TBS_4X and RTS_4X

Hello. It's great to be back. Early to mid-Tuesday was queasy but I only made plans to play strategy games for the week so I mustered through.

Late Monday night I began a romp with Civilization_IV: Beyond_the_Sword, an excellent TBS_4X (Turn Base Strategy) game. The 4X means, "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate". During this gaming session, it was not my goal to be a warmonger, but rather win by technological advancement. I was doing very well up until mid-morning today when China invaded me and handed my butt to me on a silver platter. But, I got extremely close to winning at year 2025. The game ends and the rules play out at 2050. And although CivIV is a gorgeous game, in actuality, Civilization_II is the superior Civilization product. This is perfectly understandable, whereas CivII is Brian_Reynolds, who is the same developer behind Sid_Meier's Alpha_Centauri (SMAC) which happens to be the finest TBS_4X ever produced.

Civilization_IV: Beyond_the_Sword is a wonderful expansion pack for CivIV and besides the hundreds of variables it alone adds to the game, I found myself really delving into CivIV much deeper than I ever have before. There is no question that using the macros for my building cues, city management and research tree really did help me focus on other game issues rather than the meat and potatoes of playing.

Tonite I shall begin a fresh romp with Rise_of_Nations (RoN). This is a RTS_4X (Real Time Strategy) game with a twist that includes hundreds of TBS_4X features. My version of RoN includes the Thrones & Patriots expansion. There's so much to like, including the 6 types of governments that you can change during the game in real time. Reminds me of my Yamaha_MOTIF_XS... everything is done in real time!

Unlike Civilization's static TBS_4X system, Rise_of_Nations plays in real time just like other RTS games, so the battles are much more enjoyable. I love during the gun powder age, it's like the civil war; totally cool!

All around, RoN is one of my all time favorite RTS games because it is very balanced and has hundreds of game options that can be made PRIOR to starting a game and changed DURING a game. CivIV has features like this too, but not as robust as RoN. Rise_of_Nations is Brian_Reynolds' best work to date; this side of Alpha_Centauri.

And, yes I still play the 1999 PC game SMAC, at least twice a year. Sid_Meier's_Alpha_Centauri is an excellent game with an excellent user interface. It was my hope that other PC games would have adopted SMAC or RoN user interface. But, it appears that you'll only find these qualities in Brian_Reynolds products; Alpha_Centauri, Civilization_II, Rise_of_Nations and Rise_of_Legends.

After dinner, it's time for RoN and then you won't find me on the grid until Friday.

;;cheers;;