First off, I'd like to start by saying that since I spent pretty much all the weekend playing this game it certainly can't be all bad, despite how some people are raging. It's definitely a good game, which would been done justice a lot more if a lot of design choices had been consciously considered instead of seemingly just being ported over from Civ 5 without much thought.
To show some support, I figured I'd post this thread and hope others would join me in coming up with constructive criticism for the game, so the developers can improve upon it and turn it into the great game I'm sure it could be.
Suggestions:
- More use for explorers and expeditions
The whole expedition element is a great idea, gives you something other to do than manage cities and techs. However, it drops off very sharply after the early game due to the typical "goody hut" rush which is a real shame as the whole competition for materials and goodies is a nice feature. Especially since the expeditions take time to complete, so they can be a cause for conflict.
Right now, the additional expedition modules perks of Pathfinders and Supremacy 1 are next to useless and I feel that the game could benefit from a lot more opportunities for expeditions.
I realize this is a matter of taste, so perhaps an option to set the frequency of new expedition opportunities when you set up the game would be the best solution.
-- As a sub suggestion for this, upgraded versions of the Explorer unit would be cool as well. I realize it's supposed to be fragile but gaining an upgraded version through a Leaf-tech or affinity level could be nice. Maybe through Supremacy 1 and actually make it useful.
- Nerf trade routes
As it is right now, trade routes are very, very powerful tools. Especially since you just need to build an Ultrasonic Fence to make them impervious to the native life. Also, from pretty early on they become amazingly tedious to manage.
My recommendation would be to decrease the output and reduce Trade Depots' default amount of routes to 1, with the ability to increase it to 2 through a Leaf-tech further out in the Techweb, while also increasing the duration of trade routes.
I'd also like to see the Trade Routes Not Attacked By Aliens moved from a quest decision (which is currently a no-brainer) to either an Affinity or Leaf-tech feature, Maybe also remove the 1 additional Trade Route from quest option from Autoplants.
- Improve Stations
Right now, you can max out a Station in no time. I'd recommend creating more tiers for Station relation, along with the above-mentioned increase in trade route duration, so as to make the Station relationship a more gradual process. I also think that giving Stations that have trade relations a sphere of influence and maybe a unit or two, as they grow (and have them lose it again if unsupplied), could help to flesh out their role in the game as Stations potentially occupying prime territory would make investing in one a bit more of a decision instead of a no-brainer.
Also, add a Refuse option to the Station Charter quest. With a chance that they settle anyway, naturally
- Improve Military through Science
I assume it's a conscious decision to only have improved military units if you gain Affinity. Still, I feel that having the option to research a couple of "basic advanced" units that can sort-of contend with the Tier 4 units could be helpful to the game since right now Tier 4 complety Steamrolls non-Affinity units. Having the ability to build some bare-bones military to defend against a warlike early tier 4 while you attempt to get there yourself would be nice.
- Affinity Improvement
Early game, Affinity can be slow but then it suddenly skyrockets. In my current Quick game it's turn 183 and I have an Affinity of 15, I was probably at 13 around turn 150, and I don't feel I've been rushing it too much.
Most of the techs in the web give you enough affinity to jump a whole level most of the time, if you research them in the "natural" order so it makes the whole subscore feel kinda redundant.
I'd suggest making the target number for each Affinity Level a bit higher (although not the initial one) and adding some more levels to each list, pushing the Affinity victory condition into the endgame instead of the midgame and making room for more cool Affinity abilities, maybe that improved Explorer I mentioned earlier
At the same time, you could lessen the Affinity gain from Leaf-techs and add a minor Affinity gain from buildings, to make progress a bit more gradual.
Also, at some point maybe progress in one Affinity should preclude any more progress in one or both of the others, to prevent hitting level 13 (or more) in all 3 of them, which seems to be a quite possible scenario. I haven't tried much in the way of multiple Affinities yet so maybe this is already a feature?
- Less obtuse UI
The user interface leaves a lot of room for improvement. I don't even know where to begin. Buildings, Wonders and Units in the Tech-web could all do with a bit more color (and there's already a mod for it), available Trade Routes doesn't appear anywhere in the Trade Overview (and are you supposed to be able to build Trade Convoys/Vessels in a city when it's maxed out?), tooltips on map resources doesn't display whether you have the required tech or not which is a basic feature of Civ5, and much more. Generally, it seems like the game is trying to hide information rather than show it.
