Best Single Player Space "War" Game?

[Nefaro]

Soooo... basically Star Wars Rebellion then.


Although that's a rather old game, and the graphics may scare you away, it is definitely a wargame and not a 4X.

Loved that game. Been meaning to try and get it working on my computer.

I kind of view Empire at War as it's modern successor, which I remember being pretty good for what it was.

Rebellion and EAW are very different games.

[Bletchley_Geek]

If you want hard-core hard-SF space combat, then Children of a Dead Earth is a good bet. The campaign is a story-based one that is basically a bunch of linked missions. It's set entirely in the Solar System after a cataclysmic war makes Earth uninhabitable. You do get to build your own ships and sub-systems later on though. A very recent patch has made the real-time combat pause-able.

This one is pretty amazing, lots of stuff to learn about real space warfare and physics in there. But being strictly scenario/quick battle based, I think is a bit outside of GR search parameters :)

I think that Jarhead's suggestion of Emperor of the Fading Suns is the one that checks the most boxes. I would recommend to read through a couple sourcebooks of the pen and paper RPG, in order to get a good grasp on what's going on at the start of the game... which is a LOT.

[jamus34]

It's old and it's more RTS but I would like to throw Nexus:Jupiter Incident into the ring.

Or the Homeworld series. I imagine it's not exactly what you are looking for but both those games are either strictly or mostly combat orientated.

[mikeck]

It's old and it's more RTS but I would like to throw Nexus:Jupiter Incident into the ring.

Or the Homeworld series. I imagine it's not exactly what you are looking for but both those games are either strictly or mostly combat orientated.

Great call. Never really been a game that managed to get the RTS/RPG thing down while keeping combat complex enough that it's not pew pew. Unfortunately, you only get your ship or a few hangers-on. Not fleets

[Martok]

Grim.Reaper, I would strongly second Jarhead's recommendation of Emperor of the Fading Suns.  (I really, really wish someone would a sequel/modern remake, dang it!)  While admittedly an older game, it's got just about everything you said you're looking for. 

For more modern games, I would second those who've mentioned Star Wars: Empire at War.  It's real-time and probably not quite as deep as what you really want, but it still ticks off a lot of the boxes on your wishlist. 

[Freyland]

Recommendations on obtaining EotFS?  I'm always leery of abandonware sites.

[Jarhead0331]

its easier to just download, but if you are reluctant, plenty of options here:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR10.TRC0.A0.H0.Xemperor+of+the+fading+suns.TRS0&_nkw=emperor+of+the+fading+suns&_sacat=0

[Hartford688]

Since you have Sins of a Solar Empire, and following an earlier suggestion, I saw this recent video on YouTube just now:

https://youtu.be/0OQTgumgV_g

I confess I have never played it, so no idea if good, but is a free mod,so...

[solops]

Been asked before,but I'm still not sure...are we talking about war from the chair of an overlord, fleet commander, captain or agent?

[Grim.Reaper]

Been asked before,but I'm still not sure...are we talking about war from the chair of an overlord, fleet commander, captain or agent?

Not looking to control the individual units but more the overall situation....so assuming that likely fits your "overlord" category.  Tried getting Empires of Fading Suns to work, but had issues trying to run it....will try again to figure it out since a number of folks made that recommendation.

[Grim.Reaper]

Since you have Sins of a Solar Empire, and following an earlier suggestion, I saw this recent video on YouTube just now:

https://youtu.be/0OQTgumgV_g

I confess I have never played it, so no idea if good, but is a free mod,so...

Thanks.....been a long time since I played SOTSE, but remember struggling mightily to play it....but always thought it had the coolest visual battles, at least at that time.

[agathosdaimon]

Star Wars Rebellion
Sword of the Stars
Drox Operative

- there are alot of good space war games out there - i have even enjoyed Lords of the Black Sun. Iceberg Interactive seems to have a new one every month.

Some of the old games though really get my interest the most though

Rules of Engagement 1 and 2
The Second Conflict
Star Fleet 1: The War Begins

[solops]

Look at Stellar Monarch (formerly Pocket Space Empires). I think it just left Early Access. I have it (and almost everything else in the thread except EotFS). I have not played it much yet (too many other games) but it seems to fit your main desires. I did boot it up a couple of times and I am not sure it has enough "hands on the ships" for me. I like Polaris Sector style stuff too much. But, it has some appeal and I will go back to it.

[solops]

From Steam: 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/446000/

--------------------------------------------
Stellar Monarch

"ABOUT THIS GAME

Basics:
Turn based, 4X, empire space builder, singleplayer, asymmetric, Emperor focused grand strategy.

Core features/promises:
You will feel like the Emperor (assassins, imperial court, granting audiences, rebels, imperial officials)
No micromanagement (no moving individual ships around or constructing boring farms, you deal with more important things)
Unique mechanics (if you are bored with other games and wanted to see something fresh, you won't be disappointed)


The premise behind the game.
You are the emperor, not a logistics officer. You don't deal with low level stuff like building farms, factories or individual ships. Instead you focus on the grander scale of things. You grant audiences, make edicts, appoint imperial officials, deal with court factions and assassins, crush rebels, decide on production quotas and priorities.

In the game there is no micromanagement, late game does not drag on forever. You can play a relatively fast paced game on a huge galaxy without late game slow downs. You own hundreds of planets, thousands of ships and all this is managed on the high level by edicts and a hierarchical fleet system. The whole premise was to make the player make only the important and interesting choices leaving everything else abstracted.

Another important feature is the asymmetric nature of the game. The AI plays by different rules, and does not try to win the game. Aliens are more like creatures living in the galaxy than computer controlled players. Sometimes they can be valuable assets worthy of protection and sometimes an obstacle to overcome. Aliens are not created equal, some are primitive beasts that shall be cleansed from the face of the galaxy, some are fellow humanoids inferior to Terrans of course but considered sentient and worthy of compassion.

In short it's a fast paced turn based space empire builder with no micromanagement, asymmetric mechanics, and focus on you as the emperor."
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[Grim.Reaper]

That game has some interesting concepts...but just looking at it, not sure how good it is and looks like just left early access.  But conceptually, might be exactly what I am looking for but I don't see any detailed reviews yet....looks like the cost is around $17, not huge but with it being unknown to me, will have to watch this one a bit before deciding.  Thanks for the suggestion.