Turned based 4x games with random tech tree?

defaultluser

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All,

I have loved Master of Orion since the day it was released. And I have never loved a game as much since, even the himpressive sequel MOO2. After awhile I just got bored wit the fixed tech tree of MOO2!

I find fixed tech trees boring. I just do the same old shit over and over, in the exact same order every time I play. BORING. Fixed tech trees are for Real Time Strategy games, where everyone needs to have the same tree and decide fast!

I find that the one thing that keeps me coming back to Master of Orion is the random tech tree. We're not just talking somebody lazily rolling dice here: there are purposeful gaps in almost every race's tech tree, either forcing you to exchange, invade, or work around it by researching other things! In other words, forcing you to craft the best path based on what you're stuck with makes for a more exciting game! And not knowing what you have coming down the pipe makes every research choice a gamble.

After recently trying out Endless Space and quickly getting bored (just a MOO2 clone with more system-centric build queue), Finally realized why play MOO so incessantly. So I thought I might ask people before wasting any more of my time :D

Any recommendations for 4x games with random tech trees, or is MOO going to forever be my favorite candy? I prefer space games, but given how thin the results of my google search have been, I'll take anything
 
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Would Civilization fill your needs?

Are the technology choices available to you each time you play the game different? And I'm not just taking about just a few fixed techs that are attached to one race that go away when you change races; I'm talking using the same race two games in a row and getting something different.

If so, then it sounds great.
 
AI Wars - The tree is really dependent on the map.

Sins of a Solar Empire - Pretty different compared to most 4x

Both of these games will cause you to lose sleep. You have been warned.
 
Are the technology choices available to you each time you play the game different? And I'm not just taking about just a few fixed techs that are attached to one race that go away when you change races; I'm talking using the same race two games in a row and getting something different.

If so, then it sounds great.
I suppose they are. But I've never had much success by investing all over the place. As you progress so does time and technology to go along with it.

If you invest in all the tech trees too much, you'll fall behind the rest of the players....in my experience at least
I highly recommend the game though.
 
Sword of the Stars had percentage tech tree, the chances of a certain tech unlocking and being available for you is a percentage base on your race.So one game you get the awesome shield you want but the next game it wont. But don't get the sequel, I heard that was a turd.

Yea I didn't like either Endless Space or Endless Legend
 
Take a look at Stellaris. Not out yet. Lot of info here.

Tech dev diary sounds like something you might want.
 
Sword of the Stars had percentage tech tree, the chances of a certain tech unlocking and being available for you is a percentage base on your race.So one game you get the awesome shield you want but the next game it wont. But don't get the sequel, I heard that was a turd.

Yea I didn't like either Endless Space or Endless Legend

Yeah, that sounds like my cup of tea! I've heard mentioon of it a long time ago but for some reason i never checked into it. Guess I will now :D
 
Sword of the Stars 1 was famous for its random tech tree. I didn't like it, to be honest. The % chance to unlock techs seemed based on race. You could follow a tech branch, only to hit a dead end.
 
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