What are /r/4Xgaming's favorite Products & Services?

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We hope all y'all enjoy the x-pack and the free update. Let us know what you think about it!

Also a reminder that tonight we'll be doing two multiplayer matches in case you want to hop on Steam and try out the expansion for free (if you connect to a host who owns the expansion, you'll be able to use everything in it while playing that mp game). If you don't own a copy or would rather not play MP but you still want to see the game played, we'll be streaming it live on twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/blindmindstudios

The games tonight are 8 PM CEST and 8 PM EDT.

The best one I can think of is Thrawn's Revenge II for Sins of a Solar Empire, which itself is a sequel to Thrawn's Revenge: Imperial Civil War for Empire at War. Both are fantastic at what they do, and as you might guess, really focus on the factionalism that plagued the Empire after the Galactic Civil War and just before the events of Dark Empire. In fact, it's hard to go back to Empire at War vanilla after playing Imperial Civil War for me, outside of wanting to do the campaigns, maybe.

But as /u/CrazyOkie said, Rebellion is by itself a fantastic Star Wars 4X, and a proper 4X to boot. Honestly, I don't think I've played a mod that comes close to that game as a whole, so why not start there?

This game appears to be Lords of the Black Sun repackaged under a rebranded studio. Even the CEO of Grey Wolf Entertainment shares the same name as someone that's the CEO of Arkavi Studios. Sadly, the sites of bothArkavi Studios and Lords of the Black Sun are no longer up to see further.

There was a recent release mentioned here that's actually pretty good. Uciana

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birdshel.Uciana

It's single player though, not like the ones you mention

My brother and me made a 4x game on Android mostly in part for the lack thereof and for our love of Master of Orion growing up. Civ is also one of our favorite games. I really don't like self promotion but I do think it's good, we put a lot of work into it and still are.

https://youtu.be/z20wvzDhKjc Uciana Trailer

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birdshel.Uciana Link to our game

We just released a new update to Uciana! April was a pretty good month for us, we were able to get a few highly requested features added to the game. Here is the list for what was in the last update:

New options (including a temporary flip screen button, we have come up with a way to get the auto rotate back in but it'll be in a next update)

Added Portuguese

Map customisation

New Race Descriptions

New icons and buttons

Auto research

New victory condition, coalition victory. ( You no longer have to kill off your allies to win!)

Gas giants now provide a science bonus when a research station is built at one.

minor Ui improvements

bug/crash fixes

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birdshel.Uciana Link to our game.

This game has no ads or in app purchases, just a one time price of $0.99

https://youtu.be/z20wvzDhKjc Uciana Trailer

Gonna be honest - this review actually made me go "Well, yeah, they can fix those bits" and I'm just gonna buy the game :D

Edit: And I'd guess the feature not-completeness is just due to it being on Epic Game Store, by the time of the Steam release next year it'll be grand.

EDIT EDIT: IT'S FREE FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS?! https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/a-total-war-saga-troy/home Well even bloody better

I am one of its developers, so I'm not sure I'm the best source for an unbiased opinion haha. But yes, I've put in more than 200 hours into just playing it.

Also, explorminate has compiled a list of all the 4X titles that are discounted during the steam summer sale if you'd like a list of games to research from.

Empire Deck Builder https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crazymonkeystudios.empire

Also consider a GBA emulator, where age of empires and age of mythology are done as turn-based 4x instead or RTs

If you want a light mobile 4X with a simple interface that works great with a phone, I really like Battle of Polytopia. Plus it's free

Just wanted to double-confirm that everything works awesome on Windows 7 with this package. (It does need to run as admin, but this is configured by default.)

Also, there are a couple of really nice tweaks you can do to the AlphaCentauri.ini file.

Runs the game at your full resolution instead of 1024x768 (might cause some weirdness with some movies/UI elements):
DirectDraw=0

Additionally you can add the following line:
DisableOpeningMovie=1
EDIT: The config file from GOG seems to already have this line, but with an explicit "=0", so you need to CHANGE the existing line. Just adding this line will not disable the movie.

