comments on expansion pack...good stuff so far

from Stardock Forums
things i noticed so far:

-new anomalies look nice and spice up the view.

-lock the sliders for social, military, research. i will nitpick that the locked slider should NOT be unlocked just using the mousewheel but require an extra click to unlock it again. otherwise you can accidently unlock the slider just by scrolling.

-enable cheat keys in menu and then ctrl-L...woohoo! divides all resources and stars evenly among players. no more star rush that i always lose out to the computer (and no more ai beating me to a star or resource in a game...twice). now when i fall behind it's because i am not efficient, not because i had fewer planets to start with.
the option.
may want to add an option to make all the players know each other to add to this cheat option, so it will be like the empires knew each other all along rather than saying hi for the first time.

-tech tree pretty good. but on "warp drive" i couldn't read the whole description and couldn't scroll around to read the entire thing. no big deal, most of the descriptions aren't necessary anyway.

-rally points are nice and simple to use.

-not sure what advantage the dotted sector lines hold

-haven't tried trade embargo but i don't think you can ask an ai player to embargo another ai

really great stuff. now that the initial part of the game i don't like is gone, i will probably play more often.

good job!

1,134 views 31 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
seems pretty good so far, some nice weapons techs, some that are alignment specific i believe. also, it seems like events are happening more often. i had two back to back.

my only complaint is the lack of stars. it seems there's a slight decrease in the number of stars per tight cluster. there's still lots of clusters, but there's not as many 4-5 star sectors around. has anyoen else noticed this?
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Greetings all,

After updating to new version, can you still play old saved games? I've got a game I want to finish and I don't want to have to reload the software to my current version if I can't play it. Thanks :)

Forever learning,
Jeff
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I think so.  You may want to archive 1.05 and backup your save game just in case your save game gets screwed up by the conversion.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
I've tried to load 2 of my saves and they couldn't load.

My saves were beta games. Maybe you can load 1.05 games.

~SDC~
[Message Edited]
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Because of the new Gigantic size?
My Large game didn't load as well.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
edit: i just found out the gigantic sized galaxy was increased, i'm guessing thats why there seems to be less stars around.
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
I am playing my 1.05 saved game on 1.1, and there are a few strange things going on, but overall its working fine.
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
:HOT: I love the new small details as the new star graphic set , rally points and the tech navigator...

The gamepaly has imrpoved a big deal.

(:( I am not so happy with the new "research pacing/speed"... I hoped for some new game options regarding random events, research speed... To choose those yourself.

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top
The feature I liked most is the feature that was added last.
Rally point movement for ships.
Now I find rally points useful. :)

~SDC~
Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top
I tried loading a tiny game I played on 1.05, but never got around to submitting. There's three minor problems I noticed:

1) ALL the trade goods and wonders that I had the techs for were available to build again on the planet lists - even if someone had already built them. However, the trade goods I had built previously were still available in my diplo screen to trade to an enemy. I didn't try building any of these things again, cause I'm a gutless coward and I just wanted the game to submit.

2) My governor's build queue got replaced by thirty-odd copies of "Manufacturing Center".

3) The current UP resolution text was replaced by:

Effective through year 1, String Not Found
Effective through year 1, String Not Found
String Not Found

However, the rest of the game loaded fine, and it submitted without any problems. There's still a couple of pet peeves I've got with the game (I'll have to do some more exploring to find out if they're still there), but the rally points and hyper-linked tech tree make life much easier. Cheers, StarDock!
Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top

Appart from the CTD upon double clicking some ships the game is SO very much quicker (a lot less lag) . . . revamped programing? Thats Great!

Researching through to the end seems to take abot 20-25% less time which is great too!

A few new ships and techs but no new wonders (not for good anyway) . . .

Some strange messages when new Minors appear . . . i.e. 'Destruction of the Terrorist threat yada yada . . . even though they havn't been attacked or invaded by anyone . . . ?

More anomalies (some dangereous) and a new mystery resources is nice.

Seems a little easier somehow difficulty wise over-all (AI not as susceptable to changing it's mood/opinion so suddenly) . . .

Lots more interesting Morality checks . . .

Generaly looks the same (appearence and lay-out) . . . probably a good thing . . .

No new cinematics . . . although theres probably one for an alien tech victory . . .

All in all pretty good except for the CTD on double clicking some ships . . .

Thanks Stardock :D
Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
is it a fluke i had the most stuff happen in my game last than night almost all my other games combined?

the i-league showed up. never happened to me before.

5 or 6 new minor races popped up over the course of the game. usually i get one or two at most.

the last altarian planet revolted and became a new minor power. never happened to me before.

the galactic prison finally had an escape. never happened to me before.

the galactic zoo finally had a space monster escape. never happened to me before.

the two most powerful empires in the game were fighting me. then one accidently assassinated the other's president and they went to war. usually happens to me :D

[Message Edited]
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
No new cinematics . . . although theres probably one for an alien tech victory . . .
End of quote


Actually it's my understanding the aliens don't win at this time if they get all the techs, it just prevents you from winning that way, at least thats how it was in the beta.

~SDC~
Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top
-enable cheat keys in menu and then ctrl-L...woohoo! divides all resources and stars evenly among players. no more star rush that i always lose out to the computer (and no more ai beating me to a star or resource in a game...twice). now when i fall behind it's because i am not efficient, not because i had fewer planets to start with.
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Interesting. That is getting pretty close to a "scenario game". I wonder if there is any way this can be balanced enough to allow it to be a "metaverse submitable" option because my understanding is activating the "cheat mode" will always produce an anomalous score.

Most players naturally seek an advantage over the AI in the early colonization phase so it may not be as easy as one might think to be forced to start with even planets & resources. For me, the control-L seems like it might be an alternative to the near-mandatory control-N we use now. I would like to see control-L take the same status as control-N and be metaverse submitable if it seems fair & balanced. What do others think?

Rick
[Message Edited]
Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top
Since this eems to be a bug submitting topic, here goes:

I cannot play my gigantic 1.05 game saved game in 1.1.
Sector view is completely buggered and several other large problems.
Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top
I cannot play my gigantic 1.05 game saved game in 1.1.Sector view is completely buggered and several other large problems.
End of quote


I wouldn't say this is a bug but is instead caused by the fact that Gigantic is bigger in 1.1

~SDC~
Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top
But it is bugging me, so is that then a glitch in my brain software ? If so I need an update function.
Reply #24 from Stardock Forums Top
You can't play 1.05 games in 1.1.
Reply #25 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, I hate to contradict you Frogboy, but I just played a 1.05 game on 1.1, submitted it to the metaverse, and didn't even get so much as an anomolous score.