The problem with turn-based games

[Aku]

Is that I end up playing them for hours on end, losing track of time, which really doesn't happen for me with any other type of game - even RPGs. I've been up past midnight the past two nights playing Space Empires IV, and getting up bleary eyed for work in the morning. "Let me just design this new ship and put it in the queue before I go to bed...oh, the Plundons have just invaded one of my systems, I'd better get rid of them before I shut down...wait, let me just send this colony pod on its way before I forget...". Just another nice relaxing game of conquering the universe. Anyway, as SBS says, you can't go wrong with this game for turn-based fun. I'm playing a custom race against a bunch of other mod races right now, and everyone has been at war with everybody since about turn 10 (I think I put one or two too many aggressive races into the game).

[BokkenMan25]

I hear you!

My 'waste of time' game was Alpha Centauri and boy! could I waste hours, days even, trying to acquire more resources, gain that crucial military edge and deploying troops in peacetime in preparation for one faction or another's invasion.

Longest time I've sat down and just played it: 13 hrs.. straight.. no food, no bathroom breaks, just playing from start to finish.

[Aku]

<div class=\"smallfont\">I hear you!

My 'waste of time' game was Alpha Centauri and boy! could I waste hours, days even, trying to acquire more resources, gain that crucial military edge and deploying troops in peacetime in preparation for one faction or another's invasion.</div>

SMAC was a great time killer for me too. I still haven't reloaded it since I got a new computer last summer, but the day will come when I get the urge again to kick Sister Miriam in the teeth, for old time's sake. :)

[Richard Hobbes]

Aku,

I'm a huge fan of turn-based games. Your post turned me on to Space Empires IV. I've just downloaded the demo to see what this game is all about.

Thanks! :-)

RH.

[Aku]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Aku,

I'm a huge fan of turn-based games. Your post turned me on to Space Empires IV. I've just downloaded the demo to see what this game is all about.

Thanks! :-)

RH.</div>

I've been playing SE IV for about a year now. The interface and mechanics of the gameplay are genius. Once you get the hang of it, you will be managing a huge, sprawling emprie with ease. It's also the most customizable strategy game you'll ever play. In the game, you create every ship and unit from scratch exactly the way you want it. You can name every planet, ship, satellite, and just about every other object in the game. There's a huge tech tree, and a million ways to play. You can create custom races on the fly, and change just about anything in the game. If you buy it (it will be the Gold edition), be sure and install the TDM modpack. In fact, just go to a fansite and download the most recent TDM modpack, which has a bunch of races and ship sets. I've played games with Klingons, Romulans, Babylon5, and Battlestar Galactica. Also, install the SE IV Launcher off the cd, which lets you easily launch modded versions of SE IV from a little interface.

[Richard Hobbes]

Aku,

Thanks for all the details on Space Empires IV. I have not installed the demo yet, but if I like the game and buy it, your advice will definitely come in handy.

Thanks again,

RH.

[Static_Fred]

I've been playing Civilization 3 for the last week or so, but now i'm so pissed off at the game I'm contemplating uninstalling it. Hear me out, after spending hours building up my army, i decided to invade the Aztecs, who were totally pissing me off with thier bad attitudes. I begun paving my army through the center of their country, when suddenly, i started having problems taking over this one little city with a population of only "1". So, i massed my troops, and because the city only had 1 pike men garrisonned, i thought 6 armies would take him out easily. On the next turn i started hitting him with my armies, only to find myself beaten to a bloody pulp.... I then proceeded to flank the rest of my ENTIRE army for this city and LOST.... 12 armies against 1 of his, and I LOST? HOW CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE? Anyways, i can't stand it anymore, it's gotten rediculous....

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">I've been playing Civilization 3 for the last week or so, but now i'm so pissed off at the game I'm contemplating uninstalling it. Hear me out, after spending hours building up my army, i decided to invade the Aztecs, who were totally pissing me off with thier bad attitudes. I begun paving my army through the center of their country, when suddenly, i started having problems taking over this one little city with a population of only "1". So, i massed my troops, and because the city only had 1 pike men garrisonned, i thought 6 armies would take him out easily. On the next turn i started hitting him with my armies, only to find myself beaten to a bloody pulp.... I then proceeded to flank the rest of my ENTIRE army for this city and LOST.... 12 armies against 1 of his, and I LOST? HOW CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE? Anyways, i can't stand it anymore, it's gotten rediculous....</div>


Lol, youre not alone on Civ 3 w/that type experience.
My frustration with sloooow progress in Civ3 has given me cause to pause, & re-run Covert Strike :D

My two all time favorite TBS games are: Disciples 2 & CM, two very different turn based games. It was Desciples 2 that kept me hooked w/the "just one more turn..just one more turn" gameplay.

