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[Eek-A-Mouse]

This used to be a childhood favorite of mine. Itching for something to play, I looked it up and found out that it has an active (if small) community with a forum and mods going. They've got a certain mod in particular which seems to add quite a bit to the game, including some touched up graphics, more units, more terrain, etc.

Here's a link to the forum post which describes the mod:
http://www.cfwcommand.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1101
And a direct link to the download for the mod, which is all you need to play it, as you download it in a package with the game itself:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/conquest-2-frontier-wars-forever/downloads/conquest-2-frontier-wars-forever-45-final
(I'm pretty sure it's legal, too, as the developer of the game frequents the forums where the mod is posted)

And here's a crude description of the game, for anyone who hasn't heard of it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 It's a pretty old space rts (created in 2001 I believe) where you try and defeat your enemy in a map made from up to 16 different solar systems, each connected by wormholes. There are three factions you can choose, and each seem to vary quite a bit-- you can choose the Terran, a balanced, human race; a high-tech, alien race which seems to focus more on big lasers and damage, and another alien race which seems to focus much more on fighter carriers and tactics. Each race is pretty distinct from the other.

What makes it stand out to me is the resource collecting-- while the combat can get pretty intense, I really like how each solar system has a limited amount of resources, often forcing you to expand out into other systems. These frontier systems are almost always (at least in my games, and even at 'normal' difficulty) frequented by large battles as each different faction attempts to gain a foothold.

Not only this, gas clouds, a resource which can often cover large portions of a solar system, can at times directly affect a battle-- many of them effect ships going through them, either giving them a speed boost, slowing them down, tearing away their shields, etc, so they can be pretty important strategically.

Also, while it is possible to just left click+drag to get a group of ships to attack, you can also make fleets with "admirals" that you hire from a certain building. All ships in this fleet not only get certain direct bonuses from being in the admiral's party (ie higher attack power etc) but  also make the ships target faster, and generally fight smarter. Here's a quote from ign which explains it a bit better:

"when you normally order your ships to attack the enemy they'll attack the one pointed at, but then will clumsily find their next target unless specifically ordered otherwise, thankfully your enemy will fall under these same rules (no perfect computer cheating here). With an admiral (whom will take command of the largest ship in the fleet, so watch that one), on the other hand, your fleets will now react intelligently to the opposition, prioritizing targets, covering one another, and falling back when applicable. Just drop them in a zone, give them a general order, and watch them go, allowing you to focus your attention elsewhere."

Oh! And it's got multiplayer too.

Hm.. That's all I can think of right now. In short: it's fun 

[Robsoie]

I really liked Conquest Frontier Wars a lot.

While the campaign was ok, the game was a lot of fun in skirmishes as the game had a very good AI that could really challenge you, something not every RTS can do unfortunately.

The multiple map concept was very good to give a refreshing addition to the old RTS mechanics, map features (nebulas) added a lot to the tactical possibilities, reminding of  Star Trek Armada that featured such thing too.

It was very unfortunate that Conquest was released in an era when there was so much RTS leading it to be barely noticed, it deserved much better than the "average game" review it got, it had brillant gameplay under the average visuals.

Will certainly give a try to this standalone mod.

[Xinvoker]

I enjoyed this game's campaign a lot. It had very interesting game mechanics. I don't think I'll be playing this mod, because I'm more of a campaign kind of guy, I'd just like to say that his has huge nostalgia value for me, and I still occasionally check if a sequel is in development. It never is, obviously

[Eek-A-Mouse]

Yeah, they seemed to have run out of funds for the sequel. Just recently, though, the developer made a post on the forums I mentioned in the above post asking for volunteers to help finish the game with him. Chances for it to be finished still seem pretty bleak, but at least some initiative is being taken to get the ball rolling again. Here's his post asking for volunteers, if you're interested:
http://www.cfwcommand.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1084

[lordcooper]

Sounds like exactly the right sort of thing to be putting up on Kickstarter.

[AllGrey]

I developer Mod «Соnquеst 2 - Frоntiеr Wаrs Fоrеvеr ™».
Lighted on this theme, and has been pleasantly surprised.
I want to notice that in my Mod, campaign also changed.
Scenario former, but in campaign a lot of new units is added,
also change of balance of game, does passing missions on new.

Concerning a sequel "Sonquest: Vyrium Uprising",
I strongly doubt that it will be finished,
company "Fever Pitch Studios" has been sold
and project of Sonquest: Vyrium Uprising has been closed.

