CC2 vs Gaea?

[ZanyScum]

I own Gaea and I like it. I started the campaign multiple times, finished it once and I am quite happy each time I sink some hours into it. But it is not a play-for-weeks game for me.

This looks like it does the same with way worse graphics.

It seems to me - I might be wrong - the critics are way better for this game.

So, if you played both and LIKED BOTH, could you please tell me if this one should be worth it for me and why?

If you did not like the first one (I am not talking about the real first one, of course I loved it but I don't think anybody here has played it), please only respond with short simple sentences that describe something which makes you play this game for hours :-)

[Ydyp]

Publicado originalmente por Bukazoid:

Publicado originalmente por Zyhgar The Phoenix:

Nah it's still pretty bad tbh

We don't have alternatives in that class games :( Gaea or CC2 only

Well if you don't mind outdated graphics you also have Hostile Waters, to bad it doesn't fully support modern resolutions.

But so far if you ask me Gaea Mission at least has the enemy with a more tactical AI that gives up a better fight then the CC2 which completely lack any of that and it is way to easy to cheese the AI by just bombarding it from outside its aggro range so it doesn't even fight back.

The only thing CC2 is better at is the multiplayer, but with how there is no matchmaking or game browsing they even managed to mess that up if you don't have friends.

[dynamite_matt]

I have played the 1988 original (amiga 500) gaea on the xbox and the cc2. Gaea doesn't count as carrier command its just not the same. 2 keeps pretty close to the original concept, very good with potential to be great, not sure why they changed the resource management from the original, blueprints seems more luck than stratagy to me.

[th0ma5]

I like both games. CC2 has advantage of multiplyer, a fully operational bridge and dynamic sea/weather. But Gaea is a more streamlined single player experience and has much better manual unit control.

[DAZZYD]

I like the GFX in CC2, it has quite alot of detail if you look at things properly, It's not that the GFX are bad, they are just in a differant style.

[ZanyScum]

Publicado originalmente por Zyhgar The Phoenix:

Lights don't affect ship power usage so you don't have to worry about turning it on and off.

I think he was joking.

[peerjones]

Gaia is much more hands on. You'll be spending much more time on the maps giving commands to the drones in CC2.

[Bambi]

Publicado originalmente por Ydyp:

The only thing CC2 is better at is the multiplayer, but with how there is no matchmaking or game browsing they even managed to mess that up if you don't have friends.

Even if you do have friends you need the kind of friends that are into this type of game, which is hardly just anyone.

If you're looking for a great CC type game with more of a singleplayer focus there was an older one called Hostile Waters Antaeus Rising. It has a campaign with a story and a fairly competent AI.

[Struders]

Publicado originalmente por Bambi:

Publicado originalmente por Ydyp:

The only thing CC2 is better at is the multiplayer, but with how there is no matchmaking or game browsing they even managed to mess that up if you don't have friends.

Even if you do have friends you need the kind of friends that are into this type of game, which is hardly just anyone.

If you're looking for a great CC type game with more of a singleplayer focus there was an older one called Hostile Waters Antaeus Rising. It has a campaign with a story and a fairly competent AI.

We're working on a Hostile Waters remake ;)

[Commander Zach]

Publicado originalmente por CobraA1:

It's not the same.

Gaea is very streamlined, it's pretty simple for a single player to have enough control without being overwhelmed. I don't remember all of it and I did a VERY basic refresher play of the very beginning of the game recently. But it's pretty obvious to me it's nowhere near the same amount of depth as CC2.

CC2 has a lot more depth - to the point where it's actually more ideal to play it multiplayer because you're constantly moving between the various consoles on the ship in single player. Every knob, every switch, every panel has a purpose, you have very fine control over all of the ship systems, the various deployable vehicles, and the supply lines from the islands.

But CC2 is still playable in single player, people have done it and finished the game, and if you're looking for "a play-for-weeks game," I'd recommend CC2 over Gaea.

I agree with this

[KDR_11k]

I think the design goals are very different. CCGM is generally much faster and not just due to the time warp mechanic that's completely missing from CC2. GM units undock almost instantly while it takes literally a whole minute to get a single plane airborne in CC2.

CC2 is designed around detecting targets from far away and using artillery and guided munitions to strike them while either shooting down their attacks with CIWS or just staying so far away that they don't notice your presence. When you have to go into direct combat with enemy ground forces it feels like crap, slow shooting guns with terrible accuracy and apparently a chance to get deflected by armor makes ground combat slooow and low lethality (especially compared to the instant kills of missiles and artillery), also it's difficult to get your ground units to get a clear line of fire and they will happily plink away while having next to no chance of hitting anything, running out of ammo after 1-2 fights. Manual control of ground units feels almost useless except to get them unstuck from trees, ledges or just random decisions to stop moving. Oh also the island system only spawns neutral AI units on islands, you don't get your own defense islands. Command centers can only be captured, not destroyed and islands have a fixed function (which is to build a specific category of item).

CCGM is designed around very direct combat with limited access to guided weapons. Air units can hover and move in any direction with no realistic flight physics. Ground and air units have a fairly large selection of weapons of various strengths, some arcing, some not. You can fling missiles over some obstracles but that's kinda the extent of indirect fire you're getting there. It's still a lot about seeing enemies first but not so you can press a button and have a cruise missile fly at them from ten kilometers away, just so you know where to aim your cannon or how you shouldn't expose yourself to certian lines of fire. The economy works kind alike in the original but islands are bigger (multiple bases on them so they tend to act like 4-6 islands in original CC, often you need to take some objective in each of those bases before you can grab the command center) and actions like converting an island or building a command center take a lot longer so you're encouraged to capture islands but can resort to destroying or even nuking the command center if you don't want to deal with the defenses.

One frustration with CC2 is that you unlock random blueprints when capturing islands but there's no guarantee that you get e.g. the ammo for a gun you actually have or turrets that fit on vehicles you can even build. Since CCGM doesn't separate ammo and guns it has almost no chance to give you a blueprint you can't fit on your units. The design of CC2 also makes certain items very key to progress, like having something to fight enemy ships with (requires torpedos, main gun ammo or fighter jets) but none of those are unlocked from the start so you may end up in a position where you cannot deal with certain threats because your starting ammo ran out and you can't make more.