OFFICIAL Strategy Gaming Thread

[Sempron Guy]

LOTR: Battle for Middle-earth series - as a big fan of LOTR and strategy games, BFME is getting the best of both worlds. Up to this day I'm still hoping for a reboot of the series.
Battle Realms - this one's a classic. Still playing it up to now once in a while. Loved everything about it. Now hyped with the upcoming kickstarter battle realms game project supposedly a story focused on the Lotus clan.

honoroble mention:

Age of Empire series
Age of Mythology series
CnC Generals
Starcraft series
DoW series
Warcraft III

 

[rtwjunkie]

CoH is one of my all time favorite RTS franchises, but I was bummed out when Tales of Valor came out because it broke most of the mods and maps that have been built for it. I used to spend hours downloading maps and mods from FileFront. Those were the days.

The Blitzkrieg mod, which is a comprehensive mod, works with Tales of Valor, and on nearly all user-made maps. It's very good.

 

[RCoon]

The Blitzkrieg mod, which is a comprehensive mod, works with Tales of Valor, and on nearly all user-made maps. It's very good.

I believe every serious CoH player uses the blitzkrieg mod, probably one of the best things that happened to the game!

 

[MT Alex]

Thanks, guys, I have the Blitzkrieg mod, but I was always partial to the old NHCmod. I may have to give it a better look.

 

[Hilux SSRG]

So many people mentioned Warcraft III, I really wish Blizzard would release the next one.

I'm not a big Dota fan but I guess thats the strategy lite people are into now.

 

[Kursah]

considering how much time you spent on strategic and how much time you spent in rts battles i think wh40k is more rts then rtt. also auto saves between turns in strategic map are quite useful for ppl like me who often forget to save.
i played sc with 2 of my friend on custom maps vs 5 computers. my friends hated me cause i loved to make mockery with game. like fighting with science vehicles. 2 controls science vehicles and irradiation to everything that moves (finished with one vehicle with about 120 kills and 3 or 4 with about 75)
Or digging in base whole game providing 0 help and then all of the sudden 1 control 3/3 battle cruisers comes out of nowhere and starts to whip out everything on map and ofc getting highest score at the end of the game
those was days...

I think you misread what I had written, let me rephrase to clarify my point.

WH40K is RTS, WH40K 2 is RTT. They're totally different games with little other than the WH40K background to link them, gameplay and focus are totally different between 2 and it's RTT focus and 1 and it's RTS w/base building focus. I prefer 1.

As I said before I enjoyed both but tired of WH40K 2 after the first release....RTT is fun..but I prefer RTS and base building strategy more. I still enjoy WH40K, I'm playing Dark Crusade right now actually. Very aged, but still fun.

On another note, I am having a blast with Tiberian Sun...man I forgot how fun this game can be! It brings back the memories for sure. Definitely worthy of a spot in anyone's collection Especially being free and around 1.5GB install size (iirc).

 

[Kursah]

Anyone try out Zero-K yet? What about Evolution RTS (Free on Steam). Both use the Spring engine...and seem to take a lot of influence from Total Annihilation. They're pretty good, don't expect hi-end polish, but Zero-K has so much to offer, and Evolution is turning out nicely. I will be adding them to the OP...I have decided I will add some good FREE RTS options up there as I go. At least for now...we'll see what happens. I think both of these titles are well worth an install and try.

http://springrts.com/wiki/Games

http://www.evolutionrts.info/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/291150/

http://zero-k.info/

 

[Kursah]

Still having some minor glitches with the UI in TibSun after saving...it's intermittent, and totally worth it for smooth scrolling! 1080p TS on my main machine is awesome...brings back the memories of being a teen in the late 90's.

Anyone remember or play C&C Sole Survivor? That's the game where I created my online alias as I didn't have one prior.

That was my second main online game ever...the first being Tanarus (old school build a tank and go into MP that Sony ran for a looong time for free, then charged and I stopped playing).

C&C SS was epic fun...team-based, you pick a single unit, join your side (GDI vs NOD) and go vs another team. It was like TDM in isometric C&C world....and it was awesome for it's time! I kind of wish it would make a comeback...it was quite fun and addictive and the rounds were fast aaaand it worked great with my slow AOL 19.2Kbps dial-up connection! HA!

 

[MT Alex]

Origin has the Command & Conquer games on sale, $10 gets you all 17 of them.

On another note, since Steam has rereleased CoH after Relic went tits up it seems that the mod community has started up again. Been playing a new version of the NHCmod tonight, and things are all cheer again in Mudville.

 

[Kursah]

Origin has the Command & Conquer games on sale, $10 gets you all 17 of them.

On another note, since Steam has rereleased CoH after Relic went tits up it seems that the mod community has started up again. Been playing a new version of the NHCmod tonight, and things are all cheer again in Mudville.

I got it on a $5 sale a long time ago. Doesn't come with Sole Survivor, it was not included in any C&C collection. It's almost as if the game never existed..but it did, and I had 100's of hours invested, ah the good ol' days. Just was online MP only...http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Command_&_Conquer:_Sole_Survivor

EDIT: Err...I remember SP and read there was SP...but it wasn't much fun in comparison to online.

