Distant Worlds - Older 4X game - Any Good?

[Warhammer]

With my move to Dayton, I'm looking for a few games to put on the laptop I will be getting with the new job.

I've recently picked up:
Frozen Synapse
FBCB2
Magicka
OOTP13 (if I an find my S/N, so I can install on the new machine)

Looking for a space 4X game. I've got GalCiv 2, but was curious if Distant Worlds was a better game, being slightly newer, etc.

[kmbgolf]

check out stardrive it is in beta

[Warhammer]

Ok, no games in beta, been down that road before.

[Blackadar]

Yes, it's quite good and far better than the stale Gal Civ 2. It's frankly the best 4X space game out there.

Warning: DW has a pretty steep learning curve, isn't always interface-friendly and it's pricey (you need the expansions). Be prepared.

But beyond those caveats, DW is easily my "go to" 4X space game because you can do almost anything with it. There's a huge amount of stuff in the game for you to exploit - everything from tourism bases to gas mines to wonders. You influence your private sector economy and control the military. You can spy, make treaties/alliances/trade techs/money/buy bases with some cool aliens, explore the hell out of randomly generated huge universes, put up with pirates (or make deals with them), build your ships, shape your economy, and so on and so forth. It's a fantastic game. I suggest looking at some of the let's play vids found on You Tube. But yeah, if that's your genre, DW is worth your dough.

Note that there's a new expansion coming out for DW, so hopefully you can get a good deal on the game and the (soon to be) 3 expansions...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by kmbgolf

check out stardrive it is in beta

I saw this on Steam last night, right? How is it??

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I saw this on Steam last night, right? How is it??

Stay away...it needs more time to bake. The potential is there, but the game simply isn't ready for prime time yet. This is one of the more popular threads on their forum:

StarDrive: 4x Action Strategy • View topic - Please for the love of God, push back the release.

I saw a video of the game and it looked great early on, but then they showed the game in the final stages. It had massive frame-rate problems, crash issues and bugs galore. Once I saw that video, all desire to get it now evaporated. I'm a 4x junkie, so I'll get it when the game is complete and stable.

[kmbgolf]

check out total biscuits review on it................its beta but for price has good potential.I try to avoid getting raped by matrix.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Stay away...it needs more time to bake. The potential is there, but the game simply isn't ready for prime time yet. This is one of the more popular threads on their forum:

StarDrive: 4x Action Strategy • View topic - Please for the love of God, push back the release.

I saw a video of the game and it looked great early on, but then they showed the game in the final stages. It had massive frame-rate problems, crash issues and bugs galore. Once I saw that video, all desire to get it now evaporated. I'm a 4x junkie, so I'll get it when the game is complete and stable.

Cool. I should be more of a 4x junkie...

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by kmbgolf

check out total biscuits review on it................its beta but for price has good potential.I try to avoid getting raped by matrix.

That was the Stardrive preview I was speaking of. At 2:00 of that video:

"it has some fairly serious performance problems at late game. Massive stuttering, frame rate loss, freezes, all sorts of things like that."

Then when you watch the Total Biscuit video, he experiences all of those. I'm not about to play any 4X game where I can't actually experience the endgame without massive bugs. I *want* to play Stardrive - the ship creation looks fantastic - but not until it is stable. As soon as it is, I'm in.

FYI, I'm absolutely no fan of Matrix. I dislike their policies, their lack of demos and their pricing. I think they're a shitty platform and I wouldn't select to have my games distributed by them. IMO, Distant Worlds is probably the only game on that entire site worth the dough they're asking. If there is a spiritual successor to MOO, it's DW. And this is coming from someone who dislikes real-time games. DW is in real time, but it's really a throwback with major depth and playability. There's just so much you can do.

You could automate virtually every function of your goverment and literally just control one ship and explore the entire galaxy. You could control every aspect of research while leaving the warfare to the AI. You could just control your agents. I've played games where I didn't make war on anyone and won. I've played games where I've been "Hitler in Space" and had a blast. If someone is looking for a light 4Xer, then DW isn't it. But if someone is a Civ or MOO fan, then DW is right up their alley. Best 4X space game out there, hands down.

[MizzouRah]

I really like Endless Space, fantastic 4x game (turned based).

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I really like Endless Space, fantastic 4x game (turned based).

I have that one too - as I said, I'm a 4X junkie.

