Stellaris

[Huw the Poo]

At 66K players, Stellaris is the third most played game on Steam right now - behind Dota 2 and CS:GO which are always the top two.

[sandman2575]

I'd also like to see more customization for your leader avatar.  It's weird that if you play as the humans, you can pick from a large number of non-human avatars but you're limited to just one human (black chick for one faction, white chick for the other).

? That is a little weird. No 'guy' avatar for humans?

Presumably something modders will solve.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I'd also like to see more customization for your leader avatar.  It's weird that if you play as the humans, you can pick from a large number of non-human avatars but you're limited to just one human (black chick for one faction, white chick for the other).

? That is a little weird. No 'guy' avatar for humans?

Presumably something modders will solve.

Not from what I saw.  Black chick for the UN types.  White chick for the militarists.  There are other avatars for your population, scientists, fleet commanders, etc so I imagine it'll be fairly easy for a modder to add those to the leader pool. 

[OJsDad]

So, I was able to download to my laptop using my work hotspot (unlimited data plan).  But when I got home and tried to hook up to my desktop, it couldn't get it to work.  Seems Win10 doesn't like a tethered device.  So I have it on my desktop, but that's not the best place to play.  I'll have to wait another 6 hrs to get it downloaded to my desktop. 

[Anguille]

I'd also like to see more customization for your leader avatar.  It's weird that if you play as the humans, you can pick from a large number of non-human avatars but you're limited to just one human (black chick for one faction, white chick for the other).

? That is a little weird. No 'guy' avatar for humans?

Presumably something modders will solve.

Not from what I saw.  Black chick for the UN types.  White chick for the militarists.  There are other avatars for your population, scientists, fleet commanders, etc so I imagine it'll be fairly easy for a modder to add those to the leader pool.

I changed and took a guy. You can change almost everything.

[Fetrik]

Well, 2,5 hours into my first game i can only say i've been captivated. I hope the feeling of joy lasts.  O0

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I'd also like to see more customization for your leader avatar.  It's weird that if you play as the humans, you can pick from a large number of non-human avatars but you're limited to just one human (black chick for one faction, white chick for the other).

? That is a little weird. No 'guy' avatar for humans?

Presumably something modders will solve.

Not from what I saw.  Black chick for the UN types.  White chick for the militarists.  There are other avatars for your population, scientists, fleet commanders, etc so I imagine it'll be fairly easy for a modder to add those to the leader pool.

I changed and took a guy. You can change almost everything.

Yup, you're correct.  My mistake.  I didn't drill down far enough into the customization sub-menus to find the gender tab.  You can switch to a male.

[Anguille]

At 66K players, Stellaris is the third most played game on Steam right now - behind Dota 2 and CS:GO which are always the top two.

Must be the better starting sales for a space 4x like...ever!

[mikeck]

I heard the tutorials are good, but does anyone know if there is a manual incoming? Hate playing complex games with no manuals

[bbmike]

My first start and two space jellyfish things entered my system and destroyed my ships.  ;D
I just found out my "First Contact Protocol" was defaulted to aggressive so, like Han Solo, I probably shot first. Slowly learning but having fun so far.

[Yskonyn]

I am having a blast so far.
The game does a good job in making exploration a wondrous and exciting affair. Something I feel many other 4x's lack. So thumbs up on this.

I also like the way the various resources work together to force you to make decisions on what's really important right now.

I've had to clear out some Raiders and eventhough there is no direct control of the battles, I did enjoy the combat. You can lock the camera on your fleet and adjust the camera's viewpoint while holding right mouse so get a pretty cinematic view of the ongoing battle.
It made me think of the battles in the first Dune game, where you're watching that 'overall progress' bar and hoping it would tilt your way. :)
No overly impressive, but it does the job and watching the miniature ships duking it out is pretty enjoyable, more so than the stale animations of EU4.

Bad point: I also feel annoyed by having the galaxy map button instead of a seamless zoom.

[Huw the Poo]

Right!  Kids are asleep, dinner is eaten, Game of Thrones is watched.  Time...*cracks knuckles*...to play!

[PanzersEast]

I heard the tutorials are good, but does anyone know if there is a manual incoming? Hate playing complex games with no manuals

No manual to speak of, however the tutorial does a good job getting you in.  The tool tips are great as well.

Some observations:

- Game runs very smooth
- The controls are great, and the UI is uncluttered and easy to navigate
- Cannot rearrange the ships in the sidebar
- So far I really like the slow flow of the game, the exploration is very fun
- The customization is terrific, even more so than AOW 3
- You have to use keyboard shortcut the see the Galaxy Map, no button
- The combat is hands off, however similar to DW, set stances and send them off
- The leader bonuses are cool... .world, science, admiral etc...
-  I like the fact that research is random and you have to make hard choices as you do not know when once may show up again
- The ship models are OK, ready for the mods to come out
- If you are a fan of Star War, Star Trek, Stargate etc.... this could be a wet dream
- DLC will make this game go a long, long way.... foundation is there for sure
- Appears like this would be a very fun MP game

[RedArgo]

Looking so forward to playing this, but I probably won't get much time until the weekend.

First patch incoming soon...
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/09/stellaris-hitching-patch/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RockPaperShotgun+%28Rock%2C+Paper%2C+Shotgun%29

[JudgeDredd]

There is a shed load of game here.

I am basing this on my initial couple of hours and looking at the last 4x game I played recently...Mater of Orion. MoO certainly seemed very light, though I am aware it's early access and there's progress on depth.

Just things like having to assign scientists (or some special geezer at least) to your science ship before it can actually survey anything.

The game is huge. 2 hours and I've only surveyed 3 systems and built a few mining stations. The 3 systems I have surveyed are a spec in the galaxy.