Distant Worlds Catch All

Balthezor wrote:

Is this really an awesome 4x game? Never really heard of it.

It is. It's also hard to get into.

James from Out of Eight still has the best review for it, if you want to know what makes this special, even if some of what he says is outdated.

Just think of it as a space opera where you are gently nudging things, rather than as something where you have your hands (claws, tentacles, whatever) on every individual lever of power and are called upon to make every single decision. You can opt to do so, but also you can automate most things.

Have a look at some of Das24680's Let's Play's if you want a flavour of it.

Cross posting from the Space Sims thread:

There are others on his page. Also check das24680 - Found das24680's playlist.

So steep learning curve? Oh man, I am tempted but scared at the same time. EU4 didn't do it for me.

Yes, very steep curve, mostly with the menus (which are better than they were when James wrote his review), but with the Shadows expansion it got a lot easier for people to start out as you couldn't use warp tech and could focus on, say, the Sol system. Small-scale ramp up instead of being in the midst of a gigantic universe with tons of sh*t happening.

garion333 wrote:

Yes, very steep curve, mostly with the menus (which are better than they were when James wrote his review), but with the Shadows expansion it got a lot easier for people to start out as you couldn't use warp tech and could focus on, say, the Sol system. Small-scale ramp up instead of being in the midst of a gigantic universe with tons of sh*t happening.

Would you recommend it to a small time 4x player who mainly enjoys Civ 5?

Loving all the activity in this thread.

Balthezor, yeah, as D-The-Man said, you can start really small with one system or one ship and kinda learn at your own pace. The game comes with a great manual and several tutorials as well.

Balthezor wrote:

Would you recommend it to a small time 4x player who mainly enjoys Civ 5?

At the risk of being vague, I'd say maybe. While extremely deep, DW allows for gradual learning. If you turn on all of the automation, it becomes something of a galactic ant farm. But it allows for stress-free exploration of the game itself, learning the mechanics, resources, tech, etc. You also have the ability to override any of the automation at any time, even temporarily.

As you become more familiar, you can turn off the automation for functions you want to try yourself, or even just to customize your gameplay. Veloxi did an AAR where he was the pilot of a single ship, and that was all he controlled while the galaxy developed around him.

Watch some videos as recommended. It's not a cheap game, but with Universe it will be a much smaller gamble than before. I hope you take the leap and love it. Your patience will be rewarded.

Balthezor wrote:

So steep learning curve? Oh man, I am tempted but scared at the same time. EU4 didn't do it for me.

I actually always felt the game got a bad rap over this. Compared to most new 4x games it;s fairly easy to learn. Just automate anything you don't like or understand. For the record I love the game and I can't understand EU4 at all.

master0 wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

So steep learning curve? Oh man, I am tempted but scared at the same time. EU4 didn't do it for me.

I actually always felt the game got a bad rap over this. Compared to most new 4x games it;s fairly easy to learn. Just automate anything you don't like or understand. For the record I love the game and I can't understand EU4 at all.

I think I have compared it to EU in space but the comparison only holds to a certain point.

Both games:
Pauseable real-time
Big maps
Deep gameplay
Can fight stuff and/or use diplomacy

That's about where the similarities end.

DW has lots of automation that is actually pretty good so you can automate the stuff you don't like and concentrate on the stuff you do (or feel you are ready for). Personally I like to automate everything but colonization, fleet management, diplomacy, and research. So I can make my game more EU-like But you can do more or less depending on what you are comfortable with.

I think it is the best space 4x that has come out since MoO2 (still prefer the MoOs though).

Baron Of Hell wrote:
Hrdina wrote:

I honestly did not see that coming. I wonder why Matrix finally decided to support Steam.

They probably like money.

They've always liked money. If you've ever read their message boards, they never wanted to acknowledge that using Steam would result in more of it than their own store. I have not visited their boards since this was announced, but I am curious to see if they gave a reason for this welcome change of heart.

edosan wrote:

Well, they're going to get mine.

