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Polaris Sector - 3/23/2016 11:54:58 AM   
IainMcNeil


Posts: 2804
Joined: 10/26/2004
From: London
Status: offline 		Polaris Sector is a completely different beast to DW but it is a 4x strategy game that might appeal to some of you guys.

Its 10% off for the launch week and you can redeem your serial on Steam if you prefer
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/595/details/Polaris.Sector

Enjoy!

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/23/2016 11:15:22 PM   
Lucian

 

Posts: 279
Joined: 12/1/2012
Status: offline 		Looks interesting, but the starlanes are a dealbreaker. I hate roads-in-space.

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/24/2016 6:32:34 AM   
Kayoz


Posts: 1516
Joined: 12/20/2010
From: Timbuktu
Status: offline 		Reviews are:



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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/24/2016 3:45:09 PM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline 		I will give it a deep look.

but, as Lucian, I tend to strongly prefer space 4x with free movement in space.

and usual, I will also wait for the SpaceSector review


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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/24/2016 9:27:36 PM   
Retreat1970


Posts: 948
Joined: 11/6/2013
From: Wisconsin
Status: offline 		Here's a long review.

http://explorminate.net/2016/03/22/polaris-sector-review/

Sounds pretty good. It said something about the starlanes.

Polaris Sector implicitly acknowledges the contentious nature of the “star lanes vs. no star lanes” debate by giving players the ability to set star lane density. This means those who like the tactical positioning and choke points of restricted movement can dial down the density, and those who prefer freer movement between stars can increase it.


< Message edited by Retreat1970 -- 3/24/2016 9:29:38 PM >

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/24/2016 9:53:35 PM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline 		that "Star Lanes density" thing seem a new and very interesting approach at this delicate issue.

I will read the review to better understand it - thanks for the link !!!

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Post #: 6
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/24/2016 11:25:16 PM   
Aurelian

 

Posts: 3916
Joined: 2/26/2007
Status: offline 		I like the star lanes. Plays a lot of Sword of the Stars as Humans, who can only move that way.

< Message edited by Aurelian -- 3/24/2016 11:40:59 PM >

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/25/2016 8:08:18 AM   
Chris21wen

 

Posts: 6249
Joined: 1/17/2002
From: Cottesmore, Rutland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo

that "Star Lanes density" thing seem a new and very interesting approach at this delicate issue.

I will read the review to better understand it - thanks for the link !!!


The game reminds me very much of an old game called Ascendancy. I played it a lot but was never entirely happy with star lanes but I like the ability to be able change the star lane density. This game does have one design advantage over DWU and that is being able to directly control planets.

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/25/2016 8:35:37 AM   
Chris21wen

 

Posts: 6249
Joined: 1/17/2002
From: Cottesmore, Rutland
Status: offline 		Does anyone know if this game is downloadable outside of Steam or more importantly playable without using Steam???

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Post #: 9
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/25/2016 9:48:35 AM   
Bingeling

 

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline 		Read the opening post. All signs point to it working the same as distant worlds. And following the shop link should be a good stat, anyways.

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Post #: 10
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/25/2016 3:46:26 PM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Chris H

Does anyone know if this game is downloadable outside of Steam or more importantly playable without using Steam???


yes, it is downloadable and playable outside of Steam

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/595/details/Polaris.Sector

you can buy and download it directly from Matrix or Slitherine web-sites

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Post #: 11
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/25/2016 5:40:07 PM   
Chris21wen

 

Posts: 6249
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From: Cottesmore, Rutland
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chris H

Does anyone know if this game is downloadable outside of Steam or more importantly playable without using Steam???


yes, it is downloadable and playable outside of Steam

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/595/details/Polaris.Sector

you can buy and download it directly from Matrix or Slitherine web-sites



Thanks. After careful inspection of the purchase page I see it is. Why white text?





Attachment (1)

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/25/2016 6:36:42 PM   
Bingeling

 

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline 		On the page linked, it looks correct to me. You miss background colors on the top part.

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Post #: 13
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/25/2016 6:44:10 PM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline 		a weird visual effect..

it should be red, blue and green:


ps: I tried to add the image but I don't know how to do it..

someone can explain me ?

< Message edited by Hattori Hanzo -- 3/25/2016 6:49:29 PM >

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Post #: 14
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/27/2016 12:13:58 PM   
Ranbir


Posts: 142
Joined: 3/28/2010
Status: offline 		FYI, there is research later to break star lane limitation.

It is an okay game but DW2 will be my preferred choice of space game.

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/28/2016 7:12:09 AM   
Chris21wen

 

Posts: 6249
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From: Cottesmore, Rutland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Ranbir

FYI, there is research later to break star lane limitation.

