Endless Space - New 4X Strategy Game

[Dezerte]

I saw this on Steam this morning, it looks very interesting.

The company behind it (Amplitude Studios) work very closely with the community, they call it Get2Gether.



From their Steam forums:

Amplitude Studios is an independent gathering of experienced video game lovers (and developers) based in Paris, with a single idea in mind:

"CREATE THE BEST STRATEGY GAMES"


The team is made of video game veterans, as the team members have worked at key developers positions on a lot of pretty well known franchises such as Battlefield, F1 Racing Championship, Ghost Recon, Call of Juarez, R.U.S.E and Might & Magic.



Games2Gether

During all these years, we have always had fun working with communities of players in order to share, discuss or compare ideas. The whole team shares the dream of bringing this idea one step further with what we call GAMES2GETHER. We aim at creating a brand new way for players around the world to participate in the creation of a video game, and we would like to accomplish the first steps with you!


G2G allows you to:

Track the dev team's objectives, progress and achievements.
Participate in the creation of the game.
Access early versions of the game and give us your feedback.
Discuss actual and future features and expansions with the dev team.




Endless Space

This galaxy is ancient, and its first intelligent life was the civilization we call the Endless. Long before our eyes gazed upon the stars they flew between them, though all that remains of this people is what we call Dust. A substance found scattered or in forgotten temples, it once gave powers to admirals and galactic governors. The galaxy will belong to the faction that can take control of the Dust and uncover its secrets…

EXPLORE randomly generated galaxies for an unlimited replay value -- every game session is unique! Every undiscovered system or moon is a new opportunity to find rare resources, Dust, or precursor artifacts. Encounter new empires and civilizations. Will they be your allies, or your enemies?
EXPAND your empire by colonizing new planets, signing diplomatic treaties, and increasing your population as well as your influence to reign over an ever-growing civilization. Research new technologies that will make you an equal to the Endless!
EXPLOIT strategic solar systems and build a monopoly of rare resources around the galaxy. Choose your path between six different ways to victory. Will you aim for scientific dominion, become a conqueror, or gain total control over the galaxy’s Dust?
EXTERMINATE opposing factions in epic space battles! Customize your spaceships and choose the military formations that best fit your play style. Recruit heroes and use their special abilities during combat to help topple your opponents and wipe out entire enemy fleets.



Playable Alpha version pre-order - May 2nd 2012, on the Steam store.

I was going to pre-order SoaSE Rebellion this month, but now I'm torn. Or maybe I'll get both.

[Ravenblade]

Get both, both are indie studios and both are a little different. SoASE is full real-time whereas ES is TBS which is my favourite genre - finally to play a space-based TBS alongside Civ5 and upcoming Warlock : MoA after the desaster that was SotS2.

Also check out this first look preview!

[Wilian]

Get both, both are indie studios and both are a little different. SoASE is full real-time whereas ES is TBS which is my favourite genre - finally to play a space-based TBS alongside Civ5 and upcoming Warlock : MoA after the desaster that was SotS2.

Also check out this first look preview!

Well, for SotS2's sake, the publisher forced them to release it before it was ready and the outcome was what it is. They've been very much updating and improving the game though and in all honesty, should be given some time to iron it out before making the final judgement.

[Dezerte]

Get both, both are indie studios and both are a little different. SoASE is full real-time whereas ES is TBS which is my favourite genre - finally to play a space-based TBS alongside Civ5 and upcoming Warlock : MoA after the desaster that was SotS2.

Also check out this first look preview!

Ah, didn't realize it was turn-based.

I've always tried to interest myself in other 4X games like Imperium Gallactia but the UI and graphics is putting me off, but reading that preview link of yours it sounds like the UI is easy to use.

[achillesmele]

looks interesting

[Ravenblade]

Well, for SotS2's sake, the publisher forced them to release it before it was ready and the outcome was what it is. They've been very much updating and improving the game though and in all honesty, should be given some time to iron it out before making the final judgement.

Going by Mecron's own post and his very vague ways to put it basically there was probably an accident during the release process in which - if I read correctly - their most recent codebase or more precisely parts of it got destroyed. They notified their publisher and were confident that they could fix it in time meaning they would take a very ancient copies of destroyed parts and recent working parts and create a new one and hoped it would work while in time without having to make a last minute call to the publisher and call the whole thing off. They never revealed the whole story and to be honest it would probably very embarassing from developer POV anyway. Paradox was very much sympathetic to both sides of the issue which is remarkable, other publishers would probably have taken it to the court.

Ah, didn't realize it was turn-based.

I've always tried to interest myself in other 4X games like Imperium Gallactia but the UI and graphics is putting me off, but reading that preview link of yours it sounds like the UI is easy to use.

It is turn-based yes but in opposite to other turn-based games it's synchronized turn-based game meaning everyone makes his/her moves within the same turn. Every fleet has a certain amount of moves so you can spend them, on upgrades, travel, attack or defense. The rest is as usual. You expand, build, research, upgrade, design ships, terraform planets etc.

The game so far, for an alpha anyways, is remarkably well done. While not perfect from balancing side yet, for instance playing as the damage-dealer faction I usually see enemy fleets turn into a ginormous fireballs even when I am outnumbered.
The real-time battle is based on 3 phases, long range, medium, melee, during which each side can play a card. There is no real-time movement control, which I can live with aside from the fact that all battles are basically two fleets exchanging broadside attacks, it's not quite as complex and overwhelmingly confusign as SotS in this case but it gets the job done. Up to a ratio of 1:1.2 it's quite winnable. The other game which I played ad nauseam with showcase combat was Galactic Civilizations 2.

However as hinted, there are some serious balancing issues left, economy is too generous in rewarding resource monopolies and missile weapons are either too strong or flaks too expensive/weak. Some modules are clearly overpowered but I am sure the final version will have these correctly tweaked as well.
I especially like the retrofitting system - even though that needs to be balanced a little as well, definitely shouldn't just as cheap and only ground your fleet for 1 turn only without making it vulnerable during that phase.

I've spent more than 20 hours so far and I can say it's the most potential space TBS game I have played since like...yes, GC2 and SotS whereas I thought of GC2 being more fun in terms of being far more immersive, the UI is very intuitive and nicely done. The AI is decent, it at least does not cheat but they will tweak that one as well. In short: The pros outweigh the cons by far even though it is just an early alpha build. It runs fairly stable even though after a long session you may need to restart the game, it has some memory leaks and huge galaxies cause some choppiness in soundplay and you should avoid hitting alt-tab (use alt-esc instead)

PS: I have been playing a lot space-based 4X games, real-time and TBS, from IG2 to Distant Worlds and SoASE, from MoO2 to GC2 I have played the most known of them. I always keep my eyes out for potential additions to my collection. Also long time ago I used to develop for an browser-based online space TBS myself.