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I cant remember what I bought it all for, $60? 70? That was fair price for all of it. Though I dont play it enough because there is no goddamned windowed mode. Fuuuuck.
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Aug 29, 2013 00:55
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I forget, I think there is one, but you have to go into the files or something, I forget. Certainly you can switch out and back easy enough; it's using the base Windows interface, though prettied up. It's most obvious if you load or save.
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Sep 2, 2013 07:34
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You can make it still full screen, but more friendly to alt+tabbing. IIRC, before editing whatever .ini file it was, it was impossible to alt+tab
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Sep 2, 2013 19:17
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So, anyone care to share their stories of playing Distant Worlds? The thread's kind of quiet, and I'd like things to consider while I save my coins and try to decide between this and Twilight Imperium as my stupidly expensive space 4X purchase. (So far, my bullet point list for Distant Worlds is 'Pro: can play by myself. Con: does not come with lots of exciting bits of plastic and cardboard.')
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Oct 1, 2013 09:15
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Definitely wait for a sale so you don't have to put up with Matrix's bullshit. Apart from that, it's a pretty great 4X game, although if you don't get the latest expansion it runs horrendously. Too bad they didn't think to put the new engine in a patch or something.
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Oct 1, 2013 15:09
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Every now and then this thread gets a post by people who are on the fence (understandably, with the price to buy in being what it is) so here's my opinion on what you need to enjoy this game. Obviously, you need to like 4X, because that's what it is. With the biggest galaxy size you get 1400 stars, which doesn't include gas nebula and the like, add those in and you're looking at over 2000, and with the Extended mod you can up to 37 or maybe 38 races in the game at once, I forget exactly. But that's a huge loving 4X and you can spend weeks on a single game. This game is much more about the strategic level than the tactical one, so you need to be okay with that. Battles tend to be one blob of ships vs. another blob of ships, with the bigger or more advanced one winning the day. There are some basic tactics you can set your ships to follow, but they're very basic and blob vs. blob is the norm. The strategic level is where the game shines. When you've got an empire of 40 colonies in 40 systems and your opponent does too, you can't just build a single fleet and go planet to planet stamping them out. It'd take forever and they'll chew up your weak spots anyway. A war is normally going to be fought across a broad front. You can expect to have half a dozen fleets that you're closely watching and who knows how many other fleets that you're letting the AI handle. Which brings me to the next point: You need to be able to delegate to the AI. Especially in wartime, when you may be launching four or five simultaneous attacks that include warships, ferrying troops from home planet to transport to target planet, and resupply ships, which are somewhat complicated in this game. You'd go batty trying to micromanage everything. Thankfully the AI handles itself reasonably well. You can give it an attack point, an area of operations around that attack point (i.e. attack only in the system the attack point is in, include nearby systems, attack sector wide, etc.), a home base, and the fleet will go out and attack, then pull back to repair and resupply as needed. You can also automate other things that don't concern you greatly and the AI will do a decent (though as I've said before in this thread, sub-optimal) job. But you need to do this or you'll get nowhere in this game because: You cannot be an incurable control freak. The private sector of your empire is out of your hands from the very beginning of the game -- you have no direct control over civilian owned freighters and only very limited means to guide them. In mid-to-late game you're probably going to have 200+ civilian ships all going about their merry business and you can do absolutely nothing but watch them. If the thought of that makes your balls want to re-ascend then you're going to have trouble with this game. Even more so because once you start playing you'll quickly realize that you're never completely in control. There is pretty much never a time when you can sit back in your chair and say "yes, everything is going perfectly according to plan." There is ALWAYS a curveball. There is ALWAYS a new crisis to deal with. You will, metaphorically speaking, spend a large chunk of your game time running around putting out fires. Which means you need to be comfortable with losses. Ships will be destroyed regularly, space stations will be raided and/or destroyed regularly. Periphery planets will be plundered by pillaging pirates. When you're at war expect to lose a planet or two (or more!), because you can't keep everything 100% secure. When you lose that planet billions of your citizens are likely to be killed. And when you take it back, billions more. Leaders will die. This is all routine, so you can't let a big loss take the wind out of your sails. If you quit every time a large setback comes your way you'll never make any progress in this game. You have to play the diplomacy game. I always cringe at signing mutual defense pacts and things like that in 4X games, because the AI is stupid, and if you go all-in with a stupid AI it will eventually drag you into the stupid. But you need trade and mutual defense pacts in this game, or you're going to get stomped, because everyone else will form them, and then you're alone and weak. Trying to be North Korea in this game doesn't work, because it DOES work, and then you're North Korea. The good news is once you're strong friends with somebody you're very likely to remain that way. I've had allies who are "angry" with me because of border tensions or some other bullshit and they still maintained the trade pact and the mutual defense pact. Because they want that money, and they want that protection, even if they do think you're spending too much time in their backyard. That's a lot of words but I think it covers the main points of Distant Worlds that might put people off. The bottom line really comes down "don't be an incurable control freak". Hopefully this helps some of you decide whether or not it's worth the high price. I don't regret a penny I spent on this game, personally. I think it's the best space 4X ever made and I hope more people can get into it and enjoy it as much as I have.
