I can only speak for myself, and personally, suspension of disbelief only goes so far. I do require or expect a degree of immersion.
That is not to say I expect my version of reality. Now, I was disappointed when Stellaris introduced leviathans, because that's quite far outside my concept of realism in space, but I accept it because .... hey, who knows. Maybe space fauna do exist.
One of (the many) things that I feel disappointed in, is that space warfare in Stellaris is so one dimensional. No, I am not talking graphics or three dimensional space. No. I am talking about how everybody conducts war the exact same way using the exact same ship types and weapon loadouts. It's fine as far as it goes, but I really miss asymmetrical warfare. The differences in Stellaris aliens are too cosmetic.
Some years ago I played a web based space 4x game that had 10 alien species, and they all had unique mechanics that were interesting. One specialized in ship capture, another had shields that could reflect damage back at the attacker, a third had bonus to movement and evasion. Others had economic bonuses to credit or mineral production. The devouring horde species felt like a devouring horde, their combat mechanism was to literally salvage the minerals out of enemy ships when in combat, while the machine empire species was a research monster and would literally salvage the tech points out of enemy ships in combat. The warrior species had huge bonuses to shield penetration and damage. Each species had a unique planet hab measured in terms of temperature, water, atmosphere, so terraforming planets was also a thing. And it had free interstellar movement with a limited range (no hyperlanes), so intercepting enemy fleets was a major element of gameplay. All ship classes from corvettes to battleships to dreadnought had a role, or area of specialsation. Each alien species felt unique, different, and powerful.
Compared to Stellaris, that game was streets ahead. I actually felt disappointed by the lack of diversity and imagination in Stellaris.
That is not to say I expect my version of reality. Now, I was disappointed when Stellaris introduced leviathans, because that's quite far outside my concept of realism in space, but I accept it because .... hey, who knows. Maybe space fauna do exist.
One of (the many) things that I feel disappointed in, is that space warfare in Stellaris is so one dimensional. No, I am not talking graphics or three dimensional space. No. I am talking about how everybody conducts war the exact same way using the exact same ship types and weapon loadouts. It's fine as far as it goes, but I really miss asymmetrical warfare. The differences in Stellaris aliens are too cosmetic.
Some years ago I played a web based space 4x game that had 10 alien species, and they all had unique mechanics that were interesting. One specialized in ship capture, another had shields that could reflect damage back at the attacker, a third had bonus to movement and evasion. Others had economic bonuses to credit or mineral production. The devouring horde species felt like a devouring horde, their combat mechanism was to literally salvage the minerals out of enemy ships when in combat, while the machine empire species was a research monster and would literally salvage the tech points out of enemy ships in combat. The warrior species had huge bonuses to shield penetration and damage. Each species had a unique planet hab measured in terms of temperature, water, atmosphere, so terraforming planets was also a thing. And it had free interstellar movement with a limited range (no hyperlanes), so intercepting enemy fleets was a major element of gameplay. All ship classes from corvettes to battleships to dreadnought had a role, or area of specialsation. Each alien species felt unique, different, and powerful.
Compared to Stellaris, that game was streets ahead. I actually felt disappointed by the lack of diversity and imagination in Stellaris.
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