Distant Worlds on Sale

[Shepp]

There was another a thread a few weeks ago where Distant Worlds had come up. I checked out a bunch of Let's Play's and it looked like a pretty interesting 4x game. However the price for the base game and its two expansion packs was over $100. Well it looks like they've released another expansion and are sunning a sale. Right now the base game, the first two expansions, and the brand new one is $70. That was low enough for me to come down off the fence and download it yesterday. Figured I'd let everyone here know in case anyone else was hung up on the price like me.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks. I have heard enough good things to go for it at that price.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks.. I'd like to know how hard the game is.. it looks very intimidating to the n00b. :)

[EagleFan]

Link?

[MizzouRah]

Matrix Games - Distant Worlds (http://www.matrixgames.com/products/379/details/Distant.Worlds)

[sachmo71]

love Distant World! highly recommended.

[QuikSand]

With Matrix Games, you can't go wrong!!!

Matrix Games - Maximum-Football 2.0 (http://www.matrixgames.com/products/301/details/)

[Blackadar]

With Matrix Games, you can't go wrong!!!

Matrix Games - Maximum-Football 2.0 (http://www.matrixgames.com/products/301/details/)

Matrix has low standards. If any. I very much dislike Matrix.

Distant Worlds vastly exceeds those standards and is highly recommended for those who like 4x games. I bought it despite Matrix's involvement.

MizzouRah, there's a learning curve on this one without a doubt. It's not as obtuse as some Paradox games, but it's in the same ballpark. Luckily you can choose to have the AI automate almost everything, so it's possible to get started quickly. I watched about an hour of Let's Play videos just to pick up the basics. But it's definitely one of my favorite 4x games.

[MizzouRah]

Matrix has low standards. If any. I very much dislike Matrix.

Distant Worlds vastly exceeds those standards and is highly recommended for those who like 4x games. I bought it despite Matrix's involvement.

MizzouRah, there's a learning curve on this one without a doubt. It's not as obtuse as some Paradox games, but it's in the same ballpark. Luckily you can choose to have the AI automate almost everything, so it's possible to get started quickly. I watched about an hour of Let's Play videos just to pick up the basics. But it's definitely one of my favorite 4x games.

Wondering when you would "pop in" :)

I think I asked this before, but you have to buy the original and ALL expansions in order to play Shadows, correct?

[Blackadar]

Wondering when you would "pop in" :)

I think I asked this before, but you have to buy the original and ALL expansions in order to play Shadows, correct?

Aye. You need 'em all to play Shadows. I'm getting Shadows this coming weekend.

One note about DW - I HATE HATE HATE real-time strategy games. DW is real-time...yet I (obviously) recommend it. That should tell you something about the depth and personality of the game.

As always, YMMV

[sachmo71]

Aye. You need 'em all to play Shadows. I'm getting Shadows this coming weekend.

One note about DW - I HATE HATE HATE real-time strategy games. DW is real-time...yet I (obviously) recommend it. That should tell you something about the depth and personality of the game.

As always, YMMV

the automation is a must for most things, but it does a pretty good job of things. the only thing that bothers me is that the mid-game usually becomes a land grab, an my empire loses it's awesome cohesion as I snarf up planets on the far side of the galaxy.

the good news is that this can lead to some excellent wars.

[MizzouRah]

Aye. You need 'em all to play Shadows. I'm getting Shadows this coming weekend.

One note about DW - I HATE HATE HATE real-time strategy games. DW is real-time...yet I (obviously) recommend it. That should tell you something about the depth and personality of the game.

As always, YMMV

Thanks.. too bad you can't just get the original and then the expansion. $70 is still too steep for me just for one game. (I know it's really 4 games, but I would only play the latest expansion) :)

[Blackadar]

You can lead a horse to water...

[tyketime]

Is there enough of a variation in play strategies, or does this follow along the lines of the Civ type games where there is a typical starting strategy for research and exploration? In other words - is replayability really high, or do the games tend to follow similar pattern?

[Blackadar]

Is there enough of a variation in play strategies, or does this follow along the lines of the Civ type games where there is a typical starting strategy for research and exploration? In other words - is replayability really high, or do the games tend to follow similar pattern?

