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After 5 years, and 4 expansions, Distant Worlds is coming to Steam! http://store.steampowered.com/app/261470/ quote:Distant Worlds: Universe will release through our Online Store as well as, for the first time, through Steam. As this includes both the new Universe expansion with greatly expanded modding support and the Ancient Galaxy storyline plus all previous releases, it will give new customers and existing customers a unified installation for future support and modding. Distant Worlds Distant Worlds is a 4X game from Codeforce, a New Zealand based developer. The twist is the game is set in a universe where you only control the public sector (i.e military) of your empire. There is also a private sector which goes about its own business, sending space freighters between your planets and building its own mining facilities. Your job is to protect the space lanes that your private shipping uses. Both from pirates and other space empires. Basically there is just a shitload to do in this world. Design ships, conduct espionage, fight pirates or pay them protection money, explore black holes and build luxury resorts on the event horizon, research an enormous tech tree, fight space monsters, build planet eaters, corner the market in goods and lots more. FAQ Holy shitballs, this game has like, a thousand different things going on. What do I do? Let's look at some wisdom from the thread: Popular Thug Drink posted:first timers should not play age of shadows. The game is confusing and frustrating enough without the UI tricking you into thinking that you're supposed to start on the absolute hardest and most teeth gnashing hardcore mode. I'm sure plenty of people have been all gently caress this pirate ridden game without ever experiencing the goodness beneath. On automation settings: nutranurse posted:Try letting the AI do everything except research, ship design on military ships (defensive bases, escorts, frigates, destroyers, cruisers, capital ships, carriers, troop transport), colonization (set it to 'suggest new projects), diplomacy (also set it to 'suggest), and espionage (also set to 'suggest'). On the economy: Cantorsdust posted:1. Don't expand so quickly. Your colonies start out making 0 taxes, basically, and you suddenly have to put more money into them in bases, ships to defend them, private economy ships to move goods to them, etc. General Tips PittTheElder posted:
Omniblivion posted:GENERAL NEWBIE TIPS and a few responses to some of the questions over the last page: What are some good mods? PUKED posted:If anyone hasn't checked out mods in a while the Graphics Enhancement Mod is amazing, I've been using it + the Gloom Mod + Explosion Mod + Tampa Sound Mod and it makes a massive difference. Is there a demo? Nope. Unlikely there will be given the dev is now going to work on DW2. Is there an AAR? Check out Grey Hunter's LP here Will this ever be cheaper or go on sale? Matrix have a sale around Christmas every year. But don't expect ~*crazy*~ Steam type discounts. Usually 30% - 40% off is what you will get. Steam might have some ~*crazy*~ Steam type discounts! Is this the new MOO2? Not really. But it is about as good as we're likely to get for some time. There is a great review over on Out of Eight. (This is a review of the base game. Many of the complaints in the review have been addressed in the expansion). Out of Eight posted:What saves Distant Worlds from being completely unmanageable is the optional automation the game features. This allows you to focus on the parts of the game that interests you the most, whether it be the military, ship design, diplomacy, colonization, exploration, economy, or intelligence. Of course, this may left you feeling like your empire is being run without your input, but you can always intervene in any aspect of the game that is being directed by the AI and disable it if you want more direct control. Honestly, running an empire spanning hundreds of star systems and thousands of planets would be too daunting and frustrating otherwise. It seems better to automate most things and intervene when necessary (move troops, build a new ship design, conduct diplomacy). The first expansion for the game was Return of the Shakturi: The second expansion was Distant Worlds: Legends. quote:Distant Worlds: Legends is the highly anticipated second expansion to the critically acclaimed 4X space strategy game Distant Worlds. Legends is a huge step forward which brings the Distant Worlds universe to life. A new character system includes Leaders, Admirals, Generals, Governors, Ambassadors, Scientists and Agents, each with defined abilities and traits and opportunities to advance and grow over time. Expanded gameplay for all existing races includes new race-specific events, technologies and victory conditions which create a completely different game depending on your choices. An expanded tech tree also awaits, with dedicated carriers, cutting lasers, rail guns, new planetary facilities and wonders, and much more (including a new hidden faction)! The third expansion was Distant Worlds: Shadows quote:- Play as an independent space-based faction, a very different play experience from the existing "Empire" gameplay. The final expansion is Distant Worlds: Universe that combines the original game and all the expansions, plus adding advanced modding tools. quote:Emphasis was placed on the community as the game features advanced