A lot of people like to talk about the complexity of the games.
And often difficulties in passing the next project cause high demands for speed of reaction. But today we are going to talk about games that stand aside and a little arrogant look at colleagues in the shop. To master the 4X strategies do not need to know how to shoot with incredible accuracy or react faster than the mongoose, fighting with the cobra. Rather, get ready to spend a lot of time-fighting the main problems of the genre, and whether it is worth trying to climb over a huge threshold - talk further.
Abbreviation "4X" perfectly describes the most typical game in any strategy of this kind. At first, we, like newborns, study (eXplore) the world around us, grasping at everything. Information is probably one of the most important resources in any strategy. Next, we begin to explore new territories, expanding (eXpand) our ownership. More control over the world around us will bring a lot of resources afterward. For the latter, it's all in the cards: as soon as we have the values in our hands, we begin to exploit them mercilessly (eXploit) for the sake of infrastructure development. And if the adversary has dared to take away a very tasty piece of territory, it would be good to destroy it (eXterminate), though it is not necessary to do so. Of course, there are still many layers of gameplay like diplomacy, technology tree, espionage, micromanagement, but they largely depend on the specific project.
It's not easy to play 4X strategies, but it's even more difficult to create them. Each project of this genre is a team of solyanka of a huge number of ideas that need to be balanced and made to synergize with each other. Make the player, rotating the gears in his head, set in motion huge mechanisms truly monstrous empires. Without the pathos in this matter, I believe, can not do, because the 4X strategies are enormous in scale.
The first - Firaxis Games with its series of simulators "plug the tank with the copycat" called Civilization.
Then there is Paradox studio, the author of which has several successful series (Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron) and a couple of independent projects in this genre (Stellaris, Imperator: Rome). These guys like to smear their games with millions of DLCs. The third one is the French team of Amplitude Studios developers, who have only the Endless series, consisting of three representatives of the 4X genre and one bagel. We will return to them closer to the end of this material, at the moment all you need to know are the key players in the market, producing the best quality projects.
It is he who is at the head of the corner here. There's always a background to what's going on, but the main thing is the gameplay. In many ways, it is meditative, at least for the first few hours: we explore technology, study the world, develop the economy, capture the territory and so on. I know it doesn't sound like much fun, but don't jump to conclusions. The further the party goes, the more teeth the game shows: you have to fight with hostile neutral troops, build relationships with neighbors, adjust to global events, promising their whips and cakes. And no one releases you from the above-mentioned duties, so the tension increases. During the wars, and even grab your head: the economy is rolling into the abyss, the satisfaction of the population is already there, and the troops still need to be commanded.
And all this is wildly delaying, although at first it openly frightens. However, if you look at the 4X strategy for a long time, sooner or later it will start to look at you. I think many people who have already felt the charm of the genre are familiar with the idea: "Well, here's this move - and sleep. Well, I'll also study this technology, and it's a bayonet. As a result - five o'clock in the morning on the alarm clock, huge bags under the eyes, and the number of moves exceeded two hundred. A lot of it is promoted by the excellent soundtrack, under which influence you are blurred on a chair and continue to click with a mouse on everything.
Each batch is made up of a small pinch of random, and therefore - unique. The element of randomness in 4X is not very much, and it is needed only to increase the repeatability. First of all, global events contribute to this. For example, a general congress of scientists is announced to exchange experiences, after which science will be on the rise for some time. Or an epidemic breaks out, which is beginning to quickly reduce the number of residents in your cities. Such events make us adjust our further actions to make the most of the situation.
If you were interested in such a genre as newsreel at least a little bit - 4 strategies will please you. Due to the huge freedom and random events, you can "write" your own fascinating story. About the Indians who overtook the Old World and came to conquer Europe. About India's seizure of the Middle East and its formation as a huge empire in the XII century. Or about the valiant hero with the surname Shepherd, who resists the biosynthetic race, planning to destroy all life in the galaxy, although it seems that it was somewhere else. The abundance of settings in this genre will allow you to easily find something suitable.
All this ugliness and to watch is interesting. While you are trying to build your ideal state somewhere in the corner of the world, in the center of raging wars, conflicts, creating alliances, collapsing empires, redesigning maps. And you are free not to participate in the whirlpool of events, but just watch, rubbing your hands and preparing to capture the weakened neighbors. Oh, it's a nice feeling when the map gradually turns into your colors.
