I finally got Galactic Civ II and I am really enjoying the complexity of it. For a long time I stayed away from it but now I am glad I got into it.

How does Armada 2526 Gold edition compare to Gal Civ 2 and Sins of Solar Empire? Is Armada complex and detailed game. How is it different? Finally, how good is the AI? I want a complex and challanging gameplay.

thanks.

Armada 2526 is very underrated due to its bland graphics but gameplay wise I think its at the top with SOTS,DistantWorlds and MOO as the best 4X games on the market.

I never liked GC2 as it seemed very cheesy with unfunny jokes and a bland theme with lots of mechanics just thrown in with no frame of reference and a weak military side with no tacitcal combat.A poor mans Civ in my view.

Sins is a RTS pretending to be a 4x to mainstream gaming sites.

Get Armada, consider Sins and skip Sword of the Stars I or II (I know you did not ask about Swords but skip it anyway).

Armada is not as deep as GalCiv but its more fun and the games are shorter also (it has a good AI). For whatever reason, I have not put the time into Sins that I should have but its easy to see why its popular. Its real time but not fast paced at all, it has a good AI, there are plenty of options to keep players busy but not overwelming and it has a large fanbase with a ton of mods. If you want to try Sins I recommend going the cheaper route and buying Trinity to see if you enjoy it but if you want to play multiplayer buy the newer Rebellion. AAshbery76 mentioned Distant Worlds but I, based on personal preference, cannot recommend it. If you enjoy the EU series and its "living world" gameplay then you will love Distant worlds. If you are like me and boot up EU and just stare at the screen because you feel overwhelmed by the options - stay away from Distant Worlds. Its expensive too.

Armada and its addon are on sale today (only 8+- hours left on the sale) at Gamergate:

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-A2526SN/armada-2526-supernova

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-A2526/armada-2526

Here is a link for Sins - Note this can be obtained cheaper during a Stea/Gamestop sale:

http://www.amazon.com/Sins-Solar-Empire-Trinity-Pc/dp/B002FB5I4A/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1345398850&sr=1-2&keywords=sins+of+a+solar+empire+trinity

Originally Posted By Bishop (18 AUG 2012 2:38pm)

 

How does Armada 2526 Gold edition compare to Gal Civ 2 and Sins of Solar Empire? Is Armada complex and detailed game. How is it different? Finally, how good is the AI? I want a complex and challanging gameplay.

 

To break this down by category: 

1.)  In terms of complexity, I would describe Armada 2526 Supernova (Gold)'s as "medium": not as complex as Galactic Civilizations 2 or Distant Worlds, but definitely more so than Sins of a Solar Empire or Sword of the Stars.

Specifically, Armada's economic & research models are both much more streamlined than GalCiv2's -- not "dumbed down", just streamlined.  I find the technology and economic side of the game to generally be *much* more intuitive and easier to understand than in GC2 (which at times felt like one needed a masters degree in spreadsheet theory), while still retaining the necessary depth to be enjoyable. 

Like AAshbery, I found Sins to be a simple space RTS with a few light 4x elements thrown in -- enjoyable, perhaps, in its own way, but very shallow overall.  I felt the research & economic model in Sins to be very (almost absurdly) simple: "more=better!". Of course, the combat system is superior to either of the other two games, but that's about the only advantage Sins has IMHO. 

2.)  In terms of AI, all three games score pretty well in this respect.  GalCiv2's AI probably has a small edge over Armada's, while Sins' AI is probably the weakest of the three, relatively speaking (although it's still better than what I've seen in most strategy games). 

GC2's AI is often brilliant but wonky, and doing seemingly insane things at times.  The AI in Sins is generally smart (especially when on offense), but it also seems to be locked into "warlike" mode (not surprisingly).  Armada's AI isn't flashy, but it *is* competent (especially on the macro level), and I personally feel it does a better job than most grand strategy games of exhibiting "human-like" behavior.  Despite what I said at the beginning of this paragraph, I would actually say that Armada will likely give you a bigger challenge than GalCiv2, if only because the AI is steadier, less "schizo", and therefore is overall a tougher nut to crack. 

I agree with everything Martok wrote except I have a little more respect for Sins than he. Of the three Armada is by far my favorite.

Also note Armada and it expansion (the expansion is a must have) are a steal at its current sale price of a little over eight bucks for both.

Originally Posted By Fighting Farmer (19 AUG 2012 3:01pm)

I agree with everything Martok wrote except I have a little more respect for Sins than he. Of the three Armada is by far my favorite.

Yes, Armada 2526 is definitely my favorite as well.  In terms of my overall level of enjoyment, only Distant Worlds and my beloved old Birth of the Federation are comparable. 

I will say I enjoy GalCiv2.  However, aside from the game's economy (which has to be among the most byzantine I've ever encountered), I also feel it lacks a certain...something.  Technical-wise, it's a very good game, but I don't think it has the same level of immersion as most 4x titles (which probably has something to do with why Ashbery feels it to be so bland).  It is undeniably cheesy at times, and often the game feels like it's doing a "wink wink, nudge nudge" routine with you; I suspect this aspect of the game is very much YMMV. 

I try not to criticize Sins too much, as like SotS, I don't think I was really the game's intended audience.  I think what it tries to do, it does quite well, but it simply holds little appeal for me. 

I suspect my antipathy towards both those games is at least partially because they focus so heavily on combat (and war in general), which I find to be a turn-off in most 4x titles.  If I wanted to play a wargame, then I'd play a wargame. 

