Seems fitting to start off the new Moddb page with some explanations of where this mod came from and what you can expect from it.
Q: What is the history of the Enhanced 4X Mod?
A: The Enhanced 4X Mod (E4X) was a Mod started right at the start of 2012. It started as a sort of proof of concept for a bunch of things I had figured out from years of modding Sins, most notably as part of the Star Wars: Requiem mod team, yet had never seen done in a mod before. After a few days of tweaking a single game with friends, I published it with basically 4 main features: Racial abilities that work without research, Random Encounters, Improved culture and rebalanced trade/refineries. It only took me a few days to put together, and I expected that would be the end of it.
As small as it was though, the extraordinary good feedback such a small mod received (it has been the most download mod on Wincustomize sins release) convinced me there was a niche for this kind of mod. Soon after I made major adjustments to the diplomacy system, another area largely ignored by most Sins mods, by adding in Embassies and Espionage, followed by a big patch dedicated to new planets and a revamped planet exploration system, and with the last Diplomacy patch a feature many thought impossible: Hero Units.
Now with Rebellion, I've decided to make E4X my central mod project, on which all other work I do shall be based on, simply because I believe it makes the game much more interesting and entertaining to play. So I decided it was time to give it a home on moddb.
Q: What features will E4X have in Rebellion?
A: The first version of Enhanced 4X for Rebellion (1.4) will have all the features its predecessor had merged with the new gameplay features the Rebellion expansion has added. These include:
Racial Abilities - Exploit all new racial abilities: bonuses that are active from the start of the game without research.
Hero Units - Lead your race's champions into battle with their powerful new abilities to base your strategies off of.
Random Encounters - Keep your eyes peeled when scouting, new challenges and opportunities await you in the depths of space.
Embassies and Espionage - Friend or Foe, interacting with other Empires will never be the same again.
New Planets - Your Empire will never look the same again. Meticulously balanced for competitive play.
New Artifacts and Bonuses - The fringes of your Empire hold great power if you know where to look...
Civics Matter - Almost all civic structures have an impact on your Empire. You must develop your planets wisely to get the most out of them.
Culture Matters - Don't underestimate the ugly stepchild of Sins anymore, its back with a vengeance!
Customization - Play the game the way you want it with a growing library of optional minimods and enhanced mapmaker support! Larger fleets, a prototype death match mode, and more.
(New) Improved Faction Diversity: Each subfaction will have additional passive bonuses and many new techs to further make their play styles distinct.
Q: When will E4X for Rebellion be publicly available?
A: A test version for Rebellion with all the Diplomacy features plus the first handful of new stuff will be available in early July.