modding tools to allow you to develop extra content and set up their own galaxies and epic storylines. Thanks to a user-friendly in-game editor and a comprehensive modding guide, even beginners will be able to create unique galaxies with intricate plots. For me this has been my go to space 4X game for some time. The only one which is comparable would be Star Ruler (made by our very own Firgof!). I actually wish there could be some amalgam of Distant Worlds and Star Ruler, maybe Star Ruler's ship creation system with Distant Worlds diplomatic system and public/private divide. At any rate, if you're looking for something to scratch that MOO2 itch, this could the game you're looking for. edit: How could I forget, this game has MOTHERFUCKING SPACE TYRANNOSAURUSES IN IT!!!! V for Vegas fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Jul 15, 2014 |
# ? Sep 27, 2011 13:42 |
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# ? May 28, 2024 14:43 |
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I just spent two hours just watching the game play itself just so that I can learn better how it works. I think I got the hang of it though I haven't really tried playing myself yet. What's puzzling is that the AI is supposed to be decent because managing everything yourself is supposed to be too daunting. So, can the AI also win without any player input? I really love the in-game wiki. I love complex games but too many complex indie titles fail to come with a manual of the required thickness to explain how their game works. Anyway, a lot of potential on paper but I still need to see how it actually plays.
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# ? Oct 7, 2011 06:34 |
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The AI does a decent enough job not to balls things up on you. I wouldn't be confident it could 'win' a game for you. I tend to leave things like colonization, research, fleet maneuver and ship design on manual.
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# ? Oct 13, 2011 12:45 |
Shame this isn't on steam otherwise I'd love to play it.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 03:31 |
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Outer Heaven posted:I just spent two hours just watching the game play itself just so that I can learn better how it works. I think I got the hang of it though I haven't really tried playing myself yet. What's puzzling is that the AI is supposed to be decent because managing everything yourself is supposed to be too daunting. So, can the AI also win without any player input? I still own the base game, though I need to redownload, and maybe get those expansions. The AI can manage well enough, but it's not exactly aggressive enough to win for you. Wonder if they sorted out pirates stealing your(Likely superior) designs even before you've deployed any(thus making them probably the biggest potential threat in the game)? They stopped most of the ways to make a true 'super ship' as I recall, and rightly so. Still, it was good making a 'refinery' that was capable of tearing up fleets and worlds.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 03:43 |
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I really love the idea of having your faction include a civilian component that goes around and does its own thing without regard for your master plan. That new expansion looks like it adds some cool stuff and I think it's gonna be time to pick this up when it comes out.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 03:57 |
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Captain Beans posted:I really love the idea of having your faction include a civilian component that goes around and does its own thing without regard for your master plan. That new expansion looks like it adds some cool stuff and I think it's gonna be time to pick this up when it comes out. Thats my favorite part about the game. It makes your empire feel alive. The game is still just too rough around the edges for me to enjoy consistently.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 04:00 |
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Node posted:Thats my favorite part about the game. It makes your empire feel alive. The game is still just too rough around the edges for me to enjoy consistently. Hmmm. I've been following Distant Worlds for a while now, could you expand on what you mean? (They really should have a demo )
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 04:03 |
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Captain Beans posted:Hmmm. I've been following Distant Worlds for a while now, could you expand on what you mean? I'm not very good at articulating why in this case. It just feels like there isn't much gameplay. I haven't dedicated hundreds of hours to it like Civ 4, for instance, but every game feels the same and the few decisions you make don't seem to make a noticeable difference. Maybe someone else who has the same feelings as me can explain it better.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 04:09 |
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I'm pretty intrigued; this game looks deep and complicated. I watched a short video on exploration which showed the player exploring not only each start system, but each planet in each system. Is this a beast of micromanagement or does it flow pretty smoothly? Is the learning curve as steep as dwarf fortress?
