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Endless Space |Intel Thread| 4X Space Strategy by ex-Ubi/EA devs

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Previews


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Friends, after the sad state of affairs one suffered at the hands of Sword of the Stars 2, like many I shed bitter tears. Where was the next big 4X space empire builder going to come from?! Yes yes, there's Sins, and yes yes, we can always go back to the old greats...

...but then I happened upon this beauty. And the appetite was whetted. So, let's hope with the industry experience the devs have collectively under their belt that this ushers in the next big thing for the 4X subset. It's well worth checking out the forums for the rich backstory and discussion on gameplay facets and implementation. The voting system works well for things like ship designs, and so far the devs have been as good with community interaction as an indie outfit like Mode 7 Games (Frozen Synapse). It all bodes well.

I'll use this thread, much like my other threads in the past - Wargame: European Escalation, RUSE etc. - to update with news and info.
 

Nyx

Member
Looks great.

Just restarted playing Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity, still tons of fun, so a new 4X Space Strategy game is always welcome.
 

epmode

Member
frywallet.jpg. Although I'd really like a turn-based space 4X for a change.

And since this is one of the few upcoming space games, I guess I'll whine about the lack of a Homeworld successor. The whole fully 3D combat thing is worth a clone or two!
 
frywallet.jpg

Although I'd really like a turn-based version for a change.

It actually is! They say it's a WEGO system, if I'm reading "Simultaneous Turn-based" correctly, and even tactical combat appears turn-based as well, as I read players can assign three commands per turn...that might be either fleet wide or per ship. Either way, the devs state this is much more in the Masters of Orion camp than Sins


I always pay attention when you make a thread about a game my good man; this one hasn't disappointed.

Sometimes they're a pretty quiet place, man!
 

epmode

Member
It actually is! They say it's a WEGO system, if I'm reading "Simultaneous Turn-based" correctly, and even tactical combat appears turn-based as well, as I read players can assign three commands per turn...that might be either fleet wide or per ship. Either way, the devs state this is much more in the Masters of Orion camp than Sins.
Oh man oh man oh man, I'm on-board! I've only glanced at the video so far and it already looks slick.
 

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
These kinds of games always look so interesting to me, like Sins, yet I can never get into them.
 
This looks really promising.

I have a feeling I won't be able to run it with my specs though :(

You never know. They're taking a poll on the forum on peoples' rigs and specs, and there seems to be a decent proportion of folks having mid-range PC laptops...so hopefully that gives a ballpark scenario for scalability, or at least a general target.
 

Donos

Member
Lost countless hours to Sword of the Stars 1 but stayed away from Sword of the Stars II due to alot of warnings from GAF and elsewhere.
This looks reeeeally promising. Only problem is that these game suck up a huge amount of time *only 1 round more*. Subscribed !
 

krYlon

Member
You never know. They're taking a poll on the forum on peoples' rigs and specs, and there seems to be a decent proportion of folks having mid-range PC laptops...so hopefully that gives a ballpark scenario for scalability, or at least a general target.

I have a 2010 Macbook pro i7, so maybe there is hope.
Game looks almost too good to be true. I really like the UI, unlike many other games in the genre it seems uncluttered and appealing.
 

Mikeside

Member
I'm pre-ordering this as soon as they open up pre-orders.

Man, looking amazing

I freakin' love this new age of independant developers making games they actually want to make and being funded by people who want their games, not out of touch companies deciding whether it'll sell to the masses.
 

MoGamesXNA

Unconfirmed Member
This looks epic. Stars! and Sins are two of my most favourite games of all time. Hopefully this turns out equally great
 

McNum

Member
Ooh, new space 4X game? I'm interested, had a lot of fun with Galactic Civilizations 2. I hope the single player AI is good, even if GalCiv2 kind of set the standard there. I don't play 4X games in multiplayer, since I'd be "that guy" who takes half an hour to make a turn.

I take it "simultaneous turn based" means that you move things at the same time, but you can only move something so far per turn? That could get a little odd to get used to.

I do look forward to seeing what they're up to with space combat, though. Sounds good. I usually prefer beam weapons in GalCiv2, but we'll see what's what.
 
Was on my phone last night in posting the link for the interview. Here're the pics from said article. Click for tumescence, although they're suffering from formatting resizes on a couple it seems.

Still, enjoy and use some sort of cream to avoid chaffing.







So good.
 