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Oct 1, 2013 16:01
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This is also one of those games where the base game is really good. But Return adds a lot of nice features and you can't go back. And then Legends adds a lot of nice features and you can't go back. And then Shadows. None of them are required, but it's hard to not buy EVERYTHING because you'll play, read about the expansion, and say, "How can I live without that!?" Case and point, the research overhaul. The base game's research is really bad. So just know you're probably looking at the full price tag even if you have no intentions at the moment.
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Oct 1, 2013 16:43
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Yeah basically everything Frog Assassin said. I'd add that DW really gives you the flexibility to play any kind of 4X game you could possibly want. With Shadows you can now even create a replica of the Solar System c. 2013 and spend a good part of the early game sending ships to the Moon and Mars, before expanding out to Alpha Centauri etc. Or you can start off a game with a large, galaxy spanning empire that is slowly being carved up. Or you can start off as a entity from another plane of existence with a small but insanely advanced and powerful fleet. Really it's only restricted by what you can dream up.
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Oct 2, 2013 00:22
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That all sounds really good! I got interested in the game in the first place from the Space Game Junkie's coverage, particularly him talking about a game where he essentially RPed as a leader, starting with only controlling a single ship, then widening his view bit by bit. And I'm more than okay with delegating. It's not quite what I was asking, though. I'm looking more for player tales. You guys are playing the game, right? What kind of fun stuff's been happening in your games?
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Oct 2, 2013 00:45
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FredMSloniker posted:That all sounds really good! I got interested in the game in the first place from the Space Game Junkie's coverage, particularly him talking about a game where he essentially RPed as a leader, starting with only controlling a single ship, then widening his view bit by bit. And I'm more than okay with delegating. This isn't from Shadows - I was playing Legends at the time. Normally I play as a benevolent leader with a huge land grab early game transitioning into peace enforced via a gently caress off fleet large enough to deter people from declaring war on me. Trade boom, science prospers, and I outeco everyone. Simple, easy, works against the AI, and is a lot of fun. This game, however, I decided to start declaring war. I built up a huge empire, swapped to a war-oriented government, became reviled for my actions of bombing out planetary populations to speed up invasions, and my people started rebelling when troops weren't in place on planets. This meant that I started cracking down even harder on planetary populations and installing more and more troops while getting increasingly frustrated with the temerity of the people rebelling against my benevolent rule. After all, my planets were absurdly better places to live than anyone else's, with a much better economy and access to a wide variety of trade goods. Eventually all of this cracking down on planetary populations led to the inevitable. My empire was wracked by a bloody civil war where half of my fleets and planets defected and I had to brutally reintegrate them over the course of several years. I even finished the desolation moon (death star) and annihilated a planet or two to make a point. I paused the game, looked back, and realized that I had essentially just reenacted Star Wars if the Empire had won. However, I did so organically, and in a way that proceeded from trying to be benevolent and improve the lives of everyone in the galaxy to becoming a galactic tyrant that oppressed everyone in the name of progress. It was an incredibly fun game. Do note that I screwed up a few things when I tried to keep my people happy and that lead to most of the unrest that lead to the civil war; being a warmonger doesn't inevitably cause your empire to fracture.
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Oct 2, 2013 01:16
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Especially if you're a species that loves explosions. That's one thing I love about this game, all the species feel different enough from each other, and you can integrate the other species into your empire peacefully or not. Absolutely love that about this game.
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Oct 2, 2013 02:17
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Dark_Swordmaster posted:Especially if you're a species that loves explosions. That's one thing I love about this game, all the species feel different enough from each other, and you can integrate the other species into your empire peacefully or not. Absolutely love that about this game. I ended up with a robot leading my empire of humans in one game after a series of coups that took place over five or six years. One of my colonial governors would topple the emperor and assume the throne, only to have the same thing happen to him not too long after. When the dust finally settled the emperor of my empire was of a completely different species. He went on to rule uncontested for many years.
