Space 4x titles -- a pet peeve (and silly pointless rant)

[Martok]

^  I know the feeling, trust me.  ;) 




Incidentally, I strongly suspect we'll have to wait for Distant Worlds 2 before we see multiplayer.  From the few comments Elliot has made regarding the subject, I get the feeling it would be prohibitively difficult (and not worthwhile) to add MP to the existing game. 

[republic]

I'd donate to a Distant Worlds 2 Kickstarter.  It would be nice if they'd use a 3d engine for smoother scrolling and better multicore support so epic battles wouldn't slow down even a fast system.  The maps are huge, but I'd like to see even larger sizes with additional superpowers scattered about.  Give us massively overpowered MOO2 style guardian systems for us to hurl our lategame selves into.

Maybe some sort of pocket dimension space ala Warlock/Minecraft.  Once we've mastered the current universe we use those resources to start anew.

[Nefaro]

I kinda like not having the extra interface hassle of wrestling with a 3D camera, actually. 

Am I the oddball in that?

[republic]

I don't mean full 3D like Homeworld, just a better graphic engine.  Something that can use a video card instead of relying on the CPU.  Like what the AI War developer did.  Distant World's is very cpu bound.

[Yskonyn]

Doesn't AI Wars use sprites too? Or are they sprites in a 3D engine? Never noticed, but DW is indeed CPU heavy and not much GPU at all.

I would also like to see a somewhat more restrictive ship building system. SotS, for example, uses slots on their ships. Certain slots can only hold certain modules.
The whole 'just flick on modules and see if it fits size-wise' in DW doesn't really appeal to me. It makes ships come across as some random rubble of components where the same sprite may in fact have a very different component configuration.
In SotS you actually see your modules on the model in the battles.
But DW would need a (3D) graphics upgrade indeed for that.

[Nefaro]

Doesn't AI Wars use sprites too? Or are they sprites in a 3D engine? Never noticed, but DW is indeed CPU heavy and not much GPU at all.

AI War is all 2D.  I could be wrong but aren't the ships/facilities in AI War all hand drawn pics?

[Kushan]

I must be the only one who doesn't want them to go to a 3D engine. One of the best things about the game is how easy you can add new ship styles to the game. Google search some images, drop them into a folder, then load that theme when you start the game. No having to do a 3D model, rendering, or textures.

Maybe some sort of pocket dimension space ala Warlock/Minecraft.  Once we've mastered the current universe we use those resources to start anew.

That would be a little to fantasy for me.

I would also like to see a somewhat more restrictive ship building system. SotS, for example, uses slots on their ships. Certain slots can only hold certain modules.
The whole 'just flick on modules and see if it fits size-wise' in DW doesn't really appeal to me. It makes ships come across as some random rubble of components where the same sprite may in fact have a very different component configuration.

If they did something like that I would like to see firing arcs added in.

[panzerde]

I would also like to see a somewhat more restrictive ship building system. SotS, for example, uses slots on their ships. Certain slots can only hold certain modules.
The whole 'just flick on modules and see if it fits size-wise' in DW doesn't really appeal to me. It makes ships come across as some random rubble of components where the same sprite may in fact have a very different component configuration.
In SotS you actually see your modules on the model in the battles.
But DW would need a (3D) graphics upgrade indeed for that.

If we could get a ship-building and tactical combat engine closer to Starsector (http://fractalsoftworks.com/) or Gratuitous Space Battles I'd be fine with that.  It doesn't have to be as sophisticated as SOTS (which I love)  - the SOTS approach might not work as well with the larger DW universe, but I'd like something a big more sophisticated than the current approach, to be sure.

[Bison]

I also think Distant Worlds is a wonderful game.  There is no need to go 3D.  It works great and looks good 2D.  My two recommendations for the game are a scalable UI so you can actually read the text and see the icons, and better optimization to take advantage of the processing power of at least dual cores.

[republic]

I agree top down 2d is the best way to go.  I was referring to an engine that uses a GPU to render the sprites rather than the CPU.  AI War had an engine update a year or so ago that did that.  Same old images, but drawn much faster with the GPU.

Keep the sprites (they look good and are so easy to mod) just let the GPU do the work instead of the CPU.

[Nefaro]

I must be the only one who doesn't want them to go to a 3D engine.

You're not alone.  I often enjoy a well-done 2D game.  3D camera interfaces can just be a damn hassle, and the textures are often less appealing in low-budget indie games.

I would've liked to see ship customization, and maybe even battles, like that in Gratuitious Space Battles.  Ship building is pretty damn cool in that one, and the ship combat mechanics are sensible, if not perfectly balanced in a few cases.  The campaign expansion for it was billed as a 4X expansion, but I don't think it's pretty damn shallow.  The whole Rock-Paper-Scissors thing, so prevalent in strategy games these days, just tends to annoy me.  Must be time for the leap into Aurora.  :-\

[PanzersEast]

After watching a couple of LPs of DW Legends I am going to break down and purchase the game.  From all appearances, this is one of those games that will fill me need far beyond my other 4x titles.  The big draw here is all the customization, character interaction, races, etc....  The UI seems functional but not stellar.  I believe I enjoyed watching the LPs as much as they were playing them..... like CK2, a novel evolved as the game played through. 


In the end, I don't see anything that is currently developed or being developed that approaches the options and features DW does.

PE

[sandman2575]

you won't regret the purchase.  it's a gem of a game. (and i've never even played the expansions, just the original, which is excellent in itself.)

Edit:
"In the end, I don't see anything that is currently developed or being developed that approaches the options and features DW does.

PE"

Arguably, Star Ruler is comparable in terms of depth and customizability.

[OJsDad]

I wonder, and no evidence to support it, if Shadows will, maybe one other expansion, will be the last and we will see DW2 then, with a lot of lessons learned. 

[Jarhead0331]

Arguably, Star Ruler is comparable in terms of depth and customizability.

Hmmmmmm...not sure I can agree with this.  Economy, trade, diplomacy, espionage, heroes, culture, special events, etc. All this stuff and more favors DW as the deeper, more complex game.  On top of this, DW has soul.  I found SR to be more or less a shell of game.  I suppose the elements are there, but for some reason it just feels hollow, even after the long drawn out patching process.