Banished

[Haydos]

Anyone heard of/being keeping an eye on this?

 

"What is Banished?

Welcome to the world of Banished! In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland.

 

The objective of the game is to keep the population alive and grow it into a successful culture. Options for feeding the people include hunting and gathering, agriculture, trade, and fishing. However, sustainable practices must be considered to survive in the long term."

 

Website: http://www.shiningrocksoftware.com/game/

Gameplay vid: 

Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/Banished/

Devlog: http://www.shiningrocksoftware.com/

 

It's a civ-sim game created and developed by ONE guy for the last 3 years and it's released tomorrow. It won't be for everyone but it's pretty niche and I've been looking for a bit of a slow paced game that isn't FM.

Edited 17 February 2014 by Haydos

[Libertine Dream]

Don't play any PC games apart from fm but I'm looking forward to playing, have been ever since I heard the reports on it

[Guest]

I was sure this was going to be a thread started by Lamby about posting in the main forum

[stripeyfox]

Was going to start a post about this a while back but never got round to it. I've been following the development for a year our so now and release day is finally here (around 8pm tonight). I love the concept of having to nurture your small group and ensuring they have enough food and fuel before the harsh winter sets in.

Am on holiday in The Lakes at the moment but will definitely be getting this tonight

[Haydos]

Was going to start a post about this a while back but never got round to it. I've been following the development for a year our so now and release day is finally here (around 8pm tonight). I love the concept of having to nurture your small group and ensuring they have enough food and fuel before the harsh winter sets in.

Am on holiday in The Lakes at the moment but will definitely be getting this tonight

 

If anyone wants to play before this evening you can download from his website (steam won't activate til 8pm). Priced at ~£12.35 ($20.00) which looks a bargain and you can also add a tip on as well

[Beliall]

looks interesting. might wait for a steam sale. be even better for £4

[Haydos]

It's an idie game developed by ONE bloke, literally everything was done by him. If you're interested, throw him a bone. I've been hooked on it all afternoon/evening!

 

It took a few plays to build something where everyone didn't die after half an hour. Even the town I have got up and running suffered a set back near the start where a few people starved to death but yeah, I think I've got my moneys worth already

[stripeyfox]

It's an idie game developed by ONE bloke, literally everything was done by him. If you're interested, throw him a bone. I've been hooked on it all afternoon/evening!

 

It took a few plays to build something where everyone didn't die after half an hour. Even the town I have got up and running suffered a set back near the start where a few people starved to death but yeah, I think I've got my moneys worth already

Agree. Only had an hour or two to play it so far, and nearly everyone starved to death in my first winter but absolutely love this game. Not quite sure what needs to be built first but will have another crack at it tomorrow. Well worth the money so far

[Haydos]

Agree. Only had an hour or two to play it so far, and nearly everyone starved to death in my first winter but absolutely love this game. Not quite sure what needs to be built first but will have another crack at it tomorrow. Well worth the money so far

 

What I found (after my one successful settlement) is that gatherers are maybe a bit over powered at the start so you wanna be using them as your main food source. I started on hard so I think I missed out on seeds and its a blessing in disguise, farms and fish aren't that productive and only come in later when you want other sources for health and happiness. 

 

It was so frustrating to start off with I must admit but once you make it through that first winter and you get your food stores up and running it does get easier. Here's my town about 30 years in (yes I have played a lot already)!

 

[stripeyfox]

What I found (after my one successful settlement) is that gatherers are maybe a bit over powered at the start so you wanna be using them as your main food source. I started on hard so I think I missed out on seeds and its a blessing in disguise, farms and fish aren't that productive and only come in later when you want other sources for health and happiness. 

 

It was so frustrating to start off with I must admit but once you make it through that first winter and you get your food stores up and running it does get easier. Here's my town about 30 years in (yes I have played a lot already)!

 

Yes I think in my next game I may leave agriculture until I'm a bit more established!

[Beliall]

Looks good. This thread will be better than any online review.

[Finnaldo]

What I found (after my one successful settlement) is that gatherers are maybe a bit over powered at the start so you wanna be using them as your main food source. I started on hard so I think I missed out on seeds and its a blessing in disguise, farms and fish aren't that productive and only come in later when you want other sources for health and happiness.