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 04:13 |
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Kazmirski posted:I'm pretty intrigued; this game looks deep and complicated. I watched a short video on exploration which showed the player exploring not only each start system, but each planet in each system. Is this a beast of micromanagement or does it flow pretty smoothly? Is the learning curve as steep as dwarf fortress? It can be pure micromanagement hell if you're insane, but it's incredibly simple just to automate anything that doesn't interest you and only mess with the stuff you want to. The learning curve isn't nearly as steep as dwarf fortress due to this. I haven't played since a few weeks after the initial release, is there still heavy rubber-banding? I get wanting a challenge but if I set the starting conditions so I'm a space-hegemon it kinda kills it to see everyone catch up after a year
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 04:26 |
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Node posted:I'm not very good at articulating why in this case. It just feels like there isn't much gameplay. I haven't dedicated hundreds of hours to it like Civ 4, for instance, but every game feels the same and the few decisions you make don't seem to make a noticeable difference. Like any grand strategy game, every instance of it will feel the same if you don't develop your own twists. Hell, its a staple of most games, you just don't realize it when the an instance of game is only an hour or two. I will grant that Distant Worlds is a bit more restrictive than most since you'll usually automate a lot of the micro-management. The first expansion adds quite a few options, especially when it comes to tech progression.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 05:30 |
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...gently caress, I hope they don't charge $40 for this one like they did the first expansion, though I'm sure they will. I'll probably end up buying it anyway.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 05:39 |
Welp, bought this to keep me occupied while waiting for SOTS to be patched, and the first thing I see is this: 'Distant Worlds has stopped working.' When I click on the 'play' button for the first time. Edit: Reinstalling to C: drive cleared the problem. Odd. Beefeater1980 fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Oct 30, 2011 |
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 13:57 |
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I really like this game - it's awesome they're doing another expansion. For me, it's the automation that gives the game the edge, although I understand why some people won't like it. Perhaps they feel like they're delegating away some of the gameplay. In some ways it's a bit like Sim City or (going back some way) Sim Earth - you define the boundary conditions (e.g. Assign planets to colonise), make some key choices and interventions, then you let your creation grow. As another poster said, the civilian side is great. Seeing the number of freighters being built increasing and watching them move ever more resources all over your empire makes it feel much more alive than a regular 4x. When the expansion comes out I'm going to mash the buy button sooooooo hard. So much cool stuff coming out in November. So little time.
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# ? Oct 30, 2011 17:48 |
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I really liked this game. Yeah, it's a bit rough, but it really does a fantastic job of balancing the scale of enormous, galaxy-spanning empires with a reasonable amount of management. The civilian economy aspect is such a massive improvement to the genre, it should really be a standard feature of modern 4X games. I always had a hard time of getting my economy up and running and getting research done in a timely fashion, though. The AI is okay but last I played it tended to overspend and build stations in not ideal locations. Is there a good guide for handling this stuff? Edit: Also, troops were a huge drain unless you manually slashed your army. That gave me trouble, hopefully they've fixed the AI for that, because that was one of the more tedious things. Managing a force of troop ships was pretty awesome and essential for diplomacy and war, though. Oh, you won't stop pirating my ships and claim jumping my miners? Maybe if can have a strike force with a dozen divisions of troops hovering over that nice planet of yours five seconds from the word go that will change your mind. Rob Rockley fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Oct 30, 2011 |
# ? Oct 30, 2011 21:18 |
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Node posted:I'm not very good at articulating why in this case. It just feels like there isn't much gameplay. I haven't dedicated hundreds of hours to it like Civ 4, for instance, but every game feels the same and the few decisions you make don't seem to make a noticeable difference. Maybe try a more warlike race? The fish bastards are pretty fun, they have a good combination of powerful ships and econ. You can pretty much be a total dick to everyone. I think some things like shipbuilding could use more depth, I mean it looks pretty complicated but it's all about finding out what works and just using that over and over. I hope all the weapons they're adding in the expansion adds a lot more strategy to it. But mostly I think it's pretty solid, if it had better AI or a MP mode it would be one of my favorites easily.