Edit Edit: I also prefer to mod the Free Release of Tib Sun + Firestorm vs the C&C 17 edition. Less hassle, then don't gotta worry about running Origin to play it too!

I played a bunch of CoH back in the day...it's fun, but even with the Steam version I'm just not into that era or play style at this point. Though playing DoW Dark Crusade the other day was a strong reminder of the play style and how fun it can be. I'll give it a shot once I get bored with what I'm playing now...I already have it installed.

 

[MT Alex]

Yup, the early DoW series is extremely similar in gameplay to CoH, same jazz with different skins. That was definitely the hay day of THQ. I rarely play CoH anymore because the immense scope and scale of SupCom really squashed my affection for CoH, it still seems rather myopic not being able to zoom out far enough to see the whole battlefield. It does have a great personality (for a game) much like DoW, with the funny little things the units say when you select them, and such.

 

[Kursah]

Absolutely, dead on for me too. I love the larger scopes...but I don't mind the classic games...I appreciate it when they support higher resolutions too. DoW and CoH both did this well...but as you said the zoom was just so limited. That's what pushed me away from my favorite games once I became used and eventually preferred the grander scale RTS.

Still awesome titles to go back to, and with a little patience, a lot of fun can be found again.. THQ nailed both titles, both if which I feel the sequels just weren't quite up to par. I prefer SupCom2 to SupCom over CoH2 and DoW2 in all honesty. DoW2 was fun...but for me ran out of steam after the first game's campaign. SupCom2 is more mid-scale with the ability to play fast...something I've never been able to accomplish in SupCom. CoH and DoW have the action and battles that make RTS truly fun though...just a little more zoom and map size and they'd be so much more fun! TibSun has a great level of locked zoom...that's what's really helped it's cause for me to play it atm.

 

[Frick]

Battle Realms - this one's a classic. Still playing it up to now once in a while. Loved everything about it. Now hyped with the upcoming kickstarter battle realms game project supposedly a story focused on the Lotus clan.

Nice, I didn't know that. I really liked the first game, but the lack of numbers sort of killed it for me. The game was focused on individual soldiers making a difference, and very specialized armies (and environmental bonuses), yet there are no hit points or anything ingame that suggests that spearmen is more effective when fighting uphill. No damage points or anything either. In C&C that worked fine, but not in Battle Realms. No indication that the canon-guys idling animation made the peasants work faster (he was clowning around). So many, many great details, but no information at all what anything did. Hey, the sword guys can shoot fire balls too! How good is that? Wait, no, I have no idea because the game doesn't tell me.

I really really liked it, but I also really hated it.

 

[Kursah]

It's been a loooong time since I've played Warzone 2100. I remember trying it once since it went open source...but it's worth a mention for memories at least...I remember this being so cool way back when. Seems it is still a pretty actively supported and updated title. Anyone playing it now? I think I'll give it a download to try later on once I get my classic C&C fix.

http://wz2100.net/

 

[Kursah]

Who here plays Planetary Annihilation?

Well they have released the PTE (Public Test Environment) to anyone who wants to try it out is what they claim. This is for experimental changes, the servers are only US Central. Updates can happen at any time. As-good-as Gamma has gone, I am very excited for the final release...but I might have to check this out. So far I've had a lot of fun with this title on my laptop and gaming pc.

here's some more info: https://forums.uberent.com/threads/streams-pte-and-experimental-builds.58960/

EDIT: Here's the thread detailing the 200MB update to PA today too - https://forums.uberent.com/threads/gamma-build-64498.58901/

 

[Kursah]

The Star Wars collection is on sale on Steam...I think for $33-ish. Empire at War is a solid RTS experience with ground and space battles. And for less than $7 it's a helluva value! Check it out!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/32470/

 

[RCoon]

Bought Age of Wonders III the other day, been debating it a long time, everybody has been saying how amazing it is. Played it for 2 hours, not sure what to think, because I seriously don't know how the play this game. It doesn't exactly explain anything at all either! I'm used to HoM&M, so if anyone can drop me some pointers, I'd be grateful.

 

[ne6togadno]

in aow 1&2 i was making 3-4 heroes party with some meat shield from units fast enough to keep with heroes speed. this was my main fores.
for city defense best units i can get. i was also converting cities i have conquered to my race so i dont have problems with unit's moral.
aow 1&2 was on sale on gog last weekend

 

[Ahhzz]

Spoiler

RTS is my favorite genre, and has been since the mid-90's demo of Command and Conquer and the dozens of titles in this genre that I've played. RTT and TBS have their respective epic titles as well. I'm curious as to what you all are playing out there, what you might suggest, etc.

I prefer futuristic sci-fi and cold war era titles. Here's the list of games I'm currently playing and a few of my thoughts on them:

Planetary Annihilation (Gamma) - Love the scale and options and art style along with performance for number of things happening. Dislike no pause or saving due to server-side hosting thus-far (supposed to change) and no storyline (though Galactic Conquest is promising). I was an original backer for this 3 years ago, and I'm glad to see it coming to fruition and official release soon...this is an amazing RTS imho.

SupCom2 - My 12yo and I play this MP a lot...it features decent scale, upgrade/research, different races etc. Enough depth to get into and have different play styles and also have quicker matches vs. the older SupCom series. Many dog this game, but especially after the last update not too long ago the game has been solid...I've enjoyed it since 2010...yes it shouldn't be called SupCom2 but it's a solid title and very affordable, fun and a great RTS imho. Also check out SupCom2 2013 mod.

SupCom + FA - Excellent overall, except for single core and performance issues. Huge scale, tons of options, but a sloooow pace. For a 7+ yo title, it's a solid title worth owning (get the gold version from Steam). When you want an epic match that takes hours, this is it. Epic. 'nuff said!

Starcraft 2 - A lotta fun, I never got into MP as I'm not an APM player...but it's a lot of fun...one of the best storylines and SP experiences..smaller scale, still a lotta fun. Very well polished, Blizzard proves they still got it for RTS titles...now let's get a Warcraft RTS...I was never a WoW fan...but Warcraft 2 and 3 were epic!

C&C Tiberian Sun - Classic...this title was hugely hyped back in the late 90's...this title got me into online forums, creating websites, I even interviewed the guy that starred as Kane...Joe Kucan I believe. Best of all this classic is totally free! Get it at Commandandconquer.com I just got it working on my Windows 8.1 install on my lappy. I prefer 1280x720 vs forcing full 1080. I wish this title could allow dynamic zoom...beyond that...an epic title from years ago that holds well to the test of time.

C&C 3+Kane's Wrath - Sure EA stole C&C's thunder and hollywood-ized it...but these titles were still badass! Still solid graphics imho, zoom even though limited, but has fast paced action and is still good fun. Kane's Wrath was a very good addition as well. Well worth playing..so is Generals and the Red Alert series, but I won't add those here as these two C&C titles are what I prefer.

World in Conflict - Awesome RTT title, was ahead of it's time in 2007 imho...but SupCom 1 overshadowed it...this title never really came into full force. Still good title. Good stress test too. Good SP..MP is dead though.

Wargame series - Awesome but challenging RTT, steeper learning curve...realistic cold war era units. Better MP..AI is omnipresent which can be frustrating. Up to 10v10 MP. SP is ok...still well worth playing.

Those are the ones I'm playing...here's some other ones I enjoy...

Star Ruler - Indie RTS
Sins of a Solar Empire Series - Epic space RTS
Homeworld 1 & 2 - SUPER EPIC RTS..but very aged. 2 has tons of mods. Both are being remastered for modern systems/OSes.
Sword of the Stars 1 - One of the few TBS that hooked me
Warcraft 3 - Classic RTS...tons of fun.
Starcraft 1- Good and well aged...still fun but SC2 is much more enjoyable IMHO.

I'm sure there's more I'm missing that I'll add. I hope this is the start of a good strategy thread...give your feedback, opinions, suggestions, whatever.

ADDITIONS-

I figured I'd quote and share my C&C Tiberian Sun post from below for new readers. Some good, classic and especially free RTS/RTT options are always handy to have easy access and instructions to. Tiberian Sun is well worth the little bit of effort to make run in Windows 7 and 8.

C&C Tiberian Sun + Firestorm FREE and Working Windows 7/8(.1)

I liked the Warlords Battlecry series

 

[Kursah]

I know very little about AoW...never really got into it.

I forgot about Warlords Battlecry though! Good call!

 

[rooivalk]

Suddenly I remember Battle Realms. Fun game, even peasant could be a threat.

I tried AoW few days ago, and I instantly dislike it, the UI is a mess for me. I rather play HOMM series.

 

[Kursah]

A huge announcement the other day for Planetary Annihilation, Galactic War has started it's first rendition. I'm really excited to see this mode come to fruition. They also added micro transactions for commander skins (meh...I don't care for that, nor does it bother me what my commander looks like in all honesty). I've been enjoying this title a ton in Gamma...and even got my 6yo and 12yo playing it. I haven't tried Galactic War yet...but am dedicating some time tonight just for that!

https://forums.uberent.com/threads/the-galactic-war-begins.59714/page-8#post-931798

 

[Vario]

Chugging my way through Endless Space, its relaxing to play but really not sure where I am going with it.

 

[Kursah]

Nice...I tried but just never did get into ES...I may have to try it again at some point.

I enjoyed Stardrive more. But even that was short lived. I'd like PA's speed/pace for space combat.

 

[Kursah]

I'm having a lot of fun in PA's Galactic War...it's pretty entertaining...sure a little rough around the edges yet as a newly added feature, but has A LOT of promise for offline players like me. Anyone else on TPU playing Planetary Annihilation at all? It's on sale for $29 on Steam...worth every penny even in Gamma imho. Though I must admit I'm biased as it's play style is something I find very entertaining.