I have about 35 hours in it according to Steam and for the most part my impressions are positive. It does a lot of solid stuff - tech trees could be fun, ship building was decent, planet building ok, good interface, the heroes were a good change of pace, etc. Overall, I found it lacked personality and flexibility. I know the developers have tried to update it, but it just didn't grab my attention for very long. Diplomacy is piss poor. The straight line navigation makes the discovery portion of the game feel extremely limited. The lack of really cool stuff or feedback made even major achievements feel dull. Overall, it felt like a play-by-numbers space 4x, somewhat similar to GalCiv 2 in being flavorless. Its metacritic score of 77 feels spot-on to me - solid, but not outstanding. I think it's a good value when it goes on sale, but I wouldn't pay full price if I had to do it all over again.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

I have that one too - as I said, I'm a 4X junkie.

I have about 35 hours in it according to Steam and for the most part my impressions are positive. It does a lot of solid stuff - tech trees could be fun, ship building was decent, planet building ok, good interface, the heroes were a good change of pace, etc. Overall, I found it lacked personality and flexibility. I know the developers have tried to update it, but it just didn't grab my attention for very long. Diplomacy is piss poor. The straight line navigation makes the discovery portion of the game feel extremely limited. The lack of really cool stuff or feedback made even major achievements feel dull. Overall, it felt like a play-by-numbers space 4x, somewhat similar to GalCiv 2 in being flavorless. Its metacritic score of 77 feels spot-on to me - solid, but not outstanding. I think it's a good value when it goes on sale, but I wouldn't pay full price if I had to do it all over again.

You're spot on probably.. as I only dabble in 4x games. Civ V was the only 4x game I really spent countless hours on, but Endless Space ate up a ton of my free time and is easily my 2nd favorite 4x game to date.

Distant Worlds looks very daunting.

[MizzouRah]

Speaking of DW, are the two expansions standalone games? I like the addition of ground warfare.. sounds interesting.

Edit: just read you need DW to play the expansions

[Shepp]

Warhammer, are you planning to purchase DW from the Matrix site or somewhere else?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Shepp

Warhammer, are you planning to purchase DW from the Matrix site or somewhere else?

I don't think you can get it from anywhere else but the Matrix site.

[Shepp]

Gamersgate and Amazon have the base game but not the expansions. Didn't know if maybe there was somewhere else that may have the whole enchilada.

After reading this post I watched a bunch of "Lets Play" videos and it looks like a pretty solid game. I just don't know if I'm ready to drop ninety dollars on a game whose most recent expansion is two years old.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Shepp

Gamersgate and Amazon have the base game but not the expansions. Didn't know if maybe there was somewhere else that may have the whole enchilada.

After reading this post I watched a bunch of "Lets Play" videos and it looks like a pretty solid game. I just don't know if I'm ready to drop ninety dollars on a game whose most recent expansion is two years old.

Yeah, I had the same reservations when I bought it. Obviously, I don't have those reservations any more.

There is another expansion focusing on ground combat coming out (Shadows) that will likely be out in the next two months. I'd expect a sale on the game during that launch window.

[Shepp]

Maybe I'll wait until then. If they sold the base game and first two expansions in a bundle, for maybe fifty dollars, I would be more willing to spend the money but what they're asking right now is just a little steep.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Shepp

Maybe I'll wait until then. If they sold the base game and first two expansions in a bundle, for maybe fifty dollars, I would be more willing to spend the money but what they're asking right now is just a little steep.

I doubt it will get down to $50, but I think you might find that bundle for $65 or so when the expansion comes out. If you get the entire set today, it's $80.

[Shepp]

I just added up the download only price and it came to $89.97 (Base game= $39.99 and $24.99 per addon). If you want the privilage of owning boxed copies it would total $119.97 (Base game= 49.99 and $34.99 per addon).

It looks like it may be a really solid game but at the end of the day I just don't see it being that big of an improvment over GalCiv2 to justify that sort of price.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Shepp

I just added up the download only price and it came to $89.97 (Base game= $39.99 and $24.99 per addon). If you want the privilage of owning boxed copies it would total $119.97 (Base game= 49.99 and $34.99 per addon).

It looks like it may be a really solid game but at the end of the day I just don't see it being that big of an improvment over GalCiv2 to justify that sort of price.

If you order all of them at once you get a $10 discount. It's $79.97 currently for all 3 games (digital). Put together a shopping cart and you'll see...

And it's light-years better than GalCiv2 IMO, but then again I think GalCiv2 is a pretty average space 4x game.

[MizzouRah]

I purchased Stardrive.. the beta has been quite awesome.

[MizzouRah]

We need to change the name of this thread to 4x games.

