Things I like/don't like about this game
Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2024 6:47 pm
Here are just some thoughts (not comprehensive in any way) I’ve had about this game after playing it for a while.
Things I like: The economic system. No ‘free’ resources, you have to go and mine them if you want to build anything.
Ship building. Unlike other games, where you just stick tons of weapons in, here you have to choose between engines/weapons/shields/armour/fuel. Hyperdrives are easy, you just need one, but the more 'impulse drives' you have (to use a Star Trek term), the faster you can go within a system (certainly when using the Bacon/Expansion/DWUR mods that have gravity wells). This gets easier as you get more powerful weapons as you don’t need so many and can put more engines/defences/fuel tanks in.
The refit system. Unlike Galactic Civilizations for example, where ships upgrade where they are (even in the middle of a war and right before attacking an enemy system – a little cheaty), in this game you have to return them to a starbase to refit. Means choosing when to do so, and which ships you upgrade (Frontline ships? They might be needed to repel an attack. System defence ships? Could use those resources to upgrade a capital ship).
Warfare in general. It takes so long to organise a decent attack fleet that you have to think game-years ahead as to where you want to attack, or even if you want to go to war at all.
The fuel system. Ships can’t travel all the way across the map unless they have the fuel to do so.
Things I don’t like: The fuel system! If you forget to refuel before an attack some of your smaller ships piss-off to refuel and leave the bigger ships vulnerable to the enemy.
Sometimes another civilization will declare war on you without any warning. Not a problem, unless you’ve got your fleets at the wrong side of your territory keeping an eye on another enemy, then it takes a while to get them to where they#re needed.
Invasions. Non-aligned systems have WAY too many soldiers so you need a LOT of your own to invade their planet. Realistic I suppose (I mean how many would it take to invade our Earth these days for example?), but a pain to train that many troops. Then there’s the factor of getting so many troopships to cooperate (see fuel system above).
I’m sure there’s more I can add to this of course!
Things I like: The economic system. No ‘free’ resources, you have to go and mine them if you want to build anything.
Ship building. Unlike other games, where you just stick tons of weapons in, here you have to choose between engines/weapons/shields/armour/fuel. Hyperdrives are easy, you just need one, but the more 'impulse drives' you have (to use a Star Trek term), the faster you can go within a system (certainly when using the Bacon/Expansion/DWUR mods that have gravity wells). This gets easier as you get more powerful weapons as you don’t need so many and can put more engines/defences/fuel tanks in.
The refit system. Unlike Galactic Civilizations for example, where ships upgrade where they are (even in the middle of a war and right before attacking an enemy system – a little cheaty), in this game you have to return them to a starbase to refit. Means choosing when to do so, and which ships you upgrade (Frontline ships? They might be needed to repel an attack. System defence ships? Could use those resources to upgrade a capital ship).
Warfare in general. It takes so long to organise a decent attack fleet that you have to think game-years ahead as to where you want to attack, or even if you want to go to war at all.
The fuel system. Ships can’t travel all the way across the map unless they have the fuel to do so.
Things I don’t like: The fuel system! If you forget to refuel before an attack some of your smaller ships piss-off to refuel and leave the bigger ships vulnerable to the enemy.
Sometimes another civilization will declare war on you without any warning. Not a problem, unless you’ve got your fleets at the wrong side of your territory keeping an eye on another enemy, then it takes a while to get them to where they#re needed.
Invasions. Non-aligned systems have WAY too many soldiers so you need a LOT of your own to invade their planet. Realistic I suppose (I mean how many would it take to invade our Earth these days for example?), but a pain to train that many troops. Then there’s the factor of getting so many troopships to cooperate (see fuel system above).
I’m sure there’s more I can add to this of course!