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Inspired by the likes of Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld, Odd Realm is a sandbox settlement builder currently in Early Access on itch.

A sweet find while browsing around for new games today, I came across it and was instantly pulled in by the style. Looks like it could be an interesting choice perhaps if you find Dwarf Fortress to complex or you fancy trying out something new.

You will face off against passing seasons, roaming bandits, underground horrors, and gods from legend making it sound really quite fun.

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Features:

  • 4 procedurally generated biomes (Desert, Taiga, Voidland, and Tropical)
  • 24+ Creatures
  • 100+ items, weapons, and gear
  • 100+ buildable blueprints for props, blocks, plants, trees, and platforms
  • 9+ Settler professions
  • Unique scenarios and encounters based on player decisions

Currently only available on itch.io for $10. The developer is planning to eventually released on Steam, once developed enough and enough feedback has been given on how it's going on the itch store.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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12 comments

Tchey Nov 12, 2018
I love these games, but they have some common issues : Rimworld, and Dwarf Fortress, mainly.

Years on development, huge community, it's hard to do "better" or at least good or different enough to grab attention. They may become as deep, as rich, as polished, as good, as etc. But they need time, and they tend too often to stop being developed before reaching the "fun" point.

Even large challengers, like Gnomoria, wasted potential, releasing the game as "done" while it was a surprise for most, expecting at least several more months of content and polish.

I'm curious to see where this one will go !
Klaus Nov 12, 2018
The video makes me curious :)

Such games, when implemented in 3D graphics, usually suffer from subpar camera controls, where 3D turns into a liability. Plus significant lag, every time the slicing view is changed, if it works well at all.

2D games especially instead often omit the vertical dimension entirely.

So, any 2D building game with "layers" has my interest. I'd play dwarf fortress though, if it were accessible enough for a little bit of evening relaxation.
Klaus Nov 12, 2018
[...]But they need time, and they tend too often to stop being developed before reaching the "fun" point. Even large challengers, like Gnomoria, wasted potential, releasing the game as "done" while it was a surprise for most, expecting at least several more months of content and polish.[...]

For these games what is nowadays "early access" should really more be though of as "as-if offer". They are only fully alive, while user-feedback still has a chance of being implemented, and should not be judged by what is planned for them, but by what they are now.

Sadly, they ALSO seriously lack a functioning monetization model. In reality, they are "living" games, that change all the time, yet I cannot imagine a monetization model that would yield recurring revenue, without ruining the fun in the games.
Shmerl Nov 12, 2018
Good. I hope they'll stay on itch.io, instead of pulling Valheim and Co. by stopping updates and directing their users to Steam.
gabber Nov 12, 2018
The graphics are a bit too grainy for my taste, it's hard to tell who is who and what is going on.
HerrLange Nov 13, 2018
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For me the Gfx from Dwarf Fortress are looking much more cleaner - especially if using one of the tile/gfx packs. I agree with gabber, it's way too grainy.

The figure reminds me somehow on the original lemmings and lemmings II. But even those were just more detailed/less grainy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ9CS0KUZvY).

However as DF is one of my all-time favorites I put it on my watchlist. But I share my concerns with Tchey when thinking about such games, e.g. gnomoria. So i need to watch a while before supporting with money.
Klaus Nov 13, 2018
Good. I hope they'll stay on itch.io, instead of pulling Valheim and Co. by stopping updates and directing their users to Steam.
Not entirely sure. If support on smaller platforms is subpar, I'd rather just use Steam.

Heck, I repurchased previously-owned-on-GoG M&B: Warband on Steam (albeit on a 66% sale) just to be eligible for the Achievements :)

Of course it would be better if all platforms were supported equally, especially when asking equal pricing. Sadly there's a good chance, the overhead isn't worth it for small developers.

It is funny how you can get "platform dependent" features, where "platforms" suddenly means "store" instead of "OS".
razing32 Nov 14, 2018
Agree with Tchey and madchaotikan.
I bought Towns on Steam a long while ago and that went nowhere.
I bought Gnomoria hoping for an easier introduction to Dwarf Fortress and that again went nowhere.
To be honest I do respect these devs for trying to create a more accessible or their own version of Dwarf Fortress, but they simply cannot compete with the years it took to make Dwarf Fortress the behemoth it is.
Tchey Nov 14, 2018
Gnomoria (dead in 2016)
Town (dead in 2014)
Goblin Camp (dead in 2012)
And at least 2 others i can't remember their names...

But, this one has a really great start so far, i want to believe. Du tu du tu duuu du
razing32 Nov 14, 2018
Gnomoria (dead in 2016)
Town (dead in 2014)
Goblin Camp (dead in 2012)
And at least 2 others i can't remember their names...

But, this one has a really great start so far, i want to believe. Du tu du tu duuu du

I never heard of Goblin Camp before.
Funnily enough , looking it up showed a fork that is still active (but seems more foxued on optimizing code)
https://github.com/y2s82/goblin_camp
fettbart Nov 14, 2018
I've bought it yesterday, unfortunately there seems to be a problem: when creating a realm, there are only water biomes, all I see is ocean. Anybody has/had the same problem?
Fakeman_Pretendname Nov 16, 2018
I've not had the same problem as you, sorry. In case it's relevant, I'm running the newest "unstable" one, "oddrealm_v0_6_5_1_linux(unstable)" and running it through the itch.io client. I've put a good 10 hours into it without problems - so it seems pretty stable to me. If there were worldgen options, I left everything on default, but I can't remember what the world seed was that I used (I assume I left it as whatever it was).
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