Did you patch properly Distant Worlds?



I have been playing this game for over a year and have never had any issues with it.

I played Gal Civ 2 Ultimate Edition for many more hours than I have Endless Space, and yet I still feel like the latter has left a greater impression on me. There are many aspects of GC2 I enjoyed more than ES (AI, Diplomacy, Exploration, Invasion), but the smooth interface, playability, and untapped potential of Endless Space have caused me to choose the new kid on the block as the best 4X game I've played.



Sins gets honorary mention, and imo it's fleet battles are second to none. Beyond that though it's a very shallow game.

Yea, all patched - something to do with CLR20r3. Disappointed as I spent a fortune buying these games and its expansions! I've got a support ticket open, so lets give them the benefit of the doubt.

terrano wrote:
Did you patch properly Distant Worlds?



I have been playing this game for over a year and have never had any issues with it.

Master of Orion II clearly takes the crown here. It's hard to believe the game is already 16 years old.



I also liked Ascendancy back in the day, but it had a terrible AI (even the antagonizer didn't make the AI competitive). And I have played X3:TC a lot, but I wouldn't call it a 4x game.

yea, I still have fond memories of MOO2, even the graphics were great on my Apple Mac Performa 5300 haha! I haven't played a similar absorbing game since, though I just started Galactic Civs II. I need to learn some tactics for Endless Space as I have been defeated 3 times in a row

Ulsterman wrote:
Master of Orion II clearly takes the crown here. It's hard to believe the game is already 16 years old.



I also liked Ascendancy back in the day, but it had a terrible AI (even the antagonizer didn't make the AI competitive). And I have played X3:TC a lot, but I wouldn't call it a 4x game.

Sovereign108 wrote:
Yea, all patched - something to do with CLR20r3. Disappointed as I spent a fortune buying these games and its expansions! I've got a support ticket open, so lets give them the benefit of the doubt.

I had this exact same problem, mine is now working. If i recall correctly it is because of an issue with .net 4.0. I had to downgrade to 3.5 and update everything and then it worked. (I tried like 5 different fixes so this MAY not have been the one that worked, but it stands out in my mind)

I have .NET 3.5 & .NET 4. I don't think you can just downgrade or uninstall .NET 4 since other applications may use .NET 4. Regardless, I tried everything! It depends on support now

Xervitus wrote:
I had this exact same problem, mine is now working. If i recall correctly it is because of an issue with .net 4.0. I had to downgrade to 3.5 and update everything and then it worked. (I tried like 5 different fixes so this MAY not have been the one that worked, but it stands out in my mind)

excuse the ignorance, what is 4x?

From Wiki:



4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World. Since then, others have adopted the term to describe games of similar scope and design.



4X games are noted for their deep, complex gameplay. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of non-military routes to supremacy. Games can take a long time to complete since the amount of micromanagement needed to sustain an empire scales as the empire grows. 4X games are sometimes criticized for becoming tedious for these reasons, and several games have attempted to address these concerns by limiting micromanagement with varying degrees of success.



The earliest 4X games borrowed ideas from board games and 1970s text-based computer games. The first 4X games were turn-based, but real-time 4X games are not uncommon. Many 4X games were published in the mid-1990s, but were later outsold by other types of strategy games. Sid Meier's Civilization is an important example from this formative era, and popularized the level of detail that later became a staple of the genre. In the new millennium, several 4X releases have become critically and commercially successful.

he11h0und625 wrote:
excuse the ignorance, what is 4x?

Sovereign108 wrote:
From Wiki:



4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World. Since then, others have adopted the term to describe games of similar scope and design.



4X games are noted for their deep, complex gameplay. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of non-military routes to supremacy. Games can take a long time to complete since the amount of micromanagement needed to sustain an empire scales as the empire grows. 4X games are sometimes criticized for becoming tedious for these reasons, and several games have attempted to address these concerns by limiting micromanagement with varying degrees of success.