The game has very high replayability. With different races to choose from, different econcomic types, different random events, random maps, many different resources, different opponents, different leaders and so forth, no two games play out the same. Like any 4x game there are certain things you're going to do, but you have to keep your eyes open for opportunities. Plus you can turn off or on certain possible gameplay/storyline events that can change things dramatically.

[MizzouRah]

You can lead a horse to water...

I tend to buy games and then play them once and never touch them again.. not that I don't believe you, but I'd hate to waste $70 right now.

I'm sure at some point I'll dive in. I've been watching LP's and reading reviews to make sure it's my cup of tea.

Thanks though, I do appreciate your posts.

[Blackadar]

I tend to buy games and then play them once and never touch them again.. not that I don't believe you, but I'd hate to waste $70 right now.

I'm sure at some point I'll dive in. I've been watching LP's and reading reviews to make sure it's my cup of tea.

Thanks though, I do appreciate your posts.

Nah, it's all good Mizzou. I'm just kidding you.

DW is a tough purchase. Matrix sucks. The entry cost is very high. There's no demo. And it's not a mainstream AAA game. They don't make it easy. I bet if it were on Steam for $39 as a complete edition, they'd sell 5x or 10x the number of copies because it blows other space 4x games out of the water. But they haven't...

I did the same thing you're doing. I watched LP's, read the Out of Eight review about 10 times and even unsuccessfully tried to find a bittorrent copy of the game to try out (I'm such a horrible software pirate!). I finally just decided that I had to give this one a shot and I'm glad I did.

[Lonnie]

Well is the base game at $20 playable still, or has the expansions made it a must to get them all?

[MizzouRah]

Nah, it's all good Mizzou. I'm just kidding you.

DW is a tough purchase. Matrix sucks. The entry cost is very high. There's no demo. And it's not a mainstream AAA game. They don't make it easy. I bet if it were on Steam for $39 as a complete edition, they'd sell 5x or 10x the number of copies because it blows other space 4x games out of the water. But they haven't...

I did the same thing you're doing. I watched LP's, read the Out of Eight review about 10 times and even unsuccessfully tried to find a bittorrent copy of the game to try out (I'm such a horrible software pirate!). I finally just decided that I had to give this one a shot and I'm glad I did.

Yeah, it's just odd you can't buy the original release and then the latest upgrade (aka expansion).

If it was on Steam for a price similar to yours, there is no doubt it would sell 10x what it probably has.

[Blackadar]

Well is the base game at $20 playable still, or has the expansions made it a must to get them all?

I dunno. I never played the base game without the expansions.

[Blackadar]

Yeah, it's just odd you can't buy the original release and then the latest upgrade (aka expansion).

It's not that odd.

I've seen some do it that way (i.e., Civ IV Beyond the Sword didn't require Warlords - it included those changes in BtS), but I've seen others that one expansion build off of another. For example, Galactic Civ 2's Twilight of the Arnor requried the first expansion (Dark Avatar).

[sachmo71]

The game has very high replayability. With different races to choose from, different econcomic types, different random events, random maps, many different resources, different opponents, different leaders and so forth, no two games play out the same. Like any 4x game there are certain things you're going to do, but you have to keep your eyes open for opportunities. Plus you can turn off or on certain possible gameplay/storyline events that can change things dramatically.

on top of this, if you change the victory conditions, you would have to play completely differently from one game to the next. and there are a ton of options for victory conditions, and you can turn them all on or off as you choose.

The biggest knock would probably be that it is 2d, so the graphic thrill isn't there. however, the game engine and mechanics are very detailed...it's just not all that pretty. think about the game you wanted MOO to be, add some configurable complexity, and that is what you are looking at.

I also believe you could buy the base game, play it and see if you like it, without shelling out for the expansions right away.

[Shepp]

Looks like there are quite a few mods for this as well. I haven't dug to deap but one of the Lets Plays I watched moded the ships and sound effects from Star Trek.

[Blackadar]

I found this on another gaming website and I thought I'd post it here. Every game of DW has these kinds of epic stories...note that this one is only taking place at the beginning of the game with so much more left to go!

