The Guild 2

The Guild 2 is a historical multiplayer real-time strategy video game developed by 4HEAD Studios^[6] and published by JoWooD Entertainment. It is the second installment in the historical real-time strategy video game series, following Europa 1400. The Guild 2 was released September 29, 2006, for PCs. The game uses the gamebryo engine.

In Guild 2's main story, the player creates a character who runs a business in a medieval world, eventually gets married and starts a dynasty; and attempts to outplay or eliminate the other computer-controlled dynasties in the single player mode, or against other players online in the multiplayer mode.^[7]

Gameplay

The Guild 2 is a combination life simulator and economic strategy game that is set in Europe, beginning in the year 1400. The player creates a character who becomes the founding member of a "dynasty," and, based on their chosen profession (also referred to as character class), may purchase, build, and take over various businesses. The game incorporates the following modes:

• Extinction: Challenges the player to be the last one standing.
• Dynasty: A mode that has no official ending and continues for as long as the player's dynasty exists. It ends when the last member of the dynasty dies.
• Mission: A certain objective to be reached may be set by the player. Accomplishing the mission ends the game.
• Time limit: This game ends after a certain number of rounds, which is determined by the player.

All game modes can be played in varying difficulties ranging from easy to hard, chosen by a slider on the game creation screen.

Professions

There are four main professions that the player may choose for the first member of the dynasty:

• Patron: The Patron is considered to be one-half of the backbone of society. They can construct buildings such as farms, public houses (which may be upgraded into taverns and inns), and bakeries; and provide many raw materials that can be turned into foodstuffs and other basic necessities. Patrons are largely self-sufficient in terms of their resource production and manufacturing, in that the wheat that is produced in a Patron's farm may be sent to the same Patron's bakery to be made into bread, thus leaving all profits in the hands of the character.
• Craftsman: Craftsmen are considered to be one-half of the backbone of society. They can construct buildings such as mines, woodcutter's huts, and various workshops such as foundries, carpenter's shops, and weaving mills. Craftsmen are largely self-sufficient in terms of their resource production and manufacturing for many of their businesses. For example, the Mine produces iron, gold, silver, and/or precious gemstones which can be transported to the foundry where it can be turned into useful items such as tools, weapons, and jewelry.
• Scholar: The goods that Scholars produce are often very specialized. A Scholar can build a church, a tinctury, and the pesthouse (which may be upgraded to an infirmary, then to a hospital). Most of the goods that these buildings ultimately produce are items that can be used by a character or their henchmen to improve certain attributes that will make them temporarily more effective.
• Rogue: The Rogue is the only class that does not produce anything by itself. Instead, Rogues can build robber's nests, smuggling holes, and pirate havens. The main form of income from these productions might be waylaying travelers or resource carts, pickpocketing, or viciously assaulting competitors' businesses. Rogues and their employees can also hold members of competing dynasties for ransom.

Titles

The player's character(s) may go to the town hall of the town that they start in and purchase new titles, which confer different benefits. The title progression is linear, beginning with "Commoner" and proceeding through "Citizen," "Patrician," and then to titles of nobility such as "Baron."

With the titles come privileges that may allow the character to perform political acts like applying for public office and owning more businesses. A higher title also allows characters to improve and upgrade their homes.

Politics

Along with their purchased titles, characters may also run for public office by visiting the town hall and choosing the office they wish to run for. The offices include positions such as "bishop" and "executioner," as well as more powerful positions such as "Marshal," who may control the guards in a city, to "King," who will make whatever decisions they wish.

New positions in government are created in new cities as they grow. Cities grow from villages to "Imperial Capitals" as they gain more population.

Dynasty

The player begins with one dynasty member, and may court a member of the opposite sex. This can lead to marriage, which will allow the married couple to produce children who will carry on the dynasty after the original character's death. Only three members of the dynasty can be under the player's direct control at any given time. Dynasty members that are not under the player's control wander around the game world.

Children of the dynasty can be sent to school at age 8, to an apprenticeship at age 12, and can finally become fully controllable by the player at age 16, provided they are added to the player's group. At this point, they may be assigned as owners of their own home in the city of the player's choosing.

