W O W - The NEW Galactic Emperor has arrived!

[Vlad77]

I am an avid 4X gamer. If it has been released, chances are I have played it. Until today, I have been playing Armada 2526. Great game. Having said that, my first impressions of distant Worlds is that this game is TRULY the first space 4X game that successfully captures the feeling of the immensity of space. Astronomically, a 700 star galaxy is, well, it would really be closer to a tiny cluster. But, DW "abstracts" a 700 star galaxy into something that FEELS like a billion star astronomical body.

The New Galactic Emperor of 4X Space games has arrived! Surrender to it!!

I have to admit that I am feeling a tad overwhelmed, but, in a GOOD way. A LOT is going on; the galaxy is ALIVE. Even with most things automated, you ARE going to be busy. In fact, one should REJOICE at the automation! I think it would be impossible to monitor everything whilst trying to keep tabs on everything else going on outside your fledgling empire.

Another cool feature? Right in game, you jump into the game editor and tweak your galaxy! Yes, you can place practically ANYTHING ANYWHERE. *Taking a breath here...

I will still play Armada 2526, and GalCiv2, but, IMHO, we have finally found THE game we have been waiting for. MOO2 is deservedly a classic and has been for many the space 4X against which all others have been compared. Distant Worlds has, I think, reached that lofty level - at least in the first hours of playing it. And the modification friendliness of this game means that I am CERTAIN we are going to see some wild ship designs. How many games have we tried to mod for Babylon 5 or Star Trek, etc. THIS is the one!

Installation went well, and the game runs very nicely thus far. I DO like Armada 2526's feature of hitting the "Home" key to return to one's capital. I will hasten to add that I haven't explored all of the buttons and gadgets yet. The game sucked me in SO much, I really don't care that I have yet to discover all of the shortcuts.

Which brings me to the tutorials. These are excellent! Unlike most tutorials where you have to wait for the game to allow you to perform the action just described, you can play the game as you follow the tutorial, i.e., you can perform the action, scroll around, do other things, and the tutorial is still there.

So much I could write about, but, you folks need to experience this game.

Kudos to the devs for this experience - DW is not just a game. Thank you Matrix Games for yet another great distribution!

Vlad

[Rosseau]

I have been playing Space Empires V, so imagine my shock at the slickness of this game. A few hours in and looking good so far.

One 4X first I believe is the game editor allows you to modify a lost-cause or easy-win game and make it interesting again. Nothing worse than those scenarios that just go on forever.

[Baleur]

Vlad77 running very nicely? Are you saying you dont have massive stuttering when zooming or panning around? *ultra jealous if thats the case, but hopeful that it means this stuttering is something fixable*

[Vlad77]

ORIGINAL: rosseau

I have been playing Space Empires V, so imagine my shock at the slickness of this game. A few hours in and looking good so far.

One 4X first I believe is the game editor allows you to modify a lost-cause or easy-win game and make it interesting again. Nothing worse than those scenarios that just go on forever.

Rosseau,
I couldn't agree more. I was a Space empires IV junkie and had HIGH hope for V. I bought it on the day of release, and after I think the sixth patch, I gave up. Aaron Hall is a helluva good game designer, but, the ball was dropped on SE:V

DW has IMMENSE promise. If you ever played the Babylon 5 or Star Trek mods for SE:IV you know that they were fun. But, imagine what can be done with DW!! I thought at one point that GalCiv2 was the be all and end all of space 4X - and it DOES have a lot going for it. But, DW's possibilities in terms of customization seem virtually limitless.

See you in space!!

Vlad

[Gertjan]

Wow! This seems to be a very good game already after the release. I'm very optimistic!

[Gargantou]

Yeah, out of all 'epic strategy' games I've played throughout the years, this has to be one of the most stable and bug-free ones I can think off, Elliot and co. have done a great job on the game!

[lordxorn]

I agree, I just finished a 2 hour session on my HP DV2000 AMD Turion X2 64bit laptop, and it ran fine. I can't wait to get home on my Gaming Rig and enjoy DW on my 22in monitor in full smoothness.

I am really enjoying the game right and trying to figure out all the nuances Elliot and co have put into this great game. I have so far been able to figure out a majority of the game's features on my own through trial and error and the galactopaedia. Which is well written and comprehensive.

One thing I am struggling with is my economy, which is suffering from huge shifts of negative and positive. I have more than ten luxury resources listed, and have free trade agreements. I have also built a resort on a blackhole, but can't seem to get tourist there. It is about two sectors away from my major planets, do they have to be in the same sector?

[Webbco]

Errr, you put a tourist resort near a black hole? I haven't tried that but it doesn't sound like a good idea! When clicking on the black hole, did it have a 'scenic' level in the bottom left info screen? If it doesn't then I don't expect tourist will flock to it! If you click on expansion planner, you can filter colonies according to scenic locations.

[Erik Rutins]

Thanks guys, great to hear that you are loving DW!

