Slitherine

• I feel incredibly out of control of what's going on. This is due to a multitude of reasons, at least it's how I feel right now:
  
• My empire pretty much runs itself and doesn't really need me, at all. Besides for some incredibly shallow diplomacy options there is fairly little to do.
  
• Ships and their controls are pretty confusing and it's very hard to keep track of them all.
  
• Combat is quick and decisive, it's pretty much an rts as far as combat goes.
  
• Due to above, fleet/ship tactics are shallow and follow the 'zerg with as many units as possible' line, rather than traditional 4x sci-fi games where design > everything.
  
• Income/Resource wise there is an incredibly deep system in the background, but the player doesn't notice much of it. A pity as there's tons of 'hidden' depth.
  
• Research sucks and might as well not be in the game in the current format. I have no control other than spamming a few more research bases/space ports to increase research speeds.
  
• I love designing ships and avoid most strategy games which don't include this (A reason why I only played Armada for about 2 hours tops). However, in Distant Worlds I don't feel compelled to design ships, since I see so little in return for it.
  
• The interface is clumsy and doesn't give me the information or controls I would really want. Renaming objects is cumbersome yet it's the first thing I want to do with ANY new colony or ship..
  
• I just feel a bit... bored. I don't know what to do or what the point really is. I believe the best summary would be: I don't feel the immersion! moo2 has the little diplomacy/research/colonisation etc. videos that greatly help to get immersed in the game. In Distant Worlds I don't feel even the smallest sliver of connection to my empire, my people, my ships. I just feel like i'm watching a simulation. Granted it's entertaining and innovative for a bit but I don't see this last for a long time :(
  

quote:

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76
The game is about macro control and not MOO2 style micro management of game elements.I control exploring,colonizing,construction ships,main fleets(not escorts),spying,diplomacy in my games.The resource system is very important so get your construction ships to mine demanded resources.

quote:

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

Then speed the game up.Have you ever played EU3,the game requires changing the speed up and down,it is no different to turn based games where you press the turn key quickly.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Evil Tactician

My empire pretty much runs itself and doesn't really need me, at all. Besides for some incredibly shallow diplomacy options there is fairly little to do.

quote:

Ships and their controls are pretty confusing and it's very hard to keep track of them all.

quote:

Combat is quick and decisive, it's pretty much an rts as far as combat goes.

quote:

Due to above, fleet/ship tactics are shallow and follow the 'zerg with as many units as possible' line, rather than traditional 4x sci-fi games where design > everything.

quote:

Income/Resource wise there is an incredibly deep system in the background, but the player doesn't notice much of it. A pity as there's tons of 'hidden' depth.

quote:

Research sucks and might as well not be in the game in the current format. I have no control other than spamming a few more research bases/space ports to increase research speeds.

quote:

I love designing ships and avoid most strategy games which don't include this (A reason why I only played Armada for about 2 hours tops). However, in Distant Worlds I don't feel compelled to design ships, since I see so little in return for it.

quote:

The interface is clumsy and doesn't give me the information or controls I would really want. Renaming objects is cumbersome yet it's the first thing I want to do with ANY new colony or ship..

quote:

I just feel a bit... bored. I don't know what to do or what the point really is. I believe the best summary would be: I don't feel the immersion! moo2 has the little diplomacy/research/colonisation etc. videos that greatly help to get immersed in the game. In Distant Worlds I don't feel even the smallest sliver of connection to my empire, my people, my ships. I just feel like i'm watching a simulation. Granted it's entertaining and innovative for a bit but I don't see this last for a long time

Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC



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

Freedom is not Free.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Evil Tactician
I have ships under attack and messages popping up left/right but I don't know the ships (renaming really is hard work!), don't know where they are and the only way to find anything seems through the colony and ship overview lists. To really get an overview you end up playing zoomed-out most of the time, which defeats the point of having the nifty zoomed-in view.

Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC



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

Freedom is not Free.

quote:

Having played DW a lot, I think this is an inaccurate conclusion. Your empire _can_ run itself, but then it's not really yours. If you get involved, it will work better, be more powerful, be more unique and customized to your wishes. There are tons of areas to get involved in here and I have to assume you haven't really seen all the options open up for you yet.

