FantasyMapSimulator
- September 4, 2024
- Vexero
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"FantasyMapSimulator is a single-player historical strategy game with around 2 hours of playtime. Create and customize your own fantasy world, watch as nations diplomatically interact, develop, and wage wars over hundreds to thousands of years. With a unique wallpaper mode, witness the rise and fall of dynasties as you work or rest."
Reviews
- The game offers a unique and engaging experience of watching nations rise and fall over time, making it a great tool for world-building and storytelling.
- Regular updates and a promising roadmap indicate that the game will continue to improve and expand its features, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.
- The ability to run the game in the background as a dynamic wallpaper adds a fun and relaxing element, allowing players to enjoy the simulation while multitasking.
- The game currently lacks depth and interactivity, often feeling more like a passive simulation rather than an engaging game, which may lead to boredom over time.
- The user interface is considered clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult for players to navigate and fully utilize the game's features.
- Many players have reported bugs and performance issues, particularly with custom maps and the stability of the game, which detracts from the overall experience.
- gameplay8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The gameplay is centered around a world simulation that players can influence, but many reviewers find it lacking in depth and clarity, with some mechanics feeling hidden or underdeveloped. While it offers a fun experience for observation, it does not deliver the excitement expected from a traditional game, and there are calls for more immersive features and refinement of existing mechanics. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a work in progress that requires significant improvement to fully engage players.
“In terms of gameplay, it's a world simulation you can affect.”
“This would really make the gameplay more immersive.”
“Not really a game, so if you're expecting exciting gameplay, this is not for you.”
“I know it's just released, but it's definitely in that stage where a lot of the features and inner workings are hidden from the player, so you can't tell if all the mechanics are working or shallow and cosmetic.”
“But, the developer needs to refine the already existing mechanics and expand upon them with new ones before I can truly recommend, as it feels rough around the edges.”
- story7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its potential as a worldbuilding tool, allowing players to create detailed historical timelines and simulate nations, which enhances storytelling opportunities. Users express a desire for more features to direct narratives and create maps, indicating that while the current storytelling capabilities are enjoyable, they could be further developed for richer experiences. Overall, it serves as a creative platform for both personal storytelling and imaginative exploration.
“Whether you're making a world for a story or just want to explore your imagination, this game gives you the tools to bring your ideas to life.”
“And I think with some tools it can really get into the storytelling.”
“The way I'm using it is as a worldbuilding tool, giving me a total historical timeline of the world's nations, simulating it up to the year I want my story to take place.”
“Because while I would want to simulate major losses with a nation as part of storytelling, I eventually would like to plop a large number of armies that do a full reversal and just write in a reason why.”
“So it is a fun little map simulator; I just wish I had more tools that could help me direct the action more, make maps (definitely be nice to import maps), and more tools for overall storytelling.”
- music5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its epic cinematic quality, enhancing the overall experience and atmosphere. While some users noted issues with the music volume not saving, the soundtrack is generally considered a standout feature that complements the game's visuals and gameplay.
“I'm perfectly content watching the tribal alliance of Tolosania and the Empire of Piedmontia duke it out for global domination while I enjoy the epic cinematic soundtrack and multitask on other things on my second monitor.”
“The UI, borders, and design are very pleasant to the eyes; the music adds to the general epic vibe.”
“The music is quite nice.”
“The music volume is not saving.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it shows great performance potential, users note that it still requires further refinement and UI improvements. Some players experience performance issues, particularly on lower-end PCs, indicating that additional optimization could enhance the experience.
“Great performance-wise, though that's a bit obvious.”
“It's still a little rough around the edges and needs more optimization and some UI work, but the bones are definitely there.”
“The only two issues that I really have are that I wish the game would only spawn rebellions of the previous nations on the map (maybe some coring system like in AOH with this?) and to keep things running well with performance (that's mostly because of my bad PC though).”
“It very much reminds me of the Azgaar fantasy map generator, but optimized for simulating the course of history over generating a map.”
- graphics3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their superior quality compared to similar titles, such as Galimulator, despite the latter having a more user-friendly interface. However, the game's representation of religion, culture, and demographics is noted as limited, which detracts from the overall visual experience.
“It's almost identical in terms of simulation to Galimulator, but I would say this game has far superior graphics to it.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game, which includes activities like farming, mining, fishing, and hunting, to be repetitive but essential for progression. While some appreciate the immersive experience and the sense of achievement it brings, others feel it can become tedious over time, potentially detracting from overall enjoyment. Balancing these activities with engaging content is key to maintaining player interest.
“The grinding in this game feels endless; farming and mining become a tedious chore rather than an enjoyable activity.”
“I spent hours fishing and hunting, but it just felt like a repetitive cycle with no real reward.”
“The constant need to grind for resources makes the game feel more like a job than a fun experience.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users report significant stability issues, noting that the game frequently glitches and can become unresponsive, often remaining stuck as a background task without any visible output.
“It glitches out before getting stuck as a background task with nothing to show.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable.”
“I experienced constant lag and freezing, which ruined the overall experience.”
