A few things that I love about this game.

[HsojVvad]

Ok, I made a post about what I don't find that I have fun in this game, now it's time to say what I love about this game.

First all, it's a 4X space game. And it works. Hard to say why, so I will just say what I like when ever they pop up.

I am playing my game, and it just told me that my ship needs to be repaired. So I sent it an order to repair at closest ship yard. It said it completed it's mission. WTF?! I say. So I clicked on the ship, and double clicked on its name. The ship page showed up. So I clicked on it's components, ( I don't know why) but I noticed 2 of it's components have holes in them like they were shot. Wow, both it's thrusters and enigne have been shot so it can't move. No wunder it says bring a repair ship to fix it lol. I love it. It's the small things like this that I love. So much detail. I just wish it was mentioned in the book. I don't remember reading this in the manual.

Also, the graphics are nicely done. The planets are beautiful and I love the colour of the clouds in the background. Just beautiful.

Also I am starting to like designing my ships now. I am starting to understand what does what now. For some reason, I still do not like the layout of how the ship designe section looks, but I love making my own ships now. So many of the little things that you need to make a ship. I just love it. Great job Codeforce and Matrix. Great job.

As I play more, and I notice something like wow, or that I just have fun with, I will put them in this thread.

So what makes you go wow, or that you like and enjoy?

[Grotius]

I think it's very cool that different ships use different types of fuel, and that you have to refuel them. I suppose some people don't like the idea, but I think it's a great concept.

Like you, I love the detailed components. Last night I spent half an hour just looking at the components that make up my starting mining bases, and looking at the minerals required to make each. It's all sensible.

I like the idea of resort bases, and privately-organized tourism expeditions. Another innovation.

I actually like the cluttered main map -- it looks vibrant and alive. I use the galaxy map to sort things out.

I like the sandbox mode. I guess other games have this too, but for some reason, this is the first time I've actually used it. I like playing it just to play it, to see how things develop, not to win.

[HsojVvad]

Again it's the little things that make this game come to life. Construction ships cargo holds are empty. When you tell it to make something, it first goes gets it's rescources that it needs and then continues on making what you told it to. Once done, the cargo holds are empty again.

*edit* can you please explain to me sandbox mode? I find it no fun, if there is no objective. I mean, I know I can't loose even if I am conquered. So I stopped my sandbox game and at least set 66% to conquere the galaxy to win. I did have it at 100% but I thought it could get boring to try and hunt down that last colony.

I havn't tried tourism yet. I think I will be doing that once I get a few mines up and running first. I need those resources first.

[Grotius]

How do you monitor the precise contents of an individual ship's cargo load? I'd like to do this to see what's carrying what. The only way I can see is by going to the ship-construction screen and looking at cargo loads there. Is there something on the cargo ship's panel (in the lower-left) that I can click on directly to see?

Likewise, how do you tell that something on a particular ship is damaged?

[lancer]

Goodaye,

I especially like the fact that deliberately choosing to go to war with somebody isn't the flippant, no-big-deal decision that it's want to be in certain other 4X games.

In Distant Worlds you need to consider the state and morale of your colonies, your construction pipeline, your refuelling logistics, your available resources and your reputation before giving the green light. Sometimes these are easy considerations and oftentimes they aren't.

I find that wars are something that require forethought and planning. And I really like the fact that going to war with no defined objectives and exit plan is a recipe for disaster. War weariness and resource limitations kick in pretty hard after a while.

With the greatest of respect to those that think otherwise Iraq and Afghanistan come to mind here as examples of how not to do it. The fact that Distant Worlds encourages you to think it through beforehand to avoid these kinds of .... (put your own choice of words in here depending on your point of view) is a good thing.

Cheers,
Lancer

[lancer]

Goodaye,

Grotius
How do you monitor the precise contents of an individual ship's cargo load? I'd like to do this to see what's carrying what. The only way I can see is by going to the ship-construction screen and looking at cargo loads there. Is there something on the cargo ship's panel (in the lower-left) that I can click on directly to see?

If you highlight the ship directly or click through the ships until it's name pops up in the detail panel (bottom left) then you can double click directly onto the panel and the ship's cargo display will then be accessible.

Not ideal but it does the job.

Cheers,
Lancer

[Grotius]

you can double click directly onto the panel and the ship's cargo display will then be accessible.

Ah, thanks. That certainly would be good enough for me -- that's really all I was hoping for. I just didn't think of double-clicking. Actually, I thought I'd tried that, but maybe not. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

[HsojVvad]

Another cute thing I like, is if you are out say in galatic view or even up close view, when you click on a ship and tell it to go somewhere, if you look at the bottom left box where it shows the info of the ship, you see the picture of the ship, you also see it move in the direction or it's heading. So if it's moving north, the picture of the ship is pointed north.

[Gertjan]

question: to what extend does access to luxury goods for your colonies depend on trade with other empires? In other words, in order to get the 10 luxury resources needed for full development, can you also get them from trade with other empires or do you need to have access to these by yourself?

[HsojVvad]

I have no idea Getjan. I am only guessing, but I would have to say what you mine. I don't see a screen, or maybe it's I don't know where to look that shows me the resources I am collecting and getting.

[Gertjan]

Anyone else knows the answer to my question? I think it is quite fundamental.

[DiggyDad]

I like the fact that I couldn't sit down and figure it all out in an hour!

[BigWolfChris]

@Gertjan, I believe that as long as you have access, it doesn't matter if it's directly or through trade

[Gertjan]

BigWolf thanks!

[Grotius]

I forgot one more thing I like. I like that each system actually has more than one planet, and planets usually have one or more moons. And the systems feel at least somewhat far apart, especially on low-density maps. In many 4X games, stars are right next to each other, or they have only one planet, or moons are rare or nonexistent. This game's map feels more like real space.

[PDiFolco]

ORIGINAL: Gertjan

question: to what extend does access to luxury goods for your colonies depend on trade with other empires? In other words, in order to get the 10 luxury resources needed for full development, can you also get them from trade with other empires or do you need to have access to these by yourself?

From what I've understood you can buy them - the merchant ships will carry foreign luxuries back to your stockpiles.