Can Paradox into space?

[KonradRichtmark]

Can Paradox into space, or more precisely, should Paradox at some point make a 4X space empire simulator? That is, a game made by the very Paradox dudes we love and hate, rather than one made by others and merely published by Paradox.

I think so.

Now, I know what you're thinking; it's not Paradox's specialty, and there are already several games there covering the genre.

Personally, however, I've grown quite disappointed with the space empire simulator genre. I used to play games of that genre a lot until I found Paradox. While fun, I found that none of them really plausibly depicted how space empires would work. Weirdness like the entire production capacity of societies used to further military conquest and lack of civilian economy, money and production capacity as separate resources with no connection whatsoever, domestic politics dumbed down to something as simple as approval %s, and trade dumbed down to "we have trade route, we get a little more money".

The last few games from Paradox have been highly innovative, having game mechanics that are not only not found anywhere else, but very well-working too. Paradox's inexperience with the space genre could just as well be an asset, making them start afresh rather than copy others and do the same mistakes they've done. A space empire simulator from Paradox, built along Paradoxian rather than traditional lines, could be a real gem, and dare I say it, a game that could revolutionize the whole genre.

 

[Gwyn ap Nud]

I can agree with this. I've had an itch to play 4x space thingies, but other than the X3 series (which I still need to get around to getting), everything has seemed... too simple. I would definitely buy a Paradox 4x space game.

 

[Verenti]

Problem is, the Narrative of History, or of certain eras is know. Well known. Not so much for the future. One has to make descisions about that narritive. Mostly that means borrowing other narratives: GalCiv was clearly the late 20th century, MoO was 17-18th Century, Most RTS of the Fleet Based actions are World War II, usually of the island hoping variety, and lastly we have Empire of the Fading Suns, which is ofcourse Feudalism. The narritive is important, it shapes the world, or galaxy if you will, around it. It determines the rules of the game and the rules of the system.

Until now, the main Paradox development team is completely untested for "creative" work. They've always had a model to work with, and never had to write their own stories. That isn't to say they aren't creative or couldn't make a good 4x, but its not actually the logical next step for them as a company.

 

[KonradRichtmark]

Well, what is, according to you, their logical next step as a company? They've recently made releases to pretty much all their major games (EU, HoI), and with the release of Victoria 2, made use of that commercial potential as well. They've pretty much run out of historical eras in which to make games, and their latest releases aren't by far old enough for there to be commercial potential for EU4 or HoI4. Well, there's the recently hyped potential CK2, but that's pretty much it.

Is good prose really essential to a 4X game? Most 4X games (well, at least those where you conventionally start with only your homeworld) have a story which is essentially no more than "Well, you've just invented FTL travel, go have at it!", or "Some big cataclysm reduced you and everyone else to homeworld only and crappy tech, now go conquer space!". Some kinds of games are heavily (hi)story-driven, but 4X is probably better suited for sandbox make-story-as-you-go play than any other genre. Thinking of it, not having any real-world history to respect, Paradox could finally make the sandbox they've always wanted without getting heckled by the historicity crowd.

 

[Verenti]

Its not the plot, that I'm talking about with Narrative. But the gameplay.

Look at the examples I gave. GalCiv works on the truths of the late 90's. It plays like a Fukayama Fantasy. Culture wars, in a capitalist driven world. MoO? Its a multi-polar galaxy, where you have fleets who just line up and fire their broadsides, based on Colonial development. EotFS? That game, and the game engine, can't exist outside of that Dune-Esque, Great Houses striving for control. Likewise, the gameplay in games like Conquest Frontier wars, and other such RTS, is WW2 Pacific Carrier Action, jumping from island to island. You can't have a future, unless you know what the narritive of the future is. You have to make assumptions on how that future is going to play out, and those assumptions form the avenues of gameplay, and the overreaching flavour.

The logical next step for Paradox, is to keep making historical games. Its what they do.
I'd love to see them develop a 21st-23rd century grand strategy, but its not likely it would actually happen.

 

[Balesir]

I think Verenti has a very good point, here - and Paradox has huge swathes of history still to go at! - but I do see another, IMO very attractive, potential route. There are several very high quality "hard sci-fi" universes about that have an established narrative and history developed. I'm thinking mainly of the GDW "Traveller" roleplaying universe, here, but other possibilities exist in fiction and gaming. If Europa Universalis arose out of an eponymous board game, maybe "Imperium", by GDW, could be the seed for a Paradox space game?

 

[SAS]

I would love a Paradox space 4X game!