If you want to run SMAX in WINDOWED mode, you will need a third-party application that hooks into the program, called DxWnd. There are a few versions of this kicking around. I believe this is the most up to date version. I believe the default settings are all fine except that you have to set the window size to 1024x768 instead of the default 800x600. It might be possible to optimize/improve things by fiddling with some more of the options. If you do this, you should NOT need to change anything in the AlphaCentauri.ini file (in fact, the combination of DirectDraw=0 and DxWnd will simply not work well at all). You must run DxWnd as Admin (which is NOT enabled by default).

EDIT: In DxWnd, enabling the Emulation: Primary Surface option will prevent your desktop from dropping into 256-color mode and looking all weird.

EDIT 2: I just made a blog post with a complete guide to configuring SMAX for modern windows (including changing the resolution and running in Windowed mode.)

I know some other folks have mentioned Europa Universalis 4. I agree, and would like to point out that it's only $8 for the next 24 hours.

Humble Bundle Store - get it while it's hot!

If you really don't mind age or graphics, Stars! is available from abandonia. http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/27002/Stars!.html

It's a good way to spend an evening, but not something you'll keep playing month after month.

Edit: Wait... I just realized... The banner on this subs is Stars!? :P niiice.

wow one thing I never here mentioned is..

Thea: The Awakening

it is a great game that doesn't do 4x it's more like heroes of might n' magic..

I know almost every game mentioned on this list/thread.. definitely put a huge amount of my time life into moo2 :P might n magic etc.

I am sitting and waiting... for the sequel to this awesome game to come out... thea 2 is maybe gonna release this fall?

> you have to understand that GW has a multiple decade long history of licencing out to make shit spinoff games

They used to have control over their franchisees. So mostly quality games would come out as they wanted to protect their brand. But a few years ago it changed THQ the previous company who owned it went under and a fundamental shift happened. The age of DOW 1 and 2 and a few others is over. You may only remember the few good but their is quite a lot of bad which is forgotten.

A few strange ones like why did they skin this in 40k exist. Not saying battle chess is bad just probably one of the last choices. But almost every game which can get skinned as 40k is being made some times multiple times. They are even bring up their old board games from the 90's and putting them on phones/PC. Their is a quite a few poor quality or bad ports from these games. Games workshops brand's have been tarnished and overused for quite a while now.

About 2014 so fairly recently. I am sure many people would recognize the brand and think its good because of that. You should no longer be exited their is no new 40k strategy game or expect it to be good. This is the publishers third 40k strategy game their is so many being made. Here is a article and the full list.

https://kotaku.com/there-are-far-too-many-warhammer-games-1764456583

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Games_Workshop_video_games

That was once again a very enjoyable podcast! It was interesting to hear everyone's first experience with 4X. Mine was none other than Civ 1 (not the original DOS version, but the Mac one which had the much improved graphics of the "CivNet" version: http://www.old-games.com/download/5147/civnet). In fact, I have grown to appreciate Civ 1 more and more as years go by to the point that I've come to consider it the best game* in the franchise! (Alpha Centauri not included). Yes, better than all the modern iterations (though I do love so many of the ideas and concepts they introduced), and for justifiable reasons (flavor, pacing, scope, balancing perfectly between a board game and a "simulation", etc.), not just due to nostalgia. (*I used to put Civ 2 higher than Civ 1 for many years, but I've changed my mind once I realized how few "normal" games of Civ 2 I ever played/finished compared to Civ 1 games and that what really drew me to Civ 2 was the various Scenarios/mods, and the CHEAT Menu that enabled me to play around in the "sandbox" and make my own stories/mods. All of which was absolutely amazing, don't get me wrong, but purely judging the "basic" game, Civ 1 was probably superior)

I don't think I can give an objective answer to that question, because these old "gems" still feel very familiar to me and their interface shortcomings don't bother me. To put it into perspective, personally I'm still perfectly fine with the interface of Alpha Centauri, but also of Civ 2 and even Civ 1! (note: not the original DOS version, but the Mac version which had the much improved graphics of the "CivNet" version: http://www.old-games.com/download/5147/civnet ). In fact, of all the past Civ games, it's only Civ 3 that I find outdated and can't stand playing it, but it is also the installment that I had put the least time in back in the day, so that lack of familiarity could be a big factor.

