Armada 2526

Armada 2526 available at Matrix.

It's supposed to be coming out on Impulse as well, but it's not showing up on their Coming Soon list, so who knows when it will drop there.

It was developed by Bob Smith, project director/lead designer for Medieval 2: Total War, amongst other titles.

He's interviewed on the Three Moves Ahead podcast, available here.

Looks like a good, old school, 4X galactic romp:

IMAGE(http://www.ntronium.com/Images/GalleryFS/June%2026/Star%20Map%20Neutron%20Star.jpg)

IMAGE(http://www.ntronium.com/Images/GalleryFS/June%2026/Star%20Map%20Zoomed%20Out.jpg)

IMAGE(http://www.ntronium.com/Images/GalleryFS/June%2026/Virus%20Attack.jpg)

Edit: Added link to Three Moves Ahead podcast interview with Bob Smith.

Edit the second: Weird, it looks like the podcast is embedded at the top of this post. Well, now you can listen to it from here

Not to start the discussion off rather negative, but other than having control over tactics and formations in the battles, why would I play this and not GalCiv II? I'm not seeing a lot to differentiate it and with the Arnor expansion for GalCiv, I don't need another game.

I'm willing to listen, however.

Edited to say: I like simultaneous turns.

This is on my watch list for sure, especially after the last Three Moves Ahead episode that had an interview with the designer. From what I've heard and read it sounds very similar to Sword of the Stars on a conceptual level, what with the emphasis on a streamlined strategy layer, semi-randomized research, and tactical fleet battles. Hoping for a demo (or detailed impressions from someone else :D) so I can decide if its worth pulling the trigger on.

Gunner wrote:

This is on my watch list for sure, especially after the last Three Moves Ahead episode that had an interview with the designer. From what I've heard and read it sounds very similar to Sword of the Stars on a conceptual level, what with the emphasis on a streamlined strategy layer, semi-randomized research, and tactical fleet battles. Hoping for a demo (or detailed impressions from someone else :D) so I can decide if its worth pulling the trigger on.

Hadn't listened to that episode yet. Will do that tomorrow. Thanks!

I am so looking forward to this one. The Three Moves Ahead podcast recently interviewed Bob Smith, and the game sounds like everything I've been wanting in a good Epic Space Opera 4x strategy game since MOO2.

GalCiv2 is a great game and I respect it greatly, but it just never grabbed me the way MOO2 did. Maybe it was the tongue in cheeck tone of that game, I don't know. I just hope this is the game to "do it" for me, since I'm still waiting for MOO3, which as we all know NEVER HAPPENED.

I'm still waiting for MOO3, which as we all know NEVER HAPPENED.

You sir are absolutely correct there. This looks interesting, I'll have to check it out.

garion333: What everyone else said is why I'm interested. Basically, I want an updated MOO2, which GalCiv2 isn't, as good as it is. This looks like it may be that thing. Or it may be another GalCiv-ish clone, in which case, your original post is right: why would I want to play this when I could play GalCiv2?

Space 4X gamers: always optimistic!

Also, I found this game via the TMA podcast but forgot to add a link in the OP. Nightmare: -1 for thread creation lameness. A link to the podcast has been added to the OP.

Sword of the Stars really turned out well, after a weird start. So if this interests you, that one will as well, and you can get down to the business of comparing details to see which one you like better. Or demos, as the case may be.

So I picked this up while picking up something else at Gamers Gate. I'll be giving it a play today and will post some initial observations later.

I'll be interested in hearing your impressions! I've heard nothing at all about this game but the screenshots look promising. Nothing has quite scratched the same itch as MOO2 did back in the day. And MOO3 makes me sad...

I'll be looking forward to the observations too. I want to give this one a chance, but things aren't looking great so far. Just about the only things I've found are some pretty bad though fairly sparse buzz on Qt3 and a 5/8 rating over at Out of Eight (don't forget though that this is the guy that gave Armageddon Empires 5/8 too, so there could be some hope).

Gunner wrote:

I'll be looking forward to the observations too. I want to give this one a chance, but things aren't looking great so far. Just about the only things I've found are some pretty bad though fairly sparse buzz on Qt3 and a 5/8 rating over at Out of Eight (don't forget though that this is the guy that gave Armageddon Empires 5/8 too, so there could be some hope).

I believe James has stated he got that one wrong.

garion333 wrote:

I believe James has stated he got that one wrong.

Indeed, I've seen that too. My point is that discounting all games he gives low ratings in his initial review would be unwise.

Armada 2526 finally came out on Impulse, and as the DL service suggests, I picked it up immediately in the hopes it'll wipe the taste of Master of Orion 3 from my mouth. I'll post my first impressions later on. Anyone else pick it up?

Of course it comes out on Impulse right after I buy it on Gamers Gate. Of course.

Early impressions:

1) This is not a AAA title by any stretch. While serviceable, its presentation is late 1990s-early 2000s. Also, there are bugs. None game-breaking that I've run into yet but still.

2) There seems to be a lot of stuff you can do. There are psi powers and hyperspace and weapons research and biological weapons plus a lot more. Pretty standard fare for this sort of game but there seems to be a lot of it.

3) Lots of stuff to research and you can research multiple tracks at the same time. Research points are derived from labs and come in two varieties: general, which can be used for any research, and specific points, which are used for a particular research track. You can specialize labs to give yourself a boost in a particular track.

4) The strategic map is turn-based but the battles are real-time. You can only choose the formations of your forces in battle and then hit the "Play button" to see how it turns out. It's very MOO-esque, I suppose, but not that great. Usually, I just auto-resolve the battles.

Overall, this seems to be a serviceable space 4X game. It won't make anyone forget MOO/MOO2 or GalCiv, but if you are a fan of this genre of game, it plays OK. I'll definitely play some more over the holidays and post more impressions then.

So first impressions: It's very average. The UI is unintuitive, the graphics are bland beyond reason, the music is serviceable, the aliens are generic, and the real time battles are more passive demo than Total-war like tactical control. Also, it often takes way too many clicks to do several tasks, and it is difficult to micromanage your colonies.

It's also strangely addictive with some novel concepts, and overall deceptively fun. I expect this game to grow on me and my impressions to improve as I get deeper into the game.

Overall, GalCiv2 and Sins are better polished games with refined settings. These 2 also make it a lot easier to manage larger empires. Still, you can see the MoO influence here, and Armada is definitely worth the time.

Overall, this user review at Gamespot is a pretty accurate account of how I feel about Armada 2526 at this point.

Honestly, I don't see the game holding me long term. I'm already splitting my strategy time with Rome: Total War. Still, it's early in my experience with the game, and I remember having similar impressions towards MoO2 at first, and that game remains my favorite space empire strategy game to date.

The game is on sale this weekend on Gamersgate, 40% off. I might pick it up, but as it is I'm not putting enough time into Galciv 2 and Sins so I don't see how I'll have time to play this. It's certainly interesting though, I've seen it described as MoO meets Total War and the designer was great on TMA.

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