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Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:21 am
by Mentawl
So I'm looking for some recommendations on turn-based strategy games - when I'm at home, I like to leave a game running in a window and just take the odd turn at it inbetween doing "RL" stuff :). I've got the various Civ games, but they're starting to lose appeal a little bit, and I'm struggling to get into Shogun 2 : Total War. Anything else I can try? Been considering the Hearts of Iron series, but it seems a little over-the-top in terms of mechanics for me.

Thanks :)

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:04 am
by mentaldrano
Try The Battle for Wesnoth - a hexagon map turn-based fantasy game. There are loads of mods, and it runs on Linux!

Also, if you are feeling old-school, try FreeCiv. Also lots of mods that can make the game fresh again.

Personally, I have a very old copy of MissionForce: Cyberstorm that I play sometimes when I'm feeling strategic and nostalgic (stratalgic?). Another hex-map game, with actual topographic terrain. That is, mountains are something you can actually hide behind, and don't get stuck in a canyon if the enemy controls the heights. Giant customizable robots! You may be able to find a copy on Ebay, though it needs a patch to run on Win7.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:08 am
by chuckula
Like mentaldrano I'm a Linux user and aside from his recommendations I recently got FrozenSynapse (runs on Win/Mac/Linux). It is a turn-based tactical shooter where you control a squad of troops in close-quarters combat.

Oh, and if you want a more modern update of the old classic Master of Orion, I recommend Galactic Civilizations II.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:33 am
by Game_boy
Advance Wars in an emulator? (Could buy the DS cart and not use it)

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:46 am
by FuturePastNow
If you haven't played it, go to gog.com and buy Master of Orion II. It's old, but it never has been topped (comes with the first game, the third is to be avoided).

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/master_of_orion_1_2

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:16 pm
by tfp
MOO2 plays fine within DOS box, I haven't bothered to get the win95 exe to work. You could also get a copy of Master of Magic. It seem that there is an unofficial patch with a number of useful changes now might have to play this again.

It's kind of disappointing that but really I can't think of any turn-based strategy games that aren't really old.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 1:26 pm
by Hance
Heroes Of Might and Magic you might enjoy. To be specific HOMM 3 its probably ten years old at this point but the game play is still great. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_ ... _Magic_III

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 1:45 pm
by JustAnEngineer
Greed Corp. is a small-scale turn-based strategy game.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 2:57 pm
by emorgoch
If you like Civ, then I'd try out Alpha Centuri. Same general concept, but the one big differentiation is that you design your units based on the tech you have, rather than being stuck with whatever the game gives you.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:01 pm
by morphine
You really should try the King's Bounty series, and the Heroes of Might and Magic series (or "Might and Magic: Heroes", as the latest is called). Very similar mechanics, and quite addictive.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:34 pm
by mentaldrano
emorgoch wrote:
If you like Civ, then I'd try out Alpha Centuri. Same general concept, but the one big differentiation is that you design your units based on the tech you have, rather than being stuck with whatever the game gives you.


Wow, I wasted tons of time playing Alpha Centuri. Is that available anywhere for Linux? I remember that Loki games ported it at one point... SMAC rocks.

Game_boy wrote:
Advance Wars in an emulator? (Could buy the DS cart and not use it)


It's such a shame that the Advance Wars games are only available for the GBA and DS. Someone should port them to Facebook or Android and make a fortune!

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:59 pm
by CB5000
mentaldrano wrote:
emorgoch wrote:
If you like Civ, then I'd try out Alpha Centuri. Same general concept, but the one big differentiation is that you design your units based on the tech you have, rather than being stuck with whatever the game gives you.


Wow, I wasted tons of time playing Alpha Centuri. Is that available anywhere for Linux? I remember that Loki games ported it at one point... SMAC rocks.

I generally don't care for anything that resembled turn based... but...
Sid meier's alpha centauri blew me away. I tried other turn based games, but in my opinion, nothing came close to alpha centauri... still my all time favorite strategy game.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:07 am
by Hawkwing74
Hearts of Iron doesn't have a turn-based mode that I've ever seen.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:16 am
by Ryhadar
Too funny, I just started playing a turned based strategy game myself to pass the time. I chose Lords of Magic. It's a 90's game that I played when I was younger and loved every minute of it (still do).

