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distant worlds - 4/16/2011 5:08:27 AM

leftydad

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What's the difference between this game and DISTANT WORLDS?

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 5:36:48 AM

lordxorn

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Armada is Turn Based, and more similar to Total War in space because one of the main devs I think Bob Smith is from on of the Total War games.

So a cross between Gal Civ and a Total War game.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 5:40:13 AM

leftydad

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Thanks for the info.

I don't have either game and am trying to figure out which to purchase first. Would you say DISTANT WORLDS is more like Galactic Civ.?

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 6:42:13 AM

Rosseau

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Armada is a bit simpler and more like GalCiv (with no ship design), but I'd buy DW with the expansion in a minute. I'm playing the first of the galcivII expansions right now, and it's boring the hell out of me.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 7:54:49 AM

lordxorn

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Yeah Gal Civ was good for it's time, and also a top selling 4x game. However the research is too generic like Laser I, then Laser II, etc.

The ship customization was cool because you could technically strap on enough parts to make things like Star DEstroyers, however it had no effect on the ship design besides looks.

DW is the best spiritual successor to MOO2 but it is real time.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 9:47:22 AM

Wolfe1759

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From a previous post almost a year ago here http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2415764&mpage=1&key=�

Bought Armada last week (already own DW and SOTS, Sins, GC2) and I must admit to being pleasantly surprised.

Based on playing the tutorial scenario through a few times to turn 100+ (which in itself is a recommendation) my initial impressions would be that it doesn't do anything ground breaking for the genre but what it does it does well and in a very accessible format.

In comparison to DW (admittedly based on roughly equal play of the two games even though I've had DW since it came out)

Gameplay - Even though I've probably still got a lot to learn I already feel comfortable with Armada so that I'm thinking more about planning and strategy rather than how to actually do things in the game system. With DW I really still don't know what I am doing in any detail at a unit control / tactical level - maybe there are just too many options. This may be down to the fact that Armada is on more familiar territory in regards to the other games in the genre whereas DW is trying something more ambitious.

Graphics - pretty similar, neither as good as Sins but good enough

Sound - again pretty similar, I generally play with music off in both games and would probably only notice the sound if it was irritating.

Battle Comparisons - can't be much help here as although Armada has pauseable real-time tactical combat I almost always auto resolve as at this stage in learning the game (and possibly in the future as well) I'm more interested in playing the strategic elements of the game.

Overall for a fun more casual game Armada is a good fit, DW has however got the potential to be a very good game if you are can put time into the learning curve.

In general I would compare very loosely (in Matrix terms) Armada to Commander Europe at War or Uncommon Valor whereas I would compare DW to Forge of Freedom and possibly War in the Pacific.

Again the above is very much initial impressions.

I've now added the expansions to both of the games and overall the above still pretty much remains true for me.

I feel that I should play more of DW because it should be the better game but Armada seems to have hit the sweet spot for me and 9 times out of 10 I'll tend to click the Armada icon rather than the DW one.

If you are likely to play a few hours a week on a game then Armada is probably a better choice, if you are likely to play a few hours a day then you may get more out of DW.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 1:25:57 PM

Hertston

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Wolfe

If you are likely to play a few hours a week on a game then Armada is probably a better choice, if you are likely to play a few hours a day then you may get more out of DW.

Good advice. DW is the better game IMHO, but Armada plays quicker and doesn't require the same time investment to get to grips with what's going on. Reviews of Armada on release were a little unkind, not least by constant comparisons to Galciv 2 - AFTER it had received several years post release development and a couple of hefty expansions. Which considering the disastrous early release of Elemental by Stardock in the same year was pretty ironic, really. Not to mention that a great many potential Armada customers had played GC2 to death and wanted something different, not the same. All that said, I did tend to agree with criticisms of the combat; it's more heavily emphasized in Armada than in DW or Galciv 2 and really needed to offer a more interesting experience than it does.

