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[DrFurbs]

I need help with this game, I'm always loosing and never seem to get ahead in terms of planet upgrading which takes ages, population satisfaction and being attacked or blockaded.

Any tips guys?

 

[Eternia]

Which faction were you playing as, Eternia?

I was using the United Empire for my first play.

I need help with this game, I'm always loosing and never seem to get ahead in terms of planet upgrading which takes ages, population satisfaction and being attacked or blockaded.

Any tips guys?

So far, I think I like to start off my planets with either production upgrades or additional food. You'll need some food to allow your population to grow and I believe you need an amount greater than 2 per population for it to grow. Production is needed to allow you to build ships and upgrades quicker. I didn't like too many dust or science upgrades early as they seemed insignificant at that point in the game unless you have the right circumstances. Later in the game you could be pushing systems to convert industry to science/dust since they would be idling otherwise. I suppose you could specialize since different planetary exploitation rely on different planet types.

If you're expanding a lot, the exploration tree has upgrades to reduce the disapproval of expansion. The diplomacy tree has some system upgrades that can increase happiness as well. Certain planet types can also reduce happiness while luxury goods can increase happiness. A hero with the right abilities (production focus?) is another method to boost happiness.

 

[dmann]

I need help with this game, I'm always loosing and never seem to get ahead in terms of planet upgrading which takes ages, population satisfaction and being attacked or blockaded.

Any tips guys?

Early game is key, start off researching the first industry tech on the right tree. Build that improvement, then research the food tech on the left tree. Then build that improvement. The key is to have tons of food surplus to grow your population, and enough industry to build any improvements in a reasonable amount of time. Also, just because your food is a positive number does not mean you have enough food. When I first played, I thought because my food was at 12 for example that I had enough food for that system, you will find out that this is wrong. You should have a food surplus of 30+, the more food the faster your population growth is each turn. Once you've hit your peak on the one planet in your system, then colonize other planets in the system.

Focus your research in the bottom tree to expand your empire. In my games up to turn 30 or so, I usually stay in the bottom and right tech trees and only dipping into the left tree occasionally. Also, don't expand too rapidly unless you are playing as Pilgrims/Sowers or you will get hit with disapproval in your empire. To prevent this, colonize only desirable planets i.e. Terran/Jungle/Ocean then Tundra/Desert/Arid, etc. If you hover over the planet in the planetary screen, it will show you a run down of the bonuses and negatives you will get if you colonize the planet.

Sowers have a completely different play style. The faction is all industry, which means population growth will depend on industry size; food improvements are not necessary when playing them.

I suggest you just play and hover your mouse over every little text or icon to get an explanation of what that item represents.

 

[DrFurbs]

thanks guys thats been helpful advice. I see ES is updating...okay back to the grind stone!

 

[DrFurbs]

I think i encoutered a bug. I eventually managed to get on to tier 3 ships (half way down the bottom tech tree?) and began fitting and building one of the bigger ships. Except it queued but didnt appear in my hangar once built. The outcome was the pilgrims with their more advanced ships was able to take my systems one by one

Still, i will play to your tips tomorrow guys.

 

[SteveWinwood]

Cannot wait to see how this multiplayer aspect goes.

In other news, for those wanting to know how to maximise their planets and effect the best possible outcomes with terraforming, this guide popped up on the ES forums. Thought it might be useful for folks:

This is the sort of stuff I was waiting for before I got back into the alpha (beta now?).

 

[Aselith]

This is the sort of stuff I was waiting for before I got back into the alpha (beta now?).

I wish he had the planet atmosphere modifiers in there with a FIDS modifier attached. Garden of Eden planet trumps everything of course. So happy when I find one of those beauties!

 

[Aselith]

The fellow knows his strategy games, so that's no mean feat to receive such an accolade.

If you liked MoO2, you'll love ES. If you liked Ascendancy, there's a real chance you'll like ES, too.

Never played Ascendancy, it looks cool though! Have you tried the iOS version?

 

[JoseJX]

Might be worth checking out the beta support forum and maybe letting them know, if you haven't already. Always tough for Linux players at the best of times, I can only imagine!

Thanks for the encouragement! It seems that they've patched the problem I was having in the latest version (0.47). Already back to wasting way too much time on this awesome game with no lock ups!

 

[Alex Connolly]

Never played Ascendancy, it looks cool though! Have you tried the iOS version?

