Turn based strategy games: recomendations

[Inhuman Bot]

We've decided that we would like to start trying Turn based strategy games, such as civiliztion.

However, we have nooo idea of what turn based strategy games would be good.

Can you playgrounds with experiance in this field offer some advice?

thanks in advanced.
The"we" is because it's clone week, for the uninformed.

[FdL]

Heroes of Might and Magic V

It's really good, I personally like it a lot.

[Winterwind]

As far as TBS go, my favourite recommendation is The Battle For Wesnoth (http://www.wesnoth.org/). It's simple without being shallow, it's fun, and, being open-source, it's free. :smallcool:

Further worthy games to mention would be XCom/UFO (available on Abandonia; prehistorically old, but still awesome), and Alpha Centauri, the Civilisation spin-off that, in the eyes of many, still surpasses every game in the main line.

[FdL]

Further worthy games to mention would be XCom/UFO (available on Abandonia; prehistorically old, but still awesome), and Alpha Centauri, the Civilisation spin-off that, in the eyes of many, still surpasses every game in the main line.

Speaking of potential abandonware titles, I think the Jagged Alliance games were good. I never played any of the actual games, but I've always wanted to.

[Inhuman Bot]

Oh, one other thing: please try not to suggest older, more ovbscure games, as I won't be able to get them.

Battle of wesnoth looks cool, so does alpha centarui and Colinization...

[Fri]

Galactic Civilization 2? I'm not too keen on civilization, but my record on playing galciv 2 is 6 hours non stop.

[Storm Bringer]

alpha centurai: very good. I'd recommend it of pretty much all the civ games. gets the atmosphere of the game spot on, mostly thanks to superb voice acting on the reshreach quotes.

Galactic Civilisations 2: very, very, very good. Has a wonderful ship-editor for custom warships that is real good fun. also, available over the counter if you're lucky. If not, the company that makes it (Stardock) have it availabe for download, or you can try Amozen or somewhere,

[Dr. Bath]

TOTALWARTOTALWARTOTALWAR... total war.

It's kinda Civ lite. But you can make it deeper if you really look at how you look after faction (unlike certain friends) and make it a proper civilisation. It also has a really good real-time battle segment (but you can skip it if you like). For the turn based stuff... I think I prefered the first Medieval: Total War but it's fairly old now. Medieval II is apparently good, but I can't play it on my pc...

If you have a DS or Gameboy Advance, Advance Wars is really fun. Like chess with tanks. :smallbiggrin: (but not really)

[Winterwind]

Speaking of potential abandonware titles, I think the Jagged Alliance games were good. I never played any of the actual games, but I've always wanted to.Oh yeah, right.
I played Jagged Alliance 1, and it was quite cool indeed; problem was I got it at the same time as UFO, and it couldn't quite compete against that (in my humble opinion anyway), so I never got too far.


Oh, one other thing: please try not to suggest older, more ovbscure games, as I won't be able to get them.Note the older games we suggested are, as mentioned before, abandonware and therefore not too difficult to find. :smallwink:

Oh yeah, and Master of Orion 2 is my all-time favourite civ-type game by far. Alas, I suspect it might be somewhat more difficult to find nowadays, and the successor was... not quite as good.

[Vonriel]

The entire Heroes of Might and Magic series is very good, except possibly 4, the only one I haven't played.

I second the nomination for the civilisation series.

Unfortunately, my experience with turn-based strategies is pretty limited, because it seems like they're hard to find these days. Though, I may just not be looking hard enough.

[Siosilvar]

Oh yeah, and Master of Orion 2 is my all-time favourite civ-type game by far. Alas, I suspect it might be somewhat more difficult to find nowadays, and the successor was... not quite as good.

Atari Digital Download - $10 (http://www.atari.com/us/games/moo2_battle_anta/pc)

[chiasaur11]

The Fire Emblem series and Galactic Civilizations two are both fun, in different ways.

Plus, GalCiv's AI is legendary.

[Winterwind]

Atari Digital Download - $10 (http://www.atari.com/us/games/moo2_battle_anta/pc)I stand corrected. :smallsmile:

[Inhuman Bot]

1) IU forgot to mention, but I have played fire emblem, disgaea, Advanced wars, and Final fantasy tactics, but Advanced wars was kinda simple, and the other three were strategy rpgs, so not quite what I wanted.