By the way, I'd like to point you at a graphic designer's attempt to modernize the UI: http://www.keeganchua.com/#/alpha-centauri-redux/ It's not a mod of the game (and never will be), but only a personal conceptual exercise of that designer (and I don't agree with all of his design choices), but it is quite an interesting thing to behold.

There's a glorious gem I recently found called Abstrrkt Explorers.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abstrrkt.explorers&hl=en_US&gl=US

It's in early access still, but a great little 4X game.

The campaign gradually works the game mechanics in to learn the game. It is really easy to learn.

This is weird. I cannot find "Imperial Galactica 2" on Google Play.

Is this IG2 game? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digitalreality.ig2

This link shows me "not found". Maybe because I'm in UK? Can you see it in Google Play?

Not a traditional 4x, but very deep. adapted from the board game:

Through the Ages

Also based on the board game

Race For the Galaxy

​

I haven't played it yet but Birth of the Empires is a reskinned, ported version of the Star Trek 4x game Birth of the Federation that came out in the late 90s. Might be worth a look-see if you're interested in a space 4x.

And while it plays like Civ-Lite, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolutions 2 is a fun diversion. It won't ever replace the desktop version but it's fun enough to play when you have time to kill (and it's got a decent amount of content for its asking price).

King of Dragon Pass was what I played on my phone when I had time. It's very story-driven and plays as "your choices have impact." It does have the 4x elements so I think it might work for you.

It's been a while since I've played, but let's see what I can remember.

Explore: You can explore the new domain that you've been sent into. There's a few story events based on exploration too that make it kind of interesting.

Expand: You can build new buildings and upgrade your infrastructure and take land from others. I dunno if this counts as expanding but it's kind of like it.

Exploit: Through trade, military might, or use of the gods and their powers, you can exploit the other tribes and minor races you run into in the story scenes.

Exterminate: You can declare war on other tribes.

You can take a look at the store page I linked above or look for gameplay videos online. I think it's also a pretty old PC game.

Does King of Dragon Pass count as a 4x? I never see it referenced but I feel like it captures the 4 Xs. Try checking that one out, it's really popular.

Here is a list of 605 Windows Sci-Fi strategy games:

http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/windows/strategy/sci-fi-futuristic/

If you remember more details, like the media type or the rating system it used, you may be able to reduce the list further.

Distant Worlds Universe: https://store.steampowered.com/app/261470/Distant_Worlds_Universe/

.... basically stelalris but bigger and more simulation (deeper economy and civilian economy simulation, deepr resource simulation etc.).

Just FYI, this game was 75% off on Steam just two months ago, and has been that cheap on gamersgate a few times: http://isthereanydeal.com/#/page:game/price?plain=dominionsivthronesofascension

Might be worth waiting if you are just grabbing it to play later.

What sticks out to me as a big surprise is Gal Civ 3 is so low on the chart. I wonder if that means that most people play it offline or that GalCiv 3 players prefer the non-steam gog.com version. I would think GalCiv3 would be on part with Stellaris or at least Endless Space 2.

Yes 800x600. I don't think you can buy it besides second hand versions. It's available on Abadonia (with review and instructions). You need to run it in Dosbox.

There is a game speed option you can change so it takes less turns to progress through the ages etc. May be another option for you.

I did come across 0 AD the other day, I have been meaning to download it, looks like a modern age of empires, but it is free and opensource.

https://play0ad.com/

If you want to give it a try this is the link to the free version on Google play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fate.of.empires.free

Thank you!

Fate of an Empire comes in two versions, a premium version and a free version. I hope you will enjoy playing my game.

Best regards,

Peter

First you need a dos emulator for android, i recommend this one.

Then you need the games, which you can buy from GOG.

Install the games on your computer and then copy the installed games folder to your phone.

On the android dosbox app configure profiles for each game with the path of the previously copied folders and select the game executable as main program.

Play!

If you are on Android, try out the open source implementation of the Civ series called Unciv

If you're on IOS, then get Civ VI straight up.

You won't attract many players with a link to a Russian forum, here is Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.online.strategium&hl=en_US

I've installed it, manged to register and started playing a bit but I'm far from understanding it. Can't get English version to show up so I can't dig through in-game encyclopedia. Strange thing is, I understand most Russian words (many are similar to my mother's tongue) but I can't read Cyrillic even if my life depended on it :).

