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[Retropunch]

I really wouldn't say it's a bad 4x game, and the automation really is great. I just don't think it's worth the full asking price, I'd happily recommend it at half that/on sale, but I just think for a 4 year old game, with terrible graphics/interface and being rather rough in general that it's a bit of a stretch.

[Deon]

I would not call the graphics terrible, they are pretty neat IMHO, and there are some cool interface mods which fix somewhat lacking interface buttons.

[Zangi]

Rating this game on graphics is the last thing you want to do, in my opinion.

What this game features is its simulation and gameplay. 
Resources are actually needed to build things.  Don't have any Steel on Colony Y to build your extra awesome space port?  Too bad, production grinds to a halt, till your civilian freighters bring in the needed supplies from elsewhere.  The civilian freighters will automatically try to bring in Steel and other resources from your homeworld, mining stations and even buying it from another empire.  But that can be stopped if there are enemies floating about the destination system... and/or your mining stations are getting suppressed/destroyed all over the place... which can create a critical shortage in a pro-longed war, if you have noone on the sidelines to trade with.  (You can pay smugglers(pirates) to bring in much needed resources though.)
Early tech with empires that are long distances away, will be less likely for your civilian fleet to trade with them, due to fuel requirements.
Fuel is also a critical supply, to keep your fleets in an attack position along the borders, you need a protected supply ship or gas station.  Supply lines/sources are critical for your military ships to be able to react to threats, without having to go half way across the empire to fuel up... worse if they run out of gas on their way to refuel...
Think of Aurora's civilian fleet/economy... but better.

As I said before, as a feature, you can essentially let the game run its course on its own and not be gimped for it.  (Since your automation AI is basically the same as the enemy empire AI.)  Be as hands-off or hands-on as you like.
As for the other races, default game, they are all distinctly different and have different preferences, so they will do things differently, with each their own objectives which they will go toward completing.  You can totally change all that if you wanted with modding of course.  (Even a mod that has 40 distinct races....)

I'm bad at reviews and stuff, but yea... You won't find another 4x games that run stuff along like this.

I'd have thought that would be the last thing you'd be lacking in with that subject.

Meh, I have some stock pics I picked up, but I can't be arsed to learn how to make em work the same as the Distant Worlds one.  And... the sprite troop icons, the default is all bipedal creatures.  No quadrupeds.

[Retropunch]

Graphics isn't something I'm overly bothered about (heck, we're on the DF forums!) - I meant more that it lacks polish in any visual sense, and I find the interface clunky regardless of mods that clean it up a bit.

I'd agree the automation is great, but I can't be sold on that alone. It's like skyrim AI - it looks great, and it is useful (more so in distant worlds), but in the end you want to actually play a game/do stuff at some point, and AI/automation takes a back seat.

It does a lot of things well, and it is a good 4x which I would recommend - just not at that price.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Graphics isn't something I'm overly bothered about (heck, we're on the DF forums!) - I meant more that it lacks polish in any visual sense, and I find the interface clunky regardless of mods that clean it up a bit.

I'd agree the automation is great, but I can't be sold on that alone. It's like skyrim AI - it looks great, and it is useful (more so in distant worlds), but in the end you want to actually play a game/do stuff at some point, and AI/automation takes a back seat.

It does a lot of things well, and it is a good 4x which I would recommend - just not at that price.

To point out a few things let me say this: Firstly, the game should be taken as a roleplaying experience, you'll probably get the most enjoyment out of determining why your feudal space empire enslaves bugs (those ******* sluken bastards!)! Secondly, I've played my fair share of 4Xs (This, Aurora, Star Ruler, and in a different setting most of the paradox games, and CIV 5) and I gotta say, the combat in this is some of the most satisfying i've had. Fleet actions are pretty epic, raiding is cool, and empires WILL react to you fucking their shit up unannounced. Thirdly, as previously stated the economic system is developed and fun to play with. Lastly, also very much previously stated, this is the only 4x where i've felt that the universe is doin' its own thing no matter what you do.

[snelg]

I never felt the graphics were a problem for the game, and actually kind of like the look. The interface is probably the only actual problem I have with the game. That and that large games tend to get a bit slow after a while but that's kind of my own fault.

[Deon]

Rating this game on graphics is the last thing you want to do, in my opinion.

What this game features is its simulation and gameplay. 
Resources are actually needed to build things.  Don't have any Steel on Colony Y to build your extra awesome space port?  Too bad, production grinds to a halt, till your civilian freighters bring in the needed supplies from elsewhere.  The civilian freighters will automatically try to bring in Steel and other resources from your homeworld, mining stations and even buying it from another empire.  But that can be stopped if there are enemies floating about the destination system... and/or your mining stations are getting suppressed/destroyed all over the place... which can create a critical shortage in a pro-longed war, if you have noone on the sidelines to trade with.  (You can pay smugglers(pirates) to bring in much needed resources though.)
Early tech with empires that are long distances away, will be less likely for your civilian fleet to trade with them, due to fuel requirements.
Fuel is also a critical supply, to keep your fleets in an attack position along the borders, you need a protected supply ship or gas station.  Supply lines/sources are critical for your military ships to be able to react to threats, without having to go half way across the empire to fuel up... worse if they run out of gas on their way to refuel...
Think of Aurora's civilian fleet/economy... but better.