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Oct 2, 2013 12:55
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FredMSloniker posted:It's not quite what I was asking, though. I'm looking more for player tales. You guys are playing the game, right? What kind of fun stuff's been happening in your games? One thing that happens in this game is finding immensely powerful but derelict ships just hanging out in various places. Sometimes this means finding whole huge graveyards of them at once! The relics of ancient space battles, banged up and abandonded ships with fantastic technology far beyond your own level. Just waiting to be repaired and driven away! I was one planning a massive assault on a neighbor, but I stumbled across something like 25+ ancient ships. Immediately my plans changed, and I devoted every resource I had to repairing these ships and building an unbeatable death fleet. It was a tense balance, because as my repair project reached completion - and right after I became the owner of the only two capital ships in the galaxy - my original target declared war on me. They were surprised, to say the least... And yes, one of the things you can discover is an ancient, unfinished Death Star! It's also fun, as a trade/merchant civ, to snipe excellent tourist locations across the galaxy. Building resort bases deep in enemy territory is a great way to pick fights and transfer a lot of wealth to your treasury. boner confessor fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Oct 2, 2013 |
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Oct 2, 2013 23:09
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I'm finding (starting in the age of shadows, havent tried not starting there) that I never have enough resources for anything, and pirates ruin anywhere I try to expand to. even if I pay a bunch of them to back off, there are always more of them :/ Someday I'll figure this game out. Someday.
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Oct 2, 2013 23:31
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Are there any decent videos out there I can watch to get a feel for the newest expansion? I know I can do the Googles; I'm looking for personal recommendations.
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Oct 10, 2013 04:49
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I just picked this up. I am not sure if I ignored it intentionally, or if I  it originally and just never gave it a real chance. There are some things I would like, like being able to define an area of space an no-go to the AI. otherwise the granularity is awesome. Any advice now that the game is about 3 years old?
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Oct 14, 2013 18:24
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Some general thoughts in no particular order: Install Distant Worlds Extended. It is fantastically well done. Build lots of explorers. You can turn ship design over to the AI but then de-select certain types so you can design them manually. I usually handle military ships myself and leave the rest to AI. If your economy is going strong consider cutting tax rates a little. Money that isn't taxed goes into the coffers of the private sector. In boom times they'll use that money to buy more freighters, which are purchased from the state, and so you end up getting the same money you'd get by taxing plus a stronger economy. Keep a good reputation if you can. It provides a happiness bonus to all of your planets and a diplomacy bonus with all other empires, even the ones whose own reputations are lacking. Turns out even the biggest shithead wants to be able to trust his partner. In the early game colonize wisely but always try to push your borders outward a little more each time you settle. It's generally better to grab a planet that will extend your sphere of influence than it is to grab one that's next door to home. You can backfill later once the initial land grab is over. Try all of the different weapon types, but not necessarily in the same game. I ignored rail guns for a long time because of their pitiful damage. I choose them more often than not these days because of the shield piercing. Play it cool with the pirates in the very beginning of the game, they're often stronger than you and it might be better to just pay them to gently caress off rather than constantly have your shipping lanes and stations sacked. Build up your weapons tech a bit, find out where they are, and then hit them mercilessly. By mid-game most of the pirate empires will have been gutted and they become only a very occasional nuisance. Don't trust the boskaren or the sluken. They tend to be the more antagonistic races in most games. If you've got the Extended mod installed they take a backseat to the Keskudons. If you have Keskudons next door you may as well start churning out fleets, because they're coming for you. Sign trade pacts with everyone you can and mutual defense with the ones who are clearly going to have your back in the long run. Once you've got strong economic ties to an empire they're very reluctant to give them up. I've never seen an empire cancel an MDP and only rarely seen them give up trade pacts, even if our relationship has soured. They want that money. If you're really annoyed by pirates there's nothing stopping you from arming your mining stations. Jack up their shields and give them some fighter bays plus whatever other weapon type you desire. Those little pirate escorts and frigates will never know what hit them. Keep in mind though that this will greatly increase the cost of each station as well as the resources needed to construct it. War is always costly, so make sure it's your best option, have a plan, get it done quickly, and sue for peace.
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Oct 14, 2013 19:43
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Looks like I can get the entire thing for $85. Though I might just get the original like someone suggested and see if I like it. I remember that MoO3 was roasted over how the AI took control over everything and was generally poo poo at it (Troop Transports!). Does the AI in Distant Worlds do a good job at managing parts of my empire?The General posted:I cant remember what I bought it all for, $60? 70? That was fair price for all of it. Though I dont play it enough because there is no goddamned windowed mode. Fuuuuck. Is this option still available?
