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[RF]

Hey, guys, guess who I learnt never to buy games off again?

That old bloke in the trenchcoat?

No, he's actually pretty good for getting decent deals, ever since they started falling off the back of trucks.

It's Stardock. I bought this game on release and well... Yeah.

[zakkeh]

Hey, guys, guess who I learnt never to buy games off again?

That old bloke in the trenchcoat?

No, he's actually pretty good for getting decent deals, ever since they started falling off the back of trucks.

It's Stardock. I bought this game on release and well... Yeah.

The game's okay, but definitely not worth the money I paid for it. Kinda similar to Demigod in that respect, lots of great ideas but poor execution overall

[forsaken1111]

Hey, guys, guess who I learnt never to buy games off again?

That old bloke in the trenchcoat?

No, he's actually pretty good for getting decent deals, ever since they started falling off the back of trucks.

It's Stardock. I bought this game on release and well... Yeah.

The game's okay, but definitely not worth the money I paid for it. Kinda similar to Demigod in that respect, lots of great ideas but poor execution overall

At least I got some fun out of Demigod, and it WORKED when I bought it.

For my part, after the debacle with Elemental and the sale of Impulse to Gamestop I really have zero confidence in Stardock going forward.

[lordcooper]

Okay, the time has come.  I was incredibly hyped for this game, but never actually played it due to the terrible reviews.  Downloading it now and hoping patch 1.4 made it into enough of a game to be worth my £22.

Any tips for a baby nublet?

[nenjin]

It's been a long time since I've fired it up. Last I remember, the initial establishment phase can be rough even when the game is setting your start point near a fixed % of special sites, because you might have to wait 10 turns to expand to capture a site you really need.

So generally, always put your city down where it's going to have ready access to 2 to 3 sites within a few turns. I always start near a field so I can build a farm first. I usually regen maps until I get a start point that has at least 1 food, 1 material and 1 extra site grouped pretty close together. The game can be really unforgiving if you can't expand quickly, or you end up having to build your second city way the hell away from your first

[lordcooper]

This game is actually really fun so far

The good
Extensive unit customisation (both functional and cosmetic)
Large and pretty satisfying variety of spells
Loads and loads of equipment to choose from
Chilling music
Pretty (if a little basic) graphics
Well implemented quest system
Population system keeps the expansion of individual cities in check and encourages specialisation
It seems as though there are quite a few viable strategic approaches in general
Runs smoothly even with an integrated intel gfx card

The bad
Tactical battles are a little too simplistic
Standard units must be replaced rather than upgraded
Factions don't have many significant differences
The campaign is a glorified tutorial that skips several features and can be sequence broken to hell and back

The stuff I need to mess about with more before making my mind up about
Terraforming
Diplomacy
Dynasty system
Multiplayer
Mods
AI

I'm only about 30 mins into my first sandbox game, but I'm satisfied with my purchase and think I'll be able to recommend this game with a clear conscience.

I'll report back when I've played more

[forsaken1111]

Hm, maybe I'll try this again now. I wonder if its cheaper.

[Bluerobin]

I need to reinstall again and try it out... I think there have been 2 or 3 big patches since the last time.

[Neonivek]

This is one of those games that even if you know it isn't all that good you want to play.

Like spore.

[nenjin]

This is one of those games that even if you know it isn't all that good you want to play.

Like spore.

Truth.

I think I'd split a few hairs about some of the things on your good list. Namely spells and their variety (Dominions 3 makes Elemental spells look like a joke.) Unit customization also doesn't amount to much IMO. Seems deep, gives you the ability to have a lot of flavor....but isn't terribly meaningful in the grand scheme of things.

[EuchreJack]

A few warnings:

First, the diversity of equipment decreases as your research increases.  You have the most options at the first stage, and increasingly less are added.

Second, the AI sucks.  The "difficulty" setting only regulates hitpoints, nothing else (as far as I can tell, anyways).

Third, metal is your friend, although there are viable tactics if you don't have it.  The advanced equipment uses metal, so if you want your troops to have the best of everything, you want a metal mine.  Otherwise, go for groups of troops (create squads instead of single soldiers, thus creating an entity miltiple times as good as the default) that are highly trained (training boosts hitpoints only, but it's worth it), and you should still be fine.

Finally, I concur that magic is lame.  It's sort of like the designers took the first 15 minutes of Master of Magic, and skipped the rest.

Since the designers wisely chose not to release a free demo of this game (instead choosing to make their audience pay for the demo aka the first version), I wouldn't look down on anyone that acquired a copy of this game by less legal means just to find out how it plays.

[LoSboccacc]

I need, to reinstall again and try it out... I think there have been 2 or 3 big patches since the last time.

one of which you have to pay 

[lordcooper]

I need, to reinstall again and try it out... I think there have been 2 or 3 big patches since the last time.

one of which you have to pay 

wut?

[forsaken1111]

A few warnings:

First, the diversity of equipment decreases as your research increases.  You have the most options at the first stage, and increasingly less are added.

Second, the AI sucks.  The "difficulty" setting only regulates hitpoints, nothing else (as far as I can tell, anyways).

Third, metal is your friend, although there are viable tactics if you don't have it.  The advanced equipment uses metal, so if you want your troops to have the best of everything, you want a metal mine.  Otherwise, go for groups of troops (create squads instead of single soldiers, thus creating an entity miltiple times as good as the default) that are highly trained (training boosts hitpoints only, but it's worth it), and you should still be fine.

Finally, I concur that magic is lame.  It's sort of like the designers took the first 15 minutes of Master of Magic, and skipped the rest.

Since the designers wisely chose not to release a free demo of this game (instead choosing to make their audience pay for the demo aka the first version), I wouldn't look down on anyone that acquired a copy of this game by less legal means just to find out how it plays.

Oh, so nothing has changed yet.

Well then, scratch that idea. I'll just leave this game alone forever.

[gogis]

Third, metal is your friend, although there are viable tactics if you don't have it.  The advanced equipment uses metal, so if you want your troops to have the best of everything, you want a metal mine.  Otherwise, go for groups of troops (create squads instead of single soldiers, thus creating an entity miltiple times as good as the default) that are highly trained (training boosts hitpoints only, but it's worth it), and you should still be fine.

Wait, what? I recall magic equipment in 1.2 with sick stats, like one hero with 50+ attack ripping enemy armies to shreds singlehandedly. It doesnt require metal, right?

Also this game was still SOO horrible at 1.2 so i deleted it and dont plan to try new patches. Such a waste imo (no surprise, I hated GalCiv series)

Seroiously, when i have itch for this genre I can always fire up AOW2 or FfH2.