I know what you mean.  I have been picking away at Sins for the past month, playing on Easy and just trying to get a rudimentary grasp of how to research tech and learning about what units are good for what, etc..  It's cool so far but it's got an extremely dry sense of style and it's sort of stuck in between 2 established play styles. 
 
I'd prefer it to be turn-based so that they could add more depth and thoughtfulness to the whole act of exploring the galaxy and managing an empire.  OR... make it play out faster...maybe not StarCraft fast... but more on the order of a traditional RTS so I can get in, get my fix, then get out and feel satisfied.  Sorry, i have no answer for your question.. perhaps the "X" games such as X2 The Threat??  The Space Rangers series?  All of those should be available on Steam.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!
 
I bought GalCiv2 when it came out, but I didn't give it a fair chance. Just installed Impulse again, so I'll re-download it and give it a try :)
 
Fall from heaven looks interesting, I'll try it out :) 
Don't think there's any research in Colonization?

I lost some interest in Civ 4 for a while. Recently I discovered a cool mod for it called Fall from heaven. Its a pretty damn good fantasy conversion of Civ 4. It keeps a lot of the Civ systems but adds some cool world events. Check it out.

Galactic Civilizations 2 maybe?
 
I've never played it.

There is Civ 4: Colonization, its standalone and well priced.

 The last few days I've had a huge craving for 4X-games. I bought and downloaded Master of Orion 1, 2 and 3, and Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity, looking forward to countless hours of 4X-fun.
 
A couple of days has passed since I downloaded them, and I've clocked in maybe one hour on these games, combined. I play through half of a tutorial, click through the rest not bothering to read anything, and start a new game. Play 10 minutes and get bored. Why is this? I love Civilization and Alpha Centauri, why can't I have fun with these?
 
Maybe they're too complicated. Or the systems are too old and cumbersome for my tastes. Or that the research is too sci-fi. No, I think it's just too complicated.
See, what I really like about these games is the research. A wealth of possibilities to tailor your own empire, and maybe discover something cool that will give you an edge over your enemies. In Civilization, most of the research is heavily grounded in reality. You see 'Horseback Riding', and you immediately understand what that gives you. 'Advanced Steel Alloy lvl 3'*, not so much.

So, my question to you, my millions of followers; Is there a game like Civilization in terms of research? Where the research is simple to understand, maybe hard to master. Where I don't have to read a research-description 5 times to get what it does.

I need something to tide me over until Civ 5 is released. Hmm, or maybe a while longer, since my computer can't run Civ 5...


sahest