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[Orymus]

Hi all,

I'm currently looking for a game that is a turn-based combat spaceship battle but that has no 4X metagame elements.
Closest thing I could find was Gratuitous Space Battles, but it is realtime, and the player control element is very limited / an afterthought to the actual design of the game.

Any idea where I might find one that feels more like a board game? (couldbe HEX or TILE grids, or actual pixel-perfect movement, I don't really mind about the specifics).

Thanks

[rush]

is probably the closest to what you're describing


What about Sid Meiers starships? Apparently its pretty light on the 4x elements

[Orymus]

Thanks Rush,

I'll look into H.E.S.

As for Sid Meier's Starships, I actually stumbled upon it this morning, and found it to lack essence. It tries to be a dumbed down version of everything (4x, tactical combat, mission-based progression, etc.) but it turns out it doesn't do much.

Battles an be boiled down to ships having a long vs short range dmg levels, defense, speed, and a very underplayed sensors vs stealth mechanic that rarely comes into play.
Even at the hardest levels, I found myself tech-ing long-range weapons for 2/3 of the game, then ramp up short range + speed and pretty much win every single battle (tech-range FTW).

It was a nice effort, but it's not a great game.
Hopefully Human Extinction Simulator is more interesting (I'm not overly turned-off by the visual, but it seems like it could've been a lot more polished: the ship sprites particularly).