4X Real Time 4X/Strategy games?

[Young_Hollow]

Does Star Ruler and Star Ruler 2 count? IIRC SR2 has been ''completed'' and opensourced by the devs but its the kind of open-sourcing where the game is still available for sale and only the code is public.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Star Ruler 2 is on the list to try.

Pegasus Expedition is actually TB. Boo. It was also more story focused than I like, though it's kinda interesting to start out a strategy game at the head of a galactic invasion fleet.

 

[Scarcity]

Does Star Ruler and Star Ruler 2 count? IIRC SR2 has been ''completed'' and opensourced by the devs but its the kind of open-sourcing where the game is still available for sale and only the code is public.

SR2 is an alright Stellaris but as you discovered already yourself: It lacks direction going forward. Frankly, might as well play Stellaris.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Stellaris is fun but it lacks any challenge for me anymore. I've definitely experienced its full content, and the expansions are generally more of the same, other than randomly making wars infuriating every other patch.

 

[Young_Hollow]

Stellaris is fun but it lacks any challenge for me anymore. I've definitely experienced its full content, and the expansions are generally more of the same, other than randomly making wars infuriating every other patch.

Did you play with all the DLC?

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Distant Worlds 2

Give 1 a try.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Did you play with all the DLC?

I haven't played since Overlord came out so I don't know if that makes any huge changes. Last game I played I did Nemesis and "became the crisis" which was kinda fun. Make a Krogan-type race and obliterated the galaxy.

I always shut off Distant Stars because the L cluster is super annoying and the rewards are totally not worth it.

 

[Young_Hollow]

Did you play with all the DLC?

I haven't played since Overlord came out so I don't know if that makes any huge changes. Last game I played I did Nemesis and "became the crisis" which was kinda fun. Make a Krogan-type race and obliterated the galaxy.

I always shut off Distant Stars because the L cluster is super annoying and the rewards are totally not worth it.

I'm not familiar with the mechanics but I've always been discouraged by all the DLC and the idea of being left behind balance-wise once the next DLC releases and the devs neglect the previous issues. In your opinion, can you get a similar experience with something without so much DLC?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

can you get a similar experience with something without so much DLC?

I'm not sure, they clearly intend you to play with all the DLC. Some stuff like Distant Stars and Leviathan is pretty meh, but I think federations and planet-killing ships are major game changers. I also really like the megastructures but I don't know how many of those are DLC or not. It all blurs together.

 

[Young_Hollow]

can you get a similar experience with something without so much DLC?

I'm not sure, they clearly intend you to play with all the DLC. Some stuff like Distant Stars and Leviathan is pretty meh, but I think federations and planet-killing ships are major game changers. I also really like the megastructures but I don't know how many of those are DLC or not. It all blurs together.

Thanks for the advice; I've played the more recent (ie post-M2TW) TotalWar games and while I did enjoy them, the experience I got was tainted by the fact that I know I didn't get the full experience because I didn't buy all the DLC. I don't want to have more experiences like that in future so I try to either avoid games with DLC-fever or try to get them in discounted bundles with all the DLCs.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Honestly the DLC is extortionate after awhile, if you really like the game its worth it but I hate the 'milk the fans' business model in general.

You could always try an, err, "evaluation copy" first... (stealing is wrong)

*edit Although with Total War I'm not sure you miss much without the DLC other than the various scenarios. I got Hannibal at the Gates because come on, Hannibal, but otherwise if you don't care about new maps and factions you can just play the base game forever. I also haven't been keeping up with Warhammer Total War but I guess they all combine together into one ridiculous mega-game? That's pretty cool.

Stellaris is a little different because they never really change the 'scenario' of taking over the galaxy, they just come up with new and different ways to do it.

 

[Young_Hollow]

Although with Total War I'm not sure you miss much without the DLC other than the various scenarios. I got Hannibal at the Gates because come on, Hannibal, but otherwise if you don't care about new maps and factions you can just play the base game forever. I also haven't been keeping up with Warhammer Total War but I guess they all combine together into one ridiculous mega-game? That's pretty cool.

Stellaris is a little different because they never really change the 'scenario' of taking over the galaxy, they just come up with new and different ways to do it.

I haven't played Attila or anything after that but I have issues regarding DLC with all of them. From an effort standpoint, reskinning units is easy and I don't understand why they charge so much for unlocking 3 factions and giving them a barren unit roster. Modders do it better and they do it for free. From a price standpoint, they're fucking expensive for what they are, especially after the price increases that all the TW games and all their DLCs had (look at the price graph): https://steamdb.info/app/325610/ Expansions with a different campaign map make a bit more sense but even some of them have factions that require other DLCs to flesh out their roster; not to mention the fact that R2 campaigns are unbalanced as hell without mods.

In terms of Paradox vs CA, I think Paradox is still worse because they lock entire mechanics out of reach with their DLCs while CA is yet to do that with the historical titles, though I think TWH has done a bit of that.