But you have to pay for all the good things.
The main problem for beginners is how to get over the huge threshold of entry. Long live the most useless in the world of learning and incredibly cumbersome interfaces! Tutorials are needed here only to show what you can press at all and what will happen. And you will not be introduced to all the features, and will only give a basic idea of the game mechanics. Next, through the maze will have to climb on their own, filling bruises and abrasions.
Interfaces are generally a separate topic for conversation. Almost always they are terrible, but to make them better too, quite hard. Diplomacy and neighbors; economy of different regions; scientific development; lists of armies, cities, and heroes; strategic resources and luxury resources; quests and factional features... and I certainly haven't mentioned a lot of things yet. And now imagine how to put it all together on one screen. Without turning the game into a set of buttons and tables, it is difficult to pull a similar trick, so you have to suffer the first few dozen hours.
Perhaps another significant disadvantage is artificial idiot intelligence. Alas, but often up to the level of the player, he just can't reach the level of the player, so the necessary complexity is set up by giving a stupid machine advantage. Playing becomes more interesting, but still, we would like the opponent to fight back with his mind, not just a simple advantage in power. It can be easily coped with by clicking on the "Multiplayer" button, just stock up on a couple of liters of tea and a few hours of free time. And spend a couple of hundred hours on the game beforehand, otherwise, your plan to capture the whole world can quickly break down.
If you are ready to accept the disadvantages and want to try to overcome some 4X strategy - welcome. In order to immerse yourself in the genre, in addition to a large amount of time, you also need the right attitude. I am not a psychologist, and certainly not a professional in 4X, but I can give a couple of tips on how to dive into it.
Perhaps, the first and the most important thing is to accept the fact that for the first few hours you will be mercilessly stupid. The reason for this is not the most friendly game interfaces in this genre: there are a lot of buttons, some smaller than the mouse cursor, and even can be placed on the screen, not in the best way. Add extremely superficial training, which usually covers a maximum of one-third of all possibilities.
The second thing that follows smoothly from the first one is that don't be afraid to lose. Even at its lowest complexity, the AI does more or less meaningful things, and unlike you, it has no threshold to enter. Quickly building up the military force, the bot can easily roll you at the speed of light. In this case, try to rethink your approach to the development of the empire and start over. Here everything is right as in "Edge of the future": Live, Die, Repeat (Live, Die, Repeat).
To reduce your suffering, use the following tip: feel free to read the guides and surf the Internet, just like even the simplest things work in the game. Another good help can be a friend who is familiar with the genre and can explain on your fingers. Save time and nerve cells on the face.
For a dive, it would be nice to choose a specific game.
I will allow myself to insert a few options with a brief description of why I am offering this project. I also recommend to check the comments, perhaps, the real experts will offer more sensible options.
Perhaps, the best candidate for acquaintance will be Civilization V. Firstly, the game is one of the simplest in this genre. All the classic mechanics are there, without much excess. Secondly - not bad training, personally I got used to the game very quickly thanks to him. Third - flexible complexity settings. The easiest offers quite peaceful computer opponents, and barbarians are becoming much kinder and never cross the border of your country. The interface is quite friendly, though not without flaws. Of the disadvantages, perhaps, only the price of the game itself against the background of competitors. And it wouldn't hurt to buy two main DLCs, which are also not cheap but are a great addition to the main layer of gameplay.
If you are closer to space setting, then pay attention to Stellaris. Yes, it is a bit more difficult to master, the game lasts longer, but there are more interesting mechanics as well. Designers of race and ships, random generation of available technologies, quests and much more. That's why Paradox games are so popular among fans. The developers have already released a lot of strategies, but I suggest to pay attention to Stellaris because it is the easiest to learn among colleagues. Keep in mind that the game continues to develop, and this is both a plus and a minus. On the one hand - does not get bored, there is regular new content (including - paid), on the other - some mechanics have to comprehend anew. In any case, Stellaris is a very worthy choice for acquaintance with the genre. And where else can you create a race of reasonable mushrooms - repulsed militarists and xenophobes with a single consciousness?
From the games from Amplitude Studios, we would like to highlight Endless Legend.
