Question about research rates and game in general

Matrix Games Forums

Forums Register Login Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ

My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums Log Out

Question about research rates and game in general

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Question about research rates and game in general

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Question about research rates and game in general - 5/17/2015 7:26:12 PM

SilentHunter

Posts: 216
Joined: 9/29/2013
From: United States
Status: offline

As I understand from reading some posts , the research rates can be adjusted. Is it possible to have a game where research rates have been slowed down to the point of epic so that if I research beam weapons I may or may not have time by the end of the game to also research some other type of weapon. Trying to understand if it's possible to slow it down so much that the tech tree really plays a major part in how the game can develop and what capabilities your ships can have.

Also for those who have it, the game seems to be focused in on expand and conquer at least what I read, are there other ways to play the game, any examples you guys can give? Replay ability there? Looking for a good 4x game but don't know enough about this one.

< Message edited by SilentHunter -- 5/17/2015 8:27:11 PM >

Post #: 1

RE: Question about research rates and game in general - 5/17/2015 9:14:10 PM

SirHoraceHarkness

Posts: 400
Joined: 5/17/2015
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: SilentHunter

Also for those who have it, the game seems to be focused in on expand and conquer at least what I read, are there other ways to play the game, any examples you guys can give? Replay ability there? Looking for a good 4x game but don't know enough about this one.

I'm fairly new to distant worlds universe(also running the ai improvement mod 1.04) but the highly customizable automation and map creation lets you set up and play a game out about any way you want.

My first game was set up to be a minor challenge with the shakturi as the evil empire who hates everyone and me as the humans using the honorverse model for trade and diplomacy. Other races were seeded using the xhumans and the avian benoserit race both of which naturally liked my race to have some ready trading partners or allies along with the rodent like zenox as the wild card with its mild instinctive dislike of me and the aquatic lemeresh with its intense dislike of me playing the heavy. The goal was to defeat the shakturi but preserve as many races as possible in the coming war and I ended up forming a solid federation of everyone but the lemerish who I had to invade and take over as they simply would not tolerate my specific presence in the universe but got along fine with the rest of them even the shakturi. This complicated things greatly on keeping the general peace and full attention on the shakturi who were invading or bombarding left and right but deft manipulation of gifts and treaties along with a few strategic trades and concessions resulted in only one short but bloody war with the zenox and the aforementioned conquest of the lemerish before the shakturi were finally wiped out.

Now I have a solid trade empire with the bonuses for trade and the occasional gift completely overshadowing any negatives and almost all the original races are still around as sovereign star nations even if the lemerish are now human subjects. I'll slot that one in as a win.

Next game is going to be diametrically opposed with me being the ~~shakturi~~ boskara and seeding a 1400 star map with as many races as will fit for some good ole conquer and destroy mayhem with the goal of subjugating everyone.

Game after than is going to be a full human map ala the honorverse setting up each empire with as close a government as possible to the novels and see how it plays out.

Basically the only thing limiting you on replayability is your imagination.

< Message edited by SirHoraceHarkness -- 5/18/2015 5:33:03 AM >

(in reply to SilentHunter)

Post #: 2

RE: Question about research rates and game in general - 5/17/2015 9:37:18 PM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

There is a basic research speed slider in the galaxy setup screen. Games can becomes quite different depending on this setting. The tech tree is open for mods, so you can add/remove tweak research projects to create "weird things". Keep in mind that the AI may not be very good at managing things in a very weird galaxy.

In general it is not beneficial to have multiple weapons, as a somewhat slow research game is unlikely to see many weapon lines completed until the late game. I enjoy the slow speeds, I dislike the storyline play and victory conditions, and I rarely see the "end weapons" before I finish my games.

The basic idea is to expand and conquer, even if you may try to avoid conquer play. You may also play as a pirate which is more about controlling the fresh colony systems to eventually gain more and more control (and profits) from the colony, but that is not my preferred way to play.

You can start with a single colony, with or without warp tech at the start. You can start in various stages of expansion up to "mature". You can tweak research speeds for very fast to very slow, and have from 400 (I think) to 1500 stars in galaxy ranging from 4x4 to 15x15 (sectors) or so. You can start with no pirates, lots of pirates, being "near" or "far". There are a couple of story lines to play through, which are of course entirely optional. And you may start with different races, and choose to try to roleplay the starting race. You can be aggressive in one game, and peaceful in the next.

The game gives a "living" galaxy in real-time (but not stressful real-time). There are freighters you can't control that buzz around transporting resources, and just watching the traffic at a major spaceport (and check what is arriving) can be fun. The interface for checking the cargo is not the best ever, though, but some screenshot looks should reveal what level the UI is at.

If you get "into" the game, there is lots of replayability. There are mods that add/replace races, and mods that modify the research tree. And there is an AI Improvement mod for when you find the default AI behavior too easy (better research choices and ship designs for the AI).

(in reply to SilentHunter)

Post #: 3

RE: Question about research rates and game in general - 5/17/2015 9:49:23 PM

SilentHunter

Posts: 216
Joined: 9/29/2013
From: United States
Status: offline

Thanks Harkness and Bingeling; Bingeling since you mentioned research times specifically does it also apply to the AI when you set it real high? I would assume it would but just want to be sure. Game sounds interesting, the graphics don't really sell themselves but I it sounds like the gameplay may.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 4

RE: Question about research rates and game in general - 5/17/2015 10:01:00 PM

SirHoraceHarkness

Posts: 400
Joined: 5/17/2015
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: SilentHunter

Thanks Harkness and Bingeling; Game sounds interesting, the graphics don't really sell themselves but I it sounds like the gameplay may.

You're welcome. As to the graphics I'm not sure a game of this scale would run well using full 3d on as wide a range of computer systems as it currently does and 2d sprites are much much easier and cheaper development wise which is a massive plus for a small developer with great gameplay ideas but not a huge budget.

No worries though as the 2d world works just fine for this type of game and the aforementioned ai improvement mod also has a minor graphics and ui update which helps a fair bit on immersion if you really need your eye candy.

(in reply to SilentHunter)

Post #: 5

RE: Question about research rates and game in general - 5/18/2015 1:03:13 PM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: SilentHunter

Thanks Harkness and Bingeling; Bingeling since you mentioned research times specifically does it also apply to the AI when you set it real high? I would assume it would but just want to be sure. Game sounds interesting, the graphics don't really sell themselves but I it sounds like the gameplay may.

The research speeds are in the galaxy settings, so it is the same for all. The difficulty slider influences research speed (and income, and probably more) but that is a different matter.

One way to have some kind of different research speeds, is to create a mod with heavy use of racial techs (including disallowed ones).

(in reply to SilentHunter)

Post #: 6