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. […]
Weekly eXchange #85 – Space Race
Join Nate and Troy as they bring you all the important information on all of your favorite 4X and strategy games! This week we discuss Stellaris, Gal Civ 3, Polaris Sector, Pocket Space Empires, the Steam Summer Sale and much much more. As well as continued coverage for your other favorite 4X and strategy games! […]
The Harvester Heresy: An eXposition
Master of Orion III had great ideas. There. I said it. Master of Orion III was justifiably trashed by critics and reviled by the strategy gaming community, but it did some wonderful things – it did most of these things very poorly, or cut them down to just a fraction of their original promise – […]
Pricing: An eXposition
I think that one of the most difficult decisions a developer has to make is determining what to charge for their game. It is just as difficult for those of us who comment on video games (like me) to advise developers on pricing. There are so many factors to consider. For instance, do I have […]
Galactic Civilizations III: Mercenaries Review
Hello, Old Friend I’ve had a strange relationship with Stardock’s Galactic Civilizations III. When it was first announced I was mad excited, ready to fork over a hundred bucks for the Founder’s Elite version. I could name my own planet? Count me in! However, this initial exuberance slowly faded into Early Access reticence. By most […]
Monday Modness – Galactic Civilizations III and Friends
Welcome back, dear reader. Here we are with another fantastic modder, Naselus, who took a Galactic Civilizations III and put his own spin on it. His mod, the Insane Abundant Balance Mod, increases GalCiv3’s playability on larger maps. We’ll also talk about his mods for several other games from Stardock and Paradox Interactive. So, let’s […]
The DLC/Expansion Conundrum: an eXposition
When Amplitude announced its Shadows DLC for Endless Legend, it touched off a debate inside the eXplorminate internal forums. What exactly is a DLC anyway? Isn’t Shadows more of an expansion? Is it going to be expensive enough to be called an expansion? How do you classify these things to begin with? The staff at […]
Strategic eXpanse #21: The 4th X
Join Rob, Nate, Troy and Dallin as they discuss the 4th X, eXtermination, and provide examples of games that both do it well and leave much to be desired. We also discuss ideas that we’d like to see developers consider in future games. Show Notes: What is a 4X Game? Civilization: Beyond Earth Rising Tide […]
The 4X DLC Crutch: An eXposition
Back in the good ol’ days, one could would walk into a store, find a game, purchase it, go home, and immediately get the full experience. However, today’s games receive all kinds of additions, patches and DLC (Downloadable Content) post-release. Gamers benefit from the continued support, but they also have to shell out repeatedly to […]
Depth Charge: An eXposition
Language is kind of a funny thing. If you stop and think about it for a moment, you start to see that language is entirely made up. Letters and words are really just symbols with agreed upon meanings that we humans have devised to make communication easier. It is an excellent system in many ways, […]