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threelemmings posted:So theoretically the hot gas dwelling giant balloon aliens had no real reason to compete with the tiny vacuum cold asteroid crabs. Stars! has a system where each planet (star, really) gets rolled 3 different habitability values, radiation, temperature and gravity, and in race design you can pick the midpoint and width of the habitability band for each of those. The most point-efficient way to get a wide habitability is to be near the middle with roughly equivalently sized bands, but there can be really serious diplomatic benefits of having at least one of the bands narrow and pushed far from the middle (because if you meet someone who did the same but in the different direction, you are the bestest of friends and can happily expand into each other's space without hurting each other). (I always thought it a little weird that there is a minimum radiation requirement for habitability.)
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Nov 4, 2022 14:49
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Demiurge4 posted:Stellar Monarch 2 has actually released as well, I haven't played it yet but apparently it's just the first game with bells and whistles. It's more an overhaul than a true sequel, to be sure, but some of the changes are substantial. There's a whole senate wrangling thing for passing laws now and military stuff is fully automated.
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Nov 4, 2022 15:17
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Tuna-Fish posted:(I always thought it a little weird that there is a minimum radiation requirement for habitability.) Light is a form of radiation. Presumably, the idea is that planets with too little radiation are too far from their sun for the species's preference. Of course, that might not match up with how planets were generated in Stars!, I dunno, never played it.
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Nov 4, 2022 15:26
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Yooper posted:Anyone tried DW2 with the new big patch? I've been waiting to pick it up until it had some polish on it. Ive put about 50 hours in the game over the last month or so, with a few of those being since the big patch. So not a whole lot, but the game, so far, seems completely playable and relatively polished. I haven't run into or recognized any bugs of any sort.
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Nov 4, 2022 15:42
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Kvlt! posted:anyone have recs for "coffee break" 4X games if they exist? Don't have to be actual short spanned in game length, but just something lighter than Civ to tinker with after work when im tired and don't have a lot of brainpower to use YMMV whether it still counts as 4X for you or is just a tad too removed from the genre, but Slipways is amazing. Here's the old, highly unreadable prototype you can check out as a demo of sorts.
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Nov 4, 2022 16:40
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Kvlt! posted:anyone have recs for "coffee break" 4X games if they exist? Don't have to be actual short spanned in game length, but just something lighter than Civ to tinker with after work when im tired and don't have a lot of brainpower to use Not sure if it ever got any love around these parts, but Sid Meier's Starships is pretty drat trimmed down and very playable in small doses. Definitely not the deepest of games. But it hits the "idle time waster" itch just fine.
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Nov 4, 2022 16:44
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Tuna-Fish posted:Stars! has a system where each planet (star, really) gets rolled 3 different habitability values, radiation, temperature and gravity, and in race design you can pick the midpoint and width of the habitability band for each of those. The most point-efficient way to get a wide habitability is to be near the middle with roughly equivalently sized bands, but there can be really serious diplomatic benefits of having at least one of the bands narrow and pushed far from the middle (because if you meet someone who did the same but in the different direction, you are the bestest of friends and can happily expand into each other's space without hurting each other). Stars! always interested me, but I never managed to get it to work on my modern PC. Is there a GOG-version or something available?
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Nov 4, 2022 17:55
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Libluini posted:Stars! always interested me, but I never managed to get it to work on my modern PC. Is there a GOG-version or something available? It runs great under wine. If you have no linux machine to run it on, install WSL2 or a linux virtual machine, and then run wine under that. This is true of a lot of 16-bit windows games of the era.
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Nov 4, 2022 18:28
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Thanks for the coffee break recs everyone! Ozymandias and FreeCiv are both exactly what I was looking for. Tho I gave Dominions 5 a shot and its completely hooked me over the other 2 lmao.
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Nov 4, 2022 20:04
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Civ Rev was pretty fun back when I played it on my NDS, games usually lasted 2-3 hours prehistory to space age. There are versions for other Also take a look at Polytopia.
