I am in the mood to play a new 4X space strat game. I love Masters of Orion (just finished playing it, can't find MOO 2) played Gal Civ 2, not too thrilled with Space Empires V, played Gal Civ II but not the last expansion.

I have played Distant Worlds and Star Ruler, but want a turn based game since I played alot of those games lately. I also have Lost Empire:Immortals as well, but it hasn't grabbed me quite yet. I will be playing it soon if I can't find anything else, espcially if SotS doesn't grab me for my turn based fix. (I am playing Star Ruler and Distant World but as I said, I want my TBS fix right now.)

So I saw a video for Sword of the Stars the Argo expansion pack. It looked interesting. So I was thinking if I should get this game or not. For people who have played it, how is it?

Can you control your space combat?
Is there ground combat?
How fun is the research part of the game?
Is there espionage? I love having espionage in 4X space games, love stealing technology and disrupting the other enemy.
How is building your ships? I loved making ships in MOO and MOO II, but not so much in MOO III.

So what is your opnion of SotS and what expansions should I be getting for it?

Also is there other 4X Space Strategy games that I may not be aware of? I know I played a few but can't rememeber all of them if I have them or not.

SotS is heavily focused on tactical space combat. The empire management is highly abstracted, though the expansions added some more complexity.
There is no ground combat.
Tech trees are randomized. You may not be able to get every tech in every game, which makes it a lot more enjoyable imho.
A Murder of Crows added espionage, but to be honest I haven't played the game with that expansion too much so I'm not sure how involved it is.
Your ships come in three size classes, each has three sections. There's many different options for each section, each with different effects on the ship's abilities, different turret sizes and layouts, etc. You can decide what weapons to put in the weapons slots. You can also often add some additional options like reflective coating to make your ship more resistant to lasers.

Definitely get both the Born of Blood and Murder of Crows expansions if you decide to get the game

I'm really excited for Sword of the Stars II, coming out (hopefully) in September. I haven't played the first, but it looks like something I'd really enjoy.

Have you tried the X series? I bought it during the Steam Summer Sale but haven't tried it yet. It's not turn based but it may be something you would want to look into.

You can buy and download MOO 1, 2, and 3 from gog.com (Good Old Games). I think they're $5.99

I have MOO and played it for the last few weeks. I can't find MOO II yet, but want a break from MOO for a bit. If I can't find my copy thanks for letting me know it's on GOG. I just got Sword of the Stars complete, with all expansions for $5 on Impulse. I believe I can't go wrong if I don't like it.

What is this "X seires"? I never herd of it.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/2820/

Thanks Antibody. Is this a strategy game? It looks more like a flight simulator instead, something like X-wing. I might try it out, I haven't played a good flight sim game in a long time either.

There is some strategy involved, but its based around flying your ship around. The X Series focuses mostly on empire building and trade, although the latest game adds much more into the combat area.

Ahh, 4x's, a wonderful genre.

Firstly, http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/master_of_orion_1_2 for $5.99 USD. Now Space Empires V is my favourite over all for 4xs, but I won't get into that.

As for SotS.

• Can you control your space combat?
  Space combat is rts on a 2D plane
  
• Is there ground combat?
  No
  
• How fun is the research part of the game?
  Random, dynamic what you start with. Its pretty interesting in that it all links together in the end, each species has a unique tree for the most part.
  
• Is there espionage? I love having espionage in 4X space games, love stealing technology and disrupting the other enemy.
  The espionage is there, but quite limited in the game.
  
• How is building your ships? I loved making ships in MOO and MOO II, but not so much in MOO III.
  Ship building can be customized throughout from each part to weapons engines and such.

Hope that helps.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is on gog.com for ~$6(US). It is old but along with MOO is one the standard bearers of the space 4x games, and it is turn-based.

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri

It is one of the best. Ground based, but very sci fi. Proper, Vernor Vinge sci fi, not JJ Abrams six and bloom lighting sci fi.

Hey all, I got all the games mentioned. . I was able to get SotS complete, the game and all 3 expansions for $5. Great deal on Impulse. Everyone else was asking over $30 for it.

So far liking the game. Just like MOO I wich I just finsihed playing 2 weeks ago. It's a bit getting use to (just like any game) but having fun with it. Glad I got it.

Any other good 4X games out there?

@ Sur Warlock, how come you liked Space Empires V? I didn't like it too much. What am I missing? I found it bland with generic names. If I can find my disk again I might try it out. How can I make my experinance with that game better?

I liked it because it gave such freedom. The game is so moddable that its amazing - yes the default names are generic but you can easily replacable with more interesting names. A good modding site is http://www.spaceempires.net/. What I liked about the game is that you can pretty much do whatever you want in it - it has amazing rts combat (its really fun), huge universes, can actually have meaningful relationships with the ai with alliances and such.

Patched up the game is probably the most versatile game out there for a 4x, it just lets you play 'how you want'.