Strategy Games thread - CIV, Paradox Series, Endless, Total War, etc.

robertmac43

Forever 43!
Mar 31, 2015
23,095
15,176
I love myself a good RTS game. Still holding out for Age of Empire 4 to someday be a reality.

Did anyone in here ever play the Populous games, I loved Populous the Beginning when it first came out.
 
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NyQuil

Big F$&*in Q
Jan 5, 2005
95,348
59,258
Ottawa, ON
I love myself a good RTS game. Still holding out for Age of Empire 4 to someday be a reality.

Did anyone in here ever play the Populous games, I loved Populous the Beginning when it first came out.

I only ever played the original Populous on Amiga.
 

RandV

It's a wolf v2.0
Jul 29, 2003
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Ah, good to know, thanks. I'll pick up the expansion pass when I see it on sale again in the eshop.

It tends to all go on sale at the same time, although they're currently going through a batch of DLC releases in a 'season pass' so that last update may take a while. I gotta strongly disagree about the base game being "broken" though. Rather than DLC they use the old PC 'expansion pack' model and there should be two so each one adds a lot to the game. A way to look at it from my own experience is from the original Vanilla game it's good enough to keep me occupied for 100+ hours. By the time you get through the two expansions, and then start throwing in mods, I'm looking to finish up at more around 1000 hours.

Perhaps what could make it look bad is that at the launch of the new version it's not going to be as good as the full package of the last, it needs the expansions to catch up. Still worth playing though if you've worn yourself out on the last game.
 
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RandV

It's a wolf v2.0
Jul 29, 2003
26,831
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I love myself a good RTS game. Still holding out for Age of Empire 4 to someday be a reality.

Did anyone in here ever play the Populous games, I loved Populous the Beginning when it first came out.

Have you not seen this?



And yeah I played Populous back on the Genesis. Had fun with it though I don't think it's a game that would age well. For the time though the amount of content was amazing. The creator (Molyneux?) ran a kickstarter to make a new version a few years ago but it wasn't that well received.
 

filip85

Registered User
Feb 7, 2017
1,589
779
Anyone playing Armored Brigade ? Very good and in-depth RTT game. You can also generate your own campaigns !
 

Knave

Registered User
Mar 6, 2007
21,627
2,226
Ottawa
Have you not seen this?

In that same vein - Age of Empires 3's updated remake with better graphics and sound will be playable on October 15th:



They even added two modes that could be interesting depending on the time the dev team put into them - historical battles and challenge missions.

It's definitely been great to watch Microsoft revive old IP like Age of Empires and Flight Simulator and pour resources into them. As far as I'm aware they also have an entire studio working on potential Age of Empires inspired games. So not only is Age of Empires 4 coming (And Age of Mythology updated version?) but they'll be looking at other time periods and RTS games they can make from that.
 

Osprey

Registered User
Feb 18, 2005
27,092
9,353
In that same vein - Age of Empires 3's updated remake with better graphics and sound will be playable on October 15th:



They even added two modes that could be interesting depending on the time the dev team put into them - historical battles and challenge missions.

It's definitely been great to watch Microsoft revive old IP like Age of Empires and Flight Simulator and pour resources into them. As far as I'm aware they also have an entire studio working on potential Age of Empires inspired games. So not only is Age of Empires 4 coming (And Age of Mythology updated version?) but they'll be looking at other time periods and RTS games they can make from that.


I couldn't get into AoE3 for some reason. This will be a good reason to return to it and complete it.

Also, who wouldn't want to play as the warmongering Swedes?
 
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Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
My endorsement of Crusader Kings III will mean little to anyone who plays that game the way it's 'meant' to be played...but goddamn am I having fun pissing around as a dirty cheater because medieval stuff doesn't interest me so f*** it, let's make a random tribal chief from Sub-Saharan Africa completely OP and mess shit up.
 

Panthaz89

Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Panthers fan
Dec 24, 2016
13,191
5,711
Buffalo,NY
My endorsement of Crusader Kings III will mean little to anyone who plays that game the way it's 'meant' to be played...but goddamn am I having fun pissing around as a dirty cheater because medieval stuff doesn't interest me so f*** it, let's make a random tribal chief from Sub-Saharan Africa completely OP and mess shit up.
I mean play it how you want to play it I love the game and don't think there is a specific way to play it really. You realize how much your heirs siblings hate him when you become them later down the line lmao.
 

Prairie Habs

Registered User
Oct 3, 2010
11,937
12,259
Anyone else been playing Northgard? Been my go to lately but I never hear any buzz about it.
 

