Galciv2 has open space (as has the new 4x space game Distant Worlds), while other games such as Sword of the Stars, 2526 Armada, SINS and MOO2 have starlanes. I prefer starlanes as they provide natural choke points and planets are usually the only interesting things in the galaxy to fight about. Why would you fight in the middle of space? Unless your attacked en route I suppose. I wonder what Galciv2/Sins/Homeworld/(insert your favourite game) players prefer?
Whiskey, you might want to try Nexus: The Jupiter Incident. No, it is not a 4x, nor is it an RTS. It is a space-based real-time tactical game that allows pausing for just-in-time orders to your ships. However, it does have destroyable subsystems on ships and it is simply gorgeous despite it being made to be able to run on DX8 video cards. Plus there are some mods in the works for it over on ModDB. Let me just say that Nexus is like no other game out there, and I mean that literally, it has no clones and no game is even close to its gameplay.
Shadowtongue, I'm not sure he would like SotS if he ever played it. it is turn-based, and only two races use starlines for travel, and the limited field of combat that just has a single planet, and maybe an asteroid ring or a moon. Most of SotS combat happens in completely empty space with at most two valid military targets in the system besides the enemy fleet, the planet and a Hiver Gate. There is no opportunity for sabotage or raiding as any orbital infrastructure such as shipyards and asteroid mines simply don't exist except as an abstracted economy boost. On the other hand, the tactics are simple to learn yet hard to master, and micromanagement is nowhere near as necessary as in Civ or GalCiv, simply because SotS has a macro-scale focus about you being the supreme master of a species who has no time to deal with building factories and assigning citizens to certain jobs. The fact all six races all play extremely differently from one another is a nice plus in my book.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't like it already, yet it has the elements he desires (other than the real time on the strat level, though I cannot imagine why that is remotely important).
And it does have raiding, it does have 'sabotage', it does have the ability to create games where only movement through warp nodes is available (well to you, the space monsters still move in their own ways).
At least if you have all the expansions.
The open space strategy is to simplistic,you just form fleets and head straight to planets..Starlanes can have strategic chokepoints,mines etc.
@Sparda- just finished D/Ling the Nexus demo. Gonna try it out in a minute (if it installs at all! Tried the Haegamonia demo but it wouldn't even install!).
@shadowtongue- I don't like SotS and doubt I ever will. I have been a bit "spoiled" if you will, by Sins of a Solar Empire. I like having real-time strategic-level control.
I agree to that the UI for Sots sucks. I like it but I do like Sins better. I kinda wish they took the good qualities of Sins, SOTS, Homeworld, and Gal Civ 2 and they all had a baby... Probably could add other games too...
(But you probably get one fucked up looking kid if your thinking Elemental! )
Someone say Warhammer 40k! I like to play Dawn of War II and my Empire is from WarHammer 40k world. What to learn more, click red link below and maybe if you like can join my growing Empire.
I like space games so I would think that open space in solar systems would be right but getting to that solar system you need a space lane like in Star Wars worlds, the hyper jump between solar systems, now that would be kool to have both open space and space lines in a game and even to discover (to make you own by trial and error that way your space lines would be a sercet) your on space lines.
@Hawawaa, good idea
@Whiskey, I have to agree with you! I like also playing Company of Heroes then I tried to play R.U.S.E. Demo on steam. Well, played once then went back to playing CoH: ToV.
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Castigations on the Last Days
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Actually the hiver are capable of going at .99c *c being speed of light in a year worth of acceleration* in the antimatter era plus they do have a way of slingshot fleet across space *proving they are close enough* and has a chance of missing the target by couple light of years. *preventing abuse/spam* One of the race can't even *other than human* travel in STL mode to intercept a rock to save their lives.
So basically in SOTS it is actually both starline and free space mode depending on who and whom you are fighting or with. This is what I like about SOTS is pretty much anything goes will goes depending on claw/fins/fist you want to use.
The person I was replying too was talking about human designs I believe. Going really, really fast isn't so much of an issue for Hivers who have strong exoskeletons and the toughest ships in the SotS-verse.
Open Space is the way to go. From a programming point though they all have "lanes" as all you have to do is connect every star in a system to every other star. This is usually what's done but the lanes are "invisible" to players. In a Open Space system the only thing you have to really account for is the fact that a player could send a ship to a open point in space with no star there. From a coding perspective that's the challenge, the open point the players may chose. Aside from that going from one star to another is nothing but "point A" to "point B". The only variable is calculating how fast the ships can travel and mixing ships of various different speeds.
Of course you make it sound as though accounting for 'off road' movement is trivial. GalCiv2 AIs would beg to differ. Couple that with creating starbases and other structures 'off road' and you drastically increase the number of connections and difficulty for an AI to compute all of these variables.
Open Space is a way to go, better for simpler games or games which are meant to be played primarilly MP. Fixed travel is the way to go if you want to 'help the AI', and if you enjoy the strategic aspects of choke points and fronts and all that kind of thing.
To me open space is like playing a WWII game on a hex map with no terrain, just cities. Imagine the horror at doing that!
Distant Worlds has open space travel between systems and in systems, which are all on one "field" with excellent zoom parameters. The ships can stop or fight in open space or examine various stellar objects. Nebulas affect movement and shields. There are gas clouds to mine. The star systems have orbiting and rotating planets and moons.
https://forums.galciv2.com/377079 (Distant Worlds; 4Ex Space Strategy; What do you think?)
All true, though it needs to be pointed out that DW is a real time game, which somewhat changes the calculus involved in movement structure.
That is I think that for real time games open movement is easier to 'get away with' because there is less for the player to abuse as the AI can react 'instantly'. It's also more annoying to the player to do the kind of micromanagement involved in multi fleet feints to draw AI ships to places where they shouldn't go.
I hope the latest patch to DW has made improvements, but I still think I'm another patch away from really jumping back into it.
I want starlanes, so I can build up a massive fortress world and force my enemies to break upon it like waves upon the Atlantic Wall.
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