Armada is the more Galciv like of the two, but not sufficiently so you'll suffer from 'been here, done that' syndrome. DW is now the second best space 4X ever released IMHO (after the fully expanded Sword of the Stars), although I'm not as nostalgic as some. That's my polite way of saying that MoO2 had its time, but has now been overtaken by others.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 5:00:03 PM

Anguille

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While i love Sword of the stars for the tech tree, the ship design and the fantastic battles, i find that Armada 2526 Supernova has a much better map and UI on the strategic level (imho). The combination of both would be fantastic. The gameplay of Armada has become a lot more deeper since Supernova...try a huge map with many races, a slow tech tree etc...so many options.

DW is so different and so unique, it's not possible to compare. It's a different experience.

Sins of a solar empire is not really a 4x but has great battles too.

I have tried again and again but just don't enjoy GalCiv2. I will try again and maybe one day i will finish a game...maybe.

< Message edited by Anguille -- 4/16/2011 5:01:31 PM >

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 9:20:54 PM

Hertston

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Anguille

While i love Sword of the stars for the tech tree, the ship design and the fantastic battles, i find that Armada 2526 Supernova has a much better map and UI on the strategic level (imho).

Oh, I agree. SotS is as much space wargame as classic 4X, which is probably why I actually prefer it. It will be interesting to see what approach they have taken in SotS 2.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/16/2011 11:18:10 PM

Rosseau

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Excellent comments. If you've never played the GalCiv series, just forget them and get Armada.

My problem, you see, is whether I should get Supernova. I love and respect the devs for opening up the XML's for us, so I should just do it based on that.

I will never play Armada multi-player, so is there still a point to getting it?

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RE: distant worlds - 4/17/2011 12:02:40 AM

Wolfe1759

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I've only been playing Supernova for a few days so the following is more initial impressions than anything else.

I'm highly unlikely to play multiplayer or do any modding of the game myself so have bought Supernova solely for the single player additions.

The two things that have already made it worth the money are System / Planetary Features and Trade Routes both of which add a huge amount of fun to the opening game (i.e. the first 100 or so turns)and open up a whole new range of strategic considerations with certain systems becoming more valuable than others for a more reasons than just being rich vs poor systems.

I've yet to utilise the spying system or other than trade and stealth technologies use much of the new techs but I'm hoping that these will add the same increase in fun to the mid and late game.

In a nutshell I suspect that if you like Armada you will really like Supernova.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/17/2011 12:12:26 AM

Rosseau

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Thanks for the info. And $15 isn't too much to ask for it.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/17/2011 3:43:28 AM

mbar

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2 new races
New planets
New planet features
New tech
New trade system

I wasn't interested in multi-player either but PBEM works really well and I could see myself doing more games that way.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/18/2011 9:23:04 AM

martok

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For anyone who's interested, I posted my main comments on Armada 2526 vs. Distant Worlds here in the General Discussion forum. (Sorry, but I'm too lazy to post the whole thing over again.

)

Overall, I'd say most people's comments (Wolfe's and Hertston's in particular) are pretty spot-on. I love the concepts and mechanics in DW, but Armada is a heck of a lot easier to pick up and play. I had Armada's basic gameplay down in less than 20 minutes, whereas there are still times when I don't feel like I know entirely what I'm doing when playing Distant Worlds.

Also, I agree with Anguille that adding in SotS's combat model and ship design to Armada's layout & gameplay would be simply divine. I'd think I'd have died and gone to heaven!

< Message edited by martok -- 4/19/2011 6:09:51 AM >

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RE: distant worlds - 4/18/2011 9:33:25 AM

martok

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Oh, and for whatever it's worth: PBEM games in Supernova are actually rather fun.

That statement, by the way, comes from someone who *never* plays MP matches against other people. Seriously, I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've played online against anyone, in any PC game, in the last fifteen years. Until now.