Originally Posted By Fighting Farmer (19 AUG 2012 3:01pm)

Also note Armada and it expansion (the expansion is a must have) are a steal at its current sale price of a little over eight bucks for both.

Agreed! 

I believe that Armada 2526 Supernova is the most underrated game of the last 10 years. And the gold edition is so cheap now it's almost a "sin" not to buy it. It's complex enough, galaxies can be huge and the AI does a good job.

Never could get into GalCiv2...the graphics are too cheesy for me and the fact that you cannot have really strategic positions disturbs me (even more than in GalCiv which i would consider if i were you). Of course i will try again at some point.

And i agree with the above, SoaSE cannot be compared to these two. It's a fun game. Again, i'd recommend Trinity as it doesn't have any DRMs and is a lot cheaper than Rebellion.

In summary, my recommandations:

1) Armada 2526 Supernova

2) GalCiv 1 (even if you play always as the humans)

3) Sins Trinity

If you can stand the graphics Space Empires IV is also pretty good. in fact I'd say much better than any of these 3. SoaSE I never could get past the GUI. It's just a FUBAR presentation. The second just adds a layer of bugs to the nightmare. You have to be a true believer to fight your way to the game underneath it all in either. GalCivII, aside from hampsters in space suites making up the lackluster lore, isn't even really a Civ in space because there are no star lanes nor any strategic elements to the map at all other than distance. A huge ommission that results in only one style of play. Tech race. Armada just never grabbed me. Been so long I played i don't even remember why.

SEIV has a peta GUI as well, but all the ship customizations are there, and after you get the hang of the interface you CAN SEE and UNDERSTAND where you are, where they are at least. 15 races. All of them boring like the rest of this 4x line up. But this, like swords, is a military game.

All in fact have flat lore and even worse presentations of them. None is a Emperor of the Fading Suns. Only MooII manages to present different races with enough connection to link to them and enough differences to warrant playing them. Sins also does this, but it's so RTS it becomes boring fast for me.

Avoid Space Empires V like a fat chick on a blind date. It never got fixed and it has A.I. even worse than Civ 5-- yes it is possible to get worse than that. Someday I hope to see Space Empires VI: The Apology

Well Space Empires IV would certainliy meet Bishop's desire for complexity!  (Hoo boy...) 

However, the AI in SE4 was very "meh" in my experience.  My impression is that even with mods, the AI is still only "okay" at best.  Better than Space Empire 5's AI, yes, but as you just indicated, that's not saying much.  Most of the games mentioned prior to your post have much better AI than any of the Space Empire titles. 

Originally Posted By ghostryder (20 AUG 2012 6:16am)

 

Avoid Space Empires V like a fat chick on a blind date. It never got fixed and it has A.I. even worse than Civ 5-- yes it is possible to get worse than that. Someday I hope to see Space Empires VI: The Apology

Heh. 

I have lots of these games and they all have their points

except SE 5.  I think everyone remembers that and MOO 3.

Like the fat chic on a blind date...that is what beer is for.

We need a space wargame about beer.

cheers

Just a recommendation for GalCiv 2, pick up the Star Trek vs Star Wars mod.... it is a lot of fun and one reason I picked this one back up.  Armada 2526 should not be played without the add-on (not as deep as GalCiv and a little bland, but strategically interesting.)

PE

Speaking of mods- in Space Empires IV there is a Star trek mod that is pretty darn good. Martok should give a look because as I understand it a lot of the mods resources were gotten from BOTF -

http://astempire.georgeperley.com/startrek/webpage/mainpage.html

I believe the 2.o update can still be had here:

http://www.spaceempires.net/downloads-cat-6.html

look for AST mod which is short for Atrocities Star Trek.

It changes the game significantly. So you need to know:

1. USE MOUNTS! - For Propulsion. - They reduce and scale the Warp Nacelle and War Core components.
2. USE 4 Warp Nacelles on Colony Ship! - If you read the abilities for each ship hull they will tell you if you need more warp nacelles.
3. UPDATE SE IV to 1.91 or later versions.
4. DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE LATEST COMPLETE VERSIONS OF THE IMAGE PACK - ALL PARTS. www.spaceempires.net IMAGE MOD MIRROR.
5. Remote mining is vital to your economy.
6. Mounts scale components ... Mounts scale components ... Mounts scale components ... So Use MOUNTS when appropriate.
7. Supplies in this mod are designed to be consumed. It is important that you consider this when you design ships. A ship with warp core X will use more supplies if it is ordered to move its maximum range in one turn. Keep in mind that all because your ship can go 10 sectors does not mean you should go 10 sectors. The further you move the more supplies you use up. Read below for more details.
8. Remote mining ships require 16 to 26 life supports. That is 10 regular life support components and up to six or more REMOTE MINING components. Remote Mining Components have life support abilities built in to them.
9. Remote mining and Barge ships are not good ships to be putting weapons on. They have a negative abilities that make them pretty much useless as weapons platforms.
10. You can only added an Expansion Construction Yard by {UPGRADING} an Expansion Construction Yard Project.

[size= medium]It is excellent and the reason I still play SEIV.

There is also another startrek mod name STM-

http://astempire.georgeperley.com/startrek/webpage/download.htm

Glad I didn't see this thread the other day when I was thinking of buying it-because I definitely would have bought it-AGAIN!

I got it for about $14 from D2D but then that game is gone now that they've changed to Gamefly. I could have gotten it for even cheaper with my Gamersgate IGN discount but I figured the last thing I needed was yet another game.