So, not sure if it's really better then UniWar but it looks to have more stuff, double amount of units per race and more terrain types.

not a ship combat game so much or a 4x but... for a phone time waster check out Space Arena Build and Fight.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.herocraft.game.free.spaceshipbattles&hl=en

you basically just design ships and let the AIs fight other people's designs. Which is still extremely cool until the pay to play kicks in which it does after 5 hours of play or so. The grind wall is ridiculous EVEN IF you decided to pitch them 50 bucks for the game currency. that part is just ridiculous but the premise of the game is pretty solid if you are into ship design.

Really want to do this for stardrive. I think it would be Killer!

Something somewhat similar has been done before: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crazymonkeystudios.empire&hl=en

The game is still pretty simple however, and is a bit unpolished technically then probably abandoned. There is no victory condition either, just an eventual defeat and a point score.

Do you have an Android device? I recommend EMPIRE, it's a lovely mix of 4X elements and deck building card games in a fantasy setting. Games are fairly quick.   https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crazymonkeystudios.empire&hl=en_GB

I haven't played them, but I do know that Civilization Revolution 2 came out recently, and Freeciv has been around for a while. Both at least worth a look.

War Worlds is the only 4X game I play on my phone.

Trust me, work up to a few stars and you'll very quickly get into a 4X scale game. It's daunting, and the strategy involved can be quite fun.

The down side, it's developed by one guy, the game can be buggy at times, and updates are few. However, if you can look past these and work around it, the game is very much a 4X world.

You might be interested in GalaCollider, it's in Alpha stage right now, but we're looking for playtesters! Check out our twitch channel to see what the game looks like.

If you're interested in playing the game, give us a shout via our website!

This video is the Celestial trailer for Fate of an Empire - Age of War. This is the sequel to the Fate of an Empire already on the Play store and introduces a heaxogonal map grid, a map editor and lots of new game mechanics.

The game is nearly finished and my focus has now turned toward preparing the game for release. This means creating unique apks for different app stores and making videos like this and other marketing material.

I hope you like it!

It is important to know that the game "Age of modern war" is of extreme quality, due to its creative elements, such as maps, modern military units and technology proportional to time, in addition to its extraordinary gameplay. to different military units from other countries, armies such as the USA, RUSSIA (USSR), China, NATO, United Kingdom and some others. your enemy in a battle. The game also has maps that recount battles that happened in history such as Vietnam, North Korea and also some alternative maps in which you face enemies and much more. This game was produced by the company Zero Touch Group, that has several game catalogs and that demonstrates a vast experience when it comes to producing high quality games, in the end this is a great game for those who want to discover new airs in strategy games. ias and themed of a modern and also challenging war https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zts.ageofmodernwars

http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/strategy/sci-fi-futuristic/windows/

This is a list of sci-fi strategy games released on Windows, which I assumed because you didn't specify that. If you remember other things, like the media it was delivered with, a rating system and the rating it got (like PEGI, USK, ESRB) or multiplayer options, you may be able to get a list of fewer items to look through.

> You could specify a USB drive as your direct source for saves or, more simply, a cloud drive.

> I'm pretty sure at least one ROTP user keeps his saves on Dropbox.

Or better yet use a free open source file sync software to back up and share your save games on multiple computers!

Syncthing is amazing and I jump at every chance to share it with people because I love it so much.

https://syncthing.net/

Tournament kicks off this Saturday (June 13) at 2pm NY/ 7 pm London. Sign up: https://discord.com/invite/aDkNjuV to guarantee a place in the tournament and more info!

Unciv is a free game for android. It's kind of like Civ V with much more simplified graphics, so it has food, industry, science, & gold. It's also turn-based. It's a pretty good 4x, especially by the standards of mobile games.

Games made by simtex and http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,2820/. 4x is a genera that does not require graphics so the classics could stay the most played of games. I even try to avoid them and if WoM , a true clone of MoM, could be played from "strategic map all the time i would play it that way. Alpha Centauri is a classic too. Civ... umm 4?

