| Product: |
Virtual Villagers |
| Date: |
30/03/07 (1652 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: very addictive and enjoyable game
Disadvantages: as its a real time game it can be very slow
I am one of these people who love to play strategy games. Even more so when you actually have to make something of the game.
Now I was searching through all kinds of game sites when I came across Virtual Villagers - A New Home.
As with most games like these you always get a free trial,
usually 1 hours worth. Once the hour is up, the game will automatically close and give you the option to buy, You are looking at roughly 10 pounds to buy the full version of this game
This is the only thing about down loadable games that I get frustrated with. All the hard work and effort you put into a game and then the game is up.
Anyway! Virtual Villagers? What is is I hear you ask!
OK here goes!
Virtual Villagers - A New Home is a real time Strategy game that I found whilst browsing one day on a game site call, Reflexive.com.
The Story behind the game
=====================
One day on there home island an unexpected Volcanic Eruption meant their the village had been destroyed. Only very few of the villagers managed to survive and escape the Disaster, leaving the rest of the villagers no longer alive.
After of days drifting along the sea, the survivors finally come across what looks from the distance to be a deserted Island.
Finally, they reach the island and can see that they are all alone and need to investigate the island and try to rebuilt their lives on this new island. The Mysterious Island of Isola.!
The Aim of the Game
=================
The aim of the game is to help your villagers survive. Stranded on an UN-familiar Island, you must help the villagers re-build their lives.
Only one of the survivors have a skill, a skill in building. Although not very much, but as time goes by this villager will learn more and more building skills firstly becoming a trainee builder, progressing to an Adept builder until finally becoming to a Master builder.
Now, your villagers have no food, no home and no idea about the Island they have landed on. It is your goal to help the villagers find food, build houses, research the island, heal the unwell and breeding to help the population grow.
Once all of this has been completed the mysteries of Iosla will be revealed.
Exploring the Island
================
Moving around the Island could not be simpler. All you simply do is, click the mouse anywhere on the island holding down the mouse button and dragging the mouse until you have found the part of the island you need to be at.
Selecting a Villager
================
If there is a certain villager that you would like to know more information about then all you need simply do is click that villager. Once selected the villager will have a white ring around their feet. Here you will also see the name,skill and action of your villager. These are just the brief details, clicking on detail will bring up a complete guide to your villager including, Name, Age, skill, and health.
Every villager can be given their own preferred skill, making life around the island much easier.
Villager Detail
===========
Once you have selected your villager and clicked detail a new screen will appear showing you what i mentioned above, but from here you can change the name of your villager to which ever name you desire. You can also change the skill so you know exactly what and how many villagers have what skill.
The main screen
==============
The main screen is basically the island, from here you can see what your villagers are doing and what tasks they are completing. From here you can also choose to use the MAP, which will zoom out to show you the whole of the island. From here you can click on any part of the island and you will be automatically zoomed straight back to the main screen at the part of the island you clicked on.
Tech Points
=========
Tech points are basically points that you villagers collect through researching. The more skilled they become in research the faster tech points will be earned. I must say tho that is does seem to take forever to get allot.
The reason Tech points are earned is because they are the key point in progressing through the game. Tech points can be spent on Technology. Each technology goal brought will help your villagers life on the island.
Technologies
===========
As explained above tech points can be spent on Technologies. Each goal had 3 levels of progress, each time the price of the next lever will increase. Now level one are just the basics of the Island. Buying and unlocking level 2 will help your villagers find more ways of finding food, finding objects and breeding.
Puzzles and Milestones
===================
Now here is the fun part, not only do you have to try and help your villagers survive by finding food, breeding, building healing and researching etc you also have to help them find the mysteries of the Mysterious island they landed on. By this you are set certain puzzles and milestones throughout the game, Some puzzles are not yet recognised or available until you have brought the right level of technologies as mentioned above.
Detailed skills your villagers need:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Farming - Gathering food
Building - Building huts
Research - Researching
Parenting - Breeding your villagers
Healing - Teach your villagers to heal the sick
Gathering food
============
OK we all know that food is an essential part of survival. This is why it helps to have a few of your villagers skills set to Farming. Villagers will be more likely to find ways of finding and gathering food around the island if there skill has been set to farming. The more farmers you have the more food your villagers will have to eat.