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:28 am
by drfish
Elemental is still flawed but vastly improved since its release. At about $20 I can recommend it. I'm looking forward to my free copy of Fallen Enchantress.

I bought Jagged Alliance 2 when it was on sale on Steam last week - haven't played it yet but its a classic I'm told.

Of course there's also GalCiv2 - which I didn't play much but should have...

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:59 am
by pikaporeon
Hance wrote:
Heroes Of Might and Magic you might enjoy. To be specific HOMM 3 its probably ten years old at this point but the game play is still great. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_ ... _Magic_III

I still enjoy the first three immensely. They're dirt cheap on GOG too

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:45 pm
by tfp
drfish wrote:
Elemental is still flawed but vastly improved since its release. At about $20 I can recommend it. I'm looking forward to my free copy of Fallen Enchantress.


Do you think Element is worth picking up in it's current state? Are they still working on fixing the game? I wanted to get that game a while back but didn't, not sure if it's worth waiting for the expansion and get a the two bundled. That will surely happen at some point.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:53 pm
by drfish
I think you can have fun with Elemental right now but I must admit I spent more time with the game in its early stages than its later ones (too many new games to revisit the old ones for very long). I think that 1.4 is probably the final patch before FE comes out. If you can snag it for cheap, like $20 or so I'd do it - otherwise wait for FE, there are some pretty solid people working on that one and I have high hopes for it.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:26 pm
by StuffMaster
Shogun 2 I found pretty boring. Rome & Medieval II however...those I replayed way too much. Such good games.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:49 pm
by Stargazer
tfp wrote:
Do you think Element is worth picking up in it's current state? Are they still working on fixing the game?


I finally (I'd originally planned to buy it at release, but the state it was in at the time made me wait) bought it during a recent Impulse sale.

Maybe I'm just unlucky, but for me it's been rather unstable. Every now and then tactical combat freezes (can't do anything with the units), and the only way to get out of it is to simulate the rest of the fight. A couple of times per session the game also crashes (a really annoying crash, where a sound starts to loop, and it won't stop until I restart the computer (restarting the sound driver would presumably work too I suppose)). Normally I could just reload the most recent save and continue from there, but at a fairly late stage in my first custom game (I stopped playing the campaign since it was... well, boring) I came to a point where I would *always* crash at a certain turn, putting an abrupt stop to that game.

I usually *really* like this kind of game (go Master of Magic!), but my experience with Elemental: War of Magic has been horrendous. Even when the game has been working it hasn't been feeling very fun, and I haven't played a game that has been this unstable in a *long* time (though as I said, maybe I'm just unlucky in this respect).

It also seems like they're no longer working on any patches (Brad essentially said that every time he fixed something people still complained that there were other things that needed fixing, and that he'd had enough of that), so I'm not very hopeful that the situation is going to improve either. Hopefully Fallen Enchantress will be better (the things I've read about it seem promising (then again, early on War of Magic sounded promising too)). I probably won't buy it at release though, since I'm horribly disappointed with how they've handled War of Magic.


Lots of people don't seem to have any issues with instability though, so maybe you'd have more luck than me.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:52 pm
by Stargazer
CB5000 wrote:
Sid meier's alpha centauri blew me away. I tried other turn based games, but in my opinion, nothing came close to alpha centauri... still my all time favorite strategy game.


SMAC was awesome. I never got around to playing the expansion though...
It'd be nice if it'd show up on Steam.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 6:13 pm
by JustAnEngineer
SMAC is $6 on GOG.

Re: Turn-based strategy games?

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:24 pm
by ShadowTiger
I know I'm late to this thread, but you missed some important ones.

Age of Wonders - The original game's graphics are pretty outdated (ie low resolution) but the Hero customization is good and there are a large variety of races.
Age of Wonders 2 / Shadow Magic - This sequel is improved, streamlined, and more polished. Looks and sounds great. Highly Recommended!

X-Com - If you haven't played it yet... what are you waiting for? The re-make? *goes and cries in a corner*

All of the other suggestions in this thread are good, though here are some others you might like:
Dominions 3 -> This game is pretty complex but many people love it. I haven't played it.
Solium Infernum -> this is a complex game that I haven't played, worth checking out if you have played everything else.
King of Dragon Pass -> This is not a traditional TBS game at all, but its a very well done for what it is. Available on iPhone and PC.