1st day buy.

[stormbringer3]

I rarely buy upon 1st day launch so that I can see what problems crop up. However, with this title I'm really tempted. There have been mimimal postings about the game so far to get so that I can form an opinion on how it's going. There is a post here and one on Slitherine ahout the game not launching. The one on Slitherine looks like it could possibly be a system spec issue. I'd love a post from someone that has bought the game today and has started playing without any issues.
Thanks for any info.

[IainMcNeil]

The beta was on the Slitherine forum so most of the posts are there.

The beta forum is now public so you can actually see all the beta tester comments too!

http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=204

[Sti]

I did buy it today (and I never even heard of it before... but I love TBS, Science Fiction and Alpha Centauri). Of course I can't say anything about stuff like balance or AI yet but I can report that it works well on my system, no problems starting or playing it.

[stormbringer3]

Thanks for the beta forum link. One thing that I read about was the use of nuclear weapons. Are the effects of their use the same in the release as I read about in the beta posts?
Thank you.

[lparkh]

Here a very compelling review that is probably going to make me a first day buyer. I can't vouch for the quality of the site's reviews other than seems quite coherent/well written etc.
http://www.digitalgambit.com/Games/Pand ... ntact.html

[dougo33]

I bought it today - mainly based on the beta play through from youtube. I love this genre and played Alpha Centauri since it was released. I hope this is a good successor to the genre.

[mikeCK]

I just wish there was a manual. What does a terraformer do..what can't it so? How do I reassign workers and such (there was a tool tip at the beginning bug I forgot how), what are the various "operations". I like the game but seems pretty weird that there is no "instruction manual" as opposed to a faction guide

[lparkh]

Agree about manual. Reassign workers by dragging the little worker icons on the left around. I'm not to clear about operations either.

[stormbringer3]

No manual? How does one learn to play? I hope that one of the develpoers will address this. This issue will probably take purchase of this title off the table for me unless there are plans to add one quite soon.

[FroBodine]

Apparently the developers and Slitherine decided a manual was not necessary, because the game changed so much. There is a long thread about it on the Slitherine Pandora forum. They said the in-game tooltips would be enough to learn the game. Apparently not. This is pretty disappointing. So many wargames get away with not providing a sufficient manual, it is a darn shame.

I want this game, too, but I hope all this stuff is explained in-game somewhere, or they will give us a proper manual that explains how to play the game.

[stormbringer3]

I think I found the thread you mentioned. Most games do not come with a printed manual but with a PDF manual which can be updated. Even with all the past changes and possible future changes mentioned in that thread, there has to be a few constant aspects of gameplay that can be put in a PDF manual to help people learn the game system.

[mikeCK]

By the way...is there diplomacy? I would assume so but haven't seen anything on it in any threads...and if course, no manual to go over it

[balto]

There is some diplomacy. I mean this in a non-hurtful way, but if you have played CIV 5.., you are 95% ready to roll the second you boot it up. I have a few questions which I posted, but all-in-all, a CIV 5 copy. This is a good thing, trust me.., CIV 5 is awesome.

[IainMcNeil]

There are pretty extensive in game tips so learning the game isn't really difficult. If there are any specific questions just shout as we may need to expand some tips or add sections to the in game documentation. If you've ever played a 4X game before you'll be comfortable and learn the nuances as you go.

[FroBodine]

There are already a lot of questions in the newer threads in this forum. Pollution, Efficiency rating in combat, not being able to distinguish friendly vs. enemy units (the pop-up should tell you), or have an icon over them or something.