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# ? Oct 31, 2011 04:56 |
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Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAaiwwpZ-WY AAR: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2952844&mpage=1&key= Loving the personality the game has now. Should be released in about a week!
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# ? Nov 17, 2011 02:16 |
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Node posted:I'm not very good at articulating why in this case. It just feels like there isn't much gameplay. I haven't dedicated hundreds of hours to it like Civ 4, for instance, but every game feels the same and the few decisions you make don't seem to make a noticeable difference. I tried the game with the last expansion, and was disappointed. It's a sim with 4X stylings, and not a actual 4X. Trouble is, it's not much of a sim. It's feature-rich but not playability-rich. The automation handles peaceful expansion very well, but is very absent-minded when it comes to warfare. Even when I'm facing a hostile empire one-tenth my size, the automation won't simply crush them, but sends my fleets off to patrol perfectly quiet space lanes elsewhere and then asks me if I want to press for peace. Meanwhile my enemy is having a great time and expanding fast. Fleet management is poorly done. There's no easy way to track multiple ships in different locations, and you can't rely on the automation. It won't even tell you when your World Killer gets destroyed. Also, the need to continually refuel your fleets is painful, as it results in too much downtime. They could have handled that better by simply enforcing ranges, rather than micromanaging fuel. There's too much to micromanage, but using the automation too much turns the game into a morass of poor decisions and detachment where every playthrough feels the same. This, I feel, is why there's no demo.
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# ? Nov 17, 2011 03:09 |
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Wednesday, 23 November slated as the release date.
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# ? Nov 20, 2011 01:13 |
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V for Vegas posted:Wednesday, 23 November slated as the release date. Any information on pricing? I really hope it's cheaper than RotS was Edit: Looked back at my receipt for RotS, and apparently I only paid $20 for it, not $40 like I was thinking That's reasonable. Lprsti99 fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Nov 20, 2011 |
# ? Nov 20, 2011 06:27 |
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It looks like there is going to be a similar deal to the one for the last expansion which was this:quote:To mark the release of Distant Worlds – Return of the Shakturi we will be offering the expansion at $19.99 (digital) and $29.99 (physical) until January 4, 2011 – a discount of $5 off the regular price! This gives existing owners of Distant Worlds a chance to purchase at the bundle price. Also, right now and throughout the duration of our holiday sale, Distant Worlds will remain at its discounted price of $26.99 (digital) and $36.99 (physical). But even if they bundle the game and first expansion for say, $40, plus $20 for the 2nd expansion, that's still $60 for what is really a niche game developed by one guy.
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# ? Nov 21, 2011 13:37 |
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quote:With our massive holiday sale currently going strong, now has never been a better time to jump in a starship and head to Distant Worlds. The base game is now on sale for $26.99 and its expansion Return of the Shakturi is $16.99 (both prices are for the digital download) – that means both titles are selling for 33% off until January 8th!
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 21:26 |
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Jesus I really wanted to get this game as it sounds right up my alley, but Christ $63.97 for all the expansions and the game itself is a bit steep for me.
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 21:32 |
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Too bad I'm broke
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 21:38 |
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Can anyone confirm whether Legends was released? Work decides to block the Matrix Games site but not SomethingAwful, as if that makes perfect sense.
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 21:59 |
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nessin posted:Can anyone confirm whether Legends was released? Work decides to block the Matrix Games site but not SomethingAwful, as if that makes perfect sense. Yes.
