After you accumulate the predetermined number of research points, you get the tech. Research points are generated by research facilities that you can build on each system, and go into developing each technology. The research system is not too different from the ones you commonly run across in 4x games. ResearchĪ huge number of possible techs to choose from means that your research choices become an integral part of game strategy. Unfortunately, the advisors themselves require a certain amount of micromanagement if you want to use them, and when combined with their poor AI, it makes them nearly useless. To help out on this front, the game comes with advisors, which you can set to automatically run certain parts of your empire.
Many of these things can be queued up so that you don’t have to check back on them each turn, and this certainly helps, but the amount of micromanagement that is required to do well in the mid to late game can get excessive. In addition to managing your planets, you also have to manage your research, espionage, diplomacy, and move around all your ships. There is a lot that can be done to fine-tune your empire. You only have a handful of buildings to choose from to start out with, but as your technology increases more become available, including better versions of your starting buildings. This space is significantly reduced if any race currently on the planet can’t breathe the atmosphere. There are expensive technologies which can be researched or traded for to colonize the new planet types, but you’ll need to use atmospheric converters or conquer another race if you want to get the most out of planets with the wrong atmosphere.Įvery planet has space for a certain number of facilities that can be built upon it. Each player starts out being able to breathe one atmosphere type, and to colonize one of the planet types.
SPACE EMPIRES IV RACES FULL
A planet type, either rock, gas, or ice, which determines what type of colony ship can land there, an atmosphere, which determines what races can use the full planet, and a condition, which determines the population growth rate on the planet. Planets each have three different attributes that are important when deciding which to colonize. Ships and facilities are queued up in one convienient screen. The extent to which you can customize your race is amazing, and even now few games can claim to match it. In the unmodified game, your population is basically either peaceful, warlike, or isolationist. The happiness type is what determines how your populations react to the various diplomatic states that exist between you and other empires. After that, you’re presented with a long list of different aptitudes you can adjust, followed by more advanced traits which include access to special technologies, and then a culture and a few other qualities like demeanor and a happiness type. You start out by picking a portrait and shipset, and then the preferred planet types of your race. When customizing your race, you are presented with a huge number of options that may intimidate players new to the genre. You can also setup the game so that all players start out with empires at a certain level of development. There is also a wealth of other options during game setup that can be altered, such as research speed, random event rates and severity, victory conditions, and more. There is a scenario editor included in the Gold version of the game for those who want to specify exactly what they want their galaxy to look like. A preview of the galaxy can be generated so that you have a better idea of what the game is going to look like. There are plenty of ways to customize your race.įor the game itself, you can randomly generate the galaxy to fit a number of different templates and sizes. This is an area where SE4 really shines, and a wealth of customization is available. Read on for a more in-depth review.Ī quickstart option is made available to players, so that you can jump right into the game with a prebuilt race, but more veteran strategy gamers are going to want to customize their race and the rest of the game to their own liking.
Although it is beginning to show its age by the time of this review, it is still one of the best space strategy games out there.
SPACE EMPIRES IV RACES SERIES
Space Empires IV Gold is the most recently released version of the long-running Space Empires series by Malfador Machinations.
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