I seem to keep coming back to Star Wars themed 4X and strategy experiences.
So I kept reading about folks being disgusted with Empire at War and going back to 1998's buggy release titled Star Wars Rebellion. Seems it has some finickiness with modern OSes especially Windows 10, which is acceptable considering its age.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/441550/STAR_WARS_Rebellion/
While I like some of the aspects of what I have seen from that title in videos, I was a C&C guy back in those days so I didn't play much for 4X titles. Now that I'm more into them, I have purchased far more than I have time to play...trying to find the one that captivates me. Be it Star Wars or not...but back to the topic...this is a Star Wars 4X subject after all.
Anyways, I've been really enjoying some select Star Wars themed mods for the following games. I am only going to focus on the mods I enjoy the most. All of these games may have multiple SW mods, feel free to donate your thoughts on those or compare against what I have presented. I'm hoping to spread the knowledge of these mods so users can enjoy these titles as much as I have.
Polaris Sector
Utilizes content from other games and mods, is the biggest mod for PS and boy does it add and change a lot content-wise. Nomada, the author, reports this is the closest he could get to a SW Rebellion experience with a game mod. Albeit with PS game mechanics.
So far I'm finding it to be quite fun, but I also enjoy PS vanilla. Still eagerly awaiting the next patch release announcement, this is a hidden gem of a 4X for folks that enjoy a wargaming focus with some more in-depth tactical combat in contrast to the current scope of 4X titles where combat is ho-hum.
The attention to detail and numerous changes make this mod quite sizeable, at 5.3GB. Worth every byte IMHO, and while I am just sinking my teeth into this one after waiting a while to give it a try. A MUST TRY if you own Polaris Sector.
Sins of a Solar Empire
This is one of my favorite mods for SoaSE and has been for some time. 1.90 compatible. Requires the E4X mod, which expands on SoaSE to give it more 4X flavor, but this game and mod surely keeps the action at the forefront and it is so beautiful to watch!
There are other Star Wars mods for Sins, but frankly this one does the trick for me and does it so well I stopped trying any of the rest. Still being updated, still being developed, and has been a great experience along the way.
Star Wars Empire at War Gold
This one I just heard about and it was recently released. I am amazed at what they pulled off with such an old game engine. Now this game is supposedly a sort-of successor to SW Rebellion...some agree, some don't. I have no experience with Rebellion as said above, but what I've seen of Rebellion this doesn't seem to be quite the same focus and goal...but sure there are some similarities.
Either way, I enjoy EaW, vanilla, modded, whatever...its age is showing and its fun factor has faded in recent years. And ground combat...sigh. I guess if looked at and treated as a 4X rather than RTS, ground combat is above average...but meh.
Anyways, this mod doesn't change ground combat yet... but what it does change it does an excellent job of. Units, skins, effects, content, etc...is all very impressive so far for a new mod for such an old game.
The mod works best with the GoG version of the game, but is do-able with the Steam version of the game if you get the correct executable for FoC. No matter which version, the executables need the 4GB patch. There are plenty of posts and instructions to easily accomplish this.
I haven't tried a lot of other mods for EaW yet...only a handful and some were fun, some weren't what I expected, this one totally surprised me and now I'm having this and Polaris Sector w/SW Alliance battle for my time as I find both quite fun. This one is pretty damn challenging at the moment in Galactic Conquest, the dev just said today (as I was typing this post) that they plan to re-launch Empire and Rebellion campaigns.
So far it is very fun, challenging (at least for this gamer), and looks quite frankly amazing for what it is.
Those are my big 3 at this moment, I have tried SW mods for Stellaris as well, but I just have trouble getting into that game. I do want to try a SW mod for DWU at some point, but I gotta finish my current playthru before I do anything.
What are you guys doing with these games? What Star Wars-themed mods are you playing?
What's your thoughts on the mods I'm using?
Cheers!