I had a fun little war last night in my current Quameno game. I had just recently gotten hyperdrives, was still busy upgrading my ships, and had just landed troops on a very small, populated world when a small Gizurean empire declared war on me. At that point I had 3 colonies in my home system, plus 2 very infant colonies in other systems, a few out system mining bases, and a main fleet of about 5 frigates and 5 destroyers. He only had his homeworld, some outlying mining bases, plus a main fleet of about 11 ships, mostly escorts and frigates. Unfortunately at the start of the war I had really bad intel on him so I only knew of one system where he had influence and didn't know the exact location of any of his assets, so one of the first things I did was send an intel mission to get his territory map.

When the war started my fleet had just captured that colony and so was completely out of position to defend my main systems, but luckily I had a good amount of orbital defenses at my homeworld, so the enemy was forced to just harass me and raid my out system mining bases. Once I got my fleet back to base and regrouped I had no sign of the enemy fleet, so I sent my fleet in the direction of his worlds to start looking around for his homeworld and some raiding targets.

I had just found a few mining bases and destroyed them when I got reports that the enemy fleet had appeared in orbit of the colony I had earlier captured. Good for me I had left 10 divisions of troops to garrison the planet and had also built a planetary defense unit there to help with the constant pirate raids. The enemy first landed a small force of only two divisions, but that was just the first ship reaching the planet a little early. Thankfully I was able to surround and destroy those two divisions just before the main body of troops dropped. Their main force was about 8 divisions of green Gizurean infantry led by a general. I slightly out firepowered him on the planet, but only by a bit. I also had a +10% planetary defense bonus, plus a beefy +50% for my advanced ground combat technologies, while he had space control for the time being.

It was a fairly long fight that I was slowly winning until a small pirate fleet jumped into orbit for a raid. The Gizureans didn't have the taste for a fight so pulled their fleet back which took away their troops space control bonus. That left their lines in tatters and allowed my troops to finally finish them off. So in addition to killing off a general and a lot of their infantry, I also now had a good corp of 10 veteran divisions for my eventual offensive.

The only other key engagement of the war came later. I had found his home system and had started raiding mines when he decided to do the same to me. The only difference was I took a look at the massive defenses of his homeworld and wisely decided to stay away, while he decided to send his ships in to raid my homeworld. His move wasn't quite as crazy as it seemed at first. His fleet was led by a pretty powerful ancient destroyer and it jumped in ahead of his main fleet and got the attention of some of the 200 missile batteries I had over my homeworld, but it's massive shielding let it absorb most of my firepower. That let the rest of his ships follow behind and start engaging my stations in close. In the end I lost one orbital battery and had another severely damaged, but once I finally managed to bring down the shields of his flagship it fell pretty quickly to a few more missile barrages and then it was open season on the rest of his ships.

At that stage I started getting hit with more waves of pirate raiders and so had to pull back my fleet to the home system to protect my infant colonies there and protect my constructors as they rebuilt some of the damage the Gizureans managed to inflict. The war with the Gizureans is technically still going on, but my raids seriously damaged their economy, and I completely crippled their fleet, so I haven't bothered to finish them off yet. That and I don't have the resources at the moment to build the type of fleet it would take to break the defenses on their homeworld. :P

This game just keeps getting closer and closer to perfect with each release. In particular the new ground combat mechanics and rebalanced economy are major improvements to how the game plays. Can't wait for them to get the pirate mechanics polished up a bit, but the changes to the base game should be enough to keep me entertained for a while.

[MizzouRah]

I found this on another gaming website and I thought I'd post it here. Every game of DW has these kinds of epic stories...note that this one is only taking place at the beginning of the game with so much more left to go!

That's a great read.

[MizzouRah]

So if you buy the whole series for $70. Do you install each one in order and then just play Age of Shadows once all of them are installed?

[Shepp]

So if you buy the whole series for $70. Do you install each one in order and then just play Age of Shadows once all of them are installed?

Yes

[MizzouRah]

Yes

Thanks... I guess it's just like expansions are for any other game.

[MizzouRah]

I gave in today.. after reading and watching more videos. Very nice mod called the "Extended" mod which adds 16 more races to the game.

Ran through the two tutorials and too Erik's advice and started off on easy with everything on "suggest" so I see how the AI would build things.

I figure I'll start to turn things off as I get used to the game.

