Amazing game!!!

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game which models a "living galaxy" with incredible options for replayability and customizability. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. Now greatly enhanced with the new Universe release, which includes all four previous releases as well as the new Universe expansion!

Moderators: elliotg, Icemania

Salient
Posts: 64
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 10:14 pm
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Amazing game!!!

Post by Salient »

I have been playing this game now for a few nights and while it isn't perfect and could benefit from alot of features if implemented right, it is a beautiful game!!

Blows GCII and the SE series right out of the water.

If the developers stick with it, listen to all the great suggestions the fanbase here is making and put out an expansion or two, I think we can forget about MoO2...

And also, this game should be advertised more!!
It's better to follow your intuition than a truck, except in Belgium while wanna go to England
User avatar
2guncohen
Posts: 401
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:28 pm
Location: Belguim

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by 2guncohen »

You should check the mods the fan-base already made.
edit: ow and check the AAR of Emperor Fred. [;)]

Salient
Posts: 64
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 10:14 pm
Location: Belgium
Contact:

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Salient »

Certainly will -) Just have to learn more about the game atm, its... deep (space)
It's better to follow your intuition than a truck, except in Belgium while wanna go to England
User avatar
Baleur
Posts: 372
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 9:48 pm

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Baleur »

YES so true, its amazing that a game as good as this (with the latest patch), which even imo blows past Galciv2 and Space Empires and even Sins or Sword of The Stars, it STILL isnt even advertised!!
If people just knew it even EXISTED, it could very well sell more copies than any one of the above games, i'm sure.
Heck, the fact that i personally got to know about the game was a total fluke, i just talked about space games on some forum and a dude mentioned this game in one obscure sentence.



Really, Elliot, this game NEEDS more advertising!! I'm sure the ad costs will pay for themselves with the additional sales. Put up some banners on ign, make a new GOOD trailer for gametrailers, just something!
Why do I care? Because more ads = more people know the game even exists = more sales = more patches and expansions for ME to enjoy [:D][:D]

A trailer on gametrailers.com would be particularly effective, no cost other than putting it together and sending it their way (they want trailers, thats how they get income from THEIR ad spamming).
It shouldnt be a bad-quality bad-voiceover walkthrough with a guy who sounds like he's about to fall asleep.

It should be a montage, first showing all the races (nice pan and zoom on the race artwork, while showing their stations and ships blowing stuff up in in the corner), then showing all the galaxy options (again pan and zoom shots in the corner or to the side, showing late-game on the galaxy type currently selected, so the viewer sees more than just a small preview box), then the empire setup settings, then from the early game to the lategame, more nice pan and zooms, showing the planets orbiting (much higher than gamespeed just to show that its being done in the game), showing a 100 ship fleet warping out from your homeworld, then cut to them warping in at the enemy homeworld fortified by 8 defensive stations and starting to attack it, then show the enemy fleet warping in to defend, chaos ensues. Add a few scream-sounds as troop transports explode, beautiful music during the galaxy setup / earlygame scenes, melodramatic music as the fleet warps from the homeworld, dramatic music as the chaos ensues, and sad "omfg our entire civilization is now undefended, facing certain doom" music as the end title screen Distant Worlds rolls down..

Done. 10k sales day 1 as that trailer hits GT. Honestly. Most people dont even know the game exists. If you want more sales, you gotta show them why they MUST have this game. It doesnt matter that this is a so called Indy game, it still plays by the same supply and demand rules as everything else, if noone knows about it, there's low demand. If people know, even if many of them wont be interested, some of them will be, and there'll be higher demand thant if nobody knew :P

edit: heck, i'll have a go at making a trailer myself, possibly this weekend.
User avatar
J HG T
Posts: 1093
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 4:06 am
Location: Kiadia Prime

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by J HG T »

Ummm... even though I would like to see DW get more attentation in gaming industry, I still consider it as Cult-classic. These games have rock-hard but small fanbase praising them to heavens, and usually for good reasons.
These games are excellent but only fit the tastes of very small percentage of all gamers. It's sad but it's pretty much the way I see it. Other cult-classics I have played are Space Rangers 2, Disgaea 1&2 on PSP, Sword of the Stars, Sins of a Solar Empire (stopped playing it after getting DW), to name few. I'm sure you'll come up many of your own.
Pretty much every complex strategy game is very difficult to sell to washed masses. Also, the ones who dare to make complex and innovative games are almost always outside of the money driven gaming industry of today. Which has insane amounts of money to throw on advertisemet. Smaller makers like Code Force need to concentrate on making the game as good as possible with limited resources and hope that grapevine gets people interested in to the game after it's release. DW got lucky it had Matrix giving it at least some coverage. I read about it from local magazine PELIT. Thanks to them I found this master piece of 4X PC gaming.