MoM has more spells, effects, and troop types than any other 4x since or before. That is why its the bestest. While Moo2 is the most reactive and tightly designed. Well thers Dom4's quantity but its all combat focused, a genera next to 4x the same way as grind strategy.

Turn based:

Warlock: Master of the Arcane. Was my last goto recommendation for players easing into the genre. Not too serious or deep. Enough to keep you occupied to see what kind of aspects you like, or don't, to form a basic preference. Though it exists in a weird space where the original (simpler) game is more expensive than the sequel.

If you like survival games Thea might be a better entry. Original is cheaper and has an arguably less liked combat system. Though you shouldn't worry since combat is something you should be able to sacrifice.

If you want combat games, you sadly missed a period of free Age of Wonders 3: good but a new futuristic game in the series is dropping soon and looks to be pretty good AoW: Planetfall. Battle for Wesnoth is a venerable linux wargame, should run on Windows. It's on Linux, so you know it's reliable.

Realtime:

Futuristic Sins of a Solar empire should be the 4xiest. Others recommend Age of Empires series. Others still Star Wars: Empire at War.

If you want free games

The sub has covered many of them before and I have no idea why there isn't a permanent link to a repository thread with a list of them and Total War is still an associated subreddit. https://itch.io/games/free/tag-4x (though many aren't, definitely check out a minipuzzler Slipways and our very own RayFowler's Remnants of the Precursors, a MOO-like)

There are possibly few of the best 4x games free and open sourced, but I don't think a newcomer would be ready to use 15-20 year old user interfaces: C-Evo. FreeCiv. FreeMOO. Pretty much recreated backbones of the genre.

Two other resources I've been putting together:

IsThereAnyDeal Public list for most current 4X games: http://isthereanydeal.com/u/43ezm/waitlist/

You can see not only the full list, but also filter for only games on sale.

Also I've made this giant 4X game database here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jQ37Ghm818Xl_XBLEKUB52g5G6fPiIzpxyCeMA0NQzI/edit?usp=sharing

If you have an Android device, you should check out Uciana on the Google app store.. It's MOO2-like (with retrofitting ships, outposts, tactical battles). It's got its warts (e.g., AI doesn't use wormholes well), and I find I run out of tech tree too often, but it's reasonable fun.

I dunno, bundleware doesn't really ring a bell. I think my own exposure (though I've seen it used elsewhere in game publications) was mainly from Mobygames. Here's an example entry for the Max Payne bundle, note under Misc: compilation / shovelware.

Maybe it's an internet "regional" thing, like soda / pop / coke. :)

Cool. Hope you like it!

A quick google suggests that the free flash version I mentioned is available here if you want to check it out first.

The more I think about it, the more I'd definitely classify it as a 4x game, despite it not referring to itself that way.

Grab VirtualBox from Oracle's site, it's completely free to use. Install Windows XP, add the VM plugins and install Stars. Takes a while, but worth it compared to Dosbox in my opinion! https://www.virtualbox.org/

Great game, it can be run perfectly in literally any computer from the last 20 years and holds well with that visual style.

I would recommend Alpha Centauri, too, one of the best sci-fi 4X games ever made, and a Civilization II spin-off.

Take a look on GOG.com and you will have plenty of low spec jewels to play.

Did it have a real-time mode where you were able to control units? There's for example

Axis and Allies http://www.old-games.com/download/6209/axis-allies

or

Aggression: Europe under Fire http://store.steampowered.com/app/289580

If it doesn't have a real-time mode for battles, I don't know.

It's playable as a solitaire, apparently. And you can try it out for free:

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/111592/official-tiny-epic-galaxies-free-print-n-play

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/111591/official-prototype-rule-book-tiny-epic-galaxies-pr

If you buy Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, you should absolutely download the Star Trek Armada 3 mod. It changes everything.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/star-trek-armada-3

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=star+trek+armada+3

Just remember to stretch your neck from time to time. That setup will give your chiropractor nightmares. (And is really bad for your spine. In case of sudden unexplained headaches or stiffness, that is the reason.)

EDIT: Oops forgot to mention 10 Minute Space Strategy. Works quite well in bed. And is free! Their homepage.

