Newbie question: Which game should I start on?

So the space stage of Spore reminded me of this genre, which set me out on my quest to find a great space 4X game.

 

I tried the demo for GalCivII and thought is was great, so I just purchased the ultimate bundle of all 3 games/expansions.  I was wondering if I should start with the original or Dark Avatar, then move onto Twilight after learning the game or if I should just start out with Twilight?  The last game I played similar to this one was Ascendancy many years ago.  Thanks in advance.

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Reply #1 Top

Just my personal experience, but I also have all three games/expansions.  I started with Dreal Lords and didn't move on to Dark Avatar until recently.  I'll eventually take on Twilight when Dark Avatar gets long in the tooth. 

I figure that it's pretty good value for money to do it this way.  It's essentially 3 games for the price of one.  Especially when you look at what new games cost compared to all 3 of these.

Have fun either way.  :)

Reply #2 Top

I like to refer new gamers to start off in Dark Avatar (DA) to learn the game's mechanics.  Then once they are comfortable there, move into Twilight of the Arnor (TA).  One of the biggest changes that happened in that expansion was the tech tree's for each race isn't the same as it is in DA.  This may be an issue of 'too much information to deal with' when learning a new game.

Some people may prefer to jump in feet first to TA and jsut get it over with though...

Reply #3 Top

I really would like to advice people to start with DL and work their way through the expansions for a true grasp of the game and how it has matured. But it can be daunting, after learning the intricicies(sp) of DL then move on to DA and have to learn the game again, let alone having to finally progress to TA.

If you have never played the game though, i think the new tech trees would be easier to live with without having learnt the originals. I still havent come to terms with TA....I still enjoy DA too much.

I can see a downside to jumping straight into TA though...Once you learn that and like it, i could very well see that you would play either DL or DA once and then quit the game only to go back to TA, it's so much more a feast for the eyes than DL/DA.

Reply #4 Top

To me, TA is the game GC2 was meant to be, so start there.  GC2 should have separate tech trees for each race, separate look/feel for the planet screens.  As far as I'm concerned, everything in the GC2 line was prologue to TA.

(And I get a sense that TA is just prologue to TA 2.0 :) )