What kind of game did you start in terms of galaxy size and other options?

quote:

Hm, have you looked at the Ships and Bases screen and the filters and sortable fields there, as well as the fleets and ship design screen? What part are you finding most confusing? If you're having trouble figuring out what your ships are doing, then I understand why you feel out of control.

quote:

What speed are you running at? This also depends on ship designs and force comparison, but combat is not a very lengthy process (most space combats are not).

quote:

Design is actually very important. If you leave it automated though, then design itself is less important than just keeping ships updated to the latest design with the latest components. I find a lot of difference between the different ships and their roles. As in any game, you can always build a big fleet and overwhelm the enemy - that's not unique to DW and pretty much every space 4x has had that possibility. I find DW is good about making you pay for those big fleets though, both in terms of initial cost in money and resources as well as ongoing upkeep and fuel. If you focus on the big fleet strategy, you can easily bankrupt your economy.

quote:

I think this is just a matter of experience as the tools are there to notice what's going on, but it takes a while to realize how you can best help your economy grow.

quote:

I'm really surprised at this comment, to be honest. There is a lot of return for it - will you have ship designs if you automate them? Yes. Can you have a lot more fun and create some very unique and customized ships that are very effective if you do the design yourself? Absolutely! Take a look at what Okim did in his AAR here and tell me that doesn't add to his fun:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2414770

quote:

Not sure what to say here other than can you be more specific? I think the interface is actually darn good and renaming ships is easy. Just double click on the ship name in the bottom left display once you have it selected, then type in the new name in the screen that appears.

quote:

For some reason, it's not clicking with you, but based on your comments I think you are really missing a lot yet. Dive back in and try a very small galaxy, smallest you can, starting from the beginning and do more things manually. Play at 0.5x or 1x speed to give yourself some time to really get into it.

• Option for a 'basic start' - 1 Colony, 1 Exploration Vessel.
  
• Option to run off all designs, let the player design everything!
  
• Option during set-up to have all races start equal to the player, so you only have to set the start options once. (Equal in terms of homeplanet/tech level, etc.)
  
• Option to disable spying and everything related to it.
  
• The ability to zoom out a tiny bit further while still seeing the ships/planets graphically, to get more overview.
  
• A way to distinguish fleets from each other in the zoomed out overviews.
  
• A way to easily see 'missing' resources when building something.
  
• An indication of 'build progress' on objects that are under construction. Unless I am missing something I am being told how many components are left to create, is it possible to have a progress bar or percentage?
  
• Carriers / Fighters in the future would be great :) Even if it's quite simple like Moo2 did it, where you add a bay as component which adds a few fighters to a ship.
  

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
Are you not aware that if you click on the message it immediately moves you to the event?

Regards,

- Erik

quote:

ORIGINAL: Evil Tactician

An indication of 'build progress' on objects that are under construction. Unless I am missing something I am being told how many components are left to create, is it possible to have a progress bar or percentage?

quote:

ORIGINAL: wodin

Some games just don't click with some....one mans meat is anothers poisen etc etc.

Evil Tactician....this might be a game that grows on you....or may need to come back to it another time...maybe when some mods\expansions have been released....its happened to me plenty of times.....bought a game people love but just didnt enjoy mysself....not because the game was bad...just not my thing....

quote:

ORIGINAL: Evil Tactician
I did notice there was no way to start with the classic start of 1 colony, 1 colony ship and 1-2 exploration vessels though - which was disappointing. Then again, the nature of the game with the private sector etc. makes such a start more difficult. Still, worth implementing!

quote:

Yes, the most frustrating part is having to use the ships/bases/colony screens merely to find out where ships are and what they are doing. The interface should show this slightly more clearly. For example, fleets could be assigned an icon, or number which represents them on the zoomed out overviews, allowing you to much more clearly see where your individual fleets are located. I appreciate this is harder for individual ships.

quote:

I probably haven't spent sufficient time ingame to really reap the benefits of custom ship design. Unfortunately I just quit my first game as I am half a day playing in and I just don't know my empire, at all. I don't know my colonies, their names, their locations, etc. despite manually planting them. I find it VERY hard to keep a good overview of my empire without zooming right out - at which point you lose a lot of information and control.

quote:

Basically, I find it too easy. Since everything is shipped automatically by civilians, all you have to do is ensure mining bases are present at locations which have required resources. I think a few options/features that make certain locations more strategically important would be of great help.

quote:

Ultimately though, you don't have a great deal of control over the ships you designed. I guess it comes back to the other points - this area of the game isn't actually bad, I just don't feel compelled to dive into them due to the interface/overview problems I am experiencing.

quote:

Strange, I tried that and it didn't work. Ended up having to go through the colony/ship overview screens to rename individual ones - I will definitely try that again as that would eliminate a huge aggravation!

quote:

I will give it another go - I have the feeling I am missing something based on the remarks of people on the forums. Thank you for trying to convince me - and please don't get me wrong. I think you guys have done a great job as a small company, and I am pleased to see someone trying something 'different' for once.
I just have to get used to the interface and I am sure that upcoming patches can implement some small adjustments and improvements to make things easier. I'm not quite willing to give up yet ;)

quote:

Option for a 'basic start' - 1 Colony, 1 Exploration Vessel.

quote:

Option to run off all designs, let the player design everything!

quote:

Option during set-up to have all races start equal to the player, so you only have to set the start options once. (Equal in terms of homeplanet/tech level, etc.)

quote:

Option to disable spying and everything related to it.

quote:

A way to distinguish fleets from each other in the zoomed out overviews.

quote:

A way to easily see 'missing' resources when building something.

quote:

An indication of 'build progress' on objects that are under construction. Unless I am missing something I am being told how many components are left to create, is it possible to have a progress bar or percentage?

quote:

Carriers / Fighters in the future would be great :) Even if it's quite simple like Moo2 did it, where you add a bay as component which adds a few fighters to a ship.

Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC



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

Freedom is not Free.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Evil Tactician

Hi Erik,

Thank you for taking the time to reply - I appreciate it.

quote:

Having played DW a lot, I think this is an inaccurate conclusion. Your empire _can_ run itself, but then it's not really yours. If you get involved, it will work better, be more powerful, be more unique and customized to your wishes. There are tons of areas to get involved in here and I have to assume you haven't really seen all the options open up for you yet.

What kind of game did you start in terms of galaxy size and other options?

I've started with the same settings I prefer in any 4x game, especially when playing the first time: Most basic tech levels, most basic starting size, smallest universe, and in this case I selected 5 opponents. I set 1 opponent to nearby, 2 to further away and 2 to distant, to allow for some distance and room. This did the job very well in terms of room for expansion, etc.

I did notice there was no way to start with the classic start of 1 colony, 1 colony ship and 1-2 exploration vessels though - which was disappointing. Then again, the nature of the game with the private sector etc. makes such a start more difficult. Still, worth implementing!

quote:

ORIGINAL: darkrenown
Non-automated ships seem a bit dumb and won't return fire without orders. As an example I sent a fleet to attack a pirate base, and when I checked up on them a few moments later they had destroyed it, but they were just sitting passivly while the pirate ships shot at them. Ships without orders should really attack nearby enemies, or at least return fire if a nearby ship is being attacked.

quote:

I'd really like to see a better overview of what resources I have, where they are mined, where they are being shipped too etc. Maybe some kind of trade routes screen? Right now all I can see is a list of resources I mine, but they just vanish into the private sector and clicking around every planet's cargo section is a chore. I'd also like to see what I'm trading with other races.

Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC



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

Freedom is not Free.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Evil Tactician

quote:

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

Then speed the game up.Have you ever played EU3,the game requires changing the speed up and down,it is no different to turn based games where you press the turn key quickly.

