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Eat your heart out, Columbus!

Cultures 1+2, a set of two exploration-focused RTS games in which you lead a Viking kindred to unimaginable glory, is now available on GOG.com, for only $9.99.

Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Christopher Columbus, the great sailors of the age of exploration, shared one little known thing. They all hated Vikings. Why? Just imagine. You spend long months at sea, battling against the storms, trying to keep your flotilla afloat and your men alive, you don't eat nearly enough, you don't get decent sleep, everything tastes like vinegar, and you miss the company of ladies. It takes you so long to reach your destination, that you almost forget that dry land actually exists. But then you hear a cheerful "land, ho!" coming down from the crow's nest and you just know that all of this was worth it. You tremble with excitement, as you board the landing boat and you want to shout from the top of your lungs as your feet touch the sandy beach of the NEW WORLD for the first time. But then you notice. A broken down drakkar. A horned helmet half-buried in the sand. A standing-stone with a runic description saying "Eric wuz here". Of course, you never tell that to anyone. Back home you are celebrated as the first European who set foot in the new land. But you know. Vikings. Damn Vikings.

Cultures 1+2 let you become the leader of an adventurous tribe of Vikings to set off on a voyage of exploration and settle new, more or less exotic lands. The first game's main focus lies in the process of discovery and building a well-functioning infrastructure. In the second one the balance shifts towards war and politics, giving more focus to warrior and diplomat character classes. Both iterations offer endearing, colorful graphics and an amazing amount of gameplay details. If you like RTS games but prefer more focus on exploration and development than most of the games in this genre offer, be sure to try Cultures!

Did you ever wanted to visit distant lands and meet exciting new people (to conquer and enslave or possibly coexist peacefully with)? Become the brave young Viking, Bjarni, and do just that in Cultures 1+2, for only $9.99!
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timppu: DotEmu is selling Cultures Anthology with four Cultures games. I wish GOG would have just released that, albeit the price probably goes over the $10 mark then.
Yeah, bundle pricing is something that I miss on GOG too...
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keeveek: Yeah, bundle pricing is something that I miss on GOG too...
...as long as they don't have overlapping bundles... So I don't mind that GOG is currently selling e.g. Ultima 1-3, Might&Magic 1-6 or Tomb Raider 1-3 together as fixed bundles, because they didn't first introduce the individual games from those bundles separately.

I presume they didn't introduce the Cultures Anthology because it would have gone over the $10 mark, and many people would have bitched about that (ie. no _old_ game or bundle in GOG should cost over that)..
Post edited January 08, 2013 by timppu
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timppu: I presume they didn't introduce the Cultures Anthology because it would have gone over the $10 mark, and many people would have bitched about that.
It might be the case.

I'd like to see bundle pricing on GOG, but completing games series is more important to me. I don't like waiting forever for a sequel to be released here. Especially, if entire series is already avaible somewhere else.
The second game is alright, at the time it was considered better than Settlers 3/4 in pretty much all aspects, so if you liked that game series, these two should be right up your alley.
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Titanium: The second game is alright, at the time it was considered better than Settlers 3/4 in pretty much all aspects, so if you liked that game series, these two should be right up your alley.
ha - I was just going to ask how it compares with Settlers
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keeveek: Yeah, bundle pricing is something that I miss on GOG too...
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timppu: ...as long as they don't have overlapping bundles... So I don't mind that GOG is currently selling e.g. Ultima 1-3, Might&Magic 1-6 or Tomb Raider 1-3 together as fixed bundles, because they didn't first introduce the individual games from those bundles separately.

I presume they didn't introduce the Cultures Anthology because it would have gone over the $10 mark, and many people would have bitched about that (ie. no _old_ game or bundle in GOG should cost over that)..
We're well past old games costing only that much at this point I'd imagine given some of the releases (at least this is a couple of games though).

There's also little stopping them from introducing bundles alongside the individual parts is there? Except the obvious pricing difference of course, and the fact that probably a load of people would go for the full set rather than the individual games.

Look at the D&D Anthology Bundle on GG. If that were on GOG sales of the individual games would drop like a rock, because they look vastly overpriced compared to the bundle.
Post edited January 08, 2013 by Pheace
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keeveek: Not really. I can't stand releasing cherry picked games from a series on GOG anymore.
Show some love for Syndicate Wars. And Wing Commander V. And Privateer II. And, ah well, you get the drift.

It's a nice release, but I honestly thought GOG had it already.
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SimonG: It's a nice release, but I honestly thought GOG had it already.
I confused it with Creatures for a sec, yeah my mind is messed up :)
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Wishbone: I've never heard of these games, but they look like shameless Settlers clones. That could be either good (if done well) or bad (if not). Can anyone who knows the games comment on this?
I know I played those when they were released. but I can't really tell you if they were especially good or bad. Which is saying something in itself.
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SimonG: Show some love for Syndicate Wars. And Wing Commander V. And Privateer II. And, ah well, you get the drift.
And Magic Carpet 2, and entire Settlers collection and Ghost Recon series and Rainbow Six series ... eh.... :P
Post edited January 08, 2013 by keeveek
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timppu: ...as long as they don't have overlapping bundles... So I don't mind that GOG is currently selling e.g. Ultima 1-3, Might&Magic 1-6 or Tomb Raider 1-3 together as fixed bundles, because they didn't first introduce the individual games from those bundles separately.
Technically, GOG does not sell bundles. At least in the sense that GOG themself bundle games together. They simply acquire licenses of said games in a certain release format. Sometimes games got re-releases in some kind of collection (Tomb Raider, M&M, Ultima), this is what GOG is selling.


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keeveek: It's no love, because there is German language on DotEmu.

GOG removes languages :-(
I think it is more the issue of which release GOG is actually licensing. I guess Dotemu is actually releasing a different (or several) country licenses. Remember, most of those games come from a time when digital distribution was just an insane idea. Therefore, many countries had different licenses and languages. In the old days of GOG, it was fairly obvious, eg, that GOG got the UK releases of Interplay games (which is no longer the case).

Does GOG remove languages? Probably not.

Does GOG put less effort acquiring licenses than Dotemu? Probably. Could also be that this is simply the cheapest option for GOG.
Post edited January 08, 2013 by SimonG
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SimonG: . Could also be that this is simply the cheapest option for GOG.
Probably. But I won't tell anything more, because I get downrepped every day ;-( Goodbye, cruel wordl! ;-(
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SimonG: . Could also be that this is simply the cheapest option for GOG.
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keeveek: Probably. But I won't tell anything more, because I get downrepped every day ;-( Goodbye, cruel wordl! ;-(
You get used to it ;-).
Oh hello! What have we there? Welcome on my Wishlist :D
I hope we will see the other parts on GOG as well soon.
From the screenshots it seems this is much inferior to Settlers in the city making, where you had to place streets with more or less careful planning. This is looking more random, with lots of the same building.

I never heard of this game before.