Distant Worlds

[Tycow]

Afternoon chaps,

 

Didn't know where to post this, but I thought it'd be of particular interest to the people on this site (being a strategy game ).

 

The game is called Distant Worlds, and after reading about it, it looks like a cross between Imperium Galactica 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, MOO and a variety of other space games.

 

Normally, 4X games don't take my fancy (I like the priniciple of 4x, but I hate turn based games with a passion), but this one is real time! Now, Sins didn't keep my attention due to it being more combat orientated, and having limited progression in other areas such as research and diplomacy. Hopefully, it'll be as good the videos show it to be.

 

While the graphics aren't cutting edge, the gameplay looks like it should more than make up for it.

 

From what I can tell, it's being made by a one man outfit from New Zealand, and is extremely close to release.

 

Official site - https://www.codeforce.co.nz/

 

Article about it - https://www.spacesector.com/blog/2010/01/di...-strategy-game/

 

[FullAuto]

I hate turn based games with a passion

 

Burn the witch!

 

It actually looks quite interesting. The expansion and exploration process will have to be substantial if it's going to make up more of the gameplay, but it will make a nice change from exterminating all and sundry.

[Tycow]

Burn the witch!

 

It actually looks quite interesting. The expansion and exploration process will have to be substantial if it's going to make up more of the gameplay, but it will make a nice change from exterminating all and sundry.

 

 

Hehe, I can't help it, I just find turn based so yawntastic! I played games that were real time (excellence such as K240 and Fragile Allegiance )

 

There's a video on the exploration side of things IIRC

[Space Voyager]

It does look interesting. I'll take a look at those vids.

[Tycow]

https://www.wargamer.com/article/2839/dista...rly-look-part-1

 

New preview of the game... lots of info and pictures

 

Note - high res versions of the pictures can be found here:

 

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2392247

[Azrael Strife]

Worth the shot, latest 4x games like SotS and Galactic Empires are just not really as satisfying as, say, MoO2, I'm still looking for a game as good as that but that can actually run without glitches in Win7

[Pete]

It does look promising.

 

I did have a chuckle though when I read the first line at the top of this screenshot. Obviously it's ben cut short, but I can just imagine the crew of some sort of explorer vesel all being very serious and then when they make their discovery the bridge turns into the dancefloor from Saturday Night Fever

[FullAuto]

Glitter ball descends from the ceiling. Pilot's controls transforms into a turntable. Captain gets out of his seat and strikes a pose.

[Matri]

Break out the leisure suits and platform shoes!

[Tycow]

It does look promising.

 

I did have a chuckle though when I read the first line at the top of this screenshot. Obviously it's ben cut short, but I can just imagine the crew of some sort of explorer vesel all being very serious and then when they make their discovery the bridge turns into the dancefloor from Saturday Night Fever

 

ROFL! Missed that one!

 

"Captain, we've discovered a life form covered in gold medallions and flares... what should we do?"

 

"FIRE ALL TORPEDOS!"

 

Part two of the preview (research) - https://www.wargamer.com/article/2841/dista...rly-look-part-2

High res photos - https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2393420

 

[Tycow]

Game is released BTW. It's awesome. Has some issues, but the dev is on the forum responding to them and solving things for the next patch.

 

New combat video: https://codeforce.co.nz/videos.asp#combat

 

Okim (of UFO ACM Mod fame) has been doing an AAR, which can be found here:

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

[Space Voyager]

Will this game be coming to GamersGate?

[Okim]

Hi everyone.

 

I was asked by many good people to share my opinion about Distant Worlds here and i will gladly share it with you. I`d like to mention that this post should not be taken as an advertisement of any kind

 

First of all DW is a brand new type of 4x games. I spent almost an hour trying to find any similarities with other games, but in fact i wasn`t able to find many of these.

 

The first game that came to my mind was Star Control 2 with its enourmous galaxy full of collectable resources and lots of secrets to uncover. However SC2 was a quest game so that`s not a good comparison IMHO.

 

While trying to search for similarities with SE universe i found that both games have similar ship damage system. First your shields take hits, after shields are down your armor endures the damage and when armor is gone your components are damaged. When all are destroyed the ships is also destroyed. As in SE damaged component no longer provides its ability to the ship. Another similar aspect is supplies/fuel. In both games the range of your ships is dictated by how many fuel/supplies they can carry. Fuel in DW is converted to energy by your reactors, while SE has a simplified version of it.

