Stellaris

[Boggit]

I have high hopes for it. "IF" it delivers, it will be a fresh approach to 4x space.

[Philippe]

I've looked at a few of the sales videos, and they look very nice.

On closer inspection, I suspect that combat is taking place on a two-dimensional plane on a tactical map, and the same goes for the strategic map of the galaxy as well.

For me, at least, this is a big deal, because the thing about outer space is that it is three dimensional and there is no up or down.  That means that the tactics that you use have to be completely different from just pushing checkers around on a cherckerboard.

I remember my amusement when playing Freelancer a few years ago when I discovered that my path to somewhere my character had to go was blocked by a minefield.  I simply skirted the edge by flying 'up', and then flew back 'down' the other side.  A Maginot line of defensive towers in space was even more ludicrous.  Space has no gravity and three dimensions, which means there are several more ways for flying around something.

The strategic map looks pretty two-dimensional.  It's not as serious a distortion to have a 2D strategic map as it is to have a 2D tactical map, but if you think about it, in a 3D galaxy the borders of clumps of territory may be distinct, but there will be some apparent overlap if every star system isn't laid out on a perfectly flat plane.

Apart from that, what I've seen looks like a big improvement over the old Stardock Galactic Civilization games.  No cute space hamsters, and relatively convincing looking star systems.  I wish planets weren't circling their star in perfectly circular orbits, and I hope the planets actually orbit their star rather than stay fixed in place.

My rule of thumb on major new Paradox releases is that it takes six to eighteen months to shake the bigger bugs out.  This game is a bit of a departure from what they're familiar with, so I'm guessing that it will fall at the long end of that range.   

[Queeg]

My rule of thumb on major new Paradox releases is that it takes six to eighteen months to shake the bigger bugs out.  This game is a bit of a departure from what they're familiar with, so I'm guessing that it will fall at the long end of that range.

Agreed.  I fear the excitement to reality ratio for this one is badly skewed.  I sense an imminent disturbance in the Force. 

[sandman2575]

Well, I for one remain blithely (not to say, blindly) optimistic. I feel completely confident that Pdox is going to knock this one out of the park, and ditto for HoI4. Watching Quill's videos, I'd probably happily give up half the games in my Steam library to be able to play Stellaris right now.  (Granted, there's a fair bit of garbage in my Steam library...)

I also think the "Pdox games launch in a buggy state and take months of patching to iron out" is an outdated perception. That was true back in 2009. No longer holds today.

[Huw the Poo]

I'm with Sandman.  I don't know how much more quality gaming Paradox has to churn out before people realise they've changed a lot since the earlier days.  I have absolutely no reason to doubt them on this one.  Just look at all the videos that are already out there...the game looks incredible.  There might be some design decisions worth arguing about (as there always are with every game ever) but I think the actual quality will be phenomenal.

[Jarhead0331]

I'm still miffed over a Monday release. Why the hell not Friday!?!?! 

[PanzersEast]

I'm still miffed over a Monday release. Why the hell not Friday!?!?! 

+1000 

[Huw the Poo]

I'm still miffed over a Monday release. Why the hell not Friday!?!?! 

I think we can all agree on that one!  Apparently the build being played by the Chosen Few is 1.0.0.  It's ready - just release it you bastards!!!

[ghostryder]

Indeed. Ever since Victoria II onward the games have been relatively bug free aside from small balance issues and GUI tweaks--and the game's themselves so well designed to think this one is a stinker is being blind to the last few years of releases.  Paradox found their Mojo and have been going strong for a long time now. This game could be the next CK2 hit---rewriting what a 4x game should be. Death to Hampsters in Spacesuits!

[Nefaro]

I'm still miffed over a Monday release. Why the hell not Friday!?!?! 

They didn't want to work over the weekend, fixing up the usual hardware conflicts not found in testing.

Just my guess.  :D

My rule of thumb on major new Paradox releases is that it takes six to eighteen months to shake the bigger bugs out.  This game is a bit of a departure from what they're familiar with, so I'm guessing that it will fall at the long end of that range.

Agreed.  I fear the excitement to reality ratio for this one is badly skewed.  I sense an imminent disturbance in the Force. 

I'm sure it will require post-release patches, just like every game does these days.  But the hordes of LP vids show Stellaris to be relatively low on bugs compared to most other new releases, and I've noticed nothing anywhere near game breaking.

Their long campaign in-house LP convinced me to pre-order because, after watching sizable chunks of it, I didn't notice much screwiness.  Looks to be up to good quality standard before release.  Certainly takes a lot of confidence to play hours of uninterrupted pre-release gameplay and, overall, it worked quite well.


Of course, being Paradox, There Will Be DLC.   I already foresee some playable Robotic/Android racial mix being added.  More NPC factions/encounters/quests, along with a slew of Event and mechanic additions just like CK2 & EU4.

[Pete Dero]

Another nice let's play by Scott Manley

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYu7z3I8tdEnKMxqnNRWfpzNHskSyJ6HN

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I'm still miffed over a Monday release. Why the hell not Friday!?!?! 

Monday is my Friday so this works for me!

[Pete Dero]

Latest rumor (mentioned on the streams) is a late afternoon / evening release in Europe (so the US should have some daytime left at releasetime).

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah I'm guessing 18:00 UK time as that seems to be the norm.

[sandman2575]

Does anyone else think that Scott Manley and Gopher (of Skyrim / Fallout / Witcher etc. LP fame) are secretly the same guy?

No? Just me?   OK then....

(They're both terrific actually -- really enjoy their vids)