Well I was sorting through the bargain bin of my local EB store the other day

( what ever happened to independent game outlets? where are the geeks fulfilling life long dreams of owning a computer game/comic store? I hate trying to talk to some kid who doesn't even know what RPG stands for, and don't even get me started on teeny-boppers (cheerleaders?) working in gaming stores - for f'ing sake - the majority of gamers these days are over 20 and closer to 30! I want product knowledge and an intelligent conversation - if i wanted to look at slightly wrong sexy girls I'd just log on to the screen shot section of tesnexus... and the stock list!!!! what the!!! if you want to buy something that isn't in the top 50 games list or made by a minor developer/ production company forget it! Australia just doesn't cater for these markets. )

wow how did i get onto that rant...

Any way.. I came across this game "Galactic Civilizations 2" and simply loved it! It took me back to the days of moo2 (masters of orion 2 for you younglings) ( I didn't actually get this from the bargin bin, it was purchased on line - that was just a good intro to my rant )

I noticed someone else compared it to Civ 4, which is pretty accurate, but I would have to say it is a little more in depth.

So my question is...

are there any other game titles like this out there? Real classics? EOB style for RPGs? or X wing type for simulators? Old style, but with modern physics and graphics.

It just seems like each year the average age of the gaming community gets a little older, but the games get a little more 'dumbed' down.... (just think simcity societies)

Any insights on to this phenomenon would be appreciated...


On a completely different note - where can I get a non-demo copy of Daggerfall from? (preferably not second hand)


Thanks,

Are you asking if there are any other great lesser known titles by indie developers out there, or are you asking about something else altogether? If the former, you might want to try out the recently released Sins of a solar empire, which is published by the same people as Galciv 2, and is supposed to be excellent. Otherwise, you're going to have to be a little clearer.

Oh, and there is no way Galciv 2 is more in-depth than Civ 4. Yes, it is similar, yes, it is excellent, but no, it is not more in-depth. It is a great game, though.

Ah mate, I'm not to sure what I was asking... A little of both questions I guess, indie games and the question of why games are getting less involved/complex (except for a few notable examples)

I'll check out that game recommendation.

Thanks for the reply

As far as space strategy games go, I like Malfador Machinations' Space Empires 5. Good graphics, but you'd have a hard time finding a computer that doesn't meet the minimum specs.

It's worth noting that it's fairly modifiable.

Personally, I like Galciv 2 for its modding potentials. Any time I feel bored, it's a nice change of pace. There was however one game I liked a little more, which is pretty much impossible to get any more. Stars! is a game similar to Galciv, it may have been alot less flashy (runs well on a system with 1994 hardware), but had the startegy aspects there. It offered full cusomization of racial abilities, what planets they could inhabit, what techs they had access to (verses almost every race having identical techs in Galciv). Unfortunately the company which made the game went bankrupt before I was able to buy it (only managed to play shareware). There were a few attempts to recreate it as opensource, but don't think any of them came about. As much as I hate to admit it, you can't even find a pirated version of the game... It's that rare.

Aside from that one, none of the other space civ games I've come across have had the flexibility that can keep me playing for long. Hopefully Spore will be worth the hype.

I have Glactic Civ 2. I even have “The Dread Lords” expansion. This game really surprised me, for I did consider it is what “MoO3” should have been. I even like the story ^_^

Don’t get me wrong, despite all the negativity; I really ‘did’ like Master of Orion 3. It didn’t play like MoO2 for a reason – it was taking a new front in how the game series played.

Now the trouble with “3” is that it was incomplete. They gimped down the races from 32 to 16, left far too many ‘bugs’ in the game, even after two official updates, and some types of ships were just completely ‘broken’ – I.E. if you had ‘this particular design’, you were pretty much god.
And it had a very steep learning curve, one such that it is NOT for the casual gamer.

Now, getting back to Galactic Civ 2; oh yes, you can even play the game without the CD – specifically designed that way. It’s a great game, though when playing you must of course understand it’s a ‘strategy’ game and not a space combat game, which is why the space combat is simplified into a ‘rock-paper-scissor’ type system.

Now if you want nice games that may not be popular… Dungeon Siege was a good game. If you want something different, “impossible creatures”; though that game just didn’t ‘click’ with me. But I will give it credit it was different. (It’s more or less a RTS game with a mixture of research and combination elements).

I even liked “The Settlers IV”. I’ve yet to play “5”, but for me I liked the novelty of that game even if the system was a bit clumsy.

dungeon Siege! I loved that game! It really got hammered by most people, though I was never sure why. It looked great, play was simple but fun, xp'less levelling was great, I like that if I just practice with something I get better at it. Dungeon siege 2 on the other hand... look worse than number 1 and was just painful.

STOP TURNING OUR GAMES INTO CARTOONS.

I'm not directing that at anyone, I was just looking on line for a new game and really 'everything' is turning into a 'cartoony' look. WOW being the king of this I guess.

Settlers was fun, but a little too clumsy for me, I just couldn't keep playing it.

never heard of impossible creatures, but I'll go google it now.

"Rage of mages"


not a bad game, actually and you'll be familiar with the controls and layout.

that's a VERY unknown game that you can find in the bargain bin, and to tell the truth, for some reason I liked. ^_^

i have Gal. Civ. 2, i think it also have the expansion. Actually, I THINK its just only Dread Lords. I played it a little bit, kind of addicting. Both my parents are slightly into gaming. My dad bought it on a whim thinking, i think, it was one of those 'command your ship first person style' i think...

anyways...its not too bad in my opinion , i play Diablo 2 [that game needs an up to date version =)] but thats another story...
dont want to be getting into 'old games' but i played [man i forget the name of the game, i think its Quest For Glory] as well...never beat it...

Edit 1: I forgot to mention Fire Warrior lol...suck i'm on dial-up, but i've played wow, almost a single character to 70 (had 68 warrior on Balnazzar) and i stopped cause it did kind of get repetitive, thats why i like oblivion, it can be changed around quite a bit, and it has brute force in it, not a cartoon look. and is single player (multi but i would love to try the tes online mod thing] =D even if i had to start a new game so both players are compatible lol [actually i'm going to look that multiplayer thread up now ]