There is a berry bush that you will see on your island, this is the first place your villagers can find ways to produce food. They will not do this for themselves, so you will need to pick up a villager and drop them in front of the berry bush for them to start foraging. Although the villager may not understand what to do the first time, so just pick the same villager up again and place in front of the berry bush again and they will finally start to collect the food required. Once you have selected this villagers skill to farming this villager should start to find food on his own without your help.
Building Huts
===========
When the game begins, there will be a small amount of scaffolding, this is where you will get one of your villagers to build a small hut, the more your villager builds the more their building skill will go up. When a villager starts to built he will go and collect rocks and wood and continue to built. To see how far along the construction has been built simply click on the construction and it will tell you at what percentage it has been complete. I must stress that this is not a very quick job, It does take quite a long time to complete any type of building. Once complete your villagers will all gather round to celebrate the completion of the new hut.
Research
========
Here is where your villagers will become a master scientist. The long wooden bench is the place your villagers research and gain tech points. You need to set a villagers skill to research and the drag that villager to the research table. again as with the gathering food, they may not research the first time around but just place them back at the table and they will soon start to understand what they are meant to be doing. The more you research the better the skill, and on this new island it is essential that you get your villager to become a master scientist.
Increasing your population
=====================
Now we all know that getting old means you become slower at certain things and the older you get the closer you become to sadly passing away. That is why it is an absolute must to get your villagers to breed. The more villagers you have the longer your game and tribe will go on for. But be careful not to make to make babies at the beginning of the game, as if you make to may baby's and do not have enough food your villagers will die. To make a villager breed simply pick up a male or female villager and drop the onto the opposite sex and if they get along they will decide to go indoors and have some privacy. Not all couples are successful at first so try breeding with a different partner and before long you will have your first nursing mother. Male villagers can father many baby's. Nursing mothers I must add, will not do anything except care for their new baby until the baby becomes 2 years of age. Then the mother will continue with the tasks set and the child will continue to play. A child will play until the age of 14, Once the child had reached 14 they will then be able to work, collect food and build. But any female child born will not be able to breed until they reach the age of 18.
Healing sick Villagers
=================
In the detailed section of the villagers you can tell if a villager is healthy, weakened or sick. If a villager is sick, you will hear couching. In which case you need to get an adult member of the tribe to heal the sick. Simply by playing the healer onto the sick, they will the perform a healing process. At this time their healing skills will improve, the more healing you do the closer your villager becomes to becoming a doctor. Villagers that are sick and not healed will dis, so it is important to keep them well. The more you gain in the technologies department will determined how easily your villagers become ill.
Game Play
+++++++++
As this game is played in real time, I found it to be very slow. Although this still dint stop me from continuing to play the game. I love challenging games, and this is one of them games where you don't want to leave it as you want to find out what will happen next and what other exciting tasks your villagers will be able to do as they progress in their skills.
Once you have set your villagers skills and have the basics of the game rolling you are able to leave the game and close down your computer only to return whenever you get the chance to see how your villagers are doing, what they have achieved and how much more in skill they have learnt.
I did find some parts hard to work out but with time and strong thinking i was able to work out what was needed next to hep my villagers.
Where to download and buy
+++++++++++++++++++++++
I downloaded my version at www.reflexive.com and was given a 1 hour free trial, I was totally obsessed with the game, i had started to get my villagers to do the skills they needed, and was progressing in the game. But unfortunately as this is only an hours free trial the game ended automatically and that was it, game over. Although not for long, the next day i woke up and decided to buy the full version, so that is what I did, I can now Say am a proud owner of Virtual Villagers - A new Home.
There are many game sites where you can download this game from, all mostly 1 hour free trials including
www.virtualvillagers.com
for a 1 hour free download or to buy the full game for roughly 10 pounds.
System Requirements
++++++++++++++++++
Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, Vista
96mb ram
Direct x 7.0 or later
16mb download size
My overall opinion
++++++++++++++
It is an absolutely amazing game, I enjoyed every minute of my time playing it, I love the SIM's and this was very similar. You are there to control, help and look after your little people.
I would recommend this game to anyone, either children or adults.
If you would like to know where to download the full version for 5 pounds please contact me via MY MESSAGES
Thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoy playing if you do now decide to download or buy the full game!
Emma xxxx
Summary: excellent, definatly recommend
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