My Thoughts of EIC

[macphal]

I see lots of bad and some good threads out there, so i would like to add my own comments after playing a few hours and im at 1632 in the grand campagne playing England.

So far im liking it! Its not overlly great, but its a fun trading game.

The only bug i got was when holland's company closed shop, and i got a mission to send a diplomatic letter to Amsterdam. But you can't enter other companies home ports (Even if there out of the game) So i can't finish that mission. Just say no kids .

Trading:

On the trading side its a very nice base, but i would like to see more items added. Also more ports would be great too! I know part of the startegy of the game is trying to block out other companies, but there still needs to be more ports.

Once you get a base or two in India the money starts to coming in, it makes it feel like your managing a "big" business. And you try to figure out how to ..... "protect" your assests. This first takes place by building anti-pirate fleets and then moves on to warfare with other campanies. This is very enjoyable.

Combat:

There is only one problem with the combat in this game. Its slooooooooow. And when you have combat slowing down a trading game thats just ..... wow. I think there really needs to be a x1.5 and x2 speed option for combat.

Captian's:

I really like the way you can level up your captians! This is a great idea. But there needs to be non-combat ways to get xp for them. My combat fleets captains level up so easily i wish they could go pass level 5. But Merchant captains general don't see a point of xp in there lives.

Ports:

THANK GOD for the no 3d button that kills the load when entering ports. I do enjoy being able to upgrade ports, but i wish there was more options. Like getting your trade building to level 6 will add a 2nd type of MIR.

I would also like to see neutral ports in europe. Ones you can't take over but you can sell items at. This way you don't kill the prices in you capital so fast.

Also non-military ways of taking over a port would be nice. Like investing in that port (give gifts of money) and they will join you. But if other companies give them more money they can change sides!

DLC:

Im a big fan of DLC's but not a big fan of paying for them. I haven't play the piratesbay DLC but for short 20 year game for 8 dollars.... no thanks. If they want us to pay for DLC's i want the rest of asia add to the game.

Sorry to go on so long! Overall i give it a 7/10 but it can be soooo much more!

P.S. If you like this type of game try Uncharted Waters 1 and 2 for the snes. Great games!

 

[unmerged(147844)]

I see lots of bad and some good threads out there, so i would like to add my own comments after playing a few hours and im at 1632 in the grand campagne playing England.

So far im liking it! Its not overlly great, but its a fun trading game.

The only bug i got was when holland's company closed shop, and i got a mission to send a diplomatic letter to Amsterdam. But you can't enter other companies home ports (Even if there out of the game) So i can't finish that mission. Just say no kids .

Trading:

On the trading side its a very nice base, but i would like to see more items added. Also more ports would be great too! I know part of the startegy of the game is trying to block out other companies, but there still needs to be more ports.

Once you get a base or two in India the money starts to coming in, it makes it feel like your managing a "big" business. And you try to figure out how to ..... "protect" your assests. This first takes place by building anti-pirate fleets and then moves on to warfare with other campanies. This is very enjoyable.

Combat:

There is only one problem with the combat in this game. Its slooooooooow. And when you have combat slowing down a trading game thats just ..... wow. I think there really needs to be a x1.5 and x2 speed option for combat.

Captian's:

I really like the way you can level up your captians! This is a great idea. But there needs to be non-combat ways to get xp for them. My combat fleets captains level up so easily i wish they could go pass level 5. But Merchant captains general don't see a point of xp in there lives.

Ports:

THANK GOD for the no 3d button that kills the load when entering ports. I do enjoy being able to upgrade ports, but i wish there was more options. Like getting your trade building to level 6 will add a 2nd type of MIR.

I would also like to see neutral ports in europe. Ones you can't take over but you can sell items at. This way you don't kill the prices in you capital so fast.

Also non-military ways of taking over a port would be nice. Like investing in that port (give gifts of money) and they will join you. But if other companies give them more money they can change sides!

DLC:

Im a big fan of DLC's but not a big fan of paying for them. I haven't play the piratesbay DLC but for short 20 year game for 8 dollars.... no thanks. If they want us to pay for DLC's i want the rest of asia add to the game.

Sorry to go on so long! Overall i give it a 7/10 but it can be soooo much more!

P.S. If you like this type of game try Uncharted Waters 1 and 2 for the snes. Great games!

Agreed.
My thoughts:

1. Skills may have levels. Skills equiped by admiral exp points, but refined(Lv up) through PRACTICE.
2. In combat mode, Ship speed should be allowed to speed up using "time scale buttons". For details, refer to total war series.
3. More buildings.
4. More ships.
5. Unique ships and advantages for different factions. Guesses: Stock market for Dutch
6. Open up Latin America and Caribean Ports
7. If possible, allow Asian Ports at later age. Extend time to 1800, etc.

 

[dizzyflores]

Man I'm loving this game! I just finished a 4 hour session, and no crashes or any problems what so ever.

I do have some small complaints or maybe suggestions.
1. Combat is slow maybe a little speed up button to help things along
2. When ever entering combat it seems I never have the weather gage. i.e. the winds are against me
3. I do like how an officer is leveled up. But I think there should be a seperate system for trading officers. I mean my trading fleets have to engage in combat so I can get the trading skills. Not worth the risk

Hmmm thats it I think. Pretty good game guys.

 

[unmerged(128860)]

I played the demo for about 4-5 hours earlier and found the game to be quite enjoyable even though it only lasts for 10 years and you only get Sloops, Cutters and Frigates.

I saw that there were a number of people wanting a way to level up their trading captains. Could you not put a new captain in charge of your combat fleet and then take the skills needed by the Traders? I know it is inconvenient but that should work. Or just go fight the other company sloops with your sloops, ie see who pops fastest 8)

Albereth

 

[unmerged(137907)]

Fleet commanders do get xp from trading as well. The amounts required are so large however, that early on in the game combat is a lot faster way to get xp. But as you get large fleets with hundreds of tons of combined cargo space, that xp starts to roll in faster too.

 

[iblanco]

I have played till 1635 or so and I'm also enjoying this game very much. Besides it's running smoothly. But there is room for improvement, mainly in the trading part, which is supposed the most important.

The number goods is ok for me. It's about three times those in Patrician and Port Royale. No complaint here. The question isn't the number but what we do with them. In this game, we just trade, move from here to there. But we can't do much more with so many goods we have. The great business is producing them and trading with them. We could buy silver and produce our own silverware, get silk and dyes in Calcutta and produce our own textiles, instead of buying them. I can't believe that, after 100 years in India, a trade company still depends on local business to get their own supply of finished goods. Even some simple plantations of tea!

What we do with goods also means how we deliver them, how we create routes. Just we can't. Autotrade is ok for those who doesn't like this side of the game or for those who don't want to manage a trade logistics. Ok, the game already offers this. But it would be nice to be able to create our own trade routes fixing which goods to take in which ports, how much, at which price, how much to sell, at which price. Currently, the autotrade can give you some profit. But I have played hours, hours and hours with Patrician and Port Royale, and the business is in manual routes. For me, the opportunity cost of not having such manual routes is indeed a lost of money. Such is the great difference between manual and automatic routes. And this is a game about business. Now I'm making profit in my game, but I now for sure I could make much more with a manual route as I described. If it's supposed I'm the governor of a trading company, how can't I order my captains what to buy and at which price? Just go there and buy that you find interesting?

For these routes to work, it would be necessary to modify also the warehouse. Now is very small for me and it can't be upgraded. With 800 tons I just can put a reserve of goods that next shipping will take. But I have more than one fleet! Besides, I also miss an option to buy and sell goods at some fixed price. Now I have few ships. But when I have 100 and considering I don't trust in autotrade to make really a profit, I will need to pause the game every now and then.

I think these suggestions would give the game much more depth on the trading side, and more hours of playing and enjoyment. I fear that producing your own goods can't be included in a patch. But since I think there will be an expansion with China, Japan and Indonesia ports (East India Company without Java!), it would be nice to see those factories and plantations.

As macphal, I would also give the game about a 7 out of 10. In other words, I can say I will play many hours with this game, but as many as with Patrician or Port Royale? No way. And that's a pity. Because this one could be much better than those.

 

[unmerged(12214)]

Combat:

There is only one problem with the combat in this game. Its slooooooooow. And when you have combat slowing down a trading game thats just ..... wow. I think there really needs to be a x1.5 and x2 speed option for combat.

I'm still getting my head around the combat part of the game, but I wanted to note that it IS a sailing simulation. I find the combat portion to be almost as good as the Pirates of the Burning Sea MMO, which had one of the better combat sailing simulations I've tried.

Sure, it has a lot of problems still, and needs a few more tweaks but I went into it expecting it to be slow simply because that's the way wind power works

If I'm a ship captain standing on deck, I have a better idea of where my firing arc is than I do in RTS mode - there needs to be some kind of transparent overlay you can turn on/off that shows when your enemy is within the arc of your guns. (I spend all my combat time in RTS since it gives me a 3d-person overview of my fleet).

Also, the little HSC bar display is inadequate for estimating ship damage. Once one of the bars is into the red, it's almost too late to do anything about it. I'd like to see some numbers in addition/instead of the bars, which would approximate the information a real ship's captain might have on the scene. Hearing your officer tell you "Sir, we're taking on water" could just as well be "Sir, we're screwed"

Managing multiple ships in a fleet isn't as much fun (more micromanagement), and I was thinking it would be nice to be able to assign varying degrees of autonomy to your additional ships' captains beyond "Fire at Will". Not sure how this could be implemented well, but it's on my wish list.

 

[unmerged(147910)]

Yes, It's Good

Just wanted to add my voice to the pro-EIC thread here. I've probably put way too much time in the game this weekend and have enjoyed it tremendously. I did experience crashes when I first got the game but upgrading my graphics card drivers fixed things completely and it now runs great.

I like the limited number of ports, personally. I can see how it kind of brings the scale of the game down a bit, especially for those who are used to grand-scale Paradox games, but they allow for tighter strategies around cutting off supplies and what not that can be quick to implement and immediately impact your competitors. I think of it more like playing a board game like Catan, where you have a small space in which to strategically cause the most effect, rather than a "this is the map of the world and I must conquer it all" kind of thing, which is really not the idea behind EIC.

I agree that battles can linger. I would prefer to see something where the game calculates that the battle is over sooner (like with the Total War series). But really, giving me a few moments pause to stretch and get another drink is probably a good thing....

At the very least I think my time will be more than occupied until HOI3.

 

[leffy1066]

Thumbs up!

I'd like to add some personal remarks after a positive introduction to the EIC game in return. The weekend was somehow affected you might say, and after several hours of gameplay without crashes I think it is a great game. Good atmosphere! I agree to the statements above however that there is still room for improvement and further development. Meanwhile I'll see what sort of game balancing and fine-tuning I can perform on my own, based on some of the hints other users have provided here!

I also think that it serves the developers credit that they released a patch so soon. I always think as a basis that no one is perfect, but professionalism should be measured by how you tackle deviations and errors when they occur - which they inevitably will - and I think the developers performed well here.