All You new DW players satisifed?

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!

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vmxa_slith
Posts: 94
Joined: Sun May 26, 2013 3:17 pm

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by vmxa_slith »

Well I was waiting for the bundle or some sort of deal to make it a better risk. Dropping 70 buck to see, if I like the game is risky and expensive. I was not sure how I would fare on a massive rts like this one. Long learning curves are also a bit of risk as I have been known to move on to the next game, if it does not grab me soon.

I kept watching some of the let's plays and decided it was worth the a shot. Regardless of how long I continue to play, I am glad I did take the chance. The learning curve was not as bad as I thought. It has been entertaining and worth the money and time.
pkoko
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2014 1:27 am

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by pkoko »

Pretty satisfied; it reminds me a lot of Stars! & GalCiv II mixed together but in real time. Love the inclusion of a game editor to fix disastrous events.
Thrake
Posts: 246
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2014 7:15 am

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by Thrake »

ORIGINAL: ezz

Well - i wish i could return it. most unsatisfying.
I wonder what all the rave reviews were about?

I expect that same people that love Admirals Pacific love this.
To me its just a huge, boring automated spreadsheet.

i fully understand that says more about my own game tastes than DW. I shouldn't buy these games that need 10, four hour YouTubes to understand how to play and another ten to tell you why the first ten were a waste of time watching and THESE TEN tell you what you SHOULD be doing if you want to get anywhere.

I thought after 4 coats of paint on this game it would be a gleaming jewel. I don't find it so at all.

I have never bothered watching any youtube video for any game, and never understood what was mandatory about that. A few games were painful to learn (Supreme Ruler!!!) though Distant worlds was one of the easiest ones with automation. All I did is to set almost every automation setting to ask me before doing anything. Then, I started to understand what the automation was doing, and why ("shortage of steel is slowing construction on planet X: should we send a smugglng mission for steel?"). From there, it's all about removing automation step by step and getting a deeper understanding of mechanics.

Then, I guess it's a matter of point of view, but I love automation as it removes a lot of painful and useless micromanagement. In some games, you'd have to order each and every of your transport ship to act decently, and make sure they do nothing stupid; here, the AI does that for me. That's fine when you have 2 transports, but it often becomes an annoyance as you build more and more of those. I don't either have to bother with designing those transport ships, though you still have the possibility. You basically control anything you consider important, and the rest is left for the AI while you focus on what matters to you. That's probably one of the features I love the most about the game.
Buio
Posts: 341
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2012 7:40 pm

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by Buio »

ORIGINAL: ezz
Well - i wish i could return it. most unsatisfying.
I wonder what all the rave reviews were about?

I find it funny that some still question other peoples taste. Like or dislike the game, but don't question other peoples opinion. You can argue what you don't like of course.

Most people like the game. Sorry that you where in the minority that didn't. When it comes to the money buying something you didn't like, it is not a new problem has existed since forever. If you are uncertain, best way is to dig deep into let's plays and get information before buying. I've bought some duds, but very few.
kvob
Posts: 116
Joined: Sat May 18, 2002 9:12 pm

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by kvob »

I wasn't sure when I first started playing but, after persevering somewhat, am I satisfied?
Early days yet but - yes, I think I am.
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ShadowB
Posts: 86
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2004 6:57 pm
Location: Buenos Aires

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by ShadowB »

ORIGINAL: ezz

i fully understand that says more about my own game tastes than DW. I shouldn't buy these games that need 10, four hour YouTubes to understand how to play and another ten to tell you why the first ten were a waste of time watching and THESE TEN tell you what you SHOULD be doing if you want to get anywhere.
Did you really just say Distant Worlds requires 120 hours worth of YouTube videos to get a good grasp of the game?

I don't presume to be some kind of super-learner, but I read Timotheus' New Guy Newbie Guide (focuses on playing the game with minimal automation), started a game, experimented some and I believe I've attained a reasonable understanding of how most everything works. It's really not that hard if you have any experience with space strategy games. You'll keep learning as you play, of course, but it doesn't take much effort to start enjoying the game.

