4X Real Time 4X/Strategy games?

[Grampy_Bone]

After playing Stellaris, Anno 1800, and Rimworld quite a bit I'm finding it hard getting back into turn based games. I used to like Total War and Civ but now they just feel plodding and tedious. Any other good RT games out there to try? I gave Spice Wars a shot but it annoyed me the way your units get eaten by sandworms all the time (which to be fair is legit to the setting, but still aggravating). I also tried Terra Invicta but it runs very crappy and slow. Stupid early access unity games.

Thanks!

 

[Urthor]

Surprised at Stellaris being grouped in there.

Offworld Trading Company can be good, not quite sure that's what you mean though.

 

[laclongquan]

Warzone 2100 is good shit in term of real time configurable-design tank command-control combo with artillery and airsquadron. It is open source: https://github.com/Warzone2100/warzone2100. Sending 10 main battle tank hitting main gate straight on while a group of air to ground aircraft hit the arti base behind...

But the vanilla art assets are 2 decades old. I dont know if they ever do some graphical update for it.

 

[manifest]

Neptune's Pride, very fast-paced game.

 

[Galdred]

Neptune's Pride, very fast-paced game.

Indeed, but turn-based mode is much better if you want to get some sleep between the turns! NP is a great game, with a heavy focus on logistics and diplomacy.

It is quite old, but you could give Star Wars Rebellion a shot. It has an unwieldly UI, but is quite interesting.
Star Wars: Empires at War is not as deep, but much more usable. It also has cooler battles.

Otherwise, Sins of a Solar Empire is a good 4X-ish RTS.
You can also try one of the Crusader Kings if you liked Stellaris. I think 2 is the most mature, but it may have a bit too many DLC.

The Hegemony series is entirely in real time, without a separate battle phase.

You also have a few traditional RTS with 4X elements:
The Kohan series (quite old too, but still good), and Rise of Nations.

Children of a Dead Earth is also real time, but it is more about ship design and tactics, as there is no economy.

 

[L'ennui]

Sins of a Solar Empire for sci-fi 4X RTS goodness. It was a low-key masterpiece when it released, still looks and plays good, and is going to receive a sequel in the not-too-distant future.

For fantasy, try Kohan II, but keep in mind that the graphics have aged quite a bit (time has not been kind to early-ish 3D games). The gameplay is absolutely top-notch, though.

Seven Kingdoms II if you *really* want all those options that are usually left out of RTS and simpler 4X games – espionage, population loyalty and ethnicities, individual generals' loyalties and skill level, detailed economics and trade, etc... graphics and combat are subpar, unfortunately.

For a historical flavor you can't go wrong with Rise of Nations. It's a mix of Civilization and Age of Empires, and is one of the greatest RTS/4X games ever made.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Played Sins of a Solar empire, got sick of it.

 

[Catacombs]

After playing Stellaris, Anno 1800, and Rimworld quite a bit I'm finding it hard getting back into turn based games.

A couple worth trying:
Endless Legend
Age of Wonders
Master of Orion

 

[Galdred]

Sins of a Solar Empire for sci-fi 4X RTS goodness. It was a low-key masterpiece when it released, still looks and plays good, and is going to receive a sequel in the not-too-distant future.

For fantasy, try Kohan II, but keep in mind that the graphics have aged quite a bit (time has not been kind to early-ish 3D games). The gameplay is absolutely top-notch, though.

Seven Kingdoms II if you *really* want all those options that are usually left out of RTS and simpler 4X games – espionage, population loyalty and ethnicities, individual generals' loyalties and skill level, detailed economics and trade, etc... graphics and combat are subpar, unfortunately.

For a historical flavor you can't go wrong with Rise of Nations. It's a mix of Civilization and Age of Empires, and is one of the greatest RTS/4X games ever made.

That is why I recommended kohan 1. It is in 2d, and hasn't really aged. It is also a bit "faster" than k2, because cavalry is much stronger, and you have more cities.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

After playing Stellaris, Anno 1800, and Rimworld quite a bit I'm finding it hard getting back into turn based games.

A couple worth trying:
Endless Legend
Age of Wonders
Master of Orion

Endless legend was a complete miss for me and I can't remember why. Maybe I'll give it another try. MoO original and Age of Wonders were fine back in the day. I did try AoW Planetfall but got bored. I liked the combat but everything else felt perfunctory.

