Can a historical and <realistic> 4X game be fun?

[Juge]

It is a somewhat accepted rule that the most well received games are those that reward the player, and when it comes to 4X games, that sense of reward is usually linked to build a great empire successfully.

However, in real history, the greatest empires don't last for long: Rome, the Mongols, Spain and Britain all fell (even USA may be included here in the close future, as the sphere of influence most of its richness comes from is either falling or highly menaced). Eventually the social or economic conditions (or both) would change so much that the state could not preserve its capacity to control all its territories, be it to internal or external enemies (of the state). Sometimes the incompetence of the government played a factor, but sometimes it was inevitable due to how the state had to be established.

Given this, a game that pretends to be realistic must simulate historical changes that inevitably leads to the fall of empires, and thus, what the player has built.

How could such a game be fun?

 

[civvver]

It's fun if you aren't locked into a single empire. Build up a huge empire, then switch to the upstart nations and watch the old regime crumble. Rhyes and fall scenario does this with civ4.

Also I think EU games are more accurate as you suffer a ton of more realistic penalties like revolutions and the games don't spawn all of human history, more like a few hundred years.

 

[sophie]

4X games are, by design, unrealistic.

 

[cardgame]

Crusader Kings II and Legends of Revolution mod for cIV are great fun.

 

[Maniacal]

If they're well designed then yeah, there is no reason that they can't be fun. Of course, it won't be 100% realistic, but I find having an overwhelmingly massive empire usually less interesting than forming a more realistic looking one (though I have started vassalisng neighbours I don't want to actually directly control, especially if they are of a radically different culture).

While a world domination game of EU or whatever is sometimes fun, I rarely bother to aim for it, and indeed I like maps with more regions on them so I can spend more time conquering an area.