Goodmorning everyone. I start with the premise that 2.2 with the update "Le Guin" and the expansion "Megacorps" absolutely reflect the expectations. The new population system is compelling and immersive and the game has unlocked further depth of roleplay.
After some attempts to see the new mechanics I tried a run with an empire of Barbaric Despoliators. It was a succession of massacres, purges, raids, khans, coups, civil wars: a very addicting and fun game. I decided to end it when my colossus detonated the capital of my most fierce enemy in the year 2410.
Now I would like to list which are, in my opinion, the only shaky points of the new version:
After some attempts to see the new mechanics I tried a run with an empire of Barbaric Despoliators. It was a succession of massacres, purges, raids, khans, coups, civil wars: a very addicting and fun game. I decided to end it when my colossus detonated the capital of my most fierce enemy in the year 2410.
Now I would like to list which are, in my opinion, the only shaky points of the new version:
- Rare resources. It's nice that there are these three resources that push the midgame to obtain them, just as the earlygame is focused on the production of "primary resources". The problems (in addition to the expandable menu) come when I realize that every single advanced building requires not only a fixed quantity of these resources, but also a maintenance proportional to the level of the building itself. Initially it was not problematic, with a handful of planets I could manage the problem by choosing which buildings to upgrade and which not (but it felt always bad not being able to upgrade a building for this reason). Later I bought the missing resources in the market but it becomes annoying, having to micromanage every purchase change to maintain efficiency. Moreover, the cost in energy becomes exorbitant, at the end of the game I bought no less than 30 resources for each type at the market, about 1170 energy is not an easy price to manage without a dyson sphere, so I built dedicated generator planets, when it was not enough I sold all food and consumer goods surplus on the market. Finally, I built special refineries converting mineral into the resource, but the technologies to build them arrived late. I prepared some "refinery planets", with the sole result of collapsing the production of precious mineral. I would be willing to pay ten times the construction price so as not to have to pay the maintenance price, at least on the intermediate level of buildings. This is the first thing that, according to my opinion, needs adjustments.
- Alloys. I liked the alloys conceptually but in the course of the game they proved to be a too tight bottleneck. I had difficulty updating the fleets on several occasions. Building a colossus turned out to be a really titanic enterprise, for which I had to neglect the habitats (although I could do them I was never able) and the reconstruction of the gateways in my empire.
- Fleet upadating. As a Barbaric empire I was almost always at war. Plundering populations, subduing tributaries, defending from the federation of offended xenophiles, containing the khan, I did not have time to rest and it was fun! The most annoying moments were always those of the fleet upgrade, in which I could not declare war even for five or six years. The pleasure of updating ships to try out new weapons has been supplanted by the nuisance of having to suspend hostilities for colossal times. I hope that, in the future, uptating time could be reduced, at least in shipyard dedicated starbases.
