Thinking of Buying

[Empire101]

I was a big fan of Orion2 many years ago, and I would really like to start playing a good space conquest/exploration game like Distant Worlds.

Now I'm going to make myself look really stupid now, what does the phrase 4X space strategy game actually mean? Is it just space and time?

Is this game better than the Orion games?

I am old and out of touch

[WoodMan]

"The term "4X" originates from a 1993 preview of Master of Orion in Computer Gaming World by Alan Emrich, in which he rated the game "XXXX" as a pun on the XXX rating for pornography. The four Xs were an abbreviation for explore, expand, exploit, exterminate." - Wikipedia [:D]

I'm not sure you can compare it directly with the old Orion games, due to the age difference. But, in general I think people who love the Orion games love DW too.

[Abraxis]

Having drifted through almost every 4X your average gamer could name, and even more they couldn't, Distant Worlds remains one of my most favorite. As for being better than Orion, I'm not sure, it's different.... I'm not sure what else to say without a more specific question =/

[Cauldyth]

As Woodman says, the 4Xs refer to the typical flow of the gameplay in these types of games. First you explore the world around you, then you expand into it to build new cities/colonies/etc., then you exploit the resources you've acquired during your expansion, then you exterminate your opponents.

And yeah, comparisons with MoO2 are tough. They're both great games, and Distant Worlds deserves to stand right up there with the Orion series. It's greatly changed how I think space 4X games should be done. If you'd asked me a few years ago, I'd fanatically tell you that if it wasn't turned-based, with separate turn-based tactical battles, I wasn't interested. Now, after Distant Worlds, I want more developers to go the continuous-time route. It's a very natural fit for space 4X.

[Abraxis]

Yeah in all honesty I find myself preferring real time. I'd even go as far as to say it's objectively superior from a design stand point. In turn based, you're essentially forced to pause every 'frame', whether you have something to do or not. Real-time with pause, allows you to control how many 'frames' pass before you wish to pause and take an action, or just reflect on whatever.

[DasTactic]

When MoO2 was around there was also a game called Stars! (with the exclamation mark) and I actually preferred that game at the time. Distant Worlds reminds me much more of Stars! than it does of MoO2 but many people have called DW the spiritual successor to MoO2. I think that the style of play with warp lines etc is much more like Sins of a Solar Empire, Sword of the Stars, Armada 2526, or the new game Endless Space - but while I like the other games I rate Distant Worlds way above any of them.

[Cauldyth]

Yeah, Stars! was great. Shame that its sequel imploded during development.

One of the challenges of making a good space 4X game is dealing with the dramatically different distance scales. The distances between star systems is so much greater than the distances between the planets within a system, that it can be problematic from a design point of view.

• MoO: Ignore planets altogether and just have systems.
• MoO2: Interplanetary travel is instantaneous, interstellar travel takes time.
• Space Empires IV: Interstellar travel is instantaneous, interplanetary travel takes time.
• GalCiv2: Disregard actual distances, and make the two similar in scale.
• Distant Worlds: The only game I've played that (more or less) preserves the different distance scales, yet still plays fluidly and intuitively.

[Empire101]

Guys, thanks for your inputs....I think I'm going to take the plunge and BUY!!.

No doubt I'll be popping up in here to ask you vets how to do this, what to do with that etc.

Thanks again fellas!![8D]

[Cauldyth]

Good to hear, enjoy the game! I know you will...