We are the minority guys, but we better be fookin' proud of it!

And Beleur... I don't expect much reaction to trailer from masses, no matter how frickin' awesome it will be, but I will wish you the best of luck. You are doing the right thing, no matter will it succeed.
Nothing is impossible, not if you can imagine it!
"And they hurled themselves into the void of space with no fear."
User avatar
Baleur
Posts: 372
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 9:48 pm

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Baleur »

I disagree, i AM the washed masses, i play Bad Company 2 on my console, i play all kinds of games, dumb brainddead AAA instant-gratification games, and slow marvellous strategy games. I just dont think i'm in the ultra-minority, there are lots of gamers who play all kinds of games, as long as they are good. Space Rangers 2, Sins and SoTS, even Space Empires are very very widely known, almost everyone who plays games (more than just 1 genre) knows of them, or has played them at some point.

My point is, we are the masses, because we are individuals IN the masses. If a trailer about a 4x space game hits a popular site, the individuals in the masses who see it and love these kind of games will be interested.
If you dont advertise to the masses, you wont reach the individuals either. Advertising to each single member of the minority is highly ineffective.
User avatar
Webbco
Posts: 694
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:15 am

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Webbco »

I gotta say, I'm similar to Baleur in terms of playing many different genres. Unfortunately, I don't think that we make up part of the "masses". Most of the console gamers I know tend to play casual/mindless shooters and don't have the desire for large-scale strategy games...hence the lack of demand for such games on consoles (you don't see many around). Even PC gamers tend to be casual. E.g. Look at how popular the sims became!...and games like Toy Story 3...
User avatar
rk0123msp@mindspring
Posts: 81
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 12:14 am

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by rk0123msp@mindspring »

I generally agree with J HG T, strategy games in general appeal a smaller number of gamers. However, while there's a pretty clear distinction between first person shooter & roll playing type games which dominate vs strategy type games which are fewer, the definition of what a "strategy" game is less clear (since games now all involve real-time, and turn-based is virtually non-existant). Occasionally there are exceptions like Civilization, but in general FPS games dominate.

I think there's enough of a strategy game fanbase to maintain the industry though, which is the good news, and frankly all that matters to me since I'm not a FPS type game fan. I think in the 80s/90s it was more 50/50 but since that time FPS & RPGs have clearly dominated over strategy.

I decided to do a little research on the subject to see how accurate my last assertion was, so I copied & pasted the following list from wikipedia. It's the top selling PC games in history for windows/mac/unix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_be ... ideo_games (list is incomplete though, MOO2 is not listed, apparently that page is under debate).

