Getting back into PC Gaming - Need Strategy/Sim Recommendations

Wet Ninja

Wet Ninja

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I'm planning on ordering some parts within the next week or so to build a new PC. This will be my first real gaming-capable PC since around 2003, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

I do most of my gaming on the Xbox 360/PS3/Wii and will probably continue to do so, but I've really missed playing strategy (real time or turn-based) and simulation (city-building, mainly) games on the PC, so I really want to catch up on them.

I'm planning on getting Starcraft II and Civilization V as soon as possible. Beyond those, what essential strategy and city-building games released since 2001-2003 should I pick up and play?

Here are some of the strategy/simulation games I used to enjoy a lot back when I could play PC games:
- Rise of Nations
- Age of Empires series
- Civilization series
- SimCity series
- Total Annihilation series
- Heroes of Might and Magic III/IV
- Red Alert series
- Starcraft/Warcraft
- Roller Coaster Tycoon series
- Caesar III

Here are the ones I'm planning on eventually picking up, so far:
- Age Of Empires III
- Dawn of Discovery
- Civilization IV
- Supreme Commander 2
- Warcraft III
- Tropico 3

How does that list look? Are there any you would add or remove?

Also, digital distribution is new since I last gamed on a PC. For these titles, would you recommend the retail copy or the Steam or GFW Live On Demand copy?
 
GFW Live on Demand isn't nearly as full featured as Steam, avoid it.

As for Steam vs Retail, price is my typical break point. If it's the same price, I'll go Steam unless I'm too impatient to wait for the download.

The cool thing about Steam is that you can redownload it as much as you want, there's no limitations. The community features are very nice and the Summer/Winter sales are the definition of epic.

The only thing that sucks is if your net goes out and Steam was attempting to update, it won't go into Offline Mode and you won't have access to your games.

Oh, Tropico and Civ 4 are both awesome. If you're planning on picking up Civ 5, come on by the Civ thread and sign up for a possible pitboss game!

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248000
 
A warning about Dawn of Discovery. It uses crappy TAGES DRM, which means it uses a 3 machine activation limit. It's a good game though and I believe the Dawn of Discovery website has a FAQ detailing more on specifics of the 3 machine activation limit. Just thought I'd throw out a fair warning because even on Steam, they have the DRM included in the game.

Personally I'm not a fan of Age of Empires 3 or Supreme Commander 2. I did enjoy the first two Age of Empires but the third just didn't really do it for me. It may be because my tastes changed, however I just couldn't really get into it. As for Supreme Commander 2, I found it a convoluted mess like the first one. I'm sure there are people who will disagree though.

As for some additions, you Sins of a Solar Empire which I think is fantastic and the Dawn of War series. The first Dawn of War is more base building and traditional RTS control whereas the second is more of an RPG/RTS hybrid where you don't base build or control a bunch of units. You mainly get a group of heroes and a few peons that hang around with them and can be recharged at certain points. You may also be interested in the King's Bounty series as well since you enjoyed Heroes of Might and Magic. It's very similar in many respects but keep in mind that the gameplay of the first one is a little slow compared to Armored Princess, the sequel.



Maybe I should start up a "Game Recommendation" thread and try and get it stickied as these threads seem to be a common reoccurance here. I have what I think could be an ingenious idea on how to set it up, but man would it require a lot of work.
 
[quote name='Lawyers Guns N Money']Homeworld is a great older game if you haven't played it.[/QUOTE]

QFT

Also there are a great many games that are freeware you may enjoy...especially the ones that were formerly retail.

Check my signature and you can hit the strategy section for some gems and the simulation - management section for other gems that you may like.

From 'Age Of Empire Online' to 'Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters' lot of stuff to try out.
 
Thanks for all the advice, everyone. I definitely appreciate it.

[quote name='Logain8955']If you're planning on picking up Civ 5, come on by the Civ thread and sign up for a possible pitboss game!

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248000[/QUOTE]

That's really cool. I'd seen the title of that thread in the recent posts list but had never checked it out since I didn't have a PC capable of playing games. That's a great way to do Civilization multiplayer--sometimes it's hard to set aside a large block of time to complete a game of Civ. That's why I wish the Xbox 360 version of Civilization Revolution allowed saving and resuming in multiplayer.

[quote name='Draekon']A warning about Dawn of Discovery. It uses crappy TAGES DRM, which means it uses a 3 machine activation limit. It's a good game though and I believe the Dawn of Discovery website has a FAQ detailing more on specifics of the 3 machine activation limit. Just thought I'd throw out a fair warning because even on Steam, they have the DRM included in the game.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I had read about that on the Amazon reviews. I'm trying to avoid oppressive DRM (to keep my system clean and to avoid annoyances), so I was sad to see I'd have to skip Dawn of Discovery. It looks like though that the most recent patch has removed DRM for the retail copy, fortunately (the Steam version still appears to have the DRM):
http://forums-de.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5251042375/m/1111082797

Thanks for the warning, though. It's not always clear or easy to find out what the DRM on a game is like, and which version (retail or Steam) has the better DRM.

[quote name='Megazell']QFT

Also there are a great many games that are freeware you may enjoy...especially the ones that were formerly retail.

Check my signature and you can hit the strategy section for some gems and the simulation - management section for other gems that you may like.

From 'Age Of Empire Online' to 'Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters' lot of stuff to try out.[/QUOTE]

That's a really great resource. Thanks for compiling all of that. I'll have to check out some of those once I build my PC.


One more question on Steam: can people who own a retail copy of a game play multiplayer with people who own the Steam version?
 
[quote name='Wet Ninja']One more question on Steam: can people who own a retail copy of a game play multiplayer with people who own the Steam version?[/QUOTE]

I think that depends on the game, mainly if the game can be registered with Steam, but I'm not totally sure.
 
If you are into the HOMM series, you'll definiltey like King's Bounty and Eleven Legacy. The Total War series is huge as well. Check out Company of Heroes too.
 
[quote name='kingkiller33']If you are into the HOMM series, you'll definiltey like King's Bounty and Eleven Legacy. The Total War series is huge as well. Check out Company of Heroes too.[/QUOTE]

Yeah this game is now freeware and in open beta it contains SP and MP so you should check it out.

Company Of Heroes Online.
 
[quote name='Wet Ninja']One more question on Steam: can people who own a retail copy of a game play multiplayer with people who own the Steam version?[/QUOTE]

Pretty much universally, yes. Games sold on Steam usually keep the same multiplayer system as copies sold everywhere else.
 
[quote name='dabamus'] World in Conflict is really fun too![/QUOTE]

Oh god, this. It's such a gloriously different RTS, I bloody loved it.

It's primarily a multiplayer RTS, with up to 16 players on one server. Instead of mining, you get a number of points that you use to buy units.

Those points are locked until those units die, then slowly come back.

It's very objective focused with some interesting play between the different units. Man, it was a blast.

[quote name='Wet Ninja']That's really cool. I'd seen the title of that thread in the recent posts list but had never checked it out since I didn't have a PC capable of playing games. That's a great way to do Civilization multiplayer--sometimes it's hard to set aside a large block of time to complete a game of Civ. That's why I wish the Xbox 360 version of Civilization Revolution allowed saving and resuming in multiplayer.[/QUOTE]


It works out really well. We started a game in the middle of JANUARY that we're still playing. Log in once a day, 5 minutes of play, then you're good. Really lets you think about where you're going and how the other players are going to react.

We'll be doing a Civ 5 PB game once it gets released (The PB that is, should be about a month after Civ 5 launches)
 
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