Summer draws to a close
Summer ends, Autumn begins:
Last warm light lingers—
first leaves loosen from the oak,
cool breath on the wind.
First off, possibly the biggest thing this year:
Endless Legend 2 – release
It’s out. Resounding success? Doom and gloom?
We have been quiet about this since we looked at the early access version and covered it on the pod. Release date is September 17th, and I for am am terribly excited.
We have a podcast scheduled in, where the team will be comparing notes.
We have a Let’s Play, us exploring this blind for about an hour.
Steam link.
Will this de-throne Age of Wonders 4?
Thoughts from around the internet:
Folk Emerging release
We have had Enkidu on our pod, participating in our eXpansion/eXploitation episode. To follow that up, and to mark the release of Folk Emerging, we have another pod, currently being edited.
Folk Emerging ends where Civilisation begins. Lead a band of Hunter Gatherers, manage your food, manage your people, crack some skulls, have fun.
It is a fun game, plays quickly but has plenty of depth.
See us play here.
Next up:
Dawn of War 4 – new report
Orks OP?
The developers lost to their own AI. Is that testament to a good AI, or inefficient gameplay by the devs? Hammerfall turret use seems…odd !
And the other Warhammer game:
Total:Warhammer40k:
It’s a good time to serve the Emperor it seems
Monarchs At Play demo. Civ, but fast. As in, one hour games. Hmm, here is an idea – play Folk Emerging, have a cup of tea, start Monarchs at Play. If there is a fast paced, futuristic civ type and/or space based game, might add that. In the meantime, Astro Protocol will do! There are far worse things in the world.
Imperialist announced – similar to Imperial Ambitions? See what the developer {Dale, who works at Mohawk – yes them of Old World fame} has to say on our Discord.
Imperium demo. Remake/re-imagining of Ascendancy (link to Wikipedia). Podcast interview is in post production. The original AScendancy released in 1995, might it be considered one of the first 4X games?
Theos City of Myth gets a release date. Not 4X, for sure, but city builders share some DNA. This one is Greek mythology themed. I for one am curious to recreate Athens. That said, Dionysus does seem a tad more cheerful.
If Gamerzakh is playing your city builder, it must be good.
Project Afterfall (Thea developers) out 3rd November 2026, and there is a demo. This one has been on our radar for a bit. Thea was a breath of fresh air, an attempt at something different, and was well received. Thea 2 did not perform as well. Is this new game any good? Well, there is a demo for you to try. Post apocalyptic fantasy? You have my attention.
Embersong: History is Yours Remake/re-imagining of Civ2: Call To Power. Dev Marky discusses it on our Discord.
This comes out in 2 days! Mark the date, September 29tth. It may just be time for Civilisation to be dethroned.
Introducing Defilade. RTS games are experiencing something of a renaissance. This one looks to be more realistic. Extra credit for the badly aiming soldiers visible in the first seconds of the video. What are they firing at?
LT Gaming (btw, welcome to the Discord Luke, one half of LT Gaming) are super excited about this.
Updates
Elemental Reforged update
Old World update
Shadow Empire update
eXplorminate News & Discussion
Out now our podcast on eXpansion and eXploitation in the 4X genre, with Enkidu (of Folk Emerging fame).
It’s 2 hours long, grab a brew and get comfortable.
There is a video too now.
We are in the process of editing an interview with Enkidu, as well as an interview with {name?} who has been using AI to create the game Imperium {steam link}
We are lining up the following podcasts, dates to be confirmed:
- Endless Legend 2 thoughts
- eXtermination in the 4x genre (a look at warfare and battle systems in a variety of games)
- eXperience in 4X games – a look at UI systems, graphics, sound, general thematic cohesiveness
- What even is a 4X? – where we try and nail down the essence of a 4x, determine if there is room to grow, or are we doomed and dying?
- *Fingers crossed* an interview with some very big people in the industry 😀
- Our end of year game ranking, always controversial!
Every month, we would like to celebrate the community, which is full of lovely people, and highlight a community member we feel embodies what makes eXplorminate such a great place.
This month, it is Mazer, for doing something novel by using AI to create a sort of rubric to analyse how much like Civ any particular game is.
Questions to ponder:
- AI – again. What is a meat proxy?
- What do you know about game development? What would you like to know?
- What do YOU want from eXplorminate?
- What are the limits of moderation and objections to moderation? AKA, what is happening with Paradox review and discord bombing?
Did we miss anything? Be sure to let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed an important news item!
Want to write for us? Have a game or two that you love to keep tabs on? Let us know! eXplorminate@gmail.com
Please support us by visiting our Discord and donating to our Patreon.