 

The only few similar things that reminded me of old MOO series (MOO2 in particular) are space dwelling monsters and automated freighter fleets. Once again Distant Worlds has much more detailed freighters, not just an abstract number of available freighters. Each transport in DW is an actual ship that transports an actual amount of resources/people between planets. Fear not of the complexity of this feature as all trade and transportation is done automaticaly by so-called PRIVATE sector - civilians that control these ships. All you can do is to manualy design these ships putting any components that you wish it to have.

 

Speaking of automation. DW is probably the only game that managed to make its automation cover the whole game, not just units or city/colony management like in other games. Automation is very flexible and can be easily adjusted - you can turn off/on or set to suggestion-type any and all aspects of the game be it ship design, auto-exploration or even diplomatic relations. I personally switched everything to suggestions. I find it much easier to learn the game with advices that AI gives all the time rather that making these things happen automaticaly.

 

Combat in DW is quite simple, but spectacular and very dynamic. Speaking of graphics - Distant Worlds is a 2D game, but unlike many similar games of the past and future this one is made so well that i sometimes spend lots of time just looking at well-drawn planets, ships and many other stellar objects. So about combat - ships fire their weapons as soon as enemy gets into range. Each shot consumes some of the energy that is stored in reactor cores. Energy is replenished constantly by consuming certain amounts of fuel that are stored in special fuel tanks. Different reactor types require different resources as fuel, but the majority (if not all) of these resources are gases like hydrogen. Each ship has its own attack and defence values that depend on current speed, turning rate (IIRC), ships combat/defence systems and range to a target. Each weapon also has its own accuracy- and damage-over-range values, so some weapons might be very effective at point blank, while others have longer range and lower range-dissipation. Ships can be equiped by shields (that recharge, but require a lot of space) and/or armor that protects components should the shields fall. I didn`t find any specific weapons that are designed to combat shields or armor-only like in SE. Each ship and/or ship design can be manually assigned various scripts of how to behave themselves in certain situations (fighting agains powerful/poor foes or retreating from combat etc.)

 

Research in DW is devided into 4 major groups (Industrial, High tech, Weapons and Energy) that have several subgroups. Each spaceport, station or ship can have specific laboratories that provide research point to one of the four groups. These are then spread between subgroups. You cannot choose what you can research, but you can 'crash research' any one of the subgroups you wish. This will divert all research from other topics and focus it on this particular one greatly increasing its speed.

 

Exploration in DW is indeed the most interesting part of the game. DW has lots of places of interest both abandoned and guarded (mostly by monsters) varrying from ruins to enourmous 'ship graveyards', lots of spectacular stellar objects such as black holes or neutron starts that attract you tourists and/or increase your research if you have constructed there a base with specific components. A galaxy has its own history that is much like a nice story to read, but it also can have a significant impact on your or your rivals empires.

 

There is much more i can tell about Distant Worlds, but i think that it is much more interesting for anyone to uncover the game`s secrets by himself. This game is defenetely worth playing as you have never played anything like that before

 

P.S.: this is my impression of the game so far. It may differ from those of other

[Space Voyager]

Okim , thank you for this, I really wanted an opinion from somebody who played all latest games I find interesting - and got to know them deep enough to mod most of them!

 

EDIT; Hmmmm, considering I never played Space Empires games (go figure), this might be the game I SHOULD try. I admit I find the automation - and your suggestion on suggestions - very interesting.

 

I DO hope it will come to GG, this definitely is the store of my choice.

[Tycow]

It's amazing how easy it is to enjoy the game and let yourself get sucked in by it.

 

One of my private gas mining stations came under attack from a lone space pirate out to make a quick buck extorting protection money out of me. Things were looking grim for the occupants of the station; I refused to pay out of principle (the Moocow Empire do not negotiate with terrorists), and help was one system away.

 

The pirate was merrily blasting the station when all of a sudden, 12 ships from the 3rd Moocow Fleet appeared out of hyperspace, surrounding the pirate.

 

He lasted about 5 seconds.

 

Okim , thank you for this, I really wanted an opinion from somebody who played all latest games I find interesting - and got to know them deep enough to mod most of them!

 

EDIT; Hmmmm, considering I never played Space Empires games (go figure), this might be the game I SHOULD try. I admit I find the automation - and your suggestion on suggestions - very interesting.

 

I DO hope it will come to GG, this definitely is the store of my choice.

 

I don't think it will be coming to GG, as Matrix Games are publishing and selling via their own store. I think you can pay via PayPal though.