2) I can't download games if it costs anything, due to parentel rules.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Super Robot Wars! (shameless self-promotion) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95620)

[TheEmerged]

Alpha Centauri (which I prefer 'vanilla', without the expansion) cannot be recommended strongly enough.

I know you said no abandonware, but Lords Of Magic is worth hunting down. It's TBS but with real-time combat, set in a fantasy world, and frankly quite a lot of fun. This one you want with the expansion (fixes some balance issues).

The Civilizations series as a whole comes recommended, although I would recommend staying away from 3 and favoring 2 or 4.

[Martok]

I heartily second the recommendation for Galactic Civilizations 2. Its high degree of customization makes for massive replayability, and the AI is top-notch.

As for the Total War series, I have a more mixed opinion: Rome and Medieval 2 aren't as nearly good as the older Shogun and Medieval 1, as they suffer from some mediocre gameplay mechanics and atrocious AI. However, they're still decent enough games....and perhaps more importantly, they run perfectly fine on newer machines. Sadly, the same can't be said of STW and MTW, as they both suffer from video card compatibility issues.

[Selrahc]

Civilization series + Alpha Centauri + Civ IV Colonization, Heroes of Might and Magic series, Total War series. All have been said, but they are really good, and should keep you going for a long long time.

[Charity]

As winterwind advised MOO2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Orion_II)*
It is an excellent turn based game I too recommend it heartily.

*Master of orion 2

[Archonic Energy]

As winterwind advised MOO2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Orion_II)*
It is an excellent turn based game I too recommend it heartily.

*Master of orion 2

being a long term sufferer of "one-more-turn syndrome" i can suggest the following:

MoO2:BaA (this game singlehandedly cost me a year of college!)
Alpha Centauri (IMHO the best Civ game that has been released)
Civ 4 (go with the brand you can't really go too wrong)
UFO/X-Com (ahhhh, these take me back)

you can get civ on the DS now....
i did & i wouldn't recoment it, but you CAN! (Waits for a ful version on CIV2)

[Player_Zero]

Alpha Centauri (which I prefer 'vanilla', without the expansion) cannot be recommended strongly enough.

This.

Heroes of Might and Magic V

Whole series is pretty good.

Also, non PC games which are good: any of the Fire Emblem series, most any of the Ogre Battle games, or rather Tactics Ogre or whatever it is which are the turn based ones. Final Fantasy Tactics' plot will confuse the hell out of you, but it's still a pretty good game. FFT Advance and Advance 2 are fairly decent too.

[Hallavast]

This.

Whole series is pretty good.

Also, non PC games which are good: any of the Fire Emblem series, most any of the Ogre Battle games, or rather Tactics Ogre or whatever it is which are the turn based ones. Final Fantasy Tactics' plot will confuse the hell out of you, but it's still a pretty good game. FFT Advance and Advance 2 are fairly decent too.

All of these games are nothing short of superb. Continuing with the fantasy strategy genre, Warsong and Shining Force (for the genesis?) play similar to Fire Emblem.

Warsong is actually the first of a 5 game series known as Langrisser outside of North America. Unfortunately only the first game was released outside of Japan. If you speak Japanese or can get a translation patch, I highly reccomend Langrisser Hikari II (the second game in the series). I haven't played 3 4 or 5 (or any of the side games that came after), because, as far as I know, they haven't been translated to English (which makes me want to learn Japanese).

[Fri]

Any of you guys ever played Romance of the Three Kingdom Series?

Just got the latest one (ROTK XI) from my friend and it's awesome. Great graphic (a strange fusion of classic chinese style and 3d) and gameplay, with epic debating (haha).

Don't be intimidated by the classical chinese history or something. If you're intimidated by it, just pretend that its just another fantasy setting.

[Player_Zero]

All of these games are nothing short of superb. Continuing with the fantasy strategy genre, Warsong and Shining Force (for the genesis?) play similar to Fire Emblem.


Ahhh Shining Force... It got a GBA release as well, but yeah, was originally on the MegaDrive. That was a pretty spiffy game too.

[Project_Mayhem]

IU forgot to mention, but I have played fire emblem, disgaea, Advanced wars, and Final fantasy tactics, but Advanced wars was kinda simple, and the other three were strategy rpgs, so not quite what I wanted.

Advance Wars' simplicity is it's beauty.

[endoperez]

You mentioned "we", as in multiple people. Are you going to want to play the game in multiplayer? That limits the amount of choice you have.

