Yet another LOTM recommend me a strat game thread

[UnOrthOdOx]

Xcom is great. If you can get it to run.

It runs on my PC fine after some of the advice around how to get it to go. The laptop, not at all (both clock and cursor runs 10 billion miles an hour)

Pupulous: The Beginning is also great for an RTS.

[DrSpike]

AOW: Shadow Magic
HoMM3
Combat Mission (any)

And GalCiv2 I haven't played but is well regarded.

[DrSpike]

Also, technically speaking a LOTM recommend me a strat game thread would be a thread where someone else asks you for strat game recommendations.

[Wiglaf]

GalCiv 2 was really boring. OH IM IN SPACE therefore nothing has to happen ever.

[Verto]

Star Wars Rebellion

[Krill]

transport Tycoon

[pg]

CK would run quite good on that PC. I ran it fine on 750mhz/512mb/win98se. HOMM3 is great and has LOADS of content especially with all the expansions or user made maps. Dwarf Fortress > Sim Ant.

[Jon Shafer]

Panzer General is a classic that's not on your list.

Jon

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
Simant is always good, and would run like a dream on your PC. Those ****ers will be digging so ****ing fast on that machine it will be like an Antfarm except with you on drugs. Fastest ****ing ants ever.

Of course I said in the opening post Im not looking for a sim game now.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Old games? Homeworld. It's an RTS but completely different from AoK and RoN.

Hmm. I might look into it - convince me.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by demon59
These games are old , and would probably require emulators to run on a modern PC, but I've always considered them classics. Don't expect much in the way of "eye candy" from them.

M.U.L.E. -- Planetary colonization based around basic, but surprisingly good, free-market economic simulation. Cut-throat competition to become the "First Founder", but you also had to make sure the entire colony survived. Always four colony factions. Up to four human players, with computer playing left-overs. All computer display mode useful for learning basic game-play/strategies

Silent Service -- Submarine sim, WWII Pacific Theater. One of Sid Meier's early efforts. Had a sequel, but I always liked the original better. Could be played as single, "historical" missions or as theater based "campaign" game.

Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon -- Four difficulty levels and three "realism" toggles (no collisions/dispatcher train control, basic/complex economy, and friendly/cut-throat competition) means you can have fun "playing with the trains" while you learn the interface and basic game mechanics, or have a serious challenge at the higher difficulty/realism levels. As a plus, the Deluxe version is available for free download (strictly legit!) at the official Sid Meier's Railroads! website. Even includes a pre-Pentium PC emulator so it will run on newer machines.

Like I said, these are old games. The first was only released on 8-bit machines, as far as I know (Atari 800, Commodore 64, NES,and a few others), and the second on 8 and 16-bit machines (previous three, plus Amiga, IBM PC). Don't expect much for graphics, M.U.L.E. is especially primitive. Game-play on the other hand, is excellent for all three.

Not including any actual links, since the first two are strictly for obsolete systems and I don't want to get into any abandonware/warez gray areas, considering 'Poly's piracy policies (which I whole-heartedly support).

Thanks for the lengthy advice, but after struggling to get Colonization to run, and then dealing with the interface, Im reluctant to get anything too old - mentioned Xcom only cause of how outstanding Im told it is. Anyway, I checked around, and its like a collectors item, way above what I spend right now. $100 or so.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Standup


Not really Patrician or at least the version i last played. It looks more like Railroad Tycoon2 and has a very involved economy. Basically demand and price are linked in real time and you can see everything rising and falling.

You start off with mules or similar in ancient china and set up trade routes along the lines of Tropico/RRT. It's much more complicated though - by the same people who made Imperialism. It's enjoyable but the interface lets the game down. Considering Trade routes are at the heart of the game you'd hope for an easier system for amending them than creating a new one. Similarly it would be useful to move traders on or back one stop if demand if elsewhere.

Worth a look but probably not a beer'n'pretzels game (to use an old Wargaming phrase)

I liked Imp2, so maybe Id like this.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Quillan
You've never played X-Com? GET IT! It's old and dated but still good.

I really liked Populous way back when. It's not a traditional strategy game in my opinion but still good.

If you're concerned about your computer running Civ IV, I think you should write Silent Hunter III off your list. You must have a video card that supports Shader Model 2 (or was it 1.1, I forget) to run the game, as the ocean is handled with pixel shaders in that version. Now, assuming you can handle that, it's a very good WWII sub sim, and I liked it a lot. Recommendation: Get the GWX fan-made supermod if you go with this game.

Sounds like I might need to put off SH3 for now, then.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike
AOW: Shadow Magic
HoMM3
Combat Mission (any)

And GalCiv2 I haven't played but is well regarded.

Note well, doc, the latest Combat Mission, which covers contemporary combat, has received fairly negative reviews. (I dont know if it would run on my PC anyway)

Thanks for the fantasy TBS recommends

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by pg
CK would run quite good on that PC. I ran it fine on 750mhz/512mb/win98se. HOMM3 is great and has LOADS of content especially with all the expansions or user made maps. Dwarf Fortress > Sim Ant.

I saw CK on Amazon for $10, I think i may get that and add something else to make the shipping cost worthwhile.