Which city-builder should I play?

I realised I've never made a poll on this board at the same time as I wondered which of the old Impressions City Builders to play yet again, now I am done (er, got bored) with Children of the Nile. Et voila.

I've had all these games since they were first released in the UK. The older games I've played more often simply due to the fact I've had more time to replay them, but all have been put on my HDD at least twice, most often three times.

Liked the Roman setting of Caesar III, but now it pales in the shadows of its decedents IMO. No road blocks, gah! And the way the entire city burned down/fell down at the drop of a hat, even with way too many prefects and engineers, gah! to that too. But it was one tough game. Probably because of that. This one I never finished, despite numerous attempts at various points.

Loved the complexity and challenge of Pharaoh/Cleo, and the monument building. The feeling of achievement I got with this game is almost unique; it was the game where I began to understand the concept properly, and so my cities took off and became sprawling, complex and stable entities, no longer the haphazard, devolution prone messes that resulted as I lurched and staggered my way through each mission. Mmm, housing blocks, mmm. But then, those monuments are often rather dull to build once your city is set up and running smoothly. Maximum speed just does not go high enough, and pyramids take decades of work even if everything goes smoothly. Which is good, in a historically accurate way. But bad, from a gameplay view. I did finish this one.

Loved the Army system and world map of Zeus/Poseidon, plus the lighter atmosphere and mythical stuff. Overall I think I loved this one the most, because it was so much fun. Zeus was much more relaxed feeling in every possible way, perhaps the easiest of the series, and that is nice ... in its place. The lighter edition of monument building was welcome, as was the way it called gods to your city and gave bonuses. Finished this one too.

Emperor was simply refined, the pinnacle of this idea. The best, in many ways. But playing with feng shui in my city makes me feel like Linda Barker (for non UK people, that's an annoying woman off a rubbish DIY programme I don't watch) However, that is my only major grumble with the game. Did they ever release that second patch? The one which was supposed to fix the bug with farms? I stopped playing the game after waiting several months for this patch, and have never really found a satisfactory answer as to what happened. Last I heard was “Soon, we’re working on it, and yes, we know it’s been something like 4 months since the last patch.” Never been able to keep my interest right up to the last campaign, and each time I re-install it I start from the very beginning again, then get bored at roughly the same point.

Hehe, I could add Caesar II to the poll, but getting it to work promises to be too much like work. Plus I still hear “Plebs are needed!” in my sleep, sometimes …

As you admit you didnt finish Ceasar III, i voted for it.

2 weeks ago, when i saw the topic on Ceasar IV, game that i will buy, i search for my old Ceasar III in the closest and re-install it. ~:cheers: Oh how that game get me pissed off sometimes !

If you're not looking just for historical city builders, then i reccomend Sim City 4. It takes a while for your city to grow, but you just can't help but sit back and watch it. It's like a rather expensive modifiable screensaver. Very fun as well, especially when you set fire to the nuclear power plant that you conveniently placed in the middle of your residential district...boom! And 3 square blocks are incinerated and half the city is contaminated with radiation...

Play them all!!! :hat:

Had fun with Ceaser and the Pharoh series , and my brother has the Zeus series - so I've played all but Emperor.

Anyway , I'd recommend playing Ceasar- the period interrests me most and I liked it the most of the city building series - it was also my first pc game ver IIRC- so it holds a special place in my hart ~:)

Also What MC suggested , simcity 4 is a fun game , and is worth a try

:balloon2:

CIII was not my taste (never enjoyed the Roman era), so I would have to go for Pharoah and Cleopatra

I like Greeks more, but Pharaoh is better.

Rome Total War is the best city builder. ~:)

Seriously now, I player Ceasar III, and it was good.
I also liked Fate of the Dragon: The Three Kingdoms.

Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom imo.

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Emperor RotMK is the crwn of the series; the most complete in terms of technical/gameplay-wise improvement and the more enjoyable compared to its predecessor Pharaoh. Every once in a while I return to playing it, completing one or two missions daily.

The down part, which is common with every other thing in the genre, is that you get bored of repeating the same old procedure after completing two or three campaigns. That's why I haven't gone to the nd ever --but I still start over from the beginning.
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Emperor: Rotmk. And start from the Song/Jin dynasties campaign (great fun! Though I'd rather lead the Song to the end rather than supporting the Jin.) Kaifeng is great fun to build and maintain. After you're finally done with that, return to the Sui/Tang dynasties. The more advanced, it seems, the more fun this game gives.

I just hate the heroes system though, Zeus' was much better. Or at least they should return to Pharoah style. It's very annoying to pay continuous homage to these greedy so-called "heroes" just to keep them from sacking my city.

I voted CaesarIII & Emperor: RotMK

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...also, don't forget to download the patch which clears a few minor to mid-size bugs and a big one and adds a new campaign. Get the user made scenarios too, they are fun.
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I voted for CIII, Pharaoh and Zeus because I own all three and I quite enjoy them. IMO, Zeus is the best, I like they war you are independant (no Caesar or damned Pharaoh breathing down your neck telling you what to do) and can send you armies to conquer/subject cities. Then its fun seeing the gods wander around my city, and mythical beasts which have to be slayed.

Alright, that seems like enough time. Thank you.

We have:
Emperor: 10
Caesar III: 8
Zeus: 5
Pharaoh: 4
So I'll play them in that order. I'll take the suggestion to skip the first two campaigns of Emperor; I've finished those easy, more limited scenarios at least twice, maybe three times already anyway. I'll install the lot in one fell swoop, then hop to the next in the list when each threatens to become stale. Then, hopefully, I shall go back after a short time, until eventually I complete the lot.

Agreed on the greedy hero point, and on the benefits of independence. A hurrah for being able to send your army to crush annoying rival cities and exact tribute. Add a froggy frown to jealous gods who demand yet another batch of temples which I don't have space/workers/funds for/just plain don't want to build, but must build to prevent lightening bolts from pouring down from on high.

Sim City isn't a game I own, and I do have a definite preference for historical city builders. But then I loved Rollercoaster Tycoon, Theme Park/Hospital, and a few others of that ilk, so I shall try the demo. :takes a quick look for the demo via google: Hmm, I take it that there is one? Because I'm not finding any downloads ...