Personally, it seemed to me that it's easier to get used to it than it is to Endless Space, although there's a lot of mechanics. The gameplay differs significantly depending on the selected faction: there is a race that does without food, but others do not study anything and steal technology from competitors. At first glance, the game is similar to Civilization V but more complicated and in another setting. One of the interesting features - the change of seasons, winter and summer. At the beginning of the party of cold occur rarely and lasts briefly, but at the last fifty moves, everything changes exactly the opposite. Winter brings quiet solid fines for almost all factions, so it is worth preparing for its arrival. Standard sore throats for the genre: interface and training. Otherwise - one of the best 4X strategies at the moment.
If you are not caught in the list of strategies, you should pay attention to the line of historical strategies from Paradox. Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Victoria, and Imperator: Rome is also quite good candidates to get acquainted with the genre. Just take into account that it is likely to be more difficult to get used to them than in the above examples.
4X strategies are a unique genre. Almost every game behind the huge entrance threshold hides an abundance of mechanics and features. Even if you do not like strategies, but appreciate the gameplay component - take a risk and try. Perhaps, you will turn off the game in a couple of hours, shaking your shoulders, and go to conquer the next AAA-project. Or maybe you'll stay to rewrite history and conquer distant galaxies.
So, at the beginning of the game, we are offered to create a character - a member of the noble family, who must go to the island with his brother, in order to successfully rule there and look for a cure for the disease that has struck many people. It can be either a woman or a man. It won't play a special role, yes, in principle, no one will notice it, because in subtitles to the female character will still continue to apply in the male kind. By the way, if you are a fan of something extremely tolerant, you can easily create a bald African-American woman. It's nice to know that the Spiders studio does not stand aside from modern trends.
Upon arrival on the island, we begin to carry out the duties of an emissary - run from settlement to settlement, communicate with representatives of different states and communities and try to establish friendly relations between all. Along the way, of course, we are looking for a cure for the disease. Basically, this is all I can say, so as not to spoil anything, because the plot, about a miracle, is interesting and, most importantly, does not lie on the surface. He is very mature and in order to understand the whole essence of what is happening you need to be able to read between the lines. The fact is that the plot is very much tied to politics, as well as the ancient secrets that we will solve during the passage. The player is surrounded by three states, as well as natives from the island. The parties cannot reconcile among themselves in any way and to unravel all wrapped up ball of events it is necessary for us. If you miss something somewhere, you risk not understanding history. For once, Spiders decided to let their players think, not say, "You're the one who's chosen, go kill demons.
But the main plot is good, of course, but there are also some side effects. Frankly speaking, I didn't even hope for good side quests, because Spiders usually do something like "go get it" and "go kill it". Well, this time I was wrong again. The additional tasks in the game are, firstly, interesting, and secondly, diverse and horrible. Somewhere you need to find marauders, who smash caravans. Somewhere you need to help a trader-Turkish to get permission to sell their goods in the city. And somewhere you need to find hidden notes of the scientist at the location, which will tell you how to defeat the mythical creatures. And it's not just tasks that you have to take, run to a point and perform, no. These are long stories that are built from a chain of small orders. Take a quest, ask eyewitnesses, track the target, decide how to pass the task and so on. And in each of these tasks lies an interesting story, missing which you can lose a lot.
Here I would like to note the variability. You want to play for it at the same time, and to scold and praise. Let's talk about the good first. You can do the tasks in several ways. For example, you need to break into a warehouse. You can change into uniforms for the warehouse staff so that no one notices you. You can sneak up through the top floors, but you'll need to pump the appropriate skill. You can put sleeping pills in food or drinks for the guards, but you will have to spend some money to do so. Or you can just come and kill everybody, which will certainly spoil your relationship with the faction you invaded. The same variability lies in the dialogues. You can intimidate, persuade or bribe the other person. The first two points depend on the pumping skills, and the third on the severity of your wallet. Even a banal problem with broken furniture in the tavern can be solved in two ways: to fix it, or pay the tavern operator the amount that will cover the losses. Of course, such variability does not add to the game incredible repeatability, because of which it wants to pass again and again, but still allows you to playback the way you want.
But now let's just scold the game a little bit.
The fact is that all this variation, in general, does not lead to anything. For example, you help the brave captain Vasco to find out the secret of his origin, which is hidden from him by his allies. Well, logically, we have to sneak in quietly so as not to spoil our relationship with him, right? And Vasco himself says that it is better to do without unnecessary sacrifices. Well, if we kill everyone, nothing will change and the captain of the ship will ignore the incident. The same nonsense with the change of clothes. We are constantly advised to change our costume to the form of a specific faction, on whose territory we are located. But why? We just kill them and nobody takes our reputation away. I've only seen one case in ten hours when my reputation was taken away. And then, in a couple of minutes, we'll talk to the ruler, I got everything back on track. So GreedFall is trying to be flexible, but he can't offer it. Well, sadly.
