Combat is promising and looks way better than Stellaris, but seriously , can you really affect planets much or the civilian economy at all?
Some of the government types are based on more direct interaction with the civilian economy. Have any of you guys tried different governments yet? I only messed with republic or democracy, one of those default boring ones.
-Tom
Doesn’t it depend on what you have selected on the info panel? Aren’t the colored circles – assuming that’s what you mean by balls – in your screenshot colonies? I’m a little surprised that you’ve played 70 hours and don’t even know what the map is telling you!
-Tom
Yep, as I mentioned in the post, I have the diplomacy overlay selected. And yep, I’ve played 70 hours, and I’m still not entirely sure what the fuzzy balls mean when this overlay is active. The manual doesn’t say, or if it does, I can’t find it – although the manual does tell us that colonies are the main source of influence, and other installations are distinctly secondary. So I’m guessing that the balls highlight influence-generating things, such as mining stations.
At this point, though, more and more of my questions are about strategy and tactics, not game systems. Which weapons are best? Which point-defense? Are marginal colonies worth the cost? Relatedly, am I over-valuing “wide” play, when in my galaxy the victory-point leader seems relatively “tall”? (Its race-specific victory conditions are propelling it to victory.) Are expensive diplomatic gifts worth it?
I started out automating almost nothing. Now that my empire is larger, I’ve switched my explorers to auto. I’ve also started to allow some (but not all) stations use automated stockpiles. And I allow a few ships to auto-escort freighters and such. I’ve still got most everything else on manual: ship construction, ship design, fleets, diplomacy, research, ambassadors, spies, scientists, tax rates, troop recruitment, colony construction and management. I enjoy fussing with it all.
All that said, I still find myself enjoying the early game more than the later stages – as is true with pretty much every 4X I play. The temptation to restart grows stronger and stronger…
There is something up with the economy with colonies, I’m well into the game now, and my economy is absolute shit, with planets NEVER earning their keep, its just taking ages…
Terrarorming is expensive, but critical. Luckily it is only for 5 years. At least the first one. I’m guessing there are more extensive terraforming capabilities later, but I haven’t seen them yet because I’m using the blind research tree?
“Influence generating things”? Seems to me that’s incorrect given the number of circle that aren’t generating influence, not to mention the number of systems clearly generating influence that aren’t circled. Can’t you click and check, or even just zoom in to look? Or do you just not care?
I’m astonished that you’ve played as much as you have and still don’t know what basic information the game is trying to communicate. That said, if you’re going to “play” a game without knowing what’s happening, this is the perfect game for it. :)
-Tom
Been terraforming them above 50 rating, some are 60+ but they are just not profitable ever…
@Shuma @tomchick I plead guilty to not having investigated this as thoroughly as I should! But I’ve zoomed in and clicked and hovered, and I still think it’s confusing. And not just because the colors are confusing. (The background colors confuse me too – I have trouble distingusihing the pale blue from the blue green, for example.)
I know the diplomatic overlay says it describes system “ownership”, but some systems seem to lie within “owned” space (because their empire’s background color is present) and yet don’t warrant a bubble. So maybe the bubbles are intended to distinguish systems with a significant alien presence (influence?) from those with just a small mining operation? Or maybe the discrepancies between background and bubbles just means our maps are incomplete? I’m relying mostly on stolen maps. My explorers haven’t come close to exploring the whole map yet.
Anyway, I’m not claiming that I understand everything in this game, or that it presents everything clearly. I still find it fun – though I do find myself enjoying it less as the mid-game slog sets in.
The game is as dense as the old one was, and there is VERY little you can do to stimulate economy except dismantle ships and not start too many colonies…
Tax is a thing but its nothing you should mess with as colony growth vs tax is a thing.
In my experience, don’t over expand matters a lot more here than in most 4x. I like that.
Terraforming only costs money for five years and is then permanent? I googled terraforming as best as I could and found nothing suggesting anything other than it was a permanent cost 🤦♂️
p.s. remember your username from the forum neptune’s pride games!
Neptune’s Pride was great.
Yeah, at least the first terraforming tech only improves the planet 1% a year, and maxes out at 5%. The game is even nice enough to throw a popup asking if it should scrap the terraforming now that it is obsolete.
Except perhaps for the fact this doesn’t appear to apply to the AI who in every game I’ve played expands to box me in on all sides every single time.
Has anyone found a legend for map icons? I think I have most of them figured out but can’t see to find a reference.
Looks like a lot of crash fixes in yesterday’s update:
I’m still enjoying this game, although some of it makes me go “huh?” (which I get in other 4X games, FWIW).
My current “huh” moment is meeting an AI empire at some empty system, them slowly hating me (because I’m beautiful?) and him declaring war on me without my having any idea where his star empire is. I don’t know how we can fight each other when I can only guess where his stars and ships are.
Sounds like a smart galactic leader to me.
They’ll come to you
Often they don’t. Some empires declare war immediately on first contact - of two explorers. After awhile they give up the war as there is no military contact.