Distant Worlds Legends is Hotly Available

[Jason]

<strong>[ Announcement ]</strong>

The latest <a href="http://www.matrixgames.com/news/855/Distant.Worlds..Legends.Now.Available!" target="_blank"><strong>Distant Worlds expansion</strong></a> is now yours for the purchasing.
<blockquote>Matrix Games, Slitherine (www.slitherine.com) and Code Force (www.codeforce.co.nz) are thrilled to announce the release of Distant Worlds &ndash; Legends. The hotly awaited second expansion to the famed 4x strategy series, Distant Worlds!

With our massive holiday sale currently going strong, now has never been a better time to jump in a starship and head to Distant Worlds. The base game is now on sale for $26.99 and its expansion Return of the Shakturi is $16.99 (both prices are for the digital download) &ndash; that means both titles are selling for 33% off until January 8th!

As an added bonus to existing Distant Worlds fans, through the duration of the holiday sale Distant Worlds &ndash; Legends will be priced at $5 off the regular price, or the same discount given to newcomers to the series who take advantage of our bundle discount. That means that anyone can receive the price reduction and buy Legends for $19.99 without having to purchase another Distant Worlds title along with it to activate the bundle discount. Note that Distant Worlds &ndash; Legends REQUIRES the full Distant Worlds game and the Return of the Shakturi expansion.
</blockquote>
<em>Thanks to Raapys for the tip</em>

 

[DakaSha]

shit

 

[Johnny the Mule]

^ I like your style.

 

[Raapys]

BUY IT BITCHES!

Really, it's an excellent expansion. Logical improvements and great additions to the feature set. Easily the best pure 4x game out there right now, rivaling even the MoO's and SE4. Unless you really hate RTwP, that is.

 

[DakaSha]

rivaling moos because matrix calls it an award winning critically acclaimed super game like everything else they sell.
Yes yes i know im a prick when it comes to DW and i sound like im trying to ruin it for people that like it but i still feel extremely ripped off by those fags.

for those who like it thats cool but i seriously wish it lived up to the (fanboy) hype. Maybe the expansion makes it awesome but i cant trust anybody that says it does because anybody who buys it is most likely a fanboy of the original game which is.. well shit

Man im like the skyway of DW

 

[kris]

So it is 64$ for the game + both patches?

 

[Raapys]

What's not to like about it though? I'll admit to questionable but passable combat and a somewhat weak planetary development/interaction system. But those things are a long way from actually being game breaking in their current state; you might not have MoO2's(not to mention MoO3's) level of detail for colony development, but you do have several types of facilities, starbases, actual planetary resources/mining/trade, tax rate, planetary policies toward conquered species( EXTERMINATE!!1), special locations, etc. Only thing I really miss in that area is something akin to MoO1's sliders, MoO2's workers or MoO3's DEA's; a way to focus the colony's resources toward ship building, research or cash making. Probably the one real weakness this game has.

But with that exception, it actually does most other stuff better than the MoO's. The weak research system was fixed with the first expansion and went from being crap to being very good, solar systems, galaxy detail and exploration is better than it ever was in those games, ship design is better and more detailed than MoO's though it somewhat lacks the 'special' equipment of MoO like subspace teleporters and such, tech selection is generally decent, new leader system works similar to MoO 2's, diplomacy is about on-par, agent system is a wash or slightly better, troops/ground combat is at least on par if not better, AI was significantly improved with this latest expansion, etc.

And then you've the stuff the MoO's doesn't even have( with the exception of MoO3 for some), like spheres of influence, (changeable) government types, civilian sector/economy and ships/bases, the resource-system for construction, custom-designed starbases, etc.

So yeah, this is a game I'll happily be called 'fanboy' over. It's somewhat different to play from the MoO's and SE4, so I'm not willing to call it 'better' just like that, but it's definitely up there. Only good reason I see to dislike it as a whole would be if you really hated the RTwP system. Personally I'm fine with either as long as it works for the game, which I think it does.

 

[Marobug]

Personally I hate it. A game that either plays by itself or is unplayable because of all the stuff going on just can't be fun. At least for me.