I wouldn't recommend using automation heavily, however, given your lack of influence might make you feel you're spectating more than actually playing. Manual is the way to go for a deep, rewarding experience, and once you're familiar with how things work, you can automate the parts you find less entertaining, if any.
xatharas
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:23 am

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by xatharas »

I'm very satisfied, I played +/-40 hours now and played a few games to a point where I had a couple of other colonies and met a lot of pirates/empires. Now I'm trying to grasp how to keep managing everything, early game (pre warp) it's easy to keep tabs on everything. With lot's of fleets and escorts and constructors and explorers and colonies and... I feel lost and as I don't want to automate things (I read Tim's guide and he said microing everything is the way of a man in spaaace (oops, now I said it)) I shudder to think what I'll do when there are dozens of colonies and hundreds of ships. How do you guys keep track of it all?
ezzler
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Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 7:44 pm

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by ezzler »

Thanks for response . Played again but didn't feel much better . Here are some why's.

1. the Ai keeps sending my fleets on million mile missions? Why? The pirates are here. Yet the main fleet sailed off 4 colonies away and so wasn't around when the bad guys showed up. Obviously needs a setting change. But fleet SHOULD NOT just run off.

2. Every new ship built went and attacked a monster that destroyed them. Not in a fleet but 1 by 1. Not very smart. So now I see this automation needs turning off.

3. Couldn't find the fleet. New ships were being built and the fleet, that was supposed to be defending home base had gone off somewhere and all the newly builts were traveling miles and miles to join the fleet that wasn't at home. Happened more than once.
And it was not intuitive to set fleets. No answering acknowledgement when you click map space. You have to watch the ships and see if they begin turning in vaguely the right direction.

4. My advisers said "cancel contract with privates. " OKey dokey - pirates attacked! Why advise to cancel contract when our fleet is not powerful to stop the pirate attack that will follow? Again, more than one time this happened.

5. Clunky interface. Not the worst i've used but not good either.
Added to the poor graphics and the uninspiring combat this one is unlikely to get fired up again.

i actually think the best bits are the civilian automation. Its a good idea. And works well. Good idea for a monster game.Take the headache out of the supply.

Anyway, I'm sure its just a matter of taste. Too many people love it for it be the game's fault. But I was disappointed seeing how old the game is now. I expected an updated DW. Something clean, easy to use interface and something better graphically.

Live and learn - Should have waited . My own fault.

Thank you for your replies.
pasty11
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 12:28 pm

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by pasty11 »

EZZ you have been told why you dont enjoy the game but seem to be willfully ignoring all advice. If you play with lots of auto on the game sucks yep it does, but geuss what happens when you turn the auto off, its brilliant which is why it gets the good reviews. You have paid the moneis now reap the benefits, turn of auto. Its no way as hard as you think.
Seraph86
Posts: 57
Joined: Sat May 25, 2013 8:05 pm

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by Seraph86 »

ORIGINAL: ezz

Thanks for response . Played again but didn't feel much better . Here are some why's.

1. the Ai keeps sending my fleets on million mile missions? Why? The pirates are here. Yet the main fleet sailed off 4 colonies away and so wasn't around when the bad guys showed up. Obviously needs a setting change. But fleet SHOULD NOT just run off.

2. Every new ship built went and attacked a monster that destroyed them. Not in a fleet but 1 by 1. Not very smart. So now I see this automation needs turning off.

3. Couldn't find the fleet. New ships were being built and the fleet, that was supposed to be defending home base had gone off somewhere and all the newly builts were traveling miles and miles to join the fleet that wasn't at home. Happened more than once.
And it was not intuitive to set fleets. No answering acknowledgement when you click map space. You have to watch the ships and see if they begin turning in vaguely the right direction.

4. My advisers said "cancel contract with privates. " OKey dokey - pirates attacked! Why advise to cancel contract when our fleet is not powerful to stop the pirate attack that will follow? Again, more than one time this happened.

5. Clunky interface. Not the worst i've used but not good either.
Added to the poor graphics and the uninspiring combat this one is unlikely to get fired up again.

i actually think the best bits are the civilian automation. Its a good idea. And works well. Good idea for a monster game.Take the headache out of the supply.

Anyway, I'm sure its just a matter of taste. Too many people love it for it be the game's fault. But I was disappointed seeing how old the game is now. I expected an updated DW. Something clean, easy to use interface and something better graphically.

Live and learn - Should have waited . My own fault.

Thank you for your replies.

1. it depends on which mission the AI send the fleet, it could be trying to wage a war with it or attack some distant pirates to be able to farm some rare / needed resources. also the AI's act independantly, it won't create a fleet and let it sit at your base because it knows that the other AI has planned an attack, its if as you commanded the fleet, you also don't know when an attack happeneds.

