Humanophage
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2005
- Messages
- 5,072
Terra Bellica
Direct link: http://terrabellica.com/
Referral link: http://terrabellica.com/418 (more money, see instructions in the next post)
Codex forum: http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=41 (PM me for access)
Came upon the link on the Codex, and I consider the game rather worthy of its monocled attention.
Terra Bellica is a browser-based MMOTBS, but one that bears little semblance to any other known MMO. It is one of the few proper online equivalents to Civilization, Master of Magic, Age of Wonders, etc. The key point is that it has tactics - that is, units actually move across the map, as they should in a real TBS. Settlements can be destroyed permanently. Players can alter the landscape, e.g., clear forests or cast spells on terrain or build destructible things on the map. Hero customisation system is as good as in an offline TBS. The artefacts are quite inventive - as are ways of attaining them, including fighting NPCs, archaeology, crafting, growing, etc.
Now, the game is freshly released, and the first forum post dates to 6th November. That means that it has a very small community, but it appears to be growing fast enough for the last week. I think it certainly deserves some following, being a bit of a gem in huge piles of pseudo-TBS MMO faeces.
Screenshots (click to enlarge):
Direct link: http://terrabellica.com/
Referral link: http://terrabellica.com/418 (more money, see instructions in the next post)
Codex forum: http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=41 (PM me for access)
Came upon the link on the Codex, and I consider the game rather worthy of its monocled attention.
Terra Bellica is a browser-based MMOTBS, but one that bears little semblance to any other known MMO. It is one of the few proper online equivalents to Civilization, Master of Magic, Age of Wonders, etc. The key point is that it has tactics - that is, units actually move across the map, as they should in a real TBS. Settlements can be destroyed permanently. Players can alter the landscape, e.g., clear forests or cast spells on terrain or build destructible things on the map. Hero customisation system is as good as in an offline TBS. The artefacts are quite inventive - as are ways of attaining them, including fighting NPCs, archaeology, crafting, growing, etc.
Now, the game is freshly released, and the first forum post dates to 6th November. That means that it has a very small community, but it appears to be growing fast enough for the last week. I think it certainly deserves some following, being a bit of a gem in huge piles of pseudo-TBS MMO faeces.
Screenshots (click to enlarge):
Most of the action takes place on the map. The map itself is large, with each pixel of this image being a tile. The player spends action points to move across it:
Here is the city screen. Most buildings have specific purposes instead of simply giving numeric bonuses. They are quite inventive, too. For instance, to raise a skill above a certain level, one has to visit a town with a school in it. However, one can visit another player's town with a school instead of simply building it (there's a limit on the number of buildings).
A few screenshots with battles demonstrating the variety of units and effects:
1. Units deploying off a fleet
2. A dragon hunt
3. An island siege
4. A large skirmish