 

[Raapys]

Then you obviously just haven't taken the time to get into it. I play it at 4x speed, rarely pause and have everything but taxes on manual control. And since every aspect of the game can be set to either manual or configured automatic control( i.e. you set priorities/focus/limits of how AI should do stuff), your argument is invalid.

 

[DakaSha]

his argument is completely valid because its an opinion and not a subject for logical debate. And it's also a widely expressed problem btw. Also one that pissed me off. Def not the only problem either

 

[Raapys]

He's stating it as a fact. And the fact is that the game doesn't play itself if you put stuff to manual control; at that point only the civilian sector does automatic stuff, which makes complete sense. And if full manual control is too much to handle, then you can have the AI take care of one or several parts of the gameplay, be it designing ships, colonizing planets, handling agents, patrolling systems, colony taxes, and much more. With the improved system in place, you can even tweak the automatic system on how to focus its efforts in certain areas; what to prioritize when researching, focus on offense/defense/balanced with ship designs, etc.

In other words, that part of the game is pretty much ideal and thus makes the least amount of sense to criticize. Maybe he just worded his reason poorly.

And yeah, the game definitely has its weak points, though they're getting fewer and fewer with every expansion. Planetary development is still lacking somewhat, as I mentioned, and I'd love to see more special equipment and constructions; stuff like jump gates between systems, mine fields, etc. But you can go on improving this kind of game for ages and always find more stuff to add. Personally I'm just happy that there's still one true 4x game that's alive and receiving expansions and updates.

 

[Marobug]

Yeah I kind of expected someone to go "YOU DIDN'T PLAY IT ENOUGH UR WRONG DW IS SO AWESOME". What you said is all fine and dandy in theory but in practice it doesn't work that well. Not only I want to manage everything, I don't really trust the AI to do stuff for me and fuck up what I did but without the ai help I simply can't play it, it's just not fun at all, at least for me. There's too much stuff to do and too much stuff to handle for a rt(wp)s. If you can do all that at 4x the normal speed and still find it fun then good for you. I like to have time to think, relax and enjoy the game and at the same time feel in full control. I can't have any of that while playing DW.

 

[ravinhood]

Sadly the bugs and crashes and just outright quirkly play of the AI is killing Distant Worlds after the 1.07.06 offical patch. There's not enough fuel anymore to fuel the major wars going on. There's an Exception error that keeps popping up all the time. Then there's just the regular plain ole "Distant Worlds has stopped working" Microsoft will attempty to find out why. lol Never does. Legends was a good idea but just wasn't quite ready for prime time tv. I can't play a single game (and I'm not the only one just check out the tech forum now) without something screwing up. The mouse pointer will occassionaly get stuck in the corners and you can't get it out thus having to dump your game and lose all that time played. So, I'd say wait on purchasing Legends for quite awhile unless you're just a glutton for punishment. Get Galactic Civ II Twilight of Arnor instead it's a much more stable, balanced and fun game right now.

Edit: Also pay no attention to Raapy's he's obviously overstating the value of this game and the fun of it. At manual level it's more than tedious for the NORMAL gamer. Now those with no life and live in their parents basement would think differently of course because they have all the experience jerking their wrists around from other THINGS besides games. It's more than a clickfest when you take over too much and most especially EVERYTHING from the AI, there's no way in hell he could play a 1400 star system galaxy with abundant planets manually and play it well. lol Fanboys and mama's boys and those that live in basements will always think they can.

 

[DakaSha]

the game was already unplayably buggy at release. that tech forum has always been full of reports.

 

[Raapys]

Gods, feel like I'm surrounded by children here.

RE: Technical, I've run the latest official( 1.07.06) and the latest Beta without any crashes at all. I did have a few crashes earlier, but that was all fixed by reinstalling the game from scratch. Hardly representative. And yeah, of course the technical forum is filled with people having problems. It's a complex and deep game made largely by one guy. But calling it unplayable due to bugs is just ridiculous.

As for managing stuff, what exactly do you guys have a problem with? You can play it as practically any other 4x game. I just don't see what the fuss is about. Send colony ships, research technologies, design and construct ships and bases, assemble fleets and attack/invade...it's all basic 4x.