2. it depends, in most cases it sends at least 2 ships to an enemy, look in the options menue (game options) and click on "empire settings", there is an "attack overmatch" which means you can tell the AI how many ships are usually wanted to attack one enemy. maybe you tinkered with this setting and that is the reason. another reason could've been that there wasn't enough ships around and the thread of the space creature was imminent and blocking civilian ships from doing their duties, so it send the available ship to it, got slaughtered and then tried to build another ship to fill the slot. it can't or rather won't so many ships if you don't have the cash for it.

3. there are several ways to find and form a fleet. if you want to select a fleet you can either use the fleet selection button on the right & left side of the detail screen (or press the corresponding hotkey), press the fleet number (if you did ctrl + #, # = number), or you can use the fleet overview screen which not only allows you do give fleets various commands like refuel, retrofit, load troops etc. ... it also allows you to select and "go to fleet". furthermore there is a minimap in this window which shows you where the fleet is.

regarding the (fleet) responsiveness of the ships, if you rightclick or give them a command in general then they won't respond, there is no huge soundasset which confirms your command (could maybe be added), but in the detail screen directly below the name it always shows the current mission! of course if you are paused (or in a menue, which pauses the game) then the command will only register and show up as the current mission if you unpause the game.

4. they might have advised you to cancel the contract because it was making you bankrupt and the AI wanted to stop you falling into the red deep end. also the AI doesn't know if the pirates will attack directly after that, they don't do that always, you are NOT the only target of the empire...in your case it was only bad luck that they immedeately attacked you. maybe because they didn't had anything else to do, were raiders and / or needed some money in general so they wanted to get something valuable from you. it also depends on which pirates you should have a protection agreement. you don't usually have to pay smugglers to protect you, they usuallyaren't made for raids or the likes. now mercaneries, raiders and balanced pirates are worth paying if they are near you. mercenaries might not always be behind your booty if no mission was ordered, so maybe not alwaysy pay them but raiders you should always pay the fee because they live from raiding others, including you!

5. yes the UI is clunky but if you get used to it then it becomes quite decent if you know your way around. and i LIKE / LOVE the graphics, the 2D art is nice and if you don't like some ship or planet graphics then use a mod. i modded my game heavily, haree87's extended mod is a must-have and i used DAS24680 chrome resource & UI mod, some parts of GEM UI mods. some sound mods, hd environments 1.2 and switched some weapon graphics from the kitchensink compilation where i selected myself the ones i wanted to use. it is REALLY easy to use mods, all the files are just .PNG files (well the graphic assets are) and so if you place the graphic files in a theme-folder (read mod-folder) like in M&B and it mirrors the games folder structure for its graphics then the game will automatically use your mod graphics (sounds more complicated than it actually is, the folder structure is quite intuitive like: images/ui/messages contains message graphics..who would've thought x'D). i personally love to play as the humans and take either shipset I or shipset II of kalthaniell's mod: tm.asp?m=2845072
<-- look at these and tell me they don't look great! and they are only .PNG files you have to paste into your game folder and its done. there is so much you can easily mod by just pasting some files or a folder into the game.

combat uninspiring? lol...well it isn't turn-based where you have to enter every command, it is more of a grand-strategy game and therefore doesn't have so many direct orders but there are some there. you can control your ships and how the act / react, you can predefine some general behaviors of you ships and then even select behaviors in the ship designs. if you want you can micromanage and control your ships / fleets, its quite enjoyable. what "inspiring" did you expect about the combat? it isn't tbs and it isn't total war like as you have it in sword of the stars which by the way has only its combat and the random tech tree and its unique engines per race as outstanding feature, everything else about this game is quite bad. there is no better 4x space game out there.

of course you won't see it with so many automations and when you are just a voyeur. as i started up distant worlds for the first time i automated almost everything, watched the whole spectacle 2-3 minutes and then uninstalled the game and i thought to myself "this crap looks like a space sim where i have no real control over it." <-- or at least it felt to me that way. i watched some videos about it and stumbled upon das24680 lets play of the game, i got hooked the first few videos and watched all of his lets play which went for hours. i didn't watch it because i had to force myself to play this again, i watched it because the prospect of playing in a truly VAST and LIVING galaxy was too sweet to just pass it on. after watching some of his lets plays i started / tried the game again and i deactivated most of the automations, things like fleet formation, research, diplomacy, treaties, ship construction and colonization i all disabled. sometimes i think this game has too much options to automate, sure you could automate all and play as a fleet admiral, the options are great for RP, but for new players which might try out the game first time might have too many automations, forcing them to play hands-off and not really enjoying this game.

