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Author Topic: Interstellar Space Genesis  (Read 27428 times)

Martok

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Reply #15 on: April 21, 2020, 04:14:52 PM
Actually I've started my first game.  Just getting to grips with it.

Anyone here who's played, can you give me some starting tips?  What do you wish you'd known when you first started playing?

Play the tutorial campaign, as it's pretty useful for showing you the basics.  Barring that, I recommend Easy/Normal difficulty, with only 1-2 opponents, for your first couple games.  The AI in ISG is pretty good, so I would avoid the Hard setting or higher until you've become more familiar/comfortable with the game. 

Focus your homeworld on production in the beginning, as building stuff takes a while at first.  (This is a somewhat common complaint, that I believe will be addressed in a future update.)  Researching a Construction tech like Robotic Factory early helps a great deal with this as well. 

For new colonies, have them focus on developing infrastructure.  This will pay dividends towards improving their industrial production further down the line. 

Not all Leaders are created equal:  Some are more expensive than others, but you shouldn't automatically assume that means they're better than cheaper Leaders in your available "pool"; some are, some aren't, and some are a...mixed bag.  For all Leaders, look at their costs, their stats & abilities, and what your needs/wants are. 


"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Huw the Poo

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Reply #16 on: April 22, 2020, 03:29:31 AM
Yeah this game seems particularly slow in the early stages, even compared to other games in the genre.  It was putting me off a bit if I'm honest (also a "medium" sized galaxy seems disappointingly small).  I appreciate the tips, thank you - I'll keep trying for a while and see if it starts to click.



Martok

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Reply #17 on: April 22, 2020, 05:03:10 PM
Yeah this game seems particularly slow in the early stages, even compared to other games in the genre.  It was putting me off a bit if I'm honest (also a "medium" sized galaxy seems disappointingly small).  I appreciate the tips, thank you - I'll keep trying for a while and see if it starts to click.

Yes, I found the galaxy sizes a bit small for my tastes as well.  That was why I was happy the 1.1 update included the new "gigantic" map size, as I found it more to my liking.  I'd still prefer my galaxies to be larger, but I believe there's both some technical limitations to that; plus the developer's game design/philsophy favors relatively smaller maps, which I can respect. 


As for the slower start, I agree it's not ideal; it's probably my biggest single gripe with the game at this point.  I think colonies -- and your homeworld in particular -- need a bigger initial boost to production to improve pacing in the early game. 

Fortunately, that's just a balancing issue, which, while perhaps tricky, at least doesn't require major code-work to be done.  And the developers have been very responsive to player feedback since ISG's release, so I'm confident this issue is one that will be addressed, probably sooner rather than later (given it's a common criticism). 


"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #18 on: September 16, 2020, 07:02:36 AM
<Casts "Lesser Thread Resurrection">




Not sure how I missed this (it was up last week already), but the devs posted a preview regarding the game's next major update (1.2), along with future plans/progress.  Trying not to get too excited...  :silly:   


Quote




Hello everyone!

We've been working hard to bring you a new free update very soon. This will be version 1.2 and will bring the following:


1.2 Preview

    - New Tactical Auto-Combat feature allows AI to take control of the player's ships. Control can be given and taken back at any time.
    - Faster tactical combat animation options.
    - Improved auto-resolve calculations to better account for ship designs and situations.
    - Random tech trees now allow hiding future technologies until you've unlocked access to them.
    - Tech trees are now easier to manipulate with available reset and reorder options.
    - Notification improvements allow grouping the most frequent and less critical notifications.
    - Graphical improvements to the galaxy map.
    - Numerous quality of life improvements to things such as save/load with double-click, ship rotation enhancements, and unique ability usage verification.
    - Balance changes, bug fixes, and more!

This free update! is almost finished and should be out in the next few weeks.


What's Next After 1.2?

We've been working hard on the new free update, and as we have announced in a previous post the team has also been working hard on the 1st expansion pack for the game! So, expect a major announcement about the expansion very soon.

We truly appreciate our fans. Thank you for buying the game, for playing, and for continuing to provide us with your feedback!

If you have played the game please consider leaving a review on Steam!

The Dev Team
Praxis Games





"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #19 on: September 16, 2020, 07:12:40 AM
(Could we get this thread moved to 4x Gaming, by the way?) 

"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


bob48

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Reply #20 on: September 16, 2020, 07:21:06 AM
Moved, as requested :-)

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bbmike

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Reply #21 on: September 16, 2020, 08:09:10 AM
Oooh, nice! The time I spent with ISG when it first came out wasn't a bad experience at all. This kind of polishing could be just the thing it needs.

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Martok

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Reply #22 on: September 16, 2020, 06:23:29 PM
Moved, as requested :-)

Thank you, good sir!  :) 




Oooh, nice! The time I spent with ISG when it first came out wasn't a bad experience at all. This kind of polishing could be just the thing it needs.

Yeah, ISG was already a pretty solid experience, so I'm definitely looking forward to this next update.  There's a lot of usability features and QoL improvements I'm especially pumped for, and the visual upgrades on the galaxy map should help with that all-important immersion. 


