New 4x Titles

[Airk]

I find myself with a hankering for a 4X title - I haven't really played a proper one in a while and the urge is starting to take hold.

It's easy for me to bumble into tons of online sorts (Imperium Nova, OGame, etc), and while I'm sure some of them are good, I'm really looking for something more in the single player space. I'm not picky about setting - it can be fantasy, historic, scifi, or whatever as long as it's well put together. So can anyone recommend anything that's relatively current (read: easily available without having to buy off Ebay or something), and -good-? (Free would be nice, but if turns out my best bet is to just buy the latest installment of Civ, so be it.)

Your input is appreciated!

[Cristo Meyers]

It's really only pseudo 4x, but Sins of A Solar Empire is a good one. Space combat, ships only, no ground combat. Real time but the pacing is pretty slow (I've had time to gather a fleet from a few planets away in order to reinforce an ongoing battle).

It's been around a bit, so the price has come down some, I think.

[mentatzarkon]

I would highly recommend Galactic Civilizations 2. You can download it from the convenience of your home and support a small studio at the same time. Also relatively new, but not turn-based is Sins of Solar Empire. As to fantasy genre 4Xs, I haven't played a really good one in ages. There's always the Heroes series, the newest iteration of Heroes, Tribes of the East, is pretty good. I had some problems with it crashing, but that doesn't stop it being pretty fun.

The new version of Civ is pretty sweet, I played the crap out of that and while a lot of people deride it for being too cartoony, I didn't find that detracted from the gameplay at all. Also with a little modding you can turn it into a fantasy game.

One other you might check out is Europa Universalis: Rome. I haven't actually played that one, but its metacritic score is pretty good, and all the other ones I've played have been fun. One caveat, it has a very steep learning curve.

For free you could check out Battle for Wesnoth www.wesnoth.org

Cheers!

[Eakin]

Have you played Galactic Civilizations 2? It's pretty easy to find, and you can download it straight from their website if you want to (No DRM!). Other than that nothing jumps immediately to mind.

Civilization really goes without saying at this point.

EDIT: Holy cow, double ninja'd. But we all seem to be in agreement, so that's nice.

[mentatzarkon]

I know that you said you were looking for something new, but if you haven't played it before, Masters of Orion 2 is freakin' amazing. It gets re-released with some regularity, so you might even be able to find it in a bargain bin somewhere. Alright, forget what I just said, because after 30 seconds of research I found out you can download it here http://www.atari.com/us/games/moo2_battle_anta/pc for the low low price of $10. Seriously, I love this game.

[Psychosomatic]

The Logic Factory is reportedly working on a sequel to Ascendancy (still my favorite 4x game), but it won't be released until they finish their current project... so don't hold your breath.

[LordVader]

Alpha Centauri is great, but you have to get it off Amazon (it's dirt cheap though.)

I can also recommend GalCiv 2. Great fun.

[Airk]

I have MOO2 and played it into the ground. Played through Alpha Centauri once, and it failed to grab me. Somehow the game felt too generic.

I played around with the GalCiv2 demo at one point, but I never really felt like I knew what I was doing, which was strange. I'll try it again at some point.

Anyone know if there's a demo for Sins of a Solar Empire?

[Holammer]

Excuse me fellas, but what in blazes is a "4x title"? Something like "Tripple A"?

[mentatzarkon]

Heh heh, it is sort of similar in that it might be a refuge for people who would otherwise be addicted to costly MMORPGs or expensive larping equipment. But in all seriousness it stands for explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. Also known as, build large army, butcher your enemies, rinse and repeat.

By the by, here's a link to that demo: http://www.gamershell.com/download_23790.shtml

[Siosilvar]

Wikipedia to the rescue! 4X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4X)Z

In any case, I have Galactic Civilizations II, Master of Orion II, Heroes of Might and Magic III and several of the Civilization games - Call to Power, Test of Time ,and III. I also used to have Battle for Wesnoth here somewhere... In any case, I find that the older the game, the better it tends to be. I haven't bought any new PC games since Neverwinter Nights II, I think.

[mentatzarkon]

In any case, I find that the older the game, the better it tends to be.

Where this genre is concerned, I really have to agree. I remember when Masters of Orion 3 came out it was like a punch to the guts for me. I could hardly believe what they'd done to my beloved franchise.

Anyway when it comes to 4x games, dosbox is your friend. You can get all kinds of awesome old dos games for free off websites like abandonia (I think its even legal because the company's have either 1)given permission or 2)don't exist or don't care).

[Airk]

I use Dosbox for some stuff, but I feel like I've -mostly- mined the depths of the older games, if only because I used to have a lot more time to play them. :P

I was hoping for some new gems, but it looks like PCs games have pretty much gone over to exclusively RTS and FPS titles, alas.

[LordVader]

Wikipedia to the rescue! 4X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4X)Z

In any case, I have Galactic Civilizations II, Master of Orion II, Heroes of Might and Magic III and several of the Civilization games - Call to Power, Test of Time ,and III. I also used to have Battle for Wesnoth here somewhere... In any case, I find that the older the game, the better it tends to be. I haven't bought any new PC games since Neverwinter Nights II, I think.

Absolutely agree. Heroes III pwns Heroes V (although V is a good game.) Never played MoO, but heard awesome things about it. Alpha Centauri, a game going on 10 years old, is also amazing.

[mentatzarkon]

I use Dosbox for some stuff, but I feel like I've -mostly- mined the depths of the older games, if only because I used to have a lot more time to play them. :P

I was hoping for some new gems, but it looks like PCs games have pretty much gone over to exclusively RTS and FPS titles, alas.

Don't give up hope, just when it seems like the PC market is ruled exclusively by bland warcraft clones and MMORPGs, some company starts making something like Lost Empire: Immortals. This genre will never die, because we won't let it!

Oh and one other suggestion I came up with was Space Empires. The new one - Space Empires V - might be good for a laugh. It's no Orion tho.

[Holammer]

Wikipedia to the rescue! 4X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4X)Z

In any case, I have Galactic Civilizations II, Master of Orion II, Heroes of Might and Magic III and several of the Civilization games - Call to Power, Test of Time ,and III. I also used to have Battle for Wesnoth here somewhere... In any case, I find that the older the game, the better it tends to be. I haven't bought any new PC games since Neverwinter Nights II, I think.

Ach, I *did* search wiki and google, except I searched for "x4", imagine my surprise when nothing made sense. In that case I'd want to recommend Master of Magic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Magic). It's old... DOS old even, but I still play it now and then.

[Cainen]

Civilization - Call to Power

Ahahahahahahaha. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Before that game, I had never thought that the Civ series would have so many balance problems, let alone thought it would contain LAWYERS. I mean, they're seriously some of the strongest units in the game because they can shut your individual cities down.

Oh, and I can't forget the hippie nuke. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=bxBVc2cSFeI&feature=related) It's exactly what it sounds like.

[factotum]

(I think its even legal because the company's have either 1)given permission or 2)don't exist or don't care).

If the company HAS actually given permission then yes, it would be legal. If they don't exist or don't care, it isn't--it is not necessary to actively maintain a copyright for it to still have legal force for the normal period (75 years, I think, but I may be wrong).

[InaVegt]

(75 years, I think, but I may be wrong).

Depends on the country it's being applied in, for me it would be 70 years after the author's death