 

[Trash]

Game runs like a dream with the latest official patch. Dunno what all the fuzz is about. The bitching about stuff moving too fast is hilarious considering it's a RTWP. With pause. Pause.

 

[tindrli]

almost certain that i will regret but will try it again one more time

 

[Misconnected]

I totally understand why some people hate DW. It's not a space 4X in the usual sense. It's more like the mutant offspring of SIM:Whatever and Europa Universalis. With a learning curve that makes EUs seem positively friendly.

Nevertheless, if you can get past the "Oh my god, I just woke up in the body of a millipede and I really have to pee. How the fuck do I get all these legs to walk to the bathroom?!" thing, it really is a fantastic game.

Only thing I really miss in that area is something akin to MoO1's sliders, MoO2's workers or MoO3's DEA's; a way to focus the colony's resources toward ship building, research or cash making. Probably the one real weakness this game has.

Seconded. I think my most wanted feature in DW now is the ability to create subsidised trade lanes. You know, so you can focus trade of particular resources to a specific place, but at the cost of a small chunk of each shipment. Or at least something pretty close to that.

[...] ship design is better and more detailed than MoO's though it somewhat lacks the 'special' equipment of MoO like subspace teleporters and such, tech selection is generally decent, new leader system works similar to MoO 2's, diplomacy is about on-par, agent system is a wash or slightly better, troops/ground combat is at least on par if not better, AI was significantly improved with this latest expansion, etc.

The ship building interface could use some improvement, I think. All the information you could possibly need is accessible, but much of it not easily so. Trying to work out where a destination can amass what resources at what rate, and what kind of implications that has on component choice is entirely possible and stuff, but it's a painful fucking chore to do.

Diplomacy is nice and sensible, but if the diplomacy AI has seen any improvements they haven't been worth the effort. It's still a lobotomised knobhead, to put it kindly. Beyond de-tarding the AI, it would be nice to have the diplomacy bits expanded to let factions offer each other missions and such. To give an example: My friend empire A has been half annexed by my enemy empire B, when I annex the entirety of empire B. Empire A now hails me as the fucking Xenos Messiah, despite the fact that I've subjugated half their peoples.
Sure, it's a very little thing. But the game would be so much more fun if it actually took such things into account.

I'd also like invasion techs, and the ability to use spies for propaganda. But really, the game is pretty fucking great as it is. Still hate the scrolling and still think it's a performance hog from hell, but it's gone from interface-clusterfuck with an ocean of bugs, critical and otherwise, to one of the best grand strategy games I've played.

It's pricey, but in the same way Dominions 3 is it: it's a great and enormously ambitious game, and there really isn't anything quite like it. So if it's your sort of game, it's well worth the money.

EDIT: Mod I'm the poster formerly known as Disconnected. Maintenance fucked me, I guess.

 

[DakaSha]

Gods, feel like I'm surrounded by children here.

RE: Technical, I've run the latest official( 1.07.06) and the latest Beta without any crashes at all. I did have a few crashes earlier, but that was all fixed by reinstalling the game from scratch. Hardly representative. And yeah, of course the technical forum is filled with people having problems. It's a complex and deep game made largely by one guy. But calling it unplayable due to bugs is just ridiculous.

As for managing stuff, what exactly do you guys have a problem with? You can play it as practically any other 4x game. I just don't see what the fuss is about. Send colony ships, research technologies, design and construct ships and bases, assemble fleets and attack/invade...it's all basic 4x.

You're just a blind fanboy. It's ok.

 

[tindrli]

Started with legends 1.7.0.7 Beta, and Large map with 1000 Systems .. And Shit. Im hooked. Curently the only problem that i have beside the fact that i can still unpause and sit back /watch is those refueling stations
Fleets are refueling for an eternity and other is that i cant make colony ships to obey orders everytime. i had marked at least 10 planets for colonization and those ships were in the homebase waiting for who knows what.

 

[Sranchammer]

So how is this game now?

 

[tindrli]

to tell you the truth i dont even remember that i made that post in Jan 23 2012..