Yeah I think it can definitely go overboard (and Race for the Galaxy is a great example), but I think often in 4X games they use very few symbols. My ideal that I try to do is where a symbol is a stand in for a noun of some kind, and you can still mouse over the thing to find out what it means. And also, I think symbols should only really be used for main ideas in your game. So don't have a symbol for some stat that only matters for one location, but instead try to symbolize core mechanics.

Another thing I think you can easily do is to utilize shared symbolic things across games/culture (Arrow directions, stop sign, etc.) contextually so that they mean something obvious. Aka don't make up your own symbol for "increasing", just use an up arrow. Etc. I use thenounproject.com a lot to just build an idea of what that shared symbol around an idea would be, even if I don't use a symbol directly.

Just so you know, that might not be the best strategy guide out there. I haven't read the whole thing, but stating that the Gaians are solely a long game faction is painfully wrong. With mindworm capture, Deidre can steamroller other factions early on. Not to say you can't play a long game with the Gaians, but they are definitely oriented around an aggressive start. This one seems much better (or at least the first few pages about the factions seems dead on).

Just in case you do want Age of Wonders 3 it is 6:43 currently on the humble bundle.

Also if you like AoW 3 and Civ Beyond Earth Age of Wonders Planetfall is coming out this year sometime and looks amazing. https://www.aow-planetfall.com/

Enless Legend gives another perspective on 4X, with it's very different factions with actually different gameplay, region system and settlement expansion and quests integrated into the open-world gameplay of 4X. It is not as unique as it was before, since both CIV VI and AoW: Planetfall, erm, "learned" a lot from Endless Legend, but I'd still give it a shot if you want to show a different take on 4X.

I am not really sure if AoW Planetfall is even 4X. Instead of the typical long-term, developement-focused open-world gameplay with combat mostly abstracted you have limited developement and clear-cut missions, but tactical gameplay more reminiscent of XCOM than CIV. But if you want some 4X gameplay on a smaller scale and with more tactical combat, AoW Planetfall might be exactly the right choice.

There is still no release date announced, but if you want to give it a bit more time, Humankind is supposed to come out this year, which is Amplitude's (makers of Endless Legend/Space) Magnum Opus. After they experimented and trained with the Endless series, Humankind is now supposed to be their real CIV competitor.

Umm, if you can't beat any Civ game on the easiest setting, you must be trying to lose. You could roll a dice to make random choices and still win.

With that said, your best bet (to my knowledge) would be Civ 2. It's very old, the graphics are very dated, but it is the simplest 4X I can think of. No culture or religion. Just build cities and conquer cities.

Now finding it and running it will likely be a pain in the ass, so I am not sure how good an option this is. On the other hand, there is a clone called FreeCiv. I haven't played it since it was a wreck in beta, so I can't attest to its current quality. I assume by now they've cleared up most or all of the issues it had.

Look at the main website page for Starcraft. They themselves can tell you. It says very clearly "RTS Real Time Strategy". It's not a 4X.

And real mature with the downvotes people. Jesus.

https://starcraft2.com/en-us/

My #1 top recommendation is Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe. Second to none in terms of econ simulation games.

Railroad Tycoon series of games are often hailed as "the best of the econ sim games".

Patrician 4 is basically just the trading-subgame shown in the video above, except vastly expanded into being the whole game.

Settlers 2 is another game that is hailed as one of the best econ sim games. Settlers 7 is the most recent in the series, and might be good if you can put up with the uplay garbage. Settlers 7 is also gameplay-style the closest to the game shown here.

Tropico 4 and Cities Skylines (not cities XXL, which is a terrible game) deserve an honorable mention, but they're more econ-based-citybuilders.

I haven't played Stars! enough to know the technical details, but enough to know that a modern re-implementation would be a godsend.

Can you please publish the game under an open source license on a platform like Gitlab?

As you probably know, Remnants of the Precursors and [Battle for Wesnoth[(https://www.wesnoth.org/) are famous examples of successful open source games that are very popular.

I'm sure there will be an avid community to help (such as improving the AI for Remnants of the Precursors) and I'd happily pay for binaries of the game if you publish it on a place like Itch.io or GoG.

