freeciv VS OpenRA

#4 - Free Civ - Its Civilization 1 and 2, a free clone. You can download the game here; OR play via the online web version... which is my favorite... has a great 2.5 iso view that adds depth.. or join a mega game where 300 or so human players play one turn per day.

Also, a similar question points to FreeCiv: http://www.freeciv.org/

Freeciv

I also played my fair share of FreeCiv, because my second favourite Amiga game was Civilization. ;-)

It's worth-trying if you're interested in seeing what the "4x" genre is about. Probably not Civ 2 on PSX, but you can get Civ: Revolution (Civ "dumbed down" for consoles) on the PS360 generation consoles, Civ: Revolution 2 on mobile (not a bad attempt but really should've stuck on console), Civ 6 on the Nintendo Switch, or FreeCiv on PC and/or mobile if you want a Civ2-experience that isn't stuck on the original Playstation (or hunting down an older DOS/Windows copy). Alternatively, if looking for a Civ5 experience and not on Steam but mobile: There is UnCiv which can be pretty decent for the price (free) and platform (mobile). It won't match Civ6, but it's near "current" based on Civ5.

It's a tough one to recommend for, that fanless system tends to overheat just being on, much less running anything, from all I've read. I'd probably stick with some basics like ADOM, FreeCiv, Battle for Wesnoth, etc. (all three are free by the way). Those games are non-system intensive so shouldn't put too much pressure on it to run them, and turn-based so you don't have to worry about lag. Looking for a bit more action, give the demo for Torchlight a go, see how the system handles it. Should be capable enough but with heat issues it could put a crimp in the play. Similar with Windows (Bedrock) edition Minecraft, give the free trial a go and see what's what. Fez, Bastion, Braid, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Beyond Good & Evil, Commandos 2+3, Deus Ex, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Empire Earth, Europa Universalis II, Fallout 1/2/Tactics, Fate, FlatOut 2, Gothic 2, Ground Control, Hearts of Iron, Hitman 3: Contracts, Homeworld (the classic version, comes with the remastered), IL-2 Sturmovik, Jagged Alliance 2, Machinarium, Majesty, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Mount & Blade, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Planescape: Torment, Praetorians, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Quake 1-3, Rayman 2, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Shadow Warrior Classic, Sid Meier’s Civilization III (or give Freeciv a go instead), Silent Storm, SimCity 4 Deluxe, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, Starcraft (original, it's the free one), System Shock 2, The Curse of Monkey Island, The Settlers IV, Theme Hospital, Thief, Thief 2, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider II, should run on that.

Freeciv is well, free : https://www.freeciv.org

Recently, my friends and I recreated our old LAN parties. Went up to a cabin in the woods, brought some cheap network switches, and had everyone install OpenRA (https://www.openra.net/, open red alert), and had a blast, even with everyone on laptops (mac/win). You can still do this in 2024 and it's worth it!

After the movies, I wanted to experience Dune 2 again (the pirate sites have it, along with patches to make it playable on modern OSes or Crossover). It was arguably the first mass-market real-time strategy game. There's also OpenRA for C&C, Red Alert, and Dune 2K: https://www.openra.net/

I understand Square is re-making FF7 in a multi-part release over several years (not sure why it takes so long)? https://ffvii-remake-intergrade.square-enix-games.com/en-us/ Once it's all out, I might play through that again just for nostalgia's sake (and for the soundtrack, of course! Twenty years later, I still have Aeris's Theme stuck in my head from time to time)

Obligatory reminder:Red Alert,Command & Conquer, Dune 2000, Rebuilt for the Modern Era.

https://www.openra.net/

I recently found an open source version that has been fun (https://www.openra.net/).

You can import those from ISOs: https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/wiki/Game-Content but the campaign is not complete afaik as it needs to be re-built in OpenRA: https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/issues/4989 (I think this is the related ticket)

Alternatively OpenRA has a bunch of C&C inspired mods: https://www.openra.net I think this way is the easiest way to get a C&C like experience on a M1 Mac right now.

www.openra.net