Clockwork Empires, from the guys who made Dungeons of Dredmor

[Multi-headed Cow]

http://www.gaslampgames.com/2012/08/27/clockwork-empires-the-press-release/

• Dynamic, city-building, citizen-simulating action. Every imperial subject has a purpose and agenda of their own, and their interactions are rich, exciting, and often lethal!
• New “procedural extrusion” technology lets you design your colony the way you want! Buildings are procedurally generated and extruded directly from the aether to your specifications!
• Tame the uncharted continents by land, sea, and air! Set forth in mighty Zeppelins to do battle with Sky Pirates, or take to the seas in search of fortune and probably sea serpents!
• Create magnificent acts of plumbing, link together mighty gears, and build ominous Megaprojects!
• Tangle with the machinations of malevolent entities! Scry the legacy of the Invisible Geometers, fumigate the baleful moon-fungus of the Selenian Polyps, and cleanse the scuttling creepiness and poor personal and moral hygiene of your everyday, average cultist.
• Losing is still fun! When your colony fails miserably, earn medals, promotions, and titles as befits a true politician and scion of the Empire!
• Multi-player mode, with up to 4 players, lets you co-operate with your closest friends to build a glorious city… or fight a horrifying economic battle to total annihilation!
• Round-Robin mode lets you share your Clockwork Empires with friends! Take turns running a colony directly into the ground then argue for fun-filled hours about whose fault it was! (Like Monopoly but with more exploding Zeppelins!)
• Rendered in glorious GaslampVision! Thrill as the colours are brought to life by Gaslamp’s team of caffeine-addled artists labouring under the technical specifications of our elite programmers* to bring you a game that is rendered in Each of the Three Dimensions! New multi-core technology by Actual University Students lets you use every last ounce of power in your computer to run a thrilling and vivid simulation!
  (* We’ll see about that, Nicholas. Soon. – David)
• Featuring the new Dynamic Soundtrack Orchestra – the Soundtrack that Adjusts to Your Gameplay! (Mr. M. Steele, conductor)
• No always-online DRM requirement, unlike certain other games we don’t want to mention. You know who you are and your mothers are very disappointed.
• Comes complete with the Gaslamp Games Quality of Excellence that you know and love, and if you don’t like something you can mod it yourself in the best tradition of Empire Craftsmanship!

http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/clo...games-lovecraft-laden-steampunk-city-builder/
PC Gamer preview with screenshots and/or concept art.

Discuss!!!

 

[Eyeball]

So, Dwarf Fortress, although possibly a bit more accessible and less Aspergery than the genuine article.

I'll buy it, if only to support the GLG guys, whose first game I quite like and still break out occasionally to mess around with mods turning you into a giant potato and whatnot.

 

[OSK]

I'm too casual for Dwarf Fortress. Maybe this will fit the bill.

 

[Metro]

 

[Lightknight]

Hopefully it will be lighter on the retarded brand of humor which was abundant in Dredmor. Also hoping there wont be any need to remember dozens of very similar small-tiny-microscopic icons with really obscure names.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

• No always-online DRM requirement, unlike certain other games we don’t want to mention. You know who you are and your mothers are very disappointed.

 

[asper]

Another casual Dwarf Fortress ripoff.

 

[Metro]

Hopefully it will be lighter on the retarded brand of humor which was abundant in Dredmor. Also hoping there wont be any need to remember dozens of very similar small-tiny-microscopic icons with really obscure names.

Your sense of humor is as poor as your eyesight.

 

[felipepepe]

I enjoyed DoD humour, but I have a feeling this one will have too much fanservice, hipster shit & memes... the internet gazed back at Lovecraft and Steampunk, they are far too corrupted...

 

[Hellraiser]

Well, if anyone still thinks it might be casual shit take a look at the dev blogs, the latest one for example mentions that actual real world minerals like in DF are supposed to be in the game. Because "lol copper ore" isn't as as tetrahedrite. Although it also seems to imply that lava powered industries are not a good idea.

Only thing I haven't seen mentioned so far was actual mining in 3D with different Z levels, but the gaslamp games guys seem to be really keen on the simulation part of DF. Colonists turning communist or eldritch cultist, colonist society stratification into lower, middle and upper class. Furnaces with badly placed ventilation resulting in carbon dioxide poisoning deaths. Fishmen and other wildlife bringing FUN to your village. They seem to have a pretty good idea about what made DF good.

Still, it remains to be seen if being too ambitious doesn't kill the project (and how they handle mining). But it looks like possible and the first DF clone to do the job definitely right (unlike somewhat right with Gnomoria which lacks simulated individuality amongst gnomes).

 

[Fens]

(unlike somewhat right with Gnomoria which lacks simulated individuality amongst gnomes).

ya... bugs me... and it's not even very far up on the community requests list

 

[Metro]

I hate to use the term 'overly complex' but if you're a small developer you really need to appeal to a broad audience.

 

[Dr Tomo]

I hate to use the term 'overly complex' but if you're a small developer you really need to appeal to a broad audience.

How come?

 

[Machocruz]

Man, I was trying to remember the name of this game. Kept searching for upcoming DF clones, but this one wasn't coming up. Thought Stonehearth was what I was looking for, but this is the one. Still have good feeling about it.

 

[oscar]

This sounds quite neat.

I'm very, very wary of Steampunk and Lovecraft nowadays but these guys seem to have their heads screwed on straight so hopefully we won't be inundated with lame humour and Cthulhu parodies.

 

[Metro]

I hate to use the term 'overly complex' but if you're a small developer you really need to appeal to a broad audience.

How come?

Because you want to actually be able to feed yourself?

 

[Zarniwoop]

No lutefisk = no buy.

 

[DefJam101]

I actually found DoD to be really clunky and annoying, but maybe I'm just spoiled by Crawl

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Another game that can't stop itself from including swords, guns and other sickening stuff.

 

[Grunker]

I hate to use the term 'overly complex' but if you're a small developer you really need to appeal to a broad audience.

Dwarf Fortress isn't overly complex, it's overly obtuse. It's a good game, but it demands way more of you than it would need to if it was streamlined (in the cool way, not in the "remove features" kind of way) and had decent mechanisms to teach you how to play.

There is no rational argument for a higher barrier of entry than a game really needs to have considering its mechanics.

 

[Dr Tomo]

I hate to use the term 'overly complex' but if you're a small developer you really need to appeal to a broad audience.

How come?

Because you want to actually be able to feed yourself?

Well there are other games that has a small niche audience and they do just fine and that is the reason used I see associated with publishers needing those 1 million sales Paradox contradicts this as their Europa series (not the latest one) catered to a very specific audience and only now do they actually want to appeal to a broad audience to actually make more $$$.

 

[LESS T_T]

Teaser trailer



http://clockworkempires.com

COMING SPRING 2014 FOR WINDOWS, MAC, & LINUX

 

[Metro]

 

[Hellraiser]

I think Burning Bridges or Whisky should post it on T-Cancer.

 

[Hellraiser]

In other news, this game now has phrenology:

Phrenologists will, given a phrenologist’s workshop, visit people and by examining their skull determine character traits and whether they are a Traitor To The Crown, in which case they will be added to A List.

Now you too can comb your colonists for degenerate facial skull features, particularly those of the melon-shaped kind.