It's...well...it's a noble effort, but I find the interface a little too cramped and unwieldy to enjoy for any extended period of time. I much prefer Starbase Orion.

NOW, new patch, good friends!

0.47.4

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
Added the German language.
The private multiplayer is now functional.
Added a frame rate slider in the graphic game options.
Added GFX for several anomalies (WIP).
Some anomalies are better suited for certain planet types.
Buyout cost divided by 2.
Decreased the upkeep costs for fleets and buildings.
Added a custom diplomatic attitude modifier.
Improved the AI management of its tax rate.
Improved the AI process of colonization.

FIXES

IMPORTANT FIXES
Fixed several issues of MP synchronization.

OTHER FIXES
Fixed an issue where Pilgrims loose massive population when arriving in a new system.
Fixed an issue where Sophon home system can start with one single planet.
Fixed an issue where resources and other relevant information does not properly update after a hero assigned/unassigned to a positon.
Fixed an issue where the number of current deals is not updated correctly after the user brakes a deal.
Fixed an issue where the progress bar for an Auto space battle is not functional.
Fixed an issue where diplomatic deals will not be displayed properly when a client loads a MP saved game.
Fixed an issue where the "Stealth Construction" star system improvement is not functional.
Fixed several text issues.

 

[Alex Connolly]

New Complete Global Patchuration.

0.48.2

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
Added a Steam option to launch the game in safe mode (should fix several CTD issues).
Added a "Perform planned move" button.
Added the "Retreat" battle card (WIP - available for a new game only).
Modified the "Death before Dishonor" Hissho faction trait (WIP).
Removed the lock icon for the blockade.
Added a shield icon for the fleet using the guard action.
During a cold war, there should have blockade only on outposts. Blockade on a colony requires to be at war.
Diplomatic Victory : increased diplomatic points gain and target. Players can achieve diplomatic victory earlier with more alliances; cold war will give less points.
Decreased the bonuses of "Happy" and "Ecstatic" approval statuses (+20% / +35% to FIS => +10% / +25% to FIS).
All game difficulties have been made 1 step easier, with "Newbie" giving no bonuses to AI, "Easy" giving only small bonuses. "Impossible" gives up to 80% bonuses instead of 100%.
Added GFX for several anomalies (Metallic Waters, Hadopelagic Life, Coral Reefs, Antonov Rings, Huygens Rings).
Added a moon survey feedback on the planet/system view:
no glow : moon is not explored,
red glow : presence of a temple,
blue glow : no temple.

FIXES

IMPORTANT FIXES
Fixed several MP issues of synchronization.
Fixed an issue where trading systems does not work properly.

OTHER FIXES
Fixed several text issues.

 

[Aselith]

New Complete Global Patchuration.

Oh cool so the complete planned move button moves the ships that are on a path without ending the turn, I assume? Nice, it was a bit annoying because I'd do that manually sometimes.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Oh cool so the complete planned move button moves the ships that are on a path without ending the turn, I assume? Nice, it was a bit annoying because I'd do that manually sometimes.

Yeah, I think so. Haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but report back if that's the case!

 

[gotee12]

This game just keeps getting better!

 

[Mengy]

Woah, I just found this thread. Hadn't heard anything about this game until lunch time today. Looks like I missed the alpha pricing phase...

When I get home tonight I'll watch a few of the lets plays out there, but from the tone of this thread it looks like I'll be buying this real soon. I love SoaSE, Gal Civ 2 and MoO 1 & 2. Hated MoO 3 but then who didn't? This kind of looks like much of what I had hoped Gal Civ 3 would be some day, only this is now. Plus if it's worth it I'll buy it just to support the 4X genre.

 

[Keasar]

I must be doing something terribly wrong. 7 games and I am loosing every single one terribly. I keep lagging after in points by the thousands. They constantly have the more superior armadas and territories despite my efforts to aggresively expand or develop my military firepower. Somewhere, somehow, I am failing in this hard, I just cant figure out where.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Keasar, have a look at the ES forum FAQ subsection. You're bound to find the answers you're looking for, or at least a few tips to maximise expansion.

HERE

 

[Alex Connolly]

New Patch!

