4X- Strategy game needed - Distant Worlds ? Armada 2526 ?

Hello,

Recently i became aware that some new Master of Orion Style 4X Strategy games have come out (distant worlds, armada 2526)

I played Galactic Civilizations 1 & 2 but they were not really my cup of tea…Space empires 4 was good, 5 did not really suit my tastes….

Nothing ever came close to Master of Orion 2…….

So what about these new ones (distant worlds, armada, etc…. )

Are they any good ??

Can anyone give me some recommendations ???

L.

Whoot! I'd be interested in answers to this question as well. I'm completely intrigued by this genre, but I never get to play a game much for some reason.

Incidentally I started experimenting with MoO2 a couple of days ago. There's an unfinished Let's Play Master of Orion 2 on Youtube by a Russian guy with an awesome accent, which served as a very good introduction.

The latter is something those games often lack, sadly. Personally I need a tutorial and a story based campaign in my games when I play them for the first time, but 4X strategy is usually only based on custom maps or multiplayer.

Anyway, I can't help you with modern games, but I also started another cool one that is sort of an old/new hybrid.


Planetfall

This is an Alpha Centauri total conversion mod for Civilization 4 - Beyond the Sword. It is however not an exact copy of SMAC and could probably be considered a new game of its own. I had a lot of fun just reading through the Data Link (encyclopedia). I find the setting much more interesting than the Civ4 one, and I like that there's lots of stuff with strange names.

Factions seem diverse, the technology tree is very interesting and relatively freeform, units can specialize in lots of different ways, there are secret projects, and there are two very distinct ways of playing the game: hybrid (live with the planet, don't exploit it) and terraforming (more like vanilla Civ4, i.e. try to maximize resource gain). Of course, on top of that you can also use different playstyles like espionage, diplomacy, conquering etc.

Here are some links:

Download Thread, including an overview and screenshots.
Beginner's Guide, good overview of Planetfall's features, also a good read to whet your appetite.

Planetfall is also available in German.

And a picture of my favorite faction leader.

Sots2 is coming next year and it might be big. Currently Im playing Armada2526 and distant worlds.

Armada2526 has moo2 mod btw:

http://ntronium.com/simplemachinesfo…hp?topic=311.0

Distant worlds got 8/8 score in outofeight:

Out of Eight - 8/8 PERFECT SCORE!
http://www.outofeight.info/2010/04/d…ds-review.html
Gigantic living galaxies… A hallmark 4X strategy title… Grand strategy and classic 4X mechanics combine in a vibrant world…

Does Distant Worlds offer a campaign mode or story based gameplay? Or is it freeform only?

Originally Posted by Arhu
Does Distant Worlds offer a campaign mode or story based gameplay? Or is it freeform only?

There are story elements in the campaign through events and exploration. But basicly its a huge 4x moo2 style sandbox game with like max 14 unique opponents and dozens of pirate gangs and individual empires. One game on even small galaxy can last for days. You will create your own story.

I played the game for like 16 hours straight yesterday. Couldnt stop. The strategic/diplo AI is ok for both AI races and pirates. But one part of the combat is somwhat lacking - fleet. They are like zombies. You have to micromanage them in wars or othervice they wont even engage enemy fleets that are next to them. The game also has lots of small user interface problems. You can get over them but you need to "learn" the quirks.

Apart from the zombie fleet combat I like the game a lot. There are lots of interesting things in it. You will be suprised by it even after 10+ hours of playing.

Currently I like DW better but I am going to play armada again too. They are both different unique experiences as 4x games, cheap as digital download and well worth playing. My money was well spent on buying them both.

But if you have to choose one I would definetly go for DW. Armada is average 4x with som nice features and somwhat challenging AI. DW seems like a diamond in rough. It has tons of detail that suprises me even after long hours of playing.

The sandbox thing is what I generally don't like in those games. As I said I prefer some sort of story based framework, even if it's only basic missions stringed together. But I've started playing MoO2 over the weekend and am starting to appreciate the playstyle a bit more. Finished my first game (tutorial difficulty *cough*). That Youtube introduction really helped with the fun. Plus the fact that I found a custom race configuration that I like.

Galactic Civilizations 2 was another one that I've seen mentioned often, which is said to be like Master of Orion 1 or 2, just bigger and more modern. Since you seem to be an avid 4X player, zakhal, did you play it? What's your verdict?

