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Post by Cory Trese on Jun 15, 2014 0:54:13 GMT -5
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Post by beuns on Jun 15, 2014 0:59:38 GMT -5
I never win any game I started since the beginning of alpha. I must say that I'm not a 4X usual player and I back and test that game because I know you guys : you do amazing games !  So to be perfectly clear : as a real noob on 4X games (I never play any civilization...) I find this game really deep and hard to master at every level but with a little help from my friends on the forum I may won a game someday  |
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Post by Cory Trese on Jun 15, 2014 1:15:27 GMT -5
I never win any game I started since the beginning of alpha. I must say that I'm not a 4X usual player and I back and test that game because I know you guys : you do amazing games ! So to be perfectly clear : as a real noob on 4X games (I never play any civilization...) I find this game really deep and hard to master at every level but with a little help from my friends on the forum I may won a game someday Every player's experiences are different. If we say "this game is for 4X experts only" we will fail. If we say "this game is for casual players only" likewise we will fail. I do really appreciate the frank and honest feedback from everyone -- there will be divided opinions on this. No one particular person's experience or judgement of difficulty is wrong (except me, I'm probably wrong.) We've only had 2 updates so far (ST:RPG has had 300 and still needs work.) This is the start of a long and hopefully, awesome, journey from alpha to balanced, excellent and beautiful. We'll need you, the players, to help guide us every step of the way. |
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Post by zefram on Jun 15, 2014 1:55:21 GMT -5
I'm reserving judgement until I play some more, but so far I really like what I see. Just out of curiosity, does the CPU need to use all of the same game mechanics as the player, or are there areas where they have perfect knowledge, such as my unit and planet positions etc? Or perhaps certain bonuses that the player doesn't have?
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Post by Cory Trese on Jun 15, 2014 2:01:03 GMT -5
I'm reserving judgement until I play some more, but so far I really like what I see. Just out of curiosity, does the CPU need to use all of the same game mechanics as the player, or are there areas where they have perfect knowledge, such as my unit and planet positions etc? Or perhaps certain bonuses that the player doesn't have? They use a very similar system to the player, but it is not exact. They do not have perfect knowledge -- they have a "fog scan" system like the player. They do have a different Colony upgrade scheme that gives the AI types more flexibility. They pay a lot more for ships, but build them faster. The AI has several different modes it can be in ... hostile, enraged, defensive, passive. When we first finished the pre-alpha version of the game, we were forcing the player and xeno to use identical upgrades and schemes. It wasn't very good, and it made the AI programming really hard to balance while we made the player's experience fun. I'm aware that some people might prefer to be told that the CPU uses the same mechanic, but even in games where this is stated as the case it is rarely true. My focus was to make a fair, challenging and dynamic experience. That ultimately drove the decision to write two sets of similar, but separate rules. |
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Post by Crimson on Jun 15, 2014 4:55:44 GMT -5
I think the balance has been good. Will need more time to truly evaluate though. With all the difficulty levels.
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Post by En1gma on Jun 15, 2014 8:21:14 GMT -5
Lol normal is great so far, I've had 3 Xeno Colony ships come right up to me, and only move one square at a time while I destroyed it. It was the tall rectangular small map I believe... I would definitely recommend the more densely planeted maps for beginners, since the ships have such small movement points, colony defense can be extremely difficult to manage on maps where it is 3-4 full turns between systems.