0.51.2

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
Removed the safe mode launch option. You can use the Steam launch options instead (right-click on "Endless Space" in the Steam library, "Properties", "Set Launch Options...") : EndlessSpace.exe -nologo -single-instance
Added an alert notification of invasion.
Added an auto-end turn timer option.
Added a random faction option.
The hero upkeep cost depends on the amount of ability points spent.
Added an indicator at the top of the screen when one or more controls keys are currently held.
Scrapping a colony ship kills no longer the settlers on board. The population is transferred to a planet, when possible (otherwise, the population is lost).
The monopoly of strategic resource is renamed in "strategic resource abundance" and is triggered for a total deposit size of 4.
Added the effect of strategic resource abundance.
Created a new category of battle cards: "Unblockable". Retreat battle card added to this category.
When a system is conquered by a player, the default AI assigned to the system is set to "none".
The victory building takes longer to build (industry cost increased), its science cost is decreased.
Difficulty balancing : decreased Dust bonuses; increased damage and building bonuses; added buyout bonuses.
UE : Removed Anomaly on starting planet, added 10% Dust Gain, added industry bonus kicks in at 25% tax
UE : Increased the Dust bonus on Tax Rate (linear up to 50%, slows down after => great bonus first, slows down to 50%, linear after).
UE : Industry bonus on Tax Rate starts earlier (Tax: 50% -->100%, Ind: 0% -->50% => Tax: 25% -->100%, Ind: 0% -->60%).
Hissho: Added Affinity: 20% FIDS bonus for successful invasion instead of 10%.
Hissho : Added a positive anomaly to home world (Huygens rings).
Amoeba: Removed Merchants, removed Stellar Guardians
Cravers: Removed Optimal structures, removed Deadly weapons
Horatio: Added stellar guardian level 2, added Crowded Planets lvl 1
Sowers: Added -20 % science, removed Optimal defense, removed crowded planets + 1
Pilgrims: Removed fearless warriors
Decreased the Sower Ind to Food Conversion (50% -> 40%).
Decreased the Ind to Dust Conversion (50% -> 25%).
Decreased the Ind to Science Conversion (50% -> 25%).
Added GFX for several anomalies (Polar Tempests, Acid Rain, Aurora Waves, Permanent Monsoon, Ice 10, EM radiation, Ancients artefacts, Dust ruins, Microfactories, Meteor Strike).
Changed the default cursor.
Added cyrillic characters in the fonts.
Removed joystick GetAxis for Galaxy motion.

FIXES

IMPORTANT FIXES
Fixed an issue where the Retreat battle card raises a NullReferenceException when it is applied on a fleet with destroyed ships.
Fixed an issue where the user can substantially increase population on a system.
Fixed an issue where the game will crash when populating a planet.
Fixed several MP issues of desynchronization.

OTHER FIXES
Fixed an issue where a clone has an incorrect upkeep cost.
Fixed an issue where the trade interface uses the opposing empire resource tooltips.
Fixed an issue where loading a saved game will cause the birthrate tooltip to display debug text.
Fixed an issue where the injury percent on a hero is not properly displayed when inspected at 0%.
Fixed an issue where the AI can offer fractional values when trading dust.
Fixed an issue where not all game events explain their effects to the user.
Fixed an issue where deleting the local content will not remove all files.
Fixed an issue where the "Target frame rate" slider starts at 0.
Fixed an issue where failing to connect to a MP session causes an assert.
Fixed an issue where an outpost inside the empire's frontiers has a loss due to the "distance from empire".
Fixed an issue where receiving a technology currently researched will cause the number of turns required to change to 0.
Fixed an issue where the guard system button is available for a fleet that has no military power.
Fixed an issue where, if the user has a negative value of dust, but a positive income, the game will constantly increase his tax rate to 100%.
Fixed an issue where the chat window background is not visible the first time it is opened.
Fixed an issue where the end of the turn timer value does not specify the time unit used.
Fixed an issue where the system AI will remain stuck and will stop building improvements.
Fixed an issue where the user is able to rename enemy's fleets.
Fixed an issue where the Sowers Affinity allows the player to colonize all planets.
Fixed an issue where an user can acquire the same resources twice in one trade.
Fixed an issue where the player can obtain technologies for which he has not acquired prerequisits with the help of a random event.
Fixed an issue where all users are able to switch the faction after loading a saved game.
Fixed an issue where AI does not merge its fleet before to attack.
Fixed several text issues.
Fixed several localized text issues.

 

[Walshicus]

Looks like Sowers are no longer Growers...

Spoiler

I'm here all night!

