^ What kind of hardcore elements were you talking about ? I have never really properly played a 4x game .
This could expand into a huge post... Research: In small games, the effect of research (excluding new abilities) simply too resource demanding. Esp with weapon/shield upgrades. The effects are not really visible in small scale fights. This all changes however in big games where all players can amass huge fleets. In these instances, 10% dmg upgrade can determine victory or defeat. Then of course, the main hardcore elements of any strategy game is really about achieving superiority, whether if its financial, military or political (SoaSE) You can do all these things in small games but the effect aren't as game changing as in bigger games. Everyone have different opinions, but the thing is: the smaller a game is, the less obvious the nuances of the game will be, partly because the game themselves are small anyway. Note: experience from Supreme Commander, SoaSE, Rome - Total War etc. This post mainly focus on exp from SoaSE though, since others aren't 4x.
Update news I am submitting the update today! (woo hoo) The update includes several fixes and additions! Once this update is out we will get to work on introducing the first chapter, "The Antik Artifacts" which introduces rare artifact items that will give a empire massive bonuses of all kinds. other fixes include... -Missing enemy empire bug fixed -Fixed negative research totals bug -Added surrender button under info -Added Fast forward button at end of battle -Tweaked screen scrolling (Will need you guys opinions on this one) -Fixed Capital ship transfer And I would say the addition I am most excited about is the Set Auto dialog that allows you to set what a planet does on auto. I forget who suggested it but it really makes gameplay more fun, and brings the game more inline with my Casual 4x mission, less time spent micro managing. Chapters planned for the future Chapter 1 (The Antik Artifacts) Chapter 2 (Arrival of The Facilitators) Chapter 3 (The Ancient Judgement) Chapter 4 (Parasitic Invasion) And Ilker made some pretty new Screenshots for the iTunes entry what do you guys think?
Can't stop myself from following this thread Ok, this game is really starting to come closer to SoaSE now... esp the artifacts... And sorry about my heavy SoaSE influences... it is the king of RTS-4x in 21st century A few requests... The battle mechanics were too 'quick' for me, though they were interesting. I just though if it would be possible to have an alternate battle mechanics, more like a full real-time one? Like changing formations in the battle itself, ships auto fire etc, just to make the battles play out like RTS games (SoaSE ). Art: mind if you took some 'inspiration' from SoaSE's art style and direction? Esp ship designs and background... they look EPIC. Finally, artifacts. They are supposed to be special but endless revenue will just push the game balance well beyond the line. A percentage boost to various stats would be more applicable. Again, SoaSE's artifact system was extremely well balanced. It surely wouldn't hurt if you use them as examples.
Cool! The update sounds great. I'll let you know about the new scrolling method. One of the ideas given in this thread was great for that, though: do scrolling similar to the mail app, where the speed of the swipe counts. That would be great! (and I hope the tweaks go that way). Btw Kisguri, did you get to implement the pinch-to-zoom? If not, is it something which can be done more or less easily in future updates, or should I forget about zooming in and out in the main planet screen? Thanks.
I noticed there's revenue and everything, but I couldn't find where things like colony ships and offensive units costs. Am I missing something/not looking in the right place?
Colony ships are Free WOO HOO! but a planet can only orbit one at a time. When you enter the build fleet dialog you will see a string above the buttons that tells you current costs for ships available to build, and how many this planet has. Any ideas on how to improve. Ship build prices can decrease based on you economics research levels... Trying to get this binary for the update to Apple is F-U-N!!!
Why are they free!?!? Could seriously use a 'hardcore' game mode though. Re-added this game to wish list Note to dev: have you played SoaSE? This game almost feels like a turn-based version of it.
I, too, feel like maybe making them not free would be the better idea. The start of the game feels more like a land grab, in a race more than a strategic effort. I can only compare this to ascendancy (the only other 4x I've played), and in it, the planet selection seems more strategic. This, however, you just start out grabbing as many as possible, due to the ease of colonization. Of course, this IS a casual 4x, so it might just be me making mountains out of molehills. I like the game, though. Worth the money, I can see sinking some time into it. The only thing I'd fix to make it a better experience is, and I'm echoing someone else here, fix scrolling around the map. It's much too slow and taxing at the moment, I like glides and inertia in my panning.
What do you guys think about maybe basing cost of the Colony ship based on your difficulty setting, something like this.. Easy = Free Medium = 25 Credits Hard = 50 Credits
Sounds great for me! Btw, does anyone know how much it takes Apple to approve updates? I'd like to begin a game with the new version to test it
I have heard in my limited experience updates can take from 2 days to 7 depending on what ever Apple's internal secret guild of approve'rs does.
I feel left out in this conversation... Edit: just hit the buy button... will post impressions on the 'un-updated' version soon...
Thanks Gunxsword, for the support! And DON'T feel left out! In other news our first proper review from a website hit, iFanzine gave it 3.5 out of five and had some great comments that will help us make the game even better. I sent TA a promo code, hopefully at some point they might give it a review, As I really want to hear what those guys think!
