Space strategy roll-call!

[Martok]

.But you can count me in with AOE-style unlovers.
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Well at least that rules out titles like Homeworld, Nexus, and Sins. Do you have particular preference for turn-based strategy games (such as the Civilization series) or real-time strategy games (like the Europa Universalis series)?

I bought BotF back when it first came out, and for the most part I really liked it. I remember taking screenies of my Romulan War Birds in an exploding formation and making a desktop out it which looked really cool.

I got frustrated because I had an aging computer, and if my memory serves me right, as the game progressed it took longer and longer to process a turn, to the point where it became nigh unplayable. With regret, I retired the game. That was about when Shogun hit the market and it was bye bye space games until SFC Orion Pirates and eventually, MOO III.

As drone said, there's a memory leak that causes a significant slowdown between turns (usually around Turn 120). It's easily the worst bug in the game, and of course it can't be fixed because the problem is in the files that are hard-coded. (Incidentally, this is another reason I would love to see BOTF on Good Old Games -- maybe they could finally fix it.)

Last August when I went back west to liquidate a majority of my things, I tossed SFC OP, BotF and Imperium Galactica I and II into the trash bin. I'm regretting that now, having just visited the BotF mod site. Gah.

Sorry to hear that, man.

Yeah, I think a big reason BOTF has retained such a loyal following over the years is because of all the mods that are available for it. The BOP & UDM3 mods are only two of the most popular -- there's also the Ultimate Mod (currently in its 4th version), the Uncivil War mod, the Planet & Building mod, etc. There's supposedly even a mod that allows you to play as the Borg (although I'm not sure how playable it is).

[Mouzafphaerre]

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I have no TB vs. RT preference.
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[Martok]

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I have no TB vs. RT preference.
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All righty then! Here's my personal list of what I think you might enjoy (in approximate order of most to least recommended):


1.) Galactic Civilizations 2 (with Dark Avatar & Twilight of the Arnor expansion packs)

2.) Master of Orion II

3.) Imperium Galactica 2

4.) Birth of the Federation

5.) Star Wars: Empire At War

6.) Lost Empire: Immortals

7.) Space Empires V


Addendums: It should be noted that some of these games (particularly IG2 and BOTF) are older and somewhat hard to find. (I might be able to help you out with getting a copy of BOTF if you're interested, however.)

Also, if you're a big Star Trek and/or Star Wars fan, then BOTF and SW:EAW might very well go to the top of the list -- both titles capture quite well the feel and atmosphere of their respective franchises.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Thank you Martok-sama, I'm in your debt.
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[doc_bean]

In case you want to try befre you buy, galciv 2 has two demos out which are pretty nice.

[drone]

What's the speed/pacing of GalCiv2? How long does it take to get through a turn, how long does a campaign take, etc? What depth of micromanagement needs to be used for planetary admin? Can you configure the game for different sizes and densities, and are maps randomized? I think I need a game I can play for 2-3 hours at a time without getting too sucked in, and the 3am MTW sessions are starting to annoy my better half.

[Zenicetus]

What's the speed/pacing of GalCiv2? How long does it take to get through a turn, how long does a campaign take, etc?

This is mainly determined by the size of galaxy map you generate. If you want a fast game, choose a tiny galaxy and things will move quickly due to rapid contact with the other factions, and a limited time for moving down the tech tree before a faction can win the game. A game like that might end in a few hours of constant play, depending on how good you are. A game played on a huge or immense galaxy size can take weeks to finish, depending on how much gaming time you have. You can also set the speed of tech development for each game, which will impact the overall pace to some degree.

What depth of micromanagement needs to be used for planetary admin?

That's also related to galaxy size and number of habitable planets generated (it's possible to choose a huge galaxy with few habitable planets, or vice versa). In a galaxy with many habitables, it can require a lot of micro towards the end of the game when you're controlling so many systems. Of course if you're dominating the end-game, you can just use a Terror Star and smash the systems you don't need, and turn them into mined resources.

On the whole though, I'd say the micro isn't bad at all, compared to other games. It's important to check individual planet settings in the early colonization phase, when money is tight and decisions are critical. Later on, I slack off and only check in detail at intervals, stacking up improvements and using the overall empire economic slider controls to keep things rolling along. There are AI governers you can set for planets too, to help with the micro, but I tend not to use them.

One downside of GalCiv (IMO) is that the economy is set up in a somewhat non-intuitive way, and it can take a while to figure out how to use the master economy control sliders. I'd recommend reading the GalCiv2 Wiki before playing.

Can you configure the game for different sizes and densities, and are maps randomized?

Yes to all the above. You can also control the skill level and economic bonus/penalty of the AI (including randomized, so each alien has randomized smarts), number of anomalies, number and race of aliens, whether or not random events shake up the galaxy, speed of tech advance, and which of several victory conditions you want enabled.