It is an okay game but DW2 will be my preferred choice of space game.



Now that's a novel idea, but it would certainly screw your strategic view of things.

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Post #: 16
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/28/2016 4:10:26 PM   
Ranbir


Posts: 142
Joined: 3/28/2010
Status: offline 		I don't think its a permanent kind of thing, just that you will develop things to bypass the existing lanes. I dunno because I haven't got that far, just been told that by a friend who is ahead of me.

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Post #: 17
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/28/2016 5:26:08 PM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline 		sometimes it seem to me that many players are so worried by the "StarLane thing" to forgot that there are many other important elements in a 4X space war-game

my 2cents: I strongly prefer games with free space travel, but I can for sure survive when I get one with that "damned" StarLanes.

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Post #: 18
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/28/2016 8:10:49 PM   
Lucian

 

Posts: 279
Joined: 12/1/2012
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo

sometimes it seem to me that many players are so worried by the "StarLane thing" to forgot that there are many other important elements in a 4X space war-game



There are other important elements but not many of them make a space game feel LESS like a space game than starlanes. They make the entire game feel like simplified RISK.

If I want land-based strategy (roads,chokepoints,mountains) I'll play Civ.

< Message edited by Lucian -- 3/28/2016 10:04:16 PM >

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/28/2016 9:56:30 PM   
adecoy95


Posts: 420
Joined: 3/26/2010
Status: offline 		for the record there are many star lane games out there that let you modify the number of connections each system has, sins of a solar empire for example. the oldest i believe i have played is pax 2 but i dont remember for sure. sins also had a late game method of bypassing the lanes as certain races.

personally i kinda like star lanes, it gives a sense of terrain. otherwise you could just fly directly to the enemies strongest world and drop the hammer with no chance of being whittled down on the way, or any kind of supply line disruption, like late game distant worlds.

personally my favorite method of approach in this was in sword of the stars 1/2. each race having unique propulsion methods made the way they are played hugely different and rich in replayability and depth.

< Message edited by adecoy95 -- 3/28/2016 9:59:49 PM >

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/29/2016 8:14:12 AM   
Chris21wen

 

Posts: 6249
Joined: 1/17/2002
From: Cottesmore, Rutland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: adecoy95


personally my favorite method of approach in this was in sword of the stars 1/2. each race having unique propulsion methods made the way they are played hugely different and rich in replayability and depth.


Although I like DWU it is in my mind flawed in this regard. There is simply not enough variation in what races can discover full stop let alone their propulsion methods. Even if two races discovered the same tech they would not necessarily use the same method of implementing it, actually it's highly unlikely. It this I'm ignoring spying.

Just take a projectile weapon. Various races have a preference for this type of weapon and with 6 properties that can be changed there could all have slightly different versions. With a preference for this type of weapon other types (beams, etc) could be hidden until discovered (after much research and stealing).

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/29/2016 7:57:27 PM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline
quote:

There are other important elements but not many of them make a space game feel LESS like a space game than starlanes. They make the entire game feel like simplified RISK.


IMPOSSIBLE: RISK is such a stupid waste of precious time that cannot be simplified..

in my opinion there are many 4X space games that use StarLanes and despite this are GREAT 4x games.

the first that come in my mind is Space Empires 4, one the greatest space 4X of all times, which cannot be seriously compared to Risk under any point of view.

let alone to a simplified Risk..

no joking here

< Message edited by Hattori Hanzo -- 3/30/2016 2:48:54 AM >

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Post #: 22
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/30/2016 2:52:44 AM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline
quote:

If I want land-based strategy (roads,chokepoints,mountains) I'll play Civ.



if you want a realistic Free Space movement strategy game you must also have realistic fuel consumption and a realistic supply system.

StarLanes can be viewed as an over-simplification of the above.

and they are not "Roads in Space".

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Post #: 23
RE: Polaris Sector - 3/30/2016 4:59:32 PM   
Fishers of Men


Posts: 329
Joined: 3/27/2010
From: Fishers, IN USA
Status: offline 		The Paradox grand strategy 4X game Stellaris allows the player to choose their empire's FTL technology during the game's setup phase. There are three types. One uses star lanes (fast but with some instability during travel), the second uses wormholes with star gates (very fast with more possible instability), and the third is free travel (slower with complete travel stability). You have different races using different modes of travel in each game.

Stellaris releases on May 9th, 2016.

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/31/2016 4:13:46 AM   
Lucian

 

Posts: 279
Joined: 12/1/2012
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo

if you want a realistic Free Space movement strategy game you must also have realistic fuel consumption and a realistic supply system.