Found Distant Worlds 2 though so now I'm giving that a shot. Seems like Stellaris but more in depth, might be interesting. Not a huge variety to races though.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Played Sins of a Solar empire, got sick of it.

because you played it a lot or because you didn't like it?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Played Sins of a Solar empire, got sick of it.

because you played it a lot or because you didn't like it?

Played a whole bunch. Ultimately it felt limiting, lacking the full scope of a true 4x but no campaign like a normal RTS, so I got bored with scenarios. Heard the sequel is going in the 4x route.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

yeah, it's definitely not a 4x.

 

[Cael]

Neptune's Pride, very fast-paced game.

Indeed, but turn-based mode is much better if you want to get some sleep between the turns! NP is a great game, with a heavy focus on logistics and diplomacy.

It is quite old, but you could give Star Wars Rebellion a shot. It has an unwieldly UI, but is quite interesting.
Star Wars: Empires at War is not as deep, but much more usable. It also has cooler battles.

Otherwise, Sins of a Solar Empire is a good 4X-ish RTS.
You can also try one of the Crusader Kings if you liked Stellaris. I think 2 is the most mature, but it may have a bit too many DLC.

The Hegemony series is entirely in real time, without a separate battle phase.

You also have a few traditional RTS with 4X elements:
The Kohan series (quite old too, but still good), and Rise of Nations.

Children of a Dead Earth is also real time, but it is more about ship design and tactics, as there is no economy.

Star Wars: Rebellion has an easy "I win!" button/strategy, unfortunately.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Tried Distant Worlds 2, big miss. Reminded me of Master of Orion 3, which is not a good thing. Game mostly plays itself, the only thing you can build besides ships is mining stations. There's no limit so I build them around every planet. Boom, instant zillionaire. Then you sit there and watch techs roll in. Never saw another colonizable planet or enemy empire. Very odd. Sid Meier said games need to be a series of interesting choices and boy was that game lacking them.

Tried Endless Legend and had flashbacks to repressed memories. Couldn't shake the feeling I had played it way more than I thought, like an echo of some distant life, long forgotten. Deleted immediately.

Guess it's back to Stellaris.

 

[DakaSha]

AI War (1 or 2)

 

[index.php]

Star Ruler 2. You can download it legally for free from here: https://github.com/OpenSRProject/OpenStarRuler-Launchpad

 

[adddeed]

Imperium Galactica 2 is the best one. Its all real time with pause.
Also Haegemonia which still looks awesome to this day and has the best explosions seen in a space game.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Haegemonia I did play, I remember it being good. One of my friends was obsessed with Imperium Galactica but I don't think I ever tried it.

 

[Galdred]

Imperium Galactica 2 is the best one. Its all real time with pause.
Also Haegemonia which still looks awesome to this day and has the best explosions seen in a space game.

I didn't even remember IG2 being RT, but yes, that is an awesome suggestion. I binge played Haegemonia for a weekend, then totally forgot about it.

 

[adddeed]

I liked Haegemonia for its visuals, the fact that it played in a solar system as opposed to a galaxy, and that there is no transition between fighting and playing, it all takes place in the same time like a normal RTS.
Plus you can control ships in full 3D not a 2D plane only, can target specific parts of ships and stations, its got a nice campaign and some other things i dont remember now.

But Imperium Galactica 2 is just very feature full and with a tight focus plus real time which is a big thing for me. I consider it the most fun 4X game ive played.

 

[Grunker]

I enjoyed Crusader Kings but I'm shit at it

 

[laclongquan]

For fantasy, try Kohan II, but keep in mind that the graphics have aged quite a bit (time has not been kind to early-ish 3D games). The gameplay is absolutely top-notch, though.

Kohan is more like squad*based realtime I dont think you ever send more than 10 soldiers against equal or less. IIRC.

 

[Galdred]

For fantasy, try Kohan II, but keep in mind that the graphics have aged quite a bit (time has not been kind to early-ish 3D games). The gameplay is absolutely top-notch, though.

Kohan is more like squad*based realtime I dont think you ever send more than 10 soldiers against equal or less. IIRC.

That is true, there are 9 "sprites" in a unit, but they are called companies, so it should still count!
Also in Kohan 1 and 2, you are making cities and building mines, instead not managing workers.
But the "tech tree" (more like city upgrades actually) is closer from your usual RTS than a 4X tech tree.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Going to check out The Pegasus Expedition, but I can't figure out if it's real time or not.