Endless Space - what say ye

[Nefaro]

Any thoughts about the combat system?  I know the hands-off style bugs a lot of people.  What do you like about it?

I kinda like the different style, myself.  Now that they've gotten rid of the time limits for making your 'card' play each round, I just wish there were a bit more variety in the options.  That does expand with certain techs, though.  It just takes time & research to have more than your basic 3 or 4 options.

I'd rather have a mini-game of this sort than some half-assed RTS tac battle that kinda sucks.  I just think the concept could be expanded upon quite a bit, into a more CCG-oriented mini-game.  Having abilities, and notably armaments & equipment, as collectible 'cards' to be researched/discovered & used in this style of tac battle would be far more preferable to the crappy old rock-paper-scissors theme it has in common with other games of the genre.

[Huw the Poo]

Now that they've gotten rid of the time limits for making your 'card' play each round

They have?

[sandman2575]

"    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]  "


from the patch changelog -- is this what you are referring to, Nef?  I'm not sure that refers to the card-choosing timer 'in' combat -- does it?

[Nefaro]

Now that they've gotten rid of the time limits for making your 'card' play each round

They have?

Yep.  I read it in the patch notes. 

You may need to uncheck the option somewhere.  I've not messed with it in awhile - haven't been very 4X-y lately.

I recall someone else mentioning this, too, because they also wondered why it was even there in the first place for single-player mode.

[Huw the Poo]

OK, well that's cool.  Hadn't noticed it myself though.

In the game I have going, the Cravers are fighting back!  It was taking me ages to invade one of their key systems, and sure enough, some fleets eventually arrived.  Now they're starting to add shielding and use lasers themselves.  Back to the ship design drawing board for me!

[Martok]

Huw, how do you find the atmosphere?  I've seen so many comments/complaints about Endless Space being "bland"; aside from perhaps its combat system, it's the number one reason I've held off on getting it.

Also, what about the AI?  I'd read it wasn't so great early on, but how about now? 

[Huw the Poo]

Huw, how do you find the atmosphere?  I've seen so many comments/complaints about Endless Space being "bland"; aside from perhaps its combat system, it's the number one reason I've held off on getting it.

Well it's tough to answer this because it's so subjective.  I suppose the negative I can think of is that despite cosmetic differences, all empires' ships will ultimately be the same.  There are no unique ships or technologies that I know of, so although they look different they fight the same.

However each empire does have its own bonuses and penalties...you know the Sophons are going to be technologically advanced because they get massive science bonuses.  You know the Cravers will try to kill everything because that's what they do.

And speaking purely of atmosphere, I find that Endless Space has no problems there.  The soundtrack is really nice, there are plenty of futuristic and spacey effects all over the game, the battles are sufficiently pulse-quickening, etc.  I've never really understood why some people call the game bland, but as I said, it's all subjective innit?

Also, what about the AI?  I'd read it wasn't so great early on, but how about now?

To be honest, I'm not the best judge of this.  I only really notice when AI does something colossally stupid (like the suicidal sovereigns in War of Magic).  For what it's worth, I haven't noticed any AI do anything stupid in Endless Space yet.  Indeed, in my current game, as described above, they even adapted to my ship designs.

[mikeck]

Yeah, this is one of those games that I really want to like. I just can't get into it...just get bored...like, "what am I supposed to be doing right now instead of hitting end turn constantly". Dunno, maybe I will try again.

[Nefaro]

Huw, how do you find the atmosphere?  I've seen so many comments/complaints about Endless Space being "bland"; aside from perhaps its combat system, it's the number one reason I've held off on getting it.

Also, what about the AI?  I'd read it wasn't so great early on, but how about now?

I think it's as bland as most 4X games are.  It doesn't really stand out as terribly different.  There's no separate screen that pops up with an animated pic of the alien race you're negotiating with, and I think that colors people's impressions.  The diplomacy isn't terribly involved, either, but it's passable and has more than something like SOTS. 