Originally Posted by Arhu
Galactic Civilizations 2 was another one that I've seen mentioned often, which is said to be like Master of Orion 1 or 2, just bigger and more modern. Since you seem to be an avid 4X player, zakhal, did you play it? What's your verdict?

I have played most 4x games since the 90s including moo1&2&3 and galciv. Personally I have always thought galciv as a bit boring. Its not like moo2. The ship design serves no purpose beyond eyecandy and the battles are not very exciting. The AI is ok but overall the game feels too much like an economic simulator than 4x game. Armada 2526 has better feeling of moo2 than galciv.

I like 4x games that include meaningful combat and ship building. My current favorite 4x games are Sword of the Stars with all addons, SW:Empire at wars with mods, Distant worlds and Armada2526. I dont play moo2 anymore because I played it to death back then.

If I look how many hours I have spent playing the games it would be somthing like this: sots>sw:eaw>dw>armada2526. I played sots to death too and sw:eaw almost so I have partly given up on them. The next big thing for me is Sword of the Stars 2. You can see how detailed its ships will be in this picture: http://www.paradoxplaza.com/sites/de…_Dossier_0.png

If you have no experience of 4x games I would recommend Master of orion2, Sword of the stars and Star Wars: Empire at wars (story campaign). Galactic Civilizations is okay too if you more interested of economics and empire buidling than ships and ship combat. If you dont mind older games there are atleast two others I can remember: imperium galactica 2 and birth of the federation with mod. Both are worth of trying.

Woah, thanks for all the info! Lots of stuff to investigate.

Basically atmosphere, setting etc. are all more important to me than other features. Combat is actually a lot further down the list, I prefer diplomacy and subterfuge. I'm also not a fan of RTS gameplay, and I don't like micro-managing too much. I do like playing a specialized faction with weaknesses and strengths, preferably tailored to my own vision, at least that's what I got of my MoO2 session.

Star Wars: Empire at Wars looks like full RTS, so it's probably not for me.
Sword of the Stars looks like half RTS, half space exploration, so … dunno.
Distant Worlds is real-time? Bugger… looks very interesting though.

So yeah… I guess I need my 4X turn-based. I think I'll try to get into MoO2 some more, since yes -- I'm basically a complete newbie. Or maybe I'll give Planetfall a shot, since I have that already.

Its not true realtime in the 4x games but more like slowed down realtime. You can slow the game to a crawl so you hace plenty of time to make decisions. And you can always pause the game too if emergence arises I did that somtimes in SW:EAW when somthing unexpected happened.

Also these games dont generally have i.e unit/building building in battles which is major charateristic of RTS games. You mostly fight with what you bring in to the battle. SW:EAW also has superb story campaign that you might like. Checkout som youtube videos of EAW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FfKk…eature=related

But master of orion 2 is still good place to start. Its still propably best turn based 4x game.

Master of Orion 2 was definitely very good.

However, I like Gal Civ 2 with all its expansions better. The last expansion was particularly good, adding a unique feel to each race's technology tree. Plus you have great flexibility in creating your own race or even enemy races. However, I do like the empire building aspect of these games more than the battles, which fits with Zakhal's assessment.

Oh, and it does have a campaign mode. I only played it a bit, though. I would rather just be dropped into a sandbox.

Speaking of Master of Orion… GOG has it now!

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/master_of_orion_1_2

[QUOTE=zakhal;1061007127] Personally I have always thought galciv as a bit boring. Its not like moo2. The ship design serves no purpose beyond eyecandy and the battles are not very exciting.


Ship design is very important in Galciv, maybe you're playing on an easy level. You must build in response to your enemy ship configuration, they go for high missile, you build with point defense. They dont have shield tech developed or on ships you build high beam weapons. Being responsive in ship design is the only way to beat the higher difficult levels.

I do play DW, it has enaged me for a time but the interface is pretty clunky.

I think he's talking about how the ship actually looks. You can put anything anywhere you want and it will work fine. Battles can be set to just happen instantly or show you a rather silly (IMHO) video of ships flying around taking shots at each other. It definitely leaves a ton to be desired on that front.

Compare that to MOO 2 where weapons have different weapon arcs and the ships have different turn rates and speeds. When battles happen you get a grid and start moving your ships around to try and get everything in arc. Ship to ship battles are far more interesting in MOO 2.

