A few screenshots...

[Footslogger]

Thank you Erik and God Bless

Peace Be On Your House

[martok]

Wow, thanks for the screenies, Erik. They're making me want this game even more than I already did (which I didn't think was really possible)!

One random question: In the screenshot listing the various troops under your command, did you personally name each unit? Or did/will the game automatically assign them for you? (If it's the latter, then I have to admit I'm impressed; it'd be another of those "little touches" that can add so much to a game!)

ORIGINAL: Sarissofoi

Hey hadberz can you explain how subjucated dominions and protectorate works?

I second this question as well! Would love to hear details on the various diplomatic treaties/options.

[lancer]

Goodaye,

Re: the Trade Routes

If the lines represent the trade routes what purpose do they serve if individual freighters are tracked by the game? Eg. to interdict somebodies trade route I assume you need to start whacking their freighters, not sit on the dotted line.

Cheers,
Lancer

[Wade1000]

from: tm.asp?m=2386321&mpage=7

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

17. Sulken
I assume that Erik Rutins spelling "Sluken" is a typographical error. If it is, let's hope that someone reviews it to prevent the typo from appearing in game!

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
Getting back on topic, here's the race I've most recently been at war with and they are tough!
Short insectoid race with thick black exoskeleton covering. Sluken have many small forearms enabling them to perform multiple actions simultaneously.
Sluken are very aggressive and intelligent. A central theme in their customs involves a macabre reverence of death.
Sluken have the bizarre and gruesome ability to incorporate into their own bodies the biological appendages and organs from other alien races. Thus some Sluken have additional limbs, eyes or other body parts.
Some other alien races allege that Sluken are in fact genetically modified creatures, designed as an ultimate warrior race. But the Sluken themselves denounce such claims as outrageous slander.
Sluken technology includes the StarBurner XX-12, a very fast and powerful engine. With these engines, Sluken star ships are able to outrun nearly any opponent.
Sluken are found in dry temperate regions of Continental and Marshy Swamp planets
Characteristics
Race Family: Insectoid
Default Reproduction Rate: 16%
Quite Intelligent (+8)
Very Aggressive (+19)
Slightly Cautious (+3)
Very Unfriendly (-18)
Very Unreliable (-20)
Warrior Class: troop maintenance -20%
Fierce Rivalry: lower war weariness -40%
Special Government: Hive Mind

Indeed, the insectoids ARE named "Sluken", not "Sulken" in the new game screen shots.
tm.asp?m=2402878
In the the race portrait art it is "Sulken". So maybe the artist made the mispelling.
Which is it and will it be corrected?

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: martok
One random question: In the screenshot listing the various troops under your command, did you personally name each unit? Or did/will the game automatically assign them for you? (If it's the latter, then I have to admit I'm impressed; it'd be another of those "little touches" that can add so much to a game!)

Troops are auto-named this way. Each race has their own suffix (e.g. "Strike Battalion") that is prepended with a sequential number. And of course you can rename each troop unit to whatever you like.

ORIGINAL: Sarissofoi
Hey hadberz can you explain how subjucated dominions and protectorate works?

I second this question as well! Would love to hear details on the various diplomatic treaties/options.

Subjugated Dominion means that one empire has been defeated in a war and now has to pay tribute to the victor. The victor also gets visibility of all of the loser's ships and bases, so they can keep an eye on them.

Protectorates are basically one-way Mutual Defense Pacts - the larger empire protects the smaller one.

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: lancer
Re: the Trade Routes

If the lines represent the trade routes what purpose do they serve if individual freighters are tracked by the game? Eg. to interdict somebodies trade route I assume you need to start whacking their freighters, not sit on the dotted line.

Those lines aren't exactly trade routes. They are more cosmetic really - they simply show major connections between your space ports. This helps you visualize your empire's outline better. And those routes are often well-travelled by your freighters and other ships. But your ships can (and often do) travel anywhere - they're not restricted to those paths.

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: Wade1000
17. Sulken
I assume that Erik Rutins spelling "Sluken" is a typographical error. If it is, let's hope that someone reviews it to prevent the typo from appearing in game!

Yes, they're actually named Sluken. It'll be correct in the game [:)]

[Gertjan]

Cool, thanks for the screenshots. It looks very good! I like the concept of the cosmetic connections a lot!

