Strategy games

[Kertech]

Wanna get some more games so I don't burn out on kerbal, any suggestions>

 

Thoughts on factorio?

[CAKE99]

Prepare for my massive-ish list of recommendations.

Warhammer 40K Dawn of War

Valkyria Chronicles

Xcom Enemy Unknown

Cortex Command (one of my favorite games ever)

Shadowrun Returns and Shadowrun Dragonfall director's cut

Warzone 2100 (it's completely free and open-source! It's also THE first strategy game I played AND one of the first games I have ever played.

 

If I listed games other than strategy games (the thread title is "Strategy games") the list would be a lot longer, but it's 3:11 AM and I don't want to write long posts 

Edited May 5, 2016 by CAKE99

[cantab]

I found Europa Universalis IV fun. It's not flashy though.

[regex]

4 hours ago, Kertech said:

Thoughts on factorio?

Awesome game, I bought it around 0.11, but I don't really see it as a "strategy game" (unless you consider Minecraft to be a "strategy game"...)

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

I think Master Of Orion (the remake) is very fun.

[Waxing_Kibbous]

For a complete genre change there is Battle for Wesnoth, although it can be rage-quit inducing at times It has MP servers, tons of user made content, is relatively "easy" to make your own content (it takes some coding skill, but isn't too complex). I designed the damage distribution mod if you find the stock battle mechanic to be not to your liking.

 It is very strategic though, and you will have to learn the units and tactics pretty well to be competitive. Also, it's free and cross-platform!

Edited May 5, 2016 by Waxing_Kibbous

[StrandedonEarth]

Real-time strategy? StarCraft (1 and 2), WarCraft (2 and 3)

Turn-based strategy? Civilization IV and V

[Dispatcher]

Strategy?  Well, that can mean different things to different people.  Puzzles?  Real time tactics?  Turn based?  Even shooters, when its not just about running and gunning?  Board games on a computer?

Myst series.  Myth series.  (Yes, there is a distinction.)  Portal series.  Half Life series.  Marathon series.  Serious Sam series ... are you serious?  Serious Sam is all about running and gunning.  Penumbra series.  3D animated chess.  Journeyman Project series.  Some of those I listed are available online for free.  Others can be found inexpensively.  Others might be hard to find or pricey.

Good luck!

Edited May 8, 2016 by Dispatcher

[N_Danger]

My vote is for Civ 4-5, I got others but these are the ones I have 100 hours or so of play time in.

[Accelerando]

Interplanetary is pretty cool and modestly realistic!

[Nikolai]

If you like strategy (as the title implies), I heartily recommend Invisible, Inc.  It's turn-based strategy polished to such a sheen that you can see your face in it.

Gameplay is all about putting together a finely-crafted clockwork and then letting all the pieces do their thing.  Everything is laid out for you, so if you mess up, you have no one to blame but yourself.  It's just you versus the machine, even if you end up having to make rather intricate plans.

The game also allows the player to have a complex relationship to failure.  Things can always suck more.  And somehow, they manage to get pulse-pounding excitement out of a game that technically allows you all the time in the world, because with each turn, the stakes keep rising, and trade-off decisions become increasingly urgent.  Add to that the fact that things work in versatile ways (are you going to use the drone you've commanded to take out a guard or block the door?), and it's positively exhilarating when you make a narrow escape.

[p1t1o]

In my opinion, you cannot get better than Command:Modern Air/Naval Operations (CMANO for short) for 20th century warfare simulation. Its just about the most detailed RTS you will find, as long as you don't care too much about pretty 3d graphics. I could list some of the stuff it simulates, but it'd be easier to list the things is *doesn't* take into account, of which nothing comes to mind at the moment 

Just, for the love of the universe, be careful in the forums, they're a touchy bunch, its wrongfooted me more than once.

[Rainbowtrout]

I have a grand total of 724 (And counting!) hours on Europa Universalis IV. It's great fun, but it will certainly suck you in.

[James Kerman]

The Total War series is pretty good.

[Harry Rhodan]

On 5.5.2016 at 10:25 PM, cantab said:

I found Europa Universalis IV fun. It's not flashy though.

 

On 8.5.2016 at 9:27 PM, Rainbowtrout said:

I have a grand total of 724 (And counting!) hours on Europa Universalis IV. It's great fun, but it will certainly suck you in.

Or Crusader Kings 2 - somewhat like EUIV but extremely personal, because you don't really play countries but charakters who happen to rule countries.

