/vr/ - Retro Games

>>6097801
I wouldn't say so. The game balanced is ultimately very fucked. Pic related, IMO, is far better as a strategic experience.

Literally coined the term 4x.

>>5198657
If it weren't so buggy, it would be the perfect sci-fi 4x, way better than the MOOs. Shame it doesn't really work; I think the core design is awesome, much more tense and actually strategic instead of faux-strategic and highly tactical.

>>5177883
>Every 4x strategy game devolves into this.
Not really, no. Again, Master of Magic is hugely different in strategy and how you want to build your empire when it comes to book and race selection. Something like Fall From Heaven is built along very similar lines. Reach for the Stars, the game that actually coined the 4X term, would literally have an extremely tiny overlap in what sorts of worlds most races could settle, ensuring that a Human Empire and and a Trogarch empire and a Hive Empire all play massively differently with very different incentives.

>>4843103

>>4790582
>The best feature of MoO1 is that it's the simplest, most barebones 4X in the universe and it's still endlessly replayable
I'd like to have a word with you.

>>4225971
>It's a 4X and it's not built along the same lines as MOO2. Therefore it sucks!

>>4094812
It got bad reviews because it wasn't Moo2 style, apparently a mortal sin in a 4X. But it's really a brilliant strategy game, and it puts you in a sort of fleet commander or sector commander's chair. You don't order individual ships to fire individual guns, instead you set a formation and a range you try to get at, while your opponent does the same (both decisions made blind to your opponents decisions), actual range is determined by the relative value of the engines of the ships committed, and then your guys blast it out, with zero input on firing control.

Perhaps because it's simpler, the AI is far more competitive than within other strategy games.

>>3872782

To be fair, I don't think it's a "bad" game. It got a lot of bad reviews, but most of them were

>It's a space turn based strategy game but it's not like Master of Orion 2 so IT SUCKS!

which is dumb as hell.

>>3049894
Broderbund also make some kickass games back then. And there was a lot of nice adventure/IF, RPGs, puzzle, strategy, simulation games by various publishers.

>>1652703
Reach for the Stars.

Although there is an element of effective randomness. Each round of battle, each of you pick a formation. Certain formations maximize beam weapons vs missiles, but each is also good against 1 or 2 of the others, and weak against different formations.

Since you both pick blindly, it's effectively a crapshoot whether or not you've picked a good formation or a shitty one. (The bonus for picking a formation strong against the one your opponent has is a lot bigger than the ones for using beam weapons in a line or whatever)

Anyone ever play Reach for the Stars?

It's a bit more "strategy game in Space" than what is usually thought of as a 4x, but it's pretty cool. And brutally hard.

>>947093

Reach for the stars, if you don't savescum like a bitch.

Anyone play this? For all the love of Master of Orion, I don't think I've ever seen a discussion of the game that actually coined the term, 4X.

Don't know if anyone played pic related.

Not saying it was a brilliant game, but I thought it was a very good game. Unfortunately, it got a LOT of flak for being called a 4X game but not being a Master of Orion clone, which I think is quite unfair.

To be honest though, it's more of a "strategy game set in space" and less of a classic 4X game.