Space 4x Games

[sabotai]

I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out in a few days, so I'll be off my feet for awhile. I plan on putting a lot of time into NCAA, Final Fantasy X and watching Family Guy (recently got the DVDs. I love this show).

But I want to get a good Space 4x game too. I have a couple already, but I have some concerns about them that I'll go over.

First, what I'm lookign for is a big game. I want a large universe with a lot of customization. The best part, imo, of any Space 4x game is designing ships and research.

Mast of Orion III: I don't have this yet I've heard some good things since the last path. Are the universes big? How many stars? What about design?

My biggest concern with MOO design is with version 1 and 2, the designs were not good. There were no real options. You simply designed the ship a certain way and that was it. Galactic Civ doesn't let you create designs and in a way, that's how MOO felt for 1 and 2. You got to "create" designs, but it didn't really feel liek you were designing them

Stars!: I have (somewhere...) a copy of the most recent version. The AI stinks. Lots of design and a good, big universe. Research was a little limited though. I like large tech trees, not spending points in one of 6 areas and having it go up.

Still, th eSpace 4x game I've spent most my time in.

Galactic Civilizations: From what I've read, great AI. I only played a couple of games in this before I started losing interest though. The lack of ship design was a large stickler for me. The lack of changing enemies wasn't good either. You always faced the same enemies.

The good points, though, was the AI. Also, a lot of features in it were great. Minor races, elections, planet management. One problem I had though was that the minor races were too powerful.

Has there been any patches? Any major improvements?

Space Empires IV Gold: A designers dream come true! You get to design ships, bases, satellites, weapons platforms, mines, fighters, the works! I love it.

The AI stinks, though. At least, from the games I've played recently. I would have other races attack me for no reason whatsoever. We would seemingly be on good terms, then suddenly they destroy a colony ship of mine, and act like it didn't happen...

Large tech tree, but a small universe. Don't like having to use warp points either.


If only they could take the best parts of SEIV and GalCiv together, and there'd be a winner.

Anyway, for the Space 4x games I've missed, are any of them any good? Has MOO3 become good? Any suggestions or user mods available to make SEIV or GalCiv more fun?

....I should just forget about making text sims and make my vision of a Space 4x game....I love 4x games, but they all have certain things that annoy me.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Have you played Master of Orion I and II? I think those two games are my favorites, although I've never played Stars or Master of Orion III.