Abandonware, in case you're not familiar with the term, means games that are old and not only aren't sold any more, but in most cases the publishers aren't even around any more. They're games your parents (or at least some people's parents) might have played back in the 1990s. Abandonware is so called because there isn't anyong trying to benefit from the games, so they're considered "abandoned". It's illegal to download them, but there are some places where you can legally pay for and download old games.


Master of Orion 1 and 2
These two are great fun. Master of Orion 3, a more recent game, didn't work nearly as well. The first two games are old (first one was released on 1993), but as was mentioned, the second one can be bought digitally.
The games are space conquest games with research. You get better and better technology all the time, and design better battleships with the technology. However, your enemies are doing the same, which means that your old ships will be less and less useful against their current ships. It's lots of fun, since there's always an even BIGGER gun or even more AWESOME engine right after you finish the next level of research. :smallbiggrin:
MoO2 has multiplayer, but it seems only hotseat (both players on the same computer) works well without some successful computer-wizardry.

Battle for Wesnoth
Has multiplayer.
FREE! It's free and many people's favourite, so it's worth a try, but I personally didn't like it too much.
Fantasy strategy game with simple system that may still lead to complicated situations.

Civilization series
I think it's at Civ4 ATM. There's a demo available, so try that. Multiplayer included.
You start with a unit that can build a city. You find a suitable place, build a city and start 1) building more cities and buildings into your cities, 2) building units to defend said cities and conquer new ones and 3) researching more buildings and units, so you can continue doing 1 and 2.
I've never really gotten into these games, so there's little else I can say.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
A wayward brother of Civilization games. It can be found cheaply on online auctions or, if you're lucky, in used games' stores or such. The game is rather old, but I understand there was a re-release not too far back, so it's easy to find copies cheaply.
It has multiplayer, but it feels like it's meant more for single-player. The game has a basic plot that gives you a time limit inside which you have to complete the game, and a given set of factions which all have different personality. It's not high literature, but very good for a game. The faces and the voices assigned to each faction can make you feel about the victories and losses more than in most other games.


X-Com: Ufo Defence, Jagged Alliance, newer games such as Silent Storm, UFO:Extraterrestrials.
These are turn-based games in which you control a group of soldiers against an enemy group of soldiers, moving in or around buildings, blasting doors open and then, perhaps, dying horribly.
X-Com games are available through Steam (Valve's downloader-program: pay for the game, and Steam will download it for you). Try to find demos.
Storywise, X-Com and JA are excellent. The newer games are still compared to them and I don't know much about them, so I can't say anything about them.
In X-Com, you are trying to fight aliens using guns which can kill your tanks, and you don't want to see the alien tanks. The aliens will also mind-control your explosives guy to kill your whole team. And just when you thought you're getting the hang of it, you'll find the flying aliens, and the super-tough aliens, and the zombie-parasite monsters, and worse.
In Jagged Alliance, story is just background where strong personalities enjoy themselves. You hire mercenaries to fight for you, and the mercenaries talk with each other about the people they killed (with garden tools), or about the capitalist pigs (oh that Ivan), etc.
Jagged Alliance 2 gameplay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5megNuZz-FA&feature=related)


Dominions (esp. 3)
Personal favourite of mine. Poor graphics, working mechanics, huge amounts of content and a unique feeling. Has multiplayer. Try the demo and follow the tutorial.
Lots of options and lots of awesome nations, but very slow gameplay. I could write a whole novel out of this, so I'll keep this short and just say that if you like it, it's awesome.


Some good strategic board game could also be nice choice, especially if you could get your family to play. Something like Carcassone or Settlers of Catan can be a very fun way to scheme against family members. There are also PC and online versions, which you can use to try the games.


Heroes of Might and Magic series is also good. Fantasy world, lots of exploration in all maps and there are lots of maps. HoMM 5 should be easy to find. Again, try the demo.

[Athaniar]

Age of Wonders II is one of my favorite games, and definitely worth buying (buy Shadow Magic, it's both the original and the expansion). Plus, the editor is very easy to use to create completely new units and armies.

[Mushroom Ninja]

- I love the Heroes of Might and Magic series, (except for number 4 which was an abomination to all things good), so I would suggest it.

- If you consider the Total War series to be turn-based, then I would suggest them too.

- The games in the Age of Wonders series were very fun.

