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The big 4X thread (also unofficial patches + mods, also questions about these)

Snorkack

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Start with CK2. If you want to go more hardcore, go HoI next. If all this text is too confusing and you need more Awesome Buttons, go Total War series instead.
Age of Empires isn't a 4x and playing HoMM 3 should be mandatory for all users posting in this subforum, but not the HD edition.
 

smaug

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What is the difference between 4X games and games like HoMM?
 

smaug

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Also does HoMM3 have replayability and lots of mods?
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Where to start with 4X Genre:
I have ($60) in steam money, and I have the choice of (at least that I know of):
  • Hearts of Iron 2-4
  • HoMM 3 (HD Edition)/5-7
  • Crusader Kings 2
  • Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition/Age of Empires 3 Complete edition.
  • Total Warhammer II/I
Please let me know of good starting points, or other games.

None of these are 4X. HoI and CK2 are grand strategy, AoE is RTS, and Total War is grand strategy with real time battles.

4x are games where you start with one city or a settler, settle down, build up your city, recruit settlers to expand your empire, explore the world to find good new spots to settle in, research new technologies that open up new buildings and units, and try to dominate your opponents with a mix of war, espionage, technological supremacy and economic superiority.

If you don't get to found new cities, it's not really a 4X, so HoMM doesn't qualify either.
 

Snorkack

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What is the difference between 4X games and games like HoMM?
Tbh, of the games you listed, HoMM comes closest to a 4X in the narrower sense. Usually 4X have more 'sandboxy' gameplay on randomized maps that allow peaceful paths to victory as well, while HoMM gameplay revolves around hand-crafted scenarios and killing shit.
Also does HoMM3 have replayability and lots of mods?
Yes and yes.
 

Citizen

Guest
Also does HoMM3 have replayability and lots of mods?

Replayability is over the top, homm2-3 are probably my most played games ever. Both games have pretty big singleplayer campaigns (HoMM2s is better in my opinion but codex may disagree), then there are addons, then there are Heroes Chronicles (a pack of singleplayer campaigns for HoMM3), then there's a giant amount of community made singleplayer maps and then there's a RMG with some quality templates to play in PVP

That's the game you should be taking with you on a desert island
 

Citizen

Guest
MoM clone #736428 but with dominions-like preplanned combat instead of easly abusable tactical skrimishes that you start to hate after your 100th battle?

ecf.jpg
 

tindrli

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they could make some more movements of the standing units. it would contribute a lot... and it would made a game pretty unique
 

Sandor

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Aug 23, 2019
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Godking Master of rituals is actually inspired directly by Conquest of Elysium 3 & 4, a Strategy-RPG with Civ building and management components. It's probably most similar to Legends of Ellaria another macro strategy-RPG.
 
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An ever-evolving strategy experience

Set in a post-apoc version of Earth, Revival is a 4x strategy game where the world and its rules can change at key moments, creating a deep and highly replayable experience. Explore a transformed planet, negotiate or conquer new territories and bring the light of civilization to regressing human colonies in order to prepare mankind for war with a despotic entity.

Enjoy an unprecedented level of freedom

Say ‘yes’ to meaningful replayability. Say ‘no’ to predictable and boring late game!

Revival generates a vast possibility space for you to play around with. From sudden weather changes to zombie infestations and bans on certain weapon types – boy, you are in for a surprise.

Adapt to new conditions with the help of the nuanced edict system that allows you to terraform the planet and fine-tune the game rules on specific regions of the map. Protect your settlement from changes by building special shield constructs or by accepting the blessings of your tribe’s totem tree.

Progress through the ages

Survivors of the terrible catastrophe that almost destroyed mankind have unique traits and bonuses that affect your gameplay style. Pick the right tribe to take under your wing and help your followers evolve through four distinct epochs, all the way to futuristic settlements and breakthrough technology.

Command an army that is suited to your play style by gearing up troops with a variety of components, which can also be crafted. Adapt your tactics in intense turn-based battles by mixing and matching different parts, as well as smartly using destructible cover to defeat your enemies.

Revival takes place on our own home planet whose landscape and climate have been dramatically transformed. Discover pre-cataclysm artifacts and anomalies with unexpected behaviors. Face off against wild beasts that have evolved to survive in these conditions, as well as fearsome mechanical automatons that roam the lands.

9d5e56_acb0636ca67c4666a66c5e0f72478db9~mv2.webp


9d5e56_ea67a99736f64b56a2193fb150d1f572~mv2.webp


9d5e56_2b9096303536419599ea966115c43e1b~mv2.webp


9d5e56_c7226a9eb14e44ca970ce9b0395de21c~mv2.webp


9d5e56_9fbbd560da31456d80f194741209c4c6~mv2.webp


9d5e56_a9f4cc99ee3a4378a4dacd2473b70636~mv2.webp

https://www.revival4x.com/
 

oldbonebrown

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I quite like the how Revival looks, it's a bit above the most generic unity look. Hopefully it can manage factions with some flavour.
 

Citizen

Guest
I quite like the how Revival looks, it's a bit above the most generic unity look. Hopefully it can manage factions with some flavour.