Some questions (of course):

1 Why is one planet called cx754, which doesn't seem very inspirational to me

2 How can you keep oversight on such a large and busy map? It seems very challenging to me.

3 What do the XXk figures imply after the names of the other races in the diplomatic screen? What do the shaded bars, which vary in length, behind the names imply?

4 What does strategic value mean in the diplomatic screen (it is mentioned in the human's overview)?

5 Does the leadship of a fleet have any specific role and/or function? Is there a waypoint system in the game to make ship and fleet operation easier? Would seem natural to me as it is any rts nowadays.

[CV Zuikaku]

This gets more and more fascinating!
And one question- is there planet info screen? Showing planet details, orbiting periods, atmosphere type, habitationability for current race and other info for us micromanagement freaks [:D]....

[Gargantou]

Someone hand me a napkin, I'm drolling all over my keyboard!

ORIGINAL: elliotg

Subjugated Dominion means that one empire has been defeated in a war and now has to pay tribute to the victor. The victor also gets visibility of all of the loser's ships and bases, so they can keep an eye on them.

Protectorates are basically one-way Mutual Defense Pacts - the larger empire protects the smaller one.

Hmm, are there any form of way to 'vassalize' other empires?

I.e. basically force them into becoming your ally and they will do whatever you want? Sorta like subjugated but more than just paying tribute, i.e. they will automatically be forced to come to your aid if you request it etc?

[Baleur]

The first thing ill mod is the zoomed out galaxy cloud color for sure Puke green/yellow just isnt very realistic nor beautiful.

[Gargantou]

ORIGINAL: Baleur

The first thing ill mod is the zoomed out galaxy cloud color for sure Puke green/yellow just isnt very realistic nor beautiful.

Those clouds appear to me to be there for UI purposes, to measure your controlled area, it sure looks that way given that blue is the color of the empire, and the blue 'clouds' are concentrated around the worlds of that empire.

I could be wrong but that's how it looks to me, so the yellow might possibly be for another empire.

I hope some dev can clarify!

[elliotg]

ORIGINAL: Gertjan
1 Why is one planet called cx754, which doesn't seem very inspirational to me

That's no planet - it's a moon! Planets have more imaginative names (e.g. Ulabrea 5), but moons don't fit so easily into the same naming convention. Of course, once a moon is your colony you can rename it to whatever you like.

2 How can you keep oversight on such a large and busy map? It seems very challenging to me.

Well - there's lots of tools and lots of automation. You can pause the game and still issue commands, etc. You can slow the game speed down to 1/4 normal speed.

And a lot of that activity is your private citizens in their freighters and mining ships going about their business. You lead the way, expanding your empire with colony ships and construction ships and your private citizens will follow.

Personally I find that in the early game I take a lot of control over the details of my empire, but as it expands I often end up stepping back a bit into the bigger picture of my empire and focussing on the areas that I like - controlling fleets, sending out colony ships, engaging in diplomacy, etc - while the rest of my empire goes about it's business.

3 What do the XXk figures imply after the names of the other races in the diplomatic screen? What do the shaded bars, which vary in length, behind the names imply?

That's the trade volume between your empires. The shaded bars indicate relative size and strength of each empire.

4 What does strategic value mean in the diplomatic screen (it is mentioned in the human's overview)?

This is the total value of all an empire's colonies. Strategic value is a colony's population amount multiplied by colony development level (0-100%). So it means roughly how strong an empire is.

5 Does the leadship of a fleet have any specific role and/or function? Is there a waypoint system in the game to make ship and fleet operation easier? Would seem natural to me as it is any rts nowadays.

The lead ship shows the location of the fleet. It's usually the largest ship in the fleet.

Newly built ships that have been assigned to a fleet will auto-waypoint to join the fleet. You can queue mission assignments to ships and fleets. Fleets also have a home colony that they'll return to when not doing anything else.

[Gargantou]

Elliot, do the blue and yellow clouds you see on the first screen have any purpose or are they just there for looks?

Or are they a way to see how far your control of a region spans etc?

Thanks!

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Gargantou
Elliot, do the blue and yellow clouds you see on the first screen have any purpose or are they just there for looks?

The system color shows who is considered to own the system. The larger blue circles around my systems are actually showing my long-range sensor detection area.

[Gargantou]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

The system color shows who is considered to own the system. The larger blue circles around my systems are actually showing my long-range sensor detection area.

