As someone who very much enjoys Distant Worlds, I have to say a big fat no to 3D.  Why?  Because it would ruin the game utterly.  Sure, the battles don't look great in 2D, and the ships are all sprite-based, but the graphics are functional and the atmosphere is good.  I never, ever feel like the graphics in DW hold me back.

If, however, the game were 3D - especially in the Sword of the Starsy motion sickness bag way (don't get me wrong, I love SotS, but man, that galaxy map takes some getting used to) - the game would be unplayable without major streamlining and over-simplifying of ship motion, fleet management, and the civilian economy.  Does it look "messy" in 2d?  Yes, but I'm convinced the game would look worse in 3D.

Most importantly, though, the computing resources necessary for 3D rendering of the massive amount of stuff in the game would force the whole thing to become much, much smaller.  Try, even with a powerful CPU, running the game in as big a galaxy as you can, with all civilian ships visible.  Even in simple, spritely 2D the thing slows down.  The result of moving to 3D would be a dramatic cut in how many ships and how many stars and planets the game could render.  That's not a trade worth making.

Last but not least, Star Ruler is trying to do at least some things in common with DW anyway, but with a design that takes into account its 3D engine.  No need for DW to go that route, too, especially because there would be so much redesign along the way.  I'm happy to keep it in the Dominions / Europa Universalis happy place of deeper strategy and more robust world instead of 3D graphics.

Galciv 2 is a spreadsheet?

They haven't played EWOM yet . Thank god the expansion seems to be moving away from that. 

A 3D Distant Worlds would likely be more like Star Ruler than Sword of the Stars, so I am not sure why you bring up the latter. Unless they are using the GPU for things other than graphics, the main impact of 3D would be less art rather than less stuff and less time to develop other features (harder to do 3D than 2D). This is not to say 3D does not use more CPU that 2D, but it is nothing next to th increase in GPU usage.

Perhaps our fav ways to set up DW vary some.  i play in a VERY SMALL galaxy, usually spiral.  So have a 3D affect on the map would just and a few layers. Your comments regarding Sword of the stars are accurate, the map takes LOTS of getting used to.

In regard to SotS, I would say the reason it is hard to get use to the map is because it is different from mosst other games rather than being baddly done (though it could use some work, and it sounds like they will be ironing out the last quirks for the second game). Now that I have wrapped my mind around it I would say it is better for a game like SotS that the systems used by other games.

Definitely agree here.

Quoting C0LDsteel,
reply 17
Sorry, but Distant Words + Return of the Shakturi expansion is by far the best 4X space game out there right now. Not even close.

I totally agree with ColdSteel as well. 

Distant Worlds is a pile of crap. Plus if you talk about another game you think is better than it over at that stupid Matrixgames forum the forum police come on (Erik the everready to scold you boy) and threaten you. Distant Worlds is so cartoonish and the worst 4x I ever saw. Now Galactic Civ 2 that's the best 4x space game evah. Those fanbois from Matrixgames can say what they will but they'll never be as good as us GC2 fanbois. So just disregard the TROOL ElanaAhova it doesn't know what it's talkin about.

I love how polite and respectful most people are here at the Elemental sites.

The discussion about whether GalCiv II or Distant Worlds is best will be meaningless once Sword of the Stars II comes out in September. Though I think SotS is the best right now as it has the Morrigi.

For gameplay I prefer Matrix games "Distant Worlds". But I loved Gal Civ in the day. Still have Gal Civ one on my very old laptop (PII 333 Mhz)

Fan boys (fanbois?!) Soon as you admit to being one of them I disregard your argument on first principle - it's being made by someone with extreme bias.

But I am also looking forward to SotS II - though that's not due (according to Paradox Interactive) for months yet.

Soon as Star Wars the Old Republic comes out - all my gaming bets are off (hopefully) for the next 12 months.

Scritty

While everyone clearly has their own preferences making it very difficult to objectively answer 'which is better' I will none the less, provide that objective answer which has so far eluded this thread.

DW takes after MoO3 in it's macromanagement design philosophy (I think I just threw up in my mouth), GC2 is largely soulless and trivially easy to beat on any difficulty, and SotS has real 3D tactical space battles with lots of lasers which go 'pew pew'.

I think that makes it objectively clear which is the superior game.

YES, we all have preferences. And expressing those preferences does not necessarily make someone a 'fanboy,' (whatever that is? -sounds pejorative).   

 I enjoyed the GalCiv2 journey.  GalCiv2 / w the 2 expansions was a great game in its time.  Sometimes the 'random' events create truly challenging situations.   In one game, the really nasty species, (i forget the name), received a special event that magnified/increased their 'influence.'  Massively.  Players are scrambling just trying to keep their bordering colonies from defecting.  The whole strategic balance, etc shifted.  It was a great ride, a wonderful challenge, etc.  

