First Impressions, As Requested
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:25 pm
I'll start with saying I am very impressed at the stability and content of this beta. I have sunk a good deal of time into this over the weekend, definitely a +1 turn. Currently, I'm a bit lackluster as the native life is under control and the AI isn't intelligent enough to put armor on any of its units.
Pandora Beta Feedback
Install - it went from 0-3 updates. Happy that it was updating, but while it gave me the speed of the download it didn't tell me the overall time or size, meaning I had no idea how long it would take.
5 minutes in
-Mostly game creation. Seems pretty standard - wish there were more factions or more customisation inherent. Interface and faction seem a bit less than fully fleshed out.
-Start playing, my units hop and skip around. Setting shadows to medium solves this. Weird. Have an Nvidia 460 GTX second ed running 314-series drivers (the 320's are unstable, Google it).
-Former graphic is the same thing every time it does anything, wish it had different animations for different actions.
30 minutes in
-Figuring out specific areas of the UI is a bit rough. Research is a bit bare of a screen. It can be difficult to figure out what a tech does, and I'm not sure I like the randomised tech tree (some combos don't make a ton of sense.)
-City management is somewhat difficult to figure out too. The people are fiddly, and the interface doesn't suggest that you can drag them only to those four columns.
-Zooming is jumpy. This appears to be shadow related.
-Exploration and native life is fun and fine. I like the resource sharing concept. Native life definitely puts the pressure on my Solar Dynasty! No other AI visible.
-Help pedia does not include info on basic game concepts.
Over the playthrough...
-Mechanisation Era? - I get that an AI researched into the 'blue' techs, but there is zero in-game help that says anything about these Eras.
-Research is too fast/too military - not enough options for other techs especially early on
-Bit annoyed that armour affects attack strength of - say - an artillery unit
-Want to name units, tried and figured i couldn't do it until someone posted you could here. Will have another try.
-Why no move penalties except fungus?
-Devourer graphic appears to be flying instead of under water
-I would like to see expansion of former options… buildings, watch posts, cultural improvements, recycling centres, etc
-Cities have to be at least two territories apart - i couldn't place a city somewhere and it had plenty of space. Eventually placed it nearby and a drop pod coloniser from the green faction appeared where I had wanted to build my city. Ergo, this pre-planned drop was blocking my city placement in advance. Have the save.
-In terms of research, it seems too fast. Either the observatory is overpowered or research is indeed so. I was running through the techs before I could build anything and was only using one research city with an observatory nearby.
-Help interface doesn't have basic game concepts like city management or eras
-Weapon customisation didn't seem to be a huge thing - perhaps just because i was good at what I did and the enemy didn't attack. The plants were passive over time, as was the other AI, so I only had to focus on biological weapons.
-Research is a bit static - there is one of each weapon type, one of each unit type, one of each building type per era… I also am a bit annoyed at the one benefit for tech rule, with very few passives (advancements) and no 'big projects' (wonder-equivalents)
-My civ theme seems pure fluff. As a tyrant, I can't really pick techs that make me play any differently - say, enslave my workforce and pacify their morale issues. Green techs I suspect are the same. Do other races know or care what I do? Diplomacy is limited so far - random treaty-ing and such. I would request race-specific buildings or techs that encourage a specific play style.
-Trade between cities - where is it?
-Espionage - hacking and spying? Please! Computers should be present.
-Faces, especially advisers, are too static and drag it a bit.
Pandora Beta Feedback
Install - it went from 0-3 updates. Happy that it was updating, but while it gave me the speed of the download it didn't tell me the overall time or size, meaning I had no idea how long it would take.
5 minutes in
-Mostly game creation. Seems pretty standard - wish there were more factions or more customisation inherent. Interface and faction seem a bit less than fully fleshed out.
-Start playing, my units hop and skip around. Setting shadows to medium solves this. Weird. Have an Nvidia 460 GTX second ed running 314-series drivers (the 320's are unstable, Google it).
-Former graphic is the same thing every time it does anything, wish it had different animations for different actions.
30 minutes in
-Figuring out specific areas of the UI is a bit rough. Research is a bit bare of a screen. It can be difficult to figure out what a tech does, and I'm not sure I like the randomised tech tree (some combos don't make a ton of sense.)
-City management is somewhat difficult to figure out too. The people are fiddly, and the interface doesn't suggest that you can drag them only to those four columns.
-Zooming is jumpy. This appears to be shadow related.
-Exploration and native life is fun and fine. I like the resource sharing concept. Native life definitely puts the pressure on my Solar Dynasty! No other AI visible.
-Help pedia does not include info on basic game concepts.
Over the playthrough...
-Mechanisation Era? - I get that an AI researched into the 'blue' techs, but there is zero in-game help that says anything about these Eras.
-Research is too fast/too military - not enough options for other techs especially early on
-Bit annoyed that armour affects attack strength of - say - an artillery unit
-Want to name units, tried and figured i couldn't do it until someone posted you could here. Will have another try.
-Why no move penalties except fungus?
-Devourer graphic appears to be flying instead of under water
-I would like to see expansion of former options… buildings, watch posts, cultural improvements, recycling centres, etc
-Cities have to be at least two territories apart - i couldn't place a city somewhere and it had plenty of space. Eventually placed it nearby and a drop pod coloniser from the green faction appeared where I had wanted to build my city. Ergo, this pre-planned drop was blocking my city placement in advance. Have the save.
-In terms of research, it seems too fast. Either the observatory is overpowered or research is indeed so. I was running through the techs before I could build anything and was only using one research city with an observatory nearby.
-Help interface doesn't have basic game concepts like city management or eras
-Weapon customisation didn't seem to be a huge thing - perhaps just because i was good at what I did and the enemy didn't attack. The plants were passive over time, as was the other AI, so I only had to focus on biological weapons.
-Research is a bit static - there is one of each weapon type, one of each unit type, one of each building type per era… I also am a bit annoyed at the one benefit for tech rule, with very few passives (advancements) and no 'big projects' (wonder-equivalents)
-My civ theme seems pure fluff. As a tyrant, I can't really pick techs that make me play any differently - say, enslave my workforce and pacify their morale issues. Green techs I suspect are the same. Do other races know or care what I do? Diplomacy is limited so far - random treaty-ing and such. I would request race-specific buildings or techs that encourage a specific play style.
-Trade between cities - where is it?
-Espionage - hacking and spying? Please! Computers should be present.
-Faces, especially advisers, are too static and drag it a bit.