- Civilization games are good if you've got time on your hands.

[warty goblin]

If you like Civ type games, I guarentee in writing* that you will like Galactic Civilizations II + expansion packs. I know some people who like Civ better than Galciv, and some the other way around, but I've never heard of anybody liking one and hating the other. Plus, what other game allows you to build your strategy around blowing up all of your enemy's suns?


*Namely this post. warty goblin, WG Posting Ltd. or it's affiliates cannot be held responsible for loss of sleep, weight, or possible divorces filed on behalf of following the advice herein. Always consult a trained reviewer before investing in new games or gaming material.

[Dacia Brabant]

- I love the Heroes of Might and Magic series, (except for number 4 which was an abomination to all things good), so I would suggest it.

Aww, but HoMM 4 had the best music of the bunch by far, even if the city-building and unit progression were weak. Some of its tactical aspects were quite good though--the isometric combat maps, line-of-sight for archers, and the amazing utility of certain heroic classes and spells. The third installment is my favorite of the series though, everything about it is good and I highly recommend it.

[Om]

If you like Civ type games, I guarentee in writing* that you will like Galactic Civilizations II + expansion packs. I know some people who like Civ better than Galciv, and some the other way around, but I've never heard of anybody liking one and hating the otherMeh, I don't dislike GalCivII but it never really grabbed me or held my attention in the way Civ did. Its probably a combination of the interface, lack of terrain, and the nagging feeling that MoO2 was a better game. I've been meaning to give it another go again, and maybe justify getting the new expansion pack, so I might load it up this week. After all, it feels like a game that I should like

[warty goblin]

Meh, I don't dislike GalCivII but it never really grabbed me or held my attention in the way Civ did. Its probably a combination of the interface, lack of terrain, and the nagging feeling that MoO2 was a better game. I've been meaning to give it another go again, and maybe justify getting the new expansion pack, so I might load it up this week. After all, it feels like a game that I should like

The thing with Galciv II is that it really needs to be patched all the way up to date, and the expansion packs are simply amazing.

I personally always liked it better than Civ, since the unit customizations made combat very 'hands on' for a game where you have no control over combat, and far more transparent than Civ IV's upgrade system, where I had to keep Swordsmen X separate from Swordsmen Y, because even though they looked exactly the same they did very different things. In GCII my cannon fodder will look different and be named differently than my indestructible capital ships of doom. Also random events, I'm an absolute sucker for random events in games, and having ones that render the game nearly unplayable some of the time makes me a very, very happy person. Sure no ship can move faster than five PC a turn, and sure the galaxy is Huge, and sure this means that my ships will be horrendously outdated by the time they reach the enemy planets, but who cares? It's something new to plan around!

[Istari]

Both advance wars and fire emblem were very good

[Mushroom Ninja]

Aww, but HoMM 4 had the best music of the bunch by far, even if the city-building and unit progression were weak. Some of its tactical aspects were quite good though--the isometric combat maps, line-of-sight for archers, and the amazing utility of certain heroic classes and spells. The third installment is my favorite of the series though, everything about it is good and I highly recommend it.

Now, I don't want to sound rude, but, are you joking? HoMM 4 had, by far, the worst music. That hideous faux-operatic music that they played in some of the towns made me want to vomit. And there was that piece with the absolutely ridiculous saxophone solo... I liked the music in HoMM 2 and was neutral about the music in HoMM 3 and 1, but the HoMM4 music forced me to play with the sound off.

As for the tactical aspects, I politely disagree. In HoMMs 1-3 and 5, the combat system was simple and elegant. Particularly, the siege battles always appealed to me. In HoMM 4, however, the finely tuned and well-wrought siege-battle system was thrown completely away for a system in which your melee troops could attack through the wall. I was also seriously disappointed by the ranged retaliation aspect of combat. It tended to nerf ranged units majorly. However, Ranged Retaliation was fixed in HoMM 5 and became a very interesting tactical aspect of the game.

The spells in HoMM 4 were, in my humble opinion, horrendously unbalanced. Hypnotism in particular was ridiculous.

I do agree with you on HoMM 3 -- it was a wonderful game. Its music was a little lacking, but at least it didn't make any of the pretentious and horrendously failed attempts at "epic" music that HoMM 4 did.