Early impressions are good though.. I'm really drawn into the game and it feels more alive than any 4x space games I've played to date. I also love how you can basically put the game on "auto pilot" and start to lessen that as you get used to the game, that's huge for a game of this depth.

[DaddyTorgo]

Looks like there are quite a few mods for this as well. I haven't dug to deap but one of the Lets Plays I watched moded the ships and sound effects from Star Trek.

Seriously? So it's like Birth of the Federation only actually ya know...a complete game??

FML

[DaddyTorgo]

Seriously? So it's like Birth of the Federation only actually ya know...a complete game??

FML

Just the ships and sound effects, or all the cultures and everything to? If someone points me to that mod that's probably enough right there to get me to pull the trigger...damnit.

[MizzouRah]

Just the ships and sound effects, or all the cultures and everything to? If someone points me to that mod that's probably enough right there to get me to pull the trigger...damnit.


[REL 0.9.2] Star Trek - The Picard Era (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2497781&mpage=1&key=)

Doesn't look like it's compatible with the latest "Shadows" release yet.

[Blackadar]

I gave in today.. after reading and watching more videos. Very nice mod called the "Extended" mod which adds 16 more races to the game.

Ran through the two tutorials and too Erik's advice and started off on easy with everything on "suggest" so I see how the AI would build things.

I figure I'll start to turn things off as I get used to the game.

Early impressions are good though.. I'm really drawn into the game and it feels more alive than any 4x space games I've played to date. I also love how you can basically put the game on "auto pilot" and start to lessen that as you get used to the game, that's huge for a game of this depth.

Congrats on making the jump.

Here's a suggested starting configuration for new players: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3333889

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks for the info. Spent free time the last week reading the instruction manual. Look forward to starting my first game tonight.

[Blackadar]

Thanks for the info. Spent free time the last week reading the instruction manual. Look forward to starting my first game tonight.

Be prepared to be lost for a while. Here's a couple of mods to install pretty early:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3226625 - Better icons for resources.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3339520 - Silent Alarms

[MizzouRah]

Congrats on making the jump.

Here's a suggested starting configuration for new players: How to play an Easy Introductory Game in the Pre-Warp Age of Shadows (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3333889)

That's exactly how I started out. Just letting the AI do somethings and I as learn, I'll start taking over control.

Starting in the Pre-Warp era is great too since I can only putt around my orbit.

[SunDevil]

Damn it. I just got the whole set. I hate you guys but thanks for the recommendation.

[Lonnie]

Happened to me too. I kept saying no to myself, I don't need another game right now, but this thread kept popping up...followed by watching youtube videos...followed by damnit I bought it might as well play it.

[Blackadar]

If ya'll end up hating this game, I'll never hear the end of it.

[spleen1015]

Can someone recommend a good Let's Play for this?

[Blackadar]

Can someone recommend a good Let's Play for this?

Let's Play DW RotS - Starting a new game (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2950287)

[MizzouRah]

If ya'll end up hating this game, I'll never hear the end of it.

I'm glued to the monitor and can't wait for more tonight. This game makes me want to learn everything about it. I'm only on 400 stars this first go around and it's freaking awesome discovering things in this giant world. It's a fantastic game and I told Bill Harris - Mr. Dubious Quality - he needs to check this one out. ;)

[Blackadar]

I'm glued to the monitor and can't wait for more tonight. This game makes me want to learn everything about it. I'm only on 400 stars this first go around and it's freaking awesome discovering things in this giant world. It's a fantastic game and I told Bill Harris - Mr. Dubious Quality - he needs to check this one out. ;)

Glad I could be an enabler.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I just skimmed this thread and glanced over the Matrix website...

I'm in.