So when I state that even *I* enjoy PBEM campaigns in Armada, that's definitely saying something.

< Message edited by martok -- 4/18/2011 8:36:51 PM >

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RE: distant worlds - 4/18/2011 6:34:02 PM

Iceman

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There were some AI improvements too.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/18/2011 6:44:11 PM

noname

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Yeah, Gal Civ2 bored the hell out of me too which is why I have never tried Distant Worlds.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/19/2011 12:47:07 AM

Rosseau

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DW, even without the expansion, is least boring of them all. We'll see as more comes in on Supernova.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/19/2011 2:18:50 AM

gijas17

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Im enjoying all the comments on Armada 2526. I though I was the only nerd who was playing this game. I mean the forums have been dead for the most part, both here and ntronium for some time now. I bought Armada on release last year and like many of you was surprised and impressed but after playing a 300+ turn game I became too familar and the AI started to bore me.

DW is another game I admit like most of you I don't understand fully. The game takes a lot of time especially with the new expansion and patch 1.58 that slows down colony expansion and research but the game is amazing especially with the expansion and the new AI elements. DW is one of the best 4x space grand strategy games I've ever played.

Gal 2 even with all its expansions is boring to me. I don't think I've finished one game due to this. I just lose interest quickly but DW is so busy that you don't have time to lose interest as your always doing something whether it's building a gas mining base, research station or following your explorer ships into new star systems.

SOTS and all expansions is a great game as well but the cartoony charactors and graphics turn me off a bit. I would say SOTS is more tactical than strategy. It's strategy is really in ship building and research where DW combines all these at once which can be a overload on the brain.

Getting back to Armada and Supernova I really enjoy the new expansion but haven't seen all it has to offer yet since Im very early into the game on turn 50. But I'd say Armada is more casual and a lite 4x'er made for players who just want to run a space empire without all the details invloved in researching little things that mean nothing and involved ship building. I like ship building don't get me wrong but it can be a headache sometimes if your trying to keep up with everything else in your empire. I like playing the RT space battles which are lacking in the graphics department and a hard to control sometimes due to the wacky camera. The space map is simple as well but it's very easy to understand although if your playing on a huge galaxy map it can be hard to find were each little ship icon is or where your building in your empire without zooming in.

< Message edited by gijas -- 4/19/2011 2:19:39 AM >

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RE: distant worlds - 4/19/2011 5:27:54 AM

Rosseau

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I can only agree. Won't be getting Supernova, but you can't buy them all. I think because I don't understand all about DW/ROTS makes it more exciting as you learn the nuances.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/21/2011 2:05:48 AM

Texashawk

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Little off topic, but whenever I read this thread I think about a game that was supposed to be the greatest 4X ever... Stars! Supernova. Alas, it ran out of money, and is probably sitting on some developer's hard drive to this day, never to see the light of day... unless... Matrix?

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RE: distant worlds - 4/21/2011 5:19:13 AM

martok

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Ah yes, Stars! Supernova Genesis.

Gods, I was so looking forward to that game! I was a very sad panda when Mare Crisium couldn't find a new publisher and it became vaporware. I would still get it even now if it were ever released.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/21/2011 6:50:06 AM

Anguille

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quote:

ORIGINAL: martok

Ah yes, Stars! Supernova Genesis.

Gods, I was so looking forward to that game! I was a very sad panda when Mare Crisium couldn't find a new publisher and it became vaporware. I would still get it even now if it were ever released.

Same here!

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RE: distant worlds - 4/21/2011 7:21:07 AM

DasTactic

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Me too re Stars! Supernova Genesis. Man I loved the original game. :)

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RE: distant worlds - 4/25/2011 3:26:49 PM

Iceman

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One of the best space 4X ever made!

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RE: distant worlds - 4/28/2011 2:04:10 PM

hank

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this looked like a good comparision / opinion thread for space sims so ...

A comment from a complete newb to space games. I've been playing Homeworld and HW2 the past couple of weeks. I just bought FreeLancer and Independence Wars 2 and await their arrival. I wanted to start playing some of the classic old space games, both RTS and Sim. I really wanted to get FreeSpace but its hard to find the stock game in a box for a reasonable price (I may download the open code version one day soon for <$10 ... .sounds like a good deal).

I like HW/HW2 (HW2 is better obviously due to its upgraded graphics - both are quite outdated by today's standards but awesome when you think of how old they are).

Are the games mentioned here similar to HW2?
I like HW2 but I wish the space models were much larger. Each battle is confined to a small piece of space real estate. Does DW or Armada allow further exploration?

I've found a whole world ... or universe of fun. These games are a blast.

regards to all

< Message edited by hank -- 4/28/2011 2:05:39 PM >

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RE: distant worlds - 4/29/2011 1:00:29 AM

Wolfe1759

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Difficult to compare either Armada or DW to HW/HW2 or any of the others you mention as other than being space games they are very different.

Armada/DW are a lot less about space battles, though they do naturally occur they are just one part of the empire building focus of the games. The actual space battles therefore are not really the focus of either game and to be honest if space battles are what you are after you are going to be a bit disappointed in what you get with these games, I almost always auto resolve combat in Armada and just watch it happen with little input from me in DW.

Better to think of Armada and DW as a very good take on a Civilisation type game in space. If this is what you are after then Armada might be the easier one to start with then maybe have a go at DW (the comparrison of the two is an ongoing debate and you can find a number of discussions in both the Armada and DW sections of the Matrix forum).

If space battles are more what you are looking for then either Sins of a Solar Empire (for a more RTSish type game) or Sword of the Stars (sort of Total War in Space as a very loose analogy) might be better starting points. Also as I'm posting on the Matrix forum I should point out Starships Unlimited v3 though I have no idea what it is like it might fit the bill for you.

< Message edited by Wolfe -- 4/29/2011 1:06:08 AM >

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RE: distant worlds - 4/29/2011 1:53:25 PM

hank

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Thanks Wolfe for the reply.

I'm not focused on anything in particular at this point; I'm just learning. I don't like micromanaging combat which I tend to do with HW(2). After the first few complete games it was fun but it does get old. I do like watching the fights which an autoresolve would let me do without a click fest.

I've been doing my research and of the older games Gal Civ II and Sins of ... seem to have good reviews. I'm getting more interested in the two big games here, Armada and DW. You're right, there are lots of debates which one is considered better than the other which I must say after playing oodles of wargames ... each game has its pro's and con's. I'll also look into Starships U...

What I want is to build ships (being in engineering its a natural attraction for me) ... explore beautiful planets and planetary systems across an endless (or seemingly endless universe) ... interact with other races ... and build an empire. HW is more of a survival / combat game. I don't know yet what the sims I have ordered will give me but I'm still anxiously awaiting.

I'm going to pull the trigger soon on one of the four I mentioned so thanks again for the help.

< Message edited by hank -- 4/29/2011 2:15:03 PM >

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RE: distant worlds - 4/29/2011 2:32:53 PM

Wolfe1759

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quote:

ORIGINAL: hank
What I want is to build ships (being in engineering its a natural attraction for me)

In this case, assuming you mean design and build Distant Worlds is the one to go for as it has pretty comprehensive ship building, almost a game in itself, whereas Armada has no player controlled ship design with stock ship types become available through research.

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RE: distant worlds - 4/29/2011 6:24:53 PM

martok

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quote:

ORIGINAL: hank

What I want is to build ships (being in engineering its a natural attraction for me) ... explore beautiful planets and planetary systems across an endless (or seemingly endless universe) ... interact with other races ... and build an empire.

In that case, you should definitely go with Distant Worlds (plus the Return of the Shakturi expansion). Of the 4x titles you've mentioned, it easily comes the closest to fitting what you're looking for.