Looking for a good space 4X game; any suggestions?

[YuheJi]

Maybe consider buying the MOO1+2 pack from GOG? They come wrapped in DosBox so all you need to do is click the shortcut. I don't mind spending a little money for a helpful result. Or you could keep messing with DosBox, it is worth it either way.

Try this. I have the two Master of the Orion games from gog and they run very well. And they are excellent games!

 

[Tallim]

Oh how did I forget :/ You could try Space Empires IV. Really nicely designed and a ton of mods out for it. Space Empires V also exists but it's not quite as refined as 4 (imo).

If you have people to play multi with then 4 is really worth your time.

 

[aPod]

Also, I heard about this game called Endless Space, which seemed realy cool up until I looked up some footage of the combat, which I really don't think I'll like. If anyone here has played Endless Space, is the combat more fun than it looks?

No the combat is not very fun. The game is still in Alpha but it's mostly about expansion. It plays more like Galactic Civ (in a way) than Sins.

The combat is basically rock paper scissors where you pick a card and just watch the ships blow each other up.

Still I have enjoyed the game but I think it might not be what you're looking for.

 

[veloper]

MOO2 is still the undisputed king.

After that come the clones like the Space Empires series (#4 is best) and realtime hybrids like Distant worlds and Sins.

 

[Scars Unseen]

MOO2 is still the undisputed king.

After that come the clones like the Space Empires series (#4 is best) and realtime hybrids like Distant worlds and Sins.

Honestly, I prefer Distant Worlds to MoO2. MoO2 is a great game, no doubt, but Distant Worlds' automation ended up winning me over. Only with the expansions though.

Amusingly, there is a MoO mod for Distant Worlds.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Also, I heard about this game called Endless Space, which seemed realy cool up until I looked up some footage of the combat, which I really don't think I'll like. If anyone here has played Endless Space, is the combat more fun than it looks?

No the combat is not very fun. The game is still in Alpha but it's mostly about expansion. It plays more like Galactic Civ (in a way) than Sins.

The combat is basically rock paper scissors where you pick a card and just watch the ships blow each other up.

Still I have enjoyed the game but I think it might not be what you're looking for.

Yeah, I think that if they want to make combat different than other 4X games, they need to ditch the cards and make more of a turn based tactical RPG. Kind of like the Skies of Arcadia skyship battles, only with fleets.

 

[Zipa]

Endless space , it's a new game (only in alpha ) I bought it off steam for £22 and it's pretty damn amazing ( if you per order you get to play the alpha ) even though it's not finished it still works really well and doesn't feel like a alpha build at all .

 

[GiglameshSoulEater]

Oh! Sins of a Solar Empire. Very, very good gameplay.

It is amazing, and available on steam.

A sequel is coming out (SIns of A Solar Empire: Rebellion) so it may be worth waiting. I can't remember how long he delay is until release.

Very first line of the OP said he already had it...

Which means I don't have anything to recommend either, because I'm not really all that big on strategy games.

So he did. Dammit!
/incompetence

What about... uh... Sword of the Stars?
Not the second, the first. You can probably find it on old game sites.

 

[Saladfork]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'll check these out, see which one piques my interest the most.

Sword of the Stars was amazing, Sword of the Stars 2 is really getting there as well.

Is it? I was under the impression that SotS2 still wasn't finished yet.

 

[Altorin]

Have you played Alpha Centauri? Game of the Year all years if you ask me.

pretty much this. There's a mod for Civ 4 that basically tries to recreate Alpha Centauri, but the original is really good.

 

[Dirty Apple]

GalCiv2 has my full support. Truly a great game, and the preeminent modern 4x space opera.

 

[Tuxedoman]

Endless Space.
Its still in Alpha, but its quite highly polished so far. $22 on Steam.
Its combat looks like Rock Paper Scissors at first glance, but its a bit more in depth than that if you give it a chance. Take some time to look at what hostile fleets are armed with, how big the fleet is etc etc, and select the combat cards based on that.
Only problem is that it doesn't have multiplayer yet. Thats being put in later when the team finishes writing and testing the networking for the game.

 

[Aeshi]

Star Ruler might be worth a look at if you want something more complex.

 

[lacktheknack]

Have you played Alpha Centauri? Game of the Year all years if you ask me.

Goddammit, this was the first thing that popped to my head when I saw this thread.

But yeah. Alpha Centauri, recommended 9001 times. Gog.com has a Windows 7 compatible version for dirt cheap.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I'd say get Sword of the Stars (the first one). You can pick the complete game + expansions on Steam. Great game and loads of bang for your buck. As for the second one ... Well let's just say I got it close to release last year, and I'm still getting bi-weekly bug fixes downloading. Such a disappointment. The first one is great and I've had no issues.

As a curveball I'm also suggesting Star Trek: Birth of the Federation. My first ever 4X game, and one of the best Star Trek games. If you're a fan give it a go. No idea if it's available digitally anywhere as its quite old. If you see a bargain copy you could do a lot worse.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Most of the stuff has already been mentioned but I want to throw another recommendation out there for Master of Orion 2, it is easily my favorite 4X space game there is. Galactic Civilization 2 is pretty good too. I just didn't like the stats vs stats combat compared to the turn based combat of MoO 2.

 

[uttaku]

I'll join the echoing of both Galatic Civilisations 2 and Sword of the Stars, both amazing 4x games that make you wonder where your evening just went. GalCiv 2 is probably more strategic and complex while sots has better battles, multiplayer and is more streamlined (in a goodway)

 

[Amaror]

First off, I already have Sins of a Solar Empire, and I like it a lot, but I've gotten a little burnt out on it lately.

Also, I heard about this game called Endless Space, which seemed realy cool up until I looked up some footage of the combat, which I really don't think I'll like. If anyone here has played Endless Space, is the combat more fun than it looks?

I've considered Sword of the Stars, but the first one hasn't come very well recommended to me so far and the second is apparantly a complete disaster.

I'd try Masters of Orion 2 if I could get dosbox to work on my computer, but so far I haven't had much luck with that.

Any other ideas or recommendations?

I played it and the combat is indeed fun to play.
It sounds kinda boring, because you just select cards to block the actions of the other player and give your ships boni, but they can really change the outcome of the battle, and the battle itself just looks fantastic, although the camera sometimes insist on staring into empty space, while ships explode around it, but you can live with that.