Hello,

You didn't clearly state if the game you're looking for absolutely had to be MoO2-like, or if you were simply looking for a 4x game with the level of quality displayed in MoO2, regardless of the sub-genre. You already got some really good recommendations in this thread, plenty of great stuff to pick from.

First of all, I'd like to apologize in advance for my sub-par English; being somewhat of a grammar Nazi myself in my mother tongue, I can perfectly understand how a butchered syntax can deeply annoy some people, and I hope I remain intelligible enough not to irk anyone.

Anyway, have you tried Alpha Centauri? It's pretty smurfin' amazing, and leagues better than the Planetfall remake for Civ IV (although that mod is good in itself, it just doesn't come close to the perfection that was/is SMAC). The setting is Sci-Fi, the game-play is similar to Civilization, but still unique enough that it feels completely different once you're deep into it, the interface is top-notch, and the atmosphere/ambiance is unrivaled (in my humble opinion) to this day for this type of game.

Otherwise, Sins of a Solar Empire is very nice, and contains a lot of 4x elements, even though it is in pseudo-real-time -honestly, the pacing is so slow that it feels turn-based. It looks gorgeous, and it plays beautifully, so if you like your strategy to take place in deep space, you might want to look into that.

Finally (if you were exclusively looking for Sci-Fi strategy, you can stop reading here, the following ones are fantasy), there are three games I cannot recommend enough, and you owe it to yourself to at least try them out: Solium Infernum is incredibly rich and original, and takes place in the Realms of Hell, where your avatar strives to secure a position as ruling Lord amidst his demonic colleagues; the atmosphere is spot-on, the artwork superb, and the game-play is varied and unlike anything I had played before.

Secondly, Dominions 3: The Awakening just might be the best of the lot, and probably, if you get into it, the last strategy game you'll ever need. Deep, complex, extremely rewarding, with (literally) thousands and thousands of ways to conduct your godly business, it is impossible to run out of things to do here. Plus, it comes with a very thorough manual, a necessity for such an intricate game.

And, last but not least, I'm not sure if it fully qualifies as a 4x game (you do have to eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate), but you might enjoy Dwarf Fortress; it's pretty hit-or-miss, you'll either hate it for its horrendously awful, awful interface or worship it for its depth and addictiveness. I absolutely love it, and it is well worth a try -if you get hooked, I can promise it'll never leave your hard drive.

Voilà, I hope you find what you're looking for.

Oh yeah - Alpha Centauri is still my favorite Civ game of all time. I loved giving colonists the ability to parachute in!

Originally Posted by zakhal
Galactic Civilizations is okay too if you more interested of economics and empire buidling than ships and ship combat.

Yeah, that seems to be more to my liking. I'm the diplomatic, build-first and fight later but only if really necessary kinda guy. Using influence is nice too.

Found a Let's Play Galciv2 on Youtube, which gave me a couple of pointers. And I managed to finish my first complete game of Galactic Civilizations II recently!

Tried it before but couldn't get into it -- the game has a steep learning curve and I'm a newbie 4X player -- and now I'm lacking the time to get really into it, but the turn-based nature makes it easy to play in little chunks. Still, it was lots of fun, and now I'm hooked. I played as the Yor with some nifty customizations (+2 speed and repair, wanted to make them a little more Borg-like). Got a question for you veterans out there:

I have the Ultimate Edition. I'm actually thinking of playing the campaigns from the beginning — I already started with the original Campaign of Dread Lords (first two missions, playing in the DL game, not in TA), but heard that it isn't very good. Should I stop bothering with it and go straight to Dark Avatar? I don't mind that I have to "start over" all the time, but some different goals would be nice.

Also, what are your favorite galaxy setups? I can't decide. My next galaxy is going to be medium-sized with a slightly higher difficulty setting. I'm already dreaming of tackling a gigantic galaxy with all races, but first things first.

I think I've got a similar style. I like playing in big galaxies (not the largest they have - that one is just nuts!) with just a few opponents. That way I can expand out and get a decent empire going before I have to worry about my neighbors.

I'm not real familiar with the campaign. I played the Dread Lords one for awhile and it tought me some things but eventually I got frustrated and jumped back over to the sandbox game.

Twilight of Arnor really added a lot to the game with its race-specific technology trees, IMHO, though I turn off the new victory condition.

One fun thing to do is to win with a custom race. After you do that, make your custom race one of the enemies and try to beat them!