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Oct 14, 2013 22:34
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$70 is probably not currently available: Matrix occassionally, halfheartedly does sales (major holidays, expansion releases) but otherwise you're probably stuck paying sticker.Travic posted:Looks like I can get the entire thing for $85. Though I might just get the original like someone suggested and see if I like it. I remember that MoO3 was roasted over how the AI took control over everything and was generally poo poo at it (Troop Transports!). Does the AI in Distant Worlds do a good job at managing parts of my empire? Much better than MOO3 (this is admittedly faint praise) and genuinely good, I think. At the very least I can't think of any incredibly stupid mistakes the AI routinely makes - and there's always "Suggest" mode as an alternative where the AI will run its decisions in whatever areas you select like "send this diplomatic gift" or "colonize this planet" or "launch this military attack" by you for you to veto. I like to call DW "MOO3 done right" in that it takes the macromanagement paradigm that MOO3 tried to do, with a more streamlined design and an AI that can actually handle it.
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Oct 14, 2013 22:40
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Matrix will have a Christmas sale if you can wait a couple of months. They usually give 30% discounts.
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Oct 14, 2013 22:40
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I think I'll wait then. Off to find some good videos of this game to scratch that itch. That or try Stardrive.
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Oct 15, 2013 00:47
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Travic posted:I think I'll wait then. Off to find some good videos of this game to scratch that itch. That or try Stardrive. Yikes! I really wouldn't recommend Stardrive...the game isn't finished and the designer has already said he's done with it, took everyone's money to do his 'real' game.
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Oct 15, 2013 00:57
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Lorini posted:Yikes! I really wouldn't recommend Stardrive...the game isn't finished and the designer has already said he's done with it, took everyone's money to do his 'real' game. But...but Space Bears
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Oct 15, 2013 03:32
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the artwork seems to be the main selling point in Star Drive. Back on topic: Looking to get into this game. so matrix games does occasional holiday sales...like thanksgiving or christmas?
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Oct 15, 2013 03:33
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Like he said, Xmas.
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Oct 15, 2013 03:34
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Lorini posted:Yikes! I really wouldn't recommend Stardrive...the game isn't finished and the designer has already said he's done with it, took everyone's money to do his 'real' game. Wow, that game went nowhere. Like the comment right after yours, it was everyone going, "Space Bears!" and saying they'd automatically buy it. He should do a game with kittens in the artwork for his next project.
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Oct 15, 2013 08:22
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Lorini posted:Yikes! I really wouldn't recommend Stardrive...the game isn't finished and the designer has already said he's done with it, took everyone's money to do his 'real' game. Wait, seriously? what exactly did he say? and where?
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Oct 15, 2013 10:15
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King Doom posted:Wait, seriously? what exactly did he say? and where? His rationalization was that Tim Schafer did poo poo with 3 mil so gently caress you guys, it's only 17k!
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Oct 15, 2013 10:57
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tuluk posted:the artwork seems to be the main selling point in Star Drive. They start in November. Late November until January. King Doom posted:Wait, seriously? what exactly did he say? and where? Vindicated and correct as always. I knew this would happen and was probated rom Stardrive threads by rabid fanboys. The trick about 4x space games is to not get hyped about it until its been released for a week. It's hard, but its the only way not to be disappointed. That or buy Distant Worlds during the Matrix sale. Necroneocon fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Oct 15, 2013 |
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Oct 15, 2013 11:16
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He said it in an interview on spacesector.com http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2013/10/stardrive-interview-the-past-present-and-future/ Mayveena fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Oct 15, 2013 |
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Oct 15, 2013 15:21
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I feel like if they put Distant Worlds on steam for $35-40 the creator could retire in a week of sales. There are so many half rear end space games that people pre order again and again because nothing fills the void since moo2, but everyone is still looking.
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Oct 15, 2013 16:20
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There is a thread for Stardrive, albeit now locked, which has a meltdown in it so if you want to know more check the last few pages of that. I would like more of the hints and stories, I'm still struggling to get the hang of this so reading other people's experiences helps me.
