Thank you all for the awesome discussion! I absolutely love strategy games and its really nice to get your detailed recommendations and run down on these games. It's hard to know what game to jump into next and this was a big help for me.
I also watched DDRJake's Frostpunk 2. Very nice podcast, good points relating to early access. One big issue is where games go from early access to "full release"; development needs to be stopped at some point (probably), but often if feels arbitrary. Some games are left in an incomplete or buggy state, others are polished and may later release DLC, and others just keep adding content until the devs feel happy.
@15:00 You can build walls in manor lords, as part of your mannor, they are not really great in my opinion. but what you complain is missing was in the game from the first patch or so.
My favourite part of the show is everyone hating each other lol Totally agree about the early access vs full release, but I think specifically in the case of War on The Sea theres enough goofy things that I wouldnt call bugs, bug-like, like messed up ai and whatnot that they never fixed years ago when they should have, yet we get a random update every other year. That to me kinda takes away the right to avoid 'not enough $ to keep editing' cus even without that incoming cashflow its kinda occasionally under development in a really weird way. I think my takeaway from this year in games is this; Release a well polished game, if unfinished, and make sure that its built in a way that modders can fix any issues you might never even realize. I think that would fix a lot of the issues in most modern games, cus even KSP is only as amazing as it is because the full game eventually encorporated a lot of old mods. I think thats kinda what War on The Sea might be planning too? Hope to see that from Sea Power. And its kinda different too, cus the modding ability of a vaguely sandbox game, like those mentioned above, is HUGELY different from the France secret spy 1944 or whatever its called, or UG American Revolution. So the whole conversation only works on certain games anyway.
I had to do a deep dive on KSP because I didn't know about the KSP2 screw up. The original KSP supposedly sold 5 million copies and the parent company is acting like it was not a super successful franchise, and I don't understand it. It has a solid fan base, characters that everyone loves, and gameplay that really dumb to super smart people can enjoy. If they would have spent $10 million on the development of KSP2, they would have had a Billion dollar IP. Movies, TV shows, backpacks, snacks, and everything that has been done with Minecraft could have been done with a successful KSP2.
I wonder if AI is going to be good or bad for games in the future when it comes to design and playability. I'm not talking about AI as an opponent, but AI being used to create the games themselves. If it becomes easy enough imagine everyone having a chance to easily design their own game.
Thank you all for the awesome discussion! I absolutely love strategy games and its really nice to get your detailed recommendations and run down on these games. It's hard to know what game to jump into next and this was a big help for me.
Great to hear!
great episode guys, have a great 2025!
Happy new year boys. Wolfpack I love your War on the sea series - all of them
the gameplay in the background and the chapter markers are such great quality of life stuff. thanks THG! always a great podcast
Been waiting for this episode! Thank you all for the great content all year!
I see posts all the time on old games where someone asks if a game is abandoned. No. The game is finished. This is a finished game.
I also watched DDRJake's Frostpunk 2. Very nice podcast, good points relating to early access. One big issue is where games go from early access to "full release"; development needs to be stopped at some point (probably), but often if feels arbitrary. Some games are left in an incomplete or buggy state, others are polished and may later release DLC, and others just keep adding content until the devs feel happy.
Great episode.. just great 🤣🤣
For Sea Power, I’d recommend escalation Grenada. It’s a scenario with a little more meat in it.
Love the show guys!
@15:00 You can build walls in manor lords, as part of your mannor, they are not really great in my opinion. but what you complain is missing was in the game from the first patch or so.
Good video, I love sea power, dream game finally coming to fruition. The Pacific Strike campaign is the most fun I’ve had gaming in years
Eugen really needs to keep cooking on the warno campaign. The most potential for improvement for sure.
Good show. Doing a similar format but covering a top 10 over the last decade would be interesting.
My favourite part of the show is everyone hating each other lol
Totally agree about the early access vs full release, but I think specifically in the case of War on The Sea theres enough goofy things that I wouldnt call bugs, bug-like, like messed up ai and whatnot that they never fixed years ago when they should have, yet we get a random update every other year. That to me kinda takes away the right to avoid 'not enough $ to keep editing' cus even without that incoming cashflow its kinda occasionally under development in a really weird way.
I think my takeaway from this year in games is this; Release a well polished game, if unfinished, and make sure that its built in a way that modders can fix any issues you might never even realize.
I think that would fix a lot of the issues in most modern games, cus even KSP is only as amazing as it is because the full game eventually encorporated a lot of old mods. I think thats kinda what War on The Sea might be planning too? Hope to see that from Sea Power.
And its kinda different too, cus the modding ability of a vaguely sandbox game, like those mentioned above, is HUGELY different from the France secret spy 1944 or whatever its called, or UG American Revolution. So the whole conversation only works on certain games anyway.
I had to do a deep dive on KSP because I didn't know about the KSP2 screw up. The original KSP supposedly sold 5 million copies and the parent company is acting like it was not a super successful franchise, and I don't understand it. It has a solid fan base, characters that everyone loves, and gameplay that really dumb to super smart people can enjoy. If they would have spent $10 million on the development of KSP2, they would have had a Billion dollar IP. Movies, TV shows, backpacks, snacks, and everything that has been done with Minecraft could have been done with a successful KSP2.
I wonder if AI is going to be good or bad for games in the future when it comes to design and playability. I'm not talking about AI as an opponent, but AI being used to create the games themselves. If it becomes easy enough imagine everyone having a chance to easily design their own game.
sea power is to easy. also way to nato/usa heawy.