I have indeed played EU3. It's one of very few games in my collection I regret buying as I didn't manage to enjoy that game despite trying. The genre/setting has a really strong appeal to me.
As far as 4x/sci-fi games go, I prefer games such as Moo2, Stars!, Space Empires, etc.

quote:

This would actually be an "advanced/hard" start in that it would be very easy for new players to get in real trouble not knowing where to best expand. We try to start you with one colony and a bare minimum resource network so that you can build things from the start.

quote:

I'm not entirely clear on this - each ship has an icon and when you form a fleet, it gets its own unique icon with the number of ships in the fleet that shows up on the map to show you where it is. You can also assign ships to numbered groups using Control-1 etc. to then call them up again by just hitting a number key. On the zoomed out view, each ship category has a different kind of icon (i.e. all military ships are triangles) so that you can see pretty easily where trade is flowing, where your military is, etc. If you click on a ship icon in the zoomed out view, their data shows up in the bottom left, telling you their mission and cargo (if appropriate) as well.

quote:

Hm, I hope this is just a learning curve and adjustment issue as I haven't had any trouble getting immersed in that way and coming to know my colonies, ships and trade routes. While it is possible that it's just not your cup of tea, I would encourage you to give it another chance. I can't help but hope that you will "get it" soon if you try a bit harder.

quote:

Aha! Ok, now this I can help you with. If you feel things are too easy, use some of the many sliders on galaxy start to make resources more scarce, your initial system less "easy" and make the galaxy as a whole more unstable/restless. That should keep you much more on your toes. The default level is designed to be a bit more welcoming to new players. Personally I do not play on the default level any longer, I adjust the sliders to give myself more of a challenge, but as you can see from a lot of other reports I think the default level is a good starting point for most first time players.

quote:

Ok, so the first step is to get past your interface issues then. I'm an old hand with the interface now and have an easy time reviewing what's going on. Do you normally prefer to play more zoomed out or more zoomed in? If you could add in one interface feature that you feel would help you keep track of your ships, what would it be?

quote:

Aha, glad I could help - that's how I do it. If you double click in the name area for anything you have selected, it will bring up the detailed info for that ship/base/planet and you can rename it right on that screen.

quote:

Ok, I appreciate that you are giving it a go, please let me know if you have any more specific frustrations, perhaps we can figure out a way to get you around them.

quote:

This would be really hard not to get into a major problem resource-wise. Maybe later as a "hard" option, but basically what we start you off with now is 1 Colony and just enough to have a basic resource network.

quote:

If you turn off ship design automation, you should be able to redesign things as you wish and the AI will never update or change them after the initial starting designs. Do you mean to start with no designs at all? This seems like it would also cause a lot of trouble for new players, just to figure out what designs they need to account for.

quote:

You mean just in terms of reducing the number of clicks?

quote:

I'm curious why you requested this? Espionage is usually a popular feature.

quote:

Personally once I see the fleet icons, it's easy enough for me to click on each one if I need a reminder, though usually I know where I have each fleet. What would you envision as far as differentiation goes?

quote:

Great suggestion and we should implement this as an improvement. Right now if you have a good sense of your economy you will know what you're missing, but I absolutely agree we should make this easier to see at the point of ordering something to be built.

quote:

Yes, the percentage progress is already there for construction yards as well as the number of unbuilt components. Just look in the detailed screen, so for example for a space port double click on its name, then look in the construction yards tab to see what percentage progress it's at on each ship under construction. Same goes for ships being built at planets. For something being built in space, like a mining station, you can look at the construction ship details I believe.

quote:

I do like carriers myself, we'll have to see what the future holds. We are certainly hoping to not just support this release but also add expansions to it as there is tremendous room for growth now that we have the basic game complete.

quote:

I haven't seen this at all, I've always seen ships defend themselves when attacked and I agree that is how it should be (and always has been in my experience). Is there any chance you have a save that shows this? If not, I will try to duplicate.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kumppi

I have experienced the same problem. I had 4 ship patrolling a mining station when it was attacked by a pirate ship. Only 1 of my ships engaged while the other 3 continued their patrol. Perhaps something to adjust in future patches?

AI in general seems to be very passive regarding your own ships. If a mining station with no patrols is attacked it seems your own ship don't respond at all. Even those ships that have no mission assigned at that time.