[RizzoTheRat]

The daddy of strategy games for me has to be Hearts of Iron 3, the base game has a lot of issues but with the expansions (Semper Fi, For the Motherland and Their Finest Hour) it is the only game that's ever kept me occupied anywhere near as long as KSP has.

HOI IV is due out next month (on D-Day), I'm salivating.

 

In my opinion, you cannot get better than Command:Modern Air/Naval Operations (CMANO for short) for 20th century warfare simulation. Its just about the most detailed RTS you will find, as long as you don't care too much about pretty 3d graphics. I could list some of the stuff it simulates, but it'd be easier to list the things is *doesn't* take into account, of which nothing comes to mind at the moment 

Heavy on the Sim and light on the Game IMO.  Not necessarily a bad thing but you do need to be a bit of a war game geek to enjoy it.  It also has some really frustrating limitations and an astronomical price tag.  Not sure if any of the new Professional Edition enhancements will make it in to the standard game (multiplayer currently under development)

[p1t1o]

25 minutes ago, RizzoTheRat said:

Heavy on the Sim and light on the Game IMO.  Not necessarily a bad thing but you do need to be a bit of a war game geek to enjoy it.  It also has some really frustrating limitations and an astronomical price tag.  Not sure if any of the new Professional Edition enhancements will make it in to the standard game (multiplayer currently under development)

I don't know what limitation it has that every other RTS doesn't also have. Not to say it's perfect though, there are the occasional bugs, but the update regimen is quite good. It does have a hefty price tag, but pick it up on sale and its a good deal any day of the week, I don't have too much trouble paying a decent sum for several hundred hours of use when it costs me £20 just to go to the cinema

"Professional Edition" features really would be for the hardcore, they are mainly things like statistics outputs and database editing IIRC.

But i would say you don't have to be a massive propeller head to get into it, gameplay wise its an advanced RTS and is very engaging. You don't need to be an expert in anything, well I guess you have to be pretty interested in some branch of the military otherwise it will take you forever to learn about ECM, chaff, sonar, missile dynamics etc etc

Its a little bit niche, but I'm super glad I found it.

 

Can't wait until TotalWar: Warhammer though

(Read: "Can't wait until TW:WH has been out for a while, had several hotfixes, the DLCs have dropped and steam has whacked a nice discount on it all")

[RizzoTheRat]

4 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

I don't know what limitation it has that every other RTS doesn't also have.

Well I agree it's limitations are ones that every other game has because no other games go in to that level of detail, but one example is its very limited mine hunting ability, it does random movement around a box rather than a search pattern or corridor, making it pretty useless at it really...not something that you'd even try in another other game   The scripting system isn't bad for logic but limited in what it can control, eg I tried to set up a maritime attack with aircraft popping up to locate the target and then closing at low altitude (worked well for the Argentinians) and found both altitude control and target designation to be tricky.

The big on one PE will be Monte-Carlo, if they get that working it becomes a much more useful analysis tool, but that not of interest to the home gamer.  The multiplayer functionality could be great for the home user, but needs an umpire ability for training use.

 

Your TW:WH hot fix comment is exactly my thinking about HOI IV too.

[Robotengineer]

I've played Civ V and Europa Universalis IV, I would say the former is more fun while the latter is more complex and interesting. 

Also, Dwarf Fortress. Not sure if it really counts as a strategy game in the traditional sense, but it definitely has strategy elements.

[p1t1o]

1 hour ago, RizzoTheRat said:

Well I agree it's limitations are ones that every other game has because no other games go in to that level of detail, but one example is its very limited mine hunting ability, it does random movement around a box rather than a search pattern or corridor, making it pretty useless at it really...not something that you'd even try in another other game   The scripting system isn't bad for logic but limited in what it can control, eg I tried to set up a maritime attack with aircraft popping up to locate the target and then closing at low altitude (worked well for the Argentinians) and found both altitude control and target designation to be tricky.

The big on one PE will be Monte-Carlo, if they get that working it becomes a much more useful analysis tool, but that not of interest to the home gamer.  The multiplayer functionality could be great for the home user, but needs an umpire ability for training use.

 

Your TW:WH hot fix comment is exactly my thinking about HOI IV too.

Yes it can be frustrating at times, especially when it really *could* do something you want, but won't. Or if it is acting up and you cant figure out why.

Coincidentally, CMANO just received a fairly big update today, and is 60% off for the next 24 hours...if anyone was interested.

Honestly though I've just got back into KSP properly for the first time i since 1.0 (and that wasn't for long, last major binge was 0.23-0.25!) so CMANO is going to be taking that hit!