Arabian Lords

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[Anguille]

Hello everyone...it's me again.

I don't know if any of you had followed this, but a merchant/city-builder game had been released in some arab countries. The game is called Arabian Lords. It's been produced by a local team of game designers along with Breakaway games. So if you want to check it out....looks fun:

arabian lords

I've just seen recently that it's available online. Unfortunately i am a bit short on money right now but i think i'll buy it in a couple of months.

Cheers

[MaxBeta]

  Thanks Anguille.

Maybe this one will make the US markets too.  It's Feb..so waiting for IR to arrive.  No delays <fingers crossed>   

I read through the AL site.. it looks like the game has some good aspects... for players like us who like the City management gameplay.   

[katmandu2]

  Has anyone purchased this game yet? It is available for download now, but I've yet to see any information about if it will ever be released in the US on DVD.

Kat

[MaxBeta]

   I haven't noticed it in any of my local shops kat.  On the AL site they offer a link to a download version.  It should be an OK game..Breakaway (they did Cleo for Pharaoh) has been around long enough that their games should be well organized and playable.

If this games does arrive in a Boxed version...I'll probably get it..just on the claim that it is a City Builder.   

[katmandu2]

  I haven't noticed it in any of my local shops kat.  On the AL site they offer a link to a download version.  If this games does arrive in a Boxed version...I'll probably get it..just on the claim that it is a City Builder.   

  Good Evening MaxBeta!!!  That's exactly what I'm saying...It doesn't look like they have any plans, at this point, to ever release it in the US in a boxed version...So, it's downloading it, or not getting it, I suppose.

I was particularly interested if Anguille had gotten this.  It does look interesting, but I don't know about downloading a game...I'd rather have a boxed version.

Kat

[MaxBeta]

    Hi Kat.. Top of the evening to you too..

Yes..Anguille would know how available it is in his area.  I'll let him confirm whether the box version in ENGLISH.. like for UK is offered.  I haven't checked Amazon.. or other hardcopy retailers that sell online software..  If it is that difficult..that may indicate something else too.. Anguille will get the game eventually..so I trust his assessment on City Building games,  this might save us all the hassle and worry.   

[pad11]

This is one we'd mentioned here last summer i believe...in perusing the official site, i found it and its premise a bit offensive and think I'm gonna steer clear of this one!  But to those who will play it, enjoy!!!

later,
pat!

[City Builder]

I think the first line or two of this summarizes it for us:

Our goal for the design of Arabian Lords was to create a fun, exciting strategy game that would appeal to Middle East gamers. As experienced strategy game developers we always strive for fun, challenging and rewarding gameplay but with this product historical accuracy and cultural relevance became important guiding factors as well. We knew that if we wanted to be successful at creating a popular game for release in the Middle East we would need to get experts to help us with the content, and to help us guide the design so that the game play would best appeal to our audience.  Making a great game just would not be good enough.

 

Right from the start we sought out consultants from both the US and the Middle East.  During development the game had more than a dozen different experts help with selecting appropriate content, historical accuracy, and issues regarding cultural sensitivity and localization.  Setting the game in the historical era of the rise and rule of the Islamic Empire was a direct result of input from our Experts.  They also helped us identify important events, locations, and characters between the years covered in the game (550 CE to 1250 CE) wherein we set each of the 11 single player scenarios.  As we developed the game we had our experts both here and in the Middle East not only review it but also play it.  Through their regular feedback we made numerous changes to content, units, AI, and game play in order to make this not only a fun game to play, but one that is free of cultural barriers and historical inaccuracies.

 

One interesting example of our experts helping us had to do with how the Mosque is handled in the game.  We knew that culturally religion played a major role during this time span covered in the game, and that it still does today.  We wanted to make sure to include this in a way that would honor its significance, while being sensitive to all religious and cultural concerns.  At one point in the design we had included an “Imam” unit that players would be able to control.  Because this seemed inappropriate to a number of our experts, we made significant changes to the design in order to remove it so as to not offend.  In general, we always tried to error on the side of caution when it came to cultural issues.  Then, in terms of game play, we made sure that design changes always maintained a fun and quality playing experience.   

 

One of the more difficult tasks of making a game like this is handling the localization.  From the beginning of the project we attempted to treat this as a game in Arabic, with an English translation.  Very early in the project we had the game running in both languages so that issues with language, audio, and translation could be identified early in the process.  The final localization was both written and recorded in Jordan.  This made for a very pleasing and culturally accurate presentation for the final product.  Because of the efforts made by the team, and the invaluable contributions of the many experts involved with the project, Arabian Lords is undoubtedly one of the best PC games ever targeted specifically to the Middle Eastern audience. 

[pad11]

I went to the website and you are not even ALLOWED to view the forum without creating a login ID...yikes!

pat!

[City Builder]

There's nothing in the forum.  There are three posts and they are in arabic so we couldn't read them anyway.