![]() ![]() Ground troops (not a customizable unit) are ridiculously overpowered, since faster-than-light travel means troop transports can warp to enemy planets and begin dropping soldiers on a time scale that makes ship-to-ship combat irrelevant. Machine races are ridiculously overpowered, since planets fit for biological life are relatively rare. None of the thinking that goes into ship and fleet design is necessary, since the game is almost completely imbalanced. ![]() Unfortunately, when the rest of the game is taken into account, the only part of the trifecta that survives is the grandeur of watching fleets in combat. It’s strategically deep, it’s awesome to watch, and the interface is easy to use and even fun to work in. This added dimension, as far as I am aware, is unique to 4X-RTS hybrids, and in this area StarDrive pulls off the trifecta that makes for a stellar 4X game. ![]() Moreover, StarDrive lets the player heavily customize all of their ships, as well as control how they are positioned in fleets and maneuver in combat. As a consequence, the design of ships and how they coordinate and complement each other in fleets is very important. Combat is handled like a real time strategy game and StarDrive has a sort of physics system to boot - shots made on moving ships can often miss and where shots land on ships matters quite a bit. It’s very reminiscent of Sins of a Solar Empire with its integration of real-time strategy into 4X gameplay, and it’s not hard to see why so many put up their money to get the project on its feet at first glance it looks like a version of Sins that is both deeper and sleeker in complexity and presentation. StarDrive is a recently released, space-based 4X game, built from the ground up by a single man with Kickstarter funding. Decent showings usually get two out of three right the free-to-play Aurora, for example, is even deeper than the notoriously complex Dwarf Fortress, and has an ultra-realistic aesthetic that appeals to me, but has one of the trickiest UIs I’ve ever seen.Īnd then there are games like StarDrive. The best in class 4X games (like the Civilization series) go three for three, combining complex strategy, the awe that comes with massive scale, and intelligent user interfaces that minimize boredom and eye-strain. As a consequence I find myself in a cycle where I develop a desire to play a 4X game, binge for some period of time, and then quit the genre for months after getting burned out navigating menus. The typical 4X game is an uneasy marriage of amazing strategic depth, the grandeur of empire, and tedious micromanagement. I have something of a love-hate relationship with the 4X (eXplore/eXpand/eXploit/eXterminate) genre. StarDrive lets the player heavily customize all of their ships StarDrive is great for ship and fleet design, but other aspects of the game are in need of improvement. StarDrive, a recently released space-based 4X-RTS hybrid game. ![]()
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