A big problem I have had with 4x games for a long time is weirdly enough, winning them. There are always a lot of different ways to win, but all of them outside of obliterating your enemy is pretty unsatisfying, and I think most people would agree. In this case, things like Science victory is just researching enough techs, and then a screen pops up that says you win. Economic victory, you hit a certain threshold, and bam, the game INSTANTLY ends. This is actually my main problem with the victory types, the game immediately ends. I think we can make the other win conditions a bit more active in their play.


     So for instance, instead of having a science victory be immediately won once you unlock a certain amount of end techs, make it so once you’re the first person to actually get all those techs, you unlock techs that ONLY YOU can get, that are gamebreakingly overpowered. If you are the first to research the required techs to win the science victory, instead you are given a unique tech only you can get. There could even be multiple paths, like you research a module that is a weaponized black hole, that allows you to instantly destroy entire systems, with a small cooldown. Or just allow yourself to collapse the star of the system itself. Or, perhaps a technology so advanced you can “hack” all the active fleets in the game under your control. These are just some ideas off the top of my head. 


The point is that by this time, you have basically won like how you would in the game currently, but you still have to actively win the game and take it from everyone instead. It should be mostly easy from there, so that the win conditions are still viable. This also means you can’t win a science victory by the skin of your teeth, as you’re on your last 3 systems. You're being obliterated by some guy's huge army? Ha, too bad, I got the last tech, you lose! How exactly did that science make you automatically lose? You got the last tech and then everyone else gets a message that they’ve instantly lost, even though realistically the science victory person is about to die in a couple turns. How exactly is that tech they got going to turn the game around at that exact point? It just feels like a very cheap way to lose, and it’s very unsatisfying to lose to just a tiny screen that says you lost anyway. However, I think it’d be very cool to actually lose by some crazy thing they got by investing in that win condition. Sure, you could make-believe in your head that when you lose to a science victory, something cool happens. But why not actually make something cool? Even Wonder victory could get at least something. Maybe the wonders call in the Endless, and you get to control them? Spitballing here.


     Perhaps with something like Economic victory, you have gained so much dust, you get the unique mechanic of being able to bribe out people’s fleets, with an adjusting cost based on how much the fleet is worth. Or in a similar vein to how the Lumeris work with buying outposts, you can have it so you can bribe out entire systems. Again, the point is not to be balanced, the point is to make victory conditions something much more satisfying and interactive than just a piece of artwork that says “you win” or “you lose” on it.


     I personally find it very unbelievable and cheap to lose to a win condition that you never even see sometimes. Sometimes you spawn on the opposite side of the galaxy from a Lumeris, and they are just snowballing their economy the entire game. After a while, you start getting warnings they have an imminent economic victory. Well, usually, by then, it’s too late. They make too much money and the amount of time it would take to wipe them out before that is probably too long. But realistically, how does the Lumeris getting that much money actually make them win over you? The money they get should have an actual gameplay application that allows them to win.


     Perhaps this is just wishful thinking for the entire 4x genre, but I truly think Endless Space 2 could make this happen. I'd really love it if you guys were the one to finally break this ancient mold. I feel it wouldn’t be an insane amount of work to actually accomplish. You could make it more or less in depth as you wish, but I think the entire genre can do better on it’s win conditions than simply displaying small pages of “you win”. Let the science I’ve been focusing on all game actually amount to something tangible, let me unlock a crazy secret on the universe that actually allows me to best all the other players because of my work.


     Because as of right now, win conditions are simply just a number you have to get high enough. Military victories are always more fun because they are more active. It’s strange to me that the weakest part of the 4X genre to most people is actually winning the game. Hell, a lot of my friends just outright stop playing games halfway through if they are reasonably sure they can get ahead. I think, even without making it crazy, you can find a way to spice up the win conditions. Anyway, thanks for reading.