Question

[elmo3]

Will be watching this one closely. Can you pause the game to issue orders and such? Thanks.

[LarryP]

Yes, pause is a feature in the game. Also when you open a menu, the game automatically pauses until you close the menu.

[elmo3]

Thanks for the quick reply.  Looking forward to learning more about the game.  There is no such thing as too many 4X games.  [:)]

[LarryP]

This game relies heavily on the exploration part of 4x.

[elmo3]

Some 4X games are designed to encourage maximum expansion.  If you aren't expanding all the time you are falling behind.  Others take a more leisurely approach where you expand slowly and build a solid colony or two before you can afford to move on.  Nothing wrong with either approach, they are just different design philosophies.  Can you comment on the pace of expansion in DW?

[LarryP]

ORIGINAL: elmo3

Some 4X games are designed to encourage maximum expansion.  If you aren't expanding all the time you are falling behind.  Others take a more leisurely approach where you expand slowly and build a solid colony or two before you can afford to move on.  Nothing wrong with either approach, they are just different design philosophies.  Can you comment on the pace of expansion in DW?

Since I played so much in sandbox mode while testing things, I did very little for increasing the economics of my empire. This game has automatic settings for everything if you choose so. There are three settings for managing things:

1) Manual; you make the decisions for expansion (ship building, colonization, etc.
2) Suggest; advisers suggest what they think you need to do.
3) Fully Automate; advisers make and do the decisions.

I used Suggest most of the time and my economy was always keeping me well within the black. You can spread out from the start, or you can build upon your home system first. However, the alien races will expand regardless.

I hope that helps.

[ASHBERY76]

What do resources actually do in gameplay.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: LarryP

.... You can spread out from the start, or you can build upon your home system first. However, the alien races will expand regardless.

I hope that helps.

That is what I was wondering. Thanks.

[cdbeck]

ORIGINAL: LarryP

ORIGINAL: elmo3

Some 4X games are designed to encourage maximum expansion.  If you aren't expanding all the time you are falling behind.  Others take a more leisurely approach where you expand slowly and build a solid colony or two before you can afford to move on.  Nothing wrong with either approach, they are just different design philosophies.  Can you comment on the pace of expansion in DW?

Since I played so much in sandbox mode while testing things, I did very little for increasing the economics of my empire. This game has automatic settings for everything if you choose so. There are three settings for managing things:

1) Manual; you make the decisions for expansion (ship building, colonization, etc.
2) Suggest; advisers suggest what they think you need to do.
3) Fully Automate; advisers make and do the decisions.

I used Suggest most of the time and my economy was always keeping me well within the black. You can spread out from the start, or you can build upon your home system first. However, the alien races will expand regardless.

I hope that helps.

I talk a little about automation in the SO SWEET thread, for those interested.

I was like LarryP, I tended to explore and play sandbox, rather than play ruthlessly efficient. Both methods can work, it all depends on your goals, really. The size of the universe is just plain huge... btw, and each system has planetary bodies and its own entities (asteroids, gas giants, etc). I think people are going to be really surprised at the detail level here.

SoM

[elmo3]

I should have titled this thread Questions!  Do you know yet what sort of documentation will ship with the game?  A manual I assume but what about tutorials?  Someone mentioned in-game help too I think?

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76
What do resources actually do in gameplay.

There are about 40 different resources in the game. They are divided between strategic resources which you use to build stuff (ships and bases), and luxury resources which raise the development of your colonies. So ensuring a free flow of resources to your colonies is critical so that they grow and thus earn more tax income for your empire.

Each resource is found at particular types of planets, e.g. gases at gas giants, metals at asteroids and rocky planets, etc. Seeking out rare, valuable resources is a good strategy to pursue in the game.

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: elmo3
I should have titled this thread Questions!  Do you know yet what sort of documentation will ship with the game?  A manual I assume but what about tutorials?  Someone mentioned in-game help too I think?

The game has built-in, context-sensitive help in the form of the "Galactopedia". You can press F1 at any time to launch this help and can browse between hundreds of inter-linked topics. The game will also ship with a more traditional Matrix-style manual.

[elmo3]

Great, thanks.

[Footslogger]

Hello. More Screenshots please. And will this game be sold in retail stores? [:)]

What about PBEM? Screen resolution? Windows 7? And.....[>:]

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: Footslogger
Hello. More Screenshots please. And will this game be sold in retail stores? [:)]

What about PBEM? Screen resolution? Windows 7? And.....[>:]

Next week there are some more videos coming out - stay tuned [:)]

There will likely be some retail stores carrying it - but that's yet to be finalized.

There is no PBEM feature in the game.

Minimum screen resolution is 1024 x 768. The game scales up to any resolution your system supports - the bigger the better actually for gameplay.

The game has been tested to run and is supported on Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

[ypsylon]

ORIGINAL: LarryP

This game relies heavily on the exploration part of 4x.

Great! Simply hate 4x games which are just constant (virtual) blood bath.

Boldly exploring what others missed. [:'(]

[PJL1973]

This sounds like it could be an interesting game but 2 questions first:
1. Is there going to be a demo of the game?
2. I see little mention of planetary management other than shipyards and resource mines? Does that mean there are no planetary improvements as such and that resoruces are used instead to increase income / happiness / habitability, as well as help build ships?

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: PJL
This sounds like it could be an interesting game but 2 questions first:
1. Is there going to be a demo of the game?
2. I see little mention of planetary management other than shipyards and resource mines? Does that mean there are no planetary improvements as such and that resoruces are used instead to increase income / happiness / habitability, as well as help build ships?

1. There are no plans for a demo at this point

2. Correct. The major focus with colonies is to keep them supplied with a steady stream of luxury resources which are delivered by your freighters. You can also construct bases at your colonies (e.g. space ports) which can also help improve them.

Mining stations and other bases are constructed at planets that are not your colonies (i.e. uninhabited) to exploit their resources. These resources are then shipped off to your nearest space port by freighters. All of the resource exploitation and transport takes place using actual ships and bases - there is no abstracted trade system, shipments of resources literally move from their source to your colonies. This makes it possible to disrupt your economy/supply chain, i.e. you really have to protect all of this. It also provides a lot of interesting background activity in the game.

[cdbeck]

If I might add to Elliot's fine comments (and who wouldn't expect them to be fine, given that he is the developer).

In regards to planetary management, I think that there might be some slight confusion regarding the scope of the game (understandable, as information is just now leaking out). I've been telling people on various forums - think big. To quote a famous author - "Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is." I think Elliot has gone a long way in properly simulating this. If you play your cards right, your empire can extend over several solar systems, each containing a number of planets that have detailed levels of different resources in addition to non-planetary bodies. Some even have special "points of interest." There is a certain "laissez faire" aspect to colonial control - and you really wouldn't want it any other way - granted the scope of the game. In some ways - and I may get lambasted for this statement - Distant Worlds succeeds in the original vision set out for Master of Orion 3 - a game of macro-management in a giant universe teeming with surprises and an underlying story.

Great! Simply hate 4x games which are just constant (virtual) blood bath.

Boldly exploring what others missed.

You are going to like this aspect of Distant Worlds, then. You build specialized "scouting vessels" that will go out (on their own, if you chose to automate) and search strange new worlds. Many times, you'll find simply an empty system with planets to mine or colonize. However... sometimes you'll find something interesting... and I'm not going to elaborate. [8D]

SoM

[Barthheart]

ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort

...
However... sometimes you'll find something interesting... and I'm not going to elaborate. [8D]

SoM

Tease![:D]