Gratuitous Space Battles II

[Jarhead0331]

This is available in beta state now. I never really got into the first game because I'm really not too much of a fan of having absolutely no command ability once in battle. However, the ship design and fleet options were always sort of interesting and those elements have both been enhanced in the sequel.

I picked it up and it looks good from the little I played, but I have had several freezes and lookups and CTDs.

Anyway, check it out...

http://positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/

[Nefaro]

I enjoyed the ship customization and even the fully pre-planned battle strategy in the original.  But the one off battles were the real weak spot. 

The campaign mechanics in the expansion everyone had clamored for didn't have much to it and didn't even have randomized systems IIRC.  Was disappointed with it.  Had hoped any new version would feature a much better one.  Without that, it was just some single battle filler to me.

[Skwerl]

Jarhead,

How does it compare to the first one? 

I'll confess, I love the first one and I still play it occasionally. For me it has a fantastic sense of the big screen "space opera" schtick which I've loved since I discovered Doc Smith as a kid.

[Jarhead0331]

Jarhead,

How does it compare to the first one? 

I'll confess, I love the first one and I still play it occasionally. For me it has a fantastic sense of the big screen "space opera" schtick which I've loved since I discovered Doc Smith as a kid.

I didn't play a lot of the first one. I found it to be pretty hard and as a result, unenjoyable. To have any chance of winning, you had to design your own ships. However, to have access to any of the better parts and weapons, you had to win and earn honor. I just never got the hang of it and you had to do so much pre-battle set up that I would usually get bored and quit before even going into combat. So far, this one feels pretty much the same. It looks better, but the maps are very busy with asteroids and space debris. I find this distracts from the glory of the ships and the battle effects. I dunno...it's questionable how much I'm going to play this.

[Tpek]

Just posting the proper URL (sorry JH, but the one you posted leads to the first game's site):
http://www.gratuitousspacebattles2.com/

[Gusington]

That may be the first time I've ever seen JH  describe a game as hard.

[solops]

Thanks Jarhead. I did not know about this game. I really liked the first GSB and played it quite a bit for a while. It was a quick and "lite" filler for those times when I just could not get up the steam for a long TOAW or Total War campaign. Just bought the GSB2 beta. Maybe I'll get around to playing it this week.