AE looks good but...

[Titanwarrior89]

Yep! Gott'em all Erik. All of them great games and playing a couple now. Just wondering if anything else was out.

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Have you already tried Commander: Europe at War, Close Combat: The Longest Day and Crown of Glory: Emperor's Edition? [8D]

[Anthropoid]

ORIGINAL: Titanwarrior89

Yep! Gott'em all Erik. All of them great games and playing a couple now. Just wondering if anything else was out.

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Have you already tried Commander: Europe at War, Close Combat: The Longest Day and Crown of Glory: Emperor's Edition? [8D]

This is a bit blasphemous given it is not a Matrix game and all but . . . *leans over speaking in hushed voice* . . . I recently bought Galactic Civilizations II Ultimate Edition from Stardock Software, and it is a remarkably good game. Seems to have been a big award winner, and saw one game review that touted it as having one of the best AI in the business.

ADDIT: but you do have to keep in mind that that is coming from a guy with a laser-accoutred shark on its head in his signature . . . [:D]

[Erik Rutins]

I agree, GC II is great and I'm a big fan of Stardock (back to being one of the original GC customers for OS/2), though personally if I had to vote for one Space 4X game right now, I'd go for Sword of the Stars.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Titanwarrior89
Yep! Gott'em all Erik. All of them great games and playing a couple now. Just wondering if anything else was out.

Thanks! The next release coming out here is Horse and Musket: Volume I, Frederick the Great, which should be released next week. After that there will likely be one more release before WITP: AE.

Regards,

- Erik

[V22 Osprey]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
After that there will likely be one more release before WITP: AE.....

Modern Wars:Vol 1?[:D]

[LarryP]

HOI2 is still full of bugs which caused me to stop suffering with it. Every Paradox game I own (about 6+ ?) is buggy even after their last patch on some. HOI3 can cram it. [:@]

[Grell]

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

ORIGINAL: bretg80

Take a look at this youtube movie of hearts of iron III.

Anything with "Hearts of Iron" in the name might as well be called "Butts of Chewed Bubble Gum" as far as I care.

Yup, they sure stink.

[Fallschirmjager]

I wish they would release a sequel to Victoria. One of the best historical games I have played. But is seems like one of the Paradoxs least popular games.

[String]

ORIGINAL: LarryP

HOI2 is still full of bugs which caused me to stop suffering with it. Every Paradox game I own (about 6+ ?) is buggy even after their last patch on some. HOI3 can cram it. [:@]

Huh? what kind of bugs?

[String]

ORIGINAL: Lützow

There are no turns in HoI. Actually you give orders in pause mode and let the game run in realtime afterwards.

yes there are. Each turn takes one hour.

[EUBanana]

ORIGINAL: Hertston

Never got on with Hearts of Iron I and II at all, and won't be bothering third time around. Odd.. I like EU3 and really like Crusader Kings, but for WW2 the Paradox approach pretty much sucks IMHO.

Heh, weird. Crusader Kings I loathed. HoI2 I liked quite a bit. My fave is Victoria though.

They're all pretty similar aside from CK, I just didn't get into the whole feudal dynasty thing.

[Zakhal]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

I agree, GC II is great and I'm a big fan of Stardock (back to being one of the original GC customers for OS/2), though personally if I had to vote for one Space 4X game right now, I'd go for Sword of the Stars.

Originally after *shortly* trying the demo of swords I was not impressed. But then after buying the deluxe version with all the addons and improvements I was aweshocked once I really got to play the game. How wrong I had been! I wasted my entire weeklong holiday playing the game night and day. And I got beaten by the AI many times before I learned the ropes.

Imho sword of the stars is the most fun space 4x since moo2. Galciv2 is okay but its no way near as addicting or simply "fun" as sots. Sword of the stars is getting its third expansion just next week btw. Cant wait to get to play another round.

Kerberos and Paradox aren't done with Sword of the Stars yet, as they've just announced a new expansion, Argos Naval Yard.

The new expansion, Argos Naval Yard, can be combined with either the original game or any of its previous expansions and will provide players with:

· 19 new technologies, including advanced drones, over thrusters, two new satellite designs, defensive interceptor micro-missiles, and polarized plasmatics which will unlock a new weapon type

· Over 75 new ship sections to build

· 10 new weapons, including the new inertial cannons, kelvinic torpedoes, and the fearsome rail cannon

· 3 new scenarios

"With the successful release of the Sword of the Stars Ultimate Collection, the expansion Argos Naval Yard is a natural extension of the Sword of the Stars series,” said Chris Stewart, COO of Kerberos. “The new ships, weapons and technologies in Argos Naval Yard will present gamers with new challenges and capabilities.”

Argons Naval Yard is scheduled for release June 17 with an SRP of $8.99 / € 7.49 / £6.99

Hopefully the series stays alive and continues to develop. Its the only good space 4x out there. Would hate to loose it.

To go back to topic HOI is great addition to the genre, but somtimes it feels like the the series is made for people who dont really play wargames. It breaks genre-borders and many rts-addicts (red alert etc) who dont play wargames still claim HOI as their own.

Its one of those weird games ala fallout2. My friend dislikes roleplaying games and plays mainly sports and rts but for som weird reason he is highly addicted to fallout2.

[Erik Rutins]

Yep, good to see someone else has found out what SOTS is really like.

With that said, I should also note that we have a pretty cool original Sci-Fi 4x game in the works that I have high hopes for.