The Sims (16 million shipped)[1]
The Sims 2 (13 million)[2]
The Sims 2: Pets [expansion pack] (5.6 million)[3]
The Sims 2: Seasons [expansion pack] (1 million)[3]
World of Warcraft (12 million)[4]
StarCraft (11 million)[5]
Half-Life (9.3 million,[6][7] may include PS2 version)
Half-Life: Opposing Force [expansion pack] (1.1 million)[6][7]
Half-Life 2 (6.5 million,[6][7] may include Xbox version but does not include Steam sales)
Guild Wars (6 million in North America, Europe, and Asia; includes Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North)[8]
Myst (6 million)[9]
SimCity 3000 (5 million; includes Sim City 3000 Unlimited edition)[10]
Doom (5 million)[11]
The Sims 3 (4.6 million, includes PC and Mac sales)[12]
The Sims 3: World Adventures [expansion pack] (1.2 million pre-order)[citation needed]
Riven (4.5 million)[13]
Battlefield 1942 (4.39 million BF1942 2.47 million, BF1942:RTR 0.64 million, BF1942:SW 0.49 million, BF Deluxe 0.37 million, BF Anthology 0.42 million)[14]
Counter-Strike (4.2 million,[6][7])
BioShock (4 million)[15]
Cossacks: European Wars (4 million)[16]
Diablo II (4 million)[17]
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction [expansion pack] (1 million;[17] 2 million shipped)[17]
Populous (4 million)[18][19]
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (4 million) [20]
RollerCoaster Tycoon (4 million in North America)[21]
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (4 million including expansions)[22]
Battlefield 2 (3.57 million BF2 2.25 million,BF2:SF 0.8 million,BF2:EF 0.2 million,BF2:AF 0.13 million,BF2 Deluxe 0.1 million,BF2 Complete Collection 0.09 million)[14]
Doom 3 (3.5 million)[23]
EverQuest (3.5 million)[24]
Theme Park (3.5 million)[19]
Dragon Age: Origins (3.2 million,[25] may include PS3 and Xbox 360 versions )
Age of Empires (3 million)[26]
Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome [expansion pack] (1 million)[26]
Civilization IV (3 million,[27] may include Mac OS X version)
Command & Conquer: Red Alert (3 million)[28]
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (3 million)[29]
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne [expansion pack] (1 million)[30]
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (2.9 million)[6][7]
Age of Empires III (2.5 million)[31]
Anno 1503 (2.5 million)[32]
Anno 1602 (2.5 million)[33]
Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars (2.5 million)[34]
Diablo (2.5 million)[17]
Counter-Strike: Source (2.1 million)[6][7]
Baldur's Gate (2 million)[35]
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2 million)[35]
Black & White (2 million)[19]
Civilization III (2 million)[36]
Doom II: Hell on Earth (2 million)[37]
Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven (2 million)[38]
Neverwinter Nights (2 million)[39]
Ragnarok Online (2 million North American subscribers)[40]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2 million)[41]
The 7th Guest (2 million)[42]
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (2 million)[43]
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (2 million shipped)[44]
Sacred (1.8 million)[45]
Dungeon Siege (1.7 million)[46]
Quake (1.7 million)[47]
American McGee's Alice (1.5 million)[48][49]
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (1.5 million)[50]
Crysis (1.5 million)[51]
Duke Nukem 3D (1.5 million)[52]
Star Wars Galaxies (1.5 million)[53]
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1.5 million approximately; 1.3 million in US,[54] 200,000 in UK)[55]
The Orange Box (at least 1.5 million)[56]
StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty (1.5 million)[57]
Half-Life 2: Episode One (1.4 million)[6][7]
Battlefield Vietnam (1.36 million)[14]
Zoo Tycoon (1.3 million approximately; 1.1 million in US,[54] 200,000 in UK)[55]
Monopoly (1.274 million)[58]
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (1.2 million;[59] 1.5 million shipped)[60]
The Witcher (1.2 million)[61]
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (1.14 million approximately; 940,000 in US,[54] 200,000 in UK)[55]
SimCity 2000 (1.136 million)[58]
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (1.1 million approximately; 900,000 in US,[54] 200,000 in UK)[55]
Hellgate: London (1 million subscribers)[62]
Age of Mythology (1 million)[63]
Blade Runner (1 million)[64]
Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars (1 million)[65]
Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT (1 million)[66]
Dungeon Lords (1 million)[67]
Shneckell's Department Store (1 million)[68]
Empire Earth (1 million)[69]
Microsoft Flight Simulator X (1 million in US)[70]
Glory of the Roman Empire (1 million)[71]
Hidden & Dangerous (1 million)[72]
Hotel Giant (1 million)[73]
Imperivm III: Great Battles of Rome (1 million, distributed only in Italy and Spain)[74]
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (1 million)[75]
Patrician III: L'Impero Dei Mari (1 million, distributed only in Italy and Spain)[76]
Phantasmagoria (1 million)[77]
Quake II (1 million)[78]
Railroad Tycoon II (1 million)[72]
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (1 million shipped)[78]
Return to Zork (1 million)[79]
Runaway: A Road Adventure (1 million)[80]
Supreme Commander (1 million)[81]
The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3 (1 million)[82]
Tropico (1 million)[72]
Unreal (1 million)[83]
Unreal Tournament (1 million)[83]
Vietcong (1 million)[72]
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (1 million shipped)[84]
Deer Hunter (1 million shipped)[85]
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (1 million shipped)[28]
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1 million shipped)[86]


I see 31 games that are flagged as strategy games in this list (after clicking the game link) out of 105 total: sims, sims 2, starcraft, rollercoaster tycoon, age of empires, theme park, civ IV, cossacks, populous, c&C, warcraft 3, age empires II, anno 1503 & 1602, cossacks II, civ III, ae II, C&C TS, starcraft II, zoo tycoon, rollercoaster tycoon, simcity 2000, age of mythology, c&c tw, empire earth, glory of roman empire, hotel giant, patrician III, railroad tycoon II, supreme commander, tropico, c&c re.