And of course, if you finally figure out the underlying mechanics and numbers, it would be a great shame if that vast knowledge is locked up, just as it has happened with the original Stars!

> But my girlfriend can only draw cute stuff:(

I don't think I have a problem with cute per se, and at least the artwork is well done, whatever it is. I am having some problem differentiating units though, looking at your videos at a glance. I have a Battle for Wesnoth background. Factions mostly tend to look pretty different from each other, like (mostly) Humans vs. Undead or whatnot. Whereas, opposing sides in your video all look pretty similar to each other. Cutesy adventure humans.

If they're leveling up gear, as some of your video seems to indicate, then that compounds the problem. How do I tell a really buffed up unit from one that isn't leveled so much? Maybe in your game, you don't, and that's part of the play mechanics. In Wesnoth, most units are kept at low level, either 1, 2, or 3. Units at the different levels have distinct artwork. So if you have experience with the game, you always know what level something is just by looking at the unit. The cue of a unit looking "bigger or beefier" is also usually a guide to its level. Leveled up units look more imposing, that's a style canon.

Why wouldn't it? Civ1 is a Dos game like any other. I don't know the correct settings by heart, but just download Civ 1 and DosBox, preferrably with a frontend GUI(choose the one you like best), fiddle around with the settings a bit and it should work no problem.

I've never had problems getting a DOS game run in the Dosbox and I played Civ 1 on it as well several years ago.

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Yes, turn based games are more like board games. You take your actions, then another player (or AI player) takes their actions). It's like playing monopoly. You have to command Unit A to attack Unit B. In a real time game the action is always going on and you make decisions as it is happening. Unit A may get into a fight with Unit B while you are not paying attention at all (like when you are playing Starcraft).

Turn based typically means you have more complex decisions since you can take as much time as you need to consider them. You can send a minute checking out what improvement to build in your city without worrying that you are getting attacked somewhere else.

The advantage of real time is that there is a lot more pressure on the game (some people may find turn based games more boring). Time becomes a resources and instead of trying to make ideal decisions, you are prioritizing your attention to the most critical things at that time.

Stellaris, Sins and Northgard try to bridge this gap by making a less hectic RTS game. Everything is slowed down (from the perspective of a game like Starcraft) to allow time for the player to focus on all aspects of the empire, but with some pressure because things are happening outside of the players view.

There is no right or wrong. Just a wide spectrum of great games to enjoy.

I was just looking at the steam store page for the 92% and 6,075 reviews:

https://www.screencast.com/t/st8GlA39

The next step up would be Civilization 2, which can be downloaded and run via DOSBox, or its clone FreeCiv, which will run on anything (there's even a browser version) but has rather poor graphics. The subsequent Civilization games are additional steps up; 3 was, um, bad, but 4, 5, and 6 are all interestingly different and all still have their fans. Personally I would not recommend starting with 6, but I'm biased.

The proper successor to Civ 2 is Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri ("SMAC"), which is on the short list of candidates for Best Computer Game Ever. If you can't run Civ 2 and don't like FreeCiv, I'd recommend SMAC rather than Civ 4+. By coincidence, it's currently on sale for US$1.49 at GOG.com. If you wouldn't mind losing your first few games while you get a handle on the complexities, you could jump right into that.

If you're new to the genre, I would recommend starting with the classic: Master of Orion 2. You can get it for US$5.99 on Steam or GOG.com.

But if you'd prefer a current-generation game, I would also vote for Endless Space 2.

If you like a mix of Civ and Age of Empires, then Rise of Nations might be up your alley.

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For an alternate take on the Civ formula, you can also check out Call to Power II which is available on GOG.com (not sure if it easily runs on Win10).

To be honest, I've often wondered the same thing, and looked around for games that scratched the same itch as MoM. Haven't found one yet. If you've not already done so, I recommend spending the <$10 to purchase MoM on Gog.com , which now plays effortlessly in Windows using DosBox. You can then find either the well-patched or even a renovated version of MoM made by Seravy (Caster of Magic). I have no connection to Seravy, other than being enthusiastically supporting of his strivings. Having AI opponent wizards that aren't broken significantly changes the game mechanics....to the point where I've been playing MoM quite a bit in my spare time. It remains the bext 4x game that I've ever played, and the one game that I continually find myself wanting to re-play.

