Oh thaaaaaaaaat 3D. Right.
Meh. How many Ds does one person need?
I actually take a Vitamin D supplement every day (because the outside burrrrnnnsss usssssss), so plenty, apparently.
I war3z EverSpace to see if I’d like it or not before buying (I miss demos, dammit).
I’m glad I did. I hated the “roguelike” mechanics. Actually, I’m beginning the hate the whole “roguelike” thing. It’s a crutch now for “our team doesn’t have the chops or willingness to actually balance our game, so fuck it, we’ll just toss it all in there and let the RNG sort it out.”
I felt the same way about FTL. Yeah, I said it. Fight me.
And then they tell you that “dying is part of the fun”. No, just because you slap the word “roguelike” on something doesn’t mean that I’m going to enjoy poorly-balanced gameplay.
To each their own I suppose. Luckily there’s no shortage of great entries in the genre right now for y’all to enjoy.
If this were 10 years ago, however…
The problem with FTL was that the non-combat multiple choice scenarios all had a “right” choice and you just had to memorize what it was. No tradeoffs, no real learning, just die in each of them until you remember.
I thought Everspace was very well balanced. Sometimes you have to use a different weapon or equipment item than you’d ideally like but that’s sort of the point. The game has a clear ramp up and after a couple attempts you can pretty easily get to sector 3 or 4 no matter what happens. Almost every time I died I could look back and think “if only I hadn’t done [dumb thing]” - usually overconfidently engaging everything when I didn’t have to, although I lost a couple games by being sure I could get that item on the edge of the black hole and being wrong.
Yeah, I agree.
I’m not a big fan of rogue-likes, but Everspace works fine, and I like how they dole out the story bits. I appreciate the fact that in Everspace you nearly always have the option of running away. After every jump, it becomes a matter of calculating risk/reward – do I fight these enemies in the hopes of surviving and getting some decent loot, or do I run off to another area and hope it won’t cost me too much in the way of fuel/credits/other resources?
I have enjoyed the game so much I bought the expansion, which adds some more quests and characters to help flesh things out a bit. Did anyone here experience any of the new content yet?
I met two new characters. One of them started a scripted “assault the enemy base” mission which gave me a stash of weapons and a cutscene implying future events. It was fun but I’m a little worried that all the new stuff is going to be highly scripted. I got the lightning gun and it mostly plays like the beams but trades for some splash damage. Then I was dumb and died. :P
Just finished the Space Game Junkie Helium Rain podcast. Some internet ambient feedback voodoo made Gwennaël sound like a cross between Dr. Manhattan and The Merovingian. Very great episode, otherwise.
I also purchased Drox Operative on sale due to a plug earlier in this thread. So far it strikes me as a procedural-ish Escape Velocity, and that’s a very good thing. Not a lot of variety in the weapons, and the combat is very simplistic so far (obviously), but I had a moment where the dragon-people I was trying to cozy up to who had been hitherto reticent suddenly offered a Non-Aggression Pact, and I realized it was just after I discovered a paradise world… and I had gotten them to agree to a Free-Info Pact earlier…
It’s these kind of emergences that make procedural games so frequently compelling.
Yeah, sorry about that, sometimes Discord hates us. Thanks for listening though!
Oh man, you just wait, there are so many more toys to play with along the way, and so many emergent situations that’ll come up. Soooo good. :)
Hey Brian, is Children Of The Galaxy worth picking up at 40% off? I know you did a video on it and you seemed to enjoy it.
I think so, I’ve enjoyed my time with it. I’ve not played it in a while but they keep regularly updating it.
Thanks, I played for quite a bit more, as well.
Those new characters really help in fleshing out the game’s universe a bit more. I recommend the expansion heartily!
This enters early access on Steam next Tuesday. Backers (including ME!) get their copy then, more than three years after the kickstarter. I can’t wait. I’ve been very patient, trying to avoid following the dev’s blogs and other news. I want to play it fresh. Next week!
Non-backers can buy it, of course, next week. Regular price will be $15, but there will be an EA launch discount, not yet disclosed.
EDIT: Meant to add that it is no longer called Star Traders 2, it is Star Traders: Frontiers. Bleh title.
Here’s the Early Access page:
I was playing some of it yesterday. Reallllly great.
You bastard! ;)
Actually I’m sure thrilled that you’re liking it. Gives me hope.
Turn based or real time?
It’s the Trese Brothers so I’d bet hard on turn based.
Enjoyed the Helium Rain podcast so picked that up. So great right off the bat - but I’m pretty torn whether to dive into it now, or wait 6 months until it comes out of EA.