I’ve been a fan of 4X games since my teenage years (particularly the Master of Orion series). Creating my own take on the genre was a challenge I eventually decided to tackle. However, I quickly realized the scale of the workload involved, and chose to significantly revise the concept to better manage the scope.

Galactic Trade is the concept that emerged from this process. It removes direct military encounters, and places economics at the core of the experience. The player’s objective is to claim strategic solar systems in order to optimize trade routes between planets that produce and consume specific resources. This design results in an indirect competition, creating a race for resources rather than direct conflict.

For this concept to work, the galaxy had to be carefully generated to ensure a fair experience for all factions. The second video on the right explains, step by step, the logic behind this generation process.