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Post by Officer Genious on Jun 15, 2014 9:20:35 GMT -5
Looking forward to actually completing a full game this time.  I just started a Hard on the Tutorial map using the Houses, and intrigued as I was by Thulun's bonuses (best of two worlds!!), I'm moving along very, VERY slowly in the beginning. still sitting at one pop for all but Thulun who started with two, so I only have 1 CP per planet per turn. Ahhhhhhh! x.x /end whining |
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Post by Cory Trese on Jun 15, 2014 12:50:05 GMT -5
Looking forward to actually completing a full game this time. I just started a Hard on the Tutorial map using the Houses, and intrigued as I was by Thulun's bonuses (best of two worlds!!), I'm moving along very, VERY slowly in the beginning. still sitting at one pop for all but Thulun who started with two, so I only have 1 CP per planet per turn. Ahhhhhhh! x.x /end whining At the start of the game you should build hab units as fast as you can and use Subsidy |
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Post by beuns on Jun 15, 2014 15:09:47 GMT -5
I never win any game I started since the beginning of alpha. I must say that I'm not a 4X usual player and I back and test that game because I know you guys : you do amazing games ! So to be perfectly clear : as a real noob on 4X games (I never play any civilization...) I find this game really deep and hard to master at every level but with a little help from my friends on the forum I may won a game someday Every player's experiences are different. If we say "this game is for 4X experts only" we will fail. If we say "this game is for casual players only" likewise we will fail. I do really appreciate the frank and honest feedback from everyone -- there will be divided opinions on this. No one particular person's experience or judgement of difficulty is wrong (except me, I'm probably wrong.) We've only had 2 updates so far (ST:RPG has had 300 and still needs work.) This is the start of a long and hopefully, awesome, journey from alpha to balanced, excellent and beautiful. We'll need you, the players, to help guide us every step of the way. I may have been unclear in what I'd said. What I mean is : I really love the challenge you throw at me, it's difficult but if I wanted easy game I would play fruit ninja Of course the game is so deep that it take time to master but it's so engaging that I'll keep trying even if I don't win (call me masochist ). The game can't reject a part of potential audience by stating that it's made for "that kind of player" and I totally agree with that. Don't worry you have my full support  |
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Post by ncdulo on Jun 15, 2014 19:42:59 GMT -5
I'm finding the difficulty level to be pretty on point with my play style. The alien can give a nice challenge at times but if I prepare from the beginning, I can keep them in check. Great work on this one! I have quickly found this game becoming my favorite of all. First game to top Star Traders RPG since I started playing a few years back.
I'm wondering though.. Do you have plans to add a sort of creative mode? I kind of want to play a game without any enemies and just build an empire free of distraction. I think it would be a refreshing change and a good way to try out different economic strategies without having to bulk up on military units/tech.
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Post by Cory Trese on Jun 15, 2014 19:44:15 GMT -5
The game automatically flips to "creative mode" once all the xeno are dead =)
Suggestion noted!
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Post by ncdulo on Jun 15, 2014 20:22:27 GMT -5
The game automatically flips to "creative mode" once all the xeno are dead =) Suggestion noted! Nice to hear I can take a break from fighting once I eliminate the xeno invasion. I haven't quite made it there yet but my current game might get me there with the way I've been playing. I'm sure you realize I meant to just start off on a map with zero enemies though. Actually now that I think of it, maybe customizable maps would be a nice option. While there already is a great variety with the elite maps it might be fun to customize them for each game. Just simple little options for number of enemies, resources, etc. |
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Post by Cory Trese on Jun 15, 2014 20:30:05 GMT -5
The game automatically flips to "creative mode" once all the xeno are dead =) Suggestion noted! Nice to hear I can take a break from fighting once I eliminate the xeno invasion. I haven't quite made it there yet but my current game might get me there with the way I've been playing. I'm sure you realize I meant to just start off on a map with zero enemies though. Actually now that I think of it, maybe customizable maps would be a nice option. While there already is a great variety with the elite maps it might be fun to customize them for each game. Just simple little options for number of enemies, resources, etc. I did realize what you were saying, I was just trying to be funny. Map customization will be a feature in Elite before too long. |
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Post by ncdulo on Jun 15, 2014 20:39:20 GMT -5
Nice to hear I can take a break from fighting once I eliminate the xeno invasion. I haven't quite made it there yet but my current game might get me there with the way I've been playing. I'm sure you realize I meant to just start off on a map with zero enemies though. Actually now that I think of it, maybe customizable maps would be a nice option. While there already is a great variety with the elite maps it might be fun to customize them for each game. Just simple little options for number of enemies, resources, etc. I did realize what you were saying, I was just trying to be funny. Map customization will be a feature in Elite before too long. I thought you may have been trying to be funny I'm excited to see how the game progresses. I have been following your games since I got my first android phone and have loved every one of them. Star Traders 4X feels like what I always imagined the original to be. Great job integrating the two worlds so perfectly. You and Andrew are my favorite game devs! |
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I just started a Hard on the Tutorial map using the Houses, and intrigued as I was by Thulun's bonuses (best of two worlds!!), I'm moving along very, VERY slowly in the beginning. still sitting at one pop for all but Thulun who started with two, so I only have 1 CP per planet per turn. Ahhhhhhh! x.x