Regards,

- Erik

[Anthropoid]

*Bastitches!* . . . now I'm gonna have to buy _another_ game . . .

[LarryP]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

I agree, GC II is great and I'm a big fan of Stardock (back to being one of the original GC customers for OS/2), though personally if I had to vote for one Space 4X game right now, I'd go for Sword of the Stars.

I have SOTS with the Murder Of Crows expansion. Also have the Galactic Civ 2 series, Space Empires series, Sins Of A Solar Empire and expansion, and Space Rangers series. My favorite by far is the Space Rangers 2 with the expansion pack. That's a ton of gaming for your buck! Too bad more gamers don't try this game, it's packed with quests and you can do anything you want. [:)]

[Anthropoid]

The things I don't like about GalCivII:
1) Population growth is way too fast. You can go from 250,000,000 pop planet to 8 billion in about a year!? That is just totally off.
2) Should only be able to upgrade spacecraft when they are near adjacent to a planet with Spaceport or a military Starbase.
3) I see that some units have an experience rating but not all of them seem to.
4) Leaders or other characters would really improve the game a lot . . . starbase governors, spacecraft commanders, invasion-force commanders, etc.
5) "Tactical" engines for space combat and planet invasion (ala Crown of Glory or Forge of Freedom) would really spruce up the game a lot, but that would be a pretty huge change that might unbalance the engine as it is intended to operate at present.
6) The way planets are abstracted is _okay_, but it just seems like there could be a bit more detail, or customization, or individuality in the planets.
 
The way the Tech tree works is cool; the way you can build new designs is awesome, though it takes you so long to get to the higher techs that allow for neat designs it is kinda slow.
 
Any comments on how those other ones compare on these points?
 
Any of those other ones

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: LarryP
I have SOTS with the Murder Of Crows expansion. Also have the Galactic Civ 2 series, Space Empires series, Sins Of A Solar Empire and expansion, and Space Rangers series. My favorite by far is the Space Rangers 2 with the expansion pack. That's a ton of gaming for your buck! Too bad more gamers don't try this game, it's packed with quests and you can do anything you want. [:)]

You know, I actually own Space Rangers 2 and tried it, but it didn't really grab me. Does the expansion pack improve it significantly? I was hoping it would be sort of like the old "Star Command" by SSI, which I had a ton of fun with back in the day.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

Anthropoid,

ORIGINAL: Anthropoid
The things I don't like about GalCivII:
1) Population growth is way too fast. You can go from 250,000,000 pop planet to 8 billion in about a year!? That is just totally off.
2) Should only be able to upgrade spacecraft when they are near adjacent to a planet with Spaceport or a military Starbase.
3) I see that some units have an experience rating but not all of them seem to.
4) Leaders or other characters would really improve the game a lot . . . starbase governors, spacecraft commanders, invasion-force commanders, etc.
5) "Tactical" engines for space combat and planet invasion (ala Crown of Glory or Forge of Freedom) would really spruce up the game a lot, but that would be a pretty huge change that might unbalance the engine as it is intended to operate at present.
6) The way planets are abstracted is _okay_, but it just seems like there could be a bit more detail, or customization, or individuality in the planets.

GC2 has some strengths that SOTS doesn't have, but overall I simply find SOTS a lot more fun and more of a wargame to boot. Note that you really need to get the "Ultimate Edition" which includes all of the expansions, as the original expansionless SOTS was much more bare bones. However, specific to your list I feel SOTS is superior on points #1, 5 (incredible tactical combat) and 6. It does not allow ship upgrades, though it does have ship design (but not to the incredible level of GC2) and it does not have experience or leaders, but frankly you don't miss them, there's enough other cool stuff.

Regards,

- Erik

[LarryP]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

You know, I actually own Space Rangers 2 and tried it, but it didn't really grab me. Does the expansion pack improve it significantly? I was hoping it would be sort of like the old "Star Command" by SSI, which I had a ton of fun with back in the day.

Regards,

- Erik

Well, I can't answer your question very well because I have mainly played with the expansion pack. Sorry. However, I DO know that the different types of gaming available is what hooked me. Like text quests, 3d quests, and the fact that you can be a pirate, mercenary, merchant, fighter, or corsair. I picked fighter and I spent a lot of time killing pirates and doing whatever quests I came across.

It's an extremely intuitive game with so many options. I like to cruise around to different areas and collect asteroids, then sell them to planets to make more money. In turn I build my ship up and go killing pirate ships. The exploration factor is better than any space game I have owned. You really make your own story and it's almost limitless. Not many games let you be free like this one, without a pre-made agenda.

Erik: Here is some info I found after posting this:
* Five new text quests.
* 27 new planetary battle maps.
* 10 new hyperspace battle maps.
* More than 50 new governmental missions of different types to complete.
* New unique equipment.
* Two new game modes: text-quests and planetary battles.
* Improved galaxy searching system.

Side Note: SOTS and both expansions are on sale right now at GamersGate SOTS Package, the weekend special I believe for $7.99 US currency. That's a lot less than what I paid for the three. [:(]

There's also another addition coming out for SOTS at SOTS Addon. [:)] It's due out on June 17th, next Wednesday!

[Greybriar]

It wasn't until after I purchased the retail boxed version of Space Rangers 2 and installed it on my computer that I learned it had StarForce copy protection. What an unpleasant surprise! [:@]