4X games are my favourite genre. Unfortunately, the market lately hasn't been pulling off anything spectacular, and I'm a nerd. We have a few choices. Some mainstream, and some not so.
Space Empires IV
Space Empires IV is probably the most polished of the series of Space Empires games from Malfador. The single author of these games, Aaron Hall, listens to the handful of geeks who've been playing this game since conception, and has incorporated anything geeky anyone could think of. You'll have to implement some mods, because the stock AI is a push over. There's a mod called the TDM which enhances the AI considerably. Huge learning curve, but if that scares you, you wouldn't be looking for a 4x game. There's been many patches on this, but we figure that the last patch released a few months ago may be the last since SEV is up and running. It is possible that we could all multiplay this using something called Play By Web.Space Empires V
This game is not polished. There's a list of bugs that stretch several wiki pages long. It also implements 3D stuff which flies in the face of pragmatic 4x gaming. SEV is still actively being patched, has a lot of potential, but in its current state, might not be worth investing time. If it were 2009, and 10 patches later, I'd probably recommend this over SE4.It's a more flashy than 4.
It is possible that we could all multiplay this using something called Play By Web.
Galactic Civilizations II Gold + Twilight of the Arnor Expansion Pack
Of all the 4x'ers listed here, GalCiv 2 is the most polished space game. Excellent production values, continued support from the most dedicated developer in the business, Stardock, present this game as a mainstream winner. I've never seen this game get anything less than a 90% in any game mag review.It is a good game.
However.
If you're itching for *serious* dedicated management simulation of an epic galactic empire with details spilling out of its collective asshole, then you may not be sated. The game's technology descriptions, for example, are somewhat silly. When I first read them, with their Douglas Adams-esque unseriousness, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It's temporary, because, really, it doesn't affect gameplay, and the core-system is far more polished than the flavour text might lead you to believe at first. And that's all that's supposed to matter. I guess.
If you liked the strategy depth provided by being able to design your own ships with their various game-related components, detailed turn based combat, etc., you may not be sated. While you can design your ships with superficial parts, weapons, shields, systems,e tc., combat is a rock paper scissors affair that takes place real-time, and it's automatic. Dice rolls in the back-ground, gentlemen. Disappointing.
Civilization 4
4 X games aren't necessarily about space. Also, space strategy games aren't necessarily 4x games. The last fact is something the industry needs to learn about the game Sins of a Solar Empire. That game is an RTS. It is not a 4x game. These people are retards (who say it is a 4x game: retards).
Anyway, Civ 4 is choice. It's not space. It's polished, won uncounted awards. Solid. No unit design, boring combat. Still, solid.
Master of Orion III
Ooo, this is a contentious one. I'd probably guess that 80% of Master of Orion 2 fans were hugely disappointed with this game. They thought it wasn't in the spirit of the originals, and it was a shitty buggy mess.I think: It was a shitty buggy mess. It was so buggy and shitty that I couldn't play it.
Someone by the name of Bhuric came along and fixed most of that. After the last patch released by Quicksilver/Atari, Bhuric cracked the exe code, developed DLLs, and basically fixed bugs to his hearts content. As it stands now, I figure he's developed 30 patches or so.
As a game, it's a good 4x'er. Extremely detailed, and sometimes complicated, colony management, huge research tree, excellent ship and fleet design. Epic. Probably more epic than they others here.
Summary: capturing the spirit of the older 4x games is tough now-adays. They don't sell well. If they don't sell well, people don't make em, and if they do, they're not supported. Of course, there's a few gems, like the Space Empire series. I think I'm going to hit up SE4, and have another go at it. Ship design and strategic turn based combat in that game rivals all others on this page, the bug list is shorter than SEv, and it probably best captures the spirit of classics like Moo2 and Pax.
I'm always playing GalCiv 2, though.
(My favorite space game is X3 Reunion. It is not a 4x.)
4 comments:
This is epic. Your rundown is more than I could have ever hoped for, and I am humbled by your generosity. I will review and discuss. Thank you!
Yow. Agreed, that's one hell of a review. I get the impression that there's no good 3-4x game to just pick up and play for a week or so without a solid learning curve to slow you down... maybe Civ just because I've played those before, but I sure like my space operas as well.
As a major Douglas Adams fan I'm almost tempted to try GC2 just for the silly narrative. If they can pull it off.
No, they can't. It's a cop out, not a tribute. An example: When researching Xeno Farming, the tech description is the song "Old McDonald" written out.
Like I was telling Litcube earlier today, I think Space Empires IV looks like it might be worth a shot. It looks really really complicated, and for me, this is all about using up all of my attention so as to silence the noises and voices in my head in a way that heavy drinking really can't anymore.
Thinking of this, I am reminded of the fact that I have children, and acting on this impulse may not be the wisest thing I could do. Still, all this talk is getting my blood pumping. This one time, I sent a fleet to colonize a faraway star. When they finally got there, I had since developed a much faster hyperdrive for my ships, sent a new fleet to the star, and already had a thriving colony going. Man, you should have seen their faces when they stepped off the colony ships! Priceless!
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