Does a strategy game like this exist?

Edrof · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:02

I'm looking for a strategy game to play, but after a lot of looking through YouTube, Google and Steam I can't find much.

I don't really mind what setting the game has and I'm not interested in the multiplayer aspect.

I don't like:
Fast, rushing games where you build a million tanks and rush.
Limited unit numbers like in Company of Heroes or Dawn of War (I like to build up armies and park them in nice rows before sending them to their eventual demise).
Too much number crunching.

I like:
Base building.
Complete customisation of bases with base defences.
Being able to take my time so that I fully satisfy my OCD.
Offline 'skirmish' modes to play against the computer.
Lots of replayability.
'Realism'.
Dungeon Keeper, Red Alert, Settlers III, Total War Series (except Nap).

I'm starting to despair that I'm too fussy!

Kenai · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:05

Could always go old school with something like Caesar III

Not much in the way of fighting though compared to many things, it's more focussed on city building

carlazai · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:06

Wrong things

Randomface74 · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:07

I liked Rise of Nations - but it's dated now.

Haggisman · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:09

Forged Alliance =)

Has pretty much everything you want - just make sure you download the latest Sorian AI for skirmishes, as the standard one is a little weak.

Edit: there is a no-rush option, where you can set a limited expansion area for the first 20mins of the game.

Deific · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:14

carlazai said:
Easily Total War fits that build though there is a limit of how many men you can deploy at once as eats an i7 with Ultra army size setting

Total war has no base building, limited men and you can't take your time. How does it fit that description? :confused:

thepeganator · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:18

Supreme Commander.

Shame the AI has the slowdown bug, or you can have games lasting 3 hours easy, base building, massive defences, hundreds of units all in nice regiments, loves it until the inevitable slow down came.
Nothing wrong with the computer, there's a bug meaning when you play the AI nthe game will eventually slow down unbearably to an unplayable point. There is no fix either, or there wasn't when I last checked.

If you can find people to play online with it would be a good choice, loads of base defences, the shields make it awesome keeping them running, loads of extra modded units too.

Haggisman · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:29

thepeganator said:
Supreme Commander.

Shame the AI has the slowdown bug, or you can have games lasting 3 hours easy, base building, massive defences, hundreds of units all in nice regiments, loves it until the inevitable slow down came.
Nothing wrong with the computer, there's a bug meaning when you play the AI nthe game will eventually slow down unbearably to an unplayable point. There is no fix either, or there wasn't when I last checked.

If you can find people to play online with it would be a good choice, loads of base defences, the shields make it awesome keeping them running, loads of extra modded units too.

The latest Sorian AI seems to fix the slowdown, played several games against it where the speed has been fine whereas before it would grind to a halt.

opethdisciple · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:32

Supreme commander sounds like what you need!

thepeganator · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:37

Haggisman said:
The latest Sorian AI seems to fix the slowdown, played several games against it where the speed has been fine whereas before it would grind to a halt.

Serious??

Gunna get me a game on this when I get my computer fixed!!!

dante6491 · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:37

Age of Empires 2

carlazai · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:45

I misunderstood base building and the city building. I guess SC is what you want then, get the gold edition for £5

PoD · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:47

If you dont like rushes then dont get SupCom as online it is all about rushes.

Seriously you want Settlers or something tame if you like base building or maybe a tower defence game.

You cant have base building AND realism, because in reality a good base is only there to slow the enemy or halt some offenses.

Ask yourself this: What are you building for? How does one player gain an advantage over the other if it is just building a base? You can play any game and just put a 20 min no rush on, but the end of the day it is the person with the best offensive strategy who wins and you will never learn to be better unless you play offensive.

When you just build bases you are really slowing the game down and missing half the units.

PCDave · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:53

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/emperorriseofthemk/index.html

This is the game for you....it doubt it has much of an online community these days but it should be fun using campaign mode

muttclugg · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:54

Another vote for Supreme Commander

Kenai · 3 Jan 2011 at 14:56

PoD said:
Ask yourself this: What are you building for?

The pleasure and enjoyment of constructing it

npjnpj · 3 Jan 2011 at 15:14

From your description I'd say that Spellforce 1 and 2 are just exactly (EXACTLY!) what you're looking for.

Don't be put off by mediocre reviews because the virtues you're looking for are exactly those which aren't trated highly by a lot of people. They don't know what they're missing.

eekfek · 3 Jan 2011 at 15:39

Settlers 7 ? I recently purchased during the Steam sale and have to say im very impressed with it. If you prefer more war to your strategy games this wont be the one for you, however if you prefer to build up your settlements managing an economy and trading it's defo worth a look.

PoD · 3 Jan 2011 at 15:53

Kenai said:
The pleasure and enjoyment of constructing it

Settlers is what you want then or maybe Ogame

The idea of a 'Strategy' game is that you employ more than one Strategy and having played MANY MANY MANY RTS games I can tell you that turtling is no valid strategy.

Edrof · 3 Jan 2011 at 17:58

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll have a stab at Settlers 7 as I was a fan of number 3, although I'll probably get annoyed at the DRM etc so then I'll look at Sup Com. Much love!