Well dtay shared one of his keys with me and the purchase went through. They haven't sent me anything but I assume that's because Early Access isn't available yet. If they don't send me anything next week I'll have to ask for a refund, I guess.
I was able to log into the Stardock Store website and get the product key and activate it on Steam. It says "for Beta Testing" so it may not be the same product ID as the Early Access version. I assume they will email out separate keys if the product does not convert directly over when Early Access is released.
I've played a fair bit of this. Once you get over your natural instinct of getting life support buildings first it's really quite interesting. I've played through an instance of the campaign which wasn't all that difficult (on the default difficulty) once I stopped myself from building water and oxygen buildings all the time.
(February 23rd, 2015, 01:26)NobleHelium Wrote: I've played a fair bit of this. Once you get over your natural instinct of getting life support buildings first it's really quite interesting. I've played through an instance of the campaign which wasn't all that difficult (on the default difficulty) once I stopped myself from building water and oxygen buildings all the time.
Why are life support buildings bad? There is an endless demand for the resources, which means that the price will always go up. I have had fuel reach $200 before the end of the game, which would be a huge economic drain if you didn't produce it, and allows for a huge income in sales.
Yes, you need to diversify into life support later, but unless the map is very scarce in water it is not a good opening. Steel and aluminum are way more valuable at the beginning of the game because you need them to build most of the buildings, and also to upgrade your HQ. They also start at higher prices.
I'm pretty interested in seeing how this turns out. I haven't played any early access or beta testing, etc., but the gameplay description sounds very interesting to me.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
So far I've played the tutorial, 2 random games and I've player once through the single campaign at 1 difficulty higher than normal (employee). I'm 13 and 1. I've only lost 1 match the whole time (During a campaign all 3 opponents settled their bases before me and claimed the resources before I could on a resource rare map). I looked at the stats for other people and I was surprised people lost so much. I think the game is a bit too simplistic in a way. Once you find the strategy that works there's no point in doing something less optimal.
I have never actively sought a patent. I've never built any of the special buildings. I've never produced chemicals or used dry ice converters. I've never used any of the attacks on my opponents!
And really that's because the basic: build iron, aluminum mines, build 3 steel plants, Upgrade, build carbon mine if robotic, build geothermal if you can, build silicon mine, build water, Upgrade, build oxygen+fuel pump, build 2-3 glass, Upgrade, Upgrade, build more oxygen+fuel pumps and power generators and food-- sell everything and buy out your opponent, done, works every time.
The extra stuff doesn't change the gameplay enough or help you win enough. Just barrel towards producing, upgrading, producing, selling everything, buying out the opponent. Easy.
Now I haven't tried the multiplayer, and I have a feeling that will be very different. Maybe force me to try some new stuff. I haven't tried yet mostly because I'm in China and multiplayer games are usually a painful adventure. If anyone wants to try I'd be open to trying to figure out a time to try it.
“The wind went mute and the trees in the forest stood still. It was time for the last tale.”