I've probably gotten the most play-time out of HoMM 3. I play a lot of hotseat multiplayer games and it seems to support them pretty well. It has enough maps to let you play for a long time (one aspect in which HoMM 5 is lacking) as well as a very good editor.

[Dacia Brabant]

Now, I don't want to sound rude, but, are you joking? HoMM 4 had, by far, the worst music. That hideous faux-operatic music that they played in some of the towns made me want to vomit. And there was that piece with the absolutely ridiculous saxophone solo... I liked the music in HoMM 2 and was neutral about the music in HoMM 3 and 1, but the HoMM4 music forced me to play with the sound off.

You hated the music in HoMM4 largely because of the operatic tracks but you liked the music in HoMM2? Hmm, oh well, YMMV I suppose. I still get a lot of mileage out of the Celtic-style overland theme, which is impressively long for a video game, and I thought the mood of some of the town themes fit their cities. The Asylum's theme for instance reminded me strongly of "The Exorcist," and I liked what they did with the Preserve--layering the original Ramparts theme (its corresponding city from HoMM3) over a Latin hymn.

But not everyone has the same tastes, I know.


As for the tactical aspects, I politely disagree. In HoMMs 1-3 and 5, the combat system was simple and elegant. Particularly, the siege battles always appealed to me. In HoMM 4, however, the finely tuned and well-wrought siege-battle system was thrown completely away for a system in which your melee troops could attack through the wall. I was also seriously disappointed by the ranged retaliation aspect of combat. It tended to nerf ranged units majorly. However, Ranged Retaliation was fixed in HoMM 5 and became a very interesting tactical aspect of the game.

Ah, but the ranged retaliation forced you to have heavy infantry protecting them if you were going up against other archers, or highly mobile ones for that matter, which IMO fixed a major game imbalance from the previous games.

As far as troops attacking through walls of cities, I believe this was only possible if units on the defending side attacked them first, which I figured was representing them as on top of ramparts engaging units who were scaling the walls. It's inelegantly handled by the graphics engine, true, so it's hard to say how exactly this is permissible, and I'll agree that I do miss the catapults knocking down walls and gates.

Battles in the field though were made much better IMO by trading the flat hex map for an isometric one.


The spells in HoMM 4 were, in my humble opinion, horrendously unbalanced. Hypnotism in particular was ridiculous.

Yeah that one is pretty overpowered against most enemies (though interestingly enough that very fact adds some depth to the major point of conflict in the Order campaign). Also any spell that clones a targeted stack is super-powerful if used smartly. Still, the hero advancement was a big improvement I thought over the previous ones, though it's too bad there's no variation between any of them within their class when they first start out.


I've probably gotten the most play-time out of HoMM 3. I play a lot of hotseat multiplayer games and it seems to support them pretty well. It has enough maps to let you play for a long time (one aspect in which HoMM 5 is lacking) as well as a very good editor.

Yup, I spent many a weekend in college running hotseat games of HoMM3with friends--though rare was the time that we actually finished a map. :smallamused:

[Night10194]

I cannot recommend Jagged Alliance (I've only played 2, sadly) or X-COM enough. X-COM is perhaps one of the best strat games ever made, and ranks as the only one I've played that's genuinely frightening. It's hard as hell, though, and tremendously lethal to your soldiers. Jagged Alliance is also pretty difficult, but a little less lethal for your troops, since it gives them more personality and screen-time.

I also have to say, if you get a chance, try Front Mission or Front Mission 4. I really enjoyed both of those as interesting turn-based strat-RPGs, and despite the reviews, I really enjoyed the story in both. Again, though, they're quite difficult, especially FM1. You can likely get FM1 and an english translation patch for an SNES emulator; as much as I hate software piracy, a game that was never released in the US for an ancient discontinued gaming system is safely abandonware, I'd say.

Hope this helps. Turn-based strategy is becoming entirely too rare, especially Strat-RPGs.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Huh. I'm surprised nobody thought of this one yet.

Risk.

[Mushroom Ninja]

You hated the music in HoMM4 largely because of the operatic tracks but you liked the music in HoMM2? Hmm, oh well, YMMV I suppose. I still get a lot of mileage out of the Celtic-style overland theme, which is impressively long for a video game, and I thought the mood of some of the town themes fit their cities. The Asylum's theme for instance reminded me strongly of "The Exorcist," and I liked what they did with the Preserve--layering the original Ramparts theme (its corresponding city from HoMM3) over a Latin hymn.

