Polaris Sector - another new space 4x

Started by RedArgo, November 02, 2015, 04:48:47 PM

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MikeGER

#30
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 22, 2016, 02:58:35 PM
^How is ground combat modeled? I know there are Marines, Heavy Infantry, Armor and "military boats" (pretty odd choice, there), but I'm not sure how it all works.

you can build on and/or transport those units to your planet to counter an invasion,
also you can drop units with a ship that is outfitted with the right module on an enemy planet.
then production at that planet is on-hold and a war starts.
there is a information screen that updates with the time on how many unit on your side and the opposite side are active (a countdown of the numbers of the different brands is visible ... you see your beachhead of landed Marines slowly degrate in their numbers) and a diagram how long it will take that one side has finally destroyed the last unit of the opposite side.
so you can plan and build more (fitting to the task) units and transport them to the contested planet to bolster your efforts.
the units are working in a rock-paper-scissors scheme ... the ships are for water (only?) worlds, where tanks are useless

here is a German Preview Let's Play video that shows how that ground-war can look like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzXOMs6R8qg
       
you can also bombard from orbit with ships that have a bomb bay, which will degrate equally in percentage all the  things on the planet, but also including factories and population, and it will give you a bad diplomatic reputation at other races later 

bbmike

I don't know what it means but usually with a new game like this I keep starting new games over and over.
I'm still playing the first game I started. It's easy to learn and I don't feel rushed right now. Of course, I've yet to meet anyone else (I cut down the number of races to 3) except some pirates (who destroyed my custom exploration ship). The jury is still out but so far I'm having some 4x space fun!
"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

Jarhead0331

Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


bbmike

I also love the way the game pauses when some event happens. If you are afraid of the RTS label (like I was), have no fear! You can even customize when it pauses.
Oh, ship design is fun and meaningful so far.
"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

mikeck

To me it seems that the game is heavily influenced by Star Drive and DW. Almost every concept is from those two. Not bad choices considering the best part of Star drive was the ship design. Polaris makes that better with less cartoony graphics and multiple decks on ships. Keep gas on the bottom and guns up top or whatever
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Jarhead0331

It looks like a combination of DW and Armada 2556 to me.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


-budd-

Someone call Hofstadter we need a vid  :) 4X space is another genre i've had trouble getting into so i don't have any of those other games. How's the learning curve?
Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.  ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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I don't buy all the wargames I want, I just buy more than I need.

Jarhead0331

Well...space combat is surprisingly interesting and tactical. Fighters and torpedo bombers are critical to victory and I found it really strategic controlling my squadrons and trying to figure out how best to position them and when to send them in to attack the enemy capital ships. It is very "Midway-ish" in that you really need to make a decision as to whether to hold your fighters back to defend your fleet, or do you send them out to try to hunt down the enemy torpedo bombers? Also, should you recall your wings to rearm, or if you do that, do you risk having your fighters caught in the hanger bay? Very neat stuff that I don't recall being replicated in any other 4x.

Its just a very initial impression based on the battles in the tutorial, but I can only imagine it getting deeper as more techs are unlocked and more ship hulls become available.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


jomni

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 22, 2016, 08:55:31 PM
Well...space combat is surprisingly interesting and tactical. Fighters and torpedo bombers are critical to victory and I found it really strategic controlling my squadrons and trying to figure out how best to position them and when to send them in to attack the enemy capital ships. It is very "Midway-ish" in that you really need to make a decision as to whether to hold your fighters back to defend your fleet, or do you send them out to try to hunt down the enemy torpedo bombers? Also, should you recall your wings to rearm, or if you do that, do you risk having your fighters caught in the hanger bay? Very neat stuff that I don't recall being replicated in any other 4x.

Its just a very initial impression based on the battles in the tutorial, but I can only imagine it getting deeper as more techs are unlocked and more ship hulls become available.

That's cool. Carrier ops.

jomni

#39
Wow game just released and some one is modding already (since beta). Star Wars!!!
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=404&t=69164

mikeck

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 22, 2016, 08:55:31 PM
Well...space combat is surprisingly interesting and tactical. Fighters and torpedo bombers are critical to victory and I found it really strategic controlling my squadrons and trying to figure out how best to position them and when to send them in to attack the enemy capital ships. It is very "Midway-ish" in that you really need to make a decision as to whether to hold your fighters back to defend your fleet, or do you send them out to try to hunt down the enemy torpedo bombers? Also, should you recall your wings to rearm, or if you do that, do you risk having your fighters caught in the hanger bay? Very neat stuff that I don't recall being replicated in any other 4x.

Its just a very initial impression based on the battles in the tutorial, but I can only imagine it getting deeper as more techs are unlocked and more ship hulls become available.

Overall I think it's a pretty good space 4x. Seems to run well and has everything you need except internal trade which is abstracted. I also like how it handles espionage. You sneak ships in to spy and- if properly designed- that ship can deploy Spec Ops guys onto the planet to reek havoc. Kind of cool. As I said, don't get it expecting to be wowed by anything new, but it is a solid all around space 4x. Considering the defects in many, that's not bad

My only complaint is that, like many, the graphics are a bit cartoonish. Bright colors and such. I prefer a more subdued visual like in Predestination, but that's very subjective
"A government large enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have."--Thomas Jefferson

solops

I have played for about two hours and need to go to bed. I have to clean house tomorrow because my wife broke her leg skiing and a sister-in-law is coming in a day and a half. I'll try to log more time and post comments if I have adequate understanding. So far, the game seems simple to play, complete and intuitive, but I have not gotten very far. I strongly suspect that there are some "standard" opening moves and policies that players should adopt for efficient development and expansion and I simply have not discovered what they are yet.  I do not insist or even want anything "new". I just want the basics done right with a smooth interface. So far, no bugs and no glaring problems.
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Hofstadter

#42
Quote from: -budd- on March 22, 2016, 06:50:07 PM
Someone call Hofstadter we need a vid  :) 4X space is another genre i've had trouble getting into so i don't have any of those other games. How's the learning curve?

Ive been checking it out, but the only 4x space game ive played is sins of a solar empire, I found it painfully boring. Everybody is just calling it "solid" though and thats not..inspiring me to play it
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Anguille

#43
Quote from: Hofstadter on March 23, 2016, 02:24:45 AM
Quote from: -budd- on March 22, 2016, 06:50:07 PM
Someone call Hofstadter we need a vid  :) 4X space is another genre i've had trouble getting into so i don't have any of those other games. How's the learning curve?

Ive been checking it out, but the only 4x space game ive played is sins of a solar empire, I found it painfully boring. Everybody is just calling it "solid" though and thats not..inspiring me to play it
Well, Sins of a Solar Empire is actually not really a 4x game. It's first a RTS game with a 4x twist.

Now, Polaris Sector is a real 4x. I really regret that so many 4x games come out at the same time. I really would have preferred to see one or two releases per year. I don't have the game yet but have followed it for the last few months.

What i like
- Space battles seem to be the best thing in this game.
- Solid game
- Science
- Shipyard...the way to build ships is really great.

What i don't like so much
- Starlanes (i can live with them but i really prefer games that avoid them).
- No diplomatic victory (there is something similar but not a proper diplomatic victory).

sandman2575

Pretty solid review:

http://explorminate.net/2016/03/22/polaris-sector-review/

Seems to confirm what a lot of folks are saying -- that it's solid but doesn't do anything groundbreaking. Sounds like it missed an opportunity to do something out-of-the-box with research. And unfortunately it features what for me is the 4X kiss of death: the "colonize every world you see as quickly as possible" nonsense that defines about 99% of the games in this genre....