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

[Borelli]

I remember a ground-based, 4X, fantasy game, from the post-3D era (so probably last 20 years), where units looked relatively 'old school fantasy' (i.e. like Ultima's artwork below) as opposed to modern MTG/WoW 'glowing veins n spikes' artwork.
Anyone know what I might be thinking of?

Was it Disciples?

Disciples looks quite interesting, but I remember the engine was polygonal/3D models rather than sprites.

From what I remember, the monsters were quite old school, so maybe Dragons, Minotaurs, Lizardmen, Beastmen....

EDIT: Maybe I'm just thinking of Fallen Enchantress.

Age of wonders?

 

[Louis_Cypher]

Ag

I remember a ground-based, 4X, fantasy game, from the post-3D era (so probably last 20 years), where units looked relatively 'old school fantasy' (i.e. like Ultima's artwork below) as opposed to modern MTG/WoW 'glowing veins n spikes' artwork.

Anyone know what I might be thinking of?

Was it Disciples?

Disciples looks quite interesting, but I remember the engine was polygonal/3D models rather than sprites.

From what I remember, the monsters were quite old school, so maybe Dragons, Minotaurs, Lizardmen, Beastmen....

EDIT: Maybe I'm just thinking of Fallen Enchantress.

Age of wonders?

That's a good call - I don't think it was that, as Age of Wonders wasn't out yet, but I might give that a go - looks good.

 

[Oreshnik Missile]

Ag

I remember a ground-based, 4X, fantasy game, from the post-3D era (so probably last 20 years), where units looked relatively 'old school fantasy' (i.e. like Ultima's artwork below) as opposed to modern MTG/WoW 'glowing veins n spikes' artwork.

Anyone know what I might be thinking of?

Was it Disciples?

Disciples looks quite interesting, but I remember the engine was polygonal/3D models rather than sprites.

From what I remember, the monsters were quite old school, so maybe Dragons, Minotaurs, Lizardmen, Beastmen....

EDIT: Maybe I'm just thinking of Fallen Enchantress.

Age of wonders?

That's a good call - I don't think it was that, as Age of Wonders wasn't out yet, but I might give that a go - looks good.

Lords of Magic?

 

[Zewp]

Yeah, sounds like Lords of Magic. I played the hell out of it as a kid. 4X overworld, real time battles.

 

[Gibson]

Which universe should I conquer next?

I haven't played a Space strategy for some time now (4-5- years at least) - so where do we stand atm? what's the go-to game to be a space emperor?

Stellaris? Galciv4? Endless Space 2? DW2?

last one I played was Stellaris, but after 4-5 years I should think the game is not recognizable to me anymore.

Turn-based or paradox-time-slider is a non issue for me.

No SMAC-clones like planetfall etc. I want to rule the galaxy, not a planet.

 

[GuiltyofBeingTrite]

Stellaris is worth some playthroughs if you have most of the DLC. absolute best parts of the game are the first 40-50 years, end game feels the same often. If you manage to get on the Galactic Council you can do some really great stuff as you consolidate power.

 

[Gostak]

Which universe should I conquer next?

I haven't played a Space strategy for some time now (4-5- years at least) - so where do we stand atm? what's the go-to game to be a space emperor?

Stellaris? Galciv4? Endless Space 2? DW2?

last one I played was Stellaris, but after 4-5 years I should think the game is not recognizable to me anymore.

Turn-based or paradox-time-slider is a non issue for me.

No SMAC-clones like planetfall etc. I want to rule the galaxy, not a planet.

Try Star Dynasties for a change.
It's a Galaxy in ruins and just some small installations on otherwise hostile planets.
But planets, hence system(s) -> galaxy. :D

If you have the time to spare: Emperor of the Fading Suns.
It's got it in its name!

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/indie-strategy-games-post-em-if-you-find-em.10401/post-8662841
is also recommended.

Of course if you want a truely hard time you might wanna go for Remnants of the Precursor likely the Fusion version with more AI choices.
But I am not too big a fan (yet anyway?).
Mostly because I never got to play till Stargate tech I guess and maybe went with too small "maps"/ setups.
And yes, it's super hard, and while the AI mostly does not cheat, it does in parts ...

 

[Desiderius]

Sup guys.