As I said before, as a feature, you can essentially let the game run its course on its own and not be gimped for it.  (Since your automation AI is basically the same as the enemy empire AI.)  Be as hands-off or hands-on as you like.
As for the other races, default game, they are all distinctly different and have different preferences, so they will do things differently, with each their own objectives which they will go toward completing.  You can totally change all that if you wanted with modding of course.  (Even a mod that has 40 distinct races....)

I'm bad at reviews and stuff, but yea... You won't find another 4x games that run stuff along like this.

I'd have thought that would be the last thing you'd be lacking in with that subject.

Meh, I have some stock pics I picked up, but I can't be arsed to learn how to make em work the same as the Distant Worlds one.  And... the sprite troop icons, the default is all bipedal creatures.  No quadrupeds.

Yeah, this is the only 4x game where the pirates are actually useful. Smugglers, raiders, mercs, they all have a very important role, so you can wage a cold war paying pirates to kill your enemies, you can avoid embargoes by helping them to set up smuggling lines etc.

[Sirus]

Does this game use pirates the same way Sins of a Solar Empire does? Because in that game, I would usually just turn them off. The pirates in that game attack whichever faction has the most bounty every 15 minutes or so, and get stronger the more money they are paid. If no-one has a bounty? They attack a random empire (usually the player) and get stronger anyway. And these attacks aren't simple raids for resources, these are easily capable of destroying entire fleets by themselves as they get stronger.

[azurelao]

Does this game use pirates the same way Sins of a Solar Empire does? Because in that game, I would usually just turn them off. The pirates in that game attack whichever faction has the most bounty every 15 minutes or so, and get stronger the more money they are paid. If no-one has a bounty? They attack a random empire (usually the player) and get stronger anyway. And these attacks aren't simple raids for resources, these are easily capable of destroying entire fleets by themselves as they get stronger.

Pirates are their own empires in this game. If you run into them they will generally be hostile, but you can pay them a steady amount of money to make them neutral.
Also, you can have pirates run supplies and necessary resources to your planets, for a price of course.
I believe you can also hire them out to hit other empires, or even other pirates, but I haven't tried that out yet.

[Karlito]

Yeah, and they'll attack you of their own volition too, if they need the plunder. Generally they'll get weaker compared to planet based empires as the game goes on.

[Jacob/Lee]

If you get tired of them, you can find their bases with fleets/spies and stomp them flat, too! I regularly murdered pirate factions that irritated me, which was often.

[BigD145]

Sins doesn't really have pirates. It just has a psychotic easily bribeable AI empire. Distant Worlds is very different from just about any other 4x in the past half dozen years.

[Culise]

If you get tired of them, you can find their bases with fleets/spies and stomp them flat, too! I regularly murdered pirate factions that irritated me, which was often.

It's a good way to get reputation, too.  It's quite satisfying to go back to those pirates who demanded regular protection money back when you were building your first spaceport and deliver that final notice of payment via high-velocity kinetic impactor. 

[Zangi]

Does this game use pirates the same way Sins of a Solar Empire does? Because in that game, I would usually just turn them off. The pirates in that game attack whichever faction has the most bounty every 15 minutes or so, and get stronger the more money they are paid. If no-one has a bounty? They attack a random empire (usually the player) and get stronger anyway. And these attacks aren't simple raids for resources, these are easily capable of destroying entire fleets by themselves as they get stronger.

It may not look it, since fog of war, but they do harass other empires and the independent populations.  They typically are stronger then fledgling empires or what have you, basically a few tech levels above the average at the beginning of the game.  They do improve on tech, based somewhat on what their same-race tech progress is.
Their strength/income comes from destroying things/ships, smuggling, raiding and protection fees.  The could potentially become behemoths in the shadow age(and depending on the pirate setting, higher difficulty = higher income per shenanigan.)  I do not recall if their ship production is tethered to having resources or not, like empires, they probably are not.

There are no random bounties in this game.  Empires can/do place bounties on things and pirates can choose to do em or not.  Later on, once empires get their military footing, pirates will be pushed back, eventually.  But they may have stocked up an astronomical amount of money and a few construction ships from the shadow age.... so it becomes whack a mole for a bit of time.  Of course, that also depends on difficulty setting.

[puke]

I'm looking forward to trying the Shadows content where you can play as a pirate faction.  I usually kept some around that I could employ to work against other empires... or just paid them off so that they would continue to harass other empires and be a thorn in their side.

The best thing about them, though, is that they know where stuff is.  You can bleed those guys for information if you have enough funds, and they'll reveal the locations of derelict fleets, lost colonies, even planet destroyers.

After a while though, the reputation hit is too great and you need to wipe them out before your neighbors all turn on you.