doctorfrog on 15/9/2008 at 03:53
Quote Posted by catbarf
Ah, yes, I've played I-War many times, but I've never seen a space strategy game like that.
As for GalCiv- How does it stack up next to MoO? What are the gameplay differences?
I haven't played MoO, so I can't compare the two. I'd go so far to say that if you liked MoO as a 4X, you'd probably like this also, but if you're looking for a spiritual successor to MoO, you're going to have to live with the fact that MoO it ain't.
Incidentally, there are around ten boxes of MoO2 at my local Half Price Books, so it's out in the world if your heart is set on it.
Gambit on 15/9/2008 at 11:14
There´s SPORE...
Ok, ok...
It´s not realistic, it may have simple gameplay, and have some annoying features like managing an entire galactic empire with only one ship...
But terraforming, conquering and forming alliances make it a very cool sandbox gameplay.
EvaUnit02 on 15/9/2008 at 14:43
Quote Posted by Gambit
There´s SPORE...
There's SecuROM... and unlike Bioshock and Alone in the Dark, there's no way to revoke used activations.
Hier on 15/9/2008 at 14:58
Quote Posted by catbarf
As for GalCiv- How does it stack up next to MoO? What are the gameplay differences?
Think of GalCiv as Civilization-in-Space. It's virtually identical--which isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you like the Civ model.
By far the biggest difference between it and MoO is the lack of a separate tactical combat system. I really liked that aspect of MoO2, and I miss it. Combat is done like in Civilization; one unit vs one unit at a time. You can group ships into fleets, but that effectively makes them just one stronger unit. There is no tactical positioning involved, no special abilities (tractor beams, boarding parties, etc).
Creating your own ships is a major part of both, but in GalCiv it is effectively much simpler. There are 3 types of weapons and 3 corresponding types of defenses, and that's it. You just decide where to load up on offense and defense and then throw your ships at the enemy just like in the Civ games. The options for cosmetic customization in GalCiv are enormous, so you can have a lot of fun making your ships look cool. Once you research new tech and bigger hull designs you actually have a lot more options than the much-loved Spore creature creator.
In GalCiv you can send your units all across the galactic map; combat isn't reserved for just confrontations in star systems.
Also in GalCiv you can make starbases anywhere you want, sometimes to secure resources, sometimes to extend influence (think culture from Civ4) or military power. The starbases add some welcome additional strategy to a somewhat simple combat system.
Bottom line: GalCiv 2 is fun, but doesn't live up to MoO 2. Much better than the train wreck of MoO 3 of course.
Mingan on 16/9/2008 at 14:17
I agree on SW:Rebellion. If you can get around the ugly/clunky interface.
catbarf on 16/9/2008 at 20:46
It's funny you should mention a board game; spending hours on (
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/index.html) this website is what got me interested in finding a realistic space game in the first place- and because I couldn't find any realistic board games, I've started writing my own.
