Space RTS, make a list

[Nirvash]

I was cleaning my old disk pile and stuff like homeworld cataclysm (the best homeworld), conquest frontier war and hegemonia popped out.

After a nostalgia tear i realized i only played battlefleet gothic and a little of sins in the last 10 years...

Now i want some more, tell me.

Space ONLY, real time.

 

[GrainWetski]

https://af.gog.com/game/nexus_the_jupiter_incident?as=1649904300

 

[DraQ]

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is more of a fleet level tactical game, but it's p. good.

If you want something on a somewhat lower level than an RTS (no unit production, very few units per battle, rather simplistic scenarios), but hell-bent on autistic levels of realism (orbital mechanics, delta-v management, real material properties, only the technology that has been at least prototyped IRL), simulating combat down to individual penetrations of individual armour layers and giving you ability to engineer your own modules and build ships out of them (so more of a combat spacecraft engineering game), you might want COADE.

homeworld cataclysm (the best homeworld)

Yeah, how about no.

 

[markec]

O.R.B: Off-World Resource Base

Sins of a Solar Empire

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Star Trek: Armada.
Star Wolves -series.

Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock and Star Hammer: Vanguard Prophecy if phase based games are ok.

I think Void Destroyer 2 has real time strategic layer.

 

[Nirvash]

Meh, hemenonia cd is busted and conquest really looks like shit with the weird upscaled res, my eyes/head fucking hurt.

Please be sure those games works with recent monitors/rigs.

 

[DraQ]

Hegemonia is kind of meh.

Great visuals and decent soundtrack but not that great in other regards.

 

[Galdred]

Star Wars: Rebellion had an atrocious UI, but was a great game, mixing covert actions and fleet battles.
Star Wars: Empire at war has an improved fleet battle system, but an inferior everything else (except the UI).
Starshatter: The gathering storm is a capital ship command game, with a dynamic campaign that plays a bit like a RT tactic game (and is open source, and definitely recommended).
Void Destroyer 2 is a combat focused X3 (ie, less economy, smaller map, but good combat, tighter RTS controls, and capital ships that are not just slow fighters).
I think Imperium Galactica 2 was real time (but it feels more like RT 4X). It was definitely a great one.

Starpoint Gemini: Warlords is a ship game that lets you control a lot of ships in space, but the akward RTS controls and pacing, and enemy scaling may not make it a good RTS fit.
Battlevoid: Sector Siege is a simple space RTS that has some elements in common with its semi roguelike predecessor: Battlevoid: Harbinger. I think it is a bit too repetitive.

 

[OndrejSc]

In Gaudium et spes, there was spes, but no RTS.

 

[urmom]

I enjoyed the Star Wolves series. The combat is very similar to Homeworld, and is very satisfying.

There are "open world" aspects too, but (in the third installment at least) they allow you to skip directly to the next mission instead of navigating on your own from sector to sector. This is fine, but made me think that the open world gameplay must suck if they give you this option.

IWar2 is still the best "open world" sim IMO. Maybe because it is not totally "open", and you are instead guided to some degree by the mission requirements.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

I have a vague recollection that combat in Star Wolves was mostly on a single plane, not fully 3d like Homerworld. I also remember rather rubbish translation and lots of crash to desktop bugs in SW1. Game felt more like Tactical RPG than an RTS. And IWar2 is definitely not an RTS (which is what title asks for).

Starshatter felt like an RTS when you were commanding a fleet from your carrier, though most of the game you were flying fighters.

 

[urmom]

I got threads mixed up, sorry.

Combat in Star Wolves is not limited to a plane. It works just like Homeworld.

The maps are not very three-dimensional however.

 

[Young_Hollow]

AI War 1-3
Sins of a Solar Empire and Rebellion
Does Planetary Annihilation count?

Also, which is the best Homeworld to get for someone who hasn't played any of them? I heard the remastered ones, 1 and 2, have had mechanics changed / dumbed down so is it better to get the gog versions which come with the classic games to get the proper experience? Also, what about Cataclysm / Emergence? I've heard many people say its the best and it hasn't received the remastering treatment.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Remastered got patched after release to have proper ballistics. You can play Homeworld 2 Remastered with same ballistics as HW1 I think (been ages since I touched it).

