's quite shameless.

The difference of course is that it's in 3D, and vertical building/tunneling is a thing, both of which are huge deals. People look like people, buildings look like buildings, combat looks like combat, etc. and even my pathetic 2 story shack is a wonderful thing to behold.

Of course this has a long way to go. Much of what one takes for granted in RW hasn't made it this far yet, such as livestock zones, moving furniture (instead of destroying & rebuilding it), loadout presets, blah blah blah.

Even so, it's fun right now and I'm enjoying it as is without worrying about how much better it will get.

 

[someone else]

Can you go on walls and shoot arrows at invaders cos that is not a thing in Rimworld.

 

[Zombra]

Can you go on walls and shoot arrows at invaders cos that is not a thing in Rimworld.

Yes, it is 100% a thing, the tutorials go out of their way to tell you that archers should go on upper floors to increase their range and crit chance.

 

[Zombra]

Couple more quick thoths:

* I like that the game kind of forces you to learn 3D building as the summer months are too hot to store food at ground level. There's no tutorial or handholding, you just have to figure out how to dig a cellar to stop it all from rotting.

* Shelves. You can stack multiple items in the same square if you build shelves, and all the items are visually represented and look great. Take that, Rimworld.

* A hunter got attacked by a wild animal and it wasn't an instant death sentence where all your arms and legs get chopped off in 15 seconds by an elk. My hunter was able to run long enough for the other colonists to come help. Take that, Rimworld.

* Better researching. You can tell a colonist to go do research, unlike in Rimworld where you're forbidden because "Research is a long term activity".
Researching requires note taking and you generate a lot of paperwork, which is cool and interesting. You build bookshelves to store all the notes and a room can become a Library with enough books and scrolls in it. Higher research tiers require crafting advanced research documents called Textbook and Thesis, which all need different crafting stations. I love how unlike Rimworld where you sit by one magic table and stare out the window in order to figure out the most advanced technology available, here you actually have to build a body of work, keep the documentation organized, refer to earlier notes and schematics, etc.

* When colonists complain about being desperately thirsty, they're not talking about water. Water's not really a problem. That's right, in medieval times 100% of the population are alcoholics who get mean and cranky without their daily snootful. Learn brewing early.

* I'm hooked. Game very much scratched the itch and I just played 5 hours straight barely noticing.

 

[JarlFrank]

* When colonists complain about being desperately thirsty, they're not talking about water. Water's not really a problem. That's right, in medieval times 100% of the population are alcoholics who get mean and cranky without their daily snootful. Learn brewing early.

So it is a Dwarf Fortress clone after all!