SotS is a fantastic game, and I enjoy it.   its a tough game (for me) as i still have difficulty with the 3D map.  The 3D environment is wonderful.

I also enjoy DW.  Its the game I play most often right now.  It has a great story line (well, actually 2).  The ability to customize the gaming environment is excellent.   I can play in a small galaxy, automate many functions, but keep control of ship design, R&D, combat, etc.  Since I am adverse to RTS, (avoid arthritis in you fingers, dear ones, if you can...), DW is the only game with RTS that I can enjoy - its not (necessarily) a clickfest).  Each game has cool effects, strategic challenges, a learning curve thats fun to flatten, etc.  

That being said, I await SotS2.  I don't play galCiv2 anymore as it is too easy to win even at max levels for AI.   I do play SotS and DW+.  

Which is the superior game?  Depends on how much of the game you have mastered, what your preferences are, and, most importantly how much the user can truly customize the gaming environment.  

 humor alert >>>>  BTW, my lasers don't go 'pew pew.'  And I feel sad.  My lasers are so quiet!  The crews on my ships report  the laser batteries make a funny sound when charging and firing at the enemy.  The holo vids of space battles have silence when lasers fire.  Exploding ships are quiet, as well.  What can I do to get laser that go 'pew pew?'  And can I change the sound to have them go 'zap zap?'  <<<< end humor alert

Distant Worlds sounds alot like Sins of a Solar Empire. At least by glancing at the website.

It is a complete different beast. DW is macro management to its finest.

It feels really like managing an empire. To me at least.

I own GalCiv2 and all expansions but couldn't really get into it either.  I'd play Elemental over it any day, despite all the issues.  I am however hoping that someday there will be a GalCiv3 and it will be a worthy replacement for the horribly ancient Moo2 which I still play now and then.

I would vote for AI wars.

I didn't like Galciv II either.. *shrugs*

Elemental has mucho promise though

I loved GCII+ expansions.

Liked SOTS too.

Never played distant worlds, I am very curious about that, but how about SPACE EMPIRES V?

With balanced mod, I am having much fun playing it, anyone tried it?

Yes, I play Space Empires V, with the Balance mod" and sometimes, the gitzy galaxy mod.   I like it.  There is also a mod that makes colonizing much more difficult.  I play that one, although i think some of the 'new' components, techs, etc are broken.  Still a novel experience.  Whats with the PMB, seems like no plays anymore, except for that 'play by committee' clique.

Im a big fan of space based 4x style games and Ive played just about all of the ones mentioned on this thread.

I just wanted to say thanks to the people recommending distant worlds. After reading about it here, I bought a copy with the expansion and have been thoroughly enjoying it. I played a lot of Galciv 2 with both expansions and while I enjoyed it a lot (economy and spreadsheet issues aside) Distant Worlds is a much better game in my opinion. Being able to automate as much or as little of your empire as you like is great, and I love that they got rid of all the planetary building micromanagement. As someone mentioned earlier, its brilliant the way it simulates a living, breathing empire complete with mining facilities, tourists and active trade lanes. Meanwhile I get to concentrate on researching new tech, designing more powerful ships, and crushing the xenos under my bootheel. I think the really cool part that sets this game above the others is the inbuilt story that unfolds as you investigate old ruins. Finding derelict fleets from centuries old conflicts was another really cool touch and made it feel like a fleshed out galaxy with a history.

I tried playing Space Empires V, but its unplayable for me in Windows 7 due to compatibility issues.

I liked Sins of a Solar Empire and played it loads. I found it improved greatly with the expansion and the inclusion of star bases, however the diplomacy expansion was a bit lacklustre, so im not sure if I will go for the latest expac.

I heard about SOTS 2 which looks pretty good from the previews, so I got the original and the expansion packs to see what they were like. I really enjoyed the game and thought it had some interesting takes on some design decisions. One of the things I dont like about it however is the random tech trees, and unfortunately they seem to be coming back in the sequel.

It is back, but it will have some changes to it so that rather than just not being able to get a tech there will be varying levels of feasiblity (or so I understand).

Admiral Rom,  I'm happy you found you like DW.  Its my fav space game right now.. but mainly because of the extensive use of AI  coupled with the ability to 'mod' the experience by deciding how much to give to the AI to run, and how much I want to run....

I wish more games would adopt this approach - give us users maximum mod ability and maximum customization over the environment.  Whatever the genre....

I still thin GalCiv is a good game, and I enjoy SotS.   

Personally I prefer the approach Star Ruler takes (at least to how Distant Worlds does it before the expansion). It lets you give general commands like have one system colonize another, and all colony ship produced there will be set to and auto-colonize the target.

what about armada 2526?

What you think? I am curious.