Knave

Registered User
Mar 6, 2007
21,627
2,226
Ottawa
Anyone else been playing Northgard? Been my go to lately but I never hear any buzz about it.

Any good review out there of how it plays? I've had it on my wishlist forever and seen it come up on sale occasionally but never hit the purchase button.
 

Prairie Habs

Registered User
Oct 3, 2010
11,937
12,259
Any good review out there of how it plays? I've had it on my wishlist forever and seen it come up on sale occasionally but never hit the purchase button.

I was recommended it by a friend, so there wasn't a particular review that sold me. As someone who prefers turn-based strategy it is a really fun RTS. Each of the clans feels different to play as and the DLC ones are pretty cheap when on sale. I don't play the competitive multi-player, and I'm sure there is an ideal build order, but for the average game of co-op or vs with friends pretty much any play style is viable to win.

My favourite mode is the conquest. Each clan has their own conquest to play and its a series of matches with specific rules and victory conditions. Each match you pick a bonus that will carry through for the rest of your conquest, so you frequently have to make a decision between picking a bonus that will help you in that specific match, or one that might have some more synergy down the line. If you ever get stuck on a difficult one you can just go back and play some of the optional ones to stack more bonuses and try again. Conquest is also full co-op, which is my favourite way to play. Most conquests will have a 1 vs 3, so if you are doing it co-op its a 2 vs 6 and those can be some epic matches.

They also added modding not too long ago, I haven't gotten too far into it, but from what I've seen it seems pretty good.
 

RandV

It's a wolf v2.0
Jul 29, 2003
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Vancouver
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Northgard is 60% off right now so pretty cheap... was hovering over the buy button but the DLC makes me cautious if it's something I want to go all in on which almost triples the price.
 

Prairie Habs

Registered User
Oct 3, 2010
11,937
12,259
Northgard is 60% off right now so pretty cheap... was hovering over the buy button but the DLC makes me cautious if it's something I want to go all in on which almost triples the price.

DLC is fun, but unnecessary. You can always play against the DLC clans, buying them just unlocks them to play as for yourself. It goes on sale fairly regularly, so if you just buy the base game to check out you'll have plenty of content to play until the next time the DLC comes on sale if you want to buy them.
 
May 27, 2012
17,070
856
Earth
I'm really big into Europa Universalis IV and tried the other Paradox games but there is a learning curve to some of the games. I tried Crusader Kings II and had no idea what I was doing. Saw CKIII and decided to give it a go and wow. I really enjoyed it. Took some time to understand some mechanics, but I'm understanding it better. It's a good game.
 

The Macho King

Back* to Back** World Champion
Jun 22, 2011
48,609
28,846
My endorsement of Crusader Kings III will mean little to anyone who plays that game the way it's 'meant' to be played...but goddamn am I having fun pissing around as a dirty cheater because medieval stuff doesn't interest me so f*** it, let's make a random tribal chief from Sub-Saharan Africa completely OP and mess shit up.
That is literally the way the game is meant to be played.
 
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The Head Crusher

Re-retired
Jan 3, 2008
16,710
2,064
Edmonton
So CKIII is going to get its own ASOIAF mod from the creators of the CKII mod. I look forward to it! Also....

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Osprey

Registered User
Feb 18, 2005
27,092
9,353
Apparently, yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Command & Conquer. I feel old.
 

Chimaera

same ol' Caps
Feb 4, 2004
30,888
1,713
La Plata, Maryland
Ugh... CK3 is so frustrating.

I'm trying to carve out a Buddhist empire in India. Have it rolling, then murders start happening around the palace. After a bunch of folks dying, turns out, my Son and Heir, has killed a bunch of people, and eventually murders my character. He also proceeds to get caught. So EVERYONE knows, and is pissed. Basically civil war on take over, game over. Didn't make a ton of sense, largely because I had +100 with him, and he didn't have any obvious traits that suggested it. I also repeatedly sought to find secrets in my capital, and it didn't turn up. Even with a pretty high spymaster.
 

The Head Crusher

Re-retired
Jan 3, 2008
16,710
2,064
Edmonton
Ugh... CK3 is so frustrating.

I'm trying to carve out a Buddhist empire in India. Have it rolling, then murders start happening around the palace. After a bunch of folks dying, turns out, my Son and Heir, has killed a bunch of people, and eventually murders my character. He also proceeds to get caught. So EVERYONE knows, and is pissed. Basically civil war on take over, game over. Didn't make a ton of sense, largely because I had +100 with him, and he didn't have any obvious traits that suggested it. I also repeatedly sought to find secrets in my capital, and it didn't turn up. Even with a pretty high spymaster.

So you got Littlefingered.
 
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