[MizzouRah]

Patch released today:

Full Change List for 1.9.0.5 from 1.9.0.4:

CRASH FIXES
- fixed various crashes

BUG FIXES
- fixed bug where pirate colonies sometimes showed up twice in Colonies Screen

SMUGGLING AND FREIGHTERS
- improved willingness of pirate freighters to fulfill smuggling missions
- smuggling missions properly expire when resource requirements fulfilled at colony
- slightly lowered number of freighters that AI builds

DEFEND MISSIONS
- increased prices for pirate defend missions
- an empire will assign a maximum of 3 pirate defend missions per system
- raids on a colony that is being protected in a pirate defend mission do not fail the mission unless that raid is successful

PIRATES
- normal planetary empires more willing to form protection agreements with pirate factions, especially when pirates are stronger than them
- pirate protection agreement costs better matched to empire cashflow (i.e. ability to pay)
- pirate factions now better handle tourism, resort bases and passenger ships
- pirates cannot build bases at colonies of other empires (e.g. spaceports)

RAIDS AND INVASIONS
- raids on a colony now inflict less casualties on population at the colony
- troops defending a colony during an invasion regenerate health/readiness at half usual speed, new troops also recruited at half-speed. This makes colony invasions easier to achieve

BOARDING AND CAPTURE
- captured bases at colonies of other empires will now self-destruct
- fighters now better at handling boarding and capture missions

SHIP DESIGNS
- improved function of 'Auto Upgrade' button in Designs screen - now properly preserves weapon types (e.g. phasers, rail guns)
- can now alter 'Auto Retrofit' dropdown setting for Mining Stations in Design Detail screen

OTHER
- tractor beams now push creatures away when they are attacking a ship
- further improved performance, especially in large games

[Edward64]

Getting the urge to buy this also but not sure if I can dedicate the time right now. Do you think there will be better sales than this later in the year - July or Nov, Dec?

[Blackadar]

Getting the urge to buy this also but not sure if I can dedicate the time right now. Do you think there will be better sales than this later in the year - July or Nov, Dec?

With Matrix as the publisher, the answer is an emphatic NO.

[HerRealName]

Getting the urge to buy this also but not sure if I can dedicate the time right now. Do you think there will be better sales than this later in the year - July or Nov, Dec?

Matrix does have a holiday sale that starts a few weeks before Christmas but the discounts aren't very deep for more recent games.

[Blackadar]

Matrix does have a holiday sale that starts a few weeks before Christmas but the discounts aren't very deep for more recent games.

And given that it's already on sale, there's virtually no chance that it goes any cheaper than it is now.

[HerRealName]

And given that it's already on sale, there's virtually no chance that it goes any cheaper than it is now.

Their page is still available from last year for comparison:

http://matrixgames.com/news/982/Matrix.Games.Holiday.Sale.is.Here!

I can't believe they still have Max Football advertised on their front page :lol:

[Izulde]

It's tempting, but not being a huge fan of space strategy games and that $70 price point ultimately has me going no.

[MizzouRah]

It's tempting, but not being a huge fan of space strategy games and that $70 price point ultimately has me going no.

It's definitely steep... but having it for about a week now, I can say it's a fantastic game and I haven't touched any of my other 4x games since I purchased Distant Worlds.

[Warhammer]

Yeah, wife vetoed me on it last night...

[Shepp]

Yeah, wife vetoed me on it last night...

Sometimes is easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.;)

[Lonnie]

Really digging it. I have two games going. One on my home PC and one on my travel laptop. I started both in the Shadow era and it's slow enough to let me get my head around things.

My first game finally got to hyperspace and colonization and things really took off from there. Went from not being able to leave my little system to trucking all over the place and setting up colonies. Easy may be too easy, since I am about 50% towards victory where all the other races I've met are at about 30%.

I figured I've spent 60-70 bucks on games I didn't play much, whats one more? But I'm enjoying it and it's seems like a good purchase.

[MizzouRah]

Really digging it. I have two games going. One on my home PC and one on my travel laptop. I started both in the Shadow era and it's slow enough to let me get my head around things.

My first game finally got to hyperspace and colonization and things really took off from there. Went from not being able to leave my little system to trucking all over the place and setting up colonies. Easy may be too easy, since I am about 50% towards victory where all the other races I've met are at about 30%.

I figured I've spent 60-70 bucks on games I didn't play much, whats one more? But I'm enjoying it and it's seems like a good purchase.

Welcome to the dark side!!

[Eaglesfan27]

If ya'll end up hating this game, I'll never hear the end of it.

No lynching from me. Last 3 days I've been playing my first game and last night I played much later than I planned on. This game is the most fun I've had with a space 4X game in many years. The amount of details can be overwhelming, but the automation and macro level decisions you can make are really well done. Of course, I'm still on my first "starter" game using the suggested setup that you mentioned.