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Nov 4, 2022 20:12
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Is Polytopia the same game as "Battle of Polytopia" on Steam or is that a sequel/spin off?
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Nov 4, 2022 20:15
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Kvlt! posted:Is Polytopia the same game as "Battle of Polytopia" on Steam or is that a sequel/spin off? Yeah. That one was originally on mobile and might be best played there.
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Nov 4, 2022 20:17
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I played the poo poo out of Stars! back in the day, and yeah the hab ranges and some of the faction-specific techs could make the game play very differently. It needs to be run on an emulator nowadays, but there is still a hosting site for multiplayer games: https://starsautohost.org/stars.htm
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Nov 4, 2022 20:22
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Tuna-Fish posted:It runs great under wine. If you have no linux machine to run it on, install WSL2 or a linux virtual machine, and then run wine under that. Thanks, last time I checked, I simply assumed it's one of those weird old games that need Win 3.1 or Win 95 to run and are now forever lost. Didn't know Stars! was a Linux-game, my next inept install attempt would have gone done the wrong road,  Edit: OK, now looking at the other post, that's the same website I stumbled across earlier and it claims Stars! is a Windows-game? So what is it now, Linux or Windows?  By the way, any idea how to get the 2005 Matrix Games version of Reach for the Stars? Annoyingly they still have the last patch available for download, but stopped selling the game. I'm imagining because they hate money. 
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Nov 4, 2022 20:32
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my dad posted:Freeciv is a free and improved version of the first civ games, it's very intuitive if you've played the series before, but much simpler overall, and easy to pick up and set down without having to worry about remembering what tile adjacencies you were reserving a tile for or whatever that the new games have. Play on one of the easier settings so the AI doesn't get a bunch of bonuses, and you're golden. Kinda reminds me of a game I used to follow a looong time ago, C-Evo.
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Nov 4, 2022 20:39
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Libluini posted:Edit: OK, now looking at the other post, that's the same website I stumbled across earlier and it claims Stars! is a Windows-game? So what is it now, Linux or Windows? wine is a compatibility layer that allows windows programs to run on linux. i wouldn't be surprised if wine retains better compatibility with old windows than windows itself does at this point
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Nov 4, 2022 20:41
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Libluini posted:Thanks, last time I checked, I simply assumed it's one of those weird old games that need Win 3.1 or Win 95 to run and are now forever lost. Didn't know Stars! was a Linux-game, my next inept install attempt would have gone done the wrong road, It's not a Linux game. WINE (which is an acronym for "Wine Is Not an Emulator") is a reimplementation of Windows APIs on top of Linux. They have much better backwards compatibility than modern windows, and can run a lot of old stuff that no longer runs on windows. Also, the AI on Stars! is really rudimentary, the full experience really needs human opponents. Valatar posted:I played the poo poo out of Stars! back in the day, and yeah the hab ranges and some of the faction-specific techs could make the game play very differently. It also has great operational combat, that imo really hasn't been matched by later games. In most 4x games moving around fleets just consists of making a really big blob and slamming it at enemy blobs. The "galaxy" in Stars! is just a grid of (iirc up to 4000x4000) locations, which might have a star but are mostly empty space, and ships can move to and stop anywhere. Add minefields, which don't necesarily hurt big ships that much, but which crucially *stop them* if they try to move through too fast, and suddely there's a whole emergent layer where large battles can be decided not by the big ships shooting at big ships but by skirmishing, minesweeping and protecting your own minelayers outside the actual battle. Probably my greatest video game achievement, or at least the one that felt most like one, was when I was 15 or so when I was playing a -f SD (means: "I have great mines, and I build nothing particularly valuable on planets so I can evacuate cheaply when necessary"), I was jumped by 3 neighbouring players who had just drastically more powerful fleets than I had, and over two months or so I managed to outright win the "small war" to the point where their massive fleets, which were much more powerful than what I could face, were reduced to moving 16ly/turn on my territory trying to do damage to me while I wrecked their homeworlds and took out all of their ability to reinforce until they all quit, all without ever actually beating their fleets in battle. Good times. Valatar posted:It needs to be run on an emulator nowadays, but there is still a hosting site for multiplayer games: https://starsautohost.org/stars.htm I saw "4 games running" and was almost shocked that people are still playing this. Sadly, they seem like ones that have just been forgotten on hold instead of being ended. The last turn is from May of this year.
