Stardrive 2

[sandman2575]

I think I am going to pass on both SD2 and SR2 from the reports I've seen on here. I am already in the beta program for GalCiv 3, which releases in May and I think that is a game which much better suits my 4x itch.

Just my opinion of course, but honestly, I don't think you're missing out. I picked up both SR2 and SD2 and have felt pretty 'meh' about both of them. Admittedly, I've just scratched the surface of both, but neither did much to really make me want to invest more time.

I've gone back to Distant Worlds -- still the unsurpassed space 4x, and makes most other space 4x feel pretty hollow by comparison.

I am looking forward to GalCiv3, though. Set to release May 14.

[Huw the Poo]

I've gone back to Distant Worlds -- still the unsurpassed space 4x, and makes most other space 4x feel pretty hollow by comparison.

Have you played Space Empires 4? ;)

[sandman2575]

Have you played Space Empires 4? ;)

Made a half-hearted attempt a while ago, but SE4 didn't click with me.  Not sure it's a game that has aged well -- although that's coming from someone who doesn't have much patience for the whole "Good Old Games" concept. 

[steve58]

Spacesector is giving away 10 keys, so check it out (or don't so my chances improve a bit  8))  O0

[Tuna]

Grabbed this during the weekend sale and I am totally hooked! I'm loving the ship design and space battles. Trying to figure out specialized fleets to take out the opponents I am facing. At 14 bucks this was money well spent (I bought the first version so the discount was deeper).

To me a much better value then DW where I had to pay a 70 dollar ticket price to 'watch' it play a few games.. I mean, I enjoyed it, but the price tag, it just ended up being like WITE for me. Pay premium and then don't get 'hooked'. Also, if I want to try the 'next' iteration (come on, these are all just upgrades), I'd have to fork over 60 again! Forget that.

I've got my eyes on Galactic Civilization next!

[sandman2575]

I'm finding GalCiv III a little underwhelming, honestly. I've only put 4-5 hours into it so far, but more out of a "OK, I'm willing to be patient and see how this unfolds" feeling rather than a "Oh wow I'm totally hooked!" feeling. The game feels indistinguishable from Gal Civ 2, frankly (much as I liked that game).  Then again, StarDrive2 and Star Ruler 2 have left me cold so far, too...

[Anguille]

The Zero DLC is here, i'll check it out tonight.

You're interested in buying this DLC? Well, hold on there bucko - I'm not sure if you're rated on DLC that's this hot. If you think you can handle this kind of horsepower, then what you're looking at here is an incredible new set of features and content for the award-winning* galaxy-spanning PC entertainment experience that is StarDrive 2.

This baby takes the base game of StarDrive 2 and overhauls it with massive changes to the structure of the galaxy. First and foremost, the galaxy is now divided into Hexagonal Sectors, providing new resources, terrain features, chokepoints, and reasons for you to commit genocide on the friendly plant people. New deep space construction mechanics allow you to fortify sectors with battlestations, mining outposts, science stations, and more. Sectors are jam-packed with new anomalies to explore, quests to unlock, and dangers to bravely run away from.

Sector Zero now features several new ways to win the game, including a technology victory, a story-based victory, and a score victory. You can view your progress towards your victory goal on the brand new victory screen. Dozens of new technologies have been added to support these new mechanics and the AI has been given some serious upgrades to help them win the game too!

Planetary Invasion mechanics have received a serious overhaul in this expansion pack as well. While the legacy 3d battle system will remain in place for story-based battles, planetary ground combats will now take place over several turns, allowing you - and the AI - an opportunity to gain space superiority and to reinforce a besieged planet.

But do you think we'd stop there? Because we didn't! We also increased the maximum amount of Star Systems from 100 to 200, while providing you tinkerers with the option to crank that maximum up as high as your PC will allow!

All of this and more can be yours for a mere ten Earth dollars, rounded down to the appropriately psychologically enticing amount.

*PENDING!


FEATURES
New Hex-tile Strategy Map, with deep space terrain features like nebulae, wreckage fields, and more
New Deep Space Construction mechanics that will allow you to fortify sectors with battle stations and economic buildings
Three new ways to win the game
Dozens of new quests, anomalies, technologies, and events
Overhauled ground combat
Improved UI and AI
Increased Galaxy Size options


Here are the other patch notes. I was pretty bad about keeping patch notes so some stuff that's been fixed is not listed here. Lots of small fixes in addition to these bigger things:

