[Lorric]

I made this topic over 2 years ago:

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=84269.msg1682833#msg1682833

Well I finally bought the game off them. Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI is the game in question here.

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TLDR: I want to know if there's another game where when your faction is destroyed, you can not only watch events unfold, but jump back in as another faction?

Bonus points for being able to control more than one faction (XI allows you to control up to 8 at a time, whenever you want) and being able to leave your faction to the AI at any point you choose and watch events unfold or switch to a new faction / factions?

Also anything similar to what I'm talking about. I've never seen anything like this in a game before, whether it exists or not elsewhere I don't know. Do you?

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Such great possibilities that I can only wish happened in other games. A Total War game for instance, wouldn't it be great to just let the map develop for a while and then join in at a time of your choosing? In XI, you can.

Have you ever created a juggernaut of an empire in a game, and knew you're going to win, and then wished you could then try and take down the juggernaut you've created? In XI, you can.

Ever had a situation develop in a game and wished you could switch to another faction? In XI, you can.

A big tasty battle you'd like to fight? In XI, you can. Don't want to mess up your own game? All you need to do is save your game, then switch factions, fight that battle out, then reload your game.

Tired of the building up phase of the game, just want to get straight to the action? Just let the AI control the factions and build them up, then jump in when the action starts! That would be great for some games.

Wonderful possibilities. So much creativity and control this affords you. So much pure fun to be had. And with the ability to control up to 8 factions, which in several scenarios means you can control all factions right out of the gate, that allows possibilities to shape the map in all kinds of ways to your liking, then play this situation you've set up however you please.

I'm only just getting into the game, so I'm just playing it normally, but I see great possibilities for the future, enormous potential replayability. I'm just coming up with this stuff off the top of my head, no doubt I'll think of even more, especially when I start seriously trying this stuff.

So yeah, any more games that do this? I think it's absolute brilliance.

[potterman28wxcv]

Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion ? Even though RTS are not my kind of games, I very much loved that one. Too bad that multiplayer games last so long though.

I also have a couple of other "brilliant" games in mind, but nothing in RTS or turn based strategy

[0rph3u5]

A number of older Turn-based Strategy games (e.g. Disciples II) had Hotseat-gameplay, basically couch-multiplayer with only one PC...

[Aesaar]

Such great possibilities that I can only wish happened in other games. A Total War game for instance, wouldn't it be great to just let the map develop for a while and then join in at a time of your choosing? In XI, you can.

Have you ever created a juggernaut of an empire in a game, and knew you're going to win, and then wished you could then try and take down the juggernaut you've created? In XI, you can.

Ever had a situation develop in a game and wished you could switch to another faction? In XI, you can.

Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4 let you do this.  Pretty typical of Paradox Interactive games in general, really.  No playable battles, but the strategic depth is far greater than any Total War game.

[Lorric]

Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion ? Even though RTS are not my kind of games, I very much loved that one. Too bad that multiplayer games last so long though.

I also have a couple of other "brilliant" games in mind, but nothing in RTS or turn based strategy

Hey, if similar traits exist in other genre games, I'd be happy to hear them.

Also, the more descriptive of how things work in the game/s, the better. What does Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion allow you to do?

A number of older Turn-based Strategy games (e.g. Disciples II) had Hotseat-gameplay, basically couch-multiplayer with only one PC...

Yeah that's what the control 8 factions at once thing will be designed to be, hotseat multiplayer. But it still provides great options for a single player too. But ROTK XI takes it further. For instance I have ROTK VIII as well, and this allows the 8 players, but no switching or joining in. You can watch events unfold, but you're done as far as participating in that game then.

Such great possibilities that I can only wish happened in other games. A Total War game for instance, wouldn't it be great to just let the map develop for a while and then join in at a time of your choosing? In XI, you can.

Have you ever created a juggernaut of an empire in a game, and knew you're going to win, and then wished you could then try and take down the juggernaut you've created? In XI, you can.

Ever had a situation develop in a game and wished you could switch to another faction? In XI, you can.

Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4 let you do this.  Pretty typical of Paradox Interactive games in general, really.  No playable battles, but the strategic depth is far greater than any Total War game.

Thanks.

Keep 'em coming.

[Flipside]

There used to be a game, years and years ago, called 'Lords of Midnight', used to play it on my Spectrum.

It was quite a weird game, but years ahead of its time. It had multiple characters from different houses, and the use of Diplomacy and Warfare to get more characters and level up your current ones, iirc. Bear in mind this was a 48k Spectrum, so it was limited, but I think it was the first Strategy/RPG game. The thing about the game was that you would lose characters (and therefore, access to their armies) in the course of the game, the trick was to make sure you could soak up that loss.

[potterman28wxcv]

Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion ? Even though RTS are not my kind of games, I very much loved that one. Too bad that multiplayer games last so long though.

I also have a couple of other "brilliant" games in mind, but nothing in RTS or turn based strategy

Hey, if similar traits exist in other genre games, I'd be happy to hear them.

Also, the more descriptive of how things work in the game/s, the better. What does Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion allow you to do?

Well, Sins of a Solar Empire is a 4X-RTS game. This is a game where you have both macro and micro strategy. It's all about colonizing planets, gain some income, and then use that income to crush your opponents and expand even more, until you win. Planets are positionned following a graph (mathematically speaking), around a star (the star being the center of the graph). You can only travel from planet A to planet B if there is an edge binding the two together. Some pictures might be nicer than explanations though, here is one.



On the macro scale, you have to manage fleets in your planets, you have to expand your territory, develop infrastructures, etc.. Like a classic 4X game (the screenshot is in macro scale).
This means you can order your fleet to go from one planet to the other one without having to zoom or anything.

On the micro scale, you have to manage your fights. You can control every ship, give them special orders, or have them activate special abilities ; just like any RTS game.

In the end you get a mix of the two genres, which is really well done. You zoom out, take a look at what's generally going on ; if you want more details, or if you need some micro management for a big battle going on, you zoom in a planet and gives orders. The UI is really nice, since it informs you very quickly on what's happening in the planet systems.

That's by far the best RTS game I have ever played, especially since it's not "the one the fastest to strike the keyboard wins". In the beginning, every one has to expand the quickest possible, that's kind of rush time. But then, for the mid and late game, there is no general strategy.. You just have to adapt to your opponent.

A funny thing is 5v5 games. As every player is positionned around a star, you have to take care almost only of your two immediate neighbours. If it's two enemies, you have to postpone your defeat the longest possible.. because as long as you're postponing it, your mates are at the advantageous position of 4v3. If you have both an enemy and an ally as neighbours, then it's a mini 1v1 between you and the enemy. If both of your neighbours are allies, then you have no need to go military, and can completely focus on your economy instead. Anyway, that's a very interesting gameplay once you're into it

The only drawback is that a game usually lasts between 30 min and 2 hours, so you have to be sure to have some free time before you start a multiplayer game. And the AI is dumb, so the multiplayer is imo the only way to properly enjoy the game once you have some experience.

[Mikes]

Sword of the Stars 1 allowed you to switch factions

(Even join multiplayer matches in progress by taking over AI controlled factions)