Turn Based Strategy?

[Joshua Randall]

I feel compelled to jump into the MOO vs. MOO2 debate.

They are different games with different emphasis. If you like one better than the other, not only is that acceptable, it is (IMHO) expected.

I do dispute that MOO2 is somehow flawed because the entire research tree isn't always available. The constrained research tree forces the player to make choices -- and choices are one way to make a game challenging and fun.

Besides, there are a lot of junk technologies in the research tree that you don't need. So a Creative race's advantage is somewhat limited by that fact.

Dang, this whole discussion makes me want to fire up a game of MOO2. But I have sooooo many other things I should be doing. Well, maybe I'll play for just a few turns....

 

[Croesus]

I just don't understand why they made it so that researching one piece of technology cut you off from researching anything else in that particular tech group. It was a terrible design decision in my opinion, and the biggest flaw in an otherwise great game.

I can appreciate your feelings on the research situation, but I still much prefer MOO2 to MOO. For me, it was the limit of four (six?) ship classes in the first game. Every ship could be custom designed, but you could only have a few designs. Need another one? Scrap one - and all existing ships of that design disappear! Man, I hated that.

So as Joshua says, each game had its own emphasis that appealed more to some players than others. Both were (are) still fun games.

 

[silvermane]

Every ship could be custom designed, but you could only have a few designs.

Not that you needed more. A colony ship, quick fighter (small), quick bomber (small to medium), line ship (medium) and heavy destroyer (large) are all I can think of. And before you could mass produce anything, the technology used was already obsolete.

 

[jonesy]

If you happen to own an Xbox get yourself Gladius. Like the name suggests it's turn based strategy in gladiator arenas. You start with 2 members and can build your school up to 20 (if I remember correctly). Everyone gets new skills when they level up, and there are more skills available than you can usually get. The fights are balanced as a rock-paper-scissors system where fast lightly armored gladiators backstab the heavies mostly before they can react, while the heavies dominate the mediums, and...you get the picture. Support characters like mages have no particular advantages or disadvantages (other than some match winning spell combos which take a strategic mind to pull off).

The game features a swing meter system, where you can try to get critical hits by pressing buttons at the right time. Luckily it's not Track and Field hard (you can also turn the meters off which makes the game somewhat more strategic, and difficult).

Every one of the many gladiator arenas in the four countries is different and they have neat special features, like pits, bridges or chokepoints (and of course you deal more damage from higher ground etc.). Some matches are handicapped with you having to fight against higher level characters or superior numbers or fortified positions (or indeed, the other way around).

Not sure whether it works on a 360 yet (or ever).

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Forget about 4 and 5.

 

[Grog]

Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Forget about 4 and 5.

Yeah, that's a great game. Get the Armageddon's Blade expansion to go with it. I wasn't crazy about the Shadow of Death expansion, but you can probably find all three bundled together pretty cheap today.

 

[jonesy]

If you happen to own an Xbox get yourself Gladius...

...Not sure whether it works on a 360 yet (or ever).

Oh, I just realized that it came out on Gamecube too. Wouldn't that mean that it works on Wii too? That might be worth checking out (and the load times might be shorter).

 

[silvermane]

Yeah, that's a great game. Get the Armageddon's Blade expansion to go with it. I wasn't crazy about the Shadow of Death expansion, but you can probably find all three bundled together pretty cheap today.

You have to get all three if you want to install WoG.

 

[Azlan]

If you happen to own an Xbox get yourself Gladius.

This turn-based strategy game and RPG hybrid, designed by LucasArts, is available for the PS2 and the GameCube, as well. (All three versions are pretty much the same, I hear.) You should be able to find a used copy at GameStop for around $7 to $10. (That's where I got my copy.) Don't worry if your copy comes without a manual. The game itself has an excellent series of tutorials; and if that's not enough for you, you can always go on the Internet to find a FAQ/walkthrough text file.

Gladius is set on an alternate earth, in Roman occupied northwestern Europe. There are two campaigns to play: One where you play as a Roman officer turned gladiator, and another where you play as a Norse brother and sister team. Each campaign offers different (though related) storylines, player characters, fighting styles, and specialized magic.

The focus in Gladius is touring a circuit of arenas and fighting in them with your team of gladiators, and managing your team between matches. In this way, it's a turn-based sports game (where the "sport" is melee fighting in arenas). But there is also a storyline, and you control the skills and abilities of your main gladiators as they advance in levels, so in this way it's like an RPG. The majority of the combat takes place in a variety of arenas, against other gladiators of various types, but it also takes place in the wilderness and in dungeons (of sort), and you sometimes find yourself fighting savages, animals, and mythical creatures.

Here's a review of Gladius, at GameSpot...

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/gladius/review.html

 

[Kaodi]

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned in this thread yet, but Sins of a Solar Empire is being pushed as the first RT4X game.

They are really working hard it seems to make combat intelligently automated, though you can take control yourself. It is not supposed to be a clickfest, quick rush kind of game though. And when Frogboy compared it to Galactic Civilization 2 (Stardock is publishing it, and it seems helping out Ironclad a little too.), he mentioned that instead of designing ships like in Gal Civ 2, you design fleets in Sins. They're also trying to make it scale with hardware, so that you can play it perferctly well on a lower end computer, but that it looks progressively prettier the more your computer can handle.

Personally, I think I prefer RTS to 4X, but this kind of merging of the two looks like it could be really for me.