FreeOrion

Aphelion is a new one as well

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/aph ... mary;title

http://wyvernstudios.net/

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2667

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NOTE: that I am currently playing this game, and it is perfect in every way that a 4X game should be.

I think I can add one or two games to the list:

1. Into the Void link

it's quite an old one (1996 or 1997), and actually very lame compared to other 4X games of that era, but it DOES exist. Had a nice soundtrack though.

2. Remember Tomorrow

no link due to the fact this game was made in Russia and was not distributed abroad. But it can be downloaded via torrents.

Maybe you want to check out cosmic supremacy? It has some interesting features. Its a space strategy game. Its free (at least it says so). It has a lot of borrowed things from Civ (as far as I can see). And the interesting thing is that it is massively multiplayer (at least it says so). That combination with a turn based strategy game of game depth a la civilization is actually new to me.

http://cosmicsupremacy.com/images/screen1.png

It's official, Paradox just announced Sword of the Stars II for 2011:

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/106/1062611p1.html



One of the main differences between the first and second installment of the series is the starting moment. In SotS 1 you'll begin with a lone planet, barely able to get your spaceships to the next star. After some heavy researching you can create a small empire. In SotS 2 you'll skip this first part: you'll immediately rule a small interstellar empire. The first painfull building phase will be skipped. On the other hand, you'll be able to research and expand further than possible in the first part of the series. The techtree will concentrate less on researching for example new types of thrusters (you already got fission, so you can already go to the stars), but more on the way you use them for specialization. You can thus use your engines at a certain moment as weapons (a blast from a fission core can also do a lot of damage), or any creative solution you might think of. The techtree thus offers a lot more possibilities than any 4X game has shown before.

I suppose this is a no-brainer, since the thread about it is right next door, but Armada 2526 should be added to the list as well.

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Warning: Antarans in dimensional portal are closer than they appear.

Oh yep. Sword Of The Stars 2 would be mint. With all the expansion, Sword Of The Stars was pretty good.

Armada 2526 is actually really good.
I'm playing it and really liking it.
I wish you could create custom races though. But still, it's really good game.
I thought for a second that my Battlecruisers were unstoppable, then the enemy had missile cruisers haha. Those were effective lol.

In no particular order, I like, SotS for it's ease of play. MOO3 (modded) for it's depth and Sins for the graphics. The end reason I play a 4X game is to win. How complicated I want to make it may change so each game has it's place.

I like the idea of "dumbing" down things like research, government and expansion but still think they all are important to a 4X game. Having a AI control option of the day to day running of an empire is a key to making a game enjoyable to more people.

It's cool that SotS II is coming out and I'll have to try some of the other games mentioned in this topic.

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Give me another clip!

Still looking for a game that will replace master of orion 2. I don't think anything ever will.

That's a bit of an overstatement. Sure, progress is slow, but it's not like we're never going to get done.

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Warning: Antarans in dimensional portal are closer than they appear.

Hi (new player of freeorion, impressed so far, but not sure i have anything new to add to the curent discussion just yet)

Not sure it quite qualifies as a 4X, but it isn't far off.

Alien Legacy, a DOS game that can be downloaded at Abandonia (what I consider the replacement to Home of the Underdogs).

It was time based in that you had a finite amount of time to complete the game, however you had research, you had base building, you had exploration and you also had an AI to fight against.

The premise of the game was that you were the captain of a colony ship that was flying to Alpha Centauri (I think), however a better model of ship was built and flew past you while you were in suspended animation. Trouble is you arrive at AC expecting to find the new colony set up and thriving, but instead find it in ruins, no survivors. Your job is to figure out what happened and kit yourself out by gatehring resources and researching new techs.

A pretty good game even in comparsion to many newer games IMO.

Fragile Allegiance created by Gremlin interactive and Interplay in 1996 is an excellent game to the 4x genre. It's probably my favorite of all time. I played Masters of Orion 2 aswel, but still had more fun with Fragile. If someone remade that game with an updated graphics engine/diplomacy/agent/colony supers/Money criteria/and ship customization options I'd be all in.

The features that really got me into the game was colony defenses, optional AI colony management (hirable), Inter-asteroid missiles (different types), purchasable blueprints instead of constant research, and ease of fleet management.

Buying the blueprints in any order made the game interesting based on your wealth you obtained.....fast expansion made you rich, but money limited you from building a fleet or defenses, hence player made decisions made you think twice about what to do and when to do it.

I'd implore anyone to try the game at least once over. There is no real story besides you being put into the "fragmented Sectors" for exploiting the mining there.

The game is available at http://www.abandonia.com/en/search_abandonia/fragile
Playable in Dosbox. I have the original CD, however I have heard complaints regarding downloaded versions across the internet, so you may have to search for a better copy elsewhere.

Just another source of ideas for ya

Crumbs, that takes me back, mind you I also remember playing on K240 which was Fragile Allegance's predecessor. Good times.

Exactly man, if they remade those games I would be in my own private heaven along with many who enjoyed those classics! Just burned and installed both of them on a friends PC this evening. I need to get an IPX modem to make the multi player to work. A new version of these games would make for an awesome geek out night with friends.

There is another totally free multiplayer game that is very much like Moo2. It can be found here. http://cosmicsupremacy.com/game_news.php

The game is tick based and is played out over days and sometimes weeks depending on the setting. Its quite alot of fun and the Community there is excellent.

Screenshots can bee seen here: http://cosmicsupremacy.com/screenshots.php

Here is one example: