OFFICIAL Strategy Gaming Thread

[Kursah]

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)

There are a few different methods I found...most of them caused issues, dll errors, etc.

First thing to do is install Tiberian Sun from your source, or download the free version here:

http://cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=41
or
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/download/Command-and-Conquer-Tiberian-Sun,0301-50893.html

(google search and you can find dozens of options...the first link above is a slightly modified version with fixes, manual and map editor, the bottom link is what was released years ago for the free verison).

Just flat out running the game from install will generally lead to crashing, not opening, dll, or no menu issues. Hopefully the below will help you guys enjoy a classic and awesome late 90's RTS title free of charge and totally legit.

I then installed the attached win8-fix.zip contents into the SUN dir. Info here: http://cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?topic=2785.0

This was the best win8 fix that I found, when you change resolutions (see below) there's a lag/drop in performance when scrolling around the map that the attached file I have confirmed is fixed on Windows 8.1 x64 pro as of April 2014.

Then there's the zip containing the modified files I have used before for Windows 7 and 8. With just these I had the scrolling issues, but would have a menu.
http://www.moddb.com/games/cc-tiberian-sun/tutorials/tiberian-sun-windows-8-fix-at-high-resolution

Also, go in and edit the SUN.ini and edit for the resolution of your choice, I chose 1280x720...1920x1080 was too small on my 15" screen on my laptop. 720 is perfect.
[Video]
ScreenWidth=1280
ScreenHeight=720
StretchMovies=no

I hope that helps! Happy gaming. I've been enjoying the hell out of this title..runs silky smooth on my laptop, even at 1080p...just at that point everything's too small for the 15.6" screen...but on my 24" Dell IPS...1080P TibSun is sweet.

 

[rooivalk]

Act of War : Direct Action and its expansion: High Treason.

Good graphic (you could zoom pretty close), naval warfare (albeit limited but including very big san antonio class, and stealthly visby class), big map (especially on naval map) PoW system, counter superweapon, nice variety of units. Shitty FMV though.

 

[Kursah]

I forgot about AoW...I'm pretty sure the Wargame series are developed by most of the folks involved in the Act of War series. I'm gonna have to go find it!

Star Wars: Empire at War (Gold) I have been playing as well..it was created by what was left of Westwood Studios next studio. Land and space battles, more RTT in SP mode...but still solid. Surprisingly fun, and I can't believe I missed it. Will only use the Intel HD iGPU on my laptop and not the AMD GPU. Runs smooth though the HD4400 iGPU with my Haswell 4200u is solid. Space battles are fun to watch.

 

[pigulici]

These days I play(replay) sp for Codename Panzers Phase One and Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle-Earth, I like the fact I can have the upgraded units in the next mission(in fact in all campaign)...

 

[rooivalk]

yep Wargame is from Eugen, but not my cup of tea.

btw, few days ago Eugen announcing Act of Aggression, a spiritual successor to Act of War

The game aims to “bring the players back in the 90’s Golden Age of strategy games.”, implying that Act of Aggression will be a traditional RTS, with its gameplay similar to Command & Conquer and StarCraft.

yay

 

[Ahhzz]

/tag to watch

 

[pigulici]

"Eugen announcing Act of Aggression": good news...everyone...

 

[Ahhzz]

Great deal on CK II at GameFly.....requires steam. $26.99

Spoiler

Crusader Kings II Collection includes:

• Crusader Kings II
• CKII African Portraits
• CKII African Unit Pack
• CKII Byzantine Unit Pack
• CKII Dynasty Shield II
• CKII Dynasty Shield
• CKII Legacy of Rome
• CKII Mediterranean Portraits
• CKII Mongol Faces
• CKII Ruler Designer
• CKII Russian Portraits
• CKII Russian Unit Packs
• CKII Songs of Albion
• CKII Songs of Byzantium
• CKII Songs of Faith
• CKII Songs of Prosperity
• CKII Songs of the Caliph
• CKII Songs of the Holy Land
• CKII Songs of the Rus
• CKII Sunset Invasion
• CKII Sword of Islam
• CKII The Republic

 

[cameronh779]

Portal?

It seems like a strategy/puzzle type game.

Definitely the Age of Empire series though. I used to play that for hours. Its a lot like C&C.

Also, Civilization.

 

[RCoon]

Has anyone played the Early Access RTS Meridian yet? It looks real nice, made by just 1 guy. I want to buy, but waiting for opinions!

http://www.meridian-game.com/

 

[Easy Rhino]

I enjoy CoH very much with all of the expansions. You can even build your own maps which is awesome. Don't forget about the Total Annihilation series.

 

[ne6togadno]

warhammer 40k series anyone?

@Kursah SC2 story would be nothing w/o the begging from sc&bw

 

[cameronh779]

What do you guys think about portal as a suggestion? I wasn't quit sure as you can see from my above post.

 

[pigulici]

Portal it is fun but not RTS...

 

[mafia97]

age of empires and settlers

 

[Ahhzz]

Settlers is a nice one, AoE style...

 

[Hilux SSRG]

I picked up Patrician III during a steam sale and was pleasantly surprised. The tutorial bored me quickly but once you play sandbox mode it opens up nicely.

 

[Ahhzz]

I picked up Patrician III during a steam sale and was pleasantly surprised. The tutorial bored me quickly but once you play sandbox mode it opens up nicely.

I'd forgotten about Patrician... so many decent games, so little time

 

[Kursah]

warhammer 40k series anyone?

@Kursah SC2 story would be nothing w/o the begging from sc&bw

WH40k should've been on my original list too! I have Dark Crusade installed and gonna load it up! Even WH40K 2 was fun...but grew stale after the first release imho. I prefer RTS over RTT though.

I agree with your SC2 comment, but that should be obvious to most fans of the title....or I should hope! I remember buying it new off the shelf, soooo many hours lost in it!

 

[Kursah]

Has anyone played the Early Access RTS Meridian yet? It looks real nice, made by just 1 guy. I want to buy, but waiting for opinions!

http://www.meridian-game.com/

This does look VERY interesting...especially for $15 on Steam. Hmm... I love supporting indie releases, especially the more quality ones. I'm very very very tempted...I better get back to my Tiberian Sun and mull this decision over!

 

[RCoon]

This does look VERY interesting...especially for $15 on Steam. Hmm... I love supporting indie releases, especially the more quality ones. I'm very very very tempted...I better get back to my Tiberian Sun and mull this decision over!

I refuse to buy it until somebody trustworthy gives me a good review on it. I know it's early access, but there's a lot of early access games that have turned out to be less than spectacular.
I think tiberian sun is my most favourite of the C&C's purely because the cyborg commando, once he gets to 1/3 health, loses his legs and starts crawling on the floor with his arms

 

[MT Alex]

I enjoy CoH very much with all of the expansions. You can even build your own maps which is awesome. Don't forget about the Total Annihilation series.

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.

Total Annihilation is where my love of RTS games came from, it was so far ahead of its time, but since Supreme Commander came out I rarely play it. I don't hold SupCom 2 in the same reverence, however.

 

[Kursah]

There are a few different methods I found...most of them caused issues, dll errors, etc.

First thing to do is install Tiberian Sun from your source, or download the free version here:

http://cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=41
or
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/download/Command-and-Conquer-Tiberian-Sun,0301-50893.html

(google search and you can find dozens of options...the first link above is a slightly modified version with fixes, manual and map editor, the bottom link is what was released years ago for the free verison).

Just flat out running the game from install will generally lead to crashing, not opening, dll, or no menu issues. Hopefully the below will help you guys enjoy a classic and awesome late 90's RTS title free of charge and totally legit.

I then installed the attached win8-fix.zip contents into the SUN dir. Info here: http://cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?topic=2785.0

This was the best win8 fix that I found, when you change resolutions (see below) there's a lag/drop in performance when scrolling around the map that the attached file I have confirmed is fixed on Windows 8.1 x64 pro as of April 2014.

Then there's the zip containing the modified files I have used before for Windows 7 and 8. With just these I had the scrolling issues, but would have a menu.
http://www.moddb.com/games/cc-tiberian-sun/tutorials/tiberian-sun-windows-8-fix-at-high-resolution

Also, go in and edit the SUN.ini and edit for the resolution of your choice, I chose 1280x720...1920x1080 was too small on my 15" screen on my laptop. 720 is perfect.
[Video]
ScreenWidth=1280
ScreenHeight=720
StretchMovies=no

I hope that helps! Happy gaming. I've been enjoying the hell out of this title..runs silky smooth on my laptop, even at 1080p...just at that point everything's too small for the 15.6" screen...but on my 24" Dell IPS...1080P TibSun is sweet.

 

[ne6togadno]

WH40k should've been on my original list too! I have Dark Crusade installed and gonna load it up! Even WH40K 2 was fun...but grew stale after the first release imho. I prefer RTS over RTT though.

I agree with your SC2 comment, but that should be obvious to most fans of the title....or I should hope! I remember buying it new off the shelf, soooo many hours lost in it!

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...

 

[Frick]

Impossible Creatures was pretty nice. COuld have beem better though.

Warcraft II btw.