StarDrive

W8taminute · July 24, 2013, 10:17:46 AM

Picked up this title during the STEAM Summer Sales and I'm so glad I did. This game is incredibly fun! I'm not a fan at all of RTS games but the pacing in StarDrive is slow enough not to become a clickfest. I also like the fact that you can pause the game and issue orders as well as increase or decrease the speed of the passage of time.

I'm amazed at how well, not perfect but pretty good mind you, the management screens are for your empire. It is not necessary to locate planets or ships on the main map in order to issue orders to them. There is more than one way to navigate around the game.

I think the tech research map is well laid out and fairly logical to follow. I'm still having trouble coming up with efficient ship designs but am having a lot of fun designing said inefficient ships. ;)

Exploring and colonizing is a fun aspect of the early game but I'm really starting to hate those Owl people and the Computer people. They wipe the decks of their ships with my backside very violently. I gotta figure out how to make them either fear or respect me enough in the early game as to not declare war on me.

And I was surprised that our fellow Grog Martok is in this game. He plays a pirate who tries to extort 250 credits out of you during one of the random events in-game.

Sir Slash · July 24, 2013, 10:25:38 AM

It got a good review in PC Gamer mag.

mikeck · July 24, 2013, 11:11:34 AM

Preaching to the choir here bud. I was on the forum several months ago advocating for this game. it's not the perfect 4x that's for sure, but it's pretty fun and seem to run pretty well and I have a good time with it. I really like the ship design feature and I like being able to choose which buildings i put on which individual planet based on the amount of resources The planet has.

sandman2575 · July 24, 2013, 11:52:14 AM

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, W8aminute. I also picked it up during the Steam sale. I've fiddled with it a bit but haven't really taken the deep dive yet. I love the way the game looks -- it's gorgeous. And I can begin to understand the comparisons to it as a 'simplified' Distant Worlds.

Post more impressions -- you will inspire me to actually play this game I bought!

Re: Owl people etc. -- this is so a pet peeve of mine about 4x games -- the lack of imagination when it comes to dreaming up alien species. The "Take Earth Animal and Turn it into Alien Species" always bugs me as laziness on the game dev's part. The Insect Aliens. The Reptile Aliens. The Avian Aliens. It just bores me, although I can look beyond it to enjoy the game. To my mind, the worst example is the "T-Rex" aliens of Distant Worlds. How the hell do they build anything, much less starships, with those stubby arms??

(There are some imaginative exceptions, of course -- Endless Space has some interesting aliens, like the "Horatio" species, and the Loa in Sword of the Stars II seem refreshingly original.)

W8taminute · July 24, 2013, 12:30:38 PM

Quote from: mikeck on July 24, 2013, 11:11:34 AM
Preaching to the choir here bud. I was on the forum several months ago advocating for this game. it's not the perfect 4x that's for sure, but it's pretty fun and seem to run pretty well and I have a good time with it. I really like the ship design feature and I like being able to choose which buildings i put on which individual planet based on the amount of resources The planet has.

I saw that thread in which you praised the game. That was one of the reasons why I decided to take the plunge, based on a fellow Grogheads recommendation. I'm so glad I did.

Ship design is a lot of fun and I agree with you about placing buildings in precise locations on the planet ground grid.

Quote from: sandman2575 on July 24, 2013, 11:52:14 AM
Glad to hear you're enjoying it, W8aminute. I also picked it up during the Steam sale. I've fiddled with it a bit but haven't really taken the deep dive yet. I love the way the game looks -- it's gorgeous. And I can begin to understand the comparisons to it as a 'simplified' Distant Worlds.

Post more impressions -- you will inspire me to actually play this game I bought!

Re: Owl people etc. -- this is so a pet peeve of mine about 4x games -- the lack of imagination when it comes to dreaming up alien species. The "Take Earth Animal and Turn it into Alien Species" always bugs me as laziness on the game dev's part. The Insect Aliens. The Reptile Aliens. The Avian Aliens. It just bores me, although I can look beyond it to enjoy the game. To my mind, the worst example is the "T-Rex" aliens of Distant Worlds. How the hell do they build anything, much less starships, with those stubby arms??

(There are some imaginative exceptions, of course -- Endless Space has some interesting aliens, like the "Horatio" species, and the Loa in Sword of the Stars II seem refreshingly original.)

