Interstellar Space: Genesis Q&A
Explorminate has made a conscious effort to reach out to as many of 4X studios as possible to find out more about their projects through a series of Q&A’s. That series continues today with Praxis Games and their upcoming title Interstellar Space: Genesis. Could you start by telling us about your team? The development team […]
Weekly eXchange #238 – The Three Kingdom Discord.
Join Nate and Troy as they bring you all the important information on all of your favorite 4X and strategy games! This week they talk about Oriental Empires: Three Kingdoms, Total War: Three Kingdoms, Driftland: the Magic Revival, Age of Wonders: Planetfall, Pax Nova, Alliance of the Sacred Suns, Stellaris: Ancient Ruins, Endless Space 2, and much […]
Stellaris ReeXamination #2
When Stellaris first launched in 2016, it was marketed under the slogan “Make Space Great Again.” Lately, I’ve been campaigning for Stellaris by co-opting a different American political rallying cry: “Keep Stellaris WeirdTM.” What I mean is, as Stellaris continues to grow and change (it’s basically a living organism at this point), I believe that […]
Weekly eXchange #227 – More Net Neutrality Needed.
Join Nate and Troy as they bring you all the important information on all of your favorite 4X and strategy games! This week they talk about Thea 2: the Shattering, Driftland: the Magic Revival, Endless Legend, Age of Wonders: Planetfall, Stellaris, Endless Space 2, Crusader Kings 2, Europa Universalis 4, Northgard, Aggressors: Ancient Rome and much much […]
Strategic eXpanse #34 – Strategic Warfare Part 2
Join Nate, Oliver, Mark, Joshua and Troy as they continue to discuss Warfare in 4X games and focus on the “Arc” of a 4X games. They also discuss ideas that they’d like to see developers implement in future games with a specific focus on Winning Conditions. So come, listen and tell us what you think. […]
Audible eXtension For Oriental Empires
Join Nate, Troy and Joshua as they discuss the Oriental Empires review. We discuss what was left on the cutting-room floor and where this game is headed. Come and listen to what we think about Oriental Empires. Music for eXplorminate by Mangadrive Notes: Oriental Empires Steam page Oriental Empires e4X Review Massive Challice Steam page Elemental: […]
Crossing The Rubicon: Defining The 4X-like Genre
Preface Classifying games into genres is a challenging endeavor. The terminology for describing games is often loosely defined, or is understood differently from person to person. Even when there is common language, new games are routinely created that seem to defy categorization. For instance, what was once a well-bounded RTS genre is now routinely a […]
The Core Mechanism of 4X Part 2: An eXposition
In Part 1, we defined the core mechanic for 4X and illustrated how it could be seen in exploration, research, and diplomacy. In part 2, we continue examining how the core mechanism manifests itself in other aspects of play. Unlocking Tools for Victory in eXtermination Combat is a major system that might seem like it […]
Stellar Monarch Review
Released in December of 2016, Stellar Monarch (SM) is a Space 4X-Grand Strategy Hybrid created by one of our regular eXplorminate forum members, Chris Koźmik and his company Silver Lemur Games. Originally, the game was called Pocket Space Empire, but it was too big to fit in a pocket, so the title was changed shortly after release. […]
A Question (Or Three) Of Strategy
I sat down for my first session of Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm. I’d watched some Let’s Plays and completed the tutorial. I’d read up on my hero of choice and studied the game mechanics and map objectives. Then, the match started. The gates opened… I realized I had no idea what to do. […]