But not everyone has the same tastes, I know.

I am afraid that I have not been clear; It is not the fact that HoMM4 used operatic tracks that made me hurt inside, it was the fact that the operatic tracks that they used were really terrible -- they meandered aimlessly, without shape or direction. In HoMM2 IMHO which had the best of HoMM music, the operatic tracks had direction, they had shape. They would build a phrase, expand upon it and resolve it.

This is the major distinction between HoMM4 and HoMM2 music. In 2, the music has shape and direction while in 4 it meanders aimlessly. In both games the music does help to build the "mood" of the town, but in 2 it serves as effective music out of context and superior music within the context of the game.




Yup, I spent many a weekend in college running hotseat games of HoMM3with friends--though rare was the time that we actually finished a map. :smallamused:

Yeah, same here. I've still got tons of old save files. :smallbiggrin:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Masters of Orion II.

It's an older game, you may need to hit half-priced books or similar venues to get it. You can customize your own race with particular advantages and disadvantages from the beginning, with the potential to unlock more at close to end-game.

It's a space conquer game, where you have several methods of obtaining victory: Conquest (eliminating all other races), Diplomatic (win 2/3 vote), or Defeating Antares.

It is a LOT of fun.

[toasty]

Heroes of Might and Magic 5 is okay... unlike the rest of the world, I liked Heroes 4... though I will admit Heroes 3 was better than both 4 and 5. IMO.

Civ 4 is AMAZING. Civ 3 is good, Civ 2... is 2D and to be honest, the options in Civ 4 just give it so much depth... in Civ 4 is actually hard to conquer the world... lol.

I hated Galatic Civilizations... go figure. I couldn't get into the whole, "colinize space" thing. But maybe that was just me?

The total War series is amazing. I have played all but Medieval Total War... loved them all. My favorite is still Shogun Total War, they need to remake that one with better graphics and more options... that would be amazing. Without a doubt.

[bigity]

Any of you guys ever played Romance of the Three Kingdom Series?

Just got the latest one (ROTK XI) from my friend and it's awesome. Great graphic (a strange fusion of classic chinese style and 3d) and gameplay, with epic debating (haha).

Don't be intimidated by the classical chinese history or something. If you're intimidated by it, just pretend that its just another fantasy setting.

Played KOEI games basically my whole gaming life, and I love em. I have studied quite a bit about ancient Chinese (and Japanese, and Mongolian from other similar games) history because of games like this.

Good stuff, but the newer ones are getting a little too deep for me, too many options that I can't keep up with :P

[potatocubed]

Ahhh Shining Force... It got a GBA release as well, but yeah, was originally on the MegaDrive. That was a pretty spiffy game too.

Shining Force 2 was better. It was basically Shining Force with better graphics and a (slightly) smarter computer. You can get it for free if you're an emulator person, and I think I saw it available for download on the Wii's 'old games' menu.

[Glenstorm]

If you're looking to play with friends, the fanmade php-clone of advance wars (http://awbw.amarriner.com/) is pretty good, as you don't have to deal with getting your whole group together for 10 hours to play one game

Plus, Advance wars is such an amazingly strategic game :smallsmile:

[Artanis]

Some that haven't been mentioned:

Space Empires IV (http://www.malfador.com/se4.html)
It's a 4X game like Civ and GalCiv are. It's a bit old, but still pretty good. There's also a Space Empires V, but that sucks, so don't bother with it.

Massive Assault (http://www.massiveassault.com)
A really, REALLY good game, and - I cannot stress this enough - excellent for somebody just starting to try turn-based strategy games. Its mechanics are simple enough to pick up almost instantly, but the strategy itself gives it a ton of depth. It's one of those games that really does deserve the description, "easy to learn, hard to master"



start trying Turn based strategy games
I noticed this, and wanted to give a warning about many of the suggestions in the thread. One sub-genre of TBS games is called "4X", and those games are massive in scope, with the strategy going far far far beyond just producing and ordering units around. We're talking managing an entire empire. While there is nothing inherently wrong with these games, if you haven't gotten into TBS games at all, they're liable to overwhelm you. They also might not, but I'd suggest trying something a bit smaller in scope at least a little bit before diving into the deep end.

Civ, Alpha Centauri, Galactic Civilizations, Master of Orion, and Space Empires are all 4X games.

