What everyone should have in their library of games.

[Zap]

Been playing strictly WWII. I want to diversify. I would like to have a list BESTgames that everyone should have in his/her library.
No first person shooters. Games I can play against the computer.

Under Sci Fi- what should I own


Role Playing Games



Pre WWII
I own Forge of Freedom.


Other Catgagories What else should be considered.

[Phatguy]

Well, I'd go Guns of August for pre wwII, X-com for sci-fi and planescape/baldurd gate for rpg.

Lotro for mmorp

[Terminus]

And KOTOR I/II for RPG as well.

[SireChaos]

Well... two of the best games ever made - maybe *the* two best games ever made - are Star Control II and X-COM UFO Defense. I suppose both fall under the heading of Science Fiction.
 
BTW, Star Control II is available for free, I forgot where, as "The Ur-Quan Masters".
 
 
No other game can really compare to these two, but there are quite a few that are nonetheless really good.
If you´re interested in role-playing games at all, I think you will like Oblivion; even its predecessor, Morrowind, is still pretty good.
In the empire management genre, take a look at the Civilization series; personally, I cannot make up my mind if the third or fourth installment is better.
 
And if you can get them, and have a means of playing them, there are some truly ancient* games that are still quite cool... the original Civilization, the original Masters of Orion and its first successor, the original Populous and its first successor, Colonization, Masters of Magic... maybe some of the Role-Playing Game classics, such as the Ultima series (parts 5 and 6 in particular), the Wizardry series (parts 6 and 7 in particular)... on the other hand, why listen to an old fart like me waxing nostalgic?
 
* "truly ancient" is relative here; X-COM and Star Control II are both from the early 90´s, and most of the "truly ancient" games are not that much older.

[TonyAAA]

Some of these are older, but you said some of the best, non-FPS, non-WWII games....These are some of my favorites. I'm assuming PC only, no-console games.

Civilization --- grand strategy? ....hard to classify
X-Com UFO Defense --- Sci Fi strategy
Empire Deluxe EE --- absract wargame
The Operational Art of War --- lwargame--some WWII as it covers war from the last 100 or so years
Oblivion + Morrowwind --- (1st/3rd person selectable, but RPGs)
Diablo 1 +2 --- Action/RPG
Baldur's Gate 1+2 --- RPG
Fallout 1+2 --- Sci Fi RPG
Harpoon--all versions --- Real-time tactical
Falcon 4.0 Allied Force --- realistic flight sim

[Mac67]

ORIGINAL: Zap
Other Catgagories What else should be considered.

Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas. The most fun I have had on a pc that didn't involve naked girls [;)]

[ravinhood]

ORIGINAL: Zap

Been playing strictly WWII. I want to diversify. I would like to have a list BESTgames that everyone should have in his/her library.
No first person shooters. Games I can play against the computer.

Under Sci Fi- what should I own

Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri + expansion Alien Crossfire
X-Com Defender and Terror
Master of Orion II
GalCiv II
Renegade Legionaire Interceptor
Star Control II
Starflight II

Role Playing Games

Daggerfall-Morrowind-Oblivion
Neverwinter Nights (1st one by bioware)
Dialbo 2
Titans Quest

Pre WWII
I own Forge of Freedom.

Mad Minutes Bull Run and 2nd Manassas
Medieval Total War origional + XL mod
Tin Soldiers: J. Caesar
Crusader Kings + Dues Vult (whenever they get Dues Vult fixed)

Other Catgagories What else should be considered.

Fantasy:
Master of Magic
War of the Lance
Dominions III
Warlords III & IV with 1.04a patch
S.A.C.R.I.F.I.C.E. (rts but not like other rts no micro managing)
Sid Meiers Railroad Tycoon (the 1990-91 version)
1830 Railroads & Robber Barons by Avalon Hill pc game

[mikul82]

The Holy Trinity of RPGs, Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Planescape: Torment.  PS:T may be seriously off-putting at first due to the bizarre setting and less familiar game mechanics (you sort of "create" your character as you go along by what you do in the game, as opposed to everything right at first), but this is one amazing game once you get past the initial weirdness, although it does have that god awful "Real Time with Pause!" half-assery of a combat system from the Baldur's Gate games.  It's worth putting up with though

Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 were fun as well, and had much better storylines than the awful 3 most recent Star Wars movies IMO.  Be sure to get the fan made finishing job done on KOTOR 2 (it's free online), which was rushed out way before it was finished. 

Depths of Peril: Really fun indie game similar to Diablo but with new twists, not just a "Diablo clone".

Civilization Series (I like them all, currently just playing Civ IV w/ it's add ons)

The Slitherine games (Gates of Troy, Spartan, Chariots of War- Legion Arena is also fun but not a grand scale strategy game)

Warlords 2 and 3 (never played 4)

Europa Barbarorum mod for Rome: Total War- IMO, RTW was a truly horrible game out of the box, but Europa Barbarorum has turned it into one of my favorite games, and actually put some honest to goodness challenge back into the game as well. It's like an ancient history nerd's heaven of a mod.  www.europabarbarorum.com 

Master of Orion 2

Galactic Civilizations 2


Mount and Blade- The best Medieval combat game ever made IMO!  Assuming you like any action-oriented games.