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Oct 16, 2013 00:41
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HiKaizer posted:There is a thread for Stardrive, albeit now locked, which has a meltdown in it so if you want to know more check the last few pages of that. I would like more of the hints and stories, I'm still struggling to get the hang of this so reading other people's experiences helps me. If you want an easymode sort of playthrough, try playing the Gizureans (bugs that grow super absurdly ridiculously fast). Spam colony ships as much as you can once your empire is established, and make sure to tax new colonies as little as possible to promote population growth. You'll quickly end up with large numbers of max population planets and have an absurd economy. The trick with Gizureans is that while they don't really have any advantages other than population growth, everything you care about, from tax income to trade, to industrial output, to research capacity is determined by population. Combine the Gizurean's high base rate of reproduction with a leader who gets bonuses to growth rate and never gets replaced (so her bonus will increase and keep increasing the longer the game goes and and the longer she lives) and you get tons of people. Research is also a bit tricky - what I like to do at the beginning of the game is design new research starbases that have an even balance of all three tech tree labs inside of them. I build three in my home system at an arbitrary and relatively defensible point and make sure that all future research station designs have balanced labs. If you favor one tree over the others, feel free to mix up the balance of labs in your stations. I also like to centralize all of my scientists into my home starport. You get a slightly smaller bonus than if you centralized them in a station that had a bonus, but it's a lot easier to defend your homeworld station than it is to defend a station on the periphery.
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Oct 16, 2013 05:00
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Captain Beans posted:I feel like if they put Distant Worlds on steam for $35-40 the creator could retire in a week of sales. Matrix knows better! 
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Oct 16, 2013 11:21
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So upgrading my own ships has resulted in faster, meaner ships across the board. even my freighters are fast as all hell now. Equinox engines for everybody. I had an issue with pirates, and decided that building space stations was a good solution. holy hell does it make problems go away. As soon as they show up, poof. Gone.
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Oct 16, 2013 17:01
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Dirk the Average posted:If you want an easymode sort of playthrough, try playing the Gizureans (bugs that grow super absurdly ridiculously fast). Spam colony ships as much as you can once your empire is established, and make sure to tax new colonies as little as possible to promote population growth. You'll quickly end up with large numbers of max population planets and have an absurd economy. The trick with Gizureans is that while they don't really have any advantages other than population growth, everything you care about, from tax income to trade, to industrial output, to research capacity is determined by population. Combine the Gizurean's high base rate of reproduction with a leader who gets bonuses to growth rate and never gets replaced (so her bonus will increase and keep increasing the longer the game goes and and the longer she lives) and you get tons of people. I like to play Securans with the same 'mass colonise at 0% tax until population established' trick. They have an almost as high growth rate, and huge morale bonuses which also add to growth. I don't really have any hugely interesting stories, but one time I found a volcanic planet with a site that added +100% to ground troop strength. Not having the technology to colonise volcanic planets I left it alone until I found an abandoned Shandar colony ship which I dropped on that planet and built every troop structure available, while completely shifting my research goals from big honking space guns over to elite soldiers. Those laid back lizards became the loving Sardukar of my empire  Though I still wish I'd waited long enough to colonise it from one of my boskara or gizurean planets, just for maximum killing power. 
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Oct 16, 2013 20:45
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I try to keep taxes on new colonies at 0% until they reach 2 billion population as a rule. Can't always do it, but until you have numbers in the billions and good development on a planet tax income is pitiful anyway and not worth the cut in population growth. I've started turning off tech trades (an option added a couple of patches ago) and without being able to sell certain techs it's made staying in the black a bit tougher. Makes it a more challenging balancing act to bring in enough money without hampering growth on new colonies.
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Oct 16, 2013 20:55
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...The AI does this by default. Why worry about this yourself?
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Oct 17, 2013 00:49
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Is it possible to succeed in this game (and by succeed I mean "not get destroyed") if you want to play as a minor intergalactic power? I know the draw is always to be a huge monolithic empire, but I've always enjoyed playing as small and efficient states - the Luxembourg of the stars, if you will!
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Oct 17, 2013 02:23
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Hot Dog Day #82 posted:Is it possible to succeed in this game (and by succeed I mean "not get destroyed") if you want to play as a minor intergalactic power? I know the draw is always to be a huge monolithic empire, but I've always enjoyed playing as small and efficient states - the Luxembourg of the stars, if you will! Arguably this is much more doable in Distant Worlds than in most other games due to the way research works. Instead of growing 1:1 as your empire grows, the research cap growth is more logarithmic, which means that an empire that's twice as big as you isn't necessarily doing twice as much research. This also means that bonuses to research are essential, as they will rocket you ahead of the competition if leveraged properly.
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Oct 17, 2013 06:00
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