I’m on this like stink on a chimpanzee. End of the month can’t come quickly enough.
I apologize if this is obvious, but I haven’t been following the game too closely. What happens at the end of the month? Is it supposed to come out this month, or is it a beta or something?
It should be coming to Steam Early Access at the end of the month, I believe.
Correct. And since I’ve sworn off Early Access, I won’t be gett…aw, fuck. Who am I kidding?
Amplitude Studios does Early Access right, in my opinion.
Endless Legend was a fantastic example of Early Access done right in my opinion.
I’m pretty sure Endless Space was the first Early Access game I ever bought, and of course I jumped on Endless Legend, which was my GOTY back in '14. Why break tradition now?
As someone who only purchased Endless Legend at release, can you expand on what they do differently?
They are very receptive to feedback, they iterate constantly, but they don’t compromise their creative vision. On the other hand, their initial Early Access release is polished and enjoyable - it doesn’t feel unfinished.
When I say they do Early Access right, it’s because they provide a playable/enjoyable game from the start and they use the feedback they receive to improve the game without “designing it by committee”. It never feels like “game rushed to Early Acess to thus get more funds to finish it” like most Early Access games nowadays.
Thanks for the info, that was helpful!
September EA was a lie! Official EA date is Oct 6th.
https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space-2/blog/467-coming-to-steam-early-access-on-october-6th
Standard edition will be $39.99 with a 25% discount during early access, so $29.99
That’s a bit high for early access. If GMG or CDKeys has it for less I’ll bite now, but I’m sure it will be available somewhere for closer to $30 at release.
Is it? $10 off seems like a pretty good deal to me, considering it’s effectively just a pre-order bonus. Not a lot of pre-order bonuses out there are “$10 off and play it early!” to my memory.
Were their previous games, such as Endless Legend and such, not normally $40 at launch?
I’m pretty sure the first Endless Space was $20 or $25, but it was a first game from an unknown developer. Endless Legend might have been $39.95 at official release, but I don’t recall how much they charged for EA.
I guess my real problem is paying $30 for a build that is so limited - half the factions, half (I think) of the tech tree, and limited to 100 turns. In 60 days time it will still be $30 and have more meat on its’ bones.
That seems more a problem with Early Access as opposed to the price being charged, since $30 will get you the same completed $40 build. You’re buying the same game, this just gives you access early at a $10 pre-order discount to boot.
I am fine with the $30 price, after Endless Legend they have earned a lot of goodwill with me.
I really shouldn’t have watched any videos last night. The additions to exploration and the new political system look really interesting, and my will is softening.
I feel the same way. It was such a fun and interesting experience that I want to see what this new game will be like.
I guess I’ll be holding off until there’s more meat on the bones.
[quote]
HOW’S THE EARLY ACCESS VERSION ON THIS ASPECT?
Population
While you can still move your population between colonized planets within a system, in the Early Access, there is no feature to move populations across systems yet.
Research
For the Early Access version, there will be no faction-specific technology except technologies obtained by completing steps of your Faction Quest.
As it is now, players can research technologies in any order without needing to research prior technologies.
Diplomacy
For the Early Access, most of the feature of coordination between empires through diplomacy, such as Alliances, treaties etc... aren't present in the game.
Trade
In the Early Access version, there will be no Marketplace.
In the Early Access version, the trade system doesn't require players to build "commercial ships" and send them to establish the trade routes hard points, but this is subject to change.
Narrative Experience
For the Early Access, the After Action Report is quite limited.
For the Early Access, narrative experience cannot be shared through G2G via game story albums yet[/quote].