That's about 29.5% strategy games, which was higher than I'd originally thought, although the top selling game of all time with 16 million sold "sims" is classified as a strategy game. I can't dispute this, as I've never played the sims. If a player wants to define a "pure" strategy game as turn-based (no real time element) such as civ series and MOO1/2, then strategy game presence would almost be non-existant except for MOO2 & civ, but under this classification even DW is not "pure" strategy. So the genra has evolved to have a "real time" qualification as to being defined as "strategy", some of which are less strategy than others. For example: I've played starcraft and I would classify its strategy element as minimized & real-time element maximized, while on the other hand DW has its real-time element minimized and strategy element maximized. DW is definitely more of a strategy game than starcraft, but technically both are defined as real-time strategy.

So, I guess after doing this research I think strategy games have a stronger presence than I'd originally thought, but the modifier "strategy" is used in a very broad way. I can see a lot of players debating games that should qualify for this modifier or not. A lot of games flagged as "strategy" here I'd agree with as I've played them, such as the two anno game, railroad tycoon, age of mythology, age of empires both versions, empire earth, but I think the "strategy" is minimized to some extent in these games (some more than others).
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
nammafia
Posts: 102
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:29 pm

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by nammafia »

I agree. This game is a very good game at this stage.

If this game is expanded into full 3D with closer zoom so we can see the officers through the windows and design 3D ship models, it will be awesome and the top of the 4X RTS heap.
nammafia
User avatar
Shark7
Posts: 7936
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:11 pm
Location: The Big Nowhere

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Shark7 »

ORIGINAL: Baleur

I disagree, i AM the washed masses, i play Bad Company 2 on my console, i play all kinds of games, dumb brainddead AAA instant-gratification games, and slow marvellous strategy games. I just dont think i'm in the ultra-minority, there are lots of gamers who play all kinds of games, as long as they are good. Space Rangers 2, Sins and SoTS, even Space Empires are very very widely known, almost everyone who plays games (more than just 1 genre) knows of them, or has played them at some point.

My point is, we are the masses, because we are individuals IN the masses. If a trailer about a 4x space game hits a popular site, the individuals in the masses who see it and love these kind of games will be interested.
If you dont advertise to the masses, you wont reach the individuals either. Advertising to each single member of the minority is highly ineffective.

Same here. I own an XBox, a Xbox 360 and a PS2, along with my computer. If I'm am not just a general casual type gamer, no one is. I will play just about any and every genre of game, but I am a master of none. And DW is the top of my list for now. So much depth, so little micro-management. [:D]
Distant Worlds Fan

'When in doubt...attack!'
Salient
Posts: 64
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 10:14 pm
Location: Belgium
Contact:

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Salient »

So much depth, so little micro-management.

Exactly, you don't have to manage it all, you ca&n do it at any level you want. And more importantly the game always remains fun and interesting!
It's better to follow your intuition than a truck, except in Belgium while wanna go to England
User avatar
J HG T
Posts: 1093
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 4:06 am
Location: Kiadia Prime

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by J HG T »

Good points there everybody.

As I probably said those were my opinions and observations about the gaming industry. I too have 360, Wii and PSP. I play games I like, no matter the platform.
PC just happens to have advantage at more "complex" games due to it's mouse/keyboard combo. Even though the strategy games may not be the most well known genre nowadays it definetly has lots of loyal fans. And to be honest, I've always had kind of love/hate relationship with strategy games. DW was pretty much perfect strategy game for my tastes. Complex enough but still easy to play when learnt, no annoying microing, challenging but not cheap AI, world that feels alive, Sci-Fi, enough customization and that atmosphere! No friggin' game in years have been able to give me such great, epic feeling when you are leading your empire to pages of galactic history. 

