James Recommends - Pandora - Civilization-like Sci-Fi 4X Strategy Game

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1. Thanks James, 'always". Quote the "Time Lord" is Shroud of the Avatar, forsaken virtues... :)~Time Lord~(:
2. There is no such thing as too complex in that type of game...
3. You have the softest voice
4. Carl Sagan and Dune books behind, I'm in love <3
5. I really like the newer Civ games, and in particular I know I've spent way too much time in Civ V, but I honestly just want a genuine remake of SMAC. Not a spiritual successor, an honest remake. Sure, go ahead and update it, those updates are what I want to see. I want to see it on a hexagonal map, I want to see what new resources they add, and how newer mechanics like religion and Civ V style trade routes would figure into the game. Update the coat of paint and mechanics to be sure, but I want the old lore, the old colors, the old customizable units, and the old techs, buildings, and secret projects where they had genuine cinematics instead of just a moving still-shot with a voice-over. SMAC had some great ideas in it that I'm really surprised weren't kept around. Trading technology for credits, swapping map data and contact information, the terraforming system, those were all really neat and I haven't seen anything like them since.
   
   And now the copy of SMAC I downloaded from Good Old Games spazzes out and messes up its color palette to the point of unplayability every time I try to load it. :(
6. are you super drunk james
7. If I didn't know better, looking at the gameplay I would say this IS a Civ game.
8. Seems like Pandora is still better than B.E.
9. Having now had ample time to compare both Pandora and BE, would be interesting to hear James' thoughts on how the two compare, which held his attention better and alike.
10. I tried civilization before a couple of times, I never could get into it, to many things going on that I couldn't understand how they affected each other.  I know people who love it though.
11. Masters of Orion 1 and 2 (well, I think 1, but memory is fuzzy) also did a semi-randomized tech tree, although in a different way.  In that game, I know I didn't really like it, but it's a pretty famous game, so others obviously did.
    
    If I remember right, each level of techs there would be up to 6 you could research, but you could only pick 3 of them; any others you had to trade for.
    
    Now, I like the idea in theory, because every civilization shouldn't immediately stumble upon all the possible applications of a technology.  That makes sense.  What makes more sense is that if you've seen the technology used somewhere else, and have the prerequisite technologies, you should be able to research it.  That would have been nice.
12. Any chance of a three way between SMAC, Pandora, and C:BE?
13. While I enjoyed playing Civilization 1 and 2 a bit, I never enjoyed them anywhere close to how much I love Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri much, much better than the Civilization series, in my opinion. I think the main reason I say that is because each faction is actually unique in their play styles, unlike the Civilization empires. I also loved the unit customization and the social engineering options.
14. can anyone compare this to beyond earth now that its out? which is better if you had to pick just one?
15. Holy shit, now it's obvious why the other guy does all the talking.
16. Alpha Centauri had some features no other civ had that made it so fun. The races were unique and would act that way. Diplomacy meant something. You could actually physically affect the land environment with nuclear weapons, ect. The tech randomizer made much more sense. Civ should be done that way. Imagine the ancients. They wouldn't know what a firearm was. They couldn't say "we want to develop firearms" and then go straight at it. They would have to say "we want to emphasize military development" and then wait and see what they got.
17. Hey, that's my favorite copy of Moby Dick there.  I've been looking for that!
18. So, I went out and got Pandora First Contact. I won't make that mistake again, nor am I going to buy, support or endorse anything made by the studio or Matrix games. After trying to get it to simply run on a Win 7 laptop and maddeningly unhelpful support who placed the blame on me instead of their own product I quit. It was a waste of money. (The irony being I finally played it at a friend's and it was mediocre at best. It's not as good as Civ IV, V, or Alpha Centauri. The tech tree was not variable enough for it to be anything really interesting and from what I've already read about Beyond Earth it's set to blow this pile of tripe out of the water. 
19. Well, that's 2 new games I must buy. Pretty much since the first time you said HD Alpha Centauri I was with my wallet on my hand.
20. It sounded and looked a little like you were going to cry, or you were choked up about how amazing this game is.