![]() ![]() This is critical for the future of the genre.įirst of all, it has to do with the variety of experiences on offer within the 4X genre. I really hope we didn’t miss our window to innovate and gain traction with a larger audience.Ī few things come to mind, but the biggest by FAR, is the need for more varied and engaging victory systems and end-game triggers. The fundamental question is this: how do we want the genre to innovate? My worry is that we had this big Gilded Age opportunity, where the market turned its eye to 4X games, and instead of offering up something novel and amazing, developers just put out more of the same. Or maybe it’s as Brad Wardell said in my interview with him: “We developers kinda suck … There is what we want to do in games and then there is ‘what we’re able to do’ given the size of the market.” Well, the market recently got a lot bigger. Maybe I’m hard to please or I just hold game creators to a higher standard. Even the highly asymmetrical factions of Endless Space 2 and Endless Legend are a step in the right direction.īut really, none of that is enough. Or Star Ruler 2’s quirky take on diplomacy and planet management. Or the focus of Age of Wonders 3 on its deep and diverse tactical combat system. ![]() ![]() Or the promise of Stellaris (delivered on or not?) to be a grand simulation sandbox where all things are possible. Thea comes to mind, with its focus on questing and survival in a hostile environment. I would be doing a disservice to the genre and its fans if I didn’t mention that there are games nipping at the heels of this paradigm. Maybe this paradigm is, by definition, what a 4X has to be – but I don’t really buy that. We’re still stuck, thoroughly, in this colonization paradigm. We’re still stuck in the same basic pattern of sending out colony ships/pods/carts, optimizing our cities/colonies, incrementing along tech trees, and waging war/diplomacy with typically incompetent AIs in pursuit of boring victory thresholds where it’s evident who is going to win hours before the ending arrives. The resulting opulence of new mechanical systems and features have added little to the narrative structure or strategic depth of 4X games. Many of the big games are merely a modern regurgitation of the classic formulas, and I’m not convinced the underlying designs are all that much better. What do the Gilded Age and Cthulhu-looking monsters have in common? But frankly, it feels like a veneer of gold (aka sexier graphics and features) plated over a dearth of design innovation. We’ve certainly witnessed an explosion in the total sales and number of games being released, as well as an industrialization and commercialization of the genre. Perhaps the Gilded Age is a more apt comparison. But looking back, I would not call this a Golden or Silver Age. There is no doubt that we have seen more big titles (exhibit A: the 4X database) with bigger budgets and from big publishers, as well as indie games, released to the 4X market than any other time in the past. Many have described the past few years as a new Golden Age for the genre, while others insist that it was only a Silver Age or, perhaps, a Renaissance. *** What are you playing now and looking forward to?Īll of these are very serious and important questions. *** What are the low points and the high points in the genre? *** What needs to happen to evolve or innovate the genre? *** What is the current state and market of the genre? The StraX episode centered on a number of big questions pertaining the 4X genre: This episode, live from the Galactic News Network. ![]()
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