You've really got to dive right in sandman! Once you learn how easy it is to navigate around the galaxy and the various screens this game becomes a joy to play. It runs smooth and the action items that the player must process are captivating. I started this thread with the intent of posting some more feedback as well as some screenies from my second attempt at trying to stay alive in this game. The key to this game is to think on a high level and trust the fine details to your ship commanders. I have not used planetary governors yet primarily due to my small amount of colonies to manage. You can decide for yourself how much detail you want to fiddle with or how little. Starting out though I highly recommend playing the game from a 50000 ft high altitude and gradually work your way down to the lower level zoomed in view of empire management.

I agree with you too on that alien species issue. It is a cheap and cheesy way around alien race creation to borrow from life here on our planet and alien it up a bit to make a race. Endless Space has some great alien nations in it indeed! That game is starting to take my infinite spare time away from me as well.

Huw the Poo · July 24, 2013, 12:32:29 PM

Nooooooo! I was so close to picking this up yesterday (it's on sale at Gamersgate) but I went for Dark Souls instead. Now I'm all sad. :(

W8taminute · July 24, 2013, 12:42:32 PM

Don't fret Huw. Dark Souls is a great game. I know because I have it for XBOX and love it.

Put StarDrive on your wishlist though and wait for another sale. ;)

sandman2575 · July 24, 2013, 12:56:38 PM

Quote from: W8taminute on July 24, 2013, 12:30:38 PM
The key to this game is to think on a high level and trust the fine details to your ship commanders. I have not used planetary governors yet primarily due to my small amount of colonies to manage. You can decide for yourself how much detail you want to fiddle with or how little. Starting out though I highly recommend playing the game from a 50000 ft high altitude and gradually work your way down to the lower level zoomed in view of empire management.

Sounds like good advice -- and music to my ears, since anything to avoid micromanaging is a plus in my book.

The race of Samurai Bear aliens makes me roll my eyes in exasperation every time I see them, but I can forgive such stuff provided the game is good, which it sounds like it is.

mikeck · July 24, 2013, 01:38:52 PM

It's good if you accept it for what it is. A light Real time space 4x. By "light" I mean compared to Moo, space empires or DW. I think it's depth compares favorably to SoTS2 and Endless space. Others may disagree. I do hate the Aliens...space bears, owls and bugs. WTF?

Huw the Poo · July 24, 2013, 02:48:50 PM

Quote from: W8taminute on July 24, 2013, 12:42:32 PM
Don't fret Huw. Dark Souls is a great game. I know because I have it for XBOX and love it.

Put StarDrive on your wishlist though and wait for another sale. ;)

Good advice, thanks mate! Yeah I bought the sexybox version of Dark Souls too. I hope it arrives by the weekend! I've wanted it ever since it came out.

Shelldrake · July 24, 2013, 04:41:55 PM

How is multiplayer on Stardrive?

mikeck · July 24, 2013, 05:11:23 PM

I don't think there is a multiplayer.

Shelldrake · July 24, 2013, 05:19:01 PM

Quote from: mikeck on July 24, 2013, 05:11:23 PM
I don't think there is a multiplayer.

Thanks. I just found a review that confirmed no multiplayer. I think that I will hold off purchasing at least for now.

Nefaro · July 24, 2013, 05:29:15 PM

The 'Samurai Bears' are pretty cheesy, but the other stuff doesn't bother me.

Seriously.. I've heard people complain about the alien races in pretty much every 4X game out there. Most of them aren't as bad as they're made to be. Except friggin' space samurai bears, of course.

I had to give it a plus in the alien race department for including a Cthulhu-esque race. So maybe the tradeoff was worth it. 8) It seems like most of them had some kind of inspiration, even if they were inspired by previous 4X games or old literature.

The biggest problem with StarDrive is it's no-frills UI in some places. I recall getting a bit frustrated with the way a couple screen transitions worked. There is also some times I'm trying to give some order and expect there to be a button for it on that screen.. and there isn't. Pretty sparse GUI in places. Endless Space it isn't, regarding UI. Still fun, though, and the ship customization is pretty cool.

mikeck · July 24, 2013, 05:50:01 PM

Agreed on UI. Took me 4 games before I figured out that you can set fleet formations and behaviors for individual ships