 

[Young_Hollow]

Remastered got patched after release to have proper ballistics. You can play Homeworld 2 Remastered with same ballistics as HW1 I think (been ages since I touched it).

So that's the only difference between remastered and classic? Also, is it better to just get Emergence? If I want to get just one, which should I get?

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

On Steam and GoG you can only get the Remastered Collection, which includes both classic and remastered versions of HW1/HW2. So you can play whatever you want. Also, it's 85% off on GoG now, so under 5GBP, just go and fucking buy it: https://af.gog.com/game/homeworld_remastered_collection?as=1649904300. I never played Emergence (called Cataclysm before), so can't say. It's 2 GBP on GoG now, so you might as well get it Young_Hollow

 

[Young_Hollow]

On Steam and GoG you can only get the Remastered Collection, which includes both classic and remastered versions of HW1/HW2. So you can play whatever you want. Also, it's 85% off on GoG now, so under 5GBP, just go and fucking buy it: https://af.gog.com/game/homeworld_remastered_collection?as=1649904300. I never played Emergence (called Cataclysm before), so can't say. It's 2 GBP on GoG now, so you might as well get it Young_Hollow

So the steam version also has the classic editions packed in? Not GOG only? I can only add to my GOG wallet later this year, and I heard the steam version is only remastered games.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Steam and GoG collections are same, but steam is ~27GBP now. Still a decent deal, but GoGs better.

 

[DraQ]

Also, which is the best Homeworld to get for someone who hasn't played any of them? I heard the remastered ones, 1 and 2, have had mechanics changed / dumbed down so is it better to get the gog versions which come with the classic games to get the proper experience?

Homeworld 1 is the best. The remastered version has apparently been fixed (originally it has inherited severe mechanical dumbing down from HW2), so it might be viable alternative to the vanilla HW1.

Remaster also improved HW2 by removing those simplifications (but kept improvements).
Unfortunately HW2 is still the worst due to atrocious story and writing - it has plotholes you could fit a galaxy through and shitty retcons that call for fucking orbital glassing.

Also, what about Cataclysm / Emergence? I've heard many people say its the best and it hasn't received the remastering treatment.

It has a few nice things going for it, but generally those people are dumb and should be disregarded.
Note that I haven' said it's *bad* - feel free to play it - after playing 1-2 other games in the series.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Cataclysm the best?

Jeeeeezus.

It's "Mass Effect 2 is the best" all over again.

I see no one mentioned Sins of a Solar Empire?

 

[DraQ]

Cataclysm is pretty damn good, honestly, but compared to HW1?

PFFFF

 

[Galdred]

Cataclysm the best?

Jeeeeezus.

It's "Mass Effect 2 is the best" all over again.

I see no one mentioned Sins of a Solar Empire?

Soase managed to be a good mix of 4X and RTS indeed. But it had been mentioned by Yaar Podshipnik and markec already.

 

[urmom]

It's complicated.

Homeworld Remastered contains:

1. HW1 Classic
2. HW1 Remastered
3. HW2 Classic
4. HW2 Remastered
5. Raider Retreat (demo mission for HW1 Remastered)

Both Remastered versions got a late patch that added some cool stuff (ballistic vs. RNG combat) but screwed up balance. There is a community patch/mod that supposedly fixes the balance issues.

Both Classic versions have multiplayer disabled. There may be mods to fix this to a limited degree. For instance I think the mod that fixes multiplayer for HW1 Classic only re-enables support for direct IP/LAN connections. There's no lobby.

People who own the Steam version cannot multiplayer with people who own the GOG version.

 

[urmom]

For instance I think the mod that fixes multiplayer for HW1 Classic only re-enables support for direct IP/LAN connections. There's no lobby.

Oops, I meant to say the mod for HW2 Classic re-enables support for LAN multiplayer, not HW1 Classic. My bad.

 

[DraQ]

Both Remastered versions got a late patch that added some cool stuff (ballistic vs. RNG combat) but screwed up balance.

Actually, HW1 had ballistic combat from the beginning, so re-adding it in remaster fixes balance issues, if anything.