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Endless Space |Intel Thread| 4X Space Strategy by ex-Ubi/EA devs
- Thread starter Alex Connolly
- Start date
whalleywhat
Member
In my limited experience, it's a much more robust game (with the advantage of being a sequel with multiple expansions). Also, the UI is far from bad, it's just not pretty.
The UI is to me really a mixed bag. For example the tech tree is so clustered together in the screen, that it makes getting a fast overview almost impossible.
Also simple things like constructing ships etc is far from logic and often even the simplest tasks require you to go through each button in each menu.
A UI should not require you to read through the manual. Galciv2's UI does often require that in my experience.
The rest of the game is quiet brilliant.
Eznark's criticism rings true on some level. I wish that each of the different races were given more personality or something. Maybe it's the lack of a representative? I can't think of a simple fix for such a thing though. This game is still my go to space 4X game at the moment.
Yeah, I can't really even put my finger on it. It nailed the mechanics on every single level and I still find myself not having a ton of fun with it. It's weird.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Yep, completely agree. I played a few games of Endless Space, and while I was impressed with everything, and I did have fun, I got tired of it fast.
Now, for comparison, Saturday night I was going to start a new game of ES but instead I loaded up my Gal Civ II (for the 100th time) and proceeded to play for the next few hours well into the night (by accident). GC2 has something that ES is missing: charisma. I think it has to do with the AI and computer opponents. In ES the AI doesn't really interact much other than with it's fleets starting combat and invading and such. While in GC2 the AI has a much larger presence. They fly around your systems, they compete for anomalies and resource nodes, they build starbases to annoy you, they talk to you and threaten you and pay you homeage. More importantly, the way the AI's interact in the GC2 galaxy really makes you feel like you are not alone out there.
While in ES, the AI often feels like speed bumps to my expansion more than real opponents.
ES is very well done with regard to the interface, graphics, and mechanics, but it's lacking in feeling and charisma. Which is something that GC2 excels at.
I hope it does well though and they continue to improve and expand on it, because while I am kinda bored with it, the game shows a whole lot of promise.
I probably would have gotten tired of it by now if I hadn't spend 70% of my time playing multiplayer rather than singleplayer. It doesn't really solve the issues you guys are talking about so much as provide something else for you to focus on so that you don't notice them so much.
I think you're on to something with the lack of personality displayed by the AI though Mengy.
I think you're on to something with the lack of personality displayed by the AI though Mengy.
Also took a quick look at the modding scene. Nice to see them working, even on AI mods :-o Guess I'll ignore this game again for another 4 weeks and then start looking at some interesting mods (to make a mod compilation! lol)
You can retrofit the fleets? I always built new ships whenever I did an upgrade to any of mine.
You can retrofit the fleets? I always built new ships whenever I did an upgrade to any of mine.
You can do it through the fleet menu, as long as the fleet in question is in one of your systems you'll get the option to upgrade for fee.
Huh...all this time I never knew...
I've been addicted to this for some time. This is like the best strategy game I've played in last 12 years (the only other game is Cities in Motion). Played 16 hours in 3 days and stopped only because I had to work.
It's a shame that this thread died even before the release, but GAF is console and action-oriented forum.
It's a shame that this thread died even before the release, but GAF is console and action-oriented forum.
I still enjoy this game once in a while. Its a great strategy game and I am one of the few who enjoy this more then Gal Civ.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
GAF has some PC strategy gamers, but yeah I wish we had more too.
I have the game, and really enjoy it too, but for some reason it just didn't keep my attention as I haven't touched it now for two months or so. Gal Civ II is still much more enjoyable to me for several reasons. Much better AI opponents, much more interesting race differences that completely change game strategy, awesome ship customization. Endless is a good game, but it's lacking some for me. I hope they expand on it though and continue to improve it, because it certainly has a lot of promise if they grow it.
For me, Gal Civ II is still the pinnacle of 4X space games by a far margin.
yea, I love this game, but have been taking a short break from it.. I'm looking forward to the next free update which is supposed to give the galaxy more ambience and life..
If you all like strategy, has anyone tried DISTANT WORLDS? I've been playing that lately and I don't think there is anything else like it.. If you've played it, you'd know what I mean.. It really deserves a OT for itself, but I can't create one yet.. Here's a link to a review of it if anyone is interested... http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2011/12/distant-worlds-legends-review/
If you all like strategy, has anyone tried DISTANT WORLDS? I've been playing that lately and I don't think there is anything else like it.. If you've played it, you'd know what I mean.. It really deserves a OT for itself, but I can't create one yet.. Here's a link to a review of it if anyone is interested... http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2011/12/distant-worlds-legends-review/
Well I agree that Gal Civ has alot more content and the diplomacy is very good.
Somehow I just cannot live with the clunkyness of the UI. Especially after trying the close to flawless one in Endless.
Give me the UI, graphics and soundtrack of ES and put in the races, diplomacy and ship customization of Gal Civ and Id be entertained for years to come..
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Yeah, I can agree with that 100%. ES has one of the best UI's I've seen for a 4X game, maybe even the best. I can only hope that whenever Stardock gets around to creating Gal Civ III, they put some effort into the UI. For that matter, if Gal Civ III was simply the exact same game as Gal Civ II but with a UI like ES I'd buy it day one, regardless of whatever price they charged for it. My mouth waters just thinking about it...
by the way was anybody able to KICK SOME MAJOR ASS with their fleets? Like conquer some empire? I'm still new to this game (even after 20 hours played) but I think I might be able to do this with my next empire. May be even the current one. The main problem was that other players were able to outpace me in my previous games but I'm checking out their fleet and they are comparable to mine.
Hehe yeah once you get started you really get pulled into that "just one more turn" cycle.
ECHOES OF THE ENDLESS - Release Notes and Rewards for our Community
This is it. We will be releasing in the upcoming hours "Echoes of the Endless", after weeks and weeks of hard work, testing, feedback and testing again. You guys have been very patient and helpful: still providing interesting discussions on the forums and supporting us, even months after the release. So really, thank you for being that awesome.
Like we said, we tried (and hope we did it well!) to bring more life, personality and feedback with this Add-On: interactive random events, Endless & Natural wonders, exploration rewards, galaxy anomalies, new audio tracks, endgame illustrations, new heroes, additional lore, sentry mode, auto-cycle through fleets, etc.
One special gift from us: The battle timer (when choosing a participating mode: auto/manual) is now a game option. By default, the battle timer is disabled for a single player session, and it is enabled for a multiplayer session.
Enough talking for now! I know you are all eagerly awaiting for the update, however, you'll have to wait a little bit. Until then, here are some portraits illustrations: these are our new heroes
ECHOES OF THE ENDLESS (1.0.38)
CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
The galaxy generation seed is displayed with the pause menu.
Added a sentry mode to the available fleet actions.
Added an auto-cycle button to enable the review of all fleets without orders.
The battle timer (when choosing a participating mode: auto/manual) is now a game option. By default, the battle timer is disabled for a single player session, and it is enabled for a multiplayer session. [G2G vote]
Added a new state for the "end turn button" that notifies the player he has pending encounters.
Refactored the heroes' ability trees.
If a system improvement will never be relevant for a system, hide it from the improvement picklist (credits: by grubnik)
Added a victory/defeat picture and extra information to the 'Continue' panel.
Added a Game Introduction option in game options (to introduce the new content of an add-on).
Updated the tutorial with the new features.
Added 5 new musics.
INTERACTIVE RANDOM EVENTS [G2G vote]
Refactored the game events system:
- The pre 1.0.30 events are compatible
- Added new event effects
- Added interactive random events
- Added a new panel to the Empire Factors panel, which summarizes all the effects of the current random events
- Added an advanced game option to activate/deactivate the random events generation
Added descriptions and pictures to the new random events.
EXPLORATION EVENTS [G2G vote]
Added exploration rewards: small random bonuses for the first player to explore a system.
Some exploration events are now interactive.
Added a GUI feedback in the galaxy view to identify systems with an exploration reward. The Amoeba players have a slightly different feedback.
The effects of the exploration events are now displayed in the Empire Factors panel.
WONDERS [G2G vote]
Added natural and endless wonders. The endless wonders can be restored.
Lowered number of wonders depending on the different size.
Added GFX for natural and endless wonders.
Added a GUI feedback in the galaxy view to identify explored systems with a wonder.
AMBIENCE - GALAXY MAP [G2G vote]
Added more life to the galaxy with the random addition of comets, black holes, pulsars, ...
DIPLOMACY
Removed the waiting period for the cold war status.
Added diplomatic answers when the player trades with an AI and when an AI is offering a proposal.
With the previous diplomatic behavior we could have deadlock involving a permanent cold war state between all the factions.
HEROES
Added a new Pilgrim hero.
Added 4 heroes of new factions (Sheredyn and minor factions).
MULTIPLAYER
Set the Steam regional parameter to Worldwide for the multiplayer sessions.
The game disconnections related to the Steam servers should be less frequent.
All the multiplayer sessions of a given version are now displayed. You can join a game only if you have the same files/mod as the session's host.
AI
Removed growth and fleet upkeep bonus for the AI.
AI for newbie is less aggressive and less militarized.
Lowered normal Pirates difficulty.
During a deal, the AI values a resource depending on the number he already owns.
http://forums.amplitude-studios.com...S-Release-Notes-and-Rewards-for-our-Community
This is it. We will be releasing in the upcoming hours "Echoes of the Endless", after weeks and weeks of hard work, testing, feedback and testing again. You guys have been very patient and helpful: still providing interesting discussions on the forums and supporting us, even months after the release. So really, thank you for being that awesome.
Like we said, we tried (and hope we did it well!) to bring more life, personality and feedback with this Add-On: interactive random events, Endless & Natural wonders, exploration rewards, galaxy anomalies, new audio tracks, endgame illustrations, new heroes, additional lore, sentry mode, auto-cycle through fleets, etc.
One special gift from us: The battle timer (when choosing a participating mode: auto/manual) is now a game option. By default, the battle timer is disabled for a single player session, and it is enabled for a multiplayer session.
Enough talking for now! I know you are all eagerly awaiting for the update, however, you'll have to wait a little bit. Until then, here are some portraits illustrations: these are our new heroes
ECHOES OF THE ENDLESS (1.0.38)
CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
The galaxy generation seed is displayed with the pause menu.
Added a sentry mode to the available fleet actions.
Added an auto-cycle button to enable the review of all fleets without orders.
The battle timer (when choosing a participating mode: auto/manual) is now a game option. By default, the battle timer is disabled for a single player session, and it is enabled for a multiplayer session. [G2G vote]
Added a new state for the "end turn button" that notifies the player he has pending encounters.
Refactored the heroes' ability trees.
If a system improvement will never be relevant for a system, hide it from the improvement picklist (credits: by grubnik)
Added a victory/defeat picture and extra information to the 'Continue' panel.
Added a Game Introduction option in game options (to introduce the new content of an add-on).
Updated the tutorial with the new features.
Added 5 new musics.
INTERACTIVE RANDOM EVENTS [G2G vote]
Refactored the game events system:
- The pre 1.0.30 events are compatible
- Added new event effects
- Added interactive random events
- Added a new panel to the Empire Factors panel, which summarizes all the effects of the current random events
- Added an advanced game option to activate/deactivate the random events generation
Added descriptions and pictures to the new random events.
EXPLORATION EVENTS [G2G vote]
Added exploration rewards: small random bonuses for the first player to explore a system.
Some exploration events are now interactive.
Added a GUI feedback in the galaxy view to identify systems with an exploration reward. The Amoeba players have a slightly different feedback.
The effects of the exploration events are now displayed in the Empire Factors panel.
WONDERS [G2G vote]
Added natural and endless wonders. The endless wonders can be restored.
Lowered number of wonders depending on the different size.
Added GFX for natural and endless wonders.
Added a GUI feedback in the galaxy view to identify explored systems with a wonder.
AMBIENCE - GALAXY MAP [G2G vote]
Added more life to the galaxy with the random addition of comets, black holes, pulsars, ...
DIPLOMACY
Removed the waiting period for the cold war status.
Added diplomatic answers when the player trades with an AI and when an AI is offering a proposal.
With the previous diplomatic behavior we could have deadlock involving a permanent cold war state between all the factions.
HEROES
Added a new Pilgrim hero.
Added 4 heroes of new factions (Sheredyn and minor factions).
MULTIPLAYER
Set the Steam regional parameter to Worldwide for the multiplayer sessions.
The game disconnections related to the Steam servers should be less frequent.
All the multiplayer sessions of a given version are now displayed. You can join a game only if you have the same files/mod as the session's host.
AI
Removed growth and fleet upkeep bonus for the AI.
AI for newbie is less aggressive and less militarized.
Lowered normal Pirates difficulty.
During a deal, the AI values a resource depending on the number he already owns.
http://forums.amplitude-studios.com...S-Release-Notes-and-Rewards-for-our-Community
Nice, looks like several of the "flavour" additions to the universe were finally added. The battle timer sounds like a much needed option as well. Could be close to as good of a time as any to start playing again.
Is this supposed to be the final free update or is there still another to be made?
EDIT: Just saw your other thread, 2nd of 3 total updates. Yay.
man I missed this game in the sale (50% off) because I was waiting for a daily deal but it never came and the last day I was busy all day so I missed it.
I will have to wait until the christmas sale now. Damn shame I missed it though.
I was able to get chivalry and witcher 2 though so I can wait.
I will have to wait until the christmas sale now. Damn shame I missed it though.
I was able to get chivalry and witcher 2 though so I can wait.
Its a great 4x. It doesnt have all the fluff that Gal Civ does, but the UI is by far the best in any 4x game. Only the UI in Civ V comes close.
These new additions add some of the optic stuff that feels needed. With some more fleshed out diplomacy we are looking good.
The main thing I miss is a better battlesystem. Right now it feels kinda like a lottery.
Castor Krieg
Banned
It is 50% off this weekend again. Also, the game was -50% the whole sale, you had to go to Indie Games subsite to see that.
I won the war by the way. They begged for mercy but I crushed them like space cockroaches.
Bless. I wasn't too hot on the game, but the soundtrack was good.
Hadn't even noticed that.So the name of the composer's company is Game Audio Factory and their logo is this:
Coincidence?
exmachina64
Banned
So the name of the composer's company is Game Audio Factory and their logo is this:
Coincidence?
Whoa!
Looks like I'll get back into the game for a few weeks.
Anyone here who dabbled into ES modding? I'd like to know whether it might be technically possible to add "random" choices for all the play options that dont have it yet (like the galaxy type). Might look into doing the mod myself if you guys think its feasible.
After going back and forth debating whether to pick this up, I just decided to go for it. I'm hoping it'll ease me into space 4x games a little easier than GalCiv 2, then I'll be more comfortable to "progress" onto GalCiv after this.
The main complaints seem to be some AI issues but as a beginner to this series, and only playing Civ casually, I'm not sure I'll notice AI issues too much anyway.
The main complaints seem to be some AI issues but as a beginner to this series, and only playing Civ casually, I'm not sure I'll notice AI issues too much anyway.
just disable pirates and put easier difficulty for the first game
So they have just released their first paid DLC called Disharmony and I decided to pick up and play the game after a long break. Man have they built this out. Fighters, bombers, exploration bonuses, planetary wonders, archetypes, fleet formation and strategies, so much stuff its almost overwhelming!
The United Empire of Mankind will flourish again!
The United Empire of Mankind will flourish again!
dragonelite
Member
Dam saw this thread again on the front page.
So first dlc will buy over 2~3 weeks have to finish uni stuff first before pumping in multiple tens of hours into this game.
Mr. Luchador
Member
Hope the Summer Sale is kind, as I'll pick that up for sure.
Wow, looks nice.
I liked the setting and felt the game had a lot of potential. Hopefully this will help make for a better game.
It's too bad it doesn't look like it will address some of the game's more aesthetic problems. It still looks like there are very few differences between the factions in terms of unique units and story. I keep waiting for someone to come along and recreate Alpha Centauri...
I liked the setting and felt the game had a lot of potential. Hopefully this will help make for a better game.
It's too bad it doesn't look like it will address some of the game's more aesthetic problems. It still looks like there are very few differences between the factions in terms of unique units and story. I keep waiting for someone to come along and recreate Alpha Centauri...
DLC seems pretty solid, although some glaring balance issues (which i've been reporting for MONTHS) still haven't been fixed, ugh.
Combat is nice now though, that's really some good news.
I had 500h clocked in this game, 200 SP(mods) / 300 MP, i hope it doesn't sink me in again : (
Current grudges:
Performance is now shit. I wonder why.
We still haven't gotten proper Diplomacy screens, while they throw fantastic 2d art at loading screens or something : (
Combat is nice now though, that's really some good news.
I had 500h clocked in this game, 200 SP(mods) / 300 MP, i hope it doesn't sink me in again : (
Current grudges:
Performance is now shit. I wonder why.
We still haven't gotten proper Diplomacy screens, while they throw fantastic 2d art at loading screens or something : (
-Deadpool-
Member
Oh man, the DLC looks great.
Haven't played this for a while, but my PC isn't up to spec really - and going by the performance comments post-DLC I'm probably not going to be able to run it anyway
Need to get a new PC, but this will be one of the first titles I get back into.
Haven't played this for a while, but my PC isn't up to spec really - and going by the performance comments post-DLC I'm probably not going to be able to run it anyway
Need to get a new PC, but this will be one of the first titles I get back into.