Mindlog

Member
I sense, a 4x Space Strategy game being developed. And here it is!
Sold. Do whatever the hell you want. I don't care. You have complete freedom. Just don't Sword of the Stars 2 it.

I thought all of this before seeing that glorious 4X map.

Going back to read the whole OP. Well done. Read my mind.
 

Mindlog

Member
The game really reminds me of all the 4X games I have enjoyed.

What if... Blizzard had actually finished Pax Imperia II internally and they were still in the 4X business? I'm not saying they'd put out the deepest game in the world, but it would be so much easier to pitch projects to other publishers.

Back in the real world. Still can't wait to hear more about this game.
 
Right, sorry for not updating this thread in a bit...that hideous thing called RealLife. But enough excuses. Here we go.

New Screenshots:





ALPHA VERSION AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER IN THE COMING WEEK

The team has been in crunch mode these last weeks to finalize the playable Alpha version of the game that "should" (crossing fingers) be available on Steam as part of the Pre-Order packs next week.

We have been working hard on making cool packages and made a deep reflexion and discussed a lot with Valve on the prices we would propose. We finally made up our mind to reduce the targeted full price as we are a new company and want as many players as possible to be able to play our game.
Therefore, the -50% that we announced at first is reduced to -25% but the actual pre-order price will be the same as planned from the beginning. In short: full price lower, pre-order price the same.

We also wanted to announce the content of the upcoming pre-order packages to you guys in priority, because yes, there will be 2 different versions.

The first one is the Admiral Edition that includes access to Alpha and all upcoming versions including the final version of the game, an OST, and community bonuses.

There's also a Special Edition; we consider this one as the "Support the Game Dev" Edition, it's called Emperor Special Edition. It's a little more expensive but we see it like the pack you can purchase if you want to help us feel confident on the game's success which can be an amazing moral boost for the whole team. We're also self financed and the risk we're taking will get lower and lower the more we see the pre-orders increase.
We also wanted to add a couple of additional bonuses, such as additional community bonuses and in-game elements... ok not more waiting, here are the details for both packages:

- Admiral Edition: 29,99€, with 25% off = around 22,49€ (time limited until May 31st)

o You will have instant access to the current version of the game (Alpha), and all upcoming versions including the final version of the game. The Alpha is only playable on PC and in English, but the final version will also include a Mac version and at least French and German languages.
o 500 G2G points to add to the value of your votes for the game art and design on our website.(available at the release of the game, sooner if possible)
o An “Endless Space” award for your forum profile. (available at the release of the game, sooner if possible)
o Official Digital Soundtrack (available at the release of the game)

- “Support the Game Dev” Emperor Special Edition: 34,99€, with 25% off = around 26,24€ (time limited until May 31st)

o All the content included in the Admiral Edition mentioned above.
o United Empire “Emperor’s Guard Extra Skin” pack: you, the community, will vote for the look of the United Empire “Emperor’s Guard Extra Skin” pack through a special G2G vote.

Faction Skin.jpg

o A unique “Endless” Hero: a unique and mysterious hero, direct descendant of the Endless civilization. You will vote for the look of the hero through a special G2G vote

Endless Hero.jpg

o 500 G2G points, in addition to the 500 G2G points from the Admiral Edition for a total of 1000 G2G points.
o “Dev Team” Forum Award on your forum profile.(available at the release of the game, sooner if possible)

o To be confirmed: Your Steam Profile Name in the Credits of the game. (We're checking with Valve if this is feasible)
o To be confirmed: Your Steam Profile Picture in our offices in Paris. (We're checking with Valve if this is feasible)

The release of the playable Alpha is a major step for the whole team, we're shaking and trembling here, crossing fingers that you guys will love the game.
We wanted to all thank you for your support, help and humour you've been throwing at us these last months! The G2G experience has been so far amazing and we can't wait to continue and bring this to the next level!

Aaaand system requirements:

Minimum
Operating system: Windows XP SP3 / Vista / 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo Processor or Equivalent
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard disk space: 2 GB free hard drive space
Video: 256 MB DX9 Compliant
Sound: DX 9 Compatible Audio
DirectX®: 9.0c

Recommended
Operating system: Windows XP SP3 / Vista / 7
Processor: Core i5/i7 or equivalent
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard disk space: 2 GB free hard drive space
Video: 512 MB DX9 Compliant with PS 3.0 support
Sound: DX 9 Compatible Audio
DirectX®: 9.0c
 
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