Please recommend a good (or at least better) STRATEGIC space simulation/game

[dud]

There have been a number of threads posted recently dealing with tactical (i.e. ship-to-ship) space warfare. I am more interested in strategic (fleet or higher) space gaming.

I've been a huge Homeworld-series fan since 2002 and am looking to "broaden" my horizons. Other than Sins of a solar Empire please recommend some stand-out strategic space warfare games?

Thanks ...

 

[drizek]

Homeworld and SOSE were the two that came to mind...

EVE?

 

[ImpulsE69]

It doesn't get more strategic than Eve, however unless you are leading a Fleet, you won't be doing fleet warfare and it wouldn't come anytime soon. The interesting thing about that concept however is, if you are leading squads/wings/fleets, you command them, then those real people piloting, try to follow out your orders, or they may not follow your orders and do what they want, which is really realistic in the grand scheme of things lol. No other game has 300+ ship realtime battles where you REALLY feel the loss of your ship (and life if it comes to that).

That is only a small portion of the overall game of Eve however. Generally if you only want big battles, there are plenty of them, but you still have to take time to make money to purchase your ships and weapons which can take alot of your time.

There just really isn't anything new out there on the single player market right now really..

 

[Worthington]

I second SOSE (Sins of a Solar Empire).

 

[drizek]

I remember microsoft making a space game that I enjoyed, but I don't remember what it was called. Anyone?

 

[kyniskos]

Freelancer?

 

[drizek]

No, it was an older game.

Now that I think about it, maybe I'm confusing it with Homeworld? It's been a while...

 

[dud]

No, it was an older game.

Now that I think about it, maybe I'm confusing it with Homeworld? It's been a while...

I confuse any strategic game with Homeworld. It was that far ahead of its time ...

 

[rpanic]

Sword of the stars.

 

[Zanovar]

Nexus the jupiter incident.give it a try,i loved it,as others have said EVE is awaiting you

 

[Nebor]

Age of Empires III.

 

[Zanovar]

Age of Empires III.

Space, fleet warfare?

 

[Nebor]

Space, fleet warfare?

I think so, it's been a while since I've played it, but once you advance your civilization past the iron age I'm pretty sure you get spaceships and the game's scope broadens significantly.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

It doesn't get any better than Sins of a Solar Empire, which is a sadly overlooked game. It's exactly what you want based on what you said. The strategy is very very deep in the online multiplayer when you're playing in a team game against human opponents. However, you need to purchase the Trinity package (or buy the game and then purchase the two expansions) so that you can play the Diplomacy expansion, which is where the 4v4 and 5v5 games are.

A stand-alone expansion called Rebellion, which will be like a Sins-2, is in the works and anticipated to be ready by the end of the year. What's nice is that it will contain all of the content of the original game and its two expansions in addition to the new Rebellion content. Also, as a new stand-alone game, it has the potential to bring hundreds of new people to the online multiplayer Sins game. Now might be a good time to get Trinity/Diplomacy so that you'll be up-to-speed when Rebellion comes out.

Sins might be best described as a 4x-RTS. Numerous Homeworld fans have played it and loved it. What's great is that it's loaded with strategic considerations, both tactical and economic, but boring micromanagement is kept to a minimum--you won't have to tell a farmer what square to farm around a city (ala Civilization or Alpha Centauri).

Here are links to two reviews that will give you a sense of the game. Note that those online multiplayer 4v4 and 5v5's only take about 1:15-1:45 to play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY-NSNhgydY

"Imagine taking two of the greatest space games of all time, the turn-based strategy game Galactic Civilizations II and the real-time strategy game Homeworld. Imagine then merging them into one single game...It is, literally, the birth of a new genre."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyDX1CmKzC

(Do note that contrary to what the Anti-Social Fatman said in his review, unit positioning and unit micromanagement during combat is very important and can in fact win you battles, at least if your opponent isn't fully competent.)

You can find the Sins discussion forum here:

http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/

 

[zinfamous]

^ SOSE is preposterously good.

 

[BofRA]

Masters of Orion imo

 

[SergeC]

Sword of the stars.

This. great game.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Masters of Orion imo

It's true the games still reign king.

 

[Ross Ridge]

Star Wars: Empire at War combines a space fleet RTS with a more traditional ground RTS and a strategic map.

If you're ok with old turn based 4X space games, there's Master of Orion II as previously mentions. There's whole bunch of games in this style, including more modern games like Galactic Civilizations II.

 

[shortylickens]

Master of Orion 2 eventually has awesome space battles, but you have to manage your planets well and hope the enemy does the same to get their fleets up to snuff.

Homeworld is still the gold standard of fleet battles, and unfortunately not many games have even tried to raise the bar.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Star Wars Empire At War.

 

[Zorander]

There's also Galactic Civilization II.

 

[dud]

Thanks all for your replies. I also should have added that I was looking for a single player game. I've moved away from on-line multiplayer gaming since I got so pissed off playing Battlefield 1943 on the PS3.

 

[Elcs]

Homeworld is still the gold standard of fleet battles, and unfortunately not many games have even tried to raise the bar.

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident made a damn good stab at it though.

 

[Schadenfroh]

MOO2