Trailer visuals look surprisingly clear compared to you usual fugly 3D 4x, might be good
 

Chris Koźmik

Silver Lemur Games
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I too am interested in some of these, especially Emperor of the Fading Suns.

Anyone played Imperium (1990) ? Sounds interesting, but it would want to be good to trudge through this kind of UI.

GgxDn.png
Sorry for replying to such an old post, but I simply could not resist when I heard you mentioned the old Imperium :D

I have played it as a child, a long, long time ago and I was mesmerized by it. It's a totally charming game with an incredible mood but... unfortunatelly totally unplayable by today's standards (actually it was not really playable even then). On one hand I would like to recommend it because it's a really unique game, one of a kind, on the other, unless you played it in the 90s you would not be able to stomach it. I would say, if you are totally into grand strategies and I mean totally, you might try it, otherwise not really.

BTW, this game was the direct inspiration of the court management part in Stellar Monarch (the 3 stats and the dilemma if you want to grant the important position to a loyal idiot or to a competent one that would backstab you).
 

Grubba

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Jan 10, 2012
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992
I recently discovered that I somehow acquired Civ4: The Complete Edition for free on Twitch (must have signed up for some promotion, can't remember). Never played these types of games before but was intrigued so I dived in and holy shit...I'm obsessed. This game is like time-traveling, 4-5 hours fly by like nothing. Very dangerous, turns me into an OCD micro-managing fiend.

Anyway, I've been playing the base vanilla game and feel like I've gotten a good grip on things now. I still haven't played a match through all the way to the end but I'm wondering if I should just jump to Beyond the Sword? Is there any reason to keep playing the base game or Warlords/Colonization?
 

Arrowgrab

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Jan 20, 2016
Messages
603
I recently discovered that I somehow acquired Civ4: The Complete Edition for free on Twitch (must have signed up for some promotion, can't remember). Never played these types of games before but was intrigued so I dived in and holy shit...I'm obsessed. This game is like time-traveling, 4-5 hours fly by like nothing. Very dangerous, turns me into an OCD micro-managing fiend.

Anyway, I've been playing the base vanilla game and feel like I've gotten a good grip on things now. I still haven't played a match through all the way to the end but I'm wondering if I should just jump to Beyond the Sword? Is there any reason to keep playing the base game or Warlords/Colonization?

Just jump to Beyond the Sword.

Then, once you've played some games all the way through, you might want to look into mods. My personal recommendations are:
- Fall from Heaven 2 and it's various modmods. I personally like Ashes of Erebus best, but arguments can be made for others as well. FF2 and its modmods turn Civ4 into a dark fantasy game with civilisations having not one but numerous unique buildings, units and special rules.
- DuneWars Revival. Sci-fi. Based on Dune, duh. Very nice.
- Caveman 2 Cosmos for maximum autism. Start with cavemen. Finish with an interplanetary empire (if you download some pre-made space maps, random map generation doesn't have space colonisation yet).
- Conflict on Chiron, or the other one (name escapes me at the moment) that's essentially an Alpha Centauri mod. Sure, nothing beats the original Alpha Centauri, but there's no harm in checking it out.

Colonization is fun, but you should really think of it as a separate game using the same engine, rather than an "official mod". It does have very different gameplay with detailed resource management being much more important.
 

Theodora

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Never played these types of games before but was intrigued so I dived in and holy shit...I'm obsessed. This game is like time-traveling, 4-5 hours fly by like nothing. Very dangerous, turns me into an OCD micro-managing fiend.

It's always something to see a person play Civ for the first time. :D

Anywaaaaaay, Fall from Heaven's creator did an interview with PCGamesN, thought that some of you might be interested.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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- Caveman 2 Cosmos for maximum autism. Start with cavemen. Finish with an interplanetary empire (if you download some pre-made space maps, random map generation doesn't have space colonisation yet).

I love this mod so much. It pumps everything up to 11. It's a true kitchen sink type of mod that adds EVERYTHING you could ever think of. A single game is gonna last a long, long time even on a small map with the fastest game speed. By the time you've reached the modern age in vanilla Civ 4 on the longest game speed, you haven't even discovered the tech of writing in C2C at fastest game speed.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Where to start with 4X Genre:
I have ($60) in steam money, and I have the choice of (at least that I know of):
  • Hearts of Iron 2-4
  • HoMM 3 (HD Edition)/5-7
  • Crusader Kings 2
  • Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition/Age of Empires 3 Complete edition.
  • Total Warhammer II/I
Please let me know of good starting points, or other games.

Not a single one of these games is a 4x
 

smaug

Secular Koranism with Israeli Characteristics
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Messages
6,438
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Insert Title Here
Where to start with 4X Genre:
I have ($60) in steam money, and I have the choice of (at least that I know of):
  • Hearts of Iron 2-4
  • HoMM 3 (HD Edition)/5-7
  • Crusader Kings 2
  • Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition/Age of Empires 3 Complete edition.
  • Total Warhammer II/I
Please let me know of good starting points, or other games.

Not a single one of these games is a 4x
:outrage:

This was from a long time ago, I'm pretty sure someone answered this a while ago.
 

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