There's also a load of abandonware titles which will work just fine on your machine. The old colonization perhaps? Omerta city of gangsters? Xenonauts? Alpha centauri?

Gog.com does serve osx users.

I essentially played Stellaris as my first "4x"-like game. It plays out quite differently than tile-based games though. IMO the base game on sale for $10 is very fun and you don't really need the DLC.

Oh and if you want to see if the Civ 5/6 gameplay loop is for you, just download Unciv, its an open source reimplementation of Civ5. Its got basic 2d graphics, but the gameplay is essentially exactly the same. https://github.com/yairm210/Unciv/releases

1. mostly yes
2. omg no Its the closest to board games 4x that is not an actual board game.
3. you know of any other title that forces the either-or tech choices?? otherwise just about every 4x has a tech tree
4. many space opera 4x do this
5. just about every 4x
6. every 4x
7. every 4x
8. wut? every 4x
9. every 4x
10. most strategy games and just a bout every 4x

Apparently you are sick of 4x games.

Thanks! :=))
I will look into it. What about Hades' Star? Is this a decent game and worth looking into it?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ParallelSpace.Cerberus&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US

Uciana is very MoO2 - I dropped the money on it because I like supporting these kinds of games but I'm rarely in a position where I have the time to play a game like that and not have access to a PC so I haven't put much time into it.

Reviews are pretty dang positive though!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birdshel.Uciana&amp;hl=en_US

>l if you let us know what game is being played

The game is called Dominus, its in alpha stage rn, you can download it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=game.dc1ab.dominus

If you want a free 4X strategy game I just released the free version of Rising Empires 2 on Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wyvern.emperor

The full version (without ads) is on sale this week if you think free is too cheap. :)

in 2020 games also need to look nice... And that "make map bigger" would only increase micro-management, just look at all other games. And making map flat would make the game same as other similar games. This game reminds me of https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tuesdayquest.myplanet&amp;hl=en that has very good concept, they actually have very small planets and they are 1D, not even 2D :) and game is still great :) even without big map

I use the strategy book - I have the original, from back in the day. I think I have a seen a PDF of it on an abandonware site once. https://www.amazon.com/Master-Magic-Official-Strategy-secrets/dp/1559587229 However, tips below are even more powerful - the book just explains how the game works (the race happiness table is useful though and the list of all heroes).

I bought an Acet Nitro 5 for my wife. A little above $500 (closer to $700) but I've been super impressed with its performance. Been using it to play Vermintide, which it does pretty well! https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Gaming-i5-7300HQ-GeForce-AN515-51-55WL/dp/B074Q54GSR

I agree. Civ V is also incredibly newbie-friendly, to the point where it gets a lot of flak for being "dumbed down." It removed a lot of the fiddly, micromanage-y things and instead tries to let the player focus on big-picture stuff.

The game is also perpetually on sale. Despite being a big-budget AAA title, it's one of the cheapest 4x games you can buy. It's always on sale somewhere. Just go to isthereanydeal.com and search for Civ V Complete, and you're almost certain to find a legit site selling it for 75% off (about $12.50). As I write this post, there are three different places discounting it.

Amazon also has the physical disc on sale quite often, though it'd be annoying to have to wait for shipping when all you're really buying is a Steam code.

Really, I'd start with Civ V and go out from there. It's cheap, it'll teach you the basics, and it's probably the most successful/mainstream 4x game ever made. Even if Civ VI were out now (as opposed to coming out next week), I'd still recommend V to OP, because it's such a solid choice.

I made adnroid game Choose to Survive to scratch that itch with a very short games.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.volchok.lonesomeNovember&amp;hl=en_GB

But as you can see from screenshots it lacks graphics. And as you can see from score it's not that good.

In general I'd advise looking at boardgames. Maybe Cattan?

The only one that comes to mind is Uniwar. It's not PBEM but you could invite some friends to a game, I can't remember how many at once though. It's turn based so you would go, then it would be your friends turn, so on and so on. It could be worth checking out. I haven't played it in a couple years.

Star Traders 4X Empires is pretty good, haven't played rising empires but it seems okay