Added a new Victory Conditions screen which will show your progress towards beating the game
Added a new scoring system and a new Score victory, which will grant victory to the player with the highest score total at the end of 1000 turns. This game length value is configurable in the config file if you want a longer or shorter game.
Fallout Radiation now dissipates more slowly
The AI will trade for more techs among themselves, with an emphasis on getting shields if they didn't already have them
The AI will not research future techs while there are still regular techs left to research. previously they could, at times, head too deep into the future tech while ignoring potentially more helpful regular tech
Increased the frequency that the AI will refit its ships
Placed the "Max Systems" count number in the game config file, allowing you to crank up the number of star systems to whatever you want. Note that this may choke your computer to death with space tentacles if you go too high. Default is 100 for vanilla and 200 for the expansion.
Limited the number of carriers an AI empire will build, to assist in them getting a more diverse fleet that is less system-crushing in huge battles
Changed the particle FX on heavy rockets because large numbers of rockets could stress graphics cards
Refactored all projectile code for increased performance and a lesser strain on the physics engine
Increased the penalties to production and research for having an unhappy populace, and slightly increased the penalty to happiness imposed by overcrowding. The goal of this change is to encourage pursuit of a wider empire, as I think Tall empires currently have an edge
The AI will now potentially make peace with one another after a prolonged war
The Znodforce One now has power!
Experimental technologies now have a cost multiplier the further down the tree they are
The MegaHospital building will now rapidly heal troops when out of combat. Otherwise, troops stationed at a planet will heal 5 hp per turn.
AI players will contact the player with offers and demands less frequently now, as it could get a bit annoying
Nuclear Bombs have had their effectiveness versus troops reduced
Fixed an issue where ships capable of exterminating your populace were not using their bio-terminators
fixed issue with leaders killed in manual combat remaining in the leader screen
(Expac Only) Many tweaks and changes have been made to the auto-combat calculator after manually playing battles and consistently winning, and then consistently seeing losses in the auto-calculator. The following changes have helped normalize those results:
Fixed an issue with the auto-combat calculator that set the cutoff for long range weapons at 600m. I lowered this to 500m, so weapons such as heavy rockets will be considered long-range weapons for auto combats.
Reduced the effectiveness of fighters at the long-range and mid-range phases of the auto-combat calculator.
Increased the odds of killing a fighter in the close range combat phase of the calculation
Point Defense weapons will mitigate damage received, with reduced effectiveness at closer ranges
Reduced the variance in damage that could be taken from ship to ship; ships will now be guaranteed to take a relatively equal portion of damage relative to the number of ships in fleet, with a +/- 30% variation possible
Corvettes and Frigates each receive a sizeable damage mitigation bonus during long and medium range combat phases

[Anguille]

I'm still excited for this one, but I have at least two criticisms right now: 


1.)  Small map sizes/lack of "epic-ness":  Even the largest map size consists of only a maximum of 100 stars, which feels awfully small after playing other 4x titles like Armada 2526, Distant Worlds, and even Birth of the Federation (once modders figured out how to create the super-large maps).  Now it does sound like modders will be able to increase this limit pretty easily, but I'm still a bit disappointed that larger maps aren't simply available with the original version of the game. 

2.)  No victory modes other than Conquest.  Dan has said this is because he feels Stardrive 2 to be more of a wargame, but the fact is most 4x gamers these days want options other than straight-up wiping out the other players.  Fortunately, a lot of folks have already been clamoring for additional victory conditions, so hopefully we'll see more get added on in the future. 



Still and all, I mostly like what I see in SD2.  There's a lot that Dan seems to be doing right this time around, and most folks who are playing preview copies seem to be having a blast doing so.

You have been heard (me too)...see the list of the DLC

[Pete Dero]

The Zero DLC is here, i'll check it out tonight.

And a corresponding sale of the base game (-75%) : http://store.steampowered.com/app/252450/

[Jarhead0331]

I find the trailer for the new DLC pretty obnoxious. It ends with message on the screen stating, "Give money"...it says it twice and then demands that you "do it now".

That's essentially what this is...a cash grab in exchange for features that should have been in the game in the first place.

[Anguille]

I find the trailer for the new DLC pretty obnoxious. It ends with message on the screen stating, "Giving money"...it says it twice and then demands that you "do it now".

That's essentially what this is...a cash grab in exchange for features that should have been in the game in the first place.

I think there's a lot of irony here. There's a lot of nice thing in this DLC and i think it's worth 10 bucks imho.

[Jarhead0331]

I find the trailer for the new DLC pretty obnoxious. It ends with message on the screen stating, "Give money"...it says it twice and then demands that you "do it now".

That's essentially what this is...a cash grab in exchange for features that should have been in the game in the first place.

I think there's a lot of irony here. There's a lot of nice thing in this DLC and i think it's worth 10 bucks imho.

Where do you see irony?

Seems like most of the features in the DLC are core features that should have been in the initial release. Where are the new races? Where are the new ships? Where are the new planet types, etc. Those are the types of things that should be in a DLC. Why am I paying for improved UI and AI? Why am I paying for an improved ground combat experience? Why am I paying for terrain features that all 4x games typically come with as a standard map element?  What am I missing? I want you to convince me.

[Anguille]

I find the trailer for the new DLC pretty obnoxious. It ends with message on the screen stating, "Give money"...it says it twice and then demands that you "do it now".

That's essentially what this is...a cash grab in exchange for features that should have been in the game in the first place.

I think there's a lot of irony here. There's a lot of nice thing in this DLC and i think it's worth 10 bucks imho.

Where do you see irony?

Seems like most of the features in the DLC are core features that should have been in the initial release. Where are the new races? Where are the new ships? Where are the new planet types, etc. Those are the types of things that should be in a DLC. Why am I paying for improved UI and AI? Why am I paying for an improved ground combat experience? Why am I paying for terrain features that all 4x games typically come with as a standard map element?  What am I missing? I want you to convince me.

I first have to play it through and will tell you. Too soon. ;)

Indeed, i should know, i financed the first Stardrive and have barely played it.

On a side note, the original game has been patched at the same time.

[Jarhead0331]

^LoL. You silly goose.

[Anguille]

^LoL. You silly goose.

Guilty!  :D