[Wade1000]

ORIGINAL: Webbco

Errr, you put a tourist resort near a black hole? I haven't tried that but it doesn't sound like a good idea! When clicking on the black hole, did it have a 'scenic' level in the bottom left info screen? If it doesn't then I don't expect tourist will flock to it! If you click on expansion planner, you can filter colonies according to scenic locations.

Yep. The black hole he posted does have a "Scenery" rank/bonus. But look at that Research bonus!
tm.asp?m=2414784 ('Micro AAR: Science at the Edge of Eternity')

[mbar]

My first impressions echo Vlad77. So much is going on in DW. There is so much to learn yet I don't feel like it's ever out of my control. I can slow it down, pause and the in-game documentation (galacticopedia) is first rate. The intel and information screens allow you to control so much without needing to zoom in and out on the galactic map to issue orders to this or that.
 
I don't often buy games without a demo but I feel the youtube movies gave me a very good idea of what I would be buying.

[Shark7]

I only got a chance to run through the basic tutorial and play for about 30 minutes last night, but this game is epic scale wise. Even in the 30 minutes I played I was run ragged trying to deal with pirate raids. I have a feeling this is going to be very, very good, and very in depth.

[mbar]

ORIGINAL: Shark7

I only got a chance to run through the basic tutorial and play for about 30 minutes last night, but this game is epic scale wise. Even in the 30 minutes I played I was run ragged trying to deal with pirate raids. I have a feeling this is going to be very, very good, and very in depth.

At first I tried to destroy a single pirate ship but I just ended up jumping this way and that trying to chase it down. So I formed a fleet of about 6 ships and jumped to the base. I began my attack on the base but then about 12 to 15 Sulkan ships jumped in to do the same. We all attacked the pirate base and destroyed it. Then I got the heck out of there.

[Vlad77]

ORIGINAL: Baleur

Vlad77 running very nicely? Are you saying you dont have massive stuttering when zooming or panning around? *ultra jealous if thats the case, but hopeful that it means this stuttering is something fixable*

Running very well for me Baleur. In fact sometimes it scrolls a bit too fast. I know that you had mentioned this issue before and tried a few approaches. I just wonder if there is some process running that you are unaware of on your PC? I have had these stuttering issues from time to time and it was either a process, or it was simply a matter of cleaning my registry and defragging. I hope you can work out the issue!

Best,
Vlad

[Vlad77]

Gertjan,

I can almost hear the modders licking their chops on this one. Kudos to Codeforce and Matrix for releasing a patch ON release day!

Best.
Vlad

[LarryP]

After all of the niggles being posted, these posts are a nice welcome. [;)] [&o]

[Vlad77]

Larry,

Unfortunately there will always be niggles on any release - of anything. But, the positives are greatly outweighing the niggling. This game is simply fun and engrossing and it is apparent at least to me that a lot of love went into it from the devs and the testers. This one is most assuredly a keeper.

It has taken the best features of the 4X genre and created its own identity. Codeforce have given us not only a great game, but also a universe that we the gamers can create and experiment with. This genre needed a good kick in the airlocks. Armada 2526 is I think a very good game as well. Who would have thought? A good space 4X and a great space 4X in a period of three months! Dare I say that people are getting back to what is most important in games and that is the PLAY aspect? Super hot mega vertex shaded pixels can only carry a game so far - witness Space Force: Rogue Universe.

The graphics ARE pretty good in this pretty lady, and with the ability to do our own designs, I am ready to crack out Maya and do fun stuff

It is so gratifying as a gamer to see other gamers happy with a product; especially one that could have easily fallen into the dreaded black hole named Same Game Different Title.

Could be that the Orcs, Hobbits, Elves, and Mumakils that have inhabited New Zealand left some magic behind?

Vlad

[Jim D Burns]

Agreed, every game has a period where they need to shake out all the quirks after release. All the niggling going on is actually a good thing, it helps the process along. Don’t let it get you down about the game, it’s a sign people care about it a lot that they spend so much thought processing power on it.

Were the game a dud, there’d be hardly a peep in here about it. But I think DW has already proven itself to be one of the most innovative 4x games ever released and will probably become THE 4x game to beat for future attempts at the genre. MOO2 step aside, there’s a new kid on the block.

Jim

[JonathanStrange]

Could one auto-assign anti-pirate fleets to deal with - and only with - pirates, say by patrolling certain sectors? Is it possible to auto-assign escorts to accompany fleets or travel along trade routes?

[LarryP]

Vlad77 and Jim D Burns; Thanks again for your kind words of encouragement. When I got on as beta tester last June 2009, as soon as I saw this game I knew it was special. My favorite genre of games had been space. However, I always wanted a space game that had an immense system to explore, lots of options do do that with, and a game that I could start on MY terms. I saw that DW had just that and more.

As you have seen, the options of starting a game are so many. Gamers at any level of expertise can find the settings to accommodate their play. That's a very strong point about DW compared to other space games. One other game that has many options for play is the Space Empire series which I like. However I love DW. [8D]

I know there will always be niggles. I still feel somewhat responsible for them when I read them. Nobody likes to let a bug get by them, it's a competitive thing too. Us against them kind of thing. [;)]