[JMobius]

Space Empires IV (http://www.malfador.com/se4.html)
It's a 4X game like Civ and GalCiv are. It's a bit old, but still pretty good. There's also a Space Empires V, but that sucks, so don't bother with it.

Another game I've never understood all the hate for. SEV was, for all intents and purposes, SEIV with a 3D skin. The only thing to my knowledge that changed was the combat, in a manner I enjoyed personally.

[Grumbolt]

My favorite is still Masters of Magic from way back in 95. Only problem is finding both it and a computer that will run it...

[warty goblin]

I noticed this, and wanted to give a warning about many of the suggestions in the thread. One sub-genre of TBS games is called "4X", and those games are massive in scope, with the strategy going far far far beyond just producing and ordering units around. We're talking managing an entire empire. While there is nothing inherently wrong with these games, if you haven't gotten into TBS games at all, they're liable to overwhelm you. They also might not, but I'd suggest trying something a bit smaller in scope at least a little bit before diving into the deep end.

Civ, Alpha Centauri, Galactic Civilizations, Master of Orion, and Space Empires are all 4X games.

He speaks the truth. If such penetrating questions as just how many factories can I build and still have money to fund the expanding military, which can't expand too fast because otherwise the Blue Colored Bastards next door will declare war on me which I can't let happen because I'm at war with the Maroon People on the other front and need to advance my technology are not up your alley, avoid X4 games.

[Rockphed]

Another game I've never understood all the hate for. SEV was, for all intents and purposes, SEIV with a 3D skin. The only thing to my knowledge that changed was the combat, in a manner I enjoyed personally.

The thing I liked most about SEIII was controlling my armada to the point where 2 outdated battleships could fight 20+ dreadnoughts to a standstill, despite having less shielding than the dreadnoughts. My understanding is that such is probably doable in SEIV, but SEV's real-time combat gives too little control.

Considering how many hours of blowing stuff up I got out of SEIII, I must second the nomination of SEIV. GalcivII left me somewhat underwhelmed. Possibly because I don't have all the expansions and probably haven't patched it up to spec, but it just feels forced after 10 hours. Also, there aren't enough Wave Motion Guns. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaveMotionGun)

[Thant]

HoMM 3 and Master of Orion 2 are must. Age of Wonders is a close second. If you don't mind older games you could also try to find Lords of Magic: Special Edition - it's a very good game in it's own right.

edit: also Etherlords 1 and 2 and any of the Disciples games are a good choice.

[random11]

Two more games I didn't see in the thread:

- Fantasy wars.
Good strategy game. Soldiers with their levels pass between campaign maps, which makes it better because you don't only need to win a map, but also keep most of your men alive.

- King's bounty.
An RPG game, but heroes style turn based combat. Since I didn't really like the last two HoMM games, I'd recommend this instead of them.


[edit]
One more: Age of wonders - Shadow magic.
Also download the unofficial 1.4 patch which improves many things in the game.

[TSGames]

Oh yeah, and Master of Orion 2 is my all-time favourite civ-type game by far. Alas, I suspect it might be somewhat more difficult to find nowadays, and the successor was... not quite as good.

I am very glad that someone suggested this; should have figured it'd be Winterwind. ;) I can't second this suggestion hard enough: that game is too addicting for it's own good. I only wish the on-line network had people on it; however, there are plenty of communities, and plenty of people in the playground that seem to like the game, so it may not be that hard to find people to play, if you have the few hours to spare(or you could play in increments; you are allowed to save). The sheer amount of variables, race, tech, ships, building queues, diplomacy, and spying, not to mention randomness in the universe, all add up to a game that is easy to get into, but difficult to master. One of my top 5 favorite games of all time, and my #1 favorite turn based strategy game, I highly recommend it.
P.S. Production races FTW!

[DigoDragon]

I had to sell my computer because of Master of Orion 2. That game was so addicting that I would neglect little things like sleeping and eating. :smallamused:

[psilontech]

I would also like to throw my support behind Master of Orion II.

I mean, come on, look at my username! :smallbiggrin:

[doliest]

Although not turnbased, I'd suggest Heart of Iron anthologies, a good game if you can get used to the engine. I'd call it the most realistic war sim in existance, but I hear the goverment has some super computer running a more advanced one somewhere.

[Astrella]

I'd recommend Age of Wonders II or the Civilization series. Alpha Centauri's very nice as well.

[The Minx]

Another vote for Heroes of Might and Magic series. Truly the classic of classics.

