Space strategy roll-call!

[Martok]

.
I have no TB vs. RT preference.
.

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]

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

[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.

[drone]

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.

Sounds just what I'm looking for. Fire up a game, blast through several turns, and then quit and take a couple days off before resuming. I could do this with BotF and MoOII, but it's harder to do with games like MTW (especially with the longer battles). Thanks.

[Martok]

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

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.