And of course, I'm really curious to see what's going to be in the expansion!  I think I read somewhere it's going to include a couple more playable races, which is always welcome.  Would love to see more/improved mechanics as well, however.  (Maybe an end-game threat?) 


"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Anguille

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Reply #23 on: September 29, 2020, 06:08:58 AM
Yeah, two new factions is a good addition. It's a decent game and it's great that they continue to work on it. I am not a big fan of the colony management (not enough buildings and very slow production of ships and buildings) so i am not a huge fan of the game. Still better than Stellaris imho.



Martok

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Reply #24 on: September 29, 2020, 04:46:10 PM
Yeah, two new factions is a good addition. It's a decent game and it's great that they continue to work on it.

Yeah, the devs' responsiveness to the community is one of the game's greatest strengths IMO.  They're not always able to implement player suggestions, obviously, but they are genuinely interested in them, and welcome player feedback in general. 



I am not a big fan of the colony management (not enough buildings and very slow production of ships and buildings) so i am not a huge fan of the game.

Yeah, the overly-slow pace of the early game remains my biggest critique of ISG.  The devs are always good about offering useful tips & advice about how to counteract it, but since it's clear (from reading their forums) that this is a common complaint, I'm admittedly puzzled why they don't simply give colonies a bigger production boost to begin with.  I really hope this gets addressed at some point. 

 

Still better than Stellaris imho.

 :doh:


"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #25 on: October 08, 2020, 12:30:52 AM
For anyone interested, the 1.2 update is now available for public testing on Steam's "unstable" beta branch.  It includes a bunch of new features, QoL improvements, and other changes, along with the usual bug-fixes (quite a few, actually).  I'm going to try and get some time in on this before it officially drops! 


"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Anguille

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Reply #26 on: October 13, 2020, 04:02:41 AM
Did you have time to test it? I would like to wait for the new races before i launch a new game.



Martok

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Reply #27 on: October 13, 2020, 12:51:30 PM
To be honest, I've not tested it much, no. 


The truth is that I currently find myself so frustrated by the (too-slow) pace of the early game, that I just up and quit.  :-[  :buck2:  It's especially aggravating, since I know from experience that ISG gets much better later on; however, I'm realizing I simply don't have the patience to just sit around and click the End Turn button a bunch of times before getting to the "good stuff". 

It's especially ironic, given that the early game is usually the most fun part of 4x titles (with the exploration & discovery).  But it's a major problem in ISG, at least in my experience. 


"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Anguille

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Reply #28 on: October 14, 2020, 02:49:16 AM
The truth is that I currently find myself so frustrated by the (too-slow) pace of the early game, that I just up and quit.  :-[  :buck2:  It's especially aggravating, since I know from experience that ISG gets much better later on; however, I'm realizing I simply don't have the patience to just sit around and click the End Turn button a bunch of times before getting to the "good stuff". 

It's especially ironic, given that the early game is usually the most fun part of 4x titles (with the exploration & discovery).  But it's a major problem in ISG, at least in my experience.
I have the same problem with the game.  Everything takes too much time and everything is too expensive in the beginning. And there aren't enough buildings either.

The new update seems to be improving this which is good. We'll see.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2020, 07:14:52 AM by Anguille »



Martok

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Reply #29 on: October 14, 2020, 06:39:02 AM
Well, damn.  I may have to eat my words... 

I just got around to trying version 2 of the beta branch (I didn't even realized it had dropped until now), and holy hell, what a difference!  The early game is actually fun to play now; who'da thunk it??  :D 



EDIT:  Here's a list of the balance changes.  With only a few exceptions, they're pretty much all geared towards improving the pace of the early game (and so far, I'd say they've delivered). 

Quote
BALANCE

    - Homeworlds now enjoy from an intrinsic +30 production bonus instead of previous +10. This should help speed up the very early game a little.
    - Logistics technologies range extended by +1 parsec each. Standard, Improved and Enhanced Logistics now provide 6/8/10 parsecs range where before it was 5/7/9. This should provide more to explore at the beginning.
    - Hurrying construction is now much cheaper than before. It was too costly before which caused little use for this important feature.
    - Hurrying construction cooldown reduced from 5 turns to 3, which is the amount of the turns where hurrying is not possible in that colony after the previous hurry was made.
    - Hurrying construction morale penalty reduced from -10% to -5% during the cooldown period.
    - Technological Capital building cost reduced by around 30%.
    - Economical Capital building cost reduced by around 35%.
    - Cultural Capital building cost reduced by 25%.
    - Supercomputer a bit cheaper to build now.
    - Orbital stations now also a bit cheaper to build.
    - Technological Capital is now a level 1 tech by default, was level 2 before.
    - Imperial Space Academy now a level 2 tech by default, was level 1 before.
    - Neutron Beams's stun effect chance lowered a bit. The stun effect happened too often before, especially with many neutron beam weapons installed.
    - Matter Streamer super kinetic weapon now does 150 damage, was 100 before. The cost per weapon installed was increased from 750 to 1000 and the space required per weapon is now 125 (was 250).

« Last Edit: October 14, 2020, 06:47:07 AM by Martok »

"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike