The developer has just released a rather staggering list of updates in an expansion (Distant Worlds - Return of the Shakturi). Seemingly a lot of improvements. I like to wait a while before buying a game to allow all the kinks to be ironed out and the gameplay balanced. I'm on the cusp of buying the original+expansion to play over Christmas. There has now been 8 months of post release development that I'm hoping has polished the game up.
Anyone have any feedback on the competence of the AI after the substantial 1.0.6 patch (released around September?)? I read the AI has been improved even more with the expansion as well as the usual UI improvements, improved tech tree and extra gameplay features.
The developer's website is here:
http://www.codeforce.co.nz/
News, videos and the all important forums can be found there. I've been reading the after action reports for a feel of the game. The videos section with youtube clips and a voice over are useful too.
Anyone got any feedback on the later patched versions of the game? (Or even the expansion released yesterday?).
Expansion features list:
* New backstory
* Two new alien races with exciting storyline events!
* Next chapter of the storyline where a possible intergalactic menace returns!
* Fighters and Carriers
* Build fighter bay components into ships and bases
* Fighters launch from carriers to intercept enemies: standard fighters that attack other fighters, bombers that attack ships and bases. Several fighter and bomber variants available with research.
* Completely new Research system with comprehensive tech trees
* Greatly expanded technology options with customizable research costs allow you to tailor your game to your liking!
* Queue multiple research projects in each tree, crash research to obtain new tech faster
* Some research projects improve existing components, minimizing the need to retrofit ships and bases to obtain new tech advantages
* New tech for your ships and bases
* Missiles faster and longer range than torpedoes
* Ion Weapons fire ion bolts that disable weapons and engines of enemy ships
* Ion Defense protects ships and bases from the effects of ion weapons
* Point Defense Cannons attack enemy fighters and bombers
* Fleet Targeting Uplink improve weapons targeting of all nearby ships
* Fleet Area ECM improve countermeasures of all nearby ships
* Area Shield Restore quickly recharge shields of your nearby ships when in battle
* HyperBlock Components provide safe zone around space ports, pulling enemy ships out of hyperspace before they reach a target
* Trace Scanners reveal internal details of enemy ships and bases
* Planetary Facilities built at colonies
* Troop Academy trains elite troops with high strength
* Robotic Troop Foundry manufactures robotic troops
* Troop Cloning Facility clones the best troops in your empire
* Giant Ion Cannon fires disabling ion bolts at invading enemy ships
* Planetary Shield defends the colony against enemy bombardment
* Regional Capital provides additional capitals in your empire, reducing corruption in nearby colonies
* User Interface Improvements
* Action Buttons - One-click access to common tasks, enabling you to easily manage most of your empire directly from the main screen
o Colonize planets, build mining stations and other bases
o Construct new ships and bases at space ports and colonies
o Select enemy targets to attack
* Empire Navigation Tool - Set of scrollable lists that provide quick access to everything in your empire: colonies, space ports, fleets, potential colonies, potential mining stations, etc.
o Hover over an item in the list to ping its location in the main view
o Click an item in the list to select it, double-click an item to move to it
* Enemy Targets List - Shows all known enemy targets
o Click a target to assign the nearest available fleet to attack it
o Or cycle your fleets to attack with the selected fleet
* Build Orders - Mass-produce many new ships in one simple step
* Fleet enhancements
* Automated Fleet formation generates both large and small sized fleets to more effectively handle both offense and defense
* Automated Fleets automatically respond to intercept nearby enemies without additional player management
* Other
* Empire Policies: More detailed control over the automation of your empire set policy options that your advisers will enact for you, allowing you to focus on the strategic level.
* New galaxy shapes in game setup
* Extended modding support
* Access to tech descriptions during Diplomacy
* Many other minor improvements
* Play Distant Worlds in windowed mode minimize the window while your game plays in the background
* Please note: Distant Worlds Return of the Shakturi REQUIRES ownership of the original full Distant Worlds game.
I might give it a go anyway if I ever get bored of X3TC.
... will keep my eye on it though.. cheers N79
