I would buy expeditions conquistador, if linux version was availible. This game has a linux port as far as I know.

Why?

Just downloaded and installed Galactic Civ Complete. Is there a difference between the two icons? Before you slap me for being an idiot, I realize one icon represents the expansion, but is the regular game and the expansion ala Titan Quest which gives you two icons but you only need the expansion one to play the whole game.

Yes I could put this in the GC forums but there doesn't seem to be much action in there right now. Thanks! :D

I'd pick both AoW 1 and AoW: Shadow Magic and play the first game first.

AoW 1 is the best for atmosphere, background story, story, music and has a more serious Tolkienesque (but original) gameworld. Also it has some great handmade portraits for heroes, units and adventure locations. It has a good balance between factions but it is a bit unbalanced in that heroes\leaders can become very strong übermenschen when you understand advanced hero development and use it to its full potential. It has a great selection of great maps for download so you will never run out of new maps to play. The branching campaign is also very good and recommended even if you normally don't like campaigns. But it is better to learn the game by playing scenarios first before you dive into the campaign.

AoW: Shadow Magic is an awesome game as well and though I think the original is the best, this one is close behind. The atmosphere is not so good (as in the first game, but still very nice) and the backstory, unit descriptions and story make it a less serious game. It feels more like a AD&D game than the original did. There is still a lot of creativity with the various units and abilities. Graphically it continues the style used in the first game only with a higher resolution and much more details, especially in the units. Thus it should be a better game graphically, but the lack of the great drawn\painted portraits of the first game gives the first game the highest mark for graphics for me. The music is nice here but not near to the quality of those in the first game. Hero development has been changed to a more randomized pick between three choices similar to the HoMM games. This gives you less control but on the other hand it makes the heroes less overpowered compared to other units. There are some neat new additions like more in-depth city building and wizard towers. The battlefield of the tactical battles have been reduced in size which saves time but battles feels less epic than they did in the first game. (Still, the battles are awesome.)

The game comes with a neat randomized map generator. The maps are nice and playable but feels empty and generic compared to those made by a human. The is a great wealth of user made maps available online so you will never run out of good maps to play. There is also a great user-made mod called the 1.4 patch that is required by most newer maps and mods. There are several huge mods available too. I haven't played any of those yet so I can't tell you anything about them.

AoW II is a game I only recommend for those that that already have AoW 1 and AoW: Shadow Magic. Since AoW: Shadow Magic is a more advanced version of this game the only reason to get it is for the extra maps and the campaign. The extra maps can be imported into AoW: Shadow Magic if you fancy so but you really only need those if you want a greater selection of official maps. I have not played the campaign yet but I have heard from several people that is is better than the one in AoW: Shadow Magic (which I don't like that much.)

The world that you play in AoW 1 feels like a a great clash of civilizations\races and ideologies where every halfling and lizardman are fighting for the survival of their race or way of life. Good beings sometimes must make some hard decisions in these weary times.

AoW: Shadow Magic\AoW: 2 has more focus on the almost godlike wizards that manipulate the lesser creatures around for their own whims. It has a more caricatured and comedic approach to the world but it is not a parody game.

Both games have a great wealth of tactical and strategic options. AoW: Shadow magic has 16 races to select from but only 8 can play on each map. AoW 1 has 12 different races and up to 12 can play on each map.
Both games are have a good balance between the different factions (especially compared to HoMM2 and HoMM3) yet there a lot of variety between them. AoW: SM is better balanced than the first when it comes to hero development
since those in the first can become very strong. On the other hand the development in the first game is more fun since it is entirely open ended. To limit the power of heroes you can use some self-imposed limits like not using hand-to-hand attacks to get experience or staying away from or limiting the use of some choices.

Both can be a bit hard to get into in the beginning. But when you start to understand the game mechanics there is a steady rise in skill. Though it is a bit harder to get into than the HoMM series it is much closer to it than to Paradox Games or Dwarf Fortress :-) There are some things that don't come intuitively, like how you de-select multiple units withing the same stack that should have been explained better. These games are pick up and play, then read some manual\website, then play then read some manual\website for some time. (You play a lot more than you read of course.)

When you have mastered or gotten good at one of the games in the series it is very easy to pick up one of the other games. Only a few game systems have changed and the statistics are the same only the values have been doubled in AoW 2\ AoW: SM compared to the first game. (Attack 14 is the same as attack 7 in the first game.)

Experience with similar games like HoMM and Eador alsomakes it easier to get into the games.
I think the definitions of hot differ a lot between people. Also when it comes to the female form and garments.

It is easy to build your own content in AoW 1 too. The map editor is more or less the same but maybe the AoW: SM editor has some more options that I didn't see? Or maybe you were think about how easy it is to mod the game? You must be right about that since there is a lot more mods for AoW: Shadow Magic.

The map generator is cool but I mostly prefer to play user-made maps since the random maps are a bit empty and generic. It could be useful for multiplayer games though.

There is a great amount of user-made maps for AoW1 and I don't think you would ever run out of good ones to play, but the even greater amount that exists for AoW: SM is by not means a bad thing :)

anyone? :-)

That would be awesome. Warlords Battlecry 3 is not bad for an RTS but the old Warlords series is the real deal.

Dude, just click on both and you'll see. :p

I did, one has a campaign option, the other doesn't. triock my friend, you've known me long enough to know I'm not sitting at home splitting atoms in my free time; I'm an idiot and I need help. :P

I really do hope for another sale with Galactic Civilizations, hopefully with the sequel when GOG get around to releasing it.

All in all a really nice sale, but I have already spent this weeks money on Don't Starve (http://www.dontstarvegame.com/) as it is only $9.99 for the game and the soundtrack, with less then 30 hours now left. I would have waited for it here, but there is no soundtrack.

Altarian Prophecy is essentially GalCiv plus some additional stuff (two new races, a couple new techs and buildings, a campaign, etc.). So, I guess comparing it to Titan Quest would be apt. Although, I was more thinking of Diablo 2 and Lord of Destruction, because I've never played TQ.

As for the lack of activity in the GalCiv forum, I think that's going to change once the sequel is here. At least I hope so. I need more test subjects for my mod. ;)

thank you thank you thank you

You da man!

I guess another valid comparison might be Space Rangers 2 vs Space Rangers Reboot.

Expeditions and Reus are my favorites on this promo.