Post by Lord Ba'al on Jul 4, 2015 12:18:17 GMT
The Universim: Manage Mankind
The universe at your fingertips
By Molly Cushing
I’ve always been a fan of management strategy games. SimCity, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and even Game Dev Tycoon were games that I lost myself in. However, after a while they all felt limited. I wanted to go beyond the walls and streets. I wanted to oversee a world- a universe even- and it would seem that Crytivo Studios‘ game The Universim, currently in Kickstarter, aims to do just that.
Evolutionary Progress
Mankind will begin as it did- in the Stone Age- and progress beyond the modern era into intergalactic space exploration and even colonization. As a fan of history and human civilization, this feature is icing on the cake for me. You’ll get to watch your civilization follow the human race’s evolutionary path, but you’ll be able to guide and shape their progress. As the supreme being of the universe, players will have to think carefully about research paths as situations and eras will play a large factor in the success of their civilization.
Additionally, you will encounter multiple planets in your universe, each as unique as the last. Planets will undergo the changing of seasons and each one will contain individual environments, temperatures, and characteristics. These variables will affect your civilization’s ability to gather food as well as building development. If winters are rough, you’ll want to plan ahead and save food. It’s this pinch of realism and attention to detail that makes this game seem so incredible. It almost reminds me of trying to survive winters in Don’t Starve. Luckily, the game will provide players with an in-game News System to warn about upcoming winters.
Dynamic Events and Wrath
Unlike seasons, there are certain events on your planet that cannot be predicted. The Universim is full of dynamic events like natural disasters, aliens, war, diseases, famine, and more. These random events, mixed with the choices you make, affect the growth and development of your civilization’s population. The era you’re in will also determine what actions you can take. For example, if there is a plague epidemic that hits your civilization during the Stone Age, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who attended medical school, so finding a cure will be impossible for them.
However, if everything goes to hell in a hand basket or you’re unhappy with the choices your civilization has made, you can trigger disasters. As supreme ruler of the universe, you gain wrath points every time they perform an action that goes against your wishes. Wrath can be unleashed at any time. Do they not believe in you, their one true god? They’ll believe in tornadoes. You could be the Oprah of wrath. “You get wrath and you get wrath! EVERYONE GETS WRAAAATH!” In all seriousness, I think it’s an interesting mechanism and would be interested to see if there is some kind of “fear meter” implemented later on.
Look to the Sky
What I’m most excited about with The Universim (wrath and power aside) is the space exploration. According to the game’s Kickstarter page, the space era will be “the culmination of all your hard work.” Every decision you’ve made for your civilization will reveal both reward and consequence. I’m eager to experience the unique planets as mentioned above. What’s even more interesting is the ability to colonize planets. However, like life on your home planet, preparation is key. If you do not research the planet properly, your colonization team may meet an untimely demise. It’s this large scale of a seemingly endless universe that has me so very excited.
Luckily, it would seem that Crytivo Studios has learned some lessons from similar games and made sure that The Universim will have no DRM or micro-transactions. Internet will not be required to activate or play the game. Plus, all future DLC will be on the house. That plus all the aforementioned features and the wonderful art style has me greatly anticipating The Universim.
The Universim has been Greenlit on Steam, so backers who pay $15 will receive Steam codes. At the time of writing, The Universim has reached $128,649 of its $320,000 goal, with 23 days to go. You can read more about the pledge tiers and the game itself on The Universim Kickstarter page here. I absolutely urge you to go back it; I believe The Universim’s creativity and design will do amazing things for gaming.
The universe at your fingertips
By Molly Cushing
I’ve always been a fan of management strategy games. SimCity, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and even Game Dev Tycoon were games that I lost myself in. However, after a while they all felt limited. I wanted to go beyond the walls and streets. I wanted to oversee a world- a universe even- and it would seem that Crytivo Studios‘ game The Universim, currently in Kickstarter, aims to do just that.
Evolutionary Progress
Mankind will begin as it did- in the Stone Age- and progress beyond the modern era into intergalactic space exploration and even colonization. As a fan of history and human civilization, this feature is icing on the cake for me. You’ll get to watch your civilization follow the human race’s evolutionary path, but you’ll be able to guide and shape their progress. As the supreme being of the universe, players will have to think carefully about research paths as situations and eras will play a large factor in the success of their civilization.
Additionally, you will encounter multiple planets in your universe, each as unique as the last. Planets will undergo the changing of seasons and each one will contain individual environments, temperatures, and characteristics. These variables will affect your civilization’s ability to gather food as well as building development. If winters are rough, you’ll want to plan ahead and save food. It’s this pinch of realism and attention to detail that makes this game seem so incredible. It almost reminds me of trying to survive winters in Don’t Starve. Luckily, the game will provide players with an in-game News System to warn about upcoming winters.
Dynamic Events and Wrath
Unlike seasons, there are certain events on your planet that cannot be predicted. The Universim is full of dynamic events like natural disasters, aliens, war, diseases, famine, and more. These random events, mixed with the choices you make, affect the growth and development of your civilization’s population. The era you’re in will also determine what actions you can take. For example, if there is a plague epidemic that hits your civilization during the Stone Age, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who attended medical school, so finding a cure will be impossible for them.
However, if everything goes to hell in a hand basket or you’re unhappy with the choices your civilization has made, you can trigger disasters. As supreme ruler of the universe, you gain wrath points every time they perform an action that goes against your wishes. Wrath can be unleashed at any time. Do they not believe in you, their one true god? They’ll believe in tornadoes. You could be the Oprah of wrath. “You get wrath and you get wrath! EVERYONE GETS WRAAAATH!” In all seriousness, I think it’s an interesting mechanism and would be interested to see if there is some kind of “fear meter” implemented later on.
Look to the Sky
What I’m most excited about with The Universim (wrath and power aside) is the space exploration. According to the game’s Kickstarter page, the space era will be “the culmination of all your hard work.” Every decision you’ve made for your civilization will reveal both reward and consequence. I’m eager to experience the unique planets as mentioned above. What’s even more interesting is the ability to colonize planets. However, like life on your home planet, preparation is key. If you do not research the planet properly, your colonization team may meet an untimely demise. It’s this large scale of a seemingly endless universe that has me so very excited.
Luckily, it would seem that Crytivo Studios has learned some lessons from similar games and made sure that The Universim will have no DRM or micro-transactions. Internet will not be required to activate or play the game. Plus, all future DLC will be on the house. That plus all the aforementioned features and the wonderful art style has me greatly anticipating The Universim.
The Universim has been Greenlit on Steam, so backers who pay $15 will receive Steam codes. At the time of writing, The Universim has reached $128,649 of its $320,000 goal, with 23 days to go. You can read more about the pledge tiers and the game itself on The Universim Kickstarter page here. I absolutely urge you to go back it; I believe The Universim’s creativity and design will do amazing things for gaming.