Here's what the "fluff" part of the diplo screen looks like:



I usually don't find the races backgrounds in 4X games terribly enthralling in the first place.  They're usually the same kinds of Apeman-Bugman-Dogman-Reptiledude-Fishman-Bubbleboy kinds of filler.  There is only a rare few that use slightly different game mechanics (SOTS, maybe SoaSE?).  At least this one has an interesting race or two, as in the Horatio:

"Incredibly wealthy and only slightly less deranged, Horatio was an Imperial trillionaire who left to discover his own star cluster. Finding a planet sprinkled with labs of ancient cloning technology left by the Endless, the boredom soon drove Horatio to create a race of allies, servants, and slaves who were every bit as gorgeous as the most beautiful person in the universe -- Horatio. Once the planet was repopulated, Horatio the First had only to look up, regard the stars and realize how much more beautiful they, too, would be if they were filled with... Horatios. The rest, as they say, is history."

Some of the extra touches, like the things (cravers?) flying around Craver ships in 3D battles that look like mosquitoes is pretty cool.   The biggest issue with the races is actually the tech tree.  While it's huge, and you'll definitely have to pick & choose certain areas to specialize in, it's open to all races.  Each race starts out with certain ones along with bonuses & penalties, but everything's open to each one.  So, again, the race techs are all the same and that's probably what most people are complaining about when criticizing the races.  It would probably be less of an issue if they just add a handful of individual research nodes that can only be used by a certain race, as is the case in Distant Worlds.  I dunno if it would make a big gameplay difference, but could give a bit extra individuality to the races. 

[FarAway Sooner]

It's a great effort at a game.  Having played the demo much of the weekend, I'm still decidedly on the fence!

I like the way they've handled resources.  The combat works OK for me, although I'd be lying if I understood exactly what was happening.  The combat mechanic itself is OK to me, but not understanding combat results even after having read the rules makes me wonder whether I'm solving tactical puzzles or just playing slot machines.

The ship design is interesting.

Ultimately, my impression after a weekend is that there's too much micromanagement for me to enjoy.  The tech tree is rich and offers nice combinations of abilities.  But it suffers from the same fate as GalCiv and SoaSE--cryptic tech names.  I can't bring myself to care, much less remember, the difference between techs with names like Tachyon Wave Theory and Sub-Baryonic Physics.  Some call this challenging, but I just call it annoying.

If I could get myself up the learning curve, I might enjoy it a lot.  But I'd have to spend the money and the time to find out.  So I'm still dillemanated.

Which leaves me now stuck between X-COM, Fallen Enchantress, and Endless Space.  Maybe I'll pick my next game based on whichever one releases a demo that I like?    :D

[PanzersEast]

Noticed Endless Space On-Sale at Amazon...  I am digging the latest update.

Endless Space Admiral Edition $7.49
or
Endless Space Emperor Special Edition $8.74


PE

[Huw the Poo]

It's a steal for that price.  Brilliant game since the latest update.

[steve58]

3rd Free Add-on "Lights of Polaris" should be available sometime on Steam today...

http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2012/12/endless-space-3rd-free-add-on-on-steam-today/
Note that your saves may not be compatible with this new update.

According to the publisher, this third free add-on will now bring:

Holiday Special
•New Polaris Factory Wonder
•New Oros Gec Faction Hero

Steam Features
•Steam Achievements
•Steam Cloud

Community Feedback & Balancing
•Battle Actions in Auto (auto battle cards)
•Enhanced Battle Action AI
•Refactored Faction Traits
•"No Pirates" Option
•"Hide exploration flags in the galaxy view" Option

[Gusington]

So, after that third update...any thoughts? I am looking to jump into this and the game's reputation in this thread went from 'meh' to 'cool' in three pages! :)

[Huw the Poo]

I still think it's a great game.  My only remaining issue is that there's still some simultaneity in the turn structure, but the rest of the game is good enough to compensate.