 

[Corky]

For someone who is a total 4x noob, what are the main differences between this game and Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion?

 

[Alex Connolly]

Looks like Sowers are no longer Growers...

Spoiler

I'm here all night!

Sir Fragula, ladies and gentlemen.

Yeah, a little in the way of curbing their expansion somewhat is a good thing. The penalty deficit in FIDS for colonising planetary types not yet researched wasn't much of a stumbling block, amongst other things!

For someone who is a total 4x noob, what are the main differences between this game and Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion?

Realtime and turn-based differentiator, for a start. Endless Space is much more your classic space empire builder and system development game. Sins is a glacially-paced (not pejorative) RTS with system development.

 

[Stahsky]

Have they fixed the mp yet? I haven't been able to get it working yet =(

 

[Alex Connolly]

Have they fixed the mp yet? I haven't been able to get it working yet =(

Yeah, I imagine you won't have any issues. When was the last time you tried?

 

[Stahsky]

Last week? Possibly two.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Yeah, should be good to go. They've improved stability and connection issues, though bugs might still remain.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Folks! Big news...

Hi everyone,

I am proud to announce the release of Endless Space, which date has been set to the 4th of July.

I have read many press previews of our game, and several of them (as well as some community members) stated that Endless Space had a beta quality superior to that of some release games. During the past weeks, we have added new content, integrated improvements requested by the community, fixed tons of bugs, and started optimizing and fine tuning the game. Our main focus is now for debug, optimization, and tuning, and I believe we can be ready with a great game on July 4th.

Keep in mind that this release is just a step in the life cycle of Endless Space, this is not end. We are committed to constantly improving and expanding the game for many months after release. The official release however, will allow us to get review rankings from the press, and access a broader audience, as some people would never buy an alpha or beta. The alpha/beta was a good success, but the game is not profitable and we have to survive as a company to continue making great games and adding new content to Endless Space. Of course we are not releasing because we have ran out of money, but I think the game has reached more than sufficient a quality (compared to the market benchmarks). And again, this is just a step, the game will continue to evolve.

Also, when the game is released, there will be many newcomers to this forum. Obviously, everyone will be on deck at Amplitude, but I would really appreciate your help in guiding the new members in this forum.

Thanks for your attention!

Sincerely,

Mathieu GIRARD
CEO
AMPLITUDE Studios

 

[IblisGinjo]

Great, I only played 2 hours of the alpha then I turned off updates so I could play the full game fresh, I hope it sells well.

 

[Arcteryx]

So any word on Mac version or did they push it til after release?

 

[Alex Connolly]

So any word on Mac version or did they push it til after release?

On release, I believe.

 

[Zod the Bear]

Meant to jump on this earlier and forgot. Looks amazing--I'm in.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Here, have a technical sandwich on optimisation from the top dog at Amplitude...

Hi fellows,

This past week, we have worked on the game simulation and AI optimizations.

The first work consisted in instrumenting the whole end of turn process, broken down in the simulation of end turn, and then the processing of the AI at the beginning of the new turn. We have first found redundant update loops which have been removed.

But the big problem came from some low level C# functions, which caused memory allocations. Not much actually, but when you multiply this by 10,000 function calls, it can raise de 10 MB of allocations in some areas of the processing. Furthermore, removing these allocations, in addition to avoiding Garbage Collections, also increases performance. We are still trying to reduce to zero alloc the last of these functions. Anyway these improvements should reduce the "too many heap sections" and "low perf" on large games.

There was also a big memory hit when saving the game, because we used a C# serialization which creates huge dynamic allocation. We have reduced this, and will check in the future if we can go farther.

Another reported issue was the lag when returning to the galaxy view from any of the other screens. This had actually nothing to do with memory or general performance. The fleet 3D symbols on the galaxy were deactivated when going to other screens (to avoid updating them), and reactivated when returning to the galaxy view. For some obscure reason in Unity, the reactivatation of their collision mesh (allowing the user to pick them) was very slow. So we changed it with a box collision mesh, and the transition to the galaxy view should now be seamless.

Finally, we have started experimenting on a 64 bits build, based on the fact that so far 96% users reported they own a 64 bits system. This should allow users to take advantage of large memory amounts, instead of being limited to 2GB. I know this sounds huge, and this is done in parallel to general optimizations, but keep in mind that a full scale battle, galaxies and planets, gui icons occupy a lot of memory, and also that the game simulation is rich and complex. We just started looking into this, and the big problem is with 3rd Party libraries we are using and which must run in 64 bits as well. The final goal is to let the user have the choice between 32 and 64 bits.

Thanks!

Mathieu GIRARD

 

[Kem0sabe]

I´m so excited for this game. Didn´t participate in the beta just to make things fresh at launch.

Is the game finally balanced enough for launch?

 

[GungHo]

Cool. I gave them my money a couple of months ago anyway. I'll probably keep banging away at Civ 5 and Sins of a Solar Empire for a couple of months more to let things settle and for 64-bit to make its way out.

I do think it's funny that the guy always capitalizes his surname when signing off.

 

[shiv_]

Dang, some how this one slipped past my radar. I LOVED the Masters of Orion series (and Masters of Magic, for that matter). MOO2 especially was amazing.

This game isn't out yet, right? Most of the feedback on this thread was from beta? I see it's on sale on Steam right now, but it isn't playable until 7/4?

 

[Deraldin]

This game isn't out yet, right? Most of the feedback on this thread was from beta? I see it's on sale on Steam right now, but it isn't playable until 7/4?

It hasn't hit the final release version yet. This thread was started back when the game was still listed as being in Alpha so there is a lot of feedback from that stage as well.

If you buy in before release you get access to the current beta build.

 

[Moobabe]

This game is still the bane of my existence. I don't understand what it is I'm doing wrong - after 100 turns I could be 3000 points behind. I'm researching, upgrading ships, building things, colonising but nothing seems to be clicking.

 

[Walshicus]

This game is still the bane of my existence. I don't understand what it is I'm doing wrong - after 100 turns I could be 3000 points behind. I'm researching, upgrading ships, building things, colonising but nothing seems to be clicking.

Here's a tip: focus on heroes with Administrator bonuses. Get the first couple of labour perks, and then trick out the +25 industry and +25 food perks. Try and keep one of these heroes attached to a front-line system you've specced for industry. This will be where you build most of your ships. Use any others you have to kick-start new colonies.


Always try and gain control of the wormhole systems leading into your region of space.

Set your research ahead of time, focusing on the quickest.

Only build Destroyers.

Try and spec a couple of systems for dust production.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Some new information, fellows. First of all, via Twitter and FB...

Hey everyone! If you want to finish your game, you have until July 4th: you won't be able to use your old save with the new version.

Also...

Mac version. Mac version. Mac version.

As well as a brand new video by the devs on exploiting tips in the early game.

Damn, it's been a great year for strategy fun thus far.

 

[LumpOfCole]

I saw Giant Bomb talk about this game on today's 'I Love Mondays' video and that was the first time I've ever even heard of this. I've been addicted to Civ 5 the last few weeks and have been craving a sci-fi fix - I was even thinking of reinstalling Sins of a Solar Empire but I would prefer a Turn Based 4x than Sins' RTS elements.

If I'm into Civ 5 and want a good sci-fi fix, is this the game for me? I'm very much leaning toward preordering it.

 

[Alex Connolly]

LumpofCole, in a word, yes. You will slip right into ES.

 

[MrCompletely]

If I'm into Civ 5 and want a good sci-fi fix, is this the game for me? I'm very much leaning toward preordering it.

You couldn't do better for tbs if thats what you're looking for.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Folks, we're a day away from release! Get hyped, Mac users...native version ready to launch.

 

[dragonelite]

I saw Giant Bomb talk about this game on today's 'I Love Mondays' video and that was the first time I've ever even heard of this. I've been addicted to Civ 5 the last few weeks and have been craving a sci-fi fix - I was even thinking of reinstalling Sins of a Solar Empire but I would prefer a Turn Based 4x than Sins' RTS elements.

If I'm into Civ 5 and want a good sci-fi fix, is this the game for me? I'm very much leaning toward preordering it.

Get it noa!!!!

 

[PoweredBySoy]

I know next to nothing about this game nor it's developers (I'm too good for OP's), and I'm excited as hell about it.

Pleasebegood, pleasebegood, pleasebegood....

 

[Alex Connolly]

I know next to nothing about this game nor it's developers (I'm too good for OP's), and I'm excited as hell about it.

Pleasebegood, pleasebegood, pleasebegood....

It's good, fear not.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

It's good, fear not.

I shall purchase this.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Ooh, modding explained by Girard!

Dear all,

Let's by start explaining how the game Galaxy Generator works.

You will find attached to this post 2 archives, one for the data, one for the actual C# sources of the galaxy generation DLL.

Galaxy Generation Data
Here is a description of the files found in this archive
GalaxySettings.xml: this file is the database which defines all the available parameters used by the galaxy generation. Special homeworld conditions depending on your faction affinity, galaxy generation parameters used in the game menus, planets generation probabilities per star type, planet sizes probabilities per planet type, moons probabilities per planet type, anomalies probabilties per planet type (to avoid garden of eden on asteroids ), temple probability per star type, temple types, strategic and luxury resources probabilities (which also pass through a repartition algorithm), star generation parameters, star names, constellation names (not yet displayed in the build ). Most of the data found here is later referenced by name, adding a suffix or prefix to reference the right xml description. For instance a "PlanetTypeTerran" identifier in this GalaxySettings.xml file will be implicitely translated to "PlanetTypeTerran" for its descriptor name.

GalaxyShapes.xml: this defines each galaxy shape available in the game options. The main trick is that each shape is linked to two files : the density and the region file. the density is used to determine probability of occurence for a generated star (white = 100%, black = 0%, shades of grey = varying %), while the region files attributes a region to a star depending on the underlying color pixel (declared in the GalaxyShapes.xml file). The colors found in must exactly match the color code described in the xml regions. This is how we create basic constellations, while the generator (depending on its options) is capable of sub-dividing them. The density and region files are located in the matching folders for each galaxy shape. The symetry options are not used right now, maybe later on if we want to achieve purely symetric (balanced) galaxies. The layout is used to attach graphical objects (nebulae and such) to each galaxy shape. Even if you dont recreate 3D assets, you can attach a different 3D background to a new shape.

GalaxyConfiguration.xml: this is just a summary of all game options selected by the user prior to launching the generation : galaxy shape, size, number of empire, advanced settings, etc. If you mod the generator, it allows you to verify what is input to it from the game menus. You can also modify this manually if you do a console-only version of the generator. Actually, our galaxy generator expert has a separate program to generate galaxies and visualize the result outside of the editor.

Galaxy.xml: this is the result of the output from the Galaxy Generator, precisely what will be loaded by the game once the generation is performed. It is also typically the format of saved games (at least a part of it).

Right now, in the installed build, the GalaxySettings.xml GalaxyShapes.xml files are hidden in the Unity archive. We will move them later on.

Galaxy Generator source
I have placed in this archive the source code for the generator. It is compiled as a C# DLL (I included the project), and dynamically linked to the game. I have included the Visual Studio project (I think you can get a free Express version), incase you want to recompile it.

Basically, the generator is fed with the GalaxySetup.xml file, the GalaxyShapes.xml file, the GalaxyConfiguration.xml file, a generation seed (in case you want to regenerate the same thing twice), and it outputs the Galaxy.xml file.

The behavior of the generator is satisfying right now, but we plan on having it evolve using triangulation algorithm to better design the regions and the density of stars. The density file could disappear based on the approahc we take. We will keep you informed any way.

This should give you some elements to start your musing, do not hesitate to ask more questions. I will try to get more people on this thread.

Cheers,

Mathieu GIRARD
CEO
AMPLITUDE Studios

Files can be found with the original post HERE.

Not long now, ambassadors.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I saw Giant Bomb talk about this game on today's 'I Love Mondays' video and that was the first time I've ever even heard of this. I've been addicted to Civ 5 the last few weeks and have been craving a sci-fi fix - I was even thinking of reinstalling Sins of a Solar Empire but I would prefer a Turn Based 4x than Sins' RTS elements.

If I'm into Civ 5 and want a good sci-fi fix, is this the game for me? I'm very much leaning toward preordering it.

During the summer sale get gal civ 2. That'll fix ur fix.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

So I preordered and downloaded - and it let me play. But it says it's the 'beta'. Is that because it hasn't officially been released yet? When it is will there be a big patch?

Please tell me I didn't just pay $40 for a beta.

 

[ClosingADoor]

So I preordered and downloaded - and it let me play. But it says it's the 'beta'. Is that because it hasn't officially been released yet? When it is will there be a big patch?

Please tell me I didn't just pay $40 for a beta.

Yes, it's the beta. Final game in august I think.