[Aku]

Civ 3 does a lot of infuriating things. First off, it cheats. The computer AI can see the whole map, and knows exactly where to send the settlers (i.e., next to where the resources are), while you stumble around in the fog of war. Whenever you get a tech lead, all tech costs for the rival civs are halved, so they can keep pace with you. Other civs will generally only trade with you when they can get the better deal, or when you are strong and intimidating. Yet, they will trade freely with each other. I have been in the lead in tech, lost the lead for one turn to one other civ, and the next turn every civ out-teched me, including the little two-city civ next door. The tech tree in Civ 3 sucks - too linear and with few options. Limited forms of government (e.g., no fascism). No advanced society/economic options like in Alpha Centauri. And of course, those ridiculous battles where your mighty army gets beaten by a guy with a bow and arrow. There's a lot of good things about Civ 3 - the cultural influence, the good computer AI, but there's a whole lot of bad.

[BokkenMan25]

Ah yes.. Civ3

I think the strangest story I've ever heard regarding this game is in a computer gaming mag (editorials) where the author laments the fact that his squad of bombers (B-52's I think) were wiped out by samurai warriors.

SAMURAI WARRIORS!!!

One would have hoped that they would have fixed the AI in a patch at the very least, or in future revisions.

[Aku]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Ah yes.. Civ3

I think the strangest story I've ever heard regarding this game is in a computer gaming mag (editorials) where the author laments the fact that his squad of bombers (B-52's I think) were wiped out by samurai warriors.

SAMURAI WARRIORS!!!
</div>

Hey, Samurai Jack can do it. I've seen him take out armies of giant robots with just his sword. ;)

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Is that I end up playing them for hours on end, losing track of time, which really doesn't happen for me with any other type of game - even RPGs. I've been up past midnight the past two nights playing Space Empires IV, and getting up bleary eyed for work in the morning. "Let me just design this new ship and put it in the queue before I go to bed...oh, the Plundons have just invaded one of my systems, I'd better get rid of them before I shut down...wait, let me just send this colony pod on its way before I forget...". Just another nice relaxing game of conquering the universe. Anyway, as SBS says, you can't go wrong with this game for turn-based fun. I'm playing a custom race against a bunch of other mod races right now, and everyone has been at war with everybody since about turn 10 (I think I put one or two too many aggressive races into the game).</div>

Yup, I enjoy Space Empires IV Gold fully. It's a wonderful game with HUGE amounts of replayabilty. My current favourite is AOW:Shadow Magic, and then Combat Mission. Getting bogged down in a Eastern Front campaign takes alot out of a man, I tell ya! ;) SEIV though has so many tech trees, and possible outcomes to a game, that it'll keep most Grognards up late at night.

[Hieremias]

Master of Orion 2 was the one that kept me up through all hours of the night. Which is why I went and got Master of Orion 3 without waiting for the reviews. Last time I'll do THAT. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

[BokkenMan25]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Master of Orion 2 was the one that kept me up through all hours of the night. Which is why I went and got Master of Orion 3 without waiting for the reviews. Last time I'll do THAT. Oh how the mighty have fallen.</div>

That bad huh?

I don't know if it can beat Star Wars: Rebellion for sheer mind numbing boredome and frustration.

[Fandango]

Ok are you guys just talking about strategy games correct. Because Fallout was one of the greatest games ive ever played. Where in most games the i agree that turnbase is a major downer, but in Fallout it just seemed to fit right.

[Aku]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Ok are you guys just talking about strategy games correct. Because Fallout was one of the greatest games ive ever played. Where in most games the i agree that turnbase is a major downer, but in Fallout it just seemed to fit right.</div>

The combat in Fallout was loads of fun, and was done one better in Jagged Alliance 2.

[Hieremias]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Where in most games the i agree that turnbase is a major downer.</div>

WHAT?! Hang on, I'm trying to wrap my head around this...

<div class=\"smallfont\">Where in most games the i agree that turnbase is a major downer.</div>

Sorry, doesn't compute. There's not a real-time "strategy" game in existance that can compete with a good turn-based one. Jagged Alliance 2 proves that. I start salivating anytime I hear the phrase "squad-based tactical turn-based strategy" (see, there I go, drooling again... Pavlov had nothing on me).

