So all my (3) previous games I had not gotten to act 2. I fired off a new game, getting 270 turns in. This game is going to be amazing, I can feel it.
Things I really like:
*The building modifiers are very cool!
*The notifications (even though they need some more tweaking) are very good
*There is an underground layer?!! That is SO cool. (even though I did not feel it was used to the max yet)
*I specialized my different regions: not all of them had to have population in them.
*Buildings on the border of two regions interact!
*The aesthetics of the game are really nice.
*There are resources to gather, and leveling up to be done to further boost your synergy
*Random events!
*Accumulated technology is not wasted! (even though this can be easily used to "cheat" by storing it and then when act two starts discover ALL the technologies)
*There is a smog layer! (I do not know how this is usefull but it is cool)
Things that bug me:
*I feel I have to expand quickly, otherwise in Act 2 I will not have access to enough natural wonders.
*The combat system is not explained at all, and I felt lost with it. I did not feel like I had a lot of control. Why do I need to keep clicking to attack? Why should I stop attacking?
*I did not really get to see any real interaction between the races.
*Having to spam small shops is annoying.
*There are buildings I did not build. Ever. Why do I need logging for example?
*A smoother transition into Act two would be nice: 4-5 turns of leeway before every region starts asking for a crazy amount of everything!
*Some resources are shared among regions and other are not... I have a fuel plant in one region dirrectly adjacant to a building that requires fuel in the next region, and they do not cooperate! Plus the names of the districts are often too similar, and I end up confusing where I need to build something...
*Building a structure has a standard cost anywhere in the region, and its efficiency is not hindered by its distance to other buildings. This feels strange. I build a fire station at the other end of the region and it is going to respond to a fire in the fuel mixing plant just the same with a fire deparment build next to the fire plant? Either a cost increase by the distance, or create effects that lower the need for certain things with adjacency or proximity:
example: a fire house could reduce the need for fire protection by X to neighboring buildings and by Y to buildings withing 4 hexes.
Building a new structure could cost X less for each ajacencent building.
*Took me two playthroughs of act one to understand that hazmat was the gatherer of garbage.
Things that I would like added:
*A communication system between regions. Advantages and resources from one region should be able to travel to another.
*A better explanation of resources: what do I do with those 400 raptors I harvested???
*More events and choices that impact other civs.
That is all. I am really looking forward to the patches. I think the game will be amazing once it hits!