First Impressions
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:23 am
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Installation Impressions (2013-02-10)
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Installed game (custom location), started up and got error dialog (see "Logs_installed then failed to start.zip")
Uninstalled, re-installed (default location), started up and still got error dialog.
Uninstalled, re-installed (custom location again), started up and verified error dialog.
Rebooted PC, started up correctly.
When asked for serial code, I alt-tabbed to my email program and the game crashed (see "Logs_started up then failed.zip")
Restarted game (with serial already in copy buffer) and it worked fine.
Started new game, played a few turns, decided I should make some notes, alt-tabbed and game crashed again.
Restarted game, loaded up auto-save, set video to windowed mode, created these notes (game no longer crashed on alt-tab).
2013-02-10 update: game looked like it patched, after that it was crashing on startup. I edited the config file to change the windowed resolution from 1680x1050 to 1600x1050 and then it started fine (based on suggestion in another thread).
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Game Impressions (2013-02-10)
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Overall I have been satisfied with the experience. The following are the notes I made while I played my first game. Nothing here that would make me stop playing, but seems like there are some opportunities to improve a new player's experience.
Turn 1: Started a new game and felt like I wanted the game to tell me to do something simple like 'explore the world' or 'build a city'. The tip that did come up said I could either explore with my soldiers or put them in my city, but I didn't have a city, so I felt somewhat uneasy. I didn't see that there was a Colonizer unit on the starting hex until after I moved the soldiers.
Turn 8: Tip came up saying that I was running out of resources (minerals it appears). Minerals appear to be used for production, but I don't know how important that is compared to growing my city. Does running out just mean I'll stop producing the unit I'm working on, or does it mean my people will rebel and my city will go down in flames? I guess I'll find out...
Turn 15: I've made a couple of research choices, but don't feel very sure that I know what kind of benefit I'm getting from them. Would like to see a research tech tree so I know where I'm headed long term. Economy adviser's quote was "Red numbers everywhere! I doubt it can get any worse." which seemed odd since there were no red numbers and I had just finally fixed my mineral shortage (although I hadn't accumulated any, so maybe it was still from having a total of 0).
Turn 22: On diplomacy screen, was having trouble with single mouse clicks being registered twice, resulting in both not seeing the response to my first click, and then selecting something (I don't know what it was) and getting a response to that. It might be nice if the dialog box required successive mouse clicks to be in different locations (unless diplomacy is so common a thing that we need to rapid fire through it). Tried to find where I could open a history window to find out what I had said and couldn't find one. On the diplomacy screen it would seem to indicate that they did accept my first offer of a research pact.
Turn 26: One of my hexes stopped producing. I think it is because of pollution. I don't know if it was something I did. I don't know if there is something I can do about it (I eventually figured out I could fix it with my Former).
Turn 30: The one AI I met (and had both a trade and research agreement with) declared war on me. I don't know why, I don't even see any his troops. Maybe I should be worried (a dozen more turns pass and the only unit of his I saw just ran away). And it now occurs to me that I probably should have made a save game for this one. I'll remember to do that next time.
Installation Impressions (2013-02-10)
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Installed game (custom location), started up and got error dialog (see "Logs_installed then failed to start.zip")
Uninstalled, re-installed (default location), started up and still got error dialog.
Uninstalled, re-installed (custom location again), started up and verified error dialog.
Rebooted PC, started up correctly.
When asked for serial code, I alt-tabbed to my email program and the game crashed (see "Logs_started up then failed.zip")
Restarted game (with serial already in copy buffer) and it worked fine.
Started new game, played a few turns, decided I should make some notes, alt-tabbed and game crashed again.
Restarted game, loaded up auto-save, set video to windowed mode, created these notes (game no longer crashed on alt-tab).
2013-02-10 update: game looked like it patched, after that it was crashing on startup. I edited the config file to change the windowed resolution from 1680x1050 to 1600x1050 and then it started fine (based on suggestion in another thread).
-------
Game Impressions (2013-02-10)
-------
Overall I have been satisfied with the experience. The following are the notes I made while I played my first game. Nothing here that would make me stop playing, but seems like there are some opportunities to improve a new player's experience.
Turn 1: Started a new game and felt like I wanted the game to tell me to do something simple like 'explore the world' or 'build a city'. The tip that did come up said I could either explore with my soldiers or put them in my city, but I didn't have a city, so I felt somewhat uneasy. I didn't see that there was a Colonizer unit on the starting hex until after I moved the soldiers.
Turn 8: Tip came up saying that I was running out of resources (minerals it appears). Minerals appear to be used for production, but I don't know how important that is compared to growing my city. Does running out just mean I'll stop producing the unit I'm working on, or does it mean my people will rebel and my city will go down in flames? I guess I'll find out...
Turn 15: I've made a couple of research choices, but don't feel very sure that I know what kind of benefit I'm getting from them. Would like to see a research tech tree so I know where I'm headed long term. Economy adviser's quote was "Red numbers everywhere! I doubt it can get any worse." which seemed odd since there were no red numbers and I had just finally fixed my mineral shortage (although I hadn't accumulated any, so maybe it was still from having a total of 0).
Turn 22: On diplomacy screen, was having trouble with single mouse clicks being registered twice, resulting in both not seeing the response to my first click, and then selecting something (I don't know what it was) and getting a response to that. It might be nice if the dialog box required successive mouse clicks to be in different locations (unless diplomacy is so common a thing that we need to rapid fire through it). Tried to find where I could open a history window to find out what I had said and couldn't find one. On the diplomacy screen it would seem to indicate that they did accept my first offer of a research pact.
Turn 26: One of my hexes stopped producing. I think it is because of pollution. I don't know if it was something I did. I don't know if there is something I can do about it (I eventually figured out I could fix it with my Former).
Turn 30: The one AI I met (and had both a trade and research agreement with) declared war on me. I don't know why, I don't even see any his troops. Maybe I should be worried (a dozen more turns pass and the only unit of his I saw just ran away). And it now occurs to me that I probably should have made a save game for this one. I'll remember to do that next time.