I figured that they had some form of gameplay purpose and weren't just there for 'eye-candy'!

Thanks for clarifying Erik.

[Wade1000]

Subjugated Dominion means that one empire has been defeated in a war and now has to pay tribute to the victor. The victor also gets visibility of all of the loser's ships and bases, so they can keep an eye on them.

Protectorates are basically one-way Mutual Defense Pacts - the larger empire protects the smaller one.

Thanks! These sound awsome.
I love "Subjugated Dominion" type diplomatic features in games because it's a war victory alternative so that the war can end in case you need your resources elsewhere. Also, often, these types of subjugation deal are more beneficial in some areas rather than continuing on to invade and conquer.
 
Both features sound similiar to the features in Civilization 4. It's good for different games to make use of successful and popular features.

[Gargantou]

Yeah, I just want to figure out if subjugated empires are basically the same as a forced vassal.

I.e. does a subjugated empire ONLY pay you tribute or is it also forced into a full-scale military alliance with you meaning it has to come to your aid if you need it to?

After all, vassal/puppet nations have been common throughout history, like Manchuria for example.

Puppet-style is always preferable to complete conquest in my eyes, both in games and in the real world, since it gives the subjects of said nation the illusion of independence and freedom, thus it keeps morale higher than it probably would be otherwise.

[Wade1000]

ORIGINAL: Gargantou

Someone hand me a napkin, I'm drolling all over my keyboard!

ORIGINAL: elliotg

Subjugated Dominion means that one empire has been defeated in a war and now has to pay tribute to the victor. The victor also gets visibility of all of the loser's ships and bases, so they can keep an eye on them.

Protectorates are basically one-way Mutual Defense Pacts - the larger empire protects the smaller one.

Hmm, are there any form of way to 'vassalize' other empires?

I.e. basically force them into becoming your ally and they will do whatever you want? Sorta like subjugated but more than just paying tribute, i.e. they will automatically be forced to come to your aid if you request it etc?

Vassals, also in Civilization4, would be great also. Also, a sometimes good strategic option if you are in danger of getting conquered, and you have little allies, is to offer yourself as a vassal to the aggressor. I think many players don't like that option though and might get beaten in a game where they could have more influenced the outcome.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: lancer
2: Screenshot #6, Ulabrea. The info panel bottom left shows details of a planet called 'CX754'. On a line titled 'Value' it has a musical note icon with 150%. Is this some kind of cultural influence system in operation here?

Yep, culture/development. This depends on several things, but a big factor is the availability of luxury resources for the population. When you see one as high as 150%, that generally means you're dealing with a home planet or one that has some kind of development bonus.

3: Screenshot #10 showing detail on a particular star called 'Tashtur Sinika'. It gives ENERGY ratings for Solar, Microwave and X-Ray. What function do these serve in the game?

Largely eye candy at present, but I believe those may also play a role in energy collection.

4: Given that you've obviously played it for a while are you able to make a comment on the games AI?
It's got a single player focus which is great but there appears to be an awful lot of stuff going on simultaneously and I was wondering how much of your processor would be left over to handle the AI side?

IMHO, the AI is quite good and I would say that even if I were not the publisher. When I started playing, the AI beat me quite regularly. I would say we are now evenly matched overall. There are still games where it gets the upper hand and others where even when I'm winning it keeps me on my toes. It uses all the available tools and options, so there's really no angle it misses using against you if it decides to take you down and I find that it reacts pretty realistically to game events.

For example, the red Human empire that I have as a Protectorate resisted that offer for a long time despite some healthy gifts. Things were going well for them, they were expanding, it made sense. However, when the Sluken Hive went to war with them (and later with me) things changed. I watched a 22 ship Sluken Hive fleet skirt my territory on the way to one of the red Empire's systems. I positioned one of my fleets to help if necessary. Sure enough, the subsequent events were enough to get me a protectorate (and a new system as I reconquered it from the Sluken). Meanwhile, I had three other incoming Sluken fleets to deal with on my own territory, etc.

With the speed controls and the auto-pause features, I never feel that I'm overwhelmed by events, even though there is a LOT going on in the galaxy. Somehow it feels manageable nevertheless and selective automation definitely helps keep it that way as things scale up. The automation is intelligent enough that I really don't mind or regret turning some things over to it to keep things moving.

Regards,

- Erik