4X strategy games: i have no complaints but the genocide is too complicated

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > 4X strategy games: i have no complaints but the genocide is too complicated

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

I second the recommendation for FFH2, and you might also want to look at the derivative mods that spun off from it (I like Ashes of Erebus.)

If you're looking for something sci-fi and very approachable, Stars in Shadow is a great MOO-like indie 4x.

wiegieman fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Feb 21, 2023

# ¿ Feb 21, 2023 20:05

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 06:15

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

Jack Trades posted:

I think there's a misunderstanding going on here.

I think the idea is that an AI opponent would outwardly look as if it is the same kind of actor as the player, but internally they would follow completely different rules, with an AI written to be a good opponent rather than simulating a player playing by the same rules.

This really is the way to do it. From a player's perspective, what actually matters to us is that the same (or similar) number of units and buildings come out as if another human were playing. Don't make an AI to figure that out for you if it's easier to spawn them on a schedule.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2023 16:55

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

Jack Trades posted:

Also, speaking of Alpha Centauri.
I wish there were more 4X games with a strong mid-match narrative element. I really enjoyed the Endless Series primarily for that reason as well but I can't name any other 4X games like that.

SMAC/X is the gold standard for storytelling in a strategy game, nothing else comes close.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2023 19:14

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

uber_stoat posted:

they need to do a SMAC remake like that MOM remake. just polish up the graphics on level 3 and modernize the interface. you don't have to add anything else. i wouldn't say no if you did but...

The monkey's paw already curled on that one, and gave us Beyond Earth.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2023 20:14

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

In many ways, Distant Worlds does right what MOO3 was trying to do.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2023 19:40

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

orangelex44 posted:

I did the exact same thing with Deidre and Yang. That balding motherfucker was always a gigantic rear end in a top hat, and usually holed up in some pisshole of Planet with a handful of impoverished hovels just begging to be steamrolled. Diedre, on the other hand, was usually both powerful and willing to be friendly since I usually played Zakharov, Santiago or Lal (or Deidre herself). The only person who was even more hateful than Yang was Godwinson, who without fail would be gigantic. I never understood how since every time I played Believers they felt like a dogshit faction.

Not probing enough.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2023 05:31

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

Dierdre is the one who gets the godhood, so she was right.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2023 17:44

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

Hughlander posted:

There's a Battlestar Galactica game I never heard of that's described as an XCom style 4x in the BSG universe that's free on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/544610/Battlestar_Galactica_Deadlock/ Is this the right thread for that or is there a better one for tactical combat/research/resource management?

Not an XCOM, it's a broadside battleship tactics game with a strategic layer.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2023 20:19

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

Brendan Rodgers posted:

I know all that, it's "AI" and nowhere close to a true AGI. But I bet it could accidentally make better decisions than a 4X AI if you gave it the right prompt in a very limited and probably useless situation.

It could only repeat text descriptions of decisions that human beings had already posted to the internet.

GPT is a complex Markov chain, that's all.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2023 16:39

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

Jeb Bush 2012 posted:

this is either meaninglessly true or clearly false, depending how you define the state space of the supposed "markov chain"

Ok, how about "GPT uses a statistical model to mimic previously observed word relationships in order to imitate common human sentence structures in its training set"?

It's literally a chinese room.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2023 19:02

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

The terra invicta ai needs a little more work, but it's pretty good for how complex the game is. The aliens have to balance:

- building up their infrastructure in the oort cloud
- sending agents (meaning, ships) to Earth to mess with you
- establishing a jump off point further into the gravity well to attack human bases on Mars and especially the inner planets (Mercury is the hardest place for aliens to reach, and has abundant metals and solar power)

# ¿ Apr 12, 2023 06:37

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

StrixNebulosa posted:

STAR WARS (TM) Empire At War: Gold Pack really feels like MOO2 to me - or at least an evolution of it.

Now... am I feeling that way because it is, or because it's a space-themed 4X that features planetary invasions?

Empire at War is a really phenomenal game. Sure, realtime might not be everyone's thing, but the space fights especially are great.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2024 07:30

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

THE BAR posted:

I only wish that you could play conquest mode 1v1 without the third faction being semi-disabled, and that the corruption mechanic wasn't mostly busywork.

It being a hero sink and busy work for the other sides is definitely a downside, but if you're playing consortium it's a core game mechanic.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2024 03:37

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 06:15

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

My biggest problem with Stellaris is that the base game + the must-have DLC is $110, and there is not $110 of game in that.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2024 21:41

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > 4X strategy games: i have no complaints but the genocide is too complicated