Episode #2: A Frankenstein 4X

This 4Xchange podcast thing is already seeing a total revamp of its format. Instead of just news, each week we'll have a topic that we dive deep in to. First up, the boys discuss how'd they'd create the perfect 4X and soon realize how in over their heads they truly are. Recent 4X news items: Stellaris Federations is out. Met with mostly favorable reviews on Steam. Our review was unfortunately taken down due to plagiarism. Imperiums: Greek Wars looking for beta testers. Inquire within. We featured the first-ever look at Godking: Master of the Rituals gameplay. It appears to take some influence from both Master of Magic and the Dominions series and is pretty darn promising. Thea 2: The Shattering received update Build 0657, which added  a bunch of new content and fixes. Amplitude Studios showed off Humankind’s territory claiming system in this video. Dominions 5 received a huge update in the form of version 5.4.1, which among many, many other things, added a new nation, new heroes, new rituals, new units, new…everything! Check it out here! What mechanics would we steal from other 4X games to make the “one great 4X”? Endless Legend’s faction asymmetry? Colonization’s end game? Alpha Centauri’s setting? Ascendancy’s racial active abilities? Sword of the Stars’ different stardrives or its random tech tree? Distant Worlds’ scale?