The Settlers 2 Gold Edition (1996)

Date: 1996 (1997 for Gold Edition release)
Developer: Blue Byte Studio
Publisher: Blue Byte Studio

System Requirements:
 - 486DX/2 66 MHz
 - 8MB RAM
 - 30MB HDD space
 - 2X CD-ROM
 - SVGA capable video card

Where to purchase?
 - GOG.com


The Settlers 2 Gold Edition is a real-time strategy game with elements of city building and management.  I've never played any of the Settlers games, but I am a fan of similar modern games such as the Tropico series, the Anno series, and the Sim City games, so this seems like the kind of game I should love.  I'm surprised I never got around to playing a Settlers game as the series has been quite popular.  The original was released in 1993 and sequels were released fairly regularly, the most recent of which was in 2016 (renamed to a new IP).  The original Settlers 2 was released in 1996 and the Gold Edition, released a year later, added a new campaign, over a hundred custom maps, and a bunch of gameplay and graphics improvements.  I'll be playing the GOG.com Gold Edition version without any other mods or changes.  There was 10th Anniversary edition released in 2006 that is a full 3D remake, so if anyone wants to play an more modern version of the The Settlers 2, that would be the way to go. 

Prior to starting this post, I played through the first mission of the campaign to get a general feel for the game so I wouldn't be a complete mess starting out, but otherwise I have no experience with the game and I'll be going essentially blind.  Let's dive in to The Settlers 2 Gold Edition!  

Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3

Date: 1998
Developer: 7th Level/Ion Storm
Publisher: Eidos Interactive

Where to purchase?

 - It's not sold digitally anywhere, so Ebay or Amazon are going to be your best bet.  Looks like it can be a little pricey for an older game.  I see used jewel case copies going for $20.

For the second post ever on RPDG, I wanted to find a game that I have never played, was relatively obscure, and one that had an interesting development story.  Even though Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 came out in 1998, which makes it close to being too modern to fit with the theme of this site, it fits all the other criteria perfectly.  Between my brother and I, one of us bought the game at some point in the early 2000s (hopefully on sale) and the jewel case has been sitting in a drawer with other loose CDs for as long as I can remember.  The game does not have a good reputation, so I never really intended to play it.  But here we are...maybe it will be great.  I don't know much about it so I shouldn't just it ahead of time.  I remember seeing print advertisements for it in PCGamer magazine that had mechs fighting against soldiers riding giant bipedal camels.  Besides the game probably having giant bipedal camels and mechs, I know nothing else about the gameplay.   

What I DO know is that Dominion was developed at Ion Storm Texas during the infamous John Romero/Daikatana/"Make you his bitch" debacle.  That is a story that deserves its own long post, and plenty of people have already written about it, but it should make for a fun development intro for my second post here on RPDG.  I am hoping the game is at least half as interesting as the story of its development company...

Let's find out!