They've already got about $100 of mine, but they'll be getting $10 more soon.

tboon wrote:

I think it is the best space 4x that has come out since MoO2 (still prefer the MoOs though).

I think it's the freshest 4x game, not necessarily the best.

garion333 wrote:
tboon wrote:

I think it is the best space 4x that has come out since MoO2 (still prefer the MoOs though).

I think it's the freshest 4x game, not necessarily the best.

Which is/are better?

Just think of it as a space opera where you are gently nudging things, rather than as something where you have your hands (claws, tentacles, whatever) on every individual lever of power

Another way of putting that: it's a game you don't actually play.

It's one of the few contemporary 4x games that isn't a poorly disguised MoO clone. The first game to actually move the genre forward since MoO 2.

kazooka wrote:

It's one of the few contemporary 4x games that isn't a poorly disguised MoO clone. The first game to actually move the genre forward since MoO 2.

Yes, this, well said!

kazooka wrote:

It's one of the few contemporary 4x games that isn't a poorly disguised MoO clone...

+1

Anyone have an idea how long Matrix's "series veterans get to update on the cheap" promotion will last? I'm going on holiday soon, and my internet access will likely be spotty. I'd hate to miss out on the upgrade sale because I was away.

PeterS wrote:

Anyone have an idea how long Matrix's "series veterans get to update on the cheap" promotion will last? I'm going on holiday soon, and my internet access will likely be spotty. I'd hate to miss out on the upgrade sale because I was away. :(

As I recall, their promotions with each expansion lasted a couple of weeks. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken.

D-Man777 wrote:
PeterS wrote:

Anyone have an idea how long Matrix's "series veterans get to update on the cheap" promotion will last? I'm going on holiday soon, and my internet access will likely be spotty. I'd hate to miss out on the upgrade sale because I was away. :(

As I recall, their promotions with each expansion lasted a couple of weeks. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken.

Yeah they tend not to be flash sales. Well I hope so as I just realized I'm in the same boat as you. Ah well worst case I suppose I buy it through the phone.

Thanks, guys - I appreciate it!

Anyone else notice that their site says its up for pre-order on Steam, but on Steam theres no option to pre-order? I would love to give Matrix even more of my money, can't wait til Friday...

Das has a new intro series for Distant Worlds: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

So, I don't understand.

We are 2 days from the 23rd. I read, and reread, and don't understand.

They tell us there is a Pre-Order going on for the game, on Matrix or on Steam.. Still, no button from both site to BUY THE GAME!

Am I missing something ?

Manach wrote:

So, I don't understand.

We are 2 days from the 23rd. I read, and reread, and don't understand.

They tell us there is a Pre-Order going on for the game, on Matrix or on Steam.. Still, no button from both site to BUY THE GAME!

Am I missing something ?

From what I read it say that it would be a post sale. So I'm assuming after it releases you will be able to get the deal it mentioned. It would also explain why it's not buy able on their site either.

Yeah I never saw a pre-order for DWU. Just when it released I could use my serial numbers to get a discount on it.

Apparently they don't want our money so bad after all?

Error on their part: my initial excitement has died off mostly.

Manach wrote:

So, I don't understand.

We are 2 days from the 23rd. I read, and reread, and don't understand.

They tell us there is a Pre-Order going on for the game, on Matrix or on Steam.. Still, no button from both site to BUY THE GAME!

Am I missing something ?

The game will go on sale at a pre-order price once it launched, as they said they can't do pre-orders through Steam. It'll stay at that price for a while thereafter. Nothing to be confused about.

Ah, well that explains it. Well, if it's on sale in a couple weeks I may still bite.

Veloxi wrote:
Manach wrote:

So, I don't understand.

We are 2 days from the 23rd. I read, and reread, and don't understand.

They tell us there is a Pre-Order going on for the game, on Matrix or on Steam.. Still, no button from both site to BUY THE GAME!

Am I missing something ?

The game will go on sale at a pre-order price once it launched, as they said they can't do pre-orders through Steam. It'll stay at that price for a while thereafter. Nothing to be confused about.