gamemaster3000
Warlord
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2005
- Messages
- 159
Updated 11/14 after a few more games. Biggest thing now is that I want more boats! If you play an archipelago map pretty much you just build gunboats and destroyers the whole game because they're so good! It's a water-themed expansion where you basically build 2 boats! (Plus some carriers, I don't think subs are all that wonderful.)
Big Likes:
--I feel I can finally see under the hood of the diplomacy system, something that I wish had existed since Civ 1. Although it takes some of the mystery out of the game, the gains in understanding overwhelm the loss. Seeing my fear level at 1 (even when I think my army is decent) makes the AI's war declarations way more sensible.
--Diplomatic Capital. So much better than worthless "favors" and some Very powerful bonuses to being buddies with someone. Again, the fact that I can see What the AI's want and Why they are happy/angry with me is so nice after a lifetime of just having them declare on me for apparently no reason.
--The changes to aliens. I haven't seen all the biomes, but a few weaker aliens in the beginning seems more fitting.
--I can move the AI's poorly-placed cities
--With so much more room stations don't always land in the worst possible locations
Like:
--Exploring has never been more fun or profitable. Artifacts give a big boost to wanting to get out there and explore the world, on top of adding depth to what to build for your first few units.
--The way the affinities are more spread out
--The new hybrid affinity units
--The new support abilities
--The fact that trade route spam is no longer 99% of research
--Geothermal has a point in being a resource for wonders
--Artifacts seem all right, definitely make exploration more important and interesting
What I wanted to see more of:
--Cool affinity naval units. Really surprised there aren't more boats in an ocean-themed game.
--Cool affinity air units (the flying alien aircraft carrier is pretty good, but new planes would've been cool too)
--Another ground to orbital strike unit
--Better wonders, although there has been improvements from vanilla
--Games lasting longer! All the cool stuff in the outer rings I never get to before someone wins.
--More things I can spend political capital on I didn't realize you could purchase things with political capital like you can with energy.
What I don't like:
--Still a lot of bugs, I got hit with the science overflow one where my beakers went negative
--Can't negotiate terms of peace
--Can't be allies without having a defensive pact. There are lots of examples IRL of governments that get along well and trade a lot, but wouldn't necessarily go to war immediately for
--I can't use my political capital to negotiate AIs declaring war
--Phasal Teleporters and Orbital Lasers IMO should have to be in orbit for a turn before use
--I think you should only be able to rush buy one building per turn, and maybe not defensive buildings at all
Not sure yet:
--Resource trading from trade routes. Seems like they're too easy to get now. Don't think it's intended that I can build the special buildings from resources a city is getting through trade, either.
Haven't seen:
--All the new biomes
Overall I give it an 8 of 10, definitely a solid upgrade, definitely worth $30, but missing a few things completely and needs more polish on bug fixes. If they fix all the bugs it'll be a 9.
Big Likes:
--I feel I can finally see under the hood of the diplomacy system, something that I wish had existed since Civ 1. Although it takes some of the mystery out of the game, the gains in understanding overwhelm the loss. Seeing my fear level at 1 (even when I think my army is decent) makes the AI's war declarations way more sensible.
--Diplomatic Capital. So much better than worthless "favors" and some Very powerful bonuses to being buddies with someone. Again, the fact that I can see What the AI's want and Why they are happy/angry with me is so nice after a lifetime of just having them declare on me for apparently no reason.
--The changes to aliens. I haven't seen all the biomes, but a few weaker aliens in the beginning seems more fitting.
--I can move the AI's poorly-placed cities
--With so much more room stations don't always land in the worst possible locations
Like:
--Exploring has never been more fun or profitable. Artifacts give a big boost to wanting to get out there and explore the world, on top of adding depth to what to build for your first few units.
--The way the affinities are more spread out
--The new hybrid affinity units
--The new support abilities
--The fact that trade route spam is no longer 99% of research
--Geothermal has a point in being a resource for wonders
--Artifacts seem all right, definitely make exploration more important and interesting
What I wanted to see more of:
--Cool affinity naval units. Really surprised there aren't more boats in an ocean-themed game.
--Cool affinity air units (the flying alien aircraft carrier is pretty good, but new planes would've been cool too)
--Another ground to orbital strike unit
--Better wonders, although there has been improvements from vanilla
--Games lasting longer! All the cool stuff in the outer rings I never get to before someone wins.
What I don't like:
--Still a lot of bugs, I got hit with the science overflow one where my beakers went negative
--Can't negotiate terms of peace
--Can't be allies without having a defensive pact. There are lots of examples IRL of governments that get along well and trade a lot, but wouldn't necessarily go to war immediately for
--I can't use my political capital to negotiate AIs declaring war
--Phasal Teleporters and Orbital Lasers IMO should have to be in orbit for a turn before use
--I think you should only be able to rush buy one building per turn, and maybe not defensive buildings at all
Not sure yet:
--Resource trading from trade routes. Seems like they're too easy to get now. Don't think it's intended that I can build the special buildings from resources a city is getting through trade, either.
Haven't seen:
--All the new biomes
Overall I give it an 8 of 10, definitely a solid upgrade, definitely worth $30, but missing a few things completely and needs more polish on bug fixes. If they fix all the bugs it'll be a 9.