So I'm in my 4X gaming mood again. Started with Fallen Enchantress, which isn't bad, tried Endless Space, which is okay but didn't really grab me, and now got hooked on a nice little Civ4 mod. Since 4X is probably my favourite subgenre of strategy that I can spend hours upon hours on playing, I decided to make a little thread where we collect those addictive little time-wasters, as well as their mods and unofficial patches that remove bugs, improve the AI or even do a total conversion of the game.
I also have a couple of questions about some certain 4x games and their unofficial patches, as in, which of them is the best.

4X in SPAAAACE:

Master of Orion 2 - still the best of the bunch, nothing even comes close to it. Are there any fan patches or mods that improve the AI?

Galactic Civilizations 2 - I never liked this one as it just feels soulless and there's never much to do except for choosing research and pressing the end turn button. Meh.

Distant Worlds - RTwP, but the best space 4X game since MoO2. Definitely recommended. Has two expansions that improve it significantly. A third expansion is in production.

Space Empires Series - only played IV, which was quite decent, and V, which had a lot of very nice ideas but was buggy as hell. Definitely worth looking into for anyone into space 4X games, but beware the bugs. Are there any fan patches that bring SEV to a more stable state?

Lost Empire: Immortals - tried it once or twice but it never managed to grab me. Planetary management is rather minimal and combat is automatic, too, so there's not a lot of gameplay here. Felt very lacking. Doesn't seem to have any significant fanbase or modding community either.

Star Trek: Birth of the Federation - decent space 4X set in the Star Trek universe. The game has a decent modding community and is freely available here, including major mods.

Sword of the Stars - space 4X with good realtime combat and a randomized tech tree. Too bad the planet management is so simplistic, it kinda drags the rest down for me.

Emperor of the Fading Suns - this one seems very interesting but I haven't played it before. I read that it's rather buggy and badly balanced, but there are two fan patches out there that fix most of the issues. Now, which of the two patches should I use? Any recommendations from the local Codexians?

Endless Space - 4X in space with solid research and planet management, and a curious card-based combat system. Solid game overall.

4X on the ground (historical, scifi, fantasy):

Alpha Centauri - humans colonizing a new planet in another solar system. Look for fan patches and mods here.

Master of Magic - the classic of fantasy 4X. Any fan patches for this one?

Warlock: Master of the Arcane - a fantasy version of Civ5 with some inspiration from MoM. Heavy focus on hex-based combat with a variety of different units.

Elemental: Fallen Enchantess - the sequel to the horrible fiasco that had been Elemental's original release. Manages to be a lot more fun than Elemental, but it's no MoM killer. Hopefully the community will mod this one cause it has a lot of potential.

Civilization series - the founder of the genre. A lot of modding going on especially with Civ4. Check the Civ4 mod section below.

Free Civ - an open source clone of Civilization 2.

Civ4 mods:

Fall From Heaven 2/Master of Mana - FFH2 is a fantasy mod inspired by MoM with unique factions and interesting new game concepts. Master of Mana is a modmod based on FFH2 that adds some new features and does some things differently than FFH2. Recommended.

Caveman2Cosmos - probably the largest mod of them all, this one adds a long prehistoric age to the beginning of the game and expands it far to the future so you can reach cyberpunk techs. Criticized by many for adding too many features just for the sake of having tons of features, but if you love mods that add a huge quantity of content, you will love this one. Takes ages to load and is very prone to crash though, thanks to Civ4's shitty engine.

Pie's Ancient Europe - the perfect mod for antiquity enthusiasts. The game takes as long as a normal game of Civ4, but rather than from the stone age to the modern age, you go from the stone age to late antiquity. Play as any civilization from ancient Europe, North Africa and Near East. Very fun mod.




So, if you guys know of other 4x games, their fan patches and their mods, please post them so I can add them to the list!

Also add recommendations for fan patches to the games already in the list so I can add links to these. Thanks!

Play Old World phaggots.

Go through the Tutorial step by step (both parts) and read this so AI doesn’t stomp you into dust.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hb4dmDKxpf3pJJtpdFA4y4OOY-d2yrz1/view

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...V0ONTwPmWjocPvAF3S6qKfrwZJoqyU/htmlview?pli=1

Best 4X ever