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Nov 4, 2022 20:51
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Ah, now I remember! Yeah, for some reason I totally forgot what WINE was. Too bad about rudimentary AI, but I'm playing space 4x games mostly as some sort of space civilization simulator, so human opponents are neither desired nor needed. 
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Nov 4, 2022 21:14
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Anyone ever play Call to Power 2? I have it in my GOG library but never played it. I saw that it’s moddable. If I wanna give it a shot, are there any recommendations for mods or unofficial patches?
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Nov 5, 2022 02:08
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chaosapiant posted:Anyone ever play Call to Power 2? I have it in my GOG library but never played it. I saw that it’s moddable. If I wanna give it a shot, are there any recommendations for mods or unofficial patches? Played it as a kid, surprisingly solid. But I think has issues running on modern systems. No idea about patches.
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Nov 5, 2022 08:27
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my dad posted:Played it as a kid, surprisingly solid. But I think has issues running on modern systems. No idea about patches. So after asking my question, I installed it and installed the unofficial Apolyton Patch/Mod, and it runs just fine. No issues and I can even set it to Widescreen. So I’m giving that a go at 1600x900 so the units and UI aren’t too small and it runs like a champ!
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Nov 5, 2022 08:41
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call to power, both 1 and 2, had some insanely good ideas for civilization clones that i haven't seen since and it's sad. they're just about the only civ game that goes from pre-history and pretty deep into future tech where you get insanely cool poo poo like undersea colonies and tanks that can cross shallow oceans, and where you can attack/defend with stacks of units so artillery and support units actually work like you'd expect also, my favourite QOL feature, settlers are only used for making cities. instead, you set a public works tax that converts production into a PW pool from which you can build tile improvements, just like tax converts trade into gold
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Nov 5, 2022 08:44
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chaosapiant posted:So after asking my question, I installed it and installed the unofficial Apolyton Patch/Mod, and it runs just fine. No issues and I can even set it to Widescreen. So I’m giving that a go at 1600x900 so the units and UI aren’t too small and it runs like a champ! Cool! Things I remember: Don't neglect public works, tile improvements are important. Remember you can change the number if your priorities change. Keep workdays high and food provisions low as much as you can without causing revolts, it greatly speeds up your production and growth (since it's based on excess food). Try not to drop your combat readyness, it takes forever to raise again, and doesn't save you that much in upkeep anyway. Keep a healthy mix of infantry, ranged, and cavalry units. Your infantry does a decent job in their weaker role if backed by ranged units or even a cavalry unit or two if it's a smaller fight where you outnumber the enemy and the flanking mechanic applies. Don't overbuild mid tier tile improvements over already existing tier 1s, since you don't get any sort of discount when upgrading or changing. First tier ones are cheap enough that you have no excuse not to spam them out ASAP. Slavery is really powerful early on, letting you farm enemies for extra pops that only eat half food, but presents a huge risk of civil war once the Emancipation Proclamation wonder is built later on. Don't underestimate agent units (the slaver being the first), when used right, their abilities are really powerful. Spreading your religion around isn't very effective since the enemy tends to just stamp it out with military units and don't care about the resulting unrest as much as you do, but abolitionists inciting slave revolts, corporate executives franchizing (watch out for lawyers, they'll literally sue you to death, and then walk over to one of your cities and file an injunction to salt the wound), and biological warfare guys crippling cities can be really potent. Ecoterrorists are basically just 'clean' nuclear weapons that don't leave polution behind, treat them as nukes since the AI does too iirc. The big ultralategame tanks you get can survive nukes, but IIRC not ecoterrorists. The tanks in question have zero mobility (which translates to: move exactly one tile no matter what road you have, the idea being that they're basically bunker cities on tracks) which means they're only really useful on the defense anyway. It's not particularly relevant if you build the nanite defuser and just delete all nukes on the map, but it's nice to know. e: Truga posted:also, my favourite QOL feature, settlers are only used for making cities. instead, you set a public works tax that converts production into a PW pool from which you can build tile improvements, just like tax converts trade into gold Absolutely! my dad fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Nov 5, 2022 |
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Nov 5, 2022 08:59
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Truga posted:also, my favourite QOL feature, settlers are only used for making cities. instead, you set a public works tax that converts production into a PW pool from which you can build tile improvements, just like tax converts trade into gold Mine was the ability to make actual colonies on resources that were too far outside of your border. So if the only source of oil was on the other side of the map you didn't have to build a whole city. I really wish Civilization had incorporated that idea.
