Posted on: January 14, 2025
Hustenfuchs
Verified ownerGames: 20 Reviews: 1
Great old game
Golden age of strat games truly want a new game just like this
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Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced
Description
Now available as Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced!
Emperor of the Fading Suns has continued to inspire players not just because of the game itself, but because of the many great mods fans made for the game. The focus of the 1.5 patch is to greatly enhance modding capabilities. Expect many more great mods for the game.
One of the most dramatic changes is one of the least seen. The game was initially built using the Watcom development environment, and one of the first things we had to do was migrate it to Visual Studio. Additionally, the 1.5 patch adds:
- Significantly enhanced and added significant modding capabilities. This allows modders to add dramatically more units, technologies, and worlds, and even change game facets like excommunication, sect abilities, ruins, and much more;
- Significant enhancements to the map editor;
- Enhanced role of religious sects, impacting your unit abilities and population loyalties;
- Enhanced player information on unit and city screens;
- Added House strength as a factor in diplomacy;
- Streamlined some interface elements; and
- Fixed a wide variety of bugs.
You can find the full changelog here.
It is the dawn of the sixth millennium and the skies are darkening, for the suns themselves are fading. Humans reached the stars long ago, building a Republic of high technology and universal emancipation—and then squandered it, fought over it, and finally lost it.
A New Dark Age has descended upon humanity, for the greatest of civilizations has fallen and now even the stars are dying. Feudal lords rule the Known Worlds, vying for power with fanatic priests and scheming guilds.
A grand 4X strategy game developed by Holistic Design Inc., Emperor of the Fading Suns is set in the Dark Ages of Space. It allows players to take the role of one of the powerful nobles fighting to become Emperor of the Known Worlds. Similar to such strategy classics as Civilization and Masters of Orion, Emperor of the Fading Suns offers a sophisticated diplomacy engine, space and ground combat, discovery of new planets, multi-player (Internet) competition and more. While rushed to market, it built a loyal following and spawned numerous, unofficial fan-made mods.
In 4550 AD, Vladimir I, the first Emperor of the Known Worlds, crowned himself with his own hands and by the Grace of Holy Terra. He was dead within moments. The Regency is vacant and all humanity is preparing to elect a new Regent. But times are changing.
The mysterious fading of all the suns of the Known Worlds is accelerating, causing increased hardship and a general sense of foreboding. The Fading Suns are a portent, it is said, of coming Armageddon.
Each of the Royal Houses can trace its ancestry to the time of Grand Emperor Vladimir, who consolidated the fragments of the Second Republic into one might Imperium. As ordered by the Great Charter, in the event of an Emperor's death, human space was to be ruled by an interim Regent. However, no Regent has been able to harness enough power to declare himself Emperor. In the meanwhile, the Regency has become a means to loot the Imperium.
Many feel that the human race needs strong, dedicated leadership to face the uncertain future - a selfless leader willing to take a personal interest in the fate of the Imperium. But the Regent has been a mere figurehead, who can at most discourage inter-human conflict. Humanity's only solution is to make the position of Regent a hereditary one, to once again have it called by its ancient name - Emperor. Then the future of the entire Empire will be the overriding concern of the Emperor, instead of just the short-sighted good of his own House.
Can you lead your noble house, be it selfless Hawkwood, debauched Decados, scheming al-Malik, pious Li Halan or militant Hazat, to final victory? Will you return humanity to its once-shining glory? Dare you to become Emperor of the Fading Suns?
(c)2024 Holistic Design, Inc.
Goodies
Enhanced edition tutorial
Classic edition installer
Classic manual
Soundtrack (MP3)
Soundtrack (OGG)
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
LINUX NOTICE: The minimum required version for Linux is 24.04.
Game features Hot Seat multiplayer mode.
Recommended system requirements:
LINUX NOTICE: The minimum required version for Linux is 24.04.
Game features Hot Seat multiplayer mode.
Game details
Genre:
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English
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User reviews
Posted on: April 1, 2025
Skidmark
Verified ownerGames: 185 Reviews: 1
Excellent
Old school 4x, excellent. Definitly has that just one more turn vibe going.
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Posted on: April 29, 2025
Merlin-Corey
Verified ownerGames: 297 Reviews: 6
it's just epic
no clue why, but this game is just epic, i keep returning to it at least once per year
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Posted on: November 28, 2025
erikrotaar
Verified ownerGames: 232 Reviews: 3
Awesome game even without nostalgia!
I'll not be writing a complex review of the mechanics here as others have done that already. I'm just here to say that if you like 4x games and/or settings like Dune, this game is probably for you. The design and atmosphere hold up very well to this day and I'm saying this as someone who didn't play it back in the day when it came out. I first picked it up as abbandonware 10-15 years ago, without the new patches (or even music for that part) and immediatly was pulled in. The first few (and I really mean only a few) turns might seem a bit challenging but due to a very well designed interface and great readability you can basically learn to play the game on the go even though its complex mechanics. And the interface truly is a gem that too many games (especially nowadays) just don't seem to be able to pull off. I'm fascinated evertime at how good it actually is and how simple it would be for other games. Almost everything you need to know about the current game state is displayed on the main screen and everything else is just one click away (no windows hidden in windows, no spreadsheet hell) Want to know more information about your units you click there, want to know more details about your ressources you click there and so on. This makes the game incredibly easy to read and learn to play on the go. In my my opinion it's still one of the best 4x games there is.
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Posted on: September 22, 2024
W8taminute
Verified ownerGames: 35 Reviews: 1
One of a kind classic
Love the fact that you can battle in space, on land, in the air, and on the sea. This game deserves a modernized version.
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