Best "Older" Strategy Games?

[Raziel_uk]

Although my computer is quite poweful:

1.8gigahertz
512mb ram
256mb graphics card
200gig hard drive

I know it still won't play the most up to date games. So I'm looking for those older strategy games, similar to AoE II, Rome: Total War, etc.

I don't mind what genre they cover (ancient, 2nd world war, science fiction/fantasy, etc.) just as long as they are good and (not so important playable online). However, I'm not interested in games (I'm looking at you, Warcraft) that need a subscription to play online.

So what would you recommend?

[d4m]

thats not a horrible system. You would just have issues with the intensive FPSs or some of the new RTS.

Galactic Civilizations II would run. Only requires 800Mhz and its fairly new. Civilization IV would also run. Honestly, you're not that limited yet if your looking at strat games.

[Sno]

Total Annihilation + Core Contingency Expansion Pack + Final Patch (and any official units not included in that patch) = Best RTS ever.

[Raziel_uk]

I knew my system wasn't too bad - I've only just recently got it.

But I am also aware it won't play the latest, graphic intensive games.

Plus, as I am several years behind everyone else in terms of PC games playing, I wondered what the best strategy games were.

[Sno]

Again, Total Annihilation.

[Raziel_uk]

I've just looked on Gamespot, and TA sounds good, Sno.

I'll have to see if I can get a copy as it is such an old games (almost ten years).

[EDIT] Yes, Amazon have got copies of the original game. Now to see about the expansion pack.

They do have a "Commander" pack, but that's 70 quid (why can't I use a pound sign?). See it HERE (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atari-Total-Annihilation-Commander-Pack/dp/B00004W4EQ/sr=1-4/qid=1159364895/ref=sr_1_4/202-5467042-2156662?ie=UTF8&s=software).

[Sno]

That Commander Pack looks good, its even got Battle Tactics! (Not a necessary add-on, but it does offer up dozens upon dozens of extra SP missions.)

That price tag is an outrage though.

Regardless, if you pick the game up, lemme know and i'll fill you in on everything you need to know to get the game prepped for play. (Lots of patches and stuff.)

^ Something to consider: While TA was a game that was really pretty great when it was first released, due to Cavedog's constant meddling with the game, it became what i still hold to be the single greatest RTS game ever made.

^ On that, Cavedog's utterly phenomenal after-the-fact MP service for TA, Boneyards, simply no longer exists, so its quite impossible to get the full experience these days. (There are several fan-driven efforts from the still very active modding community that try to salvage Boneyards' front end and run the meta-game from private servers, but... Meh.)

Still certainly worth playing, most definitely.

It was just so far ahead of its time.

We're talking about a game where you could take a construction unit and put it in patrol, and it would then intelligently go around assisting in construction, conducting repairs, and collecting resources.

A game where hundreds of units were in play, not dozens.

A game where expensive artillery cannons could launch offensive strikes from clear across the enormous maps.

Etc, etc.

Anyways, if you dig TA, you'll want to keep an eye on Chris Taylor's new game, Supreme Commander. (Chris Taylor is the creator of TA, but no longer owns the rights to his own creation, and thus SupCom is billed as a sort of "spiritual successor".)

Edit: Btw, if you go the "abandon ware" route to aquiring the game, something i don't necessarily mean to endorse, you'll miss out on TA's absolutely spectacular orchestrated soundtrack. (One of Jeremy Soule's first gaming soundtracks... You know who Jeremy Soule is, right?)

[Eyegor]

Well, I'm currently having a blast with Heroes of Might and Magic 4. I'm new to the series and am utterly hooked (although from what I gather, most stalwarts of HoMM would say no.3 was better).

[Shoboy]

Homeworld series.

[Kalbrecht]

Well, I'm currently having a blast with Heroes of Might and Magic 4. I'm new to the series and am utterly hooked (although from what I gather, most stalwarts of HoMM would say no.3 was better).

That it was. HOMM 3 is awesome. HOMM 4 was okay, but doesn't compare. HOMM 3 is highly recommended.

There's also Battle Realms, which a lot of people really liked.

Warhammer: Dark Omen - if you can find it - is an awesome Warhammer Fantasy based RTS.

Warcraft 3.

Going back further there's things like Starcraft, TA (as mentioned), Dark Reign, Star Trek Armada (and the Star Trek series)...

[DanTheManPR]

TA and StarCraft. Of course, those will run on almost anything.

The original Homeworld is a good choice too. Homeworld 2 would probably run ok (what kind of video card do ya have?)

[Sno]

Yeah, the original Homeworld is a classic game.

The first Ground Control also deserves major props.

Also, if for some strange reason you haven't, the C&C series.

Red Alert 2 probably stands as the best entry into the series.

Tiberian Sun also warrants some play time. (Its a legit sequel to the original C&C, and its seriously underrated imho.)

[bucknaked]

Baldurs Gate was meant to be pretty good

[Sno]

Baldur's Gate is a frickin` RPG.

[Raziel_uk]

I don't mind RPG either. The PS2 version of Balder's Gate was changed into a repeative "hack and slash" affair, with just the occasional nod to strategy or RPG. Hated it.

I have the original Starcraft - haven't played that in years! Must reinstall it again. Does anyone still play online?

I'm not sure of the name of my graphics card, I know it's got 256mb of RAM though.

[Eddie Ismail]

StarCraft is IMHO teh best RTS ever made. if you haven't already, check it out, you can buy it really cheap right now

[chip5541]

Silent Storm & Sentinals (check for package deal. Should be only $20)

[Shoboy]

The MYTH series is also really cool. It's an RPG type RTS. You only get so many units per map and it's fantasy-story driven. Myth 1 and 2 are in chronological order, Myth 3 is a prequel to the series. They also run just fine on XP and modern hardware.

[Raziel_uk]

StarCraft is IMHO teh best RTS ever made. if you haven't already, check it out, you can buy it really cheap right now

Hi Eddie

You didn't read my post directly above yours did you? I did say I have the original Starcraft!

[Karlsweldt]

Check out the specs for your mobo. It may allow use of a higher-speed CPU, and give you more playing power. If the processor has a limited L2 cache, it would work much better with a 512 Kb L2 cache. Provide more specs on your system, so members can suggest an easy upgrade that isn't expensive. If you don't know the full details of your system, then look for Everest Ultimate Diagnostics at www.lavalys.com/ which is a great program to display all the secrets of any PC. It will also provide links for drivers and updates, which may help overall. The program is not expensive, worth more than its cost. Your video card has more than enough memory, but how many pixel pipelines does it have? The more pipelines, the more fluid the images. And adding more memory to the system would also improve response. A gig of memory is about normal for today's setups. And deactivating unrequired programs that run in the background will also increase performance when playing games.
Quake4 is a high-detail game.. and would probably work on your system, ableit slow. But if you upgrade a little, it may work very nicely. So too would any other game.