I picked this game up recently during the Steam summer sale, but I've had my eye on it for a while. For this genre, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I struggled through my first play-through, but for my second attempt I decided to record my progress:
And here is the playlist of where I am thus far: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1HbNiG5nGTekoOYaMLl8noyLYQlVkeZP
So what do you veterans have to say about the game? How does it hold up over multiple play-throughs?
Of course! After watching the trailer, I am unbelievably excited. And that's from not having played any of the previous games yet. I hope it can live up to the hype of the diehard fans.
A very lofty goal, but one I would like to see come to fruition. What are we at now, 1.2?
So says the Borg. Hmmmmm....
Wow! Well, I like Stardock and I'm happy that some of you all like the game so much
I'm a huge fan of Stardock after this, and Sins of a Solar Empire. Now I need to get my hands on some of their classics, like Galactic Civilizations. How long have you been a fan of Stardock?
I think it needs a lot of refinement and balancing
strategy game quality = proportional to how frequent, difficult, and interesting the decisions are
FE/LH have a setup that allows for this, but it feels like the game can be very formulaic because there's no challenge that requires the player to adapt or think
maybe the player can set up his own challenges (eg. win without using X, win without abusing Y, with with giving the AI bonuses of Z%), but that's too artificial.
the players need to actually be players, not designers
I'm sure the game can be modded to be extremely good even without AI (just monsters), but I don't know whether that'll happen
In what way do you think this could be improved upon? More random behavior from the AI?
What games do you think handle this appropriately?
I think the fundamental problem is the game's reliance on symmetrical progression, like Civilization
this works in a multiplayer setting
But when bad AI's try to simulate that multiplayer setting, it falls apart
Even if the AI is better than the rest of the genre, it will still fail
The empire-building / diplomacy / warmongering will never succeed if it's just a contest vs. AIs
even if the AI's get more variation, they will still fail at providing a challenge
Realistically, the only chance they have at making the game great is to focus on the aspects that don't rely on strategic AI.
The environment with its monsters and asymmetrical progression and randomness has a lot of strategy to it. And the problem of tactical AI for a single battle is much easier to solve.
Rogue-like games and turn-based tactical games (RPGs / any games with a party + battles) have been successful at providing challenge in this area.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