To show some support, I figured I'd post this thread and hope others would join me in coming up with constructive criticism for the game, so the developers can improve upon it and turn it into the great game I'm sure it could be.
Suggestions:
- More use for explorers and expeditions
The whole expedition element is a great idea, gives you something other to do than manage cities and techs. However, it drops off very sharply after the early game due to the typical "goody hut" rush which is a real shame as the whole competition for materials and goodies is a nice feature. Especially since the expeditions take time to complete, so they can be a cause for conflict.
Right now, the additional expedition modules perks of Pathfinders and Supremacy 1 are next to useless and I feel that the game could benefit from a lot more opportunities for expeditions.
I realize this is a matter of taste, so perhaps an option to set the frequency of new expedition opportunities when you set up the game would be the best solution.
-- As a sub suggestion for this, upgraded versions of the Explorer unit would be cool as well. I realize it's supposed to be fragile but gaining an upgraded version through a Leaf-tech or affinity level could be nice. Maybe through Supremacy 1 and actually make it useful.
- Nerf trade routes
As it is right now, trade routes are very, very powerful tools. Especially since you just need to build an Ultrasonic Fence to make them impervious to the native life. Also, from pretty early on they become amazingly tedious to manage.
My recommendation would be to decrease the output and reduce Trade Depots' default amount of routes to 1, with the ability to increase it to 2 through a Leaf-tech further out in the Techweb, while also increasing the duration of trade routes.
I'd also like to see the Trade Routes Not Attacked By Aliens moved from a quest decision (which is currently a no-brainer) to either an Affinity or Leaf-tech feature, Maybe also remove the 1 additional Trade Route from quest option from Autoplants.
- Improve Stations
Right now, you can max out a Station in no time. I'd recommend creating more tiers for Station relation, along with the above-mentioned increase in trade route duration, so as to make the Station relationship a more gradual process. I also think that giving Stations that have trade relations a sphere of influence and maybe a unit or two, as they grow (and have them lose it again if unsupplied), could help to flesh out their role in the game as Stations potentially occupying prime territory would make investing in one a bit more of a decision instead of a no-brainer.
Also, add a Refuse option to the Station Charter quest. With a chance that they settle anyway, naturally
- Improve Military through Science
I assume it's a conscious decision to only have improved military units if you gain Affinity. Still, I feel that having the option to research a couple of "basic advanced" units that can sort-of contend with the Tier 4 units could be helpful to the game since right now Tier 4 complety Steamrolls non-Affinity units. Having the ability to build some bare-bones military to defend against a warlike early tier 4 while you attempt to get there yourself would be nice.
- Affinity Improvement
Early game, Affinity can be slow but then it suddenly skyrockets. In my current Quick game it's turn 183 and I have an Affinity of 15, I was probably at 13 around turn 150, and I don't feel I've been rushing it too much.
Most of the techs in the web give you enough affinity to jump a whole level most of the time, if you research them in the "natural" order so it makes the whole subscore feel kinda redundant.
I'd suggest making the target number for each Affinity Level a bit higher (although not the initial one) and adding some more levels to each list, pushing the Affinity victory condition into the endgame instead of the midgame and making room for more cool Affinity abilities, maybe that improved Explorer I mentioned earlier
At the same time, you could lessen the Affinity gain from Leaf-techs and add a minor Affinity gain from buildings, to make progress a bit more gradual.
Also, at some point maybe progress in one Affinity should preclude any more progress in one or both of the others, to prevent hitting level 13 (or more) in all 3 of them, which seems to be a quite possible scenario. I haven't tried much in the way of multiple Affinities yet so maybe this is already a feature?
- Less obtuse UI
The user interface leaves a lot of room for improvement. I don't even know where to begin. Buildings, Wonders and Units in the Tech-web could all do with a bit more color (and there's already a mod for it), available Trade Routes doesn't appear anywhere in the Trade Overview (and are you supposed to be able to build Trade Convoys/Vessels in a city when it's maxed out?), tooltips on map resources doesn't display whether you have the required tech or not which is a basic feature of Civ5, and much more. Generally, it seems like the game is trying to hide information rather than show it.
