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Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced

in library

4.5/5

( 68 Reviews )

4.5

68 Reviews

English
9.999.99
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
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Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced
Description
Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced DEMO is available here 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 pat...
User reviews

4.5/5

( 68 Reviews )

4.5

68 Reviews

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Product details
1997, Holistic Design Inc. , ESRB Rating: Teen...
System requirements
Windows 10, 1.8 gigahertz (GHz) or faster, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or high...
Description


Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced DEMO is available here



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.

LINUX NOTICE: The minimum required version for Linux is 24.04.

Game features Hot Seat multiplayer mode.

Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
Safety and satisfaction. Stellar support 24/7 and full refunds up to 30 days.
Game details
Works on:
Windows (10, 11), Linux (Ubuntu 24.04)
Release date:
{{'1997-02-28T00:00:00+02:00' | date: 'longDate' : ' +0200 ' }}
Size:
125 MB
Rating:
ESRB Rating: Teen (Animated Violence)

Game features

Languages
English
audio
text
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User reviews
Overall most helpful review

Posted on: October 19, 2020

Chiteki

Verified owner

Games: 1367 Reviews: 3

One of the most original 4X games

Wow, I actually never expected this gem to be re-released. This is one of the the most creative and interesting 4X games I've ever played, and I played dozens of them. The most interesting thing is how this game incorporates lore of the tabletop RPG into gameplay. Because you don't play as races, you play as one of the four major Houses in universe, and you both fight in battles with other Houses but also politically, and not only with them, but other actors inside the vast human Empire, like Church, that controls technological advancement, with it's own Inquisition that will find you if you try to research forbidden tech, Trade League guilds, that secretly try to convert the Empire from feudalism into Third Republic, and so on, the end goal being becoming an Emperor, but that's not the only outcome. The game is incredibly intricate and will amaze you with it's depth and detail, for sun's sake, the battles take place on planets in hexagonal fashion and in space at the same time, which is almost unprecedented. Also, this game made me find anything and everything about the lore of the universe, including tabletop RPG rule books - and it's marvelously immersive and interesting, taking cues from Dune and many other classic sci-fi universes. I'm really happy this got re-released, definitely recommend to any 4X and TBS player and hope that it'll get more recognition it rightly deserves, after being overlooked for so long.


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Posted on: October 19, 2020

cosmicbuddha

Verified owner

Games: 641 Reviews: 1

My All time Favorite

This game needs a reboot! It has aged, but that is to be expected. The galaxy is limited in over all size, especially in unit stack limit in space travel. However, with each planet having a map of its own it is an expansive game still. Worth a play if you like Dune where monarchies exist, a theocracy church that tries to dictate what you can do, a guilders faction with its own planet and agenda, an advance race of aliens that are neutral and not very active, and a zerg-like plague on the other side of the galaxy that you must prevent from spreading. The goal is to work your way into position to gain the imperial throne through expanding into the gate network, colonize planets, and build and recover lost knowledge and artifacts. AI and diplomacy are pretty bland and unreliable but multiplayer makes up for that lack. There is a play by email system for multiplayer as well.


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Posted on: October 19, 2020

Verenti

Games: 378 Reviews: 5

The Greatest Game that doesn't Work

I love this game with a passion. The feature list in this game is amazing, but you should know going in that while "in the game" many features simply do not work. Those that DO work, many times the AI doesn't understand how to use them. So this game appears to have much greater depth than it actually does. It's a shame, because if all of those features were actually in this game, it would be one of the greatest of all time. As such, I can't say it's a "5 star" game. If you are interested, you should buy it. If you figure out how to get the multiplayer working, this game could be phenominal. But if the concept doesn't grab you then you aren't really missing much. For such people, this will be a broken and hyper-complex boardgame. However, for the rest of us, there are some really original ideas -- and twice more stolen directly from Herbert (and that's okay.)


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Posted on: October 19, 2020

Acesfury

Verified owner

Games: 213 Reviews: 1

An Amazing 4X GEM of the past

I've been playing this game since I picked it up over 20 yrs ago. Wonderful setup with a good difficulty curve. Hard to compare to the more recent 4X games because the UI is so old school, the the content is certainly competitive! As one of the major houses you have to build your own planet up, while also ever expanding to nearby sectors. Quickly you find your competing with the other factions for resources, or on the receiving end of an alien invasion. Think of it as a Stellaris precursor had a baby with a Hex-board table-top game 100% worth it.


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Posted on: October 20, 2020

mbridgham

Games: 228 Reviews: 2

Prayers are answered

OMG, prayers are indeed answered. I woke up this morning determined to check in with GOG to see if there was a timeline for this game to make it into the collection (#1 on my GOG wishlist of not-yet acquired games), opened GOG, and behold, there it sat on the splash page. Made my day. This is the only game I've ever encountered that hit the full richness of science-fiction 4X from space battles to ground warfare and planetary submission, to individual leaders, to factions, to xenos to supply. Sure it's a hex-based boardgame-like but none of that mattered in any of immersion into this world. It's not perfect and it's not fast and it's not flashy but it's rich and rewarding. I am writing this based on my original playing of the game. I will update this after I've played the GOG download version.


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