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[Retropunch]

Broadly in terms of 4X yeah there is competition, but there is scant space 4X games around for the past few years. In any case, the type of 4X that this game does is notably far different than anything on the market. The private industry AI runs a lot of the empire by itself.

Not to sound belligerent but we've had endless space, star lords, star ruler, legends of pegasus, sins of a solar empire, SotS2 and many more indie/mobile ones since Distant worlds, and tons more in the years preceding it. While I agree it's different and has some amazing aspects, I don't think that it's truly groundbreaking in any other way than automation (which is admittedly great) and it's horrible user interface doesn't do it any favors.

I certainly agree it's an improvement in cost terms, but charging people for the ability to mod your game seems a bit ridiculous really.

 

[BigD145]

While I recognize there is a real difference when it comes to pricing in relative to other games, what is too much for a game is largely subjective. People past the stage of being young adults often have a lot of money on their hands.

In some countries, yes. In the majority of countries, no. Computer ownership does not mean you have a lot of disposable income. Hand me downs are not uncommon. Those that buy a computer may not have any money left over for software.

[Deon]

I would disagree about "People past the stage of being young adults often have a lot of money on their hands".

Usually at that point people start to care about money more and they have some projects, be it a car, apartment or family, sucking money out of them .

[puke]

I have been hoping someone will do an up-to-date review of the game.

And here it is:  http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2014/05/distant-worlds-universe-launched-and-first-impressions/

[Sirus]

So I'm eying this thing on Steam. A little pricy for something that has the graphics of AI War: Fleet Command, but I can't help but be interested. Automation sounds like it would help the tediousness of long games, but what else is there to Distant Worlds that another game doesn't do better? Sell this game to me in 49.79 words or less.

[Retropunch]

So I'm eying this thing on Steam. A little pricy for something that has the graphics of AI War: Fleet Command, but I can't help but be interested. Automation sounds like it would help the tediousness of long games, but what else is there to Distant Worlds that another game doesn't do better? Sell this game to me in 49.79 words or less.

To be honest, there's not much to set it apart from most other 4x games other than that it's on a much bigger scale but has poor graphics and a difficult User interface.

 Have you played Endless Space and GalCiv2? It's quite a lot like those mashed together but on a bigger scale with impressive automation of mundane economy/planet building stuff. Planet leaders, spies and so on are all characters with RPG style traits/leveling, there's combat and influence ways to go and the AI is pretty decent. Ship Battles/combat are big (but SoaSe is better), diplomacy is good (but GalCiv2 does it better), complexity is high (but Aurora/AI war does it better) and so on.

Still, it's a good 4x game and I have enjoyed playing it, especially the more advanced espionage actions - with enough agents you can cripple an enemy for attack which is very enjoyable. I'd personally wait till it goes on a steam sale at some point and get it then.

[Sirus]

Technically it is on sale: $49.79 as opposed to $59.99. From what I heard it has always been an expensive title, though I never got an exact number.

[BigD145]

Technically it is on sale: $49.79 as opposed to $59.99. From what I heard it has always been an expensive title, though I never got an exact number.

$120+ in the past with sales never(?) dropping below $70 for .... base plus 2-3 expansions I think. Base and expansions normally price for $40 to $50 each for digital. I don't know what it released at so long ago.

[Sirus]

Technically it is on sale: $49.79 as opposed to $59.99. From what I heard it has always been an expensive title, though I never got an exact number.

$120+ in the past with sales never(?) dropping below $70 for .... base plus 2-3 expansions I think. Base and expansions normally price for $40 to $50 each for digital. I don't know what it released at so long ago.

So are you saying that it is unlikely to drop further?

[Karlito]

I don't know what it released at so long ago.

The Grognard publishers haven't really caught onto the modern pricing model for digitally distributed PC games that we see on Steam and such.

[Nelia Hawk]

even though 50-60 bucks in one bulk seems quite a lot, i would say its more reasonable then ever... its like base game 20 + each expansion 4x10.
if you compare that to.. i.e. the sims 3 and its expansions... base game 40, each of the 15 or so expansions 40x15 http://store.steampowered.com/app/47890/
or civ 5 (that is less ridiculous than sims with 30 base + 30x2 expansions).

gameplay wise i would still say it is the "best" space 4x out there, that makes the universe feel "alive" and "full" with all the civilian transports, passenger ships, mining ships, mining bases, ancient derelict ships to repair etc.. its not "just 5-10 fleets" and the rest is empty/planets. there is always stuff moving around all over the map, even sometimes overwhelmingly much once you start getting "xxx is under attack by yyy" every 5-10 seconds as 10 different ships are under attack by creatures or pirates all over the place.

it also has ship boarding/taking over ships or stations, fighters, asteroid belts, mineral demand system, tourism, piracy is pretty well playable with the last expansion, automation for pretty much everything, characters for planets/espionage/fleets different victory conditions for each race... quite a lot of "different" races, some have one special research tech, some have events like a 4 year festival happiness cycle or something.

well it doesnt look like EVE or X-Rebirth, but it has its own charm...sometimes, when you just watch stuff happening. there isnt much "planetary building" either compared to i.e. galciv2 or civ5 cities.
combat is also not a slideshow/movie (galciv/endless space) when 2 fleets bump each other, its all realtime and you can control every ship or nothing (guess it could be compared to sins of a solar empire... a bit). you can also trade blockade planets with your fleets or pirates do that to you.
the interface isnt the best either... you have the top and the bottom corners filled with interface boxes... so you have like a T shaped screen in the middle to see whats going on... compared to i.e. sins of a solar empire or stardrive it hasnt much "overview". (but i play in kind of low resolution... with bigger/wide screens its probably less a problem)

for me its still one of the best space games i played, it does quite a lot "right" for a space 4x.

[Deon]

Yep, as I said the AI plans are pretty well written, and all races have a few assigned to them, making them into pretty interesting entities rather than a clone of the same one. Same for your own civilization, you can leave all control to AI and just change "policies" which will change how AI plays.

[Anvilfolk]

I think the main point between this game and other 4Xs is that this is more of a simulation. Other 4Xs tend to distill the simulation aspects into a handful of well-balanced specific gameplay mechanics. They might feel more polished and sleek, but that's because they did away with all the simulation busywork.

The most obvious example is, as has been said, the entire civilian infrastructure and economy model. It's definitely not just "minerals, precious minerals and food"

[Zangi]

I took a preliminary look at the modding.
>.>
I can definitely expand upon my pony mod...  Upgrading the old mod files to the new should be pretty easy, since the dev keeps a nifty version number on the stuff.

Of course, I'm going to be lacking in the pony picture department.

[sneakey pete]

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

Anyway, the above review does a good job at summing up the changes but does a terrible job of summing up the package as a whole for anyone who hasn't already bought the game.
That being said i've already bought the game on steam, and i'll get a chance to play it in a few days, so hopefully it lives up to the expectations i've had for it since i found out about DW years ago.