I've turned into a buy everything, all out 4x junkie, especially the space ones. A couple of indie 4x games I've stumbled upon.

Master of Tactics

That one is free and for map editing functions, you can purchase the game for $5. Pretty cool 4x game and I've been communicating with the developer on some additions/changes.

Solar War

This one was just updated to v1.0 and although there is no sound for some reason yet.. it has some pretty neat features like ship personnel that level up. There is a demo out too.

[MizzouRah]

I am really engrossed into Distant Worlds.. I'm still a novice, but the game really seems like a living galaxy and the AI is excellent. I automate everything and I'm slowly starting to take the training wheels off.

[Critch]

Distant Worlds is coming to Steam. Original games, all the expansions and a new expansion (Universe) as a single pack for $49.99.

I'd always been put off by the cost of getting the base game and all the expansions, so this will drag me in.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I purchased Stardrive.. the beta has been quite awesome.

Yeah, this didn't work out too well for ya. I tried to help with my warning post above...and now it will never get fixed. I think Stardrive is probably fun enough to play around with, but the endgame bugs, AI issues and performance just kill it as a game you can sink your teeth into.

---

As for DW, that's very cool. I'll get the latest expansion for $10 and nab my Steam key. It will be interesting to see how people mod it with the new mod tools. Anyone who has an interest should get it for $50 - I paid over twice that and feel I got my money's worth.

Pandora: First Contact is also coming to Steam and I'll get my key for that too. Then I won't have to worry about Matrix games anymore!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Yeah, this didn't work out too well for ya. I tried to help with my warning post above...and now it will never get fixed. I think Stardrive is probably fun enough to play around with, but the endgame bugs, AI issues and performance just kill it as a game you can sink your teeth into.

---

As for DW, that's very cool. I'll get the latest expansion for $10 and nab my Steam key. It will be interesting to see how people mod it with the new mod tools. Anyone who has an interest should get it for $50 - I paid over twice that and feel I got my money's worth.

Pandora: First Contact is also coming to Steam and I'll get my key for that too. Then I won't have to worry about Matrix games anymore!

Quick question: I bought Distant Worlds and a bunch of the expansions a while back from Matrix. So, can I just get a "Steam Key" somehow and then load it up through Steam without having to re-purchase?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Yeah, this didn't work out too well for ya. I tried to help with my warning post above...and now it will never get fixed. I think Stardrive is probably fun enough to play around with, but the endgame bugs, AI issues and performance just kill it as a game you can sink your teeth into.

---

As for DW, that's very cool. I'll get the latest expansion for $10 and nab my Steam key. It will be interesting to see how people mod it with the new mod tools. Anyone who has an interest should get it for $50 - I paid over twice that and feel I got my money's worth.

Pandora: First Contact is also coming to Steam and I'll get my key for that too. Then I won't have to worry about Matrix games anymore!

Just another game setting on my HD.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Quick question: I bought Distant Worlds and a bunch of the expansions a while back from Matrix. So, can I just get a "Steam Key" somehow and then load it up through Steam without having to re-purchase?

Sort of. I cribbed this from another forum:

The base price of Distant Worlds: Universe will be $59.99 Download / $69.99 Physical. For the release, it will be available at a pre-order price of $49.99 Download / $59.99 physical. This will be the pre-order price through Steam. This will be the release price as well, with a post-release promotional period as with past Distant Worlds releases that allows early adopters to get the game for a lower price, after which it will revert to the permanent $59.99 / $69.99 price level.

They are offering existing customers a discount based on what parts of the series they own. It's a $10 discount per release, so if you own everything that's been released so far (Distant Worlds + Return of the Shakturi + Legends + Shadows) then during the post-release promotion period, your price to upgrade to Universe would be $9.99 Download or $19.99 Physical ($49.99 or $59.99 - $40 discount for four previous releases). There will be a page on the Matrix website where you can get the upgrade discount coupon. This upgrade will be available through their store only as they don't have a way of doing this through Steam. All you will need to get the upgrade coupon is the serial number for each release.

They are offering Steam keys to customers who upgrade and purchase through the Matrix site.

The release will be on May 23rd.

[dubb93]

Any chance this means that all Matrix games are heading to Steam?

[Critch]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Any chance this means that all Matrix games are heading to Steam?

We can but hope. I think we're all desperate to get our greedy paws on some sweet Maximum Football 2.0 Steam deal.

[JAG]

Probably anyone who’s interested in Distant Worlds already has it, but if not, thought I’d share it’s $15 on GOG currently.

Distant Worlds: Universe on GOG.com