A dynasty is ended by its last member's death.

Real-time economics

The economic simulation of the game is based on the laws of supply and demand. In the city markets, a dearth of a given good will cause the value of that particular good to rise. Selling a great deal of a single good at the market will conversely decrease the value of the good.

Since the manufacturing businesses require raw materials to function, some players may find themselves relying on the city's open market for raw materials. In order to avoid this kind of situation, the player may choose to marry their character to a spouse that has a complementary profession. For example, a Crafts(wo)man with a Weaving Mill may decide to marry a Patron that has a sheep farm. Since the dynasty now contains both a Crafts(wo)man and a Patron, the player may build their own farms to raise sheep, whose wool may then be sent to the Weaving Mill to be turned into cloth.

Synopsis

Setting

The Guild 2 takes place during the year 1400, the same year like its predecessor in a medieval atmosphere, after the events of The Guild, making this installment chronologically the second in the series. The game is set in the Middle Ages, in historical regions of Swabia, at the River Neckar and in a valley near the Odenwald.

Development

Development for The Guild 2 began in early 2006, four years after Europa 1400, which was published in 2002^[8] and is characterized mainly by the increased importance of the private life of the individual figures.

And add-on, Guild 2: Pirates of the Seas, added new features such as a hospital and a fishery. On August 31, 2007, The Guild 2 Gold was released, which includes the main game and Pirates of the Seas. All previously published titles in the series, so The Guild and The Guild 2 add-ons with each, were placed under the name of The Guild Universe in July 2008 in the trade.

The Guild 2: The Royal Edition appeared on July 25, 2008. It contains The Guild 2, the add-on Pirates of the Seas, new maps and patch 2.1.^[9]

A stand-alone expansion called The Guild 2: Venice was released on October 10, 2008. It includes the city of Venice, a new building style, and some minor new features.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 62%[10] Metacritic 61/100[11] Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com C+[12] AllGame [13] GameSpot 6/10[14] GameZone 7.5/10[15] IGN 6.5/10[16] VideoGamer.com 4/10[17] X-Play [18] GameStats 7.3/10[19] Hooked Gamers 5/10[20] Strategy Informer 7.1/10[21]
Award Publication Award Best Sound Award[22]

The Guild 2 generally received mixed reviews from critics. It has a 62% score on GameRankings^[10] and a 61/100 from Metacritic.^[11]

The game received a C+ rating from 1UP.com,^[12] and a 6.2 out of 10 points from GameSpot.^[14] VideoGamer.com gave the game 4 out 10.^[17] X-Play gave the game 3 out of 5.^[18] Strategy Informer gave the game 7.1 out of 10.^[21] The tester from GameStats gave the game 7 out of 10.^[19] IGN rated it a 6.5 out of 10,^[16] and GameZone gave the game 7.1 out of 10 points,^[15] Allgame rated it 3 out of 5.^[13] Hooked Gamers gave it 5 out of 10.^[20]

The Guild 2 Renaissance was awarded the Sound Award by PC Games magazine.^[22][23]

Expansions

After initial logistical delays,^[24] the first expansion pack named Pirates of The European Seas was released in May 2007.^[25] This stand alone expansion pack added several features such as new professions and several different types of ships. This first expansion pack met with slightly better reviews than the original game. GameSpot gave it a "fair" score (6/10),^[26] and Strategy Informer a score of 8.2 out of 10.^[27]

A stand-alone expansion for the game called The Guild 2 - Venice developed by Trine Games was published at the end of 2008.^[28] This expansion, which added the city of Venice to the game world, was received poorly by critics, having an average rating of 49% on Metacritic.^[29]

A stand-alone expanded version, entitled The Guild 2: Renaissance was released by Runeforge Game Studio and JoWooD Entertainment on July 27, 2010.^[30] It includes previous expansions.

On August 25, 2014, Nordic Games announced the new patch 4.2 for The Guild 2 Renaissance.^[31] It will fix a lot of map bugs, add some scenarios and remaster the audio track for the game.

During gamescom 2014 Nordic Games announced that they are developing The Guild 3.^[32]

References

External links

• The Guild 2 Homepage
• The Guild 2 at MobyGames

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Guild 2.