The earliest 4X games borrowed ideas from board games and 1970s text-based computer games. The first 4X games were turn-based, but real-time 4X games are not uncommon. Many 4X games were published in the mid-1990s, but were later outsold by other types of strategy games. Sid Meier's Civilization is an important example from this formative era, and popularized the level of detail that later became a staple of the genre. In the new millennium, several 4X releases have become critically and commercially successful.

thanks, more info than i expected.

Alpha Centauri is hands down the best 4x game i have ever played.

My choices :



Endless Space

Sword of the Stars (the first one, the second is disappointing)

Sins of a Solar Empire

Alpha Centauri



Other choices :

Distant Worlds (huge dynamic galaxies, up to 1400 stars, not too much micromanagement, more macromanagement in fact, good expansions, and overall great game even if it is in 2D)

The X-Universe series (completely different scale of game, you fly in a ship and own dozens of powerful ships, you can build factories and fly capital ships as well as fighters and freighters)

I gave Distant Worlds a look but it honestly isn't my type of game, I'm just totally missing any connection to the planets my empire owns, and terraforming is missing as well. It looks well done but isn't a game I'll pay for, especially not when I have ES which as said is far from perfect but it just does the things I need in a 4X at least a little right.

I think the first time I played a 4X game I was 14, and it was a demo of Alpha Centauri. I didn't get into the genre back then, most likely because IIRC the demo was in English, which I didn't understood back then, and being a complex game, it was very unlikely I would understand, much less enjoy it...



Skip half a decade, and I stumble on Alpha Centauri again, this time much more ready to enjoy it. And it's just like it filled something that was missing from my game experience until then (mostly games like Starcraft, Diablo 2 and Half-Life). For a moment I just couldn't stop playing it! So it might be nostalgia talking when I consider it one of the best games ever made. Or maybe because it really is, not only thanks to it's more "4X-y" qualities (IMHO it's superior in many aspects to Civilization 4 (and of course 5)), but because few games have a such well made atmosphere.



After that first encounter with the 4X genre I was left hungering for more... so I started searching and found Space Empires 4. That game filled my need for more complexity quite nicely... until the release of Space Empires 5 where I for the first time tried playing a 4X in multiplayer - which was really great because of the enormous diplomatic opportunities opened by playing a 4X via PBEM at the rate of about one turn per day... but also enormously time-consuming and difficult to keep a game going for the same reason.



In the recent years I mostly played Sword of the Stars 1, which brings unrivaled real-time combat to the 4X genre.



More later... (I voted for Alpha Centauri and Sword of the Stars.)

Anyone heard of Spaceward Ho! ? It was an old Apple Mac game. The demo was really fun too bad I didn't have the money back then to buy it.......

Alpha Centauri, MOO2,



Endless Space is slowly working its way into my list

It is hard to claim a favorite as each of them had something that made them great at the time.

I like MOO2 alot, Ascendancy for its at the time innovation in technology / research. Armada (the original was good as well) The first great one was Reach for the Stars but by comparision today.. to simple now. Space Empires 1 and V especially good as well.

SoTS is good but I do rate Endless Space as significantly a better game overall than it - it has more potential, a better MP experiance (not having to go read a book while combat timers wind down etc.) Just..better.

he11h0und625 wrote:
excuse the ignorance, what is 4x?

Short answer is

eXplore

eXpand

eXploit

eXterminate

MOO2 by a longshot.

- Easy, and non time consuming ship design that still let you customize, unique weapons rather than the typical rock/paper/ scissors approach.. (Black Hole Generators, Stellar Converters, good times!!!).

-Random events that affected gameplay but weren't crippling or win/ lose on their own. Mini goals within the games (defeating the guardian at Orion, etc).

-Races that played significantly differently.



I haven't really recaptured the joy of playing a 4x in the same way since.. Endless space has gotten close, but it is missing some items. (see above)

Distant Worlds for me.