[HyperInferno]

Personally I <3 Disgaea. I love sprites and sillyness.

[JMobius]

The thing I liked most about SEIII was controlling my armada to the point where 2 outdated battleships could fight 20+ dreadnoughts to a standstill, despite having less shielding than the dreadnoughts. My understanding is that such is probably doable in SEIV, but SEV's real-time combat gives too little control.

Ah, I see. YMMV, I suppose. I found the tactical combat tedious, and typically just let the AI resolve it. Being able to do so in a slightly more cinematic fashion in SEV was a plus for me.

[Rockphed]

Ah, I see. YMMV, I suppose. I found the tactical combat tedious, and typically just let the AI resolve it. Being able to do so in a slightly more cinematic fashion in SEV was a plus for me.

I like the rest of the game, I just wish I could control battles the way I did in earlier games.

Its more a gripe about the ONE significant problem with the game than saying "The game sucks because of this." I would love the option to choose which type of combat I ran into, and I guess I could live with the real-time combat.

[JMobius]

Fair enough, my apologies. I actually missed that you weren't the poster who had originally said not to bother. :smallsmile:

[Airk]

I've really deeply been enjoying Sword of the Stars. It reminds me a lot of the original MOO, in that colony management is abstracted down to a couple of sliders, as opposed to the "I want to be civ" style of MoO2 ("First I build a hydroponic farm... on EVERY COLONY. Then I build structure X. Then Y. Then Z." Too much micro when you're trying to expand fast.). The 3D realtime combat is pretty satisfying, though large battles take an annoyingly long time to load. You can always "autoresolve" though, which does a pretty good job most of the time and allows you to conveniently skip those "My intergalactic war fleet vs your scout ship" engagements.

The tech tree is broad and adequately deep, and has an interesting random element (races have different chances to get each tech each game, so you can't always count on being able to blitz to favorite_tech_03 to overrun your foes.

The races are very interestingly distinguished by their tech chances, FTL drive method (This is really the game changer. Each race moves through space in a different fashion, and it heavily influences how they play), and ship design (Aside: Ship design is done by selecting 'sections' for each of Command/Mission/Drive and then assigning weapons to the hardpoints. It's not a pure "since I have 50 units of space in this hull, I can use one neeno-drive and 9 atomic blastocannons!" approach, but does allow you fairly large degrees of customization.) as well as more subtle factors like # of colonists per colony ship and environmental tolerances.

The expansion packs layer on all kinds of stuff too. I recommend it. And there's a free demo that lets you play 150 turns. Enjoy. ;)

[Prowl]

Going to chirp in with a couple of my favorites...

First, the original Sid Meier's Colonization, I still play it even today. DOS based tile graphics it may be but fun and challenging gameplay it remains.

Second, and I'm positive this is one no one else will mention, is a game called Stars! by Empire Interactive. It's a very well balanced conquer-the-galaxy 4x game epic in scope.

[JMobius]

Second, and I'm positive this is one no one else will mention, is a game called Stars! by Empire Interactive. It's a very well balanced conquer-the-galaxy 4x game epic in scope.

Stars! is... interesting. I had a lot of fun with it when I was younger, before I'd played other 4X games, but coming back to it later I found it rather tedious and missing something by comparison. It seems a bit too much like 'Spreadsheets in Space' to be very engaging.

[Smight]

Dominions 3
Space Empires 3/4/5
Sword of the stars
Heroes of might and magic 2/3/4/5

[Ash08]

Oh yeah, right.
Oh yeah, and Master of Orion 2 is my all-time favourite civ-type game by far. Alas, I suspect it might be somewhat more difficult to find nowadays, and the successor was... not quite as good.

I lost my copy of master of orion about a year ago and picked up a new copy on Amazon for cheep, its pretty easy to find and oh yea, I secound Winterwind in its superiority, I actually think that it is far superior to Galactic Civilizations mainly because I like controling my space battles.

[Ash08]

He speaks the truth. If such penetrating questions as just how many factories can I build and still have money to fund the expanding military, which can't expand too fast because otherwise the Blue Colored Bastards next door will declare war on me which I can't let happen because I'm at war with the Maroon People on the other front and need to advance my technology are not up your alley, avoid X4 games.

Actually I've played all but one of those games, and I find them all quite simple and easy to manage and they really don't take long to master:smallbiggrin: