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Endless Space |Intel Thread| 4X Space Strategy by ex-Ubi/EA devs
- Thread starter Alex Connolly
- Start date
300
Thanks.
Nope. No planet destroying super weapons for you.
They are voting in what mechanics or features to put in game (they all will, but vote for what you want them to work on first) and planet razing is one of them.
I guess destroying all improvements so that they dont cost money would work.
I guess destroying all improvements so that they dont cost money would work.
Have a link!
and another to the voting page.
Pilgrims' trait lets them evacuate complete systems. Don't really see the point though as a system doesn't change much over time and an undo button is just wasteful... but maybe it'll be really useful at higher difficulties if you end up invading crappy systems. Hmm, need to know how overpopulation and overexpansion penalties are calculated.
Alex Connolly
Member
New patch, ambassadors...
I seem to have got the hang of this now, winning very easily on normal difficulty, going to move up difficulty next game. Something I seem to have figured out just now though is Intensive Cultivation Logistics and Careful Sweeping (which both read +X resource on explored moon) seem to actually work as if they should read "+X resource per person on a planet with an explored moon".
Careful sweeping will give a positive dust result even with a low tax rate if you have a decent number of people on planets with explored moon.
Intensive Cultivation Logistics actually gives quite a bit of food. One system it appeared to give me around 150 food.
Careful sweeping will give a positive dust result even with a low tax rate if you have a decent number of people on planets with explored moon.
Intensive Cultivation Logistics actually gives quite a bit of food. One system it appeared to give me around 150 food.
Aw crap. No more free nano-repair after battles for me.
It was pretty broken anyway.
Finished my second game on Serious difficulty using Sowers. I played with 5 other AI opponents on a large map. Finished the game with the supremacy victory around turn 195 and the only other race left was an old ally of mine anyway for most of the game. I never loaded my game to undo something so I guess that says the game was still pretty easy.
Trading techs with AI seem to depend on some weighting that are a bit obtuse, but may make sense. Sometimes the number of techs you trade is far more important than the cost of the techs. Sometimes the AI also value some cheap techs very highly too. AI also doesn't seem to trade with one another much so there's no that need in Civ to broker your tech around in the same turn.
Also, the combat system has potential but is flawed at the moment. Kinetics is currently pretty useless due beam or missle stacking killing most fleets before you even reach to the stage where Kinetics is powerful. Also the AI fleets doesn't seem to defend that well against whatever you're using. They also tend to favor Kinetics so maybe that's dragging them down. You never see a coherent strategy with their fleets either. So war strategy tend to be very simple unlike in Civ games where you have terrain to think about. The cards in manual battles are nice, but they lack impact or variety I think. More than half of them doesn't seem to serve meaningful purpose, also probably due to the Kinetics problem. The kinetics problem also causes most of the weaponry tech tree to be useless and kinda a waste of time to research for.
Sowers itself is an interesting race. I probably didn't maximize their abilities to the fullest, but they appear to be a very strong mid-late game race once you research planet terraforming. Their focus on industry lets them specialize solar systems so that in overall terms, your empire is much more efficient than other races because you only need to do one thing and do it well. I could build improvements so much faster than I could research them leading me to have about half of my empire using industry to dust conversion.
However I'm still not sure about their ideal planet strategy. They start off on Tundra which seems to do well for them, but industry improvements are not focused and are kinda over the place with the planets that they provide the best bonus for. So you may have to plan a bit ahead, but their Industry focus lets them terraform planets very fast so it's not really an issue to get where you want. I guess it's also interesting that their systems could be less useful to other races if they are captured.
Anyway, here's the screen for my home system at the end of my game. You can see how much industry it can crank out especially with the Adaptive Industrial Systems improvements which halts population growth and instead converts surplus food into industry.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
It was pretty broken anyway.
Finished my second game on Serious difficulty using Sowers. I played with 5 other AI opponents on a large map. Finished the game with the supremacy victory around turn 195 and the only other race left was an old ally of mine anyway for most of the game. I never loaded my game to undo something so I guess that says the game was still pretty easy.
Trading techs with AI seem to depend on some weighting that are a bit obtuse, but may make sense. Sometimes the number of techs you trade is far more important than the cost of the techs. Sometimes the AI also value some cheap techs very highly too. AI also doesn't seem to trade with one another much so there's no that need in Civ to broker your tech around in the same turn.
Also, the combat system has potential but is flawed at the moment. Kinetics is currently pretty useless due beam or missle stacking killing most fleets before you even reach to the stage where Kinetics is powerful. Also the AI fleets doesn't seem to defend that well against whatever you're using. They also tend to favor Kinetics so maybe that's dragging them down. You never see a coherent strategy with their fleets either. So war strategy tend to be very simple unlike in Civ games where you have terrain to think about. The cards in manual battles are nice, but they lack impact or variety I think. More than half of them doesn't seem to serve meaningful purpose, also probably due to the Kinetics problem. The kinetics problem also causes most of the weaponry tech tree to be useless and kinda a waste of time to research for.
Sowers itself is an interesting race. I probably didn't maximize their abilities to the fullest, but they appear to be a very strong mid-late game race once you research planet terraforming. Their focus on industry lets them specialize solar systems so that in overall terms, your empire is much more efficient than other races because you only need to do one thing and do it well. I could build improvements so much faster than I could research them leading me to have about half of my empire using industry to dust conversion.
However I'm still not sure about their ideal planet strategy. They start off on Tundra which seems to do well for them, but industry improvements are not focused and are kinda over the place with the planets that they provide the best bonus for. So you may have to plan a bit ahead, but their Industry focus lets them terraform planets very fast so it's not really an issue to get where you want. I guess it's also interesting that their systems could be less useful to other races if they are captured.
Anyway, here's the screen for my home system at the end of my game. You can see how much industry it can crank out especially with the Adaptive Industrial Systems improvements which halts population growth and instead converts surplus food into industry.
DAMN, you are doing much better than I am. I won my first game on Newbie, but it was close. Now I've played a total of three games so far, all on Newbie skill level, and the second game I lost, and I'm slowly losing my third game. I went all missiles in my second game and the Horatio declared war on me, and it seemed like they had impervious missile defenses. My fleet was virtually useless against them and they ran all over me.
I can't believe I'm having this hard a time on the damn Newbie skill level. I feel humbled. I must be missing some super critical concept or something, it just seems like the AI players always out expand and out tech me.
4x games is always about turn by turn efficiency. And early efficiency is compounded several times over the game. So you should always have a plan that is flexible depending what you discover. Start a game by looking around what's available to you, and knowing all the options in the game available to you (i.e. all the tech available) always helps.
Also the mechanics in this game could be a bit obtuse, once you read most of the threads in the strategy forum at amplitude you'll probably get a much better hang of the game.
http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/forumdisplay.php?21-Strategy-Guides
These two are quite essential.
Understanding Dust Production and Income
Combat Mechanics
This is helpful for random stuffs that someone may miss.
Oh and the wikia is helpful as an all around information source.
Fragamemnon
Member
After playing around with the game a bit and seeing some extremely wild variation in AI performance, I started a few series of games w/ a custom faction that has the Amoebavision.
Things got explained real fast, the map generation in this game is abominable. Total feast or famine style placement with no discernible post-generation re-balancing. There certainly needs to be some room for variance but you can't have one AI start in a corner with three systems, none of which are habitable w/o additional tech, and have another AI start with fifteen systems on a large map all to themselves.
Problem is solved playing a custom map w/ Amoeba trait and verifying that things balance out OK, but still, this is definitely something that needs to be looked at.
Things got explained real fast, the map generation in this game is abominable. Total feast or famine style placement with no discernible post-generation re-balancing. There certainly needs to be some room for variance but you can't have one AI start in a corner with three systems, none of which are habitable w/o additional tech, and have another AI start with fifteen systems on a large map all to themselves.
Problem is solved playing a custom map w/ Amoeba trait and verifying that things balance out OK, but still, this is definitely something that needs to be looked at.
I guess im shelving the game for the foreseeable future, it´s still too unbalanced in single player, with the good awful AI.
I´m actualy looking forward to another 4x release next month, http://www.legendsofpegasus.com/en/gameplay-trailer-released/
the real time planet terraforming and ship customization look awesome, still... it´s from calypso, so it will probably launch in a completely fucked up state.
I´m actualy looking forward to another 4x release next month, http://www.legendsofpegasus.com/en/gameplay-trailer-released/
the real time planet terraforming and ship customization look awesome, still... it´s from calypso, so it will probably launch in a completely fucked up state.
Alex Connolly
Member
If anything, the progress report on the initial release build has tuning still at 90%.
Further updates abound.
Further updates abound.
I'm with this guy.
having never played a 4x game before, i was about to buy civilization V on steam if it went on sale this week because i've been wanting to try out one of these types of games.
But that lead me to find these space 4x type games which interest me much much more than civilzations.
My question for you guys who have played these types of games a lot is, where should I start out at?
Galactic Civilization II ultimate
Sins of the Solar Empire: Rebellion
Endless Space
Legends of Pegasus
Looking at video reviews, and reading about them i feel like these couple games look like the best starting point into the 4x genre based. I'de prefer turn based only because I feel like I am super slow at playing strategy games like starcraft/warcraft and things like that but its not a big deal. But graphics of the planets/ships/galaxy mean a lot so I can't go too old school. Building ships sounds really cool.
Anyone have any recommendations, not sure where else to post this. Thanks!
But that lead me to find these space 4x type games which interest me much much more than civilzations.
My question for you guys who have played these types of games a lot is, where should I start out at?
Galactic Civilization II ultimate
Sins of the Solar Empire: Rebellion
Endless Space
Legends of Pegasus
Looking at video reviews, and reading about them i feel like these couple games look like the best starting point into the 4x genre based. I'de prefer turn based only because I feel like I am super slow at playing strategy games like starcraft/warcraft and things like that but its not a big deal. But graphics of the planets/ships/galaxy mean a lot so I can't go too old school. Building ships sounds really cool.
Anyone have any recommendations, not sure where else to post this. Thanks!
Galactic Civilization II ultimate - The most feature rich game of the bunch, it has a single player campaign for the main game and each of the expansions, turned based gameplay and
a pretty good AI... also the ship designer is pretty nice.
It lacks on the combat side of things, as it´s mostly automated.
Sins of the Solar Empire: Rebellion - in my view it´s more like a glorified command and conquer in space than a true 4x game. It´s focused on combat and is real time, the combat itself is pretty nice and it´s fun to see your huge fleets duke it out with the AI.
Endless Space - I view it as a simplified Civ V in space, the lack of depth and the stupid AI are it´s weakest parts. I enjoyed the UI and graphics the most, but as it stands i would not recommend the game to anyone due to the AI mostly.
Legends of Pegasus - On paper this game looks amazing, from graphics, to gameplay, everything looks custom made to make a 4x fan drool. The problem is that the devs say they won´t release a demo or any meaningful gameplay videos, and so close to release they are almost non existent in the community to explain the game systems in depth.
I would not recommend buying it until some reviews are out.
a pretty good AI... also the ship designer is pretty nice.
It lacks on the combat side of things, as it´s mostly automated.
Sins of the Solar Empire: Rebellion - in my view it´s more like a glorified command and conquer in space than a true 4x game. It´s focused on combat and is real time, the combat itself is pretty nice and it´s fun to see your huge fleets duke it out with the AI.
Endless Space - I view it as a simplified Civ V in space, the lack of depth and the stupid AI are it´s weakest parts. I enjoyed the UI and graphics the most, but as it stands i would not recommend the game to anyone due to the AI mostly.
Legends of Pegasus - On paper this game looks amazing, from graphics, to gameplay, everything looks custom made to make a 4x fan drool. The problem is that the devs say they won´t release a demo or any meaningful gameplay videos, and so close to release they are almost non existent in the community to explain the game systems in depth.
I would not recommend buying it until some reviews are out.
Alex Connolly
Member
Folks, here's a nice little post-release rundown by the devs on the future of ES:
Really looking forward to the community mod tools and whatnot.
Really looking forward to the community mod tools and whatnot.
PoweredBySoy
Banned
I don't know, the more I play this game the more I love it.
It may not be as robust as Civ V, but for a $30 indie game it's f'ing fantastic. And it still has advantages over Civ V in my opinion.
It may not be as robust as Civ V, but for a $30 indie game it's f'ing fantastic. And it still has advantages over Civ V in my opinion.
GrandHarrier
Member
I personally enjoy the battles in the game. Yes, beams may seem overpowered at first, but it's relatively easy to tech your defenses against them. I'm finding a balanced approach works well and getting into the head of your opponent as far as tactic cards are concerned.
My only gripe is unbalanced custom races. That is just a matter of point balancing.
My only gripe is unbalanced custom races. That is just a matter of point balancing.
GrandHarrier
Member
This game is also great for multiplayer drama. You can RP troll people pretty hard. I tend to be #2-3 most of the time and enjoy the challenge of going after the aggressive war players "in the name of Galactic Peace". I've had scenarios where I blockaded and conquered a choke point then just filled it with tons of defensive fleets so they could never break through. They spent the rest of the game cut off, cursing at me.
Endless Space: 110.000 copies sold.
Great news and this is only the beginning.
http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/showthread.php?8536-Endless-Space-110-000-copies-sold.
Great news and this is only the beginning.
http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/showthread.php?8536-Endless-Space-110-000-copies-sold.
I am also loving this game more and more. It has the same addicting feel to me that Civ has.
And with the latest news that ground battles etc might be added, I think the future looks very bright for this game.
Oh and the UI still amazes me, its so slick and simplistic. So many companies could learn from that.
And with the latest news that ground battles etc might be added, I think the future looks very bright for this game.
Oh and the UI still amazes me, its so slick and simplistic. So many companies could learn from that.
toddhunter
Member
Quick look from giantbomb. Worth watching if you are on the fence (like me)
http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-endless-space/17-6364/
Still waiting to see how legends of pegasus turns out before jumping in.
http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-endless-space/17-6364/
Still waiting to see how legends of pegasus turns out before jumping in.
Aye i'd watched that and wasn't really convinced until it got to the combat, then I had bought the game and spent four hours having my arse handed to me. AI is nails.
This is how Endless Space has been going for me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXd81FQiL1w&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXd81FQiL1w&feature=youtu.bewhatevermort
Member
Any word on when the Mac version of this will be available?
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
If you want what it probably the absolute best space 4X game ever made, then go buy Gal Civ II Ultimate. In fact it may be my favorite 4X game ever made, even better than Civ IV.
Gal Civ II has a real good interface, awesome tech tree (that is different for every race), many varied races to choose from, superb ship building in game, and what may be the best AI in any 4X game ever made. I've played dozens of games of Gal Civ II and I consistently come back to it. It is a joy of a 4X game to play.
Sins of a Solar Empire is a good game but not a true 4X. I find it fun but nowhere near as deep or interesting to play as Gal Civ II is. Honestly I tire of it after a bit, good now and then though.
Endless Space is a good 4X game but it needs some work. It's off to a great start though and I'm glad I bought it, as I forsee this game really coming into it's own after a few patches and maybe an expansion or two.
autobzooty
Member
So I love this game, I think. I THINK.
Is there a good newb guide anywhere with good places to start and things to try? I spent enough time with it to basically understand how to do stuff, but I don't have any kind of grasp on WHY I would do that stuff.
Also, are there any GAF games of this going on? I'd love to play with some other humans.
PS: I don't play very many 4x games. I played a bit of Civ 5. Enjoyed and sucked at it.
Is there a good newb guide anywhere with good places to start and things to try? I spent enough time with it to basically understand how to do stuff, but I don't have any kind of grasp on WHY I would do that stuff.
Also, are there any GAF games of this going on? I'd love to play with some other humans.
PS: I don't play very many 4x games. I played a bit of Civ 5. Enjoyed and sucked at it.
SteveWinwood
Member
High five.
Can someone explain this to me:
I'm losing 23.5 Dust "From Distance With Empire." Below you can see my capital and the system in question which is two-thirds of my empire at the early point in the game.
Is this actually because of distance from the rest of the empire or is there something I'm missing here? Seems like a pretty shitty mechanic if I'm losing over half my Dust because the neighboring system, which really isn't very far away compared to some distances in the game, is "too far." Also expansion disapproval only really being alleviated by a few tech upgrades is damn poor particularly in the largest of games considering there are better ways they could have approximated and dealt with the stresses on a central governing body when the size of the becomes overly large.
I'm losing 23.5 Dust "From Distance With Empire." Below you can see my capital and the system in question which is two-thirds of my empire at the early point in the game.
Is this actually because of distance from the rest of the empire or is there something I'm missing here? Seems like a pretty shitty mechanic if I'm losing over half my Dust because the neighboring system, which really isn't very far away compared to some distances in the game, is "too far." Also expansion disapproval only really being alleviated by a few tech upgrades is damn poor particularly in the largest of games considering there are better ways they could have approximated and dealt with the stresses on a central governing body when the size of the becomes overly large.
Nope. No enemy outposts/colonies within 1 jump of that system and the third system I have is suffering from the same negative modifier and that one is at least 4 jumps from any possible enemy colonies.
I don't know the official answer but from my experience it appears that a system outside of your influence area gets a very heavy penalty to dust production. However they get other benefits such as not receiving some -ve penalties to happiness.
I believe these mechanics are in place to let people settle a new galaxy and give it 30 turns to establish before it gets smashed with the penalties associated with a large empire. The dust penalty is probably to offset its bonuses.
I believe these mechanics are in place to let people settle a new galaxy and give it 30 turns to establish before it gets smashed with the penalties associated with a large empire. The dust penalty is probably to offset its bonuses.
whalleywhat
Member
So, if an uncolonized planet is within another empires influence border, you can't colonize it? Even with Open Borders? I stationed a colony ship and a couple of defenders at a system while I researched the tech to colonize one of the planets, and it became surrounded by another empires influence in the meantime. We're at peace, so they won't attack it, but I can't colonize it, so it's just sitting there.
-Deadpool-
Member
Currently at about Turn 160 of the best game I've played thus far.
I've got all three races against me at the moment, UE, Cravers and Sowers. I've got a brilliant ship design running around though terrorising all the local enemy systems. And 7 of my own systems on my outskirts purely geared for production of said ships.
The UE were giving me some serious trouble for about 10-12 turns, culminating in them taking one of my newer expansion systems, but by the time I'd wrapped up last night I had gotten the expansion system back plus two of their larger expansion systems. One in particular was a 6-planet system with a Terran "Garden of Eden" The UE had put up a hell of a fight for that system.
Just finished researching the Terraforming options, so it's time to start molding the universe to my liking.
It's SO easy to play this game for a "few turns" and end up spending 2 hours longer than you intended playing!
I've got all three races against me at the moment, UE, Cravers and Sowers. I've got a brilliant ship design running around though terrorising all the local enemy systems. And 7 of my own systems on my outskirts purely geared for production of said ships.
The UE were giving me some serious trouble for about 10-12 turns, culminating in them taking one of my newer expansion systems, but by the time I'd wrapped up last night I had gotten the expansion system back plus two of their larger expansion systems. One in particular was a 6-planet system with a Terran "Garden of Eden"
The UE had put up a hell of a fight for that system.Just finished researching the Terraforming options, so it's time to start molding the universe to my liking.
It's SO easy to play this game for a "few turns" and end up spending 2 hours longer than you intended playing!
I wholeheartedly agree.
Got galciv2 of the steam sale, but somehow I allways end up spent far more hours in Endless space.
Just goes to show how much a clean and informative UI can mean to the quality of a strategy game. I never felt lost in the menus of ES, whilst even the simplest tasks in other 4x games have me browsing manuals and guides.
Got galciv2 of the steam sale, but somehow I allways end up spent far more hours in Endless space.
Just goes to show how much a clean and informative UI can mean to the quality of a strategy game. I never felt lost in the menus of ES, whilst even the simplest tasks in other 4x games have me browsing manuals and guides.
It really depends on how much experience you have in the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and this game is probably the easiest entry in the 4X genre while having a superb style.
If you already played other 4X games, its a bit harder to recommend though, as in my opinion the biggest problem with the game currently is the missing depth. Its fun, but it really desperately needs more features (especially if you are used to more expansive 4X games).
If ES would be your first game of this kind, go for it! Rewarding experience.