Recommendations for something else to play

[Geddy]

Now that the Civ series has been wrecked by releasing a substandard game does anyone have any recommendations for other games that have a similar depth to Civ 4 that i could get into?

I am already back at Civ 4 and probably have years left on it, but I want to fill the void that John Schafer and his band of brilliant designers left. Are there any games with "meat" out there?

 

[Thormodr]

Now that the Civ series has been wrecked by releasing a substandard game does anyone have any recommendations for other games that have a similar depth to Civ 4 that i could get into?

I am already back at Civ 4 and probably have years left on it, but I want to fill the void that John Schafer and his band of brilliant designers left. Are there any games with "meat" out there?

I quite like Paradox Interactive games.

EU3 is quite fun as well as Victoria 2. They are quite complex and with mods they can be as complex as you want them to be.

Here's a link for their forums:

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/

 

[Moss]

Moderator Action: Moved to All-Other games

 

[EmpireOfCats]

If you want a seriously complicated game, and I mean really seriously complicated, a game where the developers seems to have thought of absolutely everything and you keep discovering new stuff every time, I strongly suggest NetHack. You'll giggle when you see the graphics -- real men and women play it with the ASCII interface -- but once you figure out the depth of the game, it will blow your mind. Basically, games like Diablo 2 are dumbed-down versions of NetHack with fancy graphics.

 

[Maniacal]

On the contrary, I got into Civ4 only a few weeks ago, and it lasted me about three weeks. I'm tired of the Civ series myself, and have started playing the wonderful Sword of the Stars games.

Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection is $29.99 USD and available on GamersGate, Steam, Impulse, and contains the Born of Blood, Murder of Crows and Argos Naval Yard expansions.

http://www.swordofthestars.com/

Alternatively, there's Dwarf Fortress, one of the most complex and detailed games I have ever played, and one of the most fun Its free and still in alpha, yet has more features than most games!

 

[Geddy]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[Maniacal]

If you need more, ask.

 

[tycoonist]

I'd second Dwarf Fortress.

Or Starcraft 2 if you want something a tad different. It's fast paced, but there is tons of strategy involved.

 

[Kyriakos]

You could try this late 90s excellent fantasy strategy game, called Tzar: The burden of the crown





I bet it costs next to nothing nowdays. It is better than Warcraft 2 at any rate.

 

[remake20]

Minecraft. Still lots of fun after at least 3 weeks.

 

[Kharum]

Dwarf Fortress!

Take the 4X experience to space:

Distant Worlds - reheally good real-time one
Master of Orion - back to roots
Star Ruler - potential, but 3D takes time to get used to
Space Empires IV
Sword of the Stars
Galactic Civilization II
Aurora - I actually gave up trying to get even started with this one, maybe some rainy day

Or choose the path of RPG, either way nerd-attack guaranteed:

Dominions 3
Master of Magic - MoO's little sister (??)
Elemental: War of Magic - work in process, shaping up nicely
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
King's Bounty: The Legend

Or reveal the secrets of TBS/RTS hybrids:

Total War series
Lords of the Realm II
Lionheart: King's Crusade

Or join the cool guys and grab a Paradox grand strategy game:

Europa Universalis III
Victoria II - the economy focused one of the two

Or if you are war obsessed:

Close Combat series
Combat Mission series
Hearts of Iron II
War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition
Men of War
Steel Panthers series
Panzer General II

etcetc

 

[Jury-6]

Ever tried the city-building series?

Kyriakos' first screenshot kinda reminded me of Pharaoh, interestingly.



Very economic/industry-focused city-building with limited warfare in a long, increasingly difficult campaign. I was really addicted to it years ago. The game offers a great sense of accomplishment when you see firsthand all of the components of separate industries coming together to build something like a steppe pyramid over several years' time.

 

[cardgame]

Minecraft is certainly an excellent choice, but it's not exactly a strategy game per se...

I'd suggest EU3 and Vicky 1, 2 if you love extremely complicated games. Oh and Dwarf Fortress. Also check out Capitalism II.

Now, for games that actually have a learning curve as opposed to a learning cliff, Hearts of Iron II is good.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Add another vote for Paradox games. They are simply fantastic. And if you go with EU3, make sure to get all of the expansions. Totally worth it.

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

Pharoah, that's a great game. Very pretty graphics.

Others have mentioned them but if you like Civ then you might want to check out some of Paradox's games.

 

[Strauss]

If you're interested in city builders, you should definitely also check out Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, from the developers of Pharaoh and Caesar III. The campaign covers the Chinese dynasties from ca. 2000 BC to ca. 1200 AD, and will easily last you weeks. It improves on Pharaoh's mechanics, and you can find a dozen or so custom campaigns of very high quality over at heavengames, courtesy of a dedicated fan of the game and Chinese history.

Pharaoh is very good as well.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Another of the Impressions city building games is Master of Olympus: Zeus (and Master of Atlantis: Poseidon), set in Greek mythology and taken less seriously.

 

[Sprig]

Lords of the Realm II

Awesome _b I remember this from back in the day

 

[cardgame]

Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom is a VERY fun citybuilder!

 

[Sprig]

While Xcom-Ufo is my Favourite game of all time, you should check out:


Fragile Allegiance

Made in 1996, This was amazing for its time as well. Similar to Sins of a Solar Empire in a way.



Only one word for this: Awesome!