In this third episode of the incredibly successful series, players are immersed in the golden age of exploration and trade, where they set out to discover and inhabit new islands - islands that will soon be home to huge cities.Unfortunately, bad buccaneers and enemy nations are not the only menace you face, as volcanoes and tornadoes do occur on the islands. Is a unique empire building simulation set in the 17th and 18th centuries. Set in the.Product description. Your job is to grow your new civilization among such threats by creating armies and navies to protect your people and your lands.In 1701 A.D., a time of exploration and expansion, you are invited to colonize one of these islands and begin your creation of a medieval metropolis. Set in the 18th century, the single-player "continuous gameplay" mode focuses on a time when pirates and plundering are at their peak.
![]() ![]() There can be up to four other computer-controlled or human players also jockeying for supremacy along with a group of lesser civilizations that the player can trade and ally with.Colonies are constructed using the now-standard conventions of the city-builder. Naturally, players aren't alone here. He or she's been charged by the queen to colonize this new world, building up a network of colonies on various islands that can exploit its vast wealth. The player takes the role of an explorer on a ship in the middle of a blank map. The location is a heavily fictionalized version of the Caribbean. Hopefully that will change with this iteration because despite a few missteps, this is easily one of the most enjoyable city-builders I've played this year.1701 A.D. While this might have had the effect of simplifying the game's strategy, the developers made up for it by making sure that no one island can grow everything needed by a colony. If the majority of the player's residents are at pioneer level, it doesn't make sense to monkey around with tobacco plantations until the rum or beer supply that they need to evolve into settlers is assured. Citizens have a very clear socioeconomic progression that allows players to focus on one type of economic expansion at a time. As citizens move up in the world, their needs get more sophisticated, ranging from raw pioneers who are satisfied with a full stomach and comfortable clothing to an aristocracy with a raft of needs ranging from chocolate and tobacco to access to a government building.Despite a fairly straight-line economic model, putting together these economic daisy-chains is easily 1701 A.D.'s strongest suit. Fulfilling their needs allows them to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. Each citizen has a hierarchy of needs the player must satisfy in order to keep their populace happy. In fact, I've rarely seen a user interface as well designed as the one in 1701 A.D. In later stages of the single-player and most multiplayer games, fighting for control of resources and managing, protecting and cutting off other players' trade routes can get pretty vicious.Fortunately, the game's user interface is more than up to the challenge. The end result is that whatever strategic depth is lost from making the production economy fairly simple is more than made up for by the challenge of running these trade routes, getting resources where they need to be and manipulating commodities for personal gain. Each of these civilizations offers special commodities that only that culture can produce. Trade improves the player's reputation with the game's seven "minor civilizations" and the computer players. The commodities underneath the image let the player know what each class's needs are and mousing over the need tells the player how well he or she is doing in fulfilling them, along with a solution. A crying or yelling one means that social class is angry and may be on the verge of rioting. A laughing pioneer or settler is a good thing. Every button or informational display comes with a pop-up tool tip that gives players exactly what they need to know.In just one example, clicking on the town center shows the disposition of every social class on the islands by displaying an animated face. Doesn't have a boatload of statistics or summary screens that players need to wade through in order to get a sense of the health of their empire. Players produce military units and fighting ships from buildings in the same manner as any other commodity. There are currently 21 tons of cloth in stock." There were a few summary screens the game could have used (a master trade route and production list would have been nice) but by and large, any piece of information a player needs is sensibly placed within the UI.The bad news is that commodity scarcity can lead to war, and (as is so often the case in city-builders) this is where the game falls down. Can be produced by a Weaver's hut or acquired through trade. The island worlds are richly detailed and filled with all sorts of ambient fluff that really makes them come to life. Takes a cartoony approach to representing life in the 18th century Caribbean and this light-hearted sensibility is enormously appealing. It's not as bad as the military portions of games like Caesar IV (at least troops stick together and don't seem to get lost), but if a city-builder's military strategy can't be as deep and rich as its economic game, it'd probably be best to just find a way to abstract it.Graphically, the game is a winner. Every time one of my Pikemen bit the dust, all I could see was that the "victory" had cost me a lot of iron and cloth that I really couldn't replace. The thing is, the amount of resources and time required to produce troops and the high casualty rate make every military victory Pyrrhic. It's basically a numbers game where the player with the most advanced pikemen wins the day. I particularly enjoyed "The Curse of the Monkey God" scenario which has the player stealing a lost treasure only to be menaced by a gigantic ape that can only be appeased with fish from a particular lake and cooked over trees from a particular forest. The game comes with 10 single-player scenarios, each with its own amusing storyline and challenges. My particular favorites include a heavy-set doctor from the clinic building who wobbles from house to house on a tiny bicycle and a brass "oompah" band that marches through the streets when the citizens are very happy.One thing the game is really lacking is a dedicated campaign mode. Every building and citizen is loaded with delightful little animations that are only visible when the camera pulls in close. This level of detail extends to the player's cities as well. Zoom in a little closer and the player may catch sight of bears ambling through the trees or foxes scurrying through the underbrush. Rufus download macDespite a few missteps, city-building fans will definitely get their money's worth out of 1701 A.D. The game's challenging mix of building management and trading presents a truly enjoyable challenge, while the cartoon-style Caribbean graphics make the process of developing a mighty metropolis a treat for the eyes as well as the cerebral cortex. Seems to have struck a nice balance between strategic depth and user friendliness. It would still have been nice to get the type of overarching progressive goal provided by a campaign.In the end, 1701 A.D. The game has a terrific Continuous mode that's loaded with player-controlled victory conditions and settings that make every game a different experience - enough for a lifetime of challenges. Even the "3-star" scenarios, which are supposed to be the toughest, can be completed by a dedicated player in a weekend.
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