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Nov 5, 2022 12:41
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all i remember about call to power is bombing cities into submission with televangelists and lawyers
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Nov 5, 2022 17:12
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Electric_Mud posted:Mine was the ability to make actual colonies on resources that were too far outside of your border. So if the only source of oil was on the other side of the map you didn't have to build a whole city. (I really liked civ 3 and think it got too much poo poo when it introduced a lot of concepts that civ 4 refined into greatness  )
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Nov 5, 2022 18:53
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Anyone playing Victoria 3? Is there a thread for it?
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Nov 5, 2022 20:45
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Mayveena posted:Anyone playing Victoria 3? Is there a thread for it? https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3968353&pagenumber=255&perpage=40 I haven't played it yet but it sounds like a typical paradox release. Will probably be great after a couple of dlc cycles
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Nov 5, 2022 20:47
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Mayveena posted:Anyone playing Victoria 3? Is there a thread for it? Yes, and yes. (E: oops, beat me to it)
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Nov 5, 2022 20:49
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distortion park posted:https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3968353&pagenumber=255&perpage=40 It’s top 100 on Steam which kind of surprised me and made me think perhaps the original release was worth getting.
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Nov 5, 2022 21:09
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Mayveena posted:It’s top 100 on Steam which kind of surprised me and made me think perhaps the original release was worth getting. it's good but if you haven't been excited enough about it to pick it up on release already, waiting for a few months is probably the correct move
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Nov 5, 2022 21:35
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Haifisch posted:It was a thing in civ 3, the forgotten member of the civ family. Civ 3 will always be best Civ because your leader portraits got different outfits for different ages.
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Nov 5, 2022 21:46
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I actually installed Civ III and started a game. Isn’t that the first game where culture borders could take over cities? Also, it works decent in widescreen.
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Nov 5, 2022 21:55
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Haifisch posted:It was a thing in civ 3, the forgotten member of the civ family. loving wild, I logged a lot of hours in that game and don't think I ever saw that as an option.
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Nov 5, 2022 22:48
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V for Vegas posted:Civ 3 will always be best Civ because your leader portraits got different outfits for different ages. uh, civ2 upgrading the throne room? far superior imo
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Nov 6, 2022 03:42
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redleader posted:uh, civ2 upgrading the throne room? far superior imo Upgrading the whole palace was better
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Nov 6, 2022 04:13
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papasyhotcakes posted:Upgrading the whole palace was better This!
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Nov 6, 2022 09:15
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Civ2 because of this guy
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Nov 6, 2022 12:01
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I will always love Civ II, both for this guy and for having a massive special edition with tons of mods added in, because one of those mods was a Master of Orion mod, which allowed me to recognize Master of Orion III when I found it in the cheap trash bin at our local video rental. 
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Nov 6, 2022 12:42
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The Civ2 build-in mods were wild. in the best possible way. That game delivered a lot of game.
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