Also, I would like to note the tasks given to us by our satellites in a separate word. After talking to our partners, we will learn about the problem that is bothering them. Some people have a secret about the past, and some have a missing mother. Well, it is worth helping. Especially since, firstly, these are very interesting tasks, during which the characters of the satellites are revealed from new sides, and, secondly, it increases your friendly relations with them, which will lead you to a possible novel. So there is an incentive to deal with side effects.
Speaking of partners. Here the game from Spiders is very similar to the Dragon Age franchise. You meet a key NPC, and it's nailed to your squad. We can talk to him and take him on a trip. Inactive partners are just resting somewhere in the transshipment camp. But there is only one problem that bothers me. The fact is that our partners become our best friends at the snap of a finger. I will try to explain in more detail. In the same games from BioWare, when we took on a new partner, he was cautious, distant. And only over time and a couple of quests the character began to trust us and open up from new sides. That's not how it works in GreedFall. Here we meet the princess of the local tribe, here we talk to her, and here she is our friend. There's about a minute between these actions. One minute, Carl! She sees our character for the first time in her life, but she already trusts us flawlessly and leads us to her village, telling the secrets of her family along the way. What is the usual friendship there, if our partners obey us unconditionally, even if they barely know? For example, my heroine shut her partner up, although she expressed her dissatisfaction with the murder of her fellow countrymen. Dog loyalty, not otherwise.
But the side tasks should be done not only for the sake of interesting stories and the development of relations between the heroes. They also need to be done in order to earn money and experience, as we have RPG, and, therefore, without pumping the character will not do. We can download skills, talents, and abilities. But before that, it is necessary to determine that the game has three classes: warrior, magician, and shooter. Each of these classes will have their own skills, talents, and abilities as a priority. For example, if you're playing for a magician like me, you need to focus on increasing witchcraft and reducing the amount of mana spent on skills, the strength of spirit and dexterity in abilities and, for example, charisma in talents. Hopefully, I have explained it clearly. But the game will be good for you, and you can always use small arms, if you have chosen, for example, a warrior. You just have to sacrifice a certain amount of points, which could be put into other branches. I can't say that pumping grab stars from the sky, but it's useful in every aspect. You pump agility to be able to get to the places where you need to jump or walk on a narrow board. You pump charisma to discover new variants in dialogues, and, for example, intuition to highlight the active Luta.
In addition, there is also the pumping of equipment and weapons. The fact that objects are divided by rarity and, accordingly, statues are raised is understandable. But with the help of resources and a small kopeck of loot can be pumped well. Add armor, stability effects, health or critical damage to weapons. But if it were that simple, I wouldn't have written so much about it. One very interesting detail caught my eye: when you pump a weapon or a piece of clothing, it changes its appearance. And I'm like this: Spiders, and that's exactly what you did? For example, if you pump an ax, you can change from a wooden handle to a metal handle with a thread, for example. If you pump clothes, it's even better: new collars, some jewelry, and even a shoe upholstery with metal. It would seem, unnecessary trifle, but how the hell is it pleasant. By the way, partners also need to be watched and given better things. Here your companions are not just dummies. They are really your team: they do not stand as a pillar, but constantly in the process of fighting. They shoot, wave their swords, cure and curse their enemies. It is very nice that they are busy with their business. There were times when I noticed that my partners were much more useful than me. Their artificial intelligence is really good. I had two partners in the team with me: a warrior and a magician-heeler. And now the warrior runs forward and holds on while smearing the sword with poison for greater efficiency, and the sorceress, on the contrary - runs away and sends curses from there, and also throws healing.
In general, the gameplay is common for RPGs. We appear at the location and see that it is hidden from us. Only in some places dots with question marks and quest spots are stuck, which we see in advance. It's up to you to decide whether to go directly to the task or to explore the map in search of valuable resources, skill points, which are also sometimes encountered, fires for quick movement and bosses, from which you can get a rare archival and expensive trophy. But whatever you choose and wherever you go, you'll have to fight. The combat system here, to put it mildly, is wooden. Punches have no combinations and the character as a statue waving a weapon