for a beginner i think the only things which they should really automate are: ship design, taxes, population policies, intelligence missions, troop recruitment and maybe character locations. <-- this are the things i THINK new players should automate and leave the rest either on manually or some like pirate missions, treaties, sanctions and colony facility building on suggest. that's it...you can force players to dislike the game or feel detached by having them believe to be in need of too much automation. just disable the other auotmations, "colonization"...oh wow...i have never played an 4x game before what does that mean? !!!SARCASM!!! this game is NOT for casual players, period...it is too complex and the graphics aren't far cry / CoD like, the average casual gamer doesn't care about gameplay but pewpew -booom---*happy*. the people who usually buy this have experience in previous 4x (space) games and will know what to research and what to colonize and how much units to produce....will these decisions be optimal and efficient? NO! hell after 2.5 years i run my economy in the ground from time to time...sh*t happends...that's part of the fun. everyone who doesn't understand this should play dwarf fortress for once and experience what FUN means :P.

now the only things i automate are the population policies and the ship design, because i don't want to bother to design / upgrade every ship there is, and there are MANY. however the ship design automation is awesome, mid to lategame i pick me the destroyers, cruisers and capital ships and select them to manually upgrade. so the AI has still ship design automated but lets my destroyers, cruisers and capital ships alone and i can be creative. some automations are more intrusive and let your feel like more of a voyeur than a true player, but i wouldn't recommend having too many automations on.
Rhi
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 7:12 am

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by Rhi »

I mostly like the game, although there're several things that annoy me:

1) The inability to turn off the WoA/WoD and super weapons ruins/line.

2) AI is rather incompetent beyond basic actions, making it an easy win unless you restrict yourself on some actions. Examples? Well, you can see how people consider Quameno overpowered yet any race with espionage totally dominates them with sabotage/revolution/steal tech - yet AI never does anything like that. It's also rather cute to see how they chase a group of 5 ships with all their fleets only to get their homeworld bombed into oblivion meanwhile [:D]

3) The implementation of warp inhibition. Yes, the area effect is nice. But the fact it turns off every time the ship receives order is dumb.

4) Diplomacy is very limited and overally clumsy.

That said, I still quite like the game on the whole and enjoy playing it.
fenrislokison
Posts: 71
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:50 am

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by fenrislokison »

personnally, i can understand Ezz.

When i first started Distant Worlds a few years ago(?), i was overwhelmed by the mass of data and learning curve, i was disappointed by the graphics and UI and leaving the default settings for the automation just push me away from the game even more since i didn't understood why things happened.

Does that means Distant Worlds is a bad game? Surely not, but at that time, i was not in the mood of spending hours trying to learn the game. A game, as the name implies, is supposed to be fun. Spending hours of free time to learn is not always fun. Forcing yourself to play is definetely not fun.

Finally, when i was in a better mood (i mean i was completely bored and ready to do anything) i spend time to get used to the game and finally started to enjoy it.

I felt the same about a lot of paradox games like Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Victoria and Crusader Kings, especially Crusader Kings. As a matter of fact, i played Crusader Kings 2 for about 10 minutes, was completely overwhelmed and stopped playing it to this day.
But i know it's a good game, i just need to be in the good mood to learn it before starting to really enjoying it. It may takes months or even years before i do, but i know that forcing myself to play it will only disgust me from the game.

So if i have an advice for ezz, it would be to keep DW installed on your PC (so you can start it without having going through the reinstallment), forget it for now and wait until you feel like learning it.
rcuadro
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Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:28 am

RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by rcuadro »

I also learned about this game at RPS and I'm enjoying it.
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Canaris_PL
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RE: All You new DW players satisifed?

Post by Canaris_PL »

Yes. I am very very satisfied.

DW beautifully places itself between hardcore-slow-micromanagment-heavy "Aurora 4x" ( which i love ) and balls-to-the-wall-crazy-awesome-hyper-quick-expansion Star Ruler.
Starting Pre-warp with shitload of pirates and Space Creatures around makes it an awesome experience full of tense moments, unexpected discoveries and Roleplaying potential ;)

DW is one of the reasons im happy that long time ago i switched from consoles to PC gaming ;)
Out of the way Xeno scum, Humanity coming through !!!!!
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