Other X's

[Atrocities]

I would hope that most of you know what 4 X means:

eXpand
eXplore
eXterminate
eXploit

But are there more? When it comes to SEIV I would have to say yes. IMHO I feel that SEIV is the first 10 X game out.

You see, Space Empires IV is also:
eXpansive - Long term game play
eXtreme - Hours and hours of "only one more click"
eXtended - Mods, PBW, and ship sets
eXciting - Self-explanatory
eXperienced - The game offers the most play for both armature and experienced player.
eXtraordinary - Nearly three years after its release, it is still going strong. ) In fact it blew away MOO3, which was to be the biggest game of the year.)

Now I am sure there are more X's that can be added to this game, but why bother, it is already the most extremely extraordinary and expansive 4 x game out for those with experience who want extended and exciting game play from a 4 X game.

[dogscoff]

Maybe it should be marketted as the first of the "moreX" genre, although didn't Moo3 claim to be a "5X" game? I think the 5th X stood for "eXcruciating" in that case

[Karibu]

Those 4 are the ones which are meant when talking about 4X games (ie. They are widely known by everyone familiar with strategy games). MOO3 was advertised to be first 5X game when adding eXperience in the list. Though I don't yet know what it actually means in MOO3 expect you need to have huge experience of the game to play it properly.

You can design a game with X's more than 4, but in general there are no meaning for those X's yet. I agree that eXtended and eXperienced fit well into SEIV.

[Atrocities]

Moo3 was a dismall dismall failure of a game. I would fire the design team and hire in people who understand the genra and task them with making Moo4 a truly epic and expansive 4X or more game.

Right now Space Empires IV, Stars, Galatic Civilations, and BOTF appear to be the best game I have seen for 4X in recent years. (Moo2 as well)

[Karibu]

MOO3 was a failure, I admit. I have to grant them my appreciation of the ambition, though they made too many compromises in it. It truly is quite different of any other strategy game ever. The biggest ambition is their biggest failure. They tried to let AI governors handle the planetary level, though it does not do it well enough. Had it been made right, MOO3 would have achieved very different opinions from the players.

However, I wait until the patch is released (not beta) and then I will try it and see does it work any better.

[Gryphin]

Don't forget
eXwife
eXlife

There is another game recently released that is not aa deep but qualifies to be listed and that is
Empire Deluxe Internet Edition.
Here is my rating:
http://www.windingstream.com/ed/empiredeluxe.htm
I was playing "one more turn" in its predecessor when I burned my then fiancé’s and now eXwife's pea soup.
Despite it’s lack of complexity it still has the addiXtive draw to it.
This is especially true since PBW is very easy and you can save any time you want to.