It was so frustrating to start off with I must admit but once you make it through that first winter and you get your food stores up and running it does get easier. Here's my town about 30 years in (yes I have played a lot already)!

So would you recommend starting up a gatherer hut and hunting lodge before setting up farms? What other buildings did you set up early in the game?

[Ian W LCFC]

Might get this soon, watched a few lets plays an it looks great.

[Finnegan]

Well **** you very much, Haydos. Now I can't stop playing this. 

 

It's the slowest ****ing game I've ever played and it's brilliant. I like slow, building sim games but even I think this requires patience! Once you build a town hall do you actually get a fair few nomads or is it 99.9% your own pop breeding? 

[Finnaldo]

On Year 5/6 and I've started to come into some trouble. I started fantastic, no deaths apart from someone being crushed by a rock in a quarry. Population is approaching 40 now but a kid died of starvation today. At one point I had a steady 1000 food but I didn't pay attention and now I'm struggling to keep any. Started on hard so I rely on hunters/gatherers and I've still not got a trading post so I can't start up any crops. Hoping I can sort it out soon as apart from that its going great.

[Haydos]

Well **** you very much, Haydos. Now I can't stop playing this. 

 

It's the slowest ****ing game I've ever played and it's brilliant. I like slow, building sim games but even I think this requires patience! Once you build a town hall do you actually get a fair few nomads or is it 99.9% your own pop breeding? 

 

 

I can't wait for the mod kit to be released, the end game is a bit lacking admittedly but there's a lot of possibilities to make this a really outstanding game when modded.

 

Yeah, quite a few nomads come. I'm on about 350 pop and I recently had 46 show up, couldn't support them though so had to turn them away.

[Finnegan]

I was doing well, took the advice off here and went for foraging and fishing early doors instead of planting. Got to third or fourth year but I hadn't prepared for tools wearing out. Basically shafted me, food production plummeted and now people are starving.

I think I can right it, my population is going to have to build back up but the infrastructure is still there and there doesn't appear to be a cost for empty buildings (fire hazard?)

[stripeyfox]

I thought I was doing OK, but then I noticed I had run out of iron. I've probably overlooked it but where do I get it from? Do you need a mine or does it just appear on the ground (like stone)? Maybe I'm just on a map where it is scarce...

Edited 22 February 2014 by stripeyfox

[Haydos]

I thought I was doing OK, but then I noticed I had run out of iron. I've probably overlooked it but where do I get it from? Do you need a mine or does it just appear on the ground (like stone)? Maybe I'm just on a map where it is scarce...

 

Appears on the ground (the darker stuff) or you need to place a mine in the side of a hill or trade for it.

[Finnegan]

You can get labourers or idle builders to just gather the iron and stone nodes off the map using one of the pointer tools, can't remember what it's called.

[Beliall]

do you get new technology advances as you progress?

[stripeyfox]

Thanks for the info about the iron deposits. Seems there was none on my map, or maybe I'd used it all without noticing. Love this game, definitely better played at slow pace I think.

[Haydos]

Thanks for the info about the iron deposits. Seems there was none on my map, or maybe I'd used it all without noticing. Love this game, definitely better played at slow pace I think.

 

Yeah, you're right there, as soon as you look to try and 'complete it' you're going to get a little bored I think. For now I'm just enjoying building a nice looking town with different suburbs, different industries etc. 

[stripeyfox]

Really getting in to this now; after a few false starts I've managed to get a small town of about 70 people (from my initial 20 or so). Sowed a few fields and orchards which are now producing a decent harvest (which seems to be improved by rotating the crops each year). Had one fire which destroyed a few houses and the blacksmiths and came perilously close to destroying my storage barn!

 

The pace of the game is perfect for a city builder. There isn't really an end game or a story as such but just the pleasure of watching your little town grow. And every, and I mean every, decision has to be carefully thought out - not like say Sim City where you just lay down zone after zone of houses and hope someone will move in - but every building has the capacity to upset the delicate balance of resources and labour if not thought through.

 

Love it!

[Beliall]

it quite addictive. i feel bad for optaining it without money, im going to have to buy it when i can