Space Sims/Strategy Games Catch-All

Veloxi wrote:

What am I? Chopped liver?

Fine. FINE. I get it. ;)

You are literally why I added "or further updates?" I take it you got more than 3 hours in now. 1 man studio putting out something of this scale seems insane, but im teetering at this point to buy in

Yeah, approaching 16 hours now, having a blast, and the dev keeps adding and fixing stuff so it's just getting better.

The last big space 4X-ish game I got into was Stellaris circa 2017, without DLC. Now I want to experience the current state of the art in the genre.

Would that be Distant Worlds 2, or should I pick up some Stellaris DLC (which?) and see what that game has evolved into since I last played? Or is there something else amazing, keeping a low profile in interstellar space?

misplacedbravado wrote:

The last big space 4X-ish game I got into was Stellaris circa 2017, without DLC. Now I want to experience the current state of the art in the genre.

Would that be Distant Worlds 2, or should I pick up some Stellaris DLC (which?) and see what that game has evolved into since I last played? Or is there something else amazing, keeping a low profile in interstellar space?

The three 4x games I've always been fond of is Distant Worlds, Star Ruler 2, and Stellaris. DW2 I think still needs more time but has a lot of potential. Still in a fun enough state though. Star Ruler 2 is the weirdest 4x game. As it tries lots of unique game mechanics and is unlike any other space 4x. I'm particularly fond of the card based diplomacy. Stellaris has a lot of good dlc but usually its in a more content or side feature sort of way. It's definitely better with it but probable won't blow your socks off.

There have been some smaller 4x space games but mostly they are master of orion clones or the remake. I found most of those to be average at best. There's some decent non-space ones. Old World has been recommend to me, and if counts Conquest of Elysium 5 is great fun.

master0 wrote:
misplacedbravado wrote:

The last big space 4X-ish game I got into was Stellaris circa 2017, without DLC. Now I want to experience the current state of the art in the genre.

Would that be Distant Worlds 2, or should I pick up some Stellaris DLC (which?) and see what that game has evolved into since I last played? Or is there something else amazing, keeping a low profile in interstellar space?

The three 4x games I've always been fond of is Distant Worlds, Star Ruler 2, and Stellaris. DW2 I think still needs more time but has a lot of potential. Still in a fun enough state though. Star Ruler 2 is the weirdest 4x game. As it tries lots of unique game mechanics and is unlike any other space 4x. I'm particularly fond of the card based diplomacy. Stellaris has a lot of good dlc but usually its in a more content or side feature sort of way. It's definitely better with it but probable won't blow your socks off.

There have been some smaller 4x space games but mostly they are master of orion clones or the remake. I found most of those to be average at best. There's some decent non-space ones. Old World has been recommend to me, and if counts Conquest of Elysium 5 is great fun.

Star Ruler 2 was released as a free open source project if you're interested: https://github.com/BlindMindStudios/...

I think it's only missing the music and Steam integration.

misplacedbravado wrote:

The last big space 4X-ish game I got into was Stellaris circa 2017, without DLC. Now I want to experience the current state of the art in the genre.

Would that be Distant Worlds 2, or should I pick up some Stellaris DLC (which?) and see what that game has evolved into since I last played? Or is there something else amazing, keeping a low profile in interstellar space?

Interstellar Space: Genesis is also fantastic.

Just to show that I am an old fart....

What would be the best / nearest experience for Ascendancy?

Seems Ascendencay II or Sleeper will never happen.

Getting unnecessarily excited to jump into Everspace 2 on the 6th. My birthday present is an entire day to myself and I've chosen the 7th as that day this year so I'll be wrapping myself in a warm Everspace blanket.

Peoj Snamreh wrote:

What would be the best / nearest experience for Ascendancy?

Sadly, nothing.

I think we might continue talking E2 in the Everspace thread

Veloxi wrote:
Peoj Snamreh wrote:

What would be the best / nearest experience for Ascendancy?

Sadly, nothing.

Oh well.. I could wait another 20 years. (sigh)

I picked up Spacebourne 2 and bounced off almost immediately due to the AI text-to-speech stuff. This week, I was talking about it with my son who said I should pretend the voices are computerized results from a universal translator...and it works for me! I've added about 12 hours since my return and I'm having a lot of fun. I'm still unlocking systems and I'm continually surprised by new things I'm discovering, including a lot of emergent moments, like a station coming under attack as I strolled through its halls looking for a vendor. I know I'm only scratching the surface so far, which makes it all the more impressive.