The Gabriel Knight games- old Sierra point and click adventure games, although I don't think it's possible to get the first one (of three) working in WinXP (or Vista) at all.

The Great Battles series (Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar): My favorite ancient wargames, not all that easy to get running in WinXP for me either, although some people have had no trouble at all.  These are the only ancient wargames I've ever played that give a real sense of the huge scale of some of the battles depicted!


Space Rangers 2: Sort of like Sid Meier's Pirates in space.  Really, really addictive. 

Jagged Alliance 2 for not quite as good as X-Com squad based tactical fun.

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: Zap

Been playing strictly WWII. I want to diversify.

Under Sci Fi-

GalCiv 2 ( '4X' with some of the best AI in the business)
Sins of a Solar Empire. Half '4X', half RTS.
Sword of the Stars & Born of Blood expansion ('4X' with tactical combat)
Nexus: The Jupiter Incident (if you can find it. Shamefully under-exposed, gorgeous looking, plot driven tactical game with lots of BIG spaceships hurling electric death at each other.)
Starfleet Command 2 (or Orion Pirates), if you can find it/them. A creditable real-time translation of Star Fleet Battles and the only decent Star Trek computer game. Ever.
Armageddon Empires (post apocalyptic TBS)

Role Playing Games

For single player there can be only two, Morrowind and it's successor Oblivion (with their expansions). The box set of Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics is also worth getting.

Pre WWII

Post WW2 is far more fun. [;)] However,

Take Command: 2nd Mannassas. Arguably THE best non-WW2 wargame of any description.
Birth of America (wait for the incoming new version). Still more fun than either AGEOD's ACW or Nappy games, although both are excellent.
Tin Soldiers: Caesar (or Alexander)

Other Catagories What else should be considered.

Dominions 3 (fantasy '4X')
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic (if you can find it.. fantasy TBS, MUCH better than the HoMM series).
Darwinia (pretty much indescribable retro strategy thingie)
Dangerous Waters (modern naval sim.. now criminally low priced from assorted DtD retailers)
Kohan 2. Company of Heroes excepted, my favourite RTS.

[Monkeys Brain]

Role Playing Games

Best is Betrayal at Krondor. Not a one RPG come close to that classic.

[SLAAKMAN]

I dare you all to enter my Starcraft Broodwars-Armageddon pet map!! [:'(][:D]

[cdbeck]

ORIGINAL: Mac67

ORIGINAL: Zap
Other Catgagories What else should be considered.

Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas. The most fun I have had on a pc that didn't involve naked girls [;)]

With the Hot Coffee mod, this became a false statement. [;)]

I'm actually playing it right now, and I would concur. Other than the save system, the game is quite good. I would also add Sword of the Stars, Warhammer 40K Dawn of War, Galactic Civilization, and Neverwinter Nights 2 to the mix.

SoM

[V22 Osprey]

Star Wars Empire at War(With Expansion Pack)Sci-Fi Strategy
Not in to RPGs;
American Conquest(Complete Series)-Pre WW2
Locomotion or Railroad Tycoon-Strategy

Well,all my games are strategy,except for star Wars Battlefront 2.I dont play FPS games because I actually like use my mind rather than sit there just pressing buttons.Star Was battlefront 2 was an exception-That game rocks

[V22 Osprey]

Oh no,how could I forget about SPWAW?That should be the first game in your library.
 
SPWAW.....forgive me[&o]

[ravinhood]

Star Wars Battlefront 2 suked! I did ok in the tutorial, but, when I got out there to play in the real world I got shot to pieces and my AI bot buddies were no help at all. It was like ME vs the EMPIRE or I fought the law and the law won. Besides he said NO FPSers! And no WW2 games chances are 99.9% he already has SPWAW. He's wanting to diversify into other catagories besides WW2 and apparently doesn't like FPSers at all which I don't either really.

[V22 Osprey]

Wat is your problem?I gave him some good Titles so shut up.The whole point of Star Wars Battlefront is yes to be the best,but if you notice you're a frontline clonetrooper.Even expierenced players are goin to die.Besides it's more of a third person based game anyway.[:'(]

Back to the subject,another pre-WW2 title(To make this butthead called ravinhood happy) is cossacks 2,Age of Empires 3 with Expansion Pack is good,World of War craft is also good although like I said I'm not into that genre.If you want post WW2,SPMBT,ah,Tom Clancy's EndWar-RTS(I dont think it's out yet) World in Conflict is good.

[KG Erwin]

For space games, I can recommend the original "Galactic Civilizations". Good AI in that one. It's tough to win. For the ancients, the Great Battles of Alexander/Hannibal/Caesar are worth seeking out.

[Mac67]

ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort

ORIGINAL: Mac67
Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas. The most fun I have had on a pc that didn't involve naked girls [;)]

With the Hot Coffee mod, this became a false statement. [;)]

I should have made that real live naked girls. [;)]

[Goblin]

GalCiv/GalCiv2 fan here too. Good space era game.
 
 
Goblin

[Zap]

Herston, downloaded the Sins of Solar Empire. Seems it has compatibility issues with my ATI graphics card. I'm still trying to fix the problems caused. The game worked after my ATI graphic center took a dump. I hope I can resolve the problem. The game looks great.