Space 4x funk

[Jarhead0331]

While not a 4x and requiring windows 7, Conquest Frontier Wars is very fun for big battles and is somewhat the game that came before Sins of a Solar Empire....

CFW is notable for only one reason...its one of the first games, particularly RTS games, to model supply as a critical factor of failure or success. Otherwise...meh.

[undercovergeek]

However it doesn't meet the OPs requirements as there's no fleet at all at the start

But with the GM tool, can't you give your empire virtually anything?

I thought you could grant yourself research bonuses and tech advancements I didn't know about ships

[Jarhead0331]

However it doesn't meet the OPs requirements as there's no fleet at all at the start

But with the GM tool, can't you give your empire virtually anything?

I thought you could grant yourself research bonuses and tech advancements I didn't know about ships

Dunno...not sure either...

[Anguille]

While not a 4x and requiring windows 7, Conquest Frontier Wars is very fun for big battles and is somewhat the game that came before Sins of a Solar Empire....

CFW is notable for only one reason...its one of the first games, particularly RTS games, to model supply as a critical factor of failure or success. Otherwise...meh.

The humour in the game is awesome imho and the fact that you have specific captains and admirals in the ships helps with the immersion....

[bobarossa]

However it doesn't meet the OPs requirements as there's no fleet at all at the start

But with the GM tool, can't you give your empire virtually anything?

You get build points for ships as well as research.  Or you can let the computer autogenerate ships and research.  I never do that as they create a lot of beam ships that die quickly.  Or you can turn on the GM and just do whatever you want. 

I thought you could grant yourself research bonuses and tech advancements I didn't know about ships

Dunno...not sure either...

[Nefaro]

Does it have to be a Space 4x?

[Trooperc7]

Which patch is the one you recommend for MOO3?  I may want to fire it up.. Im currently playing  Endless Space but i certainly wouldnt mind heading back to check out a patched moo3.

[Jarhead0331]

I use the Tropical Mod and Patch. Latest version is 1.3.1.

Over the years, we have had so many threads discussing this game. Here is just one of them...

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=2476.0

[sandman2575]

Does it have to be a Space 4x?

For me anyways, space 4x is where it's at.  I've never really loved Sid Meier's Civilization, strange though that may sound (...and it bugs the hell out of me that 4x as a genre still uses so many of the conventions Meier introduced 30 years ago -- time to innovate!!!).

I've never cottoned on to fantasy 4xs like Age of Wonders and Endless Legend and likely never will -- just not my cup of tea.

[bbmike]

For me anyways, space 4x is where it's at.  I've never really loved Sid Meier's Civilization, strange though that may sound (...and it bugs the hell out of me that 4x as a genre still uses so many of the conventions Meier introduced 30 years ago -- time to innovate!!!).

I've never cottoned on to fantasy 4xs like Age of Wonders and Endless Legend and likely never will -- just not my cup of tea.

[Anguille]

Actually i feel similar to sandman...while i did have fun with them, i think they are vastly overrated and i cannot understand why nobody dares to make a much better historical 4x on humanity. It's always the same....build a granary, build a settler etc...there's a lot of micromanagement in these games and this is why i always preferred the approach we had in MOO1. And now they just copied the whole thing in MOO4 (i enjoy it but again, i much prefer the other design where you can make six différent researchs at the same time, a better diplomacy etc).

[solops]

Jarhead nailed it. I agree with him 100 percent on Polaris Sector and MOO3.

[sandman2575]

I know, I know -- blasphemy  :-X

Don't get me wrong -- I think Sid Meier is a gaming genius. Civilization is arguably *the* most important strategy game for pc ever created -- undeniably the most important 4X ever created, since it created 4X sui generis, and game devs have been following (...slavishly) the template Civ set for 4X for decades now.

But in all honesty, I'm just not excited about Civ VI.  I checked my Steam stats the other day for Civ V, which I bought when it came out. Years on, I have less than 12 hours playtime... The series just feels too formulaic and predictable at this point.

[mikeck]

All of them have their deficiencies (although MOO3's are merely related to age and patching). I enjoy Polaris Sector more than the others but that has problems too. The good thing though is the amount of space 4xs out there. I WISH I enjoyed Moo4. I do. I just can't even give it a fair shot because it strikes me as too "cartoony". I think Stellaris would be my "go to" game if they would expand "minerals" into at least 6 separate ones. I just never NEED to take a system for resources. Also poor ship design. But, that's the deal.

I would give Polaris Sector another try. Play on the 3rd highest difficulty whatever it's called. As in not "easy", not "normal" but the next one (there are 2 more). Otherwise the AI seems to have no interest in developing much. As it is, I haven't seen the AI building anything above frigates even if they have the tech.

Hoping the new patch and a higher difficulty changes that

[Nefaro]

I'm another of those heretics who is rather 'Meh' about Sid's Civilization games. 

They're obviously nice interesting games, but every time I start a campaign it doesn't last long.  Maybe it's because every faction largely has the exact same stuff and operates the same way, with just a few different units & traits to differentiate them.  The same can be said for a few others, too.

That doesn't stop me from occasionally loading up Civ and trying once more.  But I gave up the hope of carrying through past the Iron Age long ago, and that only happened once.

On the other end of the spectrum, I think games like SotS had good combat & fleet action, but was very shallow on the exploration and planetary expansion.  The randomized tech accessibility and unique FTL drive mechanics were great, though.  Very heavily focused towards the fleet combat side.  The economy, colonization, and research all seemed focused towards creating fights and adding more variety to them. 


My ideal  4x would have ship/fleet building like Gratuitous Space Battles, fleet combat & Tech Research like SotS 1/2, and Exploration/Econ at Distant Worlds levels.