Set of volunteers for project end, too a doubtful undertaking,
initiator of it didn't visit 2 months a forum.

Excuse my English, I use translator.

Ru
Я разработчик Мода «Соnquеst 2 - Frоntiеr Wаrs Fоrеvеr ™».
Случайно наткнулся на эту тему, и был приятно удивлен.
Хочу заметить, что в моем Моде, кампания тоже изменена.
Сценарий прежний, но в кампанию добавлено много новых юнитов,
также изменение баланса игры, делает прохождение миссий по новому.

Касательно сиквел "Соnquеst: Vyrium Uprising",
я сильно сомневаюсь что он будет завершен,
компания "Fever Pitch Studios" была продана
а проект Соnquеst: Vyrium Uprising был закрыт.

Набор добровольцев для завершения проекта, тоже сомнительная затея,
инициатор этого уже 2 месяца не посещал форум.

Извините мой английский, я использую переводчик.

[Akura]

I've played it. Fairly enjoyable, although I feel there were some balance issues - such as, Terran Lancers can obliterate fleets of ships in just one shot, if they have light armor, although Lancers themselves are easily destroyed(low HP, no shields whatsoever).

@AllGrey: terrible translator, but from what I read, Conquest 2: Vyrium Uprising is dead?

[AllGrey]

Shields are added by admiral Benson.

Conquest 2: Vyrium Uprising is dead in 99,9%.

[Shadowlord]

I tried it with a friend once upon a time, but the multiplayer didn't work, so we ended up moving on to other things.

[AllGrey]

Multiplayer works perfectly.
I do not understand why at you it has not turned out.
Possibly that was not correctly tuning.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Something I'll never understand is why some people choose to make manual caret returns in their posts. Though that might be actually the translator's fault here. What sort of fiendish contraption did you use for that translation anyway? Google Translate mangles the source text something fierce, but not quite the same (calling a mod "fashion", for instance).

Spoiler: In Russian (click to show/hide)

Чего наверное никогда не пойму, так это зачем некоторые вручную перенос строки в текст вставляют. В данном случае это может и вина переводчика, но всё же. Кстати, что за страшный переводчик использовал? Google Translate тоже издевается над текстом неплохо, но всё же немного по-другому.

As for the original game, I liked it. I remember one particular moment where the mission requires you to scout out a wormhole by sending one of your named characters into it (which, as the Mantis put it "Wormhole leads black hole on the other side. You warriors perish."), and I kinda automatically shoved my whole fleet into it. Automatic non-standard Game Over. ("You gotta be careful about where you're sending your commanders!")

[Akura]

As for the original game, I liked it. I remember one particular moment where the mission requires you to scout out a wormhole by sending one of your named characters into it (which, as the Mantis put it "Wormhole leads black hole on the other side. You warriors perish."), and I kinda automatically shoved my whole fleet into it. Automatic non-standard Game Over. ("You gotta be careful about where you're sending your commanders!")

Happened to me too. WTFRage moment. It's also a bit difficult when the Mantis focus on one of your Admals Admirals, since you can't pull them out quickly enough to save them from all the long-range fighters.

Also of note, Corvettes are useless, even and especially against carriers(despite having a special ability to shoot down fighters).


As for AllGrey's translation, I'm going to guess, Babelfish?

[Robsoie]

The problem of the corvettes is that they don't even have enough supply to shoot for a long time, and as they do very small damage, they just can't take out a single unit that is only a bit bigger than them, even when you have built a fleet of corvettes.

And as to counter swarms of carrier fighters (or most mantis units) you will need to build a very lot of them, cutting then a lot in your command points (that you would have used to build better units), and once you see an unit with some kind of area of effect weapon (lancer, battleship by example, or some defensive platforms), the whole throng of corvettes you have will all be destroyed in a single shot.

So basically starting corvettes are for early scouting (but infiltrator and similar are much better at it considering those ships can cloak themselves and detect cloaled units), but you should not build more than the ones you're starting with.

... Or you can use them as mine field destroyers, mine fields can be very dangerous when your fleet engage another fleet on their own ground, and they have mined most of the area.
Sending in those useless (and fortunately very cheap) corvettes so they explode with the minefields is a good way to clear the path to your fleet.

Though Infiltrators are cheaper than Corvettes , but Infiltrator need a bit of gaz, so as Terran usually end with a lot more Ore than Gaz, maybe you would prefer to not use the Infiltrators (they're very usefull) to destroy minefields.