And Belaur. That "inviduals in the masses" thinking is actually a good way at looking this situation. The only problem is just the fact that small companies don't always see the benefit of advertising games, that are generally seen as complex and hard to learn, to big audiances. Or they just hope that forums and grapevine does its stuff like in the case of our beloved DW.

Anyway, I just totally love DW and I hope that as many people as possible would play it and understand its greatness. And thank for Xth+1 time to Erik, Code Force and Matrix games. World needs moar 4X!
Nothing is impossible, not if you can imagine it!
"And they hurled themselves into the void of space with no fear."
MaxyGamer
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:33 am

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by MaxyGamer »

"Anyway, I just totally love DW and I hope that as many people as possible would play it and understand its greatness. And thank for Xth+1 time to Erik, Code Force and Matrix games. World needs moar 4X!"

Couldn't agree more. I've already 'advertised' the game to me mates and they love it now. Just show it to your friends and those who appreciate any strategy game will simply adore this one.[8|]
User avatar
Erik Rutins
Posts: 39324
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2000 4:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA
Contact:

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Erik Rutins »

Hi guys,

We agree that DW deserves to get some more attention and we are always working on that. [8D]

Regards,

- Erik
Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC


Image

For official support, please use our Help Desk: http://www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk/

Freedom is not Free.
User avatar
the1sean
Posts: 854
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 11:04 pm
Location: Texas, USA

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by the1sean »

ORIGINAL: Shark7
So much depth, so little micro-management. [:D]

Truer words were never spoken!
User avatar
the1sean
Posts: 854
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 11:04 pm
Location: Texas, USA

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by the1sean »

I have one word Erik: IMPULSE

Recent space-themed Indy titles like Armada 2526 and Gratuitous Space Battles sell like hotcakes on there. The teeming hordes of potential fans are out there, Distant Worlds just needs to be put on the map!
User avatar
J HG T
Posts: 1093
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 4:06 am
Location: Kiadia Prime

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by J HG T »

ORIGINAL: the1sean

I have one word Erik: IMPULSE

Recent space-themed Indy titles like Armada 2526 and Gratuitous Space Battles sell like hotcakes on there. The teeming hordes of potential fans are out there, Distant Worlds just needs to be put on the map!

Hear, hear! The Space Rangers 2 Reboot also made itself famous in Impulse as well. Original SR2 was only noted well in Russia and Europe.

PS. If somebody of you haven't tried Gratuitous Space Battles, I higly recommend giving it a try.
Nothing is impossible, not if you can imagine it!
"And they hurled themselves into the void of space with no fear."
User avatar
the1sean
Posts: 854
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 11:04 pm
Location: Texas, USA

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by the1sean »

Space Rangers 2 was fun, I managed to pick it up when it was finally released in the US.
User avatar
J HG T
Posts: 1093
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 4:06 am
Location: Kiadia Prime

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by J HG T »

ORIGINAL: the1sean

Space Rangers 2 was fun, I managed to pick it up when it was finally released in the US.

In my charts DW and SR2 Reboot currently fight the clash of the titans of which is my favourite game of all time. DW is excellent, but sometimes when you get unlucky, feels too much like pushing a rock uphill (I like challange but it must be fair in some degree, like in Bayonetta if some of you may have played it). The randomness that makes the game great can also make it annoying. But I'm slowly starting to see the fun point of it.

SR2 is also excellent, but I'm honestly so friggin' uber veteran in it that it's starting to get repetitive at the times. In my current game (hard difficulty) my ship's packing so much heat that I could steamroll over every Dominator controlled system all by myself. That's just evil.
Nothing is impossible, not if you can imagine it!
"And they hurled themselves into the void of space with no fear."
User avatar
Shark7
Posts: 7936
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:11 pm
Location: The Big Nowhere

RE: Amazing game!!!

Post by Shark7 »

I was looking over the posted list again...and realizing just how many of those games I do own, and just how many of them are either shooters or RPGs. Even now I'm in the middle of a RPG game on my X360. I do love strategy games like DW, but I also love shooters (mindless time waster) and RPGs (storyline, 'nuff said!).

Now if we could just get and RPG element with ground missions that go into 1st person shooter mode for DW, it would be the perfect game (for me at least). LOL [:'(]
Distant Worlds Fan

'When in doubt...attack!'
Post Reply

Return to “Distant Worlds 1 Series”