Thinking about purchasing

[mashkis]

Hi All,

I have been reviewing this game series and thinking about purchasing. Here are few questions.
1. Has the font issue been fixed in latest patches? If not, how bad would it look at 1600x1200 in 22" monitor?
2. How does the AI compare to Gal Civ 2 and Armada Supernova and is it more challanging and engaging?
3. Overall, is this a fun game or does it become repetitive after a few hours?

Thank you.

[Mad Igor]

1)dunno
2)depends on may things(start position,Game Setup,pirates),if things looks ugly,they are defensive,but they can be quite pushy.
3)what game aren't ? this question is absurd by itself. overall this game is fun and somehow worth its price.

[Tehlongone]

1. I'm not sure what the big deal is, I've played it on both large and small monitors without issue, I guess it's a problem if you've got bad eyes. I actually haven't noticed any problem whatsoever with it aside from forum complaints so I guess it depends on whether you have normal eyesight or not.

2. Never tried Armada Supernova, as for GalCiv2 it was perhaps better on small maps but I remember it floundering around on large maps (which has always been my preference, 1400 stars in 15x15 sectors is awesome). Distant Worlds AI is competent, the best I've seen in a real-time 4X games and about as challenging as GalCiv2 was for me, which is to say not truly challenging it's not a human being. It's good enough to appear realistic and despite AI being the most important characteristic I judge on for a strategy game this is currently the best 4X game out there as far as I am concerned.

There are some issues with tech-trade which will make the game a cakewalk if you make full use of that feature. I remember in GalCiv2 beating the game repeatedly on MAX difficulty (which had ridiculous bonuses) if I tech-traded competently, well in this game tech-trading is even easier. If you have a house rule about not abusing the feature it's not really a problem though.

3. I suppose it becomes repetitive after a largish amount of hours, same as the other games you mentioned, or ANY game really. There is a reason I alternate between many different games, but this is one of the good ones at least. I'd certainly recommend it if you are into 4X games, much better than the other new games (tried Endless Space and Star Ruler recently, was not really impressed).

[Tehlongone]

I think the problem is that the menus don't scale any further so I think 1600x1200 will look the same as these screens I took at at 1680x1050 from my current game, so you can judge for yourself (remember to maximize screen):
http://imgur.com/KhvdXqm
http://imgur.com/aSbx5F6
http://imgur.com/UvClQCB
http://imgur.com/UI8pIl2
http://imgur.com/DUGIYXO
http://imgur.com/jDmxHC0
http://imgur.com/Ogk7III
http://imgur.com/6QhgWSz

The races have different portraits than the game starts with, it's a mod.

[Starke]

1) I play it on a 13" screen - the only issue I have is a bit of cut off text in the planet info box when there's a lot of info to display there, but 98% of the time it's info I don't miss, and the other 2% I just use the new Shadows "expand window" thing. And I've never had trouble reading the actual font there or an any other menu - I bought the game when Shadows was released, so I can't tell you how much it's improved, but I see it as a non-issue.

2) Confession: I've never played either of those games. The crucial thing to understand about the AI in Distant Worlds is that it has very little intrinsic interest in :killing: you. It wants to reach the victory conditions set at the start of the game. Though it varies some from race to race, the AI prefers to expand non-violently when possible - and it's probably a good thing, as prolonged fighting would set it behind the curve of other empires. But this gives the player a lot of time and room to maneuver, and unless another empire gets a cascading, runaway-type victory or a powerful empire decides it wants you dead, you can usually reach a turning point where from then on out you are bound to win. IMO, though, the game is fun far beyond that point, as even with a lead over the other empires there are a LOT of challenges left to overcome to reach victory. Learn how to customize the victory settings and you can set it to win just as things start to get tedious. Also, I like upping the aggression setting - on Chaos, the AI is VERY war-happy in the classic age, making the early game a big challenge, and while in the Age of Shadows the pirates keep the empires working together at the start, the politics get very interesting later on.

3) Is the game fun? If you don't mind games lasting many hours and enjoy the huge number of, well, numbers in the game, then YES. Does it get repetitive? Well, sorta. I play on all manual settings; I spend a lot of time queuing constructors, redesigning ships with a new component, retasking spies, assigning new missions to scouts, over and over again. But I still enjoy the game because the small-scale repetition is part of a larger strategic goal that is extremely nuanced as a result of all the different elements included in the game. I've never played the same initial conditions twice, in fact I doubt I've explored even 5% of the settings I'd be interested in, and yet I bet I could play the same setup many times before the strategic layer got noticeably repetitive.

[Vedric]

ORIGINAL: mashkis

Hi All,

I have been reviewing this game series and thinking about purchasing. Here are few questions.
1. Has the font issue been fixed in latest patches? If not, how bad would it look at 1600x1200 in 22" monitor?
2. How does the AI compare to Gal Civ 2 and Armada Supernova and is it more challanging and engaging?
3. Overall, is this a fun game or does it become repetitive after a few hours?

Thank you.

I play on 1600x1200 but with a 20" monitor. Some text is hard to read, especially small red text. My eyes aren't perfect but they aren't that bad either. I think you will be fine on a 22" at that resolution.

The AI can put up a good fight with the proper settings. It really does come down to how you setup the galaxy. You can make it as hard or easy as you want.

This game is simply the best 4x out there. The only concern I would have for new players is if they have the patience to learn the nuances of the game. You can control any aspect of your empire you wish to. You also can delegate anything in your empire to the AI. Learning the easiest way through the UI and also understanding the AI's automation quirkiness will improve your enjoyment of the game. However it will take some time to get there. In the end it's completely worth it for the chance to enjoy the best space game available.

[mashkis]

Thanks everyone for your input. It looks like I missed the sale. Will have to wait for the next one.

ORIGINAL: Starke

...the AI prefers to expand non-violently when possible

Does this mean that the AI is not aggressive or can be depending on the game settings or situation? Will it attach you in full force?

The reason I ask is that I purchased Armada 2526 set and finding the game a bit boring. The AI is not attacking at all even if I start the fights. I know the two games cannot be compared but just want to make sure the AI in Distant Worlds puts up a challenge from time to time.