I like 4x alot, i quite like some rts, why?
Two reasons, i enjoy strategic thinking, and I like the feeling of grandure or epicness that comes with them.
Epicness
Theres a great sense of satisfaction, and a feeling of epic awesomness when youve thrown an fleet of massive ships into a star system to cause destruction, or charged the light brigade etc. Its like what the col in the A team says, i love it when a plan comes together. DEFCON, star ruler, Dwarf Fortress, Total War etc, i find all these games immersive, i know when playing them that my decisions decide the lives of game entities. There is also, as there is in DF, a sense of satisfaction in building, a base, or an empire.
Strategy
Chess is a tbs. RTS and 4x in many ways are not that disimilar. IN chess you can choose how to deploy your forces, where to attack, and where to defend. Most RTS/4x games simply add resource collection and management, and infrastructure to go with it.
Coming up with strategies, and making difficult decisions is fun. Which resources do i priorities, where do i focus my defense, where do i attack the enemy, his resources, his military production? These are interesting questions to deal with.
IN many ways DF is the embodiement of what is great about RTS and 4x, but is its self not technically either (could be called RTS is suppose, but not in the same way as starcraft).
id recommend, RTS: Suprieme commander, Age of Empires 2, Homeworlds 1 & 2, total war series (Rome and shogun best imo) DEFCON. 4x: Star ruler, Alpha Centuri, Distant worlds, Galactic Civ 2 (gal civ 2 is probably the most accessable, but least good). Civilisation if popular too but i find it infuriating (i like alpha centuri though), anyone know any other good non scifi 4X?