On starting a game, you define your difficulty level, the size of the galaxy you’ll play in (small to huge), and the number of other races you’re competing against (up to five). Along the way, you’ll need to figure out how you want to handle your galactic neighbors, and also be prepared to deal with whatever they choose to throw at you. These empire builders also share quite a lot in common by nature of the systems they simulate, so it wouldn’t be entirely unfair to call this “Civilization in space.” You will pick a starting race with diverse inherent bonuses (increased production, diplomacy, espionage, etc) and colonize an ever-expanding swath of the galaxy out from your starting world. In particular, Stellar Conquest from 1974 sets up many of the ideas seen here, along with the early Commodore 64 sim Reach For The Stars from 1983. Like many of the early computer greats, “MOO” (yeah…) takes its cues from old strategy board games.
To put it another way, the only empire-building space game I’ve ever played is Star Wars: Rebellion, so you’re about to be in for a real treat… The “huge” galaxy size lives up to its name. So, it was with great reluctance that I installed Master of Orion – starting a series I knew dick-all about, and winding my way through its various versions and clones.
Coming in as a newcomer with a “fresh perspective” seems more likely to just recycle issues veterans have already debated to death, or demonstrate some total ignorance by overlooking some important aspect of the model.
It took me two years to finally be satisfied with the Civilization review, simply because I knew these were popular games that many people already knew the ins and outs of. Of all the possible game types out there to write about, the 4x genre is the only one that intimidates the hell out of me.
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