Distant Worlds 2: Return of the Shakturi - Dev Log #1

[sofia12]

Hello everyone. This is the first of three Developer Blogs we’ll be doing in the lead up to the release of Return of the Shakturi. See here the full article about the Rise of The Shakturi: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app ... 4864059548

[thegreybetween]

Thanks for the DevLog! This expansion is going to bring an incredible boost to the game, and I can't wait!

Not a lot of new reveals here (with the exception of the deeper look at mega ships), but it is nice to hear how things will work with a bit more context.

Some questions and notes I have after reading the log:
- Among other things, the genetic engineering tree is where we learn to counteract the Shakturi influence on space creatures. I'm wondering how far this goes - will we ultimately learn how to simply neutralize the influence on these creatures, retuning them to their "wild" state, or will we learn to harness them in any way? "Harness" in this respect could mean anything from "domesticating" them into a non-threat to "training" them to do our own bidding to some extent.
- I love that the Ikkuro are not getting a planet destroyer, and I'm excited to see what they ultimately do get. I wonder if "post release" means "in a soon-after patch once we sort out some issues" or if it means "with a subsequent feature update because the ship relies on functionality coming later to the game"? Either way, sounds cool!
- The Zenox mega ship sounds awesome, and right on target for the faction. I'm keen to hear more about the other non-destroyer mega ships. For example, just what does the Teekan ship do? I assume that a mega-ion-blast is probably like detonating an EMP in a conflict zone, but that could be mutually catastrophic. Curiosity abounds.

Also, probably a better question for the next DevLog, but with alliances: Will we be free to form a variety of alliances, or will it simply be the big two - Shaktur Axis and the Freedom Alliance - and we will choose which (if any) to join?

Anyway, thanks again for the DevLog, and keep the good news coming. Cheers!