Good day,
I have now blasted out my tenth world:
And there are a few things which are now clear.
First, Flagship, PUT THE DAMN CARBON SWORD IN THE EMPIRE BUILD-OUT!!!!!!! You can get every other item in the game. Why NOT THAT? I feel cheated. My favorite item of all time, and no-go? Gyp.
Second, the game is way better. You can actually get into some tricky situations with a few of these options. I have only gone up to 'nightmarish' difficulty, so there may be harder, but things are looking cool. There are instances where you have to have have scouts everywhere, because all armies have universal camoflage. There are times where you can only have like 10 or 15 non-hero units. There are times where you have real food or energy limitations. Or you can't build colonizers. Anything would have been a good change, but I must say I am liking this.
The problem is that a huge number of the issues are still very present. First, the computer still has a huge problem with managing sectors. My experience is anecdotal, and the computer seems a little better with selecting specializations, but there are plenty of exceptions. Note this city I conquered:
One sector matches 2/2, but the other sector is 0/2. Maybe the computer allows this type of thing if it is starved, but that type of thing really slows down the game if you are conquering them. You have a HUGE manual process in front of you if you want to make this type of city useful before the end of the game.
Which gets me to the next issue again. You STILL have a huge manual process to correct a city if there is something wrong. The old process:
1. unbuild the specialization
2. unbuild the sector exploitation
3. rebuild the sector exploitation
4. rebuild the specialization
This is all still here. You can't automated any of this, and it is as tedious as ever. EVERY step has to be done uniquely, and cannot be built in series. Terrible gameplay feel. The obvious answer is to put in a 'change' button that skips all this:
Then hook it to a sector exploitation with your available sectors:
You just push the button to the final thing you want, and then it just takes the turns it needs to build it. No more going back 15 times to check if you are done with A SINGLE SECTOR. How is this not in there already?
This is even made worse when you reach 20 and 24 population. To build housing in a city without housing at 20, you have to do this:
1. Release a sector, either Raze or Forward Base
2. Obtain the second sector
3. Build housing
4. Reselect the first sector
5. Rebuild the exploitation
6. Rebuild the specialization
This cannot be automated or chained. You have to go to the city every turn and do this one at a time. How does that make any sense? Obviously you need to have a "build housing" option on the sector annex window:
When you select that, the sector starts being annexed, but it won't be absorbed until the housing is fully constructed. Then when it finally is absorbed, it is absorbed with housing level 1. Again, how is this not in the game already?
But there is a ton of things to like. I like starting with advancements, and having strategies for what you can build on turn 1. I like the super fast and aggressive beginnings. I like having multiple foes that aren't always conquered by the NPCs before I get to them. All of this is great.
So well done, though it would be awesome if there were some simplifications. This is actually starting to become a really interesting game. The only last thing is I wish you could pick the world options. You could have a 'heat' system to challenge yourself. Or maybe a weekly challenge? Either way, I must admit, this is progress.
I have now blasted out my tenth world:
And there are a few things which are now clear.
First, Flagship, PUT THE DAMN CARBON SWORD IN THE EMPIRE BUILD-OUT!!!!!!! You can get every other item in the game. Why NOT THAT? I feel cheated. My favorite item of all time, and no-go? Gyp.
Second, the game is way better. You can actually get into some tricky situations with a few of these options. I have only gone up to 'nightmarish' difficulty, so there may be harder, but things are looking cool. There are instances where you have to have have scouts everywhere, because all armies have universal camoflage. There are times where you can only have like 10 or 15 non-hero units. There are times where you have real food or energy limitations. Or you can't build colonizers. Anything would have been a good change, but I must say I am liking this.
The problem is that a huge number of the issues are still very present. First, the computer still has a huge problem with managing sectors. My experience is anecdotal, and the computer seems a little better with selecting specializations, but there are plenty of exceptions. Note this city I conquered:
One sector matches 2/2, but the other sector is 0/2. Maybe the computer allows this type of thing if it is starved, but that type of thing really slows down the game if you are conquering them. You have a HUGE manual process in front of you if you want to make this type of city useful before the end of the game.
Which gets me to the next issue again. You STILL have a huge manual process to correct a city if there is something wrong. The old process:
1. unbuild the specialization
2. unbuild the sector exploitation
3. rebuild the sector exploitation
4. rebuild the specialization
This is all still here. You can't automated any of this, and it is as tedious as ever. EVERY step has to be done uniquely, and cannot be built in series. Terrible gameplay feel. The obvious answer is to put in a 'change' button that skips all this:
Then hook it to a sector exploitation with your available sectors:
You just push the button to the final thing you want, and then it just takes the turns it needs to build it. No more going back 15 times to check if you are done with A SINGLE SECTOR. How is this not in there already?
This is even made worse when you reach 20 and 24 population. To build housing in a city without housing at 20, you have to do this:
1. Release a sector, either Raze or Forward Base
2. Obtain the second sector
3. Build housing
4. Reselect the first sector
5. Rebuild the exploitation
6. Rebuild the specialization
This cannot be automated or chained. You have to go to the city every turn and do this one at a time. How does that make any sense? Obviously you need to have a "build housing" option on the sector annex window:
When you select that, the sector starts being annexed, but it won't be absorbed until the housing is fully constructed. Then when it finally is absorbed, it is absorbed with housing level 1. Again, how is this not in the game already?
But there is a ton of things to like. I like starting with advancements, and having strategies for what you can build on turn 1. I like the super fast and aggressive beginnings. I like having multiple foes that aren't always conquered by the NPCs before I get to them. All of this is great.
So well done, though it would be awesome if there were some simplifications. This is actually starting to become a really interesting game. The only last thing is I wish you could pick the world options. You could have a 'heat' system to challenge yourself. Or maybe a weekly challenge? Either way, I must admit, this is progress.
