Looking for a specific space game

[eRe4s3r]

Yeah with Distant Worlds its a recurring theme with the price isn't it.. and every expansion they release makes it worse, because they require the previous expansion now as well, not just the base game.

For DW right now i arrive at

Base-Game -> EUR 21.99
Addon 1 -> EUR 13.99
Addon 2 -> EUR 15.99

Which is 51.97 Euro's or 69$

For a better spreadsheet thats a bit extreme imo

[Cyborg]

It's looking like they're doing the sword of the stars method of neutralizing colonies. I don't see anything where it actually lets you blow the planet to pieces...

I'm going to wait until a price drop for the original game. The price doesn't seem justifiable.

[Echo35]

It's looking like they're doing the sword of the stars method of neutralizing colonies. I don't see anything where it actually lets you blow the planet to pieces...

That's what I play Space Empires IV for . You can blow up stars, planets, make ringworlds, etc.

[Dizzard]

There's another game I just noticed: Starfarer

It's created by Fractal software: http://www.fractalsoftworks.com/

Don't know a whole about it, but it seems to be in alpha but you can buy it for cheaper than it'll eventually be and to help out the devs too.

[BobTheJanitor]

Ah, Starfarer. I just bought it recently myself after seeing TotalBiscuit do an impression video for it. Here, for the curious.

I'd been holding off because I wanted to give it a little time to mature into a game before investing in it. There's probably enough game there to make it worth 10 bucks right now, though. For anyone on the fence, most of the campaign and backstory sort of things are not yet in, so at the moment it is basically just playing skirmishes with no framework around them. The gameplay is pretty fun for what's there, though. The main quibble I have right now is the system by which you command your fleet. It's intentionally not RTS-like. There is no select all units, right click to move or attack. Instead you spend a limited number of command points to give commands like 'capture' or 'assault' or 'defend' around the battlefield, and then your ships will intelligently split up and carry our your orders, leaving you free to fry things with the big lasers on your flagship. At least, that's the theory. The AI suffers from being a little too much "A" and not enough "I" right now. Small fast fighter wings will chase across space apparently thinking that they can singlehandedly destroy ships 10 times their size with no backup.

But it is a work in progress, and the developer is pretty communicative on their forums (which have been horribly laggy, presumably as a result of all the new players that video produced) and appears to be quite aware of the problems. I've had some bits of fun with it, although I think better AI and a slightly more streamlined command system will help a good deal. I don't think I'll really be able to get into it until the whole universe framework gets built up. I like to have reasons why I'm attacking these bad guys, outside of the fact that they painted their ships the wrong color. But still for what's there, it's good.

[Cyborg]

Ah, Starfarer. [/url]

Ah, Starfarer… Not enough content right now. I played it for about 10 hours and then needed something deeper.

[eRe4s3r]

Yeah Development goes really slow, but thats OK as long as he is still expanding and adding gameplay systems... content is easy, the framework is not

Kerbal Space Program also went commercial now with 0.14 but its still nowhere near a finished game, its fun though

[Cyborg]

I'm hoping that the next expansion for AI war brings some of these features, since no one else is doing it, apparently. I really want to wreck the galaxy. Especially need planetcrackers.

[keith.lamothe]

I'm hoping that the next expansion for AI war brings some of these features, since no one else is doing it, apparently. I really want to wreck the galaxy. Especially need planetcrackers.

Just checking: primarily that would mean adding planetary civs, right?  We've already got fortresses in space and planetcracking.  Or do the planets not feel planet-y enough for nuking to qualify?  Or is it that you specifically want to crack the planets with the civs on them?

[BobTheJanitor]

I don't think the planets feel very planet-y right now. I noticed them when I started playing the game, but since they literally do nothing in the game except spin in the background, I no longer pay any attention to them. I'm not sure what would be needed to make them noticeable again, but probably if there was some way to interact with them at all, it would help. If there were different types that changed some little thing about the way you play on that world, then it would be worth looking at them. Although that can be done poorly as well, SoaSE forcing you to research something before you can colonize an ice or volcanic world just felt like pointless delay.

[keith.lamothe]

Although that can be done poorly as well, SoaSE forcing you to research something before you can colonize an ice or volcanic world just felt like pointless delay.

For a long-form 4X that kind of planet-type-colonization-tech thing can actually be really helpful in limiting the optimal-ness of the early game colony rush and infinite-colony-sprawl, as well as working in the idea of multiple "phases" of colonization and leading to more interleaving of borders, etc.

I forget exactly how SoaSE did it, though.  It may have been a bit too fast-paced for that.

[BobTheJanitor]

I forget exactly how SoaSE did it, though.  It may have been a bit too fast-paced for that.

To be honest, my experience with it might be too limited to judge. It felt like it wanted me to expand fast and tech fast and build more and more units, lest I get overwhelmed by the constant pirate threat. I was looking for something more 4x-ish and I wasn't quite getting it. But I may be getting the wrong impression and should just put more time in before I complain. I've got too many other games distracting me. Not to mention that whole real life thing.

[Shrugging Khan]

I'm not really up do date on most shiny new space games, but one thing needs to be said:

Distant Worlds is crap. There is really nothing redeeming to say about it; and don't get me started about the disadvantages. It's actually fairly outrageous that they charge money for it at all; they ought to pay people to waste their time looking at that abomination.

[eRe4s3r]

Care to detail? Haven't really played Distant Worlds, but i hear a lot of people dislike it.. and i just can't get myself to try something that expensive.

[Shrugging Khan]

Something that's especially disgusting to me is the writing. It's not just low-effort, amateurish or gracefully absent, but actually directly and insultingly the worst I have ever seen in any game. It's like they made a concerted effort to offend absolutely anyone with even a remote semblance of intellect. It's painfully stupid, blatantly research-free, unintelligent yet overbearing. It deserves to be deleted from any data storage device ever, and to have all those behind it burned at the stake.

The gameplay itself is boring, bland, unintuitive, unintelligent (again), uninteresting and badly designed and implemented.