What people in this thread are saying is that turn-based games are <i>so good that they're dangerously addictive</i>. It's quite possible to play a game of Master of Orion 2 and forget to do important stuff, like eat or crap, for about 3 days straight. Been there, done that. RTS's? Pfft. 15 minutes and you're bored of the repetition.

Fallout was good BECAUSE of its turn-based combat. Its story was dumb, its setting was bleak, its artwork was poor. It had some funny parts and good quests, but its combat was great.

Jagged Alliance 2 took X-Com's combat model and made it better. It still stands as the greatest strategy game ever made.

[Fandango]

WOAH Jump back Jack. Fallout did not have a bad story, there was more to Fallout than just fighting constantly. You could beat that game without even laying a finger on someone. Its not the combat that makes the Fallout series. Its how nonlinear it is.

[Hieremias]

<div class=\"smallfont\">WOAH Jump back Jack. Fallout did not have a bad story, there was more to Fallout than just fighting constantly. You could beat that game without even laying a finger on someone. Its not the combat that makes the Fallout series. Its how nonlinear it is.</div>

Okay let's jump even FURTHER back, Jill, and acknowledge that a good turn-based squad tactical game, like Jagged Alliance 2, beats the pants off ANYTHING that carries the "real-time" tag.

Dammit... slobbering again. I need a bib.

[Fandango]

Ok if the game is done well (ex: JA2 or Fallout) than yes I admit to your rants.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

Okay let's jump even FURTHER back, Jill, and acknowledge that a good turn-based squad tactical game, like Jagged Alliance 2, beats the pants off ANYTHING that carries the "real-time" tag.

Dammit... slobbering again. I need a bib.</div>

Well, I agree for the most part what you two are saying. A good contender though that has the potential to beat out most TBS games, AND is a RTS game is Europa Universalis.

I found Fallout to drag too much at times. I have tried playing it a bunch of times, but something just doesn't happen for me when I am playing it. Shame that is.

[And_so_it_goes]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

Well, I agree for the most part what you two are saying. A good contender though that has the potential to beat out most TBS games, AND is a RTS game is Europa Universalis.

I found Fallout to drag too much at times. I have tried playing it a bunch of times, but something just doesn't happen for me when I am playing it. Shame that is.</div>

i got a hold of EU used a while ago but have yet to get into it. seems like a relatively large learning curve. lately, freelancer has been taking up the major chunk of my gaming time. is EU a classic that i should devote some serious effort to?

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

i got a hold of EU used a while ago but have yet to get into it. seems like a relatively large learning curve. lately, freelancer has been taking up the major chunk of my gaming time. is EU a classic that i should devote some serious effort to?</div>

Depends on what you're looking for out of a game. EU is essentially a history lesson in the guise of a RTS. As far as historical/sandbox warfare goes, I have to give it my thumbs up. What I like most about this game is the fact that it is a TRUE RTS game with a small (but nice inclusion). The ability to pause... or more accurately, slow down time to a crawl. I think the lowest rate of time passage would be 5 minutes=1 week... You can speed it up to as fast as 1 minute=6 months. Good game. BTW the learning curve IS steep. Again, because it's based on history, it needs to be.

[And_so_it_goes]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

Depends on what you're looking for out of a game. EU is essentially a history lesson in the guise of a RTS. As far as historical/sandbox warfare goes, I have to give it my thumbs up. What I like most about this game is the fact that it is a TRUE RTS game with a small (but nice inclusion). The ability to pause... or more accurately, slow down time to a crawl. I think the lowest rate of time passage would be 5 minutes=1 week... You can speed it up to as fast as 1 minute=6 months. Good game. BTW the learning curve IS steep. Again, because it's based on history, it needs to be.</div>

actually, i just realized i have EU 2. is this as good as the first one? i bought it because the concept of the game seems great. seems like kind of a complicated mix between risk and axis and allies. i think i'll fire it up after exams when i have more time to get into it. ditto with shogun, total war. i've had both of these games forever but they have both just been sitting on the shelf and intimidating me while i've been sticking with what i know.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

actually, i just realized i have EU 2. is this as good as the first one? </div>

More of the same... It's as good (if not a tad bit better than the first). It has more open sandbox modes if I remember correctly.

[I.B. Chance]

Shame on all of you. Talking turn based strategy and no mention of Imperialism or Imperialism II.