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 22:05 |
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Yeah, sadly this is priced out of what I'm willing to go for. You're indie in a niche market, why don't you make it half the price. Star Ruler got my money, but you won't!
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 22:17 |
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Matrix Games. They only price gorgnardy, which is about 50% more than the price that would make them a shitload of money.
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 22:19 |
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Bhodi posted:Yeah, sadly this is priced out of what I'm willing to go for. You're indie in a niche market, why don't you make it half the price. Star Ruler got my money, but you won't! They're hardly indie. Matrix/Slitherine are somewhere in the realm of 75% of the video wargaming market. And they've had some games get put out to Steam/GamersGate/what not with the occasional sale, but I'm not sure if that is a publisher decision or individual developers.
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 22:27 |
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I think he meant the people that made the game, not matrix who are presumably just the publisher.
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# ? Nov 23, 2011 23:33 |
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This game looks so good and exactly what I'm looking for. How competent is the AI. Can it be trusted to not gently caress everything up if decide to let it run everything while I play with a single fleet?
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# ? Nov 24, 2011 02:41 |
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I really like this game but the pacing of it is awful. You can beat everyone in tech by just upgrading your starting starbase with more tech labs. I increased mine from 10 of each to 25 of each and it barely costs anything and the homeworld retrofits fairly quickly. You'll be researching so fast you can't keep up with the upgrades and you can just tramble any opposition with long range lasers. Still, if you start a game as a starting empire in a mature galaxy the AI will have advantages that will keep you on your toes. But its still way too rough for me to enjoy it thoroughly, why does one goddamn pirate frigate cause every single civillian vessel in the system to jump 10 lightyears in a random direction?
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# ? Nov 24, 2011 02:49 |
part of the manual's section on "population policies": Has any 4x game ever had such a detailed implementation of racial enslavement and genocide?
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# ? Nov 24, 2011 03:46 |
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Ok, bit the bullet and bought all 3 games. Hopefully it's going to be the best 70 bucks I've ever spent
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# ? Nov 24, 2011 08:36 |
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I've had a chance to play a bit with legends. Things I like: The territory system is well done, it makes systems near your colonies your territory, and prevents nearby AI from taking YOUR goddamn planets. Leaders are dumb though, they give flat bonuses but they don't have any core values. A govoner won't reduce corruption or give any inherent bonuses unless it's one of his attributes. So because of this I had a fleet admiral who reduced maneuvering and speed by 10% and did nothing else. I loaded his dumb rear end on a frigate and send him at 3 space lobsters. The game is more balanced though. Techs cost more and the events can really change up the game. I had swamp colonies get a critical breakthrough and then It proceeded at 3x speed so I managed to expand early.
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# ? Nov 24, 2011 19:42 |
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Demiurge4 posted:
Characters will pick up traits though. If you have an admiral who is in a bunch of battles with fighters, he gets a fighters bonus. Characters are meant to be rare, so it's better to stick with a bad one and have them improve gradually than have none at all.
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# ? Nov 24, 2011 23:41 |
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Demiurge4 posted:
That is what most interests me most about the expansion. The game already has a ton of features, it's just needs to make them all interesting and playable in a real game, not only on paper.
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# ? Nov 25, 2011 12:21 |
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My empire at the moment seems to be doing pretty good. My personal construction ship basically spends all day building resorts over interesting features as my carrier kills bugs. Admittedly I'm not doing anything and the ai is but I'm going to take the credit Can u personalize the fighters at all? I can't see anyway of doing it and I want to make wildly inappropriate versions of them for my new super carrier
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# ? Nov 25, 2011 13:53 |
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# ? May 28, 2024 14:43 |
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I'm really impressed by this Legends expansion: my favourite improvement is the "spheres of influence". Thank you CodeForce, Distant Worlds is the best 4X game in the world!!!
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# ? Nov 25, 2011 18:03 |