For me the randomized map generator is what keeps the game interesting. You never know how close the neighbors are, and what you'll be dealing with, until you start to colonize, explore, and open up the map. Very high replayability factor there, especially if you use randomly selected alien races.

I think I need a game I can play for 2-3 hours at a time without getting too sucked in, and the 3am MTW sessions are starting to annoy my better half.

GalCiv2 may not be ideal if you want to start and finish a game in that timeframe. You'd be limited to the smallest map sizes, and you won't experience the full depth of the game that way. It does lend itself to playing a long game through short gaming periods though. For me it's easy to jump in for an hour or two when I have the time, because it's not so complex that I lose track of what my strategy is, or where all my assets are. It's actually easier than M2TW to play that way, because I'm always forgetting where all my agents are, and what they're supposed to be doing.

[Martok]

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Thank you Martok-sama, I'm in your debt.
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You're welcome, Mouza. I hope at least one of those will be to your liking.

Note: I forgot to add MOO2 to my above recommendations. It's not my personal cup of tea, but it remains among the more popular space strategy titles out there.

What's the speed/pacing of GalCiv2? How long does it take to get through a turn, how long does a campaign take, etc?

I think I need a game I can play for 2-3 hours at a time without getting too sucked in, and the 3am MTW sessions are starting to annoy my better half.

Heh.

Fortunately, you can set up games for any length of time. You can play a Tiny map (which I think has around 15-20 stars) in a single evening, all the way up to playing an Immense map (which can have over 1000) for weeks/months on end. Also, you can set the research rate to fast, normal, or slow.

What depth of micromanagement needs to be used for planetary admin?

As much or as little as you like, really. While it's obviously often a good idea to give your home planet (along with your first few colonies) some extra personal attention in the early phase of the game, it's not that necessary overall. You can line up as many buildings in a planet's build queue as you like (within the limits of the colony's usable build tiles), and then just forget about them until they're done -- you'll automatically receive a message when a planet's build queue is empty. (You're also automatically notified when a new ship is built.) Colonies will also automatically upgrade any buildings once you research/acquire the requisite technology -- e.g., turn Basic Factories into Advanced Factories, Terraform previously-unusable build tiles once you research the Terraforming technology, etc.

The only real problem is when you're playing on larger maps, as you can have dozens or even hundreds of worlds in your empire. Fortunately, a soon-to-be released free update (called 2.0) will be adding planetary governors to help streamline things for you (see here for more). One minor caveat: You do need both expansion packs to best benefit from this update (most of the improvements require Twilight of the Arnor).

Can you configure the game for different sizes and densities, and are maps randomized?

Yes -- to both parts of your question.

You can choose whatever settings you like for just about every option you can think of, star density, planetary density, etc. Alternatively, you can everything to "random" and let the game surprise you. As a third option, you can also set some options to "random" while setting others to your specific taste. It's really all up to you.

[Crandaeolon]

Sins of a Solar Empire was boring as hell if you ask me, no variation between factions, no story/campaign.

I didn't feel these were particularly hate-worthy points, but yes they could be considered weaknesses. The different playstyles of the factions open up only after some time of playing, but then you'll encounter the general shallowness and lack of balance (at least until versions 1.03-1.04, when I stopped playing.) The lack of campaign is a non-issue to me (how many RTS games have campaigns actually worth playing?), but it's quite understandably a weakness of Sins.

The UI seemed weird and unintuitive

This is somewhat baffling, though - the UI is generally considered one of the strong points of Sins. Could you elaborate a bit?

I would argue that the Space Empire games have too much stuff -- I always feel overwhelmed by the enormous number of ships, buildings, and technologies at my disposal.

Yes, Space Empire series is a bit too complex for its own good. It does try to alleviate the complexity with a lot of automation options, but doesn't do it very elegantly.

Maybe it's time to give Sword of the Stars another whirl. The lack of peaceful options never bothered me - gotta bomb 'em fugly tentacle dudes to oblivion anyways - but the shoddy combat interface and unsuitability for multiplayer did.

[Martok]

The AI is noticeably better overall in TA compared to the original. Although, it's somewhat complicated by the way each faction AI now has to optimize a different (and in some cases radically different) tech tree. That was a little shaky at first, but it seems to have settled out now. And Brad is still doing small tweaks AFAIK. You'll notice the difference if you get the TA expansion. It's really a whole new game.

Gah! I forgot to respond to this. Thanks Zen; that's good to know.

Now if only Stardock would release the Expansion Bundle in a box (instead of just as a download). I know it's maybe a little silly, but I always prefer owning an actual physical disk along with a box.

Maybe it's time to give Sword of the Stars another whirl. The lack of peaceful options never bothered me - gotta bomb 'em fugly tentacle dudes to oblivion anyways - but the shoddy combat interface and unsuitability for multiplayer did.

I decided to download the demo (link courtesy of CBR) to see what it's like. Who knows? Maybe I'll be proven wrong and/or my stubbornness made to look foolish -- goodness knows it's happened before.