Polaris Sector - another new space 4x

[jamus34]

I now have 208 hrs invested in Polaris Sector... I must admit when i first got it, i wasnt sure i liked it even though space 4x are my favorite games.....The more i play, the more depth I find in the game..Now i will say, that i dont own Distant Worlds or Stellaris but i have most of the rest.....Im finding PS to be one of those games where i just have to take another turn or i have to get to a certain tech before i will stop.....all in all, one of my favorites at this moment!

If you really like depth in general and PS specifically I would skip Stellaris and grab DW:U. DW combat is abstract compared to PS but it's depth everywhere else is unrivaled.

[Rayfer]

Interesting that two recent posts comment on the 'just one more turn' feel of PS and yet it's a real time game without turns. It does allow you considerable leeway in how fast or slow it moves forward and you can pause at any time to issue commands.  Don't take my post here wrong, these are not critical comments, I play PS, love it and agree it does have that 'just one more turn' feel. I think it is a compliment to the developers to have taken a real time game and given it the 'just one more turn' feel that usually only comes with turn based games.

[jamus34]

Yeah but PS plays like a turn based game. Except instead of the turns itself dictating when a time stoppage occurs the completion of an event stops it.

[Jarhead0331]

Interesting that two recent posts comment on the 'just one more turn' feel of PS and yet it's a real time game without turns. It does allow you considerable leeway in how fast or slow it moves forward and you can pause at any time to issue commands.  Don't take my post here wrong, these are not critical comments, I play PS, love it and agree it does have that 'just one more turn' feel. I think it is a compliment to the developers to have taken a real time game and given it the 'just one more turn' feel that usually only comes with turn based games.

Once again, this all circles back to the manner in which the game has so successfully captured the essence of vast distance, space and time like no other 4x. Technological advancement, travel, development, war, is all clearly measured in decades, centuries and millennia. When moving from point A to point B takes 90 years, events do not feel measured in real time like a traditional RTS.

This is one of the best, if not the greatest features of this game. It makes it unique and immersive like no other 4x game before it. The only game that may have come close is EotFS, in that constructing a starship required a massive effort in resource collection, was extremely costly and took a very long time to construct. Losing a jump capable ship was almost game ending.

[undercovergeek]

Going back in tonight - hope I remember everything

[Ian C]

The only game that may have come close is EotFS,

Out of interest, anyone got Emperor of the Fading Suns running on Windows 10 64-bit?

[Jarhead0331]

The only game that may have come close is EotFS,

Out of interest, anyone got Emperor of the Fading Suns running on Windows 10 64-bit?

Yes. Runs fine on my system.

[Ian C]

Yes. Runs fine on my system.

Thanks Jarhead. Got it working.

[Zonso]

Once again, this all circles back to the manner in which the game has so successfully captured the essence of vast distance, space and time like no other 4x. Technological advancement, travel, development, war, is all clearly measured in decades, centuries and millennia. When moving from point A to point B takes 90 years, events do not feel measured in real time like a traditional RTS.

This is one of the best, if not the greatest features of this game. It makes it unique and immersive like no other 4x game before it. The only game that may have come close is EotFS, in that constructing a starship required a massive effort in resource collection, was extremely costly and took a very long time to construct. Losing a jump capable ship was almost game ending.

Yup, and that is even more pronounced when playing on the harder difficulties. I abandoned my 'Normal' game after eliminating two AI races and being so far ahead of the others that I lost interest in continuing even though I knew the external threat would come at some point. I started another on Hard and wow totally different ball game here - reduced food, resources, planet quality etc all put the brakes on development. Out of four AI races I am bordering, I am third on the overall index 200 years in.

[goldsboro]

on sale now!

[Zonso]

I am at a bit of an impasse in my current game. To give a brief update: The borders with the AI have solidified now; I have about 40 worlds to the adjacent 60-70 world AIs. I had been throttled expanding in one important direction next to my homeworld by a Pirate world; I resorted to camouflaged colonizers to break out a little but by that time I was already late to the party, missing some important Earth/Ocean worlds. I have finally surpassed the known AI races in overall technology and have a modest Fleet of Frigates, Corvettes and Fighters, but the biggest concern now is Food. Currently I have 4 Agricultural worlds, 4 Innovative worlds, 1 Balanced world and 3 Industrial worlds; the rest being Mineral worlds to create a modest stockpile.

1. Pirate tribute: Even after taking out the Pirate home world that spanked me at the very beginning and took a modest amount of minerals, I am still paying tribute, quite significant now! Is that a known bug? How to end that?

2. Food: Are there technologies that will allow more intensive Farming, similar to Mining? I do not see that so am thinking not. With the current negative balance Humans will face mass starvation and rebellion in the not to distant future. It may be the reason to start a hasty war of conquest against my neighbor for some necessary Ocean worlds...

3. Fleet Designs: I have researched the Frigate and Destroyer now, but without accompanying upgrades in generator/engine technology I don't see a reason to go with the larger hull. Unless I am missing something, it is just slower and requires way more resources. The Frigate seems like the best balance at this point, even though still takes about 10 years to build. I am wondering if there is some sort of fleet design repository to browse other designs? I focused on Shields, Baryon Gun and Photon torpedoes but don't know how that 'fares' at this time - really look forward to the promised 'Battle Arena' from the developer.

Still a fun, engaging game.

[Sparhawk]

In my experience not managing food is the biggest source of failure playing this game. Start prioritizing food production early on. I don't know after colonizing 40 planets if one can shift to food production fast enough not to contract significantly.

[goldsboro]

There are hydroponic plants - they help with the food issue greatly, as mostly allow mining worlds to be self-sufficient in food.

[matt3916]

Re Pirate Tribute, the following is from the 1.04c patch file:  "Fixed tribute for pirates after invasion of a pirates planet."  If this isn't the case for you, please report it as a bug.

[matt3916]

Re technologies for improving food production, nope, just marine farms and hydroponics.  Hydroponics don't make mining planets self-sufficient if you're actually mining on them.  A hydro farm gives a net gain of 150 food after accounting for the population cost of building an atmospheric dome and hydro (on Challenge or Hard settings).  So 50 hydro farms (the maximum a planet can hold) yield a surplus of 7500 food.  7500 population don't build a lot of mines.  Hydro farms DO help but they take a long time to be fully built.