Realistic fuel consumption like DW is nice but really not required. MOO 1 & 2 did just fine with abstracted fuel range (which increased with tech) and free movement. It certainly didn't feel any less realistic to me when playing MOO 2 just because they had fuel range instead of real fuel.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo

StarLanes can be viewed as an over-simplification of the above.

and they are not "Roads in Space".


Not really true. With starlanes you might have to travel through 3 or 4 star systems just to get to an immediately adjacent star, simply because there is no "space road" going straight to that star. This situation occurs in the new MOO game all the time.

If they are just an oversimplification of fuel then you should be able to travel straight to an adjacent star, not be forced to follow a crazy roundabout detour with no other choice just because you have to follow an arbitrary fixed roadmap. So sadly yes, "roads in space" are exactly what they are.

< Message edited by Lucian -- 3/31/2016 4:43:40 AM >

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/31/2016 4:17:56 AM   
SirHoraceHarkness


Posts: 400
Joined: 5/17/2015
Status: offline 		Watched some let's play vids and whilst it looks well done it's not really doing anything different than any number of other 4x games I have and never play anymore.

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/31/2016 6:15:03 PM   
Osito


Posts: 875
Joined: 5/9/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: SirHoraceHarkness

Watched some let's play vids and whilst it looks well done it's not really doing anything different than any number of other 4x games I have and never play anymore.


I don't have any great problem with star lanes, although I prefer to have tech which later makes them redundant (which I believe Polaris Sector has). I gave the game about 10 hours, but it just never really grabbed me. Not really sure why, but I think it's partly because the emphasis is more on 'wargaming', and that isn't so interesting to me, and partly because I found the tech tree something of a wasted opportunity. The game has quite an interesting tech system, but I never really cared about acquiring new tech.

So I think it does do some new things, but unfortunately not in a way that I cared about.

Osito

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/31/2016 10:06:47 PM   
Hattori Hanzo


Posts: 734
Joined: 3/21/2011
From: Okinawa
Status: offline 		Lucian, there are not only fuel implications with free space movement vs Starlanes, there should be also a realistic supply sub-system to take in consideration.

and also, if you want to freely travel on space (a thing that, by the way, I liked very much ) you should also have the possibility to intercept [or to be intercepted] in that space your foes.

I liked very much both MoO and MoO2 and I consider them two of my space 4X beloved games, but their recipe, as all recipes, are by far not perfect

we will see if the new Paradox game Stellaris or the announced DW2 will do better than them, StarLanes or not.

< Message edited by Hattori Hanzo -- 3/31/2016 10:57:01 PM >

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RE: Polaris Sector - 3/31/2016 10:40:51 PM   
Lucian

 

Posts: 279
Joined: 12/1/2012
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo

Lucian, there are not only fuel implications with free space movement vs Starlanes, there should be also a realistic supply sub-system to take in consideration.

and also, if you want to freely travel on space (a thing that, by the way, I liked very much ) you should also have the possibility to intercept [or to be intercepted] in that space your foes.

I liked very much both MoO and MoO2 and I consider them two of my space 4X beloved games, but their recipe, as all recipes, are far by perfect

we will see if the new Paradox game Stellaris or the announced DW2 will do better than them, StarLanes or not.


Absolutely agree with you here, I loved deep space intercepts in DW and SOTS and its a pity that they are impossible with MOO 1 or 2. But I would much rather have the abstracted fuel range of MOO (with all its problems) than be forced to resort to space-roads which make the game feel (strategically) nothing at all like space.

Also with Stellaris, starlanes will be entirely optional. If you dont like them you can set up your game so that they are unavailable to ANY race. Conversely if you like them you can set things up so that they are the ONLY FTL method. Options are a wonderful thing, a lesson that I wish Polaris Sector had learned.

By the way, this might be mistaken as a MOO 4 or Polaris Sector map but is actually RISK without the artwork, look familiar?




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< Message edited by Lucian -- 4/1/2016 3:11:42 AM >

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RE: Polaris Sector - 4/1/2016 10:59:43 PM   
Kayoz


Posts: 1516
Joined: 12/20/2010
From: Timbuktu
Status: offline 		Spacesector.com - 5.5/10

Like I said - mediocre.

http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2016/04/polaris-sector-review/

*edit*
To be absolutely clear, I'm not implying that Polaris Sector is rubbish. From the review it clearly isn't. But I see nothing to suggest that it can be the nicotine patch for my DW addiction. Waiting for my next DW fag, and this is nicotine chewing gum. I want my fag; I want it NOW!


< Message edited by Kayoz -- 4/1/2016 11:12:38 PM >

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