I just don't notice the text-to-speech at all. My son's getting a bonus in his allowance this week.

That's some terrific headcanon right there. Glad you're enjoying it!

Star Fleet Armada Rogue Adventures - Still worth it, Veloxi?

Edit - N/M, I already own it and just forgot to play it lol

Oh yeah it's terrific.

Star Singularity 70% off on Steam. Still early access. Looks like Veloxi had some videos back in 2018. Anybody tried it more recently?

$5 is almost worth trying anyway. Unless it's like abandoned or something. Anybody know anything or played it the last year or so?

Edit: Steam reviews make it sound like not much content. Done in an hour, etc. And some of those from 2021.

Star Valor thoughts?

60% off for a week

I found it a bit aimless, but if you're looking for more of a pure sandbox it'll be fun.

If Grubber788 (wherever he is and whatever he's doing these days) felt a disturbance in the Force earlier today, it's because the Kingdom End DLC for X4: Foundations released today and brought the Boron back to the X-Universe.

So far I can say that the new Boron ships look good, the one game start that comes with the new DLC and doesn't need to be unlocked has the lowest time to Player HQ station yet, and the 6.00 patch that everyone gets regardless of DLC makes the game prettier.

I hope he's killing them all.

How's X4 these days? Rebirth never connected with me, but I put hundreds of hours into X3 (in all its flavors).

Math wrote:

How's X4 these days? Rebirth never connected with me, but I put hundreds of hours into X3 (in all its flavors).

It took me a while to learn x4 but once I did I couldn't go back to x3. I even wound up liking the walking around your ship and floating in space. The station building and getting your own base is nice too.

I will say this. I generally don't do combat and heard that it's kind of weak in x4. Weapons and ship parts/gear definitely seemed meh.

So Steam and GOG are finally getting the weakest of the Five-Star General series, but an interesting game in its own right -- as it's based of a series of novels called the Fleet series -- Star General.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2...
https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_gen...

I of course will buy both versions because that's how I am, but it's an interesting piece of space gaming history that's at least worth checking out.

I remember being real excited about that when I read about it in a Computer Gaming World ‘what’s coming next year’ issue. And then it got pretty middling reviews and I never picked it up.

Oh it's not particularly GREAT at all, but I think if you have any interest in the subject it's worth checking out, with the lowest of expectations.

So guys, I wanted to chime in on this game. It's one of those logistical games like Satisfactory or Dyson Sphere that usually makes me run away in terror...but this game is TERRIFIC.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/9...

It has a fantastic tutorial, VERY intelligent automation, amazing tips and plenty of guidance. It also has an ASTOUNDING UX/UI, with searches and filters and an in-game manual/database that's also searchable. I'm basically calling it a smart game for dumb people like myself.

Please do check it out. I am absolutely enamored with it.

Veloxi wrote:

So guys, I wanted to chime in on this game. It's one of those logistical games like Satisfactory or Dyson Sphere that usually makes me run away in terror...but this game is TERRIFIC.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/9...

It has a fantastic tutorial, VERY intelligent automation, amazing tips and plenty of guidance. It also has an ASTOUNDING UX/UI, with searches and filters and an in-game manual/database that's also searchable. I'm basically calling it a smart game for dumb people like myself.

Please do check it out. I am absolutely enamored with it.

This looks super cool, but I think I should finally launch the rocket in Factorio before starting another game like it.

Fair.

Wishlisted, and enjoying your videos, and getting Final Countdown stuck in my head.

Veloxi wrote:

So guys, I wanted to chime in on this game. It's one of those logistical games like Satisfactory or Dyson Sphere that usually makes me run away in terror...but this game is TERRIFIC.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/9...

It has a fantastic tutorial, VERY intelligent automation, amazing tips and plenty of guidance. It also has an ASTOUNDING UX/UI, with searches and filters and an in-game manual